Cleveland Cavaliers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavs Second-Rounder Saliou Niang Signs With Virtus Bologna

July 16th, 2025 at 6:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Second-round Cavaliers draft pick Saliou Niang has joined the Italian EuroLeague squad Virtus Bologna, the team announced today (via Twitter). The move had been previously expected and is now official.

The 6’5″ Senegalese swingman has been playing professionally in Italy since 2021/22. Niang, 21, initially suited up for Fortitudo Bologna and had been plying his trade with Trento since 2023/24.

Niang will now get the opportunity to develop his game in the EuroLeague for at least one season before he links up with Cleveland. The Cavaliers went 64-18 last season and are angling for deeper postseason success this year, and Niang would have faced an uphill battle to crack the club’s rotation anyway.

Across 30 Italian League games for Trento in 2024/25, Niang averaged 8.1 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.4 APG and 0.6 SPG. He posted shooting splits of .532/.333/.712.

Virtus Bologna is something of a powerhouse in the Italian League, having won it outright three times in the past four seasons. The club also won the Italian Cup as recently as 2022/23.

Lakers, James Haven’t Held Trade Or Buyout Discussions

July 16th, 2025 at 8:31am CST by Dana Gauruder

Despite rampant speculation about LeBron James‘ future with the Lakers, it’s expected that he will be with the organization for training camp, Dan Woike and Joe Vardon of The Athletic report.

Those expectations come from both members of the Lakers organization and people close to the 40-year-old superstar. There have been no discussions regarding trade or buyout scenarios between James’ representatives and the team’s front office, according to The Athletic duo.

This essentially confirms an ESPN report that his agent, Rich Paul, hasn’t asked the Lakers to trade James following his decision to exercise a $52.6MM player option for next season. The Athletic’s sources hear the Lakers have received no indication from James or his representatives that he would request a trade or ask for a buyout.

Even if he eventually does seek to leave the Lakers, there are major roadblocks toward reaching that goal.

While a third stint with his hometown Cavaliers has frequently been mentioned as a logical landing spot, Woike and Vardon point out that the only realistic way for that to happen is a buyout prior to training camp — the Lakers, who have championship aspirations, have no incentive to take that route.

Cleveland is operating over the second apron and cannot aggregate salaries, which would make a James trade virtually impossible without significant cost-cutting. Second-apron restrictions would also prohibit the Cavs from signing LeBron if he’s bought out after the regular season begins.

The Warriors and Knicks have also been speculated as teams who might go all-in for a player nearing retirement in order to win next year’s championship. However, trading away James for a high-salary player such as Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns, both of whom are signed for at least the next two seasons, would wreck the Lakers’ plans to have salary cap flexibility next summer.

The Mavericks, who have also been thrown into the rumor mill regarding James, don’t have interest in gutting their roster to match his salary in a trade, The Athletic duo adds. It’s also noteworthy that LeBron has a full no-trade clause in his contract, so the Lakers can’t deal him unless he signs off on the transaction.

Cavs’ Koby Altman Signs Contract Extension

July 14th, 2025 at 9:59am CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman has signed a contract extension that will run through the 2029/30 season, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.

Altman last signed an extension back in January 2022. Reporting at the time indicated that deal kept him under contract through ’27/28, so the new extension will tack on two additional years.

Altman, who has been the head of basketball operations in Cleveland since 2017, oversaw the post-LeBron James rebuild following the star forward’s departure in 2018 and has since constructed one of the NBA’s most talented rosters. The Cavaliers have won at least 48 games and earned a playoff berth in each of the past three seasons. In 2024/25, the club racked up a conference-high 64 regular season victories.

The Cavaliers have drafted Darius Garland and Evan Mobley during Altman’s tenure, as well as trading for Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell. Altman also oversaw the 2024 head coaching search that resulted in the team hiring Kenny Atkinson, who earned Coach of the Year honors this spring.

Altman’s job will get more challenging going forward — after remaining out of luxury tax territory for seven straight seasons in the wake of James’ exit, the Cavs have soared past that tax threshold this offseason and will be operating above the second tax apron in 2025/26.

While carrying one of the league’s most expensive rosters is more of a burden on ownership than management, the roster restrictions that apply to second-apron teams will make it more difficult for Altman and his front office to continue complementing the Cavs’ core with quality role players.

