Southeast Notes: Hornets, Wizards, Heat, Herro
Rookies Kon Knueppel, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Liam McNeeley have re-energized the Hornets’ franchise, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com writes. Knueppel is challenging top pick and college teammate Cooper Flagg for Rookie of the Year honors.
“I knew the four guys we were bringing in … they were just so secure in themselves,” president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson said. “They’re about their team and that we win. And they all complement each other.”
All of the rookies, save McNeeley, have made a significant impact.
“The way they come in the building every day with their energy, with their curiosity to learn,” coach Charles Lee said. “Even from the standpoint of Liam [who has split time in the NBA G League], he’s brought a new term for us to break our huddles.”
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Wizards made history on Saturday afternoon. Their starting lineup was the youngest since the league began tracking starters in 1970/71, per Elias, the team tweets. That includes the first career start for Will Riley. The average age of the starting five was 20.64 years old. The Wizards had seven players ruled out, including Khris Middleton, who was initially listed as questionable (Twitter link). Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson and Bub Carrington were the other starters.
- Injuries have impacted the Heat after a strong start, the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang notes. The Heat are just one game over .500 after going 9-15 in their past 24 games, and they have yet to win consecutive games in January. Injury issues have resulted in Miami using four different starting lineups in the past six games. “Just got to be more consistent,” big man Bam Adebayo said. “We can’t front-run. Every game has to be, we hold the line on defense from the start of the game. And then from the start of the game to the start of the third, and we figure it out from there. We’re having too many games where we’ll play great defense one night. Another night, we’ll kind of take off. So that’s got to be the difference. We’ve just got to be more consistent on that end, even if we’re missing or making shots.”
- The Heat’s trade deadline approaching could hinge on Tyler Herro‘s health issues, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel opines. Trading Norman Powell, without any confidence that Herro can return to form, would seem like capitulation and that’s not Miami’s style. There isn’t another scorer on the roster capable of stepping into that void to at least keep the Heat competitive if they trade Powell and Herro remains out or limited.
Southeast Notes: Magic, Ware, Heat, Wizards, Hornets
The Magic were blown out at home by the Hornets on Thursday, falling 124-97 to a team that trailed them by eight games in the standings entering the contest. Although Orlando was missing starters Franz Wagner (ankle) and Jalen Suggs (knee), several Magic players expressed frustration after the loss about the club’s inconsistent play, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required).
“There’s no true identity to our team right now,” Magic swingman Desmond Bane said. “And it’s hard to win on a consistent basis when you don’t have (a) calling card.”
Since having a three-game winning streak snapped on December 3, the Magic hold a 10-12 record and haven’t won more than two games in a row.
Orlando has been one of the NBA’s best defensive teams in recent years, finishing last season with the league’s second-best defensive rating, behind only the champion Thunder. But the Magic rank 13th in that category this season and haven’t been any better on the other end of the court — they’re 19th in offensive rating.
“I’m never a fan of saying that there’s two sides of the ball, and we’ve got to figure this out on this side,” center Moritz Wagner said. “They’re connected and, generally speaking, when you look at the swag, the energy and the spirit, it just feels not up to par to our standard and we’ve got to figure that out.”
Here are a few more notes from around the Southeast:
- Heat center Kel’el Ware missed a second straight game on Thursday due to a right hamstring strain and will be out on Saturday in Utah and Sunday in Phoenix too, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required). Ware was sent home from the team’s road trip in order to receive additional treatment on his ailing hamstring. “I don’t think it’ll be a long-term thing, but I don’t have a specific timeline on it,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’ll just wait until we get back to Miami. He had a good day today. They’ll work the next few days, and we expect there to be some progress.”
- Former Heat employee Marcos Tomas Perez, who pleaded guilty last August to transporting and transferring stolen goods in interstate commerce, has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $1.9MM in restitution, Angie DiMichele writes for the Sun Sentinel (subscription required). As DiMichele details, Perez worked in the Heat’s security department from 2016-21 and was arrested after being accused of stealing millions of dollars in game-worn jerseys and other team memorabilia.
