Lakers’ Reaves On Future: ‘I Want To Be In L.A.’
Lakers guard Austin Reaves essentially picked up where he left off on Monday following a three-game injury absence, registering 24 points, seven assists, and five rebounds across 29 minutes of action in a win over Charlotte. While he has only appeared in eight games so far, Reaves has maintained a scoring average exceeding 30 PPG and is boosting his value in a contract year.
As ESPN’s Dave McMenamin writes, Reaves and his camp turned down an extension offer from the Lakers during the summer, since L.A. is currently limited to offering about $87MM over four years. However, the 27-year-old expressed to McMenamin that he’d like to stick with the Lakers long-term and won’t necessarily be looking to extract every last dollar he can when he reaches free agency next summer.
“I’ve said it a million times. I want to be in L.A. I love it,” Reaves said. “Even though the other extension was turned down, that doesn’t mean that I’m trying to go get a f—ing gigantic number that don’t make sense. I want to be here, I want to win. I want to do everything that can help this organization be better. So I don’t try to think about those things.”
Although Reaves has a player option for 2026/27, the expectation is that he’ll decline that option next summer in order to sign a new contract. Based on the NBA’s latest salary cap projections, he’d be eligible for a contract worth up to $240.7MM over five years with the Lakers or a four-year, $178.5MM deal with another team.
As McMenamin outlines, two of Reaves’ “contemporaries” at shooting guard, Tyler Herro and Jordan Poole, are on deals that pay them about 20% of the cap. A comparable contract for Reaves would start at $33MM — with 8% annual raises, that would be worth about $147.8MM over four years or $191.4MM over five.
Of course, with a handful of retooling teams projected to have cap room in 2026, it’s possible a rival suitor will make an aggressive offer that makes life difficult for the Lakers and complicates Reaves’ decision.
“AR’s a stud,” an Eastern Conference team executive told McMenamin. “If I were the Brooklyn Nets, I would throw all the money at him. He has shown when he gets the keys to the engine, he can produce.”
In addition to increasing his on-court production this fall, Reaves is developing a close friendship with Luka Doncic, McMenamin notes. That figures to make him all the more valuable to the Lakers, who are seeking long-term complementary pieces for their franchise player.
“They both realized that they both enjoy talking trash — a lot,” head coach JJ Redick said of his backcourt duo. “And their personalities in that regard are very similar. And so they can create a little bit of chemistry with each other just by being their natural selves.”
According to McMenamin, Redick has also encouraged Reaves to take on more of a leadership role with the team this season, and the former undrafted guard has responded well to that push.
“The biggest thing was him taking a step forward as a leader and recognizing that it’s as much his team as it is LeBron (James)‘ team or Luka’s team,” Redick told ESPN. “And acknowledging that he does have innate, natural leadership skills and being able to tap into those more consistently. I told him, he’s out of excuses. You’re no longer the undrafted guy who’s a young player. You’re one of the (main) guys now, and he’s been very responsive to that.”
Latest On Mavericks GM Nico Harrison
As Marc Stein writes for The Stein Line (Substack link), Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont opted to continue backing president of basketball operations and general manager Nico Harrison throughout the offseason and into the 2025/26 season in large part because Dumont was the one who ultimately approved last season’s shocking, widely panned trade sending Luka Doncic to Los Angeles — even if Harrison was the one who instigated that deal.
However, while the vibes in Dallas appeared to be on the rebound after the Mavs lucked into the No. 1 overall pick in May and drafted Cooper Flagg in June, the team is once again on the downswing this fall, having gotten off to a 3-7 start.
According to Stein, as the Mavs try to overcome injuries, a lack of shot creation and play-making, and subpar point-of-attack defense, morale within the organization has “cratered.” The relentless negativity surrounding the team – including at home games, where Dallas has a 2-5 record and fans have repeatedly chanted for Harrison to be fired – has been wearing on ownership.
