Spurs Add Mason Plumlee On 10-Day Contract
10:00 pm: The Spurs officially completed the signing on Tuesday, per NBA.com’s transaction log. The deal will cover San Antonio’s next five games and will expire after next Thursday’s contest in Brooklyn.
6:54 pm: The Spurs are signing veteran big man Mason Plumlee on a 10-day contract, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
San Antonio has an opening on its 15-man roster and won’t have to make a corresponding move to make room for Plumlee. The Spurs opened up a roster spot when they waived Jeremy Sochan, who later signed with the Knicks.
Plumlee became a free agent earlier this month when he was cut by the Thunder shortly after they acquired him from the Hornets. The big man, who turns 36 next month, fits the description of journeyman. He has played for Brooklyn, Portland, Denver, Detroit, the Clippers, and Phoenix, as well as two stints with the Hornets.
Plumlee has appeared in 874 regular season games, averaging 7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 21.7 minutes per contest. He played regularly for the Suns in 2024/25 but had a modest role in Charlotte this season, seeing action in just 14 games (two starts) while averaging 1.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 8.9 minutes per night.
He’ll add a little frontcourt depth for San Antonio coming out of the All-Star break but it remains to be seen how long he’ll stick with his latest NBA franchise.
Jaren Jackson Jr. Undergoes Knee Surgery
Jaren Jackson Jr. underwent successful surgery on Tuesday morning to remove a localized pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) growth in his left knee, the Jazz confirmed today in a press release.
According to the team, which first announced last week that Jackson would be undergoing the procedure, the surgery was performed in Salt Lake City by Dr. Travis Maak, the Jazz’s head orthopedic team physician. The former Defensive Player of the Year will begin the rehabilitation process and will be reevaluated in four weeks, per the club.
Despite the fact that Jackson will be examined in four weeks, Utah previously indicated that he’ll be out for the rest of the season. The expectation is that the big man will be fully healthy for training camp in the fall.
Jackson, 26, was traded from Memphis to Utah at this month’s deadline and appeared in three games for his new team before being shut down, averaging 22.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.0 steals in 24.0 minutes per contest.
The Jazz stated last week that they identified the PVNS growth in Jackson’s knee via MRI during a post-trade physical and determined along with Jackson and his representatives – after consulting multiple medical experts – that surgery was necessary to address the issue.
According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, a PVNS growth isn’t cancerous and doesn’t spread to other areas of the body, but PVNS is a progressive disease that can lead to bone damage and arthritis. In most cases, surgery is necessary to remove the damaged joint lining and the growth.
Second-year Jazz forward Cody Williams, who started each of his past 15 games prior to Jackson’s debut, came off the bench while JJJ was active, then returned to the starting five last Thursday in Utah’s final contest before the All-Star break. He’ll likely remain in that starting role with Jackson sidelined.
Mike Conley Officially Rejoins Timberwolves
As expected, veteran point guard Mike Conley has re-signed with the Timberwolves. The transaction is listed in NBA.com’s official log, while Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) confirms that the two sides have completed a rest-of-season deal.
The Timberwolves sent Conley to Chicago in a salary-dump trade on February 3, with the Bulls flipping him to Charlotte along with Coby White a day later, just ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline. The Hornets subsequently cut him, which cleared the way for the 38-year-old to return to Minnesota.
NBA rules prohibit a player who is traded and then waived to immediately re-sign with the team that traded him away. However, that restriction only applied to the Bulls, not the Timberwolves, since Conley was traded twice.
Word broke when Conley was still on waivers that he planned to rejoin the Wolves. The team waited until today to complete the signing in order to maximize its cap/tax savings by taking the full allotment of 14 days to get back to the NBA-mandated roster minimum of 14 players. Minnesota still has an open spot on its 15-man roster after signing Conley.
Conley, who is in his 19th NBA season, became the Wolves’ starting point guard when they acquired him at the 2023 trade deadline and maintained that role through last season. He ceded his starting job to Donte DiVincenzo this past fall and has averaged a career-low 18.5 minutes per night in 44 outings (nine starts) so far this season. His 4.4 points and 2.9 assists per game are also career lows, as is his 32.2% field goal percentage.
