Lakers Rumors: Doncic, LeBron, Offseason Targets, Giannis
It was a relatively quiet trade deadline for the Lakers, who were linked to a myriad of potential targets but ended up making just one relatively minor deal, sending Gabe Vincent and a second-round pick to Atlanta for Luke Kennard. As Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, general manager Rob Pelinka described the Lakers as being “aggressive” at the deadline while using a nontraditional definition of the term.
“One form of being aggressive is saying no to moves that come your way that might not be best for the short- and long-term future,” Pelinka said. “That’s like being aggressive, even though you end up doing nothing, because it’s hard to say no sometimes to getting a good player that could be a quick short-term fix, but could have implications for the long term where it doesn’t fit into the overall vision you have for the team.”
A source close to Luka Doncic tells ESPN that the All-Star guard supported the team’s focus on the “long-term picture” at the trade deadline. That “adherence to discipline” at the deadline could lead to an eventful summer, according to McMenamin, who notes that the club preserved its most valuable trade assets and its future cap flexibility and is in position to create more than $50MM in cap room even if Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart pick up their respective player options.
Here’s more from McMenamin on the Lakers’ plans going forward:
- That $50MM+ cap projection doesn’t account for LeBron James, but if he wants to continue his career in 2026/27, the Lakers would welcome him back, sources tell McMenamin. Pelinka has said before that he’d love for James to retire as a Laker, and that would apply in 2027, not just 2026, McMenamin writes. Still, one Eastern Conference executive who spoke to ESPN believes it would be in the team’s best long-term interests to move on from LeBron and focus on building around Doncic this offseason. “Let him walk and use the space to retool around Luka,” that exec said. “Keeping (Austin) Reaves is critical. (Doncic) plays best with another ball handler/creator like with Kyrie (Irving) and (Jalen) Brunson.”
- Heat forward Andrew Wiggins and Rockets wing Tari Eason are among the potential 2026 free agent targets the Lakers have discussed internally, per McMenamin, though it remains to be seen if either will actually be available — Wiggins holds a 2026/27 player option, while Eason will be a restricted free agent. Peyton Watson is another player the Lakers have on their radar, since the cap-strapped Nuggets would have to shed salary or go into second-apron territory to match an aggressive offer sheet for the RFA-to-be. “We felt like creating optionality or having optionality now is really a positive thing for us this coming offseason,” Pelinka said earlier this month. “Because there’s some teams that maybe have gotten too deep into the aprons. And I think players, we see around the league, become available when teams get in that position.”
- One rival front office member who spoke to ESPN suggested the Lakers need to “get as many defenders with length that can knock down a shot as possible.” Tobias Harris, Quentin Grimes, and Dean Wade are among the other players who fit that bill and who will be unrestricted free agents in 2026, McMenamin notes.
- Of course, while the Lakers would like to add quality role players to complement Doncic, they also believe they could be among the top suitors for Giannis Antetokounmpo if the Bucks explore moving the star forward again this summer, team sources tell McMenamin. Los Angeles will have the ability to trade up to three first-round picks (2026, 2031, and 2033) in the offseason and one Western Conference executive told ESPN that he thinks Giannis is the “big prize” the club has its eye on.
Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Grimes, Ingram, Sharpe
Sixers center Joel Embiid will miss the team’s final game before the All-Star break, as first reported by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link). Embiid has been ruled out for Wednesday’s matchup with New York due to right knee injury management.
Embiid said he felt some soreness in that knee after Philadelphia’s win in Phoenix on Saturday, then sat out Monday’s loss in Portland. Although that soreness has decreased in recent days, per Bontemps, the 76ers will play it safe with the former MVP — he’ll continue to receive treatment in the coming days and will be reevaluated after the All-Star break (Twitter link).
