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Clippers Notes: Next Steps, Leonard, Harden, LaVine

December 5th, 2025 at 10:27am CST by Luke Adams

What’s the best path forward for the 6-16 Clippers? Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN spoke to executives and scouts about that topic, with one of those execs pointing out that it’s in the best interest of 29 teams to come up with an answer that question, since L.A. owes the defending champion Thunder an unprotected 2026 first-round pick.

“We might need to get everyone in the league on a Zoom and brainstorm some ideas,” that executive joked. “Invite everybody except (Thunder general manager) Sam (Presti).”

As Bontemps and Windhorst outline, there was no consensus among their sources about what the ideal next step for the Clippers is. While several scouts and executives believe it would be in the team’s best interests to make in-season moves on the trade market, some think L.A. should be a buyer and other view the club as a seller.

Other sources who spoke to ESPN suggested the Clippers would be better off standing pat, suggesting that their roster – headlined by Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and Ivica Zubac – isn’t as bad as the record suggests.

“There are going to be several teams ahead of them in the standings that are eventually going to tank and (the Clippers) will be able to pass them,” one veteran executive told Windhorst. “They won’t admit it now, but there are stealth tankers already at play. You’ll be coming to me asking about the tanking epidemic in the spring.”

“It’s got to be better than this,” a Western Conference scout told Bontemps. “Ty Lue is a great coach. With Zubac, Harden and Kawhi, you’re just too talented to be this bad all season. You have to hold. We’ve only seen (22) games of it. Yes, it’s been terrible, but what can you do?”

Here’s more on the Clippers:

Among the scouts and executives who told ESPN the Clippers should be in-season buyers, the general feeling was that their cap situation – which includes several expiring or pseudo-expiring contracts – puts them in a good position to go shopping for a “blue light special” before February’s deadline. “There will be teams who will be willing to dump players in two months,” one exec told Windhorst. “Guys who might be able to help them.”
One scout who spoke to Bontemps specifically pointed to Kings guard Zach LaVine as a player who may appeal to the Clippers. LaVine would bring athleticism and give L.A. another scorer on the wing, and the cost would be modest — if the Clippers were to send out only expiring contracts, they might even be able to extract a draft pick from the Kings along with LaVine, who has a $49MM player option for next season, Bontemps writes. To clarify, there has been no reporting indiating that the Clips have interest in LaVine, so this is just speculation.
Although Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has deep pockets and has never gone into rebuilding mode since buying the team in 2014, some rival executives are wondering whether the team will consider it in this case, especially since its cap situation is relatively favorable.“There are a lot of ways to use cap space, and if they don’t believe in this core they could really turn their team over in a year if they got flexibility,” an assistant GM told Windhorst. “You look at what they figured out in Phoenix. They had a team that was too old and turned over that roster and it changed their entire outlook.”
One potential complication in a rebuilding scenario would be maximizing the return for veteran stars like Leonard and Harden on the trade market. The cap circumvention investigation into Leonard and his apparent no-show endorsement deal with Aspiration would limit the forward’s appeal, Bontemps writes. “James has maybe neutral value,” one Eastern Conference scout speculated. “Kawhi has negative value.”
Asked this week whether the Clippers’ unexpected split with future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul will diminish their reputation among players and agents, affecting their ability to recruit veteran stars in the future, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said it’s important the Clippers “own it,” per Law Murray of The Athletic. “You give context to everything. I don’t think you hide from it,” Frank said. “… With that being said, you still have to do what’s right for the team and organization, and we still feel that we have a terrific organization. … We’ve had a really, really successful run during the regular season with different iterations of the team. Chris was a large part of it, and then we were able to get into the conference finals on the next iteration of team, and now we’re on the next iteration of the team. And I do think we have to earn our way every time. But I’m also very, very, very confident that this will always be a destination franchise as long as Steve is owning the team.”

