Pelicans Sign Brandon Boston To Standard Contract, Jalen Crutcher To Two-Way
February 26: Boston’s standard contract and Crutcher’s two-way deal are now official, the Pelicans confirmed in a press release.
February 25: The Pelicans are converting Brandon Boston Jr.‘s two-way deal into a two-year standard contract, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. They’ll fill their newly opened two-way slot by signing Jalen Crutcher, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
New Orleans needed to fill a roster spot after buying out Javonte Green. That dropped the team’s roster count to 13 players, one below the limit. It came as no surprise that Boston received a standard deal.
Boston has already appeared in 42 games, eight shy of the limit for a two-way player, including 10 starts. He’s averaging 10.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 23.6 minutes per night.
Boston, who missed Tuesday’s game against San Antonio due to a left ankle sprain and non-COVID illness, has only appeared in one game this month as he recovers from that ankle injury. He spent his first three seasons with the Clippers after being a late second-round pick in 2021. New Orleans claimed Boston during the preseason after the Spurs waived him.
Crutcher has averaged 18.1 points, 6.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds for the Birmingham Squadron, the Pelicans’ NBA G League affiliate.
Since going undrafted out of Dayton in 2021, Crutcher has spent pro career in the G League, including two with the Greensboro Swarm as well as last season with the Squadron.
Crutcher had a 10-day contract with the Pelicans last February. He appeared in one game for the team, making his NBA debut last Feb. 27.
Isaiah Wong Signs With Zalgiris Kaunas
February 26: Wong has officially signed with Zalgiris Kaunas for the rest of the season, the team announced today (via Twitter).
February 25: Former Hornets guard Isaiah Wong is believed to be nearing an agreement with Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.
Assuming Wong and Zalgiris Kaunas finalize a deal, it would put the 24-year-old on track to fill the roster hole created when Lonnie Walker opted out of his contract with the club last Tuesday in order to return to the NBA.
The 55th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Wong spent his rookie year on a two-way deal with the Pacers but appeared in just one NBA game for Indiana last season and became an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2024. After spending some time in camp last fall with Utah, he opened this season with the Jazz’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars.
In early December, Wong signed a two-way contract with the Hornets. The former Miami Hurricane subsequently appeared in 20 games off the bench for the Hornets, averaging 6.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 13.3 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .390/.394/.735.
Wong was waived by Charlotte just before the All-Star break and went unclaimed on waivers, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Presumably, reporting back to the Stars and finishing the season in the G League would be an option for Wong, but it appears he’s seriously considering the possibility of heading overseas ahead of Wednesday’s EuroLeague signing deadline.
Zalgiris Kaunas currently has a 12-14 record in EuroLeague play and is tied for 12th in the standings, so Wong could help the team make a push for a play-in (top-10) spot. Zalgiris is also 16-2 in domestic competition and is looking to reclaim its crown in the Lithuanian league after losing the championship to Rytas Vilnius last season.
Kansas Commit Darryn Peterson Tops ESPN’s First 2026 Mock Draft
We’re still about four months away from the 2025 NBA draft, but Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com (Insider link) are already taking a look ahead to the 2026 draft, having published their first brief (10-player) mock draft for next year’s event.
According to Givony and Woo, NBA talent evaluators are bullish on the prospects at the very top of the 2026 draft class, with Darryn Peterson, A.J. Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, and Nate Ament all considered legitimate candidates to become the No. 1 overall pick next year.
Peterson, a 6’6″ combo guard playing for Prolific Prep in California, is considered the current frontrunner for the No. 1 spot by ESPN’s draft experts, who say that the Kansas commit has established himself as the best player in high school basketball this season. Peterson helped cement his spot as the top player on ESPN’s 2026 board with his head-to-head performances against Dybantsa and Utah Prep, including a 61-point showing in the second game between the two.
Givony refers to Peterson as the best shot creator in the 2026 draft class, lauding his ball-handling, his ability to change speeds, his outside shooting, and his size and strength. The 18-year-old is viewed by some NBA scouts as a bigger version of Damian Lillard, Givony adds.
Givony and Woo have Dybantsa at No. 2, suggesting that’s more about Peterson’s emergence than anything Dybantsa has done wrong. The 6’9″ guard/forward, a BYU commit, has shown an ability to score from anywhere on the floor and is one of the best on-ball defenders in his class, Givony writes, noting that every NBA team is seeking wings in Dybantsa’s mold.
Boozer, ESPN’s No. 3 prospect, also has a strong case for consideration at No. 1, according to Givony, who says the son of former NBA big man Carlos Boozer has an “elite” feel for the game and has a chance to be the best player in the college basketball next season at Duke.
