Nikola Jokic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Free Agents, 2026 Draft, Next Summer, 2024 Re-Draft

August 14th, 2025 at 12:26pm CST by Earnest Marshall

While most of the top free agents of the summer class of 2025 have either re-signed or joined new teams, there are still some potential impact role players on the market outside of the well-reported restricted free agent group.

Al Horford, Russell Westbrook and Amir Coffey sit atop Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report‘s list of best-available low-cost free agents. Horford has been heavily linked to the Warriors (as have Pincus’s fifth- and sixth-ranked free agents in Gary Payton II and De’Anthony Melton) and reporting has strongly suggested he’ll ultimately end up there once the Jonathan Kuminga situation is resolved.

Westbrook and the Kings have been frequently connected too, but reporting has suggested Sacramento might not have a spot for the former MVP if Malik Monk and/or Devin Carter aren’t traded, so it’s unclear where Westbrook would end up if the Kings decide they don’t have room in their backcourt.

As for Coffey and Pincus’s No. 4-ranked player Ben Simmons, there have been fewer definitive reports linking them to one team or another. Simmons has been connected to the Kings, Suns, Knicks and Celtics, but there hasn’t been much media traction involving Coffey.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Ahead of the 2025/26 collegiate season, the 2026 NBA draft class looks top-heavy, with three players in A.J. Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson who are in contention to be selected No. 1 overall, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report writes. Karim Lopez of the NBL’s New Zealand Breakers is Wasserman’s highest-ranked international prospect in the August update of his top-50 list, while Jayden Quaintance of Kentucky is the highest-ranked returning player (No. 4 overall) after he started 24 games for Arizona State in his age-17 season.
Looking ahead to next offseason, ESPN’s Bobby Marks details the headlines that should dominate the news cycle, including the futures of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. James will be an unrestricted free agent next year, and it’s unclear whether he will finish his career with the Lakers. Meanwhile, Curry, Jokic and Antetokounmpo could all be free agents in 2027 if they don’t sign extensions before then.
One year removed from the 2024 draft, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic re-drafted his top 20 from last year’s rookies. Zaccharie Risacher had a strong rookie season, but slipped from No. 1 to 2 in Vecenie’s re-draft, with 2024/25 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle overtaking him for the top slot. Jared McCain (from No. 16 to No. 3) and Jaylen Wells (from No. 39 to No. 9) are the biggest risers in the top 10, while Ajay Mitchell jumped from No. 38 to No. 12.

Giannis Antetokounmpo Still Awaiting Bucks’ Approval For EuroBasket

August 13th, 2025 at 7:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn’t taken part in any team activities as Greece prepares for EuroBasket because he’s still waiting for the Bucks to provide written permission for him to participate, according to Aris Barkas and Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.

While most players don’t need permission from their NBA clubs to play in international tournaments, Antetokounmpo is an exception due to the size of his contract, sources tell the authors. They explain that the FIBA insurance policy, which is covered by the Greek federation, doesn’t pay enough to cover Antetokounmpo’s NBA contract in case he suffers a serious injury. Because there’s a cap on the insurance payout, he can’t proceed without authorization from the Bucks.

Barkas and Barbarousis note that Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Lakers guard Luka Doncic are also affected by that stipulation, but they are both practicing and participating in exhibition games with their EuroBasket teams.

The FIBA-NBA agreement permits NBA players to join their national team’s training camp 28 days before the start of a major FIBA competition. Greece’s first EuroBasket game will take place on August 28, so Antetokounmpo would have been permitted to start training at the beginning of the month if not for the insurance snag.

Antetokounmpo has already missed three Greek exhibition contests, and he isn’t expected to play against Montenegro on Thursday. The authors state that Greece will participate in the Acropolis tournament before wrapping up exhibition play August 24 against France, but it’s still uncertain whether Antetokounmpo will be cleared to suit up for any of those contests.

The issue comes amid continuing uncertainty over Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee. Trade speculation was rekindled earlier this month when Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the two-time MVP remains uncertain that he can achieve his goal of winning at least one more NBA title while playing for the Bucks.