Harden, Leonard ‘Shocked’ By Clippers’ Split With CP3

December 4th, 2025 at 8:06am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers stars James Harden and Kawhi Leonard learned of the team’s split with Chris Paul via social media and told reporters on Wednesday that the news came as a surprise, according to reports from Joe Vardon of The Athletic and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

“I’m just as confused and shocked as you guys, the world,” Harden said after the Clippers’ win over Atlanta. “Definitely surprised me. But not just Chris, it’s a lot that we were dealing with. But that is out of my hands. I got to focus on what I got to focus on and what I can control. I guess the front office felt that was the best decision for the organization.”

“It was shocking to me,” Leonard said, adding that he had to re-read the news. “I guess they had a conversation, and front office made a decision.”

Reporting on Wednesday indicated that tension between Paul and head coach Tyronn Lue was one of the factors that contributed to the team’s decision to part ways with the veteran point guard. Lue addressed the situation prior to the Clippers’ game vs. Atlanta, telling reporters that this isn’t the outcome he was hoping for when L.A. signed Paul over the summer.

“Do I want to see CP go out like this? No, I have a lot of respect for him,” Lue said. “He’s been a friend of mine over the years, and you don’t want to see a great go out like this. I’m pretty sure he will find something because he’s a great player. [But] I didn’t want to see it end like this.

“… I don’t like it. It just didn’t work out like we thought it would. I don’t like it for CP. It just wasn’t a good fit, and we understood that. It was an organization (decision), they made the choice and so moving forward, we got to see what we do.”

Vardon, Sam Amick, and Law Murray of The Athletic shared more details on how the relationship between the Clippers and Paul deteriorated to the point that a divorce was necessary. Here are a few highlights from their report:

Paul’s “constant criticism” of the team was felt in “every corner” of the organization during the first several weeks of the season as the Clippers got off to a disappointing start. League sources tell The Athletic that members of the organization – including some teammates, as well as Lue and his coaching staff – took exception to the “acerbic” and “disparaging” nature of Paul’s perspective.
While Paul has been known to be an effective mentor to young players in the past, there weren’t many young players on the Clippers’ roster for him to take that role with, and his criticisms frequently came off as a “grating” and unhelpful among a group heavy on veteran players and coaches, league sources tell The Athletic.
Paul had multiple meetings with Clippers officials in recent weeks, with one source telling The Athletic that the club wanted him to stop “locker room lawyering.” League sources also told The Athletic that CP3 was “openly critical” of the team during a film session on Tuesday, though by that point the front officed had already made the decision to part ways with him.
When the Clippers signed Paul over the summer, they went to great lengths to manage his expectations for his role – which would be a modest one – in the hopes of avoiding a situation like this. Because he signed as a free agent, he’s not trade-eligible until December 15, so it remains to be seen whether the team will wait until then to try to work out a deal or if he’ll be waived earlier than that. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said during a media session on Wednesday that the club will work with Paul’s representatives to determine next steps.

Nikola Jokic, Cade Cunningham Earn Player Of The Month Honors

December 2nd, 2025 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Pistons guard Cade Cunningham are the NBA’s Players of the Month for October/November, earning the honor for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, per an announcement from the league (Twitter link).

It’s the ninth time that Jokic has won a Player of the Month award over the course of his 11-year career. He earned it in this case with a superlative start to the season that saw him comfortably average a triple-double – 28.9 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 10.9 assists per game – while leading Denver to a 14-5 record.

Jokic’s shooting percentages were arguably even more remarkable than his per-game averages, as he shot 63.7% from the field and converted 45.3% of his three-point attempts.

The Nuggets star came out on top of a competitive field that included nominees like fellow MVP candidates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder and Luka Doncic of the Lakers. Clippers guard James Harden, Rockets center Alperen Sengun, Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, Lakers guard Austin Reaves, and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards were also nominated for Player of the Month in the West, according to the NBA (Twitter link).

In the East, meanwhile, Cunningham’s Pistons have been one of the most pleasant surprises of the season’s first six weeks. While Detroit was viewed as a strong playoff contender, few NBA observers expected the team to win 16 of its first 20 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference at the end of November.

Cunningham was the driving force behind the Pistons’ hot start, averaging 28.8 points, 9.4 assists, and 6.4 rebounds in 36.8 minutes per game across 17 outings, while shooting 45.6% from the floor and 81.5% from the free throw line.

Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown, Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Heat guard Norman Powell, Magic forward Franz Wagner, and Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were also nominated for Eastern Conference Player of the Month, which Cunningham won for the first time in his career.

Clippers Notes: Struggles, Powell, Harden, Zubac

December 2nd, 2025 at 7:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers went just 2-13 in November, making it one of the worst months in franchise history, writes Law Murray of The Athletic. As Murray observes, the Clippers have had 13 or more losses in a month in the past, but none of the other versions of the team that achieved that ignominious feat had the sort of expectations entering the season that this one did.

Injuries have resulted in the Clippers relying on certain players more than they wanted to, Murray notes, with John Collins and Kris Dunn having entered the starting lineup in recent weeks despite head coach Tyronn Lue determining before the season that he preferred having both players coming off the bench.

Many of the Clippers’ offseason additions also haven’t worked out as expected. Center Brook Lopez and point guard Chris Paul have very much shown their age and have fallen out the rotation, while shooting guard Bradley Beal suffered a hip injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season.

A defense anchored by Ivica Zubac was one of L.A.’s strengths last season, when the team finished third in defensive rating. However, the Clippers have plummeted to 27th in that category this season, according to Murray, who writes that the club doesn’t get back on defense, doesn’t defend three-pointers or rebound well, and doesn’t force turnovers.

Here’s more on the struggling Clippers:

The Clippers’ December began the same way their November did — with a loss at the hands of the Heat, led by former Clipper Norman Powell. Powell scored a team-high 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting and was a +33 in his 32 minutes on the court, as his former club fell to 5-16 on the season. “I would have never guessed that they were going to be 5-16 and where they’re at right now,” Powell said after the game, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
As Reynolds details, after the Heat opened the second half on a 9-0 run on Monday, Lue pulled his entire starting five just 86 seconds into the third quarter. Four of those five players eventually got back into the game, but James Harden – who had five turnovers and was a -39 in 20 minutes – didn’t return. According to Reynolds, Lue entered the post-game interview room almost immediately after the game ended, didn’t see anyone there, and left, so there wasn’t an opportunity to ask him about the lineup decision.
As bad as the season has gone for the Clippers, they’re in a decent position to pivot away from their current roster if they’re not able to turn things around in the coming weeks, writes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link). While the Clippers don’t control several of their own draft picks in the next few years – including, most notably, the 2026 first-round pick they owe the Thunder – they also don’t have any long-term salary obligations on their books and could probably extract solid value for some of their veterans on the trade market. Zubac, in particular, would be a very popular target, given his age (28) and team-friendly contract (three years, $58.7MM).

Western Notes: Clippers, Suns, Rockets, Wembanyama, Spurs

November 30th, 2025 at 10:43pm CST by Rory Maher

Head coach Tyronn Lue thought having Kawhi Leonard back in the fold would help turn around the Clippers‘ disappointing season, but that hasn’t happened over the past four games, observes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Los Angeles has dropped all four contests since Leonard returned and is now 5-15 after losing at home to a struggling Dallas team on Saturday.

“I know we’ve had some tough circumstances in the last five years, which is six years, but I have been able to figure it out. But this year, it’s been tough,” Lue said.

Lue has tried several different lineup combinations over the first 20 games, Carr writes, but none have been effective. With an injured and aging roster, both the present and future are looking pretty bleak, leading to fans on social media calling for major changes, including the ouster of Lue. Fans aren’t the only ones who are frustrated.

