Hornets Forward Brandon Miller Says Wrist Is Nearly Healed
Brandon Miller said his surgically-repaired right wrist is “probably around 90-95 percent now” and declared he’ll be ready to play when next season begins, Langston Wertz Jr. of the Charlotte Observer reports.
Miller underwent surgery to repair the torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist in late January.
The No. 2 overall pick of the 2023 draft, Miller was named to the All-Rookie First Team in 2023/24 after a debut season which saw him finish third in Rookie of the Year balloting.
He was having a solid second season as well, improving his counting stats in several categories, including points (21.1), rebounds (4.9), assists (3.6), steals (1.1) and blocks (0.7) per game. Miller posted a .403/.355/.861 shooting slash line in 27 appearances (34.2 minutes).
“Playing (27) games, that was the hardest thing of my career right there,” he told Wertz. “Just watching basketball the whole season. My goal is always to play every game and play 110% in every game.”
Miller has started contact drills after the lengthy process of waiting for the wrist to heal. He knew he could ramp up when he was able to shoot without any pain.
“I’m just excited to get back out on the court with my guys,” he said, adding “not everything’s going to be a smooth route. You’re going to have ups and downs, a lot of bumps and curves.”
Miller is hopeful that he and oft-injured point guard LaMelo Ball can stay healthy and turn around the franchise’s fortunes.
“It’s always the main thing, you know, just keeping our bodies together. We know it’s a long season. Having us two on the floor can make the big difference (in having) a winning team,” Miller said.
The Hornets won the Summer League title in Las Vegas and Miller is looking forward to playing with first-round picks Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley.
“They are going to bring space, a lot of space, with their shooting ability. I feel like that’s going to help us in the long run,” Miller said. “Their confidence is going to be the biggest thing, you know, coming into this league, just building their confidence early.”
Bucks Second-Rounder Markovic To Remain In Serbia
Bucks second-round pick Bogoljub Markovic will play overseas next season, making him a draft-and-stash prospect. Mega Superbet, the team that Markovic played for last season, announced via a team press release that he would soon rejoin the club as it preps for the 2025/26 season.
The 6’11” power forward was chosen with the No. 47 overall pick. Only one player taken ahead of him in the draft, the Celtics’ Amari Williams (No. 46), remains unsigned by their NBA team.
The Bucks didn’t have any room on their roster for the second-round selection — they have 15 players under standard contracts and all three two-way spots are filled.
Playing for the club also known KK Mega Basket, Markovic averaged 13.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 29.2 minutes while appearing in 32 games last season. Markovic also appeared in five Summer League games with Milwaukee and hit double digits in points twice — a 14-point outing against the Clippers and a 12-point performance against the Heat.
The Serbian big man, just 20 years old, will now look to continue to expand his game in his home country.
Spurs Sign Lindy Waters On One-Year Deal
July 24: Waters is officially a Spur, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports (via Twitter) that the minimum-salary deal includes a $500K partial guarantee.
July 23: Free agent swingman Lindy Waters III has agreed to a one-year contract with the Spurs, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
San Antonio officially had 13 players on its 15-man roster entering Wednesday, as our roster counts show, so the team won’t have to make room for Waters.
Waters spent his first three NBA seasons with Oklahoma City. He finished last season with the Pistons after playing with the Warriors until the trade deadline. Waters was acquired by Detroit in the multi-team blockbuster deal that sent Jimmy Butler to Golden State.
Waters played 38 games for the Warriors, including nine starts, and averaged 5.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 17.2 minutes per night. The Warriors acquired him in a draft-night trade with the Thunder.
Waters’ playing time dropped in Detroit, as its main motivation in the trade was to acquire backup guard Dennis Schroder. Waters made 14 appearances off the bench for the Pistons, averaging 3.4 PPG in 8.8 MPG.
Waters has 156 games of NBA experience and has taken a vast majority of his shot attempts from beyond the three-point arc. He’s had a 36.6 percent success rate from long range in his career.
With Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, lottery pick Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie among the Spurs’ options at the wing, there’s no clear path for Waters to gain rotation minutes but he’ll add depth at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
Jazz Waive Guard Jaden Springer
The Jazz have waived guard Jaden Springer, the team announced in a press release.
Utah had a Friday deadline to decide whether to give Springer a $400K partial guarantee to his $2,349,578 non-guaranteed contract. Springer will now look for another NBA opportunity, unless a team claims him.
After a 10-day contract with the Jazz expired, Springer signed a three-year contract with the club in March but the last two years were not guaranteed. Springer made 17 appearances for Utah, including two starts, and averaged 3.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 13.2 minutes.
