Category: NBA

Raptors' trade for Kawhi Leonard on hold until Clippers investigation is done originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Kawhi Leonard’s second stint with the Toronto Raptors is officially on hold.

The Raptors announced Thursday that the trade will not be finalized until the NBA’s probe into Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers is finished.

The NBA has been investigating Leonard and the Clippers for the past 10 months after reports that he received a multi-million endorsement deal with sustainability services company Aspiration in an alleged effort to circumvent league salary cap rules.

Toronto and Los Angeles agreed to a deal involving Leonard last month, with the Raptors receiving Leonard and the Clippers getting Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and several draft picks.

“On June 30, we reached an agreement in principle to trade Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors,” the Clippers said in a statement. “We have since been informed that the trade can only be finalized if the Raptors’ ownership group assumes the risk of penalties related to Kawhi’s contract that could theoretically result from the ongoing investigation. The investigation is ongoing, and we expect the trade to be finalized following its conclusion.

“At the heart of this investigation are Joe Sanberg and Aspiration. We did not funnel money to Kawhi Leonard through Aspiration. Like many sophisticated investors, financial institutions, and business partners, we were victims of a fraud initiated by Sanberg, who has been convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

“We recognize the uncertainty this has created and the impact it has had on our team, our fans, the Raptors organization, their fans, and the players whose futures remain affected while this process continues. We remain confident that, when the facts are evaluated fairly and thoroughly, the NBA will confirm exactly what we have said from the beginning: We have not done what we are accused of doing.”

Despite the holdup, Toronto said it is still committed to completing the trade after the investigation is over.

“The Raptors remain eager to bring Kawhi back to Toronto and look forward to a swift resolution for our players, our organization and our fans,” the team said in a statement.

Leonard, 35, spent the last seven seasons with the Clippers after signing as a free agent in 2019. He played the 2018-19 season with the Raptors before joining the Clippers, leading the team to 58 wins and a championship.

Raptors' trade for Kawhi Leonard on hold until Clippers investigation is done originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Kawhi Leonard’s second stint with the Toronto Raptors is officially on hold.

The Raptors announced Thursday that the trade will not be finalized until the NBA’s probe into Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers is finished.

The NBA has been investigating Leonard and the Clippers for the past 10 months after reports that he received a multi-million endorsement deal with sustainability services company Aspiration in an alleged effort to circumvent league salary cap rules.

Toronto and Los Angeles agreed to a deal involving Leonard last month, with the Raptors receiving Leonard and the Clippers getting Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and several draft picks.

“On June 30, we reached an agreement in principle to trade Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors,” the Clippers said in a statement. “We have since been informed that the trade can only be finalized if the Raptors’ ownership group assumes the risk of penalties related to Kawhi’s contract that could theoretically result from the ongoing investigation. The investigation is ongoing, and we expect the trade to be finalized following its conclusion.

“At the heart of this investigation are Joe Sanberg and Aspiration. We did not funnel money to Kawhi Leonard through Aspiration. Like many sophisticated investors, financial institutions, and business partners, we were victims of a fraud initiated by Sanberg, who has been convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

“We recognize the uncertainty this has created and the impact it has had on our team, our fans, the Raptors organization, their fans, and the players whose futures remain affected while this process continues. We remain confident that, when the facts are evaluated fairly and thoroughly, the NBA will confirm exactly what we have said from the beginning: We have not done what we are accused of doing.”

Despite the holdup, Toronto said it is still committed to completing the trade after the investigation is over.

“The Raptors remain eager to bring Kawhi back to Toronto and look forward to a swift resolution for our players, our organization and our fans,” the team said in a statement.

Leonard, 35, spent the last seven seasons with the Clippers after signing as a free agent in 2019. He played the 2018-19 season with the Raptors before joining the Clippers, leading the team to 58 wins and a championship.

The Milwaukee Bucks are heading to Sin City for the Las Vegas Summer League.

