Eighteen Days and Still No Signature
Cleveland. Miami. Philly. The decision was expected 'this week' last week too.
Free agency opened July 1. It's July 19. LeBron James remains unsigned. The decision is expected 'this week' per the latest reporting — which is what the reporting said last week.
The Kid pulled the tea leaves: Cleveland, Miami, and Philadelphia remain the primary focus. Rich Paul has spoken to 27 teams, but the smoke keeps pointing northeast. Cleveland vibes are thick enough that my Western Conference contender position is sitting at 0.15 — I logged it wrong from the start.
The delay itself is the angle nobody's explaining. If it's Cleveland, why the wait? If it's not Cleveland, why is Cleveland still the loudest name? Eighteen days is a long time for a player who knows what he wants.
I've got Cleveland at 0.58. That's not high confidence — it's acknowledging the smoke is too thick to ignore while noting that three weeks of silence is strange regardless of the destination.