Atlantic Notes: Barnes, Olynyk, Barrett, Tillman, Celtics Sale, Lowry
Scottie Barnes and Kelly Olynyk played fewer than 100 minutes together after Olynyk was acquired by the Raptors at the trade deadline. Barnes will make his preseason debut on Friday and anticipates he could be an ideal pick-and-roll partner for the veteran big man, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.
“I think we’ve been working on that a lot. You play with different lines at practices, see how things go,” Barnes said. “Kelly’s great at passing. He can dribble really well for his size and just his vision on the floor. So being able to create those advantages where a (center guarding Olynyk) is used to being in the ball screen, it kind of messes up a team or messes up some rotations, for sure. So just got to try to use that, exploit it at times, and see what works throughout the process, throughout games. If it keeps working, you know, you just keep attacking.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Raptors wing RJ Barrett is expected to miss the remainder of the preseason with a shoulder injury. That could thrust Ochai Agbaji into the starting lineup when the season begins, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN. In a separate note, Lewenberg reports that Immanuel Quickley should be cleared for contact soon. He’s recovering from a thumb injury.
- The Celtics seem determined to expand Xavier Tillman‘s offensive game. Tillman has taken five 3-pointers in two preseason games and made three of them. “You never want to put a ceiling on his game, and now that we have him for an entire offseason and season it’s just continuing to grow,” coach Joe Mazzulla told Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. “So he does a great job of working, but all facets are important for his development.”
- The Celtics are up for sale and majority owner Wyc Grousbeck provided Himmelsbach with an update. “The sale process is gearing up and about to hit full speed,” he said. “It took this long for our advisers to go through the financial and business data of the team and our whole management team, and spend enough time to put together offering books. Now they’re beginning to have discussions with interested parties, and the bidding process will commence in the next month or so.”
- Sixers coach Nick Nurse believes Kyle Lowry could become an NBA head coach after the veteran guard retires, he told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I think that he’s got a couple things that I would think would make him a good coach,” Nurse said. “He really loves the game. He really studies the game. He knows the game, and, obviously, he’s got a toughness level, right? I think he could handle going out there to fight.”
Nuggets Pick Up 2025/26 Options On Braun, Strawther, Watson
The Nuggets have picked up the 2025/26 rookie scale team options for Christian Braun, Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson, the team announced (via Twitter).
The front office’s decisions on their contracts come as no surprise, since the trio will all play prominent roles in Denver this season. Braun and Strawther are battling for the starting job vacated by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, while Watson is one of the team’s top reserves.
Braun’s fourth-year option is worth $4,921,797, while Strawther’s third-year option is worth $2,674,148. The fourth-year option on Watson’s contract is pegged at $4,356,476.
Those were the only option decisions Denver needed to make before the Oct. 31 deadline.
Braun and Watson will be eligible for rookie scale extensions next offseason. The Nuggets will have until the end of October 2025 to make a decision on Strawther’s fourth-year option for 2026/27.
Veteran Wing Danny Green Decides To Retire
Longtime NBA wing Danny Green is retiring, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
Green will announce his decision on his podcast Thursday, Charania adds. He is one of four players in NBA history to win championships with three different teams — the Spurs in 2014, the Raptors in 2019 and the Lakers in 2020.
Green carved out a 15-year career as a three-and-D player. He averaged 40% from distance in his career on a whopping 3,946 regular season attempts. Overall, he averaged 8.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals in 25.1 minutes per game. Green appeared in 832 regular season contests, including 709 starts.
He also played in 169 postseason contests, averaging 7.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals in 25.3 minutes per night.
Green began his career in Cleveland as a second-round pick in 2009. He spent the bulk of his career (2010-18) with San Antonio, then had one-year stints during those championship runs with Toronto and the Lakers. Green spent the next two seasons in Philadelphia. He only played a total of 11 games with Memphis and Cleveland in 2022/23 and two games with the Sixers last season.
