Sixers Waive Ricky Council IV
The Sixers are waiving Ricky Council IV, the team announced in a press release (via Twitter).
Council signed a four-year, partially guaranteed deal with the Sixers in 2024, which included a non-guaranteed $2,221,677 salary for the 2025/26 season and a team option for ’26/27. Last season, he averaged 7.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 17.1 minutes per night.
As Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports notes (via Twitter), the timing of the move was unexpected, given that Council’s guarantee date is on January 10, 2026, and the team currently has an open roster spot if they need it to add restricted free agent Quentin Grimes.
While Council struggled with his three-point shot last season, he emerged as a reliable depth contributor, playing a team-high 73 games while bringing athleticism and energy from the wing positions.
Philadelphia is now carrying 13 players on standard contracts. Twelve of those 13 are fully guaranteed, while Adem Bona‘s deal has a 50% partial guarantee.
Lakers Waive Jordan Goodwin
The Lakers have waived Jordan Goodwin, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (via Twitter). The move was necessary to create room below the first tax apron to sign Marcus Smart following his buyout from the Wizards.
The Lakers had recently picked up the $2.3MM team option on Goodwin’s contract, but only $25K of the deal was guaranteed.
As the only remaining Laker with a non-guaranteed contract following the team’s decision to waive Shake Milton earlier today, Goodwin’s place on the roster became tenuous once it was clear the Lakers were bringing in Smart on a two-year, $11MM deal that necessitated multiple cost-cutting moves. Smart’s salary for next season is expected to be worth the full bi-annual exception of $5.1MM.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, once Smart signs, the Lakers will be operating about $1MM below the first apron, so they won’t have enough breathing room to sign a 15th man before the season begins without further cost-cutting moves.
Marks adds (via Twitter) that because Goodwin has played in the league for four seasons, he’s ineligible for a two-way deal. The 26-year-old defensive-minded guard played 29 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 18.7 minutes per night. He shot 38.2% from three and appeared in four of the five Lakers’ playoff games against the Timberwolves, averaging 7.8 minutes per game in the postseason.
Goodwin will now hit waivers and then become an unrestricted free agent if no one claims him (the priority order is determined by the reverse order of last season’s standings). The Athletic’s Tony Jones speculates (via Twitter) that Goodwin is likely to have a number of suitors on the open market.
Heat Notes: Lineups, Jakucionis, Summer League, Askins
The Heat haven’t had as active an offseason as some teams, but their moves have opened up some interesting options for head coach Erik Spoelstra, Ira Winderman writes for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Winderman speculates that Miami’s opening night starting lineup will likely feature Tyler Herro and Norman Powell in the backcourt alongside Andrew Wiggins, Kel’el Ware, and Bam Adebayo.
However, he notes the unit’s lack of play-making, which could result in either Nikola Jovic taking the place of Ware or Davion Mitchell replacing Powell to add some more ball movement. Ware moving to the bench would also help firm up the center depth, which Winderman points to as a current weak spot on the depth chart, though Vladislav Goldin, who is on a two-way deal, played well in Summer League.
There’s also the question of which reserves becomes prioritized, with Simone Fontecchio, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Pelle Larsson among the candidates for rotation minutes. Winderman predicts that Jaquez will continue to get opportunities, especially because of his ability to slide into the starting unit if Wiggins were to be traded.
We have more from the Heat:
- While rookie Kasparas Jakucionis‘ time in Summer League had some strong moments as well as clear areas for improvement, the Heat feel that the most important thing is that they came away knowing what comes next, writes Anthony Chiang for the Miami Herald. “We got to learn him, he got to learn us. We got some stuff on tape. And now we have seven, eight weeks to get him better, to get him ready for the start of the season and to improve his skills,” said Summer League head coach Eric Glass. “It’s important to have that learning process and help him understanding as a 19-year-old what it’s going to be like to play professional basketball against grown men in the NBA.” Jakucionis struggled with his shot and with turnovers, but excelled at getting to the free throw line. He will now head back to Lithuania before returning to Miami in early August.