Cleveland lost Ty Jerome in free agency this offseason, but re-signed free agent wing Sam Merrill, swapped Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball, and brought back former Cav Larry Nance Jr.

According to Charania, other members of Altman’s front office – including general manager Mike Gansey and assistant general manager Brandon Weems – have also been extended.

Summer League Notes: Flagg, C. Porter, Sarr, Raptors

July 14th, 2025 at 7:42am CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks are shutting down No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg for the rest of Summer League after he appeared in the team’s first two games in Las Vegas, reports NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter video link).

Flagg opened his Summer League career on Thursday with a 5-of-21 performance that he referred to as “one of the worst games of my life,” but showed on Saturday why he was considered the consensus top prospect in the 2025 draft class, piling up 31 of Dallas’ 69 points in a loss to San Antonio.

Having exhibited on Saturday that he has little left to prove in Las Vegas, Flagg will shift his focus to training camp in the fall, with the Mavericks not looking to risk an injury to a player who figures to be a key part of their lineup when the regular season gets underway.

Here are a few more Summer League items of interest:

Third-year guard Craig Porter Jr., who will be vying for rotation minutes in Cleveland this fall, was expected to be one of the leaders of the Cavaliers‘ Summer League team, but a left hamstring injury sidelined him on Sunday and has rendered his availability for the rest of the Vegas League uncertain, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required).
Wizards big man Alex Sarr, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 draft, set a new Summer League record on Sunday by blocking eight shots, per Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. After averaging a modest 6.5 rebounds per game as a rookie, the seven-foot Sarr showed promise on that front Sunday too, grabbing 12 boards.
Eric Koreen of The Athletic shares five Raptors-related observations from the team’s first two Summer League games, singling out second-year big man Ulrich Chomche, who is returning from an ACL injury, and second-year forward Jonathan Mogbo, who will be fighting to retain his rotation spot this fall, as a couple players who have stood out in Toronto’s two victories.
A panel of ESPN insiders share their early Summer League observations on several members of the 2025 rookie class, including Flagg, Dylan Harper, Noa Essengue, and Nique Clifford.

Top 45 Picks From 2025 Draft Have Signed NBA Contracts

July 12th, 2025 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

It has been 16 days since the NBA’s 2025 draft wrapped up and just 11 days since those draftees were permitted to start signing contracts, but the majority of the ’25 draft class have already put pen to paper, finalizing standard or two-way deals with their respective teams.

As our tracker shows, all 30 first-round picks have signed their rookie scale contracts, and the top 15 picks in the second round are now under contract too. Outside of the top 45, four additional players – No. 48 pick Javon Small, No. 49 pick Tyrese Proctor, No. 50 pick Kobe Sanders, and No. 55 pick Lachlan Olbrich – have formally inked their first NBA contracts.

That leaves the following players who don’t yet have an NBA contract in place for the 2025/26 season:

Boston Celtics: Amari Williams
Milwaukee Bucks: Bogoljub Markovic
New York Knicks: Mohamed Diawara
Golden State Warriors: Alex Toohey
Utah Jazz: John Tonje
Indiana Pacers: Taelon Peter
Golden State Warriors: Will Richard
Boston Celtics: Max Shulga
Cleveland Cavaliers: Saliou Niang
Memphis Grizzlies: Jahmai Mashack

A number of these players are expected to end up on two-way deals — Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter links) reported on draft night that both of these Celtics picks – Williams and Shulga – would be signing two-ways with Boston, for instance.

Still, not all of these guys will be on NBA rosters when the 2025/26 season begins. For example, the expectation is that Niang will spend next season in the EuroLeague with Virtus Bologna.

Players born outside the U.S. and/or ones who already have experience in non-NBA leagues are typically the best candidates to become overseas draft-and-stash players, so that could be an option for late second-rounders like Markovic, Diawara, and Toohey too. It’s hardly a given though. Post-draft reporting indicated that the Bucks and Knicks weren’t yet sure if Markovic and Diawara, respectively, will be stashed in Europe or if they’ll play stateside in ’25/26. Diawara, in particular, might have a chance to earn a standard contract for a New York team with little breathing room below its hard cap.

