Wolves Notes: Conley, Randle, DiVincenzo, Reid
After dealing with multiple health issues – including a wrist injury – last fall, Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley feels much better entering the 2025/26 season, having been able to do his normal work during the offseason, as Chris Hine of The Star Tribune writes.
“Completely different summer,” Conley said. “More what I’m used to, being able to work every day. As soon as we got out of the playoffs, I was back just being able to get into my routines and scheduled everything out like I normally do. I feel right on schedule for training camp and in shape ready to go. So it was a breath of fresh air to be able to work again and shoot basketballs and do all that, that I wasn’t able to do the summer before.”
Conley, who will turn 38 next Saturday, set career lows in several statistical categories in 2024/25, including points (8.2) and minutes (24.7) per game, as well as usage rate (14.4%). However, he has been more assertive in training camp, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who notes that Conley believes he can bounce back and be more effective than he was last season if he gets a few more opportunities to initiate the offense.
“To be the best version (of myself), it’s having the ball, I think,” Conley told reporters on media day. “That doesn’t mean I need to shoot it. I don’t need to shoot, but as a point guard, I’ve grown up playing the position in the way I play it. You have a better feel for the game when you are initiating, when you’re controlling a little bit more, dictating how the game is flowing. You get kind of stagnant when you sit in certain areas, maybe sit in the corner for too long, or don’t touch the ball for a couple possessions, or four or five minutes.”
Of course, Conley often shares the floor with a pair of high-level scorers in Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, who both need the ball in their hands to be effective as well. But the veteran point guard made it clear he doesn’t want to take scoring opportunities away from either of those players, suggesting he can help get them easy points in fast-break situations.
“We talk about it all the time, and it’s something that I tell them every time,” Conley said, per Krawczynski. “If I get the ball, I promise y’all, I’m not trying to go shoot this thing. I promise you, if you run, I’m gonna throw it up to you. I want to play quarterback, all-time quarterback. That’s what I want to do.”
We have more on the Wolves:
- A year after being unexpectedly traded from New York to Minnesota as training camp was about to begin, Randle has a new three-year contract in hand and feels at home as a Timberwolf, according to Krawczynski. “Now it just feels very settled,” Randle said ahead of his second season in Minnesota. “I would say even this summer and leading up to the season is probably the happiest I’ve been in a really long time as far as just career, family, everything. … My work-life balance, or just my ability to separate the two, have been a lot better since I’ve been here.”
- Timberwolves wing Donte DiVincenzo didn’t play for Italy at this year’s EuroBasket tournament due to the turf toe issue that affected him last season and required him to play with a plate in his shoe. However, he told reporters this week that he feels “110 percent” ready for the coming season, per Hine. “I had the option to get surgery. I elected not to,” DiVincenzo said. “Surgery would have put me out, I think, five, six months, and we put a plate in the shoe to restrict that mobility of my toe. … Because now the season ended, I pulled the plate out of my shoe. I want to get back to being my normal self, and so it’s all precautionary. There’s nothing to worry about to start the season.”
- An offseason that should have been a rewarding one for Naz Reid, who signed the most lucrative contract of any 2025 free agent ($125MM over five years), took a tragic turn last month when his sister was shot and killed in New Jersey. The Wolves big man, a fan favorite in Minnesota, entered training camp this week with a heavy heart, as Krawczynski writes for The Athletic. “I’ve been (getting) better, been on the up and up,” Reid said. “A lot of people around me are supporting. Things don’t really go as planned in life, but you know, there’s a lot of situations where … like I said before, I’ve got a lot of support and it helps a lot.”
Bulls Exercise Matas Buzelis’ 2026/27 Option
The Bulls have exercised their third-year rookie scale team option on forward Matas Buzelis, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac.
The move guarantees Buzelis’ salary for the 2026/27 season. Last year’s 11th overall pick will earn $5.46MM in his second NBA season in ’25/26 and is now locked into a $5.72MM salary for ’26/27. Chicago will have until November 2, 2026 to decide whether or not to pick up his fourth-year option for ’27/28, worth $7.58MM.
Buzelis, who will turn 21 later this month, got off to a slow start as a rookie, scoring double-digit points just four times in his first 45 games and averaging 5.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game with a 38.6% field goal percentage during that stretch.
However, he had a strong finish to the year, putting up 13.3 PPG and 4.5 RPG with a .494/.373/.817 shooting line over the course of his final 35 games. That second-half production propelled Buzelis to a spot on the All-Rookie second team.
