Raptors 905 Claim Markelle Fultz
Toronto’s G League affiliate – the Raptors 905 – has claimed guard Markelle Fultz off the waiver wire after the former No. 1 overall pick signed an NBAGL contract, as Michael Grange of Sportsnet tweets.
Fultz, who was selected with the first pick in the 2017 NBA draft, had his career derailed by injuries and has played in just 255 regular season games across eight seasons for the Sixers, Magic, and Kings. He made 21 appearances for Sacramento in 2024/25, averaging 2.9 points and 1.3 assists in 8.8 minutes per contest.
Shoulder issues affected Fultz’s shooting motion early in his professional career, which is one reason why he has struggled to establish himself as an NBA regular. After making 41.3% of his three-point shots during his lone college season at Washington, the 27-year-old has converted just 83-of-296 attempts (28.0%) at the NBA level.
For now, Fultz figures to simply provide reinforcements for a Raptors 905 team that saw its depth decimated by NBA call-ups in the past week as Julian Reese, Olivier Sarr, and David Roddy all signed two-way contracts with rival NBA organizations.
Still, Fultz’s play for the 905 is worth monitoring, according to Grange, who reports at Sportsnet.ca that Toronto would like to add a guard with NBA experience to fill its open 15th roster spot, if possible. Lester Quinones is another player who has been on the Raptors’ radar, Grange adds.
Toronto is operating nearly $900K below the luxury tax line and could sign a player to a rest-of-season contract at any time without going into tax territory. However, Immanuel Quickley would receive a $500K bonus if the team makes the Eastern Conference Finals this spring, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, so the Raptors will likely wait until mid-March to add a 15th man in order to avoid a scenario in which getting to the third round of the playoffs makes them a taxpayer.
If they don’t end up finding a veteran guard they like to fill their open roster spot, promoting one of their two-way players would be a backup option for the Raptors, Grange writes.
Jayson Tatum Will Make Season Debut On Friday
March 6: Tatum has been upgraded to available for Friday’s game vs. Dallas and will be active for the first time since last year’s playoffs, the team confirmed (Twitter link).
March 5: Celtics forward Jayson Tatum will return from his Achilles tear this season and could make his 2025/26 debut on Friday vs. the Mavericks in Boston, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Tatum has officially been listed by the team as questionable to suit up for Friday’s matchup with Dallas (Twitter link). According to Charania (Twitter link), the six-time All-Star is “ready to go” and the expectation is that he’ll be able to play tomorrow, but he and the team will finalize that decision within the next day or so.
Tatum ruptured his right Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the Celtics’ second-round playoff series against the Knicks last May and underwent surgery to repair the injury the following day. He was one of three Eastern Conference stars to tear his Achilles during the 2025 postseason, along with Damian Lillard and Tyrese Haliburton.
Lillard, who is nearly eight years older than Tatum, and Haliburton, whose injury occurred about six weeks after Tatum’s, were both ruled out for the 2025/26 season relatively early. However, the Celtics never made a similar announcement about their star forward, and he made it clear early in his recovery process that he hoped to beat the typical timeline and make it back before the end of ’25/26.
Tatum repeatedly stressed that he wouldn’t return unless he felt like he was 100% healthy and was both physically and mentally ready, but his return began to look increasingly likely as he started taking part in 5-on-5 scrimmages with the Celtics and their G League affiliate this winter.
If Tatum is activated on Friday, he’ll be back on the court less than 10 months – 298 days, to be exact – since he sustained his Achilles injury. He’ll certainly be on a strict minutes restriction and likely won’t play in back-to-backs as he ramps up his workload and prepares for the postseason.
Making his return in a home game has long been a priority for Tatum, as Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe observes (subscription required).
“I know one thing,” Tatum said last September. “My first game back will be at home. It will be in TD Garden. It probably will be emotional, but it’s something I’m looking forward to, just running through that tunnel and being on the court again with all of our fans and sharing that moment with them.”
Following Tatum’s injury and a series of cost-cutting offseason moves that saw the Celtics part with key players like Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet, there was a sense that 2025/26 could be a “gap year” in Boston, with the team taking a step back from title contention before reloading for ’26/27.
But the Celtics have thrived even without their perennial leading scorer, posting a 41-21 record through three-quarters of the season. They hold the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and have the league’s second-best offensive rating, along with the seventh-best defensive rating.
