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Spurs Notes: Fox, Wembanyama, Kornet, Olynyk

November 19th, 2025 at 4:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have won back-to-back games since Victor Wembanyama went down with a calf strain, pulling out a 10-point victory over Memphis on Tuesday despite also missing reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle due to a hip flexor strain. As Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News writes (subscription required), De’Aaron Fox led the way with a team-high 26 points, but San Antonio got important contributions from several less heralded players.

Veteran forward Harrison Barnes scored 23 points; Kelly Olynyk was a +15 in 19 minutes of action; Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson combined for 26 points and 13 rebounds off the bench; and Luke Kornet, despite going scoreless, played solid defense in his second start in place of Wembanyama.

“We want to play our brand of basketball and try to maintain our same identity no matter who is in,” head coach Mitch Johnson said. “It was really good to see so many people help win.”

“No one thought we’d be missing this many guys or two of our top three scorers,” Fox added. “We’ve had a lot of guys that have been in and out of the lineup. You’ve got to continue to get wins. That’s what good teams do.”

Here’s the latest on the 10-4 Spurs:

The Spurs figure to take a very cautious approach with Wembanyama’s return timeline, according to McDonald (subscription required), who notes that calf strains have become increasingly common across the NBA and have been precursors to Achilles tears in some cases. Even if that worst-case scenario is a rare outcome, rushing back from a minor calf strain can lead to an aggravation that requires a lengthier absence, McDonald writes. “As we’ve seen around this league recently, the calf tightness thing is not something you want to take lightly,” Johnson said. “We don’t want to push it there.”
San Antonio is better positioned to navigate a Wembanyama injury this season due to the frontcourt depth the front office added in the offseason, including signing Kornet and trading for Olynyk. Writing for the Express-News (subscription required), McDonald examines the impact that duo has had so far and describes how Kornet rejuvenated his career after briefly considering retirement in 2022 during a stint in the G League. “A big perspective (shift) was just realizing if you’re not enjoying your time in the G League, you’ll not enjoy it in the NBA,” Kornet said. “… It was just recommitting to, ‘How do I serve and where do I fit in?’ And just letting that take you wherever you go.”
After playing only five games together last season, Fox and Wembanyama shared the court for just four games this fall between the time Fox returned from his hamstring strain and Wemby sustained his calf injury. Despite their limited time playing together so far, Fox has bought into the idea of being the Robin to Wembanyama’s Batman, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “It’s very clear we have the face of our franchise and (Fox is) comfortable with that and everyone around him is,” Johnson said. “I think for De’Aaron to be one of the faces of his franchise (in Sacramento) prior to joining our group and wanting to really be here and show that desire, it helps set the tone for everybody else. Because he has been someone who’s been in similar shoes, where he’s been the max guy and the big dog with his group.”

Cuban: Mavs Don’t Intend To Trade Anthony Davis

November 19th, 2025 at 3:25pm CST by Luke Adams

3:25 pm: Cuban is contradicting what MacMahon’s sources said about Davis, telling Joe Vardon of The Athletic that the Mavericks won’t try to trade the 10-time All-Star this season.

“We won’t,” Cuban wrote in an email when asked if he and Dumont would look to move Davis. “We want to try to win.”

While Cuban is part of the Mavericks’ brain trust, he’s essentially serving as an advisor and doesn’t have the final say on basketball matters, so he won’t be the one ultimately making the decision on Davis. It’s also possible his position will change prior to February 5 if the 4-11 Mavs don’t begin turning things around in the coming weeks.

7:54 am: The Mavericks will explore the trade market for big man Anthony Davis prior to this season’s deadline, multiple team sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

There has been rampant speculation since the Mavericks parted ways with head of basketball operations Nico Harrison last week that Davis will end up on the trade block. MacMahon’s report is confirmation that the team will at least consider dealing the 32-year-old during the 2025/26 season.

As MacMahon explains, Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont and his new team of decision-makers – including co-interim general managers Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi, head coach Jason Kidd, and minority owner Mark Cuban – are “plotting to pivot” to a future built around this year’s No. 1 overall pick, 18-year-old Cooper Flagg. While Flagg represents the franchise’s long-term future, it remains unclear how significant a roster overhaul the club is mulling.

