Kuminga, Melton, Santos Scrimmage With G League Team
- Coach Steve Kerr was encouraged after watching Jonathan Kuminga, De’Anthony Melton and Gui Santos scrimmage with the Warriors‘ G League team on Wednesday, writes Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. He said Kuminga “looked good” and is “moving well” as he works his way back from bilateral knee tendonitis. Kerr had a similar review of Melton, who’s recovering from a torn ACL, adding, “The toughest challenge for him will be rhythm.”
Pacific Notes: Melton, Kuminga, Murray, Christie, Brooks
The Warriors assigned a trio of players to the G League on Wednesday, with guard De’Anthony Melton and forwards Jonathan Kuminga and Gui Santos all joining the Santa Cruz Warriors in order to scrimmage, tweets Anthony Slater of ESPN. Santos was getting some conditioning work in, while Melton and Kuminga are in the final stages of injury recoveries.
According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the Warriors are optimistic that Melton will be able to make his season debut following an ACL tear during the first week of December. The veteran guard is due to be reevaluated this weekend.
As for Kuminga, who has been sidelined due to bilateral knee tendonitis, the hope is that he won’t have any setbacks during his scrimmages with Santa Cruz. If that’s the case, there’s an expectation that the fifth-year forward could be back on the court at some point during Golden State’s current home stand, which wraps up on December 2, Siegel reports.
We have more from around the Pacific:
- The Kings have won two of three games since Keegan Murray made his season debut, and the fourth-year forward was especially effective in Monday’s overtime victory over Minnesota, with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Teammate DeMar DeRozan spoke after that win about what Murray’s return means to the team, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee relays (via Twitter). “It’s everything,” DeRozan said. “Keegan is the key to this team. It’s his team. He’s one of those guys who’s going to be very, very special in this league and he’s showing it.”
- While there have been some questions about Doug Christie‘s job security in Sacramento, Kings general manager Scott Perry told Sam Amick of The Athletic this week that he has “complete confidence” in Christie to “lead this team into better times.” Sacramento’s head coach appreciated the public show of support, according to Anderson. “His backing, the alignment from him, is huge,” Christie said. “He hasn’t said anything to me differently, so I’m glad that he said that (publicly). More than anything, it’s about us playing a style and a brand of basketball that Sacramento Kings fans can be proud of. On the path to that, there are a lot of steps to that, but first things first. I appreciate that from Scott. Obviously, when the boss speaks highly of you, it’s a good thing.”
- Playing against the Rockets on Monday for the first time since Houston traded him to Phoenix over the summer, Suns forward Dillon Brooks talked trash to his former teammates and accused them of flopping, writes Doug Haller of The Athletic. However, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka took it in stride, telling reporters that Brooks’ impact during his two years in Houston was “invaluable” and he doesn’t mind the forward’s tendency to push boundaries. “To bring in a veteran, like him and Fred (Van Vleet), to change the culture and environment, the competitiveness on a nightly basis,” Udoka said. “You’ve seen that happen here. I don’t mind at all. We both toe the line I guess at times, but he’s a guy that I love and have a ton of respect for.”
Fischer’s Latest: Centers, Vucevic, Davis, Sabonis, Isaac
There will likely be several veteran big men available on the trade market ahead of this season’s February 5 deadline, Jake Fischer writes in his latest article for Marc Stein’s Substack.
As Fischer details, the Nets are expected to receive calls about center Nic Claxton, the Suns have made Nick Richards available since the offseason, and the Trail Blazers are considered more open to moving Robert Williams than they were last season. Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic is also expected to generate some interest from rival teams, per Fischer, though I’m skeptical Utah will be able to extract much of value for Nurkic, given his $19.4MM cap hit.
One of the more intriguing in-season trade candidates among frontcourt players could be Bulls center Nikola Vucevic, who has an expiring $21.5MM contract and has remained productive at age 35, with averages of 16.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game to go along with a .495/.407/.786 shooting line.
While Vucevic could generate interest on his own, Fischer suggests that rival executives have wondered whether the Bulls might make a play for a big man like Anthony Davis of the Mavericks or Domantas Sabonis of the Kings, given all the expiring money and cap flexibility Chicago has at its disposal.
Here are a few more highlights from Fischer’s latest rumor round-up:
- There’s an “expectation in some corners” that Davis and his representatives will seek a contract extension if he’s traded to a new team in the coming months, Fischer writes. Davis’ current maximum-salary contract with the Mavericks runs through 2026/27, with a $62.8MM player option for ’27/28. If he hopes to lock in another lucrative deal that would begin in 2028, when he’ll be 35, Davis would probably have to stay relatively healthy and play at his usual All-Star level this season after he returns from a calf strain.
- Fischer is skeptical that the Warriors will be a major factor in any Sabonis sweepstakes, pointing out that Golden State would have likely have to add multiple quality role players to Jonathan Kuminga‘s $22.5MM contract in order to match Sabonis’ $42.3MM salary. The Warriors did show interest in Sabonis before Indiana traded him in 2022, but Fischer doesn’t think the club is desperate enough to “tear up its roster” for the Kings big man at this point, especially since he’s not a floor spacer or rim protector.
- According to Fischer, rival cap strategists believe the Magic‘s cap situation may force the team to part ways at some point with forward Jonathan Isaac, whose four-year, $59MM contract is partially guaranteed in 2026/27 and non-guaranteed beyond that. While it’s unclear whether Orlando would make Isaac available during the ’25/26 season, he’s a name worth keeping an eye on, Fischer says.
Warriors Notes: Kuminga, Green, Butler
Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga will miss his seventh consecutive game on Wednesday against the Rockets due to knee tendinitis. He told ESPN’s Anthony Slater he’ll be back in action “soon” (Twitter link).
Kuminga participated in some 3-on-3 scrimmages during Tuesday’s practice and will scrimmage on Wednesday as well. Warriors beat writer Monte Poole tweets.
Kuminga had played well prior to the injury, averaging 13.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Al Horford also won’t play on Wednesday due to a nerve issue.
We have more on the Warriors:
- Draymond Green has been upgraded to probable for Wednesday’s game, Slater tweets. Green sat out Monday’s 17-point win over the Jazz due to a foot sprain. Green holds a $27.7MM player option next offseason on the final year of his contract.
- Jimmy Butler had a highly efficient outing against Utah. He was a plus-19 in 28 minutes, scoring 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting with six rebounds and seven assists, Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area notes. Meanwhile, Lauri Markkanen — one of the players the Warriors coveted prior to last season before trading for Butler last winter — scored just 17 points on 31.6% shooting with smaller players guarding him. The game provided a reminder of why the Warriors have no regrets about taking their big trade-market swing on Butler, Johnson writes.
- In case you missed it, the Warriors now have enough room below their hard cap to sign a 15th man. However, every day they put off doing so creates a little more flexibility below that threshold.
Key Dates For Teams Up Against Hard Cap, Tax Line
There are currently five NBA teams who have an open spot on their respective 15-man rosters and don’t have the ability to sign a free agent to fill that opening because of their proximity to a first- or second-apron hard cap.
For instance, after hard-capping themselves at the first apron in the offseason, the Lakers are operating just $1,124,195 below that threshold. A prorated minimum salary for a veteran signed today would count against the cap for $1,834,380 and wouldn’t fit under Los Angeles’ hard cap. But as of January 18, that figure would drop to $1,121,743, just low enough for the Lakers to accommodate it.
Here are the dates as of which those five teams who have 14-man rosters and are right up against a hard cap could first sign a player:
- January 7: Los Angeles Clippers
- January 8: Houston Rockets
- January 9: Orlando Magic
- January 18: Los Angeles Lakers
- April 2: New York Knicks
The Warriors were also on this list when the season began, but they now have enough room below their hard cap to sign a 15th man — every day they put off doing so creates a little more flexibility below that threshold, which could come in handy later in the season.
Those teams aren’t the only ones worth keeping an eye on due to their cap limitations though. The Mavericks, for example, have a full 15-man roster, but could be looking to make a change after ruling out Dante Exum for the season due to a knee injury. That wouldn’t be possible right now though, since Dallas is just $1,292,084 away from a second-apron hard cap. The Mavs won’t be able to add a new 15th man in place of Exum until January 6, at which point a prorated minimum deal would carry a cap charge of $1,280,107.
There are also a handful of teams operating just under the luxury tax line who wouldn’t have the ability to sign a free agent to a minimum-salary contract without surpassing that threshold. The tax line isn’t a hard cap, so there’s nothing stopping a club from surpassing it today and then trying to duck below it later in the season. But that comes with some risk, since getting below the tax typically requires the cooperation of a trade partner.
Here are the teams currently unable to sign a veteran free agent without going into the tax, along with the dates when that will change:
- December 13: Miami Heat
- December 19: Portland Trail Blazers
- January 26: Oklahoma City Thunder
The Trail Blazers and Thunder currently have full 15-man rosters, and there’s no indication that either team wants to make a roster move. The Heat, on the other hand, have an open roster spot, so they’re worth keeping a closer eye on starting in mid-December.
It’s worth noting that all of these dates apply to free agent signings only. If a team were to sign a player whose draft rights it held to a rookie minimum contract, the cap hit would be significantly lower, so it could happen sooner. But few teams have that sort of draft-rights player waiting in the wings to join the roster during the season.
We should also mention that the dates above only apply to one-year, minimum-salary contracts. If a team wants to bring in a player on a multiyear minimum deal, the first-year cap hit is generally higher, so it would have to happen later in the season.
Finally, these dates are all contingent on the team’s current cap situation, so they’re subject to change if a club makes a trade, completes a buyout, or makes a 10-day signing that changes its position relative to the tax line or aprons.
Injury Notes: Warriors, Davis, Barrett, Sixers, Collins, Pacers
The Warriors will be without three important frontcourt players on Monday against Utah. In addition to center Al Horford, who will miss at least a week due to right sciatic nerve irritation, and forward Jonathan Kuminga, who has been unavailable since November 12 due to bilateral knee tendonitis, Draymond Green has been ruled out for Monday’s game due to a right foot sprain, per Anthony Slater of ESPN.
Green was listed as questionable before being downgraded to out, which may be a sign that his injury isn’t considered significant. Of course, Kuminga’s knee soreness also wasn’t intially viewed as a cause for much concern, but he’ll miss a sixth straight contest on Monday and his return isn’t necessarily imminent.
The Warriors had hoped he’d be able to practice on Sunday, but that didn’t happen, according to Slater, who adds that imaging on Kuminga’s knees came back clean, showing no structural damage.
“He said he’s not moving that well, so I can’t tell you what the outlook is,” head coach Steve Kerr said on Sunday. “He needs to feel better and be able to move better before we can put him out there.”
We have several more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Mavericks big man Anthony Davis will miss a 14th consecutive game due to a left calf strain on Monday, but head coach Jason Kidd said the plan is for Davis to take part in practice on Wednesday, writes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. Assuming Davis practices without a setback, his return shouldn’t be far off, Afseth notes.
- The imaging results on RJ Barrett‘s sprained right knee “look promising,” according to Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic (Twitter link via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca). Barrett is out for Monday’s game vs. Cleveland but seems to have avoided a serious injury and is being considered day-to-day.
- Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe (left calf tightness) will miss a second consecutive game on Tuesday vs. Orlando, but center Joel Embiid (right knee injury management) has been upgraded to questionable, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports.
- The Bulls are hopeful that Zach Collins (left wrist surgery) will be able to practice with contact this week, according to Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says Collins has a chance to return during the team’s post-Thanksgiving road trip that begins on Friday and runs through next Monday.
- Pacers guards Johnny Furphy (left ankle sprain) and Quenton Jackson (right hamstring strain) could be back in action within the next couple weeks, head coach Rick Carlisle said today (Twitter links via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star). Carlisle added that rookie Kam Jones has recovered from his back injury, but is still in the ramp-up process and could play for the Noblesville Boom in the G League before making his NBA debut.
Al Horford Out At Least A Week With Sciatic Injury
Al Horford will miss at least a week for the Warriors with sciatica, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area (via Twitter).
The injury is being classified as right sciatic nerve irritation, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link), who notes that Horford will be out for at least three games: Monday vs. Utah, Wednesday vs. Houston, and Saturday vs. New Orleans.
Horford is currently averaging the fewest minutes, points, rebounds, and assists per game of his career, as well as his lowest three-point percentage in 11 seasons, as he adjusts to coming off the bench for Golden State.
Sciatica is the same type of medical issue that kept LeBron James sidelined for the Lakers’ first 14 games, though the wording on Horford seems to suggest that his ailment is less severe than James’ was.
The Warriors have cooled off since their 4-1 start to the season and are now 9-9 after losing their last three games. Horford’s injury will provide yet another test for Golden State’s frontcourt depth, as Jonathan Kuminga remains out with knee tendonitis and Draymond Green is listed as questionable for Monday’s game with a foot sprain.
Kings Rumors: Murray, Clifford, Sabonis, LaVine, Ellis, Monk
The Kings pulled off an impressive win in Denver on Saturday night, upsetting the Nuggets by a score of 128-123. However, even after handing the Nuggets just their second home loss of the season, Sacramento has a 4-13 record, having dropped its previous eight games by an average margin of 23.4 points.
As a result, the Kings are very much open for business, writes Jake Fischer of Stein Line (Substack link). It’s still a little early for the in-season trade market to pick up, but Sacramento is willing to listen to inquiries on players “up and down” the roster, according to Fischer.
While most players on the Kings’ roster could be had for the right offer, Fischer identifies fourth-year forward Keegan Murray and rookie guard Nique Clifford as a couple exceptions. Sources tell Fischer that both players are expected to be off limits this season, with the front office hoping that the young duo will be part of the long-term future in Sacramento. Murray and Clifford are the only two players on the roster whose contracts run beyond the 2027/28 season.
Domantas Sabonis is also something of a question mark, Fischer notes, since team owner Vivek Ranadive is a big fan of the veteran center, and Sabonis enjoys Sacramento and isn’t considered likely to ask for a trade. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Kings wouldn’t move him, but he’s on a maximum-salary contract and is viewed around the NBA as a negative defensively, Fischer explains, so it could be hard for the team to extract the kind of value it would want in a trade.
“It’s tough to pay a center that much who doesn’t protect the rim and doesn’t shoot threes — no matter how great of an offensive hub he can be,” one Western Conference executive told Fischer.
Here’s more on the Kings:
- Besides Sacramento, the Warriors were the only other team to exhibit legitimate interest in Zach LaVine before he was traded out of Chicago last season, according to Fischer, who notes that Golden State – having acquired Jimmy Butler since then – won’t be in on LaVine now. LaVine’s maximum-salary contract will make him difficult to move for any real value, though Fischer hears that teams would have more interest if the high-scoring guard were willing to eliminate his $49MM player option for 2026/27 in favor of a multiyear deal that starts at a lower figure.
- According to Fischer, the Kings’ former front office showed some interest in Trae Young, and LaVine’s camp made a push in the offseason to sell the Hawks on a deal that would’ve sent LaVine to Atlanta and Young to Sacramento. However, Fischer hears that general manager Scott Perry isn’t interested in pursuing Young, Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball, or Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, none of whom fits the defense-first mindset the organization is prioritizing under the new regime.
- “More than half the league” has called the Kings about guard Keon Ellis, a source tells The Stein Line. Teams around the NBA view Ellis as a “plug-and-play addition with two-way ability,” Fischer writes, noting that Ellis will become eligible for a contract extension before he reaches unrestricted free agency in 2026. Fischer suggests Sacramento might be able to extract a first-round pick for Ellis; he could also be used to improve a package that includes a bigger contract like LaVine’s or DeMar DeRozan‘s.
- The Pistons were viewed by several of Fischer’s sources as a potential landing spot for Malik Monk during the offseason, but “no one is saying that anymore,” he writes.
Warriors Notes: Frontcourt, Horford, Kuminga, DeMarco
After opening the regular season with 12 of 17 games on the road, the Warriors returned to San Francisco for the start of a five-game home stand on Friday. Ahead of last night’s matchup with Portland, Monte Poole of NBC Bay Area suggested that these five games could be an early-season tipping point for a team looking to climb up the standings, adding that a home loss to the Trail Blazers, Jazz, or Pelicans during the home stand would represent a “troubling setback” for Golden State.
Sure enough, the Warriors dropped Friday’s game to the slumping and banged-up Blazers to open their home stand. They were outrebounded 52-32 by Portland and allowed the Blazers to rack up 127 points, led by 26 from two-way player Caleb Love. Head coach Steve Kerr suggested after the game that he needs to try something new to address his club’s rebounding problems, per Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link).
“We may have to play two bigs more often,” Kerr said. “Al (Horford), QP (Quinten Post) or Trayce (Jackson-Davis) with Draymond (Green). We’ll have to look at that.”
Star wing Jimmy Butler, meanwhile, was critical of the Warriors’ defensive effort, telling Slater and other reporters (Twitter video link) that the team has to do “way better” on that end of the court.
“We’re just not guarding nobody, that’s all,” Butler said. “From what I can tell, I haven’t been here long, but that’s never been the formula here.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- After playing 18 minutes in the first three quarter of Friday’s loss, Horford wasn’t on the court at all in the fourth. The Warriors announced after the game that the veteran big man was dealing with right hamstring tightness and will be considered day-to-day going forward (Twitter link via Slater).
- Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga has now missed Golden State’s past five games due to bilateral knee tendonitis. According to Slater (Twitter link), Kerr said ahead of Friday’s game that the team hopes Kuminga can practice and scrimmage on Sunday, which would go a long way toward determining whether he can make his return on Monday vs. Utah.
- Longtime Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco, who has agreed to become the head coach of the WNBA’s New York Liberty, will remain on Golden State’s bench for now, according to Slater (Twitter link), who says DeMarco will leave for his new job at some point before the end of the NBA season.
Pacific Notes: Kuminga, Lakers, Gillespie, Clippers
With the Warriors off to an up-and-down start and sitting over .500 by a single game, there’s a growing expectation “in various corners of the league” that forward Jonathan Kuminga will be on the move prior to the February 5 trade deadline, Marc Stein writes for his Substack (subscription required).
While a veteran executive who spoke to Stein referred to Kuminga’s two-year, $46.8MM contract (which includes a second-year team option) as “one of the best trade chips in the league,” sources who talked to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps about Kuminga aren’t convinced that Golden State will be able to find a trade partner that covets the 23-year-old and is willing to send the Warriors the sort of value they’ll be seeking for the former No. 7 overall pick.
“Who is going to take him?” one Eastern Conference scout said. “And are they going to move him for stuff they don’t want, or just wait? It’s very hard to find a trade that makes sense for everyone.”
That same scout suggested that Kuminga, who is currently sidelined due to knee soreness, hasn’t done a whole lot so far this season to boost his trade value.
“He is who he is, even though he’s on the younger side,” the scout said. “He has looked better, and has been trying to fit in, but he still falls back into his old habits.”
We have more from around the Pacific Division:
- A pair of Los Angeles Dodgers executives – Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman – are serving as advisors with the Lakers during the transition from the Buss family to new owner Mark Walter, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. As Shelburne explains, Zaidi and Friedman are functioning as senior executives with TWG Sports, the entity Walter created to oversee his sports holdings. Zaidi has been Walter’s representative during the transition process, according to Shelburne, while Friedman has consulted with general manager Rob Pelinka.
- Back with the Suns after signing a one-year, minimum-salary contract over the summer, point guard Collin Gillespie is enjoying his expanded role in Phoenix. Gillespie, one of the team’s top reserves, is averaging 10.5 points and 5.1 assists in 24.3 minutes per game off the bench as he makes a case to stick with the Suns beyond this season. “I would like to be here long-term,” he said (Twitter video link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). “It’s 15 games into the season. There’s a ton of time. I’m not even worried about that or focused on that right now. Just play the year out. Hopefully have a really good year. Win a lot of games and then focus on it after the season, but I would like to be here long-term.”
- Law Murray of The Athletic takes a look at some of the issues plaguing the 4-11 Clippers, including an inability to keep up with faster-paced offenses, poor point-of-attack defense, losing the rebounding and possession battles, and – in the words of head coach Tyronn Lue – a lack of “point-of-attack offensive guys that can create their own shots.”