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Rockets Notes: Durant, Extension, Eason, Starters

October 19th, 2025 at 4:01pm CST by Rory Maher

The Rockets and star forward Kevin Durant formally finalized a two-year contract extension reportedly worth $90MM on Sunday. Head coach Ime Udoka discussed Durant’s new deal, which features a player option for 2027/28, as Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle relays.

“Continuity for a great player being around the organization, and I think we all knew when we traded for him and when he came, it wasn’t a short-term thing,” Udoka said. “So good to get to a point where everybody’s happy and hopefully (he will) finish his career here.”

Udoka also commented on Durant’s willingness to accept a contract that came in about $29MM below the maximum amount he could have been offered, Lerner adds.

“I think a lot of these guys are all about the right things, about winning and whatever it takes to get there, understanding that flexibility matters and it puts us in a good spot when there’s extra money to go around,” Udoka said. “We’re all on the same page as far as what we want to do here and the goal of winning a championship.”

We have more notes from Houston:

  • Durant’s extension, which begins in 2026/27, does not include any bonuses or incentives, a source tells Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). While bonuses and incentives used to be a regular feature in NBA contracts, teams have been avoiding them the past two offseasons because they count toward the tax aprons.
  • The Rockets and forward Tari Eason are expected to come to terms on a rookie scale extension before Monday’s deadline, according to David Aldridge of The Athletic. A report on Saturday indicated that Houston is hoping to sign Eason to a deal that’s “significantly lower” than Jabari Smith Jr.‘s five-year, $122MM extension.
  • The Rockets may not have a set starting five to open the season, Udoka said earlier this week (Twitter link via Lerner). Udoka suggested the starters might be based on matchups, at least until the roster is closer to full strength — free agent addition Dorian Finney-Smith is still recovering from ankle surgery, as is Jae’Sean Tate, though the latter was able to practice on Saturday.
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Thunder Exercise 2026/27 Options On Topic, Wallace

October 19th, 2025 at 3:25pm CST by Rory Maher

The Thunder have exercised their 2026/27 team options on guards Nikola Topic and Cason Wallace, the team announced in a press release.

Wallace, the 10th overall pick of the 2023 draft, will now earn a guaranteed $7,420,806 in ’26/27, which will be his fourth season. He will be eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer.

Topic, the 12th pick of last year’s draft, will earn $5,429,760 in ’26/27 (his third season). Both players already had guaranteed contracts for ’25/26.

Wallace, who turns 22 next month, has been a rotation regular over the past two seasons for the defending champions. In 68 regular season games (27.6 minutes per contest) in ’24/25, the defensive stalwart averaged 8.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals on .474/.356/.811 shooting.

Topic, 20, missed his entire rookie season due to an ACL tear. He won’t make his regular season debut until at least November after undergoing a testicular procedure earlier this month.

We’re tracking all the 2026/27 rookie scale option decisions here. They are due by October 31.

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Wizards Waive Dillon Jones

October 19th, 2025 at 3:10pm CST by Rory Maher

3:10 pm: Jones has been waived, according to the Wizards (Twitter link).

2:07 pm: In order to set their 15-man standard roster for the regular season, the Wizards will waive Dillon Jones, sources tell Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).

If he goes unclaimed on the waiver wire, the Wizards will carry a dead-money cap hit worth $2,753,280 for the remainder of the season, since Jones’ salary is fully guaranteed. Washington will decline its third-year option on Jones as part of the move.

Jones was the 26th overall pick of the 2024 NBA draft after a standout college career at Weber State. He spent his rookie season season with the Thunder, who traded him to Washington along with a second-round pick in a salary-dump deal in late June, shortly after Oklahoma City won its first championship.

A 6’5″ forward, Jones averaged 2.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 54 regular season games with the Thunder (10.2 minutes per contest). He also played 23 G League games (32.3 MPG) with the Oklahoma City Blue, averaging 13.5 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 5.7 APG on .422/.296/.667 shooting.

Jones, who turns 24 years old in 10 days, appeared in three preseason games with the Wizards, averaging 2.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 1.3 SPG in 11.3 MPG.