He was waived in early November by Philadelphia after the team completed the James Harden blockbuster with the Clippers, and never found another opportunity as a free agent.
New York Notes: Achiuwa, Anunoby, Simmons, Williams
Precious Achiuwa had to wait until the end of July to re-sign with the Knicks as a free agent due in part to the team’s salary cap issues. Achiuwa will hit the free agent market once again next summer after signing a one-year, $6MM deal but he could pump up his value in a reserve role this season, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.
Achiuwa projects as the main frontcourt reserve until Mitchell Robinson returns from ankle surgery.
“I know I’m versatile. Playing the power forward, the center, the versatility of my game stands out the most,” Achiuwa said. “And last year I was able to show a lot of people that I was able to do a lot of different things.”
Robinson’s tentative timeline to get back in action is sometime in December or January.
We have more on the New York teams:
- OG Anunoby missed chunks of time in the regular season and postseason due to injuries after the Knicks acquired him from the Raptors last season. The defensive ace is healthy this preseason and coach Tom Thibodeau basically looks at it as a fresh start. “He missed a lot of time last year. … So we still got to get reacclimated to everything we’re doing,” he said of Anunoby, according to Peter Botte of the New York Post. “Obviously you start at a zero base and you build. And that’s where we are. We’re building right now, but we have to understand that you build together. And so you’re asking everyone to share the floor, share the ball, and then be committed together defensively. And so that’s what we’re working on.”
- The Nets’ Ben Simmons will be a free agent after this season but that’s not what he’s thinking about. He just wants to be a productive player and good teammate, he told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “We have a younger team that I want to help these guys get better. I want to lead by example. I want to compete,” Simmons said. “(Head coach) Jordi (Fernandez) is coming in first year. It’s a big year for him. I want to be a leader on this team. So (screw) what happens next year, and what contract I get, if I get a contract. I want to do my job while I’m here and be professional and help these guys in any way I can. So who knows? I want to play as long as my body will allow me. So if it’s one year, five years, six years, I don’t know what it is. But I just want to keep going until I can’t anymore.”
- Ziaire Williams had 10 points and three steals in 23 minutes during the Nets’ preseason game on Tuesday. He was acquired from Memphis in a salary dump and is looking to establish himself in the league, Lewis writes. “I’m trying to reinvent myself, show people that I belong in this league,” Williams said. “I’m trying to work my hardest every day. Just put all my heart, my soul out there on defensive, and carry that over to the offensive end.” Williams is eligible for a rookie scale extension until October 21, the day before the season begins.
Heat Notes: Butler, Adebayo, Jovic, Rozier, Riley, Pullin
There were some good signs during the Heat‘s preseason loss to Charlotte on Tuesday, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes.
Jimmy Butler played his first preseason game in two years and contributed 11 points in 15-plus minutes. Bam Adebayo made two of his five 3-point attempts as he looks to expand his offensive game. And Nikola Jovic had nine points in 16 minutes while starting alongside Adebayo up front.
“It was good to get that game conditioning in,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of the preseason opener. “It always feels a little bit different no matter how many years you’ve played. Our guys have been working extremely hard. But it was good to face somebody else.”
We have more on the Heat:
- Terry Rozier projects as the starting point guard on opening night. He battled a neck injury late last season and into the offseason. “This whole offseason, when I first got hurt, I definitely appreciated the game way more than I ever did,” Rozier said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “That’s why I said everything happens for a reason. I really feel like this happened for a reason to make me lock back in, to focus. Now I’m just not looking back.”
- All current and future courts at Miami’s home arena will be dedicated to team president Pat Riley, Chiang notes. The Heat’s home court will now be known as “Pat Riley Court at Kaseya Center,” with the new name and Riley’s signature inscribed onto the court. Riley will become just the second coach in NBA history to receive such an honor, Chiang writes, joining Red Auerbach of the Celtics.