- With an eye toward the winter storm headed for the Charlotte area, the NBA has moved up the tip-off time for Saturday’s Wizards/Hornets game from 6:00 pm to 12:00 pm local (Eastern) time (Twitter link). Charlotte isn’t the only NBA city likely to be hit by that storm this weekend, but that matchup between Southeast rivals is the only game whose start time has been impacted so far.
Wizards’ Michael Winger Talks Trae, Cap Room, Keefe, More
During a media session on Thursday, Wizards president Michael Winger said he’s not “setting some kind of barometer” for what he expects from his team in 2026/27 (Twitter link via Ben Strober of 106.7 The Fan). However, he anticipates that a full season of point guard Trae Young should put a young roster in position to take a step forward.
“My expectation is that particularly with Trae Young on the basketball team and the development of our young players … we are going to be better next season than we are this season,” Winger said, according to Gene Wang of The Washington Post. “How much better remains to be seen, but I think that we all would expect us to be better, more competitive next season, and Trae by himself will put us in more competitive basketball games.”
Despite adding a veteran point guard who has earned four All-Star nods, the Wizards will continue to exercise patience as they build their roster and won’t skip any steps in that process, according to Winger. He referred to the acquisition of Young as a move that has “gas-pedal implications,” but stressed that the front office isn’t putting its full weight on that gas pedal yet and will continue to be “opportunistic” as it weighs next steps.
Winger added that the club plans to spend the next six-to-18 months evaluating which of its young players on rookie contracts appears capable of making “material contributions to our eventual contention” (Twitter link via Strober). Figuring out what to do with their 2026 cap room is another item that’s high on the Wizards’ to-do list, he acknowledged.
“Whatever we do with that cap space, it might evaporate in the next two weeks,” Winger said, per Wang. “We just don’t know, but we’ll do something creative with that cap space, whether that be acquiring players, trading for a player, signing some of our own players. We’re working through all those scenarios right now.”
Here’s more from Winger on the Wizards:
- One reason why Winger is reluctant to accelerate the rebuild too aggressively is a desire not to compromise the Wizards’ future flexibility unless the roster has legitimate championship upside. “We are not pursuing short-term success,” he explained (Twitter link via Strober). “We believe that mediocrity is frankly easily achievable, but there’s a very low ceiling of hope.”
- Brian Keefe has a dismal 36-128 (.220) record since taking over the head coaching job in 2024, but Winger said he likes the job Keefe has done, citing his player development work and the culture of competitiveness he has instilled (Twitter link via Strober).
- Since the Wizards traded Deni Avdija to the Trail Blazers in 2024 for two first-round picks (one became Bub Carrington), two second-round picks, and Malcolm Brogdon, Avdija has emerged as a star in Portland. Does Winger think it was a mistake to part ways with Avdija after signing him to one of the NBA’s most team-friendly contracts? “No, not a mistake,” Winger said, per Strober (Twitter link). “We did it for the reasons we said then, which is to in effect take us back a couple years so that we could reset the roster.”
Amick’s Latest: Ellis, DeRozan, Sabonis, Towns
After being inactive for two games last weekend due to a minor knee issue, Kings guard Keon Ellis has missed two more contests this week as a DNP-CD. Still, that hasn’t diminished league-wide interest in Ellis on the trade market.
League and team sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that there are approximately 10 teams in the mix for Ellis, with a deal expected to happen on or before the February 5 trade deadline. Sacramento is seeking a late first-round pick for the fourth-year guard, per Amick’s sources.
While the Kings have no shortage of trade candidates on their roster, Ellis is the one who has generated the most interest to this point, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic said on Thursday. Vecenie observes that the 26-year-old has a limited offensive skill set and doesn’t have the size necessary to stop bigger wings and forwards, but his energetic backcourt defense and solid outside shot provide real value.
Here are a few more items of interest from Amick’s latest NBA rumor round-up:
- The Warriors haven’t shown any interest in veteran forward DeMar DeRozan to this point, a Kings source tells Amick. DeRozan has been cited as a possible target for Golden State in the wake of Jimmy Butler‘s season-ending ACL tear, but it sounds like that’s just speculation right now and isn’t consistent with the options the Warriors are actually pursuing.
