Sixers Forward Paul George Undergoes Knee Surgery After Workout Injury
Sixers forward Paul George underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee Monday to treat an injury suffered during a recent workout, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
George will now begin a rehab program and be reevaluated prior to start of training camp, Charania adds. The Sixers issued a statement confirming George’s surgery, which was relayed by PHLY Sports’ Kyle Neubeck (Twitter link).
Sources informed Neubeck that the surgery was an “arthroscopic cleanup” that did not involve major ligaments (Twitter link).
It’s another health-related setback for the franchise and for George, who was the Sixers’ front office’s prized signing last summer, when he inked a four-year max deal. George was supposed to be the missing link in the franchise’s championship puzzle but Philadelphia didn’t even make the playoffs after an injury-riddled season.
Knee and groin injuries limited George to just 41 games during his first season in Philadelphia. He averaged 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 43 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from long range. He had averaged at least 21.9 PPG in his previous nine seasons, including five full seasons with the Clippers.
George played 74 regular seasons games in his last season with the Clippers but he dealt with a laundry list of ailments during his time in Los Angeles. During his first four years with the Clippers, he never appeared in more than 56 games.
Holdover Justin Edwards and recent free agent acquisition Trendon Watford could play key early-season roles at power forward if George isn’t fully healthy by the season opener.
Ryan Saunders To Become Lead Assistant For Grizzlies
The Grizzlies are hiring Ryan Saunders as their lead assistant under Tuomas Iisalo, Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian tweets.
The former head coach of the Timberwolves, Saunders had been an assistant with the Nuggets under Michael Malone since 2022. Saunders was one of several Denver assistants whose contract was not renewed after the season. He also previously worked for the Wizards.
Saunders became Minnesota’s head coach during the 2018/19 season after Tom Thibodeau was let go. He compiled a 43-94 record before losing his job in February 2021. He took some time off before landing the Denver assistant coaching job.
Iisalo had the interim tag removed as the Grizzlies’ head coach in early May. Iisalo compiled a 4-5 regular season record followed Taylor Jenkins’ surprising dismissal. After finishing as the eighth seed, the Grizzlies lost to Golden State in the first round of the play-in tournament, but advanced to the playoffs with a win over Dallas. They were swept by Oklahoma City in the first round.
Wizards Waive Richaun Holmes
The Wizards have waived veteran big man Richaun Holmes, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
Holmes’ $13.28MM contract for next season only had a partial guarantee of $250K. He averaged 7.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in 17.2 minutes over 31 games (seven starts) last season.
Holmes will be an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers. Given his age — 31 — and lack of playing time last season, it’s no surprise that Washington would clear salary by cutting Holmes loose.
Holmes declined a $12.88MM option on his contract last summer in order to sign a two-year, $25.9MM contract that included the partial guarantee on year two. He had been acquired during the trade deadline from Dallas in the deal that sent Daniel Gafford to the Mavs. He appeared in 17 games for Washington that season, making eight starts and averaging 7.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per night.
Holmes was once one of the most sought-after big men in the league. He was signed by Sacramento on a four-year, $46MM contract in 2021 and averaged in double digits in three consecutive seasons for the Kings.
Once the Wizards signed free agent Marvin Bagley III to back up Alex Sarr, it was clear that Holmes was no longer in the Wizards’ plans. He should draw interest from teams seeking frontcourt depth.
Mason Plumlee Rejoins Hornets On One-Year Deal
July 13: The Plumlee signing is official, writes Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter).
June 30: Journeyman center Mason Plumlee is joining the Hornets on a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
Plumlee will make $3.6MM in 2025/26, though his cap hit will only be approximately $2.3MM.
This will be his second stint in Charlotte. Plumlee also played there for two seasons from 2021-23. The 35-year-old has also played for Brooklyn, Portland, Denver, Detroit, the Clippers and Phoenix in a career that began in 2013.
Plumlee was a rotation big for the Suns this past season. He appeared in 74 games, including 21 starts, averaging 4.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 17.6 minutes per game. He has appeared in 860 games over the course of his 12 NBA seasons.
After adding Mark Williams via trade and Khaman Maluach via the draft, there was no role for Plumlee next season in Phoenix. He could get ample playing time in the Hornets’ depleted frontcourt, depending on their other offseason moves.
Thunder Sign Chet Holmgren To Five-Year Max Extension
July 13: The Holmgren extension has been made official, per a press release from the Thunder.
