Magic’s Jalen Suggs Expected To Return Saturday
Magic guard Jalen Suggs went through Saturday’s shootaround and is expected to suit up this evening against Cleveland, reports Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).
The fifth overall pick in the 2021 draft, Suggs has missed Orlando’s past eight games with an MCL contusion in his right knee, last playing on January 2. He has battled multiple injuries again so far in 2025/26.
The 24-year-old appeared in 48, 53, 75 and 35 games in his first four seasons leading up to ’25/26. He has played in 23 of the Magic’s 43 games so far this season.
While availability has obviously been a major issue for Suggs, the ’23/24 All-Defensive member has been incredibly impactful when he’s on the court. In his 584 minutes, the Magic have a +10.1 net rating and a 106.1 defensive rating; projected out, both figures would only trail the defending champion Thunder. When Suggs is unavailable, Orlando’s net rating plummets to -4.0, with a defensive rating (116.0) equivalent to the 20th-ranked Hornets.
The Magic are 14-9 with Suggs in the lineup this season, compared to a 9-11 mark without him. He has averaged 15.0 points, 4.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals on .471/.331/.857 shooting in his 23 games (25.4 minutes per contest).
Suggs, a Minnesota native, is under contract through ’29/30. He’s in the first season of a five-year, $150MM rookie scale extension.
Southeast Notes: Hornets Rookies, Wizards Lineup, Heat Injuries, Herro
Rookies Kon Knueppel, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Liam McNeeley have reenergized 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 listed as questionable on Friday (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 its past 24 games. They have yet to win consecutive games in January. Injury issues have led to the Heat 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.
Ja Morant Sidelined At Least Three Weeks With Elbow Sprain
Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant will miss at least three weeks due to a left elbow injury. Morant sustained a UCL sprain in his left elbow during the team’s home game against the Hawks on Wednesday, the team tweets.
He will be reevaluated in approximately three weeks.
Along with impacting Memphis’ chances of making the postseason — the Grizzlies are currently in 12th place in the Western Conference — Morant’s injury could have a major implications on the front office’s approach to the trade deadline.
Reports surfaced early this month that Memphis was open to trading Morant. His latest injury will likely make it more difficult to deal him to any contender seeking point guard help.
Even prior to the injury, the market for Morant was limited at best. He has two more years and $87MM remaining on his five-year max contract. He’s making $39,446,090 this season.
Conversely, the Grizzlies might be more motivated to go into sell mode, including their other star, big man Jaren Jackson Jr.
Morant recently returned from a calf injury that sidelined him for over two weeks. He’s been highly effective in the two games since recovering from that injury. He posted 24 points and 13 assists in a win over Orlando on Sunday and had 23 points, 12 assists and three blocks in 30 minutes against the Hawks.
Morant has only suited up for 20 games this season, averaging 19.5 points and 8.1 assists.
And-Ones: Bediako, Barcelona, Luxury Tax Teams, Worst Contracts
Former G Leaguer Charles Bediako is expected to play for Alabama against Tennessee tonight, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reports.
Bediako was granted a temporary restraining order earlier this week, allowing him to participate in activities and games for Alabama while he awaits a hearing on a preliminary injunction regarding his eligibility.
“We are planning to play him,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “He’s eligible to play. We’re going to follow the court orders.”
It turns out that the judge who issued the order is an Alabama booster, according to Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports. Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Jim Roberts and his wife Mary Turner Roberts are listed as active athletic donors on The Crimson Tide Foundation’s website, with lifetime contributions between $100K and $249K.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches held a conference call regarding the matter on Friday. Afterward, Dan Gavitt, the NCAA Senior VP of Basketball, released a statement voicing their concerns about college eligibility, Borzello tweets.
“If these rules surrounding the NCAA pre- and post-draft rules cannot be enforced, it would create an unstable environment” for the student-athletes, schools and the NBA, it read in part.
Here’s more from around the international basketball world:
- Barcelona plans to pass on the NBA’s proposed league in Europe. FC Barcelona’s Board of Directors issued a statement declaring its allegiance to the EuroLeague. “The Board of Directors has agreed to ratify the extension of the first men’s basketball team’s participation license in the Euroleague for the next 10 seasons (until the 2035-36 season), a competition of which it is a co-founding member. The Board of Directors reaffirms its desire to always participate in the best existing competitions.”
- In his latest Substack post, cap expert Yossi Gozlan takes a deep dive into the teams over the luxury tax and discusses why some teams just over the line have waited to make moves to get below the threshold. Gozlan also takes a look at how the Sixers are navigating the eligibility clocks for two-way players Jabari Walker, Dominick Barlow and Hunter Sallis.
- The Sixers star duo of Joel Embiid and Paul George hold the top two spots in the “Worst Value Contracts” in the NBA, according to Spotrac contributor Keith Smith. Jakob Poeltl, Patrick Williams and Dejounte Murray round out Smith’s top five among his top 20 in that category.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Expected To Be Sidelined Several Weeks Due To Calf Injury
Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t a doctor, but he sounded like one after suffering a right calf injury in the Bucks’ 102-100 loss to the Nuggets on Friday. The Bucks superstar expects to sit out four-to-six weeks, according to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm and Jamal Collier of ESPN. He’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday to confirm the diagnosis.
“Probably the next steps will be, go to (an) MRI tomorrow. After the MRI, they’ll tell me, probably, I popped something in my calf, in my soleus, something. They’ll probably give me a protocol of four to six weeks that I’ll be out,” Antetokounmpo said. “This is from my experience being around the NBA.”
Antetokounmpo felt some pain during the first quarter and retreated to the locker room. He returned with a wrap around the calf and continued to play, logging 32 minutes and posting 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers took him out during the final minute after he pulled up lame, limped past half court and then grabbed at his right calf.
“I’ll say, I don’t (know) if this is smart or not smart, but I’ll just say my competitive spirit,” Antetokounmpo said of continuing to play after tweaking the calf in the first quarter. “Obviously, I was feeling it a majority of the game, but I did not want to stop playing. But at the end, I could not move no more, so I had to stop.”
Rivers asserted that his medical staff assured him throughout the game that Antetokounmpo was healthy enough to play.
“I asked our [medical] team five different times,” Rivers said. “I didn’t like what my eyes were seeing, personally. Giannis was defiant about staying in.”
This development is not only a severe blow to the Bucks’ chances of making the playoffs — they’re 18-26 and 11th in the Eastern Conference — but could also impact the front office’s trade deadline strategy.
The future of the Bucks’ star has been an endless source of speculation. As recently as Friday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the former Most Valuable Player’s frustration was at an all-time high due to the team’s poor record.
Several teams have reportedly been hanging onto their top trade assets in the hopes that Antetokounmpo will end up on the trade block, but the Bucks star has said on the record that he never intends to request a trade out of Milwaukee and there has been no indication the front office would proactively look to move him.
It’s also been reported that the Bucks were looking for ways to upgrade the roster in an attempt to appease Antetokoumnpo. That approach could change if their star won’t be able to take the court for an extended period.
Milwaukee went 3-11 in the 14 games Antetokounmpo missed with a left adductor strain and a right soleus strain earlier this season.
“This calf keeps coming up and it’s concerning,” Rivers said. “I’m not a doctor, but I’m smart enough to know that his calf keeps bothering him and there’s something that is there. It keeps happening, and that’s troublesome for all of us.”
The injury will likely force Giannis to miss next month’s All-Star Game. He was named an All-Star starter on Monday.
Antetokounmpo vowed to make a strong comeback, rather than sitting out the rest of the season.
“I’m going to work my butt off to come back,” he said. “That will probably be the end of February, beginning of March. Hopefully the team will be in a place that we can at least make the play-in or make the playoffs and just take it day by day, try to get better.”
Injury Notes: Gordon, Davis, Gafford, Claxton, Towns
Bad news for Nuggets fans: Aaron Gordon reinjured his right hamstring strain on Friday in Milwaukee and was eventually ruled out for the second half, the team announced (Twitter link).
Gordon was playing on both ends of a back-to-back for the second time since he initially strained his hamstring in November, an injury which caused him to miss six weeks.
“I feel good. Better than I’ve felt in a long time,” Gordon said after Thursday’s win at Washington, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link).
The veteran power forward appeared to tweak his hamstring in the final minute of the second quarter (Twitter video link via DNVR Sports). He finished with 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 16 minutes.
While Gordon was available, multiple other key players were held out Friday, including Jamal Murray (right hamstring inflammation, left hip inflammation), Peyton Watson (right and left ankle sprains), and Jonas Valanciunas, who returned to action on Thursday after missing just over three weeks with a right calf strain.
Here are some more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Mavericks big man Anthony Davis, who is on the mend from ligament damage in his left hand, has begun light on-court work while wearing a protective glove, reports Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com. Davis is expected to miss several weeks, though no firm timetable has been given for his return.
- As Afseth writes in another story for Dallas Hoops Journal, Mavericks center Daniel Gafford will return to action on Saturday against the Lakers after missing four games with a right ankle sprain that has given the 27-year-old big man issues throughout the 2025/26 campaign. Dwight Powell will continue to start in the middle even with Gafford back, however, as Dallas looks for its fifth straight win.
- Nets center Nic Claxton injured his pinkie finger in Friday’s double-overtime loss to Boston and will undergo imaging on Saturday, he told reporters, including Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link). Claxton was asked about being involved in trade rumors prior to Friday’s game and if he’s had any conversations with general manager Sean Marks, tweets Lewis. “I’ve almost been traded before,” Claxton said. “Sean, he has an open-door policy. You can always go talk to him whenever you want; but that’s for my agents to take care of. I’m just here as long as I’m here.”
- Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns is dealing with thoracic back spasms and is questionable for Saturday’s game in Philadelphia, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). The five-time All-Star has appeared in 41 of New York’s 44 games to this point in the season.
NBA Rumors: Trade Deadline, Bridges, Mavs, Luka, Lakers
While the grand majority of in-season trades occur during the week of the deadline, this season has been unusually slow as far as deal-making goes. For instance, at this time last year, we had already seen five in-season trades — to this point in 2025/26, we’ve only had one. So why haven’t we seen more action?
ESPN’s Bobby Marks recently spoke to NBA front office executives to get a better understanding of the answer to that question. There are four main reasons for the relative lack of activity to this point, Marks writes.
The first and most important factor holding up the market, per Marks, is that rival teams are waiting to see if Giannis Antetokounmpo requests a trade or if the Bucks decide to listen to offers for the two-time MVP.
Second, a few teams who were viewed as potential deadline sellers entering the season — including the Celtics, Sixers and Suns — are instead vying for home court advantage in the postseason. As Marks observes, Philadelphia made multiple deals last year to dip below the luxury tax line, but that’s unlikely to occur again in ’25/26.
Third, the Mavericks and Grizzlies will likely get underwhelming offers for Anthony Davis and Ja Morant, respectively, leading up to the deadline with their values at low points, so they may not be moved prior to February 5. Davis is out several weeks due to ligament damage in his left hand, while Morant, who has missed extended time this season with calf issues, has been diagnosed with a UCL sprain in his left elbow and was ruled out of Friday’s loss at New Orleans (Twitter link via the Grizzlies).
The final factor for the slow-moving market, according to Marks, is that teams seem more willing to retain their own expiring contracts to maintain financial flexibility in the summer rather than take on multiyear salaries that could disrupt future plans. Multiple teams, including the Lakers, Bulls and Jazz, have long lists of players who could hit free agency in 2026, Marks notes.
Here are a few more rumors from around the NBA:
- Confirming a report from Sam Amick of The Athletic, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) says the Suns are indeed fans of Miles Bridges. However, the Hornets reportedly want at least one first-round pick for the veteran forward, and Gambadoro points out that Phoenix lacks moveable first-rounders to include in such a deal. Gambadoro also confirms the Suns are reluctant to risk upsetting their positive chemistry by making a significant in-season move, and suggests a minor trade is more likely.
- Ahead of Luka Doncic‘s second game in Dallas since he was shockingly traded to Los Angeles last February, Christian Clark and Dan Woike of The Athletic share several sourced notes on both the Mavericks and the Lakers. According to the authors, part of the reason the Mavs — led at the time by head of basketball operations Nico Harrison, who has since been dismissed — moved Doncic is because they believed he had poor habits related to conditioning and were concerned about the calf strain he sustained in late December 2024 and possible future injuries. One source in the Mavericks’ organization compared Doncic to Elvis Presley and claimed the trade helped him develop better habits and get in better shape. “They got skinny Elvis,” the team source told The Athletic.
- People close to Doncic dispute that characterization, however, and say that line of thinking is a factor in why the Slovenian star is no longer on the Mavericks. According to Clark and Woike, Doncic’s camp believed whether he was traded or not, he “was on a path to improving his diet and conditioning as he matured.” Doncic and those around him have been focused on the present and future and not the past, per the report.
- It took multiple seasons for the Mavericks to surround Doncic with sort of complementary players that led to a trip to the NBA Finals in 2024, and it will take time for the Lakers to reshape their roster around the 26-year-old guard as well, sources in L.A. tell The Athletic. Those same sources noted that the Lakers need to upgrade their athleticism, defense and shooting, and some people around the organization think the any significant roster changes will occur in the offseason, not ahead of the deadline.
- The Mavericks have started the process of vetting candidates to replace Harrison on a permanent basis, per Clark and Woike, but are unlikely to hire anyone until at least the spring. The Athletic’s duo point out that Harrison, a longtime Nike executive, had no previous experience running an NBA team when he was hired in 2021. That won’t be the case for his replacement. “(They) are going to over-index on the safety aspect of it,” a league source told The Athletic.
Devin Booker Injures Right Ankle Friday
In the same game in which his teammate Jalen Green was ruled out after just four minutes due to hamstring tightness, Suns star Devin Booker appeared to suffer a right ankle injury, tweets Gerald Bourguet of Suns After Dark.
Booker’s injury occurred in the closing seconds of the third quarter of Friday’s contest at Atlanta (Twitter video link via ESPN). After having his defensive rebound dislodged by Mouhamed Gueye, Booker started jogging up the court, but then noticed that Grayson Allen — who had picked up the loose ball — dribbled the ball off his leg and out of bounds.
Since he was distracted and looking at Allen on the sideline, Booker was unaware of the presence of Onyeka Okongwu, who was also looking at Allen lose control of the ball, and inadvertently stepped on the Hawks big man’s left foot, causing his right ankle to roll.
Booker immediately collapsed to the court in pain and began grabbing at his ankle. He was eventually helped up with assistance and limped off the court, proceeding straight to the visitor’s locker room, per Brad Rowland of Locked On Hawks (Twitter link). The 29-year-old guard did not return to the game.
A four-time All-Star, Booker had 31 points (on 12-of-21 shooting), four rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes, with the Suns up seven entering the final frame. They only managed 12 points in the final period without their best player and wound up losing 110-103.
If Booker misses additional time as a result of his ankle injury, Allen, Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin are among the Suns guards who could receive more minutes.
Suns’ Jalen Green Exits Friday’s Game With Hamstring Tightness
Suns guard Jalen Green checked out of Friday’s game in Atlanta after just four minutes of playing time, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Green left Phoenix’s bench and headed back to the locker room, with the Suns later ruling him out for the remainder of the contest with what they called “precautionary right hamstring tightness.”
It’s a discouraging setback for Green and for the Suns, as the 23-year-old has repeatedly dealt with right hamstring issues over the past four-plus months.
Green just returned to action on Tuesday after missing 33 consecutive games, scoring 12 points in 20 minutes off the bench in a win at Philadelphia. Friday marked his second game back since November 8.
Strangely, Green’s latest setback closely mirrors what happened in early November, when he played 23 minutes in his season debut on Nov. 6 and then re-injured his hamstring a couple days later just seven minutes into his second game of the 2025/26 campaign.
The former No. 2 overall pick initially strained the hamstring during training camp, then aggravated it during his ramp-up process in mid-October, delaying his ’25/26 debut. He has only played in four of Phoenix’s 45 games to this point, and obviously two of those appearances were very brief.
Head coach Jordan Ott said earlier this week that Green did not aggravate his hamstring strain during his 33-game absence, explaining that the team was just being cautious with the 6’4″ shooting guard. He had come off the bench the past two contests and was on a minutes restriction.
We’ll have to wait for further updates on Green to see if he’ll miss additional time as a result of the tightness he experienced on Friday.
Warriors Notes: Curry, Butler, Kuminga, Wiggins, Green, More
The Warriors had been delighted by the play of Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, which is a significant factor in why the franchise has taken the news of Butler’s season-ending torn ACL so hard, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).
As Stein writes, Curry declined to speak to the media after Tuesday’s loss to Toronto because he was still processing the ramifications of the injury, and head coach Steve Kerr admitted the superstar guard was “crushed” by the news following Thursday’s defeat to the Mavs in Dallas.
“It’s obviously a tough situation. First and foremost, you think about [Butler] and his recovery and his spirits, just trying to be there for him as a friend and teammate,” Curry said after Thursday’s game. “But basketball-wise, we have to make the necessary adjustments to try to keep a semblance of our identity that we were forming with him as a part of that push.
“These last two games have been difficult in making that adjustment, but I think emotionally we have to try and move on as fast as possible to not let things spiral the wrong direction. … It’s no secret this is difficult for everybody, trying to accept the reality of what’s going on.”
Golden State’s front office has given Butler “strong assurances” that the team wants him back next season as soon as he has recovered from the major knee injury, according to Stein, who reiterates that trading the 36-year-old forward is not currently part of the Warriors’ plans.
Here are a few more notes and rumors on the Warriors:
- As for what moves the Warriors will look to make ahead of the February 5 deadline, trying to find a workable Jonathan Kuminga trade is a high priority, sources tell Stein, but the team also continues to signal it’s OK with keeping him for the rest of the season if necessary in an attempt to rebuild his market value ahead of the offseason. Before Kuminga injured his ankle and knee in Thursday’s game, Stein hears the Warriors planned to increase his minutes in the lead-up to the deadline. The 23-year-old forward will miss Saturday’s game in Minnesota due to left knee soreness, tweets ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
- According to Stein, the Warriors are interested in a reunion with Andrew Wiggins and will explore the possibility of sending Kuminga to Miami in exchange for the former No. 1 overall pick. It’s worth noting that Wiggins ($28.2MM) makes more money than Kuminga ($22.5MM) and the Warriors are right up against their second-apron hard cap, so they’d have to add more salary to the deal to make it a legal framework.
- The Warriors would be “negligent” not to make a pre-deadline deal to give Curry more help, contends Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
- On his podcast (YouTube link), forward/center Draymond Green offered a reserved take on GM Mike Dunleavy Jr.‘s eyebrow-raising comments about Kuminga’s trade demand, as Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area relays.
- While Curry is frustrated and disappointed by Butler’s injury, he says his belief in his ability to lead the team to victories hasn’t been shaken, per Nick Friedell of The Athletic. “As long as I’m out there, I’m always confident we can win,” Curry said. “It’s how I play. It’s how we want to play, and until proven otherwise, you have to carry that mentality.”