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Southwest Notes: DFS, Eason, Bey, Spurs, Wemby, Prosper

October 2nd, 2025 at 11:52am CST by Luke Adams

Confirming previous reporting, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka acknowledged on Wednesday to reporters, including Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required), that newly added forward Dorian Finney-Smith will “probably not” be ready for the start of the season as he recovers from June ankle surgery. According to Udoka, Finney-Smith hasn’t yet been cleared for contact, though he’s doing “all the shooting and other things with treatment as well during practice.”

As Lerner writes, the Rockets are also continuing to manage the workloads of center Steven Adams and forward Tari Eason, who were coming off procedures on their right knee and left leg, respectively, last season and didn’t play in both ends of back-to-backs. Houston won’t have a back-to-back this season until the first week of December and it’s unclear whether or not Adams and Eason will get the go-ahead to suit up for both of those games.

With Finney-Smith sidelined for now, Eason will receive consideration for a spot in the starting lineup this fall, according to Udoka.

“We’ll see,” Udoka said. “Good to have athletic wing defenders that’ll do a lot of things that he does, especially with Dillon (Brooks) being gone, but still to be determined, and we’ll see what works well. It’s not just about starting with me, as you know. It’s about what fits best, as far as our group. He wants to push for that. We want him to as well. And we’ll see if he gets it.”

Udoka has spoken this week about experimenting with different types of lineups, per William Guillory of The Athletic, noting that he could try out a unit featuring Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, and Adams that would “probably be one of the biggest in the history of the league.”

We have more from around the Southwest:

Jordan Poole was the headliner of the Pelicans‘ offseason trade with Washington, but the team also added veteran forward Saddiq Bey in that deal. Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com explores what Bey, who is returning from an ACL injury that cost him the entire 2024/25 season, can bring to New Orleans, noting that he’s earning praise from his teammates and his new head coach in camp. “He’s sort of that Swiss Army Knife type of player,” Willie Green said. “He can play multiple positions, score, post up, defend, rebound. Those guys are extremely valuable to a team’s success.”
The Spurs were one of the NBA’s worst rebounding teams and put up poor defensive numbers when Victor Wembanyama wasn’t on the court last season. They’re optimistic that the offseason additions of centers Luke Kornet and Kelly Olynyk will help address those issues, as Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News writes (subscription required). “We wanted to be able to have that roster versatility to play a bunch of different ways and also protect the paint when Vic’s not on the floor,” general manager Brian Wright said. “I think those guys allow us to do that.”
After recovering from a blood clot and spending time traveling in China and Japan this offseason, Wembanyama embarked upon a training regimen he described as “brutal,” explaining that he wanted to “get my body back,” according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “I can assure you, nobody has trained like I did this summer,” the Spurs star said. “And this is my best summer so far. I can tell the progress is just incredible. I feel better, I look stronger and the scale says I’m heavier. So everything is a green light.”
With Grizzlies big men Jaren Jackson Jr., Zach Edey, and Brandon Clarke all likely unavailable to open the 2025/26 season, new two-way addition Olivier-Maxence Prosper is among the players making a strong case for a rotation role in the frontcourt during camp, head coach Tuomas Iisalo said this week, per Michael Wallace of Grind City Media (Twitter link).

Kevin Durant Expects To Sign Extension With Rockets

September 29th, 2025 at 12:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Nearly three months after being officially traded from Phoenix to Houston, Kevin Durant remains on an expiring contract. However, the new Rockets forward, who is celebrating his 37th birthday on Monday, told reporters at media day that he anticipates extending that contract sooner or later in order to remain in Houston.

“I do see myself signing a contract extension,” Durant said (Twitter video link via Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle). “I can’t tell you exactly when that’ll happen, but I do see it happening.”

Based on the latest projection of a $166MM salary cap for 2026/27, Durant is currently eligible for an extension worth up to $119.1MM over two years. That projected total would increase slightly to $120.85MM on January 6, six months after the trade.

However, reporting during the summer suggested the Rockets may be reluctant to give Durant a maximum-salary deal that covers his age-38 and -39 seasons. There has been speculation that an extension could come in closer to $100MM over two years, which would represent a slight step down from his current $54.7MM salary.

