NBA Rumors - HoopsRumors.com

Grizzlies, Kobe Bufkin Agree To 10-Day Contract

November 23rd, 2025 at 12:11pm CST by Rory Maher

The Grizzlies have been granted a hardship exception and will use it to sign free agent guard Kobe Bufkin to a 10-day contract, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Hardship exceptions allow a team to temporarily exceed the usual 15-man limit. The NBA awards a hardship exception to a club if it has at least four injured players who have missed three consecutive games and are projected to miss at least two more weeks.

Bufkin will provide backcourt depth for Memphis, which has been hit hard by injuries once again in 2025/26. Four point guards — Scotty Pippen Jr. (toe surgery), Ty Jerome (calf strain), Ja Morant (calf strain) and Javon Small (turf toe) — are currently sidelined, and veteran forward/center Brandon Clarke is still recovering from offseason knee surgery.

The 15th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Bufkin battled injuries during his first two NBA seasons in Atlanta. He missed a significant chunk of his rookie year due to a fractured left thumb and a sprained toe, then underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in December 2024, less than two months into his second year.

In total, the 6’4″ guard made just 27 appearances for the Hawks, averaging 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 11.9 minutes per night, with a .374/.220/.654 shooting line. The 22-year-old was traded from Atlanta to Brooklyn during the offseason and it seemed like he might get a chance at a fresh start with the Nets. Instead, he was the victim of a roster crunch last month and was waived to help Brooklyn get down to 15 players for the start of the regular season.

After being cut by the Nets, Bufkin entered the NBA G League player pool and his rights were acquired by the South Bay Lakers following a trade. In two Tip-Off Tournament games (28.7 MPG) with L.A.’s affiliate team this fall, Bufkin has averaged 22.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4.0 RPG and 1.0 SPG on .444/.500/.800 shooting.

According to Grant Afseth (Twitter link), Bufkin was among the guards on Memphis’ radar just before the season began amid the wave of injuries.

2026’s Most Valuable Traded Draft Picks

November 23rd, 2025 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

As we outline in greater detail in our breakdown of 2026's traded first-round picks, a series of convoluted conditions - including swap rights and protections - make it impossible in many cases to tell this early in the season exactly which first-rounders will end up being sent to which teams.

However, based on the on-court results from the first month-plus of the 2025/26 season, we're starting to get a clearer sense of where teams might land in the standings, which in turn gives us a better idea of which of those traded picks will change hands, which teams will receive them, and which ones will be the most valuable.

With the caveat that plenty could change between now and next May's draft lottery, we're taking a closer look today at which of 2026's traded first-round picks are emerging as high-level assets and which ones are more likely to fall toward the end of the first round or not change hands at all.

Let's dive in...

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Aaron Gordon Out At Least 4-6 Weeks With Hamstring Strain

November 23rd, 2025 at 11:17am CST by Rory Maher

11:17 am: The Nuggets put out a press release (via Twitter) which confirms Charania’s report.

10:57 am: Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain and will be reevaluated in four-to-six weeks, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.

Denver will be down two members of its starting lineup for the next several weeks, as guard Christian Braun is expected to be out for at least another month due to a sprained left ankle.

Gordon missed Wednesday’s win over New Orleans with bilateral hamstring injury management before returning to action on Friday at Houston. He was initially listed as probable for the game against the Rockets before being upgraded to available.

Unfortunately, three minutes into the game, he injured his right hamstring.

As Charania notes, Gordon suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain during Denver’s second-round playoff series against Oklahoma City. He played through the injury in Game 7, and has now injured his opposite hamstring.

Gordon, who missed extended time last season due to a calf strain, had gotten off to an excellent start this fall, averaging 20.3 points and 6.3 rebounds on elite efficiency (.536/.452/.879 shooting splits) in 12 healthy games (30.4 minutes per contest) while playing strong defense.

Denver is plus-20.7 per 100 possessions when the 30-year-old is on the court — a fantastic number — and plays exactly even with the opposing team when he’s not.

Head coach David Adelman said Gordon was seeking second opinions on his injured right hamstring after Saturday’s loss to Sacramento, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Second-year forward Spencer Jones, who is on a two-way deal, started in Gordon’s place against the Kings, but struggled slowing down DeMar DeRozan late in the fourth quarter.

According to Durando, the Nuggets could use more double-big lineups featuring Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas with Gordon out. The two centers haven’t shared the court much yet in their first season together, and the results have been mixed in a small sample size.

“We are trying to figure it out,” Jokic said. “Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s really bad. I think we need to have more minutes to be there and to play in different positions, different type of players who we’re guarding. But I think we communicate on the floor.”

