Clippers Waive Two-Way Player Trentyn Flowers
The Clippers have waived two-way player Trentyn Flowers, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The move is official, per the NBA’s transaction log.
Flowers accepted his two-way qualifying offer in July. Accepting the qualifying offer locked him in to an $85,300 partial guarantee.
Flowers logged just 27 total minutes in six games at the NBA level as an undrafted rookie in 2024/25, but played a more significant role in the G League. In 42 outings last season with the San Diego Clippers, L.A.’s NBAGL affiliate, he registered averages of 17.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest while connecting on 47.5% of his field goal attempts and 38.5% from distance.
Flowers spent the 2023/24 season in the NBL’s Next Stars program. He averaged 5.2 points and 2.9 rebounds on .458/.421/.613 shooting in 18 games (12.7 minutes) with the Adelaide 36ers.
By waiving Flowers, the Clippers now have one open two-way spot. Kobe Sanders and Jordan Miller hold the other two-way deals.
The Clippers now have 20 players in camp and don’t plan to add another, The Athletic’s Law Murray tweets. The four players who are not on guaranteed contracts could be competing for the two-way opening.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Says He Wants To Finish Career In Greece
After speaking in more general terms last month about the possibility of suiting up for a team in the EuroLeague before retiring as a player, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo stated more plainly during an appearance on a Greek late-night talk show called The 2night Show that he’d like to finish his career in his home country.
“I’m 30 years old,” Antetokounmpo said, per BasketNews. “I can play in the NBA until I’m 36, 38. I’d like to end my career in a Greek team, why not? I don’t want to live in the United States. As soon as I leave the NBA, I want to return to Greece. I could end my career here, whether this team is called Filathlitikos, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, or Aris, I’m talking about all the teams now.”
It’s not uncommon for NBA players – especially ones who were born overseas – to spend the twilight years of their careers in Europe. However, it’s a much rarer occurrence for a player of Antetokounmpo’s caliber.
Still, it’s worth noting that Antetokounmpo played for Filathlitikos from 2011-13 before being drafted and that he has long made it a priority to represent Greece in international competitions. Last month, he referred to winning a EuroBasket bronze medal this summer with the Greek national team as his “greatest accomplishment” as an athlete, despite his NBA championship and two NBA MVP awards.
Whether Antetokounmpo eventually plays in Greece remains to be seen, but his NBA future over the next few years could be determined in large part by how the Bucks’ 2025/26 season plays out.
Although the star forward has repeatedly expressed a desire to win another championship in Milwaukee, his comments have also strongly suggested that competing for another championship is a greater priority than spending his entire career as a Buck. If Milwaukee’s season ends early again next spring following three consecutive first-round exits in 2023, 2024, and 2025, Giannis will likely weigh his options more seriously as he prepares to enter a potential contract year.
Jazz Waive Max Abmas, Cameron McGriff
The Jazz have cut a pair of players on non-guaranteed contracts, announcing today in a press release that they’ve placed guard Max Abmas and forward Cameron McGriff on waivers.
Abmas and McGriff signed Exhibit 10 contracts with Utah on October 6 and were with the team for its first three games of the preseason, though neither player saw the court in any of those contests.
Abmas spent his first professional season in 2024/25 playing for the Salt Lake City Stars, the Jazz’s G League affiliate. Across 50 outings in the Tip-Off Tournament and regular season, he averaged 13.8 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game, posting a shooting line of .412/.372/.836.
McGriff has been playing professionally since going undrafted out of Oklahoma State in 2020, having spent time with a handful of G League teams and non-NBA clubs in Belgium, Puerto Rico, Greece, France since then. The 28-year-old also had a brief cup of coffee in the NBA in 2021/22, appearing in three games for Portland on a 10-day contract. He spent last season with the Indiana Mad Ants – the Pacers’ G League team – but had his returning rights traded to Salt Lake City during the offseason.
It seems relatively safe to assume both Abmas and McGriff are headed for the Stars as returning-rights players. If they remain with the Jazz’s NBAGL team for at least 60 days, they’ll each earn a bonus worth $85,300.
Utah now has two open spots on its 21-man preseason roster. It sounds like the team will probably use one of those openings to sign Pedro Bradshaw to an Exhibit 10 deal.
Northwest Notes: SGA, Bailey, Dillingham, Miller, Cooke
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t see himself playing until he’s 40 like current stars LeBron James and Chris Paul, he said within a GQ Sports cover story, per Yang-Yi Goh (subscription required).
“I definitely think I can,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I won’t, though. A hundred percent.”
The reigning MVP just turned 27 in July, so he certainly has time to change his mind between now and the final years of his NBA career. However, he went on to explain that family considerations would be the main reason why he doesn’t think he’d want to extend his playing days that long.
“I won’t want to miss that much of my kid’s life,” he told Goh. “I won’t want to be away and miss his first basketball game every year, his first soccer game, football game, piano lesson, chess lesson, whatever it is. And there’s a certain point in your career where you reach your peak.
“I don’t fault guys for still playing. They love the game. But I just feel like I play this game, ultimately, to see what the best version of me can be. Once I figure that out and I start going down, then it’s like, Okay, well, what am I playing for now? As soon as that happens, I’ll be on the first ship out.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:
- Jazz rookie Ace Bailey is dealing with “some tendonitis” in both of his knees, Will Hardy said after the No. 5 overall pick was removed from Monday’s game vs. Portland. However, Utah’s head coach didn’t sound overly concerned about the issue. “He’s not going to be getting imaged or anything like that,” Hardy told reporters, including Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). “It’s just trying to take care of him. He was a little sore during his second stint (on the court).”
- After playing a limited role as a rookie, second-year Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham is working on making the adjustments necessary to earn more regular minutes in 2025/26, as Chris Hine of The Star Tribune details. “I want to play,” Dillingham said. “So whatever I got to do to play, whatever (head coach Chris Finch) wants me to do — pass the ball, pick up (on defense), I’m just gonna have to do.” Finch offered more details on what he and the staff have told Dillingham to focus on: “Be ready to make shots off the ball, particularly when you’re playing out there alongside guys like Julius and Ant who are going to have the ball in their hands a lot. Keep it simple and use your speed, which is what we need you to do and what you have naturally comes to you.”
- Timberwolves forward Leonard Miller, who suffered a finger injury early in training camp, was cleared for full-contact, five-on-five basketball activities on Monday, the team announced in a press release. Miller started on Monday against the Guangzhou Loong Lions and played well in a Minnesota blowout, racking up 15 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
- The Oklahoma City Blue and Rip City Remix have completed a trade, tweets Rylan Stiles of SI.com. The Thunder‘s G League affiliate acquired the returning rights for Isaac Nogues and Henri Drell, along with a 2026 second-round pick, from the Trail Blazers‘ affiliate, in exchange for Javonte Cooke‘s returning rights. Cooke signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Portland two weeks ago, while Nogues and Drell are currently playing overseas.
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra Named Team USA’s New Head Coach
October 14: USA Basketball has officially announced Spoelstra as the new men’s basketball head coach. Spoelstra spoke to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst about his new role and what it means to him.
“Absolutely, absolutely humbled. I mean, it is the honor of a lifetime,” Spoelstra told Reynolds. “And I’m just really appreciative of it and being a part of the USA Basketball program. The Olympics are incredible, no matter where it is, but to have the opportunity to compete on your own soil, that’s simply remarkable.”
October 9: Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is expected to be named the new head coach of the United States’ men’s basketball team, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.
According to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, a deal between Spoelstra and USA Basketball has not yet been finalized, but Miami’s longtime coach is the frontrunner for the job to succeed Steve Kerr.
As Reynolds writes, Spoelstra was an assistant on Kerr’s staff at both the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The Americans finished in fourth place at the World Cup, but won their fifth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics.
Assuming Spoelstra finalizes a contract with USA Basketball, he would lead the U.S. at the 2027 World Cup in Qatar and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Reynolds notes.
After Gregg Popovich stepped down as coach of the Spurs in the spring, Spoelstra became the longest-tenured head coach in the NBA by a significant margin. The 54-year-old is entering his 18th season as head coach of the Heat, compiling a 787-572 regular season record (.579 win percentage) and 110-83 mark in the playoffs (.570).
Spoelstra has led Miami to six NBA Finals appearances during his time at the helm, winning back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013.
Spoelstra has been widely viewed as one of the top coaches in the league for years, so the news isn’t surprising. Still, it’s a significant accomplishment — Spoelstra told The Associated Press after last year’s Olympics that he “would be honored” to be the top coach of the men’s national team.
Nets Sign Malachi Smith
The Nets have signed free agent guard Malachi Smith, the team announced today (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post).
Smith, 25, has been playing in the G League since going undrafted out of Gonzaga in 2023. He was with the Rip City Remix and Wisconsin Herd during his rookie year and spent the 2024/25 campaign with the Memphis Hustle, appearing in 46 total games for the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate.
Smith averaged 11.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 25.3 minutes per game for the Hustle last season, making 50.1% of his shots from the field, including 34.7% from beyond the three-point line.
The Long Island Nets acquired Smith’s returning rights from Memphis last month, so it’s a pretty safe bet that the plan is for him to be waived in the coming days and then report to Long Island for the G League season. He’ll likely receive a small partial guarantee as part of the arrangement.
While most players who are ticketed for their teams’ NBAGL affiliates sign Exhibit 10 contracts, the Nets have been structuring their deals a little differently this fall since they don’t mind having the bonuses they pay those players count against their cap as they look to reach the NBA’s minimum salary floor. Exhibit 10 bonuses don’t carry a cap hit, but partial guarantees do.
For instance, as Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets, when signing with the Nets on Monday, Tre Scott received a standard contract with a $45K partial guarantee, while Terry Roberts got a $25K partial guarantee on his standard deal. Both Scott and Roberts were waived today, per Lewis, but those partial guarantees will continue to count against Brooklyn’s cap.
Sixers Notes: Embiid, George, Watford, Bona, Layden
There’s a chance that Joel Embiid could play in the Sixers‘ preseason finale on Friday, head coach Nick Nurse told reporters today, per Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports (Twitter links). Embiid, who is coming off knee surgery, was only a partial participant in Tuesday’s practice, but that was by design, not due to any sort of setback.
Nurse cautioned that Embiid’s status on Friday could still go either way depending on how the next few days ago, noting that the star center has a few hurdles to clear in order to get the green light for that contest vs. Minnesota.
In other Sixers injury news, Paul George (knee) and Trendon Watford (hamstring) went through portions of Tuesday’s practice after having previously been limited to individual work, per Bodner.
Here’s more on the 76ers:
- Embiid was healthy enough to take part in Sunday’s Blue x White scrimmage at Chase Fieldhouse, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The team showcased an intriguing two-big lineup in that scrimmage, with Embiid playing alongside second-year big man Adem Bona. As Pompey notes in a separate story, Bona has emerged this month as the team’s likely backup center behind Embiid, having started at the five in all three preseason games so far. According to Pompey, Bona needs to work on his rebounding and avoid fouling, but lineups featuring him, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe look capable of giving opponents problems with their speed.
- Within that second Inquirer story, Pompey says George appears likely to miss time at the start of the season, but there’s a chance Embiid will be ready to go on opening night.
- The 76ers are making some tweaks to their offense ahead of the 2025/26 season in an effort to avoid being so dependent on Maxey and Embiid, according to Pompey. “A little more ball movement, a little less of maybe zero- or one-pass offense,” Nurse said. “And then worry about the spacing because I know there’s going to be enough of that probably in there.” Nurse went on to say that the team won’t be moving entirely away from actions involving Maxey and Embiid, but wants to include more “variety” in its attack. He added that Embiid is doing well with the adjustment. “There’s probably a little bit more movement and cutting and all that kind of stuff, but he has (adapted),” Nurse said.
- The Sixers have hired former Timberwolves and Knicks general manager Scott Layden as a scout, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Layden, who also worked in high-level front office roles in San Antonio and Utah, had been a scout for the Kings for the past three seasons before he and the team parted ways in the spring.
Mat Ishbia Countersues Suns’ Minority Shareholders
Suns owner Mat Ishbia has filed a countersuit against a pair of minority owners who sued Ishbia and the team earlier this year, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.
That original suit, which was brought forth in August by Andy Kohlberg (Kisco WC Sports) and Scott Seldin (Kent Circle Investments), alleged that Ishbia wasn’t allowing them to view records and financial information that would help them understand how the franchise is being run and how much their shares are worth. Kohlberg and Seldin, expressing dissatisfaction with Ishbia’s management of the team, were reportedly seeking a buyout from the majority owner at a price point of $825MM, which would value the Suns at $6 billion.
Ishbia, who bought the Suns in 2023 at a valuation of $4 billion, offered to buy out the team’s minority owners when he took over control of the franchise and says that Kohlberg and Seldin were the only ones who passed on the offer.
Ishbia’s new suit states that he has invested significantly in the Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury since buying the team and sought funds on a capital call in June to “cover payroll, luxury tax payments and other near-term obligations,” per Vorkunov. The suit also alleges that Kohlberg and Seldin didn’t want to invest during that round of fundraising and that their lawsuit was part of a negative PR campaign against Ishbia as they sought a buyout from him at an “extortionate” cost.
“When Mat Ishbia bought the Suns and Mercury, he couldn’t have been clearer with investors: he was going to invest in the teams, the fans, and the community,” an Ishbia spokesperson said in a statement. “Every investor had the choice at that point — sell at premium or stay in and invest alongside him. Andy Kohlberg and Scott Seldin want it both ways. They don’t want to invest in the teams, but they are demanding a payday significantly higher than what Mat originally offered, which was still over 20 times their original investment. That’s not how it works, and we’re confident we’ll prevail in court.”
There has been no shortage of legal battles in Phoenix since Ishbia took over the team. Outside of this dispute between the team’s investors, several former employees have filed lawsuits against the Suns, alleging discrimination, harassment, and wrongful termination, per Vorkunov. Ishbia said at media day that he wasn’t looking to settle those suits.
“The truth is, you actually got to win a lawsuit,” he said. “And where I’m different than most successful people … is like, we don’t settle. If we don’t do anything wrong, I’m not paying someone. I hope you guys all report on how many lawsuits we actually lose.”
Jazz, Pedro Bradshaw Agree To Exhibit 10 Deal
The Jazz and free agent swingman Pedro Bradshaw have agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal, agent Darrell Comer tells NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).
Bradshaw, who went undrafted out of Bellarmine University in 2021, actually began his career with Utah’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, as a rookie in 2021/22. He has since played for several other NBAGL teams and spent part of the 2024/25 season in Australia with the Cairns Taipans before finishing the year with the Rostock Seawolves in Germany.
A solid rebounder and shooter, the 6’7″ forward averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 23.9 minutes per game with a 40.2% three-point mark across 45 appearances for Indiana’s G League team in 2023/24. Last season for the Taipans, he registered averages of 10.7 PPG and 5.7 RPG with a .371 3PT%.
Salt Lake City acquired Bradshaw’s returning rights in a trade with the Noblesville Boom this summer, signaling that the Jazz expect to have him suit up for their G League affiliate this fall. If he spends at least 60 days with the Stars, Bradshaw will earn an Exhibit 10 bonus worth up to $85,300.
Utah currently has a full 21-man preseason roster, so someone will have to be waived to temporarily open up a spot for Bradshaw.
Al Horford Explains Celtics Exit, Hopes To Retire With Warriors
After returning to the Celtics for a second stint in 2021, Al Horford seemed like he was on track to spend the rest of his NBA playing career in Boston. However, at age 39, the veteran big man decided this summer to leave the Celtics because “they just weren’t in a position to offer me the opportunity that I wanted,” he explained to Nick Friedell of The Athletic.
After winning a title in 2023/24 and racking up 61 more regular season wins in ’24/25, the Celtics are expected to take step backward in ’25/26 as a result of Jayson Tatum‘s postseason Achilles tear, as well as financially motivated offseason trades involving Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. Due to its desire to shed salary, the club also wasn’t in position to offer free agents like Luke Kornet and Horford the kind of contracts they’d earned.
“There was two things there,” Horford said. “I think the financial part was a component, but more than that, it was the winning part of it, trying to contend for a championship. And I think there was a lot of things up in the air — and it just felt like they weren’t in the same, that same vision, obviously, because JT getting hurt, that takes a big toll. So I think at that point I really had to — up until then I was staying in Boston the whole time.
“… I think once that offseason happened and it started to progress, it became clear to me the team had different priorities. Obviously, getting rid of Jrue, getting rid of Kristaps. And I know it’s all salary stuff, but it was like a domino effect, and it was tough for me. It was a tough decision, but my wife and I, we prayed about it. I knew that it had to be something that was gonna be — that my family had to be on board with me for us to proceed in something like this. And that was it.”
Horford ended up signing with the Warriors on a two-year contract worth the full taxpayer mid-level exception that includes a second-year player option and a 15% trade kicker.
While the deal didn’t officially get done until October 1 due to Golden State’s desire to resolve Jonathan Kuminga‘s restricted free agency before hard-capping itself at the second tax apron, Horford knew much earlier in the summer that he’d become a Warrior. He tells Friedell that recruiting pitches from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green played a role in his decision.
“Yeah, I had communication with them, with Steph and Draymond,” Horford said. “And that was important. It happened very fast because it was at a point where they came to me and they’re like, ‘Hey, we’d love to have you,’ and all these things. And it was one of these things that, for me, looking at this fit and the potential, it just felt right. So them reaching out to me was important.”
Given the fact that his new contract includes a second year, Horford may still have multiple seasons left in the NBA. Still, his hope for now is that he’s able to finish his career in Golden State.
“I think at this point in my career, where I see everything, that is my expectation, just to be here,” he said.