Eli Kell-Abrams Named Head Coach Of Cavs’ NBAGL Affiliate
The Cavaliers have officially named Eli Kell-Abrams the new head coach of their G League affiliate, according to a press release issued by the Cleveland Charge. Previous reporting from HoopsHype indicated that Kell-Abrams would be hired for the job.
“We are very excited to have Eli join our Charge family and the long list of talented, hard-working coaches we have had here,” Charge general manager Liron Fanan said in a statement. “Eli has an infectious personalityi, great NBA experience and a really sharp basketball mind that will be an excellent combination to lead our team this upcoming season.”
Kell-Abrams was the head video coordinator in Portland for the past two seasons. He provided back-of-bench support during games and his responsibilities for the Trail Blazers also included on-court player development, game-planning, and opponent scouting. Before being hired by the Blazers, Kell-Abrams was a staffer with the Sixers and Heat.
Kell-Abrams will replace Chris Darnell, who coached the Charge last season before joining Doug Christie‘s new coaching staff in Sacramento this spring.
According to the Charge’s announcement, Darnell was the seventh consecutive Charge head coach who left that position for a job as an NBA assistant, which bodes well for Kell-Abrams’ future prospects. That group includes Jordi Fernandez, who was the head coach of Cleveland’s NBAGL affiliate from 2014-16 and is now coaching the Nets.
Key 2025 NBA Preseason Dates, Deadlines
The most notable dates of the 2025 NBA offseason are behind us now that we’re well clear of the draft and the free agent period. However, there are still a number of dates and deadlines to keep an eye on in the coming weeks and months before teams take the court for the 2025/26 regular season.
Here’s the breakdown:
August 27 – September 14
- FIBA EuroBasket 2025.
August 29
- Last day for teams to waive players and apply the stretch provision to their 2025/26 salaries.
September 5-6
- Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement weekend for the 2025 class.
September 23
- Media day for the Nets, Knicks, and Pelicans.
September 24
- Training camps open for the Nets, Knicks, Sixers, Pelicans, and Suns.
- Media day for the Suns.
September 26
- Media day for the Sixers.
September 29
- Media day – and training camps open – for the other 25 teams.
October 1
- Last day for a restricted free agent to sign his qualifying offer (unless his team agrees to push back the deadline).
October 2
- Preseason begins.
October 17
- Preseason ends.
October 18
- Last day for players on fully non-guaranteed contracts to be waived and not count at all against a team’s 2025/26 cap. They must clear waivers before the first day of the regular season.
October 20
- Last day of the 2025 offseason.
- Roster limits decrease from 21 players to 18 (4:00 pm CT). Teams will be limited to carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals as of this deadline.
- Last day for teams to sign a player to a rookie scale extension (5:00 pm CT).
[RELATED: Players eligible for rookie scale extensions] - Last day for teams to sign an extension-eligible veteran player with multiple seasons left on his contract (such as Tyler Herro) to an extension. An extension-eligible veteran player on an expiring deal (like Kevin Durant) can still be extended after October 20.
- Last day for teams to complete sign-and-trade deals.
- Last day for teams to convert an Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way contract.
October 21
- 2025/26 regular season begins.
[RELATED: 2025/26 schedules by team]
Information from NBA.com was used in the creation of this post.
Community Shootaround: Russell Westbrook
Recent reports indicate that the Kings are the only team with genuine interest in signing free agent guard Russell Westbrook.
However, that comes with a major stipulation — they first have to clear some salary and some playing time to make that happen. Sacramento already signed a veteran point guard in Dennis Schröder, so the only way Westbrook could get a meaningful role is if Sacramento deals either Malik Monk or 2024 No. 13 overall pick Devin Carter.
Both of those guards have been the subject of trade rumors this summer. That’s in part due to the Kings’ interest in trading for Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga. One recent report declared that the Kings are still interested in finding a new home for Monk. A subsequent report stated that Sacramento isn’t actively engaged in any discussions about a Monk deal.
