Silver, Tatum Meet With UK PM, Possible Investors About European League
United Kingdom prime minister Keir Starmer held a meeting on Wednesday with NBA commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum regarding a potential NBA Europe league, sources inform insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link). Silver and Tatum are also holding court with various possible stakeholders about this new venture.
Stein tweets that, in addition to Starmer, Silver and Tatum have conferred with investment firm Redbird Capital Partners, private equity firms KKR and CVC, Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, and representatives from Turkish soccer team Galatasaray. Silver and Tatum also met with the U.S.’s ambassador to the U.K., Warren Stephens.
Silver and Tatum’s meetings with possible European league investors included other basketball teams, in addition to the aforementioned private equity and investment firms, sovereign wealth funds, and government officials, a source tells Scott Soshnick and Dan Bernstein of Sportico. Private equity funds have been given a strict 20% ownership cap for any NBA team, although it remains unclear if that rule would remain in effect for this new league.
Soshnick and Bernstein also report that the new league could be supported by both the NBA and FIBA, and that a new team could be established in London specifically. The fresh league would employ FIBA rules, not NBA rules.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps is convinced that a slate of two announced European regular season games for 2025/26, in combination with word of these meetings, makes a new European league something of an inevitability.
“This all goes back to the NBA Europe plan that the league is potentially looking to enact over the next couple of years,” Bontemps said during an appearance on NBA Today (Twitter video link). “Could be an expansion for the league, try to make a bunch of money over in Europe… This all points toward that league trying to get off the ground at some point here in the near future.”
Silver and FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis previously held a spring presser to verify that “exploratory” conversation were being held about a possible new European league, which would tentatively feature 12 permanent teams and four wild-card spots. The possibility of extant EuroLeague squads getting involved was floated.
Current NBA owners are expected to own a stake in the new league at large, but would not own individual teams.
Mavericks, Suns Announce Preseason Schedules
The Mavericks formally announced their 2025 preseason schedule on Wednesday, as Marc Stein of The Stein Line relays (via Twitter).
Stein reported nine days ago (Twitter link) that the Mavericks would hold their training camp this fall in Vancouver, Canada. Today’s press release confirms that Dallas will travel to Vancouver for a training camp held at Simon Fraser University from September 30 through October 4.
The Mavs’ preseason slate begins Oct. 6 when they host the defending champion Thunder in Fort Worth, Texas. They will return to Dallas on Oct. 11 for their second preseason contest vs. Charlotte.
On Oct. 13, the Mavericks will head to Utah to face the Jazz. Dallas’ preseason slate concludes on Oct. 15 with a neutral game in Las Vegas against the Lakers.
The Suns also announced their preseason schedule today (Twitter link).
According to the press release, Phoenix’s first preseason game is Oct. 3 in Palm Desert, CA vs. the Lakers. The Suns will then make a lengthy trip to Macao, China for a pair of contests against the Nets on Oct. 10 and Oct. 12.
Phoenix’s preseason schedule concludes with a home contest against the Lakers on Oct. 14 — a quick turnaround given the long international flight.
Thunder Sign Malevy Leons To Exhibit 10 Deal
The Thunder have signed free agent forward Malevy Leons, the team announced in a press release.
While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Rylan Stiles of SI.com says Leons signed an Exhibit 10 contract.
After going undrafted out of Bradley in 2024, Leons signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Thunder last September and was waived before the 2024/25 season began.
At that point, it seemed like Leons would be headed to the G League to start his first professional season, but he was actually re-signed to a standard contract and spent two-plus weeks with the Thunder last fall, earning $126,356 on a minimum-salary deal before being cut in mid-November.
Leons’ NBA contributions were modest. He played 21 total minutes over six appearances and recorded two points, three rebounds and one assist. The 6’9″ Dutch forward was a regular contributor at the NBAGL level with the Oklahoma City Blue though, averaging 10.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 block on .489/.353/.773 shooting in 47 games (26.9 minutes per contest).
The Thunder now have 17 players under contract, plus a reported two-way agreement with Branden Carlson.
An Exhibit 10 is a non-guaranteed training camp contract and is typically designed to ensure a player can receive a bonus worth up to $85,300 if they’re waived before the season begins and spend at least 60 days with their club’s affiliate. Exhibit 10 contracts can also be converted into two-way deals, and Oklahoma City will have one open two-way spot after Carlson signs.