Despite Conley’s declining production, there were rumblings ahead of the trade deadline that the team wasn’t eager to move the veteran due to his locker room leadership. With that in mind, being able to move off of the guard’s $10.8MM expiring contract and then bring him back on a prorated minimum-salary deal represents the best of both worlds for the Wolves.
Assuming Conley did sign for the minimum, which is a safe bet, he’ll earn $1,148,727 for the rest of the season while the Wolves carry a cap hit of $725,834.
Conley will likely seeing his playing time decline a little in the season’s final two months after Minnesota acquired guard Ayo Dosunmu from Chicago at the trade deadline.
Wiseman Among NBA Vets Representing U.S. In World Cup Qualifiers
USA Basketball has formally announced its 12-man roster for the next window of FIBA World Cup qualifying games, which will tip off later this month.
The following players will represent Team USA in games against the Dominican Republic on February 26 and Mexico on March 1 at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California:
- Tevian Jones, G
- Taevion Kinsey, G
- Brandon Knight, G
- Dakota Mathias, G
- Elfrid Payton, G
- Jaden Shackelford, G
- Malcolm Hill, F
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, F
- David Roddy, F
- Terry Taylor, F
- Jeremiah Tilmon, C
- James Wiseman, C
Knight, Shackelford, and Tilmon also played for Team USA in the fall during the first window of World Cup qualifying games. The U.S. team, which is being coached by former Rockets head coach Stephen Silas, won both of those matchups against Nicaragua and will take its 2-0 record and a new-look roster into these qualifiers.
Wiseman is the most notable addition to the 12-man squad. The former No. 2 overall pick has appeared in 152 NBA regular season games over the course of six seasons in the NBA and suited up for the Pacers earlier in 2025/26. Wiseman has been a free agent since he was released by Indiana on December 26.
Payton, Robinson-Earl, Roddy, and Taylor are among the other newcomers with recent NBA experience. Last season, Payton played for New Orleans and Charlotte, Roddy suited up for three different teams, and Taylor had a brief stint with the Kings. Robinson-Earl, like Wiseman, played for the Pacers earlier in ’25/26 and also made five appearances for the Mavericks on a 10-day contract last month.
This is the second of six windows of qualifying games for the 2027 FIBA World Cup, which will tip off on August 27, 2027. Team USA will also compete in qualifiers in July, Aug./Sept., and Nov./Dec., with the final qualifying window opening in Feb. 2027.
The actual World Cup roster is unlikely to feature any of the players in this 12-man group, since the U.S. typically sends a more star-studded squad to the event itself, which takes place during the NBA offseason. However, the qualifying games give some less-heralded players the opportunity to represent their home country and to help Team USA clinch its spot in the World Cup.
Giannis On Calf Injury: ‘I Feel 100 Percent’
Speaking to the media on Saturday at All-Star weekend, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo gave an update on his right calf strain, which has prevented him from playing since January 23.
“I feel good. I feel 100 percent, to be honest with you,” Antetokounmpo said (Twitter video link via the Bucks). “ … When you come back from an injury and you go through the rehab, you gotta check the boxes, right? So I gotta do things.
“I feel like the break doesn’t help, because now I gotta get on the court, I gotta play some 1-on-1, 3-on-3, 5 vs. 5. Players are on vacation right now, so it’s kinda hard for me to do that.
“So once I check all those boxes, I’m ready to go. I feel like I can play a game today.”
Head coach Doc Rivers recently suggested Antetokounmpo was close to returning from the right calf strain, which the two-time MVP has injured multiple times this season. He was sidelined for eight games in December due a right soleus (calf) strain and strained his right calf again in the Jan. 23 loss to Denver, causing him to miss Milwaukee’s last nine contests.
Antetokounmpo was named to his 10th straight All-Star game last month but he won’t compete in Sunday’s event due to the injury. Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox was selected as his replacement.
While he continued his long streak of All-Star nods, Antetokounmpo is ineligible for major postseason awards after missing extended time. He has made nine consecutive All-NBA teams — including seven straight on the first team — but that streak will end in 2025/26.
The Bucks and Antetokounmpo will likely revisit their discussions about his future in the offseason after no trade materialized ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline.
Norman Powell ‘Definitely’ Wants To Re-Sign With Heat
Norman Powell, who entered the league in 2015, is making his first All-Star appearance on Sunday as a member of the Heat. An unrestricted free agent after the season, Powell is hoping his time in Miami doesn’t end after this season, he told Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald and Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
“Hopefully there’s some good synergy from what they’ve seen that I bring to the table,” Powell said. “And hopefully a deal is able to be done sometime. But yeah, I see myself being here and being a part of the Heat organization for however long they’ll have me.”
Powell is in the final year of a five-year, $90MM contract that he signed with Portland. He’s averaging a team-best 23.0 points, to go along with 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 45 starts. The scoring average is also a career best and his shooting averages are strong — 47.4 percent overall and 39.6 percent on three-point tries.
Powell is extension-eligible and would prefer to stay put, even though he’d certainly have suitors on the free agent market.
“This is definitely a place that I want to be,” Powell said. “It’s been nothing but great. Coming here getting adjusted, the organization has been amazing. I love where I’m at. I love the setup. I love the mentality. I love the approach. It has been, honestly, a super easy transition because I feel like everybody in the organization has the same mentality I have of pushing yourself to achieve the best and be the best version of yourself. It’s been fun.”
Powell has been traded a few times in his career – including from the Trail Blazers to the Clippers to the Heat since signing his current contract – and it happened again this week in a odd way. He was moved from the USA Stripes team in the three-team All-Star event on Sunday to the World Team due to Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s injury.
Powell was disappointed last season when he wasn’t selected for the All-Star Game as a member of the Clippers. He averaged a career-best 21.8 points in 60 starts, then was dealt to Miami a three-team swap in July. He now finds himself making that coveted appearance in the new Intuit Dome, the home of the Clippers.
“I really thought that I’d be an All-Star last year with the team, and it didn’t happen,” said Powell, who will also take part in the three-point contest on Saturday night. “Moves are made, and then the venue is actually where you just got traded from and you get selected to be one and go back there in front of the fans, in front of that organization. I think it’s just a nice little Easter egg to the story of my career. … I don’t think they freely wanted to give me up, but I think it’s just a little in-your-face. I still was able to do it.”
Zach LaVine To Undergo Season-Ending Hand Surgery
Zach LaVine will undergo surgery on his right hand after the All-Star break and is expected to be sidelined for the rest of the Kings‘ season, reports league insider Chris Haynes (via Twitter).
LaVine has missed the last three games for the Kings with what was described as a right fifth finger tendon injury.
The 30-year-old guard is averaging 19.2 points per game this year, his lowest scoring rate since the 2017/18 season, and is also posting career lows in assists (2.3) and rebounds (2.8) per night. The Kings are currently tied for their longest losing streak in franchise history at 14 games and hold the worst record in the NBA.
LaVine holds a $48.9MM player option for next season, which he is expected to exercise.
Jeremy Sochan Signs With Knicks
February 13: The Knicks’ signing of Sochan is official, the team announced (via Twitter).
February 12: Fourth-year forward Jeremy Sochan plans to join the Knicks once he clears waivers, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
The Knicks have an open roster spot and made some moves prior to the trade deadline to create additional flexibility below their second-apron hard cap. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out (Twitter link), New York went from roughly $148K below the second apron to $1.15MM last week, giving the team room to sign Sochan for the prorated veteran minimum and remain under the apron.
Since Sochan was waived well before the March 1 deadline for playoff eligibility, he’ll be able to suit up in the postseason for his new team. He’ll be a free agent again after the season.
Sochan was placed on waivers on Wednesday by mutual agreement with the Spurs. According to Charania, 10 teams were interested in signing him following the waiver procedure. He had an expiring $7.1MM salary, which makes it highly unlikely he’ll be claimed on Friday.
The No. 9 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Sochan had fallen out of San Antonio’s rotation since December and was viewed as a change-of-scenery candidate ahead of last week’s trade deadline. The club reportedly gave his representatives permission to explore a potential move leading up to February 5. The Knicks were one of the teams who were said to be interested in trading for him.
Sochan made 149 starts and averaged 27.3 minutes per game in his first three seasons with the Spurs, contributing 11.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per contest during that time.
He could provide depth for the Knicks at a number of positions and his defensive prowess could come in handy during the playoffs. Sochan’s main weakness is his outside shooting — he has made just 28.7% of his career three-pointers.
Malik Beasley Signing With Puerto Rican Team
Free agent sharpshooter Malik Beasley, whose NBA future remains in limbo, is joining the Cangrejeros de Santurce in Puerto Rico, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The club has announced its deal with Beasley on social media (Instagram link).
As Charania notes, the team is owned by Bad Bunny, the Grammy-winning Puerto Rican recording artist who headlined the Super Bowl halftime show last Sunday. The Cangrejeros de Santurce compete in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). The league’s 2026 season will tip off next month.
A nine-year NBA veteran, Beasley had arguably the best year of his career in 2024/25, averaging 16.3 points per game and finishing second in the NBA in total three-pointers (319). He appeared in all 82 games and finished as the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up for a Pistons team that improved its record by 30 wins and snapped a five-year playoff drought.
However, Beasley has been in a holding pattern since the 2025 offseason while federal investigators and the NBA look into a possible connection to illegal betting activity. Unlike Terry Rozier and Jontay Porter, who were investigated as part of the same general probe, Beasley hasn’t been arrested by law enforcement or disciplined by the NBA in any way, but he remains in limbo while he waits for those investigations to wrap up.
The 29-year-old was said to be closing in on a three-year, $42MM contract with the Pistons last summer before news broke that he was linked to the federal investigation into illegal gambling.
Beasley has reportedly drawn interest from teams in Europe and China while waiting to be cleared by the NBA, but Charania suggests (via Twitter) that the guard/forward remain closer to home and use his stint in Puerto Rico as a showcase ahead of 2026 free agency while he awaits closure on the NBA’s investigation.
Chris Paul Announces Retirement
After being waived by the Raptors on Friday, Chris Paul has officially announced his retirement from the NBA, confirming his decision in an Instagram post.
“This is it!” he wrote as part of a longer statement. “After over 21 years I’m stepping away from basketball.
“… While this chapter of being an ‘NBA player’ is done, the game of basketball will forever be ingrained in the DNA of my life. I’ve been in the NBA for more than half of my life, spanning three decades. It’s crazy even saying that! Playing basketball for a living has been an unbelievable blessing that also came with lots of responsibility. I embraced it all. The good and the bad.
“As a lifelong learner, leadership is hard and is not for the weak. Some will like you and many people won’t. But the goal was always the goal, and my intentions were always sincere (Damn, I love competing!). It feels really good knowing that I played and treated this game with the utmost respect since the day my dad introduced me to it.”
Paul’s decision brings an end to the career of one of the NBA’s all-time great point guards. The former Wake Forest star, who was drafted fourth overall in 2005, spent 21 seasons in the league, appearing in 1,370 total regular season games and another 149 playoff contests for seven franchises.
Paul earned 12 All-Star berths and 11 All-NBA nods, won the 2006 Rookie of the Year award, was the MVP of the 2013 All-Star game, and led the league in assists five times and steals six times. He also made nine All-Defensive teams (including seven first teams) and was part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary squad.
The North Carolina native began his NBA career with New Orleans, spending six seasons as a member of the then-Hornets, before he was traded to the Clippers in 2011. Former NBA commissioner David Stern, who was acting as the de facto owner of New Orleans’ team at that time while the league sought a buyer, controversially vetoed a trade that would have sent Paul to the Lakers before signing off on a deal sending CP3 to Los Angeles’ other team.
The best stretch of Paul’s career arguably came during his first five seasons in L.A. — he was named an All-Star and an All-Defensive first teamer while also finishing in the top seven of the MVP vote in each of those five years. Although those “Lob City” Clippers never made a deep playoff run, they won postseason series in three of five years after Paul had won just a single series during his time in New Orleans.
Paul, who was traded to Houston during the 2017 offseason, subsequently had stints with the Rockets, Thunder, Suns, Warriors, and Spurs before returning to the Clippers for his final season last summer. The reunion with the Clippers turned sour in the fall as the team decided to part ways with him due to the poor cultural fit. He was traded to Toronto at last week’s deadline before being waived and making his retirement announcement on Friday.
Despite the anticlimactic end to his career – and the fact that he never won an NBA championship – Paul is a surefire future Hall-of-Famer who made the All-Star game with four different teams and will retire holding the No. 2 spot on the NBA’s all-time list of assists and steals leaders. He also served as the president of the National Basketball Players Association from 2013-21.
For his career, Paul averaged 16.8 points, 9.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in 33.5 minutes per game, with a .469/.370/.870 shooting line.