Pelicans Sign Christian Shumate
The Pelicans have signed Christian Shumate, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.
A 6’6″ forward, Shumate had a brief eight-game stint with Tulsa during the 2020/21 campaign before spending his final four college seasons at McNeese State. He went undrafted in June, making him an unrestricted free agent.
While Shumate was a somewhat erratic offensive player during his college career, only shooting 26.9% on three-pointers and 51.2% on free throws, he was an All-Southland selection in each of his four years at McNeese State and won the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award in both 2024 and 2025.
In 35 games as a senior last season, Shumate averaged 10.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 27.6 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .623/.309/.423. He helped the Cowboys reach the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year — they upset Clemson in the first round before falling to Purdue.
Shumate almost certainly signed an Exhibit 10 deal and will likely be waived by New Orleans before the season begins. If he spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron, he could earn a bonus worth up to $85,300.
The Pelicans’ offseason roster is now full, with 21 players under contract.
Hornets Sign Brandon Slater, Waive Keyontae Johnson
The Hornets have signed Brandon Slater, the team announced in a press release (via Twitter). In a related move, Keyontae Johnson has been waived.
A 6’8″ forward, Slater went undrafted in 2023 after five college seasons at Villanova. He signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Boston two years ago, was cut, and spent the 2023/24 season in the G League with the Maine Celtics.
Instead of returning to the NBAGL, Slater signed with GS Lavrio of Greece’s top basketball league. In 24 games (19.5 MPG) with the Greek club, Slater averaged 7.4 PPG and 3.0 RPG on .444/.344/.771 shooting.
Slater most recently suited up for Charlotte at the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer Leagues, averaging 5.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 1.1 SPG in eight appearances (17.7 MPG).
While the 26-year-old will fill the Hornets’ final roster spot for now, he likely signed an Exhibit 10 deal and will be waived in the coming days. If that comes to fruition, Slater will be eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days with the Greensboro Swarm — the Hornets’ G League affiliate — in ’25/26.
Nets Sign Yuri Collins To Partially Guaranteed Deal
The Nets have officially signed free agent guard Yuri Collins, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.
Sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) that Collins received a one-year standard contract with a $85,300 partial guarantee, just like Brooklyn’s recent contract agreements with David Muoka and D’Andre Davis, and is expected to be released soon. Davis was waived in order to make room on the 21-man roster for Collins.
A 6’0″ point guard, Collins went undrafted out of St. Louis in 2023 and has spent the past two seasons in the NBAGL with the Santa Cruz Warriors. After a fairly modest role in 2023/24, the 24-year-old’s usage rate nearly doubled in ’24/25, averaging 13.7 points, 10.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 49 combined games (32.2 minutes per contest). He posted a shooting line of .412/.264/.780.
Collins, who led the G League in assists per game (10.8) last regular season, signed a 10-day deal with Golden State in February and made his NBA debut that month, appearing in two games.
For G League purposes, the deals for Collins, Davis and Muoka will essentially function like Exhibit 10 contracts would have, and it’s safe to assume all three players will end up joining the Long Island Nets. The only real difference is that the $85,300 each player is receiving as a partial guarantee will count against the Nets’ cap.
Clubs generally favor Exhibit 10 deals because they don’t want those cap hits on their books, but those small partial guarantees may help ensure that the Nets’ team salary is above the minimum salary floor by opening night. Brooklyn is the only NBA team still operating below the cap.
According to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link), Long Island acquired Collins’ returning player rights this offseason, yet another indication that he’ll be headed to the NBAGL in 2025/26.
Lauri Markkanen Endorses New All-Star Format
Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen believes adding an international team will help spice up the NBA’s All-Star Game, writes Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews.
The new format was revealed earlier this month. It will split the All-Stars into three eight-man squads, one of which will be entirely composed of international players. The teams will compete in a round-robin format to crown a winner.
“There’s always pride when you’re representing your country, or in this case the world, and I think it’s going to be a fun format and hopefully I can be a part of it,” Markkanen said.
