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Hawks Convert Wallace To Standard Contract, Houstan To Two-Way

October 18th, 2025 at 5:44pm CST by Luke Adams

5:44 pm: The Hawks have officially promoted Wallace from a two-way contract to a standard deal and converted Houstan from an Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way contract, according to the transaction log at NBA.com.

3:17 pm: Point guard Keaton Wallace and forward Caleb Houstan have both made the Hawks‘ regular season roster, but their contract situations will change before opening night.

Wallace is having his two-way contract converted into a one-year standard deal, his agents at Excel Sports Management tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Houstan, meanwhile, will have his Exhibit 10 contract turned into a two-way deal, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link).

Players on two-way contracts can’t be active for more than 50 games and aren’t postseason-eligible, whereas no such restrictions exist for standard roster players, so the decision suggests that Atlanta is prioritizing Wallace’s availability from game to game over Houstan’s, at least to open the season.

Wallace, who appeared in 31 games with the Hawks on a two-way contract last season, made his case for a promotion by averaging 5.5 points, 5.0 assists, and 1.5 steals in 16.6 minutes per game across four preseason outings. He did struggle with his shot this month, knocking down just 30.8% of his attempts from the floor, including 8.3% of his three-pointers.

The Hawks don’t really have a traditional point guard backing up star Trae Young, with Dyson Daniels and Luke Kennard among the players excepted to take on ball-handling responsibilities, so there could be a path for Wallace to earn some minutes for the club.

As for Houstan, the former Magic sharpshooter has three years of NBA service under his belt, so this will be his final season of two-way eligibility. He joins Eli Ndiaye and Jacob Toppin as Atlanta’s two-way players.

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Hawks Waive Charles Bassey, Lamont Butler

October 18th, 2025 at 11:23am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hawks have waived Charles Bassey and Lamont Butler, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk tweets. The moves reduce the Hawks’ standard roster count to 14 players, one below the maximum.

Bassey was signed to an Exhibit 10 contract prior to training camp. Butler was added to the roster once again earlier this week on a camp deal after being waived in late September.

Bassey was selected by Philadelphia with the 53rd pick in the 2021 draft. He was cut after one year with the Sixers and signed in San Antonio, where he played for the past three seasons.

Injuries were an issue for Bassey during his time with the Spurs — his 2022/23 season was cut short due to a non-displaced patella fracture, then he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in December 2023. The 24-year-old appeared in 36 games in 2024/25, averaging 4.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per night.

Butler, a 6’2″ guard who played his final college season at Kentucky, averaged 11.4 PPG and 4.3 RPG while shooting 39.1% from three as a fifth-year senior. He went undrafted in June.

Both players could wind up with the College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks’ G League affiliate.

Atlanta has only 10 players with fully guaranteed salaries. Vit Krejci and N’Faly Dante have partially guaranteed deals while Caleb Houstan and Mouhamed Gueye have non-guaranteed contracts. Youngmisuk confirms that Dante will make the Hawks’ regular season roster; the other three players without fully guaranteed salaries also look well positioned to make the team.

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Extension Rumors: Herro, Heat, Porzingis, Daniels, M. Robinson

October 17th, 2025 at 11:34am CST by Luke Adams

Although All-Star guard Tyler Herro has expressed interest in signing a contract extension with the Heat before the regular season begins, there haven’t been substantive discussions to this point, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who hears from sources that a preseason deal is doubtful.

Because Herro has two guaranteed seasons left on his current contract, he wouldn’t be eligible to sign an extension during the season. If he and Heat don’t work out an agreement on or before Monday, his next window to sign a new deal would be during the 2026 offseason.

Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins are also extension-eligible, but a long-term deal for either player appears unlikely in the short term, Windhorst writes.

As ESPN’s Tim Bontemps observes within the same story, the Heat are one of a handful of teams looking to maximize their cap flexibility for the summer of 2027, which is when several stars – including Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Donovan Mitchell – are currently projected to reach free agency. That doesn’t necessarily mean a player like Herro or Powell won’t sign an extension sooner or later, but Miami may be reluctant to sacrifice 2027 cap room until they have “good reason” to, Bontemps explains.

