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Pacers Re-Sign Garrison Mathews, Waive Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

December 11th, 2025 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

12:10 pm: The Pacers have officially signed Mathews to a standard contract and waived Robinson-Earl, according to a press release from the team.

10:52 am: Garrison Mathews‘ second 10-day contract with the Pacers expired overnight, but he won’t be going anywhere. According to Tony East of Forbes (Twitter links), Indiana is re-signing Mathews to a standard contract and will waive forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl in order to create room on the roster.

Mathews, who first joined Indiana’s roster last month on a hardship deal, made just 2-of-13 shots and scored nine points in 46 total minutes during his first 10 days with the team and admitted he was “a little surprised” when he was brought back on a second 10-day contract.

However, the 29-year-old shooting guard was more productive over the course of that second contract, having averaged 8.5 points per game on .500/.467/.750 shooting in his past four outings (19.3 MPG).

Even if the Pacers still qualify for a hardship exception, they’d be ineligible to use it on Mathews, since a player can’t sign more than two 10-day deals with a team in a single season. So in order to hang onto him, they’ll need to sign him to a standard contract, giving him a spot on their 15-man roster.

Indiana took the same route with Robinson-Earl earlier this season after he played out a pair of 10-day hardship deals — veteran point guard Monte Morris was waived in order to allow the Pacers to retain Robinson-Earl on a standard contract. Robinson-Earl averaged just 4.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 17 appearances (17.6 MPG) for Indiana but has fallen out of the team’s rotation as of late, getting DNP-CDs in Friday’s game in Chicago and Monday’s contest vs. Sacramento.

Assuming Robinson-Earl is officially cut on Thursday, the Pacers will carry a dead-money cap hit of $589,306 for him. That takes into account his two 10-day deals ($131,970 apiece) and a prorated portion of his non-guaranteed contract ($325,366).

Mathews will sign a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link), which will allow the Pacers to maintain some flexibility with their 15th roster spot prior to the league-wide salary guarantee date next month.

NBA Responds To Criticism Of Early-Season Schedule

December 11th, 2025 at 10:19am CST by Luke Adams

Last week, John Hollinger wondered in an article for The Athletic whether the crunch of the early-season schedule, which has been tweaked in recent years to designate several days in December exclusively for NBA Cup knockout games, was having a material impact on teams and leading to an uptick in soft-tissue injuries.

Nine days after that story was published, the NBA has responded via its official communications account on Twitter, referring to Hollinger’s suggestion as “inaccurate and misleading.”

“John Hollinger’s premise that the NBA Cup has led to a denser schedule resulting in more player injuries is simply not supported by the data,” league spokesperson Mike Bass said in a statement. “Hollinger wonders if ‘the league turned the early-season travel dial a little too high’ and posits that teams are facing ‘an unnaturally heavy schedule cycle.’ The reality is the NBA played roughly the same number of games through 42 days this season (308) as last season (307).

“Further, those numbers are consistent with pre-Cup years (308 games in 2022 and 313 games in 2021). The Cup has objectively not led to a denser league-wide schedule in the early part of the season.

“Hollinger additionally claims the NBA is seeing an ‘uptick in early-season soft-tissue injuries’ and that ‘the league keeps getting worse at keeping those stars healthy.’ Through the season’s first six weeks, the number of injuries forcing star players to miss games is the lowest in the past six seasons, down more than 25 percent year-over-year. While several star players have not played this season due to injuries sustained last season, the suggestion that any increase in games missed this season is related to the schedule’s first six weeks is patently misleading.”

While the NBA accused Hollinger of a “misleading” narrative, it’s worth noting that the league’s own statement doesn’t address all aspects of his story. Hollinger also pointed out that several teams have been repeatedly forced to play one-game home stands before going back on the road due in part to the need to accommodate Cup matchups. A simple analysis of games played through a certain number of days doesn’t tell us anything about potentially heavier travel schedules.

Additionally, while the NBA said that the number of injuries affecting stars are down this season, the league didn’t specifically cite data regarding the sort of soft-tissue injuries (affecting the calf, hamstring, quad, etc.) that Hollinger was referring to.

