Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Hawks’ Kristaps Porzingis Feels ‘Fantastic’ After Recovering From Illness

July 29th, 2025 at 4:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kristaps Porzingis is feeling refreshed and ready to play again, he said in an interview with Latvia’s Sports Studija (YouTube link).

Porzingis struggled mightily in the playoffs with the Celtics due to the lingering effects of a mysterious illness he contracted in February. It was later described as post-viral syndrome. He was dealt to the Hawks this summer.

“I feel fantastic, to be honest,” Porzingis said, per BasketNews.com. “I took time to rest after the season. Something was lingering during the playoffs—I had fatigue, dizziness, even moments where I felt like I might faint. It wasn’t great.”

Porzingis will play for Latvia’s national team in the EuroBasket tournament before joining Atlanta for training camp.

“In June, I fully rested and lowered the intensity. All of that has gone away,” he said. “I haven’t felt any of the playoff symptoms anymore. I feel great and ready to join the national team. Super happy.”

Porzingis has a $30.7MM expiring contract, so his stay in Atlanta could be a short one, though he’s eligible to sign a contract extension. The Hawks hope he can make them a true playoff contender. Atlanta also upgraded its roster by adding Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard this offseason.

“I think expectations are high. Atlanta’s been on the edge of the playoffs the last few years, sometimes getting through the first round,” Porzingis said. “It’s a great situation for me to come in and contribute. Maybe even better than Boston, where it was championship or bust.”

Boston”s front office was motivated to shed salary after Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles during the playoffs. Porzingis anticipated he could be moved, though not necessarily to the Hawks.

“After the season, I spoke to my agent and kind of expected that one or more of us would be traded,” he said. “For a while, I thought I might end up with the Spurs, but then Atlanta came in—and that was a nice surprise. It was out of my hands.”

Porzingis believes he’ll mesh quickly with his new teammates.

“I’ve always been a player who can fit into any system, but now I adapt faster,” he said. “I read defenses better and make quicker decisions. That comes with experience.”

The veteran big man produced at a high level when he was available last season, averaging 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 28.8 minutes per game across 42 starts for the Celtics in 2024/25, with a shooting line of .483/.412/.809.

Repost Share Send via email

Jordan Miller Signs Two-Way Contract With Clippers

July 29th, 2025 at 4:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

July 29: Miller’s two-way deal is official, according to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Baldwin has been officially waived, as we detailed in a separate story.

July 26: After waiving Jordan Miller earlier this month, the Clippers are bringing him back on a two-way contract, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The 25-year-old small forward was one of the stars at the Las Vegas Summer League, earning first-team honors after averaging 22 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 53% from the field and 39% from three-point range.

L.A. will create an opening for Miller by waiving Patrick Baldwin Jr., according to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), who states that the team has interest in signing Baldwin to an Exhibit 10 contract if he clears waivers. TyTy Washington Jr., whose impending signing was reported earlier today, will have an Exhibit 10 deal and will also compete for a two-way contract, Murray confirms.

The Clippers elected to part with Miller 18 days ago rather than give him a $350K guarantee on his $2.19MM salary for next season. His previous contract would have included another guarantee if he earned a spot on the opening night roster.

L.A. originally gave Miller a two-way contract in 2023 after selecting him out of Miami with the 48th pick in the draft. He remained on the two-way deal through most of last season before it was converted to a standard contract on March 1.

Miller appeared in 37 games last season, putting up 4.1 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per night with .433/.211/.800 shooting numbers.

Kobe Sanders, who signed on July 10, and Trentyn Flowers occupy the team’s other two-way spots.

Repost Share Send via email

International Notes: Dowtin, A. Traore, S. Johnson, Vucevic

July 29th, 2025 at 2:59pm CST by Luke Adams

After spending the 2024/25 season on a two-way contract with the 76ers, free agent guard Jeff Dowtin is drawing interest from a handful of teams in Europe, Dario Skerletic of Sportando writes, citing a report from Tomer Givati of Israel Hayom.

According to Givati, Dowtin is engaged in talks with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Partizan Belgrade, and Fenerbahce, with Maccabi believed to be the favorite to sign him at this point.

Dowtin, 28, has four years of NBA experience, having appeared in games for five separate teams since entering the league in 2021. The 2024/25 season was his best, as he posted averaged of 7.0 points, 1.9 assists, and 1.5 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game across 41 outings, with a solid shooting line of .487/.400/.733.