International Notes: Giannis, Jokic, Doncic, Osman

August 10th, 2025 at 11:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Giannis Antetokounmpo will represent Greece when EuroBasket begins later this month, but he hasn’t been active for any of the team’s preparation games, writes Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. The Bucks star will miss his third straight contest today as his team faces Israel.

Antetokounmpo is training on his own in Athens, and Greek national team coach Vassilis Spanoulis isn’t sure if he’ll join the squad for the next game against Montenegro, which is set for Thursday in Thessaloniki.

“We don’t know yet if he will play in Thessaloniki,” Spanoulis told Greek national television. “Giannis will be on the court when he should be.”

While it’s not unusual for a player of Antetokounmpo’s status to get star treatment, his absence has caused some consternation among Greece’s opponents. Serbian coach Svetislav Pesic expressed disappointment that Antetokounmpo didn’t take part in Saturday’s contest, Barkis adds in a separate story.

“I’m sorry that Giannis is not here; that’s why we scheduled this tournament,” Pesic said. “We have a good relationship with the Greeks; they always respond to us.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

While Antetokounmpo missed a potential battle of perennial MVP candidates, Serbia’s Nikola Jokic dominated with 23 points, 19 rebounds and four assists in a 76-66 victory, according to Eurohoops. The Nuggets star controlled the paint area as Serbia pulled away from Greece in the second quarter.
Slovenian teammates have noticed a change in Luka Doncic that goes beyond his slimmed-down appearance, per Martin Pavncik of Sport Klub. Playing in his first international tournament since joining the Lakers, Doncic has become more of a vocal leader than he was in the past. “Already at the first training session, I noticed that he talks significantly more than in previous years,” longtime teammate Klemno Prepelić said. “I believe this is a challenge that awaits him at the club as he takes on the role of the first face of the franchise. His word carries a lot of weight just because of his exceptional basketball knowledge and incredible feeling. At the same time, he does it with great enthusiasm and a desire to make every individual in training better.”
Former NBA player Cedi Osman, who’s part of Turkey’s EuroBasket roster, enjoys playing in Europe because it allows him to participate in more international competitions, BasketNews relays. “The difference between the NBA and Europe is that here, I can also take part in the FIBA windows,” Osman said. “That’s very important. When I was in the NBA, there were long breaks in between. But now, every two or three months, I get the chance to come to Turkey and play for the national team. I think this helps both me and the team a lot. The same goes for other players returning from the NBA — their involvement during the windows builds continuity and chemistry.”

Northwest Notes: Holiday, Jokic, Shannon, Westbrook

August 2nd, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jrue Holiday is ready to fill the role of veteran leader for the Trail Blazers, even if it means being a “jerk” sometimes, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. That was his joking term for Andre Iguodala, who had a strong influence on Holiday during his rookie season in Philadelphia. Holiday adds that he didn’t understand Iguodala’s constant chiding at the time, but it helped him become a better NBA player.

“I know when I was younger and first coming in, I had vets,” he said. “But I tried not to look at them as vets, more just kind of like study everything around me. And even though I’m at this age now, I feel like I still try to do the same thing, even though guys might be younger and I might not like the same type of music or we might not be into the same thing. But I also feel like that’s what makes us a team — finding commonality and be able to mesh over that and then kind of translate to the court.”

Portland acquired Holiday from Boston last month — and took on the hefty contract that pays him $104.4MM over the next three years — to provide leadership for an otherwise young team. He said his desire to win hasn’t lessened at all, even after 16 NBA seasons and two championships.

“Honestly, I can just be me,” Holiday said. “I don’t really know how to do anything else. So come here and just be the person that I’ve always been, and, again, try to not just help out as much as possible, but to try to win.”

