Pacers Sign James Wiseman
10:00 pm: Wiseman signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract with a partial guarantee and a second-year team option, according to Tony East of Locked on Pacers (Twitter link). It’s a similar structure to the deal the big man received from the team last offseason.
2:31 pm: The Pacers have brought back free agent center James Wiseman, the team confirmed in a press release. President of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard had told reporters earlier in the day that a new deal with Wiseman was in the works.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Wiseman signed with the Pacers as a free agent a year ago after playing for Golden State and Detroit in his first four NBA seasons. The big man impressed Indiana in the preseason and appeared to have the edge for the backup center role behind Myles Turner, but tore his left Achilles in the club’s regular season opener.
Wiseman has dealt with several injuries in his young career, including missing the entire 2021/22 season following knee surgery. Over the course of five years, the 24-year-old has appeared in 148 total games (55 starts), averaging 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per contest.
As Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets, Pritchard said on Monday that Wiseman will get an opportunity to compete in Indiana’s new Turner-less frontcourt alongside Jay Huff, Tony Bradley, and restricted free agent Isaiah Jackson, who is considered likely to re-sign.
It’s unclear whether or not Wiseman’s salary will be guaranteed or if he’s assured of a regular season roster spot — it’s possible he’ll be vying for a 15-man spot with Bradley, whose salary is non-guaranteed. Still, Pritchard spoke enthusiastically today about Wiseman.
“We saw a lot of potential in him in the preseason and going up until his injury,” Pritchard said, per Matthew Glenesk and Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “Very long. Very athletic. Becoming a better shooter. I think he’s getting to that point where his injury is allowing him to get on the court and — not full, but do a lot. I think (assistant coach) Jim Boylen has done a great job with him and Isaiah quite frankly, in this shortened summer and they’ll continue to work. You don’t replace Myles but a combination of those players, we’re going to have to rely on.”
Pacers’ Pritchard: Haliburton Won’t Play In 2025/26
Speaking on Monday to reporters, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard confirmed that star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who tore his right Achilles tendon during Game 7 of the NBA Finals last month, will miss the entire 2025/26 season.
“I have no doubt that he will be back better than ever,” Pritchard said (Twitter video link via WISH-TV News). “… He will not play next year though. He would not jeopardize that now. So don’t get any hopes up that he will play.
Pritchard’s update doesn’t come as a real surprise, given how late in the spring Haliburton’s injury occurred. He suffered the Achilles tear on June 22 and underwent surgery the following day.
It typically takes upwards of a full calendar year for players to fully recover following Achilles surgery. By the time the NBA postseason tip off next April, Haliburton will be fewer than 10 months into his recovery process, and there’s no guarantee Indiana will make a deep playoff run – or even make the playoffs at all – without him available in 2025/26.
Pritchard said Haliburton’s absence will create “opportunities to grow” for some of Indiana’s players. While Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell are the top two candidates to take over point guard duties, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Bennedict Mathurin also assumes more of a ball-handling and play-making role as he enters the final year of his rookie scale contract.
As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star relays (via Twitter), Pritchard went on to joke that Haliburton will have to serve as his general manager until he’s healthy and that he’ll “probably be better than (actual GM) Chad (Buchanan).”
Haliburton has expressed no regrets about trying to play through a calf injury to win a championship, suggesting he’d do it the same way over again if he could, even knowing he’d suffer a far more significant injury. Pritchard doesn’t share that sentiment, Dopirak notes (via Twitter), even though the Pacers’ top basketball executive believes the club would have won Game 7 if Haliburton didn’t get hurt.
Free Agent Rumors: Guards, Kuminga, Pacers, Hayes
An expectation that Bradley Beal will soon become an unrestricted free agent is affecting the markets for free agent guards Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and Malcolm Brogdon, who are drawing interest from many of the same teams, writes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
According to Fischer, the Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, and Timberwolves are among the teams expected to have interest in signing Beal if and when he finalizes a buyout agreement with the Suns, which seems increasingly likely. A previous report also identified the Warriors as a possible suitor for Beal, with the Heat viewed as less likely after their trade for Norman Powell.
The Clippers and Bucks are known to have interest in Paul, Fischer points out, so if Beal ends up with one of those teams, it would likely rule that club out for CP3, perhaps increasing the odds of the 40-year-old reuniting with the Suns.
As for Brogdon, he has the Clippers, Suns, Lakers, Warriors, Timberwolves, and Bucks are also among the teams that have registered some level of interest in him, along with the Pelicans and Kings, Fischer reports.
Free agents like De’Anthony Melton and Ben Simmons may also find themselves involved in this game of backcourt musical chairs, according to Fischer, who suggests that their potential landing spots should become more clearer once one or two of those top guards – starting with Beal – finds a new home.
Here are a few more notes on free agents from around the NBA:
- There was no traction on the Jonathan Kuminga front over the weekend, sources tell Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Slater, the Kings have been the most aggressive suitor for the Warriors restricted free agent so far, but nothing has come close. In fact, the market for all of the top restricted free agents remains “ice cold,” Slater adds.
- The Pacers are expected to reunite with a pair of familiar faces to fill out their frontcourt. Speaking to reporters today, president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said the club is planning to re-sign James Wiseman and that things are trending in the right direction with restricted free agent Isaiah Jackson (Twitter links via Tony East).
- Veteran center Jaxson Hayes gave up his right to veto a trade this season when he re-signed with the Lakers, reports Dan Woike of The Athletic (Twitter link). By default, a player re-signing with his previous team on a one-year contract gets a de facto no-trade clause, but a team can ask a player to waive that right as part of his new deal.
Seven-Team Kevin Durant Trade Officially Finalized
The seven-team trade that sends star forward Kevin Durant and free agent big man Clint Capela (via sign-and-trade) to Houston is now official, according to press releases from several teams, including the Rockets.
“Having played against Kevin and coached him before, I know he’s the type of competitor who fits with what we’ve been building here in Houston,” head coach Ime Udoka said in a statement. “His skill level, love of basketball, and dedication to his craft have made him one of the most respected players of his generation, and my staff and I are excited to work with him.”
The move sets a new NBA record for most teams involved in a single trade. The terms of the deal are as follows:
- Rockets acquire:
- Kevin Durant (from Suns)
- Clint Capela (sign-and-trade; from Hawks)
- Suns acquire:
- Jalen Green (from Rockets)
- Dillon Brooks (from Rockets)
- Daeqwon Plowden (from Hawks)
- The draft rights to Khaman Maluach (No. 10 pick; from Rockets)
- The draft rights to Rasheer Fleming (No. 31 pick; from Timberwolves)
- The draft rights to Koby Brea (No. 41 pick; from Warriors)
- Either the Thunder’s, Mavericks’, or Sixers’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable; from Rockets)
- Lakers acquire:
- The draft rights to Adou Thiero (No. 36 pick; from Nets)
- Warriors acquire:
- The draft rights to Alex Toohey (No. 52 pick; from Suns) and the draft rights to Jahmai Mashack (No. 59 pick; from Rockets)
- Note: Mashack’s rights will be sent to the Grizzlies in a subsequent trade.
- The draft rights to Alex Toohey (No. 52 pick; from Suns) and the draft rights to Jahmai Mashack (No. 59 pick; from Rockets)
- Timberwolves acquire:
- The draft rights to Rocco Zikarsky (No. 45 pick; from Lakers)
- Either the Warriors’ or Nuggets’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Suns)
- Either the Suns’ or Rockets’ 2032 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Suns/Rockets)
- Note: The Suns, not the Rockets, retain the least favorable of the two picks.
- Cash (from Lakers).
- Note: $3.25MM, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
- Nets acquire:
- Either the Clippers’ 2026 second-round pick or the most favorable of the Celtics’, Pacers’, and Heat’s 2026 second-round picks (whichever is least favorable; from Rockets)
- The Celtics’ 2030 second-round pick (from Rockets)
- Hawks acquire:
- David Roddy (from Rockets)
- The right to swap their own 2031 second-round pick for the Rockets’ 2031 second-round pick (56-60 protected; from Rockets)
- Cash (from Rockets)
- Note: $85,300, per Marks (Twitter link).
Word first broke on Wednesday that the Durant trade was being expanded to be completed as a seven-team deal. For the most part, it was just a matter of folding separate draft-night trade agreements into a single transaction.
In addition to the original Durant blockbuster (story), this transaction incorporates trade agreements between the Suns and Nets (story), Suns and Warriors (story), Suns and Timberwolves (story), and Lakers and Timberwolves (story), as well as the sign-and-trade deal sending Capela from the Hawks to the Rockets (story).
The only two new additions to this deal are Plowden and Roddy, who are both entering the second year of two-way contracts. The addition of Plowden ensures that the Hawks are “touching” a second team besides Houston in the deal. He’s being waived by the Suns, reports Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).
In exchange for sending out Plowden, the Hawks are filling that newly opened two-way slot with Roddy, a former first-round pick who spent more than half of the 2024/25 season in Atlanta on a standard contract.
Attaching the Capela sign-and-trade deal into this transaction has cap-related benefits for the Rockets, who would otherwise have had to send out a separate matching salary in order to sign Capela to his reported three-year, $21MM deal.
However, for the most part, amalgamating all those draft-night deals is just about streamlining the process for several teams, allowing them to take part in (or wait out) fewer trade calls and get their newly acquired rookies under contract sooner.
Stein’s Latest: Valanciunas, Horford, Ham, Suns, Reid, More
After reporting on Saturday that the Nuggets plan to go through with their trade for Jonas Valanciunas despite the veteran center’s interest in signing with EuroLeague club Panathinaikos, Marc Stein of The Stein Line reiterates in his latest Substack post that Denver’s front office is “determined to enforce” Valanciunas’ contract and “optimistic” the Lithuanian big man will be a Nugget in 2025/26.
As Stein explains, even if Valanciunas agreed to give back his entire $10.4MM salary for next season in a buyout, which would give the Nuggets enough cap space below the luxury tax line to use the full mid-level exception, Denver still wouldn’t have an easy way to find another backup center, with most of the top free agents already off the board.
Having access to the full MLE would theoretically give the Nuggets the ability to offer a lucrative contract to Al Horford, who is still a free agent, but Stein continues to hear the 39-year-old big man is “destined” to sign with the Warriors, who can currently only offer him the taxpayer version of the MLE.
Valanciunas doesn’t have the ability to unilaterally terminate his contract, and the Nuggets don’t have to accept a buyout even if he did forfeit his entire salary, Stein notes. One source Stein spoke to said a resolution remains uncertain but acknowledged that Valanciunas might have to remain with Denver despite his apparent desire to return to Europe.
Here’s more from Stein:
- The Suns and Knicks are both looking for a top assistant coach and have expressed interest in trying to lure Darvin Ham away from the Bucks, per Stein. However, Milwaukee is “determined to keep” Ham unless he gets the chance to become a head coach again elsewhere. Stein points out that joining Phoenix or New York would be a lateral move for Ham, since he’s already the Bucks’ top assistant, and says Milwaukee “loves having Ham back” after his two-year stint as the Lakers’ top coach.
- The Grizzlies are another team in search of a No. 1 assistant under new head coach Tuomas Iisalo, Stein adds.
- Before trading for Mark Williams and drafting Khaman Maluach, the Suns tried to pursue a sign-and-trade with the Timberwolves for Naz Reid, according to Stein, who writes that Reid’s new five-year, $125MM contract with Minnesota is believed to have played a factor in Myles Turner‘s decision to leave the Pacers for the Bucks in free agency. Indiana reportedly never offered Turner a deal as lucrative as Reid received from the Wolves.
Grizzlies To Sign Jock Landale, Trade Jay Huff To Pacers
July 6: The Huff trade is official, according to the Grizzlies (Twitter link).
July 5: Free agent center Jock Landale has reached a contract agreement with the Grizzlies, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Memphis will make room on its roster by sending Jay Huff to the Pacers in exchange for a future second-round pick and a second-round pick swap, Charania adds (Twitter link).
Landale was waived by the Rockets on Thursday before his $8MM salary for the upcoming season became guaranteed. He was expected to be on the move on after Houston agreed to sign Clint Capela in free agency, adding to its center depth along with Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams.
The 29-year-old big man signed a four-year, $32MM contract with the Rockets in 2023 that contained just one fully guaranteed season. He appeared in 42 games this year, averaging 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per night.
Landale’s new contract with Memphis will cover one year at the veteran’s minimum, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). He will provide another option for Memphis in light of Zach Edey‘s uncertain status after undergoing ankle surgery in June.
Indiana was able to pick up an additional big man in Huff after losing Myles Turner to Milwaukee earlier this week. The Pacers will be the fifth team in five years for the 26-year-old center, who is coming off his best NBA season. He appeared in 64 games for Memphis, averaging 6.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per night while shooting 51.5% from the field and 40.5% from three-point range.
Huff will make $2.4MM and $2.7MM over the next two seasons, and his contract includes a $3MM player option for 2027/28.
The draft choice headed to Memphis will be a 2029 second-rounder that originally belonged to Portland, while the option for the second-round pick swap will take place in 2031, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Community Shootaround: Early Offseason Winners, Losers
We’re in a quiet transactional period as we wait for the July moratorium to lift tomorrow. There are still a handful of top restricted free agents who have yet to sign new contracts, but with a dearth of cap space around the league, the players don’t have a ton of negotiating leverage, so it could take a while for those situations to play out.
John Hollinger of The Athletic recently weighed in on some of the biggest winners and losers to this point in the offseason. The article is technically centered around free agency, but it takes all offseason moves into account.
Hollinger lauds the moves the Hawks have made, including trading for Kristaps Porzingis, landing what could be an extremely valuable 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans (only this deal is official), acquiring Nickeil Alexander-Walker in a sign-and-trade, and signing sharpshooter Luke Kennard. Atlanta still has its bi-annual exception available, Hollinger notes, and is about $7.4MM below the luxury tax line.
While they’re facing a minor roster crunch, Hollinger also likes the Hornets‘ offseason thus far, saying they had a strong draft (Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner) and have done solid work on the trade market, particularly adding Collin Sexton and a second-round pick from Utah for Jusuf Nurkic. He also views Spencer Dinwiddie as a nice pickup on a veteran’s minimum deal.
The defending champion Thunder are the third team on Hollinger’s list of winners, bringing back 14 of their 15 players on standard deals while essentially replacing Dillon Jones with first-round pick Thomas Sorber. Oklahoma City is below the luxury tax line and also retained Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell on team-friendly deals, Hollinger observes.
The month of July is Hollinger’s biggest loser, as free agency is no longer the same type of event on the league’s schedule as it used to be, for a variety of reasons.
For actual teams, Hollinger thinks the Celtics and Pacers have taken steps back. He credits Boston’s front office for shedding the salaries of Porzingis and Jrue Holiday without having to attach sweeteners (the Celtics will actually receive two second-rounders from Portland in the Holiday deal).
But the Celtics also lost Luke Kornet in free agency and Al Horford is viewed as unlikely to return. And they still need to trim about $20MM from their books to move below the luxury tax to avoid the repeater penalty. The biggest question mark, according to Hollinger, is how can the Celtics position themselves to be a contender again in 2026/27, when Jayson Tatum has recovered from his torn Achilles tendon?
As for the Pacers, they’re on Hollinger’s list for losing longtime center Myles Turner to the division-rival Bucks in free agency. They still have pathways to find a new starting center, Hollinger writes, and their front office has largely done excellent work over the years. But Indiana is in a similar boat as Boston, with 2025/26 increasingly looking like a “gap year” in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton‘s Achilles tear and more uncertainty heading into ’26/27 with Turner no longer on the roster.
We want to know what you think. Do you agree with Hollinger’s winners and losers? Most people seem high on the Rockets’ moves, but they weren’t included. I was also mildly surprised to not see the Pelicans on the list of losers. Head to comment section to weigh in with your thoughts.
Stein/Fischer’s Latest: Beal, Suns, CP3, Bucks, Lillard, Heat
The Suns and Heat had exploratory talks this week about the possibility of a Bradley Beal trade, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). However, those discussions “ultimately collapsed,” resulting in a rising belief that the veteran guard will ultimately be bought out by Phoenix.
If the two sides do end up working out a buyout agreement, expect the Heat to show interest in signing Beal as a free agent, per Fischer and Stein, who say the Bucks would also be interested in adding the three-time All-Star if he reaches free agency.
Here’s more from The Stein Line duo:
- In addition to looking more seriously at a possible Beal buyout, the Suns have also engaged in conversations with teams about various trade scenarios involving center Nick Richards and wings Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale, Stein and Fischer say.
- After turning away interest from the Mavericks and Hornets earlier in free agency, Chris Paul continues to consider the Suns and Clippers. Stein and Fischer confirm he’s also receiving interest from the Bucks, who have been on the lookout for another point guard in the hopes of filling the sizable hole left by Damian Lillard‘s Achilles injury (and impending release). ESPN’s Shams Charania said during a Thursday SportsCenter appearance that Paul, who is known to prefer playing closer to his family in Los Angeles, spoke to Bucks officials on Wednesday (hat tip to Scott Polacek of Bleacher Report).
- Speaking of Lillard, Stein and Fischer classify the Heat‘s interest in signing the Oakland native as “serious,” but acknowledge that the injured star will likely be in no rush to sign his next contract.
- The Pacers, Kings, and Pelicans are among the other teams who remain on the hunt for another point guard, Stein and Fischer write.
Free Agent Notes: Simmons, Knicks, Shamet, Ayton, Bonga, More
The Knicks have “checked in” on former No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Simmons has also met with three other teams and is expected to make a decision on his next destination soon, sources familiar with the situation tell Begley.
Simmons is a three-time All-Star who has made a pair of All-Defensive first teams, but has battled injuries in recent years, having appeared in just 108 regular season games since the start of 2021/22.
Begley adds in the same story that the Knicks maintain interest in re-signing free agent wing Landry Shamet, but have competition from teams in both conferences for the 28-year-old. Shamet made 50 appearances for New York last season, averaging 5.7 points per game on .461/.397/.667 shooting.
Given how close the Knicks are to the second tax apron, it would probably be a case of signing Simmons or Shamet (or another veteran free agent), rather than adding both, unless they create a little more spending flexibility via trade.
Given their roster situation
- After Jake Fischer reported that the Pacers have some interest in center Deandre Ayton, David Aldridge of The Athletic suggests that interest will be reciprocated. According to Aldridge, a source close to Ayton said Indiana will be considered as a possible landing spot for the former No. 1 overall pick. The big man will clear waivers later today.
- The Serbian club KK Partizan recently announced (via Twitter) a contract extension through 2027 for former NBA forward Isaac Bonga, who appeared in 143 regular season games for three teams from 2018-22. However, Bonga remains on NBA radars, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com, who notes that the 25-year-old’s new deal includes an out clause that would give him the ability to return stateside later this summer if he gets an opportunity he likes.
- Another former NBA forward is headed to Belgrade, with the Serbian club Crvena Zvezda announcing (via Twitter) that it has signed Semi Ojeleye. The 2017 second-round pick made 284 NBA appearances for three teams across five seasons, but hasn’t been in the league since 2022.
- In accepting a one-year, minimum-salary offer from the Suns, veteran forward Nigel Hayes-Davis turned down a lucrative offer from Fenerbahce, his team in Turkey, that would have had made him one of the highest-paid players in the EuroLeague, Urbonas reports. While Hayes-Davis won’t earn as much in Phoenix, the 30-year-old will be back in the NBA for the first time since a brief stint in 2017/18.
Free Agency Notes: Cancar, Nuggets, Turner, Middle Class, Spending Power
Veteran forward Vlatko Cancar is expected to leave the Nuggets and head to Europe next season, Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com reports. The Italian team Olimpia Milano has emerged as the leading candidate to sign Cancar, Urbonas adds, with a report from Aris Barkas of Eurohoops suggesting the two sides are on track to complete a two-year deal.
Cancar, 28, has spent the past five seasons with Denver. He has battled health problems in recent years, having missed all of 2023/24 due to a torn ACL and then undergoing another knee surgery this past season. In 13 total appearances in 2024/25, he averaged 1.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 11 minutes per contest.
Cancar is an unrestricted free agent after playing on a one-year veteran’s minimum deal.
Here’s more news on the free agent front:
- Nikola Jokic lamented the Nuggets’ lack of depth after the team was eliminated by the Thunder in the playoffs. That issue has been addressed, as The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando notes (subscription required). Denver agreed to trade Michael Porter Jr. and replace him with Cameron Johnson from the Nets, made another agreed-upon trade for big man Jonas Valanciunas, and reached agreements with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown in free agency.
- Despite a report from the Indianapolis Star’s suggesting they went higher, both The Athletic and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) contend that the Pacers’ best offer to Myles Turner was in the $20-22MM per year range. Turner agreed to a four-year, $107MM deal with Central Division rival Milwaukee on Tuesday. According to Spencer Davies of RG.org, Turner would have stayed in Indiana for $25MM per year, but the organization held firm, offering a three-year, $66MM contract, with no player option on year four.
- The Athletic’s John Hollinger notes that the league “middle class,” solid rotation players but not superstars, are doing surprisingly well in free agency. He points out that eight such players received some or all of a team’s non-taxpayer mid-level exception on the first day of free agency.
- Factoring in all the reported moves prior to Wednesday, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith examines the remaining spending power of all the Eastern Conference and Western Conference teams.