As Stein details, it still doesn’t seem as if Dumont is eager to make a front office change, but the idea of considering such a move has become “unavoidable” amidst the ugly start to the season.
In the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link), ESPN’s Tim MacMahon essentially said the same thing in much stronger terms.
“At this point, I believe it is a matter of when, not if, Nico Harrison will be fired,” MacMahon said. “And there’s a very, very strong likelihood that will be mid-season. … After that Luka trade, Patrick Dumont, one of his infamous quotes was, ‘In Nico we trust.’ I’m just telling you, the trust is disintegrated at this point.”
MacMahon pointed to the recent handling of Anthony Davis‘ left calf strain as an example of how Dumont has become increasingly involved in organizational decisions that would previously have been left up to Harrison and/or other staff members. As MacMahon explains, Davis had hoped to return to action on Saturday in Washington, but was held out after some “internal disagreement” about whether that was a good idea.
“There was a lot of opinions voiced in that,” MacMahon said. “… One of the opinions – I don’t know if it was a veto, I don’t know how heavily this opinion weighed in – but one of the opinions that was involved here was Patrick Dumont’s. Patrick Dumont went from blind faith in Nico to now weighing in on whether a star can come back from injury.”
While MacMahon didn’t say it outright, his implication was that Davis rushed back from an injury last season in an effort to quell the negative PR surrounding Harrison and that Dumont didn’t want to risk having that happen again.
“My understanding is that there were people with the Mavericks’ medical staff that were saying, ‘We cannot rush this guy back,’ that Dumont certainly agreed with that, and that ultimately – I was told – by the end, everybody was on the same page. You know, OK,” MacMahon said with an eye-roll. “Ultimately they decided to hold off at least another couple of days. But the fact that Patrick Dumont is involved in that sort of decision making is a major, major development.”
The ongoing absence of point guard Kyrie Irving, who is recovering from an ACL tear, has been one major reason for the Mavericks’ struggles so far this season. But the front office knew heading into the offseason that Irving would miss a significant chunk of the season, and its major summer addition meant to fill that point guard void – veteran free agent D’Angelo Russell – wasn’t even in the starting lineup to open this season. Instead, Flagg – the NBA’s youngest player – was asked to take on a primary ball-handling role that was new to him.
According to Stein, if Dumont does make an in-season move to replace Harrison, the motivation would be two-fold. In addition to ensuring that the executive responsible for the Doncic trade isn’t the one continuing to make crucial personnel decisions, the goal would also be to recapture some positive vibes and try to win back fans that were alienated by that shocking deal.
Pacers Sign Cody Martin To 10-Day Hardship Deal
3:33 pm: The Pacers have officially signed Martin, according to a team press release.
9:17 am: The Pacers intend to add free agent forward Cody Martin to their roster, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). According to Scotto, Martin will be signed using a hardship exception, which means he’ll receive a 10-day contract.
Martin, 30 spent five-and-a-half seasons in Charlotte from 2019-25 before being sent to the Suns at February’s trade deadline along with Vasilije Micic in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic. The 6’6″ forward established himself early in his career as a versatile defender who could contribute in a variety of ways — he averaged 7.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 steals in 26.3 minutes per game for the Hornets in 2021/22, posting a .482/.384/.701 shooting line in 71 total outings.
However, Martin battled injuries that limited him to just 35 total games over the course of the next two seasons. He bounced back to some extent in 2024/25, making 53 appearances for Charlotte and Phoenix, but his shooting percentages dipped to 41.8% on field goal tries and 28.5% on three-pointers, below his career averages.
Waived by the Suns on June 30, Martin spent over four months on the open market and will now join an Indiana team that has been decimated by injuries in the early going this season. According to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link), the former Hornet and Sun was among the free agents who worked out for the Pacers before they signed Mac McClung last month.
The Pacers already have Jeremiah Robinson-Earl under contract via a hardship exception but would be permitted to retain Robinson-Earl while adding Martin as long as they’ve been granted a second exception.
