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Southeast Notes: Magic, Porzingis, Daniels, Whitmore

July 10th, 2025 at 9:52am CST by Luke Adams

Jeff Weltman has served as the Magic‘s president of basketball operations since 2017. During that time, Orlando has made four playoff appearances but has yet to advance past the first round of the postseason. In Weltman’s view, the current version of the Magic looks more capable of achieving that feat than any other roster he has overseen during the past eight years.

“For me personally since I’ve been here, I think this roster has a chance to do some special things, more so than any other that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Weltman said, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). “It looks good on paper. It’s the job of our players, our coaches and all of our staff to bring everything we have to bear to get this team as far along as we can.

“The nice thing about the team that I get excited about is it’s still very young and there’s still a lot of growth baked in. I look forward to the next few years unfolding, but obviously starting right now.”

Orlando has traded for standout wing Desmond Bane and signed veteran point guard Tyus Jones this offseason, adding them to a core headlined by Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs. Banchero has also received a new long-term extension.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

  • Speaking to Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required), new Hawks big man Kristaps Porzingis expressed excitement about the coming season in Atlanta and spoke about what he thinks he can bring to the club. “I think I’ll fit right in here and add more like diversity, maybe even more offense,” Porzingis said. “And, yeah, I think there’s going to be more like layers to this offense that’s already pretty powerful. But yeah, I think we can really be a force offensively.”
  • After being named the NBA’s Most Improved Player for 2024/25, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels tells Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints that he believes he still has room to keep getting better and that he has bigger goals ahead, including becoming an All-Star and winning a championship. The Defensive Player of the Year runner-up also credited Trae Young for the role he played in Daniels’ breakout season. “He made my life a lot easier and our games kind of really complement each other,” Daniels said. “Him on the offensive end, me on the defensive end helping him out.”
  • The acquisition of Cam Whitmore from Houston is a low-risk and potentially high-reward for the Wizards, according to Josh Robbins and Kelly Iko of The Athletic, who consider how the trade fits into Washington’s long-term plan and suggest head coach Brian Keefe could frequently deploy wing-heavy lineups that lack a traditional power forward next season.
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Groups Set For 2025 NBA Cup

July 9th, 2025 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced the six groups of five teams apiece for the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup, also known as the in-season tournament (Twitter link).

In order to set the groups, the league splits the Western and Eastern Conferences into five three-team tiers based on last season’s regular season standings, with one club from each tier randomly drawn into each of the conference’s three groups.

For instance, the top three teams from the West will all be in separate groups, with each of those three groups also featuring one team in the 4-6 range, one in the 7-9 range, and so on.

Here are the groups for the 2025 NBA Cup:

  • West Group A: Oklahoma City Thunder (1), Minnesota Timberwolves (6), Sacramento Kings (9), Phoenix Suns (11), Utah Jazz (15)
  • West Group B: Los Angeles Lakers (3), Los Angeles Clippers (5), Memphis Grizzlies (8), Dallas Mavericks (10), New Orleans Pelicans (14)
  • West Group C: Houston Rockets (2), Denver Nuggets (4), Golden State Warriors (7), Portland Trail Blazers (12), San Antonio Spurs (13)
  • East Group A: Cleveland Cavaliers (1), Indiana Pacers (4), Atlanta Hawks (8), Toronto Raptors (11), Washington Wizards (15)
  • East Group B: Boston Celtics (2), Detroit Pistons (6), Orlando Magic (7), Brooklyn Nets (12), Philadelphia 76ers (13)
  • East Group C: New York Knicks (3), Milwaukee Bucks (5), Chicago Bulls (9), Miami Heat (10), Charlotte Hornets (14)

The round-robin group play games will be starting a little earlier than usual this season and will run from October 31 to November 28. Each team will face the other four clubs in its group once, with the winners of each group and one wild card team from each conference advancing to the eight-team, single-elimination knockout round.

The full schedule of group play games can be viewed right here.

The quarterfinals will be played on December 9-10, with the semifinals and final to follow on Dec. 13 and Dec. 16, respectively, in Las Vegas. The knockout round games will all be aired by one of the NBA’s new broadcasting partners, Amazon Prime.

The Bucks won last season’s NBA Cup, with star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo earning MVP honors after leading Milwaukee to a victory over the Thunder in the championship game.

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Contract Details: Turner, Robinson, Mitchell, NAW, Kyrie, Jones

July 8th, 2025 at 6:53am CST by Luke Adams

Myles Turner‘s new four-year contract with the Bucks came in a little higher than expected, as cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (via Twitter).

