Ime Udoka Says Rockets’ Fifth Starter Will Be Decided At Training Camp
The Rockets‘ starting lineup is mostly set, but one spot will be up for grabs when training camp opens later this month.
Houston sent starters Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks to Phoenix, along with the 10th pick in this year’s draft, in the Kevin Durant trade. Durant will start alongside Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Fred VanVleet, but coach Ime Udoka has several options with the fifth position.
“It’s to be determined,” Udoka told Ben DuBose of RocketsWire at a September 11 community event the team hosted this week. “I do think Jabari (Smith Jr.) showed tremendous growth this offseason, and obviously he started the majority of his time here, before the injury. But we’ll take a look at everything. We feel we have incredible depth this year and a lot of versatility, so we could go a number of different ways, as far as that. I think some of that will be proven in training camp.”
Smith began last season as a starter and kept that role for 39 games before breaking his hand in January. Thompson took his place and turned out to be too good to move back to the bench. Smith occupied a sixth man role for the rest of the season, but he may be the best fit with the other four members of the current starting unit. At 6’11”, he provides plenty of size next to Durant and Sengun, and he’s proficient enough as a three-point shooter to stretch defenses and create driving lanes.
DuBose notes that the Rockets enjoyed tremendous success with double-big lineups late last season, so center Steven Adams might receive consideration, at least against certain matchups. Adams only started three games during the regular season, but Udoka leaned heavily on him during the playoff series against Golden State.
Free agent addition Dorian Finney-Smith is a strong wing defender who greatly improved the Lakers’ defense after being acquired in a December trade. At 32, Finney-Smith brings a veteran presence to what’s still mostly a young team, and he shot 41.1% from three-point range last season.
Another option is fourth-year forward Tari Eason, who made a career-high 16 starts last season. Eason is a disruptive defender like Finney-Smith, but he’s not quite as accomplished as an outside shooter.
EuroBasket Notes: Championship Game, Bonga, Pesic, Rules Changes
Turkish coach Ergin Ataman is supremely confident heading into Sunday’s EuroBasket title game against Germany, according to BasketNews. Ataman is one of the most successful coaches in Europe, making five appearances in the EuroLeague Final Four and winning it three times. He has never won an international competition, but he believes his unbeaten team is ready to change that.
“I like to win. Before every game, we talk with our assistants. Even five minutes ago (before this conference), they told me that everybody is under a lot of stress and pressure now, especially in the federation. I told all our guys I have had this stress maybe in my first EuroLeague final,” Ataman said at Saturday’s press conference. “After that, it’s the same every game; it’s the same for me. I don’t have any stress. It’s a basketball game.”
In a separate story, Dennis Schröder, who has been through numerous huge games with Germany, refused to react to Ataman’s comments and said he and his teammates will concentrate on the task at hand.
“I mean, we try to focus on ourselves,” Schröder said. “I know the strategy he’s trying to do. And it’s been working for him for sure. So, at the end of the day, good job. We just try to focus on ourselves, go out, compete, stay together as a team, and bring the trophy home.”
There’s more as EuroBasket 2025 nears its end:
- Franz Wagner believes German teammate Isaac Bonga deserves another shot at the NBA, per Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. Wagner responded to a question after Bonga contributed 10 points and five rebounds and helped shut down Lauri Markkanen in the semifinal win over Finland. “I think (Bonga’s) shown for a couple of years now that he’s an elite defender, shoots the three really well, and can make some plays off the bounce too,” Wagner said. “So I think he could have a lot of teams interested in him.” Bonga spent four total seasons with the Lakers, Wizards and Raptors, but has been playing overseas since 2022.
- Veteran coach Svetislav Pesic will step down from the Serbian national team when his contract expires later this month, according to Eurohoops. With a roster full of current and former NBA players, Pesic’s team had been considered among the favorites at EuroBasket, but the Serbians were upset by Finland in the round of 16. “It was a privilege to be the head coach of the Serbian national team, to train and lead the best Serbian basketball players,” Pesic said. “… However, the time has come to find a new coach who will be able to continue what we started in the previous period.”
- FIBA Europe officials are considering changes to EuroBasket when the tournament returns in 2029, states Pijus Sapetka of BasketNews. President Jorge Garbajosa said injury replacements may be permitted and teams won’t be required to play on consecutive days.
Celtics Notes: Brown, Chisholm, Boucher, Hauser
The Celtics appear likely to take a step backward in 2025/26 due to Jayson Tatum‘s Achilles injury and the loss of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, who were both shipped out in cost-cutting moves. However, Jaylen Brown expressed optimism about the upcoming season in an interview this week on V-103 FM in Atlanta, relays Conor Ryan of The Boston Globe.