A hardship exception, which allows a team to temporarily carry an extra player beyond the usual 15-man limit, is granted when a team has four players who have missed three consecutive games due to injuries and are expected to be sidelined for at least two more weeks. If a team has five players who fit that bill, a second hardship exception can be awarded.
Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles), Obi Toppin (foot), T.J. McConnell (hamstring), Bennedict Mathurin (foot), Kam Jones (back), and Andrew Nembhard (shoulder) have all been out for at least the Pacers’ past three games. Haliburton will miss the entire season and Toppin is expected to be out until February; the timelines for the others aren’t entirely clear, but if at least three of them are projected to miss two more weeks, the Pacers qualify for a second hardship exception.
Martin will earn $165,197 on a 10-day contract, while Indiana carries a cap hit of $131,970.
Western Notes: Warriors, Mavs, Achiuwa, Pelicans, Reaves
Warriors forward Jimmy Butler exited Tuesday’s win over Phoenix in the second quarter due to lower back soreness and is listed as questionable to play in the second end of the team’s back-to-back set on Wednesday, writes Anthony Slater of ESPN.
Golden State could be missing multiple stars against Sacramento tonight. Stephen Curry has already been ruled out due to an illness that was bothering him on Tuesday, while Slater hears that Butler is more likely than not to be inactive. Draymond Green is also listed as questionable due to a right rib contusion.
The Warriors’ trio has suited up for all eight games so far this season, but head coach Steve Kerr suggested they could probably use a breather.
“I could tell on the [recent] road trip, all three of those guys looked tired,” Kerr said. “They just ran into a little bit of a wall.”
We have more from around the Western Conference:
- Mavericks big man Anthony Davis, who was ruled out last week for at least two games due to a left calf strain, will remain sidelined for a third contest. He and Dereck Lively II (right knee sprain) will both miss Wednesday’s matchup with New Orleans, tweets Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com.
- Precious Achiuwa signed on Tuesday with the Kings, who were seeking frontcourt help. He feels he can help them in a variety of ways. “Size. Defense. Rebounding. Toughness. Competing at a high level,” Achiuwa said in a video posted by Kings radio reporter Sean Cunningham. “Things that I do really, really well.” Achiuwa played for the Knicks last season and was signed by the Heat as a free agent but he was waived just prior to opening night. “I was just waiting,” Achiuwa said of what he did after being cut loose. “Something is always going to present itself. I’m just always staying ready.”
- With the Pelicans off to a disappointing start this season, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) explores how three offseason trades might have made the 2025/26 campaign unsalvageable for New Orleans, while Keith Smith of Spotrac considers what the next steps are for the franchise. Besides the Pelicans’ trade up on draft night for Derik Queen, Gozlan singles out the Jordan Poole trade with Washington and the decision to send the Pacers’ 2026 first-round pick back to them. Smith, meanwhile, argues that it’s time for the team to move on from former No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson.
- Lakers guard Austin Reaves will miss a second consecutive game on Wednesday vs. San Antonio, having been downgraded to out due to right groin soreness, tweets Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group.
Dana Gauruder contributed to this story.
An Early Look At Potential 2026 Cap Room
When ESPN's Shams Charania broke the news in September that Cam Thomas had accepted his qualifying offer from Brooklyn, he noted within his report that the Nets guard should be better positioned in free agency next summer -- not just because he'll be unrestricted, but because there are "at least 10 teams are set to have cap space."
While it's true that unrestricted free agency should be more favorable to navigate for Thomas than restricted free agency was, it feels premature to assume that there will be double-digit teams with cap room next offseason.
For one, some of the teams projected to operate under the cap in 2026 could make in-season trades that add salary to their books for next season and beyond. Additionally, even if those clubs don't take on any future salary in the coming months, they may not end up having cap room available, depending on what happens with their own free agents.
In the space below, we're taking a closer early look at the teams best positioned to have cap room in 2026 and weighing how realistic it is that they'll take that path.