Tatum made four consecutive All-NBA first teams from 2022-25 and averaged 27.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game during that stretch. This season, it’s been fellow wing Jaylen Brown who has been the team’s go-to option on offense, with career-high averages of 28.9 points and 5.0 assists per game.
Reintegrating Tatum into the lineup following Brown’s emergence will be one of the challenges the Celtics face during the final few weeks of the regular season. Tatum admitted in January that the risk of upsetting Boston’s chemistry was a factor he considered as he weighed whether to return this season, but he later expressed confidence that he and the team will make it work.
“I know what I bring to the table and bring to the team, but I’m also aware that these guys have been playing extremely well,” he said, per Himmelsbach. “And not to say that I would come and mess it up or anything like that. It was just kind of being vulnerable, I guess, for a moment, and talking from that perspective.”
Sixers Rule Out Joel Embiid For Another Week
Sixers center Joel Embiid, who has missed the past three games due to a strained right oblique, will likely miss at least four more contests as a result of the injury, as Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice relays.
According to Aaronson, the 76ers announced today that Embiid didn’t participate in Friday’s practice and has yet to do any on-court work following his latest injury. The plan is for him to be reevaluated in about one week, which would mean he’ll be out for games on Saturday in Atlanta, Monday in Cleveland, and Tuesday vs. Memphis — and probably Thursday in Detroit too.
Embiid has been limited to 33 games this season due to various ailments affecting his knee, ankle, shin, and oblique. While he hasn’t recaptured his old MVP form in the games he has played, he has looked better than he did last season, averaging 26.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in 31.2 minutes per night, with a .495/.318/.858 shooting line.
Philadelphia offered a couple more injury updates on Friday, per Aaronson, announcing that forward Kelly Oubre Jr. is expected to return to action on Saturday after missing two games due to an illness and indicating that rookie guard VJ Edgecombe didn’t practice on Friday.
Edgecombe exited Tuesday’s game vs. San Antonio early due to a lumbar contusion and sat out on Wednesday vs. Utah. While the team hasn’t clarified his status for Saturday’s contest, the fact that he didn’t take part in Friday’s practice probably doesn’t bode well for his availability.
And-Ones: Beasley, FIBA, 2026 Draft, More
A federal judge in New York has found former NBA sharpshooter Malik Beasley liable for $1MM in damages (plus interest) to be paid to Hazan Sports Management, the agency that previously represented him, according to David Purdum of ESPN.
The agency filed a lawsuit earlier this year seeking $2.25MM in damages and legal fees for breach of contract. Hazan Sports alleged in that suit that Beasley left the agency in February 2025 without paying back a $650K marketing advance.
Judge Jeannette A. Vargas wrote in her ruling that “no objections have been filed and no request for an extension of time to object has been made” by Beasley. According to Purdum, the suit doesn’t list an attorney for Beasley.
Beasley finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2024/25 and appeared poised to land a lucrative multiyear deal in free agency. However, his contract negotiations ended when word broke that federal investigators and the NBA were investigating him due to possible connection to illegal betting activity. The veteran wing signed last month with Cangrejeros de Santurce, a Puerto Rican team owned by Bad Bunny, as he awaits clarity on his NBA future.
We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- FIBA has reached an agreement on a broadcasting deal with TNT Sports that will give the network the rights to several international basketball competitions, including the 2026 women’s World Cup in Germany and the 2027 men’s World Cup in Qatar, according to a press release.
- In his latest preview of the 2026 NBA draft, Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com explores one big question facing each of the top nine prospects on his board, including how real Kingston Flemings‘ shooting improvements are and whether Tennessee’s Nate Ament can make a leap as a shot creator.
- ESPN’s Tim Bontemps shares his “all-contract team” for the 2025/26 season, building the best possible 15-man roster without exceeding the salary cap and without selecting any players on maximum-salary, minimum-salary, or rookie scale contracts. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, and Hawks forward Jalen Johnson are among Bontemps’ headliners.
- One month removed from this year’s trade deadline, Dan Devine of Yahoo Sports checks in on the early returns of some of February’s biggest deals, noting that Cavaliers guard James Harden, Thunder guard Jared McCain, Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga, and Timberwolves guard Ayo Dosunmu are some of the players off to strong starts with their new teams.
NBA Explores Launching Streaming RSN Hub For 2026/27
The NBA has let its teams know that there’s a chance it will introduce a streaming hub for local broadcasts as soon as next season, sources tell Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal. Many clubs’ local broadcasts have been thrown into disarray due to the fact that Main Street Sports Group, which has regional TV agreements with 13 NBA teams, is likely headed for insolvency.