- After reporting in December that the Wizards, Suns, and Bulls have had interest in Domantas Sabonis in the past, Amick reiterated that point today. However, he acknowledges that the Raptors appear to be the most legitimate suitor for the Kings center at this point. Toronto has been connected to Sabonis by multiple reporters throughout the season, with Jake Fischer stating on Thursday that the Raptors maintain their interest in the big man.
- Like Ian Begley of SNY.tv, Amick hears that the Knicks haven’t engaged in any trade talks about big man Karl-Anthony Towns, despite one report to the contrary. The expectation, Amick writes, is that New York will focus on getting the most out of Towns in Mike Brown‘s system rather than looking to move him when his value has dipped a little.
And-Ones: Bediako, All-Stars, Rookies, Team-Friendly Deals
Charles Bediako‘s bid to rejoin Alabama’s men’s basketball team more than two years after he was on a two-way contract with an NBA team could have major ramifications, according to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, who notes that NBA clubs will likely be keeping a close eye on the case.
As we outlined on Wednesday, Bediako is suing the NCAA in an attempt to rejoin the Crimson Tide for the rest of the 2025/26 season after spending two years with Alabama from 2021-23. Since going undrafted in 2023, the big man has signed three Exhibit 10 contracts with NBA teams, including one that the Spurs converted into a two-way deal in the fall of ’23.
Bediako has been granted a temporary restraining order, allowing him to participate in activities and games for Alabama while he awaits a hearing on a preliminary injunction.
If Bediako ultimately prevails in his bid for NCAA eligibility, it may necessitate adjustments to the NBA’s draft eligibility rules, Vecenie notes, since there would be nothing stopping players from declaring for the draft after their freshman seasons, then returning to college as NBA free agents if they go undrafted. In that scenario, a player who has a breakout sophomore year could theoretically leave his college program to sign with an NBA team halfway through a season.
Vecenie suggests that the NBA might have to create a new rule stating that an undrafted player who returns to college would reenter the draft pool for the following year. He also wonders if the changing nature of NCAA eligibility rules could result in NBA teams essentially treating college programs like a form of minor leagues — for instance, could the Lakers draft a player and then have him play at a nearby school like UCLA or USC for developmental purposes before he signs an NBA contract?
We have more from around the basketball world:
- A panel of NBA reporters and analysts from ESPN considered whether there are any obvious snubs among this season’s All-Star starters and explored which players deserve to be selected as reserves, while a group of reporters at The Athletic conducted a similar exercise. The general consensus was that there were no egregious mistakes among the first 10 All-Star choices, though Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell would have been worthy starters.
- Arguing that Kon Knueppel has been underappreciated so far this season, ESPN’s Zach Kram places the Hornets wing atop his latest rookie rankings, ahead of Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg at No. 2. Wizards guard Tre Johnson (eighth) and Nets guard Egor Demin (10th) are new additions to Kram’s top 10 since his previous update.
- Which contracts are the NBA’s most team-friendly? Ruling out maximum-salary deals and rookie deals for recently drafted players, Keith Smith of Spotrac shares his top-25 list, headlined by Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija and Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson.
- Kevin Pelton of ESPN has handed out midseason grades for all 30 NBA teams, with four clubs earning an A: the Celtics, Pistons, Suns, and Spurs.
Wizards Granted Disabled Player Exception
The Wizards have been awarded a disabled player exception, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report and The Stein Line (Twitter link). The team applied for a DPE last week after announcing that Cam Whitmore would miss the rest of the season due to a blood clot in his right shoulder.
An NBA team becomes eligible for a disabled player exception when one of its players sustains an injury that is considered more likely than not to sideline him through June 15 of that league year. A disabled player exception doesn’t grant the team an extra roster spot, but it generates some additional cap flexibility. The exception can be used to acquire a player on an expiring contract via trade or waiver claim, or to sign a free agent to a one-year deal.
The value of the disabled player exception is equivalent to either the non-taxpayer mid-level exception or half of the injured player’s salary, whichever is lesser. Since Whitmore’s cap hit is $3,539,760, well below the mid-level, the Wizards’ new DPE is worth $1,769,880.
The deadline to use a disabled player exception is March 10 and there’s a good chance the Wizards’ exception will expire without being used. It’s too small to realistically be used on the trade market and the team already has a handful of other exceptions that are more valuable, including the full non-taxpayer mid-level and a series of trade exceptions. Still, it doesn’t hurt to have the DPE on hand just in case.