Let's dive in...
2025/26 NBA Two-Way Contract Conversions
At Hoops Rumors, we track virtually every kind of transaction, including free agent signings, trades, contract extensions, and many more. One form of roster move that has become increasingly common in recent years is the two-way conversion, involving a player either being converted from an Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal or from a two-way deal to his team’s standard roster.
We’re going to use the space below to track all of the two-way conversions (either to or from the standard roster) completed in 2025/26.
Exhibit 10 contracts to two-way contracts:
When a player signs a contract during the offseason that includes Exhibit 10 language, he gives his new team the ability to unilaterally convert his deal into a two-way contract. The deadline to convert such a deal is the day before the season begins — this year that was Monday, October 20.
A player who signs a training camp contract that doesn’t include Exhibit 10 language could still sign a two-way deal with his club as long as his camp contract doesn’t include a guarantee exceeding $85,300. However, he’d have to clear waivers before inking that new two-way contract.
Here are the players who had their Exhibit 10 contracts converted into two-way deals in 2025/26:
- Colin Castleton (Magic) (story)
- Moussa Cisse (Mavericks) (story)
- Ron Harper Jr. (Celtics) (story)
- Caleb Houstan (Hawks) (story)
- Johnny Juzang (Timberwolves) (story)
- Jahmyl Telfort (Clippers) (story)
- Jahmir Young (Heat) (story)
- Chris Youngblood (Thunder) (story)
These players were invited to training camp on Exhibit 10 contracts and ultimately earned two-way slots based on their performances in camp and the preseason. Some were battling with other camp invitees for an open two-way spot, while others won a spot that wasn’t technically available, forcing their respective teams to waive players who had previously been signed to two-way contracts.
With the exception of Harper, who was promoted to the standard roster on October 16, all of these players were converted from two-ways to standard deals on Oct. 18, which was the date most teams set their rosters for the regular season.
No additional names will be added to this list for the rest of the 2025/26 season, since players can’t be converted to two-way deals after the regular season begins.
Two-way contracts to standard contracts:
A player who is on a two-way contract can have his deal unilaterally converted a one-year, minimum-salary contract by his team (or a two-year, minimum-salary contract if the player’s two-way deal covers two years, though this is rare).
Generally though, the team’s preference is to negotiate a longer-term contract with the player in order to avoid having him reach free agency at season’s end.
When converting a player from a two-way contract to the standard roster, the team can use cap room or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to negotiate a deal of up to four years; the room exception for a deal up to three years; or the taxpayer mid-level exception, bi-annual exception, or minimum salary exception for a two-year deal.
For any contract that is worth more than the minimum or exceeds the number of years left on the player’s two-way pact, the player must agree to the terms — a team can’t complete that sort of deal unilaterally.
Here are the players who have been converted from two-way deals to standard contracts so far in 2025/26, along with the terms of their new contracts, in chronological order:
- Keaton Wallace (Hawks): One year, minimum salary (story). Partially guaranteed ($318,217). Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Amari Williams (Celtics): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Dylan Cardwell (Kings): Four years, $8,283,516 (story). First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Dominick Barlow (Sixers): Two years, $6,830,000 (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option. Signed using taxpayer mid-level exception.
- Pat Spencer (Warriors): One year, minimum salary (story). Fully guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception (straight conversion).
- Kobe Sanders (Clippers): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Daniss Jenkins (Pistons): Two years, $7,809,524 (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option. Signed using bi-annual exception.
- Nae’Qwan Tomlin (Cavaliers): Two years, minimum salary (story). Fully guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Myron Gardner (Heat): Three years, $5,071,847 (story). First year guaranteed. Second year partially guaranteed ($500,000). Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Jordan Miller (Clippers): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Jabari Walker (Sixers): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second year partially guaranteed ($250,000). Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Caleb Houstan (Hawks): One year, minimum salary (story). Fully guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception (straight conversion).