Whatever Durant’s next deal looks like, it sounds like he’s confident he’ll get something done with the Rockets. As Lerner relays in her full Houston Chronicle story, the 15-time All-Star also spoke on Monday about why Houston was one of his preferred landing spots when the Suns put him on the trade block during the offseason.

“Just seeing the quick progression of this franchise, where it was right after that James Harden/ Chris Paul era and seeing when (head coach) Ime (Udoka) got here and how he turned it around so fast,” Durant said. “I have some connections here within the organization, people I’ve worked with around the league already, so it felt organic and natural coming into the gym and getting to be a Houston Rocket for the first time. I always had respect for this coaching staff, this fan base, this state, this city. So it feels great.”

Fischer’s Latest: Grimes, Kuminga, Bamba, Love, Rockets

September 27th, 2025 at 8:50am CST by Rory Maher

Although the Sixers just made their first formal offer to restricted free agent Quentin Grimes earlier this week, they have discussed various contract frameworks with his agent David Bauman several times throughout the offseason, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

As Fischer explains, the 76ers were hesitant to extend a formal offer until recently because they realized there was a significant gap in what they were willing to pay Grimes compared to what he and his representatives were seeking on a new deal.

While Grimes’ camp had some hope of a potential sign-and-trade materializing, that outcome appears unlikely, Fischer writes. The most likely scenario, Fischer continues, is Grimes signing a one-year deal that comes in above his $8.7MM qualifying offer.

Fischer confirms that Bauman asked the Sixers to extend Grimes’ qualifying offer deadline from October 1 to October 8, in part because the team is traveling to Abu Dhabi for a pair of preseason games. But Philadelphia hasn’t shown any interest pushing back the deadline to this point.

Following up on his previous report that the Sixers floated the idea of trading Kelly Oubre Jr. or Andre Drummond — or both — to make a more lucrative contract offer to Grimes, Fischer says Philadelphia’s front office has been “adamant” that it is unwilling to add draft picks to shed either of those salaries.

Here’s more from Fischer:

The Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga have not had any talks about potentially moving back his Oct. 1 qualifying offer deadline, sources tell Fischer. Golden State appears unwilling to budge on its latest contract offers, per Fischer, including a three-year, $75MM proposal which contains a team option for 2027/28. Kuminga’s camp has “pushed hard” for a player option instead of a team option, Fischer writes, but hasn’t had any luck so far. Fischer confirms the Kings tried to restart sign-and-trade talks for Kuminga, but the Warriors remain unenthusiastic about taking back Malik Monk, in part because of his $21.5MM player option for ’27/28. The Warriors want to maintain maximum roster flexibility for the 2027 offseason, Fischer explains, when the contracts of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green expire.
According to Fischer, the Heat showed some interest in Mo Bamba before the former lottery pick signed a training camp deal with the Jazz. Bamba landing with Utah has led to speculation that Kevin Love might be nearing a buyout agreement, but “all signs” currently indicate that Love will begin the season with the Jazz, Fischer writes.
Fischer hears the Rockets aren’t expected to look for immediate backcourt help in the wake of Fred VanVleet‘s torn ACL, preferring instead to see how Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson respond to increased on-ball responsibilities. Houston may explore adding guard depth down the line, Fischer writes, but that likely won’t occur until at least December 15, when many free agent signings become eligible to be moved. According to Fischer, there’s still an expectation that Kevin Durant will eventually sign an extension with the Rockets, but a potential rookie scale deal for Tari Eason appears less certain.

Kevin Durant Offers His Perspective On Trade Saga In Phoenix

September 20th, 2025 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant trade rumors shook up the NBA last winter as the Suns tried to dismantle their underachieving team in midseason. Durant recalled that experience this week during an appearance at the Game Plan Sports Business Summit in Los Angeles, saying he learned he was being shopped “around February,” relays Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

“Initially, I was a little upset because I felt like we built a solid relationship, me and the Phoenix Suns,” Durant said. “And to hear that from a different party was kind of upsetting, but that’s just the name of the game. So I got over that quickly and was trying to figure out what the next steps were.”

Durant was linked to several teams in trade talks, but the quickly approaching February 6 deadline made it difficult to put a deal together. He confirmed that the Warriors had real interest in bringing him back to the Bay Area, where he won titles in 2017 and 2018, but Durant had business partner Rich Kleiman shut down that possibility.