“The situation here is difficult,” James Harden said. “We’re not making shots offensively. Defensively, we just allow game-plan mistakes, we allow that to happen too many times, so that’s one of the reasons why we lose games.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

On the other end of the spectrum, the Suns have been one of the most surprising teams in a positive way through the first quarter of the season. As Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic writes, Phoenix was widely projected to miss the playoffs in 2025/26, and those predictions looked accurate after the team started out 1-4. However, the Suns have gone 11-5 since and are currently 12-9, making them the No. 7 seed in the West. Whether the team’s success is sustainable remains to be seen, but Phoenix has dealt with its share of injuries as well and continues to find ways to remain competitive with players out.
The 13-4 Rockets have the NBA’s second-best offense despite attempting the fewest three-pointers in the league and not shooting well on their two-point tries, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. Houston’s unusual offensive strategy is reliant on dominating the boards, which leads to extra shot attempts — the Rockets are outrebounding their opponents by more than 10 per game, with most of that work coming on the offensive glass.
Injured star Victor Wembanyama has been cheering on the Spurs as he continues to recover from a calf strain, per Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. The French big man has been leading the team’s supporter section — nicknamed “The Jackals” — during recent home games. In fact, Wembanyama came up with the idea of the section and hand-picked the captains over the summer, McDonald writes. “The saying goes, when people show you who they are, believe them,” head coach Mitch Johnson said. “He’s been committed and invested. He’s trusted. He’s worked. He’s had his actions back up his words. It’s awesome.”

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Lakers, Gillespie, Kings, LaVine

November 27th, 2025 at 8:36pm CST by Rory Maher

Star guard James Harden remains confident the struggling Clippers can turn things around after a disappointing 5-13 start to the season, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Los Angeles has a pair of seemingly winnable matchups on tap, facing Memphis (7-12) on Friday and then Dallas (5-14) on Saturday.

“What else are we going to do? Confidence (comes) every day when we wake up, right?” the 12-time All-Star said after the Clippers’ 135-118 loss to the Lakers on Tuesday. “We got a lot of games left where we can hit a stride, but we’ve dealt with literally everything you can do from injuries to different lineup changes. …We’re figuring it out. But tonight was a good step, start for us.”

According to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), Harden is dealing foot soreness but he is not listed on Friday’s injury report. Veteran wing Bogdan Bogdanovic has been ruled out for a fourth consecutive game due to a left hip contusion, Murray adds.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Lakers anticipate having Deandre Ayton back for Friday’s game vs. Dallas, listing their starting center as probable to play after he missed Tuesday’s contest with a right knee contusion, tweets Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group. Marcus Smart‘s status is more uncertain, as he’s questionable against the Mavericks due to back spasms.
Amid injuries to Jalen Green (right hamstring strain), Grayson Allen (right quad contusion) and Ryan Dunn (right wrist sprain), Collin Gillespie received his first start of the season on Wednesday and played well, recording 21 points and nine assists in 34 minutes during the victory in Sacramento. Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic wonders whether the former Villanova point guard has done enough this season to warrant consideration for a full-time starting role when the Suns are back at full strength. Green, Allen and Dunn will all be sidelined again on Friday at Oklahoma City, Rankin notes (via Twitter).
Heading into Wednesday’s game, the Kings had won two straight contests after an eight-game losing streak. They experienced another setback on Wednesday, according to Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee, with Zach LaVine setting the wrong type of tone early by committing consecutive turnovers on the team’s first two offensive possessions. The Kings trailed by 25 points after the first period and never held a lead in the eventual 12-point loss. “Not good,” said LaVine, who finished with 13 points (on 5-of-14 shooting) and six turnovers. “We’re frustrated we’re not winning. Guys are frustrated they’re not playing right or playing the way to best suit them. We’re all trying our heart out though. That’s what we get paid for.”

Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell Named Players Of The Week

November 24th, 2025 at 2:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (Twitter links).

Gilgeous-Alexander led the defending champions to four wins during the week of November 17-23 while averaging 31.0 points and 6.5 assists per contest and shooting 60% from the field and 64.3% from beyond the arc. Oklahoma City was +82 in SGA’s 125 minutes on the court last week.

Gilgeous-Alexander also earned Player of the Week honors three weeks ago and is the second repeat winner of the award this season, joining Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

Mitchell posted averages of 31.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game as the Cavaliers went 3-1 this past week. He opened and closed the week with matching 37-point performances against the Bucks and Clippers, going 14-of-22 from the field in each of those two outings.