- Spencer Jones (Nuggets): One year, minimum salary (story). Fully guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception (straight conversion).
- John Tonje (Celtics): 10-day contract (story).
- Sidy Cissoko (Trail Blazers): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second year non-guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Bryce McGowens (Pelicans): Three years, $6,243,879 (story). First two years guaranteed. Third-year team option. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Tristan Vukcevic (Wizards): Three years, $8,857,143 (story). First two years guaranteed. Third-year team option. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Jamir Watkins (Wizards): Two years, $3,282,887 (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Quenton Jackson (Pacers): Three years, $6,120,834 (story). First year guaranteed. Second year partially guaranteed ($275K). Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Ryan Nembhard (Mavericks): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Jamaree Bouyea (Suns): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Grizzlies): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Max Shulga (Celtics): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Players on two-way contracts can be converted to standard deals until the last day of the regular season, so this list will continue to grow until April 12.
Walker Kessler To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
After just five games, Walker Kessler‘s fourth NBA season is over. The Jazz center will undergo left shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the 2025/26 campaign, according to reports from Tony Jones of The Athletic and NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter links).
Kessler has been diagnosed with a torn labrum, per Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who confirms that the big man is out for the season.
According to Haynes (Twitter link), Kessler injured the shoulder early in training camp and recently reaggravated the injury. He’s expected to undergo the procedure on Thursday, Haynes adds.
The 22nd overall pick in the 2022 draft, Kessler was traded from Minnesota to Utah in the Rudy Gobert blockbuster that summer. The 24-year-old has since emerged as the Jazz’s starting center, establishing new career highs last season in points (11.1), rebounds (12.2), and assists (1.7) per game across 58 outings. He also matched a career high with 2.4 blocks per contest and led the NBA with 4.6 offensive rebounds per night.
Kessler started Utah’s first five games this season, averaging 14.4 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 3.0 APG in 30.8 MPG, before being held out of the past two contests due to what the team initially referred to as left shoulder bursitis.
Kessler’s injury probably won’t significantly impact Utah’s outlook this season — the Jazz had already been considered a very likely lottery team, given that they’ll lose their 2026 first-round pick if it lands outside the top eight. However, it’s a brutal turn of events for a young player whose contract will expire next summer after he didn’t come to terms with the team on a rookie scale extension before the regular season got underway.
Kessler will earn a salary of $4.88MM this season and will become a restricted free agent in 2026 as long as Utah issues him a $7.06MM qualifying offer. In that scenario, the Jazz – who project to have a significant chunk of cap room available – would carry a cap hold of roughly $14.64MM for Kessler. They could use his Bird rights to go over the cap to re-sign him to a starting salary higher than that once they use up their room.
With Kessler unavailable, Jusuf Nurkic figures to continue starting in the middle for the Jazz, while second-year big man Kyle Filipowski plays regular minutes off the bench. Veteran power forward Kevin Love has also entered the rotation since Kessler went down, averaging 15.5 minutes over the past two games.
Spurs Notes: Arena, Sochan, Waters, Olynyk, Castle
The Spurs took a significant step on Tuesday toward building a new downtown arena in San Antonio, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, who reports that voters in Bexar County, Texas approved a measure that will allow officials to put up to $311MM in venue taxes toward a new building.
While the proposal had been opposed by several local lawmakers and advocacy groups, just over 52% of voters supported it, per county officials.
The Spurs have expressed a willingness to commit at least $500MM toward construction of the new arena, with a proposed $489MM coming from the city, per Reynolds. The $1.3 billion arena plan is still in the early stages, with no proposed timeline for construction of the building yet. The Spurs’ lease at their current arena, Frost Bank Centers, runs until 2032.
Here’s more out of San Antonio:
- While the Spurs are dealing with a number of injury absences, including point guards De’Aaron Fox (right hamstring strain) and Dylan Harper (left calf strain), a handful of players appear on the verge of returning to action. Jeremy Sochan (left wrist sprain), Lindy Waters III (bilateral eye procedure), and Kelly Olynyk (left heel surgery) are all listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. the Lakers and have a “chance” to make their season debuts, a team spokesman tells Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required).