A 6’9″ forward, Boozer has earned comparisons to former top pick Paolo Banchero due to his varied offensive game and defensive versatility. The 17-year-old also has “a winning résumé unmatched by any prospect in recent memory,” Givony writes. He has earned a pair of gold medals in U-16 and U-17 FIBA tournaments and is a Florida state champion.
Ament, the No. 4 player on ESPN’s board, remains uncommitted for next season, with Duke, Kentucky, and Louisville among the programs in the mix to land him. The 6’11” big man is the furthest of these four prospects from reaching his long-term ceiling, but has shown intriguing potential as a shot-maker, passer, and defender, Givony writes.
Big man Jayden Quaintance, currently a freshman at Arizona State and one of the best shot blockers in the NCAA, is the No. 5 prospect in ESPN’s first mock draft for 2026.
Knicks Notes: Robinson, Hart, Towns, More
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson won’t make his season debut on Wednesday vs. Philadelphia, but he’s inching closer to returning from the ankle surgery that has sidelined him for all of 2024/25, writes Dan Martin of The New York Post. Head coach Tom Thibodeau said on Tuesday that the center has looked good and has been “very active” in workouts and practices.
While Robinson figures to be eased back into a rotation role, Thibodeau referred to the big man as an “elite” pick-and-roll defender, rim protector, and offensive rebounder and suggested that he would have been a significant part of the lineup if he had been healthy this season.
“I think you have to look at it and say, ‘OK, Mitch was projected to be the starting center on the team,'” Thibodeau said (Twitter video link). “So we’ve gone fifty-something games without our starting center. I think guys have done a really good job stepping in. Could we do better? I always believe we could do better.”
It’s unclear based on Thibodeau’s comments if he means Robinson was projected to be the Knicks’ starting center before the acquisition of Karl-Anthony Towns or if he envisioned starting the two big men alongside one another. Either way, that two-big look figures to be one the club experiments with once Robinson is available to return, and there’s hope that he’ll be able to help improve a unit that ranks 20th in the NBA this season in defensive rating (114.3).
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- After missing two games due to a sore right knee, Josh Hart returned to action on Sunday and logged 40 minutes in a loss to Boston. After the game, he told reporters, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, that he felt as if the extended All-Star break would be good for his knee issue, which he explained in more detail. “It’s something that comes and goes, something that I’ve managed for a long (time) — one time (in 2020) I was in the bubble with New Orleans, I would play and the next day really I couldn’t even get to half-court,” Hart said. “It was a pain, it was a struggle for me to even jog to half-court, and now I’m playing 48 minutes for Tom Thibodeau. So there’s peaks and valleys with it. Not really worried about it. All the time I pray for it before every game. By his grace I’m healed so I go out there and play my game.”
- Towns, who missed a pair of games in December and January with patellar tendinopathy in his right knee, had his knee issues flare up near the end of Sunday’s game vs. Boston and is listed as questionable to play on Wednesday due to left knee patellar tendinopathy, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv. When Towns was unavailable earlier this season, Jericho Sims typically moved into the starting lineup, but with Sims now in Milwaukee, Precious Achiuwa or Ariel Hukporti could fill that role if Towns is inactive.
- The Knicks were blown out by Cleveland on Friday and Boston on Sunday and are now 0-5 on the season against the two teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “We’re a work in progress,” Towns said on Sunday when asked how the Knicks stack up against those teams. “We’re going to be a work in progress all year until the day we step into the postseason.”
- In a subscriber-only article for The New York Post, Mike Vaccaro argues that it’s time to sound the alarm on the Knicks’ ineffectiveness against the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Thunder. New York is 0-7 against those teams and has lost those games by an average of 20+ points per contest.
Nets’ Claxton Suspended For Wednesday’s Game
Nets center Nic Claxton has been suspended one game without pay for accruing his sixth Flagrant Foul point, the league announced in a press release.
Claxton, who entered Monday’s game against the Wizards with five Flagrant Foul points, received a Flagrant Foul 1 in the fourth quarter. He will serve his suspension on Wednesday when the Nets host the Thunder.
It’s bad timing, as the Nets will have a much more difficult time keeping Oklahoma City’s big man duo of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein under control.
Claxton put himself in danger of receiving a suspension by getting ejected twice for Flagrant Two fouls against the Magic’s Franz Wagner and the Hawks’ Dyson Daniels, Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily.com notes. He’ll continue to be suspended for a game or two if he picks up additional flagrants.
Claxton is averaging 10.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks this season. He has averaged 3.1 blocks over the last 10 games.
Nets Sign Kendall Brown To Two-Way Deal
8:22 pm: The two-way deal is official, the Nets confirmed in a press release.
2:38 pm: The Nets have reached an agreement with guard/forward Kendall Brown on a two-way deal, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
The 48th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Brown spent his first two professional seasons with the Pacers, first on a two-way contract and then on a standard deal. However, the 6’7″ swingman was waived by Indiana in October and then had his G League rights acquired by the Long Island Nets later that month.