We have more from across the Atlantic:
- While Quentin Grimes probably would’ve preferred to secure a lucrative long-term deal in restricted free agency last summer, accepting his one-year qualifying offer gave the Sixers guard a de facto no-trade clause this season, which he appreciated at the trade deadline. “That made it a little easier to go to bed at night and knowing that I’m not going to wake up and find out that I’m somewhere that I don’t want to be,” Grimes told Mark Medina of EssentiallySports. “That was a good thing about it, for sure. It eased my mind a little bit. I’m knowing that my agent can call me and relay a proposal from another team that I have to give an OK toward, so it was a little bit of a win-win for me.”
- Brandon Ingram‘s All-Star berth is a major win for the Raptors, who faced criticism last season for trading for and extending a player who had battled injuries during his last few years in New Orleans, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Ingram has led Toronto in scoring while appearing in 52 of 54 games so far. “I think that from the moment he came to our team, the amount of work and preparation (he put in), he had a really hard summer with lot of recovery, lot of like, boring exercises and stuff to get him healthy, to get him on the floor,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said. “And that he has (missed just two games) is just testament to all the amount of work that he put in.”
- Day’Ron Sharpe has the highest net rating among Nets regulars and ranks among the NBA’s top 10 in offensive rebounds and steals per 100 possessions, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required). While Brooklyn holds a $6.5MM option on Sharpe for 2026/27, Lewis suggests it might make sense for the team to try to work out a longer-term deal with the 24-year-old center. That would require the Nets to turn down the option and make Sharpe an unrestricted free agent, but the two sides would have a window to negotiate a new contract before the team officially makes a decision on the option.
Embiid Hopes Sixers Don’t Prioritize Ducking Tax
At the 2024 trade deadline, the Sixers traded Danuel House and Jaden Springer in order to dip below the luxury tax line. They took a similar approach in 2025, getting out of tax territory by making deals involving Caleb Martin and KJ Martin.
Philadelphia is operating roughly $7MM above the tax line this season and there has been speculation the team will once again be looking to make cost-cutting moves at the deadline, but star center Joel Embiid suggested on Thursday that he’s hopeful the front office won’t go that route, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required).
“We’ve been ducking the tax the last couple of years,” Embiid said (Twitter video link via Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports). “So hopefully we keep the same team. I love all of the guys that are in here. I think we got a shot.
“I don’t know what (the front office is) going to do. But I hope that we get a chance to go out there and compete because we got a good group of guys in this locker room, and the vibes are great. … Hopefully we think about improving because we have a chance.”
Expectations were modest for the Sixers this season after they battled a bevy of injuries and won just 24 games in 2024/25. But the club has already exceeded that win total through its first 47 games, with Embiid and Paul George playing more frequently, Tyrese Maxey ascending to a new level of stardom, and lottery pick VJ Edgecombe emerging immediately as a reliable starter. At 26-21, Philadelphia currently holds the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The 76ers could move below the luxury tax line by trading either Quentin Grimes ($8.74MM) or Kelly Oubre Jr. ($8.38MM), who are on expiring contracts. However, both players have been important parts of the team’s rotation, and sources tell ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst that the team isn’t pursuing a salary-dump deal involving either player.
Philadelphia is reportedly open to trading reserve center Andre Drummond, but moving his $5MM expiring contract wouldn’t be enough to get the club out of the tax. Even dealing Drummond and a second player who is earning the veteran’s minimum (say, Eric Gordon) would offer only a temporary reprieve, since doing so would drop the Sixers to just 12 players on standard contracts. They’d have to get back to the league-mandated minimum of 14 within two weeks, which would put them back into tax territory.
Getting out of the tax would be a financial boon for ownership — besides eliminating a $7.5MM tax bill, it would make the team eligible for an eight-figure payment at season’s end from the league-wide luxury tax pool. But after having spent the last two seasons as a non-taxpayer, the Sixers have successfully reset their repeater clock, so they shouldn’t feel as much urgency as they did in 2024 or 2025 to shed salary.
