Timberwolves Rumors

Northwest Notes: Markkanen, Braun, Alexander-Walker, Avdija

Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen has been ruled out for a second consecutive game, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, who tweets that Markkanen will be unavailable on Saturday in Denver. Utah’s leading scorer also missed Thursday’s loss to San Antonio after exiting Tuesday’s game vs. Sacramento early due to low back spasms.

According to Larsen (Twitter link), Markkanen doesn’t anticipate a lengthy absence, indicating today that he believes he’ll return to action at some point during the team’s current road trip. That trip will include stops in in Chicago (on Monday), Milwaukee (Thursday), and San Antonio (next Saturday) before Utah returns home on November 12.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • Christian Braun has impressed the Nuggets in his new starting role so far this season, but he blamed himself for helping to spark a late Timberwolves rally on Friday, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. He and Rudy Gobert were each assessed with a technical foul following a brief dust-up instigated by Braun’s celebration of a big dunk over the four-time Defensive Player of the Year (Twitter video link). The Wolves, down by eight points at the time with 5:14 left, ended up winning by three. “Momentum changed like that, after the tech,” Braun said, suggesting he views the incident as a learning experience. “… It should have been a positive, and then I get the tech, and that turns it to a negative. … I’ve gotta be smarter after I make that play. Get back on defense.”
  • Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker has come a long way since being sent to Minnesota at the 2023 trade deadline as a throw-in alongside Mike Conley, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who takes a closer look at Alexander-Walker’s impact after he helped Minnesota steal a win from Denver on Friday. The 26-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
  • After being acquired in an offseason trade, Deni Avdija is off to a miserable shooting start with the Trail Blazers, making just 33.9% of his field goal tries, including 14.3% of his three-pointers, in his first six outings. As Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian writes in a subscriber-only story, Avdija – who had a key blocked shot late in Wednesday’s one-point win over the Clippers, is making an effort to help the team in other ways during his shooting slump. “I feel like I’m still trying to get in rhythm with everything,” he said. “Opening the season a little bit on the slow start for me personally but I’m trying to contribute with other things.”

Northwest Notes: Conley, Murray, Braun, Rupert, Leons

Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley spoke in more detail this week about the left wrist injury he has dealt with for the last few years, admitting that it prevented him from golfing over the summer after he fell on the wrist last season and aggravated an old ligament issue, per Jerry Zgoda of The Minneapolis Star Tribune. Still, Conley has gotten used to playing through the injury and plans to continue doing so.

“When I’m 50, I’ll get surgery, not right now,” he said. “The surgery is a little bit complex and I’ve been playing with it for years, so I feel like I’ll just finish it.”

Entering Friday’s bout with Denver, Conley was shooting just 22.6% from the field through Minnesota’s first four games this season, including 27.3% on three-pointers. While the wrist issue may be a factor in the veteran’s shooting struggles, the sample size is small and he’s confident those numbers will improve once he gets through an early-season adjustment period.

“I’m just trying to work back the strength of it,” Conley said. “That’s the biggest thing. The pain and stuff is gone. But there are some times when I’ll shoot it and think, ‘Ah, that’s good,’ and it’ll be like two feet short. So you’re just trying to gauge the differences and work through that as the season goes forward.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • Nuggets guard Jamal Murray exited Friday’s loss to Minnesota in the third quarter and entered the NBA’s concussion protocol, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. The injury occurred following an inadvertent collision with Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (Twitter video link). Murray, who is off to a somewhat slow start this season, had just six points on 2-of-7 shooting in his 22 minutes on Friday.
  • The Nuggets have lost three of their first five games and required an overtime period to get their two wins against a pair of Eastern teams (Toronto and Brooklyn) coming off lottery seasons. Still, one silver lining has been the play of Christian Braun in his new starting role — the Nuggets are “very pleased” with what they’ve seen from him this fall, writes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Braun was a team-high plus-13 in Friday’s loss and has scored double-digit points with a positive net rating in each of Denver’s five games so far. The third-year wing will be eligible for a rookie scale extension next offseason.
  • Rayan Rupert doesn’t have a significant role for the Trail Blazers this season, but the second-year forward is making the most of his limited playing time and making a case for more minutes. As Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian (subscription required) writes, Rupert was a plus-12 in 19 total minutes on Monday and Wednesday and earned praise from head coach Chauncey Billups for his impact in Wednesday’s one-point victory. “Rupe’s minutes were amazing,” Billups said. “I was just so, so happy for him, given that he works his behind off. We really celebrated Rupes in the locker room.”
  • Malevy Leons‘ new contract with the Thunder is a non-guaranteed one-year deal worth the prorated rookie minimum, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. Leons has a cap hit of $1,097,300, though a portion of that money would come off Oklahoma City’s books if he’s cut before the league-wide salary guarantee deadline in January. That’s what happened to Alex Reese, whose release left $79,804 in dead money on the Thunder’s cap.

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Randle, Wolves, Thunder, Blazers

One key reason the Nuggets were unable to defend their title last season was a lack of roster depth, which forced head coach Michael Malone to lean too heavily on his starters. Malone found himself falling back into old habits in Monday’s overtime win over Toronto as he tightened his rotation down the stretch and played all his starters at least 39 minutes in the first game of a back-to-back set.

“Obviously we found ourselves in a game (Monday) night that we kind of shortened our rotation up a little bit in the second half, feeling the pressure of trying to get the first win of the season,” Malone said before Tuesday’s game vs. the Nets, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “And when you look at the box score after the game, especially going into the second night of a back-to-back in Brooklyn, you have your starters all at or near 40 minutes. And that’s not sustainable. We can’t do that. Game three, it was cool, man. Let’s get our first win, kind of take a deep breath. But that’s not sustainable.”

Several key Denver players also logged major minutes on Tuesday as the team once again required overtime to get past a non-playoff opponent. Nikola Jokic helped seal the victory with 29 points, 18 rebounds, and 16 assists in nearly 41 minutes of action.

Still, it was evident Malone was trying to avoid overextending his starters — four of the five played fewer minutes on Tuesday than they had on Monday, with Russell Westbrook stepping up off the bench to contribute 22 points and five assists in his best game as a Nugget so far.

“It’s hard to win in this league,” Westbrook said. “People think it’s easy, man. It’s hard. Especially when you’re a team that’s won year after year and always been in the running for NBA championships. It’s hard. We’ll get everybody’s best shot. We’ve gotta be prepared for it. However we’ve gotta get wins right now, we’ll take them.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • Timberwolves forward Julius Randle spoke to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about the impact the preseason trade to Minnesota had on him and his family and how his adjustment period is going so far. Randle admitted that he was “really thrown off” by the timing of the deal but was happy about his destination. “We had training camp in two or three days. My mindset was ready to go to Charleston for (Knicks) training camp,” he said. “It took me like a night or two (to accept it). The next morning. I was extremely happy because I forgot everything else and thought about the basketball side … It’s not that I was thinking I couldn’t get traded. I kind of had an idea (trade talks) were going on, but I think it would happen more during the season or closer to the trade deadline because the summer already passed.”
  • The Timberwolves had the NBA’s No. 1 defense last season, but they’re still figuring things out on that end of the court following their offseason roster changes, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes in the wake of a 120-114 Wolves loss to Dallas. “We do feel like we have some physicality now in Donte (DiVincenzo) and Julius. It gives us a little bit more defensive versatility too,” head coach Chris Finch said. “That’s not to say we have all the answers right now even in that. We’re still trying to figure out some defensive chemistry.”
  • No NBA team is winning the turnover battle more effectively so far this season than the Thunder, who have forced the most opponent turnovers per game on defense (20.7) while committing the second-fewest per game on offense (10.7). Zach Kram of The Ringer takes a closer look at how replacing Josh Giddey with Alex Caruso in Oklahoma City’s rotation has helped make an already strong defense even better in the early going.
  • The Rip City Remix (the Trail Blazers‘ affiliate) and the Grand Rapids Gold (the Nuggets‘ affiliate) are among the G League teams to recently announce training camp rosters. Former lottery pick James Bouknight‘s headlines the Remix’s roster, while the Gold’s squad includes former Bulls two-way player Andrew Funk.

Western Notes: Jokic, Branham, Conley, Wallace

Nikola Jokic was concerned about how the Nuggets performed in the preseason. Denver has also lost its first two regular season games but the superstar center says the offense simply isn’t clicking yet, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic.

“I think we are struggling to score,” Jokić said. “We have scored 87 and 104 points in our two games. That’s not enough. In today’s NBA, you have to score more points. I think the defense has been good, so that’s a positive. But we are just not scoring enough points. We aren’t making shots. Open looks aren’t going in. We just aren’t converting and executing the way we need to.”

Jones points out that Christian Braun is still settling in to the starting lineup, while Russell Westbrook, Dario Saric and second-year shooting guard Julian Strawther are trying to do the same on the second unit.

We have more from the Western Conference:

  • With Spurs backup point guard Tre Jones sidelined by an ankle sprain, Malaki Branham has been thrust into the rotation, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News notes. Branham had seven points, two assists and two blocks in 14 minutes against Houston on Saturday. “We have so many guys on this team who can contribute,” forward Harrison Barnes said. “It’s about the next man staying ready and being professional. That’s one of the biggest things on our team.” The Spurs picked up the 2025/26 option on Branham’s contract earlier this month.
  • Timberwolves guard Mike Conley is experiencing some nagging wrist soreness, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets. Conley has been dealing with the issue for a few years and will need to address it after his playing days are over, Krawczynski adds. However, he won’t blame his poor shooting (20%) through the first three games on his wrist, since he’s navigated the issue successfully in the past.
  • Cason Wallace showed off his defensive prowess for the Thunder against Hawks star Trae Young in the fourth quarter on Sunday, holding Young without a fourth quarter field goal. Young also committed three turnovers during that portion of OKC’s 24-point win. “It’s a lot of fun being a competitor at one of the highest levels,” Wallace told Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. “Taking pride in not wanting to get scored on, especially in an iso situation.” Wallace was the 10th pick of the 2023 draft.

Western Notes: Wolves, Blazers, Jazz, Spurs, Missi

It came against an injury-depleted Raptors team, but the Timberwolves‘ new starting lineup had some encouraging moments in Saturday’s wire-to-wire home victory, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.

It looks like it’s starting to come together,” head coach Chris Finch said. “Things that I can see that maybe we can lean into are starting to form a little bit. We got to keep doing it particularly when it matters most, but it was good for those guys.”

Minnesota got off to a sluggish start in its opening road loss to the Lakers, but the team is starting to figure out how to play around Julius Randle, who contributed 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes vs. Toronto. Center Rudy Gobert grew accustomed to playing alongside Karl-Anthony Towns, but Randle is less of a shooter and more of a driver.

I try to be in a spot where I’m not in his way,” Gobert said of Randle. “Also he’s able to to find me if my man helps, or if someone collapses, find the shooter. …We gotta get a long way to go, but it’s fun. It’s fun to watch him work, and he’s a very good passer, too, so he’s gonna be able to find his teammates most of the time.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

  • The Trail Blazers gave up 140 points and were blown out in their opener, a 36-point home loss to Golden State. Although Portland blew a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter on Friday and wound up losing a nail-biter to New Orleans, head coach Chauncey Billups was content with the team’s effort, writes Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report. “I thought we played good,” Billups said. “Obviously wished we’d come away with the win, but definitely, this is more who we are. We’re gonna compete, we’re gonna scrap. Defensively, I thought we did a pretty good job. It got away from us a few times. But I thought we played hard. I’m proud of our guys.”
  • The Blazers aren’t the only team to be throttled by Golden State this week. The Jazz only managed 86 points in a 41-point home loss to the Warriors on Friday. While Utah is expected to be among the worst teams in the league, Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune questions whether the second unit featuring Cody Williams, Brice Sensabaugh, Jordan Clarkson and John Collins can play competitive minutes together, as they don’t seem to possess complementary skill sets.
  • Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required) shares three takeaways from the Spurs‘ 109-106 victory over Houston on Saturday, including head coach Gregg Popovich using lottery pick Stephon Castle in crunch time. “I feel like just being out there late game is credit to my defense,” Castle said. “I feel like that’s when it’s needed most. So I was really just trying to lock in on that and then on the other end, just execute whatever Pop calls.”
  • Big man Yves Missi was viewed by scouts as a raw prospect entering the 2024 draft, but the Pelicans believed in his athleticism and “capacity for learning,” which is why they selected him 21st overall, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com (subscriber link). Missi has impressed through two games, averaging 10.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 2.5 BPG in 22.5 MPG. Clark details how the 20-year-old traveled from his native Cameroon to the U.S. as teenager to pursue his basketball dream.

G League Notes: Knicks, Shamet, Ryan, Bronny, Knox, More

The Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers‘ G League affiliate, announced on Friday (via Twitter) that they’ve traded the No. 2 pick in Saturday’s NBAGL draft to the Westchester Knicks in exchange for the No. 3 pick and the returning rights to two players (forwards Troy Baxter Jr. and Milhan Charles).

As a result of the deal, the Knicks’ G League team now holds the top two picks in Saturday’s draft, and Marc Stein (Twitter links) reports that there’s an expectation Westchester will use those selections to nab veteran wings Landry Shamet and Matt Ryan, both of whom are draft-eligible in the NBAGL this fall.

As Stein explains, the Knicks want Landry Shamet to be able to rehab his dislocated shoulder within the organization and have been eyeing Ryan as a potential roster addition at the NBA level. Having both players at Westchester wouldn’t stop another NBA team from poaching them, but it would put the Knicks in good position to promote one or both of them to the NBA squad at some point this season.

According to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link), there’s still optimism within the organization that Shamet will be able to avoid surgery on his right shoulder injury.

Here are a few more G League notes ahead of Saturday’s draft:

  • Lakers guard Bronny James will travel with the team on its upcoming road trip from October 28 to November 6 and then will begin bouncing back and forth between the NBA and the G League, according to Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin of ESPN, who share more details on the Lakers’ plans for the rookie. The NBAGL’s fall “Tip-Off Tournament” begins on Nov. 8.
  • The Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s affiliate, acquired the returning rights for Kevin Knox in a three-team trade with the Rip City Remix (Trail Blazers) and Westchester Knicks, per a press release. Knox had been in camp with the Warriors, but his contract didn’t include Exhibit 10 language, so it didn’t appear he was planning to join the team’s G League affiliate. Santa Cruz’s trade suggests that may happen after all.
  • The San Diego Clippers acquired Tosan Evbuomwan‘s returning rights along with the No. 31 pick in Saturday’s G League draft from the Motor City Cruise (Pistons) in exchange for this year’s No. 12 pick and a 2025 first-rounder (Twitter link). The deal ensures that Evbuomwan, who was signed and waived by the Clippers last week, will be eligible for his $77.5K Exhibit 10 bonus as a returning rights player for L.A.’s affiliate.
  • The Texas Legends (Mavericks) have traded the returning rights for guard Mike Miles to the Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves) in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick and a 2025 international draft pick, the team announced in a press release. Miles averaged 10.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 21.4 minutes per game across 29 appearances for the Legends last season.

Rudy Gobert Signs Three-Year Extension With Timberwolves

OCTOBER 25: Gobert’s extension with the Timberwolves is now official, the team announced today in a press release.

Gobert was permitted to sign the contract after the regular season began because it’s a veteran extension and he declined his 2025/26 player option as part of the agreement.

The deal begins at $35MM in 2025/26 and increases to $36.5MM in ’26/27, with a $38MM player option for ’27/28, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links), who adds that Gobert’s trade kicker is worth 7.5%.


OCTOBER 22: The Timberwolves and center Rudy Gobert have agreed to a three-year, $110MM contract extension, Shams Charania of ESPN tweets.

The move comes on the heels of Minnesota trading away Gobert’s frontcourt partner, Karl-Anthony Towns, this offseason at the start of Towns’ max extension, which created more long-term cap flexibility for the club.

Gobert, 32, is scheduled to make $43,827,587 this season on his current deal. He had a $46,655,173 option for the 2025/26 season, which he’ll decline and replace with a smaller number in order to lock in two additional years beyond that.

The new extension will include a player option for 2027/28, as well as a trade kicker, Charania adds (Twitter link).

Minnesota will get some cap relief with Gobert declining that 2025/26 option, giving the team more flexibility to make moves next offseason. Julius Randle and Naz Reid, the team’s other main frontcourt players, could become free agents if they decline their own ’25/26 player options next summer.

Gobert is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, having won the award for a fourth time this past spring. After a rocky first season with the organization following the blockbuster deal between Minnesota and Utah, Gobert settled in last season and played an integral role on a team which reached the Western Conference Finals.

Gobert is also one of the more durable players in the league by current standards. He hasn’t appeared in fewer than 66 regular season games since the 2018/19 season.

Last season, he made 76 starts and averaged 14.0 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per night. He also started 15 postseason games, averaging 12.1 PPG and 9.8 RPG.

The Wolves had a +8.0 net rating during the regular season when Gobert was on the court, compared to a +3.0 mark when he sat. During the playoffs, that gap increased to +9.8 in the center’s minutes and -6.3 when he on the bench.

Julius Randle Puts Up 33 Points In Second Game

  • After looking tentative in his Timberwolves debut, Julius Randle was back in All-Star form Thursday night with 33 points, five rebounds and four assists in a win at Sacramento, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. It was only Randle’s second game since injuring his shoulder last winter, and that type of production shows why the Wolves were willing to part with Karl-Anthony Towns to acquire him from New York. “We told him this morning, don’t fit around us, we’re going to fit around you,” Anthony Edwards said. “He showed us today.”

Northwest Notes: Gobert, Reid, Braun, Jokic, Blazers

Rudy Gobert recognized that if he picked up his 2025/26 player option that would have been worth close to $47MM, it would have hindered the chances of the Timberwolves re-signing key pieces, including Naz Reid, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Julius Randle. That’s why, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski, he sought after a “win-win” deal in re-signing for the three-year, $110MM deal that has an annual average value of $36.7MM.

My next year contract was really high,” Gobert said. “So being able to allow the team to keep our guys, that was the win for the Timberwolves. But being able to keep me for a longer term was great for both of us.

According to Krawczynski, Gobert recognizes he has a shot at a championship by sticking with the Timberwolves and continuing to build on the progress the team made last season en route to the Western Conference Finals. From the sound of it, he wasn’t interested in the idea of opting out of current contract and signing elsewhere to chase rings with another team.

The two sides were actually close to not agreeing to a deal, per Krawczynski, as Gobert sought a four-year contract that the Wolves weren’t comfortable offering. But Gobert, mindful of his appreciation for coach Chris Finch, his respect for teammate Anthony Edwards, and the fact that he wanted to help his teammates get paid, ultimately agreed to sign an extension just moments before opening night tipped off.

It’s never been about money, but even more at this point in my career, it’s about being where I feel at home and where I can win championships,” Gobert said. “These guys, from players to coaches to organization embrace me and believed in me and gave me the opportunity to be the best version of myself on and off the court, and also make me grow.

The Wolves’ situation serves as an example of how the NBA’s strict guidelines for apron teams are impacting decision making. The team already traded long-time franchise staple Karl-Anthony Towns to shed future salary, and Gobert’s decision to sacrifice short-term money showed he recognized the need for long-term security and a better chance to win and support his teammates in this newer era.

For him to think about the next person, that’s dope,” Reid said. “That’s really unselfish. I know a lot of people wouldn’t do that, but he would. He’s showing it now. I’m happy that he’s thinking about me and this team. That means he wants to win.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

  • Reid will continue to step more into the spotlight after a successful Sixth Man of the Year campaign last season. In an conversation with Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina, The longest-tenured Timberwolves player discussed the added responsibilities he’ll face with Towns out of the picture. “I’m super comfortable,” Reid said. “Me and KAT do a lot of similar things. With him being here and gone, it’s the same thing for me and the same mentality. I kind of view it as the same thing. More minutes. Same thing, though. Next man up. That’s my mentality.
  • Christian Braun‘s young basketball career has been defined by winning. He claimed three straight state titles in high school, helped Kansas win an NCAA championship in his final collegiate season, then played a role on the Nuggets‘ title team in his NBA rookie season. That all led him to the point of potentially starting as Denver’s shooting guard this season, Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes. If Braun does start in the team’s Thursday opener, it will mark just his 11th career start.
  • Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic found himself often playing alongside the second unit in staggered lineups during the preseason. One of the most natural fits was a lineup that includes Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson and Dario Saric, Jokic is embracing the idea of mixing up the rotations a bit more this season, Durando writes in a separate story. “I think we should do that in a game, just to give teams (a) different look,” Jokic said. “I like it, just to play with somebody else. And why not?
  • Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was highly critical of his team after they lost by 35 points in the season opener to the Warriors, according to Rose Garden Report’s Sean Highkin. “I didn’t think one guy on our team played well in the game,” Billups said. “Man, it was crazy. It felt like we were two steps slow on everything. Defensively, offensively, we just waited to react to everything, and you can’t do that against a team like that. They beat us at every facet of the game. Every loose ball, they were the first team there. Getting down the floor after makes and after misses. Every single facet of the game, they beat us.

Extension Notes: Giddey, Green, Gobert, Gordon

Noting that Bulls guard Josh Giddey was among the top rookie scale extension candidates who didn’t sign a new contract before Monday’s deadline, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said in the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link) that the two sides didn’t seem to gain any real traction in their negotiations ahead of the regular season.

“From what I understand, there were never really any meaningful negotiations there, which was a surprise to me,” Windhorst said. “I thought the Bulls were going to be under some amount of pressure to get him done because they had traded Alex Caruso for him.”

Giddey will now be on track for restricted free agency in 2025, with the Bulls getting the opportunity to evaluate him for a year before deciding how significant an investment they want to make in their new point guard.

Meanwhile, Windhorst and his podcast guest Bobby Marks singled out the unusual extension that Jalen Green signed with the Rockets – which gave him a third-year player option and a 10% trade kicker – and suggested that the unique terms of the deal signal that Green could become a trade candidate before his contract expires.

“This is a contract that a lot of people in the league think was signed for the option to be traded,” Windhorst said, adding that the 10% trade kicker was the biggest one handed out in any of this week’s extensions. “I’m not saying the Rockets are definitely going to trade him. I’m just saying this contract was designed to allow him to be traded.”

Here are a few more notes on the contract extensions that were completed this week:

  • Discussing his new three-year, $110MM agreement with the Timberwolves, Rudy Gobert said he didn’t want to be too “greedy” in negotiations and that he wanted the team to maintain some spending flexibility after locking him up, according to Chris Hine of The Minneapolis Star Tribune. As part of the deal, Gobert declined a $46.7MM player option for 2025/26 and will replace it with a cap hit that comes in $10MM+ below that. “It’s about finding balance,” Gobert said. “Every year, every time I sign a contract I always try to leave a little bit for the team, be able to realize that I’m grateful being able to earn what I’m earning coming from where I come from.”
  • Aaron Gordon made a similar concession in his extension with the Nuggets, picking up a $22.84MM player option for 2025/26 as part of the deal and allowing the team to put off his 40% raise until ’26/27. Gordon, who said he was “ecstatic” to finalize a long-term deal with Denver, referred to the extension as a “win-win” for him and the team, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “Playing alongside Joker (Nikola Jokic), Jamal (Murray), MPJ (Michael Porter Jr.), and being coached under Mike Malone, what more can you ask for?” Gordon said. “From the moment that I got here, Mike Malone has put me in a position to succeed and flourish. He’s put me in the right place, and he’s encouraged me to just be myself, and he’s coached me and allowed me to be myself. So to be coached under him is a great thing. And then just playing alongside these great players and continuing to build a friendship, a bond, a brotherhood, and a team, I’m really excited for it.”
  • John Hollinger of The Athletic takes a deep dive into the extensions signed this week and considers which teams made out the best and which clubs were smart to hold the line. Hollinger called the Rockets‘ five-year, $185MM deal with Alperen Sengun a “home run” for Houston and lauded the Pelicans for locking up Trey Murphy on a four-year, $112MM extension.