This year, Summer League should be much more intriguing than in years’ past with a pair of lottery picks on the roster in Nate Ament and Brayden Burries. In addition, Kasparas Jakucionis is joining the Bucks in Vegas, giving him a chance to showcase some of his stuff before the second half of the offseason.

Here’s a look at the full roster:

• Nate Ament (PF, Tennessee)
• Zack Austin (SF, Pittsburgh)
• BJ Boston (SG, Kentucky)
• Brayden Burries (PG, Arizona)
• John Butler (C, Florida St)
• Rafael Castro (C, George Washington)
• Jesse Edwards (C, West Virginia)
• Kasparas Jakucionis (PG, Illinois)
• Kam Jones (PG, Marquette)
• Kuany Kuany (PF, VCU)
• Malique Lewis (SF, SE Melbourne Phoenix)
• Kira Lewis (PG, Alabama)
• Bogoljub Markovic (PF, Mega Basket)
• Boopie Miller (PG, SMU)
• Pete Nance (PF, North Carolina)
• Cormac Ryan (SG, North Carolina)
• Kobe Stewart (SG, Presbyterian)
• Earl Timberlake (SG, Bryant)
• Luke Travers (SF, Perth Wildcats)
• Aaron Williams (SG, Chicago St)

Other notable players include Brandon Boston Jr., who has 147 games of NBA experience with the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans. He spent last season with Fenerbahce in Turkey. Boston led the Bucks in scoring in two of the three games at the California Classic.

Two-way players Kam Jones, Rafael Castro and Cormac Ryan are also players to keep an eye on. Pete Nance could also be a standout after appearing in 47 games with the Bucks this past season.

For more on the schedule and how to watch, read Jack’s Summer League primer.

Brew Hoop community, who are you most excited about seeing suit up for the Bucks in Las Vegas? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

A change is coming to the Spurs broadcast booth after shocking allegations exploded on social media.

Jacob Tobey is out as the team’s play-by-play announcer after his girlfriend accused him on social media of cheating with a relative of a Spurs player, per Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports.

Earlier this week an Instagram Story was posted on Tobey’s account alleging his cheating with Loren Waters, who is the sister of Spurs guard Lindy Waters III.

“This is my girlfriend of six years,” the post read. “But I cheated on her with Loren Waters. So feel free to continue following me if you really think I’m a good guy because I’m not. :)”

The post was soon followed by another that featured what appeared to be photo booth prints of Tobey and Loren Waters kissing.

“Me and the new girl,” was written over the photo.

Fans suggested the posts were uploaded by Tobey’s girlfriend, who may have access to the account.

Tobey’s social accounts have since been turned to private.

Tobey, who has also sang the national anthem before Spurs games, previously announced in June he signed a multi-year extension to remain in the role.

Prior to arriving in San Antonio, Tobey called play-by-play for various outlets including Fox Sports and the Pac-12 Network.

The Summer Sixers tip off in Vegas starting Thursday night against the Detroit Pistons at 5:30 p.m. on Amazon Prime and NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Here are five players to watch.

Labaron Philon, G

Just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean it can’t be true. It’s time to see if the Sixers truly struck gold again outside of the lottery. Not that Summer League is a huge barometer for that measurement, but it’s at least a start if Philon can go out and dominate, particularly against teams who had a first-round pick selected higher than he was.

Johni Broome, PF/C

Broome is probably the most intriguing name of the bunch here, and not necessarily in a good way. Having been selected at the top of last year’s second round, Broome barely saw any NBA action as a rookie and also missed time with an injury towards the end of the season. Is he simply not an NBA player or did his rookie season just go sideways and he can turn things around? If he can’t perform at a high level in summer league, Broome’s stock will continue to trend down.

