Kerr, Spoelstra, Lue Top List Of NBA’s Highest-Paid Coaches
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is the NBA’s highest-paid head coach, with an average annual value of $17.5MM on his current contract, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico. Erik Spoelstra of the Heat and Tyronn Lue of the Clippers round out the top three at $15MM per year, Badenhausen adds.
While Kerr is the highest earner among head coaches in the short term, his deal with Golden State expires at the end of the 2025/26 season, whereas Spoelstra (eight years) and Lue (five years) signed longer-term extensions in 2024, so they’re assured of far more overall guaranteed money.
After that top three, there are several coaches in the range of $11MM annually, per Badenhausen: Doc Rivers of the Bucks, Ime Udoka of the Rockets, Joe Mazzulla of the Celtics, and Rick Carlisle of the Pacers.
The Knicks‘ Mike Brown is the only other coach with an average annual value of at least $10MM, with Mavericks coach Jason Kidd coming in at $9.5MM per year and Lakers coach JJ Redick at $9MM annually.
Interestingly, while Spoelstra, Kerr, and Lue are three of the NBA’s four longest-tenured head coaches, the other member of that group – Billy Donovan of the Bulls, the league’s third longest-tenured coach – doesn’t crack the list of top 10 salaries shared by Badenhausen.
Details on the other 20 NBA head coaches’ contracts aren’t included in Badenhausen’s report, but he notes that the lower end of coaching salaries is approximately $4MM per year. Presumably, that figure applies only to coaches who have the title permanently, rather than assistants who have received in-season promotions and are serving as interim replacements, such as James Borrego in New Orleans or Tiago Splitter in Portland.
For what it’s worth, the NBA’s estimated average salary for players in 2025/26 is $13.87MM, so just three of 30 head coaches are earning more than an average player in the league.
And-Ones: Front Offices, I. Mobley, NBA Europe, Quaintance
The Thunder are coming off a championship and are just the third team in NBA history to open a season with at least 23 wins in their first 24 games, so it comes as no surprise that general manager Sam Presti came out on top in The Athletic’s annual poll on the league’s best front offices.
A group of The Athletic’s NBA writers asked 36 executives around the NBA to rank their top five front offices, and Oklahoma City received an overwhelming 31 first-place votes.
The rest of the top five wasn’t simply made up of the teams at the top of the NBA’s standings. Brad Stevens and the Celtics placed second, followed by Rafael Stone and the Rockets at No. 3, Pat Riley and the Heat fourth, and Kevin Pritchard and the Pacers rounding out the top five. Each of those front offices received at least one first-place vote.
The Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Knicks, Spurs, and Warriors finished in the top 10, with another 15 teams cited at least once, either as a top-five front office or as a group considered to be “on the rise” and earning an honorable mention. According to The Athletic, the five clubs not to be mentioned at all were the Mavericks, Kings, Pelicans, Suns, and Bulls.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Isaiah Mobley, the older brother of reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley, is in the process of finalizing an agreement with Hapoel Jerusalem, sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com (Twitter link). Mobley, a 2022 second-round pick who spent parts of three seasons in the NBA with Cleveland and Philadelphia from 2022-25, has been playing this fall with Manisa Basket in Turkey.
- The fall of 2027 continues to be viewed as a “realistic target” for the launch of the NBA’s European league, according to FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis. Joe Vardon of The Athletic passes along some of the other comments Zagklis made about the prospective league during a news conference on Tuesday, including the fact that the goal is to give more teams across Europe a pathway to qualifying for the NBA’s league than can currently qualify for the EuroLeague.
- Kentucky’s Jayden Quaintance has cracked the top five in the latest 2026 NBA mock draft from Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, behind the usual suspects at the top. The 6’10” sophomore forward is making his way back from an ACL tear he sustained while playing for Arizona State last season.
Bulls Notes: Losing Streak, Okoro, Essengue, Vucevic
Bulls coach Billy Donovan credits the Warriors‘ “identity” with helping them to survive a string of injuries, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times (subscription required), who adds that the identity Donovan’s team is developing should be a major concern.
The Bulls dropped their seventh straight game Sunday night, losing by 32 points to a Golden State team that was missing Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The Warriors still managed to score 38 points in the first quarter while shooting 8-of-13 from beyond the arc and outrebounded Chicago by an 11-6 margin.