Sixers Notes: Embiid, Oubre, Barlow, Walker, Grimes
Joel Embiid continues to round back into form for the Sixers, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, who notes that the 46 minutes the former MVP played in Thursday’s overtime win over Houston represented his highest single-game regular season total in over three years.
Embiid made the most of those 46 minutes, racking up 32 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists, en route to a 128-22 victory. Philadelphia outscored the Rockets by 21 points when he was on the court.
“It’s certainly a pretty big step forward, I think, for sure,” head coach Nick Nurse said after the game.
Knee problems have been a recurring issue for Embiid in recent years — he didn’t look fully comfortable on the court during the 19 games he played in 2024/25 or at the start of this season. However, in his past 15 outings, the veteran center is averaging 28.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. Sixers forward Paul George, who has dealt with several injuries of his own, is happy to see his teammate looking more like his old self.
“He’s starting to feel it, he’s getting better and that competitive juice and everything is starting to flow,” George said. “You see it even with him at practice, and so you can see he was coming back, he was starting to form back into the Joel Embiid that we all have seen him dominate in this league. It’s definitely refreshing just from a personal level, dealing with injuries and how that takes a toll on you. It’s just always great to see someone start to get back to themselves.”
We have more on the 76ers:
- Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. is on an expiring contract, which makes him a potential trade candidate at the deadline, but he’s making a strong case with his recent play for the team to hang onto him, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). Since rejoining the starting lineup on Monday, Oubre has averaged 21.7 PPG on .558/.611/.545 shooting in his past three games.
- Oubre was initially reinserted into the starting five in place of George, who missed a couple games due to left knee injury management. However, he remained in the lineup on Thursday with George active, as Nurse moved forward Dominick Barlow to the second unit. “I think Barlow has played outstanding and played outstanding again tonight,” Nurse said after the game. “But Kelly obviously has been a pretty big spark plug, getting to the rim and just guarding. Just guarding really good, tough matchup every night as well. So I went that way. He’s pretty experienced as well.”
- Speaking of Barlow, he and fellow two-way player Jabari Walker were active again on Thursday, increasing the Sixers’ total “under-15” two-way games to 88, two away from the 90-game limit. In order to continue using both Barlow and Walker beyond Saturday, Philadelphia will have to either promote one of them to its 15-man roster or sign someone else to fill that 15th roster spot. Although a player on a two-way contract can be active for up to 50 regular season games, teams can’t use their two-way players for more than 90 combined games if they’re carrying fewer than 15 players on standard contracts.
- After averaging 17.0 PPG and 4.4 APG on .456/.381/.854 shooting in his first 21 games this season, Quentin Grimes is down to 9.8 PPG and 3.0 APG on .396/.317/.875 shooting in his past 20. Nurse said he wants to see Grimes “attack the rim” more and stressed that the swingman has the green light to fire away from beyond the arc. The Sixers’ coach added that tweaking Grimes’ role has also been considered. “I think we really thought that he was a much better player off the bench, that he liked to see the game a little bit and come in and play,” Nurse said. “And I think we’re having some discussions lately, that maybe that’s not the case, and maybe we’ll start sticking him back into the starting lineup a little bit to see if that helps.”
Eleven More Players Become Trade-Eligible
Today is Thursday, January 15, which means that a total of 11 players who signed free agent contracts meeting specific criteria this past offseason are now eligible to be traded.
Most offseason signees became trade-eligible on December 15, but players who met the following criteria were ineligible to be moved for an extra month:
- The player re-signed with his previous team.
- He got a raise of at least 20%.
- His salary is above the minimum.
- His team was over the cap and used Bird or Early Bird rights to sign him.
