And-Ones: Yurtseven, Metu, KD, Wiseman, Dybantsa
A pair of former NBA big men have signed new contracts and are set to resume their playing careers.
Former Heat and Jazz center Omer Yurtseven, who averaged 5.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in 113 NBA regular season appearances from 2021-24, has signed a G League deal and will join the Rockets‘ affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link). The Turkish big man has spent most of the past two years overseas playing for Panathinaikos, but recently parted ways with the Greek team.
Meanwhile, former NBA forward/center Chimezie Metu is headed to Europe, having agreed to join Gran Canaria in Spain for the rest of the 2025/26 season, according to an announcement from the team. Metu made 260 NBA appearances from 2018-24 for Sacramento, San Antonio, Phoenix, and Detroit, but signed with Barcelona for the 2024/25 season and then suffered a torn Achilles last March.
We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Rockets star Kevin Durant spoke recently about his desire to play for Team USA at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, and head coach Erik Spoelstra appears to be on board with the idea, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “Just him saying that is incredible,” Spoelstra said over the weekend. “You know, that’s the culture of USA Basketball. You just want the best American players to raise their hand and say, ‘I want to do this.'”
- Speaking of USA Basketball, Joe Vardon of The Athletic checked in this weekend with former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman, who was representing the U.S. in a pair of World Cup qualifying games against the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Wiseman viewed the games as “a test to see where I was at” following last season’s Achilles tear and an opportunity to show he deserves a spot on an NBA roster. Team USA head coach Stephen Silas believes he made a strong case. “He’s long, he can play pick-and-roll defense,” Silas said. “… He rebounds, he blocks shots. He’s a little rusty; scoring around the hoop was a little bit tough for him. But he belongs on the NBA roster.”
- Asked by McKay Coppins in an episode of Deseret Voices (YouTube link) if he thinks he’ll be the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft, BYU forward AJ Dybantsa suggested it’s not a sure thing that he goes pro this spring. “I might not leave college,” Dybantsa said (Twitter video link via The Deseret News). “… My mom wants me to graduate, so I might not leave.” It’s not uncommon for top prospects to make that sort of declaration during the college season – Cooper Flagg did the same thing a year ago – but it would be virtually unprecedented in recent draft history for a potential top pick like Dybantsa to actually follow through on the idea.
- Former Morgan Stanley investment advisor Darryl Cohen, who advised current Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday and other NBA players, was convicted by a Manhattan jury on Tuesday of wire fraud and investment advisor fraud, reports Michael McCann of Sportico. Cohen, who was charged for leading a scheme to defraud Holiday and former NBA players Chandler Parsons and Courtney Lee, arranged for those players to buy insurance policies at “massive markups” and moved money from their financial accounts into a fraudulent nonprofit organization under the guise that they were making charitable donations, as McCann details.
And-Ones: Mock Draft, Big Board, Wembanyama, USA Basketball
BYU wing AJ Dybantsa goes No. 1 overall in the latest mock draft from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. As Vecenie details, the 6’9″ freshman has put up incredible numbers, has elite athletic tools, and has made tremendous strides in terms of his offensive decision-making and passing. Dybantsa is still a work in progress on the other end though, per Vecenie.
Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson (No. 2 in Vecenie’s mock) and Duke power forward Cameron Boozer (No. 3) are all in contention to be selected with the first pick, Vecenie writes, but Dybantsa and Peterson are talked about more often for that spot.
According to Vecenie, North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson is the clear No. 4 player in a class that is “absurdly good” at the top. Then there’s another five players (Houston’s Kingston Flemings, Illinois’ Keaton Wagler, Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. and Tennessee’s Nate Ament) that teams would love to land.
The 10 through 30 spots in the first round are much trickier to pin down, Vecenie continues, in part because it’s unclear which players will return to school to potentially make more money because of name, image and likeness — some could get around $4MM, per Vecenie.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Jon Chepkevich of RookieScale.com has created a consensus big board using input sources from 13 different outlets (including The Athletic) and “dozens of other independent boards/mocks.” The same nine players listed above are the top nine on Chepkevich’s board, with Michigan big man Yaxel Lendeborg at No. 10 (he’s No. 19 in Vecenie’s mock) and Kentucky big man Jayden Quaintance at No. 11 (No. 12 in Vecenie’s mock).
