Southwest Notes: Irving, Wembanyama, Jordan, Middleton
The Mavericks recently announced that Kyrie Irving would miss the rest of the 2025/26 season, and according to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News, the decision was the right one, both for Irving’s health and the team’s long-term success.
Curtis notes that by the time Irving returns to play, nearly 600 days will have elapsed from the time of his last on-court action. While that time off will make it difficult to immediately recapture his previous form, it should give the veteran guard ample time to make sure that his knee is fully healthy before diving into the next era of Mavericks basketball.
Irving has undergone multiple surgeries on his left knee over the years, and given his age and the mileage he has accumulated over his 15-year career, there’s likely additional concern about the possibility of re-injuring the knee should he return too soon.
The Mavs will also be looking to maximize their draft position this summer to add another high-end talent to the duo of Irving and star rookie Cooper Flagg. This will be the last year Dallas controls its own first-round pick until 2031.
Curtis notes that it would have been useful for the team’s two cornerstones to get some time to start building their chemistry, but playing things safe on the injury and lottery fronts should yield even higher benefits over time.
“I am looking forward to coming back stronger next season,” Irving said. “The belief and drive I have inside only grows.”
We have more from around the Southwest Division:
- Victor Wembanyama had an outsized impact on the All-Star game this year, adding a sense of intensity and competitiveness to what is often a less-than-enthusiastic affair. Next, the Spurs‘ star may have his sights set on another event: the Slam Dunk Contest. “I’ll be in the dunk contest one day,” he said after Saturday’s San Antonio victory in which he unleashed a two-handed windmill dunk (Twitter video link via Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports).
- DeAndre Jordan hadn’t played for the Pelicans since October 29 heading into Saturday’s contest against the Sixers. Against Philadelphia, he logged over 31 minutes in a starting role, recording 15 rebounds (five of them offensive) and four blocks. In an article for NOLA.com, Rod Walker called it a “turn back the clock” performance. The blocks total was the highest Jordan has recorded since the 2020/21 season. “I was extremely excited,” Jordan said. “Anytime you can go out there and compete in this league, it’s a gift. It was cool to be able to go out there and be able to play.” After the game, Jordan said he was craving two things: wine and ice.
- Khris Middleton had his best scoring game of the season on Sunday for the Mavericks, putting up 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting while adding seven rebounds and seven assists in a five-point victory over the Pacers. After the game, coach Jason Kidd effusively praised the veteran wing. “A lot of times, you don’t understand how tall he is so he can create space with his height, and mid-range game,” Kidd said, per Curtis (Twitter link). “He can always get his shot off. His ability to playmate, being able to run an offense with him. We got guys layups and wide open shots. He was really good tonight.” Middleton has stepped up with Flagg out, having also scored 18 points in Friday’s loss to the Wolves.
Fischer’s Latest: Antetokounmpo, Morant, Bulls, Yabusele
The rumors circulating about the Bucks trading Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t amount to anything at the February 5 deadline, but that will only postpone speculation about Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee rather than ending it.
Jake Fischer, writing for The Stein Line (Substack link), says his sources around the situation still believe that a move to what he calls “a true title contender” is the most likely outcome for Giannis this summer, especially since many of those contenders will be able to offer more than they did at the deadline.
According to Fischer, many people around the league are also expecting the Nets to emerge as a legitimate suitor for the two-time MVP, either using a package built around Michael Porter Jr. and draft picks or one that keeps Porter in Brooklyn.
Fischer adds that how teams like the Rockets and Spurs fare in the playoffs could impact Antetokounmpo’s trade market too.
We have more from around the league:
- Ja Morant wasn’t traded at the deadline, with reports indicating that the Grizzlies weren’t ready to accept a package similar to the one the Hawks received for Trae Young. While there wasn’t a strong market for the Memphis point guard at the deadline, multiple teams believe that the Bucks have real interest in bringing Morant in, Fischer reports, whether as a successor to Antetokounmpo in their next phase of team-building or as a complement to him.
- Trade deadline moves by the Wizards and Jazz reduced the future financial flexibility of two of the projected cap space teams in 2026, leaving Chicago, Brooklyn, and the two Los Angeles teams as the summer’s probable cap room clubs. According to Fischer, the Bulls have signaled that their primary directive in free agency will be going after wings. The list of free agent wings ranges from unrestricted veterans like Khris Middleton and Tobias Harris to younger restricted FAs such as Bennedict Mathurin and Tari Eason. In addition to wings, the guard-heavy Bulls will also need to find a starting center.
