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Cavs’ Atkinson Talks Garland’s Recovery, Point Guard Plan, More

August 5th, 2025 at 8:49am CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland said on Saturday that he feels “great” in the wake of June toe surgery, but that doesn’t mean the team is counting on having him available when training camp begins this fall. Reporting at the time of Garland’s surgery indicated he would likely miss the start of the season, and head coach Kenny Atkinson confirmed to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required) that he doesn’t expect Garland to be fully healthy when the club reconvenes this fall.

“That’s not a medical opinion. That’s just my sense of this,” Atkinson said during an appearance at Garland’s celebrity softball game in Eastlake. “Under-promise and over-deliver. We’re not going to rush or push this. If he is ready, then great. I will rely on (trainer) Steve (Spiro) and Darius to tell me. But I don’t expect that.”

Atkinson told Fedor that Garland has approached his rehab process “really well” and is focused on strength training until he’s able to run again. The Cavs’ head coach also expressed confidence in the point guard alternatives he’ll have on hand while his starter is on the shelf, even after Ty Jerome departed Cleveland for Memphis in free agency.

“We have Don (Donovan Mitchell). We have Lonzo (Ball). We have CP (Craig Porter Jr.),” Atkinson said. “We are kind of covered. We also have Evan (Mobley), where we can throw it to him in a trail position and have him be a play-maker.”

Pointing out that tinkering with his lineups will likely result in the Cavs learning some things about their players that they otherwise wouldn’t figure out, Atkinson suggested he’ll welcome the opportunity to problem-solve and find the silver lining in Garland’s early-season absence.

“I hate that this injury happened to Darius, but it allows you to start figuring out things for the times he is not available,” Atkinson said. “Last year in the playoffs it just hit us and maybe we weren’t as prepared as we could have been. If we have to play games without him, this will allow us to kind of experiment a little and see if we can find play-making in other places.”

The Cavaliers’ coach also acknowledged that managing playing time for Garland and other key players over the course of the season will be something the team seriously consider after the roster was hit hard by injuries in the 2025 postseason.

“I think that is the plan for the whole roster,” Atkinson said. “How do we become a more durable team? We are going into round two (of the playoffs) and we have 14 guys healthy, that’s the goal. We had a plan in place, but I think we have to do better when it comes to figuring that out. It’s a hard part of my job too.”

Jack McVeigh Signs With Cairns Taipans

August 5th, 2025 at 7:40am CST by Luke Adams

After spending the 2024/25 season on a two-way contract with the Rockets, Australian forward Jack McVeigh is heading back to his home country, having signed a two-year contract with the Cairns Taipans, according to an announcement from the team. The second year of the deal is a mutual option.

McVeigh, 29, competed for several seasons in Australia’s National Basketball League before making the leap to the NBA last summer. He appeared in just nine games for Houston as a rookie in 2024/25, but was a featured player for the Rockets’ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, making 34 total appearances for the club.

McVeigh averaged 16.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 30.7 minutes per game for the Vipers, posting a shooting line of .440/.370/.875.

The 6’8″ forward remained stateside in July and suited up for Atlanta’s Summer League squad, posting solid averages of 14.0 PPG and 2.5 RPG on .588/.455/1.000 shooting across four outings (22.8 MPG). Reporting over the weekend indicated that he was hoping to parlay that performance into another NBA opportunity, but it appears no appealing offers materialized.

McVeigh’s new contract is worth $2MM over two seasons, making him the highest-paid player in Taipans history, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN (Twitter links). As Uluc outlines, McVeigh will be one of the four highest earners in the NBL heading into the 2025/26 season, joining Bryce Cotton, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., and Xavier Cooks as players who are making at least $1MM annually.

Jeff Dowtin Jr. Signs With Maccabi Tel Aviv

August 5th, 2025 at 7:19am CST by Arthur Hill

August 5: Maccabi Tel Aviv has officially confirmed its deal with Dowtin, announcing in a press release that it’s actually a three-year contract. Based on Stein’s reporting (detailed below), it sounds like the contract will feature NBA outs.

August 4: Jeff Dowtin Jr. will sign a two-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv, agent Bill Neff tells Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link).

The 28-year-old point guard received interest from several European clubs, Stein adds (Twitter link). He and the team will have a mutual option on the second season of his new deal.

Dowtin spent last season with the Sixers on a two-way contract after joining the team in March of 2024. He appeared in 41 NBA games, averaging 7.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 15.1 minutes per night with .487/.400/.733 shooting numbers.

Dowtin signed with Orlando after going undrafted out of Rhode Island in 2020, but he didn’t make his NBA debut until 2021 when Golden State claimed him off waivers. He played one game with Milwaukee on a 10-day contract the following season before returning to the Magic on a 10-day deal. He also spent time with Toronto before coming to Philadelphia.

Stein points out that Dowtin is the third member of last year’s Sixers team to wind up with Maccabi Tel Aviv (Twitter link). He joins Lonnie Walker IV, whose signing was announced earlier today, and Oshae Brissett, who was added to the Israeli team in July.

Trail Blazers Notes: Grant, Allen, Arena

August 4th, 2025 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With no apparent traction on a Jerami Grant trade, there’s a real chance the veteran forward will have to settle for a second-unit role with the Trail Blazers, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report writes in his latest mailbag (subscription required). Grant would be one of the most expensive reserves in the league — he’s entering the third season of a five-year, $160MM contract that includes a player option.

Highkin notes it would be tough to justify having Deni Avdija or Toumani Camara come off the bench, considering they were the team’s best players last season. Grant’s best option would be to rebuild his value after a subpar season and make it easier for the Blazers to trade him to a team that may want him as a starter.

Here’s more on the Trail Blazers:

Jody Allen is running the team, though technically she’s not the owner, Bruce Schoenfeld of Sportico writes in an in-depth feature. She is the executor of Paul Allen’s estate and the sole trustee of his assets and is required by the terms of her brother’s will to eventually sell the team. While the Blazers announced in May that the franchise is for sale, Jody Allen doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to do so or to find out exactly how much the franchise is currently worth. Keeping the team in Portland is assumed to be a condition when the team is sold.
The lease on the Moda Center expires in 2030 and Highkin speculates that the future ownership group will pressure the state for money to build a new arena. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said recently that “One of the factors there is that the city of Portland likely needs a new arena, so that will be part of the challenge for any new ownership group coming in.” Oregon Governor Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson issued a joint open letter to Silver, suggesting instead that major renovations to Moda Center would suffice.
In case you missed it, Damian Lillard will be the GM for Weber State’s men’s basketball program. Get the details here.

Heat Notes: Westbrook, Powell, Bridges, Herro, Fontecchio

August 4th, 2025 at 8:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Signing free agent guard Russell Westbrook wouldn’t make much sense for the Heat, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. Winderman anticipates that Westbrook would rather sign with a team that has a stronger chance to contend.

Bringing in any free agent at this point creates salary cap and luxury tax issues for the Heat, according to Winderman, who also notes that Westbrook would likely to have to accept a role as the fourth guard in the rotation behind Tyler Herro, Norman Powell and Davion Mitchell.

We have more on the Heat:

Powell, who was traded to the Heat by the Clippers last month, is training in South Florida but not with the Heat. He’s working out with the Jamaican national team, which is holding its training camp at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton to prepare for the FIBA World Cup 2027 Americas pre-qualifiers, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, “I was expecting training camp to be in Jamaica, but then I learned that it was in Boca. And then being traded to the Heat, being so close to where I’ll be playing and being able to go down there and go to the facility, look for a place to stay. … It’s definitely cool,” Powell said.
Mikal Bridges‘ extension with the Knicks provides an interesting comp for future negotiations between the Heat and Herro, Winderman writes. While Bridges has never made an All-Star team or won an NBA award, unlike Herro, he’s a better two-way player. Bridges’ average of $37.5MM per season in his four-year extension still might not be enough to lock down Herro to a long-term agreement, notes Winderman.
Also at The Sun Sentinel, Winderman explores whether it would make sense for the Heat to utilize the stretch provision before the Aug. 29 deadline, pointing out that they could move below the luxury tax line by shedding some salary. The primary candidate, in Winderman’s view, is Simone Fontecchio, who was acquired in the Duncan Robinson sign-and-trade with Detroit. He has an $8.3MM expiring contract which could be stretched at $2.7MM over each of the next three seasons.

Southwest Notes: Lively, Flagg, Giannis, Wembanyama, Sengun, Durant, Smith Jr.

August 4th, 2025 at 6:14pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks center Dereck Lively II has only two years of NBA experience but he’s playing a mentorship role to top pick Cooper Flagg, according to Jake Rogers of Dallas Hoops Journal. Naturally, they have a college connection, as both were one-and-dones at Duke.

“I’ve probably known him for a couple of years now, at least two or three,” Lively said. “He’s always been the same smiling, joking kid. I’m glad he’s been able to stay grounded, not letting the spotlight overwhelm him. Whether he’s in the gym or hanging out at the house, he’s always just being Coop.”

Lively has stayed in frequent contact with Flagg since the draft.

“I’m making sure he feels as comfortable as possible, giving him any little detail or advice. I remember how frightened I was at 19. He’s only 18,” Lively said.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has carved out a Hall of Fame worthy career but he’s also into collecting memorabilia of other NBA superstars. His current target is Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama, he told Brooks Peck of The Athletic during an appearance at the National Sports Collector Convention. “I want Wemby’s first rookie card ever,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think he’s gonna be one of the best players in the league in the next couple of years. I think he will have a very great career moving forward, so — maybe like a jersey, his first jersey or his first basketball shoe when he played his first NBA game, or the first ball that he played with and scored his very first point. You gotta go with Wemby, Steph (Curry), LeBron (James), MJ (Michael Jordan). Those are great investments.”
Rockets center Alperen Sengun believes the offense will thrive with the addition of Kevin Durant. Sengun, who will play for Turkey in EuroBasket, made his comments to Anadolu, Turkey’s state-run news agency (hat tip to RocketsWire). “I’m excited to play with Durant. Everyone is excited to play with him. It doesn’t matter his age — ultimately, he’s Kevin Durant. I have no doubt he will bring a lot to the team,” Sengun said. “He’s very experienced, and we have some very young players. I think he’ll open up the game for us. He’s incredibly effective both offensively and defensively.”
Along the same lines, Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. said he believes playing with Durant will be a learning experience, RocketsWire relays via an interview with Space City Home Network’s Vanessa Richardson. “Kevin Durant is one of the greatest players to ever touch a basketball,” Smith said. “It’s going to be great for me to learn from him, and see what he does, day-to-day… and just soak up as much game as I can. It’s going to be fun playing alongside him and going to battle with him.”

Spurs Sign De’Aaron Fox To Four-Year Max Extension

August 4th, 2025 at 5:20pm CST by Luke Adams

5:20 pm: The deal is official, per a press release from the Spurs.

1:59 pm: The Spurs and point guard De’Aaron Fox have agreed to terms on a four-year, maximum-salary extension, agent Rich Paul tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Fox will earn just over $37MM in the final year of his current contract, with his new deal taking effect next July and running through 2029/30. It will feature a starting salary worth 30% of the ’26/27 cap.

Based on the NBA’s latest projection of a 7% increase, Fox’s four-year contract would be worth a total of $222.4MM over four seasons. If the cap rises by the maximum allowable 10% next year, the value of Fox’s deal would be $228.6MM. The contract doesn’t include a fourth-year player option or a trade kicker, notes Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The fifth overall pick in 2017, Fox spent his first seven-and-a-half NBA seasons in Sacramento, where he quickly established himself as the Kings’ starting point guard and a rising star. Fox’s best season came in 2022/23, when he earned his first All-Star berth, made the All-NBA third team, and was named Clutch Player of the Year after averaging 25.0 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game for a Kings team that won 48 games.

However, as Fox neared the end of the rookie scale extension he signed in 2020, he was hesitant to finalize another contract with the Kings, expressing reservations about the team’s ability to contend for a championship.

Word broke in late January that the Kings – having received no indications from Fox that he had interest in a long-term deal – were expected to entertain trading him and that San Antonio was his preferred landing spot. Less than a week later, the 27-year-old was dealt to the Spurs in a blockbuster three-team trade that sent Zach LaVine from Chicago to Sacramento.

Fox got off to a slow start in San Antonio — his 19.7 points per game and his shooting averages of 44.6% from the floor and 27.4% on three-pointers in his first 17 outings as a Spur were well below his career averages, and he underwent season-ending surgery to address a finger injury in March.

Given the emergence of Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and the fact that the Spurs’ draft-lottery luck allowed them to select Dylan Harper with the second overall pick in June, there was some speculation that a maximum-salary extension for Fox wouldn’t be as automatic as it seemed back in February.

However, the Spurs moved forward with Fox’s new deal just about as soon as they were eligible to do so. Sunday marked six months since Fox was traded to San Antonio, meaning the restrictions limiting the years, first-year salary, and annual raises he could receive on a veteran extension had lifted. A day later, he and the Spurs have reached an agreement on a new contract.

Based on a 7% cap increase for 2026/27, the year-by-year breakdown for Fox’s extension is as follows:

2026/27: $49,641,600
2027/28: $53,612,928
2028/29: $57,584,256
2029/30: $61,555,584
Total: $222,394,368

While Fox’s deal may be the last major piece of extension-related business for the Spurs this offseason, the team figures to continue investing heavily in its core in the years to come. Star big man Victor Wembanyama will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in 2026, with Castle becoming eligible for a rookie scale extension of his own in 2027.

Wizards Waive Two-Way Player Jaylen Martin

August 4th, 2025 at 4:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Wizards have opened up a two-way spot by waiving wing Jaylen Martin, the team’s PR department tweets.

Martin signed a two-year, two-way deal with Washington in February. The 6’6” Martin saw action in 13 games off the bench for the Wizards, averaging 5.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 18 minutes per night.

Martin, 21, also made 31 regular season G League apperances for three different teams. He averaged 13.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 26.9 minutes per game at that level. The Florida native went undrafted in 2023 after opting to play for Overtime Elite.

In his first professional season in 2023/24, Martin spent some time with the Knicks on a two-way deal. However, he didn’t appear in a game with the team. He then signed a two-year, two-way contract with Brooklyn in February 2024, but still didn’t make his NBA debut until last season ’24/25. Martin played just five minutes for the Nets across three outings before being waived in January.

Swingman Jamir Watkins and big man Tristan Vukcevic hold Washington’s other two-way roster spots.

Celtics’ Queta Underwent Knee Surgery After Season

August 4th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Neemias Queta underwent an arthroscopic surgery on his left knee after the Celtics‘ season ended in May, the big man told Bobby Manning of CLNS Media.

The procedure addressed a knee issue that has lingered for multiple seasons, according to Queta. Because the surgery occurred early in the offseason, he was able to resume on-court and conditioning work in July and hopes to suit up for Portugal in the EuroBasket tournament, which begins on August 27.

“It’s been good,” Queta said of his recovery process, per Manning. “We’ve been dealing with this stuff (since) a couple years ago. We just decided it was a great time for us to do it. We’re trying to get back to 100%. We feel pretty confident in the process and we’re just grateful that we were taken care of, and I want to make sure I’m healthy and get back to 100% and I feel like I’m on the right path to do that.”

Queta, who turned 26 last month, set new career highs in 2024/25 by appearing in 62 games and averaging 13.9 minutes per contest. With Kristaps Porzingis missing some time for health reasons and Boston managing Al Horford‘s workload, Queta was a regular contributor and averaged 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

The Celtics traded Porzingis to Atlanta this offseason, Luke Kornet signed in San Antonio, and Horford isn’t expected to return to Boston, so there could be an opportunity for Queta to earn an even bigger role in 2025/26. Luka Garza and Xavier Tillman are among the other options in the frontcourt, but Queta – who has been working with Maine Celtics assistant Taaj Ridley – is aiming to get back to 100% soon and prove he deserves significant minutes this fall.

“We’re getting there slowly but surely,” he told Manning. “We’re reconditioning our body, we’re figuring out ways to be athletic, ways to be out there moving well. We’re just trying to figure out the movement patterns to get back and I think it’s going well. I’m really confident in the work that I put in, the amount of hours that I put in and it’s gonna show.”

And-Ones: Middle-Class FAs, Restricted Free Agency, Bubble

August 4th, 2025 at 3:23pm CST by Luke Adams

In an interesting story for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks evaluates whether statements like “the second apron has ruined free agency” and “the current CBA penalizes teams that draft well” are fact and fiction. While Marks acknowledges that changes to the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement have created new some new problems for teams and have hurt players in some ways, he rejects the idea that the middle class of free agents have been squeezed out of the market.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver argued during a Summer League media session that the “middle class” is doing better than in the last few years of the previous CBA, and former NBPA president CJ McCollum agreed with Silver’s sentiment during a recent podcast appearance, as Front Office Sports relays.

“I think there’s a misconception that players aren’t being compensated the same ways they have in the past,” McCollum said. “That’s not true. Guys are making more money than they ever have. The middle class is making more money than they ever have before.”

To illustrate this point, Marks runs through 31 veterans who signed free agent contracts this summer worth between $4MM and $20MM per year, noting that 19 of them changes teams during free agency. That list also doesn’t include several players who have signed veteran extensions in that salary range since the season ended, including Steven Adams, Daniel Gafford, and Jaylin Williams.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Eric Koreen and Tony Jones of The Athletic discuss whether the NBA ought to make changes to its restricted free agency process, with Koreen contending that qualifying offers should be worth more. A higher price point for a QO, Koreen writes, would make a team think harder about whether or not to make a player restricted and would make accepting that one-year contract more appealing from the player’s perspective.
Five years after the NBA set up a “bubble” at Disney World in Orlando to finish its 2019/20 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Vardon of The Athletic shares an oral history of that unique summer, with players, coaches, broadcasters, reporters, and league officials alike weighing in on the experience.
Perhaps the most notable remark from Vardon’s in-depth story came from Daryl Morey, who was still working in Houston at the time. While Morey acknowledged he would’ve viewed a Rockets title that summer as “legitimate,” he gave credence to the notion that the Lakers‘ 2020 championship deserves an asterisk. “Everyone I speak to around the league privately agrees that it doesn’t truly hold up as a genuine championship,” Morey said. “Perhaps the lasting legacy of the NBA bubble is that the NBA should be proud of its leadership at both the beginning and end of the pandemic, even though the champion will forever be marked by an asterisk.” Morey’s comment warranted a separate article from The Athletic, in which a panel of writers strongly disagreed with the take.
Keith Smith of Spotrac checks in on some of the remaining NBA offseason storylines to watch. Besides the top four restricted free agents who remain unsigned, Smith highlights several of the best unrestricted free agents available and takes a look at the teams who need to either fill spots on their 15-man rosters or make cuts to get down to 15 players on standard contracts by the start of the season.

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