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Northwest Notes: McDaniels, Bailey, Valanciunas, Blazers

November 14th, 2025 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels has been a perennial All-Defensive candidate in recent years, but didn’t command significant attention from opposing defenses. Entering this season, McDaniels had never averaged more than 12.2 points per game in a season or had a usage rate higher than 16.3%.

Early in his sixth NBA season, however, the 25-year-old is showing signs of developing into a legitimate two-way threat, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Through 11 games, McDaniels is averaging 18.4 points per game on a scorching hot .550/.538/.844 shooting line, with a 21.3% usage rate. While those shooting percentages probably aren’t sustainable, McDaniels has looked more comfortable handling the ball, getting to the rim, and creating shots for both himself and teammates, according to Krawczynski.

“We’re going to keep giving him the ball, putting the ball in his hands,” teammate Anthony Edwards said. “He can play with the ball in his hands; he’s just got to make the right play. If he makes the right play, we can be 10 times better, you know? Because he’s a great scorer. We just need him to be another facilitator for us.”

McDaniels’ talents as a perimeter defender have made him a valuable role player and quality starter despite a lack of offensive production, but if he continues to play like he has on the other end of the court, he could be on his way to establishing himself as a star in his role.

“He’s one of the best two-way players in the league,” Julius Randle said, per Krawczynski. “We’ve got to be consistent in that and keep feeding him confidence, trusting him.”

We have more from around the Northwest:

Ace Bailey‘s stats so far this season (8.7 PPG on .415/.324/.824 shooting) have been modest, but the Jazz rookie has scored double-digit points in four consecutive games and is earning praise for his team-first approach, says Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. “He’s highly intentional. He, even at 19, fits in with us. He wants to do the right thing always,” veteran big man Kevin Love said. “Ten games in, once he gets to 20, he’s gonna make another step — once he gets to 40, and once he gets a full season.”
The offseason addition of veteran center Jonas Valanciunas has allowed the Nuggets to slightly reduce Nikola Jokic‘s workload (he’s averaging 33.9 MPG after playing 36.7 last season) and to be more competitive when the three-time MVP isn’t on the floor (the team has a -4.0 net rating when Jokic sits, compared to -9.3 last season). Mark Medina of Essentially Sports spoke to Valanciunas about his experience in Denver so far and to head coach David Adelman about what the 33-year-old has brought to the team. “Attitude-wise, culture-wise, statistically, everything has been positive,” Adelman said of Valanciunas. “He brings such a good energy every day with the team. I feel like there is a part of him that is just really enjoying being on a successful team. He can be an impact guy on that team and play really important games.”
A spokesperson for Paul Allen‘s estate denied a report claiming that the Allens would be retaining a 20% stake in the Trail Blazers once the sale of the team to Tom Dundon is complete, per Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report (Substack link). That spokesperson stated that the Blazers will be owned entirely by Dundon’s group once the sale closes, with the Allen estate no longer holding any shares.

Mavs’ Dereck Lively Expected To Return Friday

November 14th, 2025 at 12:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks center Dereck Lively II is on track to return to action on Friday when Dallas hosts the Clippers, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Lively has been sidelined since October 26 due to a right knee sprain that kept him on the shelf for the team’s past nine games.

Asked on Friday by reporters whether he’ll play tonight, Lively didn’t confirm Charania’s report, but smiled and said, “Time will tell” (Twitter video link via Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News).

Lively’s return will be a welcome sight for a Mavs team that hasn’t had a fully healthy frontcourt since the regular season began. Daniel Gafford missed the first five games of the season due to a sprained ankle and by the time he made his debut on November 1, Lively was out with his knee sprain while Anthony Davis was sidelined due to a calf strain.

Davis still hasn’t made his return, with a report earlier this week stating that team governor Patrick Dumont wants to see medical data indicating the star big man won’t be at risk of aggravating his calf strain or making the injury worse before he signs off on Davis’ return.

Lively, who underwent offseason ankle surgery, started Dallas’ first three games this season but played a limited role, averaging 5.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 16.7 minutes per night. He made 7-of-9 field goal attempts across those three outings, while the Mavs had a +11.8 net rating during his 51 minutes on the court.

Friday’s game at American Airlines Center is a matchup between two underachieving Western Conference teams that entered the season expecting to make the playoffs. Dallas has a 3-9 record so far, while L.A. is just 3-8.

Nine Players Affected By Poison Pill Provision In 2025/26

November 14th, 2025 at 11:31am CST by Luke Adams

The term “poison pill” doesn’t actually show up in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, but it’s used colloquially to refer to a provision in the CBA that affects players who recently signed rookie scale contract extensions.

