Southwest Notes: Murray, Mavs, Middleton, Jones, Pippen
There’s still no timeline for Dejounte Murray‘s return to action following last season’s Achilles tear, but the Pelicans guard has returned to practice in a limited capacity, according to head coach James Borrego (Twitter video link). Borrego told reporters on Monday that Murray’s activity should ramp up in the coming days and the team will have a better idea of a timetable for the veteran guard after the All-Star break.
“It’s just great having him out there. I’m so proud of him,” Borrego said. “I mean, what a devastating injury, but the way he’s handle it, the way he’s attacked it, he deserves a ton of credit. … It’s just great to have him back out there. You can feel his presence, his leadership, his confidence. It’s a massive boost for this organization.”
Murray, who was traded from Atlanta to New Orleans during the 2024 offseason, appeared in just 31 games for his new team before his season came to an early end. When he’s ready to play again, he’ll be a returning to a new-look Pelicans backcourt that has lost CJ McCollum and Jose Alvarado and added Jordan Poole and Jeremiah Fears since the last time he suited up.
Here’s more from across the Southwest:
- While the Mavericks signaled at the trade deadline that they’re pivoting to build around Cooper Flagg, the rookie forward isn’t the only keeper on the current roster. Co-interim general manager Matt Riccardi said after the trade deadline that he thinks wings Naji Marshall and Max Christie fit “perfectly” alongside Flagg, according to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). “We really like them as players,” Riccardi said. “We think they fit really well around Cooper, but most importantly, those guys embody what we want in the organization. We love what they bring to the table, both on and off the court, and their personalities. They’re Dallas Maverick players.”
- New Mavericks forward Khris Middleton has been viewed as a potential buyout candidate after being sent from Washington to Dallas for salary-matching purposes in the Anthony Davis trade. However, he told reporters – including Curtis (Twitter video link) – on Tuesday that he hasn’t broached that subject with the team and doesn’t necessarily plan to. “Nah, not yet,” Middleteon said when asked if he’s spoken to management about what he wants for the rest of the season. “We haven’t got to that point. Don’t know that we will. But my focus right now is just playing basketball.”
- League sources tell Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal that the Mavericks made a point to add Tyus Jones at the trade deadline because they feel like his experience organizing an offense and handling the ball will help ease the workload on the rest of the roster. As Afseth explains, the front office is hoping that Jones will stabilize the offense, not transform it.
- Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. appeared in 79 games last season, but he was never at 100%. As Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, Pippen was plagued for more than three years by left toe pain that never went away. After various treatment options failed, the guard underwent a sesamoidectomy in October that delayed his season debut until last Friday. Pippen, who has 24 points, 10 assists, five steals, and a .643/.667/1.000 shooting line in his first two games back, is optimistic that the issue is – at long last – behind him. “I feel like I’m finally healthy,” he said. “… I feel way better. I’m able to run up and down the court. I can run around without pain. I can push off my toe and and bend my toe. Before, I wasn’t able to get in a lunge position. I really couldn’t put weight on my foot.”
And-Ones: Bediako, Risacher, Expansion, Hayes-Davis
A Tuscaloosa circuit court judge had denied Charles Bediako‘s motion for a preliminary injunction that would allow him to continue playing college basketball for Alabama, according to reports from Nick Kelly of AL.com and Myron Medcalf of ESPN.
Bediako, who went undrafted in 2023 and has since signed three Exhibit 10 contracts with NBA teams (including one that was converted into a two-way deal), never actually appeared in an NBA game. However, he was attempting to become the first player regain NCAA eligibility after signing NBA contracts.
Daniel F. Pruet, the circuit court judge responsible for the ruling, said that Bediako didn’t have a “reasonable expectation” that he’d be permitted to return to college basketball when no player had ever been granted eligibility in his situation. NCAA president Charlie Baker referred to it as a win for “common sense,” while Bediako’s attorney Darren Heitner said he was “deeply disappointed” by the ruling.
“This ruling ignores that an athlete’s NIL value is directly tied to his ability to play, overlooks that NCAA rules do not distinguish between athletes with prior college experience and those without, and contrasts with eligibility grants to many other former pros,” Heitner wrote on Twitter. “We fight on for fairness.”
Bediako is considering his options for a possible appeal, Heitner added.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher will take part in the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, having been named an injury replacement for Ajay Mitchell of the Thunder, according to the NBA (Twitter link). With Mitchell battling an abdominal strain, Risacher will take his spot on Team T-Mac this Friday.
- While there have been no announcements or concrete reports to this point, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) has heard rumblings about the NBA’s Board of Governors potentially voting this summer to expand the league by two teams. Seattle and Las Vegas have long been viewed as the favorites in that scenario, Townsend notes.
