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2026 NBA Trade Deadline Set For February 5

August 6th, 2025 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s trade deadline for the 2025/26 season will be on Thursday, February 5 at 3:00 pm Eastern time, according to the league’s official list of key dates for the upcoming season.

That date for the 2026 trade deadline had been expected based on a previously confirmed regular season start date of October 21, but it hadn’t been officially listed on NBA.com until now.

That deadline is worth highlighting today due to how it will affect players who sign veteran contract extensions for the rest of the 2025/26 league year. When a player signs a veteran extension, he may become ineligible to be traded for six months if his new deal meets certain criteria. Six months from today would be February 6, one day after the trade deadline.

That means a player who signs a veteran extension between now and the Feb. 5 deadline will be ineligible to be traded this season if his new deal meets any of the following criteria:

His current contract and new extension exceed four years in total.
His starting salary on the extension is worth more than 120% of the final-year salary on his current deal (or 120% of the NBA’s estimated average salary, for a player earning below the average)
He receives a raise greater than 5% between the first and second years of the extension (or in any subsequent seasons).
His current contract is renegotiated as part of the extension.

Knicks forward Mikal Bridges is one example of a recently extended player who meets one or more of these criteria. He’s now under contract for five years in total, received a 2026/27 salary exceeding 120% of his ’25/26 cap hit, and will get 8% annual raises. That means Bridges is ineligible to be traded for six months, but because his deal was finalized on August 1, his trade restrictions will lift on February 1, a few days before this season’s deadline.

This rule doesn’t apply to players who sign rookie scale extensions. They can be traded immediately, though the poison pill provision might make it difficult to do so.

Players who sign veteran extensions that don’t meet any of the criteria above are also eligible to be traded immediately. Mavericks big man Daniel Gafford is an example of a player who falls into this category. The three-year extension he signed last month resulted in him being under contract for four years in total, and his new deal starts at 120% of his previous salary and features 5% annual raises. As a result, no trade restrictions currently apply to Gafford.

November 5 is another date worth keeping in mind now that the trade deadline for 2026 is officially set. A free agent who signs with an NBA team after Nov. 5 won’t become trade-eligible this season.

Atlantic Notes: Pritchard, Bridges, Knicks, Nets

August 6th, 2025 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics‘ biggest transactions this offseason – including trades that sent Jrue Holiday to Portland and Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta – have been more about reducing the team’s payroll as opposed to upgrading the roster. Still, despite those summer moves and the fact that Jayson Tatum will be sidelined with a torn Achilles, reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard remains confident in the team’s ability to compete.

“We’re definitely trying to be a playoff team. We’re trying to win a championship,” Pritchard said on the Celtics Talk Podcast with Chris Forsberg (story via Logan Reardon of NBC Sports Boston). “It’s not even about playoffs, we have one standard in Boston and it’s to win a championship. Everybody in that locker room will have the goal of competing for a championship. And we will do everything in our power necessary to go for that. That’s what (the fans) should know.”

Pritchard went on to acknowledge that it “definitely sucks” to lose players like Holiday, Porzingis, and Luke Kornet, adding that he’ll especially miss Holiday, who was “like a big brother.” Still, the Celtics guard is optimistic that other players will step up and play well in increased roles — Pritchard himself, who averaged a career-high 28.4 minutes per game last season, is among the players who will likely take on more responsibilities in 2025/26.

“I feel like everybody should be excited,” Pritchard said. “There’s a lot of opportunities across the board. For me, personally, I’m excited every year. Because it’s an opportunity to prove myself again, to show that I can take another step. And that’s my goal every year. I’m definitely hungry and motivated this year, been working really hard. So I’m excited.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Despite the fact that Mikal Bridges accepted a little less than he could have received on his four-year, $150MM contract extension, the Knicks project to be a second-apron team next season if they re-sign Mitchell Robinson, Yossi Gozlan writes for The Third Apron (Substack link). Within his look at the Knicks’ cap situation, Gozlan notes that Bridges’ unusual 5.69% trade kicker would put him in line to receive a bonus of about $6.17MM if he’s traded during the 2026 offseason — it would be almost the exact amount he gave up as part of his extension agreement (his max extension would have been worth roughly $156.17MM).
In a mailbag for The Athletic, James L. Edwards III explores Robinson’s contract situation and the timing of Bridges’ extension, among other topics. Edwards also explains why he wouldn’t be a fan of even a minimum-salary investment in free agent guard Ben Simmons and confirms that the Knicks – along with many other teams around the league – have been monitoring Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s situation in Milwaukee throughout the offseason.
After ending up at No. 8 in this year’s draft lottery, the Nets appear likely to tank again in 2025/26 in the hopes of landing a higher first-round pick. Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscriber link) discusses the potential pitfalls of that approach, noting that teams who prioritize draft positioning for multiple years risk creating culture issues. “A lot of these teams that try to bottom out by tanking like Brooklyn is doing, they think there’s no consequences,” one agent told Lewis. “You risk eroding the environment you’re trying to create. That’s what happened in Philadelphia.”

