NBA G League Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Kerr, Traveling, Draft, Roberts

March 4th, 2025 at 9:17am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors rebounded on Monday from a Saturday loss to Philadelphia, getting back in the win column with a 119-101 victory in Charlotte. But head coach Steve Kerr had a bone to pick after the game, telling reporters that he believes NBA referees let far too many traveling violations go uncalled.

“I don’t understand why we are not teaching our officials to call travel in this league,” Kerr said, per Steve Reed of The Associated Press. “They do a great job and work their tails off and communicate well, but I see five or six travels a game that aren’t called.”

Kerr earned a technical foul in the third quarter on Monday for arguing with officials over what he believes what a travel by Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (video link). Officials let it go and the play resulted in a Warriors foul.

While Kerr was upset in that instance about a non-call that hurt the Warriors, he said his own team is just as guilty as any other, noting that when he watched film of the team’s loss to the Sixers, he noticed four Golden State travels that weren’t called.

“The entire game is based on footwork,” Kerr said. “We need enforce traveling violations and we are not doing it and I don’t understand why. … These (officials) are awesome. They do a great job, and they have a million things to watch, but footwork is the entire basis of the game and we need to call traveling. It will be a much better game if we clean it up.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com (Insider link) have updated their list of this year’s top 100 draft prospects. Texas guard Tre Johnson (No. 11 to No. 5) and French center Joan Beringer (No. 24 to No. 13) are among the big risers in the lottery, while French point guard Nolan Traore has dropped from No. 7 to No. 15 and Israeli guard Ben Saraf has fallen from No. 13 to No. 21.
Just one year ago, Long Island Nets guard Terry Roberts was in the hospital on a ventilator after being shot in the upper chest by a stray bullet. Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required) takes an in-depth look at Roberts’ recovery and his road back to being a regular contributor this season for Brooklyn’s G League affiliate.
With less than six weeks in the 2024/25 regular season, several of ESPN’s NBA reporters pose 19 questions facing teams down the stretch as the playoff races in both conferences heat up. Among those questions: Do the Cavaliers have enough to beat the Celtics? How do the Bucks avoid another early playoff exit? Are the Grizzlies ready to take a step forward in the postseason? And what is the Warriors‘ ceiling?

Southeast Notes: Okogie, McClung, Ware, Robinson, Mitchell

March 3rd, 2025 at 7:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hornets forward Josh Okogie has begun individual on-court workouts as he continues to rehab a left hamstring strain, the team’s PR department tweets. He will be reevaluated in two weeks.

Okogie has been sidelined since late January. He had given Charlotte a boost after being acquired earlier that month, averaging 10 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.4 assists in 21.3 minutes per game over seven appearances.

Okogie was traded from Phoenix to Charlotte as part of the Nick Richards deal. A rotation regular with Phoenix for two-and-a-half seasons, Okogie played 25 games with the Suns this season. He’s in the first year of a two-year, $16MM contract, which includes a non-guaranteed salary of $7.75MM next season.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Three-time dunk contest winner Mac McClung suffered a broken right thumb while playing for the NBA G League’s Osceola Magic on Sunday, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. McClung, who is averaging 21.1 points in the G League while on a two-way contract with the Magic, plans to play through the injury, according to Charania.
Heat rookie big man Kel’el Ware was sidelined on Monday against the Wizards due to a sprained left knee. It’s the first game he has missed with an injury or illness since sitting out the Heat’s Dec. 2 loss to the Celtics due to right foot tendinitis, according to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. Ware was benched for virtually all of the fourth quarter in an overtime loss to the Knicks on Sunday, then played three-plus minutes in OT. “Every game I sit back, I watch it, I try to learn from it and see where I can get better,” Ware said. “So it’s a developmental process.” Ware underwent an MRI on his knee, which showed no structural damage, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets.
Duncan Robinson had a combined 44 points and 11 assists in two Heat victories prior to being held to 10 points and five assists in 32 minutes on Sunday. Robinson can become a free agent this upcoming summer by terminating next season’s $19.9MM salary by June 29. If Robinson opts in for 2025/26, the Heat could make him a free agent by waiving him by July 8 — in that scenario Miami would only be on the hook for $9.9MM. However, Robinson’s strong play may make that a difficult choice, Chiang notes. “He’s really improved in all aspects,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Heat guard Davion Mitchell has been receiving heavy minutes in nine appearances since being acquired in the Jimmy Butler blockbuster. Mitchell has averaged 10.1 points, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 53.9 percent from the field in 33.1 minutes per game. “We want to encourage him to continue to be more aggressive,” Spoelstra said, per Chiang. “I think he still can be a guy who can generate some easy opportunities when he touches the paint. He’s a very willing passer, he wants to get guys involved, he wants to get our main guys the ball almost to a fault. We’ll clean that all up. But I like his game when he’s assertive because he has the right intentions to move the ball.”

