Bulls’ Tre Jones Out At Least Two Weeks With Hamstring Strain
Head coach Billy Donovan will be without a key member of the rotation for multiple weeks, according to the Bulls, who announced in a press release (via Twitter) that point guard Tre Jones has been diagnosed with a strained left hamstring and will be reevaluated in two weeks.
A former second-round pick (41st overall in the 2020 draft), Jones has been productive in his first full season with Chicago, averaging 12.4 points, 5.8 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game across 38 appearances, including 20 starts (26.8 minutes).
While the 26-year-old isn’t much of a threat from behind the arc, shooting just 32.8% from three-point range on 1.7 attempts, he’s been highly efficient on twos (a career-high 60.9% on 6.3 attempts) and at the charity stripe (84.8% on 3.6 attempts). Jones is known for having a steady hand in the backcourt — his assist-to-turnover ratio is an excellent 4.3-to-1.
Jones has played an important role in Chicago’s three-game winning streak, including Thursday’s victory at Minnesota. Although it wasn’t explicitly stated, he likely got injured in that win over the Wolves.
The Bulls have gone just 2-4 without Jones thus far in 2025/26, notes Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link). The sixth-year guard will miss at least eight games, and seems likely to be out through the All-Star break, which would increase that total to 11, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network.
More to come…
Giannis’ Frustration Reportedly At “All-Time High”
Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show (YouTube link), Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s camp has remained in regular conversation with the Bucks regarding the superstar forward’s future and whether the team is capable of competing at the level he desires.
“Giannis and the Bucks have been having ongoing conversations about his future,” Charania said (hat tip to RealGM). “Even going back to May. Those conversations… every single passing week, every single passing month since May when I first reported he was exploring his best fits outside of Milwaukee, for really the first time. And really getting down to which team he would want to go to. Where he would want to be.
“Those conversations have only grown with every passing week and month since May. And recently, the Bucks and Giannis’ conversations have intensified in nature.”
Charania pointed out that Antetokounmpo uncharacteristically criticized the team’s “selfish” play following Wednesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City, which was missing several rotation regulars. It was the Bucks’ fourth loss in their past five games, and the past three defeats have all been lopsided.
“The frustration that Giannis Antetokounmpo has is at an all-time high,” Charania said. “He’s frustrated with the losing, he’s frustrated with the situation. And I will say this: I’ve spoken to about a dozen sources on and off for weeks now.
“The tension that is in the air within that organization, in that locker room is at an all-time high. There’s somewhat of a splintering environment that we’re seeing going on there.
“Because when a player of Giannis’ caliber maybe has a wandering eye, or maybe doesn’t know what his future holds there, and is having these intense conversations with the organization about what that looks like, there’s going to be such high levels and degrees of uncertainty within that organization.”
According to Charania, Milwaukee’s leadership met with Antetokounmpo in July and tried to pitch him on the idea that they had a roster worthy of contending for a championship, but the 31-year-old wasn’t convinced that was the case, leading to trade conversations with New York that reportedly never went anywhere.
The Bucks are currently 18-25, Charania notes, one-and-a-half games behind Atlanta for the No. 10 seed and the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference. Antetokounmpo has missed 14 games this season due to injuries, with Milwaukee going just 3-11 in those contests. But even when he’s been healthy, the team is a mediocre 15-14. Obviously, none of those marks lend much credence to the notion that the Bucks are a contender.
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.
Reports throughout the season have indicated that the Bucks are looking to buy, not sell, to upgrade the roster around Giannis. Still, many people around the NBA believe it’s only a matter of time until the two sides split, and with Milwaukee struggling to keep pace in the playoff race, it will be interesting whether the front office doubles down on that aggressive approach or reconsiders it during the next two weeks.
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.”
Cory Joseph Signs With Olympiacos
Veteran point guard Cory Joseph has joined Olympiacos, the Greek team announced today in a press release.
Joseph, who spent 14 seasons in the NBA from 2011-25, signed with another EuroLeague club, AS Monaco, in December. However, Monaco was assessed a transfer ban due to outstanding financial issues and has been unable to resolve that situation, so Joseph never actually played for the team.