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

There have been suggestions that Nikola Jokic‘s passion for training racehorses might cause him to leave the NBA early, but Troy Renck of The Denver Post predicts it will have the opposite effect. The Nuggets center was overcome with emotion after one of his horses won a race last weekend (Twitter video link), becoming more demonstrative than when he led his team to the NBA title in 2023. However, Renck points out that there’s not much money in Serbian horse racing and states that Jokic will likely keep playing as long as he can to help finance his stable.
Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon Jr. has signed with Octagon Basketball, the agency announced (via Twitter). Shannon was a first-team All-Summer League selection last month.
Russell Westbrook remains on the free agent market, but a reunion with the Thunder is unlikely, according to Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated. He points out that even though Westbrook is still a beloved figure in Oklahoma City, the team already has a full roster with 15 guaranteed contracts and the former MVP doesn’t fit the Thunder’s current style of play.

And-Ones: Hollis-Jefferson, LeBron, Sophomores, G. Arenas

July 31st, 2025 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

After recently going viral on NBA Twitter for a tweet in which he made his case for an NBA roster spot, veteran forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson spoke to Cyro Asseo of HoopsHype about his quest to get back into the league.

“I feel like, given the time I was in the NBA, I think it was very important for me to self-reflect and think about all the things that I could have done differently that kind of shaped me into the person I am today,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “I was just sitting there the other day thinking about it. I was thinking about it all, man. Just where I’m at, how far I’ve come, the growth, the experiences, everything that I’ve been through.

“… It was one of those days where your wheels are turning. And I said, man, I should be in the NBA, dude. I know everyone knows how hard I work, how much I care about basketball, but that’s really where it stemmed from.”

A first-round pick in 2015, Hollis-Jefferson appeared in 305 regular season games for three teams from 2015-21. While he has been out of the NBA for four years, he has continued to compete in professional leagues around the world, spending time in Turkey, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the Philippines, and Lebanon.

Still just 30 years old, Hollis-Jefferson says a desire to be closer to home is a big part of the reason why he’d love to make it back to the NBA.

“Just wanting to be on that big stage and really, really wanting to be closer to home, to be closest to my kids,” he said. “It’s one thing for them to take a max five-hour flight to, say, California, versus a 20-hour travel day to Asia or somewhere else.”

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Despite some speculation that a recent meeting between LeBron James, his business partner Maverick Carter, and Nikola Jokic‘s agent Misko Raznatovic was a recruiting trip, they were actually discussing plans for an international basketball league that is being spearheaded by Carter, multiple sources tell Ben Horney, Daniel Roberts, and Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports.
Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com identifies the 10 most interesting second-year NBA players he’ll be watching in 2025/26. Woo’s list includes first-year standouts, like reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, players recovering from major injuries, such as Thunder guard Nikola Topic and Sixers guard Jared McCain, and youngsters who will be in line for major role increases as sophomores, including Rockets guard Reed Sheppard.
Former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas was among six people arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of hosting illegal high-stakes poker games at a mansion in Los Angeles owned by Arenas, according to a report from The Associated Press. The press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office detailing the specifics of the case can be found right here.
A man has been found guilty for second-degree murder in the killing of former NBA forward Adreian Payne, per Silas Morgan and Cristobal Reyes of The Orlando Sentinel (susbcription required). Lawrence Alexander Dority, who shot and killed Payne in May 2022, claimed that he thought the 31-year-old was reaching for a gun and cited self-defense, but Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigators concluded Payne didn’t have a weapon on him and that he didn’t pose a threat to Dority, who is scheduled to be sentenced on August 29.

Nikola Jokic Headlines Serbia’s Preliminary EuroBasket Roster

July 28th, 2025 at 8:32am CST by Luke Adams

As expected, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is among the 17 players listed on Serbia’s preliminary roster for this year’s EuroBasket tournament, the Basketball Federation of Serbia announced in a press release (hat tip to BasketNews.com).

Jokic is one of a handful of NBA players on the Serbian roster, along with Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, Thunder guard Nikola Topic, Heat forward Nikola Jovic, and Wizards center Tristan Vukcevic.

There are also several other players in the group who have previous NBA experience, such as Vasilije Micic, Marko Guduric, Filip Petrusev, and Alen Smailagic.

The Serbian national team is convening on Monday to begin training for EuroBasket and will play a series of exhibition games in August leading up to the event, which tips off on August 27.

