Groups Set For 2025 NBA Cup
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.
Grizzlies’ Cedric Coward Signs Rookie Scale Contract
The Grizzlies have signed former Washington State forward Cedric Coward to his rookie scale contract, according to the official NBA.com transaction log.
Coward played just six games for the Cougars in 2024/25 before suffering a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the remainder of his senior season. He averaged 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 55.7% from the floor and 40.0% on three-pointers during his abridged stint with the Cougars.
Before transferring to Washington State, the 6’6″ wing played two years at Eastern Washington, averaging 11.3 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 66 games. He spent his freshman season at Willamette University in Oregon.
After acquiring the 16th overall pick in their Desmond Bane trade with Orlando, the Grizzlies used a future first-rounder to move up five more spots on draft night to snag Coward with the No. 11 overall pick.
Coward is considered doubtful to play in Summer League this month as he continues to recover from that shoulder injury that cost him most of ’24/25, but he’s expected to be ready for training camp.
As our rookie scale breakdown shows, the Grizzlies rookie figures to earn a first-year salary of $5.7MM and a four-year total of $26.3MM.
Of this year’s 30 first-round picks, 29 have now signed their rookie scale contracts. No. 22 overall pick Drake Powell, whose trade to Brooklyn was just finalized on Monday, figures to make it a perfect 30 for 30 very soon.
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).
Grizzlies Considering Will Magnay For 2025/26 Roster?
Australian big man Will Magnay spent most of the 2020/21 season on a two-way contract with New Orleans, but appeared in just one NBA game that season. He has been out of the league ever since.
Magnay auditioned for NBA teams last summer, but was unable to find a deal to his liking. In February, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic reported that Magnay was drawing interest from NBA teams, and that has carried over to the 2025 offseason.
Magnay is on the Grizzlies‘ summer league roster and has been working out in Memphis over the past week, according to Olgun Uluc of ESPN (Twitter link), who says the Grizzlies seem to be giving serious consideration to adding the 27-year-old forward/center to their 2025/26 roster “in some capacity.”
Since he only has one year of NBA experience, Magnay remains eligible for a two-way deal, though it’s unclear whether that would appeal to him again.
In 13 games with the Tasmania JackJumpers of Australia’s National Basketball League last season, Magnay averaged 13.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.4 blocks in 25.8 minutes per contest. He also made 10 appearances in the Turkish BSL with Mersin MSK, averaging 5.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 0.8 SPG and 0.8 BPG in 14.7 MPG.
Western Notes: Nuggets, Lakers, Coward, Queen, Jazz
After former Nuggets head coach Michael Malone spent years asking for more veteran depth, Denver’s new top decision-makers – led by general manager Ben Tenzer – have made the sort of moves this offseason that he would’ve appreciated, as Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst write for ESPN.com.
Even with Jonas Valanciunas‘ NBA future up in the air, the Nuggets did well to bring back Bruce Brown and add Tim Hardaway Jr. on minimum-salary deals. Executives around the league also took notice of their decision to part with their lone tradable future first-round pick (2032) and forward Michael Porter Jr. in a deal that netted them Cameron Johnson and took them out of the tax.
“That was a prized asset they gave up,” one general manager told ESPN, referencing the unprotected 2032 pick. “Teams have been eyeing that one to see if they’d actually use it.”
“I know Cam Johnson has some past health issues, but Porter’s back issues and knee issues make this move make sense to me,” another executive said to ESPN. “I think Cam and (Nikola) Jokic will connect on the floor well. They both think the game the same way.”
That last point could be an important one, according to one rival GM: “There is only one person who needs to be impressed with their offseason. That’s Jokic. Sometimes the best trades you make are the ones that engage your superstar. If Jokic is energized by those moves, then it was a great summer.”
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Within that same ESPN.com story, Bontemps and Windhorst check in on the Lakers, noting that the club has received a handful of inquiries from “eyebrow-raised” teams following Rich Paul‘s cryptic statement accompanying LeBron James‘ opt-in. There’s nothing happening on that front for now, but teams will certainly monitor the situation, according to ESPN’s duo, who add that there was a “small bidding war” early in free agency for forward Jake LaRavia. He ultimately agreed to join the Lakers.
- No. 11 overall pick Cedric Coward, whom the Grizzlies traded up to draft, is doubtful to play in Summer League this month, a team spokesperson told Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Coward is still making his way back from a shoulder injury that limited him to just six games at Washington State last season. While the 21-year-old said last week that he feels ready to play, Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman told reporters at the time that the rookie wing had only done 1-on-0 work and would need to take part in 5-on-5 drills to be fully cleared.
- When the Pelicans faced criticism in the wake of last week’s draft, it was more about giving up a valuable unprotected 2026 first-round pick to move up 10 spots from No. 23 to No. 13 than about the player they chose to pick at that spot. But big man Derik Queen is still taking that criticism personally and using it as motivation, writes Rod Walker of NOLA.com. “I don’t think anybody in that class ever is going to be better than me,” Queen said. “I block all the noise out. (Pelicans head of basketball operations) Joe (Dumars) has got a lot of faith in me. Most of these guys (in the draft), I beat in high school. It doesn’t really matter. I know the NBA is a whole different level. Don’t get too big-headed. Don’t get too low. And just beat on them next year when they come in, and make Joe look like a genius.”
- Chuck Terrell, who had been working for the Jazz as their vice president of basketball intelligence, has left that position to become the general manager of Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball program, agent Andy Miller tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Summer League Notes: Bulls, Kawamura, Kings, Brink, Jent
The Bulls officially announced their 2025 summer league roster on Thursday afternoon (via Twitter). The group is headlined by recent lottery picks Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue, plus two-way players Jahmir Young and Emanuel Miller and No. 55 overall pick Lachlan Olbrich, who is expected to sign a two-way deal with Chicago.
The Bulls’ summer league squad also features a handful of unrestricted free agents who have NBA experience. Japanese point guard Yuki Kawamura, who spent 2024/25 (his rookie campaign) on a two-way deal with the Grizzlies, is part of the team, as is ex-Grizzlies forward Maozinha Pereira. Former lottery pick Joshua Primo and guard Javon Freeman-Liberty are on the 14-man roster as well.
Windy City Bulls head coach Billy Donovan III will lead the summer league team for the second consecutive year, tweets K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network.
Here are few more notes related to summer league:
- Both of the Kings‘ draft picks — first-rounder Nique Clifford and second-rounder Maxime Raynaud — will compete in summer league action, GM Scott Perry said today at a press conference (Twitter link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee). Kings head coach Doug Christie said assistant Dipesh Mistry will be the summer league team’s top coach, as Anderson relays (via Twitter).
- Jordan Brink, an assistant on former head coach Tom Thibodeau‘s staff, will be head coach of the Knicks‘ summer league team, reports James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Edwards, Brink was “largely responsible” for New York’s impressive success rate on challenges last season. Given that he’s leading the summer league squad, it seems pretty likely that Brink will be a member of new coach Mike Brown‘s staff, though that’s just informed speculation and hasn’t been confirmed.
- Assistant Chris Jent will serve as head coach of the Hornets‘ summer league club, per Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter video link). Jent is a longtime NBA assistant and former player who joined Charles Lee‘s staff last year.
Coaching Rumors: Knicks, Borrego, Shammgod, Magic, Mavs, More
After being denied permission to speak to five NBA head coaches already under contract with rival teams, the Knicks shifted their focus to Mike Brown and Taylor Jenkins, with Jenkins falling behind after “projecting less enthusiasm for the job,” writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.
The team spoke to other candidates, including James Borrego and Micah Nori, and Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms that South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley did, in fact, formally interview for the job as well. However, as Begley writes, the search was always expected to result in the Knicks hiring an experienced NBA head coach.
The Knicks ultimately decided Brown was their man in large part because they believe he’ll bring “leadership and collaboration” to the organization, tweets Steve Popper of Newsday. Casey Powell (aka CP The Fanchise) of Knicks Fan TV (Twitter link) notes that the club is also confident in Brown’s ability to maximize the talent on the roster.
While Brown won’t be forced to retain any of the assistants who worked under Tom Thibodeau, the expectation is that a few will be back, according to Begley, who specifically identifies Rick Brunson, Darren Ermann, Mark Bryant, and Maurice Cheeks as strong candidates to remain in New York.
Brown is targeting Borrego for his lead assistant role, viewing him as an ideal offensive coordinator, Begley writes. However, as Marc Stein of The Stein Line notes (via Twitter), the Pelicans want to keep Borrego as their associate head coach and don’t necessarily have to let him leave for what would be a lateral move in terms of his title.
According to Stein (Twitter link), New Orleans previously denied permission to the Nuggets, who wanted to speak to Borrego about their lead assistant role under David Adelman.
Here are a few more coaching-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:
- As expected, Mavericks player development coach God Shammgod has reached a deal with the Magic to become an assistant on Jamahl Mosley‘s staff, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Rumors about Orlando’s interest in Shammgod, who had been in Dallas since 2016, had circulated since mid-June.
- With Shammgod departing, keep an eye on Phil Handy and Mike Penberthy as possible candidates to join the Mavericks‘ staff under Jason Kidd, according to Stein (Twitter links). Both Handy and Penberthy were part of the Lakers’ staff alongside Kidd when Frank Vogel – Dallas’ new lead assistant – was the head coach in Los Angeles.
- Omar Cooper Jr., the twin brother of former NBA guard Sharife Cooper and the son of Ace Bailey‘s agent Omar Cooper, is serving as a guest coach for the Jazz during Summer League, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Cooper Jr. is looking to get into coaching after wrapping up his college playing career at McNeese State this past season.
- In announcing its 15-man roster for EuroBasket 2025, the Spanish national team confirmed that former Raptors assistant Sergio Scariolo will be stepping down from his role as Spain’s head coach after the event. BasketNews.com has the story, along with Spain’s roster, which includes Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama.
Jaren Jackson Jr. Undergoes Procedure On Turf Toe
July 2: As expected, Jackson has undergone a procedure to repair the turf toe injury in his right foot, the Grizzlies announced on Wednesday (Twitter link). According to the team, he’ll be reevaluated in approximately 12 weeks. That will be just a few days before training camps get underway.
July 1: Just over 24 hours after word broke that the Grizzlies and Jaren Jackson Jr. had agreed to a long-term deal that will pay him $240MM over the next five seasons, the team offered a more sobering update on its star big man.
According to the Grizzlies (Twitter link), Jackson sustained a turf toe injury in his right foot while participating in a “live basketball run offsite.” After evaluation, it was determined that the injured will require a procedure to address.
The Grizzlies haven’t yet provided a recovery timeline for Jackson, indicating that they’ll share another update once he has had the procedure. However, the recovery process from a turf toe procedure is measured in months, not weeks. Ajay Mitchell of the Thunder, for instance, missed more than three months after having a turf toe sprain addressed in January.
The hope in Memphis will be that Jackson is ready to go for training camp, or at least the start of the season, but the team certainly won’t rush the process.With a new mega-deal in hand and fresh off his second All-Star season, Jackson will be a crucial part of the Grizzlies’ postseason aspirations in 2025/26.
The 25-year-old averaged 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.2 steals in 29.8 minutes per game this past season, recording a shooting line of .488/.375/.781. In addition to his All-Star berth, he earned a spot on the All-Defensive second team.
Jackson is the second member of the Grizzlies’ frontcourt to undergo a procedure since the end of the season. Center Zach Edey is expected to miss the start of the 2025/26 campaign after undergoing ankle surgery in June.
Grizzlies, Cam Spencer Agree To Two-Year Deal
The Grizzlies have agreed to a two-year, $4.5MM contract with guard Cam Spencer, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal is fully guaranteed, Charania adds.
Memphis made Spencer a restricted free agent on Sunday by tendering him a qualifying offer. He spent 2024/25 — his rookie season — on a two-way contract with Memphis.
It’s likely that Spencer will sign a minimum-salary contract, which would be worth approximately $4.46MM over the next two seasons.
The 53rd pick of the 2024 draft after winning a national championship with UConn, Spencer appeared in 25 games with the Grizzlies last season, averaging 4.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 10.1 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .415/.365/1.000.
The 25-year-old combo guard had a much bigger role in his eight appearances (32.2 MPG) with the Memphis Hustle in ’24/25, averaging 23.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.5 APG and 1.2 SPG on .538/.493/.765 shooting.
Spencer will provide depth and outside shooting to the Grizzlies’ backcourt after they traded Desmond Bane to Orlando. They’re also reportedly renegotiating and extending Jaren Jackson Jr. and re-signing Santi Aldama.