Alperen Sengun Named To Second Straight All-Star Game
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has named Rockets center Alperen Sengun as an injury replacement for the 2026 All-Star game, the league announced today (via Twitter).
Sengun will replace Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Team World. The reigning MVP is dealing with an abdominal strain that will sideline him through the All-Star break.
It’s the second straight All-Star appearance for Sengun, who is in his fifth NBA season. The Turkish big man has made 44 appearances thus far in 2025/26, averaging 20.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 block in 34.0 minutes per game, with a shooting slash line of .496/.298/.693.
The All-Star game is technically a mini-tournament this year, not an individual game. Three teams will play each other once apiece in 12-minute games, with the top two teams from round-robin play advancing to the championship.
The full list of all the 2026 All-Stars and the teams they’re on can be found here. J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons), Mitch Johnson (Spurs) and Darko Rajakovic (Raptors) will coach the three teams.
Clippers Sign Dalano Banton To 10-Day Contract
February 8: Banton’s 10-day contract was finalized on Saturday, according to the official transactions log at NBA.com.
February 7: The Clippers plan to sign free agent guard Dalano Banton to a 10-day contract, according to reports from Jake Fischer of The Stein Line and Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter links).
The Raptors selected Toronto native Banton with the 46th overall pick in the 2021 draft. He played two years for his hometown team and then spent the following two seasons with Boston and Portland.
In 216 games from 2021-25, Banton averaged 6.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists on .402/.304/.728 shooting (14.5 minutes per contest). At 6’8″, Banton has great size for a guard, but struggled with efficiency over the course of his first four years in the league.
Banton was unable to find a regular NBA contract as a free agent in 2025, instead inking an Exhibit 10 training camp deal with Dallas in October prior to being waived. He has been playing in the G League with Mavs’ affiliate team, the Dallas Legends.
The 26-year-old has put up big numbers with a high usage rate in the NBAGL this season, averaging 24.2 PPG, 6.7 APG, 4.1 RPG, 1.1 SPG and 1.0 BPG on .441/.325/.821 shooting in 32 total games (32.7 MPG).
The Clippers had a pair of standard roster openings after making three trades prior to Thursday’s deadline. Banton will, at least temporarily, fill one of those spots. Assuming Banton’s 10-day deal is finalized prior to Sunday’s game at Minnesota, his contract will expire over the All-Star break.
As Keith Smith of Spotrac notes (via Twitter), the Clippers are nearing their “under-15” limit for two-way players — a team carrying fewer than 15 players on its standard roster can only use players on two-way contracts for up to 90 combined games. Signing Banton as a 14th man and then filling the 15th roster spot would allow L.A. to continue deploying both Kobe Sanders and Jordan Miller beyond Saturday’s game (one of the two could be promoted into that 15th spot).
[Update: Kobe Sanders Receives Standard Contract From Clippers]
And-Ones: Hayes-Davis, Mills, Cap Room, Lacob, Seattle
After being traded from Phoenix to Milwaukee on Thursday and then being waived by the Bucks, veteran forward Nigel Hayes-Davis is on track to reach free agency later today, assuming he goes unclaimed.
A return overseas is a possibility for Hayes-Davis, who was the EuroLeague Final Four MVP for Fenerbahce in 2025. However, if he does head back to Europe, his goal is to become the league’s highest-paid player, according to Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. That honor currently belongs to Vasilije Micic, who is making $5.6MM, followed by Kendrick Nunn at $5.3MM (EuroLeague salary figures are post-tax).
Fenerbahce, Panathinaikos and Hapoel Tel Aviv have been in touch with Hayes-Davis’ camp, per Barkas, but Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos announced on Instagram that the forward passed on the Greek team’s offer, as Eurohoops relays.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Veteran guard Patty Mills hasn’t played in the NBA at all this season, but he’s not ready to retire as a player quite yet. Sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com that Mills, who spent last season with the Jazz and Clippers, is exploring potential options in the EuroLeague.
- Following this week’s trade deadline activity, Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link) and Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Twitter link) provide an early look at the cap space landscape for the summer of 2026. They both view the Lakers, Bulls, and Nets – in some order – as the teams likely to have the most room, though the numbers remain in flux due to draft picks, cap holds, and option decisions.
- Warriors owner Joe Lacob has interest in buying the San Diego Padres and is considering making a bid when initial offers are due later this month, per Dennis Lin and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. We have more details at MLB Trade Rumors about the Padres’ ownership situation and the bidders Lacob could be going up against.
- Washington governor Bob Ferguson had an introductory Zoom meeting with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Thursday to discuss the possibility of bringing back the SuperSonic to Seattle, according to Jack Bilyeu of KIRO 7 News. The governor’s office said it was a “good conversation” and that Ferguson offered to “be helpful” as the NBA explores the possibility of expansion, with Seattle believed to be high on its list.
Wizards Waive Dante Exum
The Wizards have placed veteran guard Dante Exum on waivers, the team announced today (via Twitter). Exum was one of the four players Washington acquired from Dallas in the Anthony Davis blockbuster ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.
The move had been anticipated, since Exum underwent season-ending surgery on his right knee in December. He didn’t play at all in 2025/26 due to complications related to an offseason procedure on that knee, which required follow-up surgery.
It was the latest in a long line of injuries that have limited Exum’s availability over the course of his professional career. After playing all 82 games as a rookie, the former fifth overall pick missed his entire second NBA season in 2015/16 due to a torn ACL, then was plagued by shoulder, ankle, and knee issues in subsequent years.
Exum rebuilt his value by playing in Europe from 2021-23 before returning stateside during the 2023 offseason on a deal with Dallas. The 30-year-old Australian was a very effective role player for the Mavs when healthy, averaging 8.0 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .516/.472/.768. However, he has made just 75 appearances since the start of the 2023/24 season, including just 20 in ’24/25 due to right wrist surgery and a broken left hand.
The Wizards will continue to carry Exum’s $2,296,274 cap hit on their books after he clears waivers, but they’ll open up a spot on their 15-man roster as a result of the move. They currently have 13 players on full standard contracts, with Keshon Gilbert occupying their 14th roster slot on a 10-day contract.
Raptors Notes: Kessler, Jackson-Davis, CP3, Martin, Poeltl
The Raptors were connected to several notable big men ahead of the trade deadline, but Anthony Davis went to Washington, Domantas Sabonis stayed put in Sacramento, and the cost of acquiring a mid-priced big like Day’Ron Sharpe of the Nets or Goga Bitadze of the Magic was described by sources as “unrealistically high,” according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.
“I think, at this point, with this group, we didn’t want to chase,” general manager Bobby Webster said of the Raptors’ approach to the trade deadline. “We didn’t want to be in a situation where you felt like you were overpaying. We’re still on the upward climb … we’ve had a pretty positive start; the group is coming together. There will be a time where we’re gonna push in and consolidate and add some picks, but we just felt the prices at this point were a little high for us.”
Given how many centers the Raptors were linked to in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, it was all the more fascinating that Webster dropped the following tidbit during an appearance on Sportsnet 590 The Fan (Twitter audio link) after the deadline passed: “I’d probably say the one big thing we went after wasn’t even reported.”
What might that “big thing” have been? According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints (Twitter links), there were some rumblings that Toronto made a push for fourth-year center Walker Kessler, whom the Jazz haven’t been interested in moving. If Kessler is a legitimate Raptors target, they could pursue him again when he reaches restricted free agency this summer, but their limited cap flexibility would make that challenging.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Toronto did make one addition to its frontcourt at the deadline, sending a second-round pick to Golden State for big man Trayce Jackson-Davis. He was a player the club had on its radar for a while, according to Webster. “We’ve always had our eye on him in the past, but timing matters too,” the Raptors’ general manager said, per Grange. “We called on him before, but Golden State got another big (Kristaps Porzingis) and I think it was sort of time for him to be free. So, when we did the Ochai (Agbaji) deal (to get below the tax), we had the ability. We didn’t have a lot of money to spend, but we looked at anyone under $3MM that we could bring in and he quickly rose to the top of the list.”
