Flagg, Knueppel, Edgecombe Among Rising Stars Participants
The 2026 Rising Stars event will feature 11 sophomores, 10 rookies and seven G League representatives, the NBA announced in a press release. The mini-tournament will take place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on February 13.
Here’s the full list of participants:
Rookies
- Cedric Coward, Grizzlies
- Dylan Harper, Spurs
- Egor Dёmin, Nets
- Tre Johnson, Wizards
- VJ Edgecombe, Sixers
- Kon Knueppel, Hornets
- Jeremiah Fears, Pelicans
- Collin Murray-Boyles, Raptors
- Cooper Flagg, Mavericks
- Derik Queen, Pelicans
Sophomores
- Matas Buzelis, Bulls
- Alex Sarr, Wizards
- Stephon Castle, Spurs
Reed Sheppard, Rockets- Donovan Clingan, Trail Blazers
- Cam Spencer, Grizzlies
- Kyshawn George, Wizards
- Jaylon Tyson, Cavaliers
- Ajay Mitchell, Thunder
- Kel’el Ware, Heat
- Jaylen Wells, Grizzlies
G League
- Sean East II, Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz‘s affiliate)
- Alijah Martin, Raptors 905
- Ron Harper Jr., Maine Celtics
- Tristen Newton, Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets‘ affiliate)
- David Jones Garcia, Austin Spurs
- Yang Hansen, Rip City Remix (Trail Blazers‘ affiliate)
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser, San Diego Clippers
All 10 of the rookies — headlined by No. 1 overall pick Flagg, No. 3 Edgecombe, and No. 4 Knuppel — were lottery selections in last year’s draft, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links). By contrast, only five of the sophomores were lottery picks, with three being first-rounders outside of the lottery and three picked in the second round.
NBA assistant coaches selected the 21 rookies and sophomores, according to the release, and those players will be drafted onto three different seven-player teams on Tuesday at 6:00 pm CT on Peacock. Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady will draft and be the “honorary coaches” of the three squads, while Austin Rivers will be the honorary coach for the G League representatives.
The four actual head coaches will be assistants from the All-Star game coaching staffs.
Six of the seven players representing the G League are actually on NBA contracts: Yang (No. 16) and Niederhauser (No. 30) were 2025 first-round picks, while Martin, Harper, Newton and Garcia are on two-way deals with their respective clubs. East, who played in Canada and Romania last season, is the lone player on an actual G League contract after Utah waived him in the fall.
Dylan Harper, the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft, is the younger brother of Ron Harper Jr. Both players are the sons of longtime NBA guard Ron Harper, who won five championships with the Bulls and Lakers.
As for the tournament itself, the four teams will face off in a single-elimination semifinal, with the two winners competing in the final. The semifinal is first to 40 points, whereas the final will be first to 25.
Sixers Sign Charles Bassey To 10-Day Contract
JANUARY 26: Bassey’s signing is official, the Sixers announced (via Twitter).
JANUARY 24: Charles Bassey will sign a 10-day contract with the Sixers, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The move will give Philadelphia 15 players on standard contracts and will enable the team to continue using two-way players Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker. Both were on the active roster for Saturday’s game against New York, bringing the Sixers to their 90-game “under-15” limit for the season.
Although a player on a two-way contract can be active for up to 50 regular season games, teams can’t use their two-way players for more than 90 combined games if they’re carrying fewer than 15 players on standard contracts.
If Bassey signs on Monday, Barlow and Walker can continue playing on two-way deals through February 4, which takes them to the eve of the trade deadline. In that scenario, Bassey’s 10-day contract would cover the team’s next six games.
Sources tell Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) that the Sixers are trying to get Bassey to Charlotte so he can sign his contract before Monday night’s game. A massive storm that’s covering much of the United States is complicating travel plans.
Bassey, a 25-year-old center, is averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds per game with Santa Cruz in the G League. Following an outstanding Summer League performance with Boston, he signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Atlanta in September. The Hawks waived Bassey prior to the start of the season, and he inked a 10-day hardship contract with Memphis in late October. He appeared in two games during that time, but was let go when the contract expired.