Using the cap room left over after waiving and Damian Lillard and buying out Vasilije Micic (via the stretch provision), Milwaukee was able to give Turner a starting salary of $25,318,251. With annual 5% raises, his deal is worth a total of approximately $108.87MM. As previously reported, the contract also includes a fourth-year player option and a 15% trade kicker.

Here are a few more details on contracts officially signed around the NBA in recent days:

  • Using Simone Fontecchio‘s outgoing salary ($8,307,692) and the expanded traded player exception ($8,527,000), the Pistons were able to take back a maximum of $16,834,692 in incoming salary. Not coincidentally, that’s exactly the starting salary that Duncan Robinson got on his new deal with Detroit via sign-and-trade (Twitter link via Gozlan). Robinson’s three-year deal has a declining structure and offers few guarantees after the first year — just $2MM of his $15.99MM salary in 2026/27 is guaranteed, and his entire $15.15MM salary for ’27/28 is non-guaranteed.
  • Ajay Mitchell‘s new three-year deal with the Thunder came in a little lower than expected, at $8.7MM, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. It includes a fully guaranteed $3MM salary for 2025/26, replacing the team option Oklahoma City turned down that was worth the same amount. His $2.85MM salary for ’26/27 is partially guaranteed for $1.5MM, while ’27/28 is a $2.85MM team option.
  • Reported to be worth $62MM over four years, Nickeil Alexander-Walker‘s new contract with the Hawks came in at $60,647,200, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. It includes a fourth-year player option and a 7.5% trade kicker. It also declines in year two (from $15,161,800 to $14,403,710) before ascending again in year three ($15,161,800) and four ($15,919,890).
  • The three-year deal between Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks is worth $118,473,846, with a third-year player option and a 15% trade kicker, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. It starts at $36,566,002, with annual 8% raises.
  • Tre Jones‘ three-year, $24MM contract with the Bulls has a flat structure, with annual cap hits of $8MM, and a third-year team option, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.
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Hawks Waive David Roddy

July 7th, 2025 at 4:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have requested waivers on David Roddy, the team announced today in a press release. Roddy, who was on a two-way contract, was sent from Houston to Atlanta in the record-setting seven-team Kevin Durant trade on Sunday.

The 23rd overall pick in the 2022 draft, Roddy has bounced around the league since making his NBA debut, appearing in a total of 168 regular season games for Memphis, Phoenix, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Houston. The burly 6’4″ forward holds career averages of 6.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 16.9 minutes per game, with a .421/.302/.679 shooting line.

Roddy’s two-way contract was partially guaranteed for $85,300, so he’ll receive a small payout and will become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday, assuming he clears waivers.

While that $85,300 doesn’t count against Atlanta’s cap, it’s probably not a coincidence that that’s the exact amount of cash the Rockets sent to the Hawks in the Durant blockbuster.

The Hawks now have just Eli Ndiaye on a two-way contract, with undrafted rookie Lamont Butler rumored to be filling one of the two remaining openings. The team also has two-way qualifying offers on the table for Jacob Toppin and Keaton Wallace.

This is the second time in 2025 that the Hawks have waived Roddy. They also did so in February to make room for incoming players at the trade deadline.

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And-Ones: Dybantsa, Porzingis, Oturu, Bryant, Summer League

July 6th, 2025 at 9:36pm CST by Eli Cohen

A.J. Dybantsa was named MVP of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup after the U.S. team beat Germany 109-76 to take home the gold medal, writes Tobias Bass of The Athletic. Both the U.S. and Germany were undefeated heading into the game.

Dybantsa, the BYU commit who is considered a strong bet to challenge for the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft, averaged 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game during the tournament. He shot 50% from the field and 84% from the free-throw line on 50 attempts, though he struggled from outside, connecting on just 2-of-18 three-pointers.

Dybantsa was also named to the U19 World Cup All-Star team alongside teammate Mikel Brown Jr., who had a strong tournament run. The 6’4″ Brown, who has committed to Louisville for next season, led Team USA in points and assists with 14.9 and 6.1, respectively, while shooting 47.6% from three and posting a nearly three-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio.

