MORE Late Night NBA free agency + trade Intel

Late Thursday Night/Friday Morning Edition

Leaving Las Vegas proved trickier than expected thanks to the sort of flight delays that have become all-too-commonplace this summer ... but I have indeed returned home after a lively week at summer league.

My initial plan was to wait until Sunday for my next around-the-league NBA notebook ... but #thisleague did not co-sign. There's still plenty going on.

So let's dig into the latest free agency and trade developments ... naturally starting with the LeBron James announcement that we're all still waiting for.

When I was still in the desert, there really wasn't much tangible optimism that LeBron was about to use the platform of Fanatics Fest in New York to announce where he intends to play this coming season.

I suppose it could still happen Friday at noon ET when he participates in a live taping of The Shop alongside special guests Novak Djokovic and Folarin Balogun …