That group of 13 teams – which includes the defending champion Thunder, along with the Spurs, Pistons, Cavaliers, Clippers, Heat, Timberwolves, Magic, Hornets, Hawks, Pacers, Grizzlies, and Bucks – would be the most likely candidates to be involved in the NBA’s new streaming hub.
As Friend points out, there are a few more teams (the Suns, Jazz, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, and Pelicans) who have already abandoned their respective regional sports networks and could be candidates for the new venture as well. On top of that, Friend’s sources suspect the four teams who have deals with NBC Sports – the Celtics, Warriors, Sixers, and Kings – could be in play due to a sense that NBC may want out of the regional sports network business.
The other eight teams broadcast games on their own networks, which doesn’t necessarily rule them out, but would make it more complicated for the league to negotiate deals with each of them.
While it remains unclear exactly what the new setup will look like, Friend hears that the NBA has engaged in talks with potential partners like YouTube TV, DAZN, Amazon, and ESPN as it considers a package that might resemble NFL Sunday Ticket.
The total number of teams that opt in figures to be a major factor in determining the viability of this new streaming hub, Friend writes, citing sources who think the NBA would need to guarantee a broadcast partner a certain threshold of clubs in order to secure a significant deal. With enough teams involved, industry insiders believe an agreement would be worth billions, Friend adds.
Due to its financial woes, Main Street has missed payments to its teams on January 1, February 1, and March 1, per Sports Business Journal. The NBA originally didn’t plan on launching this sort of streaming hub until down the road, Friend writes, but it has become a higher priority in order to help teams make up for those lost rights-fee payments.
Although the league has informed its teams that it’s trying to get something together for the 2026/27 season, there’s no guarantee that will happen, so Main Street clubs have been advised to explore lining up a bridge deal for their local broadcasts. Those teams are exploring both linear and streaming options, Friend notes.
Friend also points out that, since a new league-wide streaming hub may overlap with League Pass, the NBA may need to either restructure League Pass or eliminate it all together down the road. Amazon currently distributes League Pass as part of its national broadcast agreement with the NBA, so those negotiations would be simpler if the league ultimately strikes a deal to make Amazon its partner on a new streaming RSN.
Lakers Notes: LeBron, Ayton, Doncic, Smart, Marciulionis
Lakers star LeBron James set another NBA record on Thursday night vs. Denver, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the list of players with the most made field goals in league history, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
While James repeatedly referred to the achievement as “pretty cool” after the game, it was a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing night. LeBron, who wasn’t able to lead the Lakers to a victory over the shorthanded Nuggets, injured his left elbow with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter and had to sit out for several crunch-time possessions, as McMenamin notes in a separate article.
“It’s pretty sore right now,” James said after the game, admitting that he’s unsure about his status for Friday’s matchup with Indiana. “It felt like one of those funny bone situations, but like, super more intense. … We’ll see what happens over the next couple of days. Hopefully, I’ll wake up (Friday) and it doesn’t feel too much worse than it is now. Or, if it feels better, that would be great. So, it’s day-to-day, we’ll see what happens.”
James wasn’t the only Lakers starter to suffer an injury in Thursday’s loss. Center Deandre Ayton exited the game in the first quarter due to left knee soreness, per McMenamin.
“For him, it sucked for him not to be out there in the game,” Marcus Smart said of his teammate. “He tried to go, and it just didn’t feel right for him, and it sucks. We definitely could have used him.
“I know as of lately he’s been getting a lot of backlash for his effort and his play. He understands it. I know it might not seem like it, but he does, and he wants to do, good, and he wants to help this team, and I think that’s what’s more frustrating for him because he’s trying. But the way he’s trying is not working, and he’s still trying to figure it out. But he definitely was down tonight.”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Lakers star Luka Doncic was assessed his 15th technical foul of the season on Thursday, moving him within one tech of an automatic suspension, writes Dan Woike of The Athletic. Crew chief Ed Malloy explained after the game that the technical was a result of Doncic directing profanity toward an official, but the All-Star guard is hoping it’s rescinded. “I yelled at him, I guess. That’s what he said. But I heard three other players say the exact same sentence and didn’t get a tech,” Doncic said. “And that’s my problem, you know, I was trying not to talk at all. This is the first thing I said, no warning or nothing. But I heard three other players say the exact same thing and nothing. So it’s just, you know… I don’t know what to say.”