Boston traded the 6’4″ combo guard and a future second-round pick to Houston at February’s trade deadline. The Rockets soon waived Springer and he joined Utah after clearing waivers. Springer came off the bench in 26 games for the Celtics last season.
He was a late first-rounder pick by the Sixers in 2021 but struggled to establish a rotation role. Overall, he’s appeared in 110 NBA games, averaging 2.9 points in 8.8 minutes. He’s made just 23.8 percent of his 3-point attempts.
By releasing Springer, the Jazz now have 15 players on standard contracts.
Restricted Free Agent Kuminga, Warriors Remain At Impasse
Negotiations between restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga and the Warriors remain at a stalemate, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (Twitter video link).
“It’s a staring contest between these two sides that could continue much longer than just this month,” Charania said.
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported last week that Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, has held numerous discussions with Warriors officials in Las Vegas this month trying to secure a contract that pays at least $25MM in average annual salary, even in the short term. According to Fischer, the Warriors have been reluctant to meet that price in a long-term agreement.
Charania visited with Kuminga on Wednesday said that the 22-year-old forward told him that he was in “absolutely no rush to do a deal with the Warriors.” According to new ESPN insider Anthony Slater (video link), coach Steve Kerr has been in contact with Kuminga during the process but Kerr’s tendency to reduce his role during crunch time and in the postseason has left some “scar tissue,” adding that Kuminga no longer wants to be a “Plan B” option.
Turner continues to pursue possible sign-and-trade transactions. According to Charania, the Suns and Kings “have made concrete offers with the Warriors over the last week or so.” Those clubs have also offered Kuminga an “opportunity for significant minutes, a starting-caliber role” and “those are two things he wants more than anything.”
Golden State has balked at the packages those teams have offered, which leaves Kuminga as well as the organization in limbo. The Wizards, Heat, Bulls, Bucks, and Nets have also been previously named as possible suitors for Kuminga.
The Warriors’ other potential offseason moves have been delayed until the Kuminga situation is resolved, Charania adds. Slater identifies Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton and Seth Curry as free agents that Golden State is interested in. The Warriors currently have just nine players on standard contracts.
Kuminga appeared in just 47 games in 2024/25, having missed more than two months due to a badly sprained ankle. He had an inconsistent role when healthy, averaging 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 24.3 minutes per game, with a .454/.305/.668 shooting line.
Although he was out of the Warriors’ rotation entirely for some key games at the end of the regular season and in the postseason, Kuminga averaged 24.3 points per game on .554/.389/.720 shooting in his final four playoff games vs. Minnesota after Stephen Curry injured his hamstring.
Heat Notes: Center Spot, Rozier, Goldin, Johnson
Do the Heat need to add another center? Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel believes so.
While they have Kel’el Ware and Bam Adebayo to play that position, the Heat’s options are limited if either has to miss a game or gets in foul trouble. Nikola Jovic would be playing out of position if he’s utilized as the third option and rookie Vladislav Goldin, who is on a two-way deal, lacks agility to make defensive switches. However, the Heat are already over the luxury tax, which complicates any effort to bring in a veteran for depth, Winderman notes.
We have more on the Heat:
- Terry Rozier‘s trade value is practically non-existent, according to Winderman, who doubts any other team would look to acquire him without a sweetener. The Heat aren’t in a position to do that, since they still owe a first-round pick to Charlotte for the Rozier acquisition. The only other trade scenarios involving Rozier, in Winderman’s estimation, would be a team looking to acquire his expiring contract for a player signed beyond next season or his salary being packaged as part of a bigger deal.
- One thing about Goldin that endeared him to the coaching staff during Summer League appearances was his motor, according to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. “Vlad was really good for us,” Heat assistant coach and Summer League head coach Eric Glass said. “He plays so freakin’ hard out there. He plays so physically. You’d like to have him on the floor even longer, but he goes so hard, sometimes he burns himself out. That’s why we love him.” The former University of Michigan big man, who was undrafted, averaged 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in six games this month.
- Keshad Johnson has a guaranteed $1.955MM contract for next season and he doesn’t want to wind up at the end of the bench. “The goal is to crack the Heat’s rotation and prove that I belong on the floor,” Johnson said entering his second NBA season. Johnson’s Summer League outings were generally positive, according to Chiang, but somewhat inconsistent. Johnson would likely have to leapfrog two or three other players at the small forward spot to get minutes.
Lonnie Walker IV To Join Maccabi Tel Aviv
12:57pm: Walker’s contract is for three years and approximately $10MM, according to Urbonas. It includes an NBA exit clause until Aug. 1 for this season and exit clauses for 2026 and 2027 until July 15 of those years.
12:19pm: Free agent forward Lonnie Walker IV is signing with Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv, NBA insider Marc Stein tweets.
The Sixers declined their $2.9MM option on the 26-year-old at the end of last month, making him an unrestricted free agent. Terms of the contract are yet to be disclosed but he’ll be one of the highest paid players in the EuroLeague, according to Stein. It will be a multiyear contract, Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com tweets.
Interestingly, Walker was linked to another Israeli club this month. He reportedly received a two-year offer from Hapoel Tel Aviv. Real Madrid also showed interest in Walker.
Walker was productive for the injury-riddled Sixers during the second half of the season. He appeared in 20 games and averaged 12.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists. However, Philadelphia had major salary cap concerns heading into free agency, which undoubtedly factored into the front office’s decision.
After being waived by Boston just before the start of last season, Walker spent time with Zalgiris Kaunas in the EuroLeague while awaiting his next NBA opportunity. He signed a two-year contract with Philadelphia in late February.
Prior to his stint with the Sixers, Walker appeared in 322 regular season games with the Spurs, Lakers, and Nets from 2018-24.
Pacers Sign Rookie Taelon Peter To Two-Way Contract
1:47pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
10:30am: As anticipated, the Pacers and the No. 54 overall pick of the June draft, Taelon Peter, have agreed to a two-way deal, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
Indiana general manager Chad Buchanan recently indicated that Peter was in line to receive a two-way contract. The Pacers cleared a spot for the shooting guard by pulling their qualifying offer to Enrique Freeman.
By adding Peter, the Pacers have filled all of their two-way slots. RayJ Dennis and Quenton Jackson have the Pacers’ remaining two-way contracts.
Peter excelled in a sixth man role at Liberty University last season. He only started two of 35 games, yet averaged 13.7 points on 57.8 percent shooting from the field and 45.3 percent from three-point range. He also grabbed 4.0 rebounds and handed out 1.0 assist in 22.7 minutes per contest. Liberty won its conference tournament and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Oregon, a game in which Peter scored eight points.
Peter spent his previous three seasons with Division II Arkansas Tech. In four Summer League appearances, he averaged 9.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 23.6 minutes per game for Indiana.
“We like a lot of things he does as far as playing without the ball, his shooting, his movement. I thought he showed very encouraging signs defending the ball in Las Vegas,” Buchanan said.
David Jones-Garcia Signs Two-Way Deal With Spurs
July 23: Jones-Garcia has officially signed his two-way contract with the Spurs, the team announced today in a press release.
July 22: The Spurs are signing Summer League standout David Jones-Garcia to a two-way contract, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
Jones-Garcia earned All-Summer First Team honors playing for San Antonio. The 6’6″ wing finished an eight-game summer campaign with averages of 22.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest. He posted averages of 21.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 3.8 APG while shooting 52.9% from 3-point range during a handful of games in Vegas.
Jones-Garcia recently turned down a three-year offer from Olympiacos and let all other European suitors know he was committed to continuing his NBA career. He’ll now focus on trying to earn a promotion to a standard NBA contract.
After going undrafted out of Memphis in 2024, Jones-Garcia signed a two-way contract with Philadelphia last July but was waived in September. He also spent about a month-and-a-half on a two-way contract with the Jazz prior to being released on January 1.
The 23-year-old didn’t appear in any NBA games with Utah last season. However, he was one of the top performers in the G League, finishing as the runner-up in voting for NBAGL Rookie of the Year.
Jones-Garcia, who is from the Dominican Republic, was also named to the All-California Classic Summer League team earlier this month after averaging 22.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals.
San Antonio hadn’t filled any of its tw0-way slots, so the team will still have two more openings when Jones-Garcia signs.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Confirmed For EuroBasket
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has confirmed his participation in EuroBasket, according to a tweet from FIBA EuroBasket.
Antetokounmpo was already on Greece’s 19-man preliminary roster for the tournament, but this indicates he’ll once again represent his home country. He’s been on the country’s national team since 2014, appearing in a total of 37 official games in major FIBA tournaments.
Antetokounmpo was the leading scorer at EuroBasket 2022 but Greece was eliminated by Germany in the quarterfinals. He averaged 29.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks in six games.
It was a similar story in last year’s Summer Olympics. The two-time NBA MVP averaged a tournament high 25.8 points along with 6.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists in four games but Greece was once again knocked out by Germany.
Speculation regarding his status with the Bucks has cooled this summer. Team president Peter Feigin said this month that the organization was in a “good place” with its franchise player. Milwaukee was eliminated by Indiana in the first round of the playoffs despite Antetokounmpo averaging 33 points, 15.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists during the series.