Duke Miles, G

Now it’s on to the lottery tickets, which is really what Summer League is all about. Miles signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Philadelphia after not getting drafted. He was a bouncy guard at Vanderbilt who averaged 16.1 points per game last season with 3.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.6 steals. Age isn’t working in Miles’ favor though as he’s 24 and turning 25 in February. Nevertheless, he seems like someone that could have a few moments off the dribble and some nice finishes around the rim for a 6-foot-2 guard.

Drew Cisse, C

Cisse’s another player in his mid 20s but he has spent the last couple years living the nomadic G League life. For what it’s worth, he does seem like a rebounding machine and had a very impressive 20 offensive rebounds in a game for Delaware last season. For a team that’s been as bad at rebounding as the Sixers have been, maybe Cisse can open some eyes.

Nick Townsend, PF

A high-level college achiever who is still just 21 years old gets a look with Philly for the next couple weeks. Townsend was the Ivy League Player of the Year at Yale last season and also a first-team All-Ivy League selection in 2024-25. He shot a very impressive 46.3% from three-point range last season so if he can get close to that in Summer League, he would certainly garner some attention.

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The crown jewel of the NBA's Summer League is set to see several top rookies grace the court in Sin City tonight, including No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa and No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson.

Their matchup leads off our NBA Summer League picks for Thursday, July 9.

NBA Summer League predictions for July 9

Pick
Jazz moneyline	-133
Kings moneyline	-150

Today's Summer League Picks

Jazz moneyline (-133 at Kalshi)

The Utah Jazz are among the teams that have already begun play this summer, and they got off to a hot start in the Salt Lake City Summer League. After going 3-0 in their home state, the Jazz's young corps will take advantage of a Washington Wizards squad playing its first game together.

Darryn Peterson has been dynamite for Utah thus far, racking up 53 points in 55 minutes on 52.7% shooting. He's not alone, with the Jazz also seeing eye-raising performances from Cody Williams (35 points on 57.8% shooting) and Max Abmas (40 points and 16 assists).

The Jazz have a lot of young talent in Vegas, including Ace Bailey and Jaxon Kohler, and should push this Wizards team.

While AJ Dybantsa is the No. 1 pick, he's making his debut and doesn't have a ton around him beyond last year's No. 6 pick, Tre Johnson.

Kings moneyline (-150 at Kalshi)

Led by No. 7 pick Darius Acuff Jr., the Sacramento Kings put up a 3-0 record in the California Classic. Acuff's scoring prowess has been on full display for Sacramento and should be the difference against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Arkansas product has scored 47 points in 52 minutes of Summer League play, and the attention he draws against Los Angeles should help open things up for fellow rookie Emanuel Sharp (31 points in 61 minutes).

Although the Clippers will be deploying fifth overall pick Keaton Wagler, Acuff already has experience beating guards selected in the lottery after defeating Brayden Burries and the Milwaukee Bucks last week.

Thursday’s NBA Summer League parlay

Jazz moneyline

Kings moneyline

+192 at Kalshi

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

NBA Summer League isn’t just the event in Las Vegas. They keep hosting these miniature Summer Leagues in California and Salt Lake City the week before everyone goes to Nevada. I’ve never heard an explanation as to why they exist, but they keep on doing them.

In any case, with Vegas Summer League starting today, I wanted to check in with Chase Ross and Olivier-Maxence Prosper, the two former Marquette men’s basketball players who were on the rosters in California and Utah respectively. It could give us an idea of what to expect from both men as the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies move from one event to the other.

Chase Ross

Even though Ross was fresh off agreeing to an Exhibit 10 contract with Los Angeles, he didn’t see the court in either of the Lakers’ first two games in California. LA split the first two games, falling 104-72 to Golden State’s Gold team in the opener and then beating Miami 93-91 in the second contest. The second DNP for Ross wasn’t that surprising seeing as Golden State went up 20 before halftime and led by as many as 37 and he couldn’t get in the game.