Either way, it’s unusual to see the NBA use its official PR platform to publish a lengthy counter-point to a specific article that most of its fans likely didn’t read when it was published (“Big win for the Streisand Effect today,” Hollinger quipped on Bluesky). The NBA’s response suggests the league is sensitive to criticism regarding to the NBA Cup and the way in which the schedule has been adjusted to fit the in-season tournament.

Thunder, Spurs Advance In NBA Cup: League Announces Schedule Changes

December 11th, 2025 at 7:39am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder and Spurs will meet in the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas on Saturday after winning their respective quarterfinal matchups on Wednesday.

The Thunder improved to 24-1 on the season with a blowout home victory over the Suns. The game was never close, as Oklahoma City won each quarter by double-digits and defeated Phoenix by 49 points, making it the most lopsided loss in Suns history.

Oklahoma City made 55% of its three-pointers, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (28 points) and Chet Holmgren (24 points) leading the way and no Thunder player logging more than 27 minutes.

In the late game, the Spurs overcame 35 points from Lakers star Luka Doncic and 26 from Marcus Smart in his return from a back injury to pull off a 132-119 win on the road. Stephon Castle had 30 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in his second game back from a hip injury, while six other Spurs scored in double digits.

The Thunder and Spurs will face one another on Saturday at 8:00 pm Central time for the right to advance to the NBA Cup final on Tuesday. Players on the losing team in that game will receive bonuses of roughly $106K apiece, while the winning team will face either the Magic or Knicks in the championship game a shot at the top prize ($531K per player).

Notably, Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has a shot to return from his calf strain for that game vs. the Thunder, per head coach Mitch Johnson.

“Very much so,” Johnson said after Wednesday’s win when asked if a Saturday return is in play for Wembanyama (Twitter link via Mark Medina). “He had a very good day today. He had a very intense day this morning. We’ll have to see how he responds and reacts tomorrow.”

The Thunder and Spurs will now play each other five times this season, including three times in December. The two clubs are scheduled to square off on December 23 in San Antonio and on Christmas Day in OKC.

The NBA also announced a handful of scheduling updates on Wednesday night, per Medina (Twitter link). The Suns and Lakers, who only had 81 games apiece on their respective regular season schedules, will face one another on Sunday in Phoenix at 7:00 pm CT.

The Thunder and Spurs had both been scheduled to play games on December 17, but those contests have been pushed back one day to Dec. 18 in order to give them an extra day of rest following the NBA Cup. OKC will now host the Clippers next Thursday, while San Antonio hosts the Wizards that night.

Mavs’ Dereck Lively To Undergo Season-Ending Foot Surgery

December 10th, 2025 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

Dereck Lively II will undergo a procedure to address ongoing discomfort in his right foot, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon, who report (via Twitter) that the Mavericks center will miss the rest of the season as a result of the surgery.

The Mavericks have officially confirmed the news, announcing (via Twitter) that Lively is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for training camp next fall.

It’s a brutal blow for the Mavs and especially for Lively, whose right foot has been an issue since he sustained a fracture in the foot/ankle area last January. That injury sidelined him for over two months and required him to undergo surgery in July in the hopes of fixing the issue.

Although the 21-year-old was cleared to return for opening night, he continued to be plagued by health problems, missing a nine-game stretch in October and November due to a right knee sprain, then battling nagging discomfort in his right foot. Reporting late last month indicated that the Mavs were concerned Lively would require an extended absence, with word breaking last week that he was consulting with multiple doctors about potential next steps.

According to MacMahon (Twitter link), Lively sought second and third opinions on his foot injury in the hopes of avoiding another surgery, but it was ultimately determined that another procedure would be necessary.

Injuries have been a recurring problem for Lively since he entered the NBA as the 12th overall pick in the 2023 draft. He has made only 98 regular season appearances since then, including seven in 2025/26, and has played just 2,242 total regular season minutes — as a point of comparison, 51 NBA players exceeded that total in ’24/25 alone.