Key Dates, Deadlines For Restricted Free Agents

August 6th, 2025 at 10:42am CST by Luke Adams

While it’s not uncommon for restricted free agency to play out slowly for certain NBA players, it’s rare for so many high-level RFAs to remain unsigned a month after the July moratorium lifted. Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors), Josh Giddey (Bulls), Quentin Grimes (Sixers), and Cam Thomas (Nets) continue to negotiate with their respective teams after wrapping up their rookie scale contracts earlier this summer.

While we wait for resolution on those top four RFAs, it’s worth taking a closer look at the important dates and deadlines that apply during the restricted free agency process, including both the ones that have already passed and the ones still to come.

Here’s the breakdown:

June 29: Last day to tender a qualifying offer to a player eligible for restricted free agency

A player is eligible for restricted free agency if he’s a former first-round pick who is wrapping up the fourth year of his rookie scale contract or if he’s a former second-round pick or undrafted free agent who has been in the NBA for no more than three years.

If a player meets that criteria, a team must issue a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent. The qualifying offer is a one-year contract offer whose exact value is determined by an existing formula. While the player has the option of signing that qualifying offer, it can also serve as a placeholder that gives the player’s team the right of first refusal in the event he signs an offer sheet with another club.

We go into far more detail on how qualifying offers and how they’re calculated in our glossary entry on the subject. The headline here is that June 29 is the last day they can be issued — a player who doesn’t receive a qualifying offer on or before that date will instead become an unrestricted free agent.

Teams typically don’t issue qualifying offers far in advance of this deadline even if their decisions are relatively straightforward ones. In 2025, for instance, 30 of the 37 players who received QOs got them on either June 28 or June 29, per RealGM.

July 13: Last day for a team to unilaterally withdraw a qualifying offer

While a player can accept his qualifying offer as soon as he receives it, most QOs remain unsigned at the start of free agency, opening the door for a team to rescind its qualifying offer without the player’s approval.

For instance, on July 1 of this year, the Bucks withdrew their qualifying offer to Ryan Rollins, who began the league year as a restricted free agent. Rescinding that QO made Rollins an unrestricted free agent and meant he no longer had the option of accepting the one-year, $2.6MM offer.

In that case, the Bucks’ decision was about maximizing their cap room — withdrawing Rollins’ qualifying offer slightly reduced his cap hit, creating a little extra spending flexibility for the team to sign Myles Turner. Milwaukee retained Rollins’ Early Bird rights when he became an unrestricted free agent and was able to eventually re-sign him to a starting salary ($4MM) that exceeded his QO. So that scenario was a win-win for the player and team, but that isn’t always the case when a qualifying offer is pulled.

After July 13, a team can no longer unilaterally withdraw a player’s qualifying offer, which means that any rescinded QO on July 14 is a result of a mutual decision between the team and player.

This situation played out with multiple two-way restricted free agents this summer — Enrique Freeman (Pacers) and Isaiah Crawford (Kings) agreed to have their QOs withdrawn after July 13, which made them unrestricted free agents and allowed them to sign two-way deals with new clubs (the Timberwolves and Rockets, respectively).

October 1: Deadline for a restricted free agent to accept his qualifying offer

Between July 13 and October 1, a restricted free agent has the security of having his qualifying offer as a fallback plan, knowing that his team can’t take it off the table without his approval.

That doesn’t necessarily mean an RFA who remains unsigned on July 14 won’t get a deal done until that Oct. 1 deadline gets close, but the lack of any other deadlines before October results in little immediate urgency during late July and August. That’s one reason why we’ve seen little movement on Kuminga, Giddey, Grimes, and Thomas in recent weeks.

