NBA Announces Eight Participants For Three-Point Contest
The NBA has announced the eight-player field for the 2026 three-point contest, which will take place on February 14 at 4:00 pm CT (Twitter link).
Here’s the full list of participants:
Devin Booker, Suns- Kon Knueppel, Hornets
- Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers
- Tyrese Maxey, Sixers
- Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers
- Jamal Murray, Nuggets
- Bobby Portis, Bucks
- Norman Powell, Heat
Lillard’s inclusion in the competition is a surprise, as the nine-time All-Star will miss the entire season after tearing his Achilles tendon last April. The 35-year-old guard is a two-time winner of the three-point contest.
Booker is another former three-point contest champion, though he’s only shooting 30.7% from long distance this season, which represents a career low.
No. 4 overall pick Knueppel has a chance to become the first rookie to win the event, per the league. The former Duke standout has connected on 42.8% of his outside looks on high volume (7.8 attempts per game).
Portis is the only big man among the eight competitors. He has also been the most accurate three-point shooter in the field this season, converting 45.1% of his 4.3 attempts per game.
First-time All-Stars Murray (43.2% on 7.5 attempts per game) and Powell (39.3% on 7.2 attempts) are having strong seasons for their respective clubs. Mitchell (37.9% on 9.7 attempts) and Maxey (38.2% on 8.8 attempts) are the highest-volume three-point shooters in the field and are also the top two scorers.
Last year’s winner, Tyler Herro, is currently sidelined because of a rib injury. He declined an invitation to focus on his health over the All-Star break.
NBA Announces Competitors For Slam Dunk, Shooting Stars All-Star Events
The Spurs‘ Carter Bryant, the Lakers‘ Jaxson Hayes, the Heat‘s Keshad Johnson and the Magic‘s Jase Richardson have been named the participants in the All-Star Slam Dunk competition, the league announced in a press release. It will be held next Saturday at the Clippers’ new Intuit Dome.
All four players will be making their event debuts. Richardson, a rookie guard, does have a familial connection with the contest. He is the son of two-time Slam Dunk champion Jason Richardson (2002 and 2003).
The league also announced the teams for the Shooting Stars competition on Saturday. Four teams of three – each featuring two NBA players and one NBA legend – will compete in the event.
- Team All-Star: Raptors star Scottie Barnes and Thunder big man Chet Holmgren will be joined by three-time All-Star Richard Hamilton.
- Team Cameron: Three Duke University alums will team up, with Hawks All-Star Jalen Johnson and Hornets star rookie Kon Knueppel being joined by former 14-year NBA veteran Corey Maggette.
- Team Harper: Five-time NBA champion Ron Harper Sr. pairs up with his sons, Spurs guard Dylan Harper and Celtics swingman Ron Harper Jr.
- Team Knicks: Knicks teammates and All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns will team up with Allan Houston, who made two NBA All-Star teams and is now a member of New York’s front office.
The Shooting Stars will feature a two-round format, with all four teams competing in the first round and the top two advancing to the final round.
Teams will compete one at a time and have 70 seconds to score points while rotating through seven designated shooting locations around the court, with all three players on a team shooting at each spot in a set order. The team with the higher score in the final round will be crowned the champion.
Heat Notes: Deadline, Giannis, Morant, Rozier, Young, More
The Heat were one of only three teams that didn’t make a trade ahead of Thursday’s deadline. As Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes, the team has been trending in the wrong direction for two months, going just 13-18 over its past 31 games after a 14-7 start.
Despite having another middling record (27-25), the Heat are optimistic brighter days are ahead.
“League-wide, I think everybody is just glad that all of that is behind us,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said following Friday’s morning shooting shootaround in Boston. “And we can just focus on the next 30 games. We have great opportunities still ahead of us. We know what we have to work on is our consistency. We have a high ceiling, but we need to do it more consistently.”
Consistency was a major talking point for Spoelstra, who said variations of the word several more times on Friday.
Captain and starting center Bam Adebayo said the players breathed a sigh of relief when they learned they were sticking with Miami, according to Chiang.
“Guys got that weight off their shoulders, where they don’t know what’s going to happen to them,” Adebayo said. “It’s good to have that type of clarity. So now we can focus on basketball and try to stack these wins.”
Here’s more from Miami:
- The Heat were one of the primary suitors for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and aside from Adebayo, they were willing to discuss every other player on the roster in talks for the Bucks star, a league source tells Chiang. Miami also had “some level of interest” in Ja Morant, but his maximum-salary contract and injury history were among the factors that made the Heat leery of pursuing the Grizzlies guard, Chiang reports.
