Nick Smith Jr. has signed a two-way contract with Los Angeles, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The move comes just four days after the Hornets waived him amid their roster crunch.
Smith, 21, was the No. 27 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He averaged 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game as a rookie last season, starting 27 games for Charlotte.
A versatile 6-foot-5 scorer with deep range, Smith hit 36.9% of his threes across his first two NBA seasons and showed flashes of upside despite inconsistent team context.
He’ll now be splitting time between the standard roster and the South Bay Lakers of the G League.
Paul George’s status for opening night remains unclear as he continues to recover from offseason knee surgery. But the 76ers star says his confidence hasn’t wavered.
“Again, getting healthy, I’m the Paul George that the Sixers went out and signed,” George said, via Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I do think I’ve still got a lot of game in me. Playing at a high level, that’s still who I am. I’ve got to get to that point.”
George underwent surgery on his left knee in mid-July and has yet to be cleared for contact. He’s been limited to individual work through the first week of training camp.
The 34-year-old admitted he expected to be further along by now but suffered another setback during an offseason workout.
George appeared in just 41 games last season, his first in Philadelphia after signing a four-year, $211.5 million deal. He battled a string of injuries — from a hyperextended knee to groin soreness and ankle issues — before being shut down in mid-March.
The Sixers are giving him time to get back to full strength, and George said he’s feeling closer to his old self every day. He also added that he’s open to sliding up to power forward if that’s what the roster requires following Guerschon Yabusele’s departure in free agency.
“Last year was tough,” George said. “One of the toughest seasons I’ve been a part of, not just from a team standpoint, but from a personal standpoint. But from a motivational standpoint, it can’t get worse than last year, right?
“That was a rock-bottom kind of season. I think it was a disappointment, personally, for myself, and obviously for the fans here. But I do think there’s a lot to look forward to.”
Dalton Knecht’s Lakers future is already under the microscope — and training camp hasn’t even tipped off.
Once viewed as a promising young scorer, Knecht is now a trade candidate before his second season even begins.
Knecht, 24, was nearly shipped to Charlotte midway through last season. And after a disastrous Summer League, it’s fair to wonder if a fresh start might be looming.
Knecht averaged just 10.3 points per game on a miserable 27.9 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from deep — a major drop for someone the Lakers once hoped could juice their second unit.
Coach JJ Redick suggested overwork might have played a role.
“The guy did too much after the season,” Redick said. “And I think in summer league, he was burnt out. He was coming in here at 5 AM, getting shots up, then doing two workouts with our summer league staff and in the weight room.”
It’s a striking turn for a player who looked like a rotation lock not long ago. If a deal does materialize, it could benefit both sides. But Knecht still has camp to change the narrative.
Meanwhile… Luka’s Not Here for a Rebuild
While Knecht’s role is uncertain, the direction of the franchise is crystal clear. And Luka Doncic is setting the tone.
Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves headline a roster looking to erase the sting of last year’s first-round exit. At 26, Doncic theoretically gives the Lakers a long timeline to build a contender. But as CBS Sports’ Jasmyn Wimbish reported, he told Rob Pelinka and Redick back in May that he’s not interested in waiting around.
Doncic wants to win now. And that urgency is already shaping roster decisions before camp even begins.
When NBA legend Michael Jordan uttered the now-famous line — “Whenever they speak Michael Jordan, they should speak Scottie Pippen” — during The Last Dance in 2020, Scottie Pippen felt it.
“I deeply appreciated what he said and the similar kind words I received in the spring of 2020 from friends, ex-teammates and fans,” Pippen wrote in his book.
It was a rare public acknowledgment of the obvious: Jordan didn’t win anything of consequence until Pippen arrived.
Chicago acquired Pippen from Seattle on draft night in 1987. By 1991, the Bulls were NBA champions. And they didn’t stop. Six titles later, Jordan was the GOAT and Pippen was the ultimate co-star — arguably the best No. 2 in league history.
“I would never be able to find a tandem, another support system, another partner in the game of basketball like Scottie Pippen,” Jordan said in Episode 2 of The Last Dance. “He was a pleasure to play with. He helped me so much in the way that I approached the game, the way I played the game.