‘‘I do think for some of the guys that have been thrust into situations where their minutes have changed, responsibilities have changed, we’ve got to be able to stay true and hold true to that (identity),’’ Donovan said. ‘‘That’s the thing I try to look at where, yes, you’ve got all these injuries, but what about the things we can control about how we’re supposed to play and how we need to be able to play? Some of the things that have hurt have been the ball-handling issue and the turnovers. We’ve had a lot of responsibilities on particular guys just because that’s one thing that’s kind of gone out with the injuries is the ball-handling, but we’ve got to be able to do a better job with that.’’
After winning their first five games, the Bulls have taken a severe downturn, dropping to 11th in the East at 9-14. The early advantages they got from committing to Donovan’s fast-paced style have disappeared, and there don’t seem to be any obvious paths to a quick turnaround. However, guard Coby White insists that players are remaining united through the adversity.
‘‘Whatever we do, we’ve got to do it together,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s the most important thing. I’ve been here a long time, seen a lot of different situations, been in different scenarios, and the most important thing is we can’t start pointing fingers or anything like that. I’m not saying by any means we’ve done that, but we’re all human. So the most important thing right now is we’ve got to stick together. It’s still a very long season.’’
There’s more from Chicago:
- There’s some optimism on the injury front, Cowley states in a separate story. Forwards Isaac Okoro (back) and Jalen Smith (left hamstring) and guard Kevin Huerter (adductor) were all able to do some on-court work prior to Sunday’s game. The Bulls are now 1-7 without Okoro, and Cowley states that they desperately miss their best perimeter defender. ‘‘He has made progress and has felt better, but he still feels like when he goes back, he still feels it there,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘Some of those symptoms have subsided, but the hardest part for me is … they’re all going to need some ramp-up. Even if they’re feeling really good, I don’t know if the medical guys are going to say, ‘OK, you’re fine,’ and throw them right back into a game.’’
- Rookie forward Noa Essengue confirmed that it was his decision to undergo surgery on his injured left shoulder now rather than try to play through the pain and wait for the offseason, Cowley adds. ‘‘If I waited until the end of the season, I would be gone all summer,’’ he said. ‘‘And if I do it now, I can have all summer.’’
- The Bulls aren’t getting the bench production they did earlier in the season, notes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required). Injuries have played a role in that drop-off, but Poe points out that Patrick Williams, Dalen Terry and Zach Collins were all available on Sunday.
- Nikola Vucevic is unlikely to be the Bulls’ starting center beyond this season, Poe states in a mailbag column. While Collins could inherit that role, Poe believes the eventual long-term solution will come through the draft.
Injury Notes: SGA, Thunder, Booker, Essengue, Schröder
Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will miss his first game of the season on Sunday when the Thunder face the Jazz in Utah, tweets Clemente Almanza of Thunder Wire. Gilgeous-Alexander is dealing with bursitis in his left elbow, per the team.
The superstar guard is one of seven Oklahoma City players who will be out Sunday. Others include rotation members Luguentz Dort (right adductor strain), Alex Caruso (right quad contusion), Isaiah Joe (left knee soreness) and Isaiah Hartenstein (right soleus strain).
Here are more injury notes from around the NBA:
- Suns head coach Jordan Ott provided an update on star guard Devin Booker on Friday, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter video link). Booker is recovering from a right groin strain and could return for Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal at Oklahoma City. “We’ll continue to assess him day-by-day, but he’s been through this before,” Ott said. “So he knows exactly where he’s at and his body and he’s made good progress in a short amount of time. … If his body is feeling good and he’s in a good place, he’ll absolutely be available (Wednesday).”
- Speaking to the media on Saturday, Bulls lottery pick Noa Essengue said his season-ending left shoulder injury was a dislocation, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network relays (via Twitter). The French forward added that he dislocated the same shoulder a couple of years ago and his surgery is scheduled for Wednesday.
- Kings point guard Dennis Schröder was out again last night in Miami due to a right hip flexor strain, notes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). While Schröder’s strain is “mild” and he’s considered day-to-day, he has now missed five straight games, having last suited up on Nov. 24 vs. Minnesota.
Noa Essengue Out For Season With Shoulder Injury
Dec. 6: The Bulls have officially announced that Essengue will undergo season-ending surgery, Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic tweets.
Dec. 3: Bulls rookie Noa Essengue will require surgery to address a left shoulder injury and is expected to miss the remainder of the season, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link).
The update comes from head coach Billy Donovan, who had previously noted that Essengue suffered the injury, which was initially diagnosed as a shoulder contusion, in a G League contest.