These are the 11 players who met that criteria and are eligible to be traded as of Thursday:
Santi Aldama (Grizzlies)- Josh Giddey (Bulls)
- Quentin Grimes (Sixers)
- Isaiah Jackson (Pacers)
- Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors)
- Tre Mann (Hornets)
- Sam Merrill (Cavaliers)
- Davion Mitchell (Heat)
- Paul Reed (Pistons)
- Naz Reid (Timberwolves)
- Ryan Rollins (Bucks)
Most of the players on standard 15-man rosters around the NBA are now eligible to be moved, though a small handful still can’t be dealt.
That group includes Kings guard Russell Westbrook, who becomes trade-eligible on Friday, Hawks guard Keaton Wallace (trade-eligible on January 18), Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan (Jan. 23), Knicks forward Mikal Bridges (Feb. 1), Lakers guard Luka Doncic (Feb. 2), Kings forward Precious Achiuwa (Feb. 4), and Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (Feb. 4).
Additionally, there are several players who won’t become trade-eligible at all prior to this season’s February 6 deadline, including reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Players on 10-day contracts are also ineligible to be traded.
And-Ones: Kennedy, RSNs, Thomas, Trade Market, RFAs
Longtime NBA referee Bill Kennedy will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering a hamstring strain during Friday’s game in Orlando, Chris Haynes of NBA on Prime tweets. There’s hope he can return before the regular season ends, Haynes adds. Kennedy left the court in a wheelchair on Friday after suffering the injury during the first quarter.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- There is continuing uncertainty regarding the regional sports networks broadcasting NBA games. Main Street Sports Group, with its pending sale to DAZN teetering, it is in talks with a second potential buyer that could keep its FanDuel Sports Network broadcasts afloat, according to Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal. That potential buyer could be FUBO TV, though that hasn’t been confirmed. Main Street missed January payments to some or all of the 13 NBA teams that it broadcasts. Main Street/DAZN wanted teams in the NBA and NHL to extend their deals through the 2028/29 season, including digital rights, something the teams and the leagues were uninterested in doing, according to Friend. Main Street is also asking NBA and NHL franchises to take a 20% dip in rights fee payments for the rest of this season and also defer those reduced payments.
- Former NBA guard Matt Thomas has joined Besiktas GAIN Istanbul for the remainder of the EuroLeague season, Eurohoops.net reports. The 31-year-old shooting guard had been playing for Spain’s Coviran Granada, where he averaged 14.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. Thomas appeared in 126 NBA games over three years from 2019-22, suiting up for Toronto, Utah and Chicago.
- The Hawks traded a former All-Star guard in Trae Young during his prime and didn’t receive any draft compensation in return. Yossi Gozlan of ThirdApron.com examines why the trade market has crashed and how this could impact future moves, such as the Grizzlies potentially dealing Ja Morant.
- Who was the biggest loser among the restricted free agents last offseason? The Athletic’s Joel Lorenzi, Tony Jones and Nick Friedell discuss how Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, Cam Thomas and Quentin Grimes were impacted by the current CBA and why potential suitors were reluctant to tie up cap space to extend an offer sheet to an RFA.
Sixers Notes: Oubre, Power Forward, Grimes, Embiid
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said earlier this week that forward Kelly Oubre Jr., who has been sidelined since November 14 due to a sprained left knee, could return to action during the team’s current road trip. That trip will wrap up on Saturday in New York, and Oubre’s chances of playing against the Knicks may hinge on whether he can take part in a five-on-five scrimmage on Friday, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Oubre participated in a three-on-three scrimmage on Monday and a four-on-four session on Wednesday, Pompey notes. If he plays five-on-five and his body responds well, his return should be imminent, though the 30-year-old declined to speculate on that subject, indicating he’s leaving the decision up to the experts.
“I’m just going off what the trainers and the docs say,” Oubre said. “So for me, I don’t feel any pain, any shortness after workouts, and things like that, which is a good sign. So I take that as a positive and just continue to build from there and get stronger. But I’m leaving it to the docs and the trainers.”
