And-Ones: Extensions, Draft Sleepers, Edwards, Partizan
In a subscriber-only story for The Third Apron, Yossi Gozlan takes a look at 11 players around the NBA who are currently eligible for veteran contract extensions.
According to Gozlan, Spurs wing Julian Champagnie has been a complete bargain on his current deal and should be in line for a considerable raise. San Antonio holds a $3MM team option on Champagnie for 2026/27, which the team would have to decline to extend him.
As Gozlan writes, the maximum the 24-year-old could receive on an extension would be $87MM over four years. Gozlan suggests a four-year deal in the $75-76MM range could be a reasonable compromise for both sides.
Gozlan also projects extensions for Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (two years, $24MM) and Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic (exact same structure), among others.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- John Hollinger of The Athletic lists nine of his favorite sleepers ahead of the 2026 draft. Hollinger acknowledges that some of the players on his list, including Santa Clara forward Allen Graves and Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie, may decide to return for another college season in 2026/27. A couple other sleepers Hollinger mentions (Corey Camper and Emanuel Sharp) will be automatically draft-eligible, as they’re both fifth-year seniors.
- Former NBA big man Jesse Edwards, who spent last season on a two-way deal with the Timberwolves, is in advanced talks with Spanish club Baskonia about a rest-of-season contract, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. The Dutch center played for Melbourne United in Australia in 2025/26, averaging 13.5 PPG, 8.5 RPG and 1.1 BPG in 35 games (22.4 MPG).
- In an extensive interview with Milun Nesovic of Serbian outlet Meridian Sport, Partizan Belgrade president Ostoja Mijailovic discussed a number of current and former NBA players, as Eurohoops and Sportando relay. The Sixers were limited to offering Partizan $875K as part of a buyout for Cameron Payne, yet the EuroLeague club received $1.75MM in that agreement. According to Mijailovic, the remaining $875K came from Payne himself. Mijailovic confirmed Partizan forward Isaac Bonga received NBA interest last month, but the team had the option to decline the $875K buyout it was offered for Bonga and did so because it values him. However, the former second-round pick could be on the move this summer, as Partizan will no longer have the option to turn down a buyout offer for Bonga once ’25/26 ends.
- Mijailovic also expressed regret for the lucrative deals given to Jabari Parker and Shake Milton, and said the team remains fond of Dante Exum, who was waived by Washington last month after being traded by Dallas. Exum hasn’t played at all this season due to a knee injury. “It is certainly our desire to bring back players who left a mark at Partizan and who can help the team on the court,” Mijailovic said, per Eurohoops. “Exum is one of the players we all adored, and we still adore him.”
Cameron Payne Signs With Sixers
February 18: Payne has officially signed with the Sixers, the team confirmed today in a press release.
February 16, 11:41 am: Partizan Belgrade has officially announced Payne’s departure for the NBA and the $1.75MM buyout fee it will receive to release him, Stein tweets.
February 16, 8:59 am: Cameron Payne will leave his European team and join the Sixers for the rest of the season, league sources tell Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
The 31-year-old guard was in training camp with the Pacers last fall, but was waived before the season began. In December, he agreed to a deal with KK Partizan in Serbia, heading overseas for the first time in his career.
However, Payne has been held out of recent games, sparking rumors that he might be headed elsewhere, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. He appeared in just 10 games for Partizan, averaging 12.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals. Askounis adds that the Serbian team will receive $1.75MM in a buyout agreement.
It may take some time to secure Payne’s release from Partizan, Stein tweets. The Sixers have to obtain a Letter of Clearance from FIBA, and they can only contribute up to $875K toward his buyout.
The move will mark a return to Philadelphia for Payne, who finished the 2023/24 season with the Sixers after being acquired from Milwaukee at the trade deadline. He averaged 9.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 31 games and remained in the team’s rotation for the playoffs.
Payne signed with the Knicks in the summer of 2024 and appeared in 72 games last season before becoming a free agent again.
The Sixers are down to 13 players on standard contracts after 10-day deals for Charles Bassey and Patrick Baldwin Jr. expired over the weekend. They have enough room to add two players on prorated veteran minimum contracts for the rest of the season without going into luxury tax territory, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).
Philadelphia is low on experienced guards after trading Jared McCain to Oklahoma City, so Payne will have a chance to contribute right away. The Sixers’ season will resume Thursday against Atlanta.
Cameron Payne Signs With KK Partizan
Free agent point guard Cameron Payne has signed a rest-of-season contract with KK Partizan, the Serbian team announced today in a press release.