Here are a few more notes and rumors on potential extension candidates:

  • There’s mutual interest between the Hawks and Kristaps Porzingis in a new contract, but the two sides are comfortable waiting to see how the season plays out, says Windhorst. That lines up with recent public comments from Porzingis on the subject. Both Porzingis and Trae Young are expected to have to wait on potential extensions, though Young would ideally like to replace his $49MM player option for 2026/27 with a lucrative new deal sooner or later, per Windhorst.
  • The Hawks are negotiating with rookie scale extension candidate Dyson Daniels ahead of Monday’s deadline, Bontemps confirms. ESPN’s Bobby Marks suggested earlier this week that Daniels’ agent, Daniel Moldovan, is using Jalen Suggs‘ five-year, $150MM as the key point of comparison for his client. Daniels’ teammate Jalen Johnson signed an identical extension last fall.
  • The Knicks and Mitchell Robinson have spoken about a possible extension, but haven’t gained any real traction, sources tell Windhorst. According to Windhorst, there’s also no urgency for the Knicks and Karl-Anthony Towns to work out a new contract — he’s extension-eligible, but has two guaranteed years and a player option left on his current deal.
  • Marks and Bontemps took a closer look at several of the remaining rookie scale extension candidates, speculating about what fair contracts might look like and predicting which ones will get done.
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Extensions Not Expected For Hawks’ Young, Suns’ Williams

October 16th, 2025 at 9:30pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hawks will not sign star point guard Trae Young to an extension before the season begins, league sources tell Fred Katz and Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

The news doesn’t come as a surprise — Jake Fischer reported a couple months ago that the two sides weren’t expected to discuss an extension during the offseason. Katz and Vardon say the Hawks want to see how the new-look roster meshes before making a potential long-term commitment to the four-time All-Star.

Young admitted late last month that he was a little disappointed about entering training camp without an extension in place, but also said he was focused on the present and wouldn’t let the lack of a new deal be a distraction.

Young is coming off a 2024/25 season in which he played 76 games (36.0 minutes per contest) while averaging 24.2 points, a league-high 11.6 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals, with a shooting line of .411/.340/.875.

There’s no real urgency to extend Young from Atlanta’s perspective. While he could become an unrestricted free agent next summer if he declines his player option (worth about $49MM) for 2026/27, he will remain extension-eligible throughout the ’25/26 league year. Signing an in-season extension would also require Young to decline that option.

Whether they sign him to a rookie scale extension before Monday’s deadline or re-sign him as a restricted free agent in 2026, the Hawks feel good about their chances of retaining Most Improved Player winner Dyson Daniels, according to Katz and Vardon.

In other extension news, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 cautions (via Twitter) not to expect a rookie scale deal for Suns center Mark Williams. The former Duke big man has frequently been injured over his first three seasons, appearing in a total of just 106 games, and Phoenix appears likely to use ’25/26 to evaluate his fit after acquiring him in a summer trade with Charlotte.

Fischer reported last week that the Suns were considered unlikely to sign Williams to an extension. If no deal is reached, the 23-year-old would be a restricted free agent next summer, assuming he’s given a qualifying offer.

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Warriors, Lakers Top 2025 NBA Franchise Valuations

October 16th, 2025 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors are still the NBA’s most valuable team, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico, who unveiled the website’s updated NBA franchise valuations for 2025 on Thursday.

Badenhausen projects the Warriors’ value at $11.33 billion, which represents an incredible 24% increase from last year’s $9.14 billion valuation. The NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, at $12.8 billion, continue to be the only global sports franchise whose valuation comes in higher than Golden State’s, according to Sportico’s projections.

