Pacers, Jalen Slawson Finalize Two-Way Contract
February 28: Slawson’s two-way deal is official, the Pacers confirmed in a press release. He will be eligible to be active for 13 of Indiana’s final 22 games, notes East (via Twitter).
February 27: The Pacers plan to sign free agent forward Jalen Slawson to fill the two-way contract slot previously held by Quenton Jackson, a league source tells Tony Forbes of Forbes and Circle City Spin (Twitter link). Jackson is being converted to a three-year standard deal.
The 54th overall pick in the 2023 draft after starring in college at Furman University, Slawson spent his rookie NBA season on a two-way deal with the Kings. He only appeared in 12 games for Sacramento in 2023/24, and has been plying his trade in the G League the last two years, suiting up for the Osceola Magic in ’24/25 and the Noblesville Boom — Indiana’s affiliate team — in ’25/26.
Slawson, who signed Exhibit 10 deals with the Magic and Pacers the past two falls before being waived, is having a strong season for the Boom. In 35 games in ’25/26, the 6’7″ wing is averaging 18.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.3 blocks in 34.2 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .486/.348/.775.
Since he has been out of the league since ’23/24, this will technically be Slawson’s second year in the NBA. It wouldn’t be surprising if his contract covers two years, as has often been the case with recent two-way agreements.
In late December, Keith Smith of Spotrac referred to Slawson as “the best all-around player” to that point in the NBAGL season. That was at the conclusion of the Tip-Off Tournament (Slawson had played 10 games at that point) and prior to the regular season.
Warriors Sign Gui Santos To Three-Year Extension
Third-year forward Gui Santos has signed a multiyear contract extension with the Warriors, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link).
Santos signed a three-year, $15MM extension which features a player option in 2028/29, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (via Twitter).
After playing a modest role for most of the season, Santos has been playing major minutes of late with Jimmy Butler sidelined due to a torn ACL. The Brazilian has thrived over his past 12 appearances, averaging 15.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.9 blocks in 28.8 minutes per game.
Santos has started 10 of those 12 games, including the team’s last nine, and has posted a shooting line of .588/.431/.692 over that stretch.
Overall, Santos has appeared in 48 games (16.0 MPG) this season for Golden State, averaging 6.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 1.7 APG on .531/.390/.680 shooting.
Santos would have been a restricted free agent in the offseason. Instead of waiting until the summer to negotiate a new deal, the 23-year-old opted to sign a long-term extension to stay with the franchise that selected him 55th overall in the 2022 draft.
Although Santos doesn’t have a ton of NBA experience, $5MM annually is still a team-friendly rate considering his recent contributions and his projected role for the rest of the season. When I took an in-depth look at Santos a few days ago in a Front Office article, I speculated that he might be able to get $6-9MM per year in restricted free agency.
Still, having that player option for ’28/29 was a nice compromise for Santos. He will be extension-eligible again two years from now (Feb. 28, 2028) and would be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2028 if he declines his third-year option.
Santos was one of several players around the league eligible for veteran contract extensions. The full list can be found right here.
And-Ones: Peterson, 2024 Draft, East Race, Yurtseven, Richardson
Controversy surrounding Darryn Peterson, who has been in and out of the Kansas lineup, won’t significantly impact his draft stock, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports in a subscriber-only story. A projected top-three pick who could be the first player off the board in June, Peterson has missed 11 games and departed early in some others.
“I don’t think Peterson — or (Cameron) Boozer or (AJ) Dybantsa — will play their way out of the top three,” former Sixers scout Michael VandeGarde told Lewis. “Those three guys are special. It’s probably ‘eye of the beholder.’ Peterson is spectacular.”
We have more from around the international basketball world:
- The 2024 draft class was projected to be a weak one and it has lived up to its billing, John Hollinger of The Athletic opines. He notes the Spurs’ Stephon Castle and Wizards’ Alex Sarr are the only draft picks that could be considered one of their team’s three best players. Donovan Clingan, Kel’el Ware, Jaylon Tyson and Ajay Mitchell are the only other draft picks who have established themselves as starting-caliber players.