A 10-year NBA veteran who was selected with the 14th overall pick of the 2015 draft, Payne has appeared in 477 regular season games for seven teams since debuting a decade ago. In 2024/25, he suited up for the Knicks, playing in 72 games (five starts) and averaging 6.9 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per night, with a .401/.363/.907 shooting line.
Payne, 31, was in camp with the Pacers this fall, but didn’t play well in the preseason, shooting just 28.6% from the field and registering nearly as many turnovers (six) as assists (seven). He was waived when Indiana set its roster for the regular season and has been a free agent since then.
Marc Stein reported nearly two months ago that KK Partizan, a EuroLeague team based in Belgrade, was showing “serious” interest in Payne, then followed up a few days later to say that the longtime NBA point guard was continuing to seek out opportunities stateside rather than immediately committing to a team overseas.
It seems no favorable NBA opportunities emerged for Payne, who is joining a Partizan team that also reportedly engaged in discussions with free agent sharpshooter Malik Beasley. Payne will become part of a roster that features several other former NBA players, including Jabari Parker, Duane Washington Jr., Isaac Bonga, Bruno Fernando, Sterling Brown, and Nick Calathes.
Scotto’s Latest: Markkanen, Hornets, Murphy, Walker, Kuminga, More
Utah will send its 2026 first-round pick to Oklahoma City if it lands outside the top eight, and if the season ended today, the 10-15 Jazz would have the NBA’s 10th-worst record, making their first-rounder likely to change hands. Given that context, executives around the league are wondering if Utah’s front office will be active on the trade market in the hopes of weakening the roster in the short term and ensuring the club keeps that pick, writes Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
However, according to Scotto, the Jazz continue to signal that they want to build around forward Lauri Markkanen, despite trade interest in the star forward. In the past, rival execs have viewed the Pistons, Spurs, and Grizzlies as potential suitors for Markkanen if he’s made available, Scotto notes.
As for Utah’s plans beyond this season, the team hopes to use its 2026 cap room to improve its roster, either via free agency or the trade market, Scotto writes. Retaining Walker Kessler still appears to be a priority too — the Jazz turned down a trade offer for Kessler from the Lakers similar to the one L.A. made for Mark Williams, sources tell HoopsHype. The Jazz could carry a cap hold of about $14.6MM for Kessler next summer before going over the cap to re-sign him at a starting salary higher than that.
Here’s more from Scotto:
- The Hornets are hoping to get an extended look at their roster with LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, and Miles Bridges all healthy and available. Still, Scotto hears that Miller’s inconsistent availability has executives around the NBA wondering if the former No. 2 overall pick might not be as untouchable in trade discussions as he once was.
- The Warriors and Trail Blazers are among the teams who are high on Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III, but rival executives believe Golden State would prioritize making a run at Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo before giving up significant assets to land Murphy, Scotto writes. There’s also still plenty of skepticism that New Orleans would part with Murphy at all, with some execs speculating that it might take a package similar to what Memphis got for Desmond Bane.
- Following up on his previous report stating that the Pacers are among the teams with interest in Keon Ellis, Scotto notes that Indiana forward Jarace Walker came up in trade discussions with the Kings. However, Scotto cautions that it’s unclear which team brought up Walker’s name in those talks that he describes as “exploratory.”
- Checking in on Jonathan Kuminga, Scotto says the Kings continue to monitor the Warriors forward, but confirms that the Suns‘ interest level has decreased and that the Nets were never all that interested. The Pelicans have also been linked to Kuminga in the past, but it’s unclear whether they have interest now, Scotto adds.
- Partizan Belgrade, the Serbian team recently linked to Malik Beasley, has also expressed interest in free agent point guard Cameron Payne, sources tell HoopsHype. As for Beasley, he has also drawn interest from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the EuroLeague, as well as the Chinese Basketball Association teams Liaoning, Guangdong, and Shanxi, per Scotto.
And-Ones: Payne, Fernando, Free Agents, Breakout Candidates
After being waived by the Pacers earlier this month, veteran point guard Cameron Payne reportedly received strong interest from KK Partizan, a EuroLeague-team based in Belgrade, Serbia. However, according to veteran NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link), Payne has opted to forgo overseas opportunities for now and will remain stateside in order to seek out his next NBA opportunity.
A 10-year NBA veteran who has earned regular playing time in Phoenix, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York in recent years, Payne appeared in 72 games for the Knicks last season, averaging 6.9 points and 2.8 assists in 15.1 minutes per night while shooting 40.1% from the floor, including 36.3% from beyond the three-point line.
