Pelicans Rumors: Williamson, Murphy, Jones, Alvarado
Hired as the Pelicans‘ new head of basketball operations in the spring, Joe Dumars opted against pursuing a trade of oft-injured forward Zion Williamson during his first summer on the job. However, with New Orleans off to a league-worst 3-19 start this fall and Williamson once again battling health issues – first a hamstring strain and now an adductor strain – it appears increasingly unlikely that the former No. 1 overall pick will be part of the team’s long-term future, writes Chris Dodson of ClutchPoints.
One league source who spoke to ClutchPoints speculated that the Pelicans would be willing to accept the “first decent, reasonable offer” they get for Williamson, but the 25-year-old’s value is diminished due to his injury history. New Orleans has yet to have any meaningful trade negotiations involving Williamson, according to Dodson, who notes that the team’s leverage is extremely limited.
Discussing the Williamson situation during an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of NBA Today (YouTube link), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said the two-time All-Star has “almost next to no value” and pointed out that the Pelicans remain incentivized to win games this season because they don’t control their own 2026 first-round pick.
“I know this sounds like a broken record,” Windhorst said, “but I think the pathway forward with Zion is continue to support him, like (interim head coach) James Borrego said, and continue to try to exhaust all pathways to get him into a space where he can be the dominant player that he is.”
Here’s more on the Pelicans:
- While sharpshooter Trey Murphy III would have significant value on the trade market if he were made available, the Pelicans seem more inclined to view him as a core part of the team’s future rather than a trade asset, Dodson writes. One source tells ClutchPoints that New Orleans would want a Desmond Bane-type return in the event of a Murphy trade, with multiple first-round picks, a veteran contract, and a solid young prospect viewed as a starting point.
- Pelicans defensive stopper Herbert Jones also has plenty of trade value, with the Lakers and Warriors among the teams that have “actively” looked into pathways to acquiring him, Dodson reports.
- Guard Jose Alvarado is another New Orleans role player who has generated trade interest this fall, Dodson confirms. Alvarado, who is on a pseudo-expiring contract, with a $4.5MM player option in 2026/27, was previously said to be drawing interest from Indiana.
- Dodson suggests that attaching one of those coveted role players to Williamson may be the best way for the Pelicans to maximize their return in any trade involving the former Duke standout.
Ryan Nembhard Making Strong Case For Promotion From Two-Way Deal
With Kyrie Irving still recovering from his ACL tear, the Mavericks and head coach Jason Kidd found themselves searching for an answer at the point guard position to open the season. No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg was miscast in that role this fall, while other options like offseason addition D’Angelo Russell and 2024/25 standout Brandon Williams struggled to produce as hoped.
As Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News wrote earlier this week, the Mavericks may have found their answer at point guard within the past week, with rookie Ryan Nembhard thriving in a starting role.
Nembhard, who is on a two-way contract, has started in each of Dallas’ past four games, including three victories. During that stretch, the younger brother of Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard has averaged 17.0 points, 7.5 assists, and just 1.3 turnovers in 28.3 minutes per game, with a scorching-hot 65.1% shooting percentage (66.7% on three-pointers).
After the younger Nembhard’s 15-point, 13-assist performance in a win over Miami on Wednesday, the team shared the historical context for his recent production, noting that he’s the first undrafted rookie to ever score at least 15 points and hand out 10 or more assists in back-to-back games. He also became the first rookie since turnovers were first recorded (1977/78) to register 40 or more points, 20 or more assists, and no more than one turnover in a two-game span (Twitter link).
A player on a two-way contract is eligible to be active for up to 50 regular season games, and Nembhard is only at 16, so there’s no rush for the Mavericks to promote him to a standard contract. There’s also no guarantee his recent hot streak will continue. But he has impressed his veteran teammates with his recent play, as Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal writes.
“He’s constantly asking questions,” star big man Anthony Davis said. “There’s been times where he’s talking to me in the middle of a play — ‘AD, roll right here.’ He’s taking big strides. … I don’t know if he’s gonna be a two-way too much longer. All the guys love playing with him. He makes the right plays.”
The Mavericks currently have a full 15-man roster, but one of those 15 players is guard Dante Exum, who has been ruled out for the season due to knee surgery. While waiving Exum to make room for Nembhard would make sense, the team can’t do it quite yet. With only about $1.29MM in breathing room below their second-apron hard cap, the Mavs are ineligible to add a prorated minimum-salary contract to their roster until January 6.
As a rookie, Nembhard’s prorated minimum salary would be just $950,995 if he were promoted to a standard contract today, but he would count for $1,715,607 for tax and apron purposes due to “tax variance,” since he was signed as an undrafted free agent instead of being drafted. That number would dip to $1,280,107 on Jan. 6, allowing Dallas to fit it below the hard cap.
Still, with 34 active games left before he reaches his limit, the Mavs may not rush to promote Nembhard as soon as they can next month — doing so would leave the team just $12K away from its hard cap. Dallas was in a similar situation last season and was unable to add reinforcements as the roster was decimated by injuries during the second half.
Nembhard still looks like a very good bet to be elevated to the standard roster later in the season. For his part, he indicated on Wednesday that he’s not stressing about it.
“I’ll let my agents and everybody figure that out,” Nembhard told Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “Obviously that’s there, and obviously I’m on a two-way. But at the end of the day, if I go on the court and handle business and do my job at a high level, then that will take care of itself when the time comes. So I’m not too concerned about that. I’m just trying to win games and enjoy hooping.”
Cory Joseph Signs With AS Monaco
December 4: Joseph has officially signed with AS Monaco, the team announced today (via Twitter).
December 1: Free agent point guard Cory Joseph has agreed to sign with AS Monaco, according to Christos Tsaltas of the Greek outlet Athletiko.
The Spurs selected Joseph with the 29th overall pick in the 2011 draft after he played one season of college ball with Texas. He has spent the past 14 years in the NBA, including winning a title as a role player with San Antonio in 2014.
Listed at 6’2″ and 200 pounds, Joseph developed a reputation as a steady ball-handler and play-maker who took good care of the ball off the bench, but made most of his impact on the defensive end. He has played for San Antonio, Toronto (his hometown team), Indiana, Sacramento, Detroit, Golden State, and most recently Orlando.
In 50 games last season with the Magic, the 34-year-old averaged 3.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 36.4% from three-point range (12.2 minutes per contest). Amid backcourt injuries, Joseph unexpectedly started all five games for Orlando during the team’s first-round playoff loss to Boston.
Joseph spoke fondly of his lone season with the Magic and expressed interest in a reunion, but the club wound up declining its option on Joseph for 2025/26, making him an unrestricted free agent. This is the first rumor we’ve seen linked to Joseph since, and if the contract is finalized, it will be the first overseas stint of his lengthy career.
The reason we use that somewhat cautious wording is because AS Monaco was recently given a transfer ban and fined €300,000 by the EuroLeague for financial and regulatory compliance violations, as Nikola Miloradovic outlines in a pair of stories for Eurohoops.net. Monaco, which finished runner-up in last season’s EuroLeague playoffs and competes in France’s top basketball division (the LNB Élite), will have to resolve that issue before completing the transaction.
Latest On Giannis Antetokounmpo
In the wake of a Shams Charania report stating that star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has reopened conversations with the Bucks about his future, head coach Doc Rivers – who dismissed Antetokounmpo-related trade speculation in October – reacted with exasperation when asked about the latest rumors.
“So, here we go again. There’s been no conversations,” Rivers told reporters, including Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter links). “I want to make it clear for the – I want to say one more time – for the 50th time, and clearly it’s not getting to one network, for sure, Giannis has never asked to be traded. Ever. I can’t make that more clear. … I talk to the source every single day, every single day. And he loves Milwaukee and he loves the Bucks.”
Rivers’ veiled shot at ESPN was likely a reference not only to Charania’s reporting but also to a comment made by another one of the network’s NBA reporters, Brian Windhorst, during an ESPN Cleveland radio appearance (Twitter video link).
