Patrick Beverley Parts Ways With Hapoel Tel Aviv
Veteran guard Patrick Beverley has officially parted ways with Hapoel Tel Aviv, with the Israeli team describing the move as a mutual decision, according to BasketNews.com.
A former second-round pick, Beverley started his career in Europe, playing three seasons overseas before a 12-year run in the NBA. He was unable to find a new team in 2024 free agency after playing for the 76ers and Bucks last season, eventually joining Hapoel Tel Aviv, which competes domestically in the Israeli premier league and internationally in the EuroCup.
As BasketNews notes, Beverley recently had a public spat with Dimitris Itoudis, drawing a suspension for mocking the club’s head coach on social media. He didn’t play another game for Hapoel Tel Aviv after the incident.
In 14 EuroCup games in 2024/25, the 36-year-old averaged 10.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals on .410/.353/.968 shooting. Beverley averaged 9.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists on .492/.405/.750 shooting in nine games in the Israeli Premier League.
It’s possible that Beverley could receive some NBA interest now that he’s a free agent again.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 2/13/2025
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 2:00 pm Central time (3:00 pm Eastern).
And-Ones: Anthony, Curry, Ionescu, Thornwell, Cook
NBC Sports is hiring former NBA star Carmelo Anthony to be one of the network’s top studio analysts when it starts broadcasting games again next season, reports Andrew Marchand of The Athletic.
According to Marchand, NBC recently had discussions with Charles Barkley, but those talks have ended. Barkley, a Hall-of-Famer and longtime analyst for TNT, will continue his role on “Inside the NBA” as part of an agreement with ABC/ESPN, even though TNT lost its broadcast rights for 2025/26.
Marchand also hears that current ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson has drawn interest from Amazon for next season. ’25/26 will be the first season in which Amazon has the broadcast rights for NBA games.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Warriors guard Stephen Curry and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu were expected to have a rematch after last year’s well-received three-point shootout at All-Star weekend. However, that won’t take place this weekend in San Francisco after all, according to Joe Vardon and Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “We weren’t able to land on a plan we thought would raise the bar off of last year’s special moment,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement. “We all agreed not to proceed and will instead keep the focus on All-Star Sunday’s new format.” Vardon and Slater hear that Curry and Ionescu were only interested in holding the event if it was expanded to feature more NBA and WNBA players; those plans essentially fell through when Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark announced that she wanted to focus on the WNBA’s three-point contest in Indianapolis later this year.
- Former NBA guard/forward Sindarius Thornwell has left Zastal Zielona Góra to join the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association, the Polish team announced (via Twitter). According to Zastal, Thornwell was technically bought out of his contract after a lucrative offer from the Flying Tigers (hat tip to Sportando). A former second-round pick, the 30-year-old wing spent four seasons in the NBA, last suiting up for Orlando during the ’20/21 campaign.
- Thornwell isn’t the only former NBA player heading to China, as veteran guard Quinn Cook has agreed to a rest-of-season deal with the Fujian Sturgeons, agent Zac Benalloul tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Cook, 31, won a pair of championships with the Warriors and Lakers over the course of his five years in the league (from 2016-21). The former Duke Blue Devil played in Puerto Rico and Taiwan last season. This will be his second stint in the CBA.
Nuggets Notes: Murray, Jokic, Westbrook, Pickett, Strawther
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray made up for being ejected from Monday’s game against Portland by scoring a career-high 55 points in Wednesday’s rematch with the Blazers. Murray exchanged trash talk with Portland on Monday, earning technical fouls in the third and fourth quarters of the game.
“They shouldn’t have done that,” big man Zeke Nnaji said of the Blazers’ trash talk, per ESPN.com. “When he’s mad, there’s no one in the world that can stop him.”
In part due to Murray’s strong play, the Nuggets have now won eight straight games and trail Memphis by just a half-game for the No. 2 seed in the West. Murray shot 20-of-36 from the field, including 7-of-15 from three-point range, in 42 minutes on Wednesday. Denver outscored Portland by 26 points when he was on the court in the 11-point victory.
“It’s just all competitive spirit,” Murray said. “I came ready to play. Especially just being used to the playoffs and playing the same team over and over, and they know your plays and things get chippy and you have to see them again. So, I think just that kind of factor made me ready to go. I was truly prepared today.”
As ESPN’s story notes, Murray’s scoring outburst — the third-highest mark in franchise history — overshadowed Nikola Jokic‘s 25th triple-double of the season. Only Oscar Robertson (28 in 1961/62) and Russell Westbrook (27 in ’16/17) have recorded more triple-doubles before the All-Star break than Jokic has in ’24/25, per ESPN Research.
“Please, let’s never take Nikola’s greatness for granted,” head coach Michael Malone said. “We are witnessing history every single night. I don’t take it for granted. He’s incredible, and I really feel fortunate and blessed to have coached him for 10 years now.”
Here’s more on the Nuggets:
- Malone told reporters on Wednesday, including Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscriber link), that Westbrook should return to action after the All-Star break. The former league MVP, who is on a two-year, veteran’s minimum deal with Denver, has missed the past seven games with a left hamstring strain. “Everything’s pointing forward to him being able to use this break, use this stretch of games when he’s been out rehabbing, to come out of the break and be active and be available,” Malone said.
- After a storied five-year college career, second-year guard Jalen Pickett found himself outside of the Nuggets’ rotation as a rookie in ’23/24 and to open ’24/25. However, he has been been a steady hand of late for the second unit with Westbrook out, according to Durando (subscription required). “I’ve had a rough last year. And you’ve gotta just love that, being able to go through some challenges, find things that you’re good at,” Pickett said. “After such a successful college career, coming here and just basically starting over, it was tough at first. And then I just kind of fell in love with the grind, and just getting back in the gym and seeing where I could take my game.”
- Will second-year wing Julian Strawther be part of Denver’s playoff rotation? Durando explores that topic in another subscriber-only story for The Denver Post. “He’s still a young player, and so you see the inconsistencies,” Malone said. “Two games ago, his first start, he’s down on himself, doesn’t play as well as we know he’s capable of playing. Doesn’t make shots. Then he rebounds in his second start. … I think for all young players, you go back to all guys, early stages are up and down. You have to live with those. Obviously, if and when we get to the playoffs, we’ll figure all that out. But he’s an important piece. He’s a guy that we, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, we need him to be aggressive.”
Hornets Waive Two-Way Player Isaiah Wong
The Hornets have waived two-way player Isaiah Wong, according to a team press release.
Wong appeared in 20 games with the Hornets this season, averaging 6.0 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 13.3 minutes per game. Wong, who also appeared in six G League games this season, signed a two-way contract with the Hornets on Dec. 2. At that time, he agreed to a two-year deal that covered the 2025/26 season as well as the rest of ’24/25.
Charlotte has been tinkering with its roster in recent days. It promoted Moussa Diabate from a two-way deal to a standard contract over the weekend. The Hornets then signed Damion Baugh to a two-way contract on Wednesday.
Due to numerous injuries to rotation players, Wong had appeared in 10 games since Jan. 22. He played 16 minutes on Wednesday against Orlando and scored seven points.
Wong was drafted in the second round in 2023 by Indiana out of Miami (Fla.). He was playing for Utah’s G League team, the Salt Lake City Stars, when the Hornets offered him a contract. With the All-Star break coming up, there’s no immediate need for the Hornets to fill the two-way spot.
Central Notes: Pistons, Cavs, Hunter, Strus, Okafor, Nesmith
The Pistons enter the All-Star break with a 29-26 record, their first winning record heading into the NBA’s annual celebration weekend since 2009. They’ll also carry a four-game winning streak into their next game on Feb. 21. Detroit recorded double-digit victories at Chicago on consecutive nights on Tuesday and Wednesday and currently hold a top-six playoff spot.
“We are pleased with what we have done,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. per Cory Davis of the Detroit News. “From where we came from to where we are now, there have been a lot of tough lessons learned, and that has been the enjoyable part of this. … A lot of growth. We are pleased with it, but we have a lot more work to do.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- With the acquisition of De’Andre Hunter, the Cavaliers essentially have a three-year championship window, as Jason Lloyd of The Athletic explains. The core group of the team is under contract through the 2026/27 season and the Cavs will likely have to exceed the second tax apron to keep it together. If Evan Mobley makes an All-NBA team this season, his max contract will increase and leave them above that level. The penalties for being above the second apron steadily increase if a team remains there for two or more seasons.
- In a subscriber-only story, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com notes that Hunter may not necessarily wind up as a starter. Max Strus has been effective in the starting small forward spot and he’s averaging 15.3 points and 3.8 assists over the last three games.
- Alex Len was reportedly going to sign with the Pacers after he cleared waivers. Instead, he chose to go to the Lakers and the Pacers gave veteran big man Jahlil Okafor a 10-day contract. Okafor had been toiling in the G League with the Indiana Mad Ants. “We’re taking care of our own here. There were other options, but we elected to bring somebody on board that has been with us for the entirety of the Mad Ants season,” coach Rick Carlisle said, per Akeem Glaspie of the Indianapolis Star. “That’s loyalty to show to someone who’s shown loyalty to us, which is great. And I wish him the best.”
- Aaron Nesmith, who opened the season in the Pacers’ starting lineup, reclaimed his spot this week, with Bennedict Mathurin moving back to the second unit. Carlisle said Nesmith provides a different element to the starting five, Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star writes. “It creates a better balance on our team,” Carlisle said. “Benn’s a scorer, and Benn needs to get shots, and we have (Tyrese Haliburton) and Pascal (Siakam) out there to start games. This just makes it work better from an offensive standpoint.”
Mavs Notes: Kyrie, Davis, Milic, Front Office
It was a chaotic return home on Monday for the Mavericks — the team ejected several fans who expressed their displeasure about the Luka Doncic trade, lost a one-point thriller in overtime, and saw head coach Jason Kidd skip out on his post-game media session.
That context made Kyrie Irving‘s performance on Wednesday all the more impressive. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes, Irving racked up 42 points on 15-of-25 shooting and drew a crucial offensive foul on Jimmy Butler with 17 seconds left in the game, leading Dallas to a much-needed win over Golden State and giving the home fans a feel-good moment.
“That was special,” Klay Thompson said after the victory over his former team. “That was incredible — 42 and the defensive stop of the night. Yeah, that was incredible. Needed it bad, especially when I didn’t have my best shooting night. That’s our point guard, man. That was ridiculous.”
The shorthanded Mavericks – who had to start 6’7″ forward Kessler Edwards at center due to injuries to Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, Dwight Powell, and newly acquired star Anthony Davis – were going up against a Warriors club that had won back-to-back road games since Butler’s debut. Irving said the home crowd helped give the home team the spark it needed to pull out the win.
“Anytime you’re in a game like tonight and you’re looking for that energy, you look into the crowd, our fans, and you could drive yourself off that or get amplified, electrified off of that energy that’s in the crowd,” Irving said. “And it makes a big difference for us in in our home stadium. We got to protect it — our arena — and I feel like our fans know that. We’re obviously dealing with something unique, but at the same time we have to put our best foot forward.”
Here’s more on the Mavericks:
- Although the Mavericks have yet to make an official announcement on how Davis’ adductor strain will be treated and how much time he might miss, NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter links) hears there has been “tangible optimism” in Dallas that the injury won’t require surgery. One source close to the situation tells Stein that the Mavs are still evaluating Davis’ recovery timeline and “will be cautious” about targeting a return date.
- Marko Milic, who joined the Mavericks’ coaching staff in a player development role during the 2022 offseason, has stepped down from his role, sources tell Stein (Twitter link). According to Stein, Milic – who was the first Slovenian to play in the NBA – decided not to remain with the team following the Doncic trade.
- Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Substack link) calls out the Mavericks’ leaders for a lack of transparency and accountability, noting that the team still hasn’t publicly commented on its Caleb Martin trade, which needed to be amended to send a second-round pick to Dallas due to concerns about Martin’s physical. The front office also hasn’t responded to Doncic’s assertion that he “absolutely” didn’t give the team any indication he wouldn’t have signed a super-max extension offer during the 2025 offseason, Afseth adds.
Trade Deadline Leftovers: Bulls, Ball, Jazz, Luka, More
The Bulls had a “firm offer” to acquire a first-round pick and take on future salary in a deal for Lonzo Ball at the trade deadline, a league source tells John Hollinger of The Athletic. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link) backs up that report, suggesting he heard the same thing prior to the deadline.
Instead of accepting that offer, the Bulls opted to hang onto Ball and agreed to sign him to an extension instead. That two-year deal will reportedly be worth $20MM, with a second-year team option for 2026/27.
While it’s fair to question Chicago’s decision to pass on that reported trade offer, there are several missing details that would provide more context on just how strong the offer was. For instance, we don’t know how many years of salary the Bulls would’ve been required to take on, whether the first-rounder was heavily protected or likely to land in the late-20s, and whether other players or assets would have been included.
Johnson does provide one additional detail, tweeting that at least one of the scenarios he heard about would’ve required the Bulls to sent out a second-round pick along with Ball as part of the deal.
Here are a few more leftovers from last Thursday’s trade deadline:
- Appearing on the local broadcast of Wednesday’s game vs. the Lakers (Twitter video link via Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal), Jazz general manager Justin Zanik suggested that Los Angeles was fortunate to land superstar guard Luka Doncic in a trade Utah helped facilitate. “(Lakers GM) Rob Pelinka even said it in his press conference introducing Luka, that it was a gift,” Zanik said. “I think that’s how a lot of my colleagues – I don’t want to speak for them – but how we all kind of felt.”
- Zanik went on to say that he respects the Mavericks‘ front office and noted that Dallas received a “top-15 player” in his own right in Anthony Davis. He also expressed a belief that if the Jazz hadn’t been willing to serve as a facilitator, another team would have stepped in and snatched up the two second-round picks that went to Utah for taking on Jalen Hood-Schifino‘s contract. “If we were in the playoffs right now, I’d be asking both (teams), ‘What is going on?’ and ‘I’m not doing it,'” the Jazz GM said. “But where we are, the ability to pick up stuff basically for free, to do something another team would have done anyway (made sense).”
- A panel of ESPN’s NBA reporters (Insider link), including Jeremy Woo, Bobby Marks, and Michael C. Wright, break down how seven lottery-bound teams’ moves at the trade deadline affect their outlook going forward. Addressing the Hornets‘ post-deadline plans, Marks notes that general manager Jeff Peterson will have to decide whether LaMelo Ball is still a foundational piece in Charlotte. As good as Ball has been when healthy, he has been limited to 91 total games since the start of the 2022/23 season and his impressive scoring numbers haven’t necessarily translated to wins.
- Only five teams – the Trail Blazers, Magic, Nets, Nuggets, and Timberwolves – sat out the trade deadline entirely, not making any moves in the week leading up to the afternoon of February 6. Michael Pina of The Ringer takes a closer look at why those teams opted to stand pat and delivers a one-word verdict on each club’s inactivity, including “bizarre” for Portland and “commendable” for Orlando.
Bulls Notes: Guards, Donovan, Vucevic, Roster
A surplus of guards following the Bulls‘ blockbuster trade of former All-Star wing Zach LaVine has yielded an interesting dilemma for head coach Billy Donovan. As Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune notes, Donovan is looking to thread the needle between putting giving his best players enough minutes and developing the club’s younger backcourt contributors.