Buzelis projects to be a significant part of the Bulls’ future, so this decision comes as no surprise, and it seems pretty safe to assume his fourth-year option will be exercised a year from now too. In that scenario, the 6’10” forward would become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2027 offseason and would reach restricted free agency in 2028 if he doesn’t sign a new contract before then.
Teams have until October 31 to make their decisions on rookie scale team options for the 2026/27 season. Buzelis is the fourth player to have his option picked up.
Western Notes: Kuminga, Kleber, Coward, Blazers, Grant
After Jonathan Kuminga took part in his first Warriors practice of training camp on Thursday – he participated in about half the team’s scrimmages, per head coach Steve Kerr (Twitter video link) – the 22-year-old forward publicly discussed his contract situation for the first time since finalizing a two-year, $46.8MM deal that includes a second-year team option.
Negotiations on that contract dragged on for the entire offseason in part because Kuminga reportedly didn’t want to simply become a trade chip after re-signing. So, now that he’s back under contract on a very tradable deal, does he feel as if the Warriors want to keep him for the long term?
“I would say so,” Kuminga said, per ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “Based on me being back here. At the end of the day, let’s see where this takes us. But my focus is this year pushing and actually helping us win. You never know what’s going to happen, but I’m happy, glad to be back.”
As for whether he wants to remain in Golden State for the long term? “I’m here now,” Kuminga said. “That’s everybody’s goal, to be somewhere for longer. You never know your future. So far that’s my goal. That’s what I want to accomplish. Being here for longer.”
Kuminga’s role has been inconsistent during his first four years in the NBA, including last spring, when he was a DNP-CD in a handful of games at the end of the season and in the postseason. He said on Thursday that he’s determined to find ways to “help us win” on both ends of the court in 2025/26 and that he intends to silence critics who believe he’s an offense-only player.
“If it’s on defense, if it’s an assignment, just go guard the best player,” Kuminga said. “Today we need you to score. Today we need you to guard certain people. That’s what I’m looking forward to and I’m open-minded to it.”
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Lakers big man Maxi Kleber is dealing with a quad injury, but it’s considered minor, according to head coach JJ Redick, who said on Thursday the team is being cautious with Kleber and he’ll miss a few days (Twitter link via Jovan Buha). Kleber, acquired from Dallas in February’s Luka Doncic blockbuster, broke his foot in January and didn’t make his Lakers debut until Game 5 of their first-round series vs. Minnesota, the team’s last game of the season.
- Cedric Coward, the No. 11 pick in June’s draft, is earning praise from coaches and teammates alike at the Grizzlies‘ training camp at Belmont University this week, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I think he’s kind of exceeded my expectations,” point guard Scotty Pippen Jr. said. “I never really saw any of his (college) highlights, but I’ve played and I’ve been around top picks. I feel like he’s been one of the better ones I’ve ever seen.” Memphis gave up a future first-round pick and two second-rounders in order to move up five spots from No. 16 to draft Coward.
- After declaring at a July 22 press conference that it’s “winning time now” for the Trail Blazers, general manager Joe Cronin walked back that comment a little this week when he discussed the team’s expectations for the coming season, notes Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “Do we want to make the play-in? Yes,” Cronin said. “Do we want to make the playoffs? Yes. Do we want to win 16 playoff games? Yes. But I don’t have expectations and I won’t be disappointed if those things don’t happen as long as we’re continually growing. We’re still thinking big-picture with this roster.”
- On media day on Monday, Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant answered a question about the possibility of him coming off the bench by replying, “I don’t really expect that.” On Thursday, Grant sought to clarify that he wouldn’t become disgruntled if he doesn’t end up starting. “I’m fine, man,” he said, per Highkin (Twitter link).
Cap Observations: Kuminga, Grimes, DPEs, Westbrook
Now that October 1, the deadline for a restricted free agent to sign his qualifying offer, has come and gone, the RFA standoffs that dominated headlines for most of the second half of the NBA offseason have all been resolved.
Josh Giddey and Jonathan Kuminga agreed to multiyear deals with the Bulls and Warriors, respectively, while Nets guard Cam Thomas and Sixers guard Quentin Grimes chose to accept their qualifying offers and hang onto their no-trade clauses for the 2025/26 season.
Today, with training camps in full swing around the NBA, we're taking a closer look at Kuminga's deal, Grimes' decision, and a few other cap- and roster-related topics from across the league.
Let's dive in...
Suns Notes: Green, Williams, Maluach, Hayes-Davis
New Suns guard Jalen Green is dealing with a “low grade” hamstring strain and won’t be available on Friday when Phoenix’s preseason schedule tips off, head coach Jordan Ott said on Thursday (Twitter link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).