Our Luke Adams speculated this morning that Jones might be the odd man out in Washington when he checked in on the roster situations around the league.

Although he’s being released by the Wizards, it doesn’t sound like Jones will be out of the NBA for long. Both Jake Fischer of The Stein Line and Michael Scotto of HoopsHype say Jones is expected to draw “strong interest” on the two-way contract market (Twitter links).

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Mavericks Notes: Gafford, Williams, Martin, Exum, Cisse

October 19th, 2025 at 2:02pm CST by Rory Maher

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd provided an encouraging injury update on Daniel Gafford on Saturday, writes Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com.

Gafford has been recovering from a sprained ankle he sustained on the first day of training camp, and Kidd said there’s a chance the 27-year-old center could be ready for Wednesday’s regular season opener vs. San Antonio after going through the non-contact portions of Saturday’s practice.

“We’ll see,” Kidd said. “No contact today, but he did some things. I wouldn’t rule it out, but we’ll take it day by day.”

Here’s more on the Mavs:

  • According to Afseth, guard Brandon Williams and wing Caleb Martin were full participants in yesterday’s practice. “Yeah, they’re trending in the right direction,” Kidd said when asked if Williams and Martin will be active against the Spurs. “If they keep doing what they’re doing Monday and Tuesday, they’ll have a good chance to play.” Williams has battled a hamstring strain for the past few weeks, but played three minutes in Dallas’ preseason finale vs. the Lakers, while Martin has been dealing with an undisclosed injury which prevented him in playing in any preseason games.
  • Gafford, Williams and Martin appear to be making solid progress in their respective recoveries, but Dante Exum continues to be hampered by right knee soreness and didn’t practice on Saturday, per Afseth. Kidd previously said Exum would likely be out for a while, but didn’t provide any sort of return timeline.
  • Guinean center Moussa Cisse, who went undrafted in June and had been on an Exhibit 10 deal, was promoted to a two-way contract yesterday after impressing the Mavs over the past handful of weeks. “He’s earned it,” Kidd said, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “He’s had a heck of a preseason/training camp. Things that he’s done for us in practice and then also in the games has been at a very high level. We’re really excited to have him on board.” As Townsend writes, the shot-blocking big man was thrilled when he heard the news. “It feels great, after all the hours you’re putting in in the gym, coming in and working,” Cisse said. “Having opportunities like those, I’m really grateful. This is like a dream come true.”
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Kevin Durant Signs Two-Year Extension With Rockets

October 19th, 2025 at 12:15pm CST by Luke Adams

12:15 pm: Durant’s extension is now official, the Rockets announced in a press release (Twitter link).

8:02 am: The Rockets and star forward Kevin Durant have agreed to terms on a new two-year contract extension, his business partner Rich Kleiman tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Charania, the deal is worth $90MM and includes a second-year player option for the 2027/28 season.

Houston was one of the teams on Durant’s list of preferred destinations when the Suns put him on the trade block during the summer, so there was an expectation after the two teams agreed to a deal that Durant and the Rockets would work out an agreement of their own sooner or later.

However, there was also a sense that the Rockets weren’t willing to give Durant the maximum extension he was been eligible for, which was worth roughly $119MM over two years (based on a projected $166MM cap). That maximum salary figure would’ve increased slightly at the six-month mark after the trade, but the 37-year-old couldn’t sign an extension longer than two years due to the over-38 rule.

Ultimately, the two sides agreed to an extension that will see Durant take a pay cut from his current $54.7MM salary but still represents a massive payday for a player entering his 19th NBA season. According to Charania (Twitter link), there was an understanding when Durant was dealt to the Rockets that he wouldn’t push for a maximum contract in order to help the team maintain flexibility to build and retain its roster going forward.

Durant has expressed this fall that he feels comfortable in Houston, where he has reunited with one-time Seattle SuperSonics teammate Jeff Green (story via Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle) and fellow University of Texas alums Royal Ivey, D.J. Augustin, and Dexter Pittman, each of whom has a role within the Rockets’ organization (story via Lerner). As Chris Mannix of SI.com wrote in a feature story earlier this week, Durant is hopeful that he’ll retire as a Rocket.