This will be Bassey’s second stint with the Sixers, who selected him with the 53rd pick in the 2021 draft. He was released after playing 23 games as a rookie and spent the next three seasons in San Antonio.
Sixers Willing To Consider Trading Andre Drummond
The Sixers are willing to move veteran center Andre Drummond before next week’s trade deadline, sources tell Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required).
Drummond, 32, holds a $5MM expiring contract. He provides a reliable backup for Joel Embiid when Embiid is able to play and a veteran presence in the starting lineup when he’s not. But the strong performance of second-year big man Adem Bona has lessened the need to keep Drummond on the roster.
Drummond has appeared in 35 games this season, making 16 starts and logging 20.0 minutes per night. One of the league’s best rebounders, he’s averaging 7.1 points and 9.0 boards per night while shooting 49.7% from the field.
A report last month noted that the Knicks have shown interest in Drummond in the past, but New York has limited flexibility on the trade market due to its hard cap and may be more focused on backcourt help.
Pompey explores the Sixers’ overall trade outlook heading into the deadline, concluding there are no pressing needs on the roster. He notes that the team is about $7MM above the tax threshold and roughly $1MM away from the first apron. They have a history of making deals to avoid the tax, but that philosophy could be different this year as they’ve shown signs of being one of the East’s best teams when their star players are healthy.
Pompey points to veteran guard Eric Gordon, who has a $3.63MM expiring contract, as another player who could be moved. Gordon, who’s 37 and in his 18th NBA season, has only appeared in six games and hasn’t played at all since December 23. He agreed to the deal in July after turning down a $3.47MM player option, but he only counts $2.3MM against the cap, which could help his trade value.
Pompey suggests the Nets or Jazz might be convinced to take on Gordon if a sweetener is included, but he also points out that Gordon has been serving as a mentor to rookie standout VJ Edgecombe, which is an argument for keeping him on the roster.
Pompey notes that Kelly Oubre Jr. ($8.3MM) and Quentin Grimes ($8.7M) have expiring contracts as well, and Grimes holds an implicit no-trade clause that allows him to veto any deal. There are teams around the league that are watching to see if the Sixers are willing to part with Oubre, according to Pompey.
Pompey also makes a case for keeping second-year guard Jared McCain, who has fallen out of the rotation and was sent to the G League last week. McCain was off to a promising start before an injury ended his rookie season after 23 games, and Pompey notes that he provides insurance in case Grimes leaves in free agency this summer.
Atlantic Notes: Oubre, Poeltl, Anunoby, Knicks
Kelly Oubre Jr. has proven himself too valuable for the Sixers to trade at the upcoming trade deadline, Keith Pompey writes for The Inquirer. Oubre is on an expiring contract, but as the team looks more and more like a potential playoff threat, Pompey believes that what the 6’8″ wing brings in terms of role versatility and two-way play on the wings is not something that can be easily replaced.
Oubre has played shooting guard, small forward, and power forward for the Sixers this season, depending on who was healthy and in the rotation around him. He defends opposing teams’ best players and is knocking down 38.0% of his three-point attempts.
“He plays both ends, right?” asked coach Nick Nurse. “I think that’s the main thing. He’s been pretty effective on both ends, and the other probably main thing is he’s in about his 10th year. He’s got a lot of stuff under his belt. A lot of minutes. A lot of games, too. That helps, too.”
Pompey writes that the only real benefit of moving Oubre would be cap and tax relief, but that’s a goal that should be pursued in the offseason, not in the midst of a season in which the team is hoping to make some noise in the playoffs.
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Jakob Poeltl being out indefinitely with a lower back strain has put the Raptors in a very difficult position, says TSN’s Josh Lewenberg (Twitter video link). According to Lewenberg, Toronto’s preference is to be patient with the veteran big man, who is under contract through the 2029/30 season, but the lack of progress he has made in his recovery is a major wild card when it comes to the Raptors’ trade deadline approach. Toronto has been linked to multiple high-level centers in this trade cycle, including Domantas Sabonis, and the question of how long it will take Poeltl to return to form hangs over all trade talks, as well as the Raptors’ long-term outlook.