The Serbians will face Estonia, Portugal, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Turkey in the EuroBasket’s group phase. The field is made up of four groups of six teams apiece, with 16 of the 24 total clubs advancing to the knockout round of the tournament.

It will be the second straight summer in which Jokic has represented Serbia in an international competition — he led the team to a bronze medal finish at the Olympics in Paris in 2024. However, the Serbians were eliminated in the round of 16 by Italy in the most recent EuroBasket tournament in 2022, despite 32 point and 13 rebounds from Jokic in that game.

Nikola Jokic’s Agent Suggests LeBron James To Denver In 2026

July 27th, 2025 at 8:59am CST by Arthur Hill

A boat trip is sparking speculation that two of the NBA’s biggest names could eventually team up with the Nuggets, according to BasketNews.

In an Instagram post on Saturday, Misko Raznatovic, the longtime agent for Nikola Jokic, shared photos of himself with LeBron James and Maverick Carter, James’ business partner, in St. Tropez. Raznatovic added the caption, “The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026! @kingjames @mavcarter.”

Speculation has been building that James could be on the move — whether it’s during the upcoming season or next summer — ever since he picked up his $52.6MM player option. That decision was accompanied by a statement from his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, who said the 40-year-old star still wants to compete for championships and would be monitoring the Lakers‘ offseason moves.

The Cavaliers, Mavericks, Warriors and Knicks are among the teams that have been mentioned as future homes for James, but the Nuggets also make sense from a competitive standpoint. James is coming off a second team All-NBA season, and partnering him with Jokic could significantly bolster Denver’s title chances.

The Nuggets couldn’t afford to give James another $50MM contract with Jokic ($59MM) and Jamal Murray ($50.1MM) already on their books for 2026/27 and beyond. Aaron Gordon ($32MM) and Cameron Johnson ($23MM) will also limit the Nuggets’ financial flexibility, but James might be willing to accept a smaller salary to join a team that would give him a chance to win a fifth ring.

There seems to be a growing sense around the league that this will be James’ final season with the Lakers as the team focuses on building around Luka Doncic and prioritizes cap space for the summer of 2027. James has been an All-NBA selection in each of his seven seasons since coming to L.A. in 2019 and delivered a title in 2020.

And-Ones: Jokic, DiVincenzo, 2027 Draft, Sheehey

July 17th, 2025 at 12:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Superstar Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is expected to confirm that he’ll play for the Serbian national team at this summer’s EuroBasket tournament, according to Dorde Matic of Meridian Sport. In fact, the same group that led Serbia to a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris is expected to be available when EuroBasket 2025 tips off in late August, Matic writes.

Jokic also won a silver medal with Serbia at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, notes Kevin Martorano of Sportando.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo, who spoke in April about his desire to suit up for Italy at EuroBasket 2025, has been granted Italian citizenship, clearing the way for him to play at the tournament, per BasketNews.com. The 28-year-old will formally be sworn in as an Italian citizen in Chicago after Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, approved the proposal to make DiVicenzo a citizen on Thursday, reports Alessandro Maggi of Sportando.
While the top of the 2026 NBA draft class is viewed very favorably, executives are not enthusiastic about the prospects who could be selected in 2027, writes Jonathan Givony of ESPN. “This is one of the weakest high school classes I’ve seen in a long time,” one grizzled talent evaluator with extensive experience in the amateur youth space told ESPN. “There might not be a single All-Star in this group, and after the first few prospects, I’m not sure how many NBA starters I see either from the other five-star recruits. New players always emerge, but by now we usually have a pretty good idea of who the most elite prospects are, and it’s looking like slim pickings, even more so than the weak 2024 NBA draft, which at least had several high-end international prospects we could point to.”
Will Sheehey, who has spent the past four years in various coaching-related roles with the Warriors, has officially signed a one-year deal with the Bakken Bears to become an assistant coach and head of the Danish club’s player development program, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. Sheehey’s most recent title with Golden State was assistant director of player development and innovation, Askounis adds.

