Category: Basketball

Jalen Duren and the Pistons have agreed on a new contract. 

Duren, 22, agreed to terms on a five-year, $200 million contract that is fully guaranteed and keeps him in Detroit for the long haul, ESPN reported late Thursday night.

It ends a long-running contract battle that started earlier in the summer and has run right into the start of training camp, after he remained unsigned and skipped the first practices of camp. 

He was a restricted free agent after the end of his four-year, $19.5 million rookie deal ended and he had not received an offer sheet from another team. 

Duren had until 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday to take a one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer that would have allowed him to be an unrestricted free agent next summer when the deal ended. 

The Pistons star had the best regular season of his career in 2025-26, when he averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds on 65 percent shooting in 70 games as Detroit secured the No. 1 seed in the East. 

His playoff performance was not as strong, with his stats dropping to 10.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

The Portland Trail Blazers fired broadcaster Braiden Bell just hours after announcing they had hired him, as the team was made aware of some misogynistic and racist social media posts Bell made as a teenager.

The 29-year-old Bell was previously employed as the play-by-play announcer for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments," the team said in a statement. “Social media posts made by our recently announced play-by-play announcer are in clear violation of team and league policies, as well as our values and expectations. Therefore, we will not be moving forward with this broadcaster."

According to KGW-TV, the social media posts were made in 2012 and 2013. One of the tweets from Dec. 9, 2012, stated, "I'm not racist at all.. But not gonna lie.. Asian people piss me off! Hahaha #Honest."

Bell, set to start his job next week and to work with color commentator Lamar Hurd and sideline reporter Brooke Olzendam, was supposed to replace Kevin Calabro, who was let go this summer as the team underwent a broad range of layoffs earlier this year under owner Thomas Dundon. Calabro had spent the past nine seasons as the team's television broadcaster.

“The play-by-play role carries a long legacy of excellence, on the broadcast and in character, and we hold that standard without exception. We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City,’’ the team said. “We believe strongly that everyone who is part of Rip City should feel welcome and safe, and we will make sure that our new broadcaster reflects these values. We will do better."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA team fires broadcaster hours after hiring him over racist social posts

Injured Mikel Brown Jr. can’t wait to play. But he might have to. The rookie is the biggest key to Brooklyn’s rebuild. 

That’s why his rehab and return have to be right, not rushed. 

Brown rolled his left ankle last week and has gotten back out on the court on a limited basis in practice. But as of Thursday, he hasn’t been cleared for contact. 

“Yeah, as of right now they’re just telling me you could get back moving a little bit, really just trying to get the strengthening it up back,” Brown said. “I mean, I am back on the court moving. That’s all I’m really worried about right now. I’m just taking it one step at a time.” 

Brown said the Nets training staff hasn’t told him exactly what the next step is. He wouldn’t exactly call patience his strong suit, but he’s learning. 

“I feel like I have no choice but to be patient,” Brown said with a wan smile. “I want to be out there so bad, but they’ve just been emphasizing to me, ‘Let’s take our time with this stuff and get you back 100 percent,’ which me, I’m trying to play as soon as possible. So really just attacking this rehab, focusing on stuff that I can control.” 

The Nets open the preseason Tuesday in Charlotte and have offered no clarity on the severity of Brown’s injury or his timeline. 

Brooklyn also has three other preseason games before the regular-season opener Oct. 21 in Brooklyn against the Hornets. When asked if he expects to get at least some live action in the preseason, Brown was non-committal. 

“I mean, that’s up to the performance staff,” Brown said. “I’m just doing what I can to get back on the court as of right now.” 

When asked to pick out who has impressed him the most since camp started or who has taken a step forward, Michael Porter Jr. pointed out Keon Ellis. 

“Keon has been hooping these first [few] days,” Porter said. “He plays the right way. He plays defense. He can really shoot the ball, and he’s been just overall very solid.” 

Porter and Julius Randle have been playing on different sides so far in camp, kept separated by Jordi Fernández. 

And they didn’t play together Thursday, with Fernández switching things up and going no-contact to rest his players’ legs before a lot of playing Friday. 

“When you’re tired, you can lose it easily. And [Thursday] being a non-contact session and a session that it’s more mental with the film and the walk-throughs and installing new things, your brain needs to be there,” Fernández said. “It was very positive like an active recovery where you still need to advance. … It was a great day. And then [Friday], it’s going to be a big high-load game day with a lot of playing. with a lot of playing. And players, they love to play, so they’re excited about tomorrow.”

Praise has been heaped in bundles to countless Lakers win throughout the first days of training camp. A new name was added to the mix on Monday and is one Lakers fans will likely be excited to hear about.

While head coach JJ Redick admitted he’s still young and going through the struggles any rookie would, Cameron Carr also was on the receiving end of some of that acclaim on Thursday.

“Cam, we see a player in Cam,” Redick said. “We’re really excited about him. You can also see through three days that he’s a rookie. There were times where we kind of had to stop a drill or, at one point a minute into the second scrimmage, I had to call timeout and bring him over and just teach him a little bit.

“He picks up things quick so very confident that he’ll have opportunities this year.”

Carr will certainly have an uphill battle to playing time. Given the little we have to go on right now, it seems that a number of wings are excelling early in training camp. It will come down to impressing in the moments Carr will have during preseason games.

But even if that doesn’t happen in the exhibition slate, it’s a long season and, as Redick noted, opportunities will come.

Mysterious injuries

Redick has alluded a couple of times during training camp that a couple of players were limited. On Thursday, he was asked a bit more about it and provided very little more insight.

“Everybody did something,” Redick said of practice. “Again, we’ve had to modify a couple guys. We had an extended scrimmage today and cleaned up some things offensively for the first time since, really, last Wednesday when we were doing our small group work. We’ll continue to have an emphasis on that over the weekend on Saturday and Sunday before we go to [Sacramento].”

When asked if those unspecified injuries would keep players out of games, Redick said that was to be determined but that it was nothing they were worried about long term.

Best training camp ever

Ziaire Williams hasn’t been in the NBA long, but this training camp has left an impression. After years of training camps on teams without a focus on winning, joining a Lakers side focused on winning has been a change of pace.

“It’s a little different, for sure,” Williams said. “This is a winning culture, a winning culture, a winning team, a team that has high standards, so it’s a little different. Guys have been more experienced, more in the league so it’s a little less teaching and more just concepts and schemes versus Brooklyn, it was eight rookies or however many we had…so it was a lot more teaching.

“But training camp here has been great. I’m comfortable. Guys have helped me work my way in and I just feel like I belong. I’m happy where I’m at and we just got to keep doing it.”

Multiple players have said this training camp has been great. For basically every team outside of the Kings, vibes at this point in the season probably are good. Another theme that has gone hand-in-hand with that, though, has been the competitiveness during camp, too.

“This has been a very physical, competitive, intense training camp,” Jake LaRavia said. “I think it’s been the best one that I’ve been a part of since I’ve been in the league and this third day just really put a stamp on what we’ve been doing.”

Other notes

• Redick spoke about Dalton Knecht, who he said has “been a pro” during training camp. He credited his offseason work and said he was hungry to earn a rotation spot.
• Add LaRavia to the list of people who have singled out Adou Thiero this summer. He said the second-year player had been “really good,” praise he also gave Williams.
• Speaking of LaRavia, Redick talked about his conversations with him this summer, saying they spoke a lot in the first six weeks of the offseason, both about shooting and the “mental side of things.” To that point, Redick said LaRavia is in not just a good place physically this traning camp, but mentally as well.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

The Jalen Duren drama is officially in the past. The All-NBA big man agreed to a fully guaranteed five-year, $200 million contract, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. The move ends months of drama and seeming animosity between the Pistons and Duren’s agent Chafie Fields. Fields was the one to pass news of the deal along to Charania.

Fields, representing Duren, seemed to use every bit of negotiating leverage he could, waiting until 90 minutes before the deadline to accept a $9.6 million qualifying offer or accept the $200 million deal on the table. While there had been reports that the two sides were far apart, all indications are the Pistons’ first serious offer in the offseason landed between $185-$190 million. So the months of drama, meeting with teams in free agency, leaking interest from other NBA teams, threatening to sign the qualifying offer, and trying to engineer sign-and-trades netted Duren the $200 million deal he was seeking.

While Duren was technically eligbile for a $287 million max contract, there was never any indication that Detroit was interested in that number. Detroit made little headway in an extension last offseason, and there was thoughts it might have soured the relationship between player and organization permanently. It didn’t help that media leaks were obviously coming from Duren’s camp, and Detroit earned plenty of bad press by reportedly trying to include a weight clause in Duren’s contract. That provision was allegedly removed, and is not part of the $200 million deal.

If Duren had accepted the qualifying offer and then gotten a max deal in free agency next summer, he would have earned less than the $200 million the Pistons were offering. In the end, the Detroit deal always made the most sense, and that is the deal Duren decided to sign.

Now, we can focus on basketball.

Duren was a key cog in the Pistons’ resurgence over the past two seasons. In Detroit’s 60-win campaign last season, he averaged a career-high 19.5 points, earning an All-Star nod and All-NBA honors. He was a great rim threat for Detroit and added a face-up game that added versatility to his high-efficiency offensive game.