“I’m looking to be here as long as I can, play my last years of my career,” he said. “That’s the intent. I know, I said that about Phoenix, too, but that’s the intent. I would love to do that. I mean, I’m 37 years old and I’m going on 19 years in the league. I want to be solidified in a spot and build with a team with a group of guys that’s going to be around for a while. So hopefully this is it.”

Although Durant’s stint with the Suns didn’t play out as he or the team hoped, the 15-time All-Star continued to put up monster offensive numbers during his time in Phoenix. In 62 games last season, he averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 36.5 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .527/.430/.839.

The Rockets are optimistic that Durant’s ability to score in the half-court setting will raise their ceiling after they struggled in those situations, especially in crunch time, during last season’s first-round playoff series vs. Golden State.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Houston was projected to be about $80MM below the second tax apron in 2026/27 prior to Durant’s deal. His new salary will come in low enough to allow the club to extend Tari Eason and fill out its roster in free agency next summer while remaining below that threshold. Eason is eligible to sign a rookie scale extension today or Monday — if he doesn’t work out a deal with the Rockets at this time, he’ll be a restricted free agent next summer.

According to Charania (Twitter link), Durant’s new contract – including the player option – increases his total career current and future earnings to over $598MM, which is an NBA record. LeBron James was the previous record-holder, coming in just below $584MM.

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Hornets’ Collin Sexton Discusses Leadership, Contract, More

October 19th, 2025 at 11:17am CST by Rory Maher

Veteran guard Collin Sexton has quickly emerged as a leader for a young Hornets team, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Both the Hornets and Sexton are trying to create a winning culture in Charlotte, and head coach Charles Lee appreciates the 26-year-old’s willingness to speak up.

“Yeah, he’s not afraid to just communicate,” Lee said. “I think, number one, everyone sees how hard he works every day, and so he’s already leading by example. And then so when he does want to speak up, because he’s so passionate and competitive, he’s earned their respect. So, he’s able to just be very vocal, very upfront with them. And they all know that it’s from a place of love, it’s from a place of competitive joy and that they’re really responsive.

“I think that our whole group, though, is learning how to communicate with one another in a positive way to kind of help us just keep moving in the right direction. So, I love what he’s done. He’s really helped bring a little bit more intensity to sometimes that starting unit. Especially on the defensive end where he sets a tone on the primary ball-handler and allows the other guys to kind of follow suit.”

Sexton, who was acquired over the summer in a trade with Utah, says leadership is something that comes naturally to him, according to Boone.

“I would say since I got here, I always try not to say I’m trying to fit in — just got to continue to be me,” Sexton said. “I feel like that’s the biggest thing. Continue to be me and continue to walk with confidence. And confidence brings leadership. At the end of the day, leading by example is something that I’ve done since coming into the league and even in college and through high school.

“So I feel like that’s something that I felt like that was a need of the team, and I felt like that was a way I can come in and impact right away is bring leadership and bring those qualities, because at the end of day when things are going south and things aren’t going well, we got to have someone that can bring the guys back together. And I feel like that’s something that I can do.”

Sexton is entering the final year of his contract, which will pay him nearly $19MM in 2025/26. While that could be a potential distraction, Sexton tells Boone he’s focused on being present.

“I would say controlling each and every day, coming out here and being grateful and being thankful to be able to lace my shoes up, be able to go out and play with this organization,” Sexton said. “At the end of the day, I’ve got to be where my feet are. I can’t look two weeks in advance, I can’t look two months in advance. I have to take it day-by-day. That’s it. It’s not tough because I’m grounded by faith. I’m grounded by the Lord, and I know my family is behind me. And I feel like when I’m grounded by those two things, then there’s nothing impossible.”

Sexton also spoke to Boone about playing with LaMelo Ball, bonding with Ball and Brandon Miller, and more. The full interview is worth checking out if you’re a fan of Sexton and/or the Hornets.

