Mitchell Robinson

Knicks Notes: Coaching Change, Towns, Hart, Robinson

November 1st, 2025 at 6:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

After getting off to an awkward 2-3 start, including a 10-point loss at Chicago on Friday, Steve Popper of Newsday wonders whether the Knicks‘ offseason coaching change was necessary or if they were trying to fix something that wasn’t broken.

Management decided to replace Tom Thibodeau after he took New York to the conference finals last season and brought in Mike Brown, who promised to give more minutes to bench players and institute an up-tempo style. Popper points out that the Knicks still have a roster filled with players who were acquired to fit Thibodeau’s slower-paced, defensive-minded approach. When they faced the Bulls, who are built for a faster style of play, they gave up 135 points.

Popper states that the adjustment has been particularly difficult for Karl-Anthony Towns, who is projected to spend more time at power forward after primarily being used as a center last season. Popper believes Towns is miscast by being asked to run the floor in transition like a wing.

Towns didn’t address his individual role after Friday’s loss, but his comments reflected the overall frustration of the team.

“Just obviously we’re not happy,” he said. “We had three winnable games and we didn’t do enough to close the game out. For someone like us, that was our identity last year — close games we usually win. So obviously it’s a different feeling not being able to close the games out.”

There’s more on the Knicks:

Josh Hart told Brown that he doesn’t want to move back and forth between starting and sixth-man duties, so he’s now a full-time reserve, Popper adds in the same piece. Hart said even though it was his idea, there might be times that he struggles with not being a starter. “I think throughout the season it’ll be a battle of, you know, kind of fighting the egotistical view of it,” he said. “I think I did have a good year last year. And you know, with a different role, now it’s totally different. I think the biggest thing, I’ve had to sacrifice my whole career. I talked about it the whole time last year. You know, that’s something that I try to do every year and try to make sure whether I’ve got to sacrifice or not, make the team the best that we can be. So it’s never like, OK cool and it’s seamless. There’s going to be days where I’m just like, ‘Man, that’s some bull.’ You know what I mean? But it’ll be a constant thing of fighting that, but making sure I know that this is what’s best for the team and locking in on that.”
Hart told reporters on Friday that he’s not considering another surgical procedure for an injured finger on his shooting hand, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Hart wants to avoid a prolonged recovery that could sideline him for several months.
Brown was sharply critical of the Knicks’ defense following the loss to Chicago, relays Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. The Bulls scored 72 points in the first half and finished the game with six players in double figures. “Our defense tonight was nonexistent and it starts with guarding the basketball,” Brown said. “We have to be better guarding the basketball. And it has to be with a sense of physicality because if we don’t, teams are gonna do exactly what Chicago did tonight on the offensive end of the floor.”
After missing four games due to left ankle injury maintenance, Mitchell Robinson made his season debut on Friday, posting four points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes. He’s being listed as questionable for Sunday’s rematch with the Bulls in New York, according to James L. Edwards of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Injury Notes: Robinson, Joe, Garland, Collier, Barlow

October 30th, 2025 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks center Mitchell Robinson went through a full practice on Thursday and head coach Mike Brown says he’ll be a game-time decision for Friday’s contest in Chicago, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter links).

Robinson has been held out of the first four games of the regular season with what New York has deemed left ankle injury maintenance. There has been no indication from the Knicks that the 27-year-old big man has suffered a new injury or setback.

Robinson didn’t make his 2024/25 debut until February 28 while recovering from offseason ankle surgery and only played in 17 regular season contests down the stretch. He also appeared in 18 playoff games for New York last spring.

We have more injury updates from around the NBA:

Thunder wing Isaiah Joe will be available to make his season debut on Thursday vs. Washington, tweets Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. After averaging a career-high 21.7 minutes per game in 74 outings for Oklahoma City last season, Joe has been inactive to open the 2025/26 campaign due to a left knee contusion.
Coming off toe surgery, Cavaliers guard Darius Garland isn’t facing any restrictions in practices and has been “scrimmaging and everything,” a source tells Spencer Davies of ClutchPoints. The team is being cautious with his return and won’t bring him back too early, but Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints recently reported that a return during the first half of November is very much in play for the two-time All-Star.
Second-year Jazz point guard Isaiah Collier has been cleared for full on-court work, the team announced today (via Twitter), adding that he’ll be assigned to the G League on Friday as he ramps up his conditioning ahead of his season debut. Collier has been sidelined while recovering from a right hamstring strain.
After starting the first two games of the season, Sixers forward Dominick Barlow has missed the past two and will remain out for at least two more due to his right elbow laceration, per the club (Twitter link via Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports). That means Barlow, who will be reevaluated early next week, won’t play against Boston on Friday or Brooklyn on Sunday.

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Nets, Powell, Wolf, Oubre, Watford, Robinson

October 28th, 2025 at 12:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The members of the Nets‘ organization who are prioritizing a “good pick” in the 2026 draft likely aren’t overly upset about the team’s 0-4 start, but head coach Jordi Fernandez wasn’t pleased with the compete level he saw from his club in a blowout loss to Houston on Monday, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

“I need consistency and urgency. And that’s got to be like something that we cannot decide if we’re doing it or not,” Fernandez said. “It’s a matter of who we want to be, right? Giving up 42 (first-quarter points) to start, it’s not great. It’s just unacceptable to take an NBA game for granted. And our guys are trying. They just don’t know how much harder and focused they can do things. And I believe they’ll keep taking those steps. A lot of it is just lack of experience.”

Only two of the Nets’ five 2025 first-round picks were active in Houston, with Egor Demin (plantar fascia) ruled out and Drake Powell and Danny Wolf assigned to the G League. Still, seven of the 12 players who saw the floor for Brooklyn are under 25 years old, and three others are just 26.

As Lewis writes, the challenge for the Nets as an organization this season will be to lose enough games to get that high draft pick coveted by management and ownership while not establishing the sort of hard-to-break habits that will negatively impact the team’s culture going forward.

“A lot of these teams that try to bottom out by tanking like Brooklyn is doing, they think there’s no consequences,” one player agent told Lewis. “You risk eroding the environment you’re trying to create.”

We have more from around the Atlantic:

Powell played just two minutes in the Nets‘ opener, while Wolf has yet to make his regular season debut. Both players have been dealing with ankle injuries, but Fernandez suggested on Monday that they’ll likely get a look in the NBA after they spend some time with Long Island in the G League and get healthy. “We have a plan for everybody. Sometimes, those plans have to be made on the go because we didn’t know they’d sprain their ankles,” Fernandez said, per Lewis. “They did. Now, they’re ready to practice. Now, they can get real practices. That’s very good that they can do that, so when we need them, they’re ready to go. I’m very happy with the resources we have, how we use them, and it’s good that they have this practice and then they can help us soon.”
While the backcourt duo of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe has deservedly gotten much of the credit for the Sixers‘ hot start head coach Nick Nurse was effusive in his praise for the team’s third-leading scorer, Kelly Oubre Jr., after the forward racked up 25 points and 10 rebounds in Monday’s win over Orlando. As Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports tweets, Nurse raved about Oubre’s defensive versatility and effort on the boards. “Kelly was awesome,” Nurse said. “That was one of Kelly’s best games, if not his best game, as a Sixer. He was awesome from the beginning.” The 29-year-old is on an expiring $8.38MM contract and was considered a possible trade candidate during the offseason.
Forward Trendon Watford will make his Sixers debut on Tuesday in Washington, reports Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). Watford, who signed with Philadelphia as a free agent over the summer, has been sidelined since training camp due to a right hamstring injury.
The Knicks have ruled out center Mitchell Robinson for a fourth straight game to open the season due to left ankle injury maintenance, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Robinson has yet to play this season despite no indication from the team that he suffered a new injury or a setback this month.

Knicks Notes: Towns, Robinson, Brown, Depth, McBride

October 24th, 2025 at 5:10pm CST by Rory Maher

The Knicks fired former head coach Tom Thibodeau over the offseason shortly after they made their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years. However, star big man Karl-Anthony Towns tells DJ Siddiqi of RG.org that he doesn’t view 2025/26 as a championship-or-bust season.

“I feel all 30 teams in NBA are walking in saying the same thing,” Towns said. “It’s unfair just to say that’s for us. I think every team walks in saying the same thing. We’re just focusing on being the best version of ourselves every single day. Every year, you have to earn the respect of the city, continue to earn the respect of the city and the give the fans something to cheer for.

“Just be the best version ourselves when it comes to that point, when the postseason rolls around and play our best basketball. To build as a team so we can play our best basketball when we need to.”

In case you missed it, Towns said after Wednesday’s opening win versus Cleveland that he’s battling a Grade 2 right quad strain.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

Although head coach Mike Brown continues to insist that Mitchell Robinson hasn’t sustained a new injury, it’s concerning that the 27-year-old center will miss his second straight game on Friday against Boston with what the team calls left ankle injury management, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Robinson has made just 48 regular season appearances over the past two campaigns largely due to issues with his left ankle, which has been surgically repaired two times over that span, Schwartz notes.
Wednesday’s win was a good example of how different Brown’s vision for the Knicks is compared to Thibodeau’s, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Post details in a subscriber-only story. With the obvious caveat that it was only one game, the players seemed to be bought in to Brown’s fast-paced offense and energized by the fact that the new coach used an extended rotation. “I truly believe this team is a deep team,” Brown said. “Give (president) Leon Rose and his group a lot of credit. It’s my job to keep trying to find combinations out on the floor that work. Just like they’ve got a lot of room to grow, I’ve got a lot of room to grow, too. I’m still learning. The good part about is there are a lot of different ways I can go with it and I can learn on the fly because we have guys that can play. I like to play a lot of guys. I don’t know if I’ll play 11 guys every night but we like to play as many as we can. We want everybody to be ready in case their number’s called anytime.”
Tyler Kolek and Ariel Hukporti didn’t get much playing time as rookies last season, but earned minutes — and praise — from Brown on Wednesday, per Peter Sblendorio of The New York Daily News. “I thought both guys came in and tried to do what they’re capable of doing,” Brown said of Kolek and Hukporti. “We don’t need anybody to come in and play hero ball or anything like that. Play to your strengths, and both of those guys, they can do some things out on the floor.”
Miles McBride played a critical role in Wednesday’s opener, scoring 15 points on only seven field goal attempts and recording a team-high plus/minus of +17 in 26 minutes, according to Schwartz, who says the 25-year-old guard looks like an ideal fit in Brown’s pace-and-space offense. McBride will start on Friday, tweets Bondy.

New York Notes: Robinson, Thibodeau, Demin, Thomas

October 22nd, 2025 at 8:00pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Knicks are facing the ghosts of injuries past as recently anointed starting center Mitchell Robinson opens the season inactive due to load management, writes Kristian Winfield for the New York Daily News.

Winfield notes that there’s no official timetable for Robinson’s season debut, a dissatisfying data point in a confusing saga that began when Robinson sat out the second half of the team’s October 9 preseason game after playing the first half. According to head coach Mike Brown, that uncertainty may not be resolved in the near future.

“There may be a stretch of five games where we may sit him. There may be a stretch of two games where we may sit him,” Brown said. “There’s no definition of what load management is. You just go along … myself and the medical team and the front office will go along as we see fit, and we’ll decide if we want to sit him during practice or we want to sit him in a game. It’s as simple as that.”

Stefan Bondy of the New York Post also expresses some confusion regarding Robinson’s status, writing that he doesn’t understand why the big man is sitting out on opening night if he didn’t suffer some sort of injury or setback during the preseason. Bondy also relays Brown’s explanation for Robinson missing the team’s season opener.

“Just because he might be able to play tonight, he might be able to practice today, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m gonna play him or I’m gonna practice him,” Brown said.

We have more from around the world of New York basketball:

The Knicks‘ decision to part ways with head coach Tom Thibodeau this summer after one of their most successful seasons in recent memory came down to a philosophical misalignment with certain members of the front office, writes Ian O’Connor for The Athletic, who says those front office executives were focused far more on Thibodeau’s flaws than his strengths. “In their world, the players were 51-0 and Tom was 0-31… He also had a sense of betrayal,” a source close to him said. “When you find out that people you helped either weren’t with you in the end or didn’t fight for you like you fought for them, that stings.”
Egor Demin was intent on preparing his body for the Nets‘ season as he recovered from plantar fasciitis, writes Peter Botte for the New York Post. Demin has added over 10 pounds of muscle since being drafted and he said the difference is noticeable. “[I wanted] to be able to compete against athletes as we have [in the NBA], so I can be a little bit heavier to be stronger on defense, on offense, to get into the paint, and things like this,” Demin said. “As long as I’m above that [number], it’s good, but not too much [because] I want to still be able to run. But I think I’m in a good balance right now with my weight, muscles and condition.” Demin came off the bench on Wednesday in the Nets’ season opener against the Hornets.
Cam Thomas will return to free agency in 2026 after accepting his qualifying offer following a lengthy standoff with the Nets this summer. However, he’s not struggling to keep his eye on the ball, literally, as he enters another contract year, writes The New York Post’s Brian Lewis. “I’m not really worried about that. It’ll take care of itself,” Thomas said of his place in Brooklyn and his contract situation going forward. “The main goal is just being on the court and playing, being out there. I love to hoop, I love to play, so that’s really the main thing I’m trying to do this year. Whatever happens, happens. I’ll let that take care of itself.” After a season shortened by injuries, Thomas came into this year slimmed down and ready to take on an even bigger role.