And-Ones: K. George, Canada, 2026 Draft, Boozer, More

November 23rd, 2025 at 10:53am CST by Luke Adams

Wizards wing Kyshawn George, one of two active NBA players to represent Canada in the 2025 AmeriCup (Timberwolves forward Leonard Miller was the other), tells Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca that he “one hundred per cent” hopes to play for his home country in the 2027 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

“That’s one of my goals, to be able to be on that final team that’s going to compete for gold,” George said. “I’m just trusting the process, doing what I can do day-to-day to prove that I belong.”

George, a first-round pick in 2024, had yet to make his NBA regular season debut when Team Canada won bronze at the 2023 World Cup or competed in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. But he has taken a significant step forward in his second season in the league, with averages of 16.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game, plus a .484/.440/.773 shooting line. The 21-year-old credited his time with the national team this summer as a factor in his breakout fall.

“I do a lot of individual work in the offseason,” George said. “But there’s no better way to put it into practice than in an actual game. I was grateful to be able to play for Team Canada and to have them trust me to have that type of role where they trusted me with the ball and to make plays for myself and my teammates, and I think that just kind of led into training camp and the start of the season, where the Wizards have trusted me to make the right decision on the floor.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Sam Vecenie of The Athletic shares some of his early takeaways on notable 2026 draft prospects, including explaining why most scouts seem to have Cameron Boozer behind Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa in the race for the No. 1 overall pick. Vecenie points to shot creation and finishing at the rim as areas where Boozer has room for improvement.
Which teams are most in need of a “blow it up” trade? Sam Quinn of CBS Sports ranks all 30 teams by that metric, from the Thunder at No. 30 to the Kings at No. 1. The Mavericks, Pelicans, Clippers, and Grizzlies are also in Quinn’s top five.
The Athletic’s NBA writers identify one area of concern for all 30 NBA teams, including frontcourt depth for the Celtics, turnovers for the Rockets, and three-point shooting for the Lakers.
Veteran NBA reporter Zach Lowe has joined Amazon Prime Video’s NBA coverage, tweets Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. Lowe, who currently works for The Ringer after a previous stint with ESPN, will appear on Amazon’s studio show periodically throughout the NBA season.

Kings Rumors: Murray, Clifford, Sabonis, LaVine, Ellis, Monk

November 23rd, 2025 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings pulled off an impressive win in Denver on Saturday night, upsetting the Nuggets by a score of 128-123. However, even after handing the Nuggets just their second home loss of the season, Sacramento has a 4-13 record, having dropped its previous eight games by an average margin of 23.4 points.

As a result, the Kings are very much open for business, writes Jake Fischer of Stein Line (Substack link). It’s still a little early for the in-season trade market to pick up, but Sacramento is willing to listen to inquiries on players “up and down” the roster, according to Fischer.

While most players on the Kings’ roster could be had for the right offer, Fischer identifies fourth-year forward Keegan Murray and rookie guard Nique Clifford as a couple exceptions. Sources tell Fischer that both players are expected to be off limits this season, with the front office hoping that the young duo will be part of the long-term future in Sacramento. Murray and Clifford are the only two players on the roster whose contracts run beyond the 2027/28 season.

Domantas Sabonis is also something of a question mark, Fischer notes, since team owner Vivek Ranadive is a big fan of the veteran center, and Sabonis enjoys Sacramento and isn’t considered likely to ask for a trade. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Kings wouldn’t move him, but he’s on a maximum-salary contract and is viewed around the NBA as a negative defensively, Fischer explains, so it could be hard for the team to extract the kind of value it would want in a trade.

“It’s tough to pay a center that much who doesn’t protect the rim and doesn’t shoot threes — no matter how great of an offensive hub he can be,” one Western Conference executive told Fischer.

Here’s more on the Kings:

Besides Sacramento, the Warriors were the only other team to exhibit legitimate interest in Zach LaVine before he was traded out of Chicago last season, according to Fischer, who notes that Golden State – having acquired Jimmy Butler since then – won’t be in on LaVine now. LaVine’s maximum-salary contract will make him difficult to move for any real value, though Fischer hears that teams would have more interest if the high-scoring guard were willing to eliminate his $49MM player option for 2026/27 in favor of a multiyear deal that starts at a lower figure.
According to Fischer, the Kings’ former front office showed some interest in Trae Young, and LaVine’s camp made a push in the offseason to sell the Hawks on a deal that would’ve sent LaVine to Atlanta and Young to Sacramento. However, Fischer hears that general manager Scott Perry isn’t interested in pursuing Young, Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball, or Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, none of whom fits the defense-first mindset the organization is prioritizing under the new regime.
“More than half the league” has called the Kings about guard Keon Ellis, a source tells The Stein Line. Teams around the NBA view Ellis as a “plug-and-play addition with two-way ability,” Fischer writes, noting that Ellis will become eligible for a contract extension before he reaches unrestricted free agency in 2026. Fischer suggests Sacramento might be able to extract a first-round pick for Ellis; he could also be used to improve a package that includes a bigger contract like LaVine’s or DeMar DeRozan‘s.
The Pistons were viewed by several of Fischer’s sources as a potential landing spot for Malik Monk during the offseason, but “no one is saying that anymore,” he writes.

Eastern Notes: Ivey, Pistons, George, Carter, Cavs

November 23rd, 2025 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

Playing in his first regular season game since January 1, Pistons guard Jaden Ivey made his season debut on Saturday in Milwaukee and helped his team pick up its 12th straight win by registering 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 15 minutes, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.

Ivey said during his post-game media session that he “cherished the moment” to be back on the court after being sidelined due to a fractured left fibula last season and right knee surgery this fall. Ivey said he had “so much gratitude to be out there again,” and his head coach suggested the team reciprocated that feeling.

“We’re just happy to have him back,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters, including Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “That’s the most important thing. For him to have that joy and competition and competing with his teammates, that was the most important thing for him out there. Obviously you see the way that he can impact the game at a high level. Fifteen minutes is hard to catch a rhythm sometimes but I thought he did all the things we needed him to do. This was just more celebration of his journey to get back out on the court and we were happy to be a part of it.”

All 13 Pistons who were active for the game saw the court in the 129-116 win over the Bucks, with 11 logging at least 13 minutes. Bickerstaff said after the victory that he’s going to try using a 12-man rotation going forward as he assesses Detroit’s best lineups and fits.

“We’re going to give guys opportunity, especially in the first half and see how the game progresses in the second half,” Bickerstaff said (Twitter link via Sankofa). “It may not always be easy but guys are going to have an opportunity because they’ve earned it.”

We have more from across the Eastern Conference:

With the 14-2 Pistons sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings and well positioned from a salary cap perspective for in-season roster moves, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) evaluates whether it makes sense for them to try to make a major trade before February’s deadline. Gozlan ultimately concludes that Detroit is more likely to wait until the 2026 offseason to take a big swing.
Sixers forward Paul George played well in his second game back from knee surgery on Thursday, contributing 21 points and five rebounds in 25 minutes of action. George’s conditioning still isn’t 100%, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, but he provides the team with some stability at the forward spot and said all the right things after the game about his role. “Listen, whatever it is, to make the game easy for No. 0,” George said, referring to Tyrese Maxey. “I’ve been saying he’s been doing a lot for us. He might not want to say it, but I know he’s tired. He’s got to be tired. So, you know, I’m just trying to make the game easy for him within the offense, play my game.”
Starting center Wendell Carter Jr. has been an under-the-radar impact role player for the Magic so far this season, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel, who takes a look at the ways in which Carter is making the team better both offensively and defensively. “Both sides of the floor, (he has) a huge gravitation. Whether that’s rebounding, defensive position, I feel like that’s stuff that maybe goes unnoticed,” teammate Tristan Da Silva said of Carter, who is averaging 12.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game on .530/.458/.797 shooting.
Darius Garland (toe) and Jaylon Tyson (concussion) returned to the Cavaliers‘ lineup on Friday after missing five games apiece due to injuries and were on minutes restrictions of roughly 30 minutes, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. While the Cavs got some reinforcements in that game, they remain banged up as they prepare to host the Clippers on Sunday. Jarrett Allen (finger) will miss a second consecutive contest, while Craig Porter Jr. has been ruled out for the first time this season due to a left hamstring strain, per Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Klay Thompson, Ja Morant Exchange Words Following Grizzlies’ Win

November 23rd, 2025 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

Star point guard Ja Morant missed his third straight game on Saturday due to a calf strain, but he was at the center of a post-game incident in Dallas after his Grizzlies beat the Mavericks. As Tim MacMahon writes for ESPN.com, Morant and Mavs wing Klay Thompson exchanged words on the court following the final buzzer and had to be separated by security staff members and coaches (Twitter video link).

After seemingly directing some trash talk Thompson’s way during that confrontation, Morant interrupted teammate Cam Spencer‘s post-game television interview to say, “Tell ’em who the best shooter in the house was, it wasn’t bro from Golden State” (Twitter video link).