Santi Aldama (Grizzlies), Luka Doncic (Lakers), De’Aaron Fox (Spurs), James Harden (Clippers) and Jokic (Nuggets) were the other Western Conference nominees for Player of the Week.

Jalen Duren (Pistons), Josh Giddey (Bulls), Brandon Ingram (Raptors), Kon Knueppel (Hornets), Tyrese Maxey (Sixers), Norman Powell and Kel’el Ware (Heat), Ryan Rollins (Bucks) and Franz Wagner (Magic) were also nominated in the East.

Pacific Notes: Harden, Christie, DeRozan, J. Green, Smart

November 23rd, 2025 at 1:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Entering Saturday’s matinee game at Charlotte, the Clippers were just 4-11 and had lost three straight games. Former MVP James Harden put the team on his back to lead Los Angeles to a 15-point victory, setting a franchise record by scoring an extremely efficient 55 points — he was 17-of-26 from the field, including 10-of-16 from three-point range, writes Law Murray of The Athletic.

The 36-year-old guard, who also had seven assists and three rebounds in his 35 minutes, erupted for a career-high 27 points in the first quarter. Harden has now scored 50-plus points 25 times, Murray notes, tying Kobe Bryant for the third-most 50-point games in NBA history — he only trails Wilt Chamberlain (118) and Michael Jordan (31).

“Needed a win,” said Harden, who led the league in scoring three years in a row as a Rocket. “At this point, it’s about winning. So, I had to do what I had to do.”

Harden tied Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic for the highest-scoring game of the season, notes ESPN News Services.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Veteran forward DeMar DeRozan expressed uncertainty about his future with the Kings after they lost their eighth straight game on Thursday. Following Saturday’s victory in Denver, Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee asked Doug Christie about DeRozan’s comments and how he handles those situations as the head coach (Twitter video link). “When it comes to the business of basketball, I talk to all of our players,” Christie said. “So I’m open to any of that communication, because they know I’ve been through it before. I understand. All of that stuff is extremely difficult. … It’s part of what we do. The trade deadline comes, all these different things happen and we have to deal with it.”
While Suns guard Jalen Green is “a little bummed” that he’ll miss Monday’s game against Houston, his former team, his overall attitude remains positive and he has been supporting his teammates on the sidelines, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “Guys got their head down, I’m always going to pick somebody up,” Green said. “I would want that reciprocated if y’all see me like that. I know I’m a leader of this team, one of the leaders of the team. My voice is important. I know energy is important, too.” Green is recovering from a hamstring injury that has plagued him since training camp.
With LeBron James back in the Lakers‘ starting lineup on Tuesday, Marcus Smart was moved to the bench and played a season-low 17 minutes. Smart says he tries to find ways to impact the game regardless of his role, per Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times. “I like to [think of] myself as a Swiss Army knife,” Smart said Saturday as the Lakers prepared for a game at Utah on Sunday. “It’s not one thing I do great, but I do everything very well. … People come back, people get hurt. People have great games, have bad games. You have to adjust to whatever the game is calling for at that moment.”

Clippers Notes: Beal, Leonard, Collins, Harden

November 12th, 2025 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bradley Beal‘s season-ending hip fracture isn’t related to any other injury he has experienced, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank told reporters on Wednesday (Twitter link from Mark Medina).

Beal underwent a right knee scope in May and saw limited action during training camp. He had been on a minutes restriction all season before suffering the hip injury in Saturday’s game against Phoenix. Frank said the injury occurred on this play with 9:12 remaining in the second quarter.

“He did everything he (was) asked. He’s a high character guy. I feel horrible that he’s dealing with this,” Frank said. He added that doctors are “extremely optimistic he’ll make a full recovery” and said the time off will help him get over lingering “knee inflammation.”

In an interview with Medina for Essentially Sports, agent Mark Bartelstein also expressed optimism about Beal’s future and said his client had been making progress with the knee issues.