When healthy, Lively has been a positive contributor, performing well enough to be viewed as Dallas’ long-term starting center. The former Duke standout has averaged 8.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in 22.9 minutes per contest while shooting 72.5% from the floor. He also averaged 22.0 MPG off the bench during the Mavs’ run to the 2024 NBA Finals, contributing 7.9 PPG and 7.4 RPG across 21 postseason outings.

With Lively ruled out for the season, the Mavs will lean on Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford in their frontcourt, though both players are considered possible trade candidates. Veteran big man Dwight Powell and two-way player Moussa Cisse are available off the bench to provide depth in the middle, with forward P.J. Washington a candidate to play some small-ball center if needed.

Lively, meanwhile, will become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2026 offseason, before he plays his next game. If he and the Mavericks don’t come to terms on a new deal prior to the start of the ’26/27 season, he would be on track for restricted free agency in 2027.

Dallas will likely apply for a disabled player exception in response to Lively’s injury, but it would be worth just $2,626,680 (half of Lively’s $5,253,360 salary) and wouldn’t give the team the ability to surpass its second-apron hard cap. The Mavs are currently operating roughly $1.29MM below that hard cap.

Magic, Knicks Advance To Cup Semifinals

December 9th, 2025 at 10:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Magic and Knicks advanced to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas with victories on Tuesday. They’ll face each other in the East semifinal on Saturday at 5:30 ET, the league confirmed (via Twitter).

Orlando was carried by a big outing from offseason acquisition Desmond Bane. He scored 37 points, while Jalen Suggs added 20 points and Paolo Banchero supplied 18. The Magic trailed by 13 after the first quarter, pulled within one by halftime, then outscored Miami 61-51 in the second half.

The Heat had four starters with at least 19 points, led by Norman Powell‘s 21.

The Knicks moved on with a 117-101 win over the Raptors. Jalen Brunson was the star of the game with 35 points. Josh Hart contributed 21 points and Karl-Anthony Towns tossed in 14 with 16 rebounds. Brandon Ingram led the Raptors with 31 points.

New York took control in the second quarter, outscoring Toronto 34-13.

The teams that were eliminated on Tuesday will now play each other on Monday, as the Heat will host the Raptors at 7:30 ET, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets.

The Suns and Thunder will square off in the first of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday, with the Lakers and Spurs playing in the late game. The winners of those two contests will face one another in the West semifinal on Saturday.

Rich Paul: LeBron James Will Finish Season With Lakers

December 9th, 2025 at 11:30am CST by Luke Adams

Discussing LeBron James‘ future in the first of the new ‘Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul’ podcast for The Ringer (YouTube link), James’ longtime agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, said there’s no chance his client won’t finish the 2025/26 season with the Lakers (hat tip to RealGM).

“Is LeBron, realistically, a guy who could not be on the Lakers at the end of this year?” Kellerman asked.

“No,” Paul quickly replied.

“He will be on the Lakers at the end of this year?” Kellerman said.

“Yeah,” Paul said. “Where’s he going to go?”

James, who is in his record-setting 23rd NBA season, has never been traded over the course of his long NBA career, with the exception of a 2010 sign-and-trade for logistical purposes after he had already decided to leave Cleveland for Miami as a free agent.

Still, there was some trade speculation involving the four-time MVP in the offseason after Paul put out a cryptic statement at the time James exercised his 2025/26 option. That statement referred to LeBron valuing “a realistic chance” of winning a title, recognizing that the Lakers were “building for the future,” and wanting to evaluate what was best for him.

That trade speculation died down within a few weeks when it became clear that James, who holds a no-trade clause, wasn’t actively seeking a deal.

There have been rumblings since then about the possibility that the 2025/26 season could be LeBron’s last in Los Angeles, even if he doesn’t retire, since he’s on an expiring contract and won’t become eligible for an extension before he reaches free agency. The Lakers, meanwhile, have pivoted to building around Luka Doncic and will likely be prioritizing a new long-term contract for Austin Reaves in the summer of 2026. If James doesn’t return, L.A. could open up a significant chunk of cap room to use before re-signing Reaves.