July 9: Thunder big man Chet Holmgren has agreed to a fully-guaranteed, five-year maximum rookie contract extension, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (Twitter link).
Holmgren’s first-year salary under the extension will start at 25% of the 2026/27 salary cap, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projection, that would work out to a five-year, $240MM deal.
The second pick of the 2022 draft, Holmgren has battled through injuries in his first three years as a pro but has excelled during his time on the court.
After not playing at all during the 2022/23 season due to a foot injury suffered during the offseason, Holmgren bounced back to start every game in the 2023/24 season, averaging 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 blocks per night.
A pelvic fracture limited Holmgren to 32 regular season games this past season. He posted averages of 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.2 blocks prior to the playoffs, then started all 23 postseason contests en route to the franchise’s first championship since moving to Oklahoma City. He averaged 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.9 blocks during the title run.
Holmgren joins league Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander among current OKC players to receive max extensions. The next order of business is to give star forward Jalen Williams a max contract of his own. He’s also eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason.
While we’ll wait for the official details to confirm, it doesn’t sound as if Holmgren’s deal will include Rose Rule language that could increase the value of that first year beyond 25% of the cap if he makes an All-NBA team, wins Defensive Player of the Year, or is named MVP.
Charania’s report does say the value of the extension could reach $250MM, which would exceed the projected value of a standard 25% max deal even if the cap rises by the maximum allowable 10% next year (it’d be worth $246.6MM in that scenario). However, that may just be a case of generously rounding up.
Daniel Gafford Signs Three-Year Extension With Mavericks
July 12: Gafford’s extension is official, the Mavericks announced (via Twitter).
June 23: Mavericks center Daniel Gafford intends to sign a three-year contract extension, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. The contract is worth approximately $54MM, Marc Stein tweets.
The extension, which will become official in July, does not include an option in the final year, Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal tweets. It’s fully guaranteed and will feature a 5% trade kicker, adds Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Gafford has one year and $14,386,320 remaining on the three-year contract he signed while a member of the Wizards. His new extension will run through the 2028/29 season.
Gafford appeared in 57 games this season, including 31 starts. He averaged a career-best 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per contest. Gafford is a bit undersized at center, listed at 6’10”, but has consistently been one of the NBA’s top shot-blockers since he entered the league in 2019.
Most of the shots that Gafford takes on offense are off lob passes or offensive rebounds. He has a career 70.9% field goal percentage.
The reasonably priced extension could make Gafford a trade chip if Dallas feels the need to trade a big man to balance its roster. As cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets, Gafford should remain trade-eligible after signing the extension, since his new contract won’t exceed the extend-and-trade limits (20% first-year raise; 5% subsequent raises; four total years, including the current contract). If he were to receive more than $54.3MM on the three-year deal, he would be ineligible to be dealt for six months.
If Gafford remains with the Mavericks, he should be one of the team’s top frontcourt reserves off the bench along with P.J. Washington, presuming that Dereck Lively, Anthony Davis and top pick Cooper Flagg will start.
Nuggets Sign Tim Hardaway Jr. To One-Year Contract
July 10: Hardaway is officially a Nugget, the team announced in a press release.
July 1: The Nuggets have agreed to a one-year contract with Pistons free agent wing Tim Hardaway Jr., ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (Twitter link). He’s signing for the veteran’s minimum, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post tweets.
Hardaway made 77 starts for vastly-improved Detroit, averaging 11.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 28 minutes per game. He shot 40.6 percent from the field and 36.8 percent on 3-point attempts.
Denver has been extremely active in recent days, agreeing to deal Michael Porter Jr. and a first-rounder to the Nets for Cameron Johnson, reaching a one-year deal with another wing, Bruce Brown, and adding big man Jonas Valanciunas in an agreed-upon deal with the Kings.
Hardaway figures to be a second-unit player with Denver, unless he supplants Christian Braun at shooting guard or Johnson at small forward. The 33-year-old Hardaway will be playing for the fifth team in his NBA career. He’s also had stints with Atlanta, New York and Dallas.
According to cap expert Yossi Gozlan, these moves will push the Nuggets right up against the luxury tax (Twitter link).
Losing Hardaway is a blow to the Pistons, who have been forced to adjust their free agent strategy due to gambling allegations against Malik Beasley. Detroit has also lost backup guard Dennis Schroder, who agreed on a three-year deal with the Kings. The Pistons have secured an agreement with free agent Caris LeVert and are looking at a variety of scenarios to fortify their wing positions.
