Philadelphia 76ers Rumors

And-Ones: Roster Holes, G League Trades

September 15th, 2025 at 10:37pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

With the start of training camp mere weeks away, Kevin Pelton of ESPN takes a look at the biggest 2025/26 roster holes for all 30 NBA teams.

Beyond the reigning champion Thunder, who will be bringing back their full playoff lineup and whose perceived biggest need is a fresh arena, Pelton believes every club has personnel issues.

Among top East contenders, Pelton posits that Cleveland could use some help along the wing with injured swingman Max Strus expected to be out for multiple months. Pelton notes that New York may want to add more proven veteran help to shore up its bench. In the West, Pelton observes that the Rockets and Nuggets could use help at the point, while Minnesota could benefit from some additional depth on the perimeter.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

The Pistons‘ G League club, the Motor City Cruise, has traded the returning player rights to big man Cameron Martin and guard Javante McCoy to the Nuggets‘ NBAGL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, for the rights to center Charles Bediako and a 2026 international pick, Motor City has announced (Twitter link).
Raptors 905, the Raptors‘ NBAGL affiliate, is trading their rights to guard Kennedy Chandler to the Sixers‘ G League club, the Delaware Blue Coats, in exchange for wing Patrick McCaw and a future first-rounder, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Murphy tweets that some EuroLeague teams considered bringing McCaw aboard earlier in the offseason. McCaw has been in the G League for four seasons, and Murphy is unsure if he’ll continue suiting up close to NBA scouts or will take a more lucrative offer elsewhere.
In case you missed it, newly crowned EuroBasket MVP Dennis Schröder cited Hall of Fame countryman Dirk Nowitzki as the major inspiration who helped turn Germany into an international force.

Germany Defeats Turkey For EuroBasket Gold; Schröder Named MVP

September 14th, 2025 at 3:16pm CST by Luke Adams

A back-and-forth battle between a pair of 8-0 teams went down to the wire in Sunday’s EuroBasket championship game, with Kings point guard Dennis Schröder helping to secure a gold medal for Germany by scoring the final six points and turning an 83-82 deficit into an 88-83 victory over Turkey.

Schöder (16 points, 12 assists), former NBA wing Isaac Bonga (20 points, 4-of-4 three-pointers), and Magic forward Franz Wagner (18 points, eight rebounds) were the standout performers for Germany, which has won two of the past three major international basketball competitions.

Although the Germans didn’t make the podium at the Paris Olympics last summer, the country is now the defending FIBA World Cup (2023) and EuroBasket (2025) champion and has posted a 21-2 record in those three tournaments, per HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Germany outlasted a Turkish national team that was led by Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28 points), former NBA forward Cedi Osman (23 points, 6-of-9 on three-pointers), former NBA guard Shane Larkin (13 points, nine assists, six rebounds), and Sixers big man Adem Bona (12 points, 5-of-5 shooting).

While they weren’t able to claim their first EuroBasket championship, Turkey matched their best-ever result by taking silver. The Turkish team lost to Yugoslavia in the 2001 final, which was the only other time the country made the championship game.

Schröder was named the EuroBasket Most Valuable Player after leading the Germans to their first title in the event since 1993. He scored at least 16 points in all nine games, averaging 20.3 points and 7.2 assists per contest.

The 2025 EuroBasket All-Star Five was made up entirely of NBA players, with Lakers guard Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) joining Schröder, Wagner, and Sengun (Twitter link).

Antetokounmpo and the Greek national team beat Finland in the third-place game earlier on Sunday.

Fischer’s Latest: Kuminga, Bulls, Knicks, Bryant, Sixers, More

September 12th, 2025 at 4:12pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls are unlikely to emerge as a viable sign-and-trade suitor for Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga after agreeing to re-sign their own RFA (Josh Giddey), according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). However, Fischer suggests that Chicago is worth keeping an eye on as a future landing spot for Kuminga, given that the Bulls project to have significant cap room beginning in 2026.

The fact that the Bulls and many other teams around the NBA should have cap space available next summer is one reason why Kuminga is “strongly considering” accepting his $8MM qualifying offer, which would allow him to hold an implicit no-trade clause for the coming season and reach unrestricted free agency in 2026, Fischer writes. While Kuminga’s preference would be to negotiate a longer-term deal, the Warriors haven’t yet seemed inclined to budge off their two-year, $45MM offer that includes a second-year team option.