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Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Edgecombe, Ingram, Demin

October 19th, 2025 at 10:11am CST by Rory Maher

Star center Joel Embiid suited up for the Sixers for the first time in nearly eight months in Friday’s preseason finale against Minnesota, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. While the Timberwolves were resting most of their rotation regulars, Philadelphia — and Embiid — came away encouraged by how he looked during the 126-110 win.

“I don’t want to really think about the past,” Embiid said. “I’m just in a good space mentally, physically. … I’m just happy to touch the basketball and be able to play basketball and do what I love.

“When you don’t get [to do] that, it’s tough, but that’s what I’m most happy about. So today, tonight, that’s all I kept thinking about. I’m on the court playing basketball, doing some good things, helping us win, and yeah, that’s really what I was focused on.”

As Bontemps notes, Embiid has been plagued by left knee issues the past couple years, limiting him to 58 games over that span, including just 19 last season. In approximately 19 minutes on Friday, the 2023 MVP put up 14 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals.

“I mean, I won’t say I feel like I was 18 years old again,” Embiid said with a smile when asked if he felt like the past few weeks have gone as well as could be expected in his ramp-up to the season. “That’s never going to happen. But I’m just taking it day by day. Like I said, just learning. Some days are going to be good, some days I’m going to be a little bit tight, so learn from it and adjust and keep doing the right things.”

Here are a few more notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • Embiid wasn’t the only member of the Sixers who played well in Friday’s tune-up, with Tyrese Maxey (27 points, seven assists, four rebounds, two steals in 30 minutes), VJ Edgecombe (26 points, six rebounds, three assists, five steals in 34 minutes) and Quentin Grimes (22 points, five assists, three steals in 26 minutes in his preseason debut) all turning in strong showings. Head coach Nick Nurse complimented No. 3 overall pick Edgecombe in particular, tweets Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports. “It’s almost every single day you see something from his athleticism that you say ‘wow.’ … He’s way ahead of where we thought he might be being able to do that [running the offense]. …He’s got a good feel for the game.”
  • In an exclusive interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, forward Brandon Ingram talks about joining the Raptors and leaving the Pelicans. While the former All-Star has “a lot of love for New Orleans,” he’s ready for a fresh start in Toronto. “This team can be whatever we want it to be,” Ingram said of the Raptors. “We have everything on the defensive end. We play hard. The next thing is execution over and over again on the offensive end. … The East is wide open this [upcoming season]. We have a chance to be better, but we’ve got to expedite it.”
  • Nets guard/forward Egor Demin, this year’s No. 8 overall pick, missed most of training camp and preseason with a plantar fascia tear in his foot, an injury he tells Brian Lewis of The New York Post he actually sustained prior to June’s draft — not during Summer League — that gradually got worse over time. While the Russian teenager admitted the injury will likely have to be monitored throughout his rookie season, he doesn’t think he’ll need surgery to address it down the line.
  • Demin made his Nets preseason debut on Thursday, scoring 14 points and grabbing five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench in a five-point loss to Toronto. “He was excellent,” head coach Jordi Fernández said of Demin, per Lewis. “There’s going to be things he’s going to keep working on. We’ve got to keep building him up physically to be able to sustain more minutes. … But I’m very happy with his presence, how composed he was, how he talked to his teammates, all those things. And made it look easy. He shot the ball every time he was open or halfway open, got to the free-throw line and rebounded. He got five rebounds, made nice plays at the rim. It was good.”
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Suns Notes: Ishbia, Lawsuits, Williams, Centers, Butler, Jones

October 19th, 2025 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of Suns minority owners dismissed their lawsuit against majority owner Mat Ishbia and the team on Friday, but intend to file a new suit over what their lawyer refers to as Ishbia’s “mismanagement” of the franchise, reports Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

It’s the latest development in a legal battle within the Suns’ ownership group. Andy Kohlberg (Kisco WC Sports) and Scott Seldin (Kent Circle Investments) sued the Suns and Ishbia in August, alleging that they weren’t being permitted to view records and financial information that would help them understand how the team was being run and how much their shares are worth. Ishbia filed a countersuit earlier this week, arguing that the initial suit was part of a negative PR campaign against him as those minority owners sought a buyout at an “extortionate” cost.