- Third-year center Victor Wembanyama has become a minority investor in Nanterre, the French team with whom the Spurs star played from the ages of 10-17, per Eurohoops. Wembanyama made the announcement alongside his former coach in an interview with Yann Ohnona of L’Équipe. “I don’t even remember who approached whom first, but it happened naturally. I was born and raised in France. I want to have an impact on French basketball, and at Nanterre because that’s where I feel at home,” Wembanyama said.
- The U.S. men’s national team was upset by the Dominican Republic in a 2027 World Cup qualifying game last Thursday, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Team USA never led in the game and trailed by as many as 19 points. “Now I am very happy because every player that comes to the (Dominican Republic) national team, they feel love for this country, for this flag,” Dominican coach Nestor Garcia said. “In our country, the people support us. This is for the Dominican people.” As Vardon notes, the U.S. roster isn’t exactly star-studded considering it’s the middle of the NBA season, but several players with recent experience in the league are competing, including James Wiseman and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. After rebounding by blowing out Mexico on Sunday, Team USA is still 3-1 with eight qualifying games remaining, so the Americans aren’t in any danger of not qualifying for the World Cup at this point.
Wiseman Among NBA Vets Representing U.S. In World Cup Qualifiers
USA Basketball has formally announced its 12-man roster for the next window of FIBA World Cup qualifying games, which will tip off later this month.
The following players will represent Team USA in games against the Dominican Republic on February 26 and Mexico on March 1 at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California:
- Tevian Jones, G
- Taevion Kinsey, G
- Brandon Knight, G
- Dakota Mathias, G
- Elfrid Payton, G
- Jaden Shackelford, G
- Malcolm Hill, F
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, F
- David Roddy, F
- Terry Taylor, F
- Jeremiah Tilmon, C
- James Wiseman, C
Knight, Shackelford, and Tilmon also played for Team USA in the fall during the first window of World Cup qualifying games. The U.S. team, which is being coached by former Rockets head coach Stephen Silas, won both of those matchups against Nicaragua and will take its 2-0 record and a new-look roster into these qualifiers.
Wiseman is the most notable addition to the 12-man squad. The former No. 2 overall pick has appeared in 152 NBA regular season games over the course of six seasons in the NBA and suited up for the Pacers earlier in 2025/26. Wiseman has been a free agent since he was released by Indiana on December 26.
Payton, Robinson-Earl, Roddy, and Taylor are among the other newcomers with recent NBA experience. Last season, Payton played for New Orleans and Charlotte, Roddy suited up for three different teams, and Taylor had a brief stint with the Kings. Robinson-Earl, like Wiseman, played for the Pacers earlier in ’25/26 and also made five appearances for the Mavericks on a 10-day contract last month.
This is the second of six windows of qualifying games for the 2027 FIBA World Cup, which will tip off on August 27, 2027. Team USA will also compete in qualifiers in July, Aug./Sept., and Nov./Dec., with the final qualifying window opening in Feb. 2027.
The actual World Cup roster is unlikely to feature any of the players in this 12-man group, since the U.S. typically sends a more star-studded squad to the event itself, which takes place during the NBA offseason. However, the qualifying games give some less-heralded players the opportunity to represent their home country and to help Team USA clinch its spot in the World Cup.
Pacers Notes: Losing Streak, Wiseman, Sheppard, Nesmith, Flight Delay
The Pacers have lost seven straight, including a 140-122 defeat at the hands of the Celtics on Friday. Guard Andrew Nembhard says the team needs to raise its intensity level.
“Guys are fighting at times, but it’s not consistent,” Nembhard said, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “It’s not sustained throughout the whole game. Fighting sometimes doesn’t mean making shots or looking at the stat sheet, but doing those off-stat things. Sometimes we just have to put more onus on that and value it more.”
The Celtics, who led by as many as 28 points, shot 57% from the field and drained 20 three-pointers.