- After a pair of injury-plagued seasons in Memphis and Washington, Smart has enjoyed a bounce-back year with the Lakers, according to Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports, who points out that many of Smart’s advanced defensive statistics are in the same ballpark as the ones he posted in his Defensive Player of the Year campaign in 2021/22. “Smart has starred in his role for what we need consistently from him throughout the year,” head coach JJ Redick said earlier this week. “He’s played great basketball for the last five or six weeks and that starts on the defensive end. He’s been tremendous for us defensively.” Smart holds a $5.39MM player option for the 2026/27 season.
- Lithuanian point guard Augustas Marciulionis spent most of last summer and fall with the Lakers and has been playing for Los Angeles’ G League team this season after going undrafted. However, he finalized a buyout of his NBAGL contract this week in order to pursue an opportunity overseas, the South Bay Lakers announced (Twitter link). As BasketNews.com relays, Marciulionis has joined Rytas Vilnius, his hometown club, and explained in an interview this week that he decided to make the move after recognizing that he wouldn’t be called up to the NBA this season. “In Vilnius, I could play for a team that truly cares,” he added (YouTube link). “I missed that feeling – the shivers and excitement the night before a game. When you care, you feel it. In the G League, the priorities are different. So, when Rytas offered me a contract, I didn’t hesitate.”
Clippers’ Niederhauser To Undergo Season-Ending Foot Surgery
Rookie center Yanic Konan Niederhauser has been diagnosed with a Lisfranc injury in his right foot and will undergo season-ending surgery, the Clippers announced on Thursday.
Niederhauser sustained the injury during Wednesday’s victory over Indiana. He had six points, four rebounds and two blocks in eight minutes during that game.
The Clippers selected Niederhauser with the 30th and final first-round pick in the 2025 draft. The Swiss big man spent time in the G League to open 2025/26, but had been playing some of his best basketball as of late, including recording 11 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and two steals in 21 minutes during Monday’s win over Golden State.
“Yeah, he’s a game-changer,” head coach Tyronn Lue said after the game in San Francisco (story via Janis Carr of The Orange County Register). “I think his ability to roll to the basket, get offensive rebounds (is important), but the biggest thing is just defensively challenging every shot, blocking shots at the rim, but his energy was really good for us.”
According to Carr, Niederhauser said he worked on playing with more energy ahead of his rookie season, since he was criticized for being lackadaisical at times coming out of college — the 22-year-old spent two years at North Illinois prior to a breakout junior seasons with Penn State.
“I got questioned a lot for my motor,” Niederhauser said. “For a lot of people, I got questioned for that, so I took that seriously. I took that personally and worked a lot this summer during all the games.
“I played in the (G League), all the games I played here in the NBA, I was trying to go 100% and work on my motor like that. So, now every time I’m out there, I just give everything I got and that’s the way I keep working on my motor.”
Niederhauser’s debut NBA campaign will end after 41 appearances. He averaged 4.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 10.3 minutes per game. Trade deadline addition Isaiah Jackson should continue to play an increased role with Niederhauser out.
Suns Notes: Booker, Williams, Maluach, Huntley
Suns guard Devin Booker can’t miss more than one game the rest of the season if he hopes to be eligible for major postseason awards like All-NBA, but he says he’s not worried about the 65-game rule, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (subscriber link).
“That is what it is,” Booker said on Tuesday. “The postseason award I want is playoff wins en route to get an NBA championship. Anything else doesn’t matter.”
Booker is actually a proponent of the rule, Rankin writes, though the four-time All-Star does see one issue with it.
“The fans want people to play,” Booker said. “We should play. You should have to play to get the awards. So I don’t see a problem with it other than guys trying to rush back and maybe prolong the injury from what it was supposed to be, but I think the rule is fine. You want to be able to play, to be out there.”
Here’s more from Phoenix:
- Starting center Mark Williams is out at least two-to-three weeks after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in his left foot. The Suns were surprised to learn of the injury, Rankin writes in another subscriber-only story. “It just popped up,” head coach Jordan Ott said. “(Wednesday) when he came in, day in between games, just had a little soreness. Went to have an image and you saw the news. … There wasn’t a moment where you can see visibly that this is the result of.”
- Speaking to reporters prior to Thursday’s game against Chicago, reserve center Khaman Maluach discussed getting an opportunity to play with Williams sidelined (Twitter video links via Rankin). The former Duke big man also talked about his limited minutes as a rookie. “I didn’t put it on anybody or blame anyone for me not playing,” Maluach said. “I just put it on me and just doubled down and worked twice as hard as what I was doing in the summer and just wait for my turn and wait for my time and really be patient.”
