NBA free agency turned back the clock a bit and brought us some nostalgia with a couple signings. Damian Lillard is returning to the Portland Trail Blazers after being waived and stretched by the Milwaukee Bucks, while Chris Paul is returning to the Los Angeles Clippers for next season. Lillard won’t play during the 2025-26 season as he rehabs from a torn Achilles he suffered in the postseason, so we won’t see him suit up in a Blazers jersey until the 2026-27 season. And when that happens, you can bet the fans inside Moda Center will make that place shake with all the appreciation they’ll show Lillard.
The same goes for Paul, who joined a Clippers team that was once the laughingstock of the league. But thanks to his brilliance he turned it into a franchise that should be taken seriously. CP3 won’t just have a reunion with the Clippers; it will also be reuniting him with former teammate James Harden and pairing him with Kawhi Leonard, along with Bradley Beal and Brook Lopez. L.A. will certainly be a championship contender heading into next season.
With two big reunions this offseason has brought us, it makes you wonder about what other players we’d like to see reunited with former teams. Let’s take a look at the four biggest ones that come to mind.
LeBron James returns home to Cleveland
It’s already happened once, so why not again? When LeBron returned to Cleveland in 2014, it was a reunion that mended a lot of fences. Remember all those people who were burning his jersey after “The Decision” — they were probably going out and buying replacement jerseys when he announced he was taking his talents back to Cleveland again.
While the first stint with the Cavaliers was one of development and the early signs of an international superstar, the second go around was like watching a superhero traveling back in time, and bringing with him all the knowledge he’s learned about the future. James brought the Cavaliers — and the city of Cleveland — their first championship, reignited a fanbase and delivered perhaps the best NBA Finals performance we’ve ever seen after climbing back from a 3-1 deficit against the juggernaut that was the Golden State Warriors.
A third stint would bring James’ journey full circle. As he approaches retirement, can you imagine a more perfect ending that LeBron ending his career in the place where it all began? There would quite literally be a movie made about it if that were to happen. And to top it all off, James would be returning to a Cavaliers team poised to make a deep playoff run. While he’ll be turning 41 in December, James could be the missing piece to put Cleveland over the edge to deliver another championship, and if this were to be his last season, there wouldn’t be a more fairytale ending than James winning a title with Cleveland to close the book on his NBA career.
The King retakes South Beach throne
Another return involving LeBron could be with the Heat, and honestly, the basketball fit here makes a ton of sense. Since James left the Miami Heat in 2014, they’ve made the NBA Finals twice and have half a dozen playoff exits where they’ve very clearly missed “the guy” on the roster. Jimmy Butler did his best in those Finals appearances, but he alone couldn’t drag the Heat over the finish line enough times, and in fact lost to James in one of those Finals appearances.
James returning to Miami to join Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro could be a lethal trio, and one that could very well make a deep postseason run. Perhaps James wants to end his career in the place where he learned how to become a champion in the first place. In all the reports about LeBron growing frustrated with the Lakers‘ direction and their shift to focus on building around Luka Doncic, the Heat have not been mentioned as a potential suitor should he be traded or request a trade, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a possibility. Financially, it would be a logistical nightmare for the Heat or any team to acquire LeBron via trade, but if he were bought out, well, that’s a different story.
Herro would thrive playing off James, who commands so much attention offensively that it would allow Herro to revert back to a more natural role as an off-ball threat. Adebayo and James pick-and-rolls would be a headache for opposing teams, and the lobs from James up to Kel’el Ware would certainly make the rounds on social media. James returning to the Heat may not carry as much sentimental value compared to if he reunited with the Cavaliers, but it would certainly be an entertaining one.
LeBron leaving Cleveland certainly set the bar for fan reactions, but I don’t think we’ve seen a more hostile return to a former franchise as the incredibly unfriendly welcome Durant got after he left Oklahoma City in 2016. Durant leaving the Thunder after making it to the Western Conference finals, blowing a 3-1 lead to the Warriors and then joining that exact Golden State team just a month after losing to them was certainly a difficult pill for OKC fans to swallow, and they certainly didn’t forget it in KD’s first return to Oklahoma City the following year. The boos, the posters, name-calling and even on-court friction with former teammate Russell Westbrook all made it feel as though there was no going back between Durant and the Thunder.
But it’s been almost 10 years now. The Thunder have finally climbed the mountaintop to earn their first championship this past season, so you have to assume all that anger aimed at Durant back then has gone away. Durant has spoken positively about the Thunder recently, congratulating them for winning a title, and giving them props for being a “flat out perfectly crafted unit.”
Those kind words doesn’t mean Durant would return to the Thunder, but just imagine if it did. Pairing him with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander alone would be a mid-range shot lover’s dream. Assuming a return would happen in a trade, that likely means Chet Holmgren and/or Jalen Williams are gone, but a core of SGA and Durant, and the mountain of picks the Thunder would still have even after surrendering some in order to get Durant in this completely hypothetical situation would be enough to go get some more pieces to build around them. It would also heal some old wounds on both sides, and given Durant is nearing the end of his career, be a full-circle moment. Well, technically the best full-circle moment would be if Durant returned to Seattle, but given commissioner Adam Silver’s remarks that suggest expansion isn’t coming soon, that’s out of the question.
Another Trail Blazers reunion
Portland’s already dipped into the nostalgia well, so why not go back once more and get the band back together. Bring CJ McCollum home to the Trail Blazers. The 33-year-old guard can still light it up from long range, just finished averaging 20+ points on a poor Pelicans team, and then got traded to the lottery-laden Wizards as a result. A reunion between McCollum and the Blazers is partly for the feel-good emotions that would come from it, but also because having him be on a Wizards team that has shown little signs of establishing a winning culture feels like a punishment.
Rejoining Lillard would also be a really cool moment to see, as the pair were the face of Portland’s franchise for nearly a decade, leading them to the Western Conference finals once and routinely making postseason appearances. And unlike the other reunions on this list, this wouldn’t be to mend fences, as Portland’s decision to trade McCollum was because they failed to break through to the Finals after so many years of trying and hoped that bringing in different players around Lillard would help. That didn’t work, so perhaps now Portland could bring McCollum back again as another feel-good moment of the summer.
From a basketball perspective, the fit wouldn’t make a ton of sense, as the Blazers already have a crowded backcourt with Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Jrue Holiday and Lillard once he returns. But McCollum could be a lethal sixth man option off the bench if he was willing to accept that type of role. But Given that McCollum could still very well be a positive piece on a championship-contending team, going back to Portland for a heartwarming reunion and little chance of contending wouldn’t make sense on his end. It’s still a nice thought, though.