Ross did get a chance to play in the third game of the event, which goes into the books as an 88-84 victory for the Lakers. He subbed in at the 5:44 mark of the first quarter with the Spurs up 11-4 at the time. He finished with 14:30 of playing time and recorded four points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Ross went 1-for-5 from the field, missing both of his three-point attempts, but at least the social team highlighted his one bucket:

That pulled the Lakers within two, 53-51, in the middle of the third quarter, and it was the trigger on a 10-3 burst for Los Angeles.

It’s good that he got rotation minutes in a competitive game after going DNP for the first two games. I don’t think that quite tells us anything about what to expect in Las Vegas. Maybe cross our fingers that they let him go a little bit more?

Olivier-Maxence Prosper

Memphis went 1-2 in Utah, beating Oklahoma City 111-74 in their opener before taking a nine point loss to Utah and a 14 point loss to Atlanta to wrap things up. Prosper actually led Memphis in scoring in the OKC game, putting up 17 points on 5-for-8 shooting in 23 minutes of action. He went 2-for-3 from behind the arc and added five rebounds and three assists as well. It is deeply funny that he is listed as the Grizzlies starting center in the box score when Cameron Boozer, their 2026 lottery pick, is right there with him, just at forward.

Prosper started against Utah and had another solid game. He scored 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting, which means he was 2-for-3 inside the arc along with 3-for-8 outside of it. Three rebounds, two assists, and a steal in over 28 minutes of action is pretty good stuff as well, even if the Grizz came up short at the horn. He didn’t play at all in the third game, but neither did Boozer or Cedric Coward, who played in 62 games for Memphis as a rookie this past season.

I’d wager this all means we’ll see a healthy dose of Prosper in Vegas, at least as long as the Grizzlies are in contention for the semifinals. Memphis already exercised the option on his contract for 2026-27, which they did not need to do if they didn’t plan on keeping him around all year. I wouldn’t read too much into his playing time in Nevada, but it would be nice to see him continue to be a major contributor at this level.

Backup center Charles Bassey, Warriors reportedly agree to one-year NBA contract originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Charles Bassey‘s five-game audition with the Warriors paid off.

The veteran center and Golden State have agreed to a one-year contract for the 2026-27 NBA season, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Thursday, citing sources.

Bassey returns to the Warriors two days after the team declined to match the Memphis Grizzlies’ three-year, $30 million offer sheet to third-year NBA center Quinten Post.

The 25-year-old Bassey now is in line to be the Warriors’ third center behind veterans Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis.

Per ESPN’s Anthony Slater, Bassey assumes the Warriors’ 11th roster spot.

Bassey spent time last season with the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics before signing a 10-day contract with the Warriors on April 5.

In five games, Bassey averaged 10.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 20.0 minutes off the bench.

Overall, in five seasons with the Warriors, Celtics, 76ers, Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs, the 2021 second-round draft pick is averaging 4.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 126 games.

While the Warriors wait for LeBron James to make his decision and Draymond Green to likely sign a new contract, they secured a valuable depth piece.

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Spurs forward Carter Bryant makes his second-year Summer League debut Thursday at 3:30 pm CST against San Antonio native Kingston Flemings and the Atlanta Hawks.

You’ll remember Bryant flashed as a Summer League rookie last year, motivating ESPN’s Tim Legler to say he’d win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award someday.

The Summer Spurs will play at least four games in Las Vegas after going 0-3 in the California Classic.

Around the Horn

Vegas Prep: Yahoo’s Kevin O’Connor posted a list of the top 50 players to watch in Vegas. Not much love for the Spurs … Bryant is nowhere to be found (that’s a big oopsie) and Tarris Reed, Jr., is way down the list.

From Mark Zuckerberg to El Jefe? Jesse Eisenberg, an Oscar-nominated actor most known for the lead role of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, recently said his dream role is playing Gregg Popovich. Eisenberg on Pop: “I just find him to be the most fascinating person on the planet. Here’s this tough coach who cries sometimes and talks about the plight of America, and yet he’s also this terrifying figure who can be so mean to journalists. People like that are fascinating because, on the one hand, they’re known to be very nasty, and on the other hand they’re these bleeding hearts.”