- Forward CJ Huntley signed another two-way contract with Phoenix on Monday after being waived in November. He said he’s grateful for the opportunity after spending the majority of his rookie campaign in the G League with the Valley Suns. “It means a lot. Just been working hard just to be back in this situation,” Huntley said, per Rankin (Twitter video link). “Just put my head down in the (G League), being there for my teammates there, working each and every day. I feel like that helped me get to where I’m at now.”
Southeast Notes: Hornets, Bitadze, T. Young
Head coach Charles Lee had a simple explanation for why the red-hot Hornets have been the best team in the NBA since January 22, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The Hornets have gone 16-3 since that date and have won six straight games, with each of those victories coming by at least 16 points.
“It’s been cool to have a healthy roster,” Lee said. “That has definitely played into some of the shifts that we’ve had going along. But I think that our guys have just embraced the process even more. It started in the offseason, I thought everyone elevated their work habits, their work standards, their togetherness of how we can elevate each other. We’ve gotten stronger through all of it.”
Charlotte’s latest victory was one of its most impressive of the season. Playing on the second night of a home-road back-to-back, the Hornets dominated the 41-21 Celtics in Boston, winning by 29 points.
“They are a great team, we also believe we are a great team,” starting center Moussa Diabate said, per Boone. “At the end of the day, we are not trying to focus too much on them. Obviously we want to win the game but it’s going to take care of itself if we focus on what we have to do. For us, it’s a great thing, it’s a great message to the league as well — understand that the Hornets are here.”
We have more from around the Southeast Division:
- The Hornets were 4-14 at one point, but they are now over .500 (32-31) in March for the first time since 2021/22, notes James Jackson of The Athletic. Prior to that campaign, when Charlotte finished 43-39, the last time the team was over .500 this late in the season was ’15/16, which is also the last time the Hornets made the playoffs. A prolonged stretch of strong play is proof that Charlotte is no longer rebuilding and the club’s young core looks promising for years to come, Jackson adds.
- Reserve center Goga Bitadze had been out of the Magic‘s rotation in recent weeks, only making one appearance over the team’s last nine games heading into Tuesday. However, with Wendell Carter Jr. sidelined due to a left ankle injury, Bitadze was placed into the starting lineup against Washington and the Georgian big man delivered nine points, six rebounds, two assists and a block in 21 minutes, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. “Goga’s the best,” Jalen Suggs said about Bitadze. “He’s just in the right spots, sets good screens, rolls (and) has so much gravity when he rolls. And then he’s always behind you ready to block a shot. So, shout out to Goga (for) staying ready.”
- Trae Young was on a restriction of approximately 17-to-20 minutes on Thursday in his Wizards debut, head coach Brian Keefe said before the game (Twitter links via Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network). “I think our guys are going to enjoy playing with him and I think he’s going to enjoy playing with our guys because they’re similar in mindset,” Keefe said. “It’s just another step on our process… and someone who’s going to help us get better.” The four-time All-Star point guard finished with 12 points, six assists, two rebounds and two steals in 19 minutes.
Ja Morant (Left Elbow) Will Be Reevaluated In Two Weeks
Point guard Ja Morant, who sprained the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his left elbow on January 21, continues to experience discomfort in his elbow, the Grizzlies announced in a press release (Twitter link).
According to the team, Morant underwent follow-up imaging on Wednesday, which revealed incomplete healing of his injury. He’s out at least two more weeks, which is the next time he’ll be reevaluated.
Morant has appeared in just 20 games this season and has only been available three times since the start of the new year. Memphis is currently 23-38, six games out of the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
Morant was one of the top names on the trade market heading into February’s deadline and was reportedly surprised that he didn’t get moved. That was partially due to his lack of availability, as he’s been limited to 79 total games over the past three seasons. His contract also factored in, as teams were reluctant to take on an unreliable player who’s owed $42.4MM and $44.9MM during the next two years.
The 26-year-old’s production has been declining as well. In his 20 appearances this season, the former All-NBA selection has averaged 19.5 points, 8.1 assists (3.6 turnovers), 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 steal in 28.5 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .410/.235/.897.
Memphis is expected to resume its search for a Morant trade this summer, but the return may be limited given the aforementioned factors. The Grizzlies reportedly talked to Miami, Minnesota, Sacramento, and Milwaukee about Morant deals prior to the deadline.