Sixers Sign Dominick Barlow To Two-Way Deal, Waive Alex Reese
3:12 pm: The Sixers have officially signed Barlow and waived Reese, the team confirmed in a press release.
12:43 pm: The Sixers are waiving two-way forward Alex Reese, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. That will make room for Dominick Barlow, as the Sixers are adding him on a two-way deal, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
Barlow, 22, has 96 games of NBA experience. He made a total of 61 appearances with San Antonio during the 2022/23 and ’23/24 seasons. Last year, Barlow appeared in 35 games with the Hawks, including four starts. He averaged 4.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per night.
Atlanta declined its option on Barlow’s $2.2MM contract in late June, making him an unrestricted free agent. He had been promoted from a two-way deal to a standard contract in early March.
Reese appeared in 14 games with Philadelphia last season, averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game. The 6’9″ forward was signed to a two-year, two-way deal in late February. He’s currently on the team’s Summer League roster but has recently been experiencing Achilles soreness.
Reese also spent extended time in the G League last season. He averaged 16.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game for the Delaware Blue Coats and Rip City Remix, making 45.1% of his shots from the field and 39.3% from three-point range.
Reese played four seasons of college basketball for Alabama from 2017-21 prior to going undrafted. He initially spent a year away from the sport, then signed in Luxembourg during the 2022/23 campaign. He spent the 2023/24 season with the Rip City Remix.
Hunter Sallis and Jabari Walker hold the other two-way spots.
Eastern Notes: White, Langdon, Beasley, Johnson, Jakucionis
The Celtics traded away two starters this offseason and Derrick White‘s four-year, $118MM extension has kicked in for 2025/26. But he was reasonably sure he wouldn’t be dealt, he told Chris Forsberg of the Celtics Talk Podcast (hat tip to Brian Robb of Masslive.com).
“I think every summer is pretty crazy, especially nowadays,” White said. “But I didn’t feel too worried about anything. My agent and Brad (Stevens) had been talking and all the other rumors and stuff, I wasn’t really too worried about. I mean, I feel like it’s cool to be wanted by other teams, but I wanted to stay in Boston, and I was glad they wanted to keep me.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Pistons top exec Trajan Langdon admitted that the gambling investigation involving Malik Beasley news left them “not much time” to pivot,” Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press tweets. The Pistons pulled their three-year, $42MM offer to Beasley, an unrestricted free agent, when the news broke. “I was able to communicate with Malik and his agent Saturday, which was obviously right before we could start talking to free agents on Sunday,” Langdon said. “It was disappointing for us, because we were excited to get him back.”
- Lottery pick Tre Johnson strives for greatness, which is one big reason why the Wizards are excited about his future, Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes. “I really don’t have too much of a life outside of basketball, and that was literally a choice up to me because of just how good I wanted to be,” Johnson said.
- Kasparas Jakucionis, the Heat‘s first-round pick, had a rough time at the California Classic Summer League, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. He score just 12 points on 1-of-15 (6.7%) shooting from the field, including 0-of-11 from three-point range, in his first three summer league games. However, he’s not panicking over his showing. “I think I need to just settle in more, play at my own pace, don’t get sped up too much as I was these three games,” Jakucionis said. “I didn’t feel myself in those games. But I think that’s normal. It’s a process, so I’m just happy to be here, happy to be able to learn from coaches, from other guys by working out, watching film and just understanding the game.”
James Borrego To Remain Pelicans’ Top Assistant
Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego will remain in his current position on Willie Green‘s staff, Ian Begley of SNY TV tweets.
One of the finalists for the head coaching job in New York, Borrego was rumored to be a prime target for the Knicks as they seek an associate head coach under new head coach Mike Brown. He was also targeted by the Nuggets to be their lead assistant under David Adelman but the Pelicans denied Denver’s front office permission to interview him.
The 47-year-old Borrego has served as associate head coach under Green in New Orleans for the past two seasons. He has previous head coaching experience, compiling a 138-163 record in four seasons with the Hornets.
Borrego has worked in the league since 2010, spending time as an assistant coach with the Hornets, Magic and Spurs before getting the head coaching opportunity in Charlotte. He also served as the interim head coach in Orlando during the 2014/15 season, compiling a 10-20 record in 30 games.
Rick Brunson, who was Tom Thibodeau‘s lead assistant last season, reportedly will have a lesser role under Brown.