Cavs’ Darius Garland Feels ‘Great’ Following Toe Surgery
Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland hosted his first annual celebrity softball game on Saturday, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). While the two-time All-Star was unable to participate in the festivities beyond taking a few swings in the batting cage and throwing out the first pitch, he provided an encouraging health update.
“I feel great. The recovery process is going well. But I’m here for my foundation,” Garland said. “I’m here to spread some positivity around the city of Cleveland and trying to have a good time. I always loved baseball, so I tried to make it a little bit competitive and kind of friendly as well.
“It’s my first one, so I’m kind of nervous, but I hope it’s going to be really cool and everybody really enjoys themselves.”
Garland, who made his second All-Star team last season, underwent surgery in June to repair the left great toe injury that hampered him in the postseason. He’s expected to miss some time to start the 2025/26 season.
Garland’s name has popped up in trade rumors for the second straight offseason, though things have quieted down considerably of late. The Kings and Suns were reportedly among the teams that expressed interest in the 25-year-old.
According to Fedor, seven members of the Cavaliers — including Garland — were present at the event, with the others being Evan Mobley, Jaylon Tyson, Max Strus, head coach Kenny Atkinson, president of basketball operations Koby Altman, and executive Grant Gilbert. Free agent center Tristan Thompson, who has spent the past two years with Cleveland, also participated.
“This city has embraced me since day one, and this event is a way to give that love back,” Garland said, per Fedor. “It’s more than just a game — it’s a celebration with purpose, supporting the work we’re doing through the Darius Garland Foundation to uplift and empower others in a meaningful way.”
Richaun Holmes Weighing Panathinaikos Offer, Hoping To Stay In NBA?
Free agent center Richaun Holmes was waived by the Wizards on July 14. At the end of July, reports indicated that his representatives were talking to Turkish club Fenerbahce, the reigning EuroLeague champions.
Evidently the talks with Fenerbahce weren’t fruitful, but Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.net hears that Holmes now has a two-year offer on the table from 2024 EuroLeague champion Panathinaikos.
As Barbarousis explains, Holmes is reportedly still holding out hope of landing a guaranteed NBA contract. If that doesn’t happen in the near future, he’s expected to sign with the Greek powerhouse, which made an unsuccessful run at Jonas Valanciunas earlier this offseason.
The 37th pick of the 2015 draft after starring in college at Bowling Green, Holmes has spent the past 10 years in the NBA, suiting up for Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento, Dallas and Washington. His most productive season was 2020/21, when he averaged 14.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 blocks in 29.2 minutes per game across 61 appearances for the Kings.
Holmes, who will turn 32 years old in October, holds career averages of 8.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 0.9 BPG in 19.1 MPG (489 games, including 178 starts). He averaged 7.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 0.7 BPG in 31 games for the Wizards in ’24/25 (17.2 MPG).
Mavericks, Suns Announce Preseason Schedules
The Mavericks formally announced their 2025 preseason schedule on Wednesday, as Marc Stein of The Stein Line relays (via Twitter).
Stein reported nine days ago (Twitter link) that the Mavericks would hold their training camp this fall in Vancouver, Canada. Today’s press release confirms that Dallas will travel to Vancouver for a training camp held at Simon Fraser University from September 30 through October 4.
The Mavs’ preseason slate begins Oct. 6 when they host the defending champion Thunder in Fort Worth, Texas. They will return to Dallas on Oct. 11 for their second preseason contest vs. Charlotte.
On Oct. 13, the Mavericks will head to Utah to face the Jazz. Dallas’ preseason slate concludes on Oct. 15 with a neutral game in Las Vegas against the Lakers.
The Suns also announced their preseason schedule today (Twitter link).
According to the press release, Phoenix’s first preseason game is Oct. 3 in Palm Desert, CA vs. the Lakers. The Suns will then make a lengthy trip to Macao, China for a pair of contests against the Nets on Oct. 10 and Oct. 12.
Phoenix’s preseason schedule concludes with a home contest against the Lakers on Oct. 14 — a quick turnaround given the long international flight.