As Badenhausen outlines, the Warriors lead the NBA in revenue by a significant margin, having generated an estimated $833MM last season. Golden State makes more than $5MM per game in ticket revenue, along with $2.5MM from luxury suites; the club also has a $45MM per year jersey patch deal with Rakuten, earns almost double what any other team makes in sponsorship revenue, and is one of the few teams to fully own and operate its arena, per Sportico.

After placing third a year ago, the Lakers have jumped to second place on Sportico’s 2025 list at $10 billion, based on Mark Walter‘s recent agreement to purchase the team at that valuation. The Lakers moved slightly ahead of the third-place Knicks, who come in at $9.85 billion.

Every team’s valuation has increased by at least 9% since last year, per Sportico, with the average value of an NBA franchise now at $5.51 billion (up 20% from 2024) and no team worth less than $4 billion.

The average valuation has more than doubled since 2022, when it was $2.58 billion. As Badenhausen writes, the NBA’s new $76 billion media rights deal and its global ambitions – including the possible creation of a league in Europe – have played a part in those gains.

Although the Warriors’ $833MM is something out of an outlier, NBA teams generated an average of approximately $408MM in revenue last season, according to Badenhausen, with the Grizzlies coming in last at $301MM. Memphis also ranks 30th on Sportico’s list of franchise values.

Despite placing at the bottom of this list, the Grizzlies actually had the most significant increase in their franchise valuation this past year, rising from $3.06 billion to $4 billion (31%). The Pelicans (30%), Timberwolves (29%), and Eastern Conference champion Pacers (27%) were the other biggest risers.

Of course, it’s worth noting that figures from Sportico or any other media outlet are just estimates and often don’t quite match up with the sale prices for franchises that change hands. But these projections are usually in the right ballpark and remain useful for getting a sense of the league’s most and least valuable teams.

Here’s Sportico’s full list of NBA franchise valuations for 2025:

  1. Golden State Warriors: $11.33 billion
  2. Los Angeles Lakers: $10 billion
  3. New York Knicks: $9.85 billion
  4. Los Angeles Clippers: $6.72 billion
  5. Boston Celtics: $6.35 billion
  6. Brooklyn Nets: $6.22 billion
  7. Chicago Bulls: $6.12 billion
  8. Miami Heat: $6.03 billion
  9. Philadelphia 76ers: $5.61 billion
  10. Houston Rockets: $5.53 billion
  11. Dallas Mavericks: $5.24 billion
  12. Toronto Raptors: $5.22 billion
  13. Phoenix Suns: $5.09 billion
  14. Atlanta Hawks: $5.02 billion
  15. Sacramento Kings: $5 billion
  16. Cleveland Cavaliers: $4.86 billion
  17. Denver Nuggets: $4.8 billion
  18. Washington Wizards: $4.78 billion
  19. Indiana Pacers: $4.76 billion
  20. Milwaukee Bucks: $4.54 billion
  21. San Antonio Spurs: $4.5 billion
  22. Oklahoma City Thunder: $4.34 billion
  23. Utah Jazz: $4.27 billion
  24. Portland Trail Blazers: $4.25 billion
  25. Minnesota Timberwolves: $4.24 billion
  26. Orlando Magic: $4.21 billion
  27. Detroit Pistons: $4.17 billion
  28. Charlotte Hornets: $4.13 billion
  29. New Orleans Pelicans: $4.02 billion
  30. Memphis Grizzlies: $4 billion

As Badenhausen notes, Sportico’s projections are based on a control sale price, rather than limited stake purchases. Controlling shares in the Celtics, Lakers, and Trail Blazers all changed hands this past year, though only the Celtics sale has been formally approved by the NBA so far.

William Chisholm is buying the Celtics in two stages, with an initial valuation of $6.1 billion and a blended valuation of roughly $6.5 billion. Walter is purchasing the Lakers at a valuation of $10 billion, while Tom Dundon is buying the Blazers at a $4.25 billion valuation.