After facing the Lakers in Palm Springs on Friday, the Suns will travel to Macao, where they’ll face Brooklyn in a pair of preseason contests on October 10 and 12. According to Ott, Green will make that trip with the team, but isn’t necessarily a lock to play in either of those games against the Nets.
“He’ll be with us in China,” Ott said. “He’ll do what he can to see where we’re at in preseason, but we know the goal is that (Oct. 22 season opener).”
We have more on the Suns:
- Another newcomer, center Mark Williams, will also sit out Friday’s preseason opener, Rankin writes for The Arizona Republic. The big man has done everything in training camp except take part in live 5-on-5 action, and the Suns’ plan has always been to bring him along slowly after he was limited to 106 total outings across three seasons in Charlotte due to various health issues. “We’re trying to assess exactly where he is,” Ott said when asked if Williams would play in any of the team’s four preseason games. “The goal is there at the end of camp get him as ready as he can. He’s on a good path. Like I said, every drill work you’ve seen him in. Just not the live 5-on-5.”
- Rookie center Khaman Maluach was listed at 250 pounds during his lone season at Duke and at 253 ahead of Summer League. The 19-year-old confirmed this week that he has made an effort to bulk up in recent months as he prepares to do battle with NBA centers, per Rankin. “I added a little bit of weight, I’m like 263 now, 262,” Maluach said. “… It hasn’t really been (lifting) weights, weights. It’s just like developing and getting strong from like the base. Just working on my weak spots, whether it’s my hips, my knees, my quads and my upper body.”
- Veteran forward Nigel Hayes-Davis, who will be playing in the NBA this season for the first time since 2018, is confident that his game will translate from the EuroLeague to the NBA after he spent the better part of the past decade playing in Turkey, Spain, and Lithuania. “There was a lot of talk that it’s a different game between EuroLeague and the NBA,” Hayes-Davis said (Twitter video link). “Of course it is. But for me, I just need to play basketball and do what I do. I think the way I play basketball on both sides of the ball works in either league, on any continent.”
Bucks Notes: Rollins, Giannis, Anthony, Green, Turner
Bucks guard Ryan Rollins told reporters after Thursday’s practice that he played through a left shoulder injury last season and underwent surgery to address the issue about a week after the team was eliminated from the playoffs, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). Although he admitted that his shoulder feels “a little different…range-wise,” Rollins clarified that it feels good and he has “no hesitation” in the shoulder.
“It was a four-month recovery,” he said. “I started back playing maybe the end of July, actually doing stuff on the court. And I would say my first live segment was not this week, but last week. So I’m just getting back into playing condition and all that, but I feel stronger. I feel good. I feel confident.”
Asked on Wednesday about what Rollins’ role would look like this season with Kevin Porter Jr. and Cole Anthony also in the point guard mix, head coach Doc Rivers made it clear that he’s not pigeonholing those players into a specific position and wouldn’t have any qualms about playing two of them at a time.
“I don’t look at them as point guards,” Rivers said (Twitter link via Nehm). “I think they all can play all the positions. I mean, we played Ryan and Cole together today. So, it doesn’t matter, they’re guards. Our offense is…not a point guard orientated offense.”
Rivers mentioned earlier in the week that he anticipates Porter will be a starter this fall.
Here’s more on the Bucks:
- Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who remained in Greece this week dealing with a case of COVID-19, is set to join the Bucks as their training camp shifts from Milwaukee to Miami, writes Ben Steele of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He’ll be flying in either tonight or in the morning,” Rivers said on Thursday ahead of the team’s flight to Florida. The Bucks’ preseason schedule will tip off on Monday with a matchup vs. the Heat in Miami, so the club will be in town for a few days before that game.
- Anthony was held out of the contact portion of Thursday’s practice as a precautionary measure due to an unspecified health issue, tweets Nehm. Rivers didn’t provide any details on what was wrong with the veteran guard.
- One of just a handful of Bucks players who didn’t sign a new contract this offseason, A.J. Green is unfazed by not having a contract extension in place yet, as Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. “It’s gonna happen exactly how it should,” said Green, who is on an expiring deal. “If I worry about it, what’s that gonna do for me? I’m not in control of it. I can only do what I can now. So, I just gotta trust that whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen regardless. It’s out of my hands.”
- After saying on media day that he’s happy to be “in a city now that wants to celebrate me,” new Bucks center Myles Turner sought to clarify that the remark wasn’t intended as a shot at Indianapolis or Pacers fans. “This quote has NOTHING to do with Indy fans and EVERYTHING to do with my free agency experience,” Turner tweeted.