“Our clients succeeded in their books and records action in obtaining information we were seeking and have discontinued that case,” Michael Carlinsky, an attorney representing Kohlberg and Seldin, said in a statement, per Vorkunov. “We are now focused on the critical phase in our litigation, which will involve our clients’ assertion of claims for mismanagement and other misconduct and look forward to their day in court.”

Ishbia and the Suns remain confident that nothing will come of the new suit.

“This is more of the same from litigious limited partners who are using the courts to try to leverage a buyout,” Suns spokesperson Stacey Mitch said. “They dropped their books and records complaint because the organization is and has been fully transparent about its operations and success. We are confident that we will prevail in court.”

We have more on the Suns:

  • After taking part in a competitive scrimmage on Saturday, Suns center Mark Williams is on track to be available for the team when the regular season tips off on Wednesday, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “This was the most minutes he’s seen in a scrimmage that we’ve played,” head coach Jordan Ott said. “Mark is big. You can see his size out there, both ends. Offensively, puts pressure on the rim. Defensively, when someone is driving in there, you have to make the decision.” Phoenix has taken a cautious approach with Williams this fall due to his extensive injury history — he has played just 106 of 246 possible regular season games during his first three years in the NBA.
  • While Williams is expected to start at center, Ott said the rotation in the middle will be “fluid” early in the season, per Rankin. Oso Ighodaro, Nick Richards, and rookie Khaman Maluach will also be in the mix. “On a night-to-night basis, we’ll have a plan going into it, but we have to be a little fluid as coaches and kind of read the games and see exactly who is impacting winning out there on the court on a night-to-night basis,” Ott explained.
  • According to Rankin, Ott called it a “really tough” decision to cut Jared Butler, who had a big preseason with the Suns while on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract. Butler averaged 15.5 points, 4.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in 20.9 minutes per game across four preseason outings, but was waived because Phoenix is operating slightly over the tax line and apparently doesn’t plan to fill its 15th roster spot for now. “He was part of us for multiple months,” Ott said of Butler. “He really helped our group. Helped his teammates. Helped our intensity of camp. … Hopefully at the end of it, JB knows that we tried to do the best we could. Hopefully, we helped him.”
  • Former Suns general manager James Jones said on Thursday that his time in Phoenix was “phenomenal” and spoke about his new role in the NBA’s league office. Rankin has the highlights in a story for The Arizona Republic.
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Checking In On Roster Situations Around The NBA

October 19th, 2025 at 7:57am CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the majority of the NBA teams made their roster cuts on Saturday and didn’t wait until Monday’s deadline to set their regular season rosters.

Completing those moves on Saturday will ensure the players on non-guaranteed contracts clear waivers on Monday, before the regular season begins. If a team had waited until Monday to waive a player on a non-guaranteed deal, he wouldn’t clear waivers until Wednesday, and the team would be on the hook for two days’ worth of his salary.

After Saturday’s flurry of roster moves, here’s where things stand around the NBA…

Teams whose rosters are within the regular season limits

Of the NBA’s 30 teams, 27 have rosters that comply with the league’s regular season roster limits, which state that clubs can’t carry more than 15 players on standard contracts or three on two-way contracts.

The following 10 teams are right at the limit, carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-ways:

  • Charlotte Hornets
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Indiana Pacers
  • Memphis Grizzlies
  • New Orleans Pelicans
  • Oklahoma City Thunder
  • Sacramento Kings
  • San Antonio Spurs
  • Utah Jazz

Just because these rosters look ready for the regular season doesn’t necessarily mean they’re fully locked in. It wouldn’t be be a surprise if one or more of these teams makes a minor tweak before Monday’s regular season roster deadline. That could be as simple as swapping out one two-way player for another. It could also involve the standard roster.

For instance, maybe the Pacers decide that carrying one more point guard is more important than having four centers and decide to place a waiver claim on Jared Butler while waiving Tony Bradley and his non-guaranteed contract. I’m not saying that will happen or even that Indiana is considering that move — it’s just an example of what’s still possible before Monday’s deadline.

The following 15 teams are carrying 14 players on standard contracts and three on two-ways:

  • Atlanta Hawks
  • Boston Celtics
  • Denver Nuggets
  • Detroit Pistons
  • Golden State Warriors
  • Houston Rockets
  • Los Angeles Clippers
  • Los Angles Lakers
  • Miami Heat
  • Minnesota Timberwolves
  • New York Knicks
  • Orlando Magic
  • Philadelphia 76ers
  • Phoenix Suns
  • Toronto Raptors

Several of these teams are right up against a hard cap and don’t have the ability to add a 15th man to their standard rosters at this point. That’s the situation for the Warriors, Rockets, Clippers, Lakers, Knicks, and Magic.

Many others are operating in luxury tax territory or right near the tax line and will want to keep that 15th spot open for now in order to either keep their projected tax bill in check or maintain some financial flexibility.

That’s not the case for all of these teams though. The Pistons are well clear of the tax, for instance, and could comfortably make a roster addition if they want to.

Two more teams are within the regular season limits. Those teams are as follows:

  • Cleveland Cavaliers: 14 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
  • Portland Trail Blazers: 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.

The Cavaliers and Trail Blazers both carried over one two-way player from last season (Nae’Qwan Tomlin for Cleveland; Sidy Cissoko for Portland) and signed a new two-way player on July 1 (Luke Travers and Caleb Love, respectively). Since then, both teams have had one two-way slot available, but I expect they’ll fill those openings sooner rather than later, given that there are no cap savings generated by keeping a two-way slot open.

It’s worth noting that players on Exhibit 10 contracts who were waived on Friday or Saturday could be claimed off waivers and immediately converted to two-way deals before Monday’s roster deadline.

Teams that still have moves to make before Monday’s deadline

That leaves three NBA teams that have yet to make the necessary moves to get within the regular season roster limits. Let’s run through them one by one…

Brooklyn Nets: 16 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.

The Nets are currently carrying 14 players on fully guaranteed salaries, with Jalen Wilson on a deal with a small partial guarantee ($88,075) and Tyrese Martin on a non-guaranteed contract.

There are a few things to keep in mind here. For one, neither Wilson nor Martin can be directly converted to a two-way contract, since neither is on an Exhibit 10 deal. So if Brooklyn intends to fill that two-way slot before the season begins, it will have to be via waiver claim or a free agent signing.

More importantly, the Nets are operating just $190K over the NBA’s minimum salary floor and absolutely want to be above that threshold when the regular season begins, since falling short would mean forfeiting their share of the end-of-season luxury tax payment. Waiving either Wilson or Martin would result in Brooklyn’s salary falling below the salary floor, since most or all of their minimum salaries would come off the team’s books.

Barring a Sunday or Monday trade, there are two solutions for the Nets here: Either they waive someone with a guaranteed contract or they cut one of Wilson or Martin and guarantee most or all of his 2025/26 salary on his way out. I think the latter scenario is probably more likely, since there aren’t many obvious release candidates among Brooklyn’s 14 players with guaranteed salaries, but we’ll see what the team decides. The decision is due by 4:00 pm Central time on Monday.

Milwaukee Bucks: 16 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

After deciding that Amir Coffey and his non-guaranteed contract would make the team, the Bucks were in position to put off their final roster move until Monday, since they’ll be cutting a player with a full or partially guaranteed salary — whichever player is the odd man out will get his money, regardless of which day he’s waived, so Milwaukee couldn’t create any cap savings by making that move a couple days before the roster deadline.

As we noted when we discussed the Bucks’ decision to retain Coffey on Saturday, it looks like Tyler Smith (guaranteed $1,955,377 salary) and Andre Jackson Jr. ($800K partial guarantee) are the two players who are most in danger of being cut. It’s possible that the club could trade or waive another player instead, but I’d be surprised if Milwaukee’s final preseason roster move involves anyone besides Smith or Jackson.