- The Heat are known for excavating diamonds from the rough when it comes to team-building, but this year’s Summer League didn’t offer the team the usual hope at unearthing hidden talent, writes Winderman. That said, Winderman points to Bryson Warren, Dain Dainja, Kira Lewis Jr., Javonte Cooke, Erik Stevenson, and Myron Gardner as players who had some real positive moments for the team.
- Before the Heat had Pat Riley, Dwyane Wade, or Udonis Haslem, there was Keith Askins, Winderman writes in a profile of the team’s senior director of college and pro scouting. The undrafted forward has been in the organization for 35 years, first as a player, than an assistant coach, and now in the position of senior director of college and pro scouting. “I hope to find someone that’s extremely talented of that mindset, that they’ve got to prove themselves every day,” Askins said of the type of player he looks for. “And if they feel like every day they come out they’ve got to prove they’re the best, man we’re going to have a stud.” Winderman describes Askins traveling from Slovenia to the Bahamas to American colleges nowhere close to being considered blue blood programs. “We all try to get it right. Sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t. But you can never say we’re not working hard,” Askins says.
Potential For New Form Of Draft-And-Stash Prospects
The rise of older European players in collegiate basketball has created an interesting draft eligibility question for the NBA to figure out, writes The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov.
As Vorkunov details, a small section of said international NCAA players this year were already 22 years old and therefore automatically eligible for the draft. This led to the question of what would happen should one of those players be selected in the draft but still wish to play in college, which may now meet the NBA’s definition of a professional sport due to recent rulings about player payments from programs.
Vorkunov notes that according to the CBA, a league is professional if it pays players beyond living expenses, which is soon to be the case with the NCAA.
“Playing intercollegiate basketball will be considered under the provisions of Article X, Section 5 of the CBA to be signing a player contract with a non-NBA professional basketball team,” the league said in a memo before the draft.
This ruling would allow those players to become collegiate draft-and-stashes if they chose – in collaboration with the teams that selected them – to remain in school. The team would hold onto the players’ draft rights indefinitely without the player losing collegiate eligibility, similar to a player remaining overseas after being drafted.
However, this matter has not been decided outright. The league and the National Basketball Players Association will need to work together to determine how to handle this new wrinkle.
There are only a few players to whom this currently applies, according to Vorkunov, who cites Mihailo Petrovic (Illinois), Ilias Kamardine (Ole Miss), and Sananda Fru (Louisville) as examples. Currently, such players are allowed to play in college while being considered free agents. This would allow them to leave college mid-season to sign with a team if the opportunity arose, a situation that has not occurred since 2007, when Randolph Morris went left school to sign with the Knicks after having gone undrafted while not signing with an agent two years earlier.
The lack of clarity on the future of these players illustrates the complications of rapidly changing rules governing player payments in the NCAA in regard to how they impact draft eligibility.
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Smart, Thomas, Bassey
Despite the Sixers‘ lottery luck that landed them prized rookie VJ Edgecombe, the team’s outlook hasn’t changed, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Everything still revolves around the health of Tyrese Maxey and especially Paul George and Joel Embiid.
That plan has already hit a snag with the announcement that George underwent knee surgery following an injury sustained during workouts, an injury that Pompey says has the potential to keep him sidelined through the start of the season, depending on how the rehab process goes.
Pompey adds that the offseason drama, which the Sixers are no stranger to in recent years, also includes a recent ESPN article about Embiid that cast an unnamed member of the roster into suspicion when Embiid claimed to know which teammate had leaked information about a players-only meeting last season.
Team president Daryl Morey is still expressing optimism about the coming season, including George’s ability to not only recover from the injury but also bounce back after a disappointing first season in Philadelphia.
“I know he really wants to show the Philadelphia fans what he can do,” Morey said. “He didn’t feel like he was able to do that last year. So I know he’s very optimistic and excited to get out there and show what he can do.”
We have more from around the Atlantic division:
- The Knicks checked in on Marcus Smart‘s availability and desire to join the team after it became clear that he would be bought out by the Wizards, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post (via Twitter). Bondy notes that the conversations didn’t move forward, since Smart wanted a clearer pathway to major minutes than the Knicks could offer. Smart ultimately signed with the Lakers on a two-year, $11MM deal with a player option on the second year.