Westbrook will be 37 in November but it’s still somewhat surprising that his market is so limited. He appeared in 75 regular season games with the Nuggets last season, including 36 starts, averaging 13.3 points. 4.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists. He also appeared in 13 postseason games but struggled to make an impact.
He could have guaranteed himself $3.47MM by exercising his player option but chose to test the market instead. There have been no indications in recent weeks that Denver is showing interest in a reunion, and the same goes for his previous two teams, the Lakers and the Clippers.
That brings us to today’s topic: Do you think the Kings will eventually sign free agent guard Russell Westbrook? If not, do you think he’ll find another landing spot and if so, what will be his likely destination?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Lakers Sign Center Kylor Kelley
The Lakers have signed center Kylor Kelley, according to a team press release.
Terms were not disclosed, but it’s a training camp deal, according to NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link). The Lakers now have a full 21-man roster for training camp.
Kelley appeared in 11 NBA games (two starts) last season with the Pelicans and Mavericks, averaging 3.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per night. In his first career NBA start with the Mavericks on Feb. 2 at Cleveland, Kelley recorded a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double.
Kelley was also in the Lakers organization last season, though he didn’t appear in an NBA game with them. He signed an Exhibit 10 contract prior to training camp with L.A. and was waived before opening night. He then joined their G League affiliate.
With the South Bay Lakers last season, the 27-year-old appeared in 32 games (27 starts) and averaged 11.5 points on a career-high 68.2 percent shooting from the field, 7.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.4 blocks in 26.7 minutes.
He signed a two-way contract with the Mavericks in January but was waived in early March. He received a pair of 10-day deals with New Orleans in April via the hardship exception.
In addition to his NBA and G League experience, Kelley has competed internationally in Canada (2022), Denmark (2023) and England (2021-22).
And-Ones: ESPN Panel, Top SGs, Lundberg, Hayes-Davis
The Spurs and Hawks are considered the co-favorites to make the biggest leap in the NBA during the upcoming season, according to a panel of ESPN Insiders.
The panel made its predictions on a wide variety of topics, including the team most likely to make a big move before the trade deadline (the Warriors received the most votes) and the next superstar to request a trade (Zion Williamson was the top vote-getter).
Here’s more from around the international basketball world:
- Anthony Edwards tops the list of shooting guards ranked by The Athletic’s Zach Harper. Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell fill out tier one — players who are potential MVP candidates — in “The Bounce’s Top 40 Shooting Guards.” Desmond Bane, Klay Thompson, Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine comprised the second tier as players “who can take over” a game.
- Gabriel ‘Iffe’ Lundberg won’t return to Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade, according to Sportando. The Danish guard, according to a TeleSport report, has drawn interest from both Zenit St. Petersburg and Olympiacos. Lundberg had a brief stay in the NBA, playing four games with Phoenix during the 2021/22 season.
- Tel Aviv’s owner Ofer Yannay had a verbal agreement this offseason with Nigel Hayes-Davis in the event that the free agent forward couldn’t find an NBA contract. Hayes-Davis, who played in Turkey last season, wound up signing a one-year deal with the Suns. “We were sure we were bringing Nigel Hayes-Davis. We were sure it was happening. He had an option to go to the NBA, and he basically said, ‘I’ll try to get a contract in the NBA, and if I don’t, I’ll come to you,’” Yannay said, per Eurohoops.net.
Southeast Notes: Spoelstra, Jovic, Labissiere, Coulibaly, Holmes
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra visited Europe last week to watch some of his players in exhibition games prior to the EuroBasket tournament.
That didn’t go unnoticed by forward Nikola Jovic, as Spoelstra went to Belgrade to watch Jovic play for the Serbian national team in an exhibition against Slovenia.
“I was definitely motivated [by Spoelstra watching], he’s one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best,” Jovic said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “He went the extra mile to come see me, I definitely wanted to show that I’ve improved and that I’ll be even better next season.”
Spoelstra believes Jovic will benefit from the experience.
“I love it when he spends time with the national team. Every time he comes back to us, he comes back more mature,” he said in a TV interview. “I think being around a group that knows how to win, that really cares about winning, the team is so connected also. So I think it makes a big impression on him. We’re looking forward to some great things ahead for him with us.”
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Skal Labissiere‘s NBA G League rights were acquired by the Capital City G0-Go from the Stockton Kings in a four-team swap, James Ham of The Kings Beat tweets. That clears the way for Labissiere to join the Wizards‘ affiliate if he’s waived during training camp. Washington agreed to sign the veteran big man to a training camp deal earlier this month. Labissiere, 29, has appeared in 152 NBA games after getting drafted late in the first round in 2016. He was out of the league for four seasons until he appeared in four games with the Kings last season.
- Wizards forward Bilal Coulibaly says he’ll miss big man Richaun Holmes, who signed a two-year contract with Panathinaikos, the 2024 EuroLeague champions. The unrestricted free agent played 48 games with the Wizards over the past two seasons. “I love him, I love Rich. He’s probably the hardest player I’ve played with,” Coulibaly told Giorgos Kyriakidis of Basketnews.com. “I’d love to be with him on the court. I think he’s going to fit well with this team. So, good luck to him.”
- In case you missed it, the Magic signed Colin Castleton to a training camp contract. Get the details here.
EuroBasket Notes: Wagner, Giannis, Risacher, Doncic
Germany made a huge statement by going unbeaten on its way to the 2023 FIBA World Cup title, and a win at EuroBasket would cement its status as an international basketball power. Magic forward Franz Wagner talked to reporters, including Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops, about what another major championship would mean for his nation’s basketball program.
“It would be a massive achievement,” Wagner said. “I think winning anything is super difficult. I think winning something for your country, obviously, is super special. We felt that two years ago, and we’re doing everything we can to have that feeling again and bring home a gold medal for your country.”
Germany is a huge favorite to advance out of Group B, which also includes Great Britain, Lithuania, Sweden, Montenegro and host Finland. The pressure ratchets up in the knockout stage, with single-elimination games being played from September 6-14 in Riga, Latvia.
“I think every do-or-die game, and especially national team games, when you play for your country, and especially when the time you have with the team is kind of short or way shorter than during a season with a team, I think those games are always super physical and every player is putting it all out there,” Wagner said.
On the tournament format, he added, “I think that’s what makes those games super fun to play and hopefully fun to watch as well.”
There’s more from EuroBasket:
- Rival players are raving about the impact that Giannis Antetokounmpo has for Greece, according to a story on the FIBA website. Willy Hernangomez says the Bucks star “tries to destroy everyone in front of him,” and Spanish teammate Santi Aldama claims Antetokounmpo takes his intensity to a different level when he’s part of the Greek national team. “He always talks about how he plays hard every single day,” Aldama said. “And seeing an MVP-level player play as hard as he does every day … and him having the pride to play for his country every summer you can see it’s different when he plays for his country. And he takes a lot of pride in playing for his country.”
- In an interview with Christos Tsaltas of Athletiko, Zaccharie Risacher talks about the things he learned during his rookie season with the Hawks that have made him a better player. Risacher may need to take on a larger role for France with several important teammates unavailable, and he said he’s willing to do whatever is asked of him. “I want to contribute to my team so that it wins as many games as it can and contribute in any way I can,” Risacher said. “With defense, with scoring, with rebounds. I’m a versatile player and I have to make sure I’ve adapted and I can do the right thing and make the right phase at the right time to help as much as I can.”
- Lakers star Luka Doncic delivered a fiery locker room speech after Slovenia lost to Serbia by 34 points in an exhibition game, relays BasketNews. “I don’t like to talk about what’s going on in the team. Yes, we had a conversation,” teammate Edo Muric said. “We cleared up a lot of things and said what needed to be said. This defeat actually brought us even closer.”
Guerschon Yabusele Discusses Signing With Knicks, Hopes For EuroBasket
Guerschon Yabusele got a nice raise when he signed a two-year, $11.7MM contract with the Knicks this summer, but he was also motivated by the chance to play in New York City. Yabusele discussed his free agency decision, France’s EuroBasket prospects, and a few other topics in an interview with Giorgos Kyriakidis of BasketNews.