The Wizards are one of at least seven teams to be granted a disabled player exception this season, joining the Bulls, Mavericks, Rockets, Pacers, Clippers, and Thunder.
The Bucks also requested a DPE last month, while the Hawks had N’Faly Dante go down with a season-ending injury well before the January 15 deadline to apply for the exception. There have been no updates on Milwaukee or Atlanta, but that doesn’t necessarily mean neither team was awarded a DPE, since that news sometimes goes unreported.
Injury Notes: Giddey, Reid, H. Jones, Whitmore
Bulls guard Josh Giddey was upgraded to questionable ahead of Tuesday’s contest against the Clippers before being ruled out (Twitter links via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network). Giddey, who is working his way back from a strained left hamstring, could return to action on Thursday in Minnesota, head coach Billy Donovan said.
Forward Patrick Williams is dealing with a right ankle sprain and will also be out Tuesday. He’s considered day-to-day, per Johnson.
Here are some more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Timberwolves big man Naz Reid was forced to exit Saturday’s loss at San Antonio after just five minutes due to soreness in his left shoulder. However, the injury doesn’t appear to be serious — he was initially questionable for Tuesday’s game in Utah but has been upgraded to available, per the league’s injury report.
- Defensive stalwart Herbert Jones has been upgraded to questionable ahead of Wednesday’s game vs. Detroit, the Pelicans announced in a press release. Jones, who has popped up in several rumors this season but has reportedly been made unavailable in trade talks, has missed 14 of New Orleans’ last 15 games with a right ankle sprain.
- While Wizards forward Cam Whitmore will miss the remainder of the 2025/26 season due to a blood clot in his right shoulder, he joined the team on the bench during Monday’s loss to the Clippers, which is a good sign for his long-term health, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. The former first-round pick will be eligible for an extension in the offseason and will make $5.46MM in ’26/27, which is the final season of his rookie scale contract.
Wizards Rumors: Zion, Kuminga, Salary Dumps, Middleton, More
The Wizards‘ trades for Cam Whitmore last summer and Trae Young earlier this month exhibit the front office’s willingness to roll the dice on high-upside players in need of a change of scenery, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, who hears from league sources that Washington will likely be keeping an eye out for similar opportunities at this season’s trade deadline.
Multiple sources who spoke to Robbins identified Pelicans forward Zion Williamson as one player who fits that bill. While New Orleans has reportedly told rival teams that Williamson won’t be traded this season, people around the league are skeptical that the former No. 1 overall pick is truly off limits, Robbins explains.
According to Robbins, the general consensus is that the Wizards wouldn’t give up their most valuable assets – including any of their own first-round picks – for a player like Williamson, but their “least favorable” 2026 first-rounder (which will likely be Oklahoma City’s pick) could hold some appeal to the Pelicans.
Robbins stresses that a Wizards trade for Williamson is a long shot and that the idea is mostly based on speculation, but he notes that the Pelicans forward was mentioned by several of the sources he talked to. Another player who fits into the same “distressed asset” category would be Jonathan Kuminga, Robbins adds, though multiple recent reports suggested Washington may not be among the most serious suitors for the Warriors forward.
Here’s more on the Wizards:
- Although the Wizards will monitor the market for another buy-low opportunity like the one for Young, they’re more likely to operate as a “dumping ground for assets” at the deadline, Robbins writes. In other words, Washington – which is operating roughly $30MM below the luxury tax line – would be willing to take on unwanted multiyear contracts if they come attached to young players or draft picks.
- Robbins points to Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley ($32.5MM cap hit this season) and Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant ($32MM) as a couple examples of players with long-term contracts that their respective teams are looking to move off of. Quickley has three seasons on his deal beyond this one, while Grant has two more (one guaranteed year plus a player option). However, the sense is that neither Toronto nor Portland wants long-term salary relief badly enough to send out draft assets with Quickley or Grant in exchange for Khris Middleton‘s $33MM expiring contract. The Raptors and Blazers would prefer to use those contracts in deals that actually upgrade their rosters, per Robbins. “I think any smart front office would first obviously use those salaries to get better,” one rival team official told The Athletic.