- Cam Thomas, who is currently a restricted free agent and attempting to secure a new deal with the Nets or another team, took umbrage at recent comments from The Ringer’s Zach Lowe, writes Net Income for NetsDaily.com. After an aggregator Twitter account relayed Lowe saying that there’s a consensus about Thomas being an “empty calories ball hog,” the guard responded. “F–k you and the consensus,” Thomas wrote to Lowe. “This is most likely the same consensus teams who can’t guard me and send double teams from jump ball.” Net Income notes that this comes after multiple less-than-positive summaries of Thomas’ value had emerged online in recent days, and that Thomas is likely to be particularly sensitive, as it has been speculated that there is little movement toward him receiving the kind of offer he’s looking for.
- Charles Bassey had a strong Summer League for the Celtics, who are very thin at center, but according to Brian Robb of MassLive, that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a spot for him on Boston’s roster. In a mailbag article, Robb writes that Bassey’s skill set overlaps with Neemias Queta‘s, and that Bassey’s play as a fifth-year player in Summer League might not be as convincing to the team as to fans. However, it has been widely reported that the Celtics are still pursuing a variety of trades before the season begins, so a deal that sends multiple players out could make room for Bassey to join the team on a guaranteed deal. Barring such a move, it’s more likely that Bassey lands a non-guaranteed training camp invitation, Robb writes.
Pacific Notes: Suns, Looney, Monk, Niederhauser
The Suns are embracing a new identity, writes Gerald Bourguet for Go PHNX. With Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant gone and Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Mark Williams, Khaman Maluach, and Rasheer Fleming in, the team has pivoted towards a younger, more athletic team construction around the recently extended Devin Booker.
The Suns now enter into a phase they will find unprecedented during the brief tenure of Mat Ishbia‘s ownership: one of patience. However, Bourguet writes that Ishbia’s own words make the concept of following through on a more long-term team build a question mark.
“When I make a mistake or things don’t go well, I change fast,” Ishbia said during exit interviews this spring. “We make quick moves, and I’m not afraid to do that… Patience isn’t gonna be my strongest suit, okay? We’re gonna try to compete and win, and we’re gonna get better.”
However, Ishbia did give reason to hope.
“I’m very patient if I think we’re on the right path and plan,” Ishbia said. “So, say it again, I expect us to win more games next year. But let’s just say we lost more games next year, but it was aligned, the vision and the tone that I’m gonna set, and we’re on a path, then we’re gonna go that way.”
We have more from the Pacific division:
- Kevon Looney‘s departure from the Warriors was facilitated in part by his lack of playing time, especially in the playoffs, as Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area relays. “It was anybody but me it seemed like at this point. It wasn’t no one moment,” he explained during an appearance on the Warriors Plus/Minus podcast. “Even this year, probably the playoffs. We going up against Steven Adams. This is what I do. They’re not really giving me the chance to really let me do what I do.” Looney added that after 10 seasons in Golden State, he didn’t feel like he should still have to prove himself or his worth. “When you prove yourself the first four, five years, all right, cool. But after 10 years of it, it’s like, all right. You either trust me or you don’t.” He added that he knows the coaching decisions from Steve Kerr weren’t personal, but he still felt that he drew the short end of the stick in Kerr’s quest to win.
- After the rumored Kings sign-and-trade of Malik Monk to bring in Dennis Schröder never took place, Monk is ready to do what’s needed to win, writes Will Zimmerle for SI.com. The Kings now have Schröder and Zach LaVine as their presumed starting backcourt, and despite Monk expressing a desire to be a starter in the league in the past, he’s reportedly willing to go to the bench if that’s what coach Doug Christie needs. “Malik has told Doug Christie, ‘I will do whatever you need, even if that includes coming off the bench,'” Matt George of ABC10 said on a recent ESPN radio show. “I don’t think he’s going to pout or throw a fit about it.” Monk was runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year in 2023/24, but split time as a starter last year and put up career-highs in points (17.2) and assists (5.6) per game.