- Zyon Pullin is participating in camp on an Exhibit 10 contract. The former Florida guard knows he’ll be ticketed to the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. “It’s really just been definitely spend time in Sioux Falls and really just trying that development program, the history and track record it’s had,” Pullin said, per Winderman. “It’s a reason why I wanted to be here in the first place. So I think it’s just continue to lock in once we go down there and keep developing and see where it goes from there.”
- In case you missed it, the Heat’s Thursday preseason game vs. Atlanta has been pushed back to next Wednesday (October 16) due to Hurricane Milton.
Clippers Notes: Lue, Harden, Leonard, Mann
There are six new players on the Clippers‘ roster and six players who are 25 or younger. Head coach Tyronn Lue finds himself doing more teaching in training camp and he doesn’t mind the change, he told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
“I love it,” Lue said. “It gives me something to do. The young guys, just teaching. The new guys, teaching, understanding spacing, understanding how to execute offensively, what we’re looking for first, second, third option. So, it’s been good.”
Lue added that he doesn’t expect everyone to absorb the lessons immediately.
“I have patience,” Lue said. “You gotta have patience with a group. You can’t get frustrated, but the guys are picking stuff up very well. But I like to teach, make sure we’re in our right spots, let them understand why we’re doing certain things and why you got to set the screen here instead of there, why you gotta be here making the pass instead of there. So, it’s a lot of teaching, but it’s good.”
We have more on the Clippers:
- With Paul George in Philadelphia, James Harden becomes the second option behind Kawhi Leonard. Leonard said the veteran guard shares the same mentality that he has. “The relationship has been great,” Leonard told The Athletic’s Law Murray. “He came in last year wanting to win and saying that he wanted to sacrifice and do the things we needed to do to win games. So going into this year, he has the same mindset. You just want another guy on your team that is like-minded and is just willing to do anything that it takes for us to win. I think it’s a good relationship so far. We can be transparent to each other about how we’re playing, good or bad. So I think it will be good moving forward.”
- The breakdown on Terance Mann‘s extension looks like this — he’ll make $15.5MM in 2025/26; $15.5MM in 2026/27; and $16MM in 2027/28, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tweets. It’s a fully guaranteed deal with no options, Smith adds. Mann signed the extension on Oct. 2.
- In case you missed it, P.J. Tucker is on indefinite leave from the team. Get the details here.
Atlantic Notes: Yabusele, Knicks’ Starters, Shamet, Nets
Guerschon Yabusele scored 15 points for the Sixers in their exhibition game against the New Zealand Breakers on Monday and it was a special night for him, Gina Mizell of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
“I’m not going to lie, it felt amazing,” Yabusele said. “It’s been a long road, but happy to be here.”
Yabusele signed a one-year contract with the Sixers in late August. He was selected in the first round of the 2016 draft and played two seasons with the Celtics from 2017-19, but hasn’t appeared in a regular season NBA game in five years. The power forward excelled overseas before joining Philadelphia.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks‘ projected starters played anywhere from 13-15 minutes in their preseason opener against Charlotte on Sunday. It’s just a first step as Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns try to settle in with their new teammates. “First game, some good, some bad,” coach Tom Thibodeau said, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “Obviously, we have a lot of work to do. I figured it would be a little choppy. There are a lot of areas we need to clean up. But there were some good things as well.”
- Landry Shamet entered Knicks camp on a non-guaranteed contract but the veteran guard is thrilled to be on a contender after spending last season with the rebuilding Wizards. Shamet scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, in New York’s preseason opener. “I want to win, I want to compete, we all do. Anybody in the NBA that says otherwise is lying,” he told Braziller. “We all want to compete at the highest level. It’s exciting to be here. Last year was last year. It was what it was. I’m excited to be here and move forward and build with this group.”
- With frontcourt players Day’Ron Sharpe and Trendon Watford sidelined by hamstring injuries, the Nets will look at some smaller lineups in the preseason, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “It just forced us to do something that actually we wanted to do sooner or later; so might as well do it the sooner the better,” first-year coach Jordi Fernandez said.