Brown has thrived this season in 34 total Tip-Off Tournament and regular season outings for Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, averaging 16.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 34.6 minutes per game. His shooting line at the NBAGL level is an excellent .565/.410/.750.
Brooklyn is the only team in the NBA that currently has an open two-way slot available, so no corresponding roster move will be necessary to make room for Brown. The Nets created that opening when they promoted Tyrese Martin to their standard roster last week.
Once the signing is official, Reece Beekman, Tosan Evbuomwan, and Brown will occupy the Nets’ two-way slots.
Bulls Notes: Giddey, Vucevic, Dosunmu, Ball
Josh Giddey knows he’s pumped up his value with his strong play this season. The Bulls guard will enter restricted free agency this summer and admitted to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley that he’s wondering how it will play out.
‘‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it,’’ Giddey said. ‘‘Every player in the league thinks about it, but I don’t let it impact what I do on the floor. I don’t come out here with any preconceived ideas of how I want to play or the numbers I want to put up to earn X amount of dollars or whatever it may be.’’
The Bulls were unable to come to a rookie scale extension agreement with Giddey after acquiring him from the Thunder last offseason. Giddey and his representatives indicated at that time they were looking to match Magic guard Jalen Suggs’ extension of $30MM per year for five years, Cowley confirms. The Bulls will have the ability to match if Giddey signs an offer sheet this summer.
We have more on the Bulls:
- One of the things Giddey has improved upon is his long-range shooting, Cowley notes. The fourth-year guard has made 37% of his 3-point attempts, up from 33.7% in his last season with Oklahoma City. He knocked down all three of his attempts in the blowout victory over Philadelphia on Monday, improving his percentage to a whopping 52.2% this month. “Obviously, you feel good when shots start falling, and it can have a snowball effect. That’s where I’m probably at right now,” he said.
- Starting center Nikola Vucevic is listed as doubtful to play against the Clippers on Wednesday due to right calf tightness, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network tweets. Guard Ayo Dosunmu is questionable due to a left shoulder subluxation.
- Lonzo Ball is not listed on the injury report. That was a positive development, considering he departed Monday’s game early due to a head laceration, the team tweets.
Southwest Notes: Powell, Christie, Smith Jr., Bagley
The Mavericks won’t have Anthony Davis when they face the Lakers for the first time since the teams’ blockbuster deal that landed Luka Doncic in Los Angeles. They could get another big man back for the showdown. Dwight Powell, who has missed the last 16 games due to a hip injury, has been upgraded as questionable, Marc Stein tweets.
It’s expected that Powell will be active, Stein adds. Powell has appeared in 33 games off the bench this season, though he’s averaged just 7.6 minutes in those appearances.
The Lakers will honor Davis with a video tribute, NBA insider Chris Haynes tweets.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Another of the players the Mavericks acquired from the Lakers was guard Max Christie. He has given Dallas a boost since the deal, averaging 15.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists in eight games. Christie told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears he’ll looking forward to Tuesday’s game but harbors no ill will toward his former team. “I’m not even looking at this game as a ‘revenge game,’” Christie said. “I’m actually looking forward to it from a sense that I get to see old teammates, old colleagues, old coaches. I’m looking forward to just enjoying that game. I want to win, obviously. The Lakers are a playoff team. They’re really, really good. It’s a good test for us as a matchup, as a team as well. But I’m not going in there with any bad blood or any intention of trying to drop 40 on them. I’m just going in there to try to win the game, play my game and let the game come to me.”
- Blending Jabari Smith Jr.‘s offensive skills with the current rotation will be a key to the Rockets’ postseason success, Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes. If Houston has any hope of making a deep run, Smith must become more of a focal offensive option, according to Iko. Smith has played two games since recovering from a fractured hand, an injury he suffered on New Year’s Day.
- Big man Marvin Bagley III wound up with the Grizzlies in a three-team trade earlier this month. Bagley, the No. 2 pick of the 2018 draft, has only made one brief appearance with Memphis. Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal explores how Bagley might carve out a role with the Grizzlies, his fourth team since entering the league. He’ll be a free agent after the season.
Heat’s Jovic To Be Reevaluated In Four Weeks After Fracturing Hand
Heat forward Nikola Jovic suffered a fracture in the second metacarpal of his right hand, the Heat’s PR department tweets. He will be in a splint and will be reevaluated in four weeks.
This confirms the initial diagnosis that the team reported but provides a better understanding of his recovery timetable. It also indicates that surgery, at least at this time, will not be required.
With less than two months remaining before the postseason, Jovic’s injury – which occurred during the first half against the Bucks on Sunday – could end up being a season-ender.
Through 46 games, the 21-year-old is averaging 10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 0.8 steals per game. He is logging shooting splits of .456/.371/.828.