Davis has an impressive NBA résumé that includes 10 All-Star appearances, five All-NBA berths, five All-Defensive nods, a championship, and a spot on the league’s 75th anniversary team.

However, he also has an extensive injury history, which has reared its head in a major way since he was traded from Los Angeles to Dallas as part of last season’s shocking Luka Doncic blockbuster. Davis has appeared in just 14 of 48 possible regular season games for the Mavs since that deal and is currently sidelined due to a left calf strain.

Davis had hoped to return by now, but has been held out of action by the club’s medical staff. Dumont has reportedly been involved in that decision-making process, having pushed for a cautious approach in order to reduce the risk of the star forward/center aggravating the injury or making it worse. The team announced on Sunday that Davis will be reevaluated in seven-to-10 days.

Besides his injury history, Davis also represents a major risk for any team acquiring him due to his age (33 in March) and contract situation. He’s earning $54.1MM this season and $58.5MM in 2026/27, with a $62.8MM player option for ’27/28. He’ll also be extension-eligible next summer.

Although Davis is still expected to generate interest on the trade market, it’s possible the return wouldn’t be what the Mavs are hoping for. The 14th-year veteran could boost his value if he’s able to get back on the court soon and play at an All-NBA level again leading up to the February 5 trade deadline, but if Dallas isn’t satisfied with what an in-season return for Davis looks like, the team could end up waiting until the offseason to more seriously explore a deal.

Details On Power Struggle Between Mavs’ Cuban, Harrison

November 19th, 2025 at 3:19pm CST by Luke Adams

After speaking to more than a dozen sources within the Mavericks‘ organization, Tim MacMahon of ESPN took a deep dive today into the events that led up to Nico Harrison‘s dismissal as the team’s head of basketball operations last week, painting a detailed picture of a long-running power struggle between Harrison and minority owner Mark Cuban.

As MacMahon outlines, Cuban hired Harrison as Dallas’ president of basketball operations and general manager back in 2021, when Cuban was still the team’s majority owner and had the final say on basketball decisions. After Cuban sold control of the franchise to Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont in late 2023, he maintained a 27% stake in the team and hoped to continue running the basketball operations department too, but quickly found himself pushed out of the inner circle.

“Mark is a friend. I will consult him from time to time,” Dumont said during a basketball operations meeting after taking over as the Mavericks’ governor, according to MacMahon’s sources. “But make no mistake about this: I’m the governor of the team and I am making decisions.”

Sources inside the organization tell MacMahon that Dumont’s announcement was a welcome one to many people in the organization, including Harrison and head coach Jason Kidd, who were “often frustrated by what they perceived as Cuban’s frequently unproductive meddling in personnel decisions.”

However, sources familiar with Cuban’s thinking tell ESPN that he never meant for Harrison to have full autonomy on basketball decisions and that he didn’t believe the former Nike executive was qualified to be making those decisions, having hired him due to his relationships with players and agents. During Harrison’s first couple years with the team, Cuban still had to sign off on any personnel moves the Mavs made, while veteran executive Dennis Lindsey was brought in to “help mask Harrison’s perceived shortcomings as an inexperienced NBA executive,” MacMahon writes.

After Harrison became the Mavericks’ primary basketball decision-maker and Lindsey left for a job in Detroit, Cuban sought to regain some of the control he had lost. He now once again has Dumont’s ear in the wake of Harrison’s ouster.

“Mark’s been trying a palace coup for months,” a team source told ESPN.

Here are more highlights from MacMahon’s report:

After Dumont took over as the Mavs’ governor, Harrison began reporting directly to him instead of going through Cuban, as he sought to “ice out” the former majority owner. “Nico basically said, ‘Dude, I don’t want to deal with Mark anymore. He’s too much,” a team source told ESPN.
According to MacMahon, Harrison blamed Cuban for some of the Mavs’ biggest roster-related missteps in recent years, including losing Jalen Brunson and trading for Christian Wood, a player Kidd “didn’t want to coach.” Other members of the coaching staff and front office also blamed Cuban for those moves, MacMahon writes, adding that Harrison made the case to the new ownership group that the front office would function better without Cuban’s involvement.
Harrison strengthened that case by making savvy deals for P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford at the 2024 trade deadline and getting the Mavs to the NBA Finals, according to MacMahon, who notes that those deals only materialized after a trade sending two first-round picks to Washington for Kyle Kuzma fell through. “Nico did a hell of a sales job,” a Mavs official told ESPN. “He took credit for everything that was done. When Patrick asked questions — asked how we got Kyrie (Irving), how the draft happened, etc. — (Harrison) said he was the guy. We got on a roll and went to the Finals. Fool’s gold.”
While Dumont asked Harrison to keep Cuban in the fold, Harrison didn’t always do so — he and Cuban were communicating less and less after the sale, according to MacMahon. “Nico built the moat and put up the fence and said, ‘I got this!'” one source familiar with the situation told ESPN. Sources also said that Harrison was telling Dumont what he wanted the team governor to know, rather than everything Dumont needed to know. “The one guy in basketball ops who had a pipeline to Dumont wasn’t giving him the straight scoop,” a source said.
Having fully gained Dumont’s trust, Harrison sold him on February’s Luka Doncic blockbuster, making the case that committing to the star guard on a super-max contract worth a projected $345MM would be a bad investment due to conditioning concerns and recurring calf injuries, per MacMahon. At the time, Harrison and Doncic’s camp weren’t seeing eye-to-eye on the recovery process for his latest calf strain, which Harrison portrayed to Dumont as evidence that the perennial MVP candidate wasn’t fully committed to the Mavs. As MacMahon writes, Harrison also convinced Dumont not to loop Cuban in on those trade talks, contending doing so would likely result in a leak.
Cuban, who blamed Harrison rather than Dumont for the way in which his role in the organization was minimized, spoke out against the Doncic trade after the fact, and once the Mavs won the draft lottery in May he began pushing more aggressively for Dumont to make a front office change, MacMahon reports. Cuban’s case gained credibility because his criticisms of Harrison’s roster construction proved true — for instance, Cuban warned Dumont that a lack of ball-handling and play-making would result in Dallas having a poor offense, concerns which Harrison dismissed. The Mavs currently have the second-worst offense in the NBA.
Cuban’s relationship with Dumont never became contentious and he’s now once again part of the small group of team officials that has the governor’s ear, along with Kidd and co-interim GMs Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi. One source who spoke to MacMahon made it clear that Cuban is more of a consultant than a decision-maker, but the former majority Mavs owner is nonetheless thrilled to be back in the inner circle. “He’s walking around on air right now,” another team source told ESPN. “Cuban’s floating in his Skechers.”

Pacific Notes: LeBron, Curry, Warriors, Sabonis, Livers

November 19th, 2025 at 1:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Lakers forward LeBron James only took seven shots from the floor in his season debut on Tuesday vs. Utah, but he racked up 12 assists in a 140-126 victory and extended his NBA-record streak of double-digit scoring performances to 1,293 consecutive games, writes ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. Most importantly, James played 30 minutes after missing the first month of the season due to sciatica and didn’t experience any setbacks.

“The pace tested me, but I was happy with the way I was able to go with the guys,” James said. “As the game went on, my wind got a lot better. Caught my second wind, caught my third wind. Rhythm is still coming back, obviously. First game in almost seven months, so everything that happened tonight was to be expected.”

For a separate ESPN story, McMenamin spoke to 10 sources inside and outside of the Lakers’ organization to get a sense of what they’re monitoring with James back on the floor, including how the return of the four-time MVP will impact the team’s role players and whether the high-scoring duo of Luka Doncic (34.6 PPG) and Austin Reaves (28.1 PPG) will keep rolling. Not all of those sources were in agreement on certain topics, including Deandre Ayton‘s fit alongside James, McMenamin notes.

“Ayton should benefit the most out of LeBron back,” an Eastern Conference executive said. “LeBron makes people look good. [He’ll feed Ayton] lobs and dump-offs at the rim.”

