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Spurs Sign Bismack Biyombo To 10-Day Contract

February 8th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Earnest Marshall

February 9: The Spurs have officially signed Biyombo, the team confirmed today (via Twitter).

Because San Antonio has just two games before the All-Star break and 10-day contracts must cover a minimum of three games, Biyombo’s deal will run through Feb. 20, the date of the team’s first game after the break. That means it’ll technically become a 12-day contract.

February 8: The Spurs are set to sign Bismack Biyombo to a 10-day contract, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Biyombo hasn’t played yet this season, but gave the Grizzlies good minutes last year.

Biyombo, 32, has 13 seasons under his belt with the Hornets, Raptors, Magic, Suns, Grizzlies and Thunder. In 839 career games (351 starts), he holds averages of 5.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. He was drafted in 2011 with the seventh overall pick, spending the first four years of his career with Charlotte.

Biyombo then signed with the Raptors in 2015, becoming a crucial part of Toronto postseason run that season. Appearing in 20 playoff games in 2016, he averaged 6.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest. The big man had several notable performances during those playoffs, including a 17-point, 16-rebound double-double that helped secure an Eastern Conference Semifinals win for Toronto, as well as a memorable 26-rebound game in a win over Cleveland in the Conference Finals.

The 6’8″ big man was able to parlay that success into a major payday with the Magic. He was then traded back to Charlotte, where he spent the following three seasons. After that, Biyombo spent time as a depth big with the Suns, Grizzlies and Thunder. He made 27 starts last year for Memphis, posting 5.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game before closing out the season with Oklahoma City.

The shot-blocking big man provides some traditional depth for Victor Wembanyama and a San Antonio team hoping to make the playoffs. The Spurs also have Charles Bassey and Sandro Mamukelashvili as depth options. After waiving Patrick Baldwin Jr., the Spurs have an open roster spot, so no corresponding move will be necessary to bring Biyombo on.

San Antonio plays tonight, so if Biyombo’s signing is made official by then, he’ll be eligible for a total of three games for the Spurs ahead of the All-Star break. If he impresses, the Spurs will have a chance to sign him to a second 10-day deal. Beyond that, they’d have to sign him for the rest of the season.

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Knicks’ Quiet Deadline Indicates Full Confidence In Roster

February 8th, 2025 at 9:51am CST by Earnest Marshall

The Knicks made their biggest move of the year right before the season began, acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns in a blockbuster at the start of training camp. That move has paid major dividends for a team that currently has its best regular season winning percentage since 1997.

Of course, making a move of that magnitude — Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo were sent to Minnesota — meant the Knicks were likely to have a quiet trade deadline.

New York did make one minor trade, sending Jericho Sims to the Bucks in exchange for guard Delon Wright. As James L. Edwards III of The Athletic writes, the Knicks have a history of sending players to situations where they can potentially thrive, like with Obi Toppin, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, and this was the latest in the series.

The Mavericks, Spurs, and Pelicans were among the teams who had talks with the Knicks about Sims before he was sent to Milwaukee, according to Edwards.

As for Wright, he signed with the Bucks this past summer after closing out last season with the Heat. However, his role has been modest this season — he averaged just 2.5 points per game and shot 26.8% from the field across 26 appearances in Milwaukee.

There’s reason to believe Wright can turn his season around with the Knicks, according to the New York Post’s Bryan Fonseca. The veteran guard was a playoff contributor just last season with the Heat, and Fonseca notes that health issues affected him during his time in Milwaukee.

Knicks big men Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiuwa stuck with the team through the deadline after both having their names floated in rumors for much of the season. Edwards writes that Robinson will be New York’s biggest midseason acquisition when he returns from injury, giving the Knicks a superb defender to add to the rotation. As a first-apron team, the Knicks won’t be eligible to sign anyone who made over the mid-level exception ($12.8MM) on the buyout market.

“You guys can read the tea leaves,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said of the team’s quiet deadline, per the New York Post’s Peter Botte. “We like our team a lot. Obviously, we are excited about Mitch. But we also feel Ariel [Hukporti] has done a good job, and [Achiuwa] has done a good job. That’s really how we approach it.

“[Team president] Leon [Rose] and his staff, they are on it all year long. I think there’s a tendency to think this happens a couple days before [deadline]. They are always looking if they can improve the club. If there’s something that makes sense, they explore it. Then, you go from there. But we like our team a lot.”

As Botte opines in another story, it will be interesting to monitor whether the gambit of relying on health will pan out for the Knicks after a couple key East rivals made moves to shore up their teams, including the top-seeded Cavaliers acquiring De’Andre Hunter.

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Trade Deadline Leftovers: Ingram, Draft Pick Details, Tax Projections, More

February 7th, 2025 at 8:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Brandon Ingram waived his trade bonus as part of the trade that sent him from New Orleans to the Raptors, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Ingram’s 15% trade kicker would have added nearly $2.1MM to his $36MM salary for this season, and while the Pelicans would have been responsible for paying it, Toronto would have taken the cap hit, pushing the team close to the luxury tax line.

Without that extra money on the books, the Raptors were able to accommodate a James Wiseman salary dump deal with Indiana and promote Jamison Battle to their standard roster while still maintaining some breathing room below the tax threshold.

As Murphy notes, the Raptors/Pelicans trade still would’ve worked just fine from a rules perspective if Ingram had received his trade bonus, so he certainly wasn’t obligated to waive it. The fact that he did so might suggest that the veteran forward feels good about what a contract offer from Toronto will look like, Murphy speculates.

Here are a few more leftovers from Thursday’s trade-deadline deals:

  • According to John Hollinger of The Athletic and Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (Twitter links), the 2025 second-round pick the Wizards sent the Grizzlies in their Marcus Smart trade is believed to be the least favorable of Detroit’s, Golden State’s, and Phoenix’s second-rounders. Washington sent the second-most favorable of those picks to Milwaukee in the Kyle Kuzma/Khris Middleton deal.
  • As part of their Dennis Schröder side agreement within the framework of the five-team Jimmy Butler trade, the Pistons sent the Jazz the least favorable of their five potential second-round picks for 2028, reports Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). That group of picks includes New York’s, Charlotte’s, and the Clippers’ second-rounders. It will also include Detroit’s if it’s between 31-55 and Miami’s, as long as Dallas’ 2027 first-rounder isn’t in the top two.
  • To ensure they sent out at least one outgoing piece in the Kuzma/Middleton trade, the Spurs traded a protected 2026 second-round pick to the Bucks, per a press release from San Antonio. The Spurs didn’t provide any additional details on that pick, but it’s a virtual lock to be top-55 protected. The only question is whether it’s the Spurs’ own pick or one of the others they control.
  • Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link) shares the updated end-of-season luxury tax projections after multiple teams ducked the tax or reduced their projected payments at the deadline. As a result of those moves, the projected payment for non-taxpayers dropped to $11.4MM apiece for 20 teams.
  • Several of ESPN’s NBA insiders share their thoughts on the biggest stories of the trade deadline, while John Hollinger of The Athletic explains why the 2026 offseason – which projects to have a loaded free agent class and many teams with cap room – loomed over many of this week’s moves.
  • According to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), there’s a “growing sentiment” among NBA teams after a wild deadline week that the deadline should happen during a break in the schedule. “It’s chaos, and your players and coaches have to play,” one GM told Smith. “Sometimes it’s hard to field a competitive roster. We need to look at adjusting the timing to be less impactful to the product we put on the floor.” The trade deadline used to be during the All-Star break, but the NBA was concerned about major deals overshadowing its midseason showcase — that would have been especially true this year, with All-Stars Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis traded for one another.
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Southwest Notes: Davis, Mavs, Rockets, Fox

February 7th, 2025 at 7:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Star big man Anthony Davis is on track to return from his abdominal strain and make his Mavericks debut on Saturday, having been officially listed as probable to play in Dallas vs. the Rockets.

As Tim MacMahon of ESPN details, it’s expected to be a charged environment in Dallas, where a protest is planned from fans angry about the decision to trade away franchise player Luka Doncic. Davis said on Friday that he “can’t control” how fans will react, but that he understands why they’re upset about the trade.

“Obviously it’s a business, and I get who Luka was to this franchise, to the city,” Davis said. “I’m never going to downplay that — just how I know what I meant to the city of L.A. So I’m not surprised by the fans’ reaction and the city’s reaction, but it’s my job to come in and play basketball and do what I’m supposed to do and give the fans hope and reassurance on why [general manager] Nico [Harrison] brought me here.

“…I understand who Luka is and what he’s able to do and what he’s already done for our game. He’s a phenomenal player, going to be one of the best to ever play the game of basketball. But to have Nico trade for me just shows his belief in me and what I can do on the floor. It’s my job to produce every night and have Mavs nation believe that as well. So I’m excited for the challenge.”

While it’s no surprise that some Mavs fans have handled news of the Doncic/Davis trade poorly, “lines have been crossed,” according to MacMahon, who said during a TV appearance (Twitter video link) that Harrison has received threats and faced racial epithets.

Sources tell MacMahon that the team has beefed up security for Saturday’s contest and that Harrison – who has employed his own personal security – won’t be in his usual seat for the game.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said on Thursday that he envisions a starting lineup that features P.J. Washington at small forward and Davis at power forward alongside a center (Twitter link via Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News). When Dereck Lively is healthy, he may be the team’s starting five, but until then, Daniel Gafford will likely get that assignment. Washington, who has missed the past three games due to right knee soreness and personal reasons, is off the injury report and should be available on Saturday.
  • Rockets officials expressed for months leading up to Thursday’s deadline that they planned to stick with their current roster making than making any major in-season deals and they stuck to that plan this week, as Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes. Reports have suggested Houston wants to see how its young core performs in the postseason before making any major roster decisions — head coach Ime Udoka reiterated that point on Thursday. “We like what we have,” Udoka said. “We’ve been doing OK and feel we can do a lot better. (We) want to continue to grow as a group, watch our young guys develop, play in big situations and see what we have.”
  • Citing team and league sources, Iko reports that the Rockets received calls this week on Jae’Sean Tate, Jock Landale, Aaron Holiday, and Steven Adams, all of whom are on expiring or pseudo-expiring contracts. However, Houston didn’t feel compelled to make any move that would compromise the team’s depth, according to Iko, who says Tate generated the most interest of those four players.
  • De’Aaron Fox‘s 24-point, 13-assist Spurs debut on Wednesday in a tight win over Atlanta provided a compelling case for the star guard’s fit in San Antonio, writes ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. “Selfishly, as a coach, I think that’s probably about as complete of a game you’d hope for the first game,” acting head coach Mitch Johnson said. “You saw the potential. It’s tantalizing. He’s dynamic. He’s going to unlock a whole different element for our team.”
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Spurs Waive Patrick Baldwin Jr.

February 7th, 2025 at 4:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have waived third-year forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

San Antonio acquired Baldwin as part of the four-team Kyle Kuzma/Khris Middleton trade on Thursday. He was on track to be dealt from the Wizards to the Bucks in the initial construction of that deal, but Milwaukee worked out a side deal with the Spurs, sending cash to San Antonio that more than covered the cost of Baldwin’s cap hit and the remaining portion of his $2,448,840 expiring contract.

The Spurs will now carry that dead money on their cap for the remainder of the season, but won’t be on the hook for any salary beyond 2024/25, since Washington passed on his ’25/26 team option last fall.

The 28th overall pick in the 2022 draft out of UW-Milwaukee, Baldwin began his career with the Warriors, then was sent to the Wizards during the 2023 offseason as part of the Jordan Poole/Chris Paul trade.

He didn’t see much playing time in either Golden State or Washington — to date, he has appeared in 91 total NBA regular season games, averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.0 minutes per night.

Assuming Baldwin clears waivers on Sunday, which seems likely, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent with the ability to sign with any NBA team except the Wizards. Because he’s only in his third season, he remains eligible to receive a two-way contract.

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NBA Announces Three-Point Contest, Skills Challenge Participants

February 7th, 2025 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced the participants for the All-Star Saturday festivities in San Francisco on February 15, revealing today (via Twitter) which players will compete in the three-point contest and the skills challenge. Here are the details:

Three-Point Contest:

Among this year’s participants, Powell (43.1%), Garland (42.9%), and Johnson (41.7%) have been the most accurate three-point shooters so far this season, while Herro (39.3% on 9.7 attempts per game) has been the most prolific.

Lillard won the event in both 2023 and 2024 and will be looking to become the first player since Craig Hodges in 1992 to claim the three-point title for a third consecutive year. Larry Bird was also a three-time winner, having achieved the feat in the first three years the NBA held the event (1986-88).

Hield is the only other player in this year’s field to have won the contest before, having done so in 2020. The Warriors wing will be the home team’s representative next Saturday.

Skills Challenge:

It appears the NBA will be tweaking the format of the skills challenge again in 2025, with the event set to feature four teams of two players apiece instead of three players per team.

Mobley was part of the Cavs team that won the event in 2022, along with Jarrett Allen and Garland. He’ll be teaming up with Mitchell this time around.

The NBA also officially confirmed the participants of the dunk contest earlier this week (Twitter link). Those four players, who had been previously reported, are Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis, Spurs rookie Stephon Castle, Bucks guard Andre Jackson, and Magic two-way guard Mac McClung.

Like Lillard in the three-point contest, McClung will be looking to three-peat in his event next Saturday night.

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Four-Team Kyle Kuzma/Khris Middleton Trade Officially Completed

February 6th, 2025 at 10:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The four-team trade that sends Kyle Kuzma to the Bucks and Khris Middleton to the Wizards has been formally completed, the Knicks announced in a press release (via Twitter). Washington confirmed the finalized agreement in a press release as well.

The terms of the deal, which also includes the Spurs, are as follows:

  • Bucks acquire Kuzma, Jericho Sims, either the Pistons’, Suns’, or Warriors’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable; from Wizards), and a protected second-round pick (from Spurs).
  • Wizards acquire Middleton, AJ Johnson, the draft rights to Mathias Lessort (from Knicks), the right to swap their own 2028 first-round pick for the Bucks’ 2028 first-round pick or the Trail Blazers’ 2028 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable), and cash ($1MM; from Bucks).
  • Knicks acquire Delon Wright, the draft rights to Hugo Besson (from Bucks), and cash ($2MM; from Bucks).
  • Spurs acquire Patrick Baldwin Jr. and cash ($4.13MM; from Bucks).
  • Note: If the Trail Blazers haven’t conveyed their lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick by 2027 and it lands outside the lottery in 2028, it would be ineligible to be swapped; in that scenario, the Wizards would simply have the right to swap their own 2028 first-round pick for the Bucks’ 2028 first-round pick.

The Kuzma/Middleton agreement between the Bucks and Spurs was initially reported on Wednesday morning. Our full story on that original deal can be found right here.

Milwaukee later expanded the trade by working out a side deal with New York involving Sims and a second side deal with San Antonio for Baldwin.

The transaction allows the Bucks to shed enough salary move below the second tax apron, which is why they’re permitted to send out cash in the deal — Fred Katz of The Athletic reported the details on the cash going to each team earlier today.

The only other changes from the terms previously reported are that the draft rights to Lessort are headed from New York to Washington instead of Milwaukee and the Spurs are sending the Bucks a protected second-round pick. Details on that second-rounder are TBD.

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NBA Announces 2025 All-Star Game Rosters

February 6th, 2025 at 6:33pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The 24 players selected for the 2025 All-Star Game were drafted on a Thursday pre-game TNT show by coaches Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, and later announced by the NBA (Twitter link).

The players were previously sorted into groups of starters and reserves, but that had no bearing on their team placement for the new mini-tournament in this year’s game.

Below are each team’s selections, sorted in order of pick:

Team Shaq

O’Neal had the first overall pick in the televised draft, selecting James, who holds the record for most All-Star appearances in a career. For the most part, O’Neal opted for the “old guard” of the NBA, so to speak. His team has a whopping 87 All-Star appearances (including this year) among its eight players.

The roster also unites a handful of players. Durant spent this week in trade rumors, with reports indicating he didn’t want to be traded to Curry’s Warriors. The two players were teammates for three seasons. This also will mark the first time James and Davis will play together since the blockbuster move that brought Doncic to L.A. Additionally, Curry, James, Durant, Tatum and Davis all played together on the 2024 U.S. men’s Olympic Team.

Team Kenny

In contrast to O’Neal’s roster, Smith opted for some of the younger stars across the league. Smith’s team has a combined 13 All-Star nods to their name — Williams, Mobley, Cunningham and Herro are all first-timers. Smith united a pair of Cavaliers, with Mobley and Garland joining forces.

Team Chuck

Barkley went for a mix of experience in his group. He secured the top three expected players in the MVP race this season between Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander. He also landed Wembanyama with the 12th overall pick. Barkley’s group has a combined 35 All-Star honors, with Sengun and Wembanyama as first-time All-Stars and Antetkounmpo (nine) and Jokic (seven) leading the way.

A fourth team coached by Candace Parker will play in the tournament. She’ll be coaching whichever team wins this year’s Rising Stars Challenge — those rosters were announced earlier this week. Two teams will meet in a semifinal (game one) while the other two also play each other (game two). The winning team from each game moves on to the final round.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

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Trade Deadline Notes: Martin, Draft Pick Details, Cash

February 6th, 2025 at 5:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2025 NBA trade deadline is now behind us.

It was a wild week leading up to the trade deadline, with Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, De’Aaron Fox, Jimmy Butler, Zach LaVine, and Brandon Ingram among the accomplished stars reported to be on the move even before deadline day arrived on Thursday.

Several more deals were agreed upon in the hours before the deadline, with the East-leading Cavaliers striking a deal for Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter and established vets like Marcus Smart, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Jusuf Nurkic also changing teams.

The full list of in-season trades – both official and still pending – can be found right here. We’ll continue to update that tracker as more details are reported and more details are officially processed.

It’s also worth noting that several notable trade candidates remained with their current teams through Thursday’s deadline. The Nets made multiple trades earlier in the season, but didn’t move Cameron Johnson, Nic Claxton, Day’Ron Sharpe, or anyone else this week. The Trail Blazers, another potential seller, stood pat, with Robert Williams, Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons, and Deandre Ayton all remaining in Portland.

The Jazz and Bulls each made deal, but rumored trade chips like John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler, Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams, and Lonzo Ball weren’t involved in them.

The Knicks only made a minor move, preferring to stick with Mitchell Robinson and bet on his return to health rather than acquiring another center. The Magic, Timberwolves, and Nuggets were among the few teams who stood pat, opting not to make a single in-season deal.

The Pacers, Celtics, Rockets, and Thunder all had pretty quiet deadlines too, only taking part in salary-dump deals (either sending or receiving).

Here are a few more deadline-related notes that we didn’t want to slip through the cracks as we look to stay on top of all the roster moves being made and trade details still being reported:

  • The Mavericks had the option to void their Caleb Martin trade with the Sixers after his return from a right hip sprain was determined to be a little further off than anticipated, tweets NBA insider Marc Stein. However, the Mavs were comfortable moving ahead with the deal after Philadelphia added a second-round pick, since they don’t expect Martin to be out too long. They’re optimistic he’ll be back in action within about two or three weeks, sources tell ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link).
  • The second-round pick the Pistons are acquiring in the multi-team Butler deal is a 2031 second-round pick from the Warriors, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Golden State previously gave Minnesota swap rights on that pick, so Detroit will receive the least favorable of the Warriors’ and Timberwolves’ 2031 second-rounders.
  • The Grizzlies‘ 2025 first-rounder headed to the Wizards in their Smart trade includes top-14 protection, reports David Aldridge of The Athletic (Twitter link). Given Memphis’ current 35-16 record, it’s a pretty safe bet that pick won’t land in its protected range.
  • The Bucks are sending cash to all three of the other teams involved in their Khris Middleton/Kyle Kuzma deal, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Wizards are getting $1MM from Milwaukee, the Knicks are getting $2MM, and the Spurs are receiving $4.13MM. The Bucks were only able to trade cash because they’re moving below the second tax apron as part of that deal.
  • The Pelicans received $1MM in cash from the Thunder in the trade that sent Daniel Theis and a future second-round pick to Oklahoma City, reports Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Oklahoma City has since waived Theis.
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Bucks Trading Patrick Baldwin Jr., Cash To Spurs

February 6th, 2025 at 11:27am CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks are trading forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. and cash to the Spurs, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Moving off Baldwin’s $2.45MM contract will give Milwaukee more breathing room below the second tax apron.

It’s possible the deal will be folded into the larger trade that will send Khris Middleton to the Wizards and Kyle Kuzma to the Bucks, as that’s how Milwaukee acquired Baldwin in the first place. In that scenario, he’d technically just go straight from Washington to San Antonio.

The Spurs have an open roster spot after sending out multiple players in the De’Aaron Fox blockbuster, plus enough space left in their room exception to acquire Baldwin outright without having to send anything back in return.

The 28th overall pick of the 2022 draft, Baldwin spent his rookie season with Golden State prior to being traded to the Wizards in the Jordan Poole/Chris Paul deal back in July 2023. Baldwin’s role has been extremely limited through three NBA seasons. He has appeared in just 22 games in 2024/25 for a total of 101 minutes.

Baldwin also appeared in seven G League games with the Capital City Go-Go this season, averaging 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists on .494/.349/.571 shooting in 27.3 minutes per contest.

Still just 22 years old, Baldwin had his rookie scale team option for ’25/26 declined last fall, which means he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He may not be in San Antonio’s plans either, so he could potentially hit free agency sooner than that if the team decides to release him in the coming days.

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