The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to receive encouraging signs in their pursuit of LeBron James.
This time, the latest vote of confidence came from a rival.
ESPN NBA insider Anthony Slater reported Sunday on SportsCenter that the Golden State Warriors have internally viewed Cleveland as James’ most likely destination since the beginning of free agency, even while Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have personally recruited the four-time NBA champion.
“Their decision-makers really from the beginning of this free agency have not expressed much optimism to me that they’re going to ultimately be the destination,” Slater said. “They know they’re in on it. They’ve identified from the beginning Cleveland as what they believe is the most likely destination.”
The comments represent another positive development for the Cavaliers after veteran NBA insider Marc Stein recently identified Cleveland as one of James’ preferred Eastern Conference landing spots.
Even the Warriors Believe Cleveland Is the Team to Beat
Golden State has not backed away from its pursuit.
Instead, the Warriors have leaned on relationships that few organizations can match.
“They also have an advantage and they know it,” Slater said. “Draymond Green is pitching LeBron James on vacation, and I was in Tahoe the other day, and Steph Curry said he’s been in contact with him. Not many people in this process can reach LeBron James directly, but the Warriors players can.”
Curry publicly confirmed his recruiting effort last week while attending the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe.
“I don’t have a percentage,” Curry said when asked about the Warriors’ chances. “It’s kind of up to him. I feel like any place he called and said, ‘I want to play there,’ you move mountains to make it happen.
“And I know we’re in that boat as well.”
According to Slater, Curry’s pitch has gone beyond basketball.
He told James that teaming up after years of battling in four consecutive NBA Finals—and later winning Olympic gold together under Steve Kerr with Team USA—could become “one of the most unique stories in NBA history.”
Green also confirmed Sunday that he used a recent vacation with James to make his own recruiting pitch.
“I’d be remiss if I don’t take the opportunity to throw my pitch in there,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show. “I’d be crazy if we’re together for X amount of days and at no point am I like, ‘Yo, we need to chop it up. What the hell going on? What we doing?'”
Green added that he believes his message was compelling enough to make James “think twice.”
Yet, according to Slater, those efforts have not changed how Warriors decision-makers privately view the race.
Cavaliers’ Recruiting Pitch Extends Beyond Basketball
Slater’s reporting reinforces what several league insiders have suggested throughout the past week.
Stein recently identified Cleveland, Miami and Philadelphia as the Eastern Conference destinations James is seriously considering, while ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has cautioned Cavaliers fans not to mistake widespread speculation for a completed decision because James’ inner circle has kept the process unusually quiet.
Even with that uncertainty, Cleveland continues to strengthen its case.
From a basketball standpoint, James would return to a Cavaliers roster led by Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen—a team that reached the Eastern Conference finals last season and already projects as one of the conference’s leading championship contenders.
The Cavaliers have also preserved financial flexibility while James weighs his options.
ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks previously reported that Cleveland could sign James using either its $3.9 million veteran exception or, depending on James Harden’s next contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, the larger $6.1 million taxpayer midlevel exception.
Harden has yet to finalize his new deal, allowing Cleveland to preserve the possibility of accessing the larger exception if the necessary cap mechanics fall into place. Waiting costs the Cavaliers nothing while keeping another pathway open to sign James.
Cleveland’s recruiting effort also extends well beyond its roster.
Earlier this month, James was photographed in Akron alongside Cavaliers assistant general manager Brandon Weems, his former St. Vincent-St.Mary High School teammate and one of his closest lifelong friends.
The timing drew attention because the gathering came before Curry publicly acknowledged speaking with James and before Green revealed he had made his recruiting pitch during their recent vacation.
James’ longtime agent, Rich Paul, recently described Weems as one of Cleveland’s greatest advantages.
“Brandon Weems is basically LeBron’s brother,” Paul said on the Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman. “That is a big feather in the cap for Cleveland because of Brandon Weems.”
Unlike rival teams relying primarily on star players to recruit James, the Cavaliers can also lean on one of the deepest personal relationships in his life—someone who has known him since high school and now helps shape the franchise’s basketball operations.
Beyond those relationships, Cleveland offers something no other organization can replicate.
It is where James entered the NBA as the No. 1 overall pick in 2003. It is where he fulfilled his promise by delivering the city’s first major professional sports championship in 52 years. And it is where he could complete one of basketball’s greatest careers while pursuing another NBA title alongside one of the league’s premier young cores.
Cavaliers Receive Encouraging LeBron James Update From Rival Insider