Category: NBA

Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry has been known to indulge in an occasional alcoholic beverage. But he’ll need a different means of unwinding while carrying Golden State this offseason.

Before the Warriors’ first preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, Steph’s wife, Ayesha, posted an Instagram photo of them in each other’s arms while poolside. Ayesha put the spotlight on their drinks of choice in the caption.

“Game day tomorrow! 1 Hugo spritz and a water for the gentleman please,” the post was captioned.

Steph doesn’t need any special urging from Ayesha. He has said in the past that he only drinks during celebrations and in the NBA offseason, which means that this decision for “a water” instead of some boozy drink would have been his to make.

Curry is entering his 18th NBA season and agreed to sign a two-year, $116 million contract extension with the Warriors at the end of September.

That’s definitely worthy of a celebration. Good thing Curry got that deal done before the season began, so that he could toast it with whatever beverage he wanted.

Warriors fans are hoping any alcoholic drinks they have this season will be a cause for celebration rather than for sorrow.

Ariel Hukporti is officially done for the season with a torn Achilles. The Sixers don’t have an easy way to replace him, which is further exposing their already flimsy center depth behind Joel Embiid.

We’ve already covered why the Sixers can’t easily replace Hukporti. The TL;DR version: They’re hard-capped at the first apron and don’t have enough wiggle room under it at the moment to sign anyone other than an undrafted free-agent rookie. They’d have to waive Jabari Walker or dump salary to sign someone to a standard contract.

The good news is that they do still have an open two-way spot, which they could use to sign someone as a stopgap solution. After all, they initially signed both Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker to two-way deals last year before converting both to standard contracts, so there’s recent history of them making good use of those spots.

With that in mind, we’ve taken a brief walk around the league to examine some training camp battles that could help the Sixers solve their backup center problem for now. Fair warning: These are not for the faint of heart.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers have two bigs signed to Exhibit 10 deals, Rienk Mast and Keba Keita. Of the two, Mast might be the better bet. Mast is listed at 6’10” and 250 pounds on the Pacers’ training camp roster, while Keita is 6’8″ and 230 pounds.

Mast spent his first three years of college at Bradley before transferring to Nebraska ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. He averaged 12.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 29.5 minutes per game across his 66 games at Nebraska, although he blocked only 26 total shots over those two years. On the bright side, he did shoot 32.5 percent from deep on 4.3 attempts per game, so he could add a floor-spacing element to the Sixers’ frontcourt.

Keita split his college career between Utah and BYU, but he never averaged more than 8.3 points or 7.9 rebounds in any of his four seasons. He was a better shot-blocker than Mast in college, but it’s hard to imagine that translating to the NBA given his height (or lack thereof).

The Pacers do still have one open roster spot, so they could always sign Mast or Keita to a standard contract if either impresses during the preseason. But if both get shipped down to the G League, the Sixers could poach one of them if so desired.

Milwaukee Bucks

Staying in the Central Division, the Milwaukee Bucks also have a pair of centers signed to Exhibit 10 contracts. They just signed Johni Broome (no thank you), but they also added Jake Stephens on an Exhibit 10 in mid-September.

Stephens spent most of his collegiate career at VMI before heading to Chattanooga for his final season. He averaged 22.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 blocks and 2.1 threes during that lone campaign at Chattanooga before heading overseas for the past few years.

Last season, Stephens played for KK Split in the Croatian A-1 League and Adriatic League ABA. He chipped in 9.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.4 blocks and 0.3 threes in 16.1 minutes per game while shooting 54.2 percent overall and 29.4 percent from deep across 61 appearances.

Stephens turns 27 in early November and has a few years of international experience, so he’s more seasoned than a typical NBA rookie. That could be appealing for a Sixers team that’s smack dab in a win-now window.

New York Knicks

Out of any camp battle, this is the one worth keeping an eye on, even if it wouldn’t necessarily provide immediate relief for the Sixers.

The Knicks signed all three of James Wiseman, Tony Bradley and Drew Eubanks to Exhibit 9 contracts leading up to training camp. That’s notable, as Exhibit 10 deals have ties to the G League, whereas Exhibit 9s do not.