Asked during his post-game media session about what Morant was saying to him on the court, Thompson told MacMahon and other reporters it was “nothing of intelligent depth,” per MacMahon.

“He’s a funny guy,” Thompson said. “He has a lot to say all the time, especially for a guy who rarely takes accountability. … It was really just running his mouth, and he’s been running his mouth for a long time. It’s funny to run your mouth when you’re on the bench. It’s kind of the story of his career so far, just leaving us wanting more.”

Both Morant and Thompson are having the worst years of their professional careers so far in 2025/26. The Grizzlies guard is averaging 17.9 points and a career-high 3.8 turnovers per game while shooting 35.9% from the floor and 16.7% on three-pointers. Thompson has put up 10.1 PPG on 34.7% shooting (32.1% from beyond the arc).

Thompson, who will turn 36 later in the season, has a Hall of Fame résumé but has seen his numbers decline in recent years. Morant, 26, should be in his prime, but has been plagued by injuries over the past couple seasons. He also had his career derailed by off-court incidents, including a pair of lengthy suspensions that stemmed from brandishing a firearm in videos on social media. Thompson didn’t directly reference that off-court behavior on Saturday, but he alluded to it.

“We all want to see him out there and do his best, but he’s just been letting a lot of other stuff get in the way of that,” Thompson said of Morant. “We need that in the NBA. We need our best players to be out there, and when you’re a star, it comes with a great responsibility. I hate to see that go to waste.”

Thompson’s Warriors had some memorable games against the Grizzlies over the years, eliminating Memphis from the playoffs in both 2015 and 2022. The veteran sharpshooter spoke with more fondness of those matchups that occurred earlier in his career than the ones from the past few seasons.

“I do actually have a lot of respect for the Grind House,” Thompson said, per Christian Clark of The Athletic. “Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol. That was a hard team to beat. This new team, though? They just talk a lot. They’ve always talked a lot. They’ve never really backed it up, either. I don’t really respect that. I respect guys who back up the talk with play. Because talk is cheap. I know that better than anybody. I have been in this league a long time.”

Suns Notes: Gillespie, Allen, Green, Brooks

November 22nd, 2025 at 11:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Suns pulled off a thrilling win over Minnesota on Friday night — overcoming an eight-point deficit in the final minute — but the comeback wasn’t complete until Collin Gillespie drove to the basket and sank a short jumper to give his team the lead. It marked the latest in a series of big moments for the third-year guard, and coach Jordan Ott didn’t hesitate to run the deciding play for him, writes Doug Haller of The Athletic.

“He’s growing,” Ott said. “He’s in situations like tonight that he’s probably never been in at the NBA level. But he’s going to continue to get better. He’s finding solutions out there on the fly.”

Haller notes that Gillespie has constantly been in situations where he’s had to prove himself to doubters, first at Villanova and now in the NBA. He spent his first two seasons on two-way contracts with Denver and Phoenix before signing a one-year standard deal with the Suns during the summer. Injuries to teammates have given him a larger-than-expected role, and he has responded by averaging 11.1 PPG and scoring in double figures the past four games.

Gillespie’s heroics on Friday didn’t end with the game-winning shot. Ott was also impressed by his defensive effort on the Wolves’ final possession as he provided help on Anthony Edwards and forced him to give up the ball.

“CG, he’s a hooper,” Dillon Brooks said. “And he battles every day.”

There’s more from Phoenix:

The Suns view Gillespie as their version of Pacers guard T.J. McConnell, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). Gambadoro says the team has tried several times to trade for McConnell, but now wouldn’t consider swapping Gillespie for him.
A right quad contusion will cause Grayson Allen to miss his third straight game as the Suns host San Antonio on Sunday, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Ott provided a brief update on Allen’s condition after Saturday’s practice, saying, “He hasn’t done anything full court yet because today is a day after a game. He did do a workout today. This thing could speed up real fast, and he’d be fine, but it’s still the same contusion, bruise on the quad. Nothing long-term.”
Jalen Green said his injured right hamstring is “getting better,” Rankin adds in the same piece, but he won’t be reevaluated until sometime in December. Green has been dealing with the injury since the start of training camp, and he has only appeared in two games this season. “I don’t even know what I did to be honest,” he said. “Freak accident. I really didn’t do nothing too explosive.”
Brooks has been fined $35K for “confronting and directing inappropriate language toward game officials” during Friday’s contest, Rankin states in a separate story. Brooks was also fined $25K for “making a lewd gesture on the playing court” in a November 13 game, and he leads the league with four technical fouls, which each result in a $2K fine.