“I heard Golden State was in the mix around the trade deadline, but that’s when Rich came into play, and those relationships that we built around the league and also playing in Golden State helped,” Durant told the audience. “We were able to tell them kind of hold off on that.”

Durant remained in Phoenix, but a breakup seemed inevitable after the Suns failed to qualify for the play-in tournament. He missed the final seven games of the season after suffering an ankle injury on March 30.

Durant found himself back on the market when the summer began. Houston, San Antonio and Miami were reportedly on his list of preferred locations, and Minnesota was rumored to be involved in the bidding as well. An agreement on a deal sending him to the Rockets was reached in June, with Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the 10th pick in the draft, which was used to take Khaman Maluach, going to Phoenix in return.

“Since me being on the market in February when there’s also a trade deadline, people were just kind of seeing how their seasons played out and what they needed for their teams,” Durant said. “We knew we would revisit that right around the summertime, and Houston kind of jumped on, and it happened pretty fast from there.”

International Notes: KD, Boston, Cousins, NBA, UK

September 19th, 2025 at 3:55pm CST by Rory Maher

New Rockets forward Kevin Durant became the first men’s basketball player to win four Olympic gold medals last year in Paris. Earlier this week, Durant was asked about the possibility of suiting up for Team USA at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, as Law Murray of The Athletic relays (Twitter video link).

“Yeah, if I’m still me,” Durant said. “I don’t want the gift of the veteran, like, ‘come sit on the end of the bench and get your fifth (gold medal).'”

The 15-time All-Star also said he’s given some thought to becoming a coach after his playing days are over.

“Some days I would (like to coach), some days I wouldn’t,” Durant said. “It’s tough dealing with personalities. … But we’ll see.”

Here are a few more international items of interest:

In an interview with Bilal Baran Yardımcı of Eurohoops, four-year NBA veteran Brandon Boston Jr. said talking to former teammate CJ McCollum and McCollum’s older brother, new teammate Errick McCollum, helped convince him to sign with Fenerbahce this offseason. The Turkish team is the reigning EuroLeague champion. “Just having those conversations with those guys really helped me a lot with my decision,” Boston said.
Former NBA center DeMarcus Cousins is returning to Mongolia for the 2025/26 season, having re-signed with the Selenge Bodons, he announced on social media (Facebook link; hat tip to HoopsHype). “I’m excited to announce that I will be returning to the Bodons! Can’t wait to get back to Mongolia and finish what we started and try to bring home a championship!” Cousins wrote. The four-time All-Star, whose last NBA stint came with Denver during the 2021/22 campaign, has played overseas for several teams during the past few years.
The NBA and the UK government are investing £5MM apiece to elevate one of the UK’s “fastest-growing sports,” according to Basketball England (hat tip to BasketNews). “Basketball is booming in Britain – and this investment will help take it to the next level, opening up the game to thousands more people right across the country,” UK prime minister Keir Starmer said as part of a larger statement. The NBA is hosting regular season games in London in 2026 and in Manchester in 2027 and is working to create a league in Europe that could launch as early as 2027 and may feature teams in both of those cities.

Western Notes: Gobert, Abdelfattah, Sengun, Durant

September 13th, 2025 at 3:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves paid a hefty price to the Jazz to acquire Rudy Gobert. Minnesota was heavily criticized for giving up five players and a package of first-rounders for the defensive stalwart after Gobert’s first season in the organization. However, the trade can now be considered a resounding win for the Timberwolves, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic opines.

Krawczynski cites Gobert’s impact over the past two seasons and suggests the team’s success during that stretch have changed the culture in Minnesota. The organization has become a place players want to play with heightened expectations and Gobert has been a big part of that change.