Remix’s Isaac Nogues To Enter 2025 NBA Draft

March 3rd, 2025 at 12:05pm CST by Rory Maher

Spanish guard Isaac Nogues, who has been playing in the G League this season with Portland’s affiliate, the Rip City Remix, is submitting the paperwork necessary to enter the 2025 NBA draft, he tells Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

As Fischer observes, it’s rare for a player to declare for the draft in the middle of a season, but evidently the 21-year-old feels confident about his chances of being selected. He’s not currently listed on ESPN’s latest big board (Insider link), which ranks the top 100 prospects ahead of June’s draft.

According to Fischer, Nogues is known as a defensive specialist — he recently set an NBAGL record by recording 10 steals in a game.

“I can defend a lot of positions,” Nogues told Fischer. “Not only the point guard. Not only the best player. I can defend all 48 minutes of the game. I can give 100% of my energy on defense. This really helps any team.”

The 6’5″ guard has appeared in 33 combined games with the Remix in 2024/25, averaging 2.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 18.9 minutes per contest. He has attempted just 1.8 field goals per night, with a shooting line of .458/.294/.474, and he acknowledges his game is a work in progress on that end of the floor.

“My offensive skills, I will improve,” he insists. “I am improving.”

Johnny Davis Joins G League Westchester Knicks

March 2nd, 2025 at 5:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former lottery pick Johnny Davis has signed an NBA G League contract and was claimed off waivers by the Westchester Knicks, the team announced in a press release.

Davis will attempt to rebuild his career in the G League after a disappointing two-and-a-half seasons with Washington. The No. 10 overall pick in 2022, he made 112 total appearances with the Wizards, averaging 3.5 points per game.

The 23-year-old was dealt just prior to the trade deadline to Memphis as part of a three-team transaction. He didn’t play a game with Memphis and the Grizzlies waived him on Feb. 21.

Davis appeared in 28 games as a rookie and 50 more last season, including six starts. In his third season, the 6’5″ guard was a marginal rotation player. He played in 34 games, posting 2.4 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.4 steals over 7.1 minutes per night.

He moved up the draft boards during his sophomore season at Wisconsin, earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors while averaging 19.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.2 steals over 34.2 minutes per game.

And-Ones: Jefferson, Tanner, UNC, Worst Contracts, Baker

February 25th, 2025 at 9:13am CST by Luke Adams

Richard Jefferson will be part of the top ESPN/ABC broadcast team alongside Mike Breen and Doris Burke for the rest of the season, including the NBA Finals, as reported by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic and confirmed by ESPN.

Since ESPN parted ways with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson in 2023, its top broadcast team has featured a rotating cast of analysts next to Breen and Burke. Doc Rivers and J.J. Redick both spent time in the role before leaving for NBA head coaching jobs. While ESPN has also experimented with Jay Bilas and Tim Legler as the third person in the booth, Jefferson has held the role for most of this season and will continue to do so through June.

Still, as Marchand notes, Jefferson’s long-term future in that role – and at ESPN/ABC in general – remains up in the air. He has reportedly received interest from Amazon Prime Video, which will begin broadcasting NBA games next season.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

The University of North Carolina is hiring veteran NBA player agent Jim Tanner as its general manager, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Desmond Bane, Jarrett Allen, Jeremy Sochan, and Luke Kornet are among Tanner’s NBA clients, per RealGM. Jake Fischer reported last week that Tanner was among the candidates receiving serious consideration for that UNC GM position.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes a shot at predicting which current NBA contracts will have the least value to teams two years from now, with a pair of Sixers (Joel Embiid and Paul George) and a pair of Celtics (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown) on his list. While Tatum and Brown have shown no signs of slowing down, the fact that they’re the two players who most recently signed super-max deals makes them inherently risky long-term investments, Pincus explains.
Big man Robert Baker Jr., the current president of the G League’s players’ union, is on the verge of signing a contract with German club ALBA Berlin, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. Baker, who has spent this season with the Osceola Magic, helped lead Team USA to a pair of victories in AmeriCup qualifiers within the past week, racking up 11 points, 10 rebounds, and seven blocks in just 17 minutes of action on Sunday vs. the Bahamas.

And-Ones: 2025 FAs, College Jobs, MCW, WNBA, More

February 20th, 2025 at 7:31am CST by Luke Adams

A series of contract extensions have depleted the star-level talent in the NBA’s 2025 free agent class, but there will still be some notable names to watch this summer, as Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report and ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) detail.

