Nets Sign Liddell To Two-Way Contract, Finalize Sharpe Deal
The Nets have officially announced a pair of signings, adding free agent forward E.J. Liddell on a two-way contract and finalizing their previously reported deal with free agent big man Day’Ron Sharpe (Twitter links).
Liddell, 24, was the 41st overall pick in the 2022 draft but tore his ACL in the Summer League just a few weeks later, wiping out his rookie season. The 24-year-old has since appeared in just 20 total NBA games for the Pelicans and Bulls and has seen extremely limited playing time. In 76 total NBA minutes across the past two seasons, he has scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
However, Liddell has been more productive in the NBA G League, including in 27 outings last season for the Windy City Bulls. He averaged 15.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 32.3 minutes per game for Chicago’s NBAGL affiliate, posting a shooting line of .472/.361/.661.
Despite technically having been in the NBA for three seasons, Liddell still has two years of two-way eligibility left, since he missed one of those three seasons in its entirety due to an injury. He and Tyson Etienne are Brooklyn’s current two-way players, leaving one slot still open.
Meanwhile, Sharpe’s two-year, $12MM agreement with the Nets was reported was back on June 30, before the free agent period officially opened. The club has been putting off completing that deal – and Ziaire Williams‘ similar two-year, $12MM pact – in order to keep its options open with its cap room.
Still, all indications were that at least one of those two contracts would have to be signed using cap space, since the Nets renounced both players and wouldn’t be able to fit both Sharpe and Williams into their $8.8MM room exception. With that in mind, officially re-signing Sharpe doesn’t significantly impact Brooklyn’s flexibility — the team should still have roughly $16MM in room available.
Portugal, Sweden Qualify For EuroBasket Knockout Round
The group-play stage of EuroBasket wrapped up for the teams in Group A and Group B on Wednesday. Those clubs concluded their initial five-game schedules as the two round-of-16 spots still up for grabs in Groups A and B were claimed by Portgual and Sweden, respectively.
Portugal eked out a 68-65 victory over Estonia in a win-or-go-home matchup in Group A, eliminating the Estonians. Point guard Rafael Lisboa (17 points, five assists) and Celtics big man Neemias Queta (15 points) led the way for Portugal, though Queta was ejected with 4:34 left in the third quarter after picking up his second technical foul, as Brian Robb of MassLive.com details. The Portuguese team lost its slim lead following Queta’s exit, but managed to pull back in front during a back-and-forth fourth quarter.
In Group B, Montenegro missed its chance to qualify for the round of 16 by falling to Great Britain, resulting in both teams finishing the group stage with an 1-4 record. Sweden, which lost a tight 74-71 contest to Lithuania on Wednesday, also went 1-4, but earned the tiebreaker over Montenegro and Great Britain by virtue of their point differential. Heat forward Pelle Larsson has been the standout for Sweden so far, averaging a team-high 19.8 points per game across four outings.
[RELATED: Nikola Vucevic Retires From Montenegrin National Team]
The final standings for Groups A and B are now set, which means the first four matchups in the single-elimination stage are set too. The top team in Group A will play the fourth-place team in Group B, the second-place Group A team faces the third-place Group B squad, and so on.
As a result of Turkey knocking off Serbia to claim the top spot in Group A, the round-of-16 matchups played on Saturday will be as follows:
- Turkey (A1) vs. Sweden (B4)
- Serbia (A2) vs. Finland (B3)
- Latvia (A3) vs. Lithuania (B2)
- Portugal (A4) vs. Germany (B1)
FIBA has announced Saturday tip-off times for all four matchups.
Groups C and D will wrap up their group-stage schedule on Thursday. Two spots in the round of 16 are still available in Group C, where only Greece (3-1) and Italy (3-1) have qualified so far. Spain (2-2) would advance with a win over Greece, while the winner of the Georgia (2-2) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-2) will also clinch a spot in the knockout round.
If Greece wins on Thursday, the Spaniards would need a Georgia victory in order to advance — in that scenario, both Spain and Bosnia and Herzeogvina would be 2-3, and Spain would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Georgia holds the tiebreaker edge over Spain.
All four teams who will advance out of Group D are already known: Israel (3-1), Poland (3-1), France (3-1), and Slovenia (2-2) have clinched their spots. However, seeding remains in flux, with Thursday’s Israel vs. Slovenia showdown looming as a crucial matchup.
