Category: Basketball

After spending the tail end of the 2025-26 season with the Brooklyn Nets, shooting guard Malachi Smith now finds himself in the country of Canada with the Toronto Raptors.

The 26-year-old had his non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 training camp contract altered into a two-way deal, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto. Smith will split his time between the big club and their G League affiliate, the Raptors 905.

The Toronto Raptors are converting Malachi Smith to a two-way contract, league sources told @hoopshype. Smith averaged 8.3 points on 48.5% shooting from the field and 43.5% shooting from 3-point range, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 15 games for the Brooklyn Nets last season. pic.twitter.com/AeRZCLX3yh

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) September 21, 2026

Across 15 games with Brooklyn, four of which were starts, the 6-4 Smith averaged 8.3 points on a shooting split of 48.5 percent from the field/43.5 percent on three-pointers/100.0 percent at the free-throw line, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per contest. He was waived back on July 10 after the organization exercised his minimum salary team option on June 30, in order to make salary cap space.

Toronto’s training camp will begin on Sept. 29.

Joining Smith on a two-way deal is forward/center Graham Ike with the Golden State Warriors. As of right now, 12 Gonzaga alums will be in the NBA at the start of the 2026-27 season.

Forward/center Drew Timme, who was on a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers this past season, wasn’t picked for the open roster spot before the 2026 NBA Playoffs. He’s still searching for his next professional destination as Los Angeles has all three of their two-way spots filled.

Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho

The Bucks have shown serious interest in All-Star center Jalen Duren, per The Athletic. Duren is deadlocked with the Detroit Pistons over a long-term contract extension and could switch teams this offseason or in 2027 if they can’t reach an agreement.

Still, Duren’s confidence is born out of the fact that his market for next summer looks quite robust. As The Athletic previously reported, the Sacramento Kings have signaled a willingness to pay him a max-salary deal next summer. That alone has aided his leverage, but there are at least two other teams—including the Milwaukee Bucks—that are known to have serious interest in Duren (both now and, potentially, next summer).

Duren averaged 19.5 PPG and 10.5 RPG while shooting 65% from the field last season. However, those averages slumped during the postseason in the face of physical coverage and frequent double-teams. Duren averaged just 10.2 PPG as Detroit bowed out in the conference semifinals.

ESPN recently reported that Detroit offered Duren a fully guaranteed, five-year, $200m contract to stay in the Motor City, but the two sides are still far away from concluding their contract saga. Duren reportedly felt disrespected by the Pistons’ negotiation tactics and spent most of the offseason away from the Pistons.

Although outlets cite the Sacramento Kings as the most enthusiastic suitor for Duren’s services next year, the Bucks are also reportedly vying for the 22-year-old’s services.

The roadblock preventing Duren and Detroit from agreeing to an extension is their valuation of the center. Duren reportedly wanted to sign with Detroit on a supermax deal. Duren is eligible to sign for a five-year, $287m contract, but due to Duren’s playoff drop-offs, Detroit has consistently offered Duren a much lower figure. To beat Sacramento for Duren’s signature, Milwaukee would need to offer Duren a supermax—or a very close figure—as well as a clear plan toward contention in the East.

The Bucks’ apparent interest in the All-NBA center clearly means that Milwaukee likely doesn’t see a long-term future with Myles Turner, which makes a lot of sense given his age profile. Turner slumped after signing a four-year, $109m contract with Milwaukee last July, averaging about 12 points and five rebounds last season. Especially as the Bucks grow younger and look to ease into their rebuild, the 30-year-old is no longer an essential part of Milwaukee’s future.

In theory, the Bucks could execute a sign-and-trade for Duren this summer, but it appears practically impossible. The Bucks would probably have to give up key pieces of their burgeoning young core—including Ryan Rollins and draft capital—to meet the Pistons’ price. Additionally, despite their contract saga, Detroit leadership still sees Duren as a foundational piece of their roster as they continue to compete for a championship.

With Detroit and Duren still going back and forth on a potential new contract, Milwaukee can only wait and watch to see whether Duren enters unrestricted free agency in 2027. It should be noted that, given Detroit’s spacing concerns, a stretch five like Myles Turner would theoretically fit quite well offensively.

The Knicks have a new replay maestro. 

Ed Flynn, a video coordinator with the Pelicans for the past three seasons, will serve as Mike Brown’s “challenge guy,” The Post has learned. 

It’s a pressurized role defined by split-second decisions to recommend a challenge or pass, depending on real-time replays on his iPad. More than most positions on the Knicks staff, Flynn’s successes and failures can be quantified and directly impact a game’s result. 

Jordan Brink held that job for the Knicks the past two seasons, challenging at an impressive success rate while helping win Game 2 of the NBA Finals with a momentum-shifting challenge. 

Brink’s challenge recommendation changed a Knicks turnover into three OG Anunoby free throws with 2:37 remaining in New York’s 105-104 victory over the Spurs. He will get a championship ring and an assistant position with the Chicago Bulls under new coach Tiago Splitter.

Brink’s contract with the Knicks expired, and the Bulls gig represented a promotion, league sources said. 

Before Brink, Scott King and Darren Erman were the “challenge guys.” Now, Flynn will monitor the important iPad. His official title is assistant coach/special situations, a league source said. 

According to Flynn’s online bios, he’s tall (6-foot-10) and played for Williams College in Massachusetts. He served as a graduate assistant at the University of Miami, then as a video intern and coordinator with the Charlotte Hornets. 