As we explain in our glossary entry, the so-called poison pill provision applies when a player who signed a rookie scale extension is traded before the extension takes effect.

In that scenario, the player’s incoming value for the receiving team for matching purposes is determined by averaging his current-year salary and the salaries in each year of his new extension (including any option years). His current team, on the other hand, simply treats his current-year salary as the outgoing figure for matching purposes.

For instance, Kings forward Keegan Murray is earning a $11,144,093 salary in 2025/26, but signed a five-year, $140MM extension that will begin in ’26/27.

Therefore, if Sacramento wanted to trade Murray this season, his outgoing value for salary-matching purposes would be $11,144,093 (this year’s salary), while his incoming value for the team acquiring him would be $25,190,682 (this year’s salary, plus the $140MM extension, divided by six years).

If a player has signed a maximum-salary rookie scale extension, his future salaries are calculated based on the assumption that the following season’s salary cap will increase by 4.5% and that he won’t achieve the performance criteria for any Rose Rule language included in his deal.

Most of the players who signed rookie scale extensions aren’t realistic candidates to be traded anytime soon. But even in the event that a team does want to look into trading one of these recently extended players, the gap between the player’s incoming trade value and outgoing trade value could make it a real challenge to find a deal that works for both sides — especially if a team is operating in or near tax apron territory.

The “poison pill” provision applies to nine players who signed rookie scale extensions in 2025. Here are those players, along with their outgoing salaries and incoming salaries for trade purposes:

Player	Team	Outgoing trade value	Incoming trade value
Paolo Banchero	ORL	$15,334,769	$41,610,606
Chet Holmgren	OKC	$13,731,368	$41,343,373
Jabari Smith Jr.	HOU	$12,350,392	$22,391,732
Keegan Murray	SAC	$11,144,093	$25,190,682
Shaedon Sharpe	POR	$8,399,983	$19,679,997
Dyson Daniels	ATL	$7,707,709	$21,541,542
Jalen Williams	OKC	$6,580,997	$40,151,644
Christian Braun	DEN	$4,921,797	$21,653,633
Nikola Jovic	MIA	$4,445,417	$13,369,083

Once the 2026/27 league year begins next July, the poison pill provision will no longer apply to these players. At that time, the player’s ’26/27 salary would represent both his outgoing and incoming value.

Until then, the gap between those outgoing and incoming figures will make it tricky for several of these players to be moved, though it affects some more significantly than others.

The difference of over $33MM between Williams’ incoming and outgoing trade figures, for instance, means there’s essentially no chance he could be dealt to an over-the-cap team in 2025/26 — given that the Thunder have no desire to move Williams, that’ll be a moot point, but it’s still worth noting.

On the other hand, the smaller divide between Jovic’s incoming and outgoing salaries would make a trade involving him a more viable possibility. However, it’s still a significant enough difference to complicate any deal for a Heat team operating right up against the luxury tax line.

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Suns Notes: Ighodaro, Booker, Brooks, Allen

November 14th, 2025 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Oso Ighodaro put his name in the Suns’ record book Thursday night by posting a plus-52 in a win over Indiana, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The second-year big man put up the gaudy number in 26 minutes off the bench as Phoenix pulled away and led by as many as 46 points.

“I thought it was a typo,” coach Jordan Ott said as Ighodaro recorded the highest single-game plus-minus rating in franchise history and the third best in the NBA’s play-by-play era. He finished with a career-high 17 points, along with seven rebounds, three assists and a career-best three steals.

“Felt like I was going after winning,” Ighodaro said. “That’s been my focus the last four, five games. Not worrying about stats. Not worrying about anything like that. Just trying to impact the game in a positive way.”

There’s more from Phoenix:

The Suns are one of the league’s early-season surprises at 8-5, but the schedule has been somewhat grueling with 13 games in 23 days, Rankin adds in the same piece. Devin Booker, who posted his seventh 30-point game of the season on Thursday, admits he was feeling worn down, but he got a lift from his teammates. “It’s been tough,” Booker said. “I know I didn’t have a lot of juice coming in, but I was looking around the locker room and everybody was ready to go. Kind of revived me.”
Dillon Brooks, who has helped to spark the Suns’ revival after arriving in an offseason trade, was asked after the game about the last time he hasn’t felt confident on the court. He pointed to a 2023 playoff series against the Lakers when he was still with the Grizzlies, Rankin tweets. “I couldn’t shoot the ball. The GM (Zach Kleiman) is telling me to only shoot six shots,” Brooks recalled. “Not giving me the confidence I needed and you can feel that energy coming from front office and coaches. Never the players, the players want to win, but you feel that energy. Even if you’re working and put in the time, it’s not falling. Probably that was the last time.”
Ott is getting the most out of Grayson Allen by trusting him as a ball-handler, observes Fred Katz of The Athletic. He notes that Allen had already run 160 pick-and-rolls this season going into Thursday’s game, which is already more than halfway to his previous career high. He’s also averaging 3.2 pull-up three-point attempts per game and is sinking 45% of them.