“I imagine Deandre’s going to be a problem. He’s just not smart enough of a player,” a Western Conference exec countered. “And the inconsistent effort, LeBron usually has issues with, to say the least.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:

Stephen Curry (right ankle soreness) will sit out the Warriors‘ game vs. Miami on Wednesday after tweaking his ankle a couple times during the team’s recent road trip, tweets Anthony Slater of ESPN. Golden State could end up very shorthanded on the second night of a back-to-back — Al Horford (left toe injury management) and Jonathan Kuminga (bilateral patellar tendonitis) are both out, while Jimmy Butler (right low back strain), Draymond Green (illness), and Buddy Hield (illness) are all considered questionable to play.
The Kings will be without center Domantas Sabonis on Wednesday vs. Oklahoma City due to left knee soreness, tweets Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. It will be the fourth missed game of the season for Sabonis, who has also dealt with hamstring and rib injuries.
Back in the NBA this fall after a lengthy absence due to hip problems, forward Isaiah Livers is grateful to be playing a role for the Suns and isn’t concerned about keeping track of his active games, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. A player on a two-way contract can be on his team’s active roster for a maximum of 50 games — Livers is at 11 so far. “I’m not counting,” Livers said. “I’m taking it one day at a time. We all know my story. I’m just blessed and grateful to put a uniform back on and help an organization win games. We’ll worry about the rest later.”

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Black, Heat, Butler, Jakucionis

November 19th, 2025 at 12:36pm CST by Luke Adams

As they go through a full-fledged rebuild, the Wizards are spending big on their support staff and infrastructure, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), who says the team has been encouraged by the fact that top prospects in recent years – including Alex Sarr and Ace Bailey – have been enthusiastic about coming to D.C.

Still, with Washington off to a miserable 1-12 start this fall and ranking dead last in the NBA in net rating (-16.1), Josh Robbins of The Athletic wonders whether the club can continue losing at this rate without stunting the growth of its most promising young players. Corey Kispert – a relative veteran at age 26 – offered a thoughtful response when presented with that question, pointing out that there are pros and cons to the situation the Wizards’ young players are in.

“The guys that are in the building now that are first- and second-year players have a much greater opportunity to play a ton more minutes than I ever did my first couple of years,” Kispert said. “That’s for better or for worse, but they can come in and they can play and they can try things and they grow on the floor. And that’s a really big blessing for them, and they should absolutely take advantage of that.

“But what that does impair, I think, is that winning is a skill and learning how to win is a skill. And it’s not something that you can just flip on and off from year to year. That’s something that you have to be taught and you have to practice. Those games where we are in crunch-time situations — like Detroit, for example, a few games ago (on Nov. 10) — that’s a learning opportunity for our young guys to learn how to win and what it takes to close out games.

“I’m really looking forward to these guys getting more opportunities to learn how to win, and I hope that us as vets can teach them that within our practices and within our games, whether it’s a word on the sideline or the way that we play or the way we try to play.”

We have more from around the Southeast:

Anthony Black has had an up-and-down start to the season, but after scoring single-digit points in five of his previous seven games, the Magic guard contributed 18 points in Sunday’s loss to Houston, then had a season-high 21 in Tuesday’s win over Golden State. Those performances – particularly Tuesday’s – provided a reminder of the former No. 6 overall pick’s ability to raise Orlando’s ceiling, as Robbins writes for The Athletic. “I think A.B. is someone who can impact the game on both sides,” Magic forward Franz Wagner said. “When someone like that has the right energy, it’s really contagious for everybody else. … I think he’s a super-important player for our team. Obviously, with some guys out and him seeing more minutes, we need him to play like that consistently.”
Wednesday’s game against Golden State will be the Heat‘s first meeting with Jimmy Butler this season after the two sides had an ugly divorce last winter, but Miami’s players and coaches are downplaying that narrative, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “We already have done the game, so how many games do we have to play for it not to be the big storyline?” head coach Erik Spoelstra said, pointing out that Butler visited Miami as a member of the Warriors in March. Bam Adebayo, who is “optimistic” about returning after missing six games with a left big toe sprain, echoed his coach’s sentiment: “You move forward in life. We got a great team playing great basketball, and you want to continue that rather than try to chase a headline.”
Without a spot in the rotation for first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis, the Heat recently assigned the rookie guard to the G League, where he has already appeared in two games for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Chiang writes for The Miami Herald. Jakucionis is viewing it not as a demotion but as an opportunity to get crucial in-game reps. “I just need live basketball, to be honest,” the 19-year-old said. “… I think it’s good to just be able to come here, play, and the development part is very good. So I think that’s a good thing.”