In 2023, Flynn joined the Pelicans and left as their head video coordinator. The Pelicans had significant staff turnover after hiring head coach Jamahl Mosley in May. 

The Knicks coaching staff remains mostly the same from last season. Top assistants Chris Jent, Rick Brunson, Brendan O’Connor and Erman are all returning, sources said. 

Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Peter Patton, who have earned high praise from players for their individual development work, also return. 

Are you surprised by the Villain Bracket Final results?

Marilyn Dubinski: I am. I wholly expected Kawhi Leonard to be in the Finals (along with Zaza Pachulia) since he has very clearly been public enemy no.1 in San Antonio for the last eight years, and the fact that he wasn’t there shocked me. It leads me to wonder how much the Clippers’ Aspiration scandal and the punishment, which was much harsher on Uncle Dennis than Kawhi, coming out during the tournament played a role in influencing the outcome of the last few rounds. Clearly, fans decided that Uncle Dennis was more responsible for influencing Kawhi than Kawhi was for going along with it, but that’s why we did this! It wouldn’t have been any fun without surprises, and there were none in the other three brackets.

Mark Barrington: Like Marilyn, I certainly expected Kawhi to be in the finals, and the eventual winner. However, both finalists are inexplicably entwined in the Leonard saga: Zaza as the brigand who intentionally injured the already tender ankle of the Spurs’ best player, ending their 2017 playoff run, and uncle Dennis, who engineered Kawhi’s messy exit from the Spurs and the franchise-crushing salary cap circumvention fiasco (with Ballmer’s complicity). Once again, Kawhi is at the center of a hurricane of misdeeds and calamity, but he doesn’t face the consequences, traded to the Raptors to finish out his career at one of the teams he left in his wake years ago. He’s had quite the villain’s journey, and maybe the final chapter will be redemption. But don’t count on it.

Bill Huan: Like Marilyn and Mark, I wholly expected Kawhi to be in the finals, but I think the fans got it right by having Uncle Dennis usurp his nephew. I fully admit that recency bias is likely affecting my judgment, but all the recent reports regarding the Kawhi-Aspiration scandal indicate that Uncle Dennis was the mastermind behind everything. That doesn’t mean Kawhi was going to stay in San Antonio forever if he was more in control of his camp, but I do think it’s possible he could’ve stayed a few more seasons and departed in the 2019 offseason rather than forcing the team’s hand to trade him in 2018. Perhaps the Spurs could’ve had a few more seasons as a title contender with him leading the way, so I agree with Uncle Dennis making the final over his nephew. 

Devon Birdsong: I mean, not really. With the Clippers scandal going down, I expected that Uncle Dennis and Kawhi were going deep in the bracket. Those two and Zaza are the most recent faces of Spurs fandom villainy, and they all made the Final Four. However, I expected that Dennis was going to take the brunt. There are still some Kawhi apologists in the fanbase, and he did physically help the Spurs win a championship, whereas his Uncle has no such buffer. I was more shocked that Ray Allen didn’t make it past Derek Fisher in the Elite Eight, though I’m realizing that’s probably the result of the 2014 Championship taking the edge off of his shot. Still, I rarely see the .4 seconds clip anymore, and the NBA at-large loves to play Allen’s shot on a loop every postseason (or, at least, that’s how it feels), so my animus for (and reaction to) Fisher’s shot is greatly lessened. 

Jeje Gomez: I’m shocked Uncle Dennis made the Finals. Current-day UD is a certified NBA villain, but back in the day he was just someone who engineered Kawhi’s exit. Any other manager or agent could have done the same. I absolutely understand why he’s there, considering recent news, but I thought Kawhi himself would be the one to win the whole thing.

Other than that, there weren’t major surprises. Zaza earned the villain title. The guys in the semis did as well. Overall, I think this exercise showed that, with one possible exception, the fan base is united in who they dislike the most.

Is there anyone you think should have advanced further than they did, and why? Was there an upset you weren’t expecting?

Dubinski: I was shocked that neither Phil Jackson nor David Stern advanced past the second round of the Haters bracket, which may be an indicator that a lot of our PtR audience is younger than me. (And I’m “only” 40! You guys are making me feel old!)  Back in the early-to-mid 2000’s, when public figures could get away with more controversial statements without worldwide pushback on social media, Jackson’s asterisk comment reeked of jealousy and was used by Lakers fans and other haters to discredit the Spurs even at the height of their dynasty, and frankly Stern’s comments that the Spurs being in the Finals was bad for the league, and if he had his way, every Finals would be Celtics-Lakers, were right up there with Restgate, but maybe not everyone went through or remembers all that.

Barrington: Except for Kawhi’s failure to advance to the Finals [mentioned above], I think things played out about as I thought they would. I would have thought that the Knicks might have gone further than they did, because of Spurs being unhappy about the outcome of the Finals, but I think that voters correctly assessed that the Knicks aren’t villains; they are simply a team that played with a lot of heart and poise and outcompeted the inexperienced Silver and Black. Sure, their fans were insufferable, but that’s not the team, and frankly, if the Spurs had won, I’d be insufferable too. 

Huan: I personally think that Richard Jefferson (4-seed) was placed way too high on the Former Spurs’ side of the bracket, and Dennis Rodman (7-seed) was too low. Sure, RJ struggled in his three seasons in San Antonio, but he has never blamed the organization the way Rodman did. RJ was never a locker room distraction like Rodman and didn’t bash his former teammates on the way out, so why was he ranked so high? I think it would’ve made more sense to swap the two.

Birdsong: I was a little surprised that Stephen Jackson beat out Robert Horry in the Sweet 16 as well. It definitely felt like a near-even match, but Jackson is at least complimentary about Tim and Pop, whereas it feels like Horry has taken potshot after potshot over the years, and is just generally resentful of his time in San Antonio overall, and that would maybe be the difference (it was for me). I guess one huge shot bought him enough goodwill, but Jackson had quite a few against Dallas (alongside Steve Kerr) in 2003, so what do I know? I also feel like Marcus Morris and Hakeem The Dream would have made it further if they didn’t end up facing Kawhi and Ray Allen so early in the bracket. 

Gomez: The 2025/26 Knicks talked a lot of smack about the Spurs and Wembanyama, to the point where I thought recency bias might propel them through a couple of rounds. But the real answer is Phil Jackson. During the mid-2000’s rivalry, the guy was downplaying most Spurs achievements. I completely understand that it’s been a long time since then and the 2014 title changed things, but I was expecting more vitriol to come his way.

Five years from now, who do you think would win a Villain Bracket?

Dubinski: Beyond wondering if Kawhi would have beaten out Uncle Dennis in any other year, I feel like there’s going to be someone who does something to Wemby that outdoes Zaza or Karl Malone and shoots them up our Dirty Players bracket.  Also, the Spurs’ rise to new prominence is inevitably going to create or renew rivalries. It will be interesting to see if someone on OKC triggers our hate more than Lu Dort. (Will Chet Holmgren figure things out and really get that rivalry with Wemby going in the playoffs? Will SGA keep getting away with foul baiting to the point that they beat the Spurs with it?) It’s also inevitable that a former Spur will be able to replace Marcus Morris in that bracket, although I’m not sure it will be anyone among the current players. (We were a bit limited in that bracket by sticking to basketball and not looking into players’ off-court troubles.)

Barrington: Speaking of Marcus Morris, I’m kind of wondering how Cam Payne didn’t make the list. He was traded to the Spurs in 2023 and never reported, finally waived so he could sign with another team. Maybe that’s because nobody remembers who he is. I think if the Spurs end up meeting again with the Knicks in the finals, there could be some sports hate brewing between the two teams. Conventional wisdom is that they had a pretty brief window due to salary cap concerns, but with Brunson setting the example by taking a discount, I wouldn’t count them out as a long-term contender in the Eastern Conference, and if the Spurs can’t get past them if they meet again, they will be worthy nemeses. My hope is that the Spurs have a 2014-style redemption tour the next time they meet in the playoffs, but history is yet to be written. 

I was noticing in the SBNation thread about Most Hated Teams that some people are mentioning the Spurs. In my opinion, that’s a sign of respect. As the Spurs become more successful, I suspect that they will become more hated, and if there were a villains tournament open to fans of all fans in the entire league, Wemby could end up near the top, unless he and the team can find some more creative ways to deal with the constant mugging he gets from opposing defenders. 

Huan: Five years is not much time at all, but if I had to crown a new winner, it must be a player who does something dirty to Wemby. The recency bias alone would be a huge advantage for them, not to mention potentially injuring the best player in the league. I  mean, Zaza’s in the Finals for injuring another top-three villain in the tournament; can you imagine how much hate a player would receive for injuring the face of the franchise and fan favorite Wemby?? 

Birdsong: If anyone injures Wemby (especially in the postseason), I suspect Zaza’s reign on that front will finally end. I think making it to the Finals this season has already taken some of the sting out of that for a lot of fans. Sure, he’s hated, but not in the way he was when the Spurs were mired in multiple double-digit losing streaks. Another championship or two will probably reduce that even further. Additionally, if the Spurs were to (knock on wood) lose to the Knicks in the Finals again, they’ll probably become Enemy #1 for the fanbase in a manner we’ve never seen before. I don’t see that happening for a multitude of team-building + James Dolan-related reasons, but that would be an all-timer. I’m willing to bet the Miami Heat would’ve swept the entire bracket if the Spurs had lost to them again in 2014.

Gomez: Anyone who hurts Wemby is the right answer, but I’ll offer another perspective: If the Spurs don’t win a title in the next five years, I could see Brian Wright becoming a villain. Wright will be the face of a lot of likely unpopular moves to keep the team under the tax line and second apron, so if San Antonio falls short, he’ll be the perfect scapegoat as to why a group with elite young talent underperformed and how so many good years were wasted. The narrative writes itself.

If we are talking about a dark horse, it could be one of the young guards. Restricted free agency practically ensures that they’ll sign a second contract, and both seem happy now, but both seem good enough to potentially be the biggest star on their own team, and the Spurs’ are clearly Wemby’s. If there’s enough success, there should be no issues, but it’s hard to forget what happened the last time a team with this much elite young talent had to pay everyone and figure out a pecking order, so hopefully neither Castle nor Harper pulls off a 2012 James Harden and becomes a villain.

As the offseason prepares to come to a close, with training camp starting in a little over a week, we can’t help but continue trying to project what the 2026–27 Phoenix Suns will ultimately become. There are numerous questions about how the offense will function, what a summer of development has done for the young guys, what adjustments the coaching staff has focused on, and whether they can successfully implement new strategies this season.