Wizards Sign Leaky Black, Waive Jonathan Pierre
The Wizards have made a minor change to their training camp roster, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve signed free agent forward Leaky Black to an Exhibit 10 contract and waived camp invitee Jonathan Pierre.
Black, who went undrafted out of North Carolina in 2023, spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Hornets, then played last season for the Capital City Go-Go, Washington’s G League affiliate. He made 26 NBA appearances for Charlotte in 2023/24, averaging 2.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game.
In 44 games last season for the Go-Go, Black averaged 7.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.2 steals in 26.7 minutes per contest. Known more for his play on the other end of the court, the 6’6″ forward made the ACC’s All-Defensive team twice as a Tar Heel, in both 2022 and 2023.
In all likelihood, Black will be waived at some point before opening night and will end up rejoining the Go-Go as a returning-rights player. His Exhibit 10 deal will make him eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 on top of his G League salary if he spends at least 60 days with the Wizards’ affiliate.
Pierre, who will qualify as an affiliate player, will also likely land with Capital City this fall in order to earn his own $85,300 Exhibit 10 bonus.
Washington still has a full 21-man preseason roster.
Pistons Notes: Ivey, Cunningham, Thompson, LeVert, Roster
Pistons guard Jaden Ivey is fully healthy after being limited to 30 games last season due to a fractured left fibula, according to Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link). Ivey described his rehab as an arduous process.
“The journey has been definitely a grind to get back, to get healed, to get stronger,” Ivey said. “It’s definitely been a grind. I’m definitely thankful to be in this position right now, be able to be back healthy and to do what I’ve been working for my whole life, to be able to play this game. I’m healed now and looking forward to this next season.”
Head of basketball operations Trajan Langdon says the team is glad to have Ivey back, though he acknowledged there might be some rough periods as the former Purdue star gets accustomed to playing again. Ivey will be eligible for a rookie scale extension through October 20.
“There’s no restrictions on him,” Langdon said. “He’s looking really good, obviously. It will take him some time, he hasn’t played five-on-five NBA basketball in 10 months. By the time he gets going with that I think there’s going to be a rhythm component and even a game conditioning component that he’ll have to get up to speed. We look forward to having him back and he’s going to be a huge part of this team.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- All-Star guard Cade Cunningham has high expectations for the Pistons after they made the playoffs last season, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “We all want a championship out of this, you know? (Last season) was a great stepping stone for that,” Cunningham said. “We have no chance of going to get a championship without a year like last year. But there are more steps to be taken after that. I think our minds are just onto the next step, honestly. We’re not into celebrating last year anymore.”
- Several players mentioned Ausar Thompson as a player who made noteworthy strides this offseason, Patterson adds. Thompson, who missed the start of last season with a blood clot issue, was fully healthy over the summer appears to have bulked up. “Being healthy for him was huge,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Being able to work on his skill set, work on his craft, play more basketball over the summer, more one-on-one and those types of things were huge for him. … Coming into camp in just better shape will allow him to let his talents run. Conditioning is the ultimate cheat code. If you can play at your highest level longer than your opponent can, it’s going to give you an advantage. If Ausar can play at his highest level with his freak-of-nature abilities that come along with him, just imagine what he will be capable of.”
- Bickerstaff was happy to reunite with veteran wing Caris LeVert, Sankofa writes in another subscriber-only story. Bickerstaff coached LeVert, who signed a two-year deal with Detroit in free agency, while the two were members of the Cavaliers. “His versatility is going to be key,” Bickerstaff said. “There’s so many different things you can do with him. … He can initiate offense and he’s really good as a second-side attacker. We’re going to use his versatility, but he can do so many different things and not just for himself. Having spent so much time with him, he’s a really good play-maker and passer. So he can help his teammates, also.”
- As Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes, Detroit lost some volume three-point shooters from last season’s roster, which ranked just 22nd in the league in three-point attempts. Bickerstaff is fine with shooting fewer threes if it means the team is benefiting in other areas. He also praised the group’s positional versatility. “We don’t need to have guys that are just one position,” Bickerstaff said. “We feel we have a bunch of guys that can play position-less basketball and it helps their skill set out. So what we’ll do is we’ll put the combinations that we see that work best for us. We’re not worried about having a backup one or a backup two. We’re trying to get talent on the floor.”