- With Nigel Hayes-Davis appearing likely to head back to the EuroLeague after being waived by Milwaukee last week, Hapoel Tel Aviv has emerged as the frontrunner to land the forward, reports Donatas Urbanos of BasketNews. Fenerbahce is also still in the running but isn’t offering as much as the Israeli club, according to Urbonas, who says it would be a surprise if Hayes-Davis ends up with a team besides Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Deadline Observations: Trade Flexibility, First-Rounders, Hard Caps
After 28 trades were completed and 73 players were on the move between last Sunday and Thursday - both new NBA records for a trade deadline week - we're still sorting through all those deals to identify trends, cap-related oddities, and other under-the-radar details.
Having taken a deep dive on Saturday into how a pair of minor deadline trades were affected by new details that surfaced hours or days after those deals were first reported, we're focusing today on a handful of several of the major moves that were finalized prior to Thursday's deadline, including the trades involving Anthony Davis, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Ivica Zubac.
Let's dive in...
LeBron James Ruled Out Tuesday, Will Be Ineligible For Awards
Facing the Spurs on Tuesday on the second night of a back-to-back set, the Lakers will find themselves lacking star power.
In addition to being without Luka Doncic (left hamstring strain), Los Angeles also won’t have LeBron James (left foot arthritis), Austin Reaves (left calf injury management), or Marcus Smart (right ankle soreness) available, the team announced (Twitter link via Khobi Price of the California Post). Starting center Deandre Ayton is considered questionable to play due to right knee soreness.
James’ absence is the most notable of the bunch, since it will be the 18th game he has missed this season. That means he won’t reach the 65-game threshold this season, which is the minimum required for a player to be eligible for end-of-season awards.
James’ numbers this season – 21.8 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game on 50.2% shooting – are a step down from the ones he has put up in recent years, but they were still enough to earn him an All-Star berth and could’ve potentially gotten him into the All-NBA conversation if he had stayed healthy and helped lead the Lakers to a playoff spot.
However, as a result of his various injury absences, including a bout with sciatica that cost him the first 14 games of the year, we know now that James’ record-setting streak of All-NBA nods will come to an end after 21 consecutive seasons.
The shorthanded Lakers will be looking to bounce back after losing at home on Monday by a score of 119-110 to a Thunder team missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. According to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times, James suggested in his post-game media session that the outcome showed how far away Los Angeles is from being a legitimate title contender.
“That’s a championship team right there, we’re not,” James said. “We can’t sustain energy and effort for 48 minutes and they can. That’s why they won a championship.”
Warriors Rumors: Porzingis, Murphy, JJJ, Green, Kerr
Kristaps Porzingis is exactly the type of player the Warriors have wanted to add to their frontcourt for years, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, who says Golden State views the big man as a no-risk, potentially high-reward addition. Still, sending Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for Porzingis was something of a fall-back option for the Warriors, who pursued Giannis Antetokounmpo and several other impact players leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline.
The Warriors’ interest in Trey Murphy III has been well chronicled, and Siegel suggests Golden State was prepared to offer Kuminga, an unprotected 2026 first-round pick, and a lightly protected 2028 first-rounder for the Pelicans wing. However, sources tell ClutchPoints that New Orleans had set an asking price of at least three first-round picks for Murphy and wasn’t enthusiastic about Kuminga as a long-term building block.
The Warriors also spoke to the Grizzlies about Jaren Jackson Jr., Siegel confirms, and would’ve done a package that included Kuminga, Hield, two first-round picks, and “some sort of swap.” But Siegel hears that Golden State was reluctant to include Moses Moody or far-off draft picks which Memphis would’ve valued more highly (since they’d likely land after Stephen Curry‘s retirement), so Utah was able to beat Golden State’s package for Jackson.
While Porzingis may not have been atop the Warriors’ wish list, the team is looking forward to seeing what he’ll bring to the table and there’s optimism that he’ll be ready to play in the first game after the All-Star break, head coach Steve Kerr confirmed today (Twitter link via Nick Friedell of The Athletic). Kerr told reporters that Porzingis did some three-on-three work on Tuesday and will play in short bursts once he’s activated.
For his part, Porzingis – who has been limited to 17 outings this season for injury/illness reasons – is optimistic about what the rest of the season holds for him and the Warriors.
“I think it’s a great, great opportunity to turn a new page,” Porziņgis said over the weekend, per Friedell. “From what I’ve seen, and the conversations I’ve had so far with the medical staff here, and the people that work here, I have to say I’m very surprised and very optimistic. I’m in really, really good hands, if not some of the best hands, and I think that will also add to what I already have in my mind. So, I look forward to really having a surprisingly good post All-Star break.”
We have more on the Warriors:
- Interestingly, during his post-deadline media session, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. strongly pushed back against the idea that the team discussed Draymond Green in trade talks. “His name was not in conversations other than the ones where teams called me to ask about him,” Dunleavy said, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “The idea that he ‘stayed with the Warriors past the deadline’ was greatly exaggerated. It was never a possibility of him not being here or remotely close.” Multiple reporters – and Green himself – have suggested that the longtime Warrior would’ve almost certainly been included in a package for Antetokounmpo, so perhaps Dunleavy’s comments reflect a belief that the Giannis scenario never gained any traction.
- Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area passes along several more of Dunleavy’s remarks from Saturday’s media session, including the GM’s assertion that the Warriors remain well positioned to trade for an impact player going forward. “We’ve got the goods to make deals,” Dunleavy said. “I think the only way we wouldn’t be in the mix is if we gave out assets, young players, all the things you need to get a great player. We still have all that. I think that’s one of the reasons the KP trade is really good for us, similar to Jimmy last year. We don’t feel like we gave up a ton. We still have the kind of firepower to move forward and do more deals.”
- Checking in on Kerr’s future in Golden State, Siegel reports that the Warriors would like to keep the veteran head coach in his role as long as he wants and that the hope has always been that he and Curry will retire together. While a January report indicated that Kerr’s assistants have been operating as if 2025/26 will be his last year, Siegel doesn’t get the sense that the coaching staff is expecting that outcome.
- Hield was one of Green’s “favorite teammates of all time” and “left a mark” on the franchise, the former Defensive Player of the Year said on Saturday’s episode of The Draymond Green Show (hat tip to Will Simonds of NBC Sports Bay Area). “To see him go, you feel the gap, you feel the hole, you feel it,” Green said. “It’s like I said before, it’s the s–ttiest part of the business.”
Sixers Sign Dalen Terry To Two-Way Deal
1:52 pm: The Sixers have put out a press release officially confirming Terry’s two-way contract.
12:34 pm: The Sixers will fill the open two-way contract slot on their roster by signing free agent wing Dalen Terry, a source tells Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice.
Terry reached the open market over the weekend after being traded twice during trade deadline week. The Bulls sent him to New York in exchange for Guerschon Yabusele and cash, and the Knicks flipped him to New Orleans along with a pair of second-round picks and cash in a deal for Jose Alvarado. The Pelicans subsequently waived him on Friday.
Terry, 23, was the 18th overall pick in the 2022 draft, but played a limited role during three-and-a-half seasons with the Bulls, averaging just 3.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 11.1 minutes per game across 204 total appearances. He would have eligible for restricted free agency this summer if he had finished out his rookie scale contract. Instead, he reached unrestricted free agency a few months early.
Players aren’t eligible to sign two-way contracts if they have four years of NBA service, but because a year of service isn’t credited until June 30, Terry remains two-way eligible for the rest of his fourth season. His deal with Philadelphia will be a rest-of-season contract, lining him up to reach the market again this offseason.
The 76ers recently opened up a two-way slot by promoting Dominick Barlow to their standard roster. Terry will join Jabari Walker and MarJon Beauchamp as the two-way players for a Philadelphia team that has prioritized using those slots on relative veterans rather than first- or second-year players.
Terry will be eligible to be active for up to 18 regular season games for the Sixers, though the team no longer has any “under-15” games remaining. That means Philadelphia will need to maintain a full 15-man roster in order to use Terry and Beauchamp (Walker has already reached his personal 50-game limit).
Southeast Notes: Heat, Giannis, Wagner, Connaughton, More
The Heat weren’t offered a first-round pick for Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell, or Tyler Herro ahead of last Thursday’s trade deadline, a source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. According to Jackson, Miami could have potentially secured a pair of second-round picks in a Wiggins trade, but the front office didn’t think the upside of those picks outweighed the value of hanging onto the veteran forward.
While the Heat intend to renew their pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, the Bucks didn’t tell Miami what it would’ve taken for them to accept an offer, according to Jackson, who reports that Milwaukee simply turned down the Heat’s proposal rather than making a counteroffer or engaging in any real back-and-forth.
Interestingly, Jackson says the Heat – who only had two tradable first-round picks at the deadline – had a viable path to acquiring a third first-rounder and would’ve been willing to pull the trigger on that deal and include the pick in their offer for Antetokounmpo. However, it still wouldn’t have been enough to satisfy the Bucks.