Knicks Notes: Hart, Robinson, Towns, Brown, Yabusele

October 21st, 2025 at 9:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

One of the questions facing the Knicks this preseason was whether new coach Mike Brown would choose Mitchell Robinson or Josh Hart as the team’s fifth starter. As it turns out, neither will play in the season opener against Cleveland on Wednesday. They’re listed as out on the official injury report and another starter, Karl-Anthony Towns, is questionable due to a strained right quad, Steve Popper of Newsday tweets.

Hart is dealing with lumbar spasms, according to Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. In terms of the oft-injured Robinson, it’s essentially left ankle injury management.

“With Mitch, we just have to be smart,” Brown said. “That’s part of load management. Just because he might be able to play tonight, he might be able to practice today, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m gonna play him or I’m gonna practice him.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

Brown has been tasked to bring the Knicks a long-awaited championship. He says they can’t skip any steps along the way, Schwartz writes. “The good part about it is, the Finals or the championship round doesn’t happen until June,” Brown said. “We’ve got a long time to get there. It starts on the daily. We can’t skip any steps. We just wanna keep taking steps, because it’s gonna be a process. Knowing that we might take one or two steps backwards, but hopefully we can regroup and continue to take three, four, five more forward.”
Towns isn’t entirely sure how his skill set fits into Brown’s offensive schemes, which are more up-tempo with a heavier emphasis on movement compared to Tom Thibodeau’s more methodical system. “Honestly, I don’t know, but we’re figuring it out. It’s just different,” Towns told Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. Brown is confident Towns will adjust. “First thing is, it’s going to be a process, especially with him missing the last couple of games,” the Knicks’ new coach said. “He’ll be in the strong corner, he’ll be in the weak corner, he can be the push man, or he can be the weak wing, and also he can be at the top of the key and in the dunker. That will help him, the movement.”
Guerschon Yabusele has tipped the scales after signing a two-year contract as a free agent, according to Zach Braziller of the New York Post. The new Knicks forward weighs in at 283 pounds, 18 pounds more than last season with the Sixers. “I did not ask him to put on weight or take off weight,” Brown said. “That’s something that our performance people talk to him about.”

Injury Notes: Trail Blazers, Knicks, Heat, Pelicans

October 20th, 2025 at 9:00pm CST by Rory Maher

While he’s not sure who will be ready for Wednesday’s season opener against Minnesota, head coach Chauncey Billups said Toumani Camara (knee), Deni Avdija (back), Robert Williams (knee) and Matisse Thybulle (knee) were full participants in Monday’s practice, tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.

Williams, who has been plagued by knee issues throughout his career, was limited to just 20 games last season. He didn’t play at all during the preseason, nor did Thybulle, who appeared in just 15 games last season due to knee and ankle issues.

Camara, the recipient of a new four-year, $81MM extension, appeared in two preseason games, while Avdija played in all four but exited the finale with upper back stiffness.

We have more injury updates from around the NBA:

The Knicks may be without a pair of key rotation players for their regular season opener vs. Cleveland, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Josh Hart (back spasms) and Mitchell Robinson (load management) didn’t practice Monday, and head coach Mike Brown isn’t sure if either player will be available Wednesday. “Everything we’re doing with him is about managing his workload, which we’ll do the whole year,” Brown replied when asked if there is an injury for Robinson.
Rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis (right groin strain) and second-year Kel’el Ware (neck spasms) were unable to practice Monday for the Heat, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Ware is being evaluated by a doctor, Chiang adds. Miami’s regular season begins Wednesday in Orlando.
Lottery pick Derik Queen went through a full practice Saturday for the first time since undergoing left wrist surgery in July. While the Pelicans big man thinks he could play in Wednesday’s opener at Memphis, head coach Willie Green was careful to temper expectations after a lengthy layoff, writes Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com. “We’ve got to listen to how his body is responding,” Green said. “This is his first time playing with contact in a few months. We don’t want to rush. If he’s ready, that’s another conversation that we’ll have.” Second-year center Karlo Matkovic was unable to practice Saturday due to an elbow injury the team continues to evaluate, Green added.

Knicks Notes: Brown, Dadiet, Kolek, Robinson

October 20th, 2025 at 8:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Young players like Pacome Dadiet and Tyler Kolek knew there wasn’t much chance they’d see significant minutes under Tom Thibodeau, but that’s changed now that Mike Brown is running the Knicks, writes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. Brown prefers a larger rotation than Thibodeau, who was notorious for leaning on his starters, and the new coach has a reputation for giving opportunities to unproven talent.

It began with New York’s first preseason game in Abu Dhabi, Winfield notes, as Dadiet found himself in the starting lineup due to a hand sprain that sidelined OG Anunoby. It’s a philosophy Brown picked up while serving as an assistant to Steve Kerr, who regularly would insert end-of-the-bench players into a game without prior notice.

“If you look at what I’ve done, it’s usually nine-and-a-half to 10 guys,” Brown said. “I try to play as many as I can. Even in (Sacramento), when we had an injury, I started a two-way guy in Keon Ellis. So I’m going to play whoever helps us win and try to get guys an opportunity. With how deep our roster is, everybody should get one at some point.”

Dadiet still could spend time in the G League as long as the Knicks stay relatively healthy, but the team may need Kolek to step into the backup point guard role right away following Malcolm Brogdon‘s unexpected retirement. Kolek fits Brown’s up-tempo style, and he delivered 20 points and six assists last Monday in a game where the starters rested.

“There’s urgency every single day,” Kolek said. “They say the hardest thing is not to get in this league — it’s to stay in it. You’re fighting and scrapping for yours while keeping a collective goal as a team. Every day you’re working on your game to put yourself in the best position.”

There’s more from New York:

Brown’s plan to play faster got off to a rough start in the preseason as the Knicks ranked 29th in pace with 98.55 possessions per 48 minutes, notes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Brown attributes that to having so many players missing time with injuries. “The guys that have been out, they’re the key pieces to what we’re trying to do,” he said. “They haven’t gotten the reps and for us to jell together from top to bottom is gonna take a little more time than I thought.”
Mitchell Robinson missed most of last season while recovering from ankle surgery, so the Knicks have been cautious with him since training camp opened, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Robinson was a healthy scratch for the preseason finale at the behest of Casey Smith, who runs the team’s performance group. Brown added that he’s not aware if there’s a specific plan for how often Robinson will be available during the season.
James L. Edwards of The Athletic offers predictions for how the rotation will play out now that the final roster cuts have been made.

New York Notes: Kolek, Yabusele, Thomas, Powell

October 17th, 2025 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of Malcolm Brogdon‘s sudden retirement announcement, the Knicks are weighing their options for the backup point guard position behind Jalen Brunson.

In the view of Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required), the team has three options: Trade for a backup, give second-year guard Tyler Kolek a chance to earn a rotation role, or take a committee approach, with Miles McBride, Jordan Clarkson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges all taking on additional ball-handling responsibilities.

For his part, Brunson doesn’t sound like someone who wants the front office to go out and make a trade to fortify the depth at his position. He expressed confidence in the team’s in-house options, according to Peter Botte of The New York Post.

“We’re in good hands, great hands,” Brunson said on Thursday. “[Kolek] has been getting better every day. Deuce has been getting better every day. Those guys, they come in and they work on their game nonstop. When you see that, you have the utmost confidence that when their number is called they’re going to be ready to go. So like I said, we’re in good hands.”

Head coach Mike Brown also made it clear he’s not particularly concerned about how the Knicks will get by when Brunson is off the court.

“We feel like we have a deep roster, and a lot of guys will have an opportunity to grab whatever minutes might have been there or might not have been there,” Brown said, per Botte. “It’s just a case of earning your stripes, and we’ll figure it out at the end of the day, whoever’s gonna get whatever minutes are available.”

Here are a few more notes on the NBA’s two New York teams:

It hasn’t been an especially memorable preseason for Knicks forward/center Guerschon Yabusele, who has scored just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting in 42 total minutes of action through three games. As Bondy writes for The New York Post, Brown and the Knicks recognize that there will be a “learning curve” for the newcomer as he adjusts to both a new team and a new system. “I’m really trying to be as much as I can be focused to try to get every detail to make sure I’m at the right spot,” Yabusele said. “For me, it’s a new team with new guys so I really try to fit into the system and be a solution, not a problem.”
Brown has expressed a desire to treat Friday’s preseason finale as a dress rehearsal for the season and use his “normal rotation” for the game. However, four key Knicks – Hart (back), OG Anunoby (ankle), Karl-Anthony Towns (quad), and Mitchell Robinson (load management) – are considered day-to-day and may not be in position to play big minutes, if they’re available at all, writes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News (subscription required).
Given the make-up of the Nets‘ roster, it’s safe to assume Cam Thomas will do plenty of shooting and scoring in 2025/26. Still, head coach Jordi Fernandez is pushing Thomas to take advantage of the defensive attention he’ll receive by improving his play-making and creating shots for teammates, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “Yeah, me and Jordi always talk about it, we always have conversations about it,” Thomas said. “Jordi is also very understanding of who I am as a player. He knows I’m a scorer and he knows how I play. But it’s also the fine line of being aggressive, get your own shot and then getting guys other shots. We always have that dialogue, and it’s great. So this year we have a better understanding. He has a better understanding of me, and I have a better understanding of what he wants.”
Nets rookie Drake Powell‘s 13.8% usage rate during his first and only season at UNC was the lowest of any wing ever drafted, per The Athletic, but Fernandez isn’t concerned at all about that, writes Lewis. “I wasn’t there [at UNC], and I cannot judge whether it’s positive or negative,” the Nets’ head coach said. “But I see [Powell] as an elite on-ball defender, as probably the best athlete of this draft, a player that can run a play on the second side, a very good ball-handler. … He’s going to have to take advantage of his minutes. If he starts with [an] opportunity, great. If not, the opportunity will come.”

Extension Rumors: Herro, Heat, Porzingis, Daniels, M. Robinson

October 17th, 2025 at 11:34am CST by Luke Adams

Although All-Star guard Tyler Herro has expressed interest in signing a contract extension with the Heat before the regular season begins, there haven’t been substantive discussions to this point, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who hears from sources that a preseason deal is doubtful.

Because Herro has two guaranteed seasons left on his current contract, he wouldn’t be eligible to sign an extension during the season. If he and Heat don’t work out an agreement on or before Monday, his next window to sign a new deal would be during the 2026 offseason.

Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins are also extension-eligible, but a long-term deal for either player appears unlikely in the short term, Windhorst writes.

As ESPN’s Tim Bontemps observes within the same story, the Heat are one of a handful of teams looking to maximize their cap flexibility for the summer of 2027, which is when several stars – including Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Donovan Mitchell – are currently projected to reach free agency. That doesn’t necessarily mean a player like Herro or Powell won’t sign an extension sooner or later, but Miami may be reluctant to sacrifice 2027 cap room until they have “good reason” to, Bontemps explains.

Here are a few more notes and rumors on potential extension candidates:

There’s mutual interest between the Hawks and Kristaps Porzingis in a new contract, but the two sides are comfortable waiting to see how the season plays out, says Windhorst. That lines up with recent public comments from Porzingis on the subject. Both Porzingis and Trae Young are expected to have to wait on potential extensions, though Young would ideally like to replace his $49MM player option for 2026/27 with a lucrative new deal sooner or later, per Windhorst.
The Hawks are negotiating with rookie scale extension candidate Dyson Daniels ahead of Monday’s deadline, Bontemps confirms. ESPN’s Bobby Marks suggested earlier this week that Daniels’ agent, Daniel Moldovan, is using Jalen Suggs‘ five-year, $150MM as the key point of comparison for his client. Daniels’ teammate Jalen Johnson signed an identical extension last fall.
The Knicks and Mitchell Robinson have spoken about a possible extension, but haven’t gained any real traction, sources tell Windhorst. According to Windhorst, there’s also no urgency for the Knicks and Karl-Anthony Towns to work out a new contract — he’s extension-eligible, but has two guaranteed years and a player option left on his current deal.
Marks and Bontemps took a closer look at several of the remaining rookie scale extension candidates, speculating about what fair contracts might look like and predicting which ones will get done.

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