Windhorst went viral on Wednesday after saying that Antetokounmpo “asked to be traded already” prior to the season, a reference to the Bucks’ trade talks with the Knicks reportedly instigated by Giannis. During an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up on Thursday morning, Windhorst walked back that remark to some extent.
“Doc can say with a straight face that there was no trade demand, and I think that’s true. He didn’t demand it,” Windhorst said of Antetokounmpo (YouTube link). “However, those (offseason) discussions (with the Knicks) were not the Bucks’ idea, I assure you.”
Team sources who spoke to Nehm and Sam Amick of The Athletic downplayed the “severity” of the situation with Giannis and confirmed that he hasn’t formally requested a trade at this point.
However, with Milwaukee off to a slow start this season and Antetokounmpo raising eyebrows by scrubbing his social media accounts of virtually all their content, leaving little reference to the Bucks, speculation will continue to run rampant as potential suitors keep a close eye on the situation.
“I talked to teams yesterday that immediately scheduled meetings to talk about whether they would make an offer (if Antetokounmpo requests a trade),” Windhorst said on Get Up. “The Knicks would potentially be on Giannis’ list, but the feel would be that Giannis might expand (that list). … Because he’s only got one guaranteed year left (after this season), he would probably have a role in directing where the Bucks might send him.”
Windhorst added that all involved parties – including Giannis and the Bucks – would probably like to have clarity on which way the situation is headed within the next couple weeks or so, and pointed to December 15 as a date to watch, since many offseason signees become trade-eligible at that point.
Here’s more on Giannis and the Bucks:
- Brian Lewis of The New York Post has long reported that the Nets have interest in Antetokounmpo, but he suggests the timing might not be right for Brooklyn if the two-time MVP requests a trade in the coming weeks or months. As Lewis explains, the Nets are now in full-on tank mode and don’t yet have an obvious young franchise player to pair with Giannis.
- The Heat would and should be interested in Antetokounmpo if he were to ask for a change of scenery, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. However, Winderman suggests that including Bam Adebayo in an offer would be a “non-starter” for Miami and it’s unclear if the rest of the team’s assets would be enough to entice Milwaukee — especially if the Heat aren’t offered any compensation from the NBA for the first-round pick they traded for Terry Rozier without knowing he was being looked at for unusual betting activity.
- ESPN’s NBA experts take a look at five hypothetical trades that might work for the Bucks and Antetokounmpo, exploring scenarios that send the star forward to the Hawks, Rockets, Knicks, Spurs, and Warriors.
- Despite the uncertainty surrounding Antetokounmpo’s future and the fact that he left Wednesday’s game after just three minutes due to a calf injury, the Bucks picked up their best win of the season, beating Detroit by a score of 113-109. Big man Bobby Portis said the Bucks had a team meeting before the game that helped everyone “get settled in,” as Jack Maloney of CBS Sports relays (via Twitter).
- In case you missed it, Antetokounmpo’s calf strain is expected to keep him on the shelf for about two-to-four weeks.
Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 12/4/2025
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included Chris Paul's next team, Tyronn Lue's future as Clippers coach, a looming Celtics decision after their surprising start, the timing of Giannis Antetokounmpo's injury and more!
Giannis Antetokounmpo Expected To Miss 2-4 Weeks With Calf Strain
December 4: Antetokounmpo is expected to be sidelined for two-to-four weeks as a result of his calf strain, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
December 3: Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo left the Bucks‘ game against the Pistons on Wednesday after slipping and suffering a non-contact injury. The team ruled Antetokounmpo for the rest of the contest and referred to the injury as a right calf strain (Twitter link).
Antetokounmpo remained seated on the court after coach Doc Rivers called a timeout, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic, and eventually walked off the floor under his own power. After briefly returning to the bench, he then limped to the locker room.
The injury comes on the same day that an ESPN report indicated the Bucks’ star was initiating a dialogue with the team to determine whether he would continue his career in Milwaukee or if the two parties would work together to find a trade destination for the two-time MVP.
Antetokounmpo will likely undergo further evaluation to confirm the diagnosis and to assess the severity of the injury.
