Jordan Goodwin Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Perry, DeRozan, Booker, Durant, Goodwin, Paul

November 24th, 2025 at 10:31am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings are in a familiar place, sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference standings after a 4-13 start. New general manager Scott Perry is preaching something that fans in Sacramento have heard for many years — be patient.

“I totally understand their frustrations to this point,” Perry told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “It hasn’t been what they wanted. But again, it’s the old saying that Rome wasn’t built in a day — and that’s a fact. If you look at a number of the top teams in the league, they all went through a very tough stretch when they were trying to lay a foundation and create an environment that led to sustainable winning. … All I’ve ever asked from the very beginning is just: buckle up, be patient for the ride. We definitely have a plan in place, and we’ll do this thing together.”

Complicating Perry’s mission is the fact that six high-salary players are signed through next season. The highest of the 2026/27 salaries, Zach LaVine‘s $49MM, is a player option and there’s no clarity as to whether he’ll pick it up, according to Amick. The Clippers have shown some interest in the oldest player on the Kings’ roster, DeMar DeRozan, per Amick. He has a partial guarantee ($10MM) on his $25.7MM contract for next season.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Kevin Durant will miss the Rockets’ game at Phoenix tonight due to a family matter. Suns guard Devin Booker is disappointed he won’t get to face his former teammate, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. “I hope everything is OK with his family first, but yeah, I would love a matchup with him,” Booker said.
Jordan Goodwin won a training camp battle to earn a roster spot after being claimed off waivers by the Suns. Goodwin has been a steady contributor off the bench, averaging 7.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. “He just has a knack not only on offensive rebounds, but deflections. Any type of loose balls. Just has a hunger to get the basketball. That’s part of who he is, that’s part of what made him and that’s part of why we love him,” coach Jordan Ott said, per Rankin (Twitter link).
Chris Paul evokes a wide range of reaction but The Athletic’s Zach Harper lays out his case of why the Clippers guard should be appreciated by NBA fans. The 12-time All-Star is retiring after the season.

Suns Waive Jared Butler, Will Keep Jordan Goodwin

October 17th, 2025 at 10:00pm CST by Rory Maher

Jordan Goodwin has won a training camp battle in Phoenix, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the Suns will retain the 6’3″ combo guard for the 2025/26 regular season.

The Suns claimed Goodwin in July after he was waived by the Lakers, who wanted to create room below the first apron to sign Marcus Smart. In late June, the Lakers picked up their team option on Goodwin’s $2.35MM contract for the upcoming season, which carries a guarantee of just $25K.

Goodwin, who turns 27 years old next week, averaged 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steal on .438/.382/.818 shooting in 29 games (18.7 minutes per contest) for the Lakers in ’24/25. He also had a strong preseason for Phoenix, averaging 12.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.3 APG and 1.8 SPG on .462/.389/.700 shooting in four games (19.0 MPG).

This is Goodwin’s second stint with the Suns — the former Saint Louis standout, who is known for his defense, also spent part of ’23/24 with Phoenix prior to being traded to Memphis.

Goodwin’s primary competition for Phoenix’s 14th standard roster spot — the team is only carrying 14 players due its tax situation — was believed to be guard Jared Butler, a four-year veteran who played for the Wizards and Sixers last season. The 25-year-old also had an impressive preseason, averaging 15.5 PPG, 4.3 APG, 3.3 RPG and 1.8 SPG on .471/.353/.667 shooting in four appearances (20.9 MPG).

The Suns have officially requested waivers on Butler and David Duke Jr., the team announced in a press release (Twitter link). Butler’s non-guaranteed training camp deal did not contain Exhibit 10 language, and it’s unclear what his next step will be. Duke’s deal did though, so he’s likely headed to the G League’s Valley Suns to open the season. Duke is another four-year veteran who has played for the Nets and Spurs.

Immediately after waiving Butler and Duke, the Suns signed Nathan Mariano and Sean McDermott to Exhibit 10 deals, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Both players are locks to be waived in the coming hours.