- Andrew Wiggins was mentioned as a possible trade candidate this season, but the Heat were never offered a first-round pick for the veteran forward, according to Chiang. Terry Rozier, who has been away from the team throughout 2025/26 after being arrested and indicted on federal charges related to illegal gambling, was another player who stayed put. Chiang hears Miami’s brain trust is still weighing the possibility of waiving Rozier’s expiring contract, which would open up a second spot on the standard roster — the Heat have only been carrying 14 players due to their proximity to the luxury tax line.
- Jahmir Young has been named the G League’s Player of the Month for games played in January, the NBA announced (via Twitter). Young, a second-year guard who is on a two-way contract with the Heat, averaged 29.5 points, 9.6 assists and 4.9 rebounds last month for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s NBAGL affiliate.
- Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel takes a look at some options the Heat could consider to fill out their standard roster, including converting a two-way player like Young or taking a flier on a veteran on the buyout/free agent market. Pat Connaughton, Georges Niang and Chris Boucher are a few of the veterans Winderman lists.
- For better or worse, the Heat stuck to their guiding principles ahead of the deadline, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, who considers whether that was the right call and explores what the consequences of maintaining the status quo could be both now and going forward.
Post-Deadline Notes: 2027 Draft, Tanking, Pacers, More
Two teams near the bottom of the NBA’s standings, the Wizards and Jazz, raised eyebrows this week by making blockbuster deals for veterans stars Anthony Davis and Jaren Jackson Jr., respectively.
According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, Washington’s and Utah’s willingness to push their rebuilds forward by sacrificing 2026 cap room and attempting to contend next season reflects not just the lack of top-level free agents expected to be available this summer but a league-wide lack of enthusiasm about the 2027 draft class.
While the 2026 draft is viewed as especially strong, the same can’t be said for ’27 or ’28 — sources tell Bontemps that neither year rates nearly as high as the ’26 class. In other words, after this year, there will be less incentive for teams like the Wizards and the Jazz to remain deep in lottery territory, pursuing high draft picks.
Still, the key caveat there is “after this year.” As Sam Vecenie of The Athletic writes, the NBA’s race to the bottom might get ugly in the next couple months, with the Wizards and Jazz still extremely motivated to hang onto their top-eight protected 2026 first-rounders while other sub-.500 clubs like the Kings, Pacers, Nets, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Bucks, and Bulls also have incentive to lose as much as possible.
The NBA is reportedly considering rule changes to discourage tanking and already has the ability to penalize teams for resting certain healthy players and/or mischaracterizing injuries. But teams will likely be willing to push the boundaries of the current rules and risk facing fines if it helps them secure a top 2026 pick, Vecenie writes.
“The value of confirming a top-five pick or improving your chances at a top-two pick in this draft class is very large,” one executive told The Athletic. “Is it worth $5 million if you keep getting fined by the PPP (player participation policy) and the price tag rises? Is it worth $10 million if you’re successful? We haven’t done modeling on that, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a team has and comes to the conclusion that getting access to one of the top players in this draft is worth a certain amount in fines.”
Here are a few more notes related to this year’s trade deadline and what’s to follow:
- In another story for ESPN.com, Bontemps spoke to scouts and executives about their impressions of the trade deadline, which included lottery teams emerging as buyers and many of the top contenders standing pat or making minimal roster adjustments. “These aprons are tough to build around,” one Western Conference scout told ESPN. “It means teams are going to have to negotiate harder moving forward.”
- Bontemps adds that people around the league are debating whether the Pacers will tank the rest of the way in the hopes of keeping their top-four protected 2026 first-round pick or go all-out in an effort to move up the standings in the hopes of pushing the pick to its other protected range (10-30). “If it was me, I would tank and get the best possible odds at the high pick,” an Eastern Conference executive said. “But if they choose to get to 10, I think they could.” The Clippers pushed for that 10-30 protection, according to Tony East of Circle City Spin, since they’d rather take their chances on an unprotected 2031 first-rounder if it doesn’t land between No. 5 and No. 9.
- The trades that didn’t get done at this season’s deadline could set the stage for a “wild” summer, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during a TV appearance on Thursday. “There’s a lot of unfinished business that didn’t get done,” Windhorst said, per RealGM, pointing to the Heat, Timberwolves, Knicks, and Cavaliers as some candidates to shake up their rosters if their postseason runs don’t go as planned. “… You will see a revisiting of the Giannis (Antetokounmpo) situation in the summer. “We know that the Clippers are now in the middle of a controlled tear-down. I don’t want to use the word ‘rebuild.’ What about Kawhi Leonard? And then you look at Domantas Sabonis — he was being floated and they couldn’t do a deal for him. None of that mentions Ja Morant.”