- As Orsborn writes, the Spurs have exhibited plenty of caution when it comes to bringing back players from injuries, which those players appreciate. “The best part is we know they have our back,” Julian Champagnie said of the team’s coaches and medical staff. “They want us to play basketball for a long time and be healthy for the team ultimately. So, rushing a guy to come back to play, it is not going to do us no good. We’d rather go out there with what we have and trust what we have on the bench than force a guy to come back and potentially hurt himself some more.”
- Olynyk’s season debut will also be his Spurs debut, so it could take him some time to get acclimated to a new situation after being traded from New Orleans to Washington to San Antonio during the offseason. However, head coach Mitch Johnson is confident that the veteran big man will fit nicely with the Spurs once he’s ready to return, Orsborn writes (subscription required). “He’s seen the whole league – I think he’s been with six or seven teams,” Johnson said. “Some (of those teams) have won a ton, some have lost a ton. He’s very skilled. He’s played a few different positions in terms of what his role’s been on certain teams he played with. And I think he’ll be someone we can fit with quite a few lineups and will really be able to help us as the season goes on.”
- After being named Rookie of the Year in the spring, Stephon Castle‘s next individual goal is to make an All-Defensive team. According to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Johnson challenged Castle during the offseason to impact winning on both ends of the floor, and the second-year guard has been tasked with handling the most challenging perimeter defensive assignments this fall. “It’s going to be a great opportunity for his versatility,” Johnson said. “… He is going to guard a ton of different profiles in terms of premier players on teams. He has an opportunity to affect the game as much as anybody.”
Bulls Notes: Giddey, Comeback Win, White, Essengue
After reeling off five consecutive wins to open the season, the Bulls lost in New York on Sunday and appeared to be on the verge of a second straight loss on Tuesday vs. Philadelphia. However, as Jamal Collier of ESPN details, Chicago overcame a 24-point deficit to defeat the Sixers by a score of 113-111, completing the largest NBA comeback so far this season.
Josh Giddey, whose restricted free agency dragged on for nearly three months this offseason before he signed a new four-year, $100MM contract with the Bulls, was the driving force in the victory. He led the team in points (29), rebounds (15), and assists (12), making him the first Bull since Michael Jordan to register triple-doubles in back-to-back games.
Giddey admitted it was “cool” to accomplish a feat last achieved by Jordan, per Kyle Williams of The Chicago Sun-Times, but made it clear that the “individual stuff” was secondary to winning the game.
“Tonight was one of the best wins that I’ve ever been a part of,” he said, according to Collier. “Just in terms of how bad we were down that early in the third. And to gut that one out and dig ourselves out of the hole that we did was unbelievable.”
Veteran center Nikola Vucevic, who hit the game-winning shot to secure the victory for the Bulls, was impressed with the team’s resilience but stressed that he and his teammates can’t get into the habit of giving up 45 points in the first quarter.
“It’s important that we understand this is not how you can become a good team by getting down 20 and then waking up and start to finally play,” Vucevic said. “We have to play better from the beginning. This game was a great example of what we can be when we play the way we need to. So hopefully we can use this as a good learning experience for us and understand that we have to do this for 48 minutes.”
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- Chicago is off to a 6-1 start without guard Coby White, who was the team’s leading scorer in the second half last season. According to Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required), head coach Billy Donovan said that White (left calf strain) is still “a couple weeks away” from playing in a game. “I watched him today — he is sprinting, running, cutting, jumping, trying to do everything completely full speed,” Donovan said on Tuesday. “He’s felt really, really good. … This has just taken a while. I think you can see around the league, there’s a lot of guys dealing with these calves right now. It’s just the way it is.”