- In a separate story for Sportsnet.ca, Grange passes along quotes from Jackson-Davis, who expressed enthusiasm about his new NBA home and said he learned a lot in Golden State playing alongside veterans like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Chris Paul over the past two-and-a-half seasons. Head coach Darko Rajakovic said Jackson-Davis made “really good first impressions” in his first practice in Toronto. “You can see that he’s a very smart player,” Rajakovic said. “He’s picking up things very quickly. … We’re going to allow him to get incorporated into the team and to show us who he is and how best I can use him.”
- The Raptors also acquired Chris Paul at the trade deadline as part of their Agbaji trade, but the veteran point guard won’t suit up for Toronto. He’ll be waived “at the appropriate time,” Webster said on Thursday. Unless Paul has a post-waiver destination lined up, there will likely be no urgency for Toronto to make that move until the team needs its 15th roster spot, notes Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (all Twitter links). Grange suggested that last roster spot could eventually go to two-way player Alijah Martin.
- Raptors starting center Jakob Poeltl, who has been out since December 21 due to back issues that have bothered him all season, is listed as questionable to play on Sunday after practicing on Saturday, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. “We saw a lot of doctors about it. To be honest, I don’t want to get into too much details about it,” Poeltl said when asked about his back injury, according to Grange. “The point is I’m feeling better now. I did a couple different treatment options. So, yeah, I’m glad to be feeling better.” The veteran big man added that he wasn’t bothered by the fact that his name kept popping up in trade rumors leading up to Thursday’s deadline, tweets Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun.
Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Henderson, Sharpe, Jazz
Injuries have been an issue all season long for the Nuggets, who are currently missing forward Aaron Gordon and swingman Peyton Watson, but the health-related news on Saturday was mostly positive. As Bennett Durando of The Denver Post details (subscription required), wing Cameron Johnson – who had been out since December 23 due to a bone bruise in his knee – returned and was effective vs. Chicago, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Star center Nikola Jokic, meanwhile, was listed as questionable to play on Saturday due to a mildly sprained ankle, but he suited up and dominated, racking up 22 points, 17 assists, and 14 rebounds — Denver outscored the Bulls by 36 points during Jokic’s 33 minutes on the floor en route to a 136-120 victory.
First-time All-Star Jamal Murray, who has been the Nuggets’ healthiest starter this season, exited to the locker room with about four minutes left in the game due to a hip issue, but he returned to the bench before the final whistle and didn’t seem concerned after the game about the apparent injury.
“He seemed confident that he was OK,” head coach David Adelman said, per Durando (Twitter link).
Finally, while two-way player Spencer Jones isn’t injured, he was inactive on Saturday for a second time in the past three games after having reached his 50-game limit. As Durando writes within an interesting profile of Jones for The Denver Post (subscription required), the team is preparing to move the second-year forward into one the two open spots on its 15-man roster, though it’s unclear when exactly that will happen.
Denver plays twice before the All-Star break – Monday vs. Cleveland and Wednesday vs. Memphis – and will need to promote Jones to a standard contract if it wants him available for those games.
We have more from around the Northwest:
- Making his season debut on Friday after recovering from a torn hamstring, Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson had 11 points and nine assists in 21 minutes as the team snapped a six-game losing streak with a victory over Memphis. Teammate Jerami Grant said Henderson played “amazing” following his lengthy layoff, per Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Interim head coach Tiago Splitter wasn’t quite as effusive with his praise, but suggested he was very encouraged by the third-year guard’s performance. “He was impressive on defense,” Splitter said, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic. “He brought energy, he pushed the pace, made some shots. Still was room for improvement, but just good to see him competing.”
- As the Trail Blazers got one guard back, they lost another to an injury. Shaedon Sharpe exited Friday’s win due to calf soreness and didn’t play on Saturday. Still, as Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report points out (via Twitter), there are a couple encouraging signs on Sharpe — he’s listed as having “soreness” rather than a strain, and the injury is to his left calf, not the right one, which he strained earlier in the season. That right calf injury cost him four games in November.
- Walker Kessler is out for the rest of the season and will enter restricted free agency this summer, so there’s no guarantee that he, Lauri Markkanen, and Jaren Jackson Jr. will ever share the court together for the Jazz. But that’s certainly the plan in Utah — head coach Will Hardy tells Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune that he’s excited about the size, rebounding, and rim-protecting ability of his new frontcourt trio and that he’s confident they’ll fit together offensively too. “We’ve played with Lauri as the quote-unquote ‘three’ before during my time here, and Jaren is a really talented player,” Hardy said. “I think it’s going to be good to get him in the building and around the team so that we can become and I can become more familiar with what his capabilities really are. You have all these preconceived notions of players when you coach against them, but they’re being asked to play within some type of a system wherever they are, and so it’ll be fun to explore those things with him and make him a part of the conversation in terms of what he thinks he can offer.”
Hawks Notes: Kuminga, Hield, Landale, Okongwu, Saleh
Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh has a background with the Warriors, so he pounced on the opportunity to trade for Jonathan Kuminga, writes Angelina Martin of NBC Sports Bay Area. Before going to Atlanta, Saleh spent three years in Golden State’s front office, giving him a first-hand look at Kuminga’s potential.
“I was there for, I think, [Kuminga’s] first three years,” he said. “For us, [the trade] made sense given our timeline and what we’re trying to do. I think a 23-year-old with a ton of potential — I think the things that he helps us with are his rim pressure that he puts on. He’s a phenomenal athlete. He’s a good rebounder. I think in transition, he could be absolutely phenomenal, and he adds size at the wing position if we ever need to add another defender to guard one of these bigger wings in the league. So, I’m really excited about Jonathan.”
After years of looking for a fresh start, Kuminga finally got his wish on Thursday when the Hawks acquired him and Buddy Hield in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis. Kuminga is currently dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee that will sideline him through the All-Star break, but the team is confident he’ll be able to produce when he returns.
Saleh also welcomes the outside shooting that Hield can provide and said his “hilarious” personality will be good to have in the locker room.
There’s more from Atlanta:
- Jock Landale made a strong impression in his debut with the Hawks, delivering 26 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in Thursday’s win over Utah. He was in Memphis when the trade was announced and turned down the team’s offer for a flight, opting to make the 5 1/2-hour drive to Atlanta instead, according to Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). “I kind of said, if I’m looking to play that next night, I want to get there as soon as possible,” Landale said. “So loaded up the truck and hit the road.”
- The Hawks sent $3MM to the Jazz in the Landale trade, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks at Sports Business Classroom. The cash amount wasn’t specified when the deal was announced.
- Onyeka Okongwu returned Saturday after missing four games with a dental fracture, per Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks (Twitter link). The only player remaining on the injured list for the contest was Kuminga.
- Prior to the game, Saleh spoke to the media about his strategy at the deadline, Rowland adds (Twitter link). “Everything is future forward,” he said. “We didn’t want the flexibility that we created at the start of the season to be impacted by the deadline, and we felt like we maintained that flexibility.” Saleh also talked about preserving “optionality” for the summer.
How Belated Details Added New Context To Two Minor Deadline Deals
Here at Hoops Rumors, we pride ourselves on making sure that every single asset that changes hands in a trade shows up in our breakdown of that deal -- even the ones so minor that the term "asset" hardly applies.
In some cases, tracking that information is pretty simple. For instance, the Warriors and Hawks made it easy on us on Wednesday when they agreed to swap Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield for Kristaps Porzingis in a deal that included no draft picks, no cash, no draft-rights players, and no additional pieces at all besides those three players.
In other instances, it's trickier, with certain missing pieces revealed belatedly, well after a trade has been agreed upon -- or even well after it has been officially finalized and announced.
On Thursday evening, for example, I spent way too much time trying to track down the details on what the Cavaliers got back from the Jazz in the trade that sent Lonzo Ball and a pair of second-round picks to Utah. Even when those two teams formally announced the trade in press releases, neither the Cavs nor the Jazz included any mention of what was headed from Utah to Cleveland.