Bulls Notes: Giddey, White, Jones, Williams
While the negotiations dragged into September, Josh Giddey confirmed this week that his contract talks with the Bulls were never contentious, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. The Australian guard re-signed with the Bulls on a four-year, $100MM deal as a restricted free agent.
“When you hit free agency — I was a restricted [free agent] — rumors will start to circulate, and I let my management and agent handle that side of things with the front office here,” Giddey said. “So I tried to stay out of it. When there was something to know, I knew. My agent would tell me. Other than that, there were never any bad feelings. It’s a negotiation, and that’s how it goes. It’s kind of the nature of the business.
“When the season ended, I knew that was going to happen. . . . This is where I always wanted to be, and now I’m locked in for another four years.”
According to Cowley, Giddey said he’s relieved he won’t have to think about a new deal for multiple years.
“Everyone wants to play for that second contract; it’s part of being an NBA player,” Giddey said. “You want to extend your career. I was no different. The fact that it’s locked in and I have four years where I don’t have to think about it is a pretty big weight off my shoulders because it was always kind of lingering.”
Here’s more from Chicago:
- Due to the limitations of what they can offer, Coby White has reportedly informed the Bulls he isn’t going to sign an extension before he hits unrestricted free agency next summer. The 25-year-old guard said he’s focused on the present rather than the future, as Cowley relays. “I’m thinking about now and how I can help my team win and become better in every aspect of the game,” White said. “I’m blessed and fortunate to be in this situation, but I always say that I love being here, I love the front office, I love the relationship that I built with Coach (Billy Donovan), and me and my teammates are super close, so I’m enjoying every moment.”
- Backup point guard Tre Jones was determined to return to the Bulls instead of exploring external options in free agency, per Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter video link). “I definitely wanted to be back. I didn’t wanna think about going anywhere else,” said Jones, who re-signed with Chicago on a three-year, $24MM contract.
- Sixth-year forward Patrick Williams lost weight and added lean muscle over the summer in an effort to improve his game, tweets K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network. Williams wasn’t wasn’t pleased with his performance in ’24/25. “I need to be better,” he said of his offseason approach.
Magic Notes: F. Wagner, Carter, Black, Richardson
Fresh off winning a gold medal with Germany at EuroBasket 2025, Magic forward Franz Wagner is elated to have an opportunity to play an NBA game in his home country in January when Orlando faces Memphis in Berlin, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel writes. Wagner is also embracing loftier expectations after the Magic’s offseason trade for Desmond Bane.
“Our expectations should be higher than any of the other years,” the 6’10” forward said this week. “I mean, we added Desmond Bane [and] some other really good players to the roster. Talent-wise, mentality-wise, we should go into the year thinking like a contender — not cutting ourselves short and believing in the chance that we’ve got.”
While Wagner took a significant step forward in many respects last season, he shot below 30% from three-point range for the second year in a row after converting nearly 36% of his outside looks over his first two campaigns. He’s hoping to show his offseason work paid off entering 2025/26, according to Beede.
“I worked a lot on my three,” Wagner said about his summer. “I thought I had stretches in EuroBasket where I shot it a lot better and I think I can be more consistent with that. So, I’m super excited to show that.”
Here’s more on the Magic:
- President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman recently spoke glowingly of center Wendell Carter Jr. For his part, the 26-year-old big man says he’s feeling great after a healthy offseason (story via Beede). “My confidence is at an all-time high right now,” Carter said. “I’m feeling good. When I had this summer just to train, it wasn’t necessarily about me becoming a better shooter — I know I can shoot. It wasn’t about me being able to make moves in the post like I know I can do. It was just about me boosting my confidence. Because the more you work, the more you’re on the court, you get out there and you feel like, ‘OK, I know this is going in,’ even if it doesn’t. I know it feels good. I shot a million of these shots throughout the summer.”
- Guard Anthony Black feels comfortable in his third training camp with Orlando, according to Beede. The 21-year-old will be eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer. “When AB is on his game, in my opinion, he’s one of the best guards in this league,” Carter said. “When he’s playing carefree — not saying careless — when he’s just flowing and relying on his strengths, getting downhill, attacking the basket, shooting open threes, not turning them down, AB is a tough guard. He’s tough to guard for anybody. Anyone else would say that on this team, coaching staff included. When AB is just playing his game, he’s very hard to guard.”
- After Thursday’s practice, rookie first-rounder Jase Richardson discussed the physical adjustment of going from college to playing in the NBA and what his role has been so far in training camp (Twitter video links via Beede). “Just being a guy who’s willing to guard,” the 6’3″ guard said. “I think that’s the biggest thing for me. I have to show that I can guard, especially at my size.”