Clippers Rumors

Lawrence Frank: Clippers ‘Strongly Considering’ Chris Paul

July 19th, 2025 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters over Zoom on Saturday, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said the team is “strongly, strongly considering” signing free agent point guard Chris Paul (Twitter video link via Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints).

While the Clippers still have two open spots on their projected 15-man roster, they only have about $3.57MM in breathing room below their first-apron hard cap, which wouldn’t be enough to fit more than one veteran minimum contract before the season begins. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets, the expectation is that adding ball-handling and play-making will be a goal for the Clippers as they consider options for that 14th roster spot.

Assuming he continues his career and plays a 21st NBA season in 2025/26, Paul is known to be prioritizing proximity to his family in Los Angeles, so the Clippers would be a logical match for him in that regard.

At least one report indicated he’d also like to continue to be a starter after starting all 82 games for San Antonio last season — that kind of role might be harder to come by with the Clippers in the wake of their Bradley Beal addition.

Here are a few more of Frank’s noteworthy comments from today’s presser:

Frank spoke at length about the signing of Beal, which became official on Friday, noting that the team had twice tried to trade for the veteran shooting guard in the past (Twitter link via Law Murray of The Athletic). Secondary play-making and ball-handling are among the reasons the Clippers targeted Beal, according to Frank, who said he also believes the 32-year-old can be a positive contributor on defense (Twitter links via Murray). Additionally, Frank repeatedly referenced a desire to get Beal involved in hand-off actions, which was a strategy the Clippers used frequently with Norman Powell, tweets Murray.
Mark Bartelstein, Beal’s agent, spoke to many people within the Clippers’ organization before his client committed to the team, including having a half-hour conversation with James Harden, according to Frank (Twitter link via Youngmisuk).
Frank credited Harden for signing a contract that gave the Clippers enough wiggle room below the first apron to use their full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which allowed them to sign both Beal and free agent center Brook Lopez (Twitter link via Murray). The Clippers are one of just three teams – along with the Pistons and Lakers – to have used every dollar of the $14,104,000 MLE so far in 2025/26 (Portland could become the fourth, assuming Damian Lillard‘s deal is worth the full amount).
Addressing the acquisitions of Lopez and John Collins, Frank explained that the Clippers made it a priority to add size in their frontcourt and wanted to bring in players with more diverse skill sets that could complement one another (Twitter link via Youngmisuk).
Pointing out that the Clippers have 10 players who project to be rotation players, Frank acknowledged that head coach Tyronn Lue “usually” plays just nine. As the Clippers weigh their options for their 14th roster spot and set their rotation this fall, role definition and communication will be key, Frank said (Twitter link via Murray).

Pacific Notes: Suns, Looney, Monk, Niederhauser

July 18th, 2025 at 10:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Suns are embracing a new identity, writes Gerald Bourguet for Go PHNX. With Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant gone and Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Mark Williams, Khaman Maluach, and Rasheer Fleming in, the team has pivoted towards a younger, more athletic team construction around the recently extended Devin Booker.

The Suns now enter into a phase they will find unprecedented during the brief tenure of Mat Ishbia‘s ownership: one of patience. However, Bourguet writes that Ishbia’s own words make the concept of following through on a more long-term team build a question mark.

“When I make a mistake or things don’t go well, I change fast,” Ishbia said during exit interviews this spring. “We make quick moves, and I’m not afraid to do that… Patience isn’t gonna be my strongest suit, okay? We’re gonna try to compete and win, and we’re gonna get better.”

However, Ishbia did give reason to hope.

“I’m very patient if I think we’re on the right path and plan,” Ishbia said. “So, say it again, I expect us to win more games next year. But let’s just say we lost more games next year, but it was aligned, the vision and the tone that I’m gonna set, and we’re on a path, then we’re gonna go that way.”

We have more from the Pacific division:

