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Trade Rumors: Giannis, Durant, Spurs, Garland

June 10th, 2025 at 11:50am CST by Luke Adams

The trade market for Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to be nonexistent, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Tuesday during an appearance on Get Up (YouTube link). As Windhorst explained, despite rampant speculation about the possibility of the two-time MVP being traded this offseason, there has still been no indication that either Antetokounmpo or the Bucks are preparing for that scenario.

“Giannis Antetokounmpo has gone overseas to travel with his family. He has made no trade request to the Bucks. He has made no trade hint to the Bucks,” Windhorst said. “The Bucks are proceeding with their offseason as if Giannis is going to be with them, and there’s no significant trade talks right now. The plan is for Giannis Antetokounmpo to be a Buck.

“Now, he can change all that with a simple request, but that request has not happened and it’s not clear it’s going to happen anytime soon.”

Windhorst’s reporting lines up with what we’ve heard recently from Jake Fischer of The Stein Line and Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Both Fischer and Lewis indicated there’s increased skepticism among league sources that Antetokounmpo will end up on the trade block in the coming weeks.

It’s still not a sure thing that Antetokounmpo will open next season in Milwaukee, since trade requests often don’t come this early in the offseason. When Giannis’ current teammate Damian Lillard asked out of Portland in 2023, for example, it happened on July 1.

Still, I wouldn’t necessarily expect Antetokounmpo to wait that long to make a final decision — the further we get into June without a trade request, the better the Bucks have to feel about the odds of it not happening at all this summer.

Here are a few more trade-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:

During that same Get Up appearance (YouTube link), Windhorst confirmed that a Kevin Durant trade is far more likely to happen this offseason than a deal involving Antetokounmpo. He added that the Knicks are among a “handful” of teams expected to talk to the Suns about Durant, but cautioned that salary-matching and tax-apron rules will make it difficult for them to acquire Durant without including Karl-Anthony Towns. Reporting out of Phoenix last week suggested the Suns aren’t enthusiastic about trading for Towns.
Within an in-depth article exploring the Spurs‘ options with the No. 2 overall pick and considering whether it makes sense to add Dylan Harper to a backcourt that already features De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports cites sources who say San Antonio has explored the idea of packaging its second lottery pick (No. 14) with a player to upgrade its roster.
With Darius Garland trade rumors percolating, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required) evaluates what a deal involving the point guard might look like for the Cavaliers, discussing three separate hypothetical trades in which Cleveland acquires Jalen Suggs and Tristan Da Silva (from Orlando), Jaden McDaniels, Donte DiVincenzo, and Terrence Shannon (from Minnesota), or Trey Murphy, Kelly Olynyk, and Jose Alvarado (from New Orleans). Fedor also briefly discusses Sacramento’s reported interest in Garland, but suggests it’s not easy to find a match with the Kings.

De’Aaron Fox Hopes To Sign Extension With Spurs

June 6th, 2025 at 9:00pm CST by Eli Cohen

Despite playing just 17 games with the Spurs following a mid-season three-team trade, De’Aaron Fox is already thinking long-term, according to Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle.

Starting August 3, Fox will be eligible for a four-year extension worth up to a projected $229MM, and according to Lerner, he is looking forward to signing that offer if San Antonio puts it on the table. Asked if he was optimistic about reaching terms with the Spurs, he said, “I would definitely hope so.”

Fox, who currently has one year and $37MM left on his contract, looks to be an integral part of the Spurs’ outlook as they continue to search the market for impact players to add to the core anchored by Victor Wembanyama.

Armed with the second and 14th picks in the 2025 draft, as well as several young veterans like Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, and Jeremy Sochan on deals that could be valuable on their own or as salary-matching pieces in larger trades, the team has a wide range of options to consider this summer.

There are concerns with how Fox, reigning rookie of the year Stephon Castle, and projected No. 2 pick Dylan Harper will coexist as three guards with shaky jump shots and – in the case of Fox and Harper particularly – a skill set best suited to having the ball in their hands, but it’s unlikely that Fox would be the odd man out after the former All-Star pushed for a trade to the Spurs last season.

In his 17 games for San Antonio last season, Fox averaged 19.7 points, 6.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 27.4% from three. While the scoring and shooting numbers would rank as some of the lowest of his career, he was both adjusting to just the second NBA team of his career and also dealing with tendon damage in the pinkie of his shooting hand, an injury that eventually sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

“I’m doing well. The surgery went fine,” Fox said when asked about the injury. “I’ve been cleared so I played a little five-on-five and I’ve done contact stuff, so I’ll be ready for next year.”

Southwest Notes: Mavs, DSJ, Brown, Spurs, Pelicans

June 6th, 2025 at 5:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

Acquiring a point guard is one of the top priorities for the Mavericks in the 2025 offseason, writes Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. With star Kyrie Irving recovering from ACL surgery and not expected to get back on the court until at least January, the team will need help at the position this fall.

In a mailbag for the Morning News, Curtis discusses how Chris Paul will likely be a name to watch for Dallas, citing NBA Insider Marc Stein who listed him as a potential option along with Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday. The latter two players are still under contract but their respective teams may entertain offers for them, given roster construction and salary cap considerations.

After a rocky season as a part-time starter for the Suns, Curtis doesn’t consider upcoming unrestricted free agent Tyus Jones a serious target, writing, “Jones has proven he can run an offense, but there are better options on the market this offseason.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Dennis Smith Jr. is set to work out with the Mavericks next week as part of a veteran mini-camp, notes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. The athletic, defensive-minded guard is just one of a number of free agents who will take part in the mini-camp, but he could fill a need for the Dallas team that drafted him in 2017 and help complement the team’s budding defensive identity. Smith recently participated in a similar camp for the Sixers.
One name to watch as the Spurs continue to search for stars to put around Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox is Jaylen Brown, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix said during an NBC Sports Boston appearance (YouTube link). While Giannis Antetokounmpo has been linked to the Spurs, Mannix believes they may not be comfortable with the price they’d have to pay to acquire the Bucks star, which could lead them to look elsewhere. “I think if you’re Boston, you’re not going to… get a Stephon Castle in a potential Jaylen Brown (trade),” Mannix said. “You would get a No. 2 pick back in return, you would get some of the pieces… the Devin Vassells, the Keldon Johnsons, future first-round capital. That’s something I’d watch.” There’s no indication at this point that the Celtics will make Brown available.
The Pelicans conducted pre-draft workouts for UNC’s RJ Davis, Arkansas’ Johnell Davis, Wisconsin’s Steven Crowl, and Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson, reports The Athletic’s Will Guillory (via Twitter). Of the four players, UNC’s Davis ranks the highest on ESPN’s top-100 board, coming in at 93rd.
New Pelicans president of basketball operations Joe Dumars views the two teams in the NBA Finals as reasons to believe New Orleans can follow a similar small-market path, writes Rod Walker of NOLA.com. The first step in that process is building the proper culture and making the team feel like a first-class organization. “Taking care of the players. Taking care of their families. The way you do business. The way you travel. Everything. People have to feel good about coming into the building,” Dumars said.

Knicks Expected To Request Permission To Talk To Mavs’ Kidd

June 6th, 2025 at 11:14am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks, who have a newly created head coaching vacancy after parting ways with Tom Thibodeau earlier this week, are expected to ask the Mavericks for permission to speak to Dallas head coach Jason Kidd, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Stein, who identified Kidd on Wednesday as a potential target for the Knicks, says sources have described New York’s interest in the Mavs coach as “serious,” adding that some people in coaching circles believe he’s the Knicks’ top target to replace Thibodeau.

The Knicks were also said to be interested in Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, but multiple reporters – including Stein – have stated that Houston has no interest in granting New York permission to speak to Udoka. Stein hasn’t been able to confirm if the Mavs would take a similar position with Kidd.

Kidd was initially hired by former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in 2021, a little before Nico Harrison came aboard as the team’s head of basketball operations. Given that Cuban is no longer running the show in Dallas and Harrison didn’t hire Kidd himself, it’s possible the Mavs wouldn’t be as attached to him as the Rockets are to Udoka.

Kidd signed a contract extension with the Mavericks in May of 2024. According to Stein, that deal tacked on two years to Kidd’s previous contract, which would’ve expired at the end of 2024/25.

In the past, there have been instances where a team gave up draft compensation in order to hire a head coach away from another franchise — in fact, as Stein notes, that has happened before with Kidd, as the Bucks sent a pair of second-rounders to hire him away from the Nets in 2014. It remains to be seen whether the Knicks would be willing to take a similar route to hire Kidd.

Although Kidd has spoken about how he wasn’t involved in the unpopular decision to trade Luka Doncic in February, he’s believed to still be happy in Dallas and is excited about the opportunity to coach Cooper Flagg, according to Stein. Kidd also has strong relationships with current Mavs stars Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis.

Even if Kidd ends up staying put, the Mavs’ coaching staff seems likely to undergo some changes this offseason. Assistants Sean Sweeney and Jared Dudley both received consideration in Phoenix’s coaching search, according to Stein, who reports that the Spurs have expressed interest in trying to hire Sweeney as an assistant, while the Grizzlies recently spoke to Dudley about a role on their staff. Both San Antonio (Mitch Johnson) and Memphis (Tuomas Iisalo) have first-time head coaches who were promoted during the 2024/25 season and will be entering their first full seasons as head coaches in ’25/26.

The Mavs already lost one key assistant – Alex Jensen – earlier this year, when he agreed to become the new head coach at the University of Utah. Stein hears that Dallas has targeted former NBA head coach Jay Triano to replace Jensen, though Triano is believed to be receiving interest from other NBA teams as well.

Chris Paul To Put Family First In Career Decisions

June 5th, 2025 at 11:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Appearing Thursday on The Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link), Chris Paul stated that family concerns will shape the remainder of his NBA career. They will factor into how much longer the 40-year-old guard wants to continue playing as well as where he might sign this offseason.

“It’s with my family more than anything,” Paul said. “My son just turned 16. My daughter is 12. The past six seasons, I’ve lived without them. I go to San Antonio, Phoenix, Golden State — they were in Houston with me — Oklahoma City… I’ve been around a few teams, but I’ve been away from them the last six years. It’s a little different. That’s the conversation.”

Paul will be back on the free agent market after signing a one-year deal with the Spurs last summer. Brought in to help mentor Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio’s other young players, Paul proved he can still be productive on the court. He appeared in all 82 games, averaging 8.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 28 minutes per night with .427/.377/.924 shooting numbers.

A return to the Spurs might be unlikely considering they traded for De’Aaron Fox in February and appear ready to select Dylan Harper with the No. 2 pick in the draft. If Paul moves on, he figures to get plenty of interest from playoff contenders who are looking for a strong floor leader.

Paul’s family lives in Los Angeles, so a return to the Clippers could be in the cards. He spent six years with the organization, earning All-NBA honors five times and making it one of the NBA’s most exciting teams. Paul could also ponder teaming up with long-time friend LeBron James on the Lakers.

Paul didn’t sound ready for retirement in the interview with McAfee, as he said his body still feels good. Most likely, it will be a year-by-year decision to see how much longer he wants to keep playing.

“Well, I don’t think I want to play for a while,” Paul said. “I’m being honest with you — I want to be Dad. I still love to play. I was up in the gym at 6 am this morning. Yesterday, I was in the gym. Day before, I was in the gym. It’s crazy. You know, my daughter actually hoops now, so before I flew out here, I was in the gym with her for 20 minutes. With kids, sometimes you gotta do short sessions, so I was in 20 minutes doing ball handling with her, and it was priceless. You don’t get that time back.”

Paul also talked about projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, whom he’s worked out with in advance of the June 25 draft, according to Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (subscription required). Paul was on a group chat with other San Antonio players during the lottery, and there was a lot of excitement as the Mavericks and Spurs had the final two envelopes.

“I’m in L.A. right now, and Cooper Flagg has been out there,” Paul said. “I’ve been in the gym with him a couple times and whatnot. He’s as real as advertised.”

Marc Stein previously identified Dallas as a possible landing spot for Paul, since the Mavs will be looking for backcourt help while Kyrie Irving recovers from his ACL tear.

Barnes, Stewart, Vassell Candidates For Jamaican National Team

June 5th, 2025 at 3:11pm CST by Rory Maher

Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart and Spurs guard/forward Devin Vassell are in discussions to join Jamaica’s men’s basketball team, reports Daniel Blake of The Jamaica Observer (Twitter link).

Clippers wing Norman Powell has already committed to represent Jamaica during the pre-qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA World Cup this summer, as has Timberwolves forward Josh Minott, according to Blake (Twitter link).

Rockets wing Amen Thompson and Pistons wing Ausar Thompson may also represent Jamaica in FIBA competitions and possibly the Summer Olympics. Blake hears the Thompson twins began the process of applying for Jamaican passports last week — their father is from Jamaica.

Blake previously mentioned Suns center Nick Richards, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica, as another candidate to join the national team.

If Jamaica is able to secure the commitments of all the aforementioned NBA players, the country would become a formidable opponent in international competitions. Former Rookie of the Year and All-Star Barnes is the most accomplished of the group, and all but Minott have established themselves as at least solid rotation players in the NBA.

Latest On Kevin Durant

June 4th, 2025 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

After reporting before the end of the regular season that there was some mutual interest between the Spurs and Suns star Kevin Durant at the trade deadline, ESPN’s Shams Charania reiterated that point last week during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link). Charania’s reporting has since been confirmed by a plugged-in Phoenix-area insider.

“The team that I heard last night in speaking to somebody pretty close to the situation with KD is keep your eye on the Spurs,” John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 said during the Burns & Gambo show on Tuesday (YouTube link; hat tip to RealGM). “KD could have some interest in the Spurs. That might be a good landing spot for him, with (De’Aaron) Fox and (Victor) Wembanyama and an up-and-coming team on the rise that has a great defensive anchor.”

Gambadoro speculates that a Durant deal with San Antonio might include Harrison Barnes‘ $19MM expiring contract and a young player like Devin Vassell, who will make $27MM next season. While Vassell is primarily a shooting guard like Devin Booker, the Suns figure to prioritize acquiring the best young talent they can, rather than a perfect positional fit.

“You could (say), ‘Oh, you don’t want a guy who plays the same position as Booker,'” Gambadoro continued. “But you might have to take back somebody that plays the same position. You need to get younger talent. You could always trade somebody down the road, or move somebody to small forward instead of the two-guard spot, or you could have somebody be the point guard and not the two guard.”

As Gambadoro observes, the Suns will also likely be seeking draft assets in a deal for Durant, including perhaps a 2025 pick. That’s one reason why he thinks a deal could come together at some point in the coming weeks, prior to free agency.

“I expect – I’m not guaranteeing this, but I would expect – that a KD deal would happen right before the draft,” Gambadoro said. “Because you’d want to include draft capital in any deal, so I think that a Kevin Durant trade would come up this month, sometime before the draft. Probably close to the draft, if it’s going to happen.”

Marc Stein recently reported that the league-wide belief that a Durant trade will happen this offseason has only increased as the Suns trend toward hiring a first-time head coach. On Tuesday, Kelly Iko of The Athletic indicated that the Suns and Rockets have continued to talk about a possible Durant trade and shared some additional details on those discussions.

And-Ones: European Prospects, Extension Candidates, Dynasties

June 3rd, 2025 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

As we outlined last month when we passed along the list of prospects invited to the NBA’s draft combine, a player who is invited to the combine and declines to attend without an excused absence becomes ineligible to be drafted.

Many of the prospects who were granted excused absences from the combine in Chicago were international players whose teams were still playing. According to Erik Slater of ClutchPoints (Twitter link), the NBA is holding pre-draft activities (measurements, drills, etc.) this week in Treviso, Italy for those players whose commitments overseas prevented them from traveling to Chicago.

That group, Slater says, includes Noa Essengue (who is playing in Germany), Joan Beringer (Slovenia), Nolan Traore (France), Ben Saraf (Germany), Hugo Gonzalez (Spain), Bogoljub Markovic (Serbia), and Noah Penda (France).

It’s unclear whether all of those players will be able to attend the event in Treviso, since some of their seasons still aren’t over. Essengue and Safar, for example, both play for Ratiopharm Ulm, which is currently competing in the semifinals of the Basketball Bundesliga playoffs in Germany. Game 2 of that series will be played on Wednesday.

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

While the free agent class of 2025 isn’t particularly star-studded, there will be no shortage of veteran extension candidates to monitor this offseason, as Bobby Marks details for ESPN. Marks takes an in-depth look at which players seem likely to sign new deals in the coming months, including Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox, and Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr., and which players are longer shots for new contracts. That latter group includes players who would benefit financially from waiting, like Lakers guard Austin Reaves, and some who are unlikely to get an offer from their current team, such as Pelicans forward Zion Williamson.
Is it bad for business that the NBA’s age of dynasties appears to be over? Tania Ganguli of The New York Times considers that topic in an in-depth story open to non-subscribers.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report proposes a complex three-team deal involving the Celtics, Mavericks, and Nets that would save Boston a projected $230MM+, fortify Dallas’ backcourt, and send a pair of draft assets to Brooklyn along with mostly expiring contracts.

Latest On Hawks’ Front Office Search

May 31st, 2025 at 5:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Danny Ferry appears to be a legitimate candidate to join the Hawks‘ revamped front office, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link). Stein, who first mentioned Ferry as a potential target three weeks ago, states that he could be hired as a senior adviser to new general manager Onsi Saleh.

Atlanta has been conducting interviews for a new president of basketball operations, but with numerous executives already involved in the decision-making process, the team could opt for a senior advisor instead.

Ferry, who currently serves as a consultant with the Spurs, ran Atlanta’s front office from 2012 until 2014, when he was involved in a controversy that involved making racially insensitive remarks while reading a scouting report on Luol Deng during an organizational conference call. After stepping down from his position with the Hawks, Ferry became a special advisor with the Pelicans in 2016 and briefly served as the organization’s interim GM in 2019.

Stein reports that the 58-year-old Ferry was involved in Atlanta’s interview process after former GM Landry Fields was fired in April. Vice president of pro personnel Grant Liffmann and executive advisor Chris Emens are also reportedly leaving the organization.

The Hawks have spoken to several prominent candidates to become president of basketball operations, including Sixers GM Elton Brand, former Nuggets GM Calvin Booth, former Kings GM Monte McNair, Raptors executive Masai Ujiri and Alex Saratsis, agent for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Warriors Announce Details For 2025 California Classic Summer League

May 28th, 2025 at 12:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The seventh annual California Classic Summer League will take place this summer on July 5, 6, and 8 at Chase Center, the Warriors announced today in a press release.

According to today’s announcement, the Warriors will be joined at this year’s event by the Heat, Lakers, and Spurs. Each team will face every other club once over the course of the three-day event.

San Antonio owns the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 draft, so it’s possible Dylan Harper – who is considered the overwhelming favorite to be selected at that spot – will make his Summer League debut at this year’s California Classic.

The California Classic, which is held days before the league-wide Las Vegas Summer League, was launched by the Kings in 2018, and has been held in either Sacramento or San Francisco in recent years, with the Kings and Warriors trading hosting duties back and forth.

The event expanded from four teams to six in 2023 and then to eight in 2024, with China sending its national team to participate. However, it seems it will revert to just four squads again in 2025. The Warriors, Lakers, and Heat typically participate every year, while the Spurs have competed since 2023. This will be the first time the Kings aren’t involved in the event.

The California Classic will take place at the same time as the Jazz are hosting the Salt Lake City Summer League in Utah. The Vegas Summer League, which features all 30 NBA teams, will be played from July 10-20.