Sixers’ McCain Says He’s ‘On Pace’ To Be Ready For Camp
Second-year Sixers guard Jared McCain‘s rookie campaign in 2024/25 was ended by a lateral meniscus tear after just 23 games. However, the 6’2″ pro is optimistic about his ability to return to the hardwood in time for training camp this fall, reports Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire.
On hand to celebrate Philadelphia’s new arena name reveal, the No. 16 pick in 2024 detailed his recovery process to date.
“Yeah, my plan, for sure, is to participate (in camp),” McCain said. “I mean, anything can happen, but for right now, I’m on pace, and I’m doing great for that.”
Given McCain’s expectation that he’ll be available for training camp, it seems that he is very much on track to suit up for the Sixers’ October 22 regular season opener against the Celtics, Carlin notes.
“I think right now, it’s just kind of taking it day by day,” McCain said. “I’m getting on-court (work), doing a lot of stuff, a lot of live stuff, but I still have to talk to them about exactly if I’m free for everything, but I’m definitely getting there.”
Across his 23 healthy contests on the 24-58 Sixers last year, the Duke alum averaged 15.3 PPG, 2.6 APG, 2.4 RPG and 0.7 SPG. He posted an impressive .460/.383/.875 shooting line and finished seventh in Rookie of the Year voting despite his limited availability.
Magic Sign Four Players To Exhibit 10 Contracts
The Magic have announced four new signings ahead of training camp (Twitter link). Orlando has added free agent guard Reece Beekman, wings Justin Minaya and Lester Quinones, and center Colin Castleton.
Although the team didn’t divulge terms of the agreements, Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel reports that all four deals are Exhibit 10 contracts.
Castleton’s signing was previously confirmed in the NBA’s transaction log, while Quinones’ deal with the Magic was reported last month. The additions of Beekman and Minaya are new. Beekman is especially notable since he had reportedly reached a tentative agreement to join the Nuggets in June. That deal was never officially finalized, however.
Castleton has spent the previous two seasons with the Lakers, Grizzlies, Sixers and Raptors. He began his pro career out of Florida on two-way contracts with Los Angeles and Memphis, but graduated to 10-day deals with Toronto and Philadelphia. He was brought back by the Raptors on a two-year standard deal at the end of 2024/25, but they ultimately waived him earlier this summer.
A 6’4″ guard out of Memphis, Quinones most recently split the 2024/25 season with two-way deals for the Sixers and Pelicans. He has appeared in 54 total NBA regular season games in three years since going undrafted out of Memphis in 2022. His best season came in 2023/24, when he averaged 4.4 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.6 minutes per night with a .364 3PT% in 37 outings for Golden State.
Beekman signed a two-way deal with Golden State last July after going undrafted out of Virginia. He made just two brief appearances for the Warriors before being sent to the Nets in mid-December as part of the Dennis Schröder trade. Beekman got a larger NBA opportunity after arriving in Brooklyn, appearing in 34 games and averaging 2.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 13.7 minutes per night.
Minaya, a 6’5″ small forward, has been a two-way player for the Blazers since 2022. He has made 57 total appearances but played a very limited role, averaging 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per contest.
All four players are eligible to have their Exhibit 10 deals converted into two-way contracts before the start of the regular season. The Magic currently have one open two-way slot alongside Jamal Cain and Orlando Robinson.
If any of the four new Magic players are cut by Orlando ahead of the season and spent at least 60 days with the club’s NBAGL affiliate, the Osceola Magic, they’ll be eligible to earn bonuses worth up to $85,300.
EuroBasket Notes: Sengun, Markkanen, Jokic, Poland
All-Star Rockets big man Alperen Sengun nearly notched a triple-double during Turkey’s 92–78 win over Czechia on Friday, writes Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. Sengun finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Turkey head coach Ergin Ataman, who previously expressed a belief that there’s not a significant difference in the levels of play in the NBA and EuroLeague, doubled down on that assertion after Sengun’s big game.
“I saw on social media, both in the United States and in Europe, people writing about my statement on the difference between the EuroLeague and the NBA,” Ataman said post-game, per Jablonskis. “Give me Alperen Sengun at Panathinaikos and we will beat the Houston Rockets.”
Sengun followed up that Herculean effort with a 20-point, seven-rebound, five-assist showing in a 95-54 blowout of Portugal Saturday, per Sportando’s Alessandro Maggi. Turkey will now square off against Serbia for their group’s top spot in the Round of 16.
There’s more out of EuroBasket:
- Jazz star forward Lauri Markkanen has been in the midst of a superlative tear throughout EuroBasket and in the tournament’s warm-up games so far. The seven-footer notched 43 points in just 23 minutes for his native Finland in a 109-79 blowout of Great Britain, per Eurohoops. He followed that up with a double-double in an 85-65 victory against Bulls center Nikola Vucevic‘s Montenegro on Saturday, reports Maggi.
- Three-time MVP Nuggets center Nikola Jokic helped propel Serbia to an 80-69 win against Portugal with a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double, writes Semih Tuna of Eurohoops. Heat forward Nikola Jovic chipped in 18 points of his own. Serbia followed that up by beating Kristaps Porzingis‘ Latvia on Saturday, 84-80, and clinching its place in the round of 16, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Jokic logged a 39-point, 10-board effort.
- Home team Poland vanquished Israel, led by Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, 66-64, maintaining its perfect record in EuroBasket competition on Saturday, writes Maggi.
Bulls Notes: Front Office, Rose, Buzelis, Williams
The Bulls have been mired in mediocrity for the past three seasons, finishing with middling records a shade below .500 and failing to advance out of the play-in tournament each year.
With that in mind, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times (subscriber link) takes stock of whether or not Chicago has an actionable strategy for lifting the club out of its plight long-term. Cowley calls out president Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley for having “no real plan” for bringing in an All-Star-caliber player this summer, either through free agency or a trade.
There’s more out of the Windy City:
- On January 24 this season, the Bulls will retire the No. 1 jersey of former 2011 MVP guard Derrick Rose, who called it a career last summer. Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic asserts that Rose is worthy of such an honor despite only spending eight seasons — including two years almost entirely lost due to injury from 2012-14 — in Chicago. Lorenzi observes that Rose, a Chicago native and former MVP, will be just the fifth Bulls player to have his jersey retired, along with Michael Jordan‘s No. 23, Scottie Pippen‘s No. 33, Jerry Sloan‘s No. 4, and Bob Love‘s No. 10.
- In lieu of landing an established star, the Bulls are counting on 2025 All-Rookie Second Team forward Matas Buzelis to emerge as their star of the future, Lorenzi observes in the same story.
- Just a year after being signed to a five-year, $90MM deal, Bulls forward Patrick Williams finds himself in a tenuous standing with Chicago, Lorenzi writes as he considers what the next step is for the Bulls and the former No. 4 overall pick. The club’s lone trade this summer, for another defense-first young forward in Isaac Okoro, could make Williams somewhat expendable if he doesn’t take a step forward this fall.
Southeast Notes: Badji, Young, Riley, Arison
The Hornets’ G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, has traded for the rights to center Ibou Badji in a deal with the Bucks’ NBAGL squad, the Wisconsin Herd, Greensboro announced via Twitter.
In the exchange, Wisconsin acquired the No. 31 pick in the 2025 G League draft and the rights to center Jeremiah Tilmon and guard Lindell Wigginton.
Badji, 22, led the G League in blocks in 2024/25, and was named to the G League All-Defensive Team for his play with Wisconsin. The big man inked a two-way deal with the Blazers in 2023/24, appearing in 22 contests (one start). He averaged 1.5 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 10.3 MPG.
Across 34 games for the Herd in 2024/25, Badji averaged 6.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 3.4 BPG. He joined the Spanish squad La Laguna Tenerife in April.