Dowtin is no longer eligible for a two-way deal, so there may not be a clear path to an NBA roster spot this fall, making a move overseas a more appealing option.

Here are a few more notes from around the international basketball world:

  • Former Lakers two-way player Armel Traore has signed a two-year contract with ASVEL, the French club announced today (via Twitter). The 6’9″ forward caught on with the Lakers after going undrafted in 2024 and appeared in eight games for the NBA club last season before being waived in February.
  • Veteran forward Stanley Johnson, the eighth overall pick in the 2015 draft, will continue his career in Japan, having signed with Nagasaki Velca for the 2025/26 season, according to an announcement from the club (hat tip to Sportando). Johnson, 29, appeared in 449 regular season games for five NBA teams from 2015-23, but has spent the past two seasons in the G League and with Anadolu Efes in Turkey.
  • A handful of EuroLeague teams are keeping an eye on Bulls center Nikola Vucevic, per a report from SportKlub, relayed by Sportando. Jake Fischer recently speculated in a Bleacher Report stream that a mid-season buyout may be a more likely outcome for Vucevic than a trade. However, the 34-year-old remains extremely productive – he averaged 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game with a .530/.402/.805 shooting line last season – and there has been absolutely no indication a buyout will materialize anytime soon. Even in the event of a buyout, Vucevic would presumably have no shortage of NBA offers.
Repost Share Send via email

Execs Weigh In On Quentin Grimes’ Value

July 29th, 2025 at 1:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Having polled 16 front office sources around the NBA about what “fair” contracts for restricted free agents Jonathan Kuminga and Josh Giddey would look like, Fred Katz of The Athletic did the same for Quentin Grimes of the Sixers, another RFA who has been in a standoff with his team for the last several weeks.

According to Katz, 13 of the 16 respondents to his poll suggested annual salaries between $12MM and $16.7MM per year from Grimes, with one projection coming in lower ($10MM) and two going slightly higher (one $18MM and one $18.8MM). Eleven of the sources polled suggested a three-year deal for the 25-year-old, with four indicating they’d do four years and just one saying he’d do only two seasons.

The executive who was lowest on Grimes explained that he’d only be comfortable with $30MM over three years because he wasn’t swayed by the guard’s second-half scoring outburst for a banged-up Sixers team that was essentially in tanking mode.

Another exec, who said he’d do a three-year, $40MM contract, argued that it was hard to pay big-time money for a player like Grimes when a veteran with a similar skill set like Gary Trent Jr. signed for the minimum (Trent actually signed for a little more than the minimum, though the point stands).

Other participants in the poll were higher on Grimes, including one who expressed a level of comfort with a four-year, $75MM investment.

“There are not many Swiss Army knife wings out there that score it as efficiently, defend, pass or rebound like he does,” that staffer said. “He might not be elite at any one thing, but (he’s) very good at a lot of them.”

A number of respondents suggested a deal in the range of the mid-level, with one observing that something in the same “ballpark” as what Caris LeVert (two years, $28.9MM) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (four years, $60.6MM) got in terms of annual average value would make sense for Grimes.

“I like Quentin Grimes. He’s a very good player,” another exec said. “I would present him with two options: You can have a three-year, $48 million deal or a four-year, $60 million. … You say to him, ‘Do you want money or do you want longevity?’ And if he says both, you say, ‘We can’t offer both.'”

As we noted when we passed along the results of Katz’s polls on Kuminga and Giddey, these responses come with an important caveat — rival team executives, who will have their own contract negotiations to deal with going forward and don’t want the market to be set too high for their own guys, are more likely to take a conservative view when asked to project a player’s contract. The responses in a poll of 16 agents would almost certainly come in higher.

Still, with no indication that a rival suitor is positioning itself to make an aggressive play for Grimes, the Sixers have a good deal of leverage in the negotiations and will be motivated to keep the guard’s first-year salary at a manageable number. Philadelphia is currently operating a little below the luxury tax line and has roughly $21.7MM in wiggle room below the second tax apron, so bringing in Grimes for a lower number would help keep the club’s projected tax penalty in check and would open up more room for the front office to maneuver in apron territory.

Repost Share Send via email

Southeast Notes: D. Smith, Heat, Wizards, Djurisic

July 29th, 2025 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

While Dru Smith had been considered the favorite to claim the Heat‘s final two-way slot, that can’t actually happen, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, since a CBA rule prohibits a player from being on a two-way contract with the same team for four seasons.

Smith hasn’t spent the entirety of the past three years on two-way deals with Miami, but he has been on a two-way contract for at least part of each of the past three seasons since 2022/23, making him ineligible to do so again in ’25/26.

The Heat did tender Smith a qualifying offer in June, but that offer is for a one-year, minimum-salary contract with a small partial guarantee (approximately $102K), rather than another two-way deal. Miami has just 14 players on standard contracts for now, so Smith could be the club’s 15th man, but team salary is already over the luxury tax threshold, so it’s unclear whether or not the front office plans to carry a full 15-man roster into the regular season.

Meanwhile, there’s still a two-way spot open on the Heat’s roster alongside Vladislav Goldin and Myron Gardner.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

  • It hasn’t been an especially eventful offseason for the Heat — they’ve made modest additions like Norman Powell, Kasparas Jakucionis, and Simone Fontecchio, but will bring back a roster pretty similar to last year’s group. With that in mind, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel suggests that internal improvement represents Miami’s best hope of taking a step forward and identifies Andrew Wiggins, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Terry Rozier, and Nikola Jovic as a few of the top candidates to give the team more in 2025/26 than they did in ’24/25.
  • Khris Middleton and CJ McCollum are the only two players on the Wizards‘ roster who are older than 26 or earning more than $14MM in 2025/26, according to Varun Shankar of The Washington Post, who says the front office views the two veterans as positive influences and potential role models for the team’s younger players. Acquiring Middleton and McCollum also put Washington in position to create significant 2026 cap room, since both players are on expiring deals.
  • Nikola Djurisic, a 2024 second-round pick who signed his first NBA contract earlier this month with the Hawks, was left off Serbia’s roster for the upcoming EuroBasket tournament. As Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com relays (via Twitter), Serbian head coach Svetislav Pesic referred to the 21-year-old forward as part of “the future of Serbian basketball” in explaining that decision. “There was a thought to include him (on the roster) as well, but we have a lot of experienced players in that position,” Pesic said. “Let him take a break from everything now. He spent a whole year in America.”
Repost Share Send via email

Clippers Waive Patrick Baldwin Jr.

July 29th, 2025 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the Clippers have waived forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., according to the NBA’s official transaction log.

A report over the weekend indicated that Baldwin would be waived to open up a two-way contract slot for Jordan Miller. That report, from Law Murray of The Athletic, noted that the Clippers would have interest in bringing back Baldwin on an Exhibit 10 contract if he clears waivers.

The 28th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Baldwin played limited minutes as a rookie in Golden State before being sent to Washington in the Jordan Poole/Chris Paul trade during the summer of 2023. He also played a limited role in D.C. across a season-and-a-half until he was dealt to the Spurs at the 2025 trade deadline. San Antonio waived the 22-year-old shortly after acquiring him and he finished last season on a two-way contract with L.A.

In 93 total NBA outings, Baldwin has averaged 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.9 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .405/.373/.658. The 6’9″ forward has played more of a featured role in the G League, including in 2024/25, when he put up 17.3 PPG and 6.8 RPG on .489/.364/.594 shooting in 23 games for the Capital City Go-Go and San Diego Clippers. He also filled up the box score with 2.4 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.3 steals per contest.

Baldwin still has one more year of two-way eligibility remaining.

The Clippers, meanwhile, can now officially move forward on their new two-way agreement with Miller, who will join Kobe Sanders and Trentyn Flowers as the team’s two-way players.

Repost Share Send via email

Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 7/29/2025

July 29th, 2025 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included the Wizards' potential interest in Josh Giddey, the Celtics' limited center options, the Bulls' stagnant offseason, a possible Victor Oladipo comeback and more!

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Luke Adams
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Arthur Hill
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
Repost Share Send via email

Tracy McGrady Joining NBC As NBA Analyst

July 29th, 2025 at 10:29am CST by Luke Adams

NBC Sports is adding another Hall of Famer to its NBA coverage for the 2025/26 season, announcing in a press release that Tracy McGrady has joined the network as a studio analyst.

McGrady, a former NBA star who made seven consecutive All-Star teams from 2001-07 and twice led the league in scoring, has prior broadcasting experience, having worked as an analyst for both ESPN and TNT Sports after his retirement as a player.

McGrady will be joining an NBC studio team that also includes his cousin Vince Carter, as well as former NBA star Carmelo Anthony. Maria Taylor and Ahmed Fareed will serve as the studio hosts for NBC’s NBA coverage, while Michael Jordan will be a special contributor to the network’s coverage.

“Tracy has performed at the highest level both on and off the court and has already demonstrated his ability to deliver his unique perspective on air,” NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood said in a statement. “Whether paired with Carmelo, Vince, or both, we’re excited to see how this team of Hall of Famers comes together and breaks down the game.”

The hiring of McGrady is the second major announcement by NBC within the last week. The network also revealed a series of new hires last Thursday, including Derek Fisher, Austin Rivers, Brad Daugherty, Robbie Hummel, and Brian Scalabrine as game analysts.

Repost Share Send via email

Pistons Sign Colby Jones To Two-Way Contract

July 29th, 2025 at 10:08am CST by Arthur Hill

July 29: The Pistons have officially announced their two-way deal with Jones, confirming the signing in a press release (Twitter link). Jones and Tolu Smith are now on two-way contracts with the Pistons, who still have a two-way qualifying offer on the table for Daniss Jenkins too.

July 23: Free agent shooting guard Colby Jones will sign a two-way contract with the Pistons, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Jones, 23, had a strong finish to last season in Washington after being acquired from Sacramento in a three-team trade at the deadline. In 15 games with the Wizards, he averaged 8.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 25.7 minutes per night while posting .466/.308/.657 shooting numbers.

Jones was traded to Oklahoma City last month, but the Thunder immediately waived his non-guaranteed $2.22MM contract for the upcoming season.

Jones began his career with the Kings after being selected with the 34th pick in the 2023 draft. This will be his first time on a two-way contract.

The Pistons have a two-way opening, so no corresponding roster move will be required before Jones can be signed.

Repost Share Send via email

NBA Players Who Can Veto Trades In 2025/26

July 29th, 2025 at 9:19am CST by Luke Adams

No-trade clauses are rare in the NBA, since a player must meet a specific set of criteria in order to qualify for one. And even those players who become eligible may not have the leverage to demand a no-trade clause, which significantly limits a team’s flexibility in future trade negotiations.

To be eligible to negotiate a no-trade clause, a player must have at least eight years of NBA experience and has to have spent at least four years (not necessarily the most recent four years) with his current team. He also must be signing a free agent contract, rather than an extension.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: No-Trade Clause]

For the second consecutive season, multiple players will have no-trade clauses in their contracts during the 2025/26 league year. In addition to LeBron James, who got his no-trade clause when he signed his current contract in 2024, Damian Lillard negotiated a no-trade clause into his new deal with the Trail Blazers.

A year ago, it was James and Bradley Beal who had no-trade clauses, but Beal gave his up when he agreed to a buyout with the Suns this offseason.

Prior to 2024/25, the last time more than one player had an actual no-trade clause in his contract was in ’17/18, when three players – James (as a Cavalier), Dirk Nowitzki, and Carmelo Anthony – had them.

Although James and Lillard are the only players who have explicit no-trade clauses in their current deals, there are several others who will have implicit no-trade clauses in 2025/26, giving them the ability to veto trades during the current league year.

A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year deal with an option year – is given no-trade protection, unless he agrees to give up that protection when he inks his deal. That group doesn’t include players on two-way contracts, but it does include players who accept standard (non two-way) one-year qualifying offers.

A player who signs an offer sheet and then has that offer matched by his previous team also has the ability to veto a trade for a full calendar year.

With those criteria in mind, here are the players who must give their consent if their teams want to trade them during the ’25/26 league year:

Players with a no-trade clause:

Players whose offer sheets were matched:

  • None

Players who re-signed for one year (or two years, with a second-year player/team option):

If any player who re-signed for one year approves a trade during the 2025/26 league year, he’ll have Non-Bird rights at season’s end instead of Early Bird or full Bird rights.

Any player who approves a trade will retain his veto ability on his new team, and would have to consent to any subsequent deal during the 2025/26 season.

The following players were re-signed to one-year contracts (or two-year deals with an option year), but have agreed to forfeit their right to veto a trade in 2025/26:

Giving up the right to veto a trade was introduced as an option in the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Repost Share Send via email
Load More Posts