Payne received a training camp invitation from Indiana this fall but didn’t make a strong case in the preseason for a regular season roster spot, shooting just 28.6% from the field and registering nearly as many turnovers (six) as assists (seven).
We have more from around the basketball world:
- While Payne apparently won’t be headed to Belgrade, another NBA veteran is set to join KK Partizan. As Javier Molero of Eurohoops relays, big man Bruno Fernando is signing with the Serbian club to fortify its frontcourt. Fernando, whose last stop was Real Madrid, made 220 regular season appearances in the NBA for four teams from 2019-25. He played in 17 games last season for the Raptors, but has been out of the league since being waived by Toronto in January.
- Even though the 2025/26 season is now underway, there are still several notable players who finished last season on NBA rosters and remain unsigned. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report ranks the top 10 players who fit that bill, with Malik Beasley, Ben Simmons, and Precious Achiuwa topping his list.
- Jeremy Woo of ESPN identifies his top five breakout candidates for the 2025/26 season, including Celtics wing Payton Pritchard, Pistons center Jalen Duren, and Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard.
And-Ones: Payne, Key, Raman, Breakout Players
EuroLeague team Partizan Belgrade has expressed “serious” interest in free agent point guard Cameron Payne, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (via Twitter).
As Stein notes, the Serbian club is looking for a backcourt replacement in the wake of a serious ankle injury to former NBA guard Carlik Jones, who will reportedly miss three months of action.
Payne has spent most of the past 10 seasons in the NBA after being selected 14th overall in 2015. He appeared in 72 regular season games with the Knicks in 2024/25, averaging 6.9 PPG and 2.8 APG in 15.1 MPG.
The 31-year-old went unsigned for nearly the entire offseason prior to catching on with Indiana on October 9. However, Payne didn’t play well during the preseason, and the Pacers decided to waive him before ’25/26 began even though they had (and still have) several backcourt injuries.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Four-year NBA veteran Braxton Key, who spent all of training camp and the preseason with Memphis before being cut last week, has officially signed a rest-of-season deal with Valencia Basket, the Spanish team announced in a press release (hat tip to Eurohoops). The 28-year-old forward was named G League Defensive Player of the Year last season and finished out ’24/25 on a standard contract with Golden State.
- Sonia Raman, who was an assistant coach with the Grizzlies from 2020-24 prior to spending last season as an assistant with the WNBA’s New York Liberty, has agreed to a multiyear contract to become the Seattle Storm’s new head coach, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The Storm also compete in the WNBA.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic lists 12 players he believes are primed for breakout seasons, including younger stars like Spurs center Victor Wembanyama and Lakers guard Luka Doncic, as well as more under-the-radar players such as Raptors big man Sandro Mamukelashvili and Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon Jr. A pair of young Wizards wings — Cam Whitmore and Kyshawn George — are also breakout candidates, according to Hollinger.
Pacers Waive Cameron Payne, Two Others
3:36 pm: The Pacers have officially waived Payne, the team confirmed in a press release. Recent signees Kyle Guy and Ray Spalding, who are ticketed for the Noblesville Boom in the G League, have also been cut, per the Pacers.
According to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link), the team is still weighing its options at the back of the roster, including whether to keep all of its centers or potentially add another point guard.
2:47 pm: Cameron Payne won’t make the Pacers‘ regular season roster, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), who reports that the team plans to waive the veteran point guard.
After initially targeting Monte Morris this fall for a training camp deal, Indiana pivoted to Delon Wright, who was injured during the preseason, prompting the club to sign Payne last week as a replacement.
A 10-year NBA veteran who has earned regular playing time in Phoenix, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York in recent years, Payne had a potential path to a roster spot on a Pacers team that will be without star Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles tear) for the entire 2025/26 season and is also currently missing T.J. McConnell (hamstring).
However, Payne didn’t stand out over the course of three preseason games, shooting just 28.6% from the field and registering nearly as many turnovers (six) as assists (seven). After getting a start in his first preseason outing as a Pacer, the 31-year-old came off the bench in the last two and was behind rookie guard (and preseason standout) Taelon Peter in the rotation on Friday.
Payne was on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract, so waiving him won’t leave any dead money on the Pacers’ cap. Indiana is now in position to keep center Tony Bradley, who is on a standard non-guaranteed contract, assuming the team plans to carry a full 15-man standard roster into opening night.
T.J. McConnell Out At Least One Month With Hamstring Strain
Pacers point guard T.J. McConnell will be sidelined for at least one month after suffering a left hamstring strain, head coach Rick Carlisle announced today (Twitter link via the team).