In most cases, those missing details end up very minor. Case in point: We eventually learned on Friday that the Jazz sent $110K to Cleveland in the Ball trade. If they were going to include cash as their outgoing piece, that was the absolute minimum amount the Jazz could've sent to make the deal legal.
"Fake" second-round picks - second-rounders that include top-55 protection - are another type of minor asset often reported well after the fact. That was the case when the Celtics traded Xavier Tillman Sr. and $3.5MM in cash to Charlotte in a last-minute deal on Thursday. The inclusion of Tillman and the cash was reported at the same time, but it wasn't until the Hornets announced the trade about seven hours later that we learned they'd sent the Celtics a top-55 protected 2030 second-round pick to complete the transaction.
That heavily protected second-round pick didn't change our understanding of the Celtics/Hornets swap, just like the revelation that the Jazz had sent out $110K in the Ball deal didn't reshape our perception of the pros and cons of that move for Utah and Cleveland.
However, there were a couple belatedly reported trade details this week that did add new context to those relatively minor deals.
Kobe Sanders Receives Standard Contract From Clippers
The Clippers have promoted two-way player Kobe Sanders to a standard contract, the team announced (via Twitter).
According to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), Sanders’ new deal will be a two-year, minimum-salary contract that features a team option for 2026/27.
The 23-year-old shooting guard has become a productive member of L.A.’s rotation in his first NBA season. Through 43 games, he’s averaging 7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 21.5 minutes per night with .448/.381/.814 shooting numbers.
Sanders agreed to the two-way contract after being selected with the 50th pick in last year’s draft. The Clippers acquired him in a draft night trade with New York.
With just 13 players holding standard contracts, L.A. was nearing its “under-15” limit for two-way players to be active. A team carrying fewer than 15 players on its standard roster can only use players on two-way contracts for up to 90 combined games.
Sanders’ promotion and the expected signing of Dalano Banton to a 10-day contract will remove that concern, at least through the All-Star break.
When Banton’s 10-day deal expires, the Clippers will have to re-fill that 15th roster spot to ensure two-way player Jordan Miller can remain active — Miller himself could be promoted into that spot.
Suns Notes: Anthony, Coffey, Booker, Green, Allen, Livers
The Suns acquired Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey from Milwaukee in a three-team trade on Thursday, but Anthony hasn’t reported yet and may decide not to. He is listed as “not with team” for tonight’s meeting with Philadelphia, and coach Jordan Ott addressed the situation during his pregame session with the media, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).
“I think they’re still determining that. Working through that as we speak,” Ott said.
Anthony has a $2.3MM expiring contract and can’t join another team unless Phoenix releases him or negotiates a buyout. The trade with the Bucks was a cost-cutting move and the Suns have a lot of guards on their roster, so it’s possible they’ll be open to either option.
Anthony, 25, was sent from Orlando to Memphis last summer as part of the Desmond Bane trade, then signed with the Bucks after being waived. He appeared in 35 games with Milwaukee, averaging 6.7 PPG while shooting 42.4% from the field and a career-worst 30.6% from three-point range.
Coffey, meanwhile, welcomes his new opportunity in Phoenix, Rankin tweets.
“I’m excited. I’m excited,” he said. “I know it’s always weird around the deadline trying to wait to see what’s going to happen, but definitely blessed to be in this position.”
There’s more on the Suns:
- Ott said it was tough to part with Nick Richards and Nigel Hayes-Davis, who were sent out in the deal, Rankin writes in a full story. The Suns’ head coach credited both players for helping the team surpass expectations. “They’re such great teammates,” he said. “They were part of the good vibes that we have going. Incredible workers, even when they were out of the rotation, they were super helpful for our group. Playing in the ‘stay ready’ runs.”
- Devin Booker and Jalen Green will both be active tonight, although they’ll be on minutes restrictions, Rankin states in another piece. Booker has missed the last seven games with a right ankle sprain, while Green has only been available five times all season, mostly due to an injured right hamstring. He was sidelined for the past three games after a hard fall that affected his back and hip.
- Grayson Allen, who has a right knee sprain, and two-way player Isaiah Livers, who’s dealing with a sprained left shoulder, will both be reevaluated after the All-Star break, Rankin adds.