Now, the 34-year-old is set to suit up for an Olympiacos squad that currently leads Monaco by a half-game in the EuroLeague standings. At 15-8, Olympiacos ranks fourth of 20 teams in the EuroLeague. The club has also gone undefeated (14-0) in the Greek Basketball League so far this season.
The 29th overall pick in the 2011 draft, Joseph was a backup point guard for most of his NBA career, spending time in San Antonio, Toronto, Indiana, Sacramento, Detroit, Golden State, and Orlando. He has appeared in 866 career regular season games (191 starts), averaging 6.7 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .440/.350/.786.
Joseph won a championship with the Spurs in 2014 and had the best individual stint of his career from 2016-19 as a rotation regular for the Raptors and Pacers. He appeared in at least 80 games and averaged at least 25 minutes per contest in each of those four seasons for Toronto and Indiana.
In 50 games last season with the Magic, Joseph averaged 3.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG and 1.4 APG in 12.2 MPG while shooting 36.4% from three-point range. As a result of backcourt injuries, the Canadian unexpectedly started all five games for Orlando during the team’s first-round playoff loss to Boston.
Pacific Notes: Lakers, LeBron, Kawhi, Clippers, Green
Lakers head coach JJ Redick believes his team’s approach on offense is being influenced by the fact that so many players on the roster are potential 2026 free agents. After referencing the subject earlier in the week, Redick circled back to it after Thursday’s loss to the cross-town Clippers, per Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.
“Guys are worried about their futures,” Redick said. “And that’s what happens when you got a team full of free agents and player options. I think it’s just natural that you’re gonna worry about the offense … and I’ve been there. (It gets) in your head a little bit: ‘Played five minutes (and) haven’t got a shot yet.’ And that’s a human thing. It’s not anybody’s fault.”
Veteran guard Marcus Smart, whose two-year deal with the Lakers includes a player option for 2026/27, acknowledged that it’s hard for a player to put his contract situation entirely out of his mind. Still, Smart noted that it’s crucial for he and his teammates to focus on playing for each other rather than for themselves.
“It is tough. I mean, you got guys fighting for contracts, fighting to stay on the team and you got other guys who are secure and got theirs and kind of understand where they are,” Smart said. “But at the same time, we’re all professionals and we got to come out and do our jobs no matter what. So, the human element does come into play sometimes and you just got to be able to snap out of it quicker than what we are doing.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Asked on Thursday whether he thinks the Lakers – who are 11-13 since a 15-4 start – need to make a move at the trade deadline, star forward LeBron James replied, “Yeah, I do,” according to Turner. However, James declined to discuss the topic beyond that. “It’s disrespectful to these guys if I start talking over the deadline and what we need to do, we got to get better, whatever the case may be,” he said. “I’m trying not to play fantasy basketball too much.”
- Star forward Kawhi Leonard returned from a three-game injury absence on Thursday and picked up where he left up, scoring 24 points in 26 minutes in the Clippers‘ 112-104 victory over the Lakers. “I thought he looked good. I thought he looked really good, especially to start the game in that first quarter,” head coach Tyronn Lue said, according to Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. “He had good pop and then he could have gotten a little tired. He hasn’t played in a while, but that first quarter was really good.”
- Although he was happy to see the Clippers pick up their 14th win in 17 games, Lue would’ve liked his team to finish stronger, writes Law Murray of The Athletic. “We keep getting these leads, and you lose the lead. We gotta be better. We got a team down (17) at half. We gotta step on their throat and blow them out,” the veteran coach said. “Like that was our mindset. That was our mindset at halftime. I thought we came out with the right energy, but we couldn’t sustain it. Not just the Lakers, that’s just anybody. If you’re up 20, let’s blow them out. Like, why not? But it is what it is. It’s a good win for us. They’re a good team. And so we’ll take it.”
- The Suns are thrilled to have Jalen Green back on the floor following his lengthy layoff due to a hamstring injury, and he’s just as happy to be playing again, notes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “His joy is back,” head coach Jordan Ott said of Green, adding that the team will welcome the guard’s “speed” and “downhill ability” on offense.
Sixers Notes: Embiid, Oubre, Barlow, Walker, Grimes
Joel Embiid continues to round back into form for the Sixers, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, who notes that the 46 minutes the former MVP played in Thursday’s overtime win over Houston represented his highest single-game regular season total in over three years.
Embiid made the most of those 46 minutes, racking up 32 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists, en route to a 128-22 victory. Philadelphia outscored the Rockets by 21 points when he was on the court.
“It’s certainly a pretty big step forward, I think, for sure,” head coach Nick Nurse said after the game.
Knee problems have been a recurring issue for Embiid in recent years — he didn’t look fully comfortable on the court during the 19 games he played in 2024/25 or at the start of this season. However, in his past 15 outings, the veteran center is averaging 28.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. Sixers forward Paul George, who has dealt with several injuries of his own, is happy to see his teammate looking more like his old self.
“He’s starting to feel it, he’s getting better and that competitive juice and everything is starting to flow,” George said. “You see it even with him at practice, and so you can see he was coming back, he was starting to form back into the Joel Embiid that we all have seen him dominate in this league. It’s definitely refreshing just from a personal level, dealing with injuries and how that takes a toll on you. It’s just always great to see someone start to get back to themselves.”
We have more from on the 76ers:
- Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. is on an expiring contract, which makes him a potential trade candidate at the deadline, but he’s making a strong case with his recent play for the team to hang onto him, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). Since rejoining the starting lineup on Monday, Oubre has averaged 21.7 PPG on .558/.611/.545 shooting in his past three games.
- Oubre was initially reinserted into the starting five in place of George, who missed a couple games due to left knee injury management. However, he remained in the lineup on Thursday with George active, as Nurse moved forward Dominick Barlow to the second unit. “I think Barlow has played outstanding and played outstanding again tonight,” Nurse said after the game. “But Kelly obviously has been a pretty big spark plug, getting to the rim and just guarding. Just guarding really good, tough matchup every night as well. So I went that way. He’s pretty experienced as well.”
- Speaking of Barlow, he and fellow two-way player Jabari Walker were active again on Thursday, increasing the Sixers’ total “under-15” two-way games to 88, two away from the 90-game limit. In order to continue using both Barlow and Walker beyond Saturday, Philadelphia will have to either promote one of them to its 15-man roster or sign someone else to fill that 15th roster spot. Although a player on a two-way contract can be active for up to 50 regular season games, teams can’t use their two-way players for more than 90 combined games if they’re carrying fewer than 15 players on standard contracts.
- After averaging 17.0 PPG and 4.4 APG on .456/.381/.854 shooting in his first 21 games this season, Quentin Grimes is down to 9.8 PPG and 3.0 APG on .396/.317/.875 shooting in his past 20. Nurse said he wants to see Grimes “attack the rim” more and stressed that the swingman has the green light to fire away from beyond the arc. The Sixers’ coach added that tweaking Grimes’ role has also been considered. “I think we really thought that he was a much better player off the bench, that he liked to see the game a little bit and come in and play,” Nurse said. “And I think we’re having some discussions lately, that maybe that’s not the case, and maybe we’ll start sticking him back into the starting lineup a little bit to see if that helps.”
LeBron James Dismisses Buss Report: ‘I Don’t Really Care’
Lakers forward LeBron James told reporters on Thursday that he’s unfazed by an ESPN report that claimed team owner Jeanie Buss privately griped about his ego and outsized influence within the organization and considered trading him earlier in his Los Angeles tenure.
“Quite frankly, I don’t really care about articles,” James said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “I really don’t. I don’t care about stories. I don’t care about podcasts and all that type of s–t. Nah, they don’t bother me. I’m 41 years old, and I watch golf every day. I don’t care about an article. I don’t care how somebody feels about me. If you know me personally and you know what I’m about, (my teammates) know what I’m about, and that’s all that matters. … I can care less how somebody feels about me.”
Jeanie issued a response to Wednesday’s report, which focused primarily on Buss family drama and the decision to sell the team to Mark Walter. In a statement to The Athletic, she said the idea that she doesn’t appreciate what James has done for the franchise is “just not true and completely unfair to him.”
Asked specifically on Thursday about his working relationship with Jeanie, LeBron said he believes they’re on good terms.
“But, you know, somebody could see it another way,” James said. “It’s always two sides of the coin. … How I represented this franchise, and what I wanted to do to represent this franchise since when I got here until now, it’s been with the utmost respect and honor and dignity. And I would say loyalty. I mean, s–t, I played here longer than pretty much any other franchise I played for besides Cleveland.”
ESPN’s report, written by Baxter Holmes, cited several specific moments or incidents over the years that allegedly irked Buss. For instance, according to Holmes, she chafed at the fact that – after pushing the Lakers to trade for Russell Westbrook – James seemed to wash his hands of that move when it didn’t work out, leaving management to take the blame.
Holmes also wrote that Buss didn’t like LeBron being painted as the “savior” of a struggling franchise when he signed with the Lakers as a free agent in 2018.
“My whole mindset was about restoring excellence,” James said on Thursday of his decision to join the Lakers. “The things that I saw growing up with the Lakers — obviously, I didn’t get an opportunity to watch the Showtime (era), but I know the history. Then the early 2000s with Shaq and Kobe, and then what Kobe did and those couple runs with him and Pau. So, my whole mindset was like, how can I get that feeling back to the Lakers organization?
“… I was able to do that along with, you know, 14, 16 other guys winning the championship, bringing the championship here. That’s always been my mindset.”
Even if – as Holmes’ reporting suggested – Buss privately harbored some level of resentment toward LeBron, those feelings never actually impacted the moves the Lakers made with the four-time MVP. James has signed three maximum-salary or near-max multiyear contracts with the Lakers, most recently in 2024 when he agreed to a two-year, $101.4MM deal that made him one of just two NBA players with a formal no-trade clause.
Asked on Thursday, if he would consider waiving that NTC or if he wants to finish out the season with the Lakers, the 41-year-old laughed and replied, “I’m good. I’m good” (Twitter video link).
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.
Hornets’ Bridges Drawing Trade Interest From Multiple Teams
Hornets forward Miles Bridges has generated “significant” trade interest as the February 5 deadline approaches, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, who reports that the Bucks, Warriors, and Suns are among the teams eyeing the 27-year-old.
Bridges, who is earning $25MM this season, is under contract for $22.8MM in 2026/27, so the Hornets aren’t facing any urgency to make a decision on him right away. And they’re unlikely to move him unless a potential trade partner is willing to step up and meet their asking price, Amick writes.
“They want a first (round pick),” one league source told The Athletic. “Maybe two.”
The 12th overall pick in 2018, Bridges has spent his entire NBA career in Charlotte, starting 363 of his 468 regular season games for the team since entering the league. In 2025/26, he has averaged 18.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 32.8 minutes per contest.
Bridges isn’t an elite defender or shooter — he has made a modest 44.3% of his attempts from the floor this season, including 33.2% of his three-point tries. Still, the 6’7″ forward has averaged over 20 points per game across his past three-and-a-half seasons, has good size and versatility for a wing, and is very durable, having never played fewer than 64 games in a season (he has appeared in 44 of 45 this year).
Of course, teams with interest in Bridges will also need to consider his off-court history. The former Michigan State standout lost a full season in 2022/23 after he was arrested on felony domestic violence charges just ahead of his restricted free agency. He later accepted a plea deal in that case and had three criminal counts related to separate domestic allegations dismissed. Bridges, who was suspended at the start of the ’23/24 season, hasn’t been in any legal trouble during the past two seasons.
The Hornets aren’t particularly enthusiastic about acquiring forward Kyle Kuzma, per Amick, which is one obstacle complicating a potential deal with the Bucks. There are other trade candidates on Milwaukee’s roster, but Kuzma and his $22.4MM salary would be the most logical outgoing piece.
A trade with Golden State would likely involve forward Jonathan Kuminga, whose $22.5MM salary is a near match for Bridges’ cap hit. It’s unclear whether Charlotte has any interest in the former No. 7 overall pick.
Phoenix’s interest is notable given the fact that Bridges shares an alma mater with Suns owner Mat Ishbia, though Ishbia’s team is reportedly reluctant to risk upsetting its positive chemistry by making a significant in-season move.