“Whenever they speak Michael Jordan, they should speak Scottie Pippen. Everybody says well I won all these championships, but I didn’t win without Scottie Pippen. And that’s why I consider him my best teammate of all time.”
And he wasn’t exaggerating. The Bulls went 514-177 in the regular season with Jordan and Pippen together.
Individually, Jordan put up 31.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game during those years. Pippen added 17.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.0 steals — all while defending the other team’s best wing.
Jordan? Five MVPs, six Finals MVPs, 10 scoring titles, one Defensive Player of the Year award. Both are Hall of Famers. Pippen even asked Jordan to present him at his induction.
On the surface, it looked like they were inseparable. On the court, they were. Off the court? Not so much.
“Michael and I aren’t close and never have been,” Pippen wrote. “Whenever I call or text him, he usually gets back to me in a timely fashion, but I don’t check in just to see how he’s doing. Nor does he do the same.
“Many people might find that hard to believe given how smoothly we connected on the court. Away from the court, we are two very different people who have led two very different lives. I was from the country: Hamburg, Arkansas, population about 3,000; he was from the city: Wilmington, North Carolina.”
Despite the distance, Pippen understands reality. Their careers are forever intertwined.
“The two of us will forever be linked together, the best duo in NBA history,” Pippen wrote. “He helped make my dreams come true, as I helped make his.”
A Standard No One’s Matched
The Bulls retired Jordan’s No. 23 and Pippen’s No. 33, immortalizing them side by side in the United Center rafters. And more than two decades later, no NBA tandem has matched their six-for-six Finals record.
You can pick other great duos — Magic and Kareem, Shaq and Kobe, Steph and Klay — but Jordan and Pippen remain the gold standard.
And for all their differences, Jordan’s words back in 2020 still ring true: whenever you speak Michael Jordan, you should speak Scottie Pippen.
For the first time, NBA fans will be able to find nationally televised games nearly every day of the week.
That’s the result of the league’s new broadcast rights deal with NBC, Peacock, ESPN/ABC and Amazon Prime Video — an 11-year, $76 billion agreement that kicks in this season.
NBC returns to NBA coverage for the first time since 2002, Peacock joins as a weekly streaming home, and Amazon Prime Video adds exclusive nights. ESPN and ABC will continue to carry some of the league’s biggest matchups, including the NBA Finals.
Here’s the national TV and streaming schedule to start the season:
Monday — Peacock
Tuesday — NBC/Peacock
Wednesday — ESPN
Friday — Prime Video
Beginning mid-season, more nights get added to the lineup:
Thursday — Prime Video
Friday — ESPN (select dates)
Saturday — ABC/ESPN/Prime Video
Sunday — ABC/ESPN/NBC
ABC remains the Finals broadcaster, with ESPN and ABC splitting coverage of the conference finals. Christmas Day and All-Star Weekend will stay on ESPN/ABC, while Prime Video and NBC/Peacock pick up a steady run of marquee regular-season matchups.
All told, fans will have a national game almost every night. The NBA has never been more available — though, of course, you’ll need more than one subscription to keep up.
Opening Week on NBC and Peacock, ESPN and Prime! 🍿
The Cavaliers and FanDuel Sports Network will, in fact, continue to air pre- and postgame shows for road games this season — just not in the way fans have grown accustomed to.
The future of those broadcasts came into question after a recent social media post from Cavaliers Live host Cayleigh Griffin, which seemed to suggest road pre- and postgame programming was being scrapped. That led to some initial confusion and an erroneous report on our part.
Here’s what’s actually happening: FanDuel’s road broadcasts will remain on the air but move from the traditional studio setup to on-site at opposing arenas.
Griffin won’t be traveling with the team to host those segments this year. She’s also picked up work with the Timberwolves, where she’ll contribute to select game programming and occasional sideline reporting. (In her defense, she did specify that Cavs “studio” shows were being eliminated on the road, which is accurate.)
As for the rest of the Cavaliers Live format, the full details are still to come from the team and network. But we do know that FanDuel’s road pre- and postgame shows will now be staged from the arena floor, while home game coverage is likely to originate from the studio set on Rocket Arena’s outer concourse.
The complete broadcast lineup should be announced soon. But given Griffin’s occasional role elsewhere, expect at least a few tweaks to the Cavs’ broadcast presentation this season.