- After removing his second-year player option in order to facilitate a trade from the Knicks to the Bulls, Guerschon Yabusele is expected to have a competitive EuroLeague market this summer, Fischer writes, noting that the French forward had considered signing with the Nuggets prior to joining the Knicks.
Grizzlies Sign Rayan Rupert To 10-Day Deal
8:00 pm: Rupert’s 10-day contract is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
4:25 pm: The Grizzlies are signing Rayan Rupert to a 10-day contract, Shams Charania reports for ESPN (Twitter link).
The 6’7″ wing was the 43rd overall pick in the 2023 draft and spent his first two-and-a-half seasons with the Blazers, averaging 3.2 points in 12.0 minutes per game.
Rupert played three games for the Rip City Remix G League team this season, averaging 12.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per contest while hitting 36.4% of his threes.
Rupert played in 48 games for Portland this season, but the trade for Vit Krejci, along with Blake Wesley‘s return from injury, moved him down the wing pecking order. He was waived by the Blazers on Friday to make room for Sidy Cissoko‘s two-year deal.
Memphis has an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to make room for Rupert. If the deal is finalized on Sunday, he’ll be available for the Grizzlies’ next five games before his contract expires.
Bulls Notes: Simons, Ivey, Huerter, Tanking
Anfernee Simons will miss the Bulls‘ matchup against the Knicks on Sunday with a left wrist sprain, according to Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link). Simons left Saturday’s loss to the Pistons after just 13 minutes due to the injury.
According to head coach Billy Donovan, Simons will undergo imaging on the wrist on Monday, and it’s entirely possible that the “sprained wrist” diagnosis will change following the results of those tests (Twitter link via Lorenzi). Donovan said the Bulls don’t currently know the severity of the injury.
Prior to Saturday, Simons had played five games with the Bulls after being acquired in a deal that sent Nikola Vucevic to the Celtics. In those five games, he averaged 17.4 points, 3.6 assists, and 3.0 rebounds with a .446/.327/1.000 shooting line.
We have more from the Bulls:
- Chicago’s trade deadline was filled with moves designed to secure the best possible lottery odds this summer, but the acquisition of Jaden Ivey was one of the few forward-facing moves they made in terms of adding personnel. Ivey’s recent injury status makes that calculation more complicated, especially given his impending free agency, writes The Chicago Tribune’s Julia Poe. However, despite Ivey’s comments about his body not feeling the same following knee and leg injuries, Poe says there’s cautious optimism from the team’s coach about his ability to recapture his old form. “There’s a feeling that if he can get some more strength back then he can get back to where he was athletically,” Donovan said. “He knows that he’s not as explosive as he once was, but I don’t think that means that he can’t get back to that point. A big part of that is going to be him getting stronger.” According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Ivey’s former coach, J.B. Bickerstaff, agrees with Donovan, but adds that the most important part of the process is mental. “We expected a full recovery, but the timing you never know; it’s something you can never know,” Bickerstaff said. “And then the part for him is believing and trusting in it. That happens with the injury, too, especially when you’re explosive and your athleticism is so unique. You’ve got to find that trust back in it.”
- Kevin Huerter recently spoke about the trade that sent him from the Bulls to the Pistons, Cowley writes. One thing he touched on was the lack of clarity in Chicago about whether the team would compete or move into a rebuilding phase. “We talked about it [as a team], and we just didn’t know,” Huerter said. “We were sitting at .500 most of the year. It could have gone either way. As players, you have to expect everything, but seven or eight trades, whatever it was, I don’t know if anyone expected that.” While the move to the East-leading Pistons came as a surprise, the 27-year-old shooting guard is grateful for the opportunity it has provided him. “The transition, it’s always tough in season, even coming here last year, it was tough to move everything, your whole life, in about a week,” he said. “But you’re going to a team like this, No. 1 in the East, and they just compete their ass off.”
- The Bulls are behind the eight ball when it comes to maximizing their 2026 draft lottery odds, Poe writes, noting that Chicago has the ninth-worst record in the league at 24-33 and might have a hard time dropping any further than that. Poe suggests the belated effort to tank has something in common with vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas‘ habit of not dealing players until after their value has started to decline. Still, Poe writes that the move to begun the next era of Bulls basketball is the right one, given the depth and promise of the 2026 draft class.
Southeast Notes: McCollum, Herro, Carter, Penda
CJ McCollum replaced Zaccharie Risacher in the Hawks‘ starting lineup for Sunday’s game against the Nets, a move that shifts the former No. 1 overall pick to the bench for the first time since the second game of his NBA career. Previously, Risacher had started in 117 of his first 119 games.