- After Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out on Saturday against the Sixers, Knicks coach Mike Brown tried something new, putting OG Anunoby at the five as the primary defender on Joel Embiid. The new-look lineup sputtered at times, but delivered when it mattered, writes Newsday’s Steve Popper. “We can’t do anything like that if you don’t have a guy like OG,” Brown said. “OG allows us to play the basketball game in a lot of different ways. And so we were able to do it.” Anunoby had a critical trio of plays on the offensive end, slamming home a put-back dunk, then hitting a three, then passing to Landry Shamet for a critical three. However, it was the other end of the floor that impressed Brown the most. “OG changed the game defensively,” Brown said. “And his quick decisions with the basketball, it was beautiful to watch. But defensively, guarding their power forward, guarding Paul George and then guarding Joel Embiid. He was phenomenal defensively.”
- Miles McBride and Shamet have established themselves as premier shooters in the NBA, but it’s their defense that’s proving indispensable for the Knicks, writes Jared Schwartz for the New York Post. Brown has repeatedly referred to the pair of guards as the best point-of-attack defenders on the team, and that was put into practice in Saturday’s win against the Sixers, when McBride and Shamet closed the game over Mikal Bridges. “You don’t stop those types of guys (Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe), but to have a guy like Deuce coming off the bench, have a guy like Landry — both those guys are physical at the point of attack, whether those guys are trying to get over pick-and-rolls or trying to get over (dribble handoffs) or even pindowns,” Brown said. “And to have that type of relentless pursuit with athleticism and strength and toughness and the mindset is phenomenal. And obviously, we need those guys.”
NBA Announces Schedule Updates For Two Monday Games
Monday’s game between the Pacers and Hawks has been moved up to 12:30 pm CT due to inclement weather in Atlanta, the NBA announced on Sunday (via Twitter).
A second game on Monday will be played earlier as well, with the Sixers and Hornets now slated to tip off at 2:00 pm CT due to the weather conditions in Charlotte, per the league.
The NBA postponed two games on Sunday because of Winter Storm Fern.
As Brad Rowland notes (Twitter link), the Pacers-Hawks game was originally scheduled for 6:30 pm CT. The Sixers-Hornets contest was originally set for 6:00 pm, tweets Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
Hornets Notes: Bridges, Miller, Hot Streak, Schedule
Several teams reportedly have interest in Hornets forward Miles Bridges, but he said after Saturday’s win over Washington that his preference is to remain with Charlotte, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer (subscription required). Boone points out that Bridges is often the subject of trade speculation at this time of year, so he’s not affected by it.
“Just focus on winning, focus on controlling what I can control,” Bridges said. “If I get traded, if I don’t get traded. … I would rather be here. But I know if I do get traded, I know (president of basketball operations) Jeff Peterson and those guys, they’ll talk to me first. So, I don’t try to worry about that. I just worry about the games.”
Bridges, who is earning $25MM this season, has one year left on his contract at $22.8MM, which is viewed around the league as a team-friendly deal. He has spent his entire career with the Hornets after being drafted in 2018 and has been through a lot of losing, but he’s excited about the direction the team is headed with a talented young nucleus.
“Yeah, I for sure want to be a part of it,” Bridges said. “I feel like everybody else wants everybody to stay together. But you’ve just got to control what you can control, continue to stack games.”
There’s more from Charlotte:
- Brandon Miller‘s progress was slowed by injuries after an outstanding rookie season, but he’s proven that he can still be a reliable scoring threat since returning to action in mid-November, Boone states in the same piece. Miller, who’s considered to be one of the team’s few untouchables on the trade market, has reached at least 20 points in the last six games. He also expressed a desire to keep the current roster together. “That’s the goal,” Miller said, “to have everybody stay here. But unfortunately, it’s the game. We only can control what we can control. So, I think just controlling the controllables would be great.”
- The Hornets improved to 18-28 and are showing signs that they may be able to challenge for a play-in spot. Boone notes that they have the NBA’s highest net rating over the past 10 games, ranking second in offensive rating at 121.4 and sixth in defensive rating at 109.5. In addition, the combination of Miller, Bridges, LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel and Moussa Diabate boasts the league’s best plus-minus rating at +29.1.
- Today’s game was moved to a noon ET tip-off because of a severe storm expected to arrive in the Charlotte area. There are concerns that the weather might affect Monday’s home game against Philadelphia, but the current plan is to play it as scheduled, according to Boone, who states that the Sixers are flying into Charlotte shortly after today’s game against New York.
And-Ones: Bediako, Barcelona, Tax Teams, Worst Contracts
Former G Leaguer Charles Bediako is expected to play for Alabama against Tennessee tonight, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reports.
Bediako was granted a temporary restraining order earlier this week, allowing him to participate in activities and games for Alabama while he awaits a hearing on a preliminary injunction regarding his eligibility.
“We are planning to play him,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “He’s eligible to play. We’re going to follow the court orders.”
It turns out that the judge who issued the order is an Alabama booster, according to Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports. Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Jim Roberts and his wife Mary Turner Roberts are listed as active athletic donors on The Crimson Tide Foundation’s website, with lifetime contributions between $100K and $249K.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches held a conference call regarding the matter on Friday. Afterward, Dan Gavitt, the NCAA Senior VP of Basketball, released a statement voicing their concerns about college eligibility, Borzello tweets.
“If these rules surrounding the NCAA pre- and post-draft rules cannot be enforced, it would create an unstable environment” for the student-athletes, schools and the NBA, Gavitt said, in part.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Barcelona plans to pass on the NBA’s proposed league in Europe. FC Barcelona’s Board of Directors issued a statement declaring its allegiance to the EuroLeague: “The Board of Directors has agreed to ratify the extension of the first men’s basketball team’s participation license in the EuroLeague for the next 10 seasons (until the 2035-36 season), a competition of which it is a co-founding member. The Board of Directors reaffirms its desire to always participate in the best existing competitions.”
- In his latest Substack article, cap expert Yossi Gozlan takes a deep dive into the teams over the luxury tax and discusses why some teams just over the line have waited to make moves to get below the threshold. Gozlan also takes a look at how the Sixers are navigating the eligibility clocks for two-way players Jabari Walker, Dominick Barlow and MarJon Beauchamp.
- The Sixers‘ star duo of Joel Embiid and Paul George hold the top two spots in the “Worst Value Contracts” in the NBA, according to Spotrac contributor Keith Smith. Jakob Poeltl, Patrick Williams and Dejounte Murray round out the top five among Smith’s top 20 in that category.
NBA Rumors: Trade Deadline, Bridges, Mavs, Luka, Lakers
While the grand majority of in-season trades occur during the week of the deadline, this season has been unusually slow as far as deal-making goes. For instance, at this time last year, we had already seen five in-season trades — to this point in 2025/26, we’ve only had one. So why haven’t we seen more action?
ESPN’s Bobby Marks recently spoke to NBA front office executives to get a better understanding of the answer to that question. There are four main reasons for the relative lack of activity to this point, Marks writes.
The first and most important factor holding up the market, per Marks, is that rival teams are waiting to see if Giannis Antetokounmpo requests a trade or if the Bucks decide to listen to offers for the two-time MVP.
Second, a few teams who were viewed as potential deadline sellers entering the season — including the Celtics, Sixers and Suns — are instead vying for home court advantage in the postseason. As Marks observes, Philadelphia made multiple deals last year to dip below the luxury tax line, but that’s unlikely to occur again in ’25/26.
Third, the Mavericks and Grizzlies will likely get underwhelming offers for Anthony Davis and Ja Morant, respectively, leading up to the deadline with their values at low points, so they may not be moved prior to February 5. Davis is out several weeks due to ligament damage in his left hand, while Morant, who has missed extended time this season with calf issues, has been diagnosed with a UCL sprain in his left elbow and was ruled out of Friday’s loss at New Orleans (Twitter link via the Grizzlies).
The final factor for the slow-moving market, according to Marks, is that teams seem more willing to retain their own expiring contracts to maintain financial flexibility in the summer rather than take on multiyear salaries that could disrupt future plans. Multiple teams, including the Lakers, Bulls and Jazz, have long lists of players who could hit free agency in 2026, Marks notes.
Here are a few more rumors from around the NBA:
- Confirming a report from Sam Amick of The Athletic, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) says the Suns are indeed fans of Miles Bridges. However, the Hornets reportedly want at least one first-round pick for the veteran forward, and Gambadoro points out that Phoenix lacks moveable first-rounders to include in such a deal. Gambadoro also confirms the Suns are reluctant to risk upsetting their positive chemistry by making a significant in-season move, and suggests a minor trade is more likely.
- Ahead of Luka Doncic‘s second game in Dallas since he was shockingly traded to Los Angeles last February, Christian Clark and Dan Woike of The Athletic share several sourced notes on both the Mavericks and the Lakers. According to the authors, part of the reason the Mavs — led at the time by head of basketball operations Nico Harrison, who has since been dismissed — moved Doncic is because they believed he had poor habits related to conditioning and were concerned about the calf strain he sustained in late December 2024 and possible future injuries. One source in the Mavericks’ organization compared Doncic to Elvis Presley and claimed the trade helped him develop better habits and get in better shape. “They got skinny Elvis,” the team source told The Athletic.
- People close to Doncic dispute that characterization, however, and say that line of thinking is a factor in why the Slovenian star is no longer on the Mavericks. According to Clark and Woike, Doncic’s camp believed whether he was traded or not, he “was on a path to improving his diet and conditioning as he matured.” Doncic and those around him have been focused on the present and future and not the past, per the report.
- It took multiple seasons for the Mavericks to surround Doncic with sort of complementary players that led to a trip to the NBA Finals in 2024, and it will take time for the Lakers to reshape their roster around the 26-year-old guard as well, sources in L.A. tell The Athletic. Those same sources noted that the Lakers need to upgrade their athleticism, defense and shooting, and some people around the organization think the any significant roster changes will occur in the offseason, not ahead of the deadline.
- The Mavericks have started the process of vetting candidates to replace Harrison on a permanent basis, per Clark and Woike, but are unlikely to hire anyone until at least the spring. The Athletic’s duo point out that Harrison, a longtime Nike executive, had no previous experience running an NBA team when he was hired in 2021. That won’t be the case for his replacement. “(They) are going to over-index on the safety aspect of it,” a league source told The Athletic.
Sixers Notes: Embiid, Oubre, Barlow, Walker, Grimes
Joel Embiid continues to round back into form for the Sixers, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, who notes that the 46 minutes the former MVP played in Thursday’s overtime win over Houston represented his highest single-game regular season total in over three years.
Embiid made the most of those 46 minutes, racking up 32 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists, en route to a 128-22 victory. Philadelphia outscored the Rockets by 21 points when he was on the court.
“It’s certainly a pretty big step forward, I think, for sure,” head coach Nick Nurse said after the game.
Knee problems have been a recurring issue for Embiid in recent years — he didn’t look fully comfortable on the court during the 19 games he played in 2024/25 or at the start of this season. However, in his past 15 outings, the veteran center is averaging 28.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. Sixers forward Paul George, who has dealt with several injuries of his own, is happy to see his teammate looking more like his old self.
“He’s starting to feel it, he’s getting better and that competitive juice and everything is starting to flow,” George said. “You see it even with him at practice, and so you can see he was coming back, he was starting to form back into the Joel Embiid that we all have seen him dominate in this league. It’s definitely refreshing just from a personal level, dealing with injuries and how that takes a toll on you. It’s just always great to see someone start to get back to themselves.”
We have more on the 76ers:
- Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. is on an expiring contract, which makes him a potential trade candidate at the deadline, but he’s making a strong case with his recent play for the team to hang onto him, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). Since rejoining the starting lineup on Monday, Oubre has averaged 21.7 PPG on .558/.611/.545 shooting in his past three games.