- NBA executives generally believe the Eastern Conference is up for grabs once the playoffs begin despite the Pistons‘ gaudy record, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst report. One Eastern Conference GM said “six or seven” teams could emerge from the pack, as each contender has some flaws. Another unnamed executive believes there will be consequences for some contenders that come up short of the Eastern Finals. “There’s two to three teams that are going to have some real fallout if they don’t make the conference finals,” that team president said. “That’s the case every year, I know, but there’s not a lot of honeymoons going on in the East.”
- Former Heat and Jazz center Omer Yurtseven has departed Greece’s Panathinaikos BC, Eurohoops.net relays. Yurtseven had trouble establishing a meaningful role with the Greek club. In this EuroLeague season, Yurtseven averaged 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
- Veteran NBA wing Josh Richardson has parted ways with Spain’s Casademont Zaragoza, according to Eurohoops.net. A veteran of 10 NBA seasons with 584 appearances on six teams, including 30 playoff games, Richardson reached a mutual agreement with the Spanish club to terminate his contract. Signing on January 23, he averaged 9.6 points per contest across five appearances in the FIBA Europe Cup and Spain’s Liga Endesa.
Cavaliers Notes: OT Loss, Mitchell, Harden, Ellis, Mobley
The Cavaliers lost in overtime at Detroit on Friday and came away unimpressed with the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports (subscription required).
Playing without their starting backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, the Cavaliers had the Pistons on the ropes. But Cleveland missed two key free throws late in regulation and Jaylon Tyson fouled Daniss Jenkins on a half-court 3-point attempt with less than five seconds remaining. Jenkins made all three free throws to tie the game and Detroit escaped with a 122-119 overtime victory.
“They aren’t in our class,” one player told Fedor.
Forward Evan Mobley believes the Pistons will have a tough time getting past the Cavaliers in the postseason.
“I feel like we’re one of the top teams,” he said. “They’ve got to face us, honestly. We’re playing pretty good basketball and we’re going to continue to play good basketball. Just got to play our best in April and May and June. That’s our goal. We’re going to learn from this game and just keep stacking wins and get ready for the playoffs.”
Here’s more on the Cavaliers:
- Mitchell is dealing with a right groin strain while Harden has a fractured right thumb. “We don’t love soft tissue injuries, obviously,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Mitchell’s injury, per ESPN’s Jamal Collier. “The feedback I’m getting is that it’s not a long-term thing.” Harden wore a protective brace on his thumb at shootaround Friday morning and attempted to dribble and shoot but was still feeling discomfort. “I know this morning he was struggling a little, just dribbling,” Atkinson said. “I mean, the thing’s broken. … If you have a hard time dribbling and catching, that’s [tough].”
- Keon Ellis, who also missed Friday’s game, has a non-displaced volar plate avulsion of his left index finger, the team tweets. He suffered the injury against the Bucks on Wednesday but still played 29 minutes, scoring 14 points. “I had no clue it was fractured or broken, but I couldn’t really do nothing,” Ellis told Fedor. “They told me after watching film they think it happened when I dove on the floor and came up with a loose ball because that’s when I kind of started shaking my hand. I thought it was just jammed. But then I couldn’t squeeze the ball at all and thought I might need to come out of the game.”
- Mobley had his best game since returning from a calf strain, contributing 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks against Detroit. “Much better, much better. He’s starting to catch a groove,” Atkinson said. “I can see it, [I] told him this morning in shoot around, I feel like just more energetic. He’s got more confidence. Just seems like when he comes back from injury, it always takes him a little bit to get going. So, that might be the most positive thing about this game tonight, we get him kind of playing like that. Making a few threes obviously helps. But just overall, I thought it was really good.”
Mavericks Waive Tyus Jones
10:32 am: Jones has officially been waived, the team announced (via Twitter).
5:22 am: The Mavericks intend to waive point guard Tyus Jones, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link). Because the move will happen before the end of the day on Sunday, Jones will retain his playoff eligibility for his next team.
Jones, 29, is an 11th-year NBA veteran known for his ability to set up teammates and take care of the ball. He has career averages of 7.3 points, 4.3 assists, and just 0.8 turnovers in 20.7 minutes per game across 738 regular season appearances for Minnesota, Memphis, Washington, Phoenix, Orlando, and Dallas.