The Warriors are filling out their two-way slots, reaching an agreement with rookie forward Alex Toohey, per Shams Charania of ESPN.
Toohey, 6-foot-7 and hailing from Australia, was selected with the No. 52 pick in this year’s draft. He spent the past two seasons with the Sydney Kings, where he averaged 10.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 23 minutes a night.
He then suited up for Golden State’s Summer League squad, posting 6.8 points and 3.8 rebounds across six games.
The signing makes Toohey the final player from the 2025 draft class to have his plans set for the upcoming season. Earlier in the day, fellow rookie Will Richard agreed to a four-year deal with the Warriors.
Toohey joins Jackson Rowe as Golden State’s two-way signees, while the team has also extended a qualifying offer to Taran Armstrong.
Kelley had joined Los Angeles on an Exhibit 10 deal in August and is no stranger to the organization — he signed a similar contract last fall, was waived before the season, then spent most of the year with the South Bay Lakers in the G League.
The 7-footer has appeared in 11 NBA games overall, split between the Mavericks (8) and Pelicans (3), averaging 3.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in limited minutes.
In South Bay last season, he put up 11.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, showcasing the rim protection that keeps him on NBA radars.
If Kelley returns to South Bay and spends at least 60 days with the team, he’ll be eligible for a bonus of up to $85,300.
The standoff between restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga and the Warriors is officially spilling over into basketball activities.
Kuminga didn’t travel to San Francisco over the weekend and will not be in attendance for media day on Monday, according to Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of ESPN.
General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. reached out to Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, on Sunday, but there’s been no real movement toward a new deal or his return to the team before Tuesday’s first practice.
Per Charania and Slater, the Warriors have kept three contract offers on the table.
The two most lucrative — two years at $45 million and three years at $75.2 million — both include team options in the final season. The lone offer without a team option is for three years and $54 million.
Kuminga has pushed back on the team-option structures unless the dollar figure rises and has conveyed that a player option would be viewed as a good-faith gesture after what his camp has described as “years of confusion” over his role under Steve Kerr.
Kuminga’s leverage sits with his one-year, $8 million qualifying offer, which expires Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Signing that deal would cost him more than $15 million in immediate earnings but give him an inherent no-trade clause and set him up for unrestricted free agency in 2026 — with significant cap space projected across the league.
Golden State, Charania and Slater note, wants to avoid that scenario and has held firm on not including a player option in any deal, expecting Kuminga to either pick from their offers or take the QO by Wednesday night.
Sign-and-trade conversations with Phoenix and Sacramento have stalled, per ESPN.
Meanwhile, Kuminga’s unresolved contract is holding up other Warriors business.
Veteran Al Horford has committed to a multi-year deal with Golden State, but his final contract figure can’t be locked in until the Kuminga situation is settled.
The same applies to the status of Gary Payton II and De’Anthony Melton, who have agreed to return but whose availability for Tuesday’s first practice is still up in the air.
The Warriors currently have 13 committed roster players following the signing of second-round pick Will Richard.
Their plan is for Kuminga to be the 14th, but he’ll have to make his decision by Wednesday’s deadline.
They’ve also spoken with Seth Curry about potentially filling the 15th spot — but any such move depends on how Kuminga’s contract is structured and whether Golden State can remain below the second apron.
They join Al Horford as key veterans already secured for 2025-26.
The bigger piece of unfinished business remains restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga. The two sides have yet to make progress on a deal, and the Warriors are playing the long game with their cap flexibility.
Meanwhile, the team is investing in its rookie class, signing No. 56 pick Will Richard to a four-year deal with two fully guaranteed seasons, his agents told ESPN.
Magic
Paolo Banchero knows the bar in Orlando has been raised. After a big summer, including the blockbuster trade for Desmond Bane, the Magic are suddenly being talked about like a legitimate Eastern Conference threat.
Banchero says he’s ready for it.
“I think, just as a competitor, as a winner, as a player, you want to be expected to be great,” Banchero said, via The Athletic’s Josh Robbins.
Banchero admitted he was “stunned” when he first heard about the Bane deal — which sent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony and four first-rounders to Memphis — but quickly grew excited about teaming with the sharpshooting guard.