Kawhi Leonard ‘No-Show’ Endorsement Deal May Have Violated Salary Cap Rules
2:54 pm: “We are aware of this morning’s media report regarding the L.A. Clippers and are commencing an investigation,” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said in a statement, per Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The Clippers, meanwhile, issued a longer statement to Steve Henson of The Los Angeles Times strongly denying that they engaged in any sort of cap circumvention.
“Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration,” the statement reads. “Any contrary assertion is provably false: The team ended its relationship with Aspiration years ago, during the 2022-23 season, when Aspiration defaulted on its obligations.
“Neither the Clippers nor Mr. Ballmer was aware of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until after the government instituted its investigation. The team and Mr. Ballmer stand ready to assist law enforcement in any way they can.”
Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg pled guilty last month to two counts of wire fraud for a $248MM scheme to defraud lenders and investors.
8:01 am: A $28MM endorsement deal signed by Kawhi Leonard could land the Clippers in hot water with the league.
According to an investigation by Pablo Torre on his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast, Leonard performed no work for an allegedly fraudulent tree-planting company funded by $50MM from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.
The endorsement deal could be construed as a means to circumvent the salary cap, which would carry heavy penalties from the league.
After leading the Raptors to the 2019 championship, Leonard declined his player option and became an unrestricted free agent. Leonard chose to sign with the Clippers on a three-year, $103.1MM deal in July of that year. He has subsequently signed a pair of extensions with the franchise.
The “tree brokerage” company named Aspiration filed for bankruptcy in March 2025. Among the list of creditors is KL2 Aspire LLC with Leonard named as the manager or member. The company owed KL2 Aspire LLC $7MM.
Torre couldn’t find any evidence that Leonard actually performed any work for the company, unlike other celebrity endorsers. Torre interviewed seven former employees of the company, one of whom provided a document showing Leonard was to receive $7MM over four years in the marketing agreement, which began in 2022. According to a former Aspiration employee who worked in the finance department, Leonard “didn’t have to do anything.”
The Clippers denied any wrongdoing. The organization provided Torre with a statement that read, “Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration. Any contrary assertion is provably false.”
Back in 2000, the league and then-commissioner David Stern issued harsh penalties against the Timberwolves due to salary cap violations. Minnesota signed former No. 1 overall pick Joe Smith to a series of one-year contracts below market value with the promise of giving him a long-term deal that would pay him up to $86MM over seven seasons.
As Spotrac contributor Keith Smith notes (Twitter link), Smith’s contract was voided and the Timberwolves were fined $3.5MM and had five first-round picks forfeited (the team later recouped two of those picks). Owner Glen Taylor was suspended and general manager Kevin McHale was forced to take a leave of absence.
For what it’s worth, Stern had a reputation for handing out harsher discipline than current commissioner Adam Silver. In recent years, teams found to have engaged in free agent gun-jumping or tampering violations have typically been docked a single second-round pick. However, if an NBA investigation determines the Clippers were circumventing the cap via this agreement with Leonard, it seems safe to assume the penalty would be more significant than that.
Nikola Vucevic Retires From National Team
Bulls center Nikola Vucevic has announced his retirement from the Montenegrin national team, BasketNews.com relays.
Montenegro failed to advance in the EuroBasket tournament. Vucevic made his announcement after the team lost to Great Britain.
“It sucks for me to finish [my international career] this way. I would have loved to play more in Riga, but it is what it is,” Vucevic said. “I’d like to thank my teammates, coaches, and most importantly, the fans for everything they did throughout my career with the national team. It was an honor to play here, but that’s sports. I enjoyed playing here, but it’s time for a new generation to leave its mark.”
Vucevic made his first major national team appearance in 2011 at EuroBasket.
“There’s a lot of pride; we are a very small country. We don’t have a lot of players, and for us, every time we got into a big tournament, it was a huge success, and we always tried to do our best and represent our country the best way,” he said, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net. “In some tournaments we did well, in some others we didn’t, and that’s how it goes.
“I am very proud that I had the chance to represent my country in all these tournaments, and very happy to play with all the guys I had. With some of them, we are close friends now, and that’s something that you have for the rest of your life. We are all very proud; we wish it could have ended differently, but that’s sports. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not.”