Markkanen made an All-Star appearance in 2023 during his first season in Utah, but injuries have prevented him from returning. He appeared in just 55 and 47 games the past two years.
However, at age 28 he still appears to be part of the future as the team transitions to a younger roster. A report in July indicated that the Jazz don’t have any plans to trade Markkanen, who still has four years and nearly $196MM left on his contract.
He seemed to be back in top form while leading Finland to the semifinals at EuroBasket. He averaged 26.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists in six games while earning second-team all-tournament honors.
Asked to pick the roster for Team World at All-Star weekend, Markkanen selected Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as his starting five. He admits there will be some tough decisions beyond that and hopes he will be in the mix with players such as Franz Wagner, Alperen Sengun, Domantas Sabonis and Karl-Anthony Towns.
“There are no bad options there. I think it’s a list of really good players, and it’s going to come down to team success and how players perform in each and every year,” Markkanen said. “And so I think the format is going to be fun to compete against the USA teams, and we’ll see who makes the team.”
Luka Doncic Contemplates Finishing Career With Real Madrid
Luka Doncic has a lot of NBA seasons left, but he’s interested in someday finishing his basketball career with his first professional team, Real Madrid. In an interview with Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Doncic addressed the possibility of wrapping up his playing days in Spain (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops).
“To play with Real Madrid, you have to be so good,” Doncic said. Asked about potentially returning to the Euroleague and ACB power, he responded, “For sure. They raised me.”
Doncic was only 13 years old when he signed with Real Madrid in 2012. He starred at the junior level for three seasons before being promoted to the senior team and officially beginning his professional career. He was the youngest player ever to take the court for Real Madrid and the third-youngest in ACB history.
He quickly became one of the league’s top stars, capping off his career in Europe in 2018 by winning the EuroLeague scoring title, along with regular season and Final Four MVP honors.
Doncic doesn’t envision himself playing into his 40s like LeBron James, but he hopes to emulate his Lakers teammate in another way. He tells Gay that he would like to become involved in owning a sports franchise, even if it’s not in basketball. James is a minority owner with Fenway Sports Group, which controls the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins and Liverpool F.C.
Doncic also discussed his new emphasis on conditioning, which he said was inspired by teaming up with James. Doncic was noticeably lighter and more mobile as he represented Slovenia in the just-completed EuroBasket tournament.
He used resistance bands, deadlifts and dumbbells to build his strength and added in some agility drills. He hired a private chef to help with a new nutrition routine that included intermittent fasting.
He also stepped away from the basketball court for a while to place his full focus on fitness.
“For the first time, I stopped playing basketball for a month,” Doncic revealed. “Pure training and fitness. And padel tennis.”
Agent: Jonathan Kuminga Willing To Accept Qualifying Offer
Appearing on the latest Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link), agent Aaron Turner said accepting the $8MM qualifying offer is a realistic option for restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga unless the Warriors‘ offers improve, relays Anthony Slater of ESPN.
“There’s a lot of upside,” Turner told the hosts. “He wants to pick where he wants to go. So the QO is real for sure.”
As Slater reported on Monday, Golden State recently engaged in another negotiating session with Kuminga and Turner, submitting its latest offer of $75.2MM over three years with a team option for the final season. That would give him two fully guaranteed seasons at a total of $48.3MM.
Earlier in the summer, the team offered a two-year, $45MM contract that contains a team option in the second season. The only offer without a team option limits his salary to $54MM over three years, an average of $18MM per season.
Kuminga has refused to accept any of those scenarios, but Turner said this week that he would be agreeable to the latest offer if the Warriors replace the team option with a player option. The team has refused to put a player option on the table, which is why Kuminga finds the QO so appealing. Although he would be playing for far below his market value for one season, Kuminga would become unrestricted next summer and would have the power to choose his next team.
“If (the Warriors) want to win now, if you want a guy that’s happy and treated fairly who is a big part of this team, we believe, moving forward, you give him the player option,” Turner said on the podcast. “You do lose a little of that trade value (giving that up). But if it’s about the here and now, you give him that. You don’t get a perfect deal, but you get a pretty good deal and he gets to feel respected about what he gets and we all move on and worry about winning, helping Steph (Curry).”
The Warriors’ offseason has been on hold while they work toward a solution with Kuminga. They reportedly have deals lined up with free agents Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II, but those can’t be finalized because using any portion of the mid-level exception would hard-cap the Warriors at the second apron. That creates the risk that another team could open enough cap room to give Kuminga an offer that Golden State wouldn’t be able to match.
“If JK wants to take (the qualifying offer), it does have upside, right?” Turner said. “We’ve talked about that. You’re not getting traded. You’re going to have unrestricted free agency (next summer). People are going to say, ‘Well, Aaron, there’s not going to be 10 or 12 teams (with cap space).’ Fine, there’ll be six teams with cap space for the clear-cut under-35 top wing on the market. So there’s a lot of upside.”
The Suns and Kings both expressed interest in Kuminga this summer before Golden State shut down sign-and-trade talks. Sacramento was reportedly offering a contract worth $63-66MM over three years, while Phoenix was willing to pay him between $80-88MM over four seasons. However, neither team made a trade offer that enticed the Warriors.
“He’s gotten a chance to hear from other teams,” Turner said. “You know, Sacramento, he’s spent some time with them, got to meet (general manager) Scott Perry, (head coach) Doug Christie, the Suns and what they’ve offered him. There’s been other teams, too, maybe planting seeds for (2026 or 2027). But they’re saying, ‘Hey, we want you to be you. We don’t want you to change anything. We want to put the ball in your hands. We want to give you a huge opportunity to play.'”
Turner added that Kuminga isn’t opposed to staying with the Warriors, but that would mean putting his personal ambitions aside, and Turner believes his client should be financially compensated for that decision. He called Golden State “as first-class as you get,” but pointed out that other teams would be giving Kuminga a chance to play full-time starter’s minutes, while staying put means he would be coming off the bench and battling for playing time with Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and Horford.
“No guarantees he starts any games,” Turner said. “He may, but we don’t know. Finishing games, night to night, who knows? It depends if (coach Steve Kerr) has a combination he likes and it’s working. Maybe he sticks with it. Maybe he doesn’t. You’re going to have to not have the ball as much. You’re going to have to stay away from developing certain parts of your game, or wanting to lean into certain parts of your game, especially shooting any type of mid-range jump shots, which is something JK does work on. But in the Golden State offense and the role he’s in, that’s not going to be a big shot that he’s really going to be able to take much.”
With media day just 10 days away, there’s a growing urgency on both sides to get the matter resolved. Turner indicated that Kuminga would take the two-year offer if he’s allowed to keep an inherent no-trade clause that would come with it, but the team hasn’t budged on that point. He added that Kuminga would want to be compensated for accepting a team option — something in the neighborhood of $30MM per year.
“Two years from now, if you want to keep him, you’ll have his Bird rights (even if you give him a player option),” Turner said. “You treat him good and you show him the plan, then maybe you keep him. (The player option contract) is not perfect, but I don’t think anybody can get everything they really want.
“If you ask JK, he wants Jalen Green‘s deal. He’s not getting that. He wants Jalen Johnson‘s deal. You’re not getting that. If the Warriors, we feel like, pick the front end (of the contract), if that number needs to be lower to stay under a second apron, (it’s a) player option. Or if it’s about really controlling the back end of the deal, move the number up, shake your roster up and you can have a team option. Or, the hybrid model, let him keep his no-trade clause.”
Super-Max Candidates To Watch In 2025/26
The NBA's Designated Veteran rule, as we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, allows players to qualify for a maximum salary worth 35% of the cap before they gain the required NBA service time.
Typically, a player is ineligible to receive a maximum contract that starts at 35% of the cap until he has at least 10 years of NBA service under his belt, but the Designated Veteran rule gives a player with between seven and nine years of experience the opportunity to do so if he meets certain performance criteria. This has become colloquially known as signing a "super-max" deal.
The performance criteria are as follows (only one of the following must be true):
- The player was named to an All-NBA team and/or was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
- The player was named the NBA MVP in any of the three most recent seasons.
Since the NBA introduced the concept of the Designated Veteran contract in 2017, 14 players have signed them across nine offseasons. Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became the latest player to join that group this summer when he signed a four-year extension projected to be worth more than $70MM annually.
Gilgeous-Alexander will be the only player who signs a Designated Veteran contract this offseason, but it's worth taking a peek down the road to see which players have a chance to join the list of super-max recipients in 2026.
Here are some players to watch during the 2025/26 season:
Southwest Notes: Russell, Mavericks Questions, Clarke, G League Trade
Mavericks guard Klay Thompson hosted the annual Mavericks “vet camp” and new acquisition D’Angelo Russell was among those in attendance. As Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal writes, the experience helped Russell gain some familiarity with his new teammates ahead of the season.
“When you have that camaraderie to start the season, all the ice is broken,” Russell said. “You don’t wait until preseason or until media day to feel like you know these guys. You develop that relationship and camaraderie ASAP. So, I’m excited, man.”
The Mavericks’ training camp will begin on Sept. 30.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- One of the biggest questions surrounding the Mavericks entering the season is how they’ll deploy their offense without Kyrie Irving (ACL), Christian Clark of The Athletic writes. Dallas signed Russell to help offset the loss of Irving, but having Cooper Flagg take on some ball-handling responsibilities is not out of the question.
- Grizzlies big man Brandon Clarke suffered a high grade PCL strain in March that caused him to miss the remainder of the 2024/25 season. According to Damichael Cole of Memphis Commercial Appeal, Clarke said he feels good and expects to be ready for the start of the season. “I’m ramping up right now,” Clarke said. “I feel great. I’m doing everything. Ramping up to play with my team on day one. I’ll be there.”
- The Thunder and Spurs‘ G League affiliates made a trade, swapping the returning player rights of Malachi Flynn (to the Oklahoma City Blue) and Adam Flagler (to the Austin Spurs), per Rylan Stiles of Thunder on SI (Twitter link). The Blue also obtained a 2025 first-round pick and 2026 second-round pick. Flynn is joining a Turkish club, so this trade does not mean that he will suit up for Oklahoma City’s G League affiliate — just that they obtained his rights if he does play in the G League in the future. Flagler signed with the Spurs on an Exhibit 10 deal that entitles him to a bonus if he spends 60 days with Austin, so this deal ensures that he’ll end up there this season.
Southeast Notes: Bane, Hawks, Leonsis, George
Magic fans are embracing Desmond Bane following Orlando’s blockbuster acquisition of the scoring guard early this offseason, The Athletic’s Josh Robbins writes. Bane is feeling the love in the city.
“I haven’t been to the grocery store yet, honestly,” Bane said. “But my car broke down on the side of the road today on the highway. There was a decent amount of people screaming my name outside the window. So I think that it’s safe to say that Orlando fans are excited.”
The excitement surrounding Bane reflects the expectations fans have for the team. Orlando with Bane in tow looks poised to be an Eastern Conference contender this season. Bane joins Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs as cornerstones of a rapidly improving roster.
As Robbins writes, the East is wide open next season. Cleveland and New York will almost certainly enter the year as favorites to win the conference, but major injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton have created some uncertainty at the top. The Magic are hoping to take advantage.
“I don’t think that there is any limit to put on what this team can do,” Bane said. “I mean, we are a new team, adding some new pieces and things like that. But we have a very good roster in place, a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things. So it’s very exciting from that standpoint. I just want to come in and be the glue, the guy that brings his whole thing together, kind of rounds out some of the gaps that they may have had in their team.”
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Another team that could make some noise in the Eastern Conference, the Hawks, kept busy this week when they moved Kobe Bufkin to the Nets. As Yossi Gozlan of the Third Apron writes (Substack subscriber link), the Hawks have done well to make moves that simultaneously keep them competitive now with an eye toward the future. The Bufkin deal gives Atlanta some added flexibility to extend Dyson Daniels and/or Kristaps Porzingis next year, Gozlan adds.
- Ted Leonsis, CEO of Monumental Sports which owns the Wizards and Capitals, said he wants to own MLB’s Nationals and the MLS’ D.C. United, per Greg Rosenstein of NBC (Twitter link). Leonsis said he has a good relationship with Nationals owner Mark Lerner, but that the Nationals aren’t yet ready to sell.
- Wizards sophomore guard Kyshawn George got an opportunity to suit up for Canada at the AmeriCup this summer, serving as a primary scorer for the team and averaging 13.5 points per game. According to Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network, George believes the experience will benefit him as he rejoins the Wizards. “I think just my confidence in general [was helped], how aggressive I was with the ball whether it was creating for myself or for my teammates. It’s just up to me to keep doing that, keep getting better at it and transfer it now to the Wizards organization,” George said.
And-Ones: G League Trade, Offseason Moves, Spending, Draft Capital
The Heat‘s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, acquired the returning player rights to Alex Fudge from the South Bay Lakers, Los Angeles’s developmental team, the Skyforce announced in a release. The move was a three-team deal, with the Skyforce obtaining a 2026 first-round pick from the College Park Skyhawks (the Hawks‘ affiliate) while sending them Malik Williams. South Bay also obtained Caleb Daniels from Sioux Falls and Michael Devoe from College Park.
Fudge went undrafted in 2023 out of Florida but signed with the Lakers on a two-way contract that summer. He was later waived and then signed a two-way deal with Dallas before being cut last offseason. He spent all of last season with South Bay, averaging 5.5 points in 15 regular season games. The 22-year-old has appeared in six NBA games.
The other player in the deal with NBA experience is Williams, who suited up in seven games (two starts) with Toronto on a 10-day contract in 2023/24. He averaged 14.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in the G League last year with Sioux Falls.
Daniels previously signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Miami before averaging 10.8 PPG with the Skyforce last season. Devoe signed Exhibit 10 deals with the Clippers in 2022 and Jazz in 2023. He last played in the G League in 2023/24.
G League trades can often indicate a team is gearing up to sign one or more of the players involved to an Exhibit 10 contract. When teams sign players to Exhibit 10 deals, those players are eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if they spend at least 60 days with that organization’s G League affiliate.
Devoe played last year in Germany, so this trade doesn’t necessarily mean he will for sure suit up in the G League. But if he does, the South Bay Lakers currently controls his returning rights.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- The Spurs signing Luke Kornet is one of the NBA’s most underrated moves of the offseason, John Hollinger of The Athletic opines. San Antonio got a big that pairs nicely with Victor Wembanyama or can play when he’s off the floor without breaking the bank. In an article evaluating some of the most overlooked moves of the summer, Hollinger credits the Bulls for re-signing Josh Giddey at a decent price point and the Heat for trading for Norman Powell, while applauding various other moves.
- On the other hand, several teams made deals Hollinger was not a fan of. The Heat salary-dumping Haywood Highsmith is one such move, while the Pelicans acquiring Jordan Poole is another.
- With free agency largely over, pending the conclusion of restricted free agency for Quentin Grimes and Jonathan Kuminga, Keith Smith of Spotrac took a look at how teams spent their money this offseason. Small-market teams mostly led the way in total spending, signing players to big extensions. The Thunder, for example, led the league in new extension money at $776.3MM spread out between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Jaylin Williams.
- The Thunder laid the blueprint for teams building through draft capital, winning a title with drafted players Holmgren and Williams leading the charge alongside Gilgeous-Alexander, who was himself acquired alongside draft assets. Bobby Marks and Jeremy Woo of ESPN rank the top teams in the league by their draft capital, with the Thunder still leading the way with 13 incoming future first-round picks. Two rebuilding teams, the Nets and the Jazz, round out the top three.