Thunder Sign Malevy Leons To Exhibit 10 Deal
The Thunder have signed free agent forward Malevy Leons, the team announced in a press release.
While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Rylan Stiles of SI.com says Leons signed an Exhibit 10 contract.
After going undrafted out of Bradley in 2024, Leons signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Thunder last September and was waived before the 2024/25 season began.
At that point, it seemed like Leons would be headed to the G League to start his first professional season, but he was actually re-signed to a standard contract and spent two-plus weeks with the Thunder last fall, earning $126,356 on a minimum-salary deal before being cut in mid-November.
Leons’ NBA contributions were modest. He played 21 total minutes over six appearances and recorded two points, three rebounds and one assist. The 6’9″ Dutch forward was a regular contributor at the NBAGL level with the Oklahoma City Blue though, averaging 10.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 block on .489/.353/.773 shooting in 47 games (26.9 minutes per contest).
The Thunder now have 17 players under contract, plus a reported two-way agreement with Branden Carlson.
An Exhibit 10 is a non-guaranteed training camp contract and is typically designed to ensure a player can receive a bonus worth up to $85,300 if they’re waived before the season begins and spend at least 60 days with their club’s affiliate. Exhibit 10 contracts can also be converted into two-way deals, and Oklahoma City will have one open two-way spot after Carlson signs.
Second-Rounder Max Shulga Signs Two-Way Deal With Celtics
August 6: In a press release, Boston has officially announced its signing of Shulga.
July 30: Former VCU standout Max Shulga has signed a two-way contract with the Celtics, according to the official transactions log at NBA.com.
Shulga was selected No. 57 overall in the 2025 draft. Boston acquired his rights in a trade with Orlando.
A 6’4″ guard, Shulga was born in Kyiv, Ukraine and played high school basketball in Madrid, Spain. He spent three college seasons at Utah State prior to transferring to VCU in the summer of 2023.
In two seasons with the Rams, Shulga averaged 14.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 72 games (32.8 minutes per contest). He posted a shooting line of .440/.402/.826 over that stretch and earned first-team All-Atlantic 10 honors each of the past two seasons. Shulga was also the conference’s Player of the Year in 2024/25.
While Shulga is now officially under contract, the Celtics still have an unsigned second-round pick (No. 46 overall) in big man Amari Williams. He’s also expected to sign a two-way deal, as former ESPN employee Jonathan Givony reported on the second night of the draft.
Shulga will earn $636,435 for his rookie season and can appear in up to 50 games in 2025/26.
Daeqwon Plowden Signs Two-Way Deal With Kings
2:55pm: Plowden’s two-way deal with Sacramento is official, per the transactions log at NBA.com.
2:06pm: Free agent wing Daeqwon Plowden has agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Kings, agent Drew Kelso tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Plowden is a Philadelphia native who spent five college seasons at Bowling Green prior to going undrafted in 2022. The 26-year-old played for the affiliate clubs of the Pelicans and Magic during the 2022/23 and ’23/24 campaigns.
Last July, Plowden signed a two-way contract with the Warriors. While he drew strong reviews for his play in 2024 Summer League, Golden State wound up waiving him last September to make space on the roster for 2024 second-round pick Quinten Post.
The 6’6″ guard/forward caught on with the Hawks organization, signing an Exhibit 10 deal before being waived last October and playing for their G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. He signed a two-year, two-way contract with Atlanta in December and was traded to — and subsequently released by — Phoenix earlier this month.
Plowden made his NBA debut for the Hawks on January 15, recording 19 points and four rebounds while making seven of his eight field goal attempts in 25 minutes. He made four garbage-time appearances over the following four months prior to the season finale on April 13, when he notched 17 points and four rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting in 31 minutes.
Plowden, who participated in the NBAGL’s Up Next event at All-Star weekend in February, recently played for the Kings’ Summer League team in Las Vegas, averaging 7.3 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 14.3 MPG across six contests. He shot 37.5% from deep and was impressive on defense, tweets Matt George of ABC 10 Sacramento.