Vucevic, who turns 35 in October, is entering the final season of his three-year, $60MM contract with the Bulls.
Kuminga, Warriors Remain Far Apart In Negotiations
The Warriors and restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga remain far apart in contract negotiations, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson. Signing his $7.9MM qualifying offer and becoming an unrestricted free agent next season “remains the most attractive offer to Kuminga,” Johnson reports.
The Warriors-Kuminga saga has dragged on throughout the offseason, as it has for a few other prominent restricted free agents, with no resolution in sight despite the opening of training camps later this month.
Golden State has offered Kuminga a two-year deal worth approximately $45MM, insisting on a team option for the second year. Kuminga’s representatives are holding firm on their desire for a player option.
The impasse might be resolved if the Warriors drop their team option demand or perhaps if they front-load the contract. Golden State’s insistence that Kuminga give up his right to veto a trade on a one-plus-one deal may also be a sticking point.
If Kuminga winds up signing the QO, there is inherent risk for both sides. The 22-year-old forward’s value could drop if he isn’t part of Steve Kerr‘s regular rotation or if he suffers a major injury. However, Golden State could suffer more short-term risk. The QO would come with a no-trade clause for 2025/26 and Kuminga’s modest cap hit would make it difficult for Golden State to move him even if he’s willing to approve a deal.
A recent report indicated that the Warriors have been “discouraging” sign-and-trade scenarios for Kuminga after previous proposals from the Kings and Suns failed to meet the team’s asking price.
The Warriors need to act this month to fill out their roster. As our roster counts display, they have nine players on standard contracts, only seven of which are fully guaranteed. They have just one two-way player signed and both of their draft picks remain unsigned. Golden State has essentially frozen roster moves until the Kuminga issue is resolved.
Pelicans Sign Jalen McDaniels
September 3: The signing of McDaniels is official, according to a team press release.
August 18: Jalen McDaniels has agreed to a contract with the Pelicans, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The 27-year-old small forward saw limited time in four games last season after signing a 10-day deal with the Wizards in February. He spent most of the season with Washington’s G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, where he averaged 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds in 38 total games.
McDaniels played his first three and a half NBA seasons in Charlotte after being selected with the 52nd pick in the 2019 draft, but he has bounced around the league since then. He was sent to Philadelphia in a four-team deal at the 2023 trade deadline, then signed with Toronto that summer. He was traded twice last year, being shipped to Sacramento in June and San Antonio in October. The Spurs waived him a day later, and he remained in the G League until he joined the Wizards.
In total, McDaniels has appeared in 252 NBA games with career averages of 6.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 18.1 minutes per night.
Charania doesn’t release any details of McDaniels’ new contract, but it could be an Exhibit 10 deal with an invitation to training camp. With 14 standard contracts, the Pelicans have one roster opening and are roughly $4.2MM below the luxury tax line, so they could carry a 15th man into the regular season without going into the tax.
McDaniels is ineligible for a two-way contract because he has already played six NBA seasons.
Pelicans Sign Garrison Brooks
September 3: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
September 2: The Pelicans have reached an agreement to sign free agent forward Garrison Brooks, agent Darrell Comer tells NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).
While Haynes doesn’t specify the terms of the deal, it’s almost certain to be an Exhibit 10 contract. The Birmingham Squadron, New Orleans’ G League affiliate, recently acquired Brooks’ returning rights, so if the Pelicans sign him to an Exhibit 10 deal and then waive him prior to the start of the season, he’ll be in line to earn an Exhibit 10 bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days with the Squadron (on top of his base NBAGL salary).
Brooks, 26, went undrafted out of Mississippi State in 2022. He spent his rookie season in the G League with the Westchester Knicks, played in Korea for a few months in 2023, and then spent most of the past two seasons with BC Wolves in Lithuania.
In 18 EuroCup outings for the Wolves last season, Brooks averaged 7.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game. During his previous NBAGL stint, in 2022/23, he put up 13.6 PPG and 11.6 RPG in 37 games (30.5 MPG) for Westchester.
Spencer Davies of RG.org reported in July that Brooks was among the players who took part in a Las Vegas pro day for the agency CSE and was drawing interest at the time as a potential NBA training camp option.