While the 76ers have been hit hard by injuries over the past year-and-a-half, they’re close to getting fully healthy, with both Oubre and Trendon Watford (adductor) in the final stage of their respective recovery processes.
Here’s more on the Sixers:
- Even when Oubre returns, Nurse says he envisions Paul George “mostly” as a three, according to Pompey. So who will handle the primary power forward duties? Nurse suggested he may take a committee approach to the position. “I think it’s Paul. I think it’s (Dominick) Barlow. Could be a little Oubre. Could be a little (Adem) Bona,” the Sixers’ coach said. “But I think it just depends on who we’re playing. Hopefully, we can be versatile enough to figure out what we are doing in all those different lineups. That’s what’s going to take some time.”
- Quentin Grimes averaged 11.8 shot attempts per game in his first 24 outings of the season, but that numbers has dipped to 7.5 per game in his past six contests. As long as Joel Embiid, George, and Tyrese Maxey are healthy and available, that trend may continue, but Grimes can continue to provide value with his defensive effort and by making the most of the opportunities he does get on offense, Pompey writes for The Inquirer. “He’s kind of a good wild card for us,” Maxey said of Grimes. “He can get hot. He can make threes. He can drive the ball. He can play defensively, too. That’s what’s really good for us. He can play with a lot of lineups too.”
- While Embiid’s offensive production has increased as of late – he has averaged 29.2 points per game in his past six starts – the former MVP says he believes his improving health is more evident on the other end of the court, per Pompey. “Physically, where I felt most (like myself) is defensively,” Embiid explained. “I’m getting back to that level of (protecting the rim), blocking shots and being that defensive presence.”
Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey Ruled Out Friday Due To Illness
5:33 pm: Embiid will be active and Quentin Grimes will start in place of Maxey, according to Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports (Twitter link).
5:11 pm: Sixers star Tyrese Maxey will miss his first game of the 2025/26 season on Friday against Indiana, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic.
Maxey, who was initially listed as probable before being downgraded to questionable and then out, is dealing with an unspecified illness.
A 25-year-old guard, Maxey is having an outstanding sixth season for Philadelphia, averaging career highs of 31.5 points, 7.2 assists and 4.7 rebounds while leading the league with 39.9 minutes per game. He’s also contributing 1.7 SPG and 0.9 BPG, with a strong shooting slash line of .467/.391/.881 in 23 appearances.
Former league MVP Joel Embiid is probable for tonight’s matchup with the Pacers due to left knee injury recovery, per the NBA’s official injury report.
Embiid, a seven-time All-Star, missed nine consecutive games last month due to right knee soreness. He has played in three of five contests since returning, and while his athleticism and production have declined, the 31-year-old center is still able to get to the spots he wants to on offense, according to Jones.
For his part, Embiid says he’s been feeling good lately and is optimistic he’ll be able to play more minutes going forward, though the team is still carefully managing his workload — he hasn’t been cleared to play two games in three nights, let alone back-to-backs, Jones notes.
“I think it’s all about getting into that rhythm and playing every other day,” Embiid said. “I think we’re getting there. The plan of playing and then two days off is working pretty well. Hopefully, that keeps going and we can start doing it every other day. But, I’m feeling pretty good.”
Sixers Notes: Broome, 10-Game Start, Grimes, Barlow
Sixers rookie power forward Johni Broome has only made two cameo appearances this season. He’s trying to adjust to his NBA reality as a second-round pick, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I’m just kind of trusting my work and my faith,” Broome said. “Obviously, it’s a little difficult at times because it’s kind of something I’m getting used to. But I understand what comes with it. So I’m taking it day by day. I’m not getting frustrated. I know I just have to keep working, keep staying ready. When Coach (Nick Nurse) feels like he’s ready to put me in, he’s going to put me in. Until then, like I say, I’m going to keep working and keep earning his trust however I can.”
Broome sprained his right ankle while playing with the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats over the weekend. When he returns to action, he’ll likely spend most of the season with the Blue Coats.