This decision to promote McCollum to the starting five reflects Quin Snyder‘s trust in the veteran guard. Recently, the Hawks’ head coach discussed closing games with McCollum over Risacher.
“That is, by far, our best lineup from a plus-minus standpoint,” Snyder said of the group that features McCollum alongside Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Onyeka Okongwu, per Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com (Twitter link). “You could make an argument that we should start that lineup … How can we best use CJ?”
According to Lauren L. Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes (via Twitter), people around the league believe Risacher puts a lot of pressure on himself and that this move could help relieve some of that pressure.
The Hawks fell behind against the Nets but completed a fourth-quarter comeback, winning 115-104. McCollum had 16 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while Risacher scored seven points off the bench.
We have more from around the Southeast:
- After missing over a month with a rib injury, Tyler Herro has come off the bench for the Heat‘s last two games, both of which were wins. It’s a role the former Sixth Man of the Year is very familiar with, Ira Winderman writes for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “It doesn’t really feel like I’m out of place, because we got guys that can start and I’m comfortable in my role and in myself,” Herro said. “So I’m happy where I’m at.” Herro scored 24 points in 23 minutes as a reserve in his return to action against the Hawks, and 14 points on 15 shots against the Grizzlies. His role and minutes will likely be determined by how his body reacts to returning to play. “We are going to manage the minutes. I’m not overthinking it. I’m not putting anything in cement. I don’t have a timeline for anything,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’re how many ever games into the season right now and we finally have our full roster. We’re just going to try to maximize these next 25 games as much as possible and we just want everybody just to pour into the team, pour into the role, don’t overthink things at this point.”
- In his third game with his new team, Jevon Carter hit a massive three-pointer in double overtime for the Magic before a Jalen Green shot won it for the Suns. After the game, Paolo Banchero spoke about Carter’s impact. “Just coming in here and taking advantage of his opportunity, just fitting in, playing both sides of the ball,” Banchero said, per Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). “He hit a big shot, I wish we could have pulled the win out for him, because that was a huge shot.” While Carter’s late-game shot was his biggest moment of the game, it’s his defense that has most impressed coach Jamahl Mosely, Beede writes. “As soon as he stepped on the court, it was pick-up full-court, talking in the huddles, getting guys in the right spots, stepping in with confidence to his shot,” Mosley said. “He’s about all the right things. He’s about winning. He’s about toughness. He fits exactly what we do here with the Magic, just being able to (play) hard-nose defense, creating your offense on the other end.”
- When the Magic drafted Noah Penda 32nd overall last June, they likely didn’t expect him to become a crucial piece in year one, but amidst an injury-plagued season, he has become an important factor in keeping the team afloat, Spencer Davies writes for RG. Davies adds that Penda has maintained the same mindset and effectiveness whether coming in for a four-minute run off the bench or closing games as a starter. Penda’s rebounding has been a crucial part of his impact — when the rookie goes to the bench, the team’s offensive rebounding rate drops by nine percent, Davies notes. The rookie forward says the entire team has helped him learn the ropes in his first NBA season, but cites Tyus Jones, who was traded at the deadline, as a veteran who really took Penda under his wing when he wasn’t playing and helped him focus on what he needed to do to be ready when his number was called.
Sixers Sign Tyrese Martin To Two-Way Contract
February 19: Martin’s two-way deal with the Sixers is now official, the club confirmed in a press release.
February 16: The Sixers are planning to sign Tyrese Martin to a two-way contract after they finalize their two-year deal for Jabari Walker, Derek Bodner reports for PHLY Sports (Twitter link).
Martin started the season with the Nets and made it through his contract guarantee deadline with the team in January, earning his full $2.2MM salary. However, he was subsequently waived in order to make room on the roster for the Nets to complete their Hunter Tyson trade with the Nuggets.
Over his last two seasons in Brooklyn, Martin appeared in 97 games, making 17 starts and averaging 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 20.7 minutes per night.
Martin’s addition will fill the Sixers’ available two-way spot alongside MarJon Beauchamp and Dalen Terry after Walker is elevated to the 15-man roster. If he officially signs by Wednesday, Martin will be eligible to be active for up to 16 regular season games for Philadelphia.
Sixers Sign Jabari Walker To Two-Year Deal
February 19: Walker’s promotion to the standard roster is official, the Sixers announced today in a press release.
February 16: The Sixers are signing forward Jabari Walker to a two-year deal, Shams Charania reports for ESPN (via Twitter).
Earlier this month, Walker became the first player on a two-way contract to reach his 50-game active game limit, which forced him to miss Philadelphia’s last four games heading into the All-Star break.