The other option for draft-and-stash players is to spend the season in the G League rather than in a league outside the U.S. Typically, at least one or two players go that route each season. That’s what Nikola Djurisic, the Hawks’ No. 43 overall pick a year ago, did in 2024/25 before signing his first NBA contract with Atlanta earlier this week.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on these players in the coming days and weeks, as many of them could end up finalizing their plans for 2025/26 either during the Las Vegas Summer League or shortly thereafter.

Lakers Notes: Buss, Ayton, Doncic, LeBron

July 10th, 2025 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

A statement last month indicated that Jeanie Buss is expected to remain the Lakers‘ governor “for the foreseeable future” even after the team is sold to incoming owner Mark Walter. That “foreseeable future” will span quite some time, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, who hears from a source that the agreement between the two sides calls for Buss to remain in her governor role for at least the next five seasons.

We have more on the Lakers:

Speaking to reporters at his introductory press conference on Tuesday, new Lakers center Deandre Ayton said that signing with Los Angeles “feels like a video game” and that he doesn’t intend to take the opportunity for granted, as Mark Medina of RG.org relays. Ayton called new teammate Luka Doncic a “once-in-a-generation player” and cited Doncic’s and LeBron James‘ career assist numbers as one reason why he expects to thrive in L.A. “They turn (their teammates) into superstars,” Ayton said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “They make them bigger than their roles, they make them very important on the floor.”
Ayton also said on Tuesday that he’s motivated by critics who have questioned his effort, focus, and maturity, according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. “It fuels me,” Ayton said. “It fuels me up completely. And it’s a different type of drive that I’ve been wanting to express for a long time. I think this is the perfect timing, here in the purple and gold. And it’s a platform that I cannot run from. I can show what I really am and just be around some greats to really emphasize that for me as well. It is a lot of fuel in me to prove to the whole world.”
After social media posts revealed that LeBron James visited the Cavaliers‘ practice facility last week, the star forward clarified (via Twitter) that it’s an annual occurrence for him, since he lives and trains in the area during the offseason. Still, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during an appearance on ESPN Cleveland (Twitter video link) that LeBron knew what he was doing when he was photographed in the Cavs’ building amidst speculation about his future. “LeBron absolutely knows that he will cause a wave with these social media things,” Windhorst said (hat tip to Adam Zagoria of NJ.com). “On one hand, he is just coming home for the holiday, he is just doing something that he has done numerous times in the past. On the other hand, by doing what’s he’s doing, he’s absolutely poking the bear and being passive aggressive. And by the way, the Lakers are being passive-aggressive back at LeBron. They did not announce his option pick-up. So they’re both acting in the same way. Now, how is this going to get resolved? And my answer to you, in full honesty, is I don’t know.”

Groups Set For 2025 NBA Cup

July 9th, 2025 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced the six groups of five teams apiece for the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup, also known as the in-season tournament (Twitter link).

In order to set the groups, the league splits the Western and Eastern Conferences into five three-team tiers based on last season’s regular season standings, with one club from each tier randomly drawn into each of the conference’s three groups.

For instance, the top three teams from the West will all be in separate groups, with each of those three groups also featuring one team in the 4-6 range, one in the 7-9 range, and so on.

Here are the groups for the 2025 NBA Cup:

West Group A: Oklahoma City Thunder (1), Minnesota Timberwolves (6), Sacramento Kings (9), Phoenix Suns (11), Utah Jazz (15)
West Group B: Los Angeles Lakers (3), Los Angeles Clippers (5), Memphis Grizzlies (8), Dallas Mavericks (10), New Orleans Pelicans (14)
West Group C: Houston Rockets (2), Denver Nuggets (4), Golden State Warriors (7), Portland Trail Blazers (12), San Antonio Spurs (13)
East Group A: Cleveland Cavaliers (1), Indiana Pacers (4), Atlanta Hawks (8), Toronto Raptors (11), Washington Wizards (15)
East Group B: Boston Celtics (2), Detroit Pistons (6), Orlando Magic (7), Brooklyn Nets (12), Philadelphia 76ers (13)
East Group C: New York Knicks (3), Milwaukee Bucks (5), Chicago Bulls (9), Miami Heat (10), Charlotte Hornets (14)

The round-robin group play games will be starting a little earlier than usual this season and will run from October 31 to November 28. Each team will face the other four clubs in its group once, with the winners of each group and one wild card team from each conference advancing to the eight-team, single-elimination knockout round.

The full schedule of group play games can be viewed right here.

The quarterfinals will be played on December 9-10, with the semifinals and final to follow on Dec. 13 and Dec. 16, respectively, in Las Vegas. The knockout round games will all be aired by one of the NBA’s new broadcasting partners, Amazon Prime.

The Bucks won last season’s NBA Cup, with star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo earning MVP honors after leading Milwaukee to a victory over the Thunder in the championship game.

Central Notes: Pistons, Ivey, Nance, Nesmith, Mathurin

July 8th, 2025 at 7:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking on Tuesday to reporters, including Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon spoke about the size and shooting that Duncan Robinson will bring to the team and lauded Caris LeVert for his defensive versatility, ball-handling, and “unselfish brand of basketball.” He also pointed out that both newcomers have plenty of postseason experience.

However, Langdon also made it clear that the additions of Robinson and LeVert aren’t the only reasons why he’s enthusiastic about his team’s potential in 2025/26.

“I think the one thing that does get lost in all of this, to be honest with you, is (Jaden Ivey‘s) return,” Langdon said. “A lot of people are saying, who are you filling with these guys that are exiting. I say, well, we have a pretty good free agent pickup in J.I., so I think he’s going to fill a lot of those point guard roles and play-making roles.”

In addition to getting Ivey back, the Pistons also expect young cornerstones like Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren to continue improving.

“We have a chance to compete next year,” Langdon said. “The main thing for us is continuing to let these young guys develop and they’re in the gym working their butt off. Like I said from initially in the summer, if they get better, we’re going to be better. So it was finding pieces to complement our young players and their growth and ability to reach their potential. I think with our two additions, we got bigger and we want to continue to put them around guys who can play-make. That’s going to continue to help Cade grow and develop.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

After the Pistons generated a $14.1MM traded player exception in their sign-and-trade deal sending Dennis Schröder to Sacramento, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic considers what sort of players it might make sense to target using that TPE. Herb Jones, Goga Bitadze, and Brandon Clarke are among the names he suggests.
A member of the Cavaliers from 2018-21, Larry Nance Jr. has remained close with the organization since then and spent his summers in Cleveland in the years, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). That’s one reason why it came as no surprise that the Ohio native signed a deal to return to the Cavs this offseason. “It just made too much sense, you know? I knew I would (be back one day). I didn’t know when,” Nance said. “… This is a team that’s really got a chance to win it all. And that’s the goal. That’s why I came back, and that’s what we’re going to do this year.”
Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin will be extension-eligible ahead of the start of the 2025/26 regular season and the Pacers plan to discuss new deals for them, but president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard is preaching patience, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “Can I just have like 24 hours please?” Pritchard said when asked on Monday about potential Mathurin and Nesmith extensions. “Literally, guys, we went straight from the Finals to the draft to free agency to Summer League. … We’ll look at all those kinds of things. But I think that’s a little premature. We have all summer and up until next year to do those.” Dopirak views Nesmith (who will be extension-eligible starting in October) as a no-brainer candidate for a new contract but acknowledges that Mathurin’s situation is a little more complicated.

Scouts, Execs View Cavs As Favorites To Win East Next Season

July 5th, 2025 at 8:36am CST by Rory Maher

The Cavaliers claimed the top seed in the Eastern Conference last season by going 64-18. In part due to injuries, Cleveland had a rocky playoff showing, losing its second-round series vs. Indiana in five games.

Due to the Achilles tears of Jayson Tatum (Celtics) and Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers), the East is viewed as being up for grabs in 2025/26. But in an anonymous poll of eight NBA scouts and executives, seven selected the Cavaliers to win the conference (one picked them to finish second), according to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

The Knicks were the only other team to receive a first-place vote and appear on all eight ballots. They finished second in the poll, with the Hawks and Magic rounding out the top four.

Thus far this offseason, the Cavs agreed to a trade with the Bulls that will send Lonzo Ball to Cleveland and Isaac Okoro to Chicago. On his What An Experience podcast (YouTube link), Ball said he’s excited to be joining a contending team.