In 40 games with College Park last season, Plowden averaged 15.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.1 SPG (31.7 MPG). He posted a shooting line of .404/.327/.877.
As our tracker shows, Plowden will fill Sacramento’s third and final two-way spot, joining Dylan Cardwell and Isaiah Stevens as players on two-way deals.
Wolves’ Donte DiVincenzo To Miss EuroBasket For Italy
Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo was granted Italian citizenship on a sporting basis earlier this month to participate with Italy’s national team in international events. He announced today via the Italian basketball federation (Twitter video link) that he will miss this summer’s EuroBasket due to a recent “physical issue” he experienced as he began preparing for the tournament.
“What’s up everyone? I just wanted to say how happy and thankful I am and excited I am to finally become an Italian citizen,” DiVincenzo said (hat tip to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando). “I want to thank the federation and Italian institutions for making all this happen and being possible in record time.
“Unfortunately, I’m sorry I will not be able to join the national team this summer due to a physical issue that over the last few days forced me to make this difficult, difficult decision. But my goal remains the same. It remains with the journey of Italian basketball going forward, you know, World Cup and the Olympics, and for a very long time. So I just wanted to show my commitment, send my best of luck to the team, and see you all soon.”
According to Maggi, at a press conference on Wednesday in Milan, national team coordinator Gigi Datome clarified that DiVincenzo felt pain in his left big toe, the same digit which cost him 19 games last season due to a turf toe issue.
“On 21 July, we received clearance from the (Timberwolves),” Datome said. “Donte was resuming training, but between 22 and 23 July, he felt discomfort in his big toe, which had already cost him a month out this season. We set a deadline yesterday, and according to doctors and specialists, we were talking about three to four months of therapy, so it wasn’t possible. He sent the video to show that we were on the same page. That’s how it went.”
Aggravating the toe injury sounds somewhat ominous, particularly given the timeline Datome mentioned. However, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears the Wolves view DiVincenzo’s EuroBasket absence as a precautionary measure and the team isn’t concerned about his availability for the start of next season.
Execs Weigh In On Cam Thomas’ Value
Fred Katz of The Athletic recently polled 16 rival NBA executives about what “fair” contracts would look like for the four primary restricted free agents who remain unsigned.
We have already relayed stories regarding Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey and Quentin Grimes, with the key caveat that teams are much more likely to be conservative in their valuations than agents because they don’t want their own players to become too expensive in the future.
In today’s story, the executives weighed in on Nets guard Cam Thomas, who led Brooklyn in scoring with a career-high 24.0 points per game in 2024/25 but was limited to just 25 appearances due to hamstring issues. As Katz writes, Thomas was easily the most polarizing name of the group, and executives were uncertain about whether their views were consensus or otherwise.
“I wouldn’t be shocked if this was way lower or higher,” said one executive who proposed a two-year, $32MM deal. “His scoring is very much ‘eye of the beholder.’”
Whereas 15 of the 16 respondents proposed contracts of at least three years for each of Kuminga, Giddey and Grimes, only eight did the same for Thomas. And while most executives viewed Kuminga ($17-25MM annually), Giddey ($20-25MM) and Grimes ($12-17MM) as having relatively stable market values, the same was not true for Thomas.
In addition to various contract structures – including a one-plus-one (two years, $40MM with a team option, so only $20MM guaranteed), seven two-year deals, five three-year contracts, and three four-year proposals (no one proposed a five-year deal) – the hypothetical offers also ranged anywhere from $10MM to $30MM per year, with the average being $16.7MM annually but only $42.7MM in total guaranteed money.
According to Katz, only two executives valued Thomas in the exact same way. They were also the most bearish on him as a player, offering $20MM total over two years. And the executive who was seemingly the most bullish on the 23-year-old — deeming a three-year, $90MM deal as being “fair” — was quick to add a caveat.
“I wouldn’t personally give (it to) him … But I justified it as ‘fair’ because if I’m him, I’m saying I’m better than Jalen Green and that’s way less than he got,” said the staffer who suggested the $90MM contract, the most lucrative deal in terms of both total money and annual average value.