However, it doesn’t sound as if any decisions about James’ future in Los Angeles will be made until the offseason. With the Lakers off to a 17-6 start and holding the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, they’re well positioned in the race for playoff positioning and have enough movable assets to pursue in-season upgrades on the trade market to fortify the roster around James, Doncic, and Reaves.

Malik Beasley, Agent Push Back On Partizan Rumors

December 9th, 2025 at 10:17am CST by Luke Adams

Addressing a report that suggested Malik Beasley was in advanced talks on a deal with the EuroLeague club Partizan Belgrade, agent Brian Jungreis confirmed to Colin Salao of Front Office Sports that there have been conversations with the Serbian team. However, Beasley’s agent said it’s not accurate to say an agreement is close.

“These are exaggerated reports,” Jungreis said. “We had conversations and some framework, but nowhere close to anything closing or happening for the moment.”

Beasley has been in a holding pattern while federal investigators and the NBA look into a possible connection to illegal betting activity. He has reportedly drawn interest from teams in Europe and China while waiting to be cleared by the NBA.

It sounds like his agent has been looking into some of those overseas options, but Jungreis made it clear to Salao that Beasley wouldn’t accept any offer that didn’t give him an exit clause to pursue an NBA opportunity.

“The report of no NBA out (on a deal with KK Partizan) is 100% inaccurate,” Jungreis said. “We’d never not have that in the case he were to play anywhere else than the NBA.”

As Salao notes, Beasley said last month that he could play overseas “right now” if he wanted to, but would rather stay patient in the hopes of getting back to the NBA. Whether his stance changes as he remains in “investigative purgatory” remains to be seen. But appearing on a Twitch stream on Monday, Beasley denied the rumors linking him to Partizan in stronger terms than his agent did.

“I’m not going to Serbia,” Beasley said (TikTok link). “Make sure all you motherf—ers know that. I’m not coming.”

If Beasley were to be cleared by federal and NBA investigators, he’d immediately become the most popular target on the NBA free agent market. The 29-year-old 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).

The Sixth Man of the Year runner-up was reportedly discussing a three-year, $42MM contract with the Pistons before news broke that he was linked to the federal investigation into illegal gambling.

Pistons, Hawks, Raptors Expected To Be Anthony Davis Suitors

December 9th, 2025 at 7:59am CST by Luke Adams

A number of Eastern Conference contenders, including the Pistons, Hawks, and Raptors, are expected to be among the suitors for Mavericks big man Anthony Davis at this season’s trade deadline, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.

As Charania details, Atlanta, Toronto, and especially Detroit all look like potential playoff teams in a wide-open Eastern Conference, and may view Davis as the sort of player who could turn them into a legitimate championship contender.

Davis has battled injuries over the course of his career, especially since being traded from the Lakers to Mavericks at last season’s trade deadline. But he’s healthy now, having played in five of six games since returning from a calf strain late last month, including both ends of a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday.

In spite of a two-point outing in Oklahoma City last week, Davis has registered solid overall averages of 18.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.0 blocks in 28.4 minutes per night in his first five games back from that calf injury.

Potential suitors will likely be somewhat wary of Davis’ maximum-salary deal, which includes a $54.1MM cap hit this season and a $58.5MM salary in 2026/27, along with a $62.8MM player option for ’27/28. However, the Pistons, Hawks, and Raptors would each be capable of stacking contracts to send out enough outgoing salary to accommodate him.

A Detroit package would likely start with Tobias Harris‘ expiring salary ($26.6MM); Atlanta could offer Kristaps Porzingis‘ $30.7MM expiring salary; and Toronto could use RJ Barrett ($27.7MM), who has one additional year left beyond this one. Hawks guard Trae Young ($46MM) and Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley ($32.5MM) could also be trade candidates, depending on the structure of a deal.

The Pistons and Hawks would have more salary-matching leeway than the Raptors, who are operating just $1MM below the first apron and would have to match any incoming salary nearly dollar for dollar.