Second-Rounder Max Shulga Signs Two-Way Deal With Celtics
August 6: In a press release, Boston has officially announced its signing of Shulga.
July 30: Former VCU standout Max Shulga has signed a two-way contract with the Celtics, according to the official transactions log at NBA.com.
Shulga was selected No. 57 overall in the 2025 draft. Boston acquired his rights in a trade with Orlando.
A 6’4″ guard, Shulga was born in Kyiv, Ukraine and played high school basketball in Madrid, Spain. He spent three college seasons at Utah State prior to transferring to VCU in the summer of 2023.
In two seasons with the Rams, Shulga averaged 14.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 72 games (32.8 minutes per contest). He posted a shooting line of .440/.402/.826 over that stretch and earned first-team All-Atlantic 10 honors each of the past two seasons. Shulga was also the conference’s Player of the Year in 2024/25.
While Shulga is now officially under contract, the Celtics still have an unsigned second-round pick (No. 46 overall) in big man Amari Williams. He’s also expected to sign a two-way deal, as former ESPN employee Jonathan Givony reported on the second night of the draft.
Shulga will earn $636,435 for his rookie season and can appear in up to 50 games in 2025/26.
Daeqwon Plowden Signs Two-Way Deal With Kings
2:55pm: Plowden’s two-way deal with Sacramento is official, per the transactions log at NBA.com.
2:06pm: Free agent wing Daeqwon Plowden has agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Kings, agent Drew Kelso tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Plowden is a Philadelphia native who spent five college seasons at Bowling Green prior to going undrafted in 2022. The 26-year-old played for the affiliate clubs of the Pelicans and Magic during the 2022/23 and ’23/24 campaigns.
Last July, Plowden signed a two-way contract with the Warriors. While he drew strong reviews for his play in 2024 Summer League, Golden State wound up waiving him last September to make space on the roster for 2024 second-round pick Quinten Post.
The 6’6″ guard/forward caught on with the Hawks organization, signing an Exhibit 10 deal before being waived last October and playing for their G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. He signed a two-year, two-way contract with Atlanta in December and was traded to — and subsequently released by — Phoenix earlier this month.
Plowden made his NBA debut for the Hawks on January 15, recording 19 points and four rebounds while making seven of his eight field goal attempts in 25 minutes. He made four garbage-time appearances over the following four months prior to the season finale on April 13, when he notched 17 points and four rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting in 31 minutes.
Plowden, who participated in the NBAGL’s Up Next event at All-Star weekend in February, recently played for the Kings’ Summer League team in Las Vegas, averaging 7.3 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 14.3 MPG across six contests. He shot 37.5% from deep and was impressive on defense, tweets Matt George of ABC 10 Sacramento.
In 40 games with College Park last season, Plowden averaged 15.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.1 SPG (31.7 MPG). He posted a shooting line of .404/.327/.877.
As our tracker shows, Plowden will fill Sacramento’s third and final two-way spot, joining Dylan Cardwell and Isaiah Stevens as players on two-way deals.
Wolves’ Donte DiVincenzo To Miss EuroBasket For Italy
Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo was granted Italian citizenship on a sporting basis earlier this month to participate with Italy’s national team in international events. He announced today via the Italian basketball federation (Twitter video link) that he will miss this summer’s EuroBasket due to a recent “physical issue” he experienced as he began preparing for the tournament.
“What’s up everyone? I just wanted to say how happy and thankful I am and excited I am to finally become an Italian citizen,” DiVincenzo said (hat tip to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando). “I want to thank the federation and Italian institutions for making all this happen and being possible in record time.
“Unfortunately, I’m sorry I will not be able to join the national team this summer due to a physical issue that over the last few days forced me to make this difficult, difficult decision. But my goal remains the same. It remains with the journey of Italian basketball going forward, you know, World Cup and the Olympics, and for a very long time. So I just wanted to show my commitment, send my best of luck to the team, and see you all soon.”
According to Maggi, at a press conference on Wednesday in Milan, national team coordinator Gigi Datome clarified that DiVincenzo felt pain in his left big toe, the same digit which cost him 19 games last season due to a turf toe issue.
“On 21 July, we received clearance from the (Timberwolves),” Datome said. “Donte was resuming training, but between 22 and 23 July, he felt discomfort in his big toe, which had already cost him a month out this season. We set a deadline yesterday, and according to doctors and specialists, we were talking about three to four months of therapy, so it wasn’t possible. He sent the video to show that we were on the same page. That’s how it went.”
Aggravating the toe injury sounds somewhat ominous, particularly given the timeline Datome mentioned. However, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears the Wolves view DiVincenzo’s EuroBasket absence as a precautionary measure and the team isn’t concerned about his availability for the start of next season.
Execs Weigh In On Cam Thomas’ Value
Fred Katz of The Athletic recently polled 16 rival NBA executives about what “fair” contracts would look like for the four primary restricted free agents who remain unsigned.
We have already relayed stories regarding Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey and Quentin Grimes, with the key caveat that teams are much more likely to be conservative in their valuations than agents because they don’t want their own players to become too expensive in the future.
In today’s story, the executives weighed in on Nets guard Cam Thomas, who led Brooklyn in scoring with a career-high 24.0 points per game in 2024/25 but was limited to just 25 appearances due to hamstring issues. As Katz writes, Thomas was easily the most polarizing name of the group, and executives were uncertain about whether their views were consensus or otherwise.
“I wouldn’t be shocked if this was way lower or higher,” said one executive who proposed a two-year, $32MM deal. “His scoring is very much ‘eye of the beholder.’”
Whereas 15 of the 16 respondents proposed contracts of at least three years for each of Kuminga, Giddey and Grimes, only eight did the same for Thomas. And while most executives viewed Kuminga ($17-25MM annually), Giddey ($20-25MM) and Grimes ($12-17MM) as having relatively stable market values, the same was not true for Thomas.
In addition to various contract structures – including a one-plus-one (two years, $40MM with a team option, so only $20MM guaranteed), seven two-year deals, five three-year contracts, and three four-year proposals (no one proposed a five-year deal) – the hypothetical offers also ranged anywhere from $10MM to $30MM per year, with the average being $16.7MM annually but only $42.7MM in total guaranteed money.
According to Katz, only two executives valued Thomas in the exact same way. They were also the most bearish on him as a player, offering $20MM total over two years. And the executive who was seemingly the most bullish on the 23-year-old — deeming a three-year, $90MM deal as being “fair” — was quick to add a caveat.
“I wouldn’t personally give (it to) him … But I justified it as ‘fair’ because if I’m him, I’m saying I’m better than Jalen Green and that’s way less than he got,” said the staffer who suggested the $90MM contract, the most lucrative deal in terms of both total money and annual average value.
As Katz points out, Green received a three-year, $105MM rookie scale extension last October. But other score-first guards, like Collin Sexton and Norman Powell, have been traded for relatively modest returns, and the Jazz couldn’t find a taker for Jordan Clarkson, who reached a buyout and signed a minimum-salary deal with the Knicks.
The Nets need someone to score points next season, even if they’re clearly more focused on the 2026 draft than their results in the standings, and Thomas is the player best equipped to do that, Katz writes. But Brooklyn also has a lot of leverage as the only team which can currently make Thomas a strong offer, something it reportedly has shown little interest in doing to this point.
Latest On Jonathan Kuminga
The Kings have been linked to restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga for weeks but there’s little common ground in sign-and-trade talks with the Warriors.
The Athletic’s Sam Amick said on the Warriors Plus Minus podcast (hat tip to BasketNews) that Golden State isn’t interested in either DeMar DeRozan or Devin Carter as part of a trade package.
“My understanding is the Warriors weren’t interested in Carter or DeRozan. As of a couple of weeks ago, the Kings weren’t willing to pay Kuminga into the $20 million range,” Amick said.
Multiple reports have indicated Kuminga and his agent are seeking a contract in the $30MM range annually.
The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson reports that the Kings have not given up in their pursuit of a sign-and-trade deal for Kuminga and offered Golden State a package of Carter, Dario Saric and draft compensation, which could include a protected first-round pick or multiple second-round picks.
Anderson speculates the Warriors would likely make a deal with Sacramento if the Kings were willing to add Keegan Murray or Keon Ellis to the mix. However, Anderson hears that Murray and Ellis have not been discussed in those negotiations and are considered off limits by the Kings.
ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported last week that the Warriors would like to add a talented young player and a first-rounder for Kuminga. The Suns have been identified as another suitor for Kuminga but don’t possess the draft capital Golden State is seeking.
Slater added in a radio interview relayed by Anderson that the 22-year-old forward came away with a good impression after a recent meeting with Kings representatives, which included general manager Scott Perry, assistant GM B.J. Armstrong and head coach Doug Christie.