“Usually those things are six to seven months,” Donovan said of Essengue’s recovery timeline, per Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Bulls’ coach added that the team preferred to address the injury now rather than let it linger into the offseason.
After being selected 12th in the 2025 draft, Essengue played just six minutes for the Bulls in his rookie season, recording one steal and one foul in that time.
He appeared in four games for the Windy City Bulls G League team, where he averaged 23.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 30.8 minutes per game.
According to Johnson (via Twitter), Donovan said he had spoken with Essengue after shootaround, and that he was handling the news well.
Central Notes: Green, Robinson, Bulls, Collins, Thompson
The Bucks, already reeling from Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s calf strain, have another injury issue to deal with heading into their matchup with the Pistons on Saturday. Guard A.J. Green suffered a shoulder injury in their loss to Philadelphia on Friday and will undergo an MRI today.
“Losing A.J. Green hurts you,” head coach Doc Rivers said, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We can’t sustain much more, especially with guys that make shots. You’ve still got to figure out ways to win games.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- After missing a couple of games with an ankle sprain, Pistons wing Duncan Robinson played a pivotal role in the team’s six-point victory over Portland on Friday. Robinson, who was acquired in a sign-and-trade with Miami over the summer, scored eight of his 14 points during the fourth quarter. “He relishes those moments,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Since we’ve had [Duncan], you would just watch him and he’s not afraid of the moment. He loves the moment, and he knows it’s what this team needs. He is one of our best catch-and-shoot guys off the move, and he knows how to create those shots for him[self] – stretch the floor, create that space. But [he’s] got nerves of steel and a ton of courage.”
- The Bulls’ woes continued on Friday. They endured their sixth straight loss, falling to the Pacers, 120-105. “It’s still a very long season,” guard Coby White said, per Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune. “I’ve been through the ups and downs here for seven years now. The most important thing is we stick together through this. The season’s always going to be filled with adversities. We got a chance to change the narrative right now. The most important thing for me is we don’t let go of the rope and we do this thing together.”
- Bulls big man Zach Collins made his season debut on Friday after suffering a fractured wrist in the final game of the preseason. The Pacers targeted him on defense immediately, according to Poe, taking advantage of his sluggish pace of play after a month-and-a-half on the sidelines. He finished with eight points and six rebounds in 21 minutes.
- Ethan Thompson made his NBA debut with the Pacers on Monday after signing a two-way deal last weekend. He had appeared in 194 G League games before getting his big break. “The heart was racing fast because it’s something you look forward to your whole life,” he told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “Being able to go out there, and then once the ball went in, I was able to calm myself down and then it just became basketball. Definitely leading up to the moment, a lot of fun thoughts racing.” Thompson played 34 minutes on Friday, contributing 11 points, two rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Bulls Notes: Collins, White, Dosunmu, Spiral, Buzelis
Veteran big man Zach Collins will make his 2025/26 season debut on Friday when the Bulls face Indiana, head coach Billy Donovan told reporters, including K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link).
Collins suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left wrist during a preseason game in mid-October and subsequently had surgery to address the injury. The former lottery pick, who was selected 10th overall in the 2017 draft, was cleared for contact work earlier this week.
Collins will be limited to approximately 20 minutes in his first game back, according to Donovan.
Here’s more on the slumping Bulls, who have lost five straight games entering Friday:
- Leading scorer Coby White, who has missed the past three contests with a left calf injury, will also be active for Friday’s game, Johnson adds. White underwent an MRI on his calf earlier in the week and the results came back clean — he said Wednesday that he was hoping to be back tonight and was considered day-to-day. Like Collins, White will be on a minutes restriction — Donovan said the 25-year-old combo guard would be capped at around 24 minutes.
- While Collins and White were upgraded to available after initially being listed as questionable, the opposite was true of Chicago native Ayo Dosunmu, who was downgraded to out for Friday’s contest with a right thumb sprain. The 2021 second-round pick is off to a strong start this season, averaging 15.8 points, 3.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds on .529/.494/.852 shooting through 19 games (27.8 minutes per contest). Dosunmu is one of six injured Bulls who won’t play tonight.