If the October 1 deadline passes without a player signing his qualifying offer, he remains a restricted free agent but would no longer have the option of accepting his one-year QO, which would significantly reduce his leverage.

It’s important to note that the October 1 deadline isn’t necessarily a hard and fast one — it can be pushed back as long as the team and player agree, and that can be done multiple times. For example, the two sides may initially agree to delay the deadline back to Oct. 15, then two weeks later decide to push it back again to November 1. However, that date can’t be postponed indefinitely…

March 1: Very last day for a restricted free agent to accept his qualifying offer; deadline for an RFA to sign an offer sheet

A team and a restricted free agent aren’t permitted to push the deadline to accept a qualifying offer beyond March 1. If an RFA still doesn’t have resolution on his contract situation by that date, his QO would go away, meaning he wouldn’t be able to accept it on March 2.

A restricted free agent also isn’t eligible to sign an offer sheet with a rival team after March 1. That means that if he hopes to play in the NBA during that season, his options between March 2 and the end of the season would essentially be down to one: Work out a new agreement with his current team.

If a restricted free agent goes the entire season without signing any sort of contract, he doesn’t become unrestricted the following year. His current team has the ability to once again tender him a qualifying offer by June 29 with the same terms as the previous QO, and if the club issues that offer, the process would begin all over again for a second year.

Essentially, a restricted free agent’s options only get worse once October 1 (or the newly agreed-upon QO decision deadline) passes, which is why we should probably count on resolution for this year’s top RFAs well before the regular season gets underway.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

Pacers’ Mike Weinar Withdraws From Knicks Search For Top Assistant

August 6th, 2025 at 9:52am CST by Dana Gauruder

Pacers assistant Mike Weinar has removed his name from consideration for the Knicks‘ top assistant position, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post tweets.

Ian Begley of SNY (Twitter link) confirms Weinar has removed withdrawn from consideration to be Mike Brown‘s offensive coordinator and lead assistant, adding that Hornets assistant Chris Jent remains a candidate for the job. New York’s interest in Jent was reported over the weekend.

Jent guided Charlotte to the Summer League title last month. Prior to arriving in Charlotte, he spent five years on the Hawks’ bench (2017-22) and two seasons with the Lakers (2022-24).

Jent served as the interim head coach for the Magic for the final 18 games of the 2004/05 season.

Weinar has spent the bulk of his NBA career working with head coach Rick Carlisle in Dallas and Indiana. Prior to his time with the Pacers, he served as an assistant for the Mavericks, having transitioned from a basketball operations role to join the coaching staff. His tenure in Dallas included the club’s 2011 title run.

According to Bondy, there were family considerations involved in Weinar’s decision.

Former Heat Employee Accused Of Stealing Team Items, Selling Them For Profit

August 6th, 2025 at 8:23am CST by Dana Gauruder

A former Heat employee has been accused of stealing more than 400 game-worn jerseys and other items and selling at least 100 of those items for profit, according to reports from The Athletic’s Brooks Peck and the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang and Charles Rabin.

According to a Department of Justice press release, Marcos Thomas Perez faced federal charges of transporting and transferring stolen goods in interstate commerce on Tuesday. Among the items Perez alleged stole was LeBron James’ jersey from Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals, which he sold for approximately $100K. The jersey was later sold in 2023 at a Sotheby’s auction for $3.68MM.

The federal investigation was launched in early 2024 after game-worn jerseys from James, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade — among many other items — went missing from the Heat’s arena, the Kaseya Center.

Perez worked the City of Miami Police Department in November 1992 until he retired in April 2016. He was employed by the Heat as a security officer from 2016-21, then worked for the NBA as a security employee from 2022 until this year.

“During his tenure, Perez worked on the game-day security detail at the Kaseya Center, where he was among a limited number of trusted individuals with access to a secured equipment room,” the DOJ’s press release reads. “This equipment room stored hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia that the organization intended to display in a future Miami Heat museum.

“During his employment, Perez accessed the equipment room multiple times to steal over 400 game-worn jerseys and other items, which he then sold to various online marketplaces. Over a three-year period, Perez sold over 100 stolen items for approximately $2 million and shipped them across state lines, often for prices well below their market value.”

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Perez’s home in April and seized almost 300 items that the Heat confirmed had been stolen from their arena.