Neither one was great in the preseason, but Jackson was a little better and has shown more than Smith at the NBA level to this point in their respective careers. Retaining Smith would be the financially advantageous move, since waiving Jackson would reduce the team’s salary by about $1.42MM, but the Bucks aren’t close to the tax line and can afford to eat Smith’s full salary if they decide he’s not part of their future. I wouldn’t be surprised if they take that path.

Washington Wizards: 16 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

The Wizards are another team expected to cut a player with a guaranteed salary, which is why they can wait until Monday to make their last roster move. The only one of their 16 players with a non-guaranteed contract is Justin Champagnie, who was effective in a rotation role last season.

A trade is still possible, but a cut is more likely. And in that scenario, 2024 first-round pick Dillon Jones looks to me like the probable odd man out. He didn’t do much during his first NBA season in Oklahoma City, and the offseason trade that sent him to Washington was more about the second-round pick the Wizards got along with him than about Jones himself. He also wasn’t great in the preseason.

If the Wizards go in a different direction, it’s worth keeping an eye on former Spur Malaki Branham, who was acquired in exchange for Kelly Olynyk along with Blake Wesley and a second-round pick. Washington already waived Wesley and I haven’t gotten the sense that the club views Branham as a crucial part of its roster going forward.

Hoops Rumors’ roster resources

We consistently maintain and update a number of lists and trackers that are designed to help you keep tabs on NBA rosters. They’re all up to date following Saturday’s cuts.

Those resources, which can be found on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site or on the “Features” page within our mobile menu, include the following:

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Warriors Notes: Stephen Curry, Kerr, Podziemski, Seth Curry

October 18th, 2025 at 11:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

It’s becoming more common for NBA stars to keep playing effectively after their 40th birthday. That’s still nearly three years away for Stephen Curry, and the Warriors star told Mark Medina of EssentiallySports that he plans to take care of his body so there will be a choice to make when the time arrives.

“All I’ll say is that I just want the option and if I’m at a legitimate ability to be able to play,” Curry said. “I don’t know if it’ll make sense or if I would want to, whatever the case is. But if I can make the decision and the decision is not made for me, that’s a big, big point.”

Curry is still at the top of his game as he enters his 17th year in the NBA. He was a second-team All-NBA selection last season and an All-Star for the 11th time. He appeared in 70 games, averaging 24.5 points in 32.2 minutes per night, and remains one of the league’s most feared long-distance shooters, connecting at 39.7% from beyond the arc while leading the NBA in three-pointers attempted and made.

Intense offseason workouts are among the secrets to Curry’s longevity. His trainer, Brandon Payne, told Medina that this summer focused on strength training and speeding up his decision-making process.

“A lot of it is the foundational work that I’ve put in since I started,” Curry said. “One, I still love it. I’m blessed with being with a team around me that has helped take the spirit that I’m trying to put into it and give me the framework that keeps the body limber and loose and the injury prevention stuff. The rest of it is a toughness to get out there and do the work. I still love and want to keep it going.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

  • Steve Kerr ponders his future with the organization in an article by Anthony Slater of ESPN that examines the coach’s long, successful relationship with Curry. Kerr, who’s entering the final year of his contract, said he wouldn’t choose to leave Golden State for another coaching job. “Management and ownership would have to want it to continue,” he said. “I would have to want it to continue. Steph would have to. I’m not finishing my contract and saying, ‘All right, I think I’ll go leave for such and such job around the league somewhere. That’s not happening.”
  • Brandin Podziemski left Friday’s preseason finale in the first quarter with an injury, Slater tweets. He suffered a left hip contusion in a first quarter fall and had to be helped to the locker room by trainer Rick Celebrini. However, he was able to return to action in the second half, suggesting he should be fine for the start of the regular season (Twitter link).
  • Seth Curry, who was waived Saturday as the Warriors made their final roster cuts, can’t return until November 11 at the earliest because the team can’t fit his prorated veteran’s minimum salary under its second apron hard cap for the first few weeks of the season. That’s why he didn’t see any playing time during the preseason, per Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. “Because he got here late and just because of the nature of everything, I’m trying to see other people as well,” Kerr said. “I’m not worried about Seth. He’s not worried about it. He’s coming along nicely.”
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