After four-year stints with both the Timberwolves and Grizzlies, Jones has bounced around the NBA in recent years, playing for four teams in the past three seasons. He opened this year with the Magic, having signed a one-year, $7MM deal with the team during the 2025 offseason, but had a disappointing year in Orlando, averaging just 3.1 PPG and 2.6 APG on .349/.281/.875 shooting in a bench role.
Jones was traded to the Hornets at the deadline in what was a salary-dump deal from the Magic’s perspective, allowing them to duck below the luxury tax line. Charlotte subsequently flipped him to the Mavericks in a separate trade.
At the time, reports indicated that Dallas had attempted to sign Jones last summer before ending up with D’Angelo Russell and that they’d be happy to have him on the roster for the rest of the season. However, it appears as if the guard prefers to try to catch on with a playoff team.
Waiving Jones will open up a spot on the Mavs’ 15-man roster, and Stein suggests there’s a strong chance that two-way guard Ryan Nembhard will be promoted to fill that opening. Nembhard, who can’t be active for more than 50 regular season games on his two-way contract, appeared in 33 consecutive contests from late November through early February and has been active for 44 in total, but has been on Dallas’ inactive list since Feb. 5.
If the Mavs were to convert Nembhard to a standard contract in the coming days, it would remove his games-played cap for the season and would allow the club to back-fill his two-way slot by the March 4 deadline for two-way signings.
Besides Jones, veteran forward Khris Middleton is another buyout candidate in Dallas. The team has reportedly left the decision up to him, with Denver said to be among his potential suitors.
Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Duren, Sasser, Huerter, Stewart, Jenkins
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff detailed during his pregame press conference on Friday his reasons why Cade Cunningham should receive the Most Valuable Player award.
“I wish I could (state Cade’s case MVP) with a better, stronger voice…I mean, he deserves it,” Bickerstaff said. “Right now, again, if the season were to end today, the best player on the team with the best win percentage, to me, is the guy that deserves to be the MVP.
“What he does for us on both ends of the floor; he doesn’t take nights, or times, or possessions off defensively. We’ll put him on the other team’s best perimeter player, and he’ll go down on the offensive end and score his 25 points but create for his teammates. He’s second in the league in assists and makes his teammates better also. And, then the game’s on the line, you can give him the ball, and he’s one of the best clutch players we have in this league. So, I’m hard-pressed to find a better example or statement of who the MVP should be.”
Cunningham is averaging 25.4 points, a career-high 9.8 assists, 5.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game for the East-leading Pistons, whose 44-14 record is the NBA’s best mark.
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- All-Star center Jalen Duren said he never wanted to leave the organization, even during its franchise-worst 14-win season in 2023/24. “That’s not my character. That’s not me. I’m super loyal,” Duren told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “I hang my hat on loyalty. I was raised on loyalty. These are my brothers, man. Honestly, I don’t just say that just because we’re all on the same team. I honestly love these guys. So, in my head, looking at it, I didn’t see a bad team. I was young. I knew we had pieces. We were just missing something. Experience would be the easy thing to say. We were just missing something. We were missing a lot, actually. But for me, I just never saw it as this is not going to work. I always knew that once we figured some things out, grabbed a couple pieces, established a culture, maybe we can be something.”
- Marcus Sasser and trade deadline acquisition Kevin Huerter haven’t cracked the rotation, but Bickerstaff said there will be opportunities for both players to earn minutes next month. “We got a heavy March, right? We got a ton of games in March where everybody will get an opportunity to play,” he said. “And because of our depth, we feel confident that we can still compete at a high level with the depth that we have and get those guys some chances to play.” Sasser played 11 minutes during Friday’s overtime win against Cleveland but didn’t score.
- Isaiah Stewart, who is still serving a seven-game suspension for his involvement in a pre-All-Star break brawl with Charlotte, says he patterns his game after Hall of Famer Ben Wallace, who earned four Defensive Player of the Year awards with Detroit. “He paved the way for us undersized guys,” Stewart told Vince Goodwill of ESPN. “I’m trying to live up to that and put my name somewhere positive in this organization.”
- Daniss Jenkins, who was promoted from his two-way contract with a two-year, $8MM deal earlier this month, hit three clutch free throws after getting fouled on a three-point attempt in the closing seconds of regulation on Friday. That allowed the Pistons to steal a game against the Cavs in overtime. “He’s been mature. I hate to say that, but it’s not surprising anymore what he’s done,” Bickerstaff said. “When his number has been called, whatever the moment has been, he’s been a productive for us and effective for us.”
Cooper Flagg (Foot Sprain) Likely Out At Least Two More Games
Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg continues to deal with a left midfoot sprain. Last year’s No. 1 overall pick missed his sixth consecutive game on Friday due to the injury and is expected to be sidelined for at least two more, writes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal.
“Probably not that he will play,” head coach Jason Kidd replied when asked if Flagg would be active for Tuesday’s road game in Charlotte.
The Mavs host Oklahoma City on Sunday before embarking on a six-game road trip, which begins on Tuesday against the Hornets. Flagg’s primary competition for Rookie of the Year is Hornets wing Kon Knueppel, his former teammate and roommate at Duke.
As Afseth notes, Dallas initially thought Flagg would return to action immediately after the All-Star break, but that didn’t happen. The 19-year-old last played on February 10, when he sustained the injury, which was confirmed by an MRI.
There has been some speculation around the league that the Mavericks might shut Flagg down for the rest of the season to preserve his long-term health and improve their odds of landing a top draft pick, Afseth writes. The team hasn’t addressed that speculation publicly and Kidd hasn’t given any indication that Dallas is considering going that route, per Afseth.
Flagg has appeared in 49 games (34.1 MPG) this season for Dallas, averaging 20.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals on .482/.302/.804 shooting splits.
Cam Thomas On Nets: ‘They Don’t Believe In Nobody’
Speaking to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscriber link) prior to Milwaukee’s lopsided loss to New York on Friday, Bucks guard Cam Thomas said his departure from the Nets was “absolutely” because the team didn’t believe in him. However, Thomas said that lack of belief wasn’t exclusive to him.
“That’s just who they are,” Thomas told The Post. “They don’t believe in nobody.”
After failing to find a suitable deal involving Thomas, the Nets waived him shortly after the trade deadline passed on February 5. He had a de facto no-trade clause after signing his $6MM qualifying offer as a restricted free agent last summer.
Thomas’ representatives preferred that outcome so he could pick his next team; he signed a minimum-salary deal that covers the rest of the season with Milwaukee a few days later.
Asked by Bondy why the Nets didn’t believe in him, Thomas said he was more focused on the present than the past.
“I never asked. I don’t even care anymore. I’m on a different team. I don’t want to talk about them much. But that’s what it was. They didn’t believe,” Thomas said. “Always thought — I don’t know. They always thought something was better, I guess. I don’t know. Always chasing something.”
According to Bondy, the former first-round pick said “nothing” came to mind when he was asked to reflect on his four-and-a-half years in Brooklyn.
As Bondy writes, Thomas’ Nets tenure was marked by a significant amount of roster turnover, which may explain his opinion that the team doesn’t believe in anybody. He also played for four different head coaches in Brooklyn.
Thomas, 24, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Heat Notes: Bam, Balance, Jaquez, Riley, LeBron
Thursday’s game at Philadelphia was an important one for the Heat and for the 76ers, who are both looking to avoid the play-in tournament, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. The No. 8 Heat lost to the No. 6 Sixers and are now 2.5 games behind Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference’s final outright playoff spot.
“I don’t want to be in that s–t no more,” big man Bam Adebayo said after the Heat lost 124-117. “We’re better than being in the play-in for the last four years.”
As Winderman notes, Miami has made the play-in tournament in each of the past three seasons and is projected to be in it again in 2025/26. The upcoming home stand could prove important — seven of the team’s next eight games are in Miami, though the Heat will be without leading scorer Norman Powell for at least four of those contests because of a Grade 1 right groin strain.
“We’ve already been struggling on the road,” Adebayo said, “so we go home, win some games, you know, be in our atmosphere, be in our habitat where our fans are cheering for us, and see if we can string some W’s together.”