We have more from around the world of basketball:

  • Kristaps Porzingis is listed on the Latvian national team’s extended roster for the 2025 EuroBasket tournament, according to Eurohoops.net. He is expected to join the team after visiting with the Hawks following his trade from the Celtics. Porzingis struggled with an illness during the 2025 playoffs, but will look to bounce back with his first international competition since 2017. “We will adjust [workloads] to the health and fitness level of each player to help them be in the best possible shape as EuroBasket2025 approaches,” said head coach Luca Banchi.
  • Israeli basketball team Hapoel Tel Aviv has announced the signings of Elijah Bryant (via Twitter) and Daniel Oturu (via Twitter). Bryant played one year in the NBA, winning a championship with the 2021 Bucks while averaging 4.5 minutes over 11 games during the team’s playoff run. Oturu had brief stints with the Clippers and Raptors, and has been playing overseas since the 2023/24 season.
  • The NBA will count end-of-period heaves as team shot attempts, rather than individual player shot attempts, during Summer League, the league announced (via Twitter). This follows testing with the G League in the 2024/25 season. Three criteria must be met for this to apply: the play must originate in the backcourt, the missed shot must be attempted from at least 36 feet from the basket, and it must be attempted within the final three seconds of the first three periods in the game. This move is intended to incentivize players to shoot heaves without regard for how they might harm their shooting percentage.
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Northwest Notes: Holmes, Alexander-Walker, Hansen, Johnson

July 6th, 2025 at 7:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

While much of the offseason discussion about the Nuggets‘ big man situation revolved around Jonas Valanciunas and whether he’ll stay with the team after he’s officially traded from Sacramento to Denver, the club is also set to receive some frontcourt health in the return of DaRon Holmes II, the 22nd pick in the 2024 draft.

Holmes missed the entirety of his rookie year after rupturing his Achilles in his 2024 Summer League debut, but he’s now healed and ready to make an imprint on the Nuggets’ roster.

“I think being in the weight room, adding some muscle to my game, and just learning our system, learning our plays, I’m feeling more confident knowing what I need to do now,” he said to Katy Winge of Altitude TV (Twitter video link). “And my passing game, I think, has gotten a lot better.”

Holmes also spoke about his ability to slide between frontcourt positions as needed.

“Anywhere they put me, I’ll be comfortable playing,” he said. “I spent a lot of the summertime playing the five, now I’m going to get back to playing the four. So I think I’ll be playing both... I trust the coaching staff, I trust this team, organization, so I’m excited to get out there.”

After adding Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr., who will join incumbents like Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther, the Nuggets’ bench is taking shape, but there is still room for Holmes to carve out a role for himself.

We have more news from the Northwest division:

  • Nickeil Alexander-Walker was a true success story for the Timberwolves, writes The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski. Included as a throw-in from the Mike Conley trade, Alexander-Walker quickly righted the ship of his career, which was veering into rocky journeyman territory, and became a fan favorite and defensive stalwart for the back-to-back Western Conference finalists. While Alexander-Walker is headed to the Hawks, his fourth team in seven seasons, Krawczynski writes that he’s doing so in a very different light, as one of the Wolves’ greatest development stories, and a truly introspective, thoughtful basketball player who will be missed in the Twin Cities.
  • Yang Hansen is facing probably the steepest learning curve of anyone from the 2025 draft, but the Trail Blazers‘ big man out of China has hit the ground running in the practices ahead of his first Summer League, writes Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “He was impressive, but there are also things he’s going to learn really quickly,” said Blazers Summer League head coach Ronnie Burrell. “He’s expected to have some struggles and also have some success. But he looked good today.” Burrell has been most impressed with Hansen’s ability to navigate the culture shock. “This is all new to him, the language, the culture. And he handles it amazingly,” Burrell said, as reported by Aaron Fentress of Oregon Live. “The kid has maturity, and he’s got character, and he’s picking up things fast.”
  • After being traded from the Nets to the Nuggets, Cam Johnson is ready to do what he always has done best: work. Bennett Durando of the Denver Post writes that beyond his lethal three-point shooting and cerebral approach to the game, it’s the diligence that stands out as Johnson’s superpower. “The reason he’s in the NBA is because the guy works,” his high school coach Mike Rodriguez said. “Not because of his size. Not because of his shooting. I mean, that man works.” While the work got him to where he is, it’s his instincts and mind for the game that make him such a tantalizing fit in Denver. “We weren’t really a set-heavy team, so we liked to play fast and run secondary break,” UNC assistant coach Brad Frederick said. “A lot of what he got in terms of open shots was just because he was able to kind of create his own looks and because he was able to run the floor so well. We could pitch it ahead to him for shots.” That ability to read the game should make him a perfect fit next to Nikola Jokic.
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Seven-Team Kevin Durant Trade Officially Finalized

July 6th, 2025 at 2:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The seven-team trade that sends star forward Kevin Durant and free agent big man Clint Capela (via sign-and-trade) to Houston is now official, according to press releases from several teams, including the Rockets.