“I know Boston, it looks gloomy right now, obviously with JT being out and us kind of ending the year, but it’s a lot to look forward to,” Brown said. “I want the city to feel excited about that. This is not the end, so I’m looking forward to what’s next.”
Being in his hometown, Brown received a question about possibly joining the Hawks someday. With four years left on his $304MM super-max extension, it’s not a realistic possibility anytime soon, but Brown left the door open. When host Darian Morgan said he’d like to see Brown in a Hawks uniform, the Celtics star replied, “I feel you. I think my grandma would too.”
There’s more on the Celtics:
- New majority owner William Chisholm shares Brown’s outlook about the team’s prospects, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Chisholm believes other players will seize the opportunity to replace the stars who are no longer available. “I think they’re going to surprise some people,” Chisholm said. “I think this is a good team and I think we have a really good coach and a really good president of basketball operations. I think Payton Pritchard said it in an interview, that we’re going to surprise some people, and I think there’s real talent here that hasn’t been fully realized.”
- Newly acquired Chris Boucher may be the favorite going into camp to win the starting job at power forward, Brian Robb of MassLive states in a mailbag column. Coach Joe Mazzulla’s handling of the four spot should provide an indication of how he plans to approach the season, Robb adds. Using the 6’9″ Boucher alongside Neemias Queta would give the team more size on defense and better rebounding. Another option is to start shooting specialist Sam Hauser, which would satisfy Mazzulla’s tactical reliance on a three-point barrage but would leave the Celtics vulnerable in other areas. Robb mentions Josh Minott as a potential wild card who could wind up earning regular minutes.
- Second apron concerns mean Holiday and Porzingis would likely have been traded even if Tatum hadn’t gotten injured, but some other moves might have played out differently, Robb adds in the same piece. He believes Al Horford or Luke Kornet would have been re-signed if Tatum had been healthy, and the Celtics might have made a stronger effort to add low-cost veteran free agent depth.
Jaren Jackson Jr. Provides Update On Recovery From Offseason Surgery
Appearing at his annual youth basketball camp Saturday in Memphis, Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. talked about the progress he has made since undergoing a procedure for a turf toe injury in early July, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
“I’m feeling good,” Jackson said. “I’m progressing the right way. I’m doing what I need to do. Every day has been a building block.”
The Grizzlies expect to reevaluate Jackson in late September, right around the opening of training camp. That would give him a little more than three weeks to get ready for opening night when the Grizzlies host New Orleans on October 22. Jackson didn’t commit to playing in the opener, but said he feels good about the progress he has made.
“I’m aiming for whatever my body is telling me, but I’m progressing the right way,” he said. “I think everybody is going to be happy.”
It has been an eventful offseason for Jackson, who agreed to a renegotiation and extension that will pay him $240MM over the next five years. That cements him as part of the foundation for the franchise, which will be looking to bounce back after being swept by Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs.
Jackson made his second All-Star appearance last season, and he earned All-Defensive honors for the second time in his career. In 74 games, he averaged 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 48.8% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range.
Jackson announced in August that he’s changing his number from 13 to 8 as he enters his eighth NBA season. The number carries family significance, as Jackson’s father wore it when he played for the Clippers in the 1990s.
Jackson also talked to Cole about the importance of holding events like the youth basketball camp in the community, saying Memphis feels like home to him now.
“It’s always important to do stuff in the place that you’re from,” Jackson said. “… I’ve lived here longer than any place in my life, so can’t take that from me.”
Aspiration Co-Founder Issues Statement On Kawhi Leonard Controversy
Andrei Cherny, who co-founded Aspiration and served as its CEO until 2022, has provided his perspective on the nature of the company’s relationship with Clippers star Kawhi Leonard. In a Twitter post relaying comments he made to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, Cherny claims Leonard’s responsibilities with Aspiration have been incorrectly portrayed.
“The claim that the contract with Kawhi Leonard was a ‘no show’ contract is false,” Cherny wrote. “The contract contained three pages of extensive obligations that Leonard had to perform. And the contract clearly said that if Leonard did not meet those obligations, Aspiration could terminate the contract.
“The ‘beliefs’ provision is not unusual in celebrity endorsements and merely means we can’t do something like make a vegetarian eat meat as a way of forcing them to break the contract. It doesn’t mean you can have a ‘belief’ of not talking to the camera.”