Meadowlark Media’s Amin Elhassan first reported the news of the investigation on “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” last week, according to the Herald. The Heat organization and the league have declined to comment during the ongoing investigation.

Categories:
Miami Heat

Spurs Re-Sign Riley Minix On Two-Way Contract

August 5th, 2025 at 10:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

10:00 pm: The signing is official, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

7:35 pm: The Spurs are re-signing Riley Minix on a two-way deal, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. San Antonio had a pair of open two-way slots, so no corresponding move will be necessary.

Minix, 24, appeared in one game with San Antonio last season. The 6’7″ forward was a restricted free agent after receiving a two-way qualifying offer from the Spurs in June.

Minix underwent season-ending surgery in January to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He sustained the injury during a G League game vs. Iowa on January 1.

The former Morehead State standout was healthy enough to play for the Spurs’ Summer League team last month and saw action in five games. He averaged 10.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 48.6 percent from the field in 23.9 minutes per game.

San Antonio signed Minix to an Exhibit 10 deal in July 2024 after he went undrafted. He had his Exhibit 10 deal converted to a two-way contract ahead of the regular season.

The 24-year-old averaged 19.3 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.2 SPG, and 1.2 BPG with an impressive .524/.414/.853 shooting line in 19 total contests (31.6 MPG) for the G League Austin Spurs last season.

Lillard Reunion With Blazers Facilitated By 2024 Meeting Between Agent, GM

August 5th, 2025 at 9:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The seeds for Damian Lillard‘s reunion with the Trail Blazers were planted during his first season with the Bucks, as ESPN’s Jamal Collier details.

Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, and Portland general manager Joe Cronin spoke in January 2024. During that conversation, they identified the gaps in their communication and agreed there were no hard feelings between the parties.

Lillard requested a trade to the Heat in the summer of 2023. When that trade failed to materialize by September, Goodwin told the Blazers that Lillard would stay in Portland. However, the front office wanted to resolve the situation by training camp and traded him to Milwaukee.

“More than anything, it was miscommunications and misunderstandings,” Lillard said. “Joe and I never talked about [a potential return]. It just sat out there and we let it be what it was, I think that was the mistake.”

Lillard always saw himself ending his career with the Blazers, even before he was dealt. The reunion came in unexpected fashion after Lillard suffered a torn Achilles during this past season’s playoffs. Milwaukee decided to waive him and use the stretch provision, allowing the Bucks to make a bold free agent signing, securing top available center Myles Turner.

Collier reports that trading Lillard had been a consideration for Milwaukee if he did not suffer a long-term injury. The Bucks’ front office considered a number of different strategies, with a Lillard trade viewed as a last-ditch attempt to find another star to pair with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Lillard chose to return to Portland on a three-year, $42MM contract after being waived. Cronin met Lillard at his Portland home to check on how he was doing, both mentally and physically with the rehab of his torn Achilles and spoke of the team’s progress during its rebuild. At that time, Lillard expressed that he felt the Blazers were on the upswing. An agreement was reached a short time later.

Lillard is expected to spend the entire 2025/26 season rehabbing the injury. Goodwin believes he’ll come back strong.

“It’s Dame. I know Dame,” he said. “I know the desire. I know the fight. I know how hard he works. And I didn’t see this as anything that was going to shut down his career. It’s going to be something that was going to maybe even prolong his career because he goes so hard that he’s got to give his body a break.”

Mike Hopkins Joins Pelicans’ Coaching Staff

August 5th, 2025 at 6:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans have hired Mike Hopkins as an assistant coach and head of player development, Pete Thamel of ESPN tweets. Hopkins joins Willie Green‘s staff after spending last season with the Suns as an assistant under Mike Budenholzer.

Prior to last season, Hopkins spent most of his career at the college ranks. He was the head coach at the University of Washington from 2017-24. He posted a 122–111 record with the Huskies, though they reached the NCAA Tournament just once during that time.

Prior to that opportunity, he was a longtime assistant under Jim Boeheim at his alma mater, Syracuse. Hopkins was on Boeheim’s staff from 1995-2017.

Green’s staff also includes associate head coach James Borrego and assistants Jarron Collins, Casey Hill, Aaron Miles, Corey Brewer and Jodie Meeks.