All three teams have plenty of tradable draft picks that could be used to sweeten potential offers. The Pistons and Raptors control all their own future first-rounders, while Atlanta has traded away its own 2027 pick but controls a pair of 2026 selections, including the most favorable of the Pelicans’ and Bucks’ first-rounders, which would be a guaranteed top-five pick if the season ended today.

Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, who represents Davis, recently met with Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi, the Mavericks’ co-interim general managers and sought clarity about the team’s plans for his client, according to Charania. The Mavs’ lead executives conveyed to Paul that they’re keeping their options open for now and will make a decision based in part on how the club performs in the next few weeks.

Dallas hasn’t ruled out the idea of hanging onto Davis and extending him during the offseason, Charania notes.

Hawks’ Jacob Toppin Undergoes Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

December 8th, 2025 at 5:22pm CST by Rory Maher

Third-year forward Jacob Toppin, who is on a two-way contract with the Hawks, will miss the remainder of the 2025/26 season after undergoing surgery on Monday to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, the team announced in a press release.

According to the Hawks, Toppin sustained the shoulder injury in a November 29 G League game with the College Park Skyhawks.

After going undrafted out of Kentucky in 2023, Toppin spent most of his first two NBA seasons on a two-way deal with New York. He was waived by the Knicks in early March and quickly caught on with Atlanta, signing with the Hawks a few days later. He re-signed with the Hawks on another two-way contract in July.

Toppin hasn’t played much in the NBA to this point in his career, making 31 total appearances for a total of 131 minutes (4.2 minutes per game). He appeared in five games for Atlanta in ’25/26, averaging just 3.4 MPG.

While his NBA role has been very modest, Toppin has been a productive contributor in the G League. In five games with College Park this season, he filled the stat sheet, averaging 18.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.2 blocks in 31.0 minutes per contest, with a shooting slash line of .480/.357/.600.

The 25-year-old averaged 22.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 3.3 APG on .503/.371/.812 shooting in 23 total G League games in ’24/25 (36.6 MPG).

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Hawks waive Toppin in the coming days or weeks in order to add a healthy two-way player to the roster. Toppin is the younger brother of Pacers forward Obi Toppin, who is also dealing with a long-term injury — he underwent foot surgery at the end of October and is expected to be out until at least the start of February.

Jaylen Brown, Jamal Murray Named Players Of The Week

December 8th, 2025 at 4:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Celtics wing Jaylen Brown and Nuggets guard Jamal Murray have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week, the league announced on Monday (via Twitter).

Brown won for the Eastern Conference, while Murray claimed the award in the Western Conference.

Brown, the 2024 Finals MVP, led Boston to an unblemished 3-0 record in games he played from December 1-7. He sat out the Dec. 4 contest at Washington, which the Celtics won by 45 points. The 29-year-old averaged 34.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.0 steal on .538/.471/.889 shooting in three appearances last week (37.7 minutes per game).

A Georgia native who played one season of college ball for California, Brown is well on his way to making his fifth All-Star game in 2025/26. He’s averaging career highs of 29.1 PPG and 4.9 APG while also contributing 6.2 RPG and 1.1 SPG through 23 contests (33.7 MPG).

Murray, meanwhile, helped guide Denver to a 3-1 record last week. The 28-year-old Canadian averaged 29.8 PPG, 7.5 APG, 4.5 RPG and 1.3 SPG on .595/.621/.929 shooting in four appearances (33.8 MPG).

Murray is off to a fantastic start to the season himself and appears well-positioned to make his first All-Star appearance. Through 22 games (35.0 MPG), he’s averaging 25.0 PPG, 6.8 APG and 4.5 RPG — all career highs — with an elite shooting line of .506/.447/.898.

According to the NBA, De’Aaron Fox (Spurs), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams (Thunder), and Murray’s teammate Nikola Jokic were the other nominees in the West (Twitter link). Jalen Brunson (Knicks), Jalen Johnson (Hawks), Tyrese Maxey (Sixers), Michael Porter Jr. (Nets), and Brown’s teammate Derrick White were nominated in the East.