A detail view of a rally towel with the Emirates NBA Cup logo. This rally towel was a giveaway during the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup championship game in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
As the NBA continues to slowly roll out the schedule for the 2026-27 regular season, some marquee games and events have already been announced. One of those is the Emirates NBA Cup, the NBA’s in season tournament. We’ve known for a while what four teams would accompany the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference’s Group A, but now we know the when and the where of the games.
The Mavericks will see the Houston Rockets before the month of November ends, as Kevin Durant will bring his squad to Dallas on October 30th. Kyrie Irving will face off against old friend Kevin Durant for the first time in a couple years, as Irving missed all of last season recovering from the ACL injury he suffered in February 2025.
The second, and final, home game of Dallas’ NBA Cup group stage will be on November 6th, as they will welcome an improved Utah Jazz group to the American Airlines Center. This game will feature two of the best players in the NBA under the age of 20, as Cooper Flagg will face off with Darryn Peterson for what will likely be the first of many encounters.
Notably, both of these games are slated for a 7:00 p.m. local time tipoff in Dallas. Neither game is on national TV. This is different from the usual 7:30 p.m. slot that Dallas has occupied for as long as my 27-year-old brain can remember.
DALLAS, TEXAS – DECEMBER 23: Cooper Flagg #32 of the Dallas Mavericks handles the ball as Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets defends during the second half at American Airlines Center on December 23, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The two road games Dallas has in the group stage will come on Thanksgiving week. Dallas will hit the road to Denver on Tuesday, November 24th. This game will be nationally televised on NBC and Peacock, with a 9:00 p.m. CT tipoff time. Lastly, the Mavs will head to Phoenix for a Black Friday clash with the Suns. That game is slated for an 8:00 p.m. CT tip.
Dallas has only made the group stage once in the rich history of the NBA Cup, coming in 2024-25 before, well, all hell broke loose. Dallas will likely not contend for the big trophy this year, but a fun run for the in-season crown would be a nice consolation. We shall see what the future holds!
The full 2026-27 NBA regular season schedule will be released on Thursday, August 13th. Mavs Moneyball will keep you covered through all 82!
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 30: Bob Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company attends The Wallis Delivers: A Benefit Evening To Support Wildfire Recovery at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on April 30, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Things move quickly in the basketball world, but you’d struggle to find something happening as fast as the selling of the Lakers.
There wasn’t even a whiff of a rumor about the franchise being up for sale, making this one of the most shocking deals in NBA history. But was Walter quietly shopping the Lakers to billionaires for months, negotiating this high sale number?
“We were involved in pursuing the new franchise in Vegas,” Iger said during an exclusive phone call with the California Post. “And while that happened, it was suggested to us that maybe Mark Walter would be interested in selling his stake in the Lakers. And we immediately decided that given the value of the franchise and the iconic nature of the team, that we would be really smart to pursue it. The deal came together in three days. It’s that simple.”
Iger and Kushner wanted to own an NBA team. And after dealing with the apparent bidding wars happening with the Las Vegas expansion, they opted to just buy a ready-made franchise in the Lakers. From their perspective, this sale makes sense.
According to one source with knowledge of the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the agreement, Kushner reached out to Walter on Friday and the deal quickly came together over the weekend.
All of this happening in such a short period of time is mind-boggling. I mean, didn’t Walter have to think about it for a while? Sure, a $2.5 billion profit in less than a year’s time is great, but were the Lakers just a vessel for him to store his money?
It just seems like a historic franchise like the Lakers should’ve been treated with more care and consideration, not flipped like they are an investment property.
And yet, here we are with new owners for the second time in barely more than a year.
Bob Iger, former chief executive of Disney, is a lifelong NBA fan and has regularly attended Clippers and Lakers games. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
So instead of the Dodgerfication of the Lakers, we’re getting the Disneyfication of the Lakers.
Hakuna Matata?
Yes, it’s weird and distressing, watching billionaires play catch with our ballclubs.
For the Lakers, it really could end happily ever after.
Because we’re realizing you probably shouldn’t put all your proverbial eggs — or both of a city’s most beloved sports teams — in one guy’s basket. Especially if that one guy happens to be at the center of a federal loan investigation.
And if all it took, really, to get Walter to relinquish his ownership of the Lakers was $2.5 billion more than the reported figure he paid for them, then he wasn’t the right owner for the franchise anyway.
He wasn’t actually going to spin blue into purple and gold.
And Disney did give us some pretty great stories under Iger, didn’t it?
A native New Yorker, Iger, 75, grew up a Knicks fan. But he has also long been an L.A. basketball fan — though he has identified as a Clippers supporter. (Sorry, Clips, I think you’re down a fan.)
Lakers great Magic Johnson said he’s known Iger since the Showtime era, and gushed in an interview Wednesday with The Times’ Broderick Turner: “The great thing for Laker fans is Bob Iger loves basketball, loves the Lakers and I think that we couldn’t have a better person.
“Somebody that don’t know the Lakers, the tradition, that don’t know the city, that don’t know the passion that the fans have for the Lakers here in L.A.? Then I would have been like, ‘Oh man. They gotta learn all that.’
Bob Iger, then chief executive of Disney, addresses the media during the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge media event in 2019. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“Well there’s no learning curve for Bob.”
And Angelenos know Iger. We don’t know Kushner except for his family ties. But Iger, we do.
Walter isn’t selling the Lakers to some rich guys without any L.A. cred. He’s selling to a basketball fan whom we’ve seen courtside at Lakers games. Someone who joined us in sharing our heartbreak on social media when Kobe Bryant died in 2020, calling him “a friend and a fan of ours, full of life and taken from us too soon.”
We recognize Iger; he’s the Disney guy. We know him for his successful tenures as chief executive of that beloved company, which were highlighted by innovative storytelling, savvy investment and expansion — including into sports. We know he helped turn ESPN into a TV juggernaut.
Before the sale to Walter, the Buss family, which owned and ran the Lakers for 46 years, was having trouble keeping up in a booming NBA. Player salaries are capped, but ownership’s resources matter much in terms of creating a competitive infrastructure of coaches, basketball operations, medical and scouting staffs.
So we were looking forward to seeing sweeping improvements when Walter took control and provided the organization with a much-needed financial infusion. After all, his Dodgers have won three World Series crowns and clinched the National League West in 12 of 13 seasons since 2012, when he and his partners bought the club for a then-MLB record $2.15 billion.
But as of Wednesday morning, we were still looking.
We thought the new Lakers’ regime would get to work without a second to spare. Yeah, they added a second row of seats courtside. And laid off more than a dozen employees.
We expected they’d beef up their scouting department. But they moved the G League team from the South Bay way out to the Coachella Valley, so even the most ardent fans in L.A. will have a hard time keeping an eye on the team’s prospects.
We expected, under Walter, that the Lakers would give their basketball brain trust an obvious boost.
But they’ve only flirted with filling the job of second assistant general manager. And they failed to poach anyone from the league’s most innovative front offices like the Dodgers did when they hired Andrew Friedman. Their big get was Rohan Ramadas, from the … New Orleans Pelicans, a team that made the playoffs only twice in the last eight seasons.
Iger and Kushner can do better. They better do better.
Joshua Kushner, founder and chief executive of Thrive Capital, speaks onstage during the Big Bets panel at the Fortune Global Forum 2024. (Jemal Countess / Getty Images for Fortune Media)
I think they will.
This isn’t a fly-by-night proposition for Iger, who headed an effort by the Chargers and Raiders to build a stadium in Carson before Stan Kroenke built $5-billion SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
In 2024, Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, who is dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, acquired a controlling stake in the Angel City Football Club of the National Women’s Soccer League for $50 million, pushing its valuation to $250 million, a record for a women’s sports team.
Angel City hasn’t been winning, but they doubled the staff and wasted no time setting up a sizable new performance center at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. The WNBA’s Sparks, which Walter has owned since 2014, are still waiting for their own practice facility, which is now finally under construction in El Segundo.
“As lifelong NBA fans,” Kushner and Iger said in a statement, “we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world.”
Iger knows as much as anyone about successfully stewarding an iconic brand.
Now he could be the Imagineer to bring the 17-time champion Lakers back to the happiest place on earth — the NBA’s mountaintop.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - APRIL 19: Haywood Highsmith #7 of the Phoenix Suns dribbles the ball during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during Round One Game One of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on April 19, 2026 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
So you thought the Phoenix Suns were done for the offseason, did you? Well, surprise surprise. They’re not done making moves.
On Wednesday, the Suns waived Haywood Highsmith, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto.
The Phoenix Suns have waived Haywood Highsmith, league sources told @hoopshype. He was partially guaranteed $1 million of his $3 million salary for the 2026-27 season. The 3-and-D forward has averaged 5.4 points on 38% 3-point shooting and 3.1 rebounds in six NBA seasons.
Phoenix acquired Highsmith last February after he signed with the team as a free agent following his release from the Brooklyn Nets earlier in the month. He appeared in seven games for the Suns, averaging 5.4 points in 91 total minutes. Highsmith had previously missed significant time after undergoing surgery for a right knee meniscal tear last August.
Highsmith was set to make $3 million next season, but the contract was not guaranteed. He would have earned the full amount if he had remained on the roster through January 10, 2027.
Waiving Highsmith opens up a roster spot for the Suns. We don’t yet know whether Phoenix already has somebody in mind, which prompted the move, or whether the organization simply values the flexibility that comes with keeping a spot open. It’s something the Suns have done before, leaving a roster spot available while waiting to identify the right player to eventually fill it.
Either way, Haywood Highsmith is no longer a member of the Phoenix Suns. The 29-year-old will now look for his fourth NBA team.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 02: Brandin Podziemski #2 of the Golden State Warriors celebrates with Draymond Green #23 after a basket in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Chase Center on April 02, 2026 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Warriors fans and fans across the country.
The Golden State Warriors limped into the play-in tournament in 2025-26, and were eliminated before the playoffs. But in 2024-25? They made quite a run, and arguably the only thing that kept them from making the Western Conference Finals was an injury sustained by Steph Curry.
The Dubs are basically running it back this year. They came up short in their pursuit of LeBron James, and have yet to add a single player from outside the organization, though that will likely change between now and Opening Night. So, how will the Warriors fare this season? Give us your predictions!
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 20: Vj Edgecombe #77 of the Philadelphia 76ers talks to Cooper Flagg #32 of the Dallas Mavericks at Xfinity Mobile Arena on December 20, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. The 76ers defeated the Mavericks 121-114. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The general public will have no shortage of opportunities to watch the Philadelphia 76ers play basketball this season (at least on television, in-person viewing may be much harder). We previously detailed how the Sixers would take part in the NBA’s opening night and Christmas Day slates, with their home opener against Cleveland also nationally televised. On Wednesday, two more nationally-televised holiday games were revealed to be on the schedule.
The Sixers will play on MLK Day, January 18, at 2:30 pm ET in Atlanta, and on Presidents’ Day, February 15, at 2:30 pm ET in Dallas. Both games will be on NBC.
The Hawks should be an intriguing team to watch in their first full year removed from the Trae Young era. Jalen Johnson is coming off a Third Team All-NBA campaign and the organization made some interesting acquisitions during the offseason like Lu Dort, Ryan Nembhard, and Aaron Wiggins. Meanwhile down in Texas, I’m not going to pass up an opportunity to tune into Cooper Flagg’s second season and I’m curious about the roster constructed by new President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri led by former Michigan head coach Dusty May.
Of course, we have to get used to this new reality that the Sixers are the Main Attraction. Casuals are tuning in to watch LeBron James in a Sixers uniform and Jaylen Brown metaphorically stomp all over the analytics nerds across the interwebs. There won’t be a week that goes by this season that won’t have some compelling Philadelphia-related storyline to unwrap. Strap in, folks, it should be a fun one.
CLEVELAND, OH - MARCH 9: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers runs onto the court before the game against the Philadelphia 76ers on March 9, 2026 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Cleveland Cavaliers are right around the corner. Key dates for the 2026-27 NBA season have been unveiled ahead of the full schedule being released tomorrow. For now, we know some major games to mark your calendar for.
Let’s start with their first game of the season.
Cleveland opens their season on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers on October 22nd. They’ll then play LeBron James at home for the first time in a 76ers uniform just a few weeks later on November 6th. The Cavs will waste no time welcoming the King back to the East. They’ll have two chances to make a statement before Thanksgiving.
The Cavs won’t play on Christmas this year, but they will play on Martin Luther King Day once again. They host the Detroit Pistons at noon. Last season, Cleveland faced the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on MLK Day.
A few other dates have been revealed for Cleveland. We now know the full details of their NBA Cup schedule, including when and where each game of their group stage will be played.
The Cavs begin their NBA Cup journey on November 6th against the 76ers. Raising the stakes of their second game against the 76ers.
Next, they head to Miami on November 13th to play Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Heat. A week later, Cleveland will host the Indiana Pacers, a team that will be rejuvenated by the return of Tyrese Haliburton. The star point guard missed all of last season with an Achilles injury.
Finally, the Cavs will be on the road against the New York Knicks on November 25th for their final game of the NBA Cup Group Stage. The Knicks have gotten the best of Cleveland at every turn. This will be an opportunity for the Cavs to flip the tables.
All things considered, that’s a brutal group to be a part of for the Cup.
To recap, here are the dates that we have confirmed:
October 22 at PHI (Season Opener)
November 6th vs PHI (NBA Cup)
November 13th at MIA (NBA Cup)
November 20th vs IND (NBA Cup)
November 25th at NYK (NBA Cup)
January 19th vs DET (MLK Day)
There will be no Christmas Day game for the Cavs this season.
The NBA plans to release the full schedule tomorrow. That will give us all time to plan ahead and get ready for another season of Cavs basketball.
Russell Westbrook announced he was stepping away from the NBA after 18 seasons in a video released on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
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Westbrook played for seven different teams in the league but had his longest stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2008 to 2019.
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The point guard was voted the 2016-17 MVP and was a nine-time All-Star during his career.
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Westbrook averaged 20.9 points, 8 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game but is referred to as Mr. Triple-Double for producing 209 career triple-doubles.
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He finishes his career as the all-time leader; his former teammate, Nikola Jokic, is threatening to take over the record as he's sitting at 198 career triple-doubles.
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Here’s how basketball fans honored Westbrook following his announcement:
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Russell Westbrook praised after announcement
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Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end.
Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti:
"Russell Westbrook is the ultimate competitor.
His internal belief and unbridled fearlessness helped establish the foundation of our organization from day one in 2008 and he elevated the confidence and inspired…
Grateful Sacramento was part of an unforgettable career. Congratulations on 18 incredible seasons. Enjoy retirement, Brodie 💜 @russwest44pic.twitter.com/l66Qo1k7Nx
▫️9x All-Star ▫️9x All-NBA ▫️3x Assists Champion ▫️2x Scoring Champion ▫️2x All-Star Game MVP ▫️2016-17 NBA MVP ▫️Member of the 75th Anniversary Team ▫️All Time Triple Double Leader
🏀 209 career triple-doubles, most in NBA history 🏀 1 of 2 players in NBA history with 25,000 points & 10,000 assists 🏀 14th on the NBA all-time scoring list (27,176) 🏀 1 of 14 players to record 2,000 career steals (2,038) pic.twitter.com/w3FQ1WRfpJ
Every time you figured you had him read, thought he'd go right, he'd go left on you. He played his whole career that way and...he gave us one more surprise today.
Russell was one of my favorite guys to line up against near the end…
"One of the best point guards to ever pick up a basketball"@adaniels33 reacts to the breaking news of Russell Westbrook announcing his retirement after 18 seasons with @WorldWideWob
CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 11: Jalen Duren #0 of the Detroit Pistons dribbles the ball during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers during Round Two Game Four of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on May 11, 2026 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
While we probably still have another month (at least) until we hear that Jalen Duren has signed a new contract with the Detroit Pistons, let’s entertain the idea of what a JD sign-and-trade could look like this late in the summer.
A couple of caveats, first:
I’m only trading Jalen Duren if I’m getting a center back in the deal. Any JD trade that doesn’t bring a center back means there needs to be another deal afterwards to find your new starting big man.
I’m only taking a center back if that player can shoot. If I wanted a center that can rebound and catch lobs, I’d just pay Jalen Duren. In this fake world we’re living in for the premise of the article, I want to add even more spacing so Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson can thrive.
I’m not going to add any picks into these trades. This exercise is more about showing what a trade can look like financially, and y’all can decide in the comments where picks would need to be added.
Let us begin.
Option #1
DET gets: Ryan Rollins and Myles Turner
MIL gets: Jalen Duren
Why Detroit says yes: They land their starting SG of the future and finally pair Ausar with a stretch five since the time Mike Muscala was on the team for a fortnight. Rollins (shoutout Toledo Joe) averaged 17/4/5 while shooting 47%/40%/80% in 32 minutes per game last season and fits Detroit’s core at 24 years old. I do not care that Turner only averaged 12/5/1 last year on an extremely dysfunctional Milwaukee team. His career 37% three-point percentage is the prize, and he can’t be a worse rim protector than Duren.
Why Milwaukee says yes: They kick off their post-Giannis rebuild with a 22-year-old All-NBA center to play with Tyler Herro and the rest of the young guys they got from Miami. That should make them good enough to avoid being a bottom-three team this year.
Why Jalen Duren says yes: He’ll get paid more than what Detroit is reportedly offering him.
Option #2
DET gets: Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Onyeka Okongwu
ATL gets: Jalen Duren
Why Detroit says yes: For the same reasons they’d say yes to the first deal, though, NAW’s contract is probably the prized possession of this trade. While Okongwu doesn’t have a ton of size, he has turned into quite the stretch five. He averaged 15/7/3 on 48%/38%/76% last season while shooting more than five threes per game. Both guys are young enough to stick around with Detroit’s core.
Why Atlanta says yes: Atlanta is primed to make a big splash at some point this season, and it’s not a secret they’re looking for a center. Rudy Gobert was rumored to be on their watch list to reunite him with head coach Quin Snyder, but if Minnesota is still looking to compete with Gobert, Atlanta pivoting to Jalen Duren could be an appealing idea.
Why Jalen Duren says yes: He’ll get paid more than what Detroit is reportedly offering him.
Shoutout to Based Pistons from Bluesky for the idea on this one!
Option #3
Option #3 just had to be a three-team deal, right?
DET gets: Chet Holmgren and Jordan Hawkins
NOP gets: Jalen Duren
OKC gets: Trey Murphy III and Duncan Robinson
Why Detroit says yes: Ever since Chet Holmgren faded in the playoffs against Wemby and OKC drafted Aday Mara while also extending Isaiah Hartenstein, I’ve wondered what it would take to get Chet to Detroit. He averaged 17/9/2 while shooting 56%/36%/79% in 69 games last season. Pairing him with Ausar Thompson would make Detroit the best defensive team in the league, and he’s a career 37% three-point shooter. Sign me up!
Why New Orleans says yes: Troy Weaver.
Why Oklahoma City says yes: With the addition of Aday Mara, he and Hartenstein combined will make $12 million less than Holmgren. If there’s a world where OKC wants to continue cutting costs, turning Chet into TMIII and Duncan is a great cost-saving move. The two J-Wills and TMIII could fill the minutes at PF while Hartenstein and Mara hold down the C position. Shai’s 4yr/$272m extension starts after this season, so future moves may be needed in OKC to prevent them from reaching the second apron.
Why Jalen Duren says yes: He’ll get paid more than what Detroit is reportedly offering him.
What say you, DBB? Any interest in any of the above trade ideas?
Executive Chairman of the Walt Disney Company Bob Iger arrives at the world premiere for the film “The King’s Man” at Leicester Square in London, Britain on Monday, December 6, 2021. (X03696) REUTERS
Apparently with whiplash-inducing speed. Iger and Kushner were pursuing a majority stake in a potential NBA expansion team in Las Vegas through Thrive Eternal, which is the permanent capital holding company launched by Thrive Capital, which Kushner founded.
“As you may have read or heard, we were involved in pursuing the new franchise in Vegas,” Iger told Khobi Price of the California Post.
“And while that happened, it was suggested to us that maybe Mark Walter would be interested in selling his stake in the Lakers. And we immediately decided that given the value of the franchise and the iconic nature of the team that we would be really smart to pursue it. And we did.”
“The deal came together in three days. It’s that simple.”
Why is Mark Walter selling the Lakers 14 months after buying the team?
Mark Walter attends the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation annual Blue Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images North America) Getty Images
We’re not sure.
Was it because he could make a $2.5 billion profit?
Did it have anything to do with the fact that insurance companies he owned are being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission?
What we do know is that Walter is not expected to sell the Dodgers, which his ownership group purchased for $2.15 billion in 2012.
Does this mean anything for Luka Doncic?
Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts on the court during the first half on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. (Corey Sipkin) Corey Sipkin for NY Post
Doncic wanted to retire with the Dallas Mavericks before he was stunningly traded to the Lakers in February 2025 in what was widely considered one of the most surprising deals in sports history. Since then, he has undergone two ownership changes.
It has been dizzying for the 27-year-old, who finished fourth in MVP voting last season.
Doncic was heavily involved with the revamping of the Lakers’ roster this offseason, including the acquisition of center Walker Kessler. Doncic, who signed a three-year, $165 million maximum contract extension with the Lakers in August 2025, has a player option for the 2028-2029 season.
“Being a Laker means everything to me, and I’m excited to get back on the court and bring a championship to LA,” Doncic wrote. “I’ve gotten used to big changes over these last few years, but I know that no matter what, there is no limit to the potential of this iconic franchise. I look forward to meeting Josh and Bob so we can get to work building something special in LA together.”
What does this mean for Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick?
Iger has already spoken with Lakers coach JJ Redick, whom he has known for a long time. Iger was a season ticket holder when Redick played for the LA Clippers. He has even made several appearances on Redick’s former podcast, “The Old Man and the Three.” They both live in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles.
As for Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, it’s unclear if Iger has spoken to him yet. Pelinka has been with the Lakers for nine years after joining the franchise as general manager in 2017.
What happens to Jeanie Buss?
Mark Walter, left, a majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Jeanie Buss, minority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, talk as the Lakers play the Chicago Bulls at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Jeanie Buss had an agreement with previous ownership to remain as governor for four more years. Will that agreement remain intact under new ownership?
Yes.
When the Buss family sold the Lakers to Walter, there was an agreement for her to remain the team’s governor for at least five years. Iger intends to honor that arrangement.
“We have enormous respect and appreciation for Jeanie, her father and what they’ve contributed to this franchise,” Iger told the California Post.
“And we have every intention to honor the agreement that was made between Mark and Jeanie. If things change, they’ll change. But we’re going into this with enormous respect and appreciation for who she is and what she represents in the organization.”
Josh Kushner is a minority owner of the Heat. How does that work?
Kushner became a minority owner of the Grizzlies in 2019 before selling his share to become a minority owner of the Heat.
He will have to sell his share in the Heat before taking over the Lakers.
A detailed view of the Los Angeles Lakers logo at midcourt before the game against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images North America) Getty Images
Los Angeles, CA - February 22: Jeanie Buss during the statue unveiling for former Lakers coach Pat Riley in Star Plaza in front of Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 22, 2026. Riley won 4 championships as Lakers head coach. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images
This sale is not only a shock, but comes with many questions. One very notable one is what happens to current governor Jeanie Buss?
When Walter took over the team, the agreement was that Jeanie would remain as governor for at least five years. However, just one season as the Lakers’ owner, Walter is gone. However, it looks like Jeanie will stay in her position.
Iger told the Post he and Kushner intend to honor the agreement made between Walter and Buss.
“We have enormous respect and appreciation for Jeanie, her father and what they’ve contributed to this franchise,” Iger said. “And we have every intention to honor the agreement that was made between Mark and Jeanie. If things change, they’ll change, but we’re going into this with enormous respect and appreciation for who she is and what she represents in the organization.”
It certainly sounds like Jeanie won’t be leaving her position with the franchise anytime soon. However, Iger did leave himself some leeway by saying, “If things change, they’ll change.”
Transitions of power in the NBA can be tricky. When Mark Cuban sold the Mavericks, he believed he would continue to have control of the basketball operations and clearly that didn’t happen.
The difference between that situation and the original one with Jeanie was that she got it in writing, making it official. If it’s a handshake agreement, you can see how that turns out. For now, Iger seems open to the idea of keeping Jeanie on.
A detail view of a rally towel with the Emirates NBA Cup logo. This rally towel was a giveaway during the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup championship game in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
As part of its weeklong schedule release (sigh), the NBA announced the schedule for the group-play round of the Emirates NBA Cup on Wednesday.
We already knew that the Sixers were placed into a Group of Death with the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers. Granted, that news quickly got buried by the Sixers trading for Jaylen Brown that same day and signing LeBron James on a veteran-minimum contract a few weeks later.
Now that the dust has finally started to settle on the offseason, the NBA Cup now looks like a valuable early-season measuring stick for the new-look Sixers. Each opponent will provide a different challenge, but all four figure to be vying for playoff spots this year right alongside the Sixers.
Let’s briefly dive in to what each matchup could tell us about the Sixers early in the year.
Oct. 30 vs. New York Knicks
We found out Tuesday that the Sixers will tip off the season by taking on the reigning champion Knicks in New York on opening night. They’ll face them again 10 days later, except they’ll be back home in Philly for both teams’ NBA Cup opener.
We’ll find out the Sixers’ full schedule Thursday, but in all likelihood, this will be their first chance to face the same opponent for the second time in the 2026-27 season. That means this will be their first chance to make playoff-style adjustments based on what happened in the season opener.
The Knicks’ fan takeover of the Wells Fargo Center in last year’s playoffs is also still a sore spot for the organization. Granted, with LeBron and Brown now in the fold, tickets might be almost as expensive in Philly this season as they are at Madison Square Garden. Still, this will likely be our first chance to see whether Knicks fans are able to pack the stands at the WFC as prominently as they have in past years.
The on-court matchups should be fascinating, too. The Knicks have two elite wing defenders in Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby who figure to draw the primary assignment on Brown and LeBron. Can Skinny Joel Embiid hang with Karl-Anthony Towns, particularly when he floats out to the perimeter? Will Tyrese Maxey look to hunt Jalen Brunson? And can VJ Edgecombe stop Josh Hart from inexplicably shooting 50 percent from deep every time he plays the Sixers?
Last, but certainly not least: Ariel Hukporti Revenge Game loading?
Nov. 6 at Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers will be a very different matchup for the Sixers than the Knicks stylistically. The Cavs run a double-big lineup with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, so whichever one of them avoids Embiid as their primary defender should have a clear height advantage.
The Cavaliers also have an elite scoring guard in Donovan Mitchell and an elite passing guard in James Harden, which should keep Maxey and Edgecombe busy defensively. However, the soon-to-be 37-year-old Harden might as well have a bullseye tattooed on his face whenever he’s on defense, as Brunson proved in last year’s playoffs.
Given the “there’s only one ball” concern-trolling surrounding the Sixers, this game should give them an opportunity to prove how they present opponents with an impossible pick-your-poison dilemma. If they relentlessly hunt Harden all night regardless of whom he’s defending, it might force the Cavs to consider pulling him off the floor entirely.
That could be a preview of how the new-look Sixers can maximize their powers while still avoiding the typical your-turn, my-turn tug-of-war that tends to come with superstar tandems.
Nov. 25 vs. Miami Heat
TrueHoop’s David Thorpe is wondering who on the Sixers can stop Giannis Antetokounmpo. This might be their first chance of the season to answer that question.
Like the Cavs, the Heat will trot out a double-big starting lineup with the Greek Freak and Bam Adebayo. That size could prove problematic for the Sixers, who will be on the smaller side with LeBron likely starting at the 4.
But unlike the Cavs, the Heat do not have a star guard to help shoulder some of the scoring load, with all due respect to Davion Mitchell and Pelle Larsson. Barring another 80-point eruption from Adebayo, it’s unclear whether the Heat have the offensive firepower to keep up with the Sixers.
The Heat largely abandoned pick-and-rolls last season, although they’ll presumably reinvent their offense again around Antetokounmpo this year. Luckily, the Sixers will have roughly a month’s worth of games to scout before this Cup showdown, so they shouldn’t be caught totally off guard by any unforeseen wrinkles.
Really, this might come down to whether Antetokounmpo (or Simone Fontecchio?) can go full Superman mode. That’s what would happen in the playoffs, too, so this could be an early-season test for the Sixers in that regard.
Nov. 27 at Indiana Pacers
Given the massive shakeups that happened around the league this offseason, the Pacers are largely flying under the radar heading into the year. Somehow, everyone seems to have memory-holed that they were one win away from winning the 2025 NBA Finals.
Tyrese Haliburton missed the entire 2025-26 campaign to recover from the torn Achilles that he suffered in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, but he’ll have more than a month to shake off the rust before this matchup. He’ll also have a new center in Ivica Zubac, whom the Pacers acquired ahead of the February trade deadline.
Zubac played only five games for the Pacers last season, but he and Pascal Siakam should form an imposing frontcourt when healthy. Much like with the Heat and Cavaliers, the Sixers will have to figure out how to counter the size disadvantage they face whenever that duo is on the floor together.
But as their team name would imply, the real concern with the Pacers is their pace. They tend to fly up and down the floor, leveraging their depth to stay fresh. Outside of Embiid, the new-look Sixers should also be a dynamo in transition, but head coach Nick Nurse tends to overplay his starters. That could lead to late-game fatigue against Indiana in particular.
Dec. 4-11: Knockout rounds?
Through the first three iterations of the NBA Cup, the Sixers have yet to advance past the group-play stage. Despite the star power they added this offseason, it won’t be easy for them to snap that trend this year, either. They’ll be working through some early-season kinks while other Eastern Conference title hopefuls aim to send a message against them.
Given the projected strength of their group, it’s hard to imagine any team going 4-0 in group play. A 3-1 record might the best that any team can realistically hope for. Point differential is the tiebreaker for teams with the same record, so the Sixers will have incentive to run up the score in all of their group-play games.
If they make it to the knockout rounds, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be held in normal NBA team markets. The championship is moving out of Las Vegas this year and is headed to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis instead. And teams in the knockout round also receive a cash prize depending on how far they advance, which is a nice bonus, especially with LeBron playing on a minimum contract this year. (The prize for winning the Cup is more than 1/8 of his total salary!)
The Knicks won the Cup last year and went on to win the actual championship, although the first two Cup champions did not have similar playoff success. So, even if the new-look Sixers fail to bring the Cup to Philly, it doesn’t mean they’re destined for a playoff letdown.
But if the Sixers do go on a deep run in the Cup, they’ll be well ahead of schedule, particularly given the strength of their group in the opening stage.
Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University in Indianapolis will be the site of the NBA Cup championship game on Dec. 11. (Darron Cummings / Associated Press)
The Lakers start the in-season tournament on Oct. 30 on the road against the Golden State Warriors at 7 p.m. PDT on Prime Video, the NBA announced Wednesday during another stage of the schedule release that will wrap up Thursday. The NBA Cup opener is a second matchup in the first weeks of the season between the Lakers and the Warriors, who begin their regular-season schedules on Oct. 21 at Crypto.com Arena.
The Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs are also in the Lakers’ five-team Group C. The Lakers have Cup home games against the Trail Blazers (Nov. 6, 7 p.m.) and Kings (Nov. 20, 7 p.m.) and play their last group-stage Cup game at San Antonio at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 27.
With 30 teams split into six groups for the NBA Cup, teams play a round-robin group stage before the top team in each group and the best second-place team in each conference advance to the eight-team quarterfinal stage.
The quarterfinals (Dec. 4 and Dec. 5) and semifinals (Dec. 8 and/or Dec. 9) will be hosted in NBA team markets, a departure from the previous formats that placed only the quarterfinals in team arenas before playing the semifinal and championship in Las Vegas. The championship game, scheduled for Dec. 11, will be played at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The in-season tournament, now in its third season, was launched to increase the stakes during a long NBA regular season. It incentivized competition in part by dangling more than $500,000 in prize money for each player on the winning team.
The NBA Cup just produced its first NBA champion, with the New York Knicks becoming the first team to win the regular-season tournament and the NBA title in the same season.
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The New York Knicks headline a four-game slate to be played on Martin Luther King Day, January 18, this season. It's the 41st time the league will feature games on the federal holiday, which honors the slain civil rights leader.
The day starts with two Eastern Conference contenders, the Detroit Pistons visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland bounced the top-seeded Pistons from the playoffs in the second round last season.
King's birthplace of Atlanta, Georgia, hosts the next matchup of the day, with the Hawks playing the new-look Philadelphia 76ers. Atlanta has beaten Philadelphia nine straight times.
Madison Square Garden will welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves in a game that features two of the league's most dynamic guards: NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson and perennial All-Star Anthony Edwards.
In the nightcap, Memphis, the city where King was shot and killed in 1968, takes center stage, with the Grizzlies hosting the Houston Rockets. It will be the 24th time the Grizzlies have hosted a game on MLK Day, with Memphis posting an 8-15 record in those games.