Nuggets Sign Richardson, Funk, Bediako To Exhibit 10 Deals
The Nuggets have signed Will Richardson, Andrew Funk and Charles Bediako, according to a team press release. All three players signed Exhibit 10 deals, according to the Denver Gazette’s Vinny Benedetto (Twitter link).
The Nuggets made room for the trio by waiving Gabe McGlothan, Jaylin Williams, and Jahmir Young.
Richardson went undrafted in 2023 before signing with the Grand Rapids Gold last season. The former Oregon guard averaged 7.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 17.8 minutes per contest for Denver’s G League affiliate.
Funk also went undrafted last year before joining the Nuggets during training camp. Funk, who played college ball at Bucknell and Penn State, also appeared in four of the Nuggets’ Summer League games in 2023. He eventually signed a two-way contract with the Bulls in February, but was waived in July.
The seven-foot Bediako played two college season at Alabama. Bediako, who was also undrafted in 2023, has appeared in Summer League games for both the Spurs and the Magic. Denver’s intent to sign Bediako was previously reported.
It’s likely all three will be waived. They’ll each be eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if they join the Gold and remain with the G League club for at least 60 days.
Hawks Sign, Waive Tony Bradley
OCTOBER 8: The Hawks have put out a second press release indicating that Bradley has been waived.
The quick turnaround signals that he was signed for G League purposes and will receive an Exhibit 10 bonus if he spends at least 60 days with the Skyhawks, as noted below.
OCTOBER 7: The Hawks have signed center Tony Bradley, according to a team press release.
Bradley, a six-year NBA veteran, has appeared in 179 NBA contests (18 starts) over the course of his career with Utah (2017-20), Philadelphia (2020-21), Oklahoma City (2020-21) and Chicago (2021-23), averaging 4.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 11.1 minutes.
He was signed and waived by the Mavericks during training camp last season. He then spent the 2023/24 campaign with the Texas Legends, the Mavericks’ affiliate in the NBA G League. He appeared in 17 games (10 starts), averaging 14.0 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 blocks in 21.3 minutes.
The signing of Bradley brings Atlanta to full training camp roster of 21 players. It’s likely to be an Exhibit 10 deal, which would make him eligible for a bonus up to $77.5K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with the College Park Skyhawks, who acquired his returning rights from the Legends last month.
Atlantic Notes: Fernandez, Barrett, Shead, Sixers’ Wings
New Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez has established a rugged tone in training camp, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes.
“Probably one of the most unique, and hardest training camps I’ve been through in these 12 years now,” guard Dennis Schröder said. “Like it, though, so far. Everybody’s buying into it. Coach and coaches are doing a great job of keeping us organized and together. It’s been great.”
Forward Dorian Finney-Smith shared similar thoughts on the first week of camp.
“We’re going to be well-conditioned,” Finney-Smith said. “The people I talk to around the league, they all had great things to say about him, so I knew what to expect. I heard he was a hard worker and he’d want us to compete. That’s what he’s been asking us.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- RJ Barrett didn’t play in the second half of the Raptors’ preseason game against Washington on Sunday due to a bruised right shoulder, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet. Prior to the injury, Barrett scored 17 points in 14 minutes. He’ll be reevaluated early this week.
- Second-round pick Jamal Shead showed off his defensive skills in the same game. He matched up against fellow rookie Carlton Carrington, who missed all six of his shots and committed three turnovers. “Me and him have a little bit of a history, he got the best of me in a pre-draft workout,” Shead told Grange. “So I had to come out and make it as hard as possible … he’s going to be really good, but I had to give him a taste of NBA-ready defense.”
- The Sixers have a lot of versatility, especially at the wing spots, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes. They are projected to start three wing players in Paul George, Caleb Martin, and Kelly Oubre. They also have options coming off the bench in Eric Gordon, Ricky Council IV, and KJ Martin. “I like to be super versatile, and you got to be able to shift people all over the place,” coach Nick Nurse said. “We do have a lot more in the middle that we can shift around.”