Still, there’s a sense that a resolution on Kuminga might not be far off. Anthony Slater of ESPN said during an NBA Today appearance (YouTube link) that there have been “renewed efforts” this week to bridge the gap between the two sides, while Fischer says people connected to the negotiations believe there could be movement within the next week.

Here’s more from Fischer:

The Knicks weighed the possibility of signing free agent big man Thomas Bryant but ultimately decided to prioritize depth in the backcourt and on the wing, league sources tell Fischer. The team reached non-guaranteed deals this week with Malcolm Brogdon, Landry Shamet, and Garrison Mathews, who will each compete for a roster spot.
Following up on his report about Sixers veterans Andre Drummond and Kelly Oubre Jr. being on the trade block, Fischer clarifies that the front office doesn’t appear to be operating with any sort of “clear-cut directive” to move either player. Trading Drummond and/or Oubre without taking back any salary would help create a more favorable cap/tax situation as Philadelphia looks to re-sign restricted free agent Quentin Grimes.
The Kings‘ decision to waive Terence Davis, who had a non-guaranteed contract, likely signals that they don’t expect to need his outgoing salary for matching purposes in a trade before the season, Fischer observes. “The only reason for Sacramento to have kept Davis this long was to have potentially used him in a trade,” one league source told The Stein Line.
Celtics big man Luka Garza had hoped to suit up for Bosnia and Herzegovina at this year’s EuroBasket tournament but has yet to be cleared by FIBA, according to Fischer, who explains that Garza’s appeal will be heard after EuroBasket ends. If he gets clearance, Garza could represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2027 World Cup.

Turkey Ousts Greece, Will Vie For EuroBasket Gold

September 12th, 2025 at 2:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Turkey jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter of Friday’s EuroBasket semifinal vs. Greece and never looked back, expanding that lead in each quarter en route to a 94-68 blowout win.

The victory secures Turkey’s spot in the EuroBasket championship game on Sunday. It will be the first time since the country hosted the tournament in 2001 that it has competed in the gold medal game — Turkey lost to Yugoslavia 24 years ago and has never won a EuroBasket title.

Rockets center Alperen Sengun had another big game on Friday, racking up 15 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists as Turkey outscored Greece by 24 points during his 33 minutes of action. However, the team’s leading scorers were forward/center Ercan Osmani, who had 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting, and Cedi Osman, who scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting and was a team-best +32.

Osmani was also the primary defender against Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had his worst game of the tournament with just 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting. The Bucks forward, who had scored at least 25 points in each of his five previous EuroBasket games, had 12 rebounds and five assists, but committed five turnovers and was a -30 in 30 minutes.

Turkey and Germany will square off for EuroBasket gold on Sunday with their matching undefeated (8-0) records on the line. The Germans have three active NBA players and two former NBAers on their roster, including Franz Wagner of the Magic and Dennis Schröder of the Kings; Turkey’s roster features two current NBA players – Sengun and Sixers big man Adem Bona – and five ex-NBA players.

Greece, meanwhile, will go up against Lauri Markkanen and the Finnish national team in Sunday’s third-place game.

Atlantic Notes: Z. Williams, Simmons, Celtics, Sixers

September 10th, 2025 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets swingman Ziaire Williams waived his right to veto a trade as part of his new two-year contract agreement with the Nets, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).

A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year deal or a two-year deal that includes a second-year option is typically given an implicit no-trade clause, but a team can ask the player to give up that no-trade clause upon signing. Because Williams – whose contract features a second-year team option – agreed to do so, he would lose his Bird rights if he’s traded ahead of February’s deadline.