Pelicans Notes: Dumars, Weaver, Borrego, Mosley, Peavy

November 19th, 2025 at 11:11am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans didn’t conduct an extensive search before hiring Joe Dumars as their new head of basketball operations in the spring, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who hears from sources that Dumars has one of the NBA’s “most generous” executive contracts despite the fact that New Orleans isn’t typically among the league’s bigger spenders.

After the Pelicans hired Dumars and awarded him that “generous” contract just two days after firing David Griffin and three days after last season ended, the veteran executive seems to be deferring to top lieutenant Troy Weaver on many of the team’s biggest roster decisions, Hollinger writes. Echoing earlier reporting from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Hollinger says the offseason trades for Jordan Poole and Derik Queen were both believed to be spearheaded by Weaver.

According to Hollinger, executives around the NBA were “utterly baffled” by the Pelicans’ decision to bring in Weaver as their senior VP of basketball operations, since there “wasn’t exactly a bidding war” among teams looking to hire him in a high-ranking front office role after a disappointing run with the Pistons. Sources in Detroit tell The Athletic that no one from the Pelicans called Weaver’s former team to vet him before he was hired in New Orleans.

Still, Hollinger isn’t blaming Weaver for the Pelicans’ slow start this season, suggesting that team owner Gayle Benson and Dumars deserve more of the criticism for their “arm’s-length operation” of the organization and the basketball operations department, respectively.

Here’s more on the Pelicans:

According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), James Borrego‘s best chance to keep the Pelicans’ head coaching job beyond this season would be to significantly improve the team’s offense, which ranked 27th in the NBA at the time of Willie Green‘s dismissal. Borrego is known for his offensive acumen, Fischer notes — the Hornets ranked eighth in that department during the coach’s final year in Charlotte in 2021/22.
Hollinger is skeptical that Borrego will remain in New Orleans long-term, suggesting this season will more likely be an audition for his next job, with a Weaver-connected candidate such as Kevin Ollie getting the Pelicans’ permanent job next spring. While Fischer has also heard the rumblings linking Ollie to the Pelicans, he says Ollie’s standing in New Orleans is “a bit murky.”
One name that would be on the Pelicans’ wish list, according to Fischer, is Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, though there’s no indication that he’ll become available anytime soon. As Fischer writes, Orlando’s front office initiated some changes to Mosley’s coaching staff during the offseason, and the team got off to a slow start this fall amid whispers of a disconnect between Mosley and star forward Paolo Banchero. However, the club appears to be hitting its stride this month — the Magic have won seven of their last 10 games, with two of those losses coming by just four points apiece.
Queen and Jeremiah Fears have played greater roles in the early going, but another Pelicans rookie, second-rounder Micah Peavy, is starting to earn regular playing time too, observes Rod Walker of NOLA.com. A 6’7″ wing, Peavy has appeared in each of New Orleans’ past seven games and submitted his best performance of the season on Monday vs. Oklahoma City, contributing 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with four assists and four rebounds. “I thought he came out and gave us great energy,” Borrego said. “Crashing the boards. Defensively, he really impacted that game. So I’m really proud of him. He responded tonight and that was a bright spot, for sure.”
As Walker details, Peavy takes pride in his defense and has said he wants to make a Jose Alvarado-esque impact by bringing “energy” as part of the Pelicans’ second unit. “I want to be that spark plug off the bench. I see how Jose goes in and he’s the spark plug, and I want to do that as well,” Peavy said. “Do whatever it takes to be on the floor and make winning plays. Especially with my defense. That’s where I think I can help the team the most. And then knock down shots like I did (Monday).”

NBA Stars Affected By Player Participation Policy In 2025/26

November 19th, 2025 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

As we outline in a Hoops Rumors glossary entry, the NBA’s player participation policy – instituted in 2023 – is designed to reduce instances of teams resting healthy players during the regular season.

The player participation policy is focused almost exclusively on players considered “stars” and includes rules prohibiting those stars from sitting out NBA Cup games or nationally televised games without an approved reason (including a legitimate injury).

A team can also run afoul of the policy if it rests more than one star in the same game, repeatedly rests a star in road games instead of home games, or shuts down a star for an extended period of time. The Cavaliers were hit with a fine on Tuesday for violating the policy on November 12, when they rested two stars – Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley – in the same game.

For the purposes of the policy, the league defines a “star” as a player who has been named to an All-Star or All-NBA team at least once during the prior three seasons, which is why both Mitchell and Mobley qualified.

A player who earned an All-Star or All-NBA berth in 2023, 2024, and/or 2025 would be considered a “star” during the 2025/26 season and would be subject to the restrictions of the player participation policy.

Here’s the full list of the players who meet that criteria:

Trae Young (Hawks)
Jaylen Brown (Celtics)
Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
Darius Garland (Cavaliers)
Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)
Evan Mobley (Cavaliers)
Anthony Davis (Mavericks)
Kyrie Irving (Mavericks)
Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
Cade Cunningham (Pistons)
Jimmy Butler (Warriors) *
Stephen Curry (Warriors) *
Kevin Durant (Rockets) *
Alperen Sengun (Rockets)
Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers)
Pascal Siakam (Pacers)
James Harden (Clippers) *
Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)
Luka Doncic (Lakers)
LeBron James (Lakers) *
Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
Ja Morant (Grizzlies)
Bam Adebayo (Heat)
Tyler Herro (Heat)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
Julius Randle (Timberwolves)
Zion Williamson (Pelicans)
Jalen Brunson (Knicks)
Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
Jalen Williams (Thunder)
Paolo Banchero (Magic)
Joel Embiid (Sixers)
Paul George (Sixers) *
Tyrese Maxey (Sixers)
Devin Booker (Suns)
Jrue Holiday (Trail Blazers) *
Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers) *
DeMar DeRozan (Kings) *
Domantas Sabonis (Kings)
De’Aaron Fox (Spurs)
Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)
Scottie Barnes (Raptors)
Lauri Markkanen (Jazz)

Note: The players marked with an asterisk (*) were either 35 years old on opening night or have accumulated 34,000+ career regular minutes or 1,000 career regular season and playoff games, making them eligible for pre-approved rest nights during back-to-back sets.

A total of 17 teams have multiple players considered “stars” for the purposes of the player participation policy in 2025/26, while just four clubs (the Nets, Hornets, Bulls, and Wizards) don’t have a single player affected.

This group of players could grow following the 2026 All-Star Game. A player who isn’t one of 45 currently listed above would have his name added if he’s selected as an All-Star this season. He would be subject to player participation policy restrictions for games played after All-Star weekend.

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Hoops Rumors Originals

Scoot Henderson’s Return Not Imminent

November 19th, 2025 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

It has been nearly eight weeks since the Trail Blazers announced that point guard Scoot Henderson had torn his left hamstring in a workout and would miss the start of the 2025/26 season.

At the time, the team said Henderson was expected to resume basketball activities in about four-to-eight weeks. However, while the former No. 3 overall pick tells Jason Quick of The Athletic that he has “made a lot of progress” in his recovery, his return to the court isn’t imminent and he says his resumption of basketball activities remains “week to week.”

According to Henderson, he’s scheduled to meet this week with the team’s director of health and performance, Dr. Courtney Watson, who will determine next steps. So far, the third-year guard’s activities have been limited to some stationary shooting and dribbling and upper-body weight lifting.

“I can walk around to spots, but no jumping, no exploding,” Henderson explained to Quick. “I shoot free throws, some ball-handling, but without moving much.”

As Quick points out, Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin told reporters on media day in September that Henderson’s timeline for resuming basketball activities could extend to 10 weeks or even beyond that, since hamstring injuries can be “stubborn” and tricky to handle. For his part, Henderson is optimistic that once he’s cleared for full basketball activities, he won’t require an extended ramp-up period before he’s cleared to play in games.

“I feel like I will be good,” Henderson told The Athletic. “I feel like I’ve always been good like that (coming off injury). I’m sure I will be tired, because you can’t compare basketball activity with anything else, so for a few games I will feel it.”

The struggling Trail Blazers, who have lost five of their last six games to fall to 6-8 on the season, could use Henderson back in their lineup. In addition to missing Damian Lillard, who is out for the season with a torn Achilles, Portland is currently without Blake Wesley (out since Oct. 31 due to foot surgery) and Jrue Holiday (out the past two games due to right calf soreness), leaving the team thin at point guard.