Nuggets Notes: Jokic, Valanciunas, Holmes, Jones

July 13th, 2025 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets star Nikola Jokic doesn’t plan to agree to an extension this summer, but there are “no signs” he’s considering leaving Denver, Sam Amick of The Athletic stated during a recent appearance on Sactown Sports 1140 (YouTube link). However, Amick warns that things can always change, saying the organization shouldn’t feel too comfortable about Jokic until the new contract is official.

“It guarantees now that Joker has another decision to make next summer,” Amick said. “You can’t tell me, if this next coming season is a train wreck for the Nuggets, that that won’t be an issue. Now yes, he can sign a four-year extension if he waits, more money, it lines up potentially better with his next extension when he’s older so there’s plenty of plausible deniability for why he did it, but they also are coming off a year where they fired their coach and the GM, and yes, they got to the second round, but those guys try to win championships.”

Amick praised Denver’s new front office, saying they’re “off to a really strong start,” but added that Nuggets fans would be more comfortable if Jokic had taken the extension now. The three-time MVP will reportedly hold off extension plans until 2026, when he’ll be eligible for a four-year deal worth a projected $285.4MM instead of the three years at $206.4MM that’s currently on the table.

There’s more on the Nuggets:

Denver can’t afford to let Jonas Valanciunas out of his contract to play in Europe due to a lack of other options on the free agent market, Marc Stein of The Stein Line told Adam Mares of DNVR Sports (Twitter video link). “The other 29 teams are operating under the strong belief that Al Horford will end up going to Golden State,” Stein said. “… (The Nuggets) don’t have someone to pivot to. They don’t have a shot at Horford.”
DaRon Holmes made steady progress after tearing his right Achilles tendon during last year’s Summer League, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. The rookie big man was able to resume running and pregame shooting workouts by December, taking at least 200 three-pointers per day unless trainers advised him to rest. After conducting the operation, Holmes’ surgeon said he might be able to return by March, but the team never moved away from its plan for him to sit out the entire season. “I was met by a sense of determination and optimism on his part,” said his business manager Mitch Brown. “It really struck me that his mentality as a 22-year-old kid was so strong, dealing with something like this.”
Spencer Jones, the only two-way player that Denver kept from last year’s roster, continues to impress at Summer League, Durando adds in a separate story. The 24-year-old small forward had 19 points, six rebounds and two steals in Saturday’s loss to Minnesota.

Nikola Jokic Reportedly Won’t Sign Extension This Offseason

July 8th, 2025 at 4:51pm CST by Rory Maher

Superstar center Nikola Jokic has informed the Nuggets he does not intend to sign an extension this offseason, instead choosing to wait for when a more lucrative deal will be available in 2026, team sources tell Bennett Durando of The Denver Post.

The Nuggets were anticipating that Jokic might bypass an extension, according to Durando, due to the additional year and extra $79MM they can offer next summer.

Based on the latest salary cap projections, a three-year, maximum-salary for Jokic beginning in 2027/28 would be worth $206.4MM. A four-year deal, available next offseason, would be worth a projected $285.4MM.

Nuggets vice chairman Josh Kroenke said last month that Jokic would be offered the three-year extension.

“We’re definitely gonna offer it,” Kroenke said on June 24. “I’m not sure if he’s gonna accept it or not because we’re also gonna explain every financial parameter around him, signing now versus signing later.”

Over the past five years, the 30-year-old Serbian has won three MVP awards and was the runner-up twice. In one of those second-place seasons (2023), Jokic led the Nuggets to an NBA championship, claiming Finals MVP in the process.

Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette and Marc Stein of The Stein Line have confirmed Durando’s reporting (Twitter links).

Jokic was open about the Nuggets needing to improve after they lost their second-round playoff series to the Thunder in seven games. Oklahoma City went on to win the NBA Finals.

The Nuggets have had a busy offseason. They agreed to trade Michael Porter Jr. and their 2032 first-round pick to the Nets for Cameron Johnson; agreed to another to send Dario Saric to the Kings for Jonas Valanciunas; brought back Bruce Brown on a one-year deal; and added Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency.

For what it’s worth, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on the Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link) that he’s heard second-hand that Jokic liked the moves Denver made this summer.