The cost-conscious Knicks do have two open roster spots, and Stefan Bondy of the New York Postrecently reported that they’re planning to fill one of them with a center. Wiseman got the most playing time of the three in the Knicks’ preseason opener Monday against the Sixers, finishing with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, five rebounds and one block in nine minutes. Bradley had two points and no other contributions of note in six minutes, while Eubanks had one point, one rebound, one turnover and two fouls in his six minutes.

The Knicks are less than $3.3 million below the second apron, which team owner James Dolan adamantly refuses to cross, so they don’t have enough wiggle room to sign two of Wiseman, Bradley or Eubanks. Regardless of which one they sign, the other two will head back into free agency, where the Sixers can keep tabs on them once the calendar flips to December. (Unfortunately, none of Wiseman, Bradley or Eubanks are eligible for two-way deals since they have more than three years of NBA experience.)

OKC Thunder

The last thing the Oklahoma City Thunder need is another center. They already have Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Thomas Sorber and Aday Mara taking up four of their 15 standard roster spots. That didn’t stop them from signing Christoph Tilly to an Exhibit 10 contract, though.

Tilly spent his first three collegiate seasons at Santa Clara before transferring to Ohio State ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. He averaged 11.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.5 blocks and 0.4 made threes in 26.0 minutes per game with the Buckeyes across 32 outings. He shot only 23.2 percent from deep on low volume, so he isn’t much of a threat from long range, but he’s not a complete non-factor, either.

The Thunder liberally rested starters in their preseason opener against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, which allowed them—and the rest of the league—to get a long look at Tilly. He finished with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, four rebounds, two assists, one block, three turnovers and four fouls in 25 minutes.

Tilly is listed on the Thunder’s training camp roster as 7’0″ and 246 pounds, so he at least has the size to fill in behind Embiid and Bona. Stephens might be the more promising option based on his overseas experience, but Tilly could be an intriguing flier.

Phoenix Suns

Finally, someone with actual NBA experience!

After going undrafted in 2023, Duop Reath initially signed a two-way deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers wound up converting him after the 2024 trade deadline to a three-year, $6.2 million minimum contract.

Reath appeared in 146 games for the Blazers during his three seasons in Portland, including 20 starts his rookie year. He finished his tenure there with averages of 6.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.0 threes and 0.4 blocks in only 13.3 minutes per game. The Blazers wound up trading him and two second-round picks to the Atlanta Hawks for Vít Krejčí ahead of last year’s trade deadline, and the Hawks promptly waived him.

Reath signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Suns this offseason, but they already have 15 players under standard contract and all three of their two-way spots filled. If the Sixers prefer to sign someone with NBA experience to their last two-way spot, the 6’9″, 245-pound Reath might be their best option at center, particularly since he overlapped with Anfernee Simons and Rayan Rupert in Portland.

Toronto Raptors

After spending five seasons at Oregon, Nate Bittle went undrafted this past summer and promptly signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Toronto Raptors. He averaged 9.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.8 blocks and 1.8 threes in only 20.6 minutes per game in his four summer-league outings while shooting 50.0 percent overall and 43.8 percent from deep.

That shot-blocking and three-point-shooting ability wasn’t an outlier, either. During his super-senior season at Oregon, Bittle averaged 1.8 blocks and 1.4 threes per game, although he shot only 31.9 percent from distance.

The Raptors do still have one standard roster spot open, although they’re less than $1 million below the first apron. They presumably won’t be willing to cross that and subject themselves to the first-apron restrictions to sign a 15th man, even if it means playing keep-away from a division rival.

Utah Jazz

After going undrafted in 2025, Jonas Aidoo signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Charlotte Hornets, who promptly waived him two days later. He latched on with their G League affiliate in late December and averaged 5.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in only 11.5 minutes per game while shooting 55.2 percent overall.   

The 6’11”, 240-pound center signed another Exhibit 10 deal this offseason, albeit with the Utah Jazz this time around. He’s played sparingly over their first two preseason games, although he did chip in six points on 2-of-3 shooting, five rebounds and a block in only eight minutes against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

The Jazz have plenty of breathing room under the aprons and do have an open roster spot, so they could choose to sign Aidoo to a standard contract or convert one of their two-ways to a standard deal and hand him that open two-way deal instead. But if he does shake loose, he has a year’s worth of G League experience that could give him a leg up on some of the other fresh-out-of-college options whom the Sixers might consider for their last two-way spot.

