Newsstand Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nikola Jokic Returning For Nuggets Wednesday

March 26th, 2025 at 7:16pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Three-time MVP Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is returning to the hardwood for Denver’s Wednesday clash with the Bucks, the team has announced (via Twitter).

The 6’11” superstar had been on the shelf for Denver since the club’s 126-123 loss against Washington on March 15 due to a left ankle impingement.

Milwaukee, conversely, will be missing both of its nine-time All-Stars — plus two rotational big men, to boot.

Bucks guard Damian Lillard is out indefinitely due to a blood clot in his right calf. He’ll be joined on the bench by two-time MVP forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’s dealing with a sprained left foot, Milwaukee announced today (Twitter link).

Jokic is angling to pick up his fourth MVP honor across the last five years. He’s averaging a triple-double for the 45-28 Nuggets, with excellent shooting efficiency. The seven-time All-Star is averaging 29.1 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 10.3 APG, 1.8 SPG and 0.7 BPG. He’s connecting on .575/.413/.807 shooting splits.

Denver has also made Jokic’s fellow starters Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon available. Braun is dealing with a left foot strain, Porter has a strained low back, and Gordon is managing a right calf injury plus a left ankle sprain.

The absences of Antetokounmpo and Lillard are compounded by the long-term unavailability of sixth man big Bobby Portis (suspension) and reserve center Jericho Sims (thumb surgery), both out until at least April.

Hawks’ Larry Nance Out For Rest Of Regular Season

March 26th, 2025 at 5:20pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Hawks forward Larry Nance Jr. is expected to miss the rest of Atlanta’s 2024/25 regular season as he continues to rehabilitate from a lingering right medial femoral condyle fracture, the team has announced (via Twitter). Nance initially suffered the injury on February 10 against Orlando.

The Hawks indicated they’ll provide an update on Nance’s status after the regular season concludes next month.

At 35-37 on the year, the Hawks are currently the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed. They are 10 games clear of the No. 11-seeded Raptors, so they’ve essentially clinched a play-in tournament berth.

Assuming Atlanta survives the play-in as either a No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the East and qualifies for the actual playoffs, the wording of today’s announcement seems to indicate there’s a chance the club could add Nance back to the fold in the postseason.

The 6’8″ big man has battled injuries and has seen a limited role even when healthy for the Hawks this season. In the 24 contests he’s played, the Wyoming alum logged averages of 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game during his first season with Atlanta. He was acquired as part of the Hawks’ offseason deal that sent former guard Dejounte Murray to New Orleans.

Nance is now the fourth Hawks player who will miss at least the end of the regular season. Most critically, starting forward Jalen Johnson tore the labrum in his left shoulder in January. Reserve center Clint Capela injured a ligament in the fourth metacarpal of his left hand last week, and is expected to be back in three-to-four weeks — i.e. at the end of the regular season. Guard Kobe Bufkin underwent surgery for a right shoulder instability in December.

Mavs’ Kessler Edwards Reaches Active Game Limit

March 26th, 2025 at 10:33am CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the Mavericks activated Kessler Edwards for Tuesday’s game against the Knicks. With Anthony Davis sitting out the second end of the back-to-back after returning from his adductor injury on Monday, Edwards earned the start in Dallas’ frontcourt and played 19 minutes in the 15-point loss.

While Edwards has seen action in just 40 games this season, he has been a DNP-CD in 10 others, meaning he has now reached the limit of 50 active regular season games for a player on a two-way contract.

In order to play in any additional games this spring for Dallas, Edwards would need to be signed to a standard contract and promoted to the 15-man roster. That’s what the Kings did last week with rookie big man Isaac Jones after he reached his 50-game limit.

However, that’s not an option right now for the Mavericks with Edwards due to their lack of flexibility below the first-apron hard cap. With only about $51K in breathing room under that cap, Dallas can’t fill the 15th spot on its roster until at least April 10, since a minimum-salary deal carries a cap hit of nearly $12K per day.

Edwards has registered modest averages of 4.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 15.2 minutes per game across his 40 total outings for Dallas this season. But he has played a far more significant role since Davis went down with his injury on February 8. In 17 games since then, the 6’7″ forward has made 15 starts and averaged 8.2 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 1.7 APG with a .538/.486/.900 shooting line in 24.5 MPG.