Carlisle Expects Mathurin To Be Pacers’ Starting SG In 2025/26

August 5th, 2025 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Former lottery pick Bennedict Mathurin has been in and out of the Pacers‘ starting lineup in his first three NBA seasons, making 85 starts in 209 total outings. With Tyrese Haliburton out for 2025/26 due to a torn Achilles, the expectation heading into this fall is that Mathurin will be Indiana’s full-time starting shooting guard, head coach Rick Carlisle told Caitlin Cooper of Basketball, She Wrote (YouTube link).

“I’ll break the news right here: I’m projecting him as our starter at two this year,” Carlisle said of Mathurin (Twitter video clip). “I’ve told him this. I was on the phone with him and his agent four days ago and I said, ‘You’re going to be with the starters on day one. It’s your job to lose.'”

After being drafted sixth overall out of Arizona in 2022, Mathurin showed off impressive scoring ability as a rookie, averaging 16.7 points per game and earning Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year votes in ’22/23. The 6’5″ wing missed part of his second year due to a shoulder injury before returning this past season to put up 16.1 PPG with a career-best 45.8% field goal percentage.

Speaking to Cooper, Carlisle raved about Mathurin’s knack for getting to the free throw line and his ability to put the ball in the basket. However, he noted that other aspects of the 23-year-old’s game – including his passing, his quick decision making, and his fit in the Pacers’ system – are still works in progress.

“Our job as coaches is to meld guys like him that aren’t necessarily seamless fits into a style that is effective for the rest of the guys, and bring both forces hopefully closer together as time goes on,” Carlisle said.

Carlisle spoke in March about the Pacers’ ongoing efforts to incorporate Mathurin’s more ball-dominant, one-on-one style within the movement-oriented flow of a Haliburton-led offense. With Haliburton ruled out for all of 2025/26, Mathurin will take on increased responsibilities offensively and may have more freedom to try to score however he can.

It will be interesting to see how Mathurin’s growing importance in Indiana this fall will influence contract talks between his camp and the Pacers. The Canadian swingman will be eligible for a rookie scale extension up until October 20 and it could be a challenge for the two sides to reach an agreement on a long-term deal, given the way Mathurin’s role has fluctuated in the past and the fact that he could be well positioned for a career year in 2025/26.

Mathurin will earn roughly $9.2MM in the final year of his rookie contract. If he and the Pacers don’t work out an extension before the season, he’d be eligible for a qualifying offer of nearly $12.3MM next summer, assuming he meets the starter criteria.

Richaun Holmes Expected To Sign With Panathinaikos

August 5th, 2025 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Following up on overseas reports indicating that big man Richaun Holmes was nearing a deal with Panathinaikos (hat tip to Eurohoops), Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) cites sources who say Holmes has agreed to sign a contract with the Greek club that will make him one of the highest-paid players in Europe.

Holmes, 31, was the 37th overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Bowling Green and has spent the past decade in the NBA, suiting up for five different teams during that time. He had his best years in Sacramento, where he was the Kings’ full-time starting center and put up 14.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game across 61 outings in 2020/21.

Holmes has played a lesser role in recent years, including in 2024/25, when he made 31 appearances for the Wizards and averaged 7.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks in 17.2 minutes per night. His contract with Washington included a second season, but his $13.3MM salary for 2025/26 was almost entirely non-guaranteed and he was waived by the club last month.

After becoming an unrestricted free agent, Holmes drew interest from a handful of EuroLeague clubs, including Fenerbahce in Turkey. A report over the weekend stated he was mulling an offer from Panathinaikos while waiting to see if he’d be offered a guaranteed NBA contract. Today’s update suggests he didn’t get an NBA offer to his liking.

Assuming the deal doesn’t fall through before it’s officially finalized, the signing will wrap up a weeks-long saga for Panathinaikos — the Athens-based team targeted Jonas Valanciunas in early July and appeared to be on the verge of signing him to a three-year contract, but ultimately wasn’t able to pry him away from the Nuggets. Having missed out on Valanciunas, Panathinaikos continued to seek frontcourt help with an eye on NBA free agents, including Holmes and Precious Achiuwa.

Holmes will be looking to help lead Panathinaikos to a title or two in 2025/26 after the club fell just short this past season. The Greens went 22-0 during Greece’s regular season before losing to Olympiacos in the final. In the EuroLeague, Panathinaikos finished third with a 22-12 record but was defeated by Fenerbahce – the eventual champions – in the semifinals.

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