It’s unclear how Miami would’ve acquired that third first-round pick without using either one of the three veterans mentioned above or another asset that would’ve otherwise been included in its Giannis offer.
Here are a few more items of interest from around the Southeast:
- Magic forward Franz Wagner, who missed nine consecutive games – and 25 of 27 – due to a left ankle injury, returned to the court on Monday vs. Milwaukee, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel details (subscription required). Wagner came off the bench for the first time in his NBA career and was on a “very strict” minutes restriction, per Beede. But he made an impact as a reserve, scoring 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and handing out five assists in 17 minutes of action as Orlando beat Milwaukee 118-99.
- The new contract that veteran wing Pat Connaughton signed with the Hornets is a two-year, minimum-salary deal that includes a team option for next season, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Connaughton will earn $1,315,814 for the rest of this season, while his 2026/27 option is worth $3,815,861.
- More contract details out of Charlotte: Tosan Evbuomwan‘s new two-way contract with the team is a two-year deal, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. Among the Hornets‘ two-way players, only Antonio Reeves has a one-year contract, with Evbuomwan’s and PJ Hall‘s deals running through 2026/27.
- Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) analyzes the Anthony Davis trade and considers possible next steps for the Wizards. In Gozlan’s view, unless Davis is willing to take a pay cut on his next deal, it doesn’t make sense for Washington to sign the big man to a contract extension unless he stays healthy and plays well for an extended period of time.
Pistons Sign Isaac Jones To Two-Way Contract
12:54 pm: Jones has officially re-signed with the Pistons on a two-way deal, the team confirmed today (via Twitter).
10:40 am: Less than a week after waiving him, the Pistons are bringing back forward Isaac Jones on a two-way contract, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who reports (via Twitter) that the deal will cover two seasons.
An undrafted free agent out of Washington State, Jones played well in a modest role for the Kings as a rookie in 2024/25, beginning the year on a two-way contract and earning a promotion to a standard deal last March. However, Sacramento cut him this past November to make room on its roster for Precious Achiuwa, at which time Detroit claimed the 25-year-old off waivers.
Jones was on Detroit’s roster for nearly three months before being waived again to accommodate the team’s three-team trade with Chicago and Minnesota. However, he appeared in just one game for the Pistons during that time, logging two garbage-time minutes.
The 6’9″ forward has spent most of this season with the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ G League affiliate. In 26 NBAGL outings, he has averaged 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 28.1 minutes per game, making 55.7% of his field goal attempts.
The Pistons had a full roster after acquiring Kevin Huerter and Dario Saric from Chicago last Tuesday, but they’ve since waived Saric and promoted two-way player Daniss Jenkins to the standard roster. As a result, Detroit opened up a two-way slot that will be filled by Jones. Tolu Smith and Wendell Moore Jr. are the club’s other two-way players.
Brandon Ingram Replacing Stephen Curry In All-Star Game
Six years after earning his first All-Star nod as a member of the Pelicans, Raptors forward Brandon Ingram has been named to his second All-Star game, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
Commissioner Adam Silver tabbed Ingram as an injury replacement for Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who will be unavailable to play on Sunday due to a nagging knee injury. Ingram will take Curry’s spot on the USA Stripes roster alongside veteran stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kawhi Leonard.
[RELATED: Team Rosters For All-Star Game Revealed]
Ingram, 28, was traded from New Orleans to Toronto at last year’s deadline but sat out for the rest of the 2024/25 season due to an ankle injury and didn’t make his Raptors debut until this past fall. The 10th-year forward has fit right in with his new team, averaging 22.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 34.0 minutes per game across 52 outings (all starts), with a shooting line of .472/.364/.835.
Scottie Barnes has arguably been the more valuable Raptor and was the first All-Star recognized from a Toronto team that has exceeded expectations this season and holds the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference at 32-22. However, Ingram leads the Raptors in scoring and has elevated an offense that struggled to score in half-court situations last season.
This year’s All-Star game will be a three-team event that pits Ingram’s USA Stripes squad against Barnes’ USA Stars and Team World, which is made up international stars.
NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots
A number of free agent signings have been finalized in the days since last Thursday’s trade deadline, but there are still many teams around the NBA with one or more open spots on their respective rosters.
For clubs with just a single standard or two-way opening, there’s not necessarily any urgency to fill those spots, especially ahead of the All-Star break. But the clock is ticking for teams who have two or more openings on their standard rosters to make a move, since clubs are only permitted to carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks at a time.
These situations remain fluid, with more roster moves being finalized each day. But with the help of our roster count tracker, here’s where things stand for all 30 teams around the NBA as of Tuesday morning. As a reminder, teams are typically permitted to carry up to 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
(Note: Teams marked with an asterisk have a player on a 10-day contract.)