Southeast Notes: Miller, Kalkbrenner, Connaughton, Bagley, Mosley

November 22nd, 2025 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Brandon Miller posted 21 points and three assists Saturday afternoon as he returned to the Hornets‘ lineup after missing four weeks with a partially dislocated left shoulder, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer (subscription required). Even though Charlotte dropped a 15-point decision to the Clippers to fall to 4-12, there’s a sense of relief in seeing Miller back on the court. Injury problems have limited him to 30 total games after an outstanding first season in which he finished third in the Rookie of the Year race.

Miller played a little more than 25 minutes today as coach Charles Lee plans to ease him back into a normal role. His court time might be limited as the Hornets play Sunday in Atlanta on the second game of a back-to-back and have four games over a seven-day stretch.

“Your first game back, I’m not going to try to push him to the brink as much as I probably would want to, but we want to be smart about it,” Lee said. “I think that we want to be intentional with how we ramp him back up. So hopefully we can keep him in a good controlled space, and then we’ll just kind of just go forward day after day. “How’s he responding? What’s the plan? For him, it’s a little bit different, obviously, coming back from not a lower leg extremity injury.”

Boone notes that Miller provided an early spark for the Hornets, scoring their first eight points, including a crowd-pleasing dunk to open the game. He wound up shooting 8-of-18, but was only 2-of-10 from three-point range.

“We’re all excited for Brandon to be back in the lineup for a lot of different reasons,” Lee said. “I think for myself, I’m really happy with how he handled himself during this process. … His whole process as he went through his rehab and his return-to play-program, he came in every day locked in and excited for an opportunity to keep trying to get better. He saw the progress he was making, which was really good. I’m happy for him to be back out there after kind of having to go through that journey again. I think it ultimately just made him stronger and better.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Lee had his preferred starting lineup together for the first time since the second game of the season, Boone adds, but the good fortune didn’t last long. Hornets‘ starting center Ryan Kalkbrenner (left ankle soreness) and reserve wing Pat Connaughton (right calf soreness) both left the game in the first half and didn’t return.
At age 26, Marvin Bagley III has become one of the veteran leaders on a young Wizards roster, per Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network. During a team meeting last weekend, Bagley talked to his teammates about the obstacles he had to overcome and cautioned them that they shouldn’t get used to losing. “I was in a tough spot as a young player; 18 years old coming in (and) I didn’t really have the older vets to guide me,” Bagley said. “It kind of felt like I had to figure things out on the run, on the fly, by myself. That’s a hard spot to be in, especially in this league.”
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley was able to conduct his post-game meeting with reporters after missing the second half of today’s contest due to illness, tweets Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Mosley said he was feeling light-headed and dizzy during the game and called the experience “scary.” He expects to coach Sunday at Boston, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link). Mosley added that Paolo Banchero will miss his sixth straight game with a left groin strain, and it hasn’t been decided if Jalen Suggs will play on the second night of a back-to-back.

Knicks’ Landry Shamet Leaves Game With Shoulder Injury

November 22nd, 2025 at 8:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks shooting guard Landry Shamet had to leave Saturday’s game at Orlando early in the first quarter after his right shoulder appeared to pop out of its socket, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Coach Mike Brown told reporters after the game that Shamet will undergo a full evaluation within the next couple of days.

Shamet was injured after running into a pick set by Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (Twitter video link from New York Basketball). Shamet grimaced in pain after the hard contact and immediately headed to the locker room.

The injury is concerning because it’s the same shoulder that Shamet dislocated during the 2024 preseason, causing him to be waived before the start of last season. He didn’t fully recover until late December, when he rejoined the team on a one-year veteran’s minimum deal.

That same scenario could be in place this season, as Shamet’s $2.3MM contract is non-guaranteed until the league-wide guarantee date of January 10. Shamet re-signed with New York in September and won a training camp competition for the lone veteran contract the team was able to fit under its hard cap.

Shamet has been a valuable addition to the Knicks’ backcourt, averaging 9.9 PPG in 14 games coming into today while shooting 45.2% from the field and 42.4% from three-point range. He made his third consecutive start — and sixth overall — on Saturday as the team deals with a variety of injuries. He reached double figures in scoring in four of the last five games, including a 36-point outburst in Wednesday’s victory over Miami.

Bondy notes that rookie small forward Mohamed Diawara saw expanded first quarter minutes after Shamet departed, and Tyler Kolek and Pacome Dadiet were used in the first half as well. They could all be in line for additional playing time if Shamet’s injury is serious.