- Magic forward Franz Wagner plans to wear a mask “for a couple games, probably” after suffering a broken nose on Monday, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Wagner wasn’t listed on the injury report for tonight’s game in New York, and his teammates aren’t surprised that he decided to keep playing. “He looks savage with the mask,” Paolo Banchero said. “Unfortunate that he has the nose injury, but Franz is a warrior. He’s not going to sit out for nothing. I didn’t even know he broke the nose.”
- Jett Howard has barely been used for most of the season, but he played 19 minutes in Monday’s win over Portland, Beede adds in the same piece. The forward’s NBA future is uncertain after the Magic declined his fourth-year option, but he’s determined to find ways to help the team. “I’m just trying to stay mentally level as much as possible and just control what I can control,” Howard said.
The NBA is targeting October 2027 for the launch of its new European league, according to NBA Europe managing director George Aivazoglou, who recently spoke at a conference in Milan about the league’s plans.
As Daniella Matar and Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press write, while the NBA envisions a 16-team league, it’s possible that not all of those slots will be filled during the first season. The tentative plan is for NBA Europe to feature 12 permanent teams, with the other four slots rotating based on the results of FIBA’s Basketball Champions League or certain European domestic leagues.
While no agreements with specific teams have been announced so far, the NBA has a number of countries and cities on its radar, per Aivazoglou, including Britain (London and Manchester), France (Paris and Lyon), Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), Italy (Rome and Milan), Germany (Berlin and Munich), Greece (Athens), and Turkey (Istanbul).
Matar and Reynolds speculate that there could be a more concrete update from the NBA in January, when a pair of regular season games are scheduled to be played in London and Berlin.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Having recently joined the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s G League affiliate, former NBA star Victor Oladipo spoke to Jared Weiss of The Athletic about his ongoing attempts to make it back to the league for the first time since the 2022/23 season. “Even though I was at the top and I got to work my way back up. I’m willing to do that,” Oladipo said. “So, I’m looking forward to it. I think, like I said, I think my greatest years are ahead of me and I’m looking forward to see where it goes.”
- Lakers teammates Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura are among the headliners on ESPN’s Bobby Marks’ list of 12 “contract year All-Stars” — players who are in position to earn lucrative new deals with big contract years in 2025/26. Pistons center Jalen Duren, Heat guard Norman Powell, and Sixers teammates Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre Jr. are among the others singled out by Marks.
- Which NBA star duos could be headed for a split? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes a closer look at several around the league, including Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Grizzlies, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner of the Magic, and Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland of the Cavaliers, and weighs whether or not each pairing is likely to have a long-term future.
- As part of a series revisiting the NBA over the past quarter-century, The Athletic has published its list of the top 25 players of the last 25 years, along with the top 25 transactions of the last 25 years. LeBron James holds the top spot on both lists, with his decision to take his “talents to South Beach” ranking first among the most impactful transactions of the 21st century. The Warriors are at No. 2 on both lists, with Stephen Curry placing second among players, while Kevin Durant signing with Golden State comes in second among transactions.
How did Magic forward Paolo Banchero celebrate his rookie scale extension this summer? By going back to the gym that night, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“I definitely signed it right away. There was no real thought. Just where do I sign?” Banchero said. “It was a surreal feeling. The day it got announced and everything, the day it got done, I didn’t know what to even do. My phone was blowing up. Everybody wanted to congratulate and call me and it was like the middle of the day and I was just sitting in the house and I was just like, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ Am I supposed to go celebrate or am I supposed to respond to everybody? I don’t know.’
“So, I had worked out that morning and I ended up just going back to the gym that night. And I was just like, ‘I’ll just go say thank you to the game and just go get some shots up.’ And that’d be my way of celebrating, kind of paying it back to the game for blessing me in that way. So that’s kind of what I did. I didn’t really know how else to handle it.”
Banchero signed his five-year, maximum-salary extension in early July. He’s averaging 23.3 points, a career-high 9.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game so far this season.
Here’s more on the Magic:
- Jalen Suggs didn’t play on Monday against Portland due to left knee injury management and still hasn’t been cleared for back-to-backs, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. Suggs had 20 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes during Sunday’s 111-107 loss to Boston. Suggs, who underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a cartilage fragment in his left knee in March, is not on the injury report for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel tweets.
- Slumping Desmond Bane, the team’s big offseason acquisition, hit a three-pointer at just the right time. Bane knocked down his first career game-winning buzzer beater against the Trail Blazers in Monday’s 115-112 victory. Bane has missed his five previous three-point tries during the contest. “I just want to be a part of winning,” Bane said, per Youngmisuk. “But I think moments like tonight really help you settle into a new situation.” Bane, a career 40.7% three-point shooter, has made only 27.7% of his long-distance tries this season.