Multiple open roster spots
- Teams with multiple 15-man openings:
- Boston Celtics
- Denver Nuggets
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Teams with one 15-man and one two-way opening:
- Golden State Warriors
- Sacramento Kings
The Celtics entered trade deadline week with 14 players on their standard roster and sent out four players (Anfernee Simons, Chris Boucher, Xavier Tillman Sr., and Josh Minott) while only taking back one (Nikola Vucevic). They promoted Amari Williams from his two-way contract to the standard roster to get to 12 players, but they still have three roster openings.
Given how tight their margins are below the tax line, the Celtics will likely use their full two-week allotment and wait until February 19 before making two additions to get back to the roster minimum of 14.
The Nuggets dipped to 13 players on standard contracts by trading Hunter Tyson last Thursday and also have until Feb. 19 to get back to 14. Two-way standout Spencer Jones has reached his 50-game limit and is the obvious candidate to be promoted into that spot, though he’s in the concussion protocol for now, so Denver may not to need to make that move until after the All-Star break.
The Timberwolves went from 14 players to 13 when they sent out Mike Conley on Tuesday of trade deadline week, so they have until Feb. 17 to reach the roster minimum again. It sounds like their old 14th man will likely become their new 14th man, with Conley expected to re-sign in Minnesota after being dealt twice ahead of last week’s deadline.
As for the Warriors and Kings, both clubs both briefly went down to 13 players, but they’ve since promoted two-way players Pat Spencer and Dylan Cardwell, respectively, so they’re back to 14 and there’s no urgency for them to make additional moves. Still, it’s worth noting that both teams technically have multiple roster openings, since they’ve yet to sign new two-way players to replace Spencer and Cardwell. Both Golden State and Sacramento are carrying 14 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.
One open roster spot
- Teams with a 15-man opening:
- Brooklyn Nets
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Houston Rockets
- Indiana Pacers
- Miami Heat
- New Orleans Pelicans
- New York Knicks
- Orlando Magic
- Phoenix Suns
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards *
- Teams with a two-way opening:
- Detroit Pistons
- Los Angeles Clippers *
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Philadelphia 76ers **
The Nets, Cavaliers, Rockets, Pacers, Heat, Pelicans, Knicks, Magic, and Jazz are all carrying 14 players on full-season standard contracts and three on two-way deals, with no reported signings pending. They’re each free to carry that open roster spot for as long as they want to, though some figure to fill it sooner rather than later.
The Suns, meanwhile, are in the same boat as those teams but might create a second opening on their 15-man roster in the near future — the expectation is that they’ll waive newly acquired guard Cole Anthony. If they do so, they’d have 14 days to add a replacement.
The Wizards have perhaps the most fluid situation of any team in this group. They have 13 players on standard, full-season contracts, with Keshon Gilbert on a 10-day deal that will expire during the All-Star break. It’s also possible that D’Angelo Russell, acquired in the Anthony Davis blockbuster, won’t be on the roster much longer, with buyout rumors swirling around him. If Washington parts ways with Russell and doesn’t re-sign Gilbert, the team would have three 15-man openings and would need to fill at least two of them.
The Pistons, Clippers, Bucks, and Sixers all currently have full 15-man rosters and one open two-way slot, but L.A. and Philadelphia will soon open up standard roster spots.
The Clippers have Dalano Banton on a 10-day deal through next Monday, while the 76ers have Charles Bassey and Patrick Baldwin Jr. on 10-day pacts through Saturday. Both teams are at or near their limit of “under-15” games for two-way players, so if they want to continue using their players on two-way contracts, they’ll need to ensure they maintain full 15-man rosters.
No open roster spots
- Atlanta Hawks
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
- Dallas Mavericks
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Memphis Grizzlies *
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Portland Trail Blazers
- San Antonio Spurs
- Toronto Raptors
The Hawks, Hornets, Bulls, Mavericks, Lakers, Thunder, Trail Blazers, Spurs, and Raptors are all carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals. If they want to make a free agent addition during the season’s final two months, they’ll have to cut a player to do so.
In some of those cases, there’s an obvious release candidate on the roster. For instance, it’s believed to be just a matter of time until Toronto officially waives Chris Paul. A few of those clubs will also need to make room on their 15-man rosters to convert two-way players — Ryan Nembhard in Dallas and Sidy Cissoko in Portland are among the top candidates for promotions.
As for the Grizzlies, one of their 15 standard players – Lawson Lovering – is on a 10-day contract. His deal will expire after the team’s Feb. 20 game, opening up a roster spot in Memphis.