Shaedon Sharpe and Deni Avdija have taken on increased ball-handling responsibilities during the past two games with Holiday out, while rookie two-way player Caleb Love has also entered the rotation. Love had a career-high 17 points in 32 minutes in Tuesday’s loss to Phoenix.

Eastern Notes: Mathurin, Embiid, George, Ivey, Risacher

November 18th, 2025 at 10:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pacers’ losing streak stretched to eight games on Monday but there was a silver lining in their loss to the red-hot Pistons, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star points out. Bennedict Mathurin, who had missed 11 games due to a toe sprain, scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half.

Mathurin asserts that the team has the ability to turn things around.

“We’re 1-13 right now,” Mathurin said. “There’s teams in the NBA that have won 10 games in a row. Why can’t we be the team that wins 10 games in a row? It’s just about believing. It’s just about doing what’s right for our team. … People act like it’s the end of the world. If we were 1-57 I’d say maybe, but it’s 1-13. We’ve played 14 games. It’s not even 15% percent of the season, so I’m still positive, man.”

Center Isaiah Jackson feels the same way.

“I think energy is everything,” he said. “One guy gets going and it can give us a spark. I think that’s all you need. We’re just gonna continue to keep going.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Joel Embiid is listed as doubtful due to right knee injury management for the Sixers’ game against Toronto on Wednesday, Adam Aaronson of The Philly Voice tweets. Paul George won’t play due to what the team describes as left knee injury recovery. Embiid hasn’t played since Nov. 8, while George made his season debut on Monday and played 21 minutes, in which he contributed nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks in a win over the Clippers. Wednesday’s game is the first of a back-to-back set, so George seems likely to suit up on Thursday.
The Pistons assigned guard Jaden Ivey to their G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, for conditioning purposes, their PR department tweets. A restricted free agent after this season, Ivey hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since New Year’s Day, when he suffered a fractured left fibula. He recovered from that injury over the offseason, but underwent right knee surgery during the preseason last month.
Hawks second-year forward Zaccharie Risacher missed his team’s game against the Pistons on Tuesday due to a left hip contusion but he should return soon, according to Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He suffered a nasty fall during a dunk attempt against the Suns on Sunday. Risacher’s legs swung up and he somersaulted and crashed to the floor, landing on his left side.

Knicks Notes: Brunson, Robinson, Clarkson, 3-Point Defense

November 18th, 2025 at 9:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson was diagnosed with a Grade 1 ankle sprain last week. On Monday, Brunson was already spotted firing up jump shots in Miami’s Kaseya Center, according to Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News.

Now, there’s a possibility he’ll be back as soon as Wednesday. He’s listed as questionable to play against Dallas, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post tweets. Brunson has missed the last two games, in which the Knicks split a home-and-home with the Heat.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

Mitchell Robinson logged fewer than 20 minutes against the Heat on Monday and hasn’t exceeded 20 minutes in any games he’s played. However, that could change as soon as the next game. “[His minutes limit] has increased. It’s gone up three times,” coach Mike Brown said, per Bondy. “It’s all part of the load-management thing. So it’s not necessarily a restriction. It’s just continuing the process with our load management. So it’s going up. He could’ve played 27 minutes.”
Jordan Clarkson admits that spending the last couple of years with the rebuilding Jazz affected his play. He has a different mindset playing for a contender this season. “It’s a level of focus. I’m glad to be back in this and part of this and back contending, be in the playoffs and know that we’re playing for something,” Clarkson told Bondy. “That changes a player’s mindset. It’s just a bunch of focus that goes into it and I’m locked in.” Clarkson scored 24 and 14 points, respectively, in the two matchups with Miami. He’s shooting 46.7% overall and 38.8% from deep this season — both marks would be well above his career averages.
In a film breakdown, The Athletic’s James Edwards III displays how the Knicks’ defensive schemes, which are focused on sealing off the paint, allows opponents to pursue three-point opportunities. The Knicks are second worst in the league in three-point defense, allowing opponents to shoot 39.4% from beyond the arc.

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