Brooklyn has been looking to maintain trade flexibility while re-signing its free agents to short-term deals — the team has gotten Williams and Day’Ron Sharpe to waive their trade veto rights and sought to get Cam Thomas to do the same. However, Thomas opted to accept his qualifying offer, taking a lesser 2025/26 salary in order to maintain full control over a potential trade.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Following up on reports indicating that Ben Simmons rebuffed interest from the Knicks and is no longer being represented by agent Bernie Lee, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post directly connects the two developments — a source tells Bondy that Lee dropped Simmons as a client after the former No. 1 overall pick “sent signals that he wasn’t interested in whatever came from his agent’s conversations with the Knicks.”
A panel of NBC Sports Boston staffers, including NBA insider Chris Forsberg, consider which of the Celtics‘ two-way players is most likely to help the team this season. The consensus is that big man Amari Williams, the 46th overall pick in June’s draft, has the clearest path to regular playing time, given the key frontcourt players Boston lost this offseason.
Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required) explores some burning roster-related questions facing the Sixers ahead of the 2025/26 season. Outside of the obvious uncertainty related to Joel Embiid‘s and Paul George‘s availability, Mizell considers what the backcourt rotation will look like and how the team will replace Guerschon Yabusele‘s production following his departure in free agency.

Rockets Notes: Eason, Durant, Playing Time, Owens, Sengun

September 10th, 2025 at 9:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

Many people around the league believe the Rockets will work out a long-term extension with Tari Eason before finalizing a new deal with Kevin Durant, according to William Guillory of The Athletic.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently reported that Durant and the Rockets are expected to reach an extension agreement at some point.

Eason has an expiring contract — the Rockets exercised a $5.68MM club option on the final year of his rookie deal for 2025/26. The fourth-year forward averaged a career-high 12.0 points and 1.7 steals per game while making 57 appearances last season.

Here’s more on the Rockets:

In the same story, Guillory opines about a pleasant dilemma: Does Houston have too many good players? Guillory believes coach Ime Udoka will have a difficult time figuring out how to divvy up minutes among so many players capable of heavy minutes on a good team.
Mark Owens, a Houston-area boxing trainer, has become a vital asset to the Rockets — the team’s director of performance, Willie Cruz, describes Owens as “an extension of our strength coaches.” Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle (subscription required) profiles how Owens, who served a federal prison term, turned his life around and helped the Rockets become one of the more physical teams in the league.
Former Sixers forward Furkan Korkmaz is playing alongside Rockets center Alperen Sengun for Turkey in the EuroBasket tournament. Korkmaz called Sengun, not Joel Embiid, the best center he’s played with in his career. “He’s a special kid and every day he’s trying to give his maximum,” he said in a video posted by Eurohoops Turkey.

Sixers’ Andre Drummond, Kelly Oubre On Trade Block?

September 8th, 2025 at 1:30pm CST by Rory Maher

During his latest Bleacher Report live stream (YouTube link), NBA insider Jake Fischer said there have been persistent rumblings that the Sixers may be considering a salary-dump deal to give them more financial flexibility to re-sign restricted free agent Quentin Grimes.

“There has been buzz all summer long about the Sixers looking to potentially move one of, if not both, Andre Drummond and/or Kelly Oubre,” Fischer said. “If they are able to find a deal for one of those two guys as we get closer to camp, that would open up some more wiggle room for Philadelphia to be able to pay Grimes a little bit more (money).”

Both Drummond ($5MM) and Oubre ($8.4MM) exercised their player options for 2025/26 and will be unrestricted free agents next offseason.

This isn’t the first time Drummond has been mentioned in trade rumors this summer — Tony Jones of The Athletic reported on June 30 that Philadelphia was trying to move the two-time All-Star center. But we haven’t heard anything else on that front until now.

Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) noted a few days ago that the Sixers could potentially dip below the luxury tax line while re-signing Grimes if they traded both Drummond and Oubre. Gozlan pointed to the Nets — the lone NBA team with cap room remaining — as a potential match.

A source confirmed to Net Income of NetsDaily.com that acquiring Drummond (along with other assets) would be the type of move Brooklyn is looking for.

Oubre is also no stranger to trade rumors and makes logical sense as a player on an expiring contract who could be moved. But we haven’t seen any reports linking him to a specific team.

When our Luke Adams discussed yesterday in a Front Office article what a contract compromise might look like between Grimes and the Sixers, he floated the possibility of a four-year, $65MM deal with a partial guarantee in year four.

For what it’s worth, Grimes recently took to Instagram to post a picture of himself in a Sixers uniform, as Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports relays (via Twitter).

Finding Contract Compromises For Top Three Remaining RFAs

September 7th, 2025 at 1:03pm CST by Luke Adams

It's September 7 and three of the summer's top restricted free agents remain unsigned. By all accounts, there has been no real movement in weeks for Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, and Sixers wing Quentin Grimes, but we're still expecting resolution at some point this month, prior to the October 1 deadline for restricted free agents to accept their qualifying offers.

As those standoffs drag on, we're taking a closer look today at what "compromise" contracts might look like for Giddey, Kuminga, and Grimes.

These aren't necessarily the contracts we expect them to eventually sign. There's no guarantee that one side or the other will budge from its current position -- either the team or the player may have to cave sooner or later, rather than the two sides meeting somewhere in the middle. In the case of Nets guard Cam Thomas, for instance, signing his $6MM qualifying offer wasn't a "compromise," but it was how his free agency ultimately concluded.

In our view, the proposals below represent fair resolutions for both the player and team, leaving both sides feeling like they came out of the negotiations with a reasonable outcome.

Let's dive in...

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Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Celtics, Queta, Bona

September 6th, 2025 at 4:28pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Knicks will enter the 2025/26 season as a favorite to make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals, but the team will invariably deal with a variety of challenges throughout the year, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Post details (subscriber link).

Staying healthy will be crucial for New York.

All-Defensive forward OG Anunoby has dealt with his fair share of health issues within the past few seasons, as has All-NBA center Karl-Anthony Towns. Practically everyone got hurt during the club’s 2024 playoff run, before Towns was on the roster. The Knicks have added some veteran depth this summer to hopefully serve as insurance for potential injuries during the season.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

In a poll of colleagues, NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg takes a look at how the Celtics could potentially surprise people’s reduced expectations following an offseason of change. Boston traded away former starters Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, let backup center Luke Kornet walk in free agency, and appears ready to do the same for Al Horford. The team is in something of a holding pattern as it awaits the return of All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum from an Achilles tear, which may not happen until 2026/27.
Celtics center Neemias Queta, the team’s fourth-string option at the position last year, will compete for rotational minutes with new signings Luka Garza and Chris Boucher. The seven-footer, who underwent surgery to address a lingering knee issue, is hoping for a career-best showing in 2025/26, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. “I got rested enough this offseason and I think that I put myself in the best position to have a breakout season,” Queta said. “I have the tools to compete with the best.”
Second-year Sixers big man Adem Bona is competing for his adopted homeland of Turkey in this year’s EuroBasket tournament. He moved there from Nigeria when he was 13. The 6’9″ pro spoke on Saturday about how his hoops journey began around that time, per Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. “I only played for a year before I left home to move to Turkey,” Bona said. “My first basketball shoes were given to me by a friend… Basketball was just something I really liked because of the pace and the tempo. So it kind of drove me to the game when I started playing for the first time. It was really amazing.”

Sixers’ McCain Says He’s ‘On Pace’ To Be Ready For Camp

September 2nd, 2025 at 6:29pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Second-year Sixers guard Jared McCain‘s rookie campaign in 2024/25 was ended by a lateral meniscus tear after just 23 games. However, the 6’2″ pro is optimistic about his ability to return to the hardwood in time for training camp this fall, reports Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire.

On hand to celebrate Philadelphia’s new arena name reveal, the No. 16 pick in 2024 detailed his recovery process to date.

“Yeah, my plan, for sure, is to participate (in camp),” McCain said. “I mean, anything can happen, but for right now, I’m on pace, and I’m doing great for that.”

Given McCain’s expectation that he’ll be available for training camp, it seems that he is very much on track to suit up for the Sixers’ October 22 regular season opener against the Celtics, Carlin notes.

“I think right now, it’s just kind of taking it day by day,” McCain said. “I’m getting on-court (work), doing a lot of stuff, a lot of live stuff, but I still have to talk to them about exactly if I’m free for everything, but I’m definitely getting there.”

Across his 23 healthy contests on the 24-58 Sixers last year, the Duke alum averaged 15.3 PPG, 2.6 APG, 2.4 RPG and 0.7 SPG. He posted an impressive .460/.383/.875 shooting line and finished seventh in Rookie of the Year voting despite his limited availability.

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