McConnell was forced to leave Tuesday’s preseason opener in the second quarter due to the injury.
Obviously, it’s a disappointing development for the Pacers, who will be without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton for the entire season after he sustained a torn Achilles tendon in the first quarter of Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. Second-round pick Kam Jones, another guard, is expected to miss multiple weeks with a back injury.
McConnell, 33, is entering his 11th NBA season and seventh with Indiana.
The veteran backup appeared in 79 regular season contests in 2024/25, averaging 9.1 points, 4.4 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 17.9 minutes per game. He also had a strong playoff showing, with very similar averages — 9.5 PPG, 4.0 APG, 3.3 RPG, 0.9 SPG — in 23 games (17.5 MPG).
Indiana originally intended to sign Monte Morris to compete for a spot as the third-string point guard behind Andrew Nembhard and McConnell, but the deal fell through when Morris suffered a calf strain. Veteran Delon Wright was signed instead, but was released Thursday morning in favor of Cameron Payne after Wright took two brutal blows to the head during Tuesday’s preseason opener.
Wright announced on social media (Twitter link) that he needed 10 stitches above his right eye and four on his right elbow, but is “doing good” otherwise.
According to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star, Payne will likely be the second-string point guard while McConnell recovers. Carlisle discussed the transactions this afternoon.
“It just didn’t work out with Delon,” Carlisle said, per Dopirak. “Cam’s here. We’ve seen a lot of Cam the last two years with Milwaukee and New York. He’s a guy we always had to account for in scouts and what not. It’s a great opportunity for him.”
“His speed, his long-range shooting ability is high level,” Carlisle said when asked what he likes about Payne’s game. “He’s experienced, knows the game, has good feel, and he’s a play-maker.”
Pacers Sign Cameron Payne, Waive Delon Wright
The Pacers have signed veteran point guard Cameron Payne and waived Delon Wright, the team announced in a press release.
Payne, who appeared in 72 regular season games with the Knicks last season, was one of the top free agents still on the market. Payne was signed to a training camp contract, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
Payne averaged 6.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 15.1 minutes per night last season with .401/.363/.907 shooting numbers. He scored 14 points off the bench and was a plus-23 overall in the opener of the Knicks’ first-round series against Detroit. However, his shooting numbers declined throughout the playoffs, and he was removed from the rotation during the Eastern Conference Finals.
The New York Post reported last month the Knicks were not interested in re-signing him.
Payne was selected by Oklahoma City with the 14th pick in the 2015 draft. He was traded to Chicago at the 2017 deadline and later spent time with Cleveland, Phoenix, Milwaukee and Philadelphia before signing with New York. He has appeared in 477 regular season games.
Ironically, Payne and Wright were teammates with the Knicks. Wright began last season with the Bucks before being traded to the Knicks ahead of the deadline. He averaged 3.1 points per game across 40 appearances with both teams and was a bit more productive in New York, averaging 4.3 points and 2.1 assists per night and making six playoff appearances. Wright has appeared in 548 regular season contests for 10 different NBA teams in a career that also began in 2015.
Wright was signed to an Exhibit 9 contract late last month. Exhibit 9 deals are standard, non-guaranteed contracts that protect an NBA team in the event that a player suffers a significant injury in training camp.
He played four minutes in the team’s preseason opener on Tuesday but was forced to exit after a head-to-head collision.
Knicks Won’t Re-Sign Cameron Payne
With the Knicks preparing to hold a three-man competition in training camp to fill an open roster spot, free agent guard Cameron Payne is no longer in their plans, a league source confirms to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link).
Payne came to New York last summer on a one-year minimum contract. He appeared in 72 games, making five starts and averaging 6.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 15.1 minutes per night with .401/.363/.907 shooting numbers.
Payne scored 14 points off the bench and was a plus-23 overall in the opener of the Knicks’ first-round series against Detroit. However, his shooting numbers declined throughout the playoffs, and he was removed from the rotation during the Eastern Conference Finals.
Unless they shed salary by making a trade, the Knicks only have enough cap flexibility below the second tax apron to add one more veteran on a minimum-salary contract. Malcolm Brogdon, Landry Shamet and Garrison Mathews all agreed to non-guaranteed deals this week and will battle for that spot on the roster.
Payne, 31, only has a couple of weeks to catch on with a new team before the start of training camp. There haven’t been any reports over the summer to indicate that he’s close to signing with anyone.
Payne was selected by Oklahoma City with the 14th pick in the 2015 draft. He was traded to Chicago at the 2017 deadline and later spent time with Cleveland, Phoenix, Milwaukee and Philadelphia before signing with New York.