Given his importance to the banged-up Mavericks, Edwards is a strong candidate to be promoted during the final week of the season, though the club may have decisions to make on their other two-way players at that point as well. Point guard Brandon Williams is down to just two active games remaining, while center Kai Jones could play in up to seven more. The 35-38 Mavs have nine more games on their regular season schedule.

The Mavs could theoretically promote two – or even all three – of their two-way players to standard contracts if they wait until the last day or two of the regular season to do so, but elevating more than one of them would mean waiving one or more of their current 14 players. It may not make sense for the team to go that route, especially if Dereck Lively (right ankle stress fracture) and Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain) are able to return from their own injuries by that point.

Dallas’ position in the play-in race by that point also figures to be a major factor in any roster decisions — making Edwards, Williams, and/or Jones available for the postseason by promoting them to the 15-man roster wouldn’t be necessary if the team is eliminated from contention. In that scenario, the decision on that 15th roster spot could come down to which player the Mavs can sign to a team-friendly multiyear deal.

In the meantime, Edwards is permitted to continue practicing with the Mavericks after reaching his 50-game limit, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). That will also be the case for Williams and/or Jones if and when they run out of games.

NBA Team Owners To Review Proposed European League

March 26th, 2025 at 7:26am CST by Luke Adams

March 26: An NBA spokesperson tells Sportico that while team owners could vote on the proposed European league at any time, no formal vote is currently scheduled to take place during this week’s meeting.

“At this week’s NBA Board of Governors meeting, the league will report on its exploration of a new men’s basketball league in Europe, in partnership with FIBA,” the spokesperson said.

March 25: NBA team owners will vote this week on whether to move forward with a plan for a new professional basketball league in Europe, according to Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico (subscription required).

Reporting throughout the season has indicated that the NBA was exploring the possibility of launching its own league in Europe in order to both expand the sport’s presence overseas and to put the NBA in position to “share more directly in the economics of that growth,” as Soshnick and Novy-Williams write.

According to Sportico, the NBA believes that the basketball ecosystem in Europe and the Middle East could be worth up to $3 billion in annual revenue.

Here are some of the details of the proposal, as outlined by Sportico:

The goal would be for the league to have eight to 10 teams.
It’s a “semi-open” proposal, which means there would be up to four spots available for top EuroLeague teams to compete in the NBA’s European league the following year.
The league’s permanent franchise slots would be sold to outside investors, with the NBA holding 50% equity in the league and the franchise owners holding the other 50%.
The NBA would prefer to sell franchises to people outside of the league. Sportico suggests that potential buyers could include sovereign wealth funds, private capital, wealthy individuals, or existing European basketball clubs.
Franchises in cities like London or Paris could sell for at least $500MM, per the NBA’s proposal.

The NBA’s team owners are set to meet this week in New York. The vote on the European league will reportedly take place during those meetings.

Damian Lillard Has Blood Clot In Calf, Out Indefinitely

March 25th, 2025 at 8:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

8:05pm: A league source tells The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Eric Nehm that there is “a great deal of optimism” that Lillard will return this season.

7:48pm: Bucks star guard Damian Lillard has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf and is out indefinitely, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.

Lillard is on blood-thinning medication, which has stabilized the blood clot, and will continue with regular testing.

Speaking with NBA Insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link), Lillard said, “It’s unfortunate that something outside of my control would come up. Along with the Bucks’ medical staff, our priorities are to protect my health and safety. As much as I love basketball, I need to be there for my kids and my family. I’m grateful the Bucks acted quickly on this. They’ve been supportive and proactive throughout this process. I look forward to moving past this and continuing my career.”

According to Bucks general manager Jon Horst, Lillard is unlikely to experience a reoccurrence of this blood-clotting issue once he recovers, Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype tweets.

“Damian’s health is our No. 1 priority,” Horst said. “We will support him as he moves through this weekly process of strict criteria to ensure that it is safe for him to return to play. Doctors have indicated that his situation is very unlikely to occur again. We are thankful that this was identified and medicated quickly, which helps with the recovery.”

If Lillard can’t return this season, it will be a massive blow to the Bucks’ postseason hopes. They’re currently battling Indiana and Detroit for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference.