“First of all, you can tell that they have a special bonding between each other,” he said of his new Knicks teammates. “When they go on the court together, it’s like they try to kill the other team. They know each other pretty well. They made it so far this year in the playoffs, but year after year, you can just see their progress. So, for me, it was just natural, because I wanted to be part of this. It’s one of the toughest crowds, people know it. So, to be able to go there and be part of this is just something special.”
A year ago, NBA personnel were buzzing about Yabusele’s performance in the Summer Olympics, where he helped the host French team reach the gold medal game. He eventually signed a one-year minimum contract with Philadelphia in the hopes of proving that he could still be an NBA player after five years in Europe.
Yabusele wound up being a steady contributor for a Sixers team that was torn apart by injuries. He averaged 11.0 points and 5.6 rebounds in 70 games and became a target for several teams on the free agent market.
Yabusele believes his attitude toward the game was instrumental in making his NBA comeback successful.
“I would say, first of all, the energy,” he said. “People love the energy that I bring on the court – ‘dying’ for the ball, diving for the ball. Just fight through it for 48 minutes. It doesn’t matter who win or lose, just keep the same motivation and make people enjoy the game.”
Returning to the NBA last season was somewhat of a financial gamble, as Yabusele had one year left on his Real Madrid contract with a $2.5MM buyout. The Sixers were only permitted to contribute $850K of that amount, so Yabusele decided to pay the rest himself instead of waiting another year to become a free agent.
“As a young kid, going to the NBA was a dream,” he explained. “So, I wanted to go back and make sure I had a chance to explore and play.”
EuroBasket, which starts Wednesday, will be Yabusele’s first international competition since last year’s Olympics. France is perennially one of the top powers on the world stage, but the team will be shorthanded with Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, Mathias Lessort and Vincent Poirier all unavailable.
Yabusele, who serves as captain, would love to bring home a gold medal after coming close so many times. During his tenure, the French have captured silver in the past two Olympics and were runners-up at EuroBasket 2022.
“A gold medal with France would be special,” he said. “I’ve been playing with the team for years, and every time we get silver. So I think gold would be the next goal for us. But, of course, winning an NBA championship is also something special. I’ve never been part of something like that. Both would feel great.”
Estonia, Great Britain, Belgium Finalize EuroBasket Rosters
With EuroBasket set to tip off on Wednesday, three more nations have announced their 12-man rosters for the tournament.
Former NBA small forward Henri Drell leads the way for Estonia. Drell appeared in four games with Chicago on a two-way contract during the 2023/24 season, posting 11 points, three rebounds and four assists in 30 total minutes. He spent last season with Portland’s G League affiliate, the Rip City Remix, and moved on to Spain’s La Laguna Tenerife in March.
Other members of the Estonian roster are Märt Rosenthal, Sander Raieste, Kaspar Treier, Mikk Jurkatamm, Matthias Tass, Siim-Sander Vene, Kregor Hermet, Janari Jõesaar, Joonas Riismaa, Artur Konontšuk and Kristian Kullamäe.
Estonia is in Group A with Portugal, Turkey, Serbia, the Czech Republic and host Latvia.
Center Gabe Olaseni, a star in Turkey’s Basketball Super League, is the top player for Great Britain, whose roster was announced on the FIBA website. Also on the roster are Amin Adamu, Dan Akin, Jubrile Belo, Myles Hesson, Luke Nelson, Tarik Phillip, Josh Ward-Hibbert, Jelani Watson-Gayle, Pat Whelan, Carl Wheatle and Akwasi Yeboah.
Great Britain has never advanced past group play in six previous EuroBasket appearances. They’re in Group B with Germany, Lithuania, Sweden, Montenegro and host Finland.
Belgium also doesn’t feature any players with NBA experience, as its official roster includes Ismael Bako, Mamadou Guisse, Manu Lecomte, Siebe Ledegen, Joppe Mennes, Jean-Marc Mwema, Loic Schwartz, Godwin Tshimanga, Kevin Tumba, Niels Van Den Eynde, Andy Van Vliet and Hans Vanwijn.