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Hawks’ Smith, Nuggets’ Akinjo, Nets’ Smith Waived

October 15th, 2025 at 9:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

A trio of camp invitees around the league have been waived, according to the NBA.com transaction log: Deivon Smith (Hawks), Malachi Smith (Nets), and James Akinjo (Nuggets).

Deivon Smith was a five-year college player who started his career at Mississippi State and ended it at St. John’s. A 6’1″ guard, he averaged 9.3 points and 3.9 assists for St. John’s after transferring from Utah.

Akinjo is also a 6’1″ guard. He played for Georgetown for two seasons, then Arizona, before playing his senior season at Baylor, where he averaged 13.5 points, 5.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. He played last season with the Wisconsin Herd in the G League, averaging 15.7 PPG and 8.2 APG on 41.3% shooting from three.

Malachi Smith signed his deal with the Nets on Tuesday. He has been a G League mainstay since going undrafted in 2023, playing last season for the Grizzlies’ affiliate, the Memphis Hustle. Keith Smith of Spotrac notes (via Twitter) that Smith got a $42,650 partial guarantee in his deal, which was designed to help the Nets stay over the minimum salary floor.

All three players are likely to report their teams’ G League affiliates. Deivon Smith and Akinjo would earn Exhibit 10 bonuses worth $25,00 and $85,300, respectively, if they spend at least 60 days in the NBAGL.

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Hawks’ Porzingis: No Rush For Contract Extension

October 15th, 2025 at 8:33am CST by Luke Adams

Hawks forward/center Kristaps Porzingis is currently eligible for a contract extension after being traded to Atlanta over the summer. However, he tells Fred Katz of The Athletic that he’s in no hurry to get a new deal done.

“I know that’s an option,” Porzingis said of a potential extension. “I wanna see how the year goes. I wanna show that I’m playing at a high level again, that I’m healthy, that I’m everything, and then that kind of stuff will take care of itself, you know? We’ll see. … I don’t wanna rush anything and say this or that, but I wanna take it one day at a time.”

Porzingis is earning roughly $30.7MM in 2025/26, which is the final season of a two-year, $60MM extension he signed with the Celtics in 2023. He completed the deal almost immediately after being traded to Boston, but this time around, he and the Hawks didn’t immediately look to work out a post-trade extension.

While Porzingis’ comments suggest he’s happy to wait on a new contract, it also doesn’t sound as if Atlanta is necessarily pushing hard to get an extension done. Atlanta reportedly hasn’t aggressively looked to extend Trae Young either as he enters a potential contract year (Young holds a player option for 2026/27). The front office, led by new general manager Onsi Saleh may be taking a wait-and-see approach to the current roster in the hopes of evaluating how the new pieces fit together over the course of the season.

For his part, Porzingis is optimistic about the Hawks’ new-look roster and his place on it.

“I was really happy that I could end up in a place like this, playing with these young guys, playing with Trae, who’s one of the best passers in the league,” he told Katz. “It’s an exciting situation for me. … I’m very, very happy.”

Porzingis averaged 19.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game last season for the Celtics, posting an impressive shooting line of .483/.412/.809. However, he was limited to 42 games due to various health issues, including an illness that limited his availability during the second half and continued to affected him in the postseason. The 30-year-old put up just 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 20.9 minutes per game on .316/.154/.689 shooting during Boston’s playoff run, but tells Katz that illness is no longer an issue.

“I just didn’t have the engine that I usually have,” the big man said. “… As soon as I got some rest and got back in shape with the (Latvian) national team, I’m feeling great. I feel awesome now.”

Players with multiple years left on their contracts who are eligible for veteran extensions have until Monday to finalize agreements. But because he’s on an expiring deal, Porzingis will be eligible to sign an extension with the Hawks until June 30, 2026. The same goes for Young, assuming he declines his ’26/27 player option as part of an agreement.

That means Atlanta will have the ability to weigh its options during the season and even into the spring — the team could try to work out extensions with Porzingis and Young later in the 2025/26 league year to keep them off the free agent market.