As Katz points out, Green received a three-year, $105MM rookie scale extension last October. But other score-first guards, like Collin Sexton and Norman Powell, have been traded for relatively modest returns, and the Jazz couldn’t find a taker for Jordan Clarkson, who reached a buyout and signed a minimum-salary deal with the Knicks.
The Nets need someone to score points next season, even if they’re clearly more focused on the 2026 draft than their results in the standings, and Thomas is the player best equipped to do that, Katz writes. But Brooklyn also has a lot of leverage as the only team which can currently make Thomas a strong offer, something it reportedly has shown little interest in doing to this point.
Doug McDermott Signs With Kings On One-Year Contract
July 29: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
July 21: Veteran sharpshooter Doug McDermott is re-signing with the Kings on a one-year contract, agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Charania, McDermott will earn $3.6MM in 2025/26, which is the veteran’s minimum for a player with 10-plus years of experience.
James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com confirms the news (via Twitter).
McDermott is entering his 12th NBA season and second with Sacramento. He appeared in 42 games last season but didn’t play much, averaging 3.5 points while shooting 43.6% from long distance in a career-low 8.1 minutes per contest.
The 33-year-old forward was a lottery pick back in 2014 (No. 11 overall) after a standout college career at Creighton. While McDermott hasn’t made the same sort of impact in the NBA that he did in college, he remains a dangerous shooter and off-ball cutter who needs to be accounted for at all times on offense, though he is often targeted on the other end of the court.
We’ll have to wait and see whether or not McDermott’s new contract is guaranteed. He will be the 15th player on the Kings’ standard roster, as our tracker shows.
Northwest Notes: Caruso, Hartenstein, Nuggets, Hansen
Alex Caruso‘s regular season impact for the Thunder was fairly modest, as he made just 54 appearances while ranking just ninth on the team in minutes per game (19.3). That turned out to be by design — Caruso appeared in all 23 games during the team’s title run and ranked fifth on the team in MPG (24.4), writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
As Mussatto details, Caruso didn’t score 20 points a single time during the regular season but recorded three such games in the playoffs. The 31-year-old significantly boosted his three-point percentage as well, going from 35.3% during the season to 41.1% in the playoffs.
Defense and outside shooting were the main weaknesses of Josh Giddey, the player Oklahoma City traded to acquire Caruso, who excelled in both of those areas during the postseason. In Mussatto’s view, Caruso was the Thunder’s third-most important player in the playoffs (behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams), which is why he earned an A-plus for his 2024/25 performance.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- In another story for The Oklahoman, Mussatto commends the fit and play of center Isaiah Hartenstein, the Thunder‘s big free agent addition last summer, giving him a grade of A-minus. Unlike Caruso, Hartenstein had an excellent regular season but didn’t have the same level of impact during the playoffs. Still, the 27-year-old was vitally important in the second-round matchup against Denver, Mussatto notes, and provided the size and rebounding the team lacked in 2023/24.
- The Nuggets have had a busy offseason, trading Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 first-round pick to acquire Cameron Johnson (and roster-building flexibility); trading Dario Saric for Jonas Valanciunas; and adding Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency. Longtime analyst and former NBA star Charles Barkley is a fan of the moves they made, he told Sean Keeler of The Denver Post. “I think (the Nuggets) and the Houston Rockets have probably had the best summers (in the NBA),” Barkley said. “And (the Nuggets), they’ve got the best player in the world (in Nikola Jokic). They just needed some more depth. They kind of broke the team up after they won the first championship (2023), and that’s really unfortunate. (They’ve) still got the best player. You want to give them as many opportunities as possible. But I thought they had a great summer.”
- The Chinese Basketball Association recently announced that Trail Blazers first-round pick Yang Hansen will miss the 2025 Asia Cup in order to prepare for his rookie season, tweets Sean Highkin of RoseGardenReport.com. Hansen received permission from the Chinese national team to skip the event due to scheduling conflicts with Blazers mini-camps in August. He will instead stay in Portland this offseason.