- The Bulls were one of the NBA’s pleasant surprises during the first couple weeks of the season, starting out 5-0. However, they’ve been spiraling down the standings ever since, going 4-12 over their past 16 games, writes Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic. While injuries have played a part in the tailspin, Chicago also hasn’t taken advantage of seemingly winnable games — the team has lost to New Orleans (3-20), Charlotte (6-16), Indiana (4-18) and Brooklyn (5-17) during the ongoing skid, with Wednesday’s loss to the Nets marking a new low point. “Listen, I’m not going to make any excuses, because I always think players want opportunities to play and compete,” Donovan said, per Lorenzi. “And you know what? For some guys, this may be the best opportunity they got. To me, you should be playing all-out crazy hard and really, really physical and say, ‘Listen, if this ends because we get healthy, at least I made an effort.’ I did not think we did that. I don’t.”
- Matas Buzelis‘ hasn’t made a second-year leap to this point in the season, but he remains confident that his game will eventually blossom, according to Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. A diligent worker, the 21-year-old forward has struggled at times with taking the necessary time to unwind, since he’s highly motivated to keep improving, Poe notes. “Waiting is the right word to use,” Buzelis said. “It’s all just part of the process. No one can predict it. There’s always going to be ups and downs. You’re not always going to shine in the limelight. But you continue to work, you continue to get better. That’s what I’m doing.”
Trade Notes: Giannis, Rockets, Vucevic, Middleton
Discussing Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s potential trade value during the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst expressed some skepticism that the Bucks would be able to extract a massive package of future draft picks for their star forward if he asks out of Milwaukee.
“What I’m telling you is when I talk to executives – and these executives are not in trade talks with the Bucks or another team for a star player right now – the mood in the NBA right now is not to give up four first-round picks for anybody,” Windhorst said (hat tip to RealGM). “… People don’t want to do that because the aprons have spooked so many teams.
“All these teams are worried about getting into apron trouble where they can’t reset their rosters, and you get into a situation like the Celtics were in where you’ve got to rip your team down. … This is how teams are thinking right now. They’re a little freaked out about the aprons. There ain’t going to be no five first-round pick trades. I know that we saw those for a while. That’s just not going to happen.”
Windhorst went on to offer a few caveats, clarifying that he’s specifically referring to stars in their 30s who are earning the largest possible maximum-salary contracts, worth 35% of the cap. He also acknowledged that it would only take one team going all-in to prove his sources wrong.
“I can hear somebody out there listening to this podcast saying, ‘What are you talking about? This is Giannis. Giannis will go for two star players and six firsts,'” Windhorst said. “Maybe that will happen. I am just telling you, I talk to the guys who make these trades every day, all day long. And the appetite is just different. Everybody is feeling a certain way. I could end up being wrong, I’m just reporting back.”
While many executives around the NBA may be apprehensive about surrendering a handful of unprotected first-round picks in any deal, I expect a number of them would still be willing to do so for a two-time MVP like Antetokounmpo, who isn’t that old (he’ll celebrate his 31st birthday on Saturday) and doesn’t have the sort of extensive injury history that someone like Anthony Davis does.
For what it’s worth, the most recent trade involving four first-rounders – including three unprotected picks – happened less than six months ago, when the Magic acquired Desmond Bane, a player who has never made an All-Star team.
Here are a few more trade-related notes from around the NBA:
- The emergence of Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard has made a trade to upgrade the backcourt a less pressing need, but if the Rockets have any reservations about Fred VanVleet‘s ability to return from an ACL tear and make an impact next season, they still may end up pursuing a deal by February 5, writes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link). Gozlan acknowledges that there’s no perfect match for the Rockets, since an ideal trade target like Derrick White would be difficult to acquire and lesser options like Collin Sexton or Dennis Schröder might not make enough of a difference to make a deal worthwhile.
- With the Bulls sliding down the standings after a hot start to open the season, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times argues that the front office ought to do right by Nikola Vucevic and trade the veteran center to a team closer to contention, giving him a chance to play in the postseason before he becomes an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
- Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) spoke to veteran forward Khris Middleton about what it’s like to be traded as an NBA player. Middleton, who was dealt from the Bucks to the Wizards at last season’s deadline after spending over a decade in Milwaukee, admitted that it was a blow to his ego. “It was just a time to decompress, get my feelings out, reminisce, go through a whole bunch of thought processes and figure out what my life’s gonna be like now,” Middleton told Fischer. “When you get traded, it’s a huge confidence killer, especially if you’re not in control of it. You have to kinda talk yourself back up.”
And-Ones: First-Time All-Stars, 2026 Draft, NBA Cup, More
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game is still over two months away, but a number of players around the league are emerging as legitimate candidates to appear in the game for the first time, writes Zach Harper of The Athletic.
Harper points to Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, Pistons center Jalen Duren, and Heat guard Norman Powell as Eastern Conference standouts who could become first-time All-Stars, while identifying Lakers guard Austin Reaves, Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, Thunder big man Chet Holmgren, and Nuggets guard Jamal Murray as the most plausible first-timers in the Western Conference.
Of those players, only Duren looks like a shoo-in to make the game, according to Zach Kram of ESPN, who takes his own early look at potential All-Stars and divides players into two groups — “near-locks” and “on the bubble.”
Duren is among Kram’s seven near-locks in the East, though he considers Giddey, Johnson, and Powell to have strong cases to make the cut. In the West, Kram thinks Murray could still find himself on the outside looking in despite a career-best first half, given the strength of the competition for the 12 spots. However, with eight international spots to fill and the potential for injury replacements beyond the initial 24 All-Stars, there could be multiple paths for the Nuggets guard to finally earn the honor.
We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Although Kansas guard Darryn Peterson has only appeared in two games so far this season, he’s the 2026 draft prospect that NBA scouts seem most excited about, according to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, who places Peterson atop his most recent mock draft, ahead of Duke’s Cameron Boozer and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa. Tennessee’s Nate Ament has slipped out of Vecenie’s top five, with UNC’s Caleb Wilson at No. 4, followed by Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr.
- A panel of ESPN insiders answers a series of questions related to the NBA Cup, including which player was the MVP during the group stage (Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got two votes apiece) and which team has the best chance to upset Oklahoma City in the knockout round (the Lakers earned three of five possible votes).
- In an interesting story for ESPN, Kevin Pelton takes a deep dive into the data to explore the impact of familiarity on shooting efficiency and explains why a number of high-profile players who changed teams over the summer – including Cameron Johnson, Desmond Bane, and Myles Turner – may have gotten off to slow starts.
- Lindsay Schnell of The Athletic examines how former G League players became NCAA-eligible and what it means for college basketball going forward. “At the end of the day, we’re not the ones making decisions,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “We either adapt to the rules or we get left behind. So until something changes, I guess all of us are watching G League games now.”
Knicks Notes: Giannis, Paul, Backup PG, Hart, More
Although the Knicks made a “real offer” for Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo in the offseason, an in-season trade looks unlikely at this juncture, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter video link).
As Begley explains, Antetokounmpo would likely have to try and force his way to New York for a deal to happen, and even if that were to occur, Milwaukee would be under no obligation to fulfill his request. A league source also tells Begley the Knicks like their roster and believe they’re well-positioned in the wide-open Eastern Conference.
The Clippers announced on Wednesday morning that they’re “parting ways” with Chris Paul — what that means exactly is still to be determined, since he’s unlikely to be waived anytime soon and isn’t trade-eligible until December 15. A previous report indicated that the Knicks have discussed the possibility of making a deal for the 40-year-old point guard, but Begley hears a trade, at least as of now, is “highly unlikely” to occur.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News and Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post (subscriber link) weigh the pros and cons of the Knicks making a run at Paul. Vaccaro believes the future Hall-of-Famer would be an upgrade over second-year guard Tyler Kolek and would probably be relatively easy to acquire. Winfield, meanwhile, says Paul would be an imperfect fit on the Knicks due to his declining production and worsening defense, but the team does need another play-maker off the bench, and the 12-time All-Star is one of the best in league history.
- As Stefan Bondy of The New York Post writes (subscription required), Kolek has been getting backup point guard minutes of late, but the team has struggled mightily in his time on the court, which is one reason why the need for a reserve play-maker behind Jalen Brunson persists. Bondy lists nine guards whom a pair of NBA executives think could be available before the February deadline, including Paul, Jose Alvarado (Pelicans), Tre Jones (Bulls), and his older brother Tyus Jones (Magic).
- Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter video link) expects Josh Hart to remain in the starting lineup going forward, which is noteworthy because OG Anunoby could return to action on Friday — he’s questionable against Utah after missing the past nine games with a strained left hamstring. Hart has been playing his best basketball of the season recently.
- While the Knicks have won five of their past six games, they’ve also blown double-digit leads in five of those six contests, according to Winfield. The latest incident occurred in Wednesday’s win over Charlotte. “Teams aren’t just going to lay down. We build a lead, you’ve got to anticipate they’re going to fight back, they’re not just going to give up,” Brunson said after the victory. “We’ve got to do a better job of slowing down their runs and limiting them. But we can’t let them get all the way back like we’ve been doing.”