Stanley Umude Joins Spurs On Camp Deal
The Spurs have signed Stanley Umude to an Exhibit 10 contract, according to Paul Garcia of The Spot Up Shot (Twitter link). Umude’s addition bumps San Antonio’s roster count to 20, one below the maximum with training camps looming later this month.
Umude played last season with the Bucks on a two-way contract. He made 22 cameo appearances for Milwaukee, never scoring more than three points. In 13 games with the Wisconsin Herd of the G League, Umude averaged 17.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest.
Umude, who also played for Milwaukee’s Summer League team this July, was in the Pistons organization the previous two seasons, playing on a two-way deal in 2023/24. The 26-year-old went undrafted in 2022 after playing at Arkansas.
If Umude is waived ahead of the season and spends at least 60 days with the club’s NBAGL affiliate, the Austin Spurs, he’ll be eligible to earn a bonus worth up to $85,300 on top of his G League salary.
EuroBasket Notes: Giannis, EuroLeague, FIBA, Micic
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo missed his native Greece’s EuroBasket group play contest against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday with a sore knee, per Harris Stavrou of SPORT24 (Twitter link).
Stavrou tweets that the two-time NBA MVP’s head coach, Vassilis Spanoulis, expects Antetokounmpo to be available for Greece’s Thursday tilt against Spain — a Greek win in that contest would put the Spaniards in danger of being eliminated before the round of 16.
Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama and former NBA journeyman forward Juancho Hernangomez lead the Spanish national team this summer.
There’s more out of EuroBasket:
- The leaders of EuroLeague and FIBA chatted on the sidelines in Cyprus during EuroBasket’s ongoing group play round, according to Eurohoops.net. EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas conferred with FIBA Europe president Jorge Garbajos and secretary general Andreas Zagklis, as chatter continues about a potential European NBA league.
- Spanish team coach Sergio Scariolo called out FIBA for its the timing of its doping tests during EuroBasket, writes Michalis Gioulenoglou of Eurohoops.net. “Since it’s my last championship and I’m in a position where, after many years in FIBA national basketball, I can advise FIBA not to put doping controls on a team that is playing back-to-back games and finished playing at midnight,” Scariolo said. “This is extremely disrespectful. With so many days available, the doping control could have been scheduled earlier instead of this crazy late-night timing.”
- While playing for Serbia, former Hornets guard Vasilije Micic appeared to injured his ribs in the fourth quarter of a clash with the Czech Republic, per Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. Although the Nikola Jokic-led squad had been the heavy favorite to win EuroBasket heading into the tournament, Serbia’s backcourt has struggled with the injury bug so far. Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic has already been ruled out for the rest of the competition with a hamstring injury.
Atlantic Notes: Queta, Porzingis, Celtics, Knicks
Former Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis, who was traded to Atlanta earlier this summer, has high praise for one of his ex-teammates in Boston. In a EuroBasket group play encounter this week, Porzingis led his native Latvia to a 78-62 blowout victory over Neemias Queta‘s home country of Portugal.
Porzingis scored 21 points, grabbed nine boards, dished out three dimes, and blocked one shot. Queta, however, held his own against his former teammate, registering 16 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and a block. As Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews relays, Porzingis lauded Queta for his recent growth.
“Nimi has been getting better each year,” Porzingis said. “And Coach [Joe] Mazzulla has been pretty tough on him. And I believe he’s getting to a point where he deserves some real minutes, some real rotation minutes.”
Queta will likely compete with new signings Chris Boucher and Luka Garza and fellow holdover Xavier Tillman for minutes at the five spot.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- With training camp fast approaching for the new-look Celtics, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston polled a panel of colleagues about their top questions and concerns ahead of the team’s 2025/26 season. Boston will be without injured All-Star forward Jayson Tatum and former starters Porzingis and Jrue Holiday — both of whom were traded away to save money. Third-string center Luke Kornet left in free agency, while sixth man big Al Horford is still unsigned. Questions about Celtics president Brad Stevens‘ team building, Joe Mazzulla‘s ability to coach up a non-championship roster, and more popped up.
- The Knicks are hiring former L.A. Clippers director of international pro scouting Ermal Kuqo to serve as their senior director of minor league operations, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
- In case you missed it, Sixers guard Jared McCain has indicated that he expects to be available when Philadelphia’s training camp opens up later this month.