“Having played against Kevin and coached him before, I know he’s the type of competitor who fits with what we’ve been building here in Houston,” head coach Ime Udoka said in a statement. “His skill level, love of basketball, and dedication to his craft have made him one of the most respected players of his generation, and my staff and I are excited to work with him.”

The move sets a new NBA record for most teams involved in a single trade. The terms of the deal are as follows:

  • Rockets acquire:
  • Suns acquire:
    • Jalen Green (from Rockets)
    • Dillon Brooks (from Rockets)
    • Daeqwon Plowden (from Hawks)
    • The draft rights to Khaman Maluach (No. 10 pick; from Rockets)
    • The draft rights to Rasheer Fleming (No. 31 pick; from Timberwolves)
    • The draft rights to Koby Brea (No. 41 pick; from Warriors)
    • Either the Thunder’s, Mavericks’, or Sixers’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable; from Rockets)
  • Lakers acquire:
    • The draft rights to Adou Thiero (No. 36 pick; from Nets)
  • Warriors acquire:
  • Timberwolves acquire:
    • The draft rights to Rocco Zikarsky (No. 45 pick; from Lakers)
    • Either the Warriors’ or Nuggets’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Suns)
    • Either the Suns’ or Rockets’ 2032 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Suns/Rockets)
      • Note: The Suns, not the Rockets, retain the least favorable of the two picks.
    • Cash (from Lakers).
  • Nets acquire:
    • Either the Clippers’ 2026 second-round pick or the most favorable of the Celtics’, Pacers’, and Heat’s 2026 second-round picks (whichever is least favorable; from Rockets)
    • The Celtics’ 2030 second-round pick (from Rockets)
  • Hawks acquire:
    • David Roddy (from Rockets)
    • The right to swap their own 2031 second-round pick for the Rockets’ 2031 second-round pick (56-60 protected; from Rockets)
    • Cash (from Rockets)

Word first broke on Wednesday that the Durant trade was being expanded to be completed as a seven-team deal. For the most part, it was just a matter of folding separate draft-night trade agreements into a single transaction.

In addition to the original Durant blockbuster (story), this transaction incorporates trade agreements between the Suns and Nets (story), Suns and Warriors (story), Suns and Timberwolves (story), and Lakers and Timberwolves (story), as well as the sign-and-trade deal sending Capela from the Hawks to the Rockets (story).

The only two new additions to this deal are Plowden and Roddy, who are both entering the second year of two-way contracts. The addition of Plowden ensures that the Hawks are “touching” a second team besides Houston in the deal. He’s being waived by the Suns, reports Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).

In exchange for sending out Plowden, the Hawks are filling that newly opened two-way slot with Roddy, a former first-round pick who spent more than half of the 2024/25 season in Atlanta on a standard contract.

Attaching the Capela sign-and-trade deal into this transaction has cap-related benefits for the Rockets, who would otherwise have had to send out a separate matching salary in order to sign Capela to his reported three-year, $21MM deal.

However, for the most part, amalgamating all those draft-night deals is just about streamlining the process for several teams, allowing them to take part in (or wait out) fewer trade calls and get their newly acquired rookies under contract sooner.

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Summer League Will Mark Kobe Bufkin's Return From Shoulder Surgery

July 5th, 2025 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • The Hawks are eager to see how Kobe Bufkin looks during Summer League after recovering from January shoulder surgery, per Grant Afseth of RG. Bufkin may not play the entire schedule in Las Vegas, but Afseth hears that he’s been impressive in scrimmages since receiving medical clearance to resume playing. Sources tell Afseth that Atlanta has refused multiple trade offers for Bufkin, including one from Sacramento that was reported this week.
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Southwest Notes: Durant, Finney-Smith, Roddy, Shammgod, Pelicans

July 5th, 2025 at 9:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

Trading for Kevin Durant and adding Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency should solve the outside shooting woes that have bogged down the Rockets‘ offense, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. He notes that Houston went just 5-of-17 from beyond the arc in a Game 7 loss to Golden State while averaging just 78.0 points per 100 half-court plays. Management believed the team had become too reliant on scoring off the offensive glass and needed to find a way to stretch opposing defenses.

Durant, who remains one of the league’s top shooters at age 36, should go a long way toward fixing the problem. Iko notes that Phoenix managed to be a top-10 half-court team last season, which is largely due to Durant’s brilliance. He should provide the lion’s share of Houston’s offense, with elite athletes surrounding him to keep opposing defenses honest.