“It’s just everybody raising their intensity and their effort,” forward Jarace Walker said. “We’re just gonna have to get uncomfortable and do things that we’re not used to doing to end up on the winning side. Usually our talent and our skill and our shot-making take us there, but I think we have to find different ways to impact the game and just lay it out on the floor every night.”
Here’s more on the Pacers:
- Why did Indiana release center James Wiseman so quickly after signing him on Dec. 20? Wiseman had to be “released” because the terms of his 10-day contract lasted through Dec. 30 but the hardship exception he was added on only lasted through Dec. 25, according to beat writer Tony East (Twitter link). The Pacers would have needed to be granted another hardship exception for Wiseman to remain with the team.
- Ben Sheppard and Aaron Nesmith are “progressing” in their rehab, according to coach Rick Carlisle, and it’s possible that Nesmith will return this month, East tweets. Strategically planned workouts are on tap for both players. Nesmith has been sidelined since Nov. 13 due to a left knee sprain, while Sheppard has been out since Dec. 3 due to a calf strain.
- The Pacers play the second game of a back-to-back on Saturday with a road contest against the Heat. They didn’t arrive until the wee hours of the morning on Saturday as their flight to Miami was delayed for almost two hours, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets.
Pacers Release James Wiseman
The Pacers have cut center James Wiseman in addition to officially signing of Micah Potter and waiving Garrison Mathews, the team announced in a press release.
After playing one game for the team in late October, Wiseman rejoined the Pacers on December 20, signing a 10-day contract via a hardship exception. ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter) that Wiseman’s 10-day contract was terminated, which requires no waiver process but allows the big man to earn the full amount from the contract.
Wiseman suited up in three contests for Indiana after signing with them last week, averaging 13.0 minutes per game and scoring nine total points.
The former No. 2 overall pick in 2020 signed with the Pacers last season but only played five minutes before tearing his Achilles and missing the rest of the season. Still just 24 years old, he holds career averages of 9.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks in 18.8 minutes per night.
Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star notes (via Twitter) that the Pacers are not getting another hardship exception at the moment. The banged-up team has made seven hardship signings already this season but may no longer be eligible if Aaron Nesmith (knee) and Ben Sheppard (calf) are getting close to returning from their respective injuries.
Pacers Sign Micah Potter, Waive Garrison Mathews
11:57 am: The Pacers have officially signed Potter and waived Mathews, the team confirmed in a press release. As we relayed in another story, Wiseman was also released from his 10-day contract.
10:06 am: Free agent big man Micah Potter will sign a non-guaranteed contract with the Pacers, according to Tony East of Forbes (Twitter link). Garrison Mathews will be waived to create a roster opening, sources tell East.
Indiana needs Potter, a 6’9″ power forward/center because Isaiah Jackson is sidelined with a concussion and Tony Bradley is limited due to a thumb fracture, East adds. James Wiseman is nearing the end of the 10-day hardship contract he signed last Saturday.
Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star confirms the moves (via Twitter) and states that the Pacers won’t be granted another hardship exception at this time. A league source tells Dopirak that Potter’s contract will cover the rest of the season and will include a team option for next year (Twitter link).
Potter, 27, began his career with Detroit during the 2021/22 season and spent the past three years in Utah on a two-way contract. He has appeared in 64 total games with career averages of 4.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 18.6 minutes per night.
Potter signed a training camp deal with San Antonio in August, but was waived before the start of the season. He’s currently with the team’s Austin affiliate in the G League, averaging 15.6 points and 9.6 rebounds in 13 games.
Mathews came to Indiana in November on a pair of 10-day hardship deals and was given a standard contract after they expired. That deal was non-guaranteed, so the Pacers won’t be on the hook for any more money once Mathews is officially released.
The 29-year-old shooting specialist appeared in 15 games during his time with Indiana, scoring 5.2 points in 13.1 minutes per night while shooting 40.4% from the field and 37% from three-point range.
James Wiseman Hopes To Seize Opportunity In NBA Return
James Wiseman admits being devastated when the Pacers decided to waive him in October, and he hopes to make a strong impression as he returns to the team, even if his stay may be temporary, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.