- Oubre was initially reinserted into the starting five in place of George, who missed a couple games due to left knee injury management. However, he remained in the lineup on Thursday with George active, as Nurse moved forward Dominick Barlow to the second unit. “I think Barlow has played outstanding and played outstanding again tonight,” Nurse said after the game. “But Kelly obviously has been a pretty big spark plug, getting to the rim and just guarding. Just guarding really good, tough matchup every night as well. So I went that way. He’s pretty experienced as well.”
- Speaking of Barlow, he and fellow two-way player Jabari Walker were active again on Thursday, increasing the Sixers’ total “under-15” two-way games to 88, two away from the 90-game limit. In order to continue using both Barlow and Walker beyond Saturday, Philadelphia will have to either promote one of them to its 15-man roster or sign someone else to fill that 15th roster spot. Although a player on a two-way contract can be active for up to 50 regular season games, teams can’t use their two-way players for more than 90 combined games if they’re carrying fewer than 15 players on standard contracts.
- After averaging 17.0 PPG and 4.4 APG on .456/.381/.854 shooting in his first 21 games this season, Quentin Grimes is down to 9.8 PPG and 3.0 APG on .396/.317/.875 shooting in his past 20. Nurse said he wants to see Grimes “attack the rim” more and stressed that the swingman has the green light to fire away from beyond the arc. The Sixers’ coach added that tweaking Grimes’ role has also been considered. “I think we really thought that he was a much better player off the bench, that he liked to see the game a little bit and come in and play,” Nurse said. “And I think we’re having some discussions lately, that maybe that’s not the case, and maybe we’ll start sticking him back into the starting lineup a little bit to see if that helps.”
Stein’s Latest: Butler, Morant, Sixers, Mavericks
The Warriors will reportedly consider all their options leading up to the February 5 trade deadline, but it’s unlikely that they’ll include Jimmy Butler in an in-season trade after he suffered a season-ending ACL tear, Marc Stein writes for The Stein Line (Substack link). General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said as much on Tuesday, and that wasn’t just posturing, according to Stein.
As Stein explains, while the Warriors went that route with De’Anthony Melton last season after he tore his ACL, Melton was on a modest expiring contract, whereas moving Butler’s deal ($54.1MM this season, $56.8MM in 2026/27) would be far more complicated. Additionally, Golden State has posted a 46-22 regular season record with Butler on the court since acquiring him last season and still believe he can return and help the team before the end of the 2026/27 season.
On top of that, there’s the human element to consider, Stein notes. Dunleavy played with Butler in Chicago before his retirement as a player and has known him for more than a decade, which could make the Warriors’ GM more reluctant to part ways with the star forward in the early stages of his recovery from a serious injury.
Here are a few more rumors and notes from Stein:
- Ja Morant‘s popularity in Memphis will be a factor the Grizzlies take into account as they weigh trade scenarios involving the two-time All-Star, says Stein. In Stein’s view, the Grizzlies would have a hard time selling their fans on a return similar to the one Atlanta got for Trae Young earlier this month (CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert) and would probably need to get back more than a couple favorable veteran contracts to make a deal worthwhile. Given the limited league-wide interest in Morant so far, extracting a stronger package that includes intriguing young talent and/or draft assets will be a challenge.
- The Sixers and Mavericks are among the teams with multiple players on two-way contracts whom they want to promote to their standard roster before the end of the season, Stein writes. A league source says Philadelphia is expected to find a way to convert both Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker, and Stein believes Dallas will seek a path to promote both Ryan Nembhard and Moussa Cisse. The 76ers currently have one open standard roster spot but are operating in tax territory, while the Mavs have a full 15-man roster and minimal flexibility below its second-apron hard cap.
- As we outlined over the weekend in a Front Office story, the Sixers are fast approaching their limit of 90 “under-15” games — a team carrying fewer than 15 players on its standard roster can only use a total of 90 active games for all of its two-way players, and Philadelphia is now at 86. That means in order to keep Barlow and Walker active beyond this Saturday, one will have to be promoted sooner rather than later, or the 76ers will have to fill their 15th roster spot with a newcomer.