He also praised Bane and Tyus Jones, another summer addition, for their on-court IQ and leadership.
76ers
Philadelphia made a quick roster move on Sunday, signing and then waiving forward Marcus Bagley. He’s expected to join the Delaware Blue Coats, where he can earn a bonus of up to $85,300 if he sticks around for 60 days.
Bagley, the younger brother of Marvin Bagley III, has spent the past two seasons with the Blue Coats and earned a couple of NBA call-ups late last year. He averaged 9.3 points and 7.1 rebounds in the G League last season and appeared in 10 games with the Sixers.
The move brings Philadelphia back to a full 21-man roster as the team continues to juggle camp bodies and waits to resolve Quentin Grimes’ restricted free agency.
Grimes’ agent, David Bauman, had requested to push the October 1 deadline back by a week to October 8, per Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. That would’ve required the consent of both sides — and Philadelphia wasn’t interested.
Fischer previously reported that the team had shown no inclination to grant the request, so this latest update doesn’t come as a surprise.
The Sixers and Grimes remain “far apart” in contract talks, according to Fischer. All signs point toward the 6-foot-5 wing returning on a one-year deal — the question is which kind.
He can either accept his $8.74 million qualifying offer, which comes with an implied no-trade clause, or sign a slightly richer one-year deal and waive those rights.
Either way, a resolution is coming quickly. With the deadline holding firm, Grimes’ situation will be settled by Wednesday.
As expected, Al Horford is headed to Golden State.
The veteran big man has agreed to a multi-year deal with the Warriors, his agent Jason Glushon told ESPN’s Shams Charania. Training camp opens tomorrow.
Horford, 38, spent seven of the past nine seasons in Boston and helped the Celtics capture the 2024 NBA championship.
He now enters his 19th NBA season as the Warriors’ projected starting center, bringing leadership, defense, and playoff experience to a team looking to make one more push with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
Cole Anthony sounds revitalized by his new surroundings in Milwaukee.
The Bucks guard told Eric Nehm of The Athletic that joining the team has felt like “a breath of fresh air” after his role diminished in Orlando over the past couple of seasons.
“Obviously, I loved my time (with the Magic), but this feels like, for me, a stepping stone in my career,” Anthony said. “I just want to come in and help the team win in whichever way I can. I think they’re going to ask me to do what I can do, which is score, pass the ball, guard, whatever, but I’m just really happy to be a part of this team, specifically because it’s been great being here these past couple weeks and being with these guys.
“The energy is high. There’s a real professional vibe around everybody, and everybody has a chip on their shoulder.”
Anthony joins a retooled Milwaukee roster that’s aiming to stay in contention despite some significant turnover this summer. The big addition, of course, was former Pacers center Myles Turner via free agency.
Either way, the Bucks are counting on Anthony’s scoring punch and toughness to bolster a young backcourt rotation and help push Giannis Antetokounmpo back into title contention.
Coby White isn’t buying the modest forecasts for the Bulls this season.
The 25-year-old guard told Marc J. Spears of Andscape that he believes Chicago has a chance to be “really good” in 2025-26. He’s setting some lofty goals for himself, too.
“I want to win and I want to become that All-Star-caliber player,” White said. “That’s the next step for me in my personal game. I’ve had two really good seasons, averaging 20 (points per game) or whatever.
“The next part is for us to take that leap as a team, and that’s to win and get out of this little play-in (tournament) stage that we are in, take my game to the next level and become an All-Star.”
White is entering the final season of his contract, set to earn $12.9 million. According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, he has informed the Bulls he won’t sign an extension before hitting unrestricted free agency in 2026, largely because of the league’s limits on veteran extension starting salaries.
Cowley floated the idea of a trade between the Bulls and Rockets — suggesting a package built around Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason in the wake of Fred VanVleet’s ACL tear — but White doesn’t sound like a player angling to leave.
“I love being in Chicago. I love the front office. I love my teammates. I love the staff,” White said. “I built a great relationship with coach Billy Donovan. And for me, if it is meant to be (to) stay a Chicago Bull, then I can’t ask for nothing else.”
Nick Smith Jr. has signed a two-way contract with Los Angeles, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The move comes just four days after the Hornets waived him amid their roster crunch.