- This year’s “weird” trade deadline was characterized by “too-late” trades, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. As Hollinger explains, players like Davis, Trae Young, Jonathan Kuminga, and a handful of Bulls would’ve been warranted stronger packages if they had been moved earlier, but those teams instead settled for modest returns.
Grizzlies Plan To Trade Ja Morant In Offseason
Two-time All-Star Ja Morant was among the most notable trade candidates who wasn’t on the move this week, but the Grizzlies‘ decision to hang onto him after trading away Jaren Jackson Jr. shouldn’t be viewed as a change in the team’s direction, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
League sources tell Vardon that the Grizzlies will revisit Morant trade talks during the 2026 offseason and intend to move him at that time.
Vardon’s report comes as no surprise. Memphis acquired a total of seven first-round picks and a first-round swap in trades involving Desmond Bane (last summer) and Jackson (on Tuesday), and has clearly pivoted to rebuilding around its younger core, led by Cedric Coward, Zach Edey, and Jaylen Wells.
Still, it will be interesting to see how Memphis handles Morant in the next couple months. The 26-year-old is currently sidelined due to a sprained elbow, but that injury likely isn’t significant enough to end his season.
The Grizzlies – who have slipped out of the play-in picture at 20-29 – may be inclined to tank down the stretch in the hopes of maximizing their draft lottery position, which could mean holding out Morant for longer than they normally would. But they’ll have to weigh the merit of that approach against the possible benefits of reinserting the point guard into their lineup and giving him the opportunity to rebuild his trade value — at least to some extent.
Chris Mannix of SI.com wrote earlier this week that “availability, attitude and diminished production” are among the concerns potential suitors had about Morant, and it’s safe to assume his maximum-salary contract – which will pay him $87MM for the two seasons after this one – is another red flag. He wouldn’t be able to assuage all of those concerns with a strong finish to the season, but it might help improve offers from potential trade partners this summer.
Those offers were reportedly too underwhelming for the Grizzlies to seriously consider making a deal prior to Thursday’s deadline, despite the fact that they signaled they’d be willing to take on long-term salary if it came attached to stronger draft compensation.
The Heat, Kings, Bucks, and Timberwolves were linked to Morant this week. That list of possible suitors could grow – or at least change – this summer, depending on which direction certain teams take and which clubs become more motivated to shake up their rosters as a result of early postseason exits.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Rumors: Bucks, Heat, Wolves, Lakers
Although they entertained trade offers for the superstar forward, the Bucks ultimately decided to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo past Thursday’s deadline, pushing a decision on his future into the offseason.
The two-time MVP made an interesting social media post on Thursday afternoon (Twitter link). He wrote, “Legends don’t chase. They attract ” alongside a video clip from “The Wolf of Wall Street” in which Leonardo DiCaprio’s character repeatedly says, “I’m not leaving,” among other obscenities.
Sources close to Antetokounmpo reiterated to Chris Haynes of NBA on Prime (Twitter video link) that the 31-year-old “never requested a trade.”
“Obviously (Antetokounmpo) has been applying pressure over the last couple of years in hopes that the Bucks would turn this roster into a championship (contender),” Haynes said. “He wants to contend for a title for years and years in his prime.
“But right now he’s happy. I was told that he’s committed and focused on getting back healthy from that calf injury. He’s progressing really well, to the point where he might even play in the All-Star game on February 15.”
Here are some more Giannis-related rumors:
- A source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald that the Heat were informed “very late” Wednesday night that Milwaukee would likely be retaining Antetokounmpo beyond the deadline (Twitter links). According to Jackson, Milwaukee considered the Heat’s offer and Miami was willing to “do what it took” to acquire the nine-time All-NBA member, but the Bucks preferred to wait and see what types of packages they could get in the summer. While the Warriors reportedly got the impression earlier this week the Bucks didn’t plan to trade Giannis, that was not was not how the Heat viewed the situation until late Wednesday, Jackson adds.
- One team that was in pursuit of Giannis told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN that Milwaukee never gave a threshold it wanted met in a deal, leaving the unnamed club skeptical that the Bucks ever intended to trade Giannis this week (Twitter video link).
- Antetokounmpo recently made it known he was interested in teaming up with Anthony Edwards on the Timberwolves, team and league sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. According to Krawczynski, the Wolves canvassed the league to see what they could get for multiple key rotation players, but talks with the Bucks never reached an advanced stage. Krawczysnki hears that while new owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez were intrigued by the possibility of a Giannis trade, they also weren’t convinced that dealing away Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Joan Beringer would have been a “prudent” decision, given Antetokounmpo’s age and injury history.