By trading Jared McCain for a draft pick and Eric Gordon for the draft rights to Justinian Jessup, the Sixers opened up spots to convert both Walker and Dominick Barlow to standard contracts. Barlow signed a two-year deal with a team option on February 5.
After spending his first three seasons with the Blazers, Walker joined the Sixers on a two-way contract and quickly won a bench role in coach Nick Nurse‘s rotation.
Still just 23 years old, Walker brings defensive versatility and intensity on the wing, though he has struggled with his shot, hitting just 27.0% of his threes this season.
The Sixers are also signing veteran point guard Cameron Payne to their 15-man roster. He and Walker will fill Philadelphia’s 14th and 15th roster spots, but the team will have enough room below the luxury tax line after finalizing those contracts to make another roster move at the end of the season if necessary, notes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (via Twitter).
And-Ones: Tanking Reform, Power Rankings, Hayes-Davis, Gasol
The subject of tanking has become a hot-button topic in recent weeks, prompting NBA commissioner Adam Silver to address it over All-Star weekend. ESPN’s Bobby Marks spoke on NBA Today on Monday about the commissioner’s response, including his comments about potentially stripping picks from teams.
“Change is coming here when we’re looking at this lottery system, and basically not incentivizing teams to lose to gain advantage in the draft,” Marks said (YouTube video link).
There have been different ideas thrown out as potential remedies for the current system. Marc Stein, in his latest Substack article, suggests a new approach, wherein teams could only secure the highest odds for landing the top pick once they clear 27 wins.
Stein uses 27 wins as the cut-off because that would mean winning at least a third of the season’s games, and would discourage teams from bottoming out completely. Some semblance of competitiveness would be required to hit that mark and qualify for a top pick. Teams that didn’t reach 27 wins would have lower odds of landing a top-four pick in this scenario.
Whatever the choice is, Stein writes that it’s important that the league doesn’t overreact to a particularly egregious single-year tank battle due to what is considered a generational draft.
We have more from around the world of basketball:
- Law Murray of The Athletic released his post-All-Star Break power rankings today, which he broke into five categories: top contenders, in a good place, the bubble, not the tier to fear, and basement floor. His top contenders category includes five teams, led by the Pistons, followed by the Spurs, Thunder, Knicks, and Celtics, while his second tier is a three-team race between the Cavaliers, Nuggets, and Rockets. On the other side of the spectrum, he has five “basement floor” teams, with the two lowest being the Wizards at 29 and the Kings, whom he calls “a true factory of sadness,” at 30.
- It was recently reported that Nigel Hayes-Davis would be leaving the NBA to return to Europe, signing a deal with Panathinaikos that will extend through 2028. He explained the decision to choose the Greek team instead of joining one of his former squad, Fenerbahce Beko. “Everyone knows Fenerbahce was an option and what I did there over the last few years, especially what we accomplished as a team last season. It just felt like that chapter was closed and that I had given my all,” he said, per Kevin Martorano of Sportando. Hayes-Davis was the EuroLeague Final Four MVP a year ago as Fenerbahce won the 2025 title.
- Former NBA star Pau Gasol confirmed his involvement in NBA Europe, though what exactly he will be doing has yet to be fully clarified, Martorano writes for Sportando. “At the moment, there is no defined role. I’m simply working with the NBA, with FIBA, and speaking with teams to see what the evolution of basketball’s growth in Europe should look like,” the two-time NBA champion said. “From there, we’ll see what role I will ultimately take on, whether at the league level or with a team.” He also outlined his vision for what the project would be able to accomplish: “We need to build everything from scratch. Basketball is a globally important sport, and I believe we have the space to enhance it both as an experience and as a show, going beyond the simple magic of the game itself. That is exactly what we are here to do.”
Knicks Notes: Defense, Schedule, Warren, All-Star Game
The Knicks‘ 2025/26 season has progressed through several different phases, and the fact that they’ve seemingly been able to maintain their status as a contender throughout those changes is something to value, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.
Bondy weighs several different answers when it comes to the highlight of the season so far: there’s the NBA Cup victory, though that was quickly followed by the team’s worst stretch of play this year. There’s the increase in three-point attempts — Bondy notes that the Knicks are first in corner threes attempted and made after being 11th in both categories last season.
Ultimately, he lands on the defensive improvements. After ranking 18th on defense through their first 43 games, the Knicks have ratcheted up the intensity and have been the best defense in the league from January 20 to the All-Star break, improving to 11th overall on the season.