Rival Teams Would Have Interest In Domantas Sabonis Trade

November 14th, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings would have several interested suitors if they decide to part with Domantas Sabonis, Sam Amick of the Athletic said during a recent appearance on SacTown Sports (YouTube link; hat tip to Real GM).

“So, as it relates to Sabonis, my understanding is there are at least a few teams that have raised their hand to say, ‘Yeah, he’s somebody we’d want to talk about,’” Amick told the hosts. “I’ve said it on your show before — I don’t have that sort of information about Zach (LaVine).”

Sabonis is currently making $42.3MM and still has two more seasons left on the four-year extension he signed in 2023. He’ll earn $45.5MM in 2026/27 and $48.6MM in 2027/28 before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2028.

Sabonis, 29, is a three-time All-Star who has led the league in rebounding the past three years. He’s gotten off to a slow start this season as his numbers are down across the board at 15.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists through nine games, but he’s still a highly valued big man.

The Kings have been an early disappointment at 3-9 and could be considering changes, either in an effort to salvage the season or to tank in hopes of landing a high pick in a strong draft.

As Amick indicates, it could be much easier to trade Sabonis than LaVine, who’s making $47.5MM and holds a $49MM player option for next season. The Bulls spent months trying to find a taker for LaVine before Sacramento agreed to acquire him as part of a three-team trade in February.

Amick also said the Kings were “comfortable” giving Keegan Murray a five-year rookie scale extension because “they not only valued him within their program, but they learned that he’s got a lot of value around the league.” Murray hasn’t played yet this season after undergoing thumb surgery in October.

Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Davis, Magic, Clippers, LeBron

November 14th, 2025 at 9:02am CST by Arthur Hill

With the Mavericks off to a 3-9 start, there’s a feeling around the league that trading Anthony Davis — and possibly Kyrie Irving as well — might be their best strategy, according to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Dallas fired general manager Nico Harrison this week amid continued fan uproar over February’s Luka Doncic trade, and now personnel moves may be necessary to carve out a brighter future.

Trade speculation has already focused on Davis, who is currently sidelined with a left calf strain and has appeared in just five games this season. He’s under contract for $58.5MM in 2026/27 and has a $62.8MM player option for the following season. He’ll become eligible for an extension next summer and could earn up to $218.5MM by picking up the option and extending for three more years.

Considering Davis’ contract situation and his long injury history, Windhorst states that the Mavs may have trouble getting the return they would want in a potential trade.

“I just looked it up so I could say this to my owner if he asks me about it, AD is turning 33 in March and he’s going to be in position next summer where he’ll probably want a contract extension that would cost $70MM per year when he’d be 37,” a rival general manager said. “He’s a great player, full stop. But when you consider a player at his age with his injury history, you’d also be trading for the stress of that extension. That plays into it.”

Executives around the league tell Bontemps that while the Mavericks could still be formidable with a fully healthy roster, moving the two stars and replenishing their draft assets while building around Cooper Flagg is probably their best strategy. After the 2026 draft, Dallas doesn’t control any of its first-round picks for the rest of the decade.

Parting with Davis and Irving would also help the Mavs escape the luxury tax, Bontemps adds. The team is projected to have a tax bill around $32MM this season, and the current roster is about $16MM over the tax threshold.

Bontemps and Windhorst share more inside information from around the NBA:

The Magic have won five of their last seven games, but their offense is still just 18th in the league and the offseason trade for Desmond Bane hasn’t provided the spark that was hoped for. According to Windhorst, head coach Jamahl Mosley has turned over most of the play calling to assistant Joe Prunty, who was hired during the offseason. However, some observers are skeptical that the current roster is capable of producing an efficient offense. “It’s got to get a little better, but the pieces aren’t changing,” a West executive said. “Bane will settle in eventually. But you still have a ball-dominant, iso star in Paolo (Banchero) that doesn’t scream ball movement, player movement and getting open shots. It hasn’t been pretty at all.”
With an old roster and growing injury concerns, the Clippers may be “cooked” after a 3-8 start. Bradley Beal has been lost for the season with a hip fracture, and Kawhi Leonard has been diagnosed with a sprained foot as well as a sprained ankle. It appears the decision to invest heavily in veteran talent is backfiring, as Windhorst notes that Brook Lopez, Nicolas Batum and Bogdan Bogdanovic haven’t been productive early in the season, while Chris Paul is completely out of the rotation. “They move so slowly, they can’t recover when they turn the ball over or give up a quick transition,” one advance scout said.
The Spurs and Lakers are both off to impressive starts, but there are mixed opinions on whether they can finish in the top four in the West. A West scout doesn’t believe Victor Wembanyama can hold up for 82 games, while an East executive isn’t convinced that L.A. will get better when LeBron James returns from his injury. “Don’t ask me about the Lakers until I can see LeBron play and see him move and how he looks,” the executive said. “He isn’t just dealing with the sciatica, he hurt his knee at the end of last season, and it surely affected his training routine. He’s never started a season coming off injuries like this before.”