“Wherever I’m at, I’m going to try to compete and get my work in,” Broome said. “If they want me to go down to the G League and play, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Here’s more on the Sixers:
- They are off to a decent start at 6-4 but they could have won a couple more games with better crunch time execution, Tony Jones of The Athletic notes. All but one of their games has come down to clutch time, which is defined as a game being within five points or less with five minutes remaining. In three of their losses, they missed a shot on the final possession of the game. Guard Tyrese Maxey has seen a lot of positives. “I like that we can do a lot of different things, and I like that we can play a lot of different ways,” Maxey said. “We can play fast and we can play slow. We can play in the halfcourt, and we can play in transition. There are a lot of different things that we can do to win games.”
- Quentin Grimes has switched agents. Grimes will now be represented by CAA Basketball, Brett Siegel of Clutch Points tweets. Grimes, who was previously repped by agent David Bauman, went through a lengthy restricted free agency process over the summer and ultimately signed his $8.74MM qualifying offer. Grimes will be an unrestricted free agent next summer and also has the ability to veto any trade this season.
- Dominick Barlow worked out on the court before the Sixers faced the Celtics on Tuesday, Pompey tweets. Barlow will miss his seventh straight game due to a right elbow laceration.
- In case you missed it, center Joel Embiid has been ruled out of Tuesday’s contest due to right knee soreness. It’s the first non-scheduled absence so far this season for Embiid, who had an MRI on his knee on Tuesday.
Sixers Notes: George, Barlow, McCain, Grimes
Sixers forward Paul George will meet with doctors this weekend, according to head coach Nick Nurse, and if this “final hurdle” goes well, the nine-time All-Star could make his season debut in the near future, as Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports relays (Twitter links).
George, who is in the second season of a four-year, maximum-salary contract, has been a full practice participant for two-plus weeks, but has yet to play in 2025/26 after undergoing offseason knee surgery.
Two-way forward Dominick Barlow, who has missed the past six games after suffering a right elbow laceration that required a procedure to address, will miss this weekend’s back-to-back and has a follow-up meeting with his surgeon on Monday, Bodner adds.
We have more from Philadelphia:
- Nurse also provided an update on Jared McCain, who will miss one of the games this weekend and will remain on a minutes restriction for now (Twitter link via Bodner). The second-year guard’s season debut was delayed after he underwent thumb surgery. McCain, a 2024 first-round pick, missed most of his rookie season after undergoing season-ending surgery to deal with a torn meniscus. He wore a knee brace in his first game on Tuesday and will continue to do so for at least a month, which is when he’ll be reexamined (Twitter video link courtesy of PHLY Sixers). “It feels like …. unbalanced,” McCain said of the brace. “It just feels like it’s super heavy, like you’re lugging a whole leg, another leg, on top of your leg. It’s just hard to move.”
- Although McCain didn’t play well in Tuesday’s loss at Chicago, finishing with no points (on 0-of-4 shooting), two assists and one rebound in 15 minutes, the 21-year-old was grateful to return to action after last suiting up nearly 11 months ago, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic. “There will be a lot of emotion,” McCain said. “It hasn’t really hit me yet. But I’m thankful for the medical staff, and I’m thankful to my support system. Conditioning-wise, I felt fine. I just have to get used to contact. It takes a minute. But hopefully it doesn’t take too long.”
- Quentin Grimes will be heading for unrestricted free agency next summer after signing his one-year, $8.7MM qualifying offer as a RFA over the offseason. The 25-year-old guard has boosted his stock in the early going due to his strong play as the team’s sixth man, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscriber link). “The opportunity that coach is giving me provides a lot of freedom out there on the court,” Grimes said. “The minutes he gave me are starter minutes to come off the bench at this point.” Through eight games (31.6 minutes per contest), Grimes is averaging 18.3 points, 4.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals on .465/.385/.791 shooting.