“He’s open-minded to the idea of Sacramento. … I think part of that – I know part of that pitch – is you’re talking starting role, you’re talking bigger opportunity than the Warriors are necessarily offering right now. And I think that’s the part that shouldn’t get lost in this situation,” Slater said. “Jonathan Kuminga isn’t just looking for the exact contract he wants in free agency. He’s looking for the opportunity he wants on the court.”
Slater and ESPN’s Shams Charania report that the Warriors are making a stronger push to resolve the Kuminga impasse but he continues to reject their two-year, $45MM contract offer. Kuminga’s decision is due in large part to the Warriors’ insistence on having a team option for the second season and their unwillingness to let him maintain the built-in no-trade clause, the ESPN duo adds.
His agent, Aaron Turner, presented the Warriors several proposals this month, including a three-year deal worth around $82MM that would allow them to stay below the second tax apron.
The Suns have been the most aggressive team pursuing Kuminga, including a proposal of up to four years and approximately $90MM for Kuminga with a player option for the final season, per ESPN’s report.
In recent days, Golden State has begun signaling a plan to cut off sign-and-trade conversations entirely, according to Charania and Slater. The Warriors have the ability to play hard ball with Kuminga, figuring he could either accept their contract offer or sign his qualifying offer of $7.9MM and become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Grizzlies, Magic To Play In Berlin, London In January
The Grizzlies and Magic will play regular season games in Berlin on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, and London on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, according to an NBA press release.
Additionally, the league announced that it will play regular season games in Manchester, England and Paris in 2027 and in Berlin and Paris in 2028. The dates and participating teams for the games in 2027 and 2028 will be announced prior to those seasons.
The NBA has not previously held a regular season contest in Germany. The matchup in England will be the league’s 10th regular-season game in London.
The 2027 contest in France will be the NBA’s sixth regular season game in Paris; the Manchester game will be the league’s first in the city.
The Grizzlies will be playing their fifth and sixth games in Europe, while the Magic will be playing its fourth and fifth games in Europe.
The game in Germany will be a special treat for the Magic’s brother duo of Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner, who are natives of Berlin.
“To have the Orlando Magic and the NBA play a regular-season game in our hometown of Berlin means everything to us. Growing up here, we dreamed of moments like this,” they said, according to the press release. “It’s a huge honor to represent Berlin and Germany and show how much the city and country love basketball. We hope we can inspire kids the way we were inspired watching games from afar.”
Berlin, London, Paris, and Manchester are some of the cities that have been rumored as potential markets for the new European league that the NBA is exploring.
Marcus Morris Arrested On Fraud Charges, Denied Bond
Longtime NBA forward Marcus Morris was denied bond during a hearing Tuesday morning in Florida’s Broward County, two days after he was arrested on fraud charges, Chuck Shilken of the Los Angeles Times reports.
Morris’ legal issues stem from allegations he stole more than $250K from two prominent Las Vegas casinos, according to TMZ Sports. The judge denied Morris’ motion to set bond, saying that she did not have the jurisdiction to make such a ruling for an out-of-state case, per Shilken.
According to court documents, Morris allegedly received $115K from the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino via bad checks in May 2024 and never paid it back when the checks bounced. The following month, he took $150K in a similar fashion from the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. There were two felony counts in each case — drawing or passing a check for $1,200 or more with the intent to defraud and theft valued at $100K or more.
There were two separate warrants for Morris’ arrest were issued over the claims earlier this year. Morris was taken into custody at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport due to the warrants.
Yony Noy, an agent for Morris, published a Twitter post in which he denied that his client committed fraud.
“Just so everyone understands this is zero fraud here or whatever crap outlets have said regarding fake checks or whatever the hell,” Noy wrote. “This is due to an outstanding marker with a casino. Apparently if you have over $1,200 they can issue a warrant for your arrest. Absolute insanity!”
According to the L.A. Times story, the prosecuting attorney representing the state of Florida confirmed that there are two warrants for Morris’ arrest in Nevada and both are for outstanding markers for more than $100K each. The prosecuting attorney also indicated that although Nevada is looking to extradite Morris, it is willing to dismiss the charges if Morris’ debts are paid in full.
An attorney representing Morris said that “a large payment” had already been made in order to resolve the issue.
Morris played in the NBA from 2011-24, including a total of 49 games with the Sixers and Cavaliers during the 2023/24 campaign. He went unsigned as a free agent after that season.