PHILADELPHIA -- When the Cleveland Cavaliers opened their season Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers, it didn't just mean excitement for the start of something new for Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson. It was also a reminder of the disappointment the coach felt from what didn't come to pass this summer.
LeBron James was in a Sixers uniform playing against Atkinson's team, rather than beginning a third stint with the franchise that drafted James.
"We were anticipating and excited [to land James] and then you have that [news]," Atkinson said pregame when asked about James going to Philadelphia. "Having gone through free agency a lot, when you're expecting something to happen and it doesn't happen, that first day or two, you're just like, you're depressed, quite honestly. That's the emotions of it."
Cleveland, along with Minnesota, Miami, Golden State and Philadelphia, was one of the five finalists James considered after telling the Los Angeles Lakers that he would pursue free agency to play a record-setting 24th NBA season elsewhere.
And Cleveland was the only one of those teams that James visited, meeting with Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman, vice president of business operations Grant Gilbert and now-Cavs general manager Brandon Weems, who has been a close friend to James since childhood.
James picked the Sixers, signing a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option for next season. On the day of his decision, he acknowledged Cleveland in a post on X, writing: "Northeast Ohio will always [be] home!"
Atkinson credited the Cavs for pivoting from James and piecing together a five-team deal to acquire forward Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets in a sign-and-trade deal, parting with Max Strus, Dennis Schroder, Tre Mann and a 2031 unprotected first-round pick.
Watson, 24, signed a four-year, $88 contract with Cleveland after the trade.
"I loved how quickly we just switched gears and the push to get Peyton in the fold and everything we had to do to do that," Atkinson said. "I mean, that was a complicated maneuver. But it's kind of what [Cavs owner] Dan Gilbert and Koby and those guys, they're aggressive.
"They don't stand pat, and I love it. We take risks, we take swings. It was a great switch to what was a tough blow for us in the beginning."