Marino, 22, is a 6’9″ wing. He has spent several seasons playing professionally for Franca in Brazil, his home country.

McDermott, 28, spent time with Memphis on a two-way deal back in 2020/21. The former Butler Bulldog spent a few seasons in the G League with the Memphis Hustle before continuing his career overseas, playing in Italy and Turkey the past two years.

Pacific Notes: Butler, Goodwin, Luka, Reaves, Warriors

October 15th, 2025 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns came into the preseason carrying 13 players on guaranteed salaries, with Jordan Goodwin on a partially guaranteed deal and Jared Butler on a non-guaranteed contract. Given that Phoenix projects to operate slightly over the luxury tax line even without a 15th man, the expectation was that only one of Goodwin or Butler would make the team. However, both players finished the preseason strong on Tuesday, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic writes.

Earning the start in the Suns’ 113-104 win over the Lakers, Goodwin had 24 points and six assists in 37 minutes of action, with a team-high +14 plus/minus rating. But his fellow starter in the backcourt was even better, as Butler racked up 35 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds in 34 minutes, making 14-of-25 shots from the field, including 5-of-9 three-pointers.

In Rankin’s view, Butler’s spot on the regular season roster is still far from a sure thing. But if he ends up being waived by the Suns, the 25-year-old has certainly shown he deserves consideration for a spot on another NBA roster.

“I’m just still believing in myself, and I’m just hoping that people catch up with the faith that I have in myself,” Butler said after Tuesday’s game (Twitter video link via Rankin).

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

It took some time for the shock of his trade out of Dallas to wear off last winter, but as Lakers guard Luka Doncic made his preseason debut on Tuesday, his teammates and coaches suggested that he seems looser and more comfortable with his situation this fall, per Dan Woike of The Athletic. “I think by being in a clearer headspace, and by that I mean just mentally and emotionally in balance, it allows you the freedom to just be yourself,” head coach JJ Redick said of Doncic. “And that gets reflected in his expressions, his interactions with teammates, his interactions with our coaching staff, his desire to toe that line between competition and joy and playfulness that truthfully makes him the special person and player that he is.”
Even though Austin Reaves is unlikely to sign an extension with the Lakers ahead of his free agency, he’s still likely to stay in Los Angeles beyond his current contract, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac, who takes a closer look at the guard’s potential earnings going forward. Smith believes a five-year deal that begins in 2026/27 and is worth in the neighborhood of $150MM could make sense for both Reaves and the Lakers.
Making an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio (SoundCloud link), Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. spoke about a handful of topics, including why the team targeted Al Horford in free agency and building a contending roster around aging stars with the long-term view still in mind. “You’re balancing everything,” Dunleavy said. “You’re balancing your future assets, you’re balancing the cap. You’re trying to thread the needle of staying good now and having a chance to be good in the future. That’s the fun and the challenge of this job.”

Suns Claim Jordan Goodwin Off Waivers

July 23rd, 2025 at 4:09pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 24: The Suns issued a press release confirming they’ve claimed Goodwin, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets.

JULY 23: The Suns have claimed former Lakers guard Jordan Goodwin off waivers, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Goodwin, 26, was released over the weekend so L.A. could create room below the first apron to sign Marcus Smart with its bi-annual exception. In late June, the Lakers picked up their team option on Goodwin’s $2.35MM contract for the upcoming season, which carries just a $25K guarantee.

Phoenix inherits Goodwin’s full contract via the waiver claim, so L.A. will have the $25K come off its books.

Goodwin joined the Lakers on a two-way contract in early February and was converted to a standard deal in late March. He appeared in 29 games, making five starts and averaging 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 18.7 minutes per night. He also posted .438/.382/.818 shooting numbers.

The move marks a return to Phoenix for Goodwin, who was acquired from Washington two summers ago as part of the Bradley Beal trade. He appeared in 40 games with the Suns during the 2023/24 season before being dealt to Memphis.

Goodwin began his career on a 10-day deal with the Wizards in 2021 and signed a two-way contract the following season.