“It’s devastating for him. He’s put so much work into his body and recovered from the scope this past summer,” Bartelstein said. “He was actually going to have his minutes restriction lifted. So everything was trending in the right direction. He was going to be able to get back to play his normal minutes. Then to have this happen is devastating. There’s no way around it.

“But the good news is that he’ll have a full recovery. It’s going to take a while, just as it takes a while for these fractures to heal. But talking with all the doctors, he’s going to have a full recovery. He should do great with the surgery. We got to put all of our energy and focus toward the rehab, which is what we’re going to do.”

There’s more on the Clippers:

Kawhi Leonard is dealing with a “significant” foot sprain as well as the right ankle sprain that was reported over the weekend, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Frank said Leonard is making progress and will join the team for its upcoming road trip, where doctors will monitor his condition to determine when he can resume playing. “We will have a better feel for it next week,” Frank said.
With John Collins making his second straight start tonight, Lue talked about how he expects Collins to fit into that role (Twitter video link from Law Murray of The Athletic). “Just understand spacing the floor, especially when you’re on the floor with (Ivica Zubac) and James,” Lue said. “There’s not really a lot of room in that paint area, that 15-foot area.”
James Harden blames a lack of consistency for the team’s 3-7 start, saying that lineup changes from game to game have made it difficult for the players to establish any rhythm together, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register (subscription required). “Some guys haven’t played ever, some guys are just being put in the rotation,” Harden said. “Some guys are new here, their first 10 games. That’s a lot that goes into it, so I don’t think we can pinpoint and put our fingerprint on one thing. I think it’s a variety of things that’s happening that hopefully we can come to a halt very soon.”

Look Ahead At Potential 2026 Free Agents

August 8th, 2025 at 9:59pm CST by Eli Cohen

Free agency is not the headline event it once was in the NBA, as a large portion of the top players on the market tend to extend, like Luka Doncic did last weekend with the Lakers, or move in trades rather than signing with new teams. However, there are still likely to be talented players available and ready to contribute to new situations, as Zach Harper details for The Athletic.

Teams like the Lakers, Clippers, and Heat have made an effort to keep their flexibility for next year, write Tim Bontemps and Kevin Pelton for ESPN. However, those teams are also expected to try to maintain cap space for 2027, a summer in which multiple MVPs – Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic – could potentially reach the market, though of course neither is guaranteed to be available.

The Celtics will also likely look to retool their roster next summer after trading away key contributors in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis for salary cap relief, as they seek to rebuild their roster into a contender around Tatum once he has recovered from his Achilles tear.

Trae Young, with a $48.9MM player option for the 2026/27 season, has the potential to be one of the top names on the board, and while Harper expresses confidence that an extension with the Hawks will get done, there have been rumors that it’s far from a certainty, and that next season could serve as an evaluation period for the Hawks’ core under a new head of basketball operations.

Other high-end veterans with player options for ’26/27 include James Harden (Clippers), Zach LaVine (Kings), Draymond Green (Warriors), Austin Reaves (Lakers), Andrew Wiggins (Heat), Fred VanVleet (Rockets), and Bradley Beal (Clippers). Harper considers Harden, Green, and Reaves very likely to remain with their current teams, and VanVleet also relatively likely to stay, though the Rockets have some level of flexibility in regard to the future of their roster.

Then there are the unrestricted free agents. As of this moment, LeBron James (Lakers) and Kevin Durant (Rockets) represent the cream of the crop, but there are other talented players such as Porzingis (Hawks), Anfernee Simons (Celtics), Coby White (Bulls), and others who are sure to garner suitors.

For what it’s worth, Durant has been widely expected to extend with Houston, but James is ineligible to be extended prior to free agency and White’s salary is so modest relative to his value that he’s considered likely to wait until he can get a bigger payday on the free agent market.

One interesting inflection point will be players on team options, such as Isaiah Hartenstein and Luguentz Dort on the Thunder, and Bogdan Bogdanovic and Brook Lopez on the Clippers. The Thunder, particularly, could have some tough decisions to make on their role players soon as lucrative extensions take effect for stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams.