Knicks Sign Mavs RFA Moussa Cisse To Two-Year Offer Sheet
1:45 pm: Cisse signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Knicks, according to reports from Ian Begley of SNY.tv and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter links).
As Marks observes (via Twitter), that means Cisse’s salary will be worth $2,185,116 next season and $2,571,895 in 2027/28. However, his tax/apron hit for next season will be $2,449,421, equivalent to a veteran’s minimum for a player with two years of experience (rather than one).
12:56 pm: The Knicks have signed Mavericks restricted free agent center Moussa Cisse to a two-year offer sheet, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (via Twitter).
Shams Charania of ESPN, who confirms the news, hears Cisse’s salary for the coming season is 50% guaranteed, while 2027/28 is non-guaranteed (Twitter link). Charania’s colleague Bobby Marks reports (via Twitter) that Cisse’s salary for ’26/27 would become fully guaranteed on October 1.
Dallas has until Monday at 11:59 pm ET to decide whether or not to match the offer sheet, Marks adds.
According to Fischer (Twitter link), the Knicks have been in the market for a young backup center. They attempted to trade for Yves Missi of the Pelicans and Moussa Diabate of the Hornets before signing Cisse.
An athletic lob threat and rim protector, Cisse went undrafted last year out of Memphis after playing for three different schools over five college seasons. He initially signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Mavs for training camp, but was promoted to a two-way contract shortly before 2025/26 began.
Cisse, 23, was part of Dallas’ frontcourt rotation for stretches of last season, averaging 4.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 13.9 minutes per game across 38 appearances. He was given a two-way qualifying offer last month, making him a restricted free agent.
The Guinean big man also made 16 total G League appearances with the Texas Legends as a rookie in 2025/26, averaging 14.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 27.7 minutes per game.
While the exact terms of Cisse’s agreement with New York have yet to be reported, the team is close to its second-apron hard cap, so it can’t offer Cisse much more than his minimum salary.
From a financial perspective, there’s nothing preventing the Mavericks from matching the offer sheet. However, the team already has 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts, with Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, No. 9 overall pick Morez Johnson Jr., P.J. Washington, and trade acquisition Santi Aldama as options in the middle.
On the other hand, Lively has dealt with significant injury absences in each of his three seasons, Gafford was hampered by a right ankle issue essentially all of last season, Johnson is a rookie, and Washington and Aldama have primarily played at the four. Cisse was one of the more productive two-way players in the NBA last season, so the Mavs may not want to let him go for nothing.
The X-factor that’s difficult to gauge is Dallas has a new front office regime led by president Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz. It’s unclear how those two executives view Cisse.
Knicks Unsuccessful In Attempts To Trade For Pelicans’ Missi
The Pelicans have turned down multiple Knicks pitches for center Yves Missi, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes, who reports (via Twitter) that New York has “feverishly” been trying to acquire the big man from New Orleans.
However, Haynes says the Pelicans consider Missi part of their core and have conveyed that he’s not available. Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) says he heard a similar message out of New Orleans around the time of draft, with the team indicating that it wants the third-year center to have a chance to play under new head coach Jamahl Mosley.
The Knicks are in the market for a center to back up Karl-Anthony Towns after losing Mitchell Robinson to Boston in free agency. Third-stringer Ariel Hukporti is also on his way out of town, having agreed to a free agent deal with Philadelphia.
New York is looking to avoid surpassing the second tax apron, so its options are limited. According to Yossi Gozlan of CapSheets.com, the club is currently operating about $8.7MM below the second apron with three roster spots left to fill. A veteran’s minimum contract is worth roughly $2.45MM, so the Knicks wouldn’t be able to offer a free agent much more than that.
The team could generate a little extra spending flexibility below the second apron by signing one or more second-round picks to standard contracts, since their rookie minimum salaries would only carry cap/apron hits of about $1.36MM. This year’s No. 47 overall pick Tyler Nickel may be a candidate for that sort of deal, but it sounds like the plan is for No. 39 pick Jack Kayil to continue playing in Germany in 2026/27, per Begley. Kayil isn’t on the Summer League roster that the team announced today (Twitter link).
Missi makes sense as a Knicks target due to his modest cap hit of $3.51MM. Acquiring him would likely require New York to send out either Miles McBride ($3.96MM) or both Pacome Dadiet ($2.98MM) and Tyler Kolek ($2.3MM) for salary-matching purposes. Trading just one of Dadiet or Kolek in a deal for Missi wouldn’t be permitted, since teams operating over the first tax apron can’t use the expanded traded player exception (ie. taking back more salary than they send out).
Turning Robinson’s departure into a sign-and-trade would be another way to potentially land Missi, but that would require the Celtics’ cooperation. The Knicks also have a variety of draft assets they could put in an offer for the Pelicans big man if New Orleans remains open to negotiating.
After a strong rookie season in which he made 67 starts and averaged 26.8 minutes per game, Missi saw his role reduced a little in 2025/26. He averaged 5.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in 19.7 minutes per night across 66 total outings (14 starts).
Nick Richards and former Pelican Kevon Looney are among the veteran big men who have been linked to the Knicks in the event the team has to turn to free agency to address the five.
Latest On Pelicans’ Trey Murphy, Yves Missi
Ahead of the first round of the NBA draft on Tuesday, Sam Amick of The Athletic appeared on KNBR 104.5 FM in San Francisco (YouTube link) and said that trade chatter involving Pelicans swingman Trey Murphy III continues to percolate.
“There is definitely a bunch of Trey Murphy noise,” Amick told radio hosts John Dickinson and Larry Krueger (hat tip to NBC Sports Bay Area). “It seems pretty clear that he has also signaled a desire to play elsewhere.
“The market is going to be pretty robust. As of a few days back, on the Warriors‘ side, my understanding was they did not see themselves as being in the mix. (The Nets) and the Clippers were mentioned as teams that were out front in that race, but I think the list is very long. I think that (the Pistons) come to mind. (The Celtics), actually, Trey is seen as a potential plan B for them if they miss out on Giannis (Antetokounmpo), which they obviously did. So, Trey is going to have a lot of suitors.”
The Pelicans were rumored to be seeking a lottery pick in the 2026 draft, which may have required moving Murphy. During Amick’s radio hit, which happened before the start of the draft, he added that there were some whispers about the possibility of the Hawks acquiring Murphy in a deal involving the No. 8 overall pick, which was originally New Orleans’ selection (it was traded in last year’s Derik Queen deal).
Obviously, nothing came to fruition involving Murphy during the first round of the draft, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Pelicans will be taking him off the market.
While I’m wary of reading too much into it, given that it was a remark made in a live setting and wasn’t repeated when Amick filed a brief report on Murphy on The Athletic on Tuesday night, his suggestion about the 26-year-old potentially having “signaled a desire” to play elsewhere is notable and could help explain why the Pelicans seem more open to discussing Murphy trade scenarios this offseason than in past transaction cycles. However, the former Virginia standout still has three years and $87MM left on his current contract, so even if that’s accurate, his leverage at this time may be limited and there’s no guarantee New Orleans will make a deal.
Murphy is a career 38.2% three-point shooter who has averaged over 21 points per game in each of the past two seasons and made a career-high 3.2 three-pointers per game in 2025/26. The Pelicans’ asking price for him is believed to start with multiple first-round picks.
In other trade-related Pelicans news, Ian Begley of SNY.tv reports that multiple teams, including the Lakers, have inquired about New Orleans center Yves Missi, who will be entering his third NBA season. So far though, the Pelicans have rebuffed offers for the big man, Begley adds.
Pelicans Trying To Acquire Lottery Pick?
The Pelicans are making an effort to acquire a lottery pick in this month’s draft, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who reports that the team is believed to have its eye on a specific player in the neighborhood of the top 10.
New Orleans finished the 2025/26 season with a 26-56 record, but the club’s own lottery pick – which landed at No. 8 overall – is controlled by Atlanta as a result of a deal the Pelicans made to move into last year’s lottery. After using the seventh overall pick in 2025 to select Jeremiah Fears, the front office sent last year’s No. 23 pick and this year’s lottery selection to the Hawks in order to move up to No. 13 to nab Derik Queen.
Without any 2026 picks to use as bargaining chips this time around, the Pelicans will face the challenge of trading into the first round rather than simply trading up. In other words, the price figures to be steep, especially given how highly regarded the ’26 draft class is.
According to Scotto, it’s unclear what sort of trade assets the Pelicans are making available as they seek a lottery pick, but outside of Fears and Queen, who almost certainly aren’t going anywhere, Trey Murphy III and Herbert Jones likely have the most trade value among the players on their roster. Zion Williamson and Yves Missi are potential trade chips with positive value too, but head of basketball operations Joe Dumars has dismissed the idea of moving Williamson and Missi’s stock likely dipped a little as he fell out of the starting lineup this past season.
The Pelicans also own the most favorable of their own or Milwaukee’s 2027 first-rounder and still control all of their own first-rounders beginning in 2028, so they have no shortage of future draft assets to put on the table. Dumars showed a year ago that he has no problem going that route, even while the team is in a retooling phase.
For what it’s worth, the Warriors – who control the No. 11 overall pick – have been frequently cited in the past year or two as a team with interest in Murphy. The Bucks (No. 10) would also probably have interest in win-now role players like Murphy and Jones if they decide to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo and try to build a contender around him; if they move Giannis, the Bucks would probably rather keep their pick.
The Hawks at No. 8 and the Mavericks at No. 9 are among the other potential trade partners the Pelicans could reach out to.
Southwest Notes: Wemby, Missi, Marshall, Christie
While he acknowledges that he would vote for Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander if the season ended today, Sam Amick of The Athletic says Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama continues to strengthen his case in the race for Most Valuable Player and could steal some top-two votes that have long appeared earmarked for Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.
As Amick points out, the on/off numbers are a point in Wembanyama’s favor, as the Spurs have a +16.0 net rating when he’s on the court and a 0.0 mark when he’s not, for a 16-point difference. That exceeds the 10-point gap between the Thunder’s net rating when Gilgeous-Alexander is and isn’t on the court. And while SGA is one of the NBA’s top scorers, Wembanyama, the overwhelming favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, is the more impactful player on the other end of the court.
It’s also not out of the realm of possibility that the Spurs could catch Oklahoma City in the Western Conference standings, Amick notes. San Antonio is just 3.5 games out of the No. 1 spot, and Wembanyama has talked about wanting to get to the 60-win mark, whereas the defending champion Thunder may feel less compelled to push hard for seeding at the end of the regular season.
We have more from around the Southwest:
- Pelicans center Yves Missi was considered a prime trade candidate leading up to this season’s deadline, but he remained in New Orleans and has impressed head coach James Borrego, who spoke glowingly of the second-year big man after he racked up 10 rebounds, five blocks, and five assists in a win over Dallas on Monday. “We’re using him a number of ways defensively,” Borrego said, per Rod Walker of NOLA.com (subscription required). “Then he gets out and runs. He’s all over the offensive glass. He’s made tremendous strides.”
- Another pre-deadline trade candidate, forward Naji Marshall, is showing why the Mavericks weren’t eager to consider moving him last month, writes Nate Sanchez of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). Marshall, who spoke earlier this season about his desire to play alongside Cooper Flagg long-term, had his best game of the season on Monday in New Orleans, with 32 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and no turnovers. “I appreciate everything about Naji,” Flagg said after the game. “He’s just such a good basketball player, all-around, consistent. He shows up every single night and is just a true professional.”
- Flagg, Marshall, and fourth-year wing Max Christie have been a few of the bright spots in an otherwise forgettable season for the Mavericks. Even with Dallas falling well out of the play-in picture, Christie told Spencer Davies of R.org that he wants to “finish strong” and resist letting fatigue get the best of him in what has been a career year so far. The 23-year-old will become extension-eligible this July as he enters the third season of a four-year, $32MM contract.
Pelicans Notes: Queen, Murray, Williamson, Murphy, Missi
Without control of their own 2026 first-round pick, the Pelicans have no reason to tank during the second half of the season despite being out of the playoff race, and that has shown in recent weeks. After opening the season with a 10-36 record, New Orleans has gone 7-6 since January 23, most recently picking up home wins over Philadelphia on Saturday and Golden State on Tuesday.
As Les East of NOLA.com writes, interim head coach James Borrego referred to Tuesday’s victory as a “big, clutch win for our group” and singled out rookie Derik Queen for his contributions. Queen scored just eight points on 4-of-13 shooting, but he was a +8 in his 18 minutes off the bench and had three straight baskets during one key run in the third quarter.
“Queen was massive during that stretch,” Borrego said. “We don’t win that game without him.”
While Queen, Zion Williamson (26 points), and Saddiq Bey (18 points) all played crucial roles in the victory, the big story of the night was Dejounte Murray‘s return from an Achilles tear. Playing for the first time since January 31, 2025, Murray was immediately reinserted into New Orleans’ starting lineup, which Borrego said “was not an easy decision.” However, it paid off, as Murray had 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting in his first game back and the new-look starting five outscored Golden State in 10 minutes of action.
“He looked like his old self. He didn’t miss a beat,” Borrego said of Murray, per Brett Martel of The Associated Press. “For that to be his first game, I felt him on both ends of the floor. … He was fantastic. Really proud of him and just happy for him to embrace this moment.”
Borrego added that there was a “massive celebration” in the Pelicans’ locker room for Murray after Tuesday’s game. Although the veteran guard appreciated the support from his teammates, he told reporters he was already focused on “the next game” and wants to play as often as possible in New Orleans’ final 23 contests this season.
“I’m hungry,” he said. “I’m starving.”
Here’s more on Murray and the Pelicans:
- Multiple reports ahead of the February 5 trade deadline cited rumblings that Murray and his camp might not mind a change of scenery. However, Murray strongly pushed back on the idea that he or his representatives ever requested a trade out of New Orleans, denying that claim in a tweet and adding, “(Executive VP of basketball operations) Joe (Dumars) and the whole organization know I was locked in to come back better than ever to help make his play-in push and whatever comes after that.”
- While injuries have been a major issue for Williamson since he entered the NBA as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft, he has had his healthiest stretch in years over the last two-plus months, appearing in 33 consecutive games for the Pelicans. Within an article examining what’s next for Williamson, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) notes that the forward has locked in a partial guarantee of at least 40% of his $42.17MM salary for 2026/27 by appearing in 41+ games this season.
- Williamson could increase that guarantee to 60% of next year’s salary by reaching 51 games, 80% by getting to 61 games, and the full 100% if he plays 61 or more games and meets certain weigh-related benchmarks. Even if he doesn’t lock in that full guarantee by season’s end, Williamson looks like a sure thing to be kept under contract through July 15 (either by the Pelicans or another team), Gozlan writes, which would also ensure his ’26/27 salary becomes fully guaranteed.
- Forward Trey Murphy III (right shoulder contusion) and center Yves Missi (left calf strain) will remain out for the Pelicans when they face Utah on Thursday, the team announced today. It will be a fourth straight missed game for Murphy, who hasn’t played since the All-Star break, while Missi sits out a fifth consecutive game.
Post-Deadline Rumors: Morant, JJJ, Bulls, Missi, Celtics
The fact that Ja Morant wasn’t traded at last week’s deadline came as a bit of a surprise to him, according to Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints, who says the Grizzlies weren’t willing to accept a package similar to what Atlanta got for Trae Young.
The Grizzlies talked to the Heat, Timberwolves, and Bucks about Morant, but didn’t come close to making a deal, Azarly writes. League sources tell ClutchPoints that Ryan Rollins was a player Memphis and Milwaukee talked about, but the Grizzlies were averse to taking back Kyle Kuzma and/or Bobby Portis, who are both on multiyear guaranteed contracts.
According to reporting last week, Memphis signaled a willingness to take on long-term salary if it came attached to first-round draft compensation, but there’s no indication the Bucks would’ve put their lone tradable first-rounder on the table for Morant.
The expectation is that the Grizzlies will try to trade Morant again in the summer, and Azarly suggests that the point guard should be able to return from his left elbow injury not long after the All-Star break. As Azarly explains, even though Memphis has pivoted to a full-on rebuild and would benefit from piling up losses down the stretch, both the team and Morant himself would appreciate the opportunity to have the 26-year-old rebuild his trade value with a strong finish to the season.
Here are a few more leftover rumors from last week’s trade deadline:
- In addition to Golden State and Toronto – whose talks with the Grizzlies were previously reported – the Pistons and Hawks also “checked in” on Jaren Jackson Jr. before he was dealt to the Jazz, while the Suns and Hornets also had interest, says Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints. There’s no indication that any of those teams made any real progress toward acquiring Jackson from Memphis.
- The Bulls, who acquired a total of eight second-round picks in their various pre-deadline deals, made an effort to flip some of those second-rounders to the Pelicans last Thursday in a deal for second-year center Yves Missi, Siegel writes. However, New Orleans was holding out for a first-round pick and ended up retaining Missi through the deadline.
- Sources who spoke to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) viewed the Celtics‘ swap of Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vucevic as a “clear indicator” that Boston thinks forward Jayson Tatum will be able to return before the end of the season. Simons’ was the team’s fourth-leading scorer prior to the trade, but would’ve likely seen his role reduced in a rotation that featured a healthy Tatum.
More On Pacers’ Trade For Ivica Zubac
The Clippers were resistant for most of the season to the idea of trading Ivica Zubac, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), who says that even after last week’s James Harden deal with Cleveland, there was a sense that L.A. wouldn’t change its stance on its starting center.
However, the Pacers were “more determined than anyone realized” to find a long-term answer at the five, Fischer writes, noting that the team also called the Cavaliers about Jarrett Allen and thought highly of Hawks big man Onyeka Okongwu, whose team-friendly deal (two years and $33MM after this season) was appealing to a team targeting centers with mid-sized contracts.
According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the Pacers also looked at options like Mavericks center Daniel Gafford and Pelicans big man Yves Missi, but Zubac was always thought to be on top of their list.
For the Clippers to relent on Zubac, it was going require a team to meet their asking price of two first-round picks “and then some,” per Fischer, who suggests that some members of the Clippers wouldn’t have been upset if Indiana had decided the cost was too high, since it would’ve meant L.A. “had” to hang onto the 28-year-old, who was highly valued within the organization.
However, the Pacers put together a package of two valuable first-round picks, a future second-rounder, and two young players – Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson – for Zubac, which convinced the Clippers to pull the trigger on a deal.
As Fischer writes, one of those first-rounders features unusual protection. It will convey to L.A. in 2026 only if it lands between No. 5 and No. 9 in this year’s draft. Besides the unique protections, that traded pick also includes unusual roll-over details — if Indiana keeps it this year, the Clippers would instead receive a 2031 first-rounder.
In a typical deal, the Pacers would owe the Clippers their 2027 first-rounder if the ’26 pick were to land in its protected range. However, according to Fischer, it was important to the Clips to secure a farther-off draft pick in that scenario. L.A.’s thinking was that Indiana – armed with Zubac and a potential top-four pick in 2026 – would have a bright short-term outlook, reducing the value of the team’s ’27 first-rounder, whereas there would be more variability by ’31.
Here are a few more notes related to the trade:
- While the Clippers had been prioritizing 2027 cap room in the hopes of going star-hunting that offseason, the team recognized that mere cap space might not be enough to land that sort of player, given how few stars reach free agency these days, Fischer writes. With that in mind, L.A. wanted to replenish its cache of draft picks to some extent. The Clippers that those picks they’ve acquired from the Pacers will help put them in a better position to pursue an impact player down the road, per Fischer.
- The Pacers had zero interest in surrendering their 2026 first-round pick in a deal for Gafford, while the Mavericks didn’t have a ton of interest in Mathurin, so trade talks between those teams didn’t generate any real traction, Siegel writes.
- The Mavericks had been hoping to add a 2026 first-rounder if they were going to move Gafford at the deadline, but the Hawks, another team with interest in the big man, also didn’t have interest in parting with its least favorable ’26 first-round pick (likely to be Cleveland’s), so the discussions between the two teams failed to gain momentum, according to Siegel.
Warriors Trade Trayce Jackson-Davis To Raptors
February 5: The trade is official, the Warriors confirmed (via Twitter).