Central Notes: Bulls Injuries, Cavs, Mathews, Furphy
The Bulls got good news on guard Coby White on Wednesday after he experienced some tightness in his left calf earlier in the week. White missed Wednesday’s game vs. Brooklyn, but said his MRI results were clean and that he’s considered day-to-day, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link).
White hopes to return to action on Friday vs. Indiana, Johnson adds, though the 25-year-old acknowledged that Sunday vs. Golden State might be a more realistic goal, as the Bulls will likely exercise caution with their top scorer.
While the update on White was relatively positive, another Bulls guard, Kevin Huerter, has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain after exiting Monday’s game early due to that injury. According to Johnson (Twitter link), head coach Billy Donovan said on Wednesday evening that Huerter will be reevaluated in one week, with no guarantee he’ll be ready to return at that time.
Donovan also didn’t have great news on forward Isaac Okoro, who has missed the past six games with a nerve issue the team is referring to as left lumbar radiculopathy.
“When he gets into certain extensions going backward, he gets pain down his leg that they’re trying to resolve,” Donovan said of the defensive ace. “To be quite honest, it’s going to take time. Until they can eliminate, that it’s going to be hard for him to come back and play.”
We have more from around the Central:
- After snapping a three-game losing streak with a solid win over Indiana on Monday, the Cavaliers lost 122-110 to Portland on Wednesday and now have a 13-10 record this fall after going 64-18 last season. Star guard Donovan Mitchell isn’t impressed with what he’s seeing from the team, but he doesn’t want to overreact to the slump either, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). “Concern is a scary word to use with you guys,” Mitchell told reporters after Wednesday’s loss. “I don’t want to use it. It’s upsetting, but there’s room for growth. I’m not going to sit here and be like, ‘Oh, the sky’s falling and we’re panicking.’ We have to play better. We just have to be better on all accounts. I don’t really have another message than that.”
- Pacers wing Garrison Mathews admits he was “a little surprised” to receive a second 10-day contract after making 2-of-13 three-pointers and going scoreless in four of five outings during his first 10 days with the team, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Indiana’s trust in Mathews has been rewarded in the past two games, as he scored 24 points and shot 6-of-7 from the floor in 45 minutes against Cleveland and Denver. “This is what we felt was coming,” head coach Rick Carlisle said. “That the work he did the previous 10, 12 days or whatever it was to get conditioning, to get rhythm, for all that to bear fruit. We thought bringing him back was the right thing.”
- Pacers guard Johnny Furphy made his return on Wednesday after missing a month due to a left ankle sprain. Furphy didn’t make much of an impact in his first game back vs. Denver, going scoreless with a pair of rebounds and a turnover in 16 minutes. Still, Carlisle said during his pregame media session that it was good to have the second-year guard back, noting that he brings “a different element,” and that the banged-up Pacers “need all the depth we can get” (Twitter link via Dopirak).
Wizards’ Coulibaly Expected To Miss 3-5 Weeks With Oblique Strain
December 4: Coulibaly is projected to miss three-to-five weeks as a result of his oblique injury, according to sources who spoke to Grant Afseth of RG.org.
December 3: The Wizards are preparing to be without forward Bilal Coulibaly for multiple weeks due to a right oblique strain, according to The Athletic’s Josh Robbins.
As Robbins writes, the Wizards have yet to set a formal timeline for the injury, but Varun Shankar of The Washington Post notes (via Twitter) that while timelines can vary for oblique strains, an absence of multiple weeks should be expected.
Coulibaly suffered the injury during Tuesday’s game against the Sixers and was able to play about nine more minutes after the injury occurred.
The former seventh overall pick has had a hard time staying healthy this season, missing eight of Washington’s first 20 games. He missed the start of the season while recovering from a torn ligament in his thumb and four more games in November with a left calf contusion.
Coulibaly has struggled with his offense since returning to play, averaging 8.8 points per game on .374/.268/.771 shooting splits. Robbins notes that Coulibaly’s defense has been massive for the Wizards, who are ranked 30th in that category and don’t have many above-average perimeter defenders to put around Alex Sarr, who is also currently injured with an injury of his own (an adductor strain).