Top of the Heap: Speaking of Pop, he came to mind Wednesday night when Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve became the WNBA’s all-time regular season wins leader with 380. Like Popovich in the NBA, she now holds both the WNBA’s regular season record and overall mark (including playoff victories). Interestingly, Reeve’s career winning percentage ranks behind just one person: former Spurs assistant and Silver Stars guard Becky Hammon, the head coach for the Las Vegas Aces.

Highest Bidder:Darren Rovell reports that various items from the recent NBA Finals brought in big money through a Sotheby’s auction. Various New York Knicks’ game-used jerseys collectively approached $2 million while Finals-branded court panels from Madison Square Garden and a net from Game 5 combined to eclipse $500,000.

By George: Last week’s Philadelphia-Boston blockbuster trade has some calling Paul George “the most valuable player in NBA history.” Given that he’s been traded for All-Stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jaylen Brown plus other good players and a slew of valuable draft picks (we see you, OKC), it’s a compelling argument.

Word Play: On a recent NBA Radio show on Sirius XM, Zach Harper and Chris Haynes debated the words that need to disappear from the league’s vocabulary. Their picks were “optionality” and “curated.” What words do you think need to be banned from the NBA? Let us know in the comments below!

The most startling statistic for Brooklyn Nets last week in Sacramento may also be the most important going forward … not just for the 2026-27 season.

On Thursday, Brian Lewis encapsulated what others have also noticed:

After being just 1-for-4 from 2-point range in three summer league tilts last year, Dëmin’s auspicious 11-for-12 bodes well moving forward.

Demin, still only 20, has already made fools of those who said he couldn’t shoot by setting one rookie shooting record — 34 consecutive games with a three — and hitting nearly 40% (38.5%) of his attempts and with volume. Eight times he hit five or more in a game with his top game seven vs. the Golden State Warriors back on December 29. Twenty times, he made three or more.

Now it looks like he may make fools of another set of critics from last season: those who said he would only be 3-point threat not a well-rounded offensive player.

“There was definitely one of the biggest points of emphasis,” Dëmin told The Post about his off-season. “The first time I met with the Nets last year in the predraft, I said I’m not going to sit here and tell you what I’m good at. I’m going to make sure you know that I’m aware of my weaknesses. So sometimes it’s a big advantage for the players to know what their weaknesses are over what is their strength.

“So, it’s been an advantage for me for the past summer and this summer as well, just knowing what to work on, what I really want to improve. … But obviously the goal is to get higher and higher on that, and master the game.”

It’s no surprise that the plantar fasciitis that caused him to miss a lot of development time last summer than 32 games in the season factored into what he could and couldn’t do, as did his physique. Now, he says he’s good having put on 13 to 15 pounds. It’s not just his fans who have noticed, even his rookie backcourt mate who watched from afar last season has seen the change.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Mikel Brown Jr. told The Post of Dëmin’s growth. “You see the growth from him being more aggressive, playing more physical. He got adapted to that style of the ball.

“The NBA is very physical; you’re playing against grown men. So you’ve got to be able to adapt. And you can see it. He’s way more physical. He’s more adamant about getting into his spots. No matter how tough and how physical the defender is, he’s going to get to his spots regardless. So you can see the growth from that.”

So, too, have his coaches.

“He’s done an outstanding job of putting weight on,” Nets summer league coach Dutch Gaitley told The Post. “But it’s easy to just show it off while you’re walking around the gym. The hard part is now can you have carryover?

“And Egor has been able to show his ability to get into the paint, hit midrange, get into the paint and make plays for other guys. That’s probably been his most [encouraging growth]. His comfort level with his strength is just going to open up so much of his game for himself or his teammates.”

Then there’s the shift in aura, crystalized by that windmill dunk vs. the Warriors at the close of the first half Monday. As C.J. Holmes of that Daily News writes, “The hair’s different. The fits are sharper. The frame looks stronger.” 

Yes, as Lewis notes, it’s always somewhat of a fool’s errand to extrapolate Summer League performance into something sustainable. The annals of NBA Summer League is littered with MVPs who are no longer in the league or barely hanging on … and that includes Jalen Wilson and Cam Thomas.

But Demin is also someone with certain advantages. He was the tallest guard ever measured at the NBA Combine and has court vision as well as a shooting stroke and now has shown not just a skill but a willingness to drive the lane. The Nets took a lot of hits from pundits and draftniks after the Draft for taking him so high at No. 8 last uear. ESPN had him at No. 13 in their final mock, Bleacher Report at No. 19. Then again, there was griping about how he didn’t make either the first or second All-Rookie team which may or may not have been a function of him missing all those games.

But never mind all that. It’s a new season and Demin wants to re-invent his narrative once again. So far, so good.

• Egor Demin doing what he can to shore up his key Nets weakness — and it’s already showing ($) – Brian Lewis – New York Post
• Nets’ Egor Demin reveals body transformation that could foreshadow sophomore leap – Erik Slater – Clutch Points
• Egor Dëmin is acting different, and the Nets should be encouraged ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
• Nets’ Egor Demin showing improvement in second stint of summer league – Sharif Phillips Keaton – USA TODAY

The Knicks already brought in Andre Drummond to help make up for the loss of two of their big men this offseason, and it appears they could be targeting another veteran. 

According to SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley, Jonas Valanciunas is among centers on the team’s radar as they look to continue filling out their roster. 

Valanciunas, of course, was waived by the Nuggets on Wednesday.

The 34-year-old big man will become available in free agency once he clears waivers. 

As per Begley, New York previously showed interest in Valanciunas when he hit the open market in 2024. 

He ended up joining the Wizards as part of a sign-and-trade, then was dealt to Sacramento, where he spent one season before being moved again to Denver last summer. 

Valanciunas produced 8.7 points and 5.1 boards as their backup center during the regular season, but ended up falling out of the rotation during the playoffs.

Bringing him in along with Drummond to backup All-Star starter Karl-Anthony Towns could give the Knicks strong depth at the center position. 

Valanciunas was previously a client of team president Leon Rose. 

Former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has filed a dispute in Dallas County, Texas, court, alleging that Dallas Mavericks majority owner Patrick Dumont engaged in “adversarial business practices” and is seeking a judge to compel the team's executives to disclose details of the franchise's new arena plans.

The Mavericks had planned to develop a site in North Dallas that housed a shopping mall. The 104-acre site, called Valley View, would include a new arena with a practice facility, along with entertainment plans around it.

Cuban said in the filing that he wants information on "the financing of a new Dallas Mavericks arena at Valley View and the exploration and identification of locations for the new arena, among other things." He also said that he was “contractually entitled to participate” in the Valley View deal.

Cuban, despite selling a majority stake in the Mavericks, still owns 27% of the team, and he claims that he would still be in charge of the basketball operations. The billionaire sold his stake in the team in 2023 to Miriam Adelson and Dumont, who is Adelson's son-in-law. Adelson's husband, Sheldon, who was the founder, former chairman, and CEO of the casino company Las Vegas Sands, died in 2021.

That agreement, according to the petition, was made via a handshake deal. Instead, Cuban claims that Dumont gave Nico Harrison that job. Harrison was fired as general manager in November partly because of bungling of the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The team has played in the American Airlines Center, located in the Victory Park neighborhood of downtown Dallas, since 2001. The lease of the arena, which also hosts the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars, expires in 2031

SNY recently broke down 4 Knicks to watch during the NBA Summer League, and it appears you could add another to the list. 

The second-round pick Jack Kayil has officially been added to the team’s roster ahead of their exhibition opener Friday night against the Nets. 