“Just playing, competing for a ring. I feel like that should be the goal, I feel like that is the goal,” said Ball (hat tip to Benedetto Vitale of Clutch Points). “So, happy to get over there and get started. To meet everybody, get familiar with everything, and take it as far as we can.

“I feel like it’s just a blessing, bro. To be honest, I mean, everybody keeps asking me how I feel about the trade. I’m like, s—, I’m happy to still be playing anywhere, let alone a team that has a real chance to win a ring. My whole life, I feel like I’ve been playing the right brand of basketball, and that’s to win games, so I feel like I’m going to a great situation and I just want to play my role and do what I can to help.”

In other offseason moves, Cleveland lost Sixth Man of the Year finalist Ty Jerome to the Grizzlies in free agency, declined its team option on Chuma Okeke, agreed to re-sign sharpshooter Sam Merrill and bring back former big man Larry Nance Jr., and signed second-round pick Tyrese Proctor to a standard contract. The Cavs’ other second-rounder, Saliou Niang, will reportedly play for EuroLeague club Virtus Bologna next season.

The Cavaliers seem prepared to bring back their “core four” of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, though Garland’s name has popped up in some trade talks. All four players have All-Star nods on their résumés and are on lucrative long-term contracts.

Cleveland will be operating over the second tax apron next season, limiting the team’s roster-building flexibility.

Free Agent Rumors: Kuminga, CP3, Horford, Westbrook, Lillard

July 2nd, 2025 at 11:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings are “very engaged” on Warriors restricted free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga, according to Matt George of ABC 10 in Sacramento (Twitter links).

While the Kings have seemingly been extremely willing to discuss Malik Monk in trade scenarios, Monk likely wouldn’t be involved in any deal for Kuminga, says George, noting that Golden State doesn’t appear to have much interest in the veteran guard.

George has heard that the Kings have explored sending out guard Devin Carter, forward Dario Saric, and draft compensation as part of a deal to acquire Kuminga via sign-and-trade (Twitter link). If a deal along those lines came to fruition, it would likely be combined with Sacramento’s Saric/Jonas Valanciunas swap with Denver in order to maximize the Kings’ outgoing salary, which would allow them to give Kuminga a more lucrative deal.

However, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link), there’s no agreement imminent at this point. Conversations on the Kuminga front with the Warriors and “several” teams are ongoing, Slater adds.

Here are a few more items of interest on some of the top free agents still on the board:

After starting all 82 games for San Antonio this past season, veteran point guard Chris Paul is hoping to be a starter again in 2025/26, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), which is one reason why he’s still weighing his options in free agency. Reynolds says the Clippers are hoping Paul will join them, while Ramona Shelburne of ESPN (Twitter video link) views the Suns as his most likely landing spot. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) believes Paul would like to return to Phoenix, but thinks there would be a very limited role for him with the Suns, so he considered a reunion unlikely.
The Warriors have been “very aggressive” in trying to recruit Al Horford to Golden State, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Twitter video link). Windhorst believes Horford could end up in the West Coast if he continues his career, noting that the Lakers are among the other teams pursuing him. Windhorst’s report came before the Lakers reached an agreement with Deandre Ayton, but Los Angeles could still use frontcourt depth and still has its $5.1MM bi-annual exception available.
Russell Westbrook, an L.A. native, would like to “be closer to home,” according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter video link). Multiple reports this week have linked Westbrook to the Kings, but it sounds like that would only become a viable option if Sacramento ends up trading Monk.
In ranking what he believes are the top five best landing spots for Damian Lillard once he becomes a free agent, Spears places the Timberwolves atop his list (Twitter video link). Mike Conley is still penciled in as Minnesota’s starting point guard, but he’ll be 38 in October and struggled in the postseason, and the Wolves don’t have much reliable depth at the position behind him. Lillard could be a perfect fit, though he’ll miss most or all of the 2025/26 season while recovering from his Achilles tear.
In addition to previously reported suitors like Milwaukee and Indiana, the Knicks, Clippers, Cavaliers, and Nuggets also expressed some level of interest in Ayton before he agreed to join the Lakers, Shams Charania of ESPN said on SportsCenter (Twitter video link). Charania added that several suitors reached out to Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin to ask about Ayton and got “rave reviews of him as a teammate.”