The addition of Goodwin will give the Suns 14 standard contracts, along with three two-way deals. His contract will remain non-guaranteed, apart from the $25K, until the league-wide guarantee date in January, and he will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Lakers Waive Jordan Goodwin

July 20th, 2025 at 8:57pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Lakers have waived Jordan Goodwin, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (via Twitter). The move was necessary to create room below the first tax apron to sign Marcus Smart following his buyout from the Wizards.

The Lakers had recently picked up the $2.3MM team option on Goodwin’s contract, but only $25K of the deal was guaranteed.

As the only remaining Laker with a non-guaranteed contract following the team’s decision to waive Shake Milton earlier today, Goodwin’s place on the roster became tenuous once it was clear the Lakers were bringing in Smart on a two-year, $11MM deal that necessitated multiple cost-cutting moves. Smart’s salary for next season is expected to be worth the full bi-annual exception of $5.1MM.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, once Smart signs, the Lakers will be operating about $1MM below the first apron, so they won’t have enough breathing room to sign a 15th man before the season begins without further cost-cutting moves.

Marks adds (via Twitter) that because Goodwin has played in the league for four seasons, he’s ineligible for a two-way deal. The 26-year-old defensive-minded guard played 29 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 18.7 minutes per night. He shot 38.2% from three and appeared in four of the five Lakers’ playoff games against the Timberwolves, averaging 7.8 minutes per game in the postseason.

Goodwin will now hit waivers and then become an unrestricted free agent if no one claims him (the priority order is determined by the reverse order of last season’s standings). The Athletic’s Tony Jones speculates (via Twitter) that Goodwin is likely to have a number of suitors on the open market.

Marcus Smart To Join Lakers After Buyout With Wizards

July 20th, 2025 at 5:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

July 20: Smart has officially reached a buyout agreement with the Wizards and been placed on waivers, the team announced (via Twitter).

July 19: Marcus Smart has reached an agreement on a buyout with the Wizards and plans to join the Lakers once he clears waivers, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. Smart’s new contract will be worth $11MM over two years and will contain a player option for the second season.

Sources tell Charania that Luka Doncic played a large role in recruiting Smart to L.A. He adds that the Lakers, Suns and Bucks all received permission from Washington to contact Smart, and he had “positive conversations” with all three teams.

The Lakers can use their full bi-annual exception to add Smart, according to cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). They’ll have to clear about $4.2MM in salary to have access to the full amount, which may mean parting with Shake Milton, who has a $3MM non-guaranteed salary, and Jordan Goodwin, who only has a $25K guarantee on his $2.35MM salary.

If that happens, L.A. wouldn’t have enough available apron space to sign a 15th man before the start of the season, as Gozlan notes (Twitter link).

Milton’s salary for 2025/26 will become fully guaranteed after Sunday, so the Lakers will have to act fast if they plan to waive him.

If Smart gives back the equivalent of the bi-annual exception in his buyout, the Wizards will be more than $30MM below the luxury tax, Gozlan adds. Washington has its full $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception remaining, along with $13.4MM and $9.9MM trade exceptions.

Smart, 31, was named Defensive Player of the Year with Boston in 2022, but his career took a downturn after a trade to Memphis in the summer of 2023. Injuries limited him to 39 total games in a year and a half with the Grizzlies before he was sent to Washington in a three-team deal at this year’s trade deadline.

If Smart can stay healthy, he’ll bring much-needed defensive help to the Lakers’ backcourt. He appeared in 19 games with Memphis and 15 games with the Wizards last season, averaging 9.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 20 minutes per night with .393/.348/.761 shooting numbers.

The Wizards have added numerous young players to their roster this summer, so there likely wouldn’t have been regular playing time for Smart, who had a $21.6MM expiring contract. There were rumors last month that Smart was on the trade market, but the Wizards evidently couldn’t find a team willing to take on his salary.

Lakers’ Goodwin, Kings’ Jones Have Team Options Exercised

June 29th, 2025 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers have exercised their minimum-salary team option for the 2025/26 season on guard Jordan Goodwin, while the Kings have done the same for forward/center Isaac Jones, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links).

Goodwin, 26, signed a two-way contract with the Lakers after the trade deadline in February and played well for the team in the second half of the season, earning a promotion to the standard roster in late March. In 29 total appearances (five starts), he averaged 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 steal in 18.7 minutes per game, posting a solid shooting line of .438/.382/.818.

As our team option tracker shows, the move doesn’t assure Goodwin of his full $2.35MM salary for next season — only about $25K is guaranteed as a result of the option pick-up. He would have to remain under contract through January 7 in order to be guaranteed the full amount, so his roster spot could still be up in the air depending on how the rest of Los Angeles’ offseason plays out.

As for Jones, the undrafted rookie out of Washington State had a promising debut season for Sacramento in 2024/25, averaging 3.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game across 40 outings. He made 65.1% of his field goal attempts and was promoted to the 15-man roster in March when he reached his limit of 50 active games.

There have been conflicting reports on whether or not Jones’ $1.96MM salary for 2025/26 will be fully guaranteed as a result of the Kings’ option pick-up.

In other team option news, the Suns have officially picked up guard Vasilije Micic‘s $8.1MM option for next season, Smith notes (via Twitter). That was a required procedural move in order for Micic to be included in the Mark Williams trade with Charlotte.

Lakers Notes: Game 4 Loss, Hayes, Finney-Smith, Doncic, LeBron

April 28th, 2025 at 11:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Coach J.J. Redick made two bold strategic moves that nearly led the Lakers to a Game 4 victory in Minnesota, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Redick decided to replace center Jaxson Hayes with Dorian Finney-Smith for the start of the third quarter, and he used the same five players for the entire second half. Buha notes that Gabe Vincent nearly checked in at one point, but Redick changed his mind and stayed with the same unit for the full 24 minutes.

“I think once you’ve kind of made that decision, and (the players) all are in, you just gotta trust them,” Redick said.

The move seemed inevitable with Hayes, who has been limited to seven points and eight rebounds in the series and didn’t reach double digits in minutes in any of the first four games. Finney-Smith enables L.A. to spread the floor on offense and switch more easily on defense.

The group started the second half on an 11-0 run and won the third quarter by a 36-23 margin, giving the Lakers their highest-scoring quarter of the series. They led by seven points with 5:06 remaining and seemed to be in a good position to tie the series, but couldn’t close out the game. A series of late mistakes proved costly, but players refused to blame the loss on their iron man performance in the second half.

“I don’t think fatigue had anything to do with that,” LeBron James said. “Just missing some point-blank shots, you know? We were getting into what we wanted to get into. We just weren’t able to convert.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

Sunday’s game displayed how little trust Redick has in his bench, Buha adds. Along with Hayes, his other rotation members, Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jordan Goodwin, tend to be one-way players. Buha believes Redick might use a center-less approach for the rest of the series, even though the Wolves have a lot of size on their front line.
After battling through a stomach virus in Game 3, Luka Doncic seemed to be back to normal on Sunday, according to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Doncic finished with 38 points while logging a series-high 46 minutes. “This is the playoffs – fatigue shouldn’t play any role in this,” Doncic said. “I played a lot of minutes, but that shouldn’t play a role. I think they just executed better on the offensive end during the last minutes.”
James also played 46 minutes and appears to be fully recovered from a left hip flexor strain he suffered two weeks ago, Buha states in a separate story. “He’s moving better,” Redick said after Game 3. “He seems like he’s getting healthier by the day. It’s typically a one-to-two-week injury. Believe it’s been two weeks tonight, if I’m mistaken, from the Houston game. Clearly he’s moving better.”

Lakers Notes: James, Game 3, Doncic, Wolves’ Crowd

April 26th, 2025 at 11:06am CST by Earnest Marshall

LeBron James recorded one of his highest-scoring playoff performances in a Laker uniform in Game 3 against the Timberwolves on Friday, scoring 38 points and 10 rebounds. The Lakers also knocked down 17 of their 40 three-point attempts after making just 21 combined in the first two games. Still, as Khobi Price of The Orange County Register writes, these positive developments didn’t help the Lakers overcome the Wolves in Game 3.

Los Angeles still committed too many turnovers that led to a significant shot disparity and ultimately, those downfalls cost them the game.

“They’re big, they’re long, they’re athletic, they pressure the basketball, they make everything tough,” head coach JJ Redick said of the Timberwolves. “We’re gonna have some turnovers. Sometimes they force you into turnovers, which they did. But we also had some unforced turnovers: over-dribbling, trying to draw fouls, dribbling into traffic, trying to do a little bit too much with the basketball. We generated a lot of really good shots when we didn’t turn [the ball] over.”

We have more from the Lakers:

Another reason the Lakers couldn’t pull out a victory on Friday is that Luka Doncic wasn’t playing at 100%, Price adds in the same piece. Doncic has been battling a stomach illness since Thursday and Redick said he was vomiting through Friday afternoon. He battled through the injury and recorded 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, but it was clear he wasn’t feeling like his usual self. He underwent thorough post-game treatment and didn’t speak to the media following the loss. As Price notes, Gabe Vincent started the second half in his place, though Doncic returned less than a minute into the third quarter. “I didn’t think he was going to come out [out of the locker room for the] second half,” teammate Dorian Finney-Smith said.
The Minnesota crowd was tough on the Lakers in Game 3, with the noise from fans having a direct impact on the game. At one point, officials had to address the crowd and tell them to stop whistling, as it was getting confused with the refs’ actual whistle. According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link), Jordan Goodwin said he and other teammates heard a whistle come from the stands a handful of times before the officiating crew addressed it.
In a subscriber-only story, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times details how the Lakers’ investment in player development is providing benefits in the postseason. Goodwin is a prime example of the Lakers’ development system working, as he went from a training camp player to the G League to a two-way deal to a standard contract and is now earning playoff minutes.

Lakers Clinch Playoff Berth

April 9th, 2025 at 11:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

It was overshadowed by Luka Doncic‘s emotional return to Dallas, but the Lakers clinched a playoff spot with tonight’s 112-97 win over the Mavericks, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN. At 49-31, L.A. can wrap up the No. 3 seed by winning Friday at home against Houston or Sunday at Portland.

Doncic led the way on Wednesday with 45 points after the Mavs welcomed him back with a tribute video during pregame introductions (Twitter link from Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal). Dallas fans cheered wildly for their former franchise player when his name was announced and continued to show their support throughout the game.

“I don’t know how I did it,” Doncic told ESPN (Twitter link). “Because when I was watching that video, I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m playing this game.'”

The improbable addition of Doncic shortly before the trade deadline in February changed the course of the Lakers’ season, setting them up as a dangerous opponent heading into the playoffs. Doncic is surrounded by a roster that’s just as talented as the one he led to the NBA Finals last year, and he appears to be fully healthy after dealing with a string of injuries during the first half of the season.

LeBron James continues to perform at an All-NBA level after turning 40 in December, averaging 24.5 points, 7.9 assists and 8.3 assists in 68 games heading into tonight. He and Doncic are both creative passers with elite court vision and a history of playoff success.

Austin Reaves gives the Lakers a reliable third scorer who can carry the offense on any given night. Reaves has been handed a larger role under first-year coach J.J. Redick and has responded with career highs of 20.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 71 games.

The Lakers made another significant move at the deadline, acquiring Mark Williams from Charlotte in exchange for Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish and draft assets, but they later rescinded the deal due to concerns about Williams’ health following his physical. That decision left Jaxson Hayes as the team’s starting center with little proven help off the bench to back him up.

L.A. may have another roster move to make before the regular season ends. Jordan Goodwin was promoted from a two-way contract to a standard deal in late March, and either Christian Koloko or Trey Jemison is reportedly being considered for a spot on the 15-man roster to become eligible for the playoffs. Veteran center Alex Len appears to be most in danger of being waived if that happens.