Category: NBA

It’s been 11 months since the NBA opened a formal investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers for salary cap circumvention, and somehow Adam Silver has only made it worse. We are no closer to knowing what exactly happened, there’s backbiting occurring between the NBA and the media — but more concerning is a pervasive opacity shrouding the process, pronounced enough that it feels less like the league is leading an investigation and more like it’s trying to navigate a balancing act that will satiate the public’s need for answers while not angering Clippers’ owner Steve Ballmer.

Pablo Torre initially broke the story last year, which alleged that the Clippers used a now-defunct sponsor to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard as a fake employee, allowing the team to exceed his max-level contract. The Torre report initially got the ball rolling and led to the NBA investigation — which is ongoing now.

Since that point, the NBA has largely been quiet, Torre has continued to gather more details, expanding on his reporting, and on Monday ESPN dropped a story that intimated the investigation was coming to a close, functionally absolving Ballmer of responsibility as a result — which the NBA then refuted. It’s all a mess, so let’s try to make sense of this from all angles right now.

Pablo Torre’s reporting

In September of 2025 Torre reported that Leonard had a $28M no-show deal with Aspiration, a green energy company, which functionally listed Leonard as an employee and spokesperson — when in reality he didn’t do any work for Aspiration. This was sourced through numerous ex-employees of Aspiration, who spoke to Torre anonymously and said it was a known secret inside the company that Leonard was being paid under the table on behalf of the Clippers

In August of 2026 a new report from Torre noted that Leonard had a second undisclosed endorsement deal with Daktronics, the company that made the video board for the Clippers. The nature of this deal has not been disclosed, though Torre says it was also sourced through employees of Daktronics.

ESPN’s reporting

Initially, ESPN was extremely quiet after Torre’s initial report. Then, in September of 2025 reporter Ramona Shelburne conducted a sit-down interview with Steve Ballmer that allowed him to explain the Clippers’ side of things, which was devoid of any hard-hitting questions. It essentially allowed Ballmer to absolve himself of responsibility, saying that he didn’t know anything about the deals — other than the fact that he made introductions between Aspiration and Leonard.

Reporting on ESPN’s side was quiet until this week, when a story was published by Don Van Natta Jr., Baxter Holmes, and Shelburne — which indicated that the NBA found no wrongdoing by Ballmer. Instead, the penalty was likely going to be focused on “failure to supervise,” saying that unnamed Clippers employees operated autonomously. In addition, the report indicated that the league and Clippers were working together on a resolution to the in investigation — which frankly should never, ever happen.

“The league presented initial findings of its investigation, led by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to the Clippers in late July, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. In recent days, both sides have been negotiating a resolution to the investigation, the people said.”

The NBA is denying the ESPN report, which we’ll get to in a moment.

The Clippers’ side of things

From the first report, the Clippers have alleged no wrongdoing. Ballmer has positioned himself as simply a man who made introductions between Leonard and companies he did business with, having no knowledge a deal took place to pay Leonard. They’ve characterized this as a normal procedure for NBA teams to make these introductions, which is accurate — and has started a firestorm over the possibility that organizing business connections could be considered salary cap circumvention in the future.

The NBA’s side of things

Adam Silver has dragged this process out for almost a year. That enabled the Clippers to retain the No. 5 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft without punishment, while also allowing them to find a trade that will send Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors once the salary cap investigation is complete.

A statement by the NBA late Monday vehemently denied the ESPN report, but failed to address specific details of what the league denied.

The NBA and spokesman Mike Bass has now released the following statement, saying that ESPN’s story on the investigations has “numerous and significant inaccuracies.” pic.twitter.com/5hioJPAzD7

— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) August 17, 2026

Once again, the NBA is asking for patience from the public on an investigation that has taken longer than it ever should have, essentially saying we’ll get all the answers once the investigation is complete. Still, there is no timetable on how long this is going to continue to drag on.

The factors at play now

One of the key reasons Adam Silver is so reviled as NBA commissioner is that his approach to everything when it comes to the league is that profit and expansion is more important than anything else, even competitive balance or fairness. Silver is light on punishment, even in the case of former Suns owner Robert Sarver who was fined $10M and suspended for one year after an investigation by the league found that he had routinely and often been racist, misogynistic, and inappropriate in the workplace. The punishment stopped short of forcing Sarver to sell the team, which he later did of his own will.

Sarver was a small player in the NBA’s circle of important owners. Steve Ballmer is a whale. The former Microsoft executive is the richest NBA owner by a significant margin, with a net worth of $152B — while also being critical to Silver’s goals when it comes to using the myriad business relationships Ballmer has to further the goals of the league.

Essentially Ballmer is the last owner Silver would ever want to punish for anything. As commissioner he doesn’t want to bite the hand that feeds, but these allegations are extremely damaging to the perception of the NBA. If the result of this investigation is too soft it will further erode public faith in the NBA as a whole, but too harsh at it will anger the league’s cash cow.

That balance is reportedly being worked on behind closed doors, according to the ESPN report from Monday. It makes it seem as if the Clippers have been found guilty of cap subversion; everyone in the room knows it, but now they are desperately trying to find a resolution together that will satiate the public without damaging Ballmer’s reputation or hurting his team too much. With pockets as deep as Ballmer’s, there’s functionally no fine imaginable that would be large enough to hurt him. Even if we imagine the same $10M fine that Sarver received, it would be the equivalent of 0.06% of his net worth — the same as a $60 fine for someone who earns $100,000 a year.

We all know what should happen. If the Clippers actively engaged in salary cap circumvention at any level, then they should be docked draft picks or forced to play under the NBA’s luxury tax for a set period. That will not happen. Silver does not want to harm the Clippers, not really. Nor will there be any suspension of Kawhi Leonard beyond a slap on the wrist, because to do more could void the trade to Toronto and hurt the Clippers as a result as well.

Nobody is going to be happy with the result of all this, except for Adam Silver and Steve Ballmer. That is how this is being engineered, and it’s by design. It’s a feature of the Silver-run NBA, not a bug.

The NBA was verging on being a failing business when Jerry Buss bought the Los Angeles Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979 for $67.5 million. Pro basketball only had a small television footprint at the time, attendance was falling, teams were claiming to lose money, and the league couldn’t untangle itself from the perception that its players would rather do an eight ball than dive for loose balls. The NBA’s meteoric rise over the next 20 years happened for a variety of reasons, but the story of its success goes hand-in-hand with Buss turning the Lakers into arguably the premier franchise in American sports.

The Lakers drafted Magic Johnson about a month after Buss’ acquisition closed, and the rest is history. Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led Los Angeles to five championships, and when they were done, it didn’t take the Lakers long to reboot around Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Phil Jackson for another five championships. The Lakers were just about a model franchise until Buss died in 2013 and left the team to his six children. Since then, the team has a sub-.500 cumulative record, one championship, and a behind-the-scenes power struggle among the siblings worthy of prestige TV.

The Buss family drama should have ended when the siblings agreed to sell the franchise to Mark Walter for $10 billion last year. Only one problem: that sale included a provision that said Jeanie Buss would continue to serve as the team’s governor for five years. That seemed like a pretty sweet deal for Jeanie until Walter turned around and flipped the franchise to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger earlier this month for $12.5 billion. Jeanie’s place with the franchise going forward seemed to be in peril after that deal, and it got even weirder on Monday.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Buss siblings sold off the remaining 17.8% of the franchise it owns to Kushner and Iger. Five of the siblings wanted to sell. Jeanie didn’t. Jeanie’s lawyers are now arguing that the siblings cannot legally sell their shares without Jeanie’s approval because it goes against the family trust, according to a report by CNBC.

The Lakers finally thought they were out of this mess when Walter bought the team last year. The backstabbing between the Buss siblings had been legendary since their father died. Jeanie fired her brother Jim Buss in 2017 and replaced him with Magic Johnson as team president. Jim and his brother Johnny Buss then unsuccessfully tried to overthrow Jeanie by kicking her off the board of directors, but it went against the terms of the trust. Jeanie responded by filing a restraining order against her brothers. The end result was that Jeanie would serve as the controlling owner as long as the family owned the Lakers. Jeanie blessed the sale to Walter a year ago under the condition that she would have a few years left as governor. Now all that appears to be out the window pending even more lawsuits.

Lakers fans thought they had a dream ownership situation when Walter agreed to buy the team a year ago. He had been a terrific owner for MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, spending a record amount of money on contracts that helped the team win the last two World Series. It appears that Walter’s empire started to crumble when the DOJ began breathing down his neck for loan fraud related to the Lakers purchase. Now he’s also in talks to sell his shares of English football powerhouse Chelsea. Walter needs to get liquid quickly, and it’s hard to beat cashing out an investment that makes you $2.5 billion in under a year. That’s what he originally bought the Dodgers for back in 2012.

The federal investigation sure seems like it played a role in Walter’s sale to Kushner and Iger. It isn’t lost on anyone that Donald Trump’s DOJ is investigating Walter to the point that he had to sell the Lakers to brother of his son-in-law (Jared Kushner is heavily involved in the White House’s Middle East diplomacy). The idea that the Lakers and Dodgers would both be able to out-spend their rivals quietly started to crash and burn when the feds began poking around Walter’s empire, even if no one realized it at the time. It’s left the franchise in an extremely vulnerable position with Kushner’s private equity firm now controlling the team with no experience in owning sports franchises.

The timing of all this is fascinating from an on-court perspective. The Lakers essentially mortgaged their future this summer to build around Luka Doncic with two years remaining on his contract. Los Angeles knew it needed a strong defensively center, so it traded two future first-round picks and two swaps for Walker Kessler. The Lakers then handed out four-year contracts to Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quentin Grimes while giving Collin Sexton two years, while most other NBA free agents were only getting one year deals.

The Lakers are all-in. They can’t trade a future first-round pick for the next seven years. Lead executive Rob Pelinka improved this team in some potentially meaningful ways, but they still lost LeBron James in free agency, still play in the loaded Western Conference, and still need to find answers in the forward room before anyone is ready to deem them a true championship contender.

It would make sense if the new ownership group wanted to replace Pelinka with one of their own guys, but does that really make sense when a new front office would immediately be strapped for future assets that Pelinka traded away? The Lakers were already going to be facing a ton of pressure on the court this season, and that only multiplies with new owners coming in.

Lakers fans are understandably uneasy about all of this, but you can argue the franchise is in a better place today than it was a month ago. The weird split power dynamic between Walter and Jeanie Buss is gone, the familiar cronies that lined the family business under Jeanie have no stake in the game anymore, and the new owners are apparently flush with cash. While it’s totally understandable to have some discomfort with a Kushner as the lead owner, it doesn’t sound like his group made this deal to strip the team for parts.

New Lakers owner Josh Kushner sent a letter to investors in his firm, Thrive Capital, earlier this week. @nmasc_ got a copy of it. Thrive Eternal, which will financing part of the Lakers sale, invests in "assets counter positioned to transformation." Bob Iger is an advisor at… pic.twitter.com/CRqtDXOAS3

— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) August 14, 2026

I don’t think this is a Tom Dundon situation. Kushner and Iger wanted a premium brand. Iger saved Disney twice. Jerry Buss turned the Lakers into a premium brand, and his kids have essentially presided over its downfall since he died. The Showtime era Lakers died with Dr. Buss. The fact that the team can still attract mega-watt superstar power and win a championship after his passing is a testament to the brand having lasting appeal even after the kids tried to run it into the ground.

The short-term future of the Lakers will be decided more by if Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams can shore up the wing defense than the sale. This season hangs in the balance with Doncic’s health, Austin Reaves’ potential ascension to All-Star status, and Kessler’s ability to be worth everything they traded for him. If the swing factors swing in the Lakers’ favor, I would expect Kushner and Iger to be happy to write Doncic a huge check for an extension, and to keep this team intact up to the same point where most every other NBA owner is willing to go right now — which stops at the second apron.

It’s for the best that the Lakers family ownership dynamic is finished. The NBA has simply outgrown that model, and the Buss kids were never going to stop fighting. Walter’s sale is a curveball, but the Lakers should have more stability with Kushner and Iger than they would have had with Walter under federal investigation. The leadership should be more professional than it ever was with the Buss kids in charge.

It remains to be seen how Kushner will run the team, and the first real question starts with Pelinka’s job as lead executive. Walter’s Dodgers spared no expense in making sure the entire organization was acquiring top of the market talent in every department, and not just on the field. Will Kushner be willing to eventually replace Pelinka with the best candidate available? Will Doncic be signed to a long-term extension by then?

I wouldn’t say the Lakers are in big trouble yet, but the stakes of this season just got even higher.

We’ve reached the doldrums of the NBA calendar. The only excitement currently is the investigation into the Kawhi Leonard-Clippers possible cap circumvention and whatever the hell is going on with the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers.

But now that the schedule is out and you’ve had time to process and digest things, how are you feeling about the Sixers? What’s on your mind as we sit here in mid-August?

Hit me with your thoughts and questions below and I’ll do my best to respond to as many as possible!

It’s August, free agency is all but done, the schedule has been released, and therefore we are in the official doldrums of the NBA offseason. At Pounding the Rock, we often like to find fun projects or series to do to pass the time. We’ve especially enjoyed bracket-style tournaments over the years that have included Manu Ginobili’s best plays, the Spurs’ best playoff plays, and last year, we held a 1-on-1 tournament pitting the top 32 Spurs of all time against each other. (That would be an interesting revisit in a few years when I’m sure some current players will have entered or risen up the rankings a bit.)

This summer, the Spurs returned to the upper echelon of the NBA with a Finals run that officially returned them to that NBA villain role we all enjoyed back in their championship days. With that in mind, we decided a fun project would be to return the favor by pitting people who have been villains to the Spurs over the years up against each other in a bracket-style tournament. Readers will vote for the biggest villain in a poll, and the winner of each match-up will advance to the next round, with the eventual winner crowned as the biggest Spurs villain of all time.

There will be four categories that will consist of eight entries each for a total of 32:

• Spurs Killers — players who have specifically given the Spurs the most trouble over the years and/or made devasting shots or plays that will haunt our minds for all eternity.
• Former Spurs — players who once played for the Spurs but became villains either because of betrayal, trash talk, they hate on the Spurs, etc.
• Dirty Players — players who committed dirty plays against the Spurs, injured (or attempted to injure) a player, altered a playoff match-up, etc., and we will never forgive them.
• Spurs Haters — a more open category that can include players as well as coaches, owners, etc. from outside the organization who openly and publicly trashed the Spurs for whatever reason.

We have our own ideas but would also like your input before setting up the bracket. Give us some of your thoughts for each category and include why you have that person. Some may be extremely obvious, but there also may be ones that you specifically remember that many others may not, so include them all. Put your ideas in the comments below, and the most liked or frequently suggested may get used in the final bracket! Hopefully this will be another fun series while we wait for Training Camp to get here at the end of September.

Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is trying to block her siblings' sale of her family's remaining stake in the NBA franchise.

Josh Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared, and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger agreed a deal last week to buy the controlling interest in one of the world's most iconic sports teams from Mark Walter for$12.5bn (£9.3bn).

Walter bought his share from the Buss family last year for about $10bn (£7.5bn) in a deal that ensured Jeanie remained as governor until 2030.

The Buss family, who have been either a primary or minority owner of the Lakers since 1979, released a statement on Monday saying they had voted to sell their remaining 17.8% stake to the incoming owners.

"We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction," the statement read.

"We love the Lakers, Lakers fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can."

However, Jeanie's lawyer has now said she plans to fight her siblings' plan to sell.

The Buss family trust comprises of Jerry Buss' six children, with Jeanie serving as the governor of the Lakers since her father's death in 2013.

Jeanie's lawyer Adam Streisand said in a letter to her five siblings that any vote for a sale "would be and is void" because her approval as one of three co-trustees, along with siblings Joey and Janie Buss, is needed for such a move.

"Co-trustees are bound to vote to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain controlling owner," the letter said, according to ESPN.

"Any attempt by the co-trustees to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.

"On behalf of Jeanie Buss, I demand that your clients make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and that your clients shall take no action on this supposed 'vote' to sell the 17.8% stake."

Despite Jeanie's objections, her siblings Johnny, Jimmy, Janie, Joey and Jesse reiterated their stance on Tuesday in a statement saying they "remain united in that decision".

"We intend to move forward thoughtfully, respectfully and through the appropriate process," they added.

Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in a $67.5m deal (£50m) in 1979 that included the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and a Los Angeles arena that is known as the Kia Forum.

After he died in 2013, ownership was passed to his six children before a deal was completed with Walter, who also owns a stake in the LA Dodgers with Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly.

The LA Lakers have 17 NBA titles - 11 of which were won under the ownership of the Buss family - one less than the record tally held by the Boston Celtics.

The deal involving Josh Kushner comes after he was part of the recent controversy surrounding Fifa president Gianni Infantino and an aborted plan to sell off stakes in the governing body's competitions to private investors.

Thrive Eternal, an American venture capital firm founded by Kushner, was expected to lead the proposed investor group for the Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal.

The proposed sale of the Lakers still needs to be approved by the NBA's board of governors next month.

But if it goes through, it would be the most expensive sports team sale ever reported - and Walter will have made a quick $2.5bn (£1.9bn) profit on his investment.

• Done in a weekend - the $12.5bn LA Lakers sale that shocked the NBA

Excitement for the upcoming Sixers season is at an all-time high. Many are dreaming of what it’s going to look like seeing LeBron James in a Sixers uniform and how the loaded starting lineup of stars operate together on the same floor. There are many swing factors that could determine the ultimate outcome of this season. One major piece to the puzzle that will determine the Sixers’ floor and ceiling will be the development of their young talent alongside their stars.

While most all of the attention on the Sixers is centered around their star-studded starting five (and for good reason) the team has accumulated their fair share of young talent, all of which still have plenty of room for growth.

VJ Edgecombe

Edgecombe is the most obvious example of young and blossoming talent on the roster. Coming off a First Team All-Rookie season which both started and ended on a high note, Edgecombe’s all-around two-way skillset is a picture-perfect match as the fifth starter alongside the teams four All-Stars. We’ve already seen Edgecombe drop 30 points on the road in Boston in the playoffs and be tasked with slowing down some of the best guards the NBA has to offer, so what does growth in his game look like for the 2026-2027 season? Two major areas that will be under the microscope for VJ are his long-range shooting — in particular off the catch — along with his overall growth as an impactful defender in year two.

There will be no shortage of open looks for VJ this year given who accompanies him in the lineup, so a shooting leap would serve him very well as far as making a consistent impact offensively in the halfcourt. The quartet of Edgecombe, Brown, Maxey and LeBron is very likely to be the most devastating four-man lineup in transition in all of basketball, and I’d venture to say probably one of the best ever as there is no shortage of athleticism, speed and hit ahead ability amongst that group.

Defensively, Edgecombe will be tasked most nights with defending the opposing teams’ best guards, something that he did a lot in year one with mixed results. Added strength, a year of experience, as well as a bigger ask to assume this role all should aid in his favor as he looks to be a key cog in what many hope is a memorable season for the Sixers.

pic.twitter.com/oPrigoqxrs

— Will Rucker (@Will_Rucker3_AD) July 27, 2026

Outside of Edgecombe though, the Sixers also have rookie guard Labaron Philon, third-year guys Adem Bona and Justin Edwards, as well as Jabari Walker, and Dominick Barlow, who was a bit of a revelation for much of this past season with the Sixers. All of these guys bring different skillsets to the table, and all will be called upon throughout the coming season to provide and impact off the Sixers bench.

Labaron Philon

Philon could already stake a claim to being the second-best pure passer on the roster as well as the team’s top true PG option off the bench. He’s capable of playing both on and off the ball as he showed throughout his two years at Alabama. Philon carved out a large role as a freshman with the Crimson Tide as a secondary ball handler and pesky perimeter defender playing alongside Alabama PG and All-American Mark Sears. If Philon wants to establish a consistent rotation role in his first season in the NBA, he is going to have to lean on a lot of those same attributes, while also being a source of instant offense and reliable ball handling — two things we know he is overqualified to do.

https://t.co/VMu8sSISvK

— Will Rucker (@Will_Rucker3_AD) June 25, 2026

Adem Bona

Bona is likely to begin the season in a competition to be the Sixers’ primary backup center to Joel Embiid — a role that we all know the vast importance of given Embiid is likely to miss some games to manage his body for the long haul. On paper, Bona is really an ideal fit alongside all of the other Sixers starters. As I touched on earlier, the quartet of Brown, Maxey, Edgecombe and LeBron is going to be one of the deadliest transition forces in the game. Bona is an excellent fit to blend in with that run-and-gun style as there are few if any big men in the NBA that can change ends as fast as Bona can. Bona allows for the Sixers to deploy a variety of different coverages on the defensive end given his ability to move his feet on the perimeter as well as protect the rim.

Main areas of focus for Bona to grow as a player should be his hands on the offensive end and his rebounding on the defensive end, both of which go hand in hand in a way. Bona’s biggest issues offensively come when he is struggling to catch the ball and finish non-dunk attempts around the basket. This also shows up on the glass as effort is never an issue with Bona, but technique and gracefulness in securing the board can be a problem at times. Bona should have plenty of lob and dump off opportunities with the personnel the Sixers have at their disposal. He’s also been in the gym this offseason repping his corner three-point shot, an element of his game that is unforeseen to this point in his NBA career. If he debuts a new willingness and capability to knockdown a perimeter jumper from time to time that could add a new dynamic to both his game and how the Sixers can operate with him on the floor, but I would proceed with cautious optimism.

Even still, Bona is slotted to play a large role on a Sixers team with real championship aspirations and his improvement could go a long way in solidifying the second unit.

Adem Bona 3PT Work😤🔥 pic.twitter.com/JXZi169KUT

— CBain (@cbain100) July 27, 2026

The Philadelphia 76ers have VJ Edgecombe, Labaron Philon, Adem Bona, Dominick Barlow and Caleb Love playing together at the first day of Philly assistant coach Rico Hines’ annual summer runs at UCLA. They are going against a group including Luka Garza, Daeqwon Plowden & J. Juzang pic.twitter.com/likg0kLSC9

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) August 10, 2026

Jabari Walker

Walker has a very clear path to providing value to the Sixers as a bench reserve. His rebounding, which is already a major strong suit in his game, and in his improvement defensively and as a corner three-point shooter should offer a boost. Think P.J. Tucker for what an ideal role for Walker would look like alongside the Sixers stars. The biggest area Walker must improve if he wants to snatch more minutes and a larger role would be defensively as that is the primary area of his game that can be exploited. He’s a bit of a tweener who doesn’t have the vertical or raw size presence of a true big but also not the foot speed of a forward or wing.

Jabari Walker. pic.twitter.com/HCn3iXOrZu

— Will Rucker (@Will_Rucker3_AD) August 13, 2026

Justin Edwards

Edwards is a fellow Klutch sports client along with Walker, James and Maxey. Edwards’ skillset profiles as a typical athletic 3-and-D wing. He didn’t quite have the leap many fans and himself I’m sure were hoping for in year two. Edwards I think will strongly benefit from remaining in a very low usage role and will likely see a big jump in his shot quality, especially playing alongside James and Embiid more in the coming season. Edwards becoming more consistent as a shooter and more impactful as a defender, in particular navigating screens, would serve him and the team well going forward. The hope is that in year three, Edwards can turn his flashes and moments into more consistent game in and game out play when his number is called.

Justin Edwards pic.twitter.com/ybe8OUnFCT

— Will Rucker (@Will_Rucker3_AD) August 13, 2026

Dominick Barlow

The last player I am going to touch on is Barlow. He was a pleasant surprise for the Sixers this past season. Barlow, who started the season with the Sixers on a two-way contract, went on to play in 71 games for the Sixers, including 59 starts, parlaying his promising season into a standard NBA deal which included a second-year team option for this coming season that the Sixers picked up.

Barlow is one of the players that I think most stands to benefit from the addition of James. While Barlow’s minutes might take a hit, his overall play and effectiveness should improve. One of Barlow’s best attributes offensively is that he is a phenomenal cutter and who better at hitting cutters than LeBron James? Barlow is excellent as an off-ball cutter and always moving and at times that wasn’t promptly rewarded this past season. His fit alongside James on both ends of the court is ideal in both the full and halfcourt.

Barlow has been seen throughout this offseason reworking his jump shot, the biggest and most obvious area for improvement in his game. If Barlow can turn himself into a passable three-point shooter and improve in a meaningful way from his 26% three-point stroke, he becomes such a perfect role player for any team but in particular this Sixers team. They could deploy him in a multitude of lineups and in a multitude of ways, whether it’s in small ball looks alongside Dean Wade and James in the frontcourt or in bigger lineups with Wade and Barlow as your forwards and James running the show.

Barlow’s effort, energy, defensive versatility and play finishing made him a stalwart in the Sixers rotation last season. The team would be wise to maximize him as a key reserve this coming season pairing a good chunk of his minutes alongside James and Embiid.

pic.twitter.com/pwQ5yedLg7

— Will Rucker (@Will_Rucker3_AD) July 28, 2026

Dom Barlow with back to back phenomenal posession of isolation defense on Jalen Brunson

— Will Rucker (@Will_Rucker3_AD) May 7, 2026

Dom Barlow has invested a ton of time into growing as a play finisher and corner 3 threat, which is his clearest pathway to a meaningful role on this Sixers team

And you can see that investment paying off here as he attacks the closeout to win the game pic.twitter.com/AqTA1DV8OW

— Point Made Basketball (@pointmadebball) August 11, 2026

With the 2026-2027 NBA schedule released and just a little over two short months until opening night, one of the most highly anticipated seasons in Philadelphia 76ers history is nearly upon us. While the headlines and fanfare will be about the Sixers’ loaded core group, the development and deployment of Edgecombe and the team’s young pieces off the bench could help swing the pendulum and help get them to their desired goal: an NBA championship.

When the Toronto Raptors released their 2026-27 schedule, they also unveiled their NBA Cup schedule and opponents. Since the in-season tournament’s inception during the 2023-24 season, the Toronto Raptors’ track record has been – uninspiring.

To their credit, last year’s team managed to navigate itself into uncharted waters before running into its Big Apple kryptonite.

Raptors NBA Cup historic records:

• 2023: 1-3
• 2024: 1-3
• 2025: 4-1 (lost to the New York Knicks 101-117 in the Knockout stage)

The Raptors’ newfound success in the tournament mirrors a change in perception, particularly with how players and fans view the NBA Cup. The tournament, which was initially met with relentless criticism, particularly during its launch, has slowly garnered credibility and respect. It helps that teams are using it to showcase their long-term ambitions.

It doesn’t get any better than when the New York Knicks played the San Antonio Spurs in the 2025 NBA Cup championship. The high-profile matchup ultimately foreshadowed the NBA Finals, both its participants and eventual winner. This means the 2026 NBA Cup championship has a bit of prestige now. There’s an expectation that the absolute best teams should be there fighting for the crown.

It’s not even about winning the title either. Simply being a participant in the tournament’s endgame sets teams up to be major players in the ensuing playoffs. In 2024, the Oklahoma City Thunder fell in the NBA Cup championship, but ultimately finished as the top seed in the Western Conference before defeating the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals. Before that, the Pacers reached the 2023 NBA Cup championship and battled all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

It’s clear: the NBA Cup is now a litmus test, and it’s something the Raptors must take seriously. If anything, it’ll help the front-office speed up its evaluation of the current roster. The window that Kawhi Leonard creates grants a genuine peek at a Larry O’Brien title that awaits on the other side, but it’s also a small opening that requires urgency.

This year’s group also sets the stage for a manageable road to the NBA Cup championship game. It’s arguably the least competitive collection of opponents, at least according to win percentage. Toronto shouldn’t have a problem dispatching the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. The Orlando Magic have a competitive team that could push the Raptors, but Leonard should push them over the top. The Detroit Pistons obviously present a problem, but if the Raptors are serious about a deep playoff run, then this will be a great opportunity to prove it.

Previous Records

• 2023: Boston (57-25), Orlando (34-48), Chicago (40-42), Brooklyn (45-27) – 0.553 win%
• 2024: Milwaukee (49-33), Detroit (14-68), Miami (46-36), Indiana (47-35) – 0.475 win%
• 2025: Cleveland (64-18), Washington (18-64), Indiana (50-32), Atlanta, (40-42) – 0.524 win%
• 2026: Pistons (60-22), Orlando (45-37), Milwaukee (32-50), Brooklyn (20-62) – 0.478 win%

Warriors' Yaxel Lendeborg receives votes for two NBA rookie superlatives originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors enter the 2026-27 NBA season with a lot to prove after missing the playoffs last season. Yet to sign any new players, Golden State’s roster looks very similar to how it did last season, with the franchise set to rely on aging stars Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler. But rookie Yaxel Lendeborg quickly could prove himself as a pivotal piece, receiving votes for two NBA rookie superlatives ahead of the campaign.

Receiving one vote for lottery pick that will have the biggest impact on winning this season and three votes for which rookie will prove to be the biggest draft steal, Lendeborg’s dominant summer league campaign — where he averaged nearly 15 points per game and won the competition’s MVP award while guiding the Warriors to the title — turned heads.

While the Warriors do not normally utilize rookies on a regular basis, Lendeborg’s track record as a college basketball player and his older age for a rookie, 24-years-old, could force Golden State to play their hand. Helping Michigan win only its second national title in basketball, and being a big part of the team, trying to build around Lendeborg is something the Warriors could consider.

Coming in tied for third on the lottery picks to have the biggest impact on winning this season, Lendeborg joins Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa and Morez Johnson Jr. On the biggest draft steal list, Lendeborg came in second, just behind Brayden Burries, while coming in ranked ahead of Darius Acuff Jr., Caleb Wilson and Kingston Flemings.

Starting his college basketball career playing at the junior college level for Arizona Western in Yuma, Lendeborg transferred to UAB ahead of the 2023-24 season and spent two seasons there before joining Michigan for his final season of eligibility. Flying under the radar for most of his college tenure, Lendeborg’s breakout season for the Wolverines, where he averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds, propelled him into first-round draft pick conversations.

The Warriors face a tough season ahead, but if Lendeborg can step up and be a star from the jump, Golden State could surprise a lot of people and be very competitive in a tough Western Conference.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

The Dallas Mavericks have had a real roller coaster ride over the last few years. First, there was the shocking trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

This did not go over well at all, leading to a near-revolt by Mavs fans.

Then, lightning struck, and Dallas won the lottery and drafted Duke’s Cooper Flagg. Coach Jason Kidd saw greatness in Flagg, and helped him to a superb rookie season, even in the absence of the All-Star point guard, and fellow member of the Brotherhood, Kyrie Irving, who missed last season while recovering from a knee injury.

Dallas hired Masai Ujiri, who fired Kidd and hired Michigan’s Dusty May, and the team set about rebuilding as much as possible, despite limited options.

And now, Irving is set to return, and that changes a lot of things, especially for Flagg.

The two have been working out this summer, and for Dallas, that should be exciting. Irving will obviously be the point guard, but with everything that Flagg learned last year, the Mavericks will functionally have two points.

From the team’s point of view, having these guys work together in the preseason is great. Assuming Dallas doesn’t trade Irving – there’s a solid argument for doing it, but the Mavericks have said that they aren’t interested – they’ll be the fulcrum of the team.

And now, Irving is picking up where Kidd left off, essentially tutoring Flagg on the finer points of NBA play.

With a new coach and up to nine new players, Dallas still has a lot of work to do, but there should be a lot of energy and excitement, and with Irving and Flagg as leaders, things are really looking up.

• Cooper Flagg Trains With Kyrie Irving Ahead of Second Season
• INTERVIEW: John Poulakidas on Shooting Mechanics, Fitting in w/Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg & More
• Cooper Flagg NBA patch reaches $3m bid but owner won’t sell one-of-one card
• “Been able to get in the gym with Kyrie this summer!”
• Flagg’s reflect on ‘super fun’ Family Feud experience
• Cooper Flagg Reveals 3 Things He’s Worked on Entering Second Season With Mavericks
• Mavericks Receive Encouraging Update On Dereck Lively II Heading Into Training Camp

Go to the DBR Boards to find Blue Healer Auctions || Drop us a line

Welcome to Volume I of our “Choose Your Own Adventure” starter series, where we explore the Milwaukee Bucks’ options at each position. Read along, make your choice, and share your pick in the comments—if you dare!

---

As we all know, the Bucks are stacked—overflowing—with guards, but don’t necessarily have many point guards, which could be an issue for a bunch of guys who have no continuity with each other. This group in particular—with it being so young and new—will sorely need guys who can control the pace, get the team into the right sets, and not turn it over. There are interesting cases to be made both for and against basically all of the candidates in terms of how well they will be able to perform not only the role of a guard, but a point guard.

Then again, you can make a case that the classic “point guard” is a position that either doesn’t exist or isn’t valued anymore, and that actually, it is better to have an abundance of combo guards who can pass-dribble-shoot; you know, the jack-of-all-trades type of guys. For this exercise, though, I will narrow this down to who I believe can perform “point guard duties” the best.

---

Go on to OPTION 1.

1. The ice man: Ryan Rollins

Rollins would be most people’s first choice for who should be the Bucks’ starting point guard on opening night—dude’s just a baller, man. While he definitely profiles as more of a combo guard, there is a certain equilibrium of competence in all facets of the game that I feel a player has to reach for them to start—he’s reached that and then some. To my earlier point, Rollins really typifies what the modern point guard has become in the NBA as a guy who, first and foremost, is a threat to shoot and score, which then opens up his ability to pass.

Of course, the argument against Rollins starting at point guard is that he turns it over too much—2.6 per contest last season—but I think that comes with the territory considering how much of an offensive load he had/has to undertake. Like, don’t get me wrong, he has to clean it up, but if that’s his sole focus, it could inadvertently zap the rest of his game. And finally, you at least have to consider that if the Bucks want Rollins—who is surely going to opt out of his player option next summer and become a free agent—to stick around, I’m not sure bringing him off the bench sends the greatest message.

---

If you need someone with a steady hand, choose Rollins. If not, turn to OPTION 2.

2. The Boy Wonder: Tyler Herro

Herro is, of course, the other guard who most folks would presume starts alongside Rollins. And like Rollins, he too is certainly no traditional point guard. To me, while Herro can handle the ball and be a primary option, he possesses fewer point guard attributes than Rollins. Now, Herro did turn it over less than Rollins last year (1.9 to 2.7), so that’s a feather in his cap, but he also recorded fewer assists (4.1 to 5.6), while both had virtually the same usage (right around 25%).

But for the sake of this exercise, let’s say the Bucks do trade Rollins in a deal for Peyton Watson—which I’m not advocating for, to be clear—and you wanted to make Herro the starting point guard, then you’d have to really simplify the offence and remove layers. If not, I think Herro is clearly behind Rollins in the pecking order, and he can be a scoring guard, which seems like the role that suits him best anyway.

---

If you can take a punch, choose Herro. If not, turn to OPTION 3.

3. The divisive one: Kevin Porter Jr.

Assuming Kevin Porter Jr. is actually on the team by the time camp starts, he looms as a smoky to start at PG. You see, KPJ is much more of a natural passer than Rollins and Herro. I alluded to neither of those aforementioned players being “wired to pass” and make instinctive reads; well, Porter can make those reads. He can come off a pick-and-roll, draw the low man as his big rolls to the rim, and hit the opposite corner. He can eyebrow fake to the corner and hit the roller. I mean, 7.4 assists to 2.9 turnovers per game last year isn’t nothing.

Now, none of this means KPJ is a more valuable player than those two. He is way less lineup-malleable because of his shooting concerns—both from an efficiency standpoint and a “that was a really dumb shot” standpoint. He’s also way worse at controlling pace and tempo. Overall, Porter’s game needs to be catered to for it to sing, and that is why I’d bet against him starting.

---

There is no fence with Porter, so if you’re on his side, pick him. If not, turn to OPTION 4.

4. The haggle point: Kasparas Jakucionis

OK, coming off a poor Summer League outing, Jakucionis is clearly the rank outsider in this race. I mean, the 20-year-old first needs to prove he can play consistent minutes and find his niche as an NBA player. But from what he showed in college and from what you hear, I’d bet on him finding that niche in the near future. And think about it: when stacking Jakucionis’ game—or the idealised version of it—up against these other three names, is there not a pretty realistic chance that he actually has the best chance to thrive as a point guard out of all of them?

Maybe not this season, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that in a year or two, Jakucionis is locked in as the Bucks’ point guard of the future. Sure, he lacks explosion, but he showed advanced passing chops at Illinois. On top of that, he’s got a nice stroke and great size, which should allow him to hold up on defence. The template of a productive starting point guard is there—he just doesn’t have the runs on the board as of yet.

If you refuse to leave without getting what you want, choose Jakucionis.

---

QUICK! Make a decision, you’re near the end! If you don’t like these options and have a point to prove to the contrary, pull a rabbit out of your hat and tell us who it is in the comments.

THE END

---

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Washington Wizards fans and fans across the country.

In this week’s survey, we ask whether you think AJ Dybantsa will be the 2026-27 NBA Rookie of the Year. Vote in our survey below!

Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys:

We continue our journey through the Phoenix Suns archives, once again searching for statistical anomalies hidden throughout the organization’s 58-year history.

Two weeks ago, it was free throws. The Suns sit atop the all-time leaderboard with 61 made free throws in a regular-season game and rank second with 80 attempts. For good measure, we also noted that they are tied for first in free throws made in a playoff game with 57.

Today, we’re heading to the other end of the spectrum.

Make no mistake about it, the Phoenix Suns are not an organization with a long history of elite rebounders. If I asked you to name the top three rebounding seasons in franchise history based on rebounds per game, could you get all three right? Probably not. It’s something I wrote about three summers ago, and it remains true today. Among the NBA’s 30 teams, the Suns rank 25th in the highest single-season rebounding average in franchise history.

PLAYER	SEASON	RPG
Paul Silas	1971	12.5
Neal Walk	1973	12.4
Charles Barkley	1993	12.2
Paul Silas	1972	11.9
Curtis Perry	1975	11.9
Shawn Marion	2006	11.8
Charles Barkley	1996	11.6
Shawn Marion	2005	11.3
Charles Barkley	1994	11.2
Charles Barkley	1995	11.1

To find the game in which the Phoenix Suns grabbed the most rebounds in franchise history, you have to go all the way back to December 10, 1969, when they defeated the Baltimore Bullets, 137-107. This was before offensive and defensive rebounds were tracked separately, so only total rebounds were recorded. The Suns finished with 77 of them, led by franchise great Paul Silas, who corralled 16. Jim Fox added 15, Neal Walk had 13, and Connie Hawkins finished with 11.

Phoenix grabbed 76 rebounds against the Seattle SuperSonics in March 1972 and reached 75 a couple of times in 1971. What’s interesting is that 29 of the 30 best rebounding games in franchise history occurred between 1968 and 1973. The lone exception came in December 1988, when the Suns grabbed 70 against the Denver Nuggets.

Yes, the NBA was much different back then. It still shows that the Suns haven’t been an elite rebounding team in more than 50 years. That’s right. If you rank every franchise by its highest single-season rebounding average, the Phoenix Suns come in 26th, thanks to Paul Silas’s performance in 1971.

PLAYER	TEAM	SEASON	RPG
Wilt Chamberlain	GSW	1961	27.2
Bill Russell	BOS	1964	24.7
Wilt Chamberlain	PHI	1966	24.6
Jerry Lucas	SAC	1966	21.1
Wilt Chamberlain	LAL	1969	21.1
Bob Petit	ATL	1961	20.3
Walt Bellany	WAS	1962	19.0
Dennis Rodman	DET	1992	18.7
Mel Daniels	IND	1971	18.0
Moses Malone	HOU	1979	17.6
Dennis Rodman	SAS	1994	17.3
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	MIL	1972	16.6
Dennis Rodman	CHI	1997	16.1
Walt Bellany	NYK	1966	16.0
Truck Robinson	UTA	1978	15.7
DeAndre Jordan	LAC	2018	15.2
Kevin Love	MIN	2011	15.2
Dwight Howard	ORL	2012	14.5
Bill Walton	POR	1977	14.4
Hassan Whiteside	MIA	2017	14.1
Nikola Jokic	DEN	2022	13.8
DeAndre Jordan	DAL	2019	13.7
Jayson Williams	BKN	1998	13.6
Spencer Haywood	OKC	1974	13.4
DeMarcus Cousin	NOP	2018	12.9
Paul Silas	PHX	1971	12.5
Jonas Valanciunas	MEM	2021	12.5
Dwight Howard	CHO	2018	12.5
Carlos Boozer	CLE	2004	11.4
Chris Bosh	TOR	2010	10.8

That isn’t necessarily the statistical anomaly, though. What further fortifies the point is where the best rebounding game in Suns history ranks among every game ever played. The NBA record is 112 rebounds, set by the Boston Celtics on Christmas Eve in 1960. Bill Russell grabbed 29 himself.

So where do the Suns land? Their franchise record of 77 rebounds ranks 405th all time. Take that in for a second. There have been 404 games in which a team grabbed more rebounds than the best rebounding performance in Phoenix Suns history. Point fortified.

The Suns have historically been a poor rebounding team.

Paul Silas' 12.5 RPG in 1971 ranks just 26th among franchise single-season rebounding leaders.

The franchise record for rebounds in a game? 77 on Dec. 10, 1969. Where does that rank in NBA history? 405th all-time. pic.twitter.com/0aRaWfHDXT

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) August 4, 2026

The anomaly isn’t that the Suns once grabbed 77 rebounds in a game. It’s that 77 stands as their best ever. For a franchise that has existed for nearly six decades, the absence of dominant rebounding seasons is almost as remarkable as any individual record. Some organizations become known for defense, others for shooting or star power. Historically, rebounding has never been part of the Suns’ identity, and the numbers tell that story better than any memory ever could.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen feud felt so distant and settled that the announcement that they would introduce their 2008 championship head coach Doc Rivers at his Hall of Fame induction didn’t immediately stand out as significant. That’s until the visuals of them arriving, joining together and sitting in a row behind Rivