Bucks Rumors: Giannis, Rollins, Porter, Kuzma, Rivers, Horst
With the Bucks lottery-bound for the first time since 2016 and increasingly at odds with their longtime superstar forward, one source close to the team tells Shams Charania of ESPN that the state of affairs in Milwaukee is “as toxic of a team situation as any in the league.”
It’s one of many troubling quotes from team sources within Charania’s in-depth look at a nightmarish season for the Bucks, who have posted a losing record both with and without Giannis Antetokounmpo available in 2025/26.
“When your best player is one foot in, one foot out,” one team source told ESPN, “you’re not going to win.”
“The crux of the issue is feeling Giannis doesn’t want to be here on any given day,” another said.
One team source added that the Bucks have “no identity,” while multiple club sources suggested to Charania that Giannis’ uncertain future has created a tense locker-room environment over the course of the season.
Although Antetokounmpo hasn’t explicitly requested a trade out of Milwaukee, he and agent Alex Saratsis conveyed to the Bucks early in the season that it was probably time for the two sides to part ways, according to Charania, who says Giannis’ camp pursued an “amicable split” during the season, meeting with co-owners Jimmy Haslam and Wes Edens two weeks before the trade deadline to discuss how the team could “do right” by Antetokounmpo. Charania explains that both Giannis and Saratsis recalled making a handshake agreement after the star forward signed extensions in 2020 and 2023 that the two sides would work collaboratively on a trade when the time came.
“Giannis has wanted to handle this professionally by being very up front with the team,” one source with direct knowledge of the situation told ESPN. “This could have been a happy resolution but instead might end up being a nasty breakup.”
Shortly after that January meeting with ownership, Antetokounmpo was informed by general manager Jon Horst that he was engaged in trade negotiations and that the 31-year-old may not be on the Bucks’ roster by the start of the 2026/27 season.
However, not every team that spoke to the Bucks about Giannis leading up to February’s trade deadline believed they were serious about making an in-season deal. Milwaukee’s front office took days to respond to certain suitors’ messages and calls, according to Charania, though he notes that the Heat, Warriors, and Timberwolves believed Horst was operating in good faith.
While Golden State and Minnesota sensed as the deadline approached that the Bucks weren’t going to accept their offers, team sources tell ESPN that Milwaukee seriously considered Miami’s proposal, which included Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, and several draft assets. Ultimately, the Bucks let the Heat know on the morning of deadline day (Feb. 5) that they wouldn’t be trading Giannis, since they believe they’ll receive stronger offers this summer, per Charania.
The Bucks’ top decision-makers have come to terms with the likelihood of an Antetokounmpo trade happening this offseason, Charania adds.
Here are a few more highlights from Charania’s in-depth story:
- While the Bucks’ disagreement with Antetokounmpo about his late-season availability following a mid-March knee injury has been well-documented, Charania provides a couple new details, writing that Giannis is still hoping to return later this week – perhaps for Friday’s home finale – and wants to share the court with his brothers Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Alex Antetokounmpo before the end of the season. Most interestingly, Charania notes that Giannis – who has been limited to 36 games this season – will miss out on a “significant” bonus in his contract with Nike that would’ve been triggered if he played in at least 41 contests.
- Guards Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. were called out by Bucks coaches after shooting a combined 9-of-27 in a blowout loss to Chicago on March 1, according to Charania, who says Rollins and Porter were directed to focus more on getting the rest of the team involved and avoiding selfish play. While the coaching staff’s message was meant to “empower” the young backcourt duo, it left the team feeling “splintered,” leading to a players-only meeting in which veteran forward Kyle Kuzma told Rollins and Porter not to worry about what their coaches had said. After the staff learned about Kuzma’s comments, he received his first DNP-CD of the season in Milwaukee’s following game, then had a conversation with head coach Doc Rivers to talk through the situation, per Charania.
- Referring to a “season-long disconnect” between Rivers and several Bucks players, Charania details how the veteran coach began one team meeting by telling his team to look up his résumé. “I took teams to the playoffs and to the championship that weren’t supposed to. I thought this was one of them,” Rivers reportedly told players during that meeting.
- Ownership is expected to make a decision on Rivers’ job status within the next week, sources tell ESPN. He has just one season left on his contract. As for Horst, the general manager was extended a year ago and still has multiple years left on his deal, but there has been “friction” between him and Antetokounmpo since the trade deadline, Charania writes.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Atlantic Division
For the rest of the regular season and postseason, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players who will be free agents – or could become free agents – during the 2026 offseason. We’ll consider whether each player’s stock is rising or falling due to his performance and several other factors.
Today, we’re focusing on a handful of players in the Atlantic Division, starting with a former second-round pick having a breakout season.
Mikel Brown Jr. To Enter 2026 NBA Draft
Projected lottery pick Mikel Brown Jr. has confirmed that he intends to enter the 2026 NBA draft, revealing his plans to Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
Brown, 20, had a strong freshman season for Louisville in 2025/26, averaging 18.2 points, 4.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 29.2 minutes per game. His shooting line was .410/.344/.844.
Unfortunately, the 6’5″ guard battled back issues for much of the season and was limited to 21 outings, including 19 starts. Brown didn’t play after February 28, and while he was only formally ruled out for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, he suggested to Spears that he likely wouldn’t have been able to suit up even if the Cardinals had advanced to the Sweet 16.
“(My back) really was messed up, but I just kept trying to play through it. And then eventually it just led me to the decision that I wasn’t going to play in both tournaments — the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament — just because I’m not trained to go half speed at all,” he said. “I always want to go full speed in everything I do, whether that’s me working out or playing a game. I just wasn’t able to do that at the time. So, I just felt like it was best for me to just sit out.”
According to Brown, his injury – diagnosed as a back strain – is improving. He told Spears he’s optimistic that he’ll be able to take part in pre-draft workouts this spring and play in Summer League in July.
While teams drafting in the lottery will likely want to take a close look at Brown’s medicals leading up to June’s draft, the sense remains that he’s a strong candidate to come off the board within the first 10 picks. ESPN’s Jeremy Woo has Brown ranked ninth on his big board, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has him being selected at No. 8 in his newly updated mock draft.
As Wasserman writes, Brown showed off impressive shot-making and offensive creativity as a college freshman, though he took some questionable shots and didn’t have a great assist-to-turnover ratio. Comparing Brown to Tyler Herro, Wasserman says some NBA evaluators may view him as more of an “offensive spark or specialist” rather than a lead guard.
Former NBA Guard Nando De Colo Announces Plans To Retire
French guard Nando De Colo has confirmed to BeBasket that he intends to retire at the end of the 2025/26 season, as BasketNews.com relays.
“To be transparent, this will be my last season,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Since the beginning of the season, I’ve had it in the back of my mind that this was going to be my last season.”
De Colo, who is currently playing for Fenerbahce in Turkey, is one of the most accomplished guards in EuroLeague history, winning titles in 2016 with CSKA Moscow and in 2019 with Fenerbahce. He was also named league MVP in 2016 and earned a spot on the EuroLeague’s All-Decade team for the 2010s, as well as its 25th anniversary team in 2025.
De Colo was selected by San Antonio with the 53rd overall pick in the 2009 draft and spent three years as a draft-and-stash prospect before arriving in the NBA in 2012 at age 25. He spent the next two seasons stateside, appearing in 119 games for the Spurs and Raptors.
However, De Colo didn’t play a significant role in the NBA, averaging 3.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in just 11.9 minutes per night, with a .429/.363/.835 shooting line. His limited usage factored into his decision to return to Europe, where he also had a stint with ASVEL in France from 2022-25 in addition to a five-year run with CSKA Moscow (2014-19) and two separate stints with Fenerbahce (2019-22, plus this season). Before playing in the NBA, the 6’5″ guard spent time with Cholet in France (2006-09) and Valencia in Spain (2009-12).
Although De Colo hasn’t been in the NBA since 2014, he was still a fixture on Hoops Rumors each June for nearly a decade after that — the Raptors controlled his restricted free agent rights and issued him qualifying offers every summer from 2014-22 in case he decided to return to the league. But that never happened, and Toronto eventually renounced its rights to De Colo at the 2023 trade deadline in order to stay cap-compliant while completing a trade for Jakob Poeltl.
Now 38 years old, De Colo ranks second all-time among EuroLeague players in points. He’s also 10th in assists and fourth in steals.
Additionally, the veteran guard has a decorated international basketball résumé. He won silver medals with France at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, claimed bronze at the 2019 World Cup, and earned three EuroBasket medals, including gold in 2013.
And-Ones: Coaches, Lottery Teams, 65-Game Rule, HoF, More
Kurt Helin of NBC Sports recently listed five head coaches who could be on the hot seat as the 2025/26 regular season enters its final week.
Doc Rivers was part of the 2026 Hall of Fame class, but there’s an expectation around the league that he won’t be brought back as head coach of the Bucks in 2026/27, Helin writes. Marc Stein reported similarly on Sunday, though Stein suggested Rivers might stay in the organization in some capacity.
Jamahl Mosley of the Magic and Brian Keefe of the Wizards are two of the other names on Helin’s list.
We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Should Brooklyn extend or trade Michael Porter Jr. this summer? That’s the big question ESPN’s Bobby Marks poses for the Nets ahead of next month’s draft lottery. Marks lists one big question facing each of the 10 teams who have been eliminated from postseason contention. It’s worth noting the article was written last week, before the Bulls dismissed top front office executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley.
- Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards and Luka Doncic are among the star players who won’t meet the 65-game requirement this season to be eligible for major postseason awards (Doncic may still qualify, depending on what an “independent expert” rules). Several people around the league recently weighed in on the 65-game rule, which was collectively bargained by both the NBA and the NBPA in 2023, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch pointed out that there could be unintended consequences of lesser players making All-NBA teams, and suggested those who are clearly All-NBA caliber should still be eligible for the three teams, but without receiving the salary bump that sometimes goes along with it. “That’s one of the things that’s not talked about [with] it,” Finch said. “Some of these awards are going to go to players [who], not to say they’re not necessarily deserving. But they’re going to get these rewards and they’re going to get the financial bonus that comes with these rewards, and maybe they’re not quite of the standard that would normally demand that. … To me, the money piece seems to be the obvious trigger.”
- Doug Feinberg of The Associated Press passes along some quotes from the members of the 2026 Hall of Fame class, which was officially announced over the weekend. “It means everything from a basketball point of view,” Amar’e Stoudemire told the AP. “When you look back at my career not only as a pro, but even high school and, and nationally, and since I was a kid playing the game of basketball. I love the game. You play the game because you love it, and then you work to become the best you can possibly be, despite circumstances, and to get into the Hall of Fame, it shows that the voters appreciate it. And now we’re enshrined forever.”
- Several ESPN insiders list the biggest questions and what to watch in the final week of the regular season.
Korver, Dunleavy, Fields Reportedly Among Bulls’ GM Targets
In addition to confirming the Bulls have been connected to Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports adds a few other names to watch as Chicago begins its front office search.
Hawks assistant general manager Kyle Korver, Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr., former Hawks GM Landry Fields, and CAA’s Austin Brown are among the other potential targets for the Bulls in the wake of the firings of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, league sources tell NBC Sports.
As Helin writes, Dunleavy is unlikely to leave his job with the Warriors, so his inclusion could be more of a “wish list play” for Chicago. The 45-year-old spent three seasons with the Bulls near the end of his playing career, which spanned 15 years (from 2002-17).
Korver, a longtime NBA sharpshooter whose playing career ended in 2020, joined the Hawks in the summer of 2022 as the team’s director of player affairs and development and was promoted to assistant GM in January 2023. He’s another ex-Bull, having played two seasons in Chicago.
Fields, 37, played five NBA seasons before eventually transitioning to a front office role. He was Atlanta’s GM for three seasons prior to being let go in last April. The team won 41, 36, and 40 games in his three years at the helm, making a single playoff appearance during that time and not advancing past the first round.
Fields was hired in January to be the new president of league operations for Overtime Elite. OTE is transitioning to become a national prep league, a source tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link), rather than running its own teams and housing players year-round.
Brown, the co-head of CAA’s basketball division, is one of the most powerful agents in the NBA. He was linked to the Hawks’ front office search last May, and his client list includes Donovan Mitchell, Cooper Flagg, Trae Young, Jaren Jackson Jr., OG Anunoby, and many other noteworthy current and former players, per RealGM.
Bulls Rumors: Donovan, Front Office, Ownership, Ivey, More
The Bulls fired executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley on Monday, but Marc Stein reported on Sunday that the team hopes to retain head coach Billy Donovan and Shams Charania of ESPN has heard the same (Twitter video link).
“My understanding is the Bulls want to keep [Donovan] as long as he wants to be there, in Chicago,” Charania said on NBA Today.
Donovan, who signed a multiyear extension with the Bulls last summer, is expected to draw interest from rival NBA teams with head coaching vacancies this offseason, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link), who confirms Chicago would like to keep the 60-year-old.
As for potential front office replacements, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic suggests Timberwolves GM Matt Lloyd could be a name to watch (Twitter link). Lloyd is well regarded around the league and began his NBA career in Chicago, Krawczynski notes.
Here are some more rumors and notes on the Bulls:
- Team sources tell Jamal Collier of ESPN that ownership had been considering a front office overhaul “for weeks,” and the urgency to do so increased after the team traded for — and then waived — Jaden Ivey. While the front office defended the homework it did prior to acquiring Ivey, ownership had questions about the process involved and Karnisovas and Eversley had a “credibility problem” around the league and with the team’s fans, according to Collier.
- Collier hears there was a “growing disconnect” between the front office and several areas of the organization, not just ownership. Bulls employees were reportedly unsure of the team’s direction after it traded away several veterans ahead of the February deadline to add seven second-round picks. “People didn’t know the plan,” one team source told ESPN on Monday. “They didn’t know the process. We needed to move on — with a clean slate and start this thing over.”
- According to Collier’s sources, Karnisovas and Eversley long maintained they were “working under the constraints of ownership,” which was reluctant to embark on a rebuild. Donovan also isn’t a fan of rebuilds, Collier writes, even though the team was stuck in mediocrity for years.
- Collier suggests the front office’s relatively underwhelming trade returns also factored into the decision to let Karnisovas and Eversley go, pointing out that the team waited too long to break up the previous core roster of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Alex Caruso, Coby White and Lonzo Ball. “We took too long to pick a lane,” the team source told ESPN. “The Lonzo thing just really messed them up. We saw that success early on, and didn’t have the foresight to pivot early.” Ball missed two-plus years due to a knee injury which required multiple surgeries.
- While the Bulls want to retain Donovan, Collier hears it may not be as head coach, depending on what Donovan wants to do in the future. As Collier writes, Donovan’s father and mother-in-law both passed away within eight days of each other in February, and there has been previous speculation that the veteran coach might take a year off to reevaluate his options moving forward.
Southeast Notes: Black, Heat, KD, George, Swirsky
The Magic will get a key rotation player back on Monday against Detroit, as Anthony Black has been upgraded to available, the team announced (via Twitter).
As Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel tweets, Black was initially listed as questionable, then was upgraded to probable and available. The third-year guard, who was having a breakout season prior to suffering a left lateral abdominal strain on March 7, has missed Orlando’s last 16 games due to the injury.
Black, 22, will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. He was the sixth overall pick in the 2023 draft.
Here’s more from the Southeast:
- The Heat should consider adding a “disruptor” to their front office to challenge the current regime’s ways of thinking, contends Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Miami is likely headed to the play-in tournament for the fourth straight season, and while the team has had many developmental success stories over the years, the Heat are still the lacking top-end talent necessary to break out of their current cycle of mediocrity, Winderman explains. A drastic overhaul would be an overreaction and unlikely anyway given the lengthy tenures of the majority of the front office, but it’s clear the current roster isn’t good enough, Winderman adds.
- Rockets star Kevin Durant made a “lasting mark” on Kyshawn George in what turned out to be the Wizards wing’s final game of 2025/26, writes Nick Friedell of The Athletic. George, who suffered a partial UCL tear in his left elbow in the third quarter of the game, grew up watching Durant. “I’m working on particular parts of my game that he’s pretty much mastered over his career,” George told The Athletic. “There’s no better way than to learn from the best. So I just went and asked him a couple questions and he was cool enough to answer.” Durant, 37, said he’s happy to pass on his knowledge to the next generation of players. “If somebody has a question, needs some advice, and seeks it out, then I’m gonna give it to him as honest as I can,” Durant said. “I want players to reach their full potential. And I want them to get everything on and off the court cause there’s a lot that comes with this lifestyle if you do it right.”
- Capital City Go-Go assistant coach T.C. Swirsky has agreed to join the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury as an assistant under Nate Tibbetts, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter). Before joining the Wizards‘ G League affiliate, Swirsky was previously the head coach of the Memphis Hustle, Scotto notes.
Cade Cunningham Ruled Out For Monday’s Game
4:45 pm: Cunningham and Stewart have been downgraded to out, tweets Patterson, but head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is hopeful both players will return before the regular season ends (Twitter link via Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press).
“There’s no way to replicate what a game is other than playing the game … specially ramping up to the intensity of playoff basketball it would be beneficial for the guys, and the group,” Bickerstaff said.
12:46 pm: The latest Pistons injury report suggests that franchise player Cade Cunningham will return before the end of the regular season.
Cunningham has been upgraded to doubtful for tonight’s game at Orlando, according to The Athletic’s Hunter Patterson (Twitter link). The team had issued an update on Thursday stating that Cunningham would be reevaluated in one week but it appears that timeline has accelerated.
Cunningham has been sidelined since March 17, when he suffered a collapsed lung while diving for the ball against Washington. Officially diagnosed as a left lung pneumothorax, the injury prevented Cunningham from receiving consideration for postseason awards. He has appeared in 61 games but only played five minutes against the Wizards. He would need to play in five more games for eligibility and the Pistons, who have already sewn up the top seed in the East, only have four games left.
However, getting Cunningham some playing time before the regular season ends should prove beneficial when the Pistons begin their postseason run. While it’s unlikely he’ll play today, it appears that he should be back in action by Detroit’s final regular season game on Sunday.
Cunningham is averaging 24.5 points, 9.9 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game this season. Detroit has shown its depth and resilience with its star point guard on the mend — the team won that March 17 contest and has gone 8-2 in his absence.
In another Pistons development, key frontcourt reserve Isaiah Stewart has also been upgraded to doubtful. Stewart has been sidelined since March 13 due to a left calf strain.
Southwest Notes: Wemby, Champagnie, Pels, Rockets, Davison
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama missed last Thursday’s win at the Clippers with a right ankle injury that has been bothering him for multiple weeks, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News.
“That ankle is still angry at him,” head coach Mitch Johnson said.
Despite the discomfort, the two-time All-Star big man has been putting up spectacular statistics lately, McDonald notes, and Johnson suggested Wembanyama was held out Thursday for precautionary reasons — it was the second night of a back-to-back.
Wembanyama, 22, needs to play in two of San Antonio’s final four regular season games to qualify for major postseason awards. He’s only at 62 appearances right now, but the NBA Cup final counts toward the 65-game minimum requirement even though the statistics from that game aren’t officially recorded.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Julian Champagnie set the Spurs‘ single-season record for three-pointers made in Saturday’s overtime loss in Denver, per McDonald. The fourth-year small forward converted six threes during the game, moving him up to 192 on the season, one past Danny Green, who set the previous record in 2014/15. “Obviously I put the work in and I’m confident in my own abilities,” the 24-year-old Champagnie said, “but any record you get to break in this league is a blessing.”
- The Pelicans aren’t trying to lose games because they don’t control their first-round pick, but they haven’t had any success trying to win games lately either, according to Rod Walker of NOLA.com. New Orleans blew a 17-point lead during Friday’s loss at Sacramento, then followed that up with a four-point home loss to Orlando. The Pelicans are riding an eight-game losing streak with three games left on their schedule.
- Rockets head coach Ime Udoka has been rotating between Tari Eason and Reed Sheppard as the fifth starter the past couple weeks. William Guillory of The Athletic examines which player makes sense to stick in the starting unit, suggesting that Eason gives the team a higher floor while Sheppard provides a higher ceiling. “Me and Tari have talked to each other, and neither one of us care who starts,” Sheppard said. “It doesn’t matter to us. We just want to win.” Who finishes the game is ultimately more important than who starts, Guillory observes, but this could also be an important “crossroads” for both Houston and Sheppard, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 draft.
- Fourth-year guard JD Davison has reached the 50-game active limit and won’t be able to suit up for the Rockets‘ final four regular season games unless he’s promoted to a standard contract, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Davison, last season’s G League MVP as a member of the Celtics, is currently on a two-way contract. The Rockets have also reached their under-15 limit, Smith adds, so unless they add a 15th player, their other two-way players can’t be active for the rest of the season either.