Ahead of the season, Miami picked up Jovic’s $4.45MM team option for the fourth and final year of his rookie-scale deal, which will keep him under team control through 2025/26. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2025 offseason.
Kyle Anderson and Jaime Jaquez are expected to have bigger roles with Jovic sidelined.
Josh Giddey Is Only 2025 RFA To Meet Starter Criteria So Far
When a player on an expiring contract is eligible for restricted free agency, his qualifying offer is determined in part by whether or not he met the “starter criteria” during the season – or two seasons – leading up to his free agency. As we explain in our glossary entry, a player meets the starter criteria when he achieves one of the following:
- He plays at least 2,000 minutes or starts 41 games in the season before he reaches free agency.
- He averages either 2,000 minutes or 41 starts in the two seasons prior to his restricted free agency.
If a top-14 pick coming to the end of his rookie contract fails to meet the starter criteria, the value of his qualifying offer declines. Conversely a player who was drafted at No. 10 or later or who went undrafted altogether can increase the value of his qualifying offer by meeting the starter criteria.
In many cases, an increase or decrease to a qualifying offer won’t materially affect the player’s restricted free agency, since a QO is just a one-year contract offer issued in order for the team to retain its right of first refusal. The player has the option of accepting it, but in most cases it functions as a placeholder until the RFA signs an offer sheet with a rival team or negotiates a new multiyear contract with his current team.
Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, for example, will likely sign a lucrative long-term deal when he reaches free agency this summer, so it won’t matter all that much if he falls short of the starter criteria and his QO drops from the standard amount of $10,240,287 to $7,976,830.
But for a player who is less likely to secure a significant payday but still a good bet to receive a qualifying offer, a difference of a few million dollars between potential QOs could have a major impact on how his free agency plays out. That difference may affect how willing a team is to put the qualifying offer on the table and how likely the player is to simply accept it.
With all that in mind, it’s worth checking in on which potential 2025 restricted free agents have actually met the starter criteria so far this season and which ones are on track to do so. The first list is a short one: Bulls guard Josh Giddey is the only player to meet the starter criteria so far.
Giddey had a huge head-start because he made 80 starts for Oklahoma City in 2023/24, meaning he just needed to make two starts this season in order to achieve an average of 41 for the past two seasons. He made his second start for the Bulls way back on October 25, which means his qualifying offer this summer will be $11,142,057 instead of dropping to $7,976,830.
None of the 10 other potential restricted free agents have met the starter criteria though. Of those players, the following three were lottery picks, with their default qualifying offers noted in parentheses:
- Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors ($10,240,287)
- Davion Mitchell, Heat ($8,741,210)
- Ziaire Williams, Nets ($8,353,153)
Kuminga has only started 10 games this season and will fall short of the starter criteria, which will bump his QO down to $7,976,830. Mitchell and Williams still have a chance to get there though — Mitchell has 28 starts under his belt, while Williams has 26. They both need to reach 41 to achieve the starter criteria, and they’ve been regular starters for their respective teams as of late. If they hang onto their starting jobs and stay healthy, they’ll surpass 41 starts.
Again, Kuminga’s free agency is unlikely to be affected by his smaller qualifying offer, since his offer will likely just serve as a placeholder and a last-resort fallback option. Maybe the Nets will be slightly less inclined to give Williams a qualifying offer if it’s worth $8.35MM instead of $7.98MM, but that’s such a small gap that it’s unlikely to affect the team’s QO decision either way. The same goes for Mitchell and the Heat.
The other seven players on expiring contracts who are eligible for restricted free agency are Cam Thomas (Nets), Santi Aldama (Grizzlies), Quentin Grimes (Sixers), Tre Mann (Hornets), Isaiah Jackson (Pacers), Day’Ron Sharpe (Nets), and Jabari Walker (Trail Blazers). Jaden Springer, Chris Duarte, and Bones Hyland were also part of this group before being waived this month.
Of those players, only Thomas has a realistic chance of meeting the starter criteria. He started 51 games last season, which means he needs to get to 31 this season. He’s at 17 and the Nets have 25 left to play. If Thomas can return from his hamstring strain relatively soon, which seems likely, he has a good shot at starting 14 games and reaching the necessary threshold. That would increase his QO from $5,993,172 to $8,741,210.
The others will remain eligible for their standard QOs, based on draft position (or their prior salary, in Walker’s case), as follows:
- Tre Mann, Hornets ($6,964,982)
- Isaiah Jackson, Pacers ($6,422,431)
- Quentin Grimes, Sixers ($6,311,825)
- Day’Ron Sharpe, Nets ($5,983,683)
- Santi Aldama, Grizzlies ($5,940,797)
- Jabari Walker, Trail Blazers ($2,524,624)