Harden, Leonard ‘Shocked’ By Clippers’ Split With CP3
Clippers stars James Harden and Kawhi Leonard learned of the team’s split with Chris Paul via social media and told reporters on Wednesday that the news came as a surprise, according to reports from Joe Vardon of The Athletic and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“I’m just as confused and shocked as you guys, the world,” Harden said after the Clippers’ win over Atlanta. “Definitely surprised me. But not just Chris, it’s a lot that we were dealing with. But that is out of my hands. I got to focus on what I got to focus on and what I can control. I guess the front office felt that was the best decision for the organization.”
“It was shocking to me,” Leonard said, adding that he had to re-read the news. “I guess they had a conversation, and front office made a decision.”
Reporting on Wednesday indicated that tension between Paul and head coach Tyronn Lue was one of the factors that contributed to the team’s decision to part ways with the veteran point guard. Lue addressed the situation prior to the Clippers’ game vs. Atlanta, telling reporters that this isn’t the outcome he was hoping for when L.A. signed Paul over the summer.
“Do I want to see CP go out like this? No, I have a lot of respect for him,” Lue said. “He’s been a friend of mine over the years, and you don’t want to see a great go out like this. I’m pretty sure he will find something because he’s a great player. [But] I didn’t want to see it end like this.
“… I don’t like it. It just didn’t work out like we thought it would. I don’t like it for CP. It just wasn’t a good fit, and we understood that. It was an organization (decision), they made the choice and so moving forward, we got to see what we do.”
Vardon, Sam Amick, and Law Murray of The Athletic shared more details on how the relationship between the Clippers and Paul deteriorated to the point that a divorce was necessary. Here are a few highlights from their report:
- Paul’s “constant criticism” of the team was felt in “every corner” of the organization during the first several weeks of the season as the Clippers got off to a disappointing start. League sources tell The Athletic that members of the organization – including some teammates, as well as Lue and his coaching staff – took exception to the “acerbic” and “disparaging” nature of Paul’s perspective.
- While Paul has been known to be an effective mentor to young players in the past, there weren’t many young players on the Clippers’ roster for him to take that role with, and his criticisms frequently came off as a “grating” and unhelpful among a group heavy on veteran players and coaches, league sources tell The Athletic.
- Paul had multiple meetings with Clippers officials in recent weeks, with one source telling The Athletic that the club wanted him to stop “locker room lawyering.” League sources also told The Athletic that CP3 was “openly critical” of the team during a film session on Tuesday, though by that point the front officed had already made the decision to part ways with him.
- When the Clippers signed Paul over the summer, they went to great lengths to manage his expectations for his role – which would be a modest one – in the hopes of avoiding a situation like this. Because he signed as a free agent, he’s not trade-eligible until December 15, so it remains to be seen whether the team will wait until then to try to work out a deal or if he’ll be waived earlier than that. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said during a media session on Wednesday that the club will work with Paul’s representatives to determine next steps.
Doc Rivers Believes Bucks Ruled Out Achilles Injury For Antetokounmpo
Speaking after Wednesday’s win over the Pistons, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said he believed the team had ruled out an Achilles injury for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who sustained an injury initially diagnosed as a calf strain, tweets Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
“I didn’t know what it was,” Rivers said (ESPN YouTube link). “I just wanted the trainers to attend to him.”
Antetokounmpo left the game after just three minutes with what appeared to be a non-contact injury. He was able to leave the court under his own power, limping first to the bench and then to the locker room.
Rivers confirmed that Antetokounmpo underwent an MRI, according to Nehm (via Twitter), and pushed back on the idea of the injury being non-contact.
“I thought the bump, if you watch, the bump drive, that’s what threw him off balance,” Rivers said, as relayed by Nehm (Twitter link). “He got bumped then and then somebody landed on top of him… and then it looked like no one was around but I thought it was the bump that threw him off balance.”
The team has yet to provide an official update on the injury.