Kayil was originally left off the roster due to an issue with his current club. 

The youngster’s agent indicated to reporters last week, though, that they expected it to be quickly resolved.

Now the Knicks will officially be able to get a good look at the 39th overall pick before deciding if he’ll return to Germany or receive a two-way contract this year. 

Though it may not be up to him with the Knicks trying to stay under the second apron this year, Kayil said following the selection that he did not plan on returning overseas. 

"My plan is to stay here," he said. "And to get into the organization and keep growing with them."

Kayil averaged 12.3 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.7 rebounds across 21 minutes in the Alba Berlin league last season. 

He also earned FIBA Champions League Best Young Player honors and was named All-FIBA Champions Second-Team after helping Germany take home the silver medal at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup. 

Kings GM Scott Perry expects Zach Lavine, Domantas Sabonis to remain with team originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Two of the biggest uncertainties surrounding the Kings heading into the 2026 NBA offseason were stars Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine’s futures with the team.

However, LaVine has opted into his $49 million player option for the 2026-27 NBA season, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported, citing the star guard’s Klutch Sports agent, Rich Paul, keeping the two-time NBA All-Star in Sacramento at least for now.

Kings general manager Scott Perry addressed the media on Wednesday and revealed that he anticipates LaVine to play for the team during the upcoming season.

“Zach and I have been in communication since the season was over,” Perry said. “We have a very good relationship and good understanding. Zach is still an excellent basketball player. He knows what’s expected of him. He’s coming back here this year. I’m very clear with him on that. He’ll be the first to tell you that.

“And I think he’s ready to come back and embrace that and perform to the best of his abilities this year. We can use a lot of the things that Zach LaVine is able to do on the basketball field, so I’m looking forward to him taking a step forward with us this year and how we want to play the game.”

Meanwhile, Perry also is expecting Sabonis to play a big role in Sacramento’s rebuild following a disappointing 22-60 record during the 2025-26 season, despite previous reports that the Kings were in trade talks with the Charlotte Hornets involving the three-time NBA All-Star center.

“Come in and compete just like everybody else,” Perry told reporters. “Obviously, he’s an excellent player. He’s done it for a while in this league. I’ve been in constant contact with him as well in the offseason. Just expect him to come in here healthy, first and foremost, and he’s trending in that direction.

“Obviously, he missed a lot of last year because he was not. He’s always played hard, and so I expect him to do that. Provide some veteran presence for this team and really have a tremendous rebound year and help us build some winning habits here and start heading in the right direction.”

Last season, Sabonis and LaVine missed a combined total of 106 games due to season-ending injuries. Sabonis only averaged 15.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game in 19 appearances, and LaVine posted 19.2 points per game and shot 47.9 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range in 39 contests.

With both players expected to return to the team and currently trending toward full health, the Kings have a solid chance of turning things around from last season, especially with rookie guard Darius Acuff Jr. expected to play a big role and a few other role players being added in the mix.

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On Wednesday, for the first time since trading Giannis, Bucks General Manager Jon Horst took questions on that decision, addressing why he chose to end things with the man he calls the greatest player in franchise history. Credit to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm, who transcribed the press conference; these quotes came from Nehm’s article, which you can read in full here.

Jon Horst’s most important answer of the session came right at the end, when he stressed that the decision to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo was not one he made lightly, but that Miami’s package ultimately won him over.

“This is hard,” Horst said. “Call it what it is. Giannis is one of the greatest players in NBA history. Top 75 of all time. Greatest player in franchise history. He’s an NBA champion in Milwaukee. All the things that we’ve talked about and that you all know, he is not with us anymore.

“So, we’ve got a lot of work to do, and we championed balance and getting back foundational players that we believed in, draft capital that we thought we could utilise and capitalise on, either by drafting at some point or by using in future transactions and flexibility to make decisions. The Miami opportunity presented us with the best path in totality, and that’s why we did the deal.”

Something Horst said during Taylor Jenkins’ introductory press conference in early May was that the team would seriously consider the possibility of continuing to build around Giannis, even while all the outside noise indicated that he was as good as gone. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too sure Horst was telling the truth at the time, but he reiterated that same message.

“In most cases, for most of the last decade, there wasn’t a parallel path of ‘hey, if we trade Giannis, it’s this,’ and ‘if we keep Giannis, it’s this.’ It was just, ‘we’re going to maximise this with Giannis.’ And so, you’d end up trying to find the best opportunity and make the most of it, and hopefully it works.

“This time around, we had something sincerely to compare those options to, and clearly, we made the decision what we thought was best for us. But again, there’s a human side of this and a respect factor of Giannis. And what’s best for Giannis was to execute the Miami trade. It was different than years past, in that there were truly paralleling paths to really consider against just the all-in (with Antetokounmpo), and what does it look like.”

As we all know, Horst has been uber-aggressive during the Giannis era, repeatedly willing to “trade the future for the now” to give GA the best chance to win. From the acquisitions of Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard, to executing the largest waive-and-stretch in NBA history of Lillard’s contract to free up enough space to sign Myles Turner, he couldn’t have tried harder. The Bucks GM stood by all of those decisions but also explained that the time had come to stop the aggressive moves and part ways with the two-time MVP, though there was no “defining moment” that led him to that conclusion.

“If we’re looking for a defining moment, I don’t know that that exists in any of these things. I think you’re talking about a decade-long, or decade-plus, pursuit of first building competitiveness and then trying to sustain competitiveness, have as much success as you can, weather as many failures as you can. There’s a lot that goes into that, and I think over the course of time, you do everything that you can.

“I think ultimately there comes a point in time where you have to make the assessment, and you have to assess the opportunities, and if the result of that in our estimation or (Antetokounmpo’s) estimation is you can do more and better differently—and we can do more and better differently—you take advantage of that. We went through an offseason last year and we believed that we had an opportunity to maximise something together. We went through a trade deadline where we assessed whether or not that was still the case. And we went into an offseason this year where we took the same approach. This time around, our assessment was (that) the ultimate opportunity we had with Miami was what was best for the Bucks organisation now and going forward—and best for Giannis.”

Now with a young team to build with, Horst was under no illusions about where the team is and where it needs to get to.

“No one’s sitting here today and saying that we’re a better team today after trading Giannis,” Horst said. “He’s one of the greatest players to ever play, (the) greatest player in the franchise history. We’ve had an incredible amount of success. And as I’ve said to Miami a couple of times, he’s going to have an unbelievable season for them. [They’ve] got an incredibly motivated, healthy, focused Giannis Antetokounmpo that I think is going to have an unbelievable season and seasons, for that matter.

“So, for us, it was just about the opportunity to build and to again set a foundation. Can we set something in place with a new coach and take advantage of an opportunity to truly build from a place of strength on a roster and a style of player that hopefully makes our city proud and our franchise proud and gets us to the place where we are competitive and we can sustain that competition and that competitive level, year in and year out? And if we’re lucky enough, at some point, to be in a position to knock on the door and have a chance to win a championship.”

Hearing this from Horst actually made me feel pretty good. It sounds like he’s going to dial back the aggressiveness and allow this young core to develop organically, which seems like the right way to go about it.

Per Nehm, Horst “shied away from discussing his emotions” during the press conference, but he did call on a sentiment shared with him by former Bucks GM John Hammond, whom Horst worked under when he first came to the Bucks organisation.

“In the NBA, it’s never goodbye; it’s see you later. And Giannis will be back in Fiserv soon, and he’ll be back in Fiserv multiple times. And I really hope—not hope—I know that each and every time the standing ovation, the love, the respect, the admiration that he gets from this city and this fan base and this franchise will be felt and will be appropriate for everything he’s meant to all of us.”

Brew Hoop community, what did you take from Jon Horst’s press conference?