Central Notes: Nesmith, Walker, Terry, Pistons

November 14th, 2025 at 7:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Aaron Nesmith had to crawl off the court in Thursday’s loss at Phoenix, but the Pacers are hopeful that his injury won’t keep him out for long, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Nesmith was getting into a defensive stance in the third quarter when his left foot bent the wrong way (Twitter video link). He was helped to the locker room, and the team announced that he wouldn’t return due to knee soreness.

Nesmith was limping and appeared to have an ice bag on the knee as he left the arena, but he wasn’t using crutches, Dopirak observes. Coach Rick Carlisle was optimistic that it isn’t something severe like a ligament tear.

“Hoping that Aaron’s situation is not very serious,” he said. “At this point, it looks like we may have dodged a bullet in terms of something that is very serious. But he will miss some time.”

Losing Nesmith would add to a catastrophic run of injuries for the defending Eastern Conference champions that began with Tyrese Haliburton‘s Achilles tear in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Seven players were sidelined heading into Thursday’s game, which Indiana lost by 35 points to fall to 1-11.

Nesmith would be a major loss if he has to miss any significant time. Dopirak points out that he’s handling an increased offensive load for the short-handed team in addition to being its most versatile defender.

“It hurts,” Carlisle said. “He’s a top player on this team. It hurt us out there tonight and it’s going to affect us.”

There’s more from the Central Division:

Another rough shooting night for Jarace Walker brought his field goal percentage down to 29.7% for the season, Dopirak tweets. The third-year power forward missed all 10 of his shots in Phoenix after going 1-of-8 in the previous game at Utah. He was removed from the Pacers‘ starting lineup on Tuesday after starting seven straight games.
Bulls guard Dalen Terry isn’t getting the playing time he had hoped for, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Terry, who will be a restricted free agent after not receiving a rookie scale extension, has appeared in seven of the team’s 11 games, but is averaging just 5.9 minutes per night. “I feel like it’s been a situation I’ve been in my whole life, to be honest with you,” he said. “With this being a contract year and things not starting like you want them to, guys can go into a dark place. But I just look at it like, ‘Man, it’s just basketball, and we’re winning right now.’ So my feelings aren’t really the priority.”
The 10-2 Pistons are off to the best start in the East, but they have a lengthy injury report for Friday’s NBA Cup game against Philadelphia, notes Hunter Patterson of the Athletic (Twitter links). Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart are all listed as questionable, while Ausar Thompson and Tobias Harris are out.

L.A. Notes: LeBron, Luka, Thiero, Clippers’ Young Reserves

November 13th, 2025 at 11:01pm CST by Rory Maher

LeBron James, whose season debut has been delayed by sciatica on his right side, is ramping up his activity. The Lakers superstar practiced with the team’s G League affiliate on Wednesday, including doing contact five-on-five work, as Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group writes.

“It was also an incredible opportunity for [South Bay coach] Zach [Guthrie] and his staff and all the guys that are with South Bay right now to have that experience,” head coach JJ Redick said. “But the reports are that he looked good, and was moving well.”

James was also a full participant in South Bay’s practice on Thursday and showed no ill effects from Wednesday’s session, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, who hears from sources that the 40-year-old forward could practice with the Lakers on Monday if he continues to experience no discomfort in the coming days.