Project. That’s about all we can really do at this point. And as I was exploring Basketball-Reference, the holy grail for looking at players throughout NBA history, their statistical output, and the marks they’ve left on the game, I stumbled across something. Basketball-Reference has already put together projections for nearly every player in the NBA this upcoming season.

The only players who don’t have projections are rookies, so in the case of the Phoenix Suns, that means Koa Peat. But if you visit the page of nearly any other member of the roster, you’ll find their statistical projections for the upcoming season.

Have no fear. I went through and collected them all for you so we can take a look at what Basketball-Reference expects of the Suns this season. I do the tedious work so you don’t have to!

There is one important thing to keep in mind before we dive in. All of their projections are on a per-36-minute basis. So take them with a grain of salt.

Player	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
Collin Gillespie	5.6	13.2	3.5	8.7	1.3	1.5	1.4	5.3	5.8	1.6	0.3	1.9	2.1	16.0	0.425	0.404	0.783
Devin Booker	8.8	19.1	2.2	6.5	6.5	7.4	0.9	4.2	6.5	0.9	0.3	3.1	2.8	26.3	0.459	0.333	0.878
Dillon Brooks	7.2	16.7	2.6	7.3	2.6	3.2	1.0	4.3	2.1	1.1	0.2	1.7	3.8	19.7	0.431	0.361	0.715
Haywood Highsmith	4	8.7	1.9	4.9	1.0	1.3	1.6	5.3	2.4	1.3	0.7	1.1	3.2	10.9	0.463	0.394	0.812
Jalen Green	8.5	19.6	3	8.8	3.4	4.3	0.7	5.3	3.9	1.1	0.4	2.7	1.8	23.4	0.432	0.344	0.835
Jamaree Bouyea	6	12.9	1.4	4.5	1.6	2.3	1.1	5	4.5	1.6	0.9	1.9	2.3	15	0.461	0.308	0.833
Jordan Goodwin	5.2	12.4	2.3	6.3	1.0	1.4	3	7.7	3.6	2.2	0.4	1.7	3	13.7	0.416	0.367	0.554
Khaman Malauch	5.5	10.4	0.9	2.9	2.2	3	3.7	10.5	1.6	0.7	2.3	2.1	3.4	14.1	0.526	0.318	0.643
Koby Brea	6.4	14.0	3.2	8	2.1	2.6	1.3	5.6	4.2	1.0	0.5	2	2.8	18.2	0.459	0.407	0.855
Luke Kennard	5.1	10.1	2.6	5.8	1.4	1.6	0.8	4.2	4.2	1.2	0.2	1.5	2	14.2	0.505	0.453	0.727
Mark Williams	7.5	12.0	0.2	0.5	3.6	4.6	4.4	12.3	2.2	1.3	1.4	1.8	3.3	18.7	0.624	0.362	0.798
Miles Bridges	7.5	16.7	2.3	6.9	3.2	3.9	1.2	7.2	3.8	0.8	0.6	1.9	1.9	20.6	0.452	0.330	0.746
Oso Ighodaro	4.8	7.5	0.1	0.4	1.2	2.3	2.6	8.2	3.5	1.4	1.1	1.9	4	10.8	0.63	0.345	0.513
Pat Spencer	5.5	13.0	1.7	4.8	1.5	1.9	1.6	5.0	6.5	1.4	0.2	2.5	2.3	14.2	0.428	0.348	0.888
Rasheer Fleming	5.1	11.8	2.4	6.6	1.4	2.2	2.8	6.8	1.5	1.2	1.1	1.6	3.3	14.0	0.431	0.359	0.747
Ryan Dunn	4.9	10.7	1.7	5.3	0.7	1.3	2.5	7.6	2.4	1.4	0.9	1.4	3.6	12.2	0.454	0.332	0.77

Okay, I’ve taken it with a grain of salt. Now I want something cleaner, something more tangible, and something that gives us a more realistic idea of how Basketball Reference is projecting these players. Knowing a per-36 statistic is fine, but when you take into account only 3 players who played in 10+ games last season and averaged over 36 minutes per game, it’s somewhat of a dead stat.

So I decided to take this exercise one step further. I used the per-36 projections Basketball Reference has for every member of the Phoenix Suns and normalized their statistical output to the minutes each player averaged last season. Ah, math and Excel. I heart you.

I know this is a flawed way to approach it. Minutes and roles will change, and last season’s playing time isn’t necessarily indicative of what each player will receive this year. Still, it gives us a little more insight into the production Basketball-Reference is projecting based on a workload we’ve actually seen these players handle.

Player	MPG	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
Collin Gillespie	28.5	4.4	10.5	2.8	6.9	1.0	1.2	1.1	4.2	4.6	1.3	0.2	1.5	1.7	12.7	0.425	0.404	0.855
Devin Booker	33.5	8.2	17.8	2.0	6.0	6.0	6.9	0.8	3.9	6.0	0.8	0.3	2.9	2.6	24.5	0.459	0.333	0.878
Dillon Brooks	30.4	6.1	14.1	2.2	6.2	2.2	2.7	0.8	3.6	1.8	0.9	0.2	1.4	3.2	16.6	0.431	0.361	0.833
Haywood Highsmith	13.0	1.4	3.1	0.7	1.8	0.4	0.5	0.6	1.9	0.9	0.5	0.3	0.4	1.2	3.9	0.463	0.394	0.746
Jalen Green	25.9	6.1	14.1	2.2	6.3	2.4	3.1	0.5	3.8	2.8	0.8	0.3	1.9	1.3	16.8	0.432	0.344	0.798
Jamaree Bouyea	14.0	2.3	5.0	0.5	1.8	0.6	0.9	0.4	1.9	1.8	0.6	0.4	0.7	0.9	5.8	0.461	0.308	0.715
Jordan Goodwin	22.5	3.3	7.8	1.4	3.9	0.6	0.9	1.9	4.8	2.3	1.4	0.3	1.1	1.9	8.6	0.416	0.367	0.727
Khaman Malauch	8.9	1.4	2.6	0.2	0.7	0.5	0.7	0.9	2.6	0.4	0.2	0.6	0.5	0.8	3.5	0.526	0.318	0.747
Koby Brea	7.0	1.2	2.7	0.6	1.6	0.4	0.5	0.3	1.1	0.8	0.2	0.1	0.4	0.5	3.5	0.459	0.407	0.812
Luke Kennard	21.6	3.1	6.1	1.6	3.5	0.8	1.0	0.5	2.5	2.5	0.7	0.1	0.9	1.2	8.5	0.505	0.453	0.888
Mark Williams	23.6	4.9	7.9	0.1	0.3	2.4	3.0	2.9	8.1	1.4	0.9	0.9	1.2	2.2	12.3	0.624	0.362	0.783
Miles Bridges	31.0	6.5	14.4	2	5.9	2.8	3.4	1.0	6.2	3.3	0.7	0.5	1.6	1.6	17.7	0.452	0.330	0.835
Oso Ighodaro	22.0	2.9	4.6	0.1	0.2	0.7	1.4	1.6	5.0	2.1	0.9	0.7	1.2	2.4	6.6	0.63	0.345	0.513
Pat Spencer	18.6	2.8	6.7	0.9	2.5	0.8	1.0	0.8	2.6	3.4	0.7	0.1	1.3	1.2	7.3	0.428	0.348	0.77
Rasheer Fleming	12.2	1.7	4.0	0.8	2.2	0.5	0.7	0.9	2.3	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.5	1.1	4.7	0.431	0.359	0.643
Ryan Dunn	19.4	2.6	5.8	0.9	2.9	0.4	0.7	1.3	4.1	1.3	0.8	0.5	0.8	1.9	6.6	0.454	0.332	0.554

I know this isn’t a perfect science. Again, these are projections. They never truly are. There are also individual intricacies that get lost in this process. I don’t believe Khaman Maluach will only play 8.9 minutes per game as he did a season ago, nor do I expect Mark Williams to have much impact when he returns from his labrum injury. Still, the exercise gives us an interesting look at how Basketball Reference views the individual players on this roster.

Based on these projections, the Suns would have six players averaging double figures in scoring each night. Overall, the projections have the Suns shooting 47.5% from the field, 36% from beyond the arc, and 75.6% from the free-throw line. And I can fall in love with those three-point shooting numbers from Gillespie and Kennard.

Perhaps the most interesting projection belongs to Devin Booker. Basketball Reference has him averaging 24.5 points per game, which would be his lowest scoring output since his sophomore season back in 2016-17, while matching his assist production from last year. His three-point percentage mildly increases while his free throw attempts drop from 8.1 last season to 6.9 this season. A question we have to ask ourselves is: What does a stat line of 24.5 and 6.0, with 2.9 turnovers, on 46/33/88 splits mean? To us, to him, and to the team?

Another thing I find interesting is the overall shot diet, and it’s something I’m contemplating monitoring throughout the season. Every week during the season, I write a Suns Weekly, which I’m renaming The Solar Report this season as an homage to my podcast’s original name. Within that, I like to find one statistic to mine and monitor throughout the season. This year, the overall shot diet might be one of them.

What does the balance of this offense actually look like? Based on these projections, the Suns would have five different players averaging more than 10 shot attempts per game. That isn’t necessarily unfamiliar territory. We saw a similar distribution last season. What interests me is where those shots are going. Based on my normalized version of Basketball-Reference’s projections, Miles Bridges would be second on the team with 14.4 field goal attempts per game, while Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green would both average 14.1.

Is that the right balance? More importantly, what does balance even look like for this team? That’s something I want to monitor throughout the season. Because with this many players capable of taking double-digit shots on any given night, how those opportunities are distributed could tell us quite a bit about what this offense ultimately becomes.

Again, none of this is gospel. It’s simply another way to look at what this roster could potentially produce. The numbers aren’t telling us what will happen. They’re establishing another baseline for what could happen. Roles will change, minutes will change, injuries and development will blow holes through some of these projections before Thanksgiving. But with training camp around the corner, we’ve officially reached the point where speculation is about to collide with reality. The spreadsheets have had their turn. Now it’s time for basketball to start providing the answers.

With the Lakers opening training camp in a week, storylines from the last few months will be brought back to the forefront of conversations. 

How will superstar guard Luka Doncic lead the franchise after it decided to fully entrench itself in an era guided by him?

Will the Lakers’ offseason roster reconstruction – which included the departure of LeBron James after eight seasons in Los Angeles and addition of nine players over the last three months – provide the desired results?

Will Walker Kessler live up to the investment the Lakers made to acquire him? 