Finney-Smith posted two huge games against the Rockets in March and April, Iko adds, going a combined 12-of-20 from three-point range. Iko cites statistics from Cleaning the Glass showing that Finney-Smith’s on-off numbers were +10.8 during his time with Brooklyn last season and +9.3 with Los Angeles. Iko expects the Rockets to see fewer zones with Durant and Finney-Smith on hand to counter them.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

  • Rockets two-way player David Roddy appears to be headed to the Hawks as compensation for Clint Capela when a seven-team deal becomes official on Sunday, according to Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Roddy began last season with Atlanta before being waived at the trade deadline.
  • God Shammgod talked to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News about his decision to leave the Mavericks‘ coaching staff and join his friend Jamahl Mosley with the Magic. Shammgod is among four assistants Dallas is losing this offseason. He has been with the organization since 2016 and said he never expected to make such a move a month ago. “I’ve been very fortunate, being under a great coach like Rick Carlisle, and then going to another good coach like (Jason Kidd) and being a part of one of the best organizations in the world,” Shammgod said. “And Mark Cuban, you know, probably one of the greatest owners in sports — but, to me, an even better person. There will always be a love relationship for me here in Dallas. I just appreciate everything Dallas did for me, as a coach and as a person.”
  • New Pelicans head of basketball operations Joe Dumars is taking a huge chance that the young roster he has assembled can be a playoff contender, observes William Guillory of The Athletic. If it doesn’t work out, Guillory believes Dumars will be facing a full rebuild that could include trading Zion Williamson and firing coach Willie Green.
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Community Shootaround: Early Offseason Winners, Losers

July 5th, 2025 at 10:23am CST by Rory Maher

We’re in a quiet transactional period as we wait for the July moratorium to lift tomorrow. There are still a handful of top restricted free agents who have yet to sign new contracts, but with a dearth of cap space around the league, the players don’t have a ton of negotiating leverage, so it could take a while for those situations to play out.

John Hollinger of The Athletic recently weighed in on some of the biggest winners and losers to this point in the offseason. The article is technically centered around free agency, but it takes all offseason moves into account.

Hollinger lauds the moves the Hawks have made, including trading for Kristaps Porzingis, landing what could be an extremely valuable 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans (only this deal is official), acquiring Nickeil Alexander-Walker in a sign-and-trade, and signing sharpshooter Luke Kennard. Atlanta still has its bi-annual exception available, Hollinger notes, and is about $7.4MM below the luxury tax line.

While they’re facing a minor roster crunch, Hollinger also likes the Hornets‘ offseason thus far, saying they had a strong draft (Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner) and have done solid work on the trade market, particularly adding Collin Sexton and a second-round pick from Utah for Jusuf Nurkic. He also views Spencer Dinwiddie as a nice pickup on a veteran’s minimum deal.

The defending champion Thunder are the third team on Hollinger’s list of winners, bringing back 14 of their 15 players on standard deals while essentially replacing Dillon Jones with first-round pick Thomas Sorber. Oklahoma City is below the luxury tax line and also retained Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell on team-friendly deals, Hollinger observes.

The month of July is Hollinger’s biggest loser, as free agency is no longer the same type of event on the league’s schedule as it used to be, for a variety of reasons.

For actual teams, Hollinger thinks the Celtics and Pacers have taken steps back. He credits Boston’s front office for shedding the salaries of Porzingis and Jrue Holiday without having to attach sweeteners (the Celtics will actually receive two second-rounders from Portland in the Holiday deal).

But the Celtics also lost Luke Kornet in free agency and Al Horford is viewed as unlikely to return. And they still need to trim about $20MM from their books to move below the luxury tax to avoid the repeater penalty. The biggest question mark, according to Hollinger, is how can the Celtics position themselves to be a contender again in 2026/27, when Jayson Tatum has recovered from his torn Achilles tendon?

As for the Pacers, they’re on Hollinger’s list for losing longtime center Myles Turner to the division-rival Bucks in free agency. They still have pathways to find a new starting center, Hollinger writes, and their front office has largely done excellent work over the years. But Indiana is in a similar boat as Boston, with 2025/26 increasingly looking like a “gap year” in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton‘s Achilles tear and more uncertainty heading into ’26/27 with Turner no longer on the roster.

We want to know what you think. Do you agree with Hollinger’s winners and losers? Most people seem high on the Rockets’ moves, but they weren’t included. I was also mildly surprised to not see the Pelicans on the list of losers. Head to comment section to weigh in with your thoughts.

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