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Hawks Waive M.J. Walker

October 14th, 2025 at 9:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hawks have waived M.J. Walker, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tweets.

Walker was just signed to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal on Monday.

After going undrafted in 2021, Walker has spent the past four seasons in the G League with the Westchester Knicks and the Greensboro Swarm (the Hornets’ affiliate). The 27-year-old also had a brief 10-day hardship stint with the Suns in 2021/22, playing eight NBA minutes in two appearances.

Walker can collect a bonus worth $45,000 if he spends at least 60 days with the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s G League affiliate. The Skyhawks acquired his returning rights from the Swarm last month.

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Hawks Sign Lamont Butler, Deivon Smith, M.J. Walker

October 13th, 2025 at 5:26pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hawks have made three additions to their preseason roster, announcing in a press release that they have signed guards Lamont Butler, Deivon Smith and M.J. Walker.

While the terms of the contracts were not disclosed, all three players likely signed non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deals, which would put them in line for bonuses worth up to $85,300 if they’re waived before the season begins and spend at least 60 days with the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s G League affiliate.

It’s unclear why Atlanta brought back Butler — the former San Diego State and Kentucky guard already signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Hawks in late September. He was cut a couple days later.

Smith, a Georgia native has spent the past five years playing at four different colleges, suiting up for Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, Utah and St. John’s. In 30 games last season for the Red Storm (27.1 minutes), the 6’1″ guard averaged 9.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals, with a shooting line of .380/.352/.667.

Both Butler and Smith played for the Hawks’ Summer League team in Las Vegas.

Walker, another Georgia native, went undrafted in 2021 and has spent the past four seasons in the G League with the Westchester Knicks and the Greensboro Swarm (the Hornets’ affiliate). The 27-year-old also had a brief 10-day hardship stint with the Suns in 2021/22, playing eight NBA minutes in two appearances.

Atlanta now has 21 players under contract, which is the offseason limit.

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2025/26 NBA Over/Unders: Southeast Division

October 10th, 2025 at 1:52pm CST by Luke Adams

With the 2025/26 NBA regular season tipping off later this month, we’re getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and continuing an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.

With the help of the lines from a series of sports betting sites – including BetMGM and BetOnline – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

In 2024/25, our voters went 13-17 on their over/under picks. Can we top that in ’25/26?

We’ll continue our series today with the Southeast Division…

Orlando Magic

Atlanta Hawks

Miami Heat

Charlotte Hornets

Washington Wizards

Previous voting results:

Atlantic

  • New York Knicks (53.5 wins): Over (63.2%)
  • Boston Celtics (42.5 wins): Over (52.7%)
  • Philadelphia 76ers (42.5 wins): Under (58.7%)
  • Toronto Raptors (37.5 wins): Over (50.2%)
  • Brooklyn Nets (20.5 wins): Over (54.4%)

Central

  • Cleveland Cavaliers (56.5 wins): Over (58.0%)
  • Detroit Pistons (46.5 wins): Over (60.5%)
  • Milwaukee Bucks (42.5 wins): Over (74.4%)
  • Indiana Pacers (37.5 wins): Over (50.1%)
  • Chicago Bulls (32.5 wins): Over (60.8%)

Northwest

  • Oklahoma City Thunder (62.5 wins): Over (62.9%)
  • Denver Nuggets (53.5 wins): Over (72.1%)
  • Minnesota Timberwolves (49.5 wins): Over (58.7%)
  • Portland Trail Blazers (34.5 wins): Over (57.1%)
  • Utah Jazz (18.5 wins): Over (55.3%)

Pacific

  • Los Angeles Clippers (48.5 wins): Under (58.7%)
  • Los Angeles Lakers (48.5 wins): Under (52.1%)
  • Golden State Warriors (46.5 wins): Over (68.3%)
  • Sacramento Kings (34.5 wins): Over (55.1%)
  • Phoenix Suns (31.5 wins): Under (56.8%)
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