Aspiration, a now-bankrupt “green bank” company, has been at the center of controversy since Pablo Torre’s September 3 report that Leonard had a $28MM endorsement deal, but didn’t perform any work to earn the money. The Clippers are accused of trying to circumvent the salary cap by using one of their sponsors to funnel extra cash to Leonard and his representatives.
The NBA recently hired a law firm to conduct a thorough investigation of the case. At a news conference this week, commissioner Adam Silver said the burden of proof will be on the league to prove that something improper was done before any disciplinary action can be taken.
“In the months of discussion among our executives before signing the sponsorship, I don’t remember conversations about the NBA salary cap,” Cherny continues. “I signed the contract shortly before I submitted my resignation, but before I left there were numerous internal conversations about the various things Aspiration was planning to do with Leonard once the 2022-23 season began, including emails from the marketing team about their plans in just the week before my last day. I can’t speak to what was done or not done after I left — or why.”
Cherny blames the company’s failure on fellow co-founder Joe Sanberg, who was arrested in March on charges of defrauding investors of $145MM. He claims Sanberg’s actions were the reason he decided to leave in 2022.
In response to Cherny’s statement, Torre received a letter from three former top Aspiration executives, who claim the endorsement deal with Leonard “was presented to the company as a completed arrangement” and was executed by Cherney “despite significant objections from members of the senior management team.”
“The team expressed concerns at the time regarding the high cost of the agreement and its lack of alignment with Aspiration’s brand and business strategy,” the letter states. “While subsequent marketing efforts were undertaken, they were ultimately discontinued and should not be interpreted as support for the deal itself. In our judgment, the Leonard Deal was not in the company’s best interest. It was strategically difficult to justify then, and it remains so today.”
Knicks Won’t Re-Sign Cameron Payne
With the Knicks preparing to hold a three-man competition in training camp to fill an open roster spot, free agent guard Cameron Payne is no longer in their plans, a league source confirms to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link).
Payne came to New York last summer on a one-year minimum contract. He appeared in 72 games, making five starts and averaging 6.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 15.1 minutes per night with .401/.363/.907 shooting numbers.
Payne scored 14 points off the bench and was a plus-23 overall in the opener of the Knicks’ first-round series against Detroit. However, his shooting numbers declined throughout the playoffs, and he was removed from the rotation during the Eastern Conference Finals.
Unless they shed salary by making a trade, the Knicks only have enough cap flexibility below the second tax apron to add one more veteran on a minimum-salary contract. Malcolm Brogdon, Landry Shamet and Garrison Mathews all agreed to non-guaranteed deals this week and will battle for that spot on the roster.
Payne, 31, only has a couple of weeks to catch on with a new team before the start of training camp. There haven’t been any reports over the summer to indicate that he’s close to signing with anyone.
Payne was selected by Oklahoma City with the 14th pick in the 2015 draft. He was traded to Chicago at the 2017 deadline and later spent time with Cleveland, Phoenix, Milwaukee and Philadelphia before signing with New York.
Western Notes: Gobert, Abdelfattah, Sengun, Durant
The Timberwolves paid a hefty price to the Jazz to acquire Rudy Gobert. Minnesota was heavily criticized for giving up five players and a package of first-rounders for the defensive stalwart after Gobert’s first season in the organization. However, the trade can now be considered a resounding win for the Timberwolves, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic opines.
Krawczynski cites Gobert’s impact over the past two seasons and suggests the team’s success during that stretch have changed the culture in Minnesota. The organization has become a place players want to play with heightened expectations and Gobert has been a big part of that change.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- The Timberwolves have officially hired Mahmoud Abdelfattah as head coach of the Iowa Wolves, the club’s NBA G League affiliate, according to a team press release. The Wolves’ decision to hire him was reported last month. Most recently, Abdelfattah spent the 2023/24 season as the head coach of the Sydney Kings of Australia’s National Basketball League. Prior to his time with the NBL’s Kings, the Chicago native spent four seasons (2019-2023) in the Rockets organization.
- Alperen Sengun has been one of the stars of the EuroBasket tournament, which comes as no surprise to Rockets coach Ime Udoka, according to Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle. That’s what Udoka advised his starting center when he visited Turkey this summer. “It was really, ‘Be aggressive and get back to dominating as you have throughout your career,’ basically,” Udoka said. “For him, we wanted to work on specific things and the way they guard him over in Europe, in EuroBasket. And he’s doing a great job, obviously, getting high assist numbers, being very efficient, but doing all the things and trying to be well rounded. So it wasn’t just about scoring the ball.”