The Belgians will be looking for their first medal in their 19th EuroBasket appearance. Their best finish was fourth in 1947.
Belgium is in Group D with France, Iceland, Slovenia, Israel and host Poland.
As of Monday morning, Cyprus, Georgia and Italy are the only participants in the 24-team tournament who haven’t announced their final rosters.
NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: New York Knicks
Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the New York Knicks.
Free agent signings
Guerschon Yabusele: Two years, $11,275,000. Second-year player option. Signed using taxpayer mid-level exception.- Jordan Clarkson: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Trades
- Acquired the draft rights to Mohamed Diawara (No. 51 pick) and the draft rights to Luka Mitrovic from the Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to Kobe Sanders (No. 50 pick).
Draft picks
- 2-51: Mohamed Diawara
- Unsigned.
Two-way signings
- None
Departed/unsigned free agents
- Precious Achiuwa (unsigned)
- MarJon Beauchamp (unsigned)
- Kevin McCullar Jr. (unsigned/RFA)
- Cameron Payne (unsigned)
- Landry Shamet (unsigned)
- P.J. Tucker (unsigned)
- Anton Watson (unsigned)
- Delon Wright (unsigned)
Other roster moves
- Signed Mikal Bridges to a four-year, $150,000,000 veteran contract extension that begins in 2026/27. Includes fourth-year player option and trade kicker (5.69%).
- Exercised team option on Ariel Hukporti ($1,955,377).
Salary cap situation
- Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
- Carrying approximately $204.1MM in salary.
- Hard-capped at $207,824,000.
- Portion of taxpayer mid-level exception ($185,000) available.
- One traded player exception ($2,092,344) frozen.
The offseason so far
When the Knicks made blockbuster trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns in 2024, they gave up nearly all of their tradable first-round picks and sacrificed their cap flexibility for the foreseeable future, going all-in on a core headlined by Bridges, Towns, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart.
If the new-look roster had crashed and burned in 2024/25, perhaps the club would’ve seriously explored trades involving one or more of those “core” players this summer, but after the Knicks made their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years this spring, no major roster changes were forthcoming.
That doesn’t mean it was an uneventful offseason in New York though. The biggest change came on the sidelines, where head coach Tom Thibodeau was let go after five pretty impressive seasons with the team. Thibodeau was named Coach of the Year in 2021 and won playoff series in 2023, 2024, and 2025, leading the Knicks to 50-win seasons in each of the past two years.
Still, Thibodeau faced plenty of criticism for his rotation decisions, including his tendency to lean heavily on his top players and not exercise a ton of patience with youngsters in the developmental stage. Thibodeau’s players have generally supported him publicly, but that relationship between the veteran coach and his players showed some signs of cracking in March during an odd back-and-forth through the media with Bridges. Player usage was reportedly one reason for Thibodeau’s dismissal, along with a sense that a talented roster wasn’t reaching its full potential.
New head coach Mike Brown will be tasked with getting more out of a similar roster that has undergone some changes around the edges. The club used most of its taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Guerschon Yabusele as a frontcourt replacement for Precious Achiuwa and was able to sign Jordan Clarkson to a minimum-salary contract after he was bought out by the Jazz.
Given their extremely limited ability to add talent while operating near the second tax apron, the Knicks’ decision to target Yabusele using their most valuable free agent asset – the taxpayer MLE – raised some eyebrows. But the Frenchman had a very successful return to the NBA last season for Philadelphia, serving as one of the few bright spots in a miserable Sixers season as he showed off a little scoring ability (11.0 PPG on .501/.380/.725 shooting), rebounding (5.6 RPG), and play-making (2.1 APG) while handling a variety of defensive assignments.
The hope in New York is that Brown will feel more confident deploying Yabusele than Thibodeau did with Achiuwa, whose playing time fluctuated over the course of the season and disappeared altogether in the playoffs.
As for Clarkson, the idea is for the veteran guard to add some scoring punch to a second unit that didn’t have much of it last season. The Knicks ranked dead-last in the NBA in bench scoring (21.7 PPG), finishing far behind the 29th-place Lakers (26.2 PPG). Clarkson is no longer in his prime as he enters his age-33 season, but even as his production has dipped a little over the past couple years, he has maintained a scoring average of 16.8 PPG in 28.7 MPG since the start of the 2023/24 campaign.
The Knicks’ most significant player transaction this summer came at the start of August, when the team finalized a four-year, $150MM extension with Bridges. The three-and-D forward had an up-and-down first season in New York, but still finished the year with a 50.0% field goal percentage and made several big defensive plays in the postseason. After giving up so many first-round picks for him a year ago, the Knicks were probably never going to let Bridges enter the season on an expiring contract.
Bridges’ maximum allowable four-year deal on an extension would have been worth about $156.2MM, so the Knicks were able to get a slight discount of about $1.5MM per year. It’s not much, but it could turn out to be more important than you’d think as the team continues to navigate the tax aprons in the coming years.
Up next
The Knicks are carrying just 12 players on standard contracts but also only have about $3.72MM in breathing room below their second-apron hard cap. Not only does that mean New York won’t be able to carry a 15th man until much later in the season, but it also means the team won’t have the ability to sign more than one free agent to a minimum-salary contract ($2,296,274).
The Knicks’ 14th man would have to be a draft-rights-held player on a rookie minimum deal ($1,272,870). Signing a rookie free agent wouldn’t suffice, since tax variance would be applied to that player, who would count as if he were a veteran free agent for tax and apron purposes.
There’s technically a way the Knicks could take a different route with that 14th roster spot, but it would require the team to shed some salary, either via trade or using the stretch provision (the latter will only be an option for a few more days). The most obvious candidate for a cost-cutting trade might be 2024 first-rounder Pacome Dadiet, who didn’t get much run as a rookie and whose 2025/26 salary ($2,847,600) is above the minimum.
But even trading Dadiet without taking any salary back wouldn’t quite create enough cap flexibility for the Knicks to sign a veteran free agent to be their 14th man after they’ve filled the 12th and 13th roster spots. So unless a bigger deal is coming – perhaps one involving center Mitchell Robinson – I think the Knicks will probably roll with their current group and operate like they did for most of last season — one player short of the 15-player max and right up against a hard cap.
Landry Shamet, Ben Simmons, and Malcolm Brogdon are among the veteran free agents who have been mentioned as candidates to be the Knicks’ 13th man, with Malik Beasley recently emerging as a potential option too. I get the sense that Beasley would be their top target if it looks like he’s in the clear in the federal gambling investigation being conducted by the Eastern District of New York, but he may receive offers worth more than the minimum.
For the 14th spot, 2025 second-rounder Mohamed Diawara and 2023 second-rounder James Nnaji look like the prime candidates. Both young bigs left their teams in Europe earlier this summer and seem to be preparing to join the Knicks. I’d probably bet on one to sign a standard contract and the other to get a two-way slot.
Speaking of two-way slots, the Knicks are the only NBA team that has yet to fill any so far this offseason. They still have a two-way qualifying offer on the table for Kevin McCullar Jr., so it’s a safe bet he’ll end up filling one of those openings. Either Diawara or Nnaji should get one too. That would still leave a third opening up for grabs before the start of the regular season.
If New York doesn’t have a specific target in mind for that spot, a training camp competition is possible — former G League Ignite prospect Dink Pate is among the players reportedly expected to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the team.
Finally, we should point out that Robinson is eligible for a contract extension and will maintain that eligibility throughout the regular season. The Knicks’ roster is getting increasingly expensive and Robinson has had a hard time staying on the court over the past few seasons, but he’s an extremely impactful defender and rebounder when he’s available. I wouldn’t expect New York to rush into a deal unless it’s a team-friendly one, but if Robinson looks healthy and effective this fall, it could certainly be worth exploring.