- The Clippers‘ first-round pick, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, showed different skills in each of his first three Summer League games, writes Broderick Turner of the LA Times. While defense is his primary selling point, he was able to display some of the offensive package that intrigued the Clippers enough to select him with the No. 30 pick in the 2025 draft. “That’s the guard skills I was talking about,” Niederhauser said of a high-energy dunk he was able to throw down over a defender on a fast break. Those guard skills come from when he was a 6’5″ 16-year-old, before the growth spurt that shot him up to 6’11” and cemented his future as a center. “For a guy that’s his age, he’s still learning and growing into his frame that he hasn’t really had his whole life,” said general manager Trent Redden. “We just haven’t had a guy that size at that position in a backup role that’s young that we can feed into and give to our developmental staff.” Niederhauser enters a developmental situation where he can learn from two high-level defensive bigs in Brook Lopez and Ivica Zubac.
Atlantic Notes: Bridges, Hansen, Knicks Summer League, Embiid
The Knicks and Mikal Bridges have yet to agree to an extension. There’s a chance the team has an ulterior motive for putting off a new deal, according to SNY’s Ian Begley (video link).
While it’s likely not the only factor, Begley believes the lingering uncertainty surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s status regarding his future with the Bucks may be playing a part in the lack of movement on a deal between the Knicks and Bridges.
“With the Knicks and all the other teams kind of keeping an eye on Milwaukee and what may or may not happen there, I think one of the reasons why he has not been extended yet is because once you extend him, you cannot trade him for six months, Begley said on an episode of The Putback. “I think that’s why you haven’t seen Bridges extended yet. When he does extend, I think that would tell you Giannis is put to bed, is off the table in a sense.”
The Knicks’ potential interest in the two-time MVP has been well documented. While the offseason noise surrounding Antetokounmpo has quieted since the acquisition of Myles Turner and the departure of Damian Lillard, the matter might not be closed yet.
We have more from around the Atlantic division:
- According to Nets Daily (via Twitter), the general manager of the Qingdao Eagles stated that Yang Hansen had a promise from the Nets if he fell to No. 19 in the 2025 draft. Danny Marang of 1080 The Fan tweets that the Trail Blazers were unwilling to trade further down than No. 16 due to Hansen’s stock rising in the lead-up to the draft. The Blazers ultimately traded from 11th to 16th overall to select the former Eagles center.
- The Knicks have posted a 1-3 Summer League record with a mixed bag of performances, even from their rostered players, writes James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Tyler Kolek shook off a brutal start to display some self-creation flashes, but overall was too loose with the ball for someone billed as a floor general, says Edwards. Pacome Dadiet and Kevin McCullar‘s shooting struggles continued, but both were effective getting to the rim. The standout on the team was the team’s second-round draft pick, Mohamed Diawara, who showed an interesting set of ball skills and physical tools and may have played his way into conversations surrounding a two-way contract.
- The recent Joel Embiid feature from ESPN revealed the lack of trust Embiid has in the Sixers organization when it comes to his health, writes The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey (subscription required), who also took the article as a sign that regardless of what the team wants, he will only return from his injury rehab when he’s ready. Pompey adds that the article suggested the team’s culture and lack of top-down cohesiveness under Sam Hinkie hasn’t significantly improved and that for Daryl Morey and the organization to restore the faith of fans, only winning will help.
More Details Emerge On Rozier Federal Investigation
Terry Rozier‘s status in conjunction with a federal probe into suspicious bets gained some clarity today, thanks to a report from ESPN’s David Purdum.
Rozier has not been charged with or accused of wrongdoing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but neither has he been cleared, as reports this week indicated.
According to Purdum, the investigation stems from a game Rozier played with the Hornets on March 23, 2023. Ahead of the game, one bettor placed 30 wagers in 46 minutes on the “unders” on Rozier-related prop bets. All 30 bets won after the guard only played 10 minutes in the game before leaving with a foot issue, despite not being on the injury report prior to tip-off. The game was Rozier’s last of the season.
These bets were placed at a casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, which flagged them as suspicious but ultimately paid out the winnings of $13,759. At the same time, there was a rush on multiple sportsbooks in New Orleans of “under” bets on Rozier props, which led to a halt being placed on those bets later in the day.
Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, said that Rozier is not the subject of the investigation, though that was not confirmed nor denied by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“My hope and expectation is that at some point that they’ll be done with their investigation and will be professional enough to let us know that it’s 100 percent over and that they reached the same conclusion that was reached in 2023,” Trusty said, referencing Rozier’s initial meetings with the FBI and NBA in 2023, which Trusty said resulted in an initial decision of no wrongdoing.
The federal investigation surrounding Rozier is the same one that led to Jontay Porter‘s ban from the NBA, and Purdum reports that there was overlap in the betting accounts that wagered on the two players, though Trusty stated that Rozier has no connections with any of those implicated in Porter’s case.
Keaton Wallace Signs Two-Way Contract With Hawks
Keaton Wallace has signed his two-way qualifying offer with the Hawks, reports Lauren Williams for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter).
Wallace had been extended a two-way qualifying offer earlier in the summer, which is equivalent to a one-year, two-way deal with $85,300 in guaranteed money.
Wallace, the older brother of the Thunder’s Cason Wallace, played 31 games for Atlanta last season and averaged 5.4 points and 2.6 assists in 16.2 minutes per night. In the five games he started, he averaged 13.8 points, 8.4 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.2 steals, though he shot 29.4% from three in those games and 32.9% from three for the season.
The Hawks have had a productive offseason, bringing in a multitude of contributors, including Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Luke Kennard, and rookie Asa Newell, but while the team has become very deep on the wing, Wallace provides some needed depth at the point guard spot behind Trae Young and Kobe Bufkin.
Heat Notes: Spoelstra, Roster Spots, Smith, Jakucionis
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra doesn’t put much stock in the idea of the Eastern Conference being wide open, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“You can’t think that just because there have been some changes in rosters or some injuries that, ‘Oh, now we have a chance,’” Spoestra said. “That’s kind of a loser’s mentality. We want to compete at the highest level regardless of who’s out there.”
Instead, Spoelstra and the Heat staff are focused on figuring out what went wrong last season, including the team’s 8-17 record in close games, the third-worst mark in the league. The Heat also led the league with 22 blown double-digit leads and 21 blown fourth-quarter leads.
“Those close games are something that we’ve really analyzed,” he said. “That can change the trajectory of your season if you handle those moments of truth better, if you have a few more wins out of those groupings of games that were very winnable with fourth-quarter leads and that kind of stuff.”
Spoelstra feels that the team is heading into the coming season with a renewed focus and commitment to figuring out how to succeed.
“You can feel the energy, you can feel the excitement building,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be all there right now. But look, it’s happening organically. I feel it myself, the staff feels it, the players feel it.”
We have more from Miami:
- The Heat have an open roster spot, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to fill it, Chiang writes in a mailbag for the Miami Herald. Miami is currently around $1.3MM over the luxury tax line and approximately $4.2MM below the first apron. Chiang writes that the goal for this season is to finish below the tax line, thereby dodging the repeater tax after spending the last two seasons as a taxpaying team. Chiang believes that Miami making a trade to cut salary sometime before the trade deadline is more likely than the team filling the 15th roster spot heading into the regular season. The Heat have until the end of the season to get below the luxury tax if they want to avoid the repeater tax.
- Not only do the Heat have an open standard roster spot, but they also have a pair of two-way openings. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes that after a disappointing Summer League showing, they may have to wait to add another prospect to the roster alongside Vladislav Goldin, who is currently the only player on a two-way deal for Miami. Winderman notes that one spot is expected to go to Dru Smith, who has a qualifying offer, once he recovers from his Achilles tear.
- Speaking to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Heat rookie Kasparas Jakucionis called his play at the Las Vegas Summer League a work in progress. “I’m adapting to the game. It’s a little bit different,” he said. “I’m just trying to control what I can control to give my 100% and work on the defensive end. I’m trying to get the rhythm back.” One thing that’s important for the rookie is not overindexing or getting too high or low based on whether shots fall: “It’s basketball. One day, you miss. Another day, you make. I’m working on that.”