- Speaking of Udoka, the Rockets coach received this message from Kevin Durant — use me in any way necessary. Durant would rather fit in than have their young core become passive. “He wants to kind of be implemented into the group, and people not take a back seat to him,” Udoka told Lerner. “That’s his message to a lot of the young guys: Be who you are, continue to grow in those areas, and I’ll fit in where we see necessary.”
Pacific Notes: Harris, Wiggins, Hayes-Davis, Aspiration
Zach Harris has been named general manager of the Warriors’ NBA G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, according to a team press release. Additionally, Noah Robotham has been promoted to assistant GM.
Harris is entering his second season with the Santa Cruz Warriors after serving as an assistant GM last year. He joined the Warriors organization with four years of G League experience, having worked for the Grand Rapids Gold as a basketball strategy coordinator for the 2022/23 season, the Capital City Go-Go as a basketball operations assistant from 2018-20, and as an intern for the Iowa Wolves in 2017.
Robotham is entering his third season with the Santa Cruz Warriors, having spent last year as the team’s manager of basketball operations. In his first season with the Warriors in 2023/24, he served as a coaching associate and basketball operations coordinator.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers reportedly are looking to upgrade the wing position with the Heat’s Andrew Wiggins as a potential target. Lakers beat reporter Jovan Buha expresses skepticism on his Buha’s Block podcast (video link) that the Lakers can pull off a Wiggins trade without including a first-round pick. He also doesn’t expect that some combination of Dalton Knecht, Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent would be enough to pull off a trade.
- The Suns signed Nigel Hayes-Davis to a one-year contract in July after he spent seven years playing overseas. The Athletic’s Doug Haller details Hayes-Davis’ long journey back to the NBA. “For sure, I would’ve been surprised (it took so long), but to talk about the past is almost pointless,” Hayes-Davis said. “… I will say that I’m appreciative of the journey that I’ve had. Is it the one I thought about as a child growing up? Of course not. But it’s been fantastic.”
- The ongoing saga regarding Kawhi Leonard‘s no-show endorsement deal with Aspiration as a means of the Clippers potentially circumventing the league’s salary cap rules has been a hot topic the past two weeks. ESPN’s Shwetha Surendran takes a closer at the now-defunct company, including its business model and high-profile investors.
Spurs Waive Osayi Osifo
The Spurs have waived Osayi Osifo, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. The move is also on RealGM’s official log of NBA transactions.
A 6’7″ forward from South Africa, Osifo went undrafted in 2023 out of Jacksonville. He suited up for the Spurs during Summer League action a couple months ago and also had a brief stint with the Calgary Stampede of the Canadian Elite Basketball League in the spring.
Osifo spent most of the 2024/25 season with the Spurs’ G League affiliate in Austin. In 30 regular season games with Austin, the 25-year-old averaged 7.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.3 blocks in 24.1 minutes per contest.
Assuming Osifo received an Exhibit 10 contract, which is highly likely, he’ll be eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days with Austin in ’25/26.
The Spurs now have 20 players under contract, one shy of the offseason limit.
Knicks Rookie Diawara Expected To Sign Standard Deal?
Although the Knicks are reportedly considering a cost-cutting trade in order to keep two of Malcolm Brogdon, Landry Shamet and Garrison Mathews, Ian Begley of SNY.tv doesn’t expect a move to occur before training camp (Twitter link via Knicks Videos).
Begley also doesn’t think Miles McBride will be the player traded if New York does make a deal. The backup guard will earn $4.33MM in 2025/26, followed by $3.96MM in ’26/27.
“I’d be surprised if the Knicks made a move like that ahead of training camp,” Begley said. “I’d assume that they let things play out in training camp/preseason before making decisions on final roster spots. It’s also worth pointing out that they have always held McBride in high regard and haven’t been receptive to any past trades involving the now 25-year-old.”
The Knicks have agreed to sign Brogdon, Shamet and Mathews to non-guaranteed contracts but currently only have enough cap flexibility below the second tax apron to keep one of the three on their regular season roster. That player would fill their 13th standard roster spot, while the 14th needs to be a rookie whose draft rights are controlled by New York.
According to Begley, the tentative plan entering camp is for the Knicks to sign Mohamed Diawara to that 14th spot. The 20-year-old, who played for the Knicks in Summer League and spent last season with Cholet Basket in France’s top basketball league, was selected No. 51 overall in the 2025 draft.
Jake Fischer reported yesterday for The Stein Line that New York considered signing free agent center Thomas Bryant before deciding to prioritize backcourt and wing depth. According to Begley’s sources, Bryant “really impressed” the Knicks during recent open gym workouts in New York.