- Seven of the 15 players on the Bulls’ standard roster are in contract years, but the team has bought in so far on Donovan’s call for a team-first approach, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “Right when training camp started, I addressed of all this, because we have seven or eight guys that are in the same situation, and I think it’s very easy if you’re not in the rotation or you’re not playing well to start to press, start to think about yourself,” Donovan said. “There’s a level of unselfishness [we needed] where you can start thinking about others — other than yourself, certainly — when your situation is uncertain going forward. … Like I told those guys, [free agency] will get here in July. Why worry or think about that when you have things in front of you now? We don’t have a team that can [isolate] or guys just go get theirs. We’ve got to rely on each other.”
- After spending three days in the G League with the Windy City Bulls, rookie forward Noa Essengue was recalled to the NBA on Wednesday, per the team. Chicago doesn’t play again until Friday, so Essengue may have the opportunity to practice with the NBA club this week. As Donovan told reporters when Essengue was initially assigned to the G League on Sunday, the team had planned since the draft to take a patient approach with him. “This is a guy at 18 years old who has a huge runway in front of him to get better and to improve, but we’re going to have to invest in his development,” Donovan said, per Cowley. “It may not be with us. It may be going back and forth between us and the G League. Those were things discussed back in June.”
Wolves, Kings Among Teams Keeping Eye On Morant Situation
There is no shortage of teams monitoring the Ja Morant situation in Memphis, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, who reports that the Timberwolves and Kings are among the clubs in that group.
Morant has been under the microscope in recent days due to his apparent discontent with his usage and the substitution patterns being employed by new Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo. He served a one-game suspension on Sunday for conduct detrimental to the team following a disagreement with the coaching staff, then replied with a simple “no” when asked by reporters after his return to action on Monday whether he has any joy playing basketball right now.
As Amick notes, Iisalo has been making more frequent substitutions and using a deeper rotation, with Morant’s 29.4 minutes per game representing a team high and a dozen players averaging at least 13.7 minutes per night. Iisalo’s approach is causing some “culture shock,” says Amick, and Morant has struggled in the early going, shooting just 39.3% from the floor and 13.9% on three-pointers.
Still, there have been no indications to this point that the Grizzlies would want to move Morant, who remains a “wildly popular and entertaining” player, Amick writes. The 26-year-old’s potential trade value had already declined in recent years due to injuries, as well as previous suspensions related to his off-court behavior. If Memphis were to explore a deal now, the team would have very little leverage to extract a strong return for the former No. 2 overall pick.
Of course, the potential opportunity to buy low is one important reason why teams are keeping a close eye on Morant’s status.
The Timberwolves’ current point guards include a 38-year-old veteran (Mike Conley), a 20-year-old second-year player (Rob Dillingham), and a shooting guard playing out of position (Donte DiVincenzo), so it makes sense that they’d have some level of interest in Morant. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly also has a reputation for being willing to take big swings, having memorably given up a significant package of draft assets to acquire Rudy Gobert from Utah in 2022.
Minnesota is light on tradable draft picks and doesn’t have an obvious package of players to send out for salary-matching purposes, so the Kings could be better positioned to make a deal for someone like Morant and his $39.4MM salary. Having traded away point guard De’Aaron Fox in February, Sacramento signed Dennis Schröder in free agency to take over the starting job, but he’s not viewed as a long-term solution.
The Kings haven’t spoken to the Grizzlies about a possible Morant trade, a league source tells Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee, though he acknowledges that could change. Anderson points out that at least one sports book listed Sacramento as the betting favorite to acquire the two-time All-Star.
Following Fred VanVleet‘s ACL tear, the Rockets are also viewed as a team in need of point guard help, but a team source tells Amick that Houston is unlikely to pursue Morant.
The in-season trade deadline is still three months away and many players around the NBA won’t become trade-eligible until December 15, so even if the relationship between Morant and the Grizzlies deteriorates quickly, it may not result in a trade in the short term. It also remains possible that the two sides will overcome their shaky start to the season and quiet trade speculation well in advance of the February 5 deadline.