Lillard is averaging 24.9 points, 7.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds per night in 58 games this season. He’ll now be ineligible for any NBA postseason honors. His last appearance was a 16-point outing against Golden State a week ago.

Lillard’s absence will put even more pressure on Giannis Antetokounmpo to put up monster numbers. Ryan Rollins has been starting in Lillard’s place and will likely continue to do so, with Kevin Porter Jr. taking on extra minutes in the second unit and Andre Jackson Jr. also moving up the depth chart.

NBA Still Projecting 10% Cap Increase For 2025/26

March 25th, 2025 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has provided teams with an updated salary cap projection for the 2025/26 season, reports Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Marks, the NBA’s latest projection remains exactly in line with its estimate from last summer. The league is still calling for a 10% cap increase for ’25/26, which is the maximum increase permitted in any single season under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.

This season’s salary cap line is $140,588,000, so the projection for next season remains at $154,647,000. That’s the figure we’ve used to project minimum salaries, maximum salaries, and mid-level and bi-annual amounts for 2025/26.

As Marks details, a 10% cap increase would also cause the luxury tax line and the first and second tax aprons to rise by the same amount. They would be as follows:

Luxury tax: $187.9MM
First apron: $195.9MM
Second apron: $207.8MM

The 2024/25 season represents the first year in which all of the new apron-related restrictions have been in place. Navigating those aprons has proven to be a challenge for many teams, in large part because the cap only rose by about 3.4% last offseason, as Marks observes (via Twitter).

A 10% increase in 2025 – and perhaps in the next couple seasons after that, aided by the league’s lucrative new media rights deal – will help push those apron numbers higher, creating a more manageable landscape for teams going forward.

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Jayson Tatum Appears To Have Avoided Significant Ankle Injury

March 25th, 2025 at 7:36am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics experienced a major injury scare in the third quarter of Monday’s win over Sacramento when star forward Jayson Tatum came down on Domantas Sabonis‘ foot after attempting a three-point shot, turning his left ankle as he landed (Twitter video link).

Tatum, who appeared to be in a great deal of pain as he grimaced and grabbed his ankle on the floor, exited the game after shooting a pair of free throws and didn’t return. However, as Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne report, there were indications in the locker room later in the night that the injury wasn’t a serious one.

According to Himmelsbach, Tatum wasn’t in a walking boot or using crutches, and he barely exhibited a limp when he eventually left the arena to board the team bus. The six-time All-Star was laughing and joking with teammates and didn’t receive any additional medical treatment while sitting at his locker for nearly an hour after the game, Himmelsbach adds.

Tatum declined to conduct a post-game media session, but told Shelburne that his ankle was “just sore,” acknowledging that the team is “going to be cautious.” Head coach Joe Mazzulla said the veteran forward “seems to be doing OK,” while teammate Kristaps Porzingis echoed that view, per Himmelsbach.

“I’m glad it’s nothing too bad, hopefully,” Porzingis said. “It’s a tough situation, tough to see him like that. You could tell he was in a lot of pain, but I’m glad he’s OK.”

The Celtics’ bench initially directed some ire toward Sabonis, who was assessed with a flagrant 1 foul for sliding under Tatum on his jump shot. The Kings star, who has dealt with a series of injuries in recent weeks and was playing in his first game back from a sprained ankle of his own, expressed remorse after the game.

“I feel horrible,” he said. “I’ve had a crazy month myself, personally, and you never want that to happen, so I apologize.”

Boston can afford to play it safe with Tatum, since there are just 10 games left in the season and the team is likely locked into its playoff position. The 53-19 Celtics remain 4.5 games behind the No. 1 Cavaliers and have an eight-game cushion on the No. 3 Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings.

Tatum’s injury occurred on the same night that the Celtics’ other star forward, Jaylen Brown, returned after missing three contests due to a bone bruise in his right knee. Brown, who also missed a pair of games earlier this month as a result of his knee issue, said he met with specialists, but his injury is believed to just be a result of wear and tear, according to Himmelsbach.

“It felt fine,” Brown said after scoring nine points on 4-of-8 shooting in 26 minutes. “I was being a little conservative. When you’ve been out for a while it’s a mental aspect, too, where you just try to keep your feet underneath you. As I gained more confidence I started extending out, being more athletic, and things I’m used to normally doing. Tonight was a good step though.”

Coby White, Kevin Durant Named Players Of The Week

March 24th, 2025 at 2:38pm CST by Rory Maher

Bulls guard Coby White has been named the Player of the Week for the Eastern Conference, while Suns forward Kevin Durant has won the award in the West, the NBA announced today in a press release.

It’s the second straight week that White has claimed the honor in the East. According to the Bulls (Twitter link), White joins Michael Jordan as the only players in team history to win the award in back-to-back weeks (Jordan accomplished it twice).

White, 25, helped guide Chicago to a 3-1 record last week, averaging 30.3 points, 4.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds on .556/.394/.848 shooting in four appearances (35.5 minutes). All four games came on the road.

Durant, meanwhile, averaged 27.3 points, 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game on .588/.471/.933 shooting in victories over Toronto, Chicago and Cleveland last week. It’s the 33rd time he has won the weekly award in his career, per the Suns (Twitter link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic), tying Kobe Bryant for second-most all-time (LeBron James has by far the most with 69).

According to the NBA (Twitter link), White beat out Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paolo Banchero, Cade Cunningham, his teammate Josh Giddey, Quentin Grimes, Pacers teammates Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner, Celtics teammates Kristaps Porzingis and Jayson Tatum, and Trae Young in the East.

The other nominees in the West were Deni Avdija, Durant’s teammate Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Kawhi Leonard.

Pacers Sign Tony Bradley To Standard Contract

March 23rd, 2025 at 5:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pacers have signed Tony Bradley to a standard contract for the remainder of the season, the team announced in a press release.

Bradley had signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the club and the Pacers opted to retain him once the second 10-day expired. He’s seen action in seven games off the bench, averaging 3.0 points and 1.9 rebounds in 5.0 minutes per contest.

By adding Bradley, the Pacers now have a full roster as the postseason approaches, as our roster counts show.

The 28th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Bradley spent six years in the NBA from 2017-23, but wasn’t in the league last season and had gone more than two calendar years without playing in a regular season game before making four appearances for the Pacers during his first 10 days with the team.

According to coach Rick Carlisle, Bradley has emerged as the ideal third-string center for the club. “In practices and in simulated stuff in the gym, he’s been terrific,” Carlisle said. “Smart, great hands, defensively has a really good feel for what we’re doing here.”

Bradley is backing up Myles Turner and Thomas Bryant. The former UNC standout has earned just over $300K during his 20 days with the club and will now likely receive a prorated veteran’s minimum deal.

Warriors Sign Kevin Knox For Rest Of Season

March 23rd, 2025 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

March 23: Knox’s new deal with the Warriors is official, the team confirmed in a press release.

March 22: The Warriors intend to sign forward Kevin Knox to a rest-of-season contract, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Knox has already signed a pair of 10-day deals with Golden State this season, so in order to bring him back, the team had to make at least a rest-of-season commitment, since players aren’t permitted to sign three 10-day contracts with a club in the same year.

During his first 20 days with Golden State, the former No. 9 overall pick appeared in seven games off the bench, averaging 4.0 points and 1.6 rebounds in 7.3 minutes per night, with a .458/.273/.750 shooting line in a small sample size.

Knox, who has made 313 total regular season appearances since 2018 for the Knicks, Hawks, Pistons, Trail Blazers, and Warriors, has spent most of the 2024/25 campaign playing for Golden State’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz. In a total of 28 NBAGL outings, the 6’8″ forward has contributed 21.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 32.6 minutes per game on .495/.389/.759 shooting.

As we outlined last weekend, the Warriors were fast approaching their deadline to re-add a 14th man to their standard roster. Teams are permitted to carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks at a time and for up to 28 days in total during a season — Golden State is right up against that 28-day limit.

Assuming it’s officially finalized on Saturday, Knox’s contract will pay him $345,412 for the rest of the season. Charania’s report suggests it’s just a one-year deal, in which case the Warriors figure to carry a cap hit of $275,936. If they were to tack on another year, that cap charge for 2024/25 would increase to $345,412, Knox’s actual salary.

The Warriors will still have an open spot on their 15-man roster after signing Knox and should narrowly have enough breathing room below their hard cap to add a 15th man anytime, assuming his contract just covers the rest of the season.