- Most league sources who spoke to Robbins believe the most likely outcome with Middleton is that he remains in D.C. through the trade deadline and then emerges as a buyout candidate.
- According to Robbins, the Wizards will be reluctant to make a trade that would interfere with the development of any of their most important young players, such as big man Alex Sarr, forward Kyshawn George, guards Tre Johnson and Bub Carrington, and wing Bilal Coulibaly. However, Washington has no obvious long-term answer at power forward and should be more open to pursuing players at that position.
- Assuming they don’t acquire this sort of player at the trade deadline, the Wizards are expected to explore the free agent market during the offseason for a big man who can improve the club’s defensive rebounding and provides more rim protection, Robbins reports.
Injury Notes: Garland, Merrill, Heat, Coulibaly, Pritchard
Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland has been ruled out of Friday’s game at Philadelphia due to right great toe soreness, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. As Fedor notes, Garland’s injury is not a recurrence of the toe ailment that required offseason surgery and has bothered him for several months — the injury is impacting a different toe on the opposite foot.
Cleveland will also be without sharpshooter Sam Merrill on Friday, per Fedor (Twitter link). Merrill is dealing with a right hand sprain, the same injury that caused him to miss 14 games earlier in the season. Both players were injured in Wednesday’s win in Philadelphia.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- The Heat will be down two key rotation members for Saturday’s game against Oklahoma City, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter links). Starting point guard Davion Mitchell will miss his second straight game with a left shoulder contusion, while sixth man Jaime Jaquez Jr. will be out for the second consecutive contest due to a left knee sprain. As Chiang writes for The Miami Herald, Jaquez underwent an MRI on Thursday which revealed irritation in his knee. Mitchell had not received an MRI as of Thursday. Guard Tyler Herro is questionable for tomorrow’s game due to contusions on his toe and rib.
- Forward Bilal Coulibaly, who exited Wednesday’s loss at the Clippers early due to a back injury, will miss the final two games of the Wizards‘ West Coast road trip with what the team is calling lower back stiffness, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic relays (via Twitter). Head coach Brian Keefe said the former lottery pick has returned to D.C. to receive treatment for his back.
- Celtics guard Payton Pritchard is doubtful to suit up for Saturday’s game at Atlanta due to left ankle soreness, per John Karalis of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). Pritchard, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, has appeared in all 40 of Boston’s games thus far in 2025/26. Forward Josh Minott will miss his seventh straight contest due to a left ankle sprain, Karalis adds.
Scotto’s Latest: Clippers, Kings, AD, Hawks, Kuminga, Poeltl
The Kings and Clippers engaged in exploratory talks about a possible trade that would have sent forward DeMar DeRozan and guard Keon Ellis to Los Angeles in exchange for big man John Collins and another “small salary filler,” reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
However, those conversations occurred before the Clippers reeled off 11 wins in their past 13 games, according to Scotto. While that doesn’t necessarily mean the talks are dead, the implication seems to be that L.A. is far less likely at this point to shake up its roster in a major way.
After getting off to a 6-21 start, the Clippers are now 17-23, tied with Memphis for the 10th-best record in the Western Conference.
Here are a few more items of interest from Scotto:
- Given how limited Anthony Davis‘ value will be this winter as he recovers from a hand injury, several NBA executives who spoke to HoopsHype predicted that the Mavericks will hang onto him for the rest of the season unless Dallas is content to essentially salary-dump him. The Hawks, the team most frequently connected to Davis, aren’t operating with any urgency now that he’s hurt again, per Scotto.
- Exploring whether any new teams can be added to the list of potential suitors for Jonathan Kuminga, Scotto says the Heat and Wizards were previously thought to be in the mix, but Miami’s interested has diminished and Washington is unlikely to seriously pursue the Warriors forward. Scotto does confirm that the Trail Blazers are believed to have some interest in Kuminga, as Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports previously reported.
- In addition to doing so with Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, the Raptors have also been gauging Jakob Poeltl‘s value on the trade market, Scotto writes. Poeltl is dealing with back issues this season and is owed $103.5MM over the next four years after this one, so it’s probably safe to assume he wouldn’t be a hot commodity.