We have more from the Western Conference:

The Timberwolves have officially hired Mahmoud Abdelfattah as head coach of the Iowa Wolves, the club’s NBA G League affiliate, according to a team press release. The Wolves’ decision to hire him was reported last month. Most recently, Abdelfattah spent the 2023/24 season as the head coach of the Sydney Kings of Australia’s National Basketball League. Prior to his time with the NBL’s Kings, the Chicago native spent four seasons (2019-2023) in the Rockets organization.
Alperen Sengun has been one of the stars of the EuroBasket tournament, which comes as no surprise to Rockets coach Ime Udoka, according to Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle. That’s what Udoka advised his starting center when he visited Turkey this summer. “It was really, ‘Be aggressive and get back to dominating as you have throughout your career,’ basically,” Udoka said. “For him, we wanted to work on specific things and the way they guard him over in Europe, in EuroBasket. And he’s doing a great job, obviously, getting high assist numbers, being very efficient, but doing all the things and trying to be well rounded. So it wasn’t just about scoring the ball.”
Speaking of Udoka, the Rockets coach received this message from Kevin Durant — use me in any way necessary. Durant would rather fit in than have their young core become passive. “He wants to kind of be implemented into the group, and people not take a back seat to him,” Udoka told Lerner. “That’s his message to a lot of the young guys: Be who you are, continue to grow in those areas, and I’ll fit in where we see necessary.”

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Kuminga, DJJ, Suns, Micic

September 11th, 2025 at 6:42pm CST by Luke Adams

After stating in mid-July that he was “pretty confident” the Lakers weren’t interested in Heat forward Andrew Wiggins, Dan Woike of The Athletic confirms reporting from Marc Stein, writing that the Lakers appear more inclined to pursue an upgrade on the wing – including a player like Wiggins – in the wake of Luka Doncic‘s long-term commitment to the team. Doncic signed a three-year, maximum-salary extension with Los Angeles last month.

Although the Lakers seem more open to taking on contracts that run beyond the 2025/26 season in the right deal, they also may want to see how new additions like Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Jake LaRavia look this fall before they cash in any of their limited trade assets, Woike cautions.

The Lakers can currently only trade one future first-round pick, either their 2031 or 2032 selection.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Checking in on where things stand between Jonathan Kuminga and the Warriors, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area says the restricted free agent forward continues to show little interest in Golden State’s two-year, $45MM offer that includes a second-year team option and requires him to waive his right to veto a trade. In Poole’s view, Kuminga signing his $7.98MM qualifying offer remains the most likely outcome.
An arbitrator has ruled that Derrick Jones Jr.‘s former agent, Aaron Turner, is entitled to his full 4% commission ($1.2MM) on the three-year, $30MM contract the veteran forward signed with the Clippers in 2024, per NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link). Jones made an agent change right around the time he entered free agency last summer.
Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic relays several of the most notable comments that former Suns point guard Vasilije Micic made during a recent appearance on the X&O’s Chat (YouTube link), including Micic’s impressions of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal, and his thoughts on why Phoenix fell well short of its expectations. “Why didn’t they succeed?” the Serbian guard said in his native language. “It was a bit of everything. Issues with the coach, issues with working together, which I don’t even know what it was.”

Rockets Notes: Eason, Durant, Playing Time, Owens, Sengun

September 10th, 2025 at 9:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

Many people around the league believe the Rockets will work out a long-term extension with Tari Eason before finalizing a new deal with Kevin Durant, according to William Guillory of The Athletic.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently reported that Durant and the Rockets are expected to reach an extension agreement at some point.

Eason has an expiring contract — the Rockets exercised a $5.68MM club option on the final year of his rookie deal for 2025/26. The fourth-year forward averaged a career-high 12.0 points and 1.7 steals per game while making 57 appearances last season.

Here’s more on the Rockets:

In the same story, Guillory opines about a pleasant dilemma: Does Houston have too many good players? Guillory believes coach Ime Udoka will have a difficult time figuring out how to divvy up minutes among so many players capable of heavy minutes on a good team.
Mark Owens, a Houston-area boxing trainer, has become a vital asset to the Rockets — the team’s director of performance, Willie Cruz, describes Owens as “an extension of our strength coaches.” Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle (subscription required) profiles how Owens, who served a federal prison term, turned his life around and helped the Rockets become one of the more physical teams in the league.
Former Sixers forward Furkan Korkmaz is playing alongside Rockets center Alperen Sengun for Turkey in the EuroBasket tournament. Korkmaz called Sengun, not Joel Embiid, the best center he’s played with in his career. “He’s a special kid and every day he’s trying to give his maximum,” he said in a video posted by Eurohoops Turkey.

And-Ones: Top Newcomers, Realignment, McGrady, St. Bonnie’s

September 9th, 2025 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

With most of the NBA’s offseason action now in the books, Chris Herring and Kevin Pelton of ESPN identify the 14 NBA “newcomers” whose changes of scenery will have the greatest impact in 2025/26.