Wigginton last played in the Chinese Basketball Association, while Tilman has been with clubs in Kuwait, the Dominican Republic, and Korea since 2024.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- Hawks guard Trae Young is eligible for a standard veteran extension and could decline his 2026/27 player option to begin a new deal sooner rather than later. Keith Smith of Spotrac previews what a possible contract might look like for Young, though he observes that Atlanta appears to be waiting to see how the four-time All-Star performs with the team’s new-look roster before committing to a lengthy extension. Young, an undersized guard, would need to make an All-NBA in 2026 to qualify for a super-max contract, worth up to 35% of the cap’s max in the first season.
- Heat owner Micky Arison is headed to the Hall of Fame this week as a contributor. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel examines why Pat Riley, who has made the Hall of Fame before as a coach, has yet to make the cut as a contributor. Riley is one of the great modern executives, having overseen three very different rosters en route to seven NBA Finals appearances since 2005/06, winning three championships.
- In case you missed it, Miami opted not to waive and stretch the $26.7MM contract of guard Terry Rozier ahead of this season. The deadline to do so was Friday.
Northwest Notes: Daigneault, Holmgren, Trail Blazers Sale
Champion Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is building a team culture that will help Oklahoma City thrive long-term, Rylan Stiles of Thunder On SI opines.
Daigneault got his start as the head coach of the club’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, in 2014. He served as an assistant coach under Billy Donovan first in 2016, and again during Donovan’s final season with the Thunder, 2019/20. Daigneault was then elevated to the head coaching role the subsequent season.
After the team missed the postseason while strategically tanking from 2020-22, Daigneault helped the young Thunder post a 40-42 record in 2022/23 and make the play-in tournament. Oklahoma City has notched the best record in the Western Conference for each of the past two seasons. Daigneault was named the league’s Coach of the Year with the 57-25 Thunder in 2023/24, and won a title with the 68-14 club this past June.
Stiles observes that Daigneault’s Thunder players can often be heard parroting many of his strategic talking points and suggests that’s a positive indicator of their commitment to his approach.
There’s more out of the Northwest:
- Rising Thunder big man Chet Holmgren agreed to a five-year, maximum rookie-scale extension this summer. The deal is projected to be worth around $240MM. Stiles observes that Oklahoma City has everything it needs to help Holmgren reach another level on offense. The 7’1″ center out of Gonzaga has struggled with significant health challenges during his nascent pro career, having missed all of what would have been his rookie season in 2022/23 with a foot ailment and sitting out 50 regular season bouts in 2024/25 due to a pelvic fracture. In the 32 regular season games he did play last year, Holmgren averaged 15.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.2 BPG, 2.0 APG and 0.7 SPG.
- A group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has reportedly agreed to purchase controlling ownership of the Trail Blazers for $4.25 billion. Dundon and the Paul Allen estate are hoping to finalize an agreement in September, according to Matthew Kish and Bill Oram of The Oregonian, who take a closer look at the next steps in the process and what to expect from the new owners. It is anticipated that Dundon will be the biggest shareholder involved, but he’ll also be joined by Blue Owl Capital co-president Marc Zahr and Collective Global Management CEO Sheel Tyle. Tyle is based in Portland.
- In case you missed it, the Timberwolves are reportedly considering a potential reunion with free agent sharpshooter Malik Beasley.
Pacific Notes: Suns, Ishbia, Doncic, EuroBasket
There’s little question who the most important Suns player is. Beyond recently extended All-Star guard Devin Booker, however, identifying the top talent on the current roster is more of an open question.
Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (subscriber link) tackles that question, ranking the five most important Phoenix players aside from the 6’5″ Kentucky alum. Second-year wing Ryan Dunn, new post-Durant trade additions Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, and new centers Mark Williams and Khaman Maluach make the cut.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Suns owner Mat Ishbia has weighed in on ESPN’s recent forecast that Phoenix would win 30 games, Rankin writes. Given that the Suns won just 36 games last year with a more star-studded roster led by 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant, ESPN’s thinking seems fairly logical. “I’m not worried about what the so-called experts think,” Ishbia wrote (Twitter link), while quoting a Burn City Sports tweet about the article. “They had us as a title contender the past two years and were wrong then. We’re focused on making our fans proud by playing great as a team and building a brand of basketball that’s tough and gritty.”
- Lakers officials, including president Rob Pelinka, paid a visit to five-time All-NBA guard Luka Doncic in Poland prior to the EuroBasket tournament this week, writes BasketNews. Doncic is plying his trade for his native Slovenia. Pelinka praised Doncic’s improved fitness this summer while addressing reporters, per BasketNews. “He’s in great shape, really committed to working hard this summer,” Pelinka told reporters. “And to be able to watch that in person was worth flying over the ocean to be with him.”
- Doncic affirmed his long-term interest in suiting up for Slovenia during the summers, while Pelinka seemingly endorsed that approach, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic. “It’s an easy choice,” Doncic said. “I always want to represent my country. Always did. No matter what. Obviously, if I’m injured, I’m not gonna play, but if I have nothing, I will always play.” Doncic has won EuroBasket before, beating Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s Serbia, 93-85, in 2017. During Doncic’s most recent EuroBasket run, in 2022, Poland upset Slovenia in the quarterfinal round. “We just wanted to make a statement to Luka that we support what he does for his country,” Pelinka said. “That’s really important to the Lakers when we have a player that’s the face of our franchise, just to show that support for him.”
Suns Owner Mat Ishbia Talks Missteps, Culture Shift, Championship Window
Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia has conceded that he made some team- and culture-building missteps during his first few seasons at the helm. Ishbia is on his fourth head coach in as many years and has already cycled through multiple Hall of Fame players since the end of the 2022/23 season when he assumed control of the franchise.
In an interview on Arizona Sports’ Burns and Gambo show, Ishbia took the blame for the club’s struggles to define its culture. He has addressed this issue in other media appearances this offseason.
“We have young players that are ascending instead of players that are descending,” Ishbia said. “We have players that wanna be here, that are bought into the Phoenix Suns’ culture. I can take the criticism for not defining (that culture) well enough when I bought the team, but it is defined very clearly now.”
These pointed remarks certainly seem to be allusions to the awkward fit of two pricey veterans, All-Star forward Kevin Durant and former All-Star guard Bradley Beal. Neither player remains on the roster, although Phoenix reaffirmed its commitment to homegrown superstar guard Devin Booker this summer with a two-year extension that could be worth up to $145MM.
Here’s more from Ishbia’s interview, which is well worth hearing in full:
On the current roster’s buy-in:
“There is not a player on the team that does not understand what we’re about. There’s not a coach, there’s not anyone in the front office that does not understand that it’s for the fans, and we’re gonna develop a team that they’re gonna be proud of year in and year out.”
On the revamped team’s new long-term title trajectory:
“What I expect is we’re gonna be competitive, a team that you’re gonna be proud of and we’re gonna be building… Over the next couple years, you’re gonna see us follow that same Phoenix Mercury path to be competing for a championship, playing hard.”
On his original expectations for a ready-made champion when he bought the team:
“When I bought the Suns originally, I thought we were on third base… Now, I’ve set a vision. I’ve said, ‘Hey, I know what kind of guys I want, we ain’t trading for guys who aren’t like this.’ …Do I expect it to take a couple years to get to the point where you’re like, ‘Wow, I see the vision?’ Yes.”
And-Ones: NBA Position Rankings, Key Stats, Second Apron
Heading into the 2025/26 season, Zach Harper of The Athletic has taken stock of both the NBA’s top 40 big men and the league’s 40 best lead guards.
Harper divided the players into seven tiers for each list. While three All-NBA superstar guards – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, and Stephen Curry – qualified for his top tier among lead guards, only one player is in the top tier for big men — three-time MVP Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. For what it’s worth, two-time MVP Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was not listed as a big for this exercise.
Here’s more news and notes from around the NBA:
- Zach Kram of ESPN runs through one statistic that could make or break this season’s goals for all 30 NBA squads. Among some of the interesting numbers of note: the Kings were outscored by 120.9 points per 100 possessions during the 1,000-plus possessions that stars Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine shared the floor; and the reigning champion Thunder are bringing back the players who logged 99.2% of all their playoff minutes from last season.
- The new CBA’s brutal second tax apron has come under renewed scrutiny this summer, after effectively compelling the breakup of the Celtics’ 2024 championship roster. Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com spoke to several league executives about the mechanism’s impact on team-building. “Before, they just kept hiking the price of being over the tax limit,” one executive said. “But now you have things like limitations on trades and loss of draft position [teams in the second apron for three years in a five-year span have a first round pick moved to the end of the round]. These are all new in the apron system. Now the cost gets too expensive. It’s not just money; it’s limiting to your operations.”
- Seven of the 10 teams listed among David Aldridge of The Athletic‘s most improved rosters this offseason are in the Western Conference. The No. 1 club on Aldridge’s list, the revamped Rockets, may not be much of a surprise, but the No. 6 Hornets certainly are.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks Coaches, 14th Roster Spot, LeBron, Brown
The Knicks have revamped their coaching staff following their run to the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals. Installed in the stead of ex-head coach Tom Thibodeau is former two-time Coach of the Year Mike Brown, who has brought in many new faces to fill out his bench.
In an interview with Stefan Bondy of The New York Post, USC men’s basketball head coach Eric Musselman weighed in on how he expects Brown to handle the pressures of his new gig. Musselman has several connections to the Knicks’ new-look staff. He worked as the Lakers’ then-D League coach while Brown was coaching L.A.’s NBA team. Musselman also started the career of New York’s fresh defensive coordinator, Brendan O’Connor.
“He is super-detailed, super-organized,” Musselman said of Brown. “That year with the Lakers, his playbook, he wants to make sure it’s color-coded properly. He got a little bit of an NFL, detail-oriented mindset. … I saw it in the meetings in training camp preparation. Perfect color-coded books. And making sure the periods and the commas were in the right places… Training camp, the drills and the precision … that was real detailed as well.”
Musselman added that he believes Brown’s past stints with superstar players in Cleveland and Los Angeles, combined with his run as a Golden State assistant coach that included three championships, has uniquely equipped him for this opportunity.
“I just think his experience of being in Cleveland and who he coached there [LeBron James] and then I think the fact that he coached in L.A. and it’s the Lakers,” Musselman said. “And with the media market in the Bay Area [with the Warriors], even though he was just an assistant, you can kind of sit back and watch how Coach [Steve] Kerr handles pressure and coaching in playoff situations. And he’s at a perfect age [Brown is 55]. He has a lot of things going for him. And if you coached in L.A., that’s about as good a preparation as you can have.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks still have to fill a 14th standard roster spot ahead of the regular season. New York has maintained its interest in free agent guards Malcolm Brogdon, Landry Shamet and Ben Simmons to fill that spot, according to Bondy, though he cautions that he has heard “conflicting information” about how genuine the interest in Simmons is.
- With LeBron James‘ future somewhat up in the air, Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News breaks down the pros and cons of a potential trade sending the Lakers star to the Knicks. There has been no indication that James will ask to be traded or that the Lakers will consider moving him, so it’s a purely speculative exercise by Winfield.
- Celtics All-Star forward Jaylen Brown‘s father Marselles Brown, a former boxer, was arrested for attempted murder in Las Vegas, per TMZ Sports. The elder Brown got into an argument with a youth football coach over a parking space, and the conflict escalated into a stabbing. NBC News 3 Las Vegas confirms the TMZ Sports report, noting that the conflict apparently started when a passenger in Brown’s SUV hit the door of the coach’s car.