The problem, as yet unresolved, was a tremendous struggle in the playoffs. The hope is that at 22 years old, Duren will be able to build on that playoff experience and better understand what it will take to have the kind of success in the postseason that he had in the regular season.

The Pistons certainly added the kinds of pieces that should make life easier for Detroit’s core of Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, and Duren. All three are now on lucrative long-term deals, with the latter two signing new deals this offseason. The Pistons had great success last year despite having just one serious three-point threat in Duncan Robinson.

Now, Robinson will return and be joined by John Collins, Isaiah Joe, and Taurean Prince. Kevin Heurter, added at the trade deadline last season but slowed by injury in the playoffs, will also return.

The hope is that with two of the league’s best and most prolific movement 3-point shooters in Robinson and Joe, and reliable veterans who are efficient perimeter marksmen, there will be less congested lanes and more room to operate for Detroit’s three core players.

There is a lot more to say, but for now, I’ll just say I’m glad it’s over.

The saga between the Detroit Pistons and Jalen Duren has finally ended as the disgruntled center agreed to a new five-year, $200 million contract to return to Detroit, a person with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.

The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the terms of the deal and because it was not yet publicly announced.

The agreement came in ahead of Thursday's 11:59 p.m. ET deadline to decide on a $9.6 million qualifying offer.

Duren averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 70 games in 2025-26 and was named an All-Star for the first time in his four-year career.

DETROIT PISTONS SEASON PREVIEW: Lineup, roster, prediction and biggest question mark

After being named to the All-NBA third team, Duren was eligible to sign a five-year deal, worth up to around $287 million, or 30% of the salary cap.

But Duren's dreadful playoff performance made any team, especially the Pistons, reluctant to pay that much. Duren's per-game production dipped to 10.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks on 51.4% shooting. The top-seeded Pistons were eliminated in the second round in seven games by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Pistons had maintained they were not going to trade Duren, as few teams had the salary cap space available to take on the maximum contract Duren was seeking. He did not get the max, but is now set to make $200 million over the next five seasons.

Jalen Duren contract details

Duren became a restricted free agent this offseason upon completion of his four-year, $19.4 million rookie-scale contract. He could have become an unrestricted free agent next summer if he had accepted the $9.6 million qualifying offer from Detroit.

Agreeing to a five-year, $200 million deal, Duren is slated to be on the Pistons for the forseeable future.

Jalen Duren age

Duren is 22 years old. He was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft after one season of college ball at Memphis. Duren was traded to Detroit in a three-way draft-night deal that also involved the New York Knicks.

Jalen Duren career stats

In four NBA seasons, Duren has averaged 13.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game, while shooting 65% from the field. During the 2025-26 season, Duren averaged a career-high 19.5 points, along with 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and shot 65% from the field.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jalen Duren ends standoff with Pistons, agrees to $200 million contract

I’ve got a really bad feeling about Darryn Peterson.

It’s nothing that he did — certainly not. When he lit the Salt Lake City leg of the Summer League ablaze, I thought I had witnessed the spirit of Kobe Bryant descend from the sky and possess the body of Utah’s highly touted youngster.

In all my life, I’ve never seen a more velvety shooting touch. A silent determination to put in the work and let the results follow. The defensive instincts and basketball intellect to impact the game within a variety of roles on the court.

Even when he struggled with efficiency in Las Vegas, I felt confident chalking that up to needlessly aggressive defense (thank you, pointless 10-foul rule!) and a lack of competent help from his NBA-quality teammates (thank you, Cody Williams!). Even when his three-pointers didn’t fall, he reliably reached the foul line. He got his teammates involved, he made an impact on the defensive end, and looked like the most obvious superstar who has joined the Jazz since… Donovan Mitchell?

He’s the caliber of player the Jazz ushered in the tanking era in order to acquire.

He’s the caliber of player the Jazz ushered in the tanking era in order to acquire. He’s the final piece, now in place to shed Utah of their restricting shackles. Simply put, now that Utah has Peterson, the team has no use for losing. In the immortal words of Ignacio, “I don’t want to get paid to lose — I wanna win!”

And win they shall. Built upon a roster that includes veteran star power via Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., supplemented by the emergence of Keyonte George and the tantalizing talent of Ace Bailey, this is a team certainly capable of reaching the Play-In Tournament stages, if not arriving in the playoffs outright as a top-6 seed in the West.

If Darryn Peterson is as good as everyone says, perhaps home-court advantage could be in the cards in Utah’s first-round matchup.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In fact, I think everybody might be getting ahead of themselves. Is there something in the water, because DP’s legend seems to grow with every passing day — and he hasn’t played a moment of true NBA basketball.

This is why I’ve got a bad feeling about Peterson — we’re already building emotional monuments to his legacy. Monuments so mammoth that they may have no chance but to topple through his long professional career.

At what point does the hype swell beyond the point of believability? Are we reaching the end of the line for Darryn Peterson’s hype train? Is this locomotive moving too fast to stay on the rails?

At what point does the hype swell beyond the point of believability? Are we reaching the end of the line for Darryn Peterson’s hype train?

Of Peterson, The Ringer’s Michael Pina said: “He could honestly be the story of the season—that’s how high Peterson’s year-one ceiling could be.”

He’s already being listed among the NBA’s best players, ranked 83rd overall in ESPN’s recent top 100 list.

During a media availability, Mo Bamba compared his rookie teammate to Kawhi Leonard and Damian Lillard — two of the defining superstars in the last decade of NBA history.

Perhaps instead of highlighting the rookie Peterson for what he could become, we should anchor our excitement to what he is today. Jusuf Nurkic shrugged off the comparisons Lillard, his teammate while in Portland. He instead insisted that he, as a 13-year NBA veteran, believes Peterson is the most mature young player he’s every shared a court with.

“I’ve never seen in my 13 years a kid coming into the league and be that mature for his age,” he said. “When I see a person like that and a player like that, I really want to help him. I think so far, he’s been nothing but great. … Everyone loves him.”

“I’ve never seen in my 13 years…”

Utah Jazz big man Jusuf Nurkic has been pleasantly surprised by rookie guard Darryn Peterson. 👀 pic.twitter.com/jJu3Gqz8ib

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 30, 2026

Will Hardy was quoted praising Peterson for his work ethic — a trait many of his Jazz teammates have been quick to recognize. “He’s competitive, tough, excited to be here and a great teammate. His transition to our Utah family has been pretty seamless.”

Get excited about Darryn Peterson — basketball is supposed to be fun, and he’s the player this community has been waiting to witness for what feels like eons — but don’t set your hopes too high. You’ll be delighted to have your hopes shattered in a positive way.

---

Calvin Barrett is the Associate Editor for SLC Dunk. Originally from Springville, Utah, he currently lives in Japan and has covered the NBA and college athletics since 2024.

It’s no secret that the Lakers are facing a roster crunch ahead of the regular-season start in 2 ½ weeks. 

That doesn’t bode well for Dalton Knecht, who could find himself on the outside looking in.

Knecht, the third-year wing the Lakers selected with the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, made a big splash as a rookie. 

He was in the rotation from the start of the 2024-25 season, stepping into the starting lineup in mid-November amid injuries — which produced the best stretch of his brief NBA career: Knecht averaged 18.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in the final nine games of November 2024 (nine starts). 

Even when he hit a shooting slump in January and December, Knecht was still getting consistent playing time as a part of the rotation. 

It looked like Knecht was going to come out of the slump after scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the Lakers’ win over the Clippers on Feb. 4, 2025. 

But his career hasn’t been the same since. 

The Lakers included Knecht in the trade for Mark Williams that was rescinded, and Knecht’s playing time for the Lakers wasn’t the same after he returned to the team. 

That was still true during Knecht’s second season with the Lakers in 2025-26: He played 553 total minutes during the regular season across 54 games after recording 1,494 minutes in 78 regular-season games as a rookie. 

But with a significant roster reconstruction around star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, there’s plenty of playing time to go around. 

“It’s a whole new opportunity for all of us,” Knecht said on media day this week. “Like [coach] JJ [Redick] said, there’s a lot of minutes open.”

But it’s unlikely Knecht will soak up those minutes. 

Until Thursday, Knecht wasn’t mentioned — directly or indirectly — by Redick or president of basketball operations/general manager Rob Pelinka during any of their media availabilities.

Other wing players such as free agent additions Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, second-year forward Adou Thiero or rookie wing Cameron Carr had gotten significantly more attention as discussion points. 

JJ Redick on Dalton Knecht, who's entering his 3rd season with the Lakers, and his approach to training camp: "First of all, he's been a pro. He's been in the gym. Like he has since Day 1, he has worked his butt off all offseason. And he's had a good three days of practice. So I… pic.twitter.com/heNsCTg6px

— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) October 1, 2026

Not a good sign for Knecht, whom multiple rival executives expect to be the odd man out as the Lakers look to trim their roster from 16 players on standard NBA deals to the league maximum of 15. 

“First of all, he’s been a pro,” Redick said of Knecht on Thursday. “He’s been in the gym. Like he has since Day 1, he has worked his butt off all offseason. And he’s had a good three days of practice. So I don’t think his approach changes. I know he’s hungry to play and hungry to earn a spot in the rotation.”

The Lakers still have time to sort out the roster crunch.

As Pelinka pointed out, they don’t have to make a decision until the regular season starts. Remaining practices will determine who’ll stay with the team. And it will give the team time to survey the NBA landscape for consolidation trades.

Even with the minimal things the Lakers have said about Knecht, it’s been what they haven’t said that’s stood out the most.

Derrin Horton has been hired as the Los Angeles Lakers' next public address announcer on Thursday, Oct. 1.

Horton will take over the role at the Lakers’ home games at Crypto.com Arena. He will be a familiar face to some, having worked as a sports broadcaster for more than 35 years.

Horton has served as an anchor, reporter, host and play-by-play announcer covering a variety of sports during his career.

He will announce his first Lakers’ game – a preseason contest against the Sacramento Kings – on Thursday, Oct. 8.

Horton will be replacing Lawrence Tanter, who passed away on Sept. 23.

“There’s no way you can fill his shoes,” Horton told the media. “And so you just come here with a passion and a goal to be informative and entertaining and be a part of Showtime.”

Tanter spent more than 43 seasons with the Lakers. He suffered a stroke on March 17 and missed the last six regular-season home games and the postseason.  He announced his retirement in June and was expected to transition to a game-day advisory role.

MORE: Previewing each NBA team as 2026-27 season approaches

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Derrin Horton? Lakers name new public address announcer

There are a lot of questions facing the Golden State Warriors ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season. Some of them are complex and nuanced, but some of them are as simple as can be. Such as: who starts?

Golden State kicked off training camp on Monday in Hawaii, and that question is one that likely won’t be answered for weeks. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Steve Kerr revealed that three-time All-Star Draymond Green will definitively be in the starting lineup. Add in the obvious starter — Steph Curry — and that leaves three spots up for grabs.

And according to Kerr, all three of those spots are there for the taking. After emphasizing that Green would be a starter, the team’s coach — who re-signed for two years this offseason — was asked if there’s an open competition for the other three positions. “Yeah. For sure. Yeah,” Kerr said while nodding his head. “Nothing has been decided at this point.” Because the prior question had been about Gui Santos, Kerr added, “Gui’s right in there, in the mix for being a starter.”

Steve Kerr made it clear yesterday that Draymond Green will remain in the starting lineup with Steph Curry

Today, I asked if the other three spots are an open competition: “Yeah, for sure. Nothing has been decided.” pic.twitter.com/6uDSwFHkcf

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) September 30, 2026

There are lots of good options for Kerr to choose from, including Santos, newcomer Brandon Williams, and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, among many others. Choosing a starting lineup, however, is made more difficult due to the serious injuries that will sideline Jimmy Butler III and Moses Moody for the first few months of the season, the constant injuries and ailments that Kristaps Porziņģis (who is currently out indefinitely) deals with, and the fact that Al Horford doesn’t play back-to-backs. As such, it seems likely that the Warriors will not have a set starting lineup this season, and will rotate through a few different options.

While it will likely be a while before we know who suits up when the season begins on October 21, Kerr did reveal the starting five for Sunday’s preseason opener: Curry, Green, Lendeborg, Horford, and Brandin Podziemski.

The Lakers have made one of their first big hires in the scouting department under new assistant general manager Eric Amsler.

On Thursday, Marc Spears of Andscape reported that the team had hired Pooh Jeter as the new Director of Pro Scouting, a move made by Amsler.

Pooh Jeter has been hired as the Lakers’ new Director of Pro Scouting, source told @andscape. The LA native previously worked with the Trail Blazers as Player Development Coach and Assistant GM of NBA G League Rip City Remix. Jeter was hired by new Lakers asst GM Eric Amsler. pic.twitter.com/Jkc11MiJtD

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) October 1, 2026

At Media Day, President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka noted that the team intended to start building out its scouting department. Over the summer, he said the franchise made around 15 hires.

Jeter had a lengthy professional career overseas with stops in Ukraine, Spain and China, among other countries. He had a brief stint with the Sacramento Kings and spent some time with the shortly-lived G League Ignite.

After retiring, Jeter joined the Blazers as a player development coach and assistant GM of the team’s G League franchise, Rip City Remix. Shortly after being hired, he spoke with SLAM about his new role and his career in basketball up to that point in an informative interview for fans looking for more insight into him.

While Amsler’s hiring already dispelled the notion, this further pushes back against the idea that the team was in a hiring freeze during the transition from Mark Walter to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. And the quicker the team can build out its scouting department, the better it is for everyone involved.

Obviously, everyone is going to bring with them an inherent knowledge of the league, few more so than Amsler himself, but the quicker the staff can be built out, the quicker the franchise and this year’s Lakers can reap the benefits of having a fully fleshed-out scouting department.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

Lakers coach JJ Redick had a meeting with Luka Doncic on Wednesday, something he plans to do with each player.

What did they talk about?

Leadership.

“It’s something he’s really excited about,” Redick said at Lakers practice Thursday.

The Lakers belong to Doncic after LeBron James left for the 76ers in free agency after eight seasons in Los Angeles, including leading the Purple-and-Gold to their first championship in 10 years in 2020.

It has now been six long years since the Lakers sat atop the league. 

For a 17-time championship franchise, that’s an agonizingly long stretch. Doncic is next in line to carry them back to that lofty position. And to do so, he’s going to have to get a bit uncomfortable. 

See, Doncic leads by example. He’s never going to be the loudest guy in the locker room. That’s just not him. 

But the Lakers need more out of him. 

He needs to be aware of how he carries himself. How he reacts to things. How he responds in tough moments. 

“I think as a leader you can always grow,” Redick said. “That’s part of most good leaders that I know at least — they have that growth mentality. I think Luka has a growth mentality as a player. And I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that it won’t extend that to leadership.

“He recognizes that the vocal side of things is one thing, the body language — both positive and negative— is another thing. That’s a focus is just having great body language. This group of guys is going to follow him and AR [Austin Reaves]. That’s just the reality. They’re going to follow those two guys, and that’s a huge responsibility for both of those guys.”

Obviously, being the head of a team is nothing new for Doncic. He became the youngest player in EuroLeague history to win the MVP award at age 19 while playing for Real Madrid en route to carrying it to the championship. He led the Mavericks to the Finals in 2024. 

But everything is different with the Lakers. 

They’re one of the biggest teams in the world. The spotlight is blinding. The microscope is unforgiving. 

Doncic is aware of that. He says he’s ready for it. 

When asked now that James is gone, how it feels to be the Lakers’ torchbearer, he didn’t hesitate. 

“I was in this position in my career a lot of times, so it’s not new to me,” Doncic said. “But I feel great. I feel excited. And like I said, I’m ready to go.”

Doncic wants to win his first championship. He wants to make the Mavericks deeply regret stunningly trading him to the Lakers in February 2025. He wants to prove that he’s the best player in the league.

Now is his chance. 

He had his fingerprints all over the roster this offseason.

Doncic wanted to keep playing with Reaves. The Lakers signed him to a four-year, $180 million deal, the richest contract in NBA history for a player who went undrafted.

Doncic wanted Walker Kessler as the team’s franchise center. They sent two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to Utah to acquire him, signing him to a four-year, $130 million deal. 

When asked if Redick has seen anything extra from Doncic in terms of how badly he wants to win this year and his focus on leadership, he flashed a smile.  

“I mean, he paid for a private plane for 14 guys or 16 guys to fly to Slovenia,” Redick said, referring to Doncic hosting a four-day minicamp in Slovenia for the first time in his career. “That’s pretty extra.”

Redick said that ever since Doncic came to the Lakers, he has been in a leadership role of sorts, even when he was playing alongside James.

“The idea that he wasn’t in a leadership position or didn’t have moments of leadership over the last season and a half that we had him is just false,” Redick said. “I think it’s different without certain people on the team. Naturally, there’s a void. We talked about that all summer.”

Things are different now. And Doncic needs to fill that hole fast.

The Lakers not not only need him to be an offensive wizard, but they need him to pay attention to the small things. He needs to complain less to officials. He needs to hustle on defense. All eyes are going to be on him. The small moments matter the most.

And above all, he needs to be the leader of one of the most heralded franchises in sports.

There’s a long line of superstars who came before him, including Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and James.

He’s next. He’s now. 

And Redick believes, he’s ready. 

“He’s pretty much seen everything in the NBA at this point,” Redick said. “Beyond just being a vocal leader and being a great teammate, he has a wealth of knowledge to share.”

The Phoenix Suns announced Thursday they are picking up the team options for Khaman Maluach and Ryan Dunn for the 2027-28 season. Dunn will be entering the fourth and final year of his rookie deal, while it’ll be the third for Maluach.

OFFICIAL: The Phoenix Suns have exercised the team’s third-year option on center Khaman Maluach pic.twitter.com/0gd6J92RRz

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) October 1, 2026

The decisions do not come as a surprise. Along with 2026 first-round pick Koa Peat, second-year forward Rasheer Fleming, and third-year big Oso Ighodaro, the two are considered the team’s best prospects with the highest upside. Maluach, Dunn, and Ighodaro were all drafted by the team and had opportunities to start and play meaningful minutes at various points in their young careers.

While Ighodaro has had the most opportunity so far, starting in all of the team’s playoff games and 26 regular-season contests last season, Maluach is considered the prospect with the most upside. The two are competing for the starting center spot with Mark Williams out for at least the first few months of the season. This summer, Maluach dominated in Summer League, averaging 20 points and 13 rebounds per game on 40% shooting from three.

With him being the lone lottery pick out of the five, his 7’1” height, 7’7” wingspan, and willingness and improvement to shoot the three, many view him as a potential long-term fit next to Devin Booker in the starting lineup. He saw limited minutes for most of last season until the end of the year, when he played a backup big role behind Ighodaro with Williams out with a foot injury.

Despite a letdown sophomore season in which his minutes, field-goal percentage, and three-point percentage declined from his rookie year, the Suns remain invested in Dunn, their 2024 first-rounder. A below-average three-point shooter for his position, the forward is a dynamic rim-runner who has started alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and has the physical attributes to guard other teams’ best forwards. Dunn’s minutes decreased in the second half of last season, but he started the year in the starting five.

With the Suns limited on draft picks for the foreseeable future, the Suns continue to choose to retain their young talent on the roster beyond this season.

Warriors training camp takeaways: Podziemski stands out in lively scrimmage originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

LAIE, Hawaii – Students of BYU-Hawaii lined up for what felt like miles to get a glimpse of the Warriors’ third day of NBA training camp. 

They, as well as Warriors families and team sponsors, watched from the bleachers at the George Q. Cannon Activities Center. Traveling media members also got their first real look at this season’s squad, and there was a lot to digest. Thursday was the Warriors’ liveliest and most physical scrimmage of training camp, just a few days from Sunday’s preseason opener against the LA Clippers. 

Look at the line of students waiting to watch Warriors practice today 👀 pic.twitter.com/xc2c3uBuxH

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 1, 2026

The first sight that stood out was who was wearing which colored jersey. On the floor was a group in blue jerseys, and a group in yellow. The blue group featured Steph Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Yaxel Lendeborg, Draymond Green and Al Horford. Wearing yellow were Brandon Williams, De’Anthony Melton, Gui Santos, Gary Payton II and Georges Niang. 

Warriors coach Steve Kerr confirmed after practice that those wearing blue on Thursday will be his starting five on Sunday. 

“Really good size on the front line,” Kerr first said about what he likes from that five-man lineup. “Good playmaking from obviously Steph and Dray together, but also spacing from Al. All three of those guys – Al, Yaxel and BP – can shoot the three but also make plays. 

“It’s a good, well balanced lineup. The question will be, can we do that opening night given the age of Al and the minutes and all that stuff, who knows. But for now, that’s how we’ll start.” 

Steve Kerr announces Steph Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Yaxel Lendeborg, Draymond Green and Al Horford will start the preseason opener on Sunday @NBCSWarriors

Here’s what he likes about the group 👇 pic.twitter.com/xuKZ5vF7sG

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 1, 2026

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ scrimmage on their third day of training camp, featuring comments from Kerr and Lendeborg. 

Podz Pops

Those who waited in the rain and braced tropical humidity surely were there to see Curry. They saw one 3-pointer go down, a few rattle in and out, a handful of cutting layups fall off the rim and a halfcourt heave barely miss at the buzzer. 

The standout player of the day offensively was Podziemski. There wasn’t a close second. Podziemski looked like the player the Warriors are looking to take another leap in Year 4 as he waits on his second contract. 

“Three days in, he’s had a great camp,” Kerr said. 

Podziemski was loud and vocal defensively and offensively. He was directing traffic with the ball in his hands and found multiple ways to score without hesitation. Podziemski drew four fouls, including two three-point plays, and only missed one free throw. 

On back-to-back possessions, Podziemski got a frustrated Charles Bassey to foul him at the rim. Immediately after getting a whistle called on his teammates for the fourth time, Podziemski blew past Dalen Terry on the run for a layup. 

“That’s what we like about Brandin: His ability to see the game, attack angles and he understands the officiating,” Kerr said. “He can dribble, pass, shoot. You can put him at any spot out of a timeout. Really versatile and obviously crucial to make the whole thing go.” 

His day wasn’t only a display around the rim. Podziemski also hit a step-back three off the dribble and knocked down a buzzer-beating three at the top of the arc after a Curry miss to end the day for the starters. 

Podz has been really aggressive in this scrimmage with the starters

Here’s him just now nailing a 3 off the dribble pic.twitter.com/XzGvMb23Q5

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 1, 2026

Podz buzzer beater 3 after a missed Steph Curry 3 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/0KmpWRRMlj

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 1, 2026

“Oh, he’s an elite scorer,” Lendeborg said of Podziemski. “Pretty much every time we’re in a fastbreak drill, he can easily get in there and manipulate the defense, get an and-1, get a couple free throws easily. That’s something I’ve been noticing really, really quickly.” 

Lightning Quick

The Warriors saw up close and personal what a difference-maker Brandon Williams’ speed with the ball in his hands can be last season when he dropped 26 points against them on Christmas and 19 a few weeks later. Watching him during Thursday’s scrimmage was quite the reminder.

Williams was blowing by defenders and getting into the teeth of the defense as a playmaker. He dropped dimes to Bassey and Santos, and used his speed cutting to the hoop for layups. That’s a huge part of the Warriors’ new 5-out offense, too. 

All five players are aligned around the 3-point line: One at the top, two on the wings and two in the corners. The concept doesn’t call for all five to chuck threes. The goal is to get organized and put the defense at a disadvantage. 

Just look at his movement here as one example. 

Al Horford corner 3 on one side, Brandon Williams cutting layup on the other pic.twitter.com/Q2r0fl4B6v

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 1, 2026

Williams’ speed also will be key to the Warriors getting out in transition. When Williams caught an errant pass by Curry, he zoomed down the court in three dribbles and found Santos with a bounce pass for a layup.

He’s quick as a hiccup, and the Warriors badly needed a new wrinkle. 

Learning Curve 

Bringing in new concepts means teaching moments and adjustments for youngsters and veterans alike. Within the first minute or two of watching practice, a spirited Kerr walked on the court and yelled, “What the f–k are we doing?! Wake the f–k up!” to his starters. Message received. 

There were moments where Curry went to run baseline and yelled “Ahh!” as the spacing was wrong. Even he has to rewire his brain to make everything eventually come second nature. So does his longest-tenured teammate. 

Kerr has preached how he wants Green to shoot more, and the pass-first forward has been very receptive to the idea. Yet on Thursday, at least in the moments the media was let in, Green didn’t shoot once. Not a layup, not a runner, not a jumper and not a three. Green didn’t pass shots up, but he didn’t let it fly. 

“We’re really still chaotic offensively, so we’re nowhere close to where we will be,” Kerr said. “I think the biggest adjustment offensively will come for Draymond, Gary, even for Steph, because we are putting such an emphasis on being better spaced, better organized, playing less out of chaos. 

“Steph and Draymond have been here for 12 years, doing things a certain way. We’re asking them to do some different things, so bigger adjustment for them. But once once we’re through these first couple of weeks, I think it’s all going to make a lot of sense because the whole thing is designed for us to still do the things we do best: The ball movement, the spacing, split cuts, high pick and roll, but with much more emphasis on our organization. We have to get organized before we get to that stuff, and that’s what we’re working on.” 

Of course, Lendeborg also will go through a handful of learning curves too. His physicality and length on the wing was hard to miss offensively. As was his ability to stretch the floor at his size. 

Yaxel Lendeborg corner 3 for cash money pic.twitter.com/82IUGvtlxt

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 1, 2026

But defensively, Lendeborg is going to be thrown into the fire. Georges Niang hit two corner threes on Green, and the second was a coaching moment for the rookie. Green instantly started talking to him about where he should have been. So did Kerr, assistant coach Anthony Vereen and others. 

Once the starters were done, Lendeborg, Green and Vereen all sat together. Even from a distance, it was clear Green and Vereen had a lot to go over with Lendeborg, who was attentive as could be. 

“I was talking to Draymond a little bit later on after the scrimmage and stuff, and he was telling me, ‘I need to be a lot more aggressive this year,’” Lendeborg explained. “Just having the confidence to believe in myself and go out there and make the extra play, and not always worry about being a playmaker.” 

Through the ups and downs of a rookie year, Lendeborg is guaranteed to be a breath of fresh air. 

That was evident as ever when reporters, not coaches, were the ones to break the news to him that the group he was part of will be the starters on Sunday. 

“That’s going to be the starting lineup?” Lendeborg replied. “Oh god damn, that’s got me nervous man. No, it’s definitely going to be nice for me to be able to play with them in my first game, learn so much, because I feel like I was a little bit sloppy today. It’s definitely going to be something where I can keep asking questions in live action play, which will definitely help me out a lot more going forward.”

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