There are no surprises at the top of the list, which features new Rockets forward Kevin Durant at No. 1, Magic guard Desmond Bane at No. 2, and Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson at No. 3. However, Herring and Pelton deviate a little from expectations at No. 4 by including a head coach: Mike Brown of the Knicks. As Herring writes, it’s possible no coach in the league will face more “title-or-bust pressure” than Brown in his first year on the job.

Lakers center Deandre Ayton rounds out the top five on the 14-man list, which – outside of Brown – is made up exclusively of players.

We have more from around the basketball world:

What might NBA realignment look like if the league were to expand to Las Vegas and Seattle? Zach Harper of The Athletic takes a closer look at that topic, exploring scenarios in which either the Timberwolves, Pelicans, or Grizzlies move to the Eastern Conference and considering how the league might shuffle its divisions around in each hypothetical case.
Former NBA star Tracy McGrady has signed a new endorsement deal to reunite with Adidas, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the two parties are expected to work with longtime sports marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro to revive the ABCD (Academic Betterment and Career Development) Camp. As Charania explains in a follow-up tweet, the ABCD Camp was a youth basketball camp that ran for over two decades from 1984-2006 and featured several future stars, including McGrady himself.
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball program will host its first ever pro day on Saturday, October 11 at the NBPA training facility in Manhattan, according to a press release from the school. “The first Bonnies Pro Day is a tremendous opportunity for NBA and G League front office executives to scout our players in a competitive practice and workout environment,” former ESPN reporter and current St. Bonnie’s general manager Adrian Wojnarowski said in a statement.

Texas Notes: Irving, Mavericks’ Arena, Spurs’ Arena, Rockets

August 23rd, 2025 at 9:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

Appearing on the Mixed Signals podcast (Twitter link), former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban gave credit to an unexpected source for helping to bring Kyrie Irving to the team in a 2023 trade. Cuban said ESPN’s Shams Charania, who was with The Athletic at the time, played an important role in making the deal possible.

“He was a big help with us getting Kyrie when we traded for Kyrie,” Cuban said, “and for us extending him when we extended because he had a great relationship with Kyrie’s agent.”

Teams were reluctant to trade for Irving at the time due to his contract and his troubled reputation in Brooklyn. But he became a star again after coming to Dallas and helped the Mavs reach the 2024 NBA Finals. He’s currently recovering from a torn ACL with hopes of returning at some point this season.

Charania broke the news of Irving’s trade to Dallas, and Cuban stated that they often exchanged valuable information.

“The flip side of it was, he would help educate me about other things happening around the league,” Cuban added. “So, we had a great relationship. He knew when not to ask, and I knew when not to ask about other teams because he wouldn’t tell me. But there were certain things he would tell me as it related to players and what their interests were.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The City of Dallas hired a commercial real estate investment and development company to find a site for the Mavericks to build a new arena, according to Everton Bailey Jr. and Nick Wooten of The Dallas Morning News. The team’s lease at American Airlines Center will expire in 2031, and the new ownership group has expressed interest in a basketball-first facility.
Spurs managing partner Peter Holt posted a message on NBA.com about a potential $1.3 billion project to build a new arena in downtown San Antonio. The team has pledged to commit $500MM and cover any unforeseen costs, while the city has agreed to provide up to $489MM. City council authorized the project earlier this week, but the final decision will be up to Bexar County voters in November. “This will be a true public-private partnership,” Holt wrote. “The arena will be publicly owned, funded by visitors, and built to revitalize our downtown, create jobs and give future generations a place to celebrate together.”
The Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, announced in a press release that they have agreed to a trade with the Iowa Wolves. Austin received the 13th pick in this year’s draft in exchange for the returning player rights of Luke Avdalovic, Justin Smith, a second-round pick in 2026 and a 2026 international draft selection.
Rockets fans are very optimistic about the upcoming season, with nearly two-thirds expecting at least a spot in the Western Conference Finals, Kelly Iko of The Athletic states in sharing the results of a survey that attracted more than 700 responses. The trade for Kevin Durant drew an almost unanimously positive reaction, with 50.1% cautiously optimistic and 47% extremely excited.