- Tristan Da Silva had just two points and three rebounds in 17 minutes on Monday but generally, he’s shown growth offensively during his second NBA season, Beede notes. The 24-year-old forward is averaging 10.9 points on 46.7% shooting from the field and 39.2% from distance. As a rookie, he averaged 7.2 points on 41.2% shooting (33.5% on threes).
Magic guard Jalen Suggs underwent season-ending surgery in March to remove a cartilage fragment in his left knee, then spent the offseason recovering from that procedure and going through a lengthy rehab process. The 24-year-old didn’t appear in any preseason games last month, and has been on a minutes restriction to open 2025/26, averaging just 19.6 MPG through seven contests.
Jamahl Mosley was asked on Friday when Suggs might be cleared for an increased workload, but Orlando’s head coach gave an evasive answer, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel relays (via Twitter).
“You’d like to try and ramp him up a little bit more but you want to be careful for the long haul of the season, being smart with it,” Mosley said. ” … The more we can get his minutes up, the better it’ll be because then there’s a routine and a continuity that can happen when you’d have similar lineups on the floor.”
Despite the relatively limited amount of playing time, Suggs has been very productive this season, averaging 11.0 PPG, 4.4 APG, 3.1 RPG and 1.7 SPG on .551/.448/.909 shooting. The former No. 5 overall pick also has the best net rating differential on the team (+14.5 when he’s playing; -5.9 when he’s not).
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Erik Spoelstra‘s home burned down in a fire early Thursday morning. On Friday, the Heat head coach said he was grateful for the community’s support in the wake of the devastating blaze, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. No person was injured in the fire, nor was the family’s dog. “I just want to thank everybody for this overwhelming support,” Spoelstra said, with his sons on either side of him as he spoke and his daughter in his lap. “The South Florida community has just been absolutely remarkable. People reaching out, wanting to help. It’s obviously been something that’s uniquely challenging for our family, but Spoelstras are resilient.”
- There was a scoring error during Thursday’s game between the Cavaliers and Wizards, the NBA announced in a press release (Twitter link). With 8:15 remaining in the second quarter, Wizards guard Tre Johnson made both of his free throws, but the first was recorded as a miss. The final score and statistics have been corrected, according to the league. The error didn’t materially impact the game, which Cleveland won in lopsided fashion (148-115 after the correction).
- Wizards forward Bilal Coulibaly missed his second straight game on Saturday with a left calf contusion, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. The French wing, who was selected seventh overall in the 2023 draft, was out for the first four games of the season while recovering from thumb surgery.
As ESPN’s Kevin Pelton writes, there has been an average of between five and six first-time All-Stars over the past five years, including six first-time honorees last season. Pelton lists 10 players who have a shot at making their first mid-season exhibition game in 2025/26 based on their strong starts.
The All-Star format will be different again this year, Pelton notes, with two eight-player teams from the United States and one eight-player international group competing in a round-robin tournament. Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (Israel) and Bulls guard Josh Giddey (Australia) are among the international candidates on Pelton’s list, with Lakers guard Austin Reaves and Hawks forward Jalen Johnson among the first-time American candidates.
Reaves will miss his third straight game on Saturday in Atlanta due to a right groin strain, tweets Dan Woike of The Athletic.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA assistant and head coach Richie Adubato has passed away at age 87, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Adubato’s NBA coaching career spanned two decades, spending time with Detroit, New York, Dallas, Cleveland and Orlando. The New Jersey native also coached the WNBA’s New York Liberty and Washington Mystics, Beede adds, and was a radio analyst for the Magic from 2005-20. Our condolences go out to Adubato’s friends and family.
- The Basketball Africa League has largely been run as a tournament over the past several years, but NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape that the BAL will eventually have 12 teams and permanent franchises, though when that will happen is still to be determined. Spears hears there will likely be 10 permanent franchises down the line, with the other two spots going to annual at-large qualifying teams.
- Former NBA big man Christian Wood reportedly fired three gunshots at the ground to scare away three men who broke into a Los Angeles home he was inside on Wednesday, according to Alex Valdes of The Athletic. The LAPD told The Athletic that no property was taken in the incident, and the suspects fled the scene after being confronted. Wood, a 30-year-old forward/center, was waived by the Lakers in February 2025, but hasn’t played in a game since February 2024 due to a knee injury.
- A variety of former NBA figures have migrated to the college basketball scene over the past year because of the introduction of NIL deals and the transfer portal. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) takes a deep dive on the topic, writing that universities have pursued NBA talent due to their skills and expertise in navigating a variety of different job responsibilities that previously weren’t needed at the college level. “The trend will only continue to accelerate,” said Wes Wilcox, who left his post as assistant GM for the Kings late last season to become GM of the Utah Utes. “The number of colleges looking toward the NBA to help in this space is only going to rise.”
A two-alarm fire broke out early Thursday morning at the multi-million dollar home of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, , and
The Heat and Spoelstra returned on a chartered flight from Denver at 5 a.m. ET after the team completed a four-game road trip. That was approximately 25 minutes after firefighters were dispatched to his Miami-Dade home.
The home, which sits on a 43,000-square-foot lot, sold for $6.6MM in 2023. There were no reported injuries but firefighters battled the blaze for more than four hours at the five-bedroom home with a pool and tennis courts.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Heat are dealing with an injury to one of their key players. Bam Adebayo left Wednesday’s loss to the Nuggets late in the first quarter with a left foot injury. He’ll undergo an MRI today to determine the severity of the injury, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “We’ll figure it out,” Adebayo said. “Get more tests and then see how it goes.”
- The Magic will play seven of their next nine games at home. They’re hoping to iron out their issues during that stretch after starting off the season with a 3-5 mark. “We’ve just got to play some better basketball, to be honest,” Jalen Suggs told Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. “We’ve got to withstand runs, withstand some adversity, get it flowing, find our groove, find our swag. All of it’s just a little off right now.”
- Hornets forward Brandon Miller will miss at least two weeks with a shoulder injury suffered during the second game of the season at Philadelphia. It apparently occurred while he was fighting through a screen. “Yeah, I really couldn’t tell you what happened,” Miller told Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “But it’s just a subluxation on the left shoulder. No timeline right now. Just kind of working to get back, get the muscles around it stronger and just go from there.”
Desmond Bane‘s three-point shot isn’t falling so far this season, but the Magic guard remains confident that it will come around soon, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Bane was acquired from Memphis over the summer to improve the team’s outside shooting, but he’s only connecting at 25% from beyond the arc while taking 4.7 per game, which is the lowest total since his rookie season. It’s a small sample size and Bane was a career 41% three-point shooter with the Grizzlies, so he isn’t worried.
“It’ll come,” he said. “I’ve had multiple stretches like that. It’s basketball. Some nights you get a ton and some nights you get a few.”
Beede notes that Bane hasn’t been getting the open looks that he’s used to since joining the Magic. Defenses are playing him tightly at the three-point line, and he has responded by driving more often and finding open teammates, which led to seven assists in Friday’s victory at Charlotte.
However, the Magic don’t have many accomplished three-point shooters and they’ll eventually need Bane to fill that role.
“He’s one of those guys that he’s such a threat on the three-point line that he’s able to get downhill, but, in my opinion, one of the reasons we got him was because of his three-point shooting,” Wendell Carter Jr. said. “We’ve got to find ways to get him cleaner, easier looks, instead of off the dribble, even though he can do both.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- After not being used in the first three games, rookie forward Noah Penda is increasing his role in the Magic‘s rotation and played 17 minutes on Friday, Beede adds in the same story. “We’ve thrown him in different situations and one thing about him is he can guard multiple positions,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “He’s not afraid of the moment and does a great job crashing the glass. He’s doing all of the things that we’re asking him to do when he steps on the floor.”
- Hornets guard LaMelo Ball will play tonight against Minnesota after being listed on the injury report with a right ankle impingement, according to Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). In his pregame press conference, coach Charles Lee talked about the importance of Ball staying healthy after missing 60 and 35 games the past two seasons (Twitter video link).
- The Hawks haven’t provided an update on Trae Young, who suffered a sprained right knee on Wednesday. Young didn’t play Friday night and has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game at Cleveland, tweets Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks.
The Magic won’t exercise their fourth-year option on Jett Howard‘s rookie scale contract for the 2026/27 season, reports Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).
The move will make Howard an unrestricted free agent during the 2026 offseason, assuming he plays out the current season without being waived. The Magic – or Howard’s new team, if he’s traded prior to February’s deadline – would not be permitted next summer to offer him a starting salary exceeding $7,337,938, which is the amount of the ’26/27 option being declined.
The 11th overall pick in the 2023 draft and the son of former NBA star Juwan Howard, Jett has yet to establish himself as a reliable rotation player at the NBA level. In 80 total appearances since he made his professional debut, the former Michigan standout has averaged just 3.7 points and 1.0 rebound in 9.8 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .369/.294/.667.
The Magic’s financial situation made the decision to decline Howard’s fourth-year option a more straightforward one. Even without his $7.34MM cap hit on their books, they project to operate in tax apron territory in 2026/27, with Paolo Banchero‘s maximum-salary rookie scale extension set to take effect.
While Howard won’t have his 2026/27 option exercised, Orlando is picking up Anthony Black‘s fourth-year option and Tristan Da Silva‘s third-year option for next season, according to Beede (Twitter link).
Black, 21, is off to a strong start in a significant role off Orlando’s bench, averaging 12.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 26.0 minutes per game while shooting 53.1% from the field. The sixth overall pick from the 2023 draft will earn $10,106,315 on his newly exercised 2026/27 option and will become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2026 offseason.
As for Da Silva, last year’s 18th overall pick had a solid rookie season for the Magic in 2024/25, averaging 7.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in 74 outings (38 starts). The 24-year-old German will make $3,991,200 in ’26/27 and the team will have to decide next October whether to exercise his $6.14MM option for the ’27/28 season.
We’re tracking all of this year’s rookie scale team option decisions right here.
The Hawks opted not to pursue contract extensions with stars Trae Young or Kristaps Porzingis ahead of the 2025/26 season, deciding instead to assess the fit of the roster in the coming months before determining whether to commit long-term to their current core. Although Young admitted late last month that he was a little disappointed about entering training camp without a new deal in place, he told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN he’s not stressing about the situation.
“I think it’s going to be great. I’m not worried about it,” Young said. “As much as I wish it was, it’s not all in my hands and I can’t control everything. I just can only control the present. And I know if we win, everybody eats … I understand what winning can do. If certain things don’t go my way as far as injuries, health and stuff that I can’t control, that may be the man above telling me there’s another plan for me. I’m focused on making sure all my guys, (head coach) Quin (Snyder) included, get taken care of and succeed.”
The Hawks have dealt with some health issues to open the season, but had three starters back in the lineup on Monday, as Jalen Johnson (right ankle sprain), Porzingis (flu-like symptoms), and Zaccharie Risacher (right ankle sprain) all returned from brief absences. It wasn’t enough to beat the Bulls though, as Atlanta fell 128-123 to drop to 1-3 in the first week of the season.
Still, Young expressed to Youngmisuk that he’s bullish about the amount of talent on the Hawks’ new-look roster, as well as the opportunity to play alongside a big man like Porzingis.
“I haven’t had a guy like him in the NBA,” Young said. “So I think you’ll be able to really see what different things that I can do with a guy that can pick and pop and spread the defense, spread the five man out to 30 feet. I think you’ll be able to see a lot of different things that I haven’t been able to show in the past, too. Hopefully this year I get a lot more catch-and-shoot shots, something that a lot people don’t think I can do.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Atlanta isn’t the only Southeast team off to a slow start after upgrading its roster this offseason. The Magic lost a third straight game on Monday, prompting Josh Robbins of The Athletic and Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required) to explore whether the club will be able to play the uptempo style of offense it wants to while maintaining its defensive identity. “I think you can do both,” Magic guard Jalen Suggs said. “… A lot of what we’re talking about and trying to put emphasis on is getting out, playing fast, getting good looks, crashing (the offensive boards) … It just takes being very detailed and a concerted effort to then get back on defense after all that and sit down and get stops.”
- Hornets forward Brandon Miller is seeking a second opinion on his injured shoulder, NBA insider Chris Haynes said during an appearance on The Association on NBA TV (Twitter video link). Miller’s injury – a left shoulder subluxation – is one that can be treated either surgically or non-surgically depending on the severity, so he and the Hornets are likely weighing all his options as they consider the best path forward for the former No. 2 overall pick.
- Exploring whether the Heat have a case for compensation after not being informed of an NBA investigation into Terry Rozier before they acquired him from the Hornets in January 2024, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald speaks to ESPN’s Bobby Marks about what Marks calls an “unprecedented situation.” The Hornets haven’t said one way or another whether they knew about the investigation into unusual betting related to Rozier when they made the deal. “It’s a gray area that I think the league is going to have to look long and hard at,” Marks told Chiang. “When players are being investigated and are part of trade discussions, do they have the authority and morality to disclose that information? Because on the other end, legal will say, ‘Well, wait a minute. If we disclose it and the guy is not guilty, then we’ve just harmed the trade.'” Marks added that the Heat are “highly unlikely” to recoup the first-round pick they gave up for Rozier.
- Jalen Suggs was able to play in the Magic‘s first two games, but the team is being cautious as he bounces back from a left knee cartilage injury that brought an early end to last season, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). Suggs logged 19 minutes Friday night, with coach Jamahl Mosley using him three to four minutes at a time. “Those short bursts will help him in a lot of ways, just being able to settle himself down as well as when he goes to the bench, he can analyze the game even more,” Mosley said. “It’ll be that for quite some time, but just being able to have him out there is a great thing.” Suggs won’t play Saturday against Chicago on the second night of a back-to-back.
- The Osceola Magic offered a message of thanks to three-time Slam Dunk Contest winner Mac McClung after trading his G League rights to the Windy City Bulls. McClung spent the past two years in Osceola and appeared in two games with the Orlando Magic last season on a two-way contract.