Wiseman’s latest opportunity comes via the hardship exception, which Indiana used to sign him to a 10-day contract earlier today to provide front court depth. He was immediately placed on the active roster for tonight’s game at New Orleans.
“He’s been in California, working out,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s been finding pickup games out there. We worked him out early this morning. He looks great. He’s not in NBA game shape by any stretch, no one can be, but for somebody in his situation, he’s got the best headstart you can probably have.”
As Dopirak explains, Wiseman was the victim of a numbers crunch that led to his early-season release. He was the starting center October 25 against Memphis, marking his first game since tearing his Achilles tendon on opening night of the 2024/25 season, but the Pacers needed to open a roster spot to sign a guard after Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin all got hurt. They couldn’t afford the luxury of keeping four centers on the roster and decided to part with Wiseman.
He flew back to Indianapolis after receiving the news and talked with family members to work out his future.
“As soon as it happened, my mom came down, my family came down,” Wiseman said. “I was able to grieve for a little bit. Get that out. You can’t suppress that type of stuff. But as soon as I landed I got in the weight room and used all my anger and kind of worked out. Just trying to get all that out. I just kept working ever since then. I haven’t stopped.”
His relentless training took him to Irvine, California, where he played in pickup games over the past three weeks. His chance to return to the league came when backup center Tony Bradley suffered a fracture on the tip of his thumb. This time Indiana needed help in the middle, and Wiseman got a call on Thursday to meet the team in New Orleans.
Dopirak notes that Wiseman may not see much playing time over the next 10 days, as Jay Huff and Isaiah Jackson handle the bulk of center minutes. Bradley believes he’ll be able to play with a splint on his thumb, even though it limits his ability to shoot and handle the ball.
Wiseman indicated that he’ll be grateful for any playing time he gets, along with the chance to prove to the Pacers and any other teams who may be watching that he’s still worthy of a roster spot.
“I motivated myself knowing there was going to be another way around,” Wiseman said. “So you just gotta keep working and stay ready. … I’m gonna go out there and play my (expletive) hardest. Leave it all out there on the floor. Whatever they want me to do I’m gonna do it. Still enjoy it at the same time and go out there and just play.”
Injury Notes: Poeltl, Barrett, Dante, Sixers, Bradley, Brown
Raptors center Jakob Poeltl, who has been dealing with a back issue this season, will miss a second straight game on Saturday as Toronto hosts the Celtics, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.
“We have a long-term plan for him,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said, “which consists of managing this injury and which consists of building his strength, which consists of him playing through a certain level of discomfort.
“But we’re not concerned at all. It’s just something that we are dealing (with) in the middle of the season. If we were in the offseason and you shut him down for two weeks, he would be completely fine, but it’s something we’re really trying to manage day to day. At this point, it’s not to that point that we just need to shut him down. It’s not that serious.”
Meanwhile, Raptors forward RJ Barrett will miss a 12th consecutive game on Saturday due to his right knee sprain, but he’s making progress toward a return. According to Grange (Twitter link), Barrett has resumed on-court activities. The plan is for him to do live work against coaches in the coming days, then participate in practice and scrimmage with teammates.
Here are a few more injury-related updates from around the NBA:
- Hawks center N’Faly Dante may have sustained a serious knee injury while playing in the G League for the College Park Skyhawks on Friday. According to John Hollinger (Bluesky links), Dante was in significant pain after awkwardly twisting his right knee following a rebound and had to be carried off the court. It was the big man’s first game since he entered the concussion protocol on December 2, tweets Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com.
- Sixers center Joel Embiid (illness and right knee injury management) will miss a second consecutive game on Saturday vs. Dallas, while forward Paul George (left knee injury management) has also been ruled out, tweets Marc Stein. George hasn’t played both ends of a back-to-back set yet this season, so his absence comes as no surprise after he suited up for Friday’s win over New York.
- Pacers center Tony Bradley suffered a fracture on the tip of his thumb, according to head coach Rick Carlisle, who referred to the thumb as “partially functional” with a splint on it, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter links). While it sounds like Bradley will remain active, the decision to sign James Wiseman to a 10-day contract was directly related to that injury, Carlisle said (Twitter link via Dopirak). While Wiseman will give the team some additional depth, he’s probably not in NBA game shape quite yet, Carlisle admitted.
- The Celtics will be without top scorer Jaylen Brown when they take on the Raptors on Saturday night. Brown, who played in 26 of Boston’s first 27 games, has been ruled out due to an illness, per the team (Twitter link).
Pacers Bring Back James Wiseman On 10-Day Deal
The Pacers have re-signed center James Wiseman to a 10-day contract via a hardship exception, the team announced in a press release. Indiana ended Gabe McGlothan‘s 10-day hardship deal after just four days in order to bring back Wiseman.
Wiseman, who will be active for Saturday’s game in New Orleans, was released by the Pacers about a week into the 2025/26 regular season amid a wave of backcourt injuries. He had re-signed with Indiana over the summer on a two-year, minimum-salary deal that featured a $1MM partial guarantee (the second season was a team option).
The second overall pick of the 2020 draft, Wiseman has dealt with multiple major injuries during his NBA career, having missed the entire 2021/22 campaign following knee surgery. The 24-year-old also tore his Achilles tendon in Indiana’s regular season opener in October 2024, an injury which sidelined him for the remainder of ’24/25.
In 149 games with Golden State, Detroit and Indiana, Wiseman has averaged 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per contest.
While the Pacers have been ravaged by injuries to open ’25/26, their three centers (Jay Huff, Isaiah Jackson and Tony Bradley) have been active for every game to this point, observes Tony East of Circle City Spin (Twitter links).
However, that may change on Saturday, as Bradley has been diagnosed with a fractured right thumb and is considered questionable to suit up against the Pelicans. The addition of Wiseman could mean Bradley will miss some time with the injury, East notes.
McGlothan didn’t play at all in his only game on the Pacers’ active roster, but will still receive his full 10-day salary of $73,153.
Pacers Waive Wiseman, Sign McClung To Multiyear Deal
October 28: The moves are official, the Pacers confirmed in a press release.
October 27: The Pacers are signing free agent guard Mac McClung to a multiyear contract, agent Greg Lawrence tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
McClung’s multiyear deal will be non-guaranteed, sources tell Charania (Twitter link).
To make room for McClung on their standard roster, which is currently full, the Pacers intend to waive center James Wiseman, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).
As Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets, Wiseman’s contract features a $1MM partial guarantee. Assuming he clears the waiver wire, Indiana will carry that $1MM cap hit on its books for the remainder of 2025/26.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Wiseman signed with the Pacers as a free agent in the 2024 offseason after playing for Golden State and Detroit in his first four NBA seasons. The big man impressed Indiana in the preseason last fall and appeared to have the edge for the backup center role behind Myles Turner, but tore his left Achilles tendon in the club’s regular season opener.
Wiseman, 24, re-signed with the Pacers on a two-year deal (the second season is a team option) in July and was said to be in excellent shape entering the ’25/26. Just like last season, he appeared in one game for the Pacers this fall, recording four points and four rebounds in 20 minutes during Saturday’s blowout loss in Memphis.
The Pacers were carrying four centers on their roster and have several guards injured at the moment, so swapping out Wiseman for McClung makes sense from a roster composition perspective.
McClung has become a household name among NBA fans by winning the league’s past three slam dunk contests. However, the 26-year-old has still seen limited game action at the NBA level, appearing in just six total regular season contests for four teams from 2021-25. He was on a two-way contract with the Magic for all of last season, but logged just 10 total minutes in two outings for Orlando.
McClung has starred in the G League in recent years, earning a spot on the All-NBAGL first team in 2024/25 after being named MVP in ’23/24. In a total of 44 appearances for the Osceola Magic last season, he averaged 23.0 points, 5.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 32.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .481/.344/.828.
The 6’2″ guard was signed and waived by Chicago this fall and likely would have started ’25/26 with the Windy City Bulls had the opportunity with Indiana not come up. Instead, he’ll be signing his first standard NBA contract with the Pacers, as Charania notes.