Will Austin Reaves be ready to be the true No. 2 behind Doncic? 

The answers to some of these questions won’t be known until the end of the 2026-27 season. Others may take even longer to answer.

But the next month will provide clarity on one front: What will the Lakers do to become compliant with the league’s roster rules?

When the Lakers signed Matisse Thybulle to a veteran’s minimum contract (one year, $3.3 million) in late July, to deal put the team at 16 players signed to guaranteed standard NBA contracts – one more than the league permits during the regular season. 

Since the signing, there’s been a focus on what route the Lakers will choose to trim its roster down to a maximum of 15 players before the regular season starts in mid-October. 

And with training camp around the corner, and the start of the season four weeks away, the decision will be back at the forefront of conversations. 

Which route would best serve the Lakers?

Player-for-pick trade

If this option was available for the Lakers, the belief is they would’ve already pulled the trigger on the move by now. 

With Jaden Hardy, Dalton Knecht and Jarred Vanderbilt being the players who are most likely expected to be traded or waived, the question becomes whether any team would be willing to send out a draft pick to acquire any of them.

It’s clear that isn’t the case.

Remember: The Lakers received a pair of second-round picks from the Wizards when they traded Deandre Ayton to Washington despite both Hardy and Ayton essentially being on expiring contracts. 

Vanderbilt’s contract status ($12.4 million this season; $13.3 million player option for 2027-28) and Knecht’s diminished role make it unlikely the Lakers would be able to acquire even a second-round pick for either player on their own. 

Consolidation trade

This is the likeliest trade scenario for the Lakers to get down to 15 players. 

A 2-for-1 involving two of Hardy, Knecht and/or Vanderbilt, and a team with at least one open roster spot and a player on an expiring contract, would get the Lakers at the 15 players they need to be at by mid-October. 

There’s a chance they’d still be able to acquire an asset such as a second-round pick this way. 

But even if they didn’t, this scenario would make them roster compliant and maintain future financial flexibility.

Waiving player 

The least desirable option – outside of a trade that adds money onto the team’s salary cap for future seasons – would be outright waiving a player on an expiring deal, such as Hardy or Knecht. 

It would put the Lakers at 15 players.

But it would also mean they’d have to eat the dead money for the rest of the season since the deadline to waive a player and use the stretch provision on their current-season salary passed last month.

Hall of Fame coach Doc Rivers is officially calling it quits from coaching, but the NBA lifer will still be around the league in a familiar capacity.

Rivers will join NBC Sports as a NBA game analyst, where he will continue to display his knowledge and expertise of more than 40 years in the league as a player and coach.

The veteran broadcaster will be seen across NBC, Peacock and NBCSN, the NBA announced on Monday, Sept. 21.

“I loved playing the game, I loved coaching it, and I’ve always loved talking about it,” Rivers said in a statement. “I have great memories working with NBC, and I’m excited to be back and share my perspective alongside such a talented team. This season should be a lot of fun. I can’t wait.”

Doc Rivers' extensive NBA resumé

Rivers was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1983 NBA Draft with the 31st overall pick in the second round. He went to play 14 NBA seasons and earned an All-Star selection in 1988, playing with the Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs before hanging up the jersey.

Three years later, Rivers stepped back into the league, this time with a suit and clipboard as he coached the Orlando Magic from 1999 to 2003, winning Coach of the Year in 2000. He then agreed to a deal with the Boston Celtics, where Rivers won his first and only NBA championship in 2008.

He went on to coach one of his former teams, leading Clippers from 2013 to 2020 and becoming the winningest coach in franchise history.

He spent the final years of his coaching career with the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks before his retirement.

Rivers is highly regarded for his 2008 NBA title in Boston, but what he was able to accomplish in Los Angeles could make him the greatest Clipper of all time. Consider this:

Is Doc Rivers the greatest Clipper of all time?

Well before Rivers was named one of the NBA's "15 Greatest NBA Coaches," he played for the Clippers in 1991 following a draft day trade for the No. 9 overall pick in that year's draft, which became Stacey Augmon. Rivers was the Clippers' starting point guard and led them to their first winning season and playoff appearance in Los Angeles at 45-37, a 14-win differential from the previous season. As the Clippers, the franchise had only tallied one winning season prior to Rivers' arrival, their inaugural 1978-79 campaign in San Diego.

Rivers averaged 10.9 points, 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals in 59 games played. He was traded in the offseason to the Knicks just before the start of the 1992-93 season. But it wouldn't be the last time Rivers was a significant part of the Clippers organization.

Decades after he'd been traded from the Clippers, Rivers became their head coach and senior vice president of basketball operations. The Clippers traded for Rivers in 2013, sending the Celtics an unprotected 2015 NBA first-round draft pick in a rare coaching transaction.

Rivers didn't win a championship like he did with Boston, but he helped turn Los Angeles into a perennial playoff team throughout his tenure. For the first time in history, the Clippers were considered the better basketball team in L.A. while under Rivers' direction. In his seven seasons, the Clippers only missed the playoffs once.

Rivers has the best record of among all Clippers coaches with an overall 356-208 record and a .631 winning percentage. Other coaches on that listed include Vinny Del Negro, Mike Dunleavy, Tyronn Lue and Jack Ramsay.

The Clippers are the only NBA franchise that hasn't retired a player's number. There is no jersey hanging in the rafters for Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Deandre Jordan, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden, Elton Brand, Darius Miles, Lamar Odom, Norm Nixon or Danny Manning.

Maybe, just maybe the Clippers will consider No. 25 – or No. 356.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Doc Rivers played one season for the Clippers. He may be LA's GOAT

A recent Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinee is moving to the broadcast booth and is insisting he’s retiring from coaching.

Long-time NBA lifer Doc Rivers, who most recently served as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks last season and who has more than 40 years of experience in the NBA as a player and coach, will be joining NBC Sports as an analyst for broadcasts during the 2026-27 season, which begins next month.

The move was announced Monday, Sept. 21, in a press release.

Elsewhere, in an interview with the Associated Press, Rivers insisted that he would no longer pursue coaching opportunities, as he transitions to his role in the media, saying he was “absolutely retired.”

And with his new gig, Rivers will join his son, Austin, who is also an analyst for NBC Sports and who regularly appears on broadcasts.

In fact, six of Rivers’ former players — Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Brian Scalabrine, Jamal Crawford and his son — are currently part of NBC’s coverage team of the NBA.

Rivers was inducted into the Hall of Fame in August as part of the Class of 2026. Just months earlier, he had concluded his 27^th season as head coach when the Bucks finished 32-50, missing the playoffs.

He ranks sixth all-time in victories (1,194) and fourth in games coached (2,060). He won his only NBA championship in 2008, as the coach of the Boston Celtics.

This won’t be Rivers’ first stint in broadcasting, and it won’t even be his first stint with NBC; he served as a studio analyst during the 2012 London Olympics. Rivers also worked for Turner Sports in 1996 and also worked briefly for ESPN in 2003-04 and 2023, when he had been in between coaching jobs.

“I loved playing the game, I loved coaching it and I’ve always loved talking about it,” Rivers said in a statement that published Monday. “I have great memories working with NBC, and I’m excited to be back and share my perspective alongside such a talented team. This season should be a lot of fun. I can’t wait.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA lifer Doc Rivers says he's 'absolutely retired.' Here's what's next

After being signed in August, guard Malachi Smith has now joined the team on a two-way contract as of today, September 21st.

On social media, Smith thanked God before asking where the best places to eat are in the city. It’s this kind of mentality, starving for a chance, that will make Smith fit in well on the Raptors this year.

Thank you Jesus… you get all the GLORY ❤️🙏🏾 Toronto I need some food spots 👀 https://t.co/msFyFLdkXQ

— Malachi Smith ✝️ (@maliworld11) September 21, 2026

Smith played his first season in the NBA last year, having started out in the G League in 2023, and earned the collegiate Sixth Man of the Year award in the West Coast Conference in 2023. He is a shooting guard in the most literal sense of the term: roughly half of his shots last year were from the three point line, and he made 43% of them on solid volume for a bench player on the Brooklyn Nets. More shooting is something that the Raptors could always use, and it seems that between Jamison Battle, Ja’Kobe Walter, and now, Malachi Smith, we’re assembling some solid firepower on our second unit.

In last year’s second-to-last game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Smith was slotted into the starting lineup and exploded for a near-triple-double of 19 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds. Now, the last week of regular season basketball is always filled with inflated statlines, but Smith’s facilitation looked solid, making the open passes but knowing when he had to knock down a shot, not turning away from the need to contribute to scoring. In their final game of last year’s regular season, the Nets played the Raptors, where Smith contributed eight points, six assists, and five rebounds, shooting 33% from three.

Smith should be able to contribute well both to the Raps and the Raptors 905, bringing some extra offensive juice to a team that needs to develop itself on that side of the ball.

Jaden Bradley will enter his rookie season in the NBA with some significant job security.

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday that they have converted the former Arizona point guard’s two-way deal to a multiyear contract. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports the deal is a four-year contract worth $9.3 million.

The Toronto Raptors converted rookie two-way guard Jaden Bradley to a 4-year, $9.3 million deal, league sources told @hoopshype. This first year of the deal is guaranteed. Bradley was the 50th pick of the 2026 NBA Draft out of Arizona, where he was the Big 12 Player of the Year. pic.twitter.com/2FV8dB6S7J

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) September 21, 2026

Bradley was selected 50th overall by Toronto in the NBA Draft. By extending a multiyear contract to Bradley ahead of the season, the Raptors are making it known that they plan to utilize the 6-foot guard as a significant role player this year and beyond.

One reason the Raptors opted to announce the deal now could be that they were waiting on the Kawhi Leonard trade to become official after the NBA halted the transaction while it investigated Leonard’s salary cap circumvention with the Los Angeles Raptors. The trade, which was finalized last week, sent Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick to the Clippers in exchange for Leonard.

More than likely the Raptors had been planning to convert Bradley’s two-way deal for months but couldn’t fully go through with it until the Leonard deal had been completed.

Bradley will compete for minutes at the point guard spot, backing up starter Immanuel Quickley. Toronto also has former Houston guard Jamal Shead on its roster.

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We have completed our 2026 summer project of determining who the biggest Spurs Villain of all time is, and while the result shouldn’t be at all surprising when taking in context with the timing, I’ll admit it wasn’t the result I expected when we first concocted this idea a little over a month ago (more on that below). Beating out Zaza Pachulia (the dirtiest player to ever face the Spurs) to win the entire tournament is the person who played an even bigger role in the franchise’s downturn: the infamous Dennis Robertson: uncle to Kawhi Leonard and destroyer of two franchises (and counting).

Uncle Dennis first came into the purview of Spurs fans during the 2017-18 season, when shocking rumors started to swirl that Leonard was unhappy, claiming that they had misdiagnosed a quad injury — which mind you was unrelated to the Pachulia foul — as a chronic issue. They allowed him to seek a second medical opinion, and away he went to New York for “rehab”, hardly ever returning and even hiding in a closet when Spurs representatives came to check on him. As the negative reports kept trickling out all season, everything was being referred to has coming from “Kawhi’s group”, which we would soon learn was his agent at the time, Mitch Frankel, and uncle and representative, Dennis Robertson.

As rumors kept swirling and the media seemed to be taking Kawhi’s side on everything, the Spurs finally revealed their side of things through Michael C. Wright of ESPN, who wrote in part:

After Leonard and (former agent Brian) Elfus parted ways, Robertson and Frankel took over the day-to-day communication with the Spurs, and the relationship hasn’t been nearly as healthy, according to Spurs sources.

Multiple league sources also told ESPN that the Spurs have grown worried that Leonard’s group has an ulterior motive to fray the relationship and get Leonard traded to a larger market such as Los Angeles (Leonard’s hometown) or New York or Philadelphia (Robertson lives in New Jersey).

By that point, it was clear who was running the show, and we all know what happened from there. (If you really want to relive the whole saga that was 2017-18, go back and check out the entire timeline of events. That was just my second season covering the Spurs here at PtR, and I remember being both honored and terrified that J.R. Wilco gave me that project. But his words were prophetic: he told me we‘d need it to reference back to both for ourselves and to show to doubters in the future, and I still use it plenty.)

It was clear everything evolved around what Dennis wanted, and Kawhi was just along for the ride. That continued to be the case as he allegedly demanded impermissible benefits from at least the Raptors, Lakers and Clippers during 2019 free agency. As we now know, the Clippers acquiesced, much to their own determent, and it didn’t even pay off! The Spurs’ were proven right about Kawhi’s health issues being chronic; the Clippers never reached the finals with him or his desired running mate of Paul George, whom they acquired for future MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. (They reportedly demanded the Spurs trade for George as well, but they said no since they had just gotten LaMarcus Aldridge.)

Uncle Dennis is a villain who helped send the Spurs from seemingly set to keep contending after the Big 3 era to stuck in mediocrity and eventually rebuild mode. Sure, we could say, “but we wouldn’t have Wemby, Castle or Harper now,” and while likely true, the amount of luck involved especially with Wemby can’t be overlooked, and with a different bounce of the lottery balls, the Spurs could still be in purgatory. The fact is many of their sterling records were broken by Kawhi quitting/leaving, such as the streak of 50-win seasons and 22 straight years in the playoffs, and their number of years outside the playoffs grew by 250%, from four to ten before they returned this year.

Now here is where the surprise comes in. Back in the Final Four, I said it was up to the voters to decide if they blamed Uncle Dennis for influencing Kawhi to make all this happen, or if Kawhi was to blame for going along with it. Based on the boos and Kawhi at least publicly being Villain #1 over the last nine seasons, I thought for sure he would win, so the fact that not only did he not make the finals surprise me, but also the finals ending up putting him in a victim role, which is more than a bit ironic.

But that just goes show how manipulative a human being Uncle Dennis is, and you all aren’t wrong. Whether or not the Aspiration Scandal — which had nothing to do with the Spurs — played a role in his victory here is beside the point. He ended up being a terrible role model for his nephew, who was just looking for a father figure and someone to trust after he tragically lost his own. Robertson took complete advantage, all while being so good at keeping a low profile that I had to recycle the same header photo from a few articles ago because it was one of only a handful of photos I could find of him, and this is the only one that either didn’t have text on it from a social media post or wouldn’t come out blurry on our site.

So congratulations, Uncle Dennis: you are officially the most villainous character in Spurs history, and that is saying A LOT considering some of the competition you had to compete with.

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Once again, we want to thank everyone who participated! I know some see this as simply space filler for the offseason, and it would be a lie to say that isn’t at least part of it, but there is also much more to it than that. It gives us something fun to team up on after what can be a very long 9-10 months of covering the regular season, playoffs, draft, free agency and Summer League. It also allows us to let out our creative sides a bit, and it makes for some fun teamwork and conversation during the dull time of the year. A special thank you also goes to Jesus Gomez, Jacob Douglas and Bill Huan for helping with the posts; with my current (other) work schedule, I never would have gotten this done in a timely manner without them.

We’re almost there, Pounders. Media Day is next Monday!

The Toronto Raptors are signing their 2026 second-round rookie Jaden Bradley to a multi-year contract, according to the team on Monday.

Bradley averaged 6.4 points and 3.2 assists in 20 minutes during Summer League. The highlight of his first stint as a professional came during a 15-point performance in a thrilling 94-93 win over the Indiana Pacers.

The six-foot-three guard is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year. Teammate Jamal Shead won the same award in 2023-24. Bradley also earned Big 12 First-Team and All-Defensive Team honours.

During his senior year with the Arizona Wildcats, Bradley scored a season-high 27 points in a 93-87 win against the Florida Gators. That game also featured Canadian Xaivian Lee, who started for the Gators.

Bradley is likely to make appearances with the Raptors 905 while attempting to earn minutes behind Shead during the early stages of his rookie season.