February 4: The Warriors will send backup center Trayce Jackson-Davis to the Raptors in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick that originally belonged to the Lakers, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Jackson-Davis, 25, saw rotation minutes during his first two seasons, but his role has been reduced this year. He has appeared in just 36 games and is averaging 4.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per night.
He makes $2.2MM this season and his contract includes a $2.4MM team option for 2026/27.
Charania notes that Toronto adds some size to its frontcourt by using the space created by trading Ochai Agbaji earlier in the day while managing to stay out of tax territory.
The Raptors explored several options for another big man, including the Pelicans‘ Yves Missi, the Nets‘ Day’Ron Sharpe and the Magic’s Goga Bitadze, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. However, it would have taken a first-round pick to land any of them and the Raptors were comfortable picking up Jackson-Davis while parting with the second-rounder they acquired when they sent Davion Mitchell to Miami a year ago.
The Jackson-Davis trade, coupled with the deal that sends Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to Atlanta, gives the Warriors enough roster flexibility to convert two-way guard Pat Spencer to a standard deal, notes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link). Spencer is just one game away from reaching his limit of 50 active games.
Trade Rumors: Giannis, Morant, Alvarado, Knicks, Raptors
While Thursday is usually the busiest day of the NBA’s trade deadline week, Tuesday and Wednesday have been more active than usual this season, observes Fred Katz of The Athletic.
There are a number of reasons why that may be the case, but one front office executive who spoke to Katz believes teams are reacting to what happened at last year’s deadline, when physical exams affected two trade agreements. The Sixers and Mavericks slightly reworked the terms of their Caleb Martin/Quentin Grimes deal due to concerns about Martin’s physical, while the Lakers and Hornets rescinded their Mark Williams trade as a result of Williams’ physical.
The Philadelphia/Dallas deal was agreed to and finalized on the Tuesday before the deadline, which allowed the two teams to conduct physical and then amend the terms on Thursday. However, because Los Angeles and Charlotte finalized their deal on Thursday, the issues with Williams’ physical didn’t arise until after the deadline, when negotiations couldn’t be reopened. At that point, the Lakers had just two options: approve the deal anyway or nix it altogether.
Several teams making deals at this year’s deadline may have those situations in the backs of their mind, Katz explains, prompting them to get their business done a little earlier in the week.
Here are more trade rumors from around the NBA, with the deadline just over five hours away:
- The Timberwolves and Heat don’t believe they’re out of the running for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but like Golden State, they remain skeptical that the Bucks are ready to get a deal done today, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link). Fischer, who previously identified Milwaukee as a team to watch on the Ja Morant front, also continues to hear that the Bucks remain engaged with the Grizzlies about the star point guard.
- Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado remains on the Knicks‘ radar, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). While New York reportedly didn’t have much luck selling New Orleans on a deal that included Guerschon Yabusele, the team may have more success with Dalen Terry‘s expiring contract after agreeing to send Yabusele to Chicago. The Knicks have also expressed interest in Yves Missi, but the Pelicans have reportedly insisted on a first-round pick for him to this point. New York’s only tradable first-rounder is Washington’s top-eight protected 2026 pick, which will likely turn into second-rounders.
- It’s been a busy week for the Bulls, who have finalized three trades and agreed to two more, but they may not be done dealing yet. According to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, the Bulls’ front office was still talking to teams as of Wednesday night, with a “focus” on the Pelicans and Rockets. Chicago has been linked to Zion Williamson and Missi from New Orleans and Tari Eason from Houston, Cowley notes. However, he says the Bulls haven’t made real progress on the Pelicans’ players, and reports have indicated the Rockets are very resistant to moving Eason.
- After agreeing to two minor deals on Wednesday to duck the luxury tax and add Trayce Jackson-Davis, the Raptors are unlikely to make a major move ahead of Thursday’s deadline, Michael Grange of Sportsnet (Twitter video link) and TSN’s Josh Lewenberg (Twitter video link) said during TV appearances. Toronto has been linked to several notable big men, but some (Anthony Davis and Jaren Jackson Jr.) have been traded to other teams, while Domantas Sabonis appears likely to remain in Sacramento.