Kevon Looney‘s departure from the Warriors was facilitated in part by his lack of playing time, especially in the playoffs, as Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area relays. “It was anybody but me it seemed like at this point. It wasn’t no one moment,” he explained during an appearance on the Warriors Plus/Minus podcast. “Even this year, probably the playoffs. We going up against Steven Adams. This is what I do. They’re not really giving me the chance to really let me do what I do.” Looney added that after 10 seasons in Golden State, he didn’t feel like he should still have to prove himself or his worth. “When you prove yourself the first four, five years, all right, cool. But after 10 years of it, it’s like, all right. You either trust me or you don’t.” He added that he knows the coaching decisions from Steve Kerr weren’t personal, but he still felt that he drew the short end of the stick in Kerr’s quest to win.
After the rumored Kings sign-and-trade of Malik Monk to bring in Dennis Schröder never took place, Monk is ready to do what’s needed to win, writes Will Zimmerle for SI.com. The Kings now have Schröder and Zach LaVine as their presumed starting backcourt, and despite Monk expressing a desire to be a starter in the league in the past, he’s reportedly willing to go to the bench if that’s what coach Doug Christie needs. “Malik has told Doug Christie, ‘I will do whatever you need, even if that includes coming off the bench,'” Matt George of ABC10 said on a recent ESPN radio show. “I don’t think he’s going to pout or throw a fit about it.” Monk was runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year in 2023/24, but split time as a starter last year and put up career-highs in points (17.2) and assists (5.6) per game.
The Clippers‘ first-round pick, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, showed different skills in each of his first three Summer League games, writes Broderick Turner of the LA Times. While defense is his primary selling point, he was able to display some of the offensive package that intrigued the Clippers enough to select him with the No. 30 pick in the 2025 draft. “That’s the guard skills I was talking about,” Niederhauser said of a high-energy dunk he was able to throw down over a defender on a fast break. Those guard skills come from when he was a 6’5″ 16-year-old, before the growth spurt that shot him up to 6’11” and cemented his future as a center. “For a guy that’s his age, he’s still learning and growing into his frame that he hasn’t really had his whole life,” said general manager Trent Redden. “We just haven’t had a guy that size at that position in a backup role that’s young that we can feed into and give to our developmental staff.” Niederhauser enters a developmental situation where he can learn from two high-level defensive bigs in Brook Lopez and Ivica Zubac.

Bradley Beal Signs With Clippers

July 18th, 2025 at 5:20pm CST by Eli Cohen

Bradley Beal has officially signed with the Clippers, reports Law Murray of The Athletic (via Twitter). Beal cleared waivers at 4:00 pm Central time on Friday after having been officially waived by the Suns on Wednesday.

As previously reported, Beal’s deal with L.A. uses the remainder of the team’s mid-level exception. It’s worth $5,354,000 in year one, followed by a $5,621,700 player option for 2026/27.

“Players of this caliber are very rare, and they’re hard to come by,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said in a press release announcing the deal. “You can put him in so many different spots and he’ll find ways to score: out of pick-and-roll, coming off screens, catch-and-shoot. He can create his own or he can play off the ball. He’s a great cutter. He’s also a great playmaker who is going to make everybody else better. I’m excited he’s with us.”

In a conversation with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Beal’s agent Mark Bartelstein said, “The Clippers want the most aggressive and dynamic version of Brad. That’s music to his ears.”

Beal averaged 17.0 points and 3.7 assists per game last season for the Suns while splitting time between the starting lineup and a reserve role. The career 37.6% three-point shooter will join a Clippers team that has loaded up its bench with accomplished veterans like John Collins and Brook Lopez as they look to cement themselves as a contender around star Kawhi Leonard.

Cap Notes: Bulls, Nuggets, Harden, Minott, MLEs

July 18th, 2025 at 11:22am CST by Luke Adams

When the Bulls traded Lonzo Ball for Isaac Okoro earlier this month, they had to use a portion of their existing Zach LaVine traded player exception worth $17MM+ to absorb Okoro’s $11MM salary, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Chicago couldn’t simply use Ball’s $10MM outgoing salary for matching purposes due to an injury protection clause in his contract, Smith notes.

The $10MM owed to Ball for the 2025/26 season would be fully guaranteed if he were waived today, but his contract includes an Exhibit 3 (“prior injury exclusion”) clause which would let the team off the hook for the full amount if he suffers a specific injury — presumably, a major one related to his surgically repaired knee.

It sounds as if the NBA required the Bulls to treat Ball’s salary as non-guaranteed due to that Exhibit 3 clause, which means it wouldn’t count for $10MM for outgoing purposes, as we explain in our glossary entry on the trade rules for non-guaranteed salary. That meant another exception had to be used to take on Okoro’s incoming $11MM.

The move will still hard-cap the Bulls at the first tax apron for the 2025/26 league year — instead of using the expanded traded player exception (taking back more than 100% of Ball’s salary), they used a trade exception generated during the previous season. Either move creates a hard cap at the first apron.

Here are a few more cap-related housekeeping notes worth passing along:

The Nuggets used a portion of the traded player exception generated in their Michael Porter Jr./Cameron Johnson swap to acquire Jonas Valanciunas‘ $10.4MM salary from Sacramento, creating a new TPE worth Dario Saric‘s outgoing $5.4MM salary in the process, ESPN’s Bobby Marks reports for Sports Business Classroom. Denver could’ve used Saric’s outgoing salary to legally match Valanciunas’ incoming amount without touching the Porter TPE, but doing so would’ve created a first-apron hard cap. Because the Porter TPE was created after the regular season ended, using it doesn’t result in a hard cap for Denver.
The 2025/26 salaries for Clippers guard James Harden and Celtics guard Josh Minott are now fully guaranteed. Neither Harden nor Minott received a fully guaranteed first-year salary at the time they signed earlier this month, but that was just a technicality so that the Clippers and Celtics could avoid guaranteeing their second-year options for 2026/27. Harden’s $39.2MM salary for ’25/26 became guaranteed after July 11, while Minott’s $2.4MM salary was guaranteed after July 15.
Once Damian Lillard officially signs with Portland, there will be just four NBA teams who still have their entire $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception available and remain far enough below the first tax apron that they could use the entire thing. Those teams are the Wizards, Hornets, Bulls, and Warriors. However, Chicago and Golden State still have to resolve restricted free agency for Josh Giddey and Jonathan Kuminga, respectively, so there’s no guarantee they’ll remain on that list. That will make Washington and Charlotte two teams to watch closely for the rest of the offseason and perhaps into the season, since that MLE flexibility makes them candidates to take on unwanted salary in trades.

Latest On Bradley Beal

July 17th, 2025 at 11:08pm CST by Luke Adams

After he was hired as the Suns‘ head coach in June, Jordan Ott met with Bradley Beal and shared his plan for how the team could use the veteran shooting guard next season, writes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. However, according to Windhorst, Beal had already decided after meeting with agent Mark Bartelstein that he wanted to move on from Phoenix.

“We couldn’t take the chance [of another lost year],” Bartelstein told Windhorst. “This decision was about basketball. Bradley wants to play in big games and in big moments.”

When Phoenix traded Kevin Durant to Houston for a package headlined by another shooting guard – Jalen Green – it cemented Beal’s decision.

According to Windhorst, the Suns and Timberwolves had discussed the possibility of a Durant package that would’ve included Rudy Gobert, Donte DiVincenzo, Terrence Shannon Jr., and the No. 17 pick in this year’s draft, which could’ve left an opening for Beal in the Suns’ lineup. But with Durant uninterested in playing in Minnesota, the Wolves were unwilling to move forward on those talks and Phoenix pivoted to the Rockets’ offer.

After the Durant trade was completed, the Suns gave Beal and Bartelstein permission to speak to other teams, and more than 20 showed interest, sources tell ESPN. Beal ultimately met via Zoom with about a half-dozen of them, and after trading Norman Powell to Miami earlier this month, the Clippers emerged as the clear frontrunner.

According to Windhorst, while Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and head coach Tyronn Lue spoke to Beal about what the club could offer him, the most noteworthy pitch came from star guard James Harden, who lobbied the front office to pursue Beal and then reached out directly to the guard (and to Bartelstein) to recruit him.

In addition to selling Beal on the Clippers’ depth and how he would fit in with the current group, Harden pointed out that his own career has been rejuvenated in Los Angeles after disappointing stints in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, Windhorst notes. After a couple discouraging years in Phoenix, Beal is in a similar spot — he’ll be looking to bounce back next season and views L.A. as a good spot to do it.

“No one wants to be released. There’s heartache with that,” Bartelstein said. “But Bradley wants to be in a position where no one remembers he got released, that they’ll remember how he plays next season.”

Here’s more on Beal:

The Suns needed Beal to give up at least $13.9MM of the $110.8MM still owed to him in order to legally waive-and-stretch his contract. Phoenix’s front office actually pushed for the 32-year-old to give up more than that, resulting in buyout talks getting “heated,” per Windhorst, who says Beal ultimately forfeited not a penny more than he needed to for the Suns to use the stretch provision. “There were some intense conversations,” Bartelstein said.
Bartelstein also spoke to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda about why things didn’t work out for Beal in Phoenix and why he chose the Clippers over other suitors. Citing Beal’s existing relationship with Lue, along with the Clippers’ vision for his client, Bartelstein explained that L.A. checked all their boxes. “He was heavily pursued by pretty much everybody in the NBA and certainly almost every top-tier team,” Bartelstein said. “I had made it known in conversations around the league that we were looking to go somewhere where he could play in really big games and big moments. We knew there were places he can go to and score 30 points a game again. But he really wanted to go to a place where he can compete for a championship. With that in mind, we quickly narrowed down to six or seven teams that we thought were in that world and with the roster shaped up, it would be a great fit for Brad. … It was a really tough choice. … We felt at the end of the day that the Clippers was the very best fit.”
The Suns’ trade for Beal will go down as one of the biggest missteps in franchise history, contends Doug Haller of The Athletic. Haller doesn’t blame Beal, noting that he was willing to change his game and continued to score efficiently. However, his production didn’t match his salary, Haller writes, which was a microcosm of the Suns as a whole — the league’s most expensive roster failed to win a playoff game during the two years after acquiring Beal.

Bradley Beal Agrees To Buyout With Suns, Plans To Sign With Clippers

July 16th, 2025 at 12:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran guard Bradley Beal has reached an agreement on a buyout with the Suns and will be placed on waivers, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Once he clears waivers and becomes a free agent, Beal intends to sign with the Clippers on a two-year, $11MM deal that will include a second-year player option, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Charania.

A buyout had long been the anticipated outcome for Beal, with John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 suggesting back in April that there was a “zero percent chance” of the three-time All-Star returning to Phoenix for the 2025/26 season. While the Suns explored trade options for Beal, his two-year, $111MM contract and no-trade clause made it virtually impossible for the team to move him, so the two sides began discussing a buyout early in free agency.

As we wrote at that time, in order for the Suns to use the stretch provision on Beal and spread out his remaining salary across five seasons (instead of two), he would have to give back roughly $13.88MM in a buyout agreement — a team isn’t permitted to carry stretched salary totaling more than 15% of the salary cap, and Phoenix had previously used the stretch provision on Nassir Little and E.J. Liddell.

According to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link), Beal will indeed give back that required $13.88MM in the buyout agreement, giving the Suns the option of stretching his $96.9MM in remaining salary. And they’re virtually certain to take that path, tweets Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports.

The Suns had been operating over the second tax apron this offseason, but reducing Beal’s 2025/26 cap hit from about $53.67MM to $19.38MM won’t just move them out of second-apron territory — as cap experts Bobby Marks and Yossi Gozlan detail (all Twitter links), Phoenix can get all the way below the luxury tax line as a result of the buyout. That would eliminate an estimated $176MM in tax penalties and unlock a handful of restrictions related to trades and free agency, including the use of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

As Gozlan notes, the Suns figure to move slightly back over the tax line once they add a 14th man to replace Beal, but they’ll be in position to duck the tax with a minor roster move later in the season. Previous reporting indicated that Phoenix will likely use the roster spot being vacated by Beal on a point guard or combo guard.

As a result of being waived, Beal will no longer hold his no-trade clause, and he won’t immediately make back the money that he’s giving up in his buyout agreement. However, according to Charania (Twitter links), the 32-year-old became increasingly excited about the possibility of reaching free agency after meeting with multiple interested teams in recent weeks, a process spearheaded by Bartelstein with the approval of the Suns.

The Clippers were reported last week to be the favorites to land Beal following the trade that sent Norman Powell to Miami. Beal will take that newly opened spot in L.A.’s backcourt and will be signed using the remainder of the club’s mid-level exception. Brook Lopez received $8.75MM of that $14.104MM exception, leaving $5,354,000 for Beal. That will be his first-year salary, followed by a $5,621,700 player option for 2026/27.

The signing will leave the Clippers roughly $3.5MM below their first-apron hard cap, with 13 players under contract, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. That means, barring cost-cutting moves, the club won’t be able to carrying a 15th man to open the season, since a veteran-minimum deal counts toward the cap for about $2.3MM.

While Beal’s value has taken a hit in recent years due to his maximum-salary contract and some injury issues, he has continued to be one of the NBA’s efficient backcourt scorers when he’s healthy. Across two seasons in Phoenix, he averaged 17.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game on .505/.407/.808 shooting in 106 outings (91 starts).

Brook Lopez Thrilled Clippers Reached Out, Signed Him

July 14th, 2025 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Brook Lopez chose the Clippers in free agency partly because he believes they’re poised to win a championship, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

“Looking at my options, I was just thrilled the Clippers reached out and were one of them,” Lopez said. “They’ve been a great team for quite a while now. They have a ton of great players, obviously Hall of Famers, All-Stars, great young players. My guy Zubi (Ivica Zubac)! And there is a great chance to win a championship here.”

Lopez has ties to the area. He grew up in southern California and played one season with the Lakers before winding up in Milwaukee for seven seasons. A starter throughout his stint with the Bucks, Lopez projects as a backup to Zubac with the Clippers. Lopez believes he can also share the court effectively with the Most Improved Player runner-up.

“I think we complement each other extremely well,” he said, per Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. “Obviously, we’ll be very big. I think we’d be great defensively just dominating the paint, sealing the paint off and then, offensively, we complement each other there as well. I’ll spread the floor for him, give ’em all the room and the paint for him to go wild.”

Lopez, 37, signed a two-year, $18MM contract with the Clippers, who used a chunk of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception to acquire his services.

Despite his age, Lopez has been both durable and productive in recent seasons. He played in 80 games last season with the Bucks, averaging 31.8 minutes per game. He averaged 13 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.9 blocks, while shooting 50.9% from the floor and 37.3% from 3-point range.

Lopez says he’ll accept whatever role is asked of him. He believes the situation he’s stepping into is a “perfect fit” for him.

“I’m just trying to come in and help the team win,” Lopez said. “Whatever that may look like, that’s what I’m here to do. Wherever my minutes may come from when I’m on the court, the beginning of the game, middle of the game, end of the game, I’m trying to be out there trying to help my team win and beat the other team on the court.”

Los Angeles Notes: C. Christie, Brown, LeBron, Bronny

July 13th, 2025 at 3:29pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Second-year Clippers guard Cam Christie is getting some Summer League reps for the second straight year. The 6’5″ swingman out of Minnesota played sparingly during his 2024/25 rookie season, appearing in just 13 games. He recently outlined how he wants to grow in ’25/26, per Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter video link).

“Really just defensive intensity and shooting,” Christie said of what he could bring to the team in his second season. “Obviously I know we have ball handling and scoring with James [Harden] and Kawhi [Leonard], and we have great players with Zu [Ivica Zubac], but I feel like defense can always help the team, no matter what. Defensive intensity and then shooting as well, being able to knock down open shots, space the floor for our main guys, and help them out that way.”

Christie went on to credit teammates Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn for much of his defensive evolution since the start of his rookie season, along with big brother Max Christie, who is now a Maverick.

“I think on the ball I’ve learned a lot, just from watching DJ,” Christie said. “We have similar builds, and he’s obviously a point of attack defender so to watch him navigate screens and stuff like that, and my brother as well, because he’s also point of attack, so learning things from him. And then, just off-ball-wise, learning from Kris, how he’s able to break on the ball and traps, and stuff like that.”

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

Although his minutes were limited by a second-half right ankle injury, third-year Clippers forward Kobe Brown flashed plenty of promise in a 95-92 Summer League victory against Houston Friday, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. In just 20 minutes, Brown notched 14 points, four boards and four assists. “He’s just got to continue to do what he did tonight,” Clippers Summer League head coach Jeremy Castleberry said. “Play great defense. Make the right reads. We’ve been talking about it all training camp. Get in the paint, draw two, make the right reads and if they put a small on him, he showed his ability to be able to score against a mismatch tonight and doing it the right way — quickly, getting downhill, not dancing, just getting straight to the point.”
As trade rumors swirl around Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James, Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times suggests the four-time MVP needs to follow Hall of Fame former L.A. great Kobe Bryant‘s example when it comes to retirement. In 2015, on an expiring contract just as James is now, Bryant announced his 20th season would be his last, and was able to endear himself to the league at large during a prolonged farewell tour on a lottery-bound Lakers squad. While Plaschke isn’t demanding James call it a career just yet, he does see in the Bryant narrative a solid approach for James to take when the time comes.
James’ eldest son, second-year Lakers guard Bronny James, enjoyed an encouraging Summer League performance in a 94-81 win against New Orleans on Saturday with LeBron sitting courtside, writes Turner in another piece. Bronny James scored 14 points while shooting 5-of-11 from the field and also contributing three assists and a pair of steals. “Yeah, we want him to play on the ball,” Lakers Summer League head coach Lindsey Harding said. “Especially in tight moments, I like the ball in his hands and I want him to make those decisions. You can go through as many drills as you want, but nothing beats live.”

Stein/Fischer’s Latest: Warriors, Horford, Melton, CP3, Beal, Knicks

July 12th, 2025 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Warriors are one of the only teams in the NBA that have yet to reach a contract agreement with a free agent this offseason, they’re viewed by numerous rival clubs as the “overwhelming favorite” to land Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Golden State already has over $170MM in guaranteed money on its books for nine players, so the outcome of Jonathan Kuminga‘s free agency will likely dictate what sort of offers the club can make to Horford and Melton.

Signing either of those veteran free agents with the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception likely won’t happen until there’s a resolution on Kuminga, since using that exception would hard-cap the Warriors at the $207.8MM second apron. That could open the door for a rival team to find a way to give Kuminga an offer sheet featuring a starting salary too high for Golden State to match without cost-cutting moves.

Here’s more from Stein and Fischer:

Chris Paul would still like to play as close to his home in Los Angeles as possible, and the Clippers and Suns continue to weigh the possibility of signing him, per Stein and Fischer. However, if those clubs ultimately go in a different direction, it’s unclear what the 2025/26 season might hold for Paul. The Bucks have interest in the veteran point guard, but he has shown “little inclination” to entertain the idea of signing with an Eastern Conference team so far, according to The Stein Line duo. For what it’s worth, when Paul was asked recently how much longer he plans to play, he replied, “At the most, a year,” which suggests that retirement may not be entirely off the table.
Bradley Beal is owed a 25% advance payment on his 2025/26 salary on July 15, Stein and Fischer say. While the veteran guard would get that money (roughly $13MM) even if he and the Suns agree to a buyout before then, it’s possible he’ll wait until after he receives that payment an agreement that would see him exit Phoenix.
After missing out on James Borrego, the Knicks are also unlikely to land Bucks assistant Darvin Ham as they seek a lead assistant for Mike Brown‘s new staff, Stein and Fischer report. Stein noted last weekend that New York has interest in Ham, but Milwaukee appears unwilling to give the Knicks permission to speak to him for what would be a lateral move. Jay Triano, another Knicks target, is also off the table since he just signed a new contract with Dallas, Stein and Fischer add.
The Bucks are considered likely to bring back forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo if Giannis Antetokounmpo remains in Milwaukee, according to Stein and Fischer. Thanasis missed all of the 2024/25 season due to an Achilles tear, but said in May that he has been medically cleared to return to action.

International Rumors: Walker, Gill, Micic, Brown, Kamagate

July 12th, 2025 at 11:10am CST by Rory Maher

Seven-year veteran Lonnie Walker spent most of last season in Lithuania with EuroLeague club Zalgiris Kaunas prior to signing a two-year deal with the Sixers in February. Philadelphia declined its team option on the 26-year-old at the end of last month, making him an unrestricted free agent, and he has yet to be linked to another NBA team.

Could another international stint be in the works for Walker?

According to Matteo Andreani of Basketball Sphere and Tomer Givati of Israel Hayom, Hapoel Tel Aviv is in advanced talks with Walker and has offered the 6’4″ shooting guard a two-year contract. Andreani says the Israeli club is “confident the deal will be finalized soon.”

Here are a few more rumors and notes from across the pond:

Free agent forward Anthony Gill is drawing interest from multiple EuroLeague teams, particularly Real Madrid, per Javier Maestro of Spanish outlet Encestando and Israeli reporter Givati. The 32-year-old was waived by the Wizards last month before his contract became guaranteed and there is reportedly mutual interest in a reunion. However, Washington is also facing a roster crunch and Gill could potentially earn more money and have a larger role with Madrid. It’s not yet known which opportunity would hold more appeal to Gill, per Maestro, who points out that the Virginia product played three EuroLeague seasons with Russia’s Khimki prior to signing with the Wizards in 2020/21.
Serbian guard Vasilije Micic agreed to a buyout with the Bucks, but he won’t be signing with reigning EuroLeague champion Fenerbahce, according to European insider Chema de Lucas (Twitter link), who says the Turkish powerhouse has pulled the contract offer it presented about a month ago (hat tip to Eurohoops). The 31-year-old won back-to-back EuroLeague titles with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes in 2021 and 2022.
Former NBA guard Lorenzo Brown has signed a multiyear contract with Olimpia Milano, the Italian team announced in a press release. The 34-year-old spent parts of five seasons in the NBA from 2013-19 and has had a lengthy international career. He played for Panathinaikos in Greece last season.
French center Ismael Kamagate, whose NBA rights are controlled by the Clippers, has signed with Turkish club Besikas (link to press release). The 24-year-old former second-round pick spent the 2024/25 campaign in Italy with Derthona.

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