Again, none of these options are perfect. But the Sixers are desperate for a warm body who’s roughly 7 feet tall in the wake of Hukporti’s injury. Thankfully, they could have some half-decent options available in the next few weeks as long as these Exhibit 10 signees don’t get converted to standard contracts.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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As the NBA continues to pursue its expansion into Europe, the existing legacy league rejected a formal merger offer earlier this week.

Yet, that isn’t halting any plans for NBA Europe to forge ahead.

Membership groups from EuroLeague, which has been operating in the region since 1958, rejected a merger offer from the NBA that would have lumped operations under the proposed NBA Europe umbrella, a person with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.

Despite that, talks are expected to continue as the NBA works toward a collaborative approach with EuroLeague.

The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, which have not been made public.

Yet, despite the failed merger offer, the NBA will not pause its plan to create the new, 14-to-16-team NBA Europe league across a dozen cities in Europe, some of which do not have permanent EuroLeague teams in place.

NBA plans for Europe: League format

The NBA has maintained that its NBA Europe plan will be a European basketball franchise for European fans, and that its structure would align closely with existing European sports infrastructure.

Ten to 12 of the proposed teams would be permanent, with a merit-based pathway for teams in FIBA-affiliated domestic leagues to have the chance to qualify; the structure is similar to promotions in European soccer leagues, for example.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in September that the NBA would want to start operations for an inaugural season as soon as 2027-28.

NBA Europe hits various issues

The most pressing issue, therefore, now becomes a potential deadline by which the NBA would be forced to move on without EuroLeague.

Given that the NBA would ideally want to begin competition as soon as next year, it is not in the league’s best interest to wait for an agreement with EuroLeague, should merger talks fail to progress. That likely creates a potential hard out of merger talks within the next six months, should an agreement not materialize before then.

Reports out of Europe have been that there’s dissension among the EuroLeague membership groups, with some franchises in favor of the merger and others against. In any case, the measure was put to a vote that did not pass.

One interesting element in all of this is the relationship of EuroLeague Basketball CEO Jesús “Chus” Bueno with executives in the NBA league office; Bueno spent 12 seasons with the NBA as vice president of Europe, Africa and the Middle East and the director of NBA Spain.

Back in April, a person with knowledge of discussions told USA TODAY Sports that the NBA had fielded more than 120 bids from investment groups for non-binding consideration, with some bids surpassing $1 billion.

One issue EuroLeague has had to navigate is that some of its existing benchmark franchises have explored the notion of joining the new NBA Europe league. The rejection of the merger offer isn’t necessarily a surprise, as some EuroLeague membership groups have been at odds with the NBA and FIBA, the NBA’s partner, over the process in forming the new NBA Europe league.

For the benchmark franchises that are interested in joining NBA Europe, there are mechanisms in their membership charters that allow them to exit their contracts with buyout payments.

Front Office Sports was the first to report the news of the merger rejection.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA Europe plans continue after EuroLeague rejects merger

Sixers injury updates ahead of 2nd preseason game against Nets originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

With one preseason game in the books and three to go, the Sixers provided several injury updates Wednesday.

According to a team official, Dominick Barlow, Anfernee Simons and Adem Bona will all miss the Sixers’ upcoming road games Thursday against the Nets and Saturday against the Celtics.

Barlow has a back injury, Simons a hamstring issue. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse had indicated Monday that both injuries are minor, saying he expected Barlow and Simons to play “any time now.” Bona has progressed to on-court activity in his rehab from a left foot sprain. 

The Sixers lost another one of their centers to a serious injury in their preseason-opening win over the Knicks. Ariel Hukporti underwent surgery Tuesday on his torn right Achilles tendon.

“It’s super tough. … We were super excited by what we’d seen,” Nurse said. “He’s really active and athletic, really coachable and really engaged. We were really excited by what he could bring to the team. It’s always a bigger blow for him personally, but it’s certainly a blow for the team, especially this early on. 

“And he’s somebody that’s still young. The coaching staff was seeing a guy that had an (upward) trajectory … which he’ll get back to, but this kind of delays him for now.”

When healthy, Bona would presumably be the next traditional center in line behind Joel Embiid as things stand. Barlow and Walker both received the occasional center stint last season.

“Dean (Wade) would be another candidate,” Nurse said. “I don’t know if you’d call him a small five; he has pretty good size. I think LeBron (James) is another candidate. He’s played some small-ball five as well. That’s four or five guys. We’ll probably go with that crew unless something else emerges.”

As far as the Sixers’ projected starters, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe were the only two to play vs. the Knicks.

The Sixers plan to ramp up steadily toward opening night on Oct. 20. That will likely mean more players available Thursday night in Brooklyn. 

“We should be able to get the majority of the guys out there tomorrow,” Nurse said. “Again, we’ll see. It was pretty rough and physical today at practice, so we’ll see how everybody comes out of it. We should be able to get them out there tomorrow. 

“It’s usually first half type of stuff for the first (game). … And then hopefully, if you can in one of them, you can try to get them through the halftime routine, kind of starting the engines again as well, so that hopefully, the next time they’re out there, they’re able to do that.”

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Roughly 24 hours before he and his Oregon men’s basketball players were set to speak at Big Ten media days in Rosemont, Illinois, Dana Altman decided that after nearly 40 years as a Division I head coach, it was time to call it a career.

The longtime Ducks coach retired effective immediately on Wednesday, Oct. 7, only 26 days before they tip off their 2026-27 season against Montana.

The fact that the news is only so stunning says quite a bit about where college basketball finds itself in 2026.

More: Oregon basketball coach Dana Altman retiring less than one month before season starts

The early fall surprise that’s long been a staple of American politics, with an unexpected piece of unsavory news about a candidate dropping in the final weeks before Election Day, has come to college basketball in a different color in recent years — namely, with prominent coaches abruptly hanging up their whistles right before a new season.

Two years ago, Tony Bennett shocked much of the sport by retiring from Virginia at just 55 years old, and doing so on Oct. 17, just 20 days before the Cavaliers’ season-opener. Last year, and fresh off his second Final Four appearance in seven seasons, Bruce Pearl stepped away at Auburn to take an ambassador role in the university’s athletic department shortly after preseason practices began in late September.

Now, after weeks and months of speculation over who might follow in their footsteps, we have our answer.

In a vacuum, Altman’s retirement is understandable. He’s 68 years old. He’s enjoyed a long, successful and lucrative career. His legacy at Oregon and in the broader college basketball world is intact as a brilliant tactical mind who was a reliable winner everywhere he coached, including at Oregon, which he led to four conference championships and the 2017 Final Four, the program’s first since 1939.

But for all of those achievements, things were beginning to trend in the wrong direction. Last season, the Ducks went 12-20, marking the first time they’d finished with a losing record or fewer than 20 wins under Altman. Despite some nice pickups like San Francisco transfer Tyrone Riley, this year’s team wasn’t expected to be significantly better, with many projections having it in the bottom third of the 18-team Big Ten.

But while the decision to retire is entirely rational for Altman, the timing does raise eyebrows.

In a release from the school announcing his retirement, Altman didn’t offer up a reason beyond noting it was one of the two most difficult decisions of his coaching career, alongside his choice to leave Creighton for Oregon back in 2010.

“I've loved every minute of coaching here, and stepping away is difficult and truly painful,” Altman said in a statement. “I love coaching, it's what I know best and what I've been fortunate enough to do for almost five decades. I'm going to miss my coaches, my players and our incredible fans more than I can express. But I know this is the right thing to do at this time.”

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Bennett wasn’t shy about why he stepped down at an age when he was just starting to receive AARP mailers, pointing to the effect NIL deals and the transfer portal had on the game and the way it operated. Pearl cited a promise he’d made to himself to step away when he could no longer give it his all and “be the relentless competitor you expected of me.”

There was some tactical maneuvering at play, too. In Bennett’s case, retiring so close to the start of the season gave Virginia no other choice but to elevate one of his longtime assistants, Ron Sanchez, to the interim role and give him a season to audition for the job. At Auburn, Pearl’s thinly qualified son, Steven, was not only promoted to the head job, but given a five-year contract.

That doesn’t appear to be the case at Oregon, where Tony Stubblefield — one of Altman’s longtime assistants —will serve as the interim head coach for the upcoming season. Even if the Ducks turn heads, finish in the top half of the Big Ten and crash the NCAA tournament, would a school with Oregon’s financial resources and aspirations feel comfortable turning the program over to a 56-year-old who went 9-38 in conference play in three seasons at DePaul?

When discussing his retirement with reporters on Wednesday, hours after the news first broke, Altman said health factored into his decision. While it's not anything life-threatening, he said he had a physical last month that revealed he is "not as healthy as I should be and not as healthy as I want to be." Beyond that, the rationale for his retirement sounded quite a bit like Pearl's from 13 months ago.

"Someone I truly respect, Tom Izzo, made a comment. Somebody asked him about retirement, and he said, ‘The minute I don't feel good, the minute I don't feel I'm giving my AD, president and school every ounce of energy I have every day, or that energy drops, you don't have to worry about me being here,'" Altman said. "I had two weeks off in August, and I thought my energy would return, and it didn't. And some people I trust and truly respect told me just delegate more and take it easier, back off a little bit, and I tried that for a couple weeks in September, and that's not me. It's not what I've done for 37 years.

"I looked in the mirror, and I'd be a hypocrite if I lied to myself and said I was the best coach for the job. I think Tony will do a better job than I would with this team."

For such a deeply personal decision, he deserves some grace. Like it is for even some of the best coaches in the sport’s history, it was just time, even if it came at an awkward point in the calendar.

His choice to leave the sideline, though, can’t be separated from the similar moves that were made in the preceding years. While Bennett’s departure could have been written off as a realization that came off at an inopportune time, Altman’s exit shows there’s a trend.

The sport is changing at a dizzying pace, which has undoubtedly made coaches’ lives more burdensome. But in college football, where coaches deal with many of the same newfound headaches, there hasn’t been an avalanche of June and July retirements. Nor is it an issue in women's college basketball, where legends like Tara VanDerveer and Muffet McGraw retired in recent years the spring, giving their players, assistants and universities plenty of time to adjust before the first tip-off of the next season.

Why it’s happening remains a mystery without a clear throughline. But in the meantime, these late-breaking retirements have effects on others, namely the players who, for as demonized as they can be in the current NIL landscape, will have to trudge through what’s likely to be a lost season without the coach for whom they came there to play.

And in a sport littered with coaching luminaries who are in their 60s and 70s, Altman’s likely not to be the last to call it quits on the eve of a season. We’ll just have to wait 11 or 12 months to see who’s next.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dana Altman's retirement in offseason's twilight becomes latest in mysterious trend

Longtime Oregon men's basketball coach Dana Altman announced his retirement from coaching on Wednesday, Oct. 7, less than a month from the Ducks' season opener against Montana on Nov. 2.

Assistant coach Tony Stubblefield will serve as the interim coach, per the announcement. Prior to his second stint as an assistant under Altman in Oregon, Stubblefield was most recently the head coach at DePaul, accumulating a 28-54 record in three seasons with the Demons before he was fired.

REQUIRED READING: Oregon basketball coach Dana Altman retiring less than one month before season starts

Altman, 68, is the winningest coach in program history, with 382 wins across 16 seasons in Eugene. He led the Ducks to an Elite Eight appearance in 2016 and a Final Four in 2017, and has the 15th-most wins in NCAA history, ending his career with a 792-425 career record.

Stubblefield has deep ties to Oregon and Altman, having served as a longtime Ducks assistant under the school's winningest coach ever. It's unclear if Stubblefield is a band-aid option for the Ducks, or if he's a potential long-term coach for the school.

Here's what to know of Stubblefield, Oregon's new interim coach:

Will Tony Stubblefield be Oregon's next head coach?

There's still an entire season to be played, so it's unclear if Stubblefield will be considered for Oregon's full-time role.

However, winning cures all, right?

It's hard to imagine Stubblefield not having a real shot to lift his interim tag if the Ducks were to find success in 2026-27. Stubblefield has head coaching experience, although it might not be working in his favor, due to DePaul's struggles from 2021-24.

Stubblefield was also once an interim coach in 2004-05 at New Mexico State, as then-head coach Lou Henson battled non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The Aggies went 2-12 in 14 games under Stubblefield.

Stubblefield does know the Oregon job, though: He previously spent 13 seasons as Altman's lead assistant with the Ducks, and was credited with the recruitments of future NBA players Payton Pritchard, Chris Duarte, Bol Bol and Troy Brown Jr.

Oregon said a national search will commence for a head coach after the season.

Tony Stubblefield coaching record

Stubblefield's head coaching record isn't great. He served as the interim head coach for 14 games in 2004-05 at New Mexico State, before he later landed his first head coaching gig at DePaul from 2021-24.

Here's a look at his year-by-year record:

• 2004-05 (New Mexico State): 2-12 *
• 2021-22 (DePaul): 15-16
• 2022-23 (DePaul): 10-23
• 2023-24 (DePaul): 3-15

* interim coach

Tony Stubblefield coaching path

Stubblefield has mostly served as an assistant during his long coaching career. Here's how his career path has unfolded:

• 1993-95: Assistant at Nebraska-Omaha
• 1995-96: Assistant at UTSA
• 1996-2000: Assistant at UT-Arlington
• 2000-05: Assistant at New Mexico State
• 2005: Interim head coach at New Mexico State
• 2005-06: Assistant at New Mexico State
• 2006-10: Assistant at Cincinnati
• 2010-21: Assistant at Oregon
• 2021-24: Head coach at DePaul
• 2024-26: Assistant at Oregon
• 2026: Interim head coach at Oregon

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Tony Stubblefield be Oregon's next coach? What to know of interim, longtime assistant

Four years ago, Cole Swider made his NBA debut for the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played seven games before bouncing across the Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors for brief spells in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Last year, he spent the season in Europe playing for Anadolu Efes, making 51 combined appearances between EuroLeague and the Turkish Super League.

Now, he’s back with the Lakers on an Exhibit 10 contract and is eager to show how much he’s improved in numerous ways.

“I’ve worked really, really hard on my body. Shout out to my performance coaches, Nick Correa and Anthony Tingley. I’ve worked really, really hard on my body. I’ve tried to change a lot of things,” Swider told reporters. “I’ve worked with doctors. I worked with many, many different people. It’s mostly defensively, trying to figure that side of the basketball out at this level. And then just being a more dynamic shooter, being able to come off of pin downs and DHOs and being able to cause havoc on the court just with my spacing ability.”

Whether it be in college, Europe or the G League, Swider’s been an excellent outside shooter. He shot 38% from deep in college, 45% in the G League and 41% overseas. Thus far, though, those long-range credentials haven’t translated to the NBA, where he’s made only 32.9% (28-of-85) of his career attempts.

That’s a much smaller sample than everything else, however, so perhaps a larger sample and Swider’s diligent work will help him showcase his elite shooting in the Association. If he’s actually a high-level shooter and has made physical improvements to take strides defensively, his chances of sticking around in the league are much higher.

Swider didn’t play Monday night against the Sacramento Kings but saw 12 minutes of action Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors and scored nine points on 3-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 beyond the arc. He also recorded two steals, two assists and two rebounds. He’ll hope to keep his torrid outside shooting going when the Lakers face the Kings Thursday night at home.

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

After spending the first 2.5 years of his NBA career with Luka Dončić, Jaden Hardy reunited with the Slovenian this offseason when the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers executed a trade sending Hardy back to the Western Conference. With Quentin Grimes as the lone other former Dallas Mavericks teammate of Dončić’s on the roster — and they were only together for half a season — that gives Hardy the most experience of any Laker playing and being alongside Dončić.

Early on in their second stint together, Hardy believes Dončić, now 27 years old, has leveled up as a leader, focused on ensuring everyone is communicating and working toward a common goal.

“I mean, obviously, Luka’s always been a great leader ever since I’ve been with him. I feel like he’s just taking it to another step with that,” Hardy told reporters. “Just trying to lead this group, have everybody on the same page and having a tightened connection with everybody. So I feel like that’s good and I feel like Luka, he’s always just himself. When he’s out there, he’s going to tell you things and he’s going to try to make you a better player.”

This season will mark Dončić’s second full campaign with the Lakers and first without LeBron James. It seems entirely plausible James’ departure has thrust larger leadership responsibilities on Dončić (and Austin Reaves) that the superstar point guard is growing into as he becomes increasingly comfortable in Los Angeles.

The Lakers’ roster is built in his image rather than being caught between trying to optimize both him and James simultaneously. They re-signed their high-level secondary creator in Reaves, with whom Dončić shares a strong connection on and off the court. They acquired a defensive-minded, play-finishing center in Walker Kessler, whom Dončić was eager to land. They added a mix of floor-spacers, defenders and tertiary ball-handlers to complement him on both ends.

Now equipped with a sensible roster for Dončić, the Lakers are expecting a tremendous season out of him as he presumably enters his prime years. While the on-court output is most impactful and vital, it also sounds like he’s taking another step forward in how he leads this group, at least according to his longest-tenured teammate.

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

It was a tough offseason for the Warriors, who didn’t make any big moves and will enter this season without championship-contending expectations. 

But there’s something to be excited about.   

Yaxel Lendeborg is proving to be everything the Warriors hoped for when they selected him with the 11th overall pick in June’s NBA Draft. 

The 6-foot-9 forward is a crafty scorer, skilled playmaker and strong rebounder, all things the Warriors need with Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Kristaps Porzingis out. 

In the Warriors’ exhibition game against the Lakers on Tuesday, Lendeborg finished with 17 points, nine rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot. It was his second preseason game with nine rebounds. 

“I think it’s a lot easier to get rebounds here,” Lendeborg said. “In college, the paint was always packed and there’s always somebody coming out of nowhere to rebound.

“These guys, I feel they’re more lazy to get the rebounds. I’m having clear-shot rebounds by myself. It’s crazy. I feel like I’ll have a lot of rebounding games where I’ll have like, nine to 12, something like that.”

That’s an exciting prospect for the Warriors, considering most incoming NBA players feel out of sorts while adjusting to a sped-up game with bigger and stronger competitors. 

Lendeborg appears to be having the opposite reaction. 

For him, this is easier than anticipated. 

The Warriors selected Lendeborg because they were hoping he was NBA ready. He’s 24 years old, which is typically a demerit on draft boards for teams coveting young talent who they can develop. 

But for the Warriors, who have aging stars, including the 38-year-old Steph Curry, 36-year-old Draymond Green and 37-year-old Butler, acquiring a player who could make an immediate contribution was the team’s priority. 

For those guys, the window to compete is now. And it’s closing. The franchise needs to do everything possible to prop it open a bit longer.

Lendeborg appears poised to enter the lineup and make a difference. 

Against the Lakers, he scored all 17 of his points in the first half on 7-for-11 shooting, including going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. His 9 rebounds were a game-high. 

Of course, all of this has to be taken with a grain of salt. It was an exhibition game. The Lakers were without their three stars in Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler, the latter of whom is an elite rebounder. 

But still, Lendeborg has turned heads ever since the Warriors drafted him. 

He went from carrying Michigan to a national championship to leading the Warriors’ summer league team to a title in Las Vegas, including finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and two steals in the championship game against the Grizzlies.

Lendeborg appears to be the real deal. He’s unafraid. He’s ready. 

When it comes to the Warriors, who won four championships in eight years from 2015-2022 before failing to get past the second round of the playoffs the last four years, that’s some much-needed great news. 

In what was otherwise a very uneventful offseason, Lendeborg is proving to be a beacon of hope for the league’s modern day dynasty that’s trying to swim upstream once again.

Who: Phoenix Suns (0-1) vs. Chicago Bulls (0-0)

When: 5:00pm Arizona Time

Where: United Center — Chicago, Illinois

Watch: Arizona’s Family 3TV, Arizona’s Family Sports, Suns+

Listen: KMVP 98.7

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The Suns checked out of Heartbreak Hotel with a one-point loss in preseason game number one. That hotel is kind of like the one you check into for five hours of shut-eye on a long trip – not memorable – as these games don’t count. 

Our starters were mostly solid, and the team built a 19-point first-half lead. Things got sloppy as the team committed 22 second-half turnovers. Coach Jordan Ott will want to see a cleaner game tonight, especially as the Suns have had a game to dust things off while the Bulls are playing their opener. This is Tiago Splitter’s first game as Chicago’s head coach.  

It’s another chance to monitor all those season storylines: how it looks during the minutes Phoenix’s starters play, which players fighting for rotation spots perform well with the core, and who steps up on the back end of the roster.

Tale of the Tape

All of the statistics listed below are from last season.

Probable Starters

Injury Report

Suns

• Mark Williams — OUT (Shoulder)

Bulls

• Nicolas Claxton — OUT (Hamstring)
• Zach Collins — Game Time Decision (Toe)

What to Watch For

• Game one was a nice first step for integrating Miles Bridges with the starters. Will his overall game continue to gel?
• Per an SI interview on Tuesday, coach Splitter said of his two young starting forwards, “I want them to be a little more aggressive, dictating the offense instead of just waiting to attack.” This is a good opportunity to see how the Suns’ switchable defenders, such as Brooks, Bridges, and bench mobsters Rasher Fleming, Jordan Goodwin, and Koa Peat, perform.
• Will the free-throw shooting improve? Special attention to this for players such as Ighadaro, Fleming, Peat, and Khaman Maluach, who shot a combined 1-for-10 in the preseason game 1.
• Will Maluach get more run with the starters to see how that may look going forward? Or does it appear Ott is set on giving the rookie more time before being thrust into the starting lineup?

Keys to a Suns Win

1. Play a clean game with fewer lost possessions, as seen in the second half Monday night. The preseason can set a tone, and one that includes sloppy ball control is not the tone we want.
2. New Bulls guard Norman Powell seems to go off on the Suns, as evidenced by three 20-point games in his last four matchups. Can he be defended soundly without unnecessary fouls or wide-open three-point looks?
3. The Suns’ center rotation takes advantage of Jalen Smith and a dinged-up big man crew for Chicago.

Prediction

Suns get the W in sound fashion, continuing to show the first unit’s potential and shooting better at the stripe, while taking advantage of the Bulls’ first-game sloppiness.

Suns 112, Chicago 98

A prevailing theme of the offseason, media day and the preseason has been Quentin Grimes’ prominent role on this Los Angeles Lakers team. His offensive punch as a shooter, driver and connective passer is appealing — and perhaps vital to Los Angeles reaching its ceiling on that end — but the Lakers are also hoping he can rediscover the defensive form he showed earlier in his career.

Thus far, through training camp and two preseason games, head coach JJ Redick is pleased with Grimes’ all-around performance. He scored 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting Monday night against the Sacramento Kings before following that up with 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors.

“I think he’s a guy that, If needed, can create some advantages and, for that second-side action, can finish advantages offensively,” Redick told reporters following Los Angeles’ 124-98 defeat to the Warriors. “I think his commitment to the defensive end has been really good throughout camp and in these first two games. We’re excited about him.”

Grimes seems nearly entrenched as a starter alongside Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler, so his off-ball scoring and perimeter defense are crucial to his fit in the starting unit. He has plenty of experience thriving next to ball-dominant creators (Dončić himself included) and taking on arduous defensive assignments every night, so the blueprint for success is there.

Most intriguing about Redick’s comments above is believing Grimes “can create some advantages” himself. Presumably, much of the offense will flow through Dončić and Reaves but how much bandwidth might Grimes receive to initiate the occasional pick-and-roll or dribble handoff? He handled the ball fairly often during his time with the Philadelphia 76ers but they didn’t have the wealth of perimeter creation that Los Angeles does.

Still, it’s worth monitoring the level of freedom Redick grants Grimes in this offense, given the confidence he seems to have in his skill-set, and whether Grimes can maximize those opportunities. The play-finishing and perimeter defense are the most important elements but it’s possible he provides a bit more to make the Lakers an even more dangerous group offensively.

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.