“We have an overabundance of guards, quite honestly,” Donovan said. “We just do. I think we have nine guards. It’s a lot.”
Poe observes that the Bulls traded LaVine and cut guard Chris Duarte while bringing in Kevin Huerter and Tre Jones — ostensibly, then, the team offloaded two guards and brought in two more. But LaVine, at 6’5″, was the team’s starting small forward, and thanks to his athleticism could play a bit bigger than his size. He was also a considerably more multifaceted and prolific scorer than either of the two new additions.
“With the number of guards we have, I’m not opposed to the times when we’ve started with four guards,” Donovan said. “But that may not be the best thing for this group rotation-wise.”
The Bulls’ unbalanced roster appears ready-made to fall further into the depths of lottery contenders. So far, Chicago has gone 1-4 in its five games since the LaVine deal, including losing its last four straight.
There’s more out of the Windy City:
- The Bulls suffered their worst loss of the season, a 132-92 defeat to the Pistons on Tuesday, and followed that up with a 128-110 encore loss to Detroit on Wednesday. Poe writes in another piece that Chicago fans booed their own team early in the second quarter on Tuesday. “It’s embarrassing,” Donovan said. “There’s no question about it.” Without LaVine’s scoring acumen, the Bulls could be in for a lot more losing in the last 27 games of the year, Poe notes.
- After moving LaVine, the Bulls received offers about another two-time All-Star on their roster, center Nikola Vucevic. Chicago ultimately opted not to move on from the 34-year-old even while clearly pivoting to a rebuild. Poe wonders in an additional story if the front office whiffed on what could have been a prime opportunity to extract the most value possible for the 6’10” vet. As we previously relayed, the team reportedly believes it will be able to fetch more assets in a potential deal this offseason.
- The Bulls hope to take stock of their revised roster during the All-Star break, writes Kyle Williams of The Chicago Sun-Times (subscriber link). “We’ll come back and meet as a group within plenty of time before we see the team to talk about some of those things,” Donovan said. “There may be some things that we put in offensively and defensively that we feel that maybe could help some of the things maybe we struggled with.”
Kings Sign Markelle Fultz For Rest Of Season
10:48 pm: Sacramento has officially announced the deal in a press statement.
9:52 pm: Free agent guard Markelle Fultz is signing a new contract with the Kings, agent Raymond Brothers of I AM Sports & Entertainment has informed Shams Charania of ESPN.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports (via Twitter) that the deal will keep Fultz in town through the rest of the season. Exact terms have yet to be divulged.
No corresponding roster move will be necessary, since the Kings have a pair of open roster spots after sending out more players than they took back in a series of trade-deadline deals.
After trading away De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin to the Spurs as part of a blockbuster three-team deal last week, Sacramento was left with a deficit of point guards. Adding Fultz will allow the club to begin replenishing its depth at that spot. The Kings’ eventual haul was headlined by two-time All-Star wing Zach LaVine and multiple future picks.
Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets that the Timberwolves were also considering adding Fultz this spring. After he reached unrestricted free agency during the 2024 offseason, the 6’4″ vet had been left wanting throughout the 2024/25 season — until now.
Fultz was selected with the No. 1 overall pick out of Washington in 2017. Boston traded down with Philadelphia, swapping the rights to Fultz for the rights to eventual six-time All-Star champion forward Jayson Tatum, the third pick in that draft out of Duke.
As Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL observes (Twitter link), the 26-year-old has struggled with a variety of maladies throughout his pro career, including a torn left ACL in 2021 and further problems in the same knee last season.
Fultz has only played more than 43 games twice across a seven-year career. Last season with Orlando, he appeared in just 43 contests, starting 18. Across 21.2 minutes for the playoff-bound Magic, he averaged 7.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals per night.
At 28-26, Sacramento is currently the eighth seed in a crowded Western Conference. The addition of Fultz should add a play-making presence and some defensive help at the point of attack.
Fultz himself reacted to Charania’s announcement, tweeting “God’s Plan.”