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Head coach Erik Spoelstra is still trying to find the optimal balance of developing the Heat’s several young players while the team looks to make the playoffs for the seventh straight year, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “I have to do a better job with this group,” Spoelstra said. “We have the potential that we can see. We have the explosiveness, we have the defense. It’s a matter of consistency. And that’s what I’m here for, to be able to help bridge that along with the veterans, to be able to help our consistency. But also to hold the young guys accountable. And we have more of them than we’ve had in recent history, but also develop them and infuse confidence in them. And that’s a fine balance. But again, that’s what I’m here for. I want to take that challenge, and I want to be better with that.”
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. is no longer the betting favorite for the Sixth Man of the Year award, having been leapfrogged by Naz Reid and Keldon Johnson. As Winderman writes for The Sun Sentinel, the third-year forward said that he’s more focused on helping the team win than individual accolades, and while he views himself as a starting-caliber player, he has adapted to the key role off the bench. “I’m embracing my role. It’s pretty defined right now, so I’m just making the most of it,” Jaquez said. “I take pride in it. I take pride in our second unit. I try to be vocal, talk to guys, and try to lead the best I can, especially in that second unit. I really just embrace that role, for sure.”
- Heat president Pat Riley was honored with a statue outside the Lakers’ arena on Sunday. The 80-year-old executive reflected on what could have been for Miami had LeBron James decided to stay with the Heat in the summer of 2014, as Chiang of The Miami Herald relays. “I thought getting the big three — Dwyane (Wade), Chris Bosh and especially LeBron — that we had finally put together what I thought could become a dynasty,” Riley when asked during a news conference in Los Angeles what James’ four-year run with the Heat meant to him. “It was. Four trips to the Finals in a row, two world championships. It was an incredible run. And as a coach and somebody who really thought about how to build that particular team and had built it, I saw something that could have lasted eight to 10 years.”
- James was asked about Riley’s comments on Sunday, Chiang adds in the same story. “I never said I’m going to go there four years and decide to go somewhere else,” said James, who referred to Riley as “one of the all-time greats.” “That’s just how the cards were played. But, yeah, it’s human nature to look back and say what could have been. But that’s part of life. I thought the four years that we had were great, obviously. We were able to pick up two championships, we lost two of them, unfortunately. But a lot of great memories, a lot of great time there. It would have been interesting to see what could have happened.“
Keegan Murray (Ankle Sprain) To Be Reevaluated In Two Weeks
Kings forward Keegan Murray has been diagnosed with a mild left ankle sprain and will be reevaluated in two weeks, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link via James Ham of The Kings Beat).
While it’s a little unusual to see a team refer to an injury as “mild” and then say a player is going to miss at least two weeks, there are multiple reasons why Sacramento has no reason to rush Murray back. For starters, he just returned on February 19 after missing a month-and-a-half with a moderate left ankle sprain.
Murray re-injured his left ankle in the first quarter of Wednesday’s loss in Houston (Twitter video link via NBC Sports California). He rolled his ankle when he landed after jumping to contest a drive to the basket by Clint Capela.
The second reason the Kings have no reason to push Murray is the lottery-bound team views the fourth-year forward as one of its long-term cornerstones, having signed him last fall to a five-year, $140MM rookie scale extension that will go into effect this July.
After appearing in 80, 77, and 76 regular season games over his first three years in the NBA, Murray has been beset by health problems in 2025/26. The 25-year-old’s season debut was delayed until November 20 after he underwent surgery on his left thumb; he later missed a pair of games in December due to a mild calf strain; then he missed several weeks with the initial left ankle sprain.
Murray will miss at least six games as a result of re-injuring his left ankle, with March 14 at the Clippers likely the earliest he could return.
The fourth overall pick in the 2022 draft, Murray has been limited to 23 appearances this season, averaging 14.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.0 steal on .420/.277/.776 shooting in 34.5 minutes per game. 1.6 BPG would represent a career high for the former Iowa standout, though his FG% and 3PT% are at career low rates.
Sacramento is currently 14-47, which is the worst record in the NBA.