- The Lakers intend to make a “hard push” for Antetokounmpo in the summer, sources tell Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. The Lakers will have three first-round picks to trade in the offseason, as opposed to the one they had access to prior to the deadline. Turner hears New York and Miami are Giannis’ preferred landing spots, but the 13-year veteran hasn’t ruled out the Lakers as a possibility.
Haywood Highsmith Nearing Return, Drawing Interest
Veteran wing Haywood Highsmith is drawing interest from playoff teams after being waived by the Nets to accommodate their three-team deal that sent Chris Paul to Toronto and Ochai Agbaji to Brooklyn, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Highsmith has yet to play a game this season after he underwent surgery on a torn meniscus in August and experienced a setback in his rehab in October. However, agent Jerry Dianis tells Scotto his client is healthy, is participating in 5-on-5 scrimmages, and was targeting February 11 for his Nets debut prior to being waived.
If fully healthy, Highsmith could provide valuable depth to a playoff team. He’s a career 37.4% three-point shooter and strong defender who broke out with the Heat, with whom he played for four seasons.
Miami traded him to Brooklyn this offseason in what was viewed as a financially motivated deal.
Highsmith will clear waivers on Saturday, at which point he’ll be free to sign with any team except the Heat — a player who is traded and subsequently waived can’t return to the club that traded him away.
Bucks Tell Teams They’re Keeping Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Bucks have informed interested teams that they’re hanging onto forward Giannis Antetokounmpo through Thursday’s trade deadline and will begin focusing on separate trade opportunities, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
The decision removes the top attraction from this year’s pre-deadline trade market and sets up an eventful offseason when rival teams will be able to make more tempting offers.
The Warriors, Timberwolves, Heat and Knicks were believed to be the most active suitors for Antetokounmpo, but the Bucks were signaling to teams over the past few days that they weren’t ready to part with their franchise player, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints (Twitter link).
As a result, those teams began focusing on other moves, with Golden State acquiring Kristaps Porzingis, Minnesota dealing for Ayo Dosunmu and New York swapping Guerschon Yabusele for Dalen Terry.
ESPN’s Jason Collier reported earlier today that Milwaukee wasn’t feeling pressure to find a deal before the deadline, and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line got the same impression, with one rival executive telling him the Bucks “were never serious” about moving Antetokounmpo prior to this summer (Twitter link).
While holding onto Antetokounmpo could increase his eventual trade value, it also gives him more control over the process. He’s only under contract for one more season at $58.5MM and holds a $62.8MM player option for 2027/28. Being able to opt out next summer means he’ll have some leverage to quash a potential deal if he’s not being sent to a place that he wants to go.
Antetokounmpo will become eligible for a four-year, $275MM extension on October 1 if he remains in Milwaukee, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). If he’s traded before then, he’ll have to wait six months from the day the deal is finalized until he can sign that maximum extension (he could get a slightly shorter, less lucrative deal within the six-month window).
Antetokounmpo is currently sidelined due to a calf strain, and with the Bucks lingering in 12th place in the East at 20-29, it may be in their best interest to have him sit out the rest of the season to maximize the value of their first-round pick and avoid the risk of injury heading into the summer. However, league sources tell Eric Nehm of The Athletic that Antetokounmpo wants to return to action once he’s fully recovered in hopes of helping the team secure a play-in spot.
Antetokounmpo has been sending out mixed signals about his desire to stay in Milwaukee since trade rumors began to heat up. He said Tuesday that he loves the city and would prefer to retire as a Buck, but he also suggested that he’s not fully convinced that the team can quickly be rebuilt into a title contender, adding that he has to look at his options.
Multiple reports have stated that the Bucks are seeking young talent and draft assets in an Antetokounmpo deal. Several teams that currently have limited draft picks available will be able to increase their offers beginning this June.
Bucks Not Feeling Pressure To Trade Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Bucks aren’t feeling pressure to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of Thursday’s deadline, sources tell Jamal Collier of ESPN.
Although an Antetokounmpo deal in the coming hours remains a possibility, several signs are pointing toward the saga carrying over into the offseason as the 2:00 pm CT deadline nears, Collier writes.
The Knicks and Warriors appear to have backed off their pursuit of the two-time MVP, leaving the Heat, Timberwolves, and any potential mystery teams as the suitors still in the running. But even those clubs still involved have become increasingly dubious that a trade will happen today, Collier notes.
It’s not uncommon for a team to seriously explore the possibility of trading a star player at the deadline and then revisit those conversations in the offseason. The Pelicans memorably took that route with Anthony Davis in 2019 before trading him to the Lakers that summer. The Suns took a similar path with Kevin Durant a year ago, discussing deals in January and February and then holding onto him until July, when he was sent to Houston.
While this is the closest the Bucks have ever come to trading Antetokounmpo, it’s also still not an absolute lock that he’ll be wearing a new jersey by opening night of next season.
According to Collier, Milwaukee has continued to explore the trade market for opportunities to upgrade its roster, hoping to find a buy-low opportunity with a trade partner looking to shed long-term salary. The Bucks have been linked to Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, for instance.
Antetokounmpo said in a conversation with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this week that he still holds great affinity for Milwaukee and would prefer to remain with the Bucks if they could give him a legitimate chance to compete for a championship. He reiterated that message during a separate discussion with Eric Nehm of The Athletic when asked if he’d commit to another season in Milwaukee if the Bucks could build a roster capable of winning consistently.
“You’re saying that if they can convince me to stay within the team, and the next year that we can compete? Oh yeah, 1,000 percent,” Antetokounmpo said. “One million percent.”
Still, it will be extremely challenging for the Bucks – who have a 20-29 record this season – to improve their roster that significantly, given their limited trade assets. The team currently has just one tradable first-round pick, in either 2031 or 2032.
The Bucks may also not be motivated to continue pursuing win-now moves if Antetokounmpo isn’t willing to commit to them beyond next season — he becomes extension-eligible this October and could reach unrestricted free agency as soon as the summer of 2027 if he doesn’t sign a new deal before then.
Trade Rumors: Giannis, Morant, Alvarado, Knicks, Raptors
While Thursday is usually the busiest day of the NBA’s trade deadline week, Tuesday and Wednesday have been more active than usual this season, observes Fred Katz of The Athletic.
There are a number of reasons why that may be the case, but one front office executive who spoke to Katz believes teams are reacting to what happened at last year’s deadline, when physical exams affected two trade agreements. The Sixers and Mavericks slightly reworked the terms of their Caleb Martin/Quentin Grimes deal due to concerns about Martin’s physical, while the Lakers and Hornets rescinded their Mark Williams trade as a result of Williams’ physical.
The Philadelphia/Dallas deal was agreed to and finalized on the Tuesday before the deadline, which allowed the two teams to conduct physical and then amend the terms on Thursday. However, because Los Angeles and Charlotte finalized their deal on Thursday, the issues with Williams’ physical didn’t arise until after the deadline, when negotiations couldn’t be reopened. At that point, the Lakers had just two options: approve the deal anyway or nix it altogether.
Several teams making deals at this year’s deadline may have those situations in the backs of their mind, Katz explains, prompting them to get their business done a little earlier in the week.
Here are more trade rumors from around the NBA, with the deadline just over five hours away:
- The Timberwolves and Heat don’t believe they’re out of the running for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but like Golden State, they remain skeptical that the Bucks are ready to get a deal done today, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link). Fischer, who previously identified Milwaukee as a team to watch on the Ja Morant front, also continues to hear that the Bucks remain engaged with the Grizzlies about the star point guard.
- Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado remains on the Knicks‘ radar, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). While New York reportedly didn’t have much luck selling New Orleans on a deal that included Guerschon Yabusele, the team may have more success with Dalen Terry‘s expiring contract after agreeing to send Yabusele to Chicago. The Knicks have also expressed interest in Yves Missi, but the Pelicans have reportedly insisted on a first-round pick for him to this point. New York’s only tradable first-rounder is Washington’s top-eight protected 2026 pick, which will likely turn into second-rounders.
- It’s been a busy week for the Bulls, who have finalized three trades and agreed to two more, but they may not be done dealing yet. According to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, the Bulls’ front office was still talking to teams as of Wednesday night, with a “focus” on the Pelicans and Rockets. Chicago has been linked to Zion Williamson and Missi from New Orleans and Tari Eason from Houston, Cowley notes. However, he says the Bulls haven’t made real progress on the Pelicans’ players, and reports have indicated the Rockets are very resistant to moving Eason.
- After agreeing to two minor deals on Wednesday to duck the luxury tax and add Trayce Jackson-Davis, the Raptors are unlikely to make a major move ahead of Thursday’s deadline, Michael Grange of Sportsnet (Twitter video link) and TSN’s Josh Lewenberg (Twitter video link) said during TV appearances. Toronto has been linked to several notable big men, but some (Anthony Davis and Jaren Jackson Jr.) have been traded to other teams, while Domantas Sabonis appears likely to remain in Sacramento.