Both Pincus and Marks have longtime NBA stars LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden atop their lists of 2025 free agents, with Marks positing that no player will have more leverage this offseason than Irving, given how badly the Mavericks need to retain the veteran point guard following the trade of Luka Doncic.

After James, Irving, and Harden, who have combined for 41 career All-Star appearances, the next tier of free agents consists of players like Myles Turner, Fred VanVleet, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, and Timberwolves power forwards Julius Randle and Naz Reid. Interestingly, Pincus has Reid ranked ahead of the three-time All-Star he backs up, placing Reid at No. 5 and Randle at No. 7 in his early FA rankings.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

As is typical at this time of year, a number of NBA coaches and executives are receiving interest for jobs at the college basketball level, notes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Fischer mentions Hornets executive Buzz Peterson and veteran player agent Jim Tanner as possible candidates for UNC’s general manager job and says Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Suns assistant David Fizdale, and Bucks assistant Dave Joerger are among the names to watch for the University of Miami’s head coaching position. Fischer adds that Kings assistant Luke Loucks has been linked to Florida State’s head coaching opening.
Former NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams is involved in a bid to bring an WNBA expansion franchise to Boston, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. With expansion teams lined up for San Francisco, Portland, Toronto, and Cleveland, the WNBA will have 16 clubs by 2028, so it’s unclear whether or not the league will be looking to expand beyond that number right away.
Passing along the results of a player poll from All-Star weekend, Joe Vardon of The Athletic notes that the 14 respondents were unanimously against the idea of 10-minute quarters floated last month by commissioner Adam Silver. However, 12 of those 14 players liked the new All-Star tournament format.
The Lakers‘ and Pistons‘ G League affiliates completed a trade on Wednesday, with the South Bay Lakers acquiring forward Cole Swider from the Motor City Cruise in exchange for Chris Silva‘s returning rights and a 2025 first-round pick, per a press release. Silva is currently playing overseas, but Swider has been active in the G League and will begin suiting up for South Bay.

Patrick Baldwin Jr. Joins San Diego Clippers

February 18th, 2025 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The San Diego Clippers have acquired former NBA first-round pick Patrick Baldwin Jr. from the G League player pool, the team announced today in a press release.

Baldwin, 22, was selected 28th overall in the 2022 draft by Golden State and spent his rookie year with the Warriors before being traded to the Wizards during the 2023 offseason in the Chris Paul/Jordan Poole deal.

Baldwin didn’t see much playing time in either Golden State or Washington — to date, he has appeared in 91 total NBA regular season games, averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.0 minutes per night. The 6’9″ forward posted a .401/.366/.658 shooting line across those 91 contests.

After originally appearing on track to be sent to the Bucks as part of the Kyle Kuzma/Khris Middleton trade earlier this month, Baldwin was rerouted to San Antonio when more teams got involved in that deal, turning it into a four-team trade. The Spurs waived Baldwin shortly after acquiring him.

Today’s announcement from the Clippers‘ G League affiliate suggests that Baldwin signed an NBAGL contract shortly after becoming an unrestricted free agent. Since no team held his G League rights, he was subject to the waiver process — San Diego either put in a claim or waited until after he cleared waivers and then added him to the team’s roster.

While Baldwin’s minutes at the NBA level have been limited, he has seen a little more action in the G League, including in seven outings for the Capital City Go-Go this season. He averaged 15.0 PPG and 6.0 RPG on .488/.349/.571 shooting in those seven games (27.2 MPG).

Suns Notes: Durant, Micic, Martin, Washington

February 14th, 2025 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant is hoping he won’t get a harsh reception from Warriors fans during All-Star Weekend, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The Suns star ended hopes for a potential three-team trade last week when he said he didn’t want to return to the Bay Area. Durant, who was named Finals MVP while leading Golden State to championships in 2017 and 2018, pointed that he has “a couple of murals in that arena.”

“For a couple of days, I know it’s going to be hard, but for a couple of days, you can forget about how I left the Warriors or how I came to the Warriors or me not wanting to go back to the Warriors and just appreciate the weekend,” he said. “Appreciate the players that’s there and hopefully people can get off that (expletive) and just appreciate basketball.”

More than his All-Star reception, Durant is concerned about salvaging the season for the Suns, who are currently 11th in the West at 26-28, a game and a half away from the play-in tournament. Phoenix dropped three straight games heading into the break and will need a strong finish against a difficult schedule to reach the top 10.

“Hopefully everybody gets their minds clear, enjoy their break with their families, get their bodies right and then come back and put our foot on the gas and try to get this thing turned around,” Durant said.