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

The Lakers were thoroughly outclassed by the Thunder on Wednesday, losing by 29 points. After being limited to a season-low 19 points (on 7-of-20 shooting), star guard Luka Doncic said he wasn’t concerned about the apparent gap between the two teams, instead using it as a source of motivation. “Definitely wasn’t our best game, probably one of the worst this season,” Doncic said, per Price. “They all did a great job on me. They’re champions for a reason. They showed that. We need to be more ready. Obviously, it starts with me. I need to be way better than that.”
Lakers rookie Adou Thiero has been listed as questionable for Friday’s matchup in New Orleans, tweets Dan Woike of The Athletic. The 21-year-old was selected 36th overall in the 2025 draft, but has yet to make his NBA debut after undergoing left knee surgery in college. Redick previously expressed optimism that the high-flying forward could return during the team’s current road trip, which concludes Saturday in Milwaukee.
While the Clippers have had a rough start to the season – they hold a 3-8 record after dropping six straight games – their young reserves have been a bright spot of late. Second-year guard Cam Christie had some encouraging performances late last week against Phoenix, notes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register, then Jordan Miller and Kobe Sanders received rotation minutes in Wednesday’s loss to Denver, with third-year wing Miller having a career night (22 points and four rebounds in 26 minutes). “I thought they came in, gave us a lot of energy … so they got to keep growing, these young guys,” head coach Tyronn Lue said (story via Carr). “They’re going to make some mistakes, we understand that. But I did love the way they played. I thought they played the right way. The ball moved, guys got open shots, we attacked the paint, made the right play, and so just kept giving those guys room to grow. And I thought tonight was a step in the right direction.”

Pacers Reportedly Eyeing Jose Alvarado

November 13th, 2025 at 9:38pm CST by Rory Maher

With Tyrese Haliburton out for the season due to a torn Achilles tendon, the Pacers have been on the lookout for help at point guard, having cycled through multiple veterans during the preseason and later cutting James Wiseman to add Mac McClung. McClung was subsequently replaced by Monte Morris, whom the team initially intended to bring in for camp before discovering he had a calf injury that has since healed.

Head coach Rick Carlisle said McClung was the most impressive participant in a three-player free agent workout on October 27, which is why the Pacers signed him. According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), the other two participants in that session were Morris and Cody Martin, whose 10-day hardship contract with Indiana expires on Friday.

Martin, who missed Thursday’s game in Phoenix due to an illness (Twitter link via the team), is unlikely to return to the Pacers unless they’re granted another hardship exception, Fischer writes.

In addition to keeping close tabs on free agents, Indiana has also been monitoring the trade market for backcourt help. Sources tell Fischer that Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado is of particular interest to the Pacers.

Alvarado, 27, went undrafted in 2021 after a standout college career at Georgia Tech. The 27-year-old is making $4.5MM this season and holds a player option for 2026/27 worth the same amount.

Through 10 games this season, Alvarado is averaging 6.7 points, 2.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 steal in 18.9 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .423/.429/.800.

Injury Notes: Ball, Embiid, Edgecombe, Kuminga, Mavs, Kings

November 13th, 2025 at 8:08pm CST by Rory Maher

Hornets star LaMelo Ball is listed as probable for Friday’s game in Milwaukee, tweets Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The 24-year-old point guard, who has missed the past five games with a right ankle impingement, recently practiced in the G League, with head coach Charles Lee expressing optimism about his progress.

Ball, a former Rookie of the Year who made his lone All-Star appearance in his second season, has averaged 23.3 points, 9.8 assists, 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals on .430/.333/.815 shooting in six games this fall (33.3 minutes per contest).

Second-year guard KJ Simpson (left AC joint sprain) is also probable to suit up against the Bucks, while rookie center Ryan Kalkbrenner will miss a game for the first time in his career due to personal reasons.

Here are some more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

While there are no long-term concerns about the injury, Sixers center Joel Embiid will miss his second straight game on Friday because of right knee soreness, as Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports relays (via Twitter). VJ Edgecombe, the third overall pick in the 2025 draft, is also on the injury report, having been listed as questionable to suit up against Detroit due to back spasms.
Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga is dealing with bilateral tendinitis in his knee and is questionable for Friday’s matchup at San Antonio, per Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link). Kuminga was demoted to the second unit on Wednesday vs. the Spurs after starting the first 12 games of the season. He played a season-low 12 minutes last night, leaving the game early due to the knee issue.
Three key members of the Mavericks‘ frontcourt are questionable to play Friday against the Clippers, according to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Anthony Davis (left calf strain) and Dereck Lively II (right knee sprain) have both missed several games with their respective injuries, while forward P.J. Washington is a recent addition to the injury report — he’s dealing with a left shoulder strain.
The Kings have listed Domantas Sabonis (left rib contusion) and Malik Monk (sore left ankle) as questionable for Friday’s matchup in Minnesota, tweets Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. High-scoring guard Zach LaVine is not on the injury report after missing Wednesday’s game vs. Atlanta with a bruised thigh, Anderson adds. Head coach Doug Christie ripped the Kings for their “shameful” compete level after Wednesday’s lopsided defeat, the team’s fourth straight loss.

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