Bondy credits assistant coach Darren Erman for switching the scheme to force the ball to the sidelines and baselines, rather than funneling into the middle as they had been doing.
He notes that the return of Landry Shamet and the addition of Jose Alvarado at the trade deadline helped improve the team’s point-of-attack defense. The recent signing of Jeremy Sochan will give them another versatile defender — and one with enough size to guard wings and forwards.
Bondy wraps up by positing that the second half of the season will be a success if the Knicks can clinch the No. 2 seed. They are currently a half-game behind the Celtics, and while it’s unlikely they catch the No. 1 Pistons, securing home court advantage for the first two rounds could help the team make a deep playoff run.
We have more from the Knicks:
- One thing that will make the pursuit of the second seed a little more challenging is New York’s schedule coming out of the All-Star break. Peter Sblendorio, writing for the New York Daily News, describes the team’s first 11 games as a gauntlet, starting with the return to action against the Pistons, albeit a Pistons team missing its usual big man rotation as Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart serve suspensions. The Knicks will go on to face the top five teams in the Western Conference and three of the top five Eastern teams in a stretch that includes seven road games and two back-to-backs.
- Veteran NBA wing T.J. Warren has rejoined the Westchester Knicks, the G League team announced today. Warren played for Westchester last season as well, averaging 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 21 regular season games, but hewas never called up to the parent team. His last NBA action came in the 2023/24 season, when he played 11 games for the Timberwolves.
- The Knicks won the Shooting Stars event during All-Star weekend, but Jared Schwartz of the New York Post writes that the All-Star Game itself was one to forget for the New York stars. While Jalen Brunson‘s team made it to the final game, he played deferentially throughout the event, doing little to leave his mark on the competition. Meanwhile, Karl-Anthony Towns was on the wrong side of two game-winning sequences. There were some minor fireworks, though, when Brunson got Towns in isolation and flew by him for the layup — Towns tried to block the shot and was called for goaltending.
Southwest Notes: Flagg, Irving, Durant, Coward
Cooper Flagg appeared at Saturday’s game between Duke and Clemson with a boot on his left foot, but league sources tell Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) that the Mavericks believe they’re lucky that his midfoot sprain is not a more severe injury .
There’s still no specific timeline for how long Flagg will be out as a result of the injury, according to Stein, who says the more pressing concern for the team is how to keep the star rookie’s energy and enthusiasm up through what is likely the longest losing streak of his basketball life.
The Mavericks lost their last nine games prior to the All-Star break, which Stein notes is the team’s longest losing streak since the 1997/98 season. At No. 12 in the Western Conference, Dallas is currently two games up on the Jazz and 1.5 games behind the Grizzlies, who have embarked on their own rebuild after trading Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah.
With Jackson out for the rest of the season following knee surgery and Utah owing its pick to the Thunder if it falls outside of the top eight, it will be worth keeping an eye on just how quickly Dallas brings the productive Flagg.
We have more from around the Southwest Division:
- Kyrie Irving announced on Saturday that he will soon be giving an update on whether or not he plans to return for the Mavericks this season. While it would be beneficial for Dallas’ draft outlook for Irving to sit the rest of the season, Stein’s sources tell him that the decision will ultimately be a collaborative one between Irving and the team, as he writes in his latest Substack article. The decision will depend in part on whether the star point guard feels like his body needs more time to recover or whether he wants to try to work some rust off in-season.
- In the midst of his 18th season in the league, Kevin Durant is more concerned with making sure he remembers all the moves in his arsenal than adding new ones to it, Varun Shankar writes for the Houston Chronicle. “There’s so much I’m thinking about. I don’t want to forget some stuff in my package and it goes away,” Durant said. “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Shankar details the Rockets‘ star’s meticulous pregame workouts, including the balance drills designed to engage his legs. When it comes to a bad workout, assistant coach Royal Ivey puts it bluntly. “I haven’t seen one,” he said.
- Cedric Coward has gone from mystery box draft prospect to breakout player for the Grizzlies, starting 35 of the 48 games he’s played this season with averages of 13.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest. He recently sat down with Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports to talk about his rookie year and what improvements come next. When asked about lessons taken away from being guarded by some of the league’s premier defenders, Coward spoke to a late-game situation against the Thunder and Alex Caruso. “Just keep it simple. The biggest moment I learned that was when we played Oklahoma City at home,” Coward said. “Last possession, Caruso put me in a box. And I was too complicated in what I was trying to do, so for me, I wish I could get that moment back, I know I’ll have that moment again — it might not be against Caruso, but I know the moment will come again.”