There’s more from Phoenix:

Last week’s trade to the Suns means former EuroLeague star Vasilije Micic is on his third team since coming to the NBA in 2023, Rankin notes in a separate story. Although there have been rumors that he will consider returning to Europe this summer, Micic tells Rankin he’s fully committed to making things work in Phoenix. “Honestly, I never considered going back to Europe as long as I had a contract in the NBA,” he said. “The reason I came here was definitely for my own challenge, coming out of the comfort zone. I always expect something like this, but as long as I have an NBA contract, I’ll be 100% dedicated to this.”
Cody Martin, who was acquired from Charlotte in the same trade with Micic, has been a long-time target of general manager James Jones, Rankin adds. Jones scouted Martin when he was in college at Nevada and has remained interested in adding him to the roster. Martin has been sidelined since January 24 with a sports hernia, and the Suns are hoping he can return shortly after the All-Star break. “It’s never a good feeling working your way out of stuff,” he said, “but I think the biggest thing is that it’s just part of the game. Just figuring out how to get over the hump and getting back as soon as you can.”
Coming off an 11-point game on Wednesday night, two-way player TyTy Washington will get to showcase his skills at Sunday’s NBA G League Next Up Game, Rankin states in another piece. The 23-year-old point guard is trying to establish himself as an NBA player after moving around frequently since being selected with the 29th pick in the 2022 draft. “Good opportunity,” he said of this weekend’s event. “A lot of NBA people are going to be there. A lot of All-Stars are going to be out there. Just go out there and keep that in the back of my mind. Playing not only for myself, but for my team and for everybody else that’s watching.”

And-Ones: Podziemski, Wallace, Australia, Buyouts, Etienne

February 8th, 2025 at 2:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski has been named an injury replacement for next Friday’s Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend in San Francisco, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).

Podziemski will be replacing Thunder guard Cason Wallace, who is currently dealing with a shoulder strain. Wallace had been drafted onto honorary head coach Tim Hardaway Sr.‘s squad for the four-team event, so Podziemski will slot into Hardaway’s roster.

After a promising rookie season, Podziemski got off to a slow start in this season’s first half, but he has picked up his play since returning last month from an abdominal injury. In his first eight games back, he has averaged 14.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game on .494/.396/.759 shooting.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

The NBA has reached an agreement with Australia’s National Basketball League and the Victorian Government to play a pair of exhibition games in Melbourne during the 2025 preseason, according to Olgun Uluc of ESPN. The plan is for a single NBA team to travel to Australia to play an NBL squad, says Uluc, noting that it will be the first time the NBA has played a game in the country.
John Hollinger of The Athletic takes a look at 35 players who have already hit the buyout market or whom he considers candidates to do so. In Hollinger’s view, there are three players – Bruce Brown, Malcolm Brogdon, and D’Angelo Russell – who could be real difference-makers, though Brown and Brogdon reportedly aren’t likely to be bought out. Hollinger also considers Chris Boucher, Tre Jones, and Larry Nance Jr. to be players who could play rotation roles for playoff teams if they’re bought out by their current clubs.
Guard Tyson Etienne has been shooting the lights out for the Long Island Nets (48.9% on three-pointers during the NBAGL regular season) and is drawing interest from NBA teams, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), who says Etienne looks like a candidate to get a two-way deal before the March 4 deadline.

Trail Blazers Notes: Draft, G League, Postseason

February 2nd, 2025 at 3:36pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Trail Blazers have found themselves on a surprisingly impressive run of late, observes Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report. After cleaning the clock of the star-studded Suns on Saturday, Portland claimed its seventh win across its last eight contests.

As Highkin notes, Portland’s recent success has likely damaged its chances of nabbing the top talent in this summer’s impending draft.

Sporting a 20-29 record, the Trail Blazers are now just one victory away from matching their 2023/24 total of 21 wins. The strong play of forwards Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija, the intriguing defense of rookie center Donovan Clingan, and improved play from backcourt standouts Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson has helped boost the club’s record.

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

The Trail Blazers assigned center Duop Reath, wing Rayan Rupert and forward Jabari Walker to their G League affiliate, the Rip City Remix, the team announced on Sunday (Twitter link). Reath, who was assigned to Rip City on Saturday for the first time this season, enjoyed a standout rookie year in 2023/24 before falling to a fourth-string role this year following the arrival of Clingan and the return of Robert Williams. Thanks to this surplus of centers in Portland, Reath has been viewed as an intriguing trade candidate for rival clubs this year.
Portland is now just 4.5 games away from the Western Conference’s No. 10 seed, but the Trail Blazers are taking a measured approach to their postseason prospects, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. “I don’t even think we think about none of that stuff,” center Deandre Ayton said. “We’re just taking it one game at a time. We’re not even there yet … We’ve still got to take care of these fundamentals and be known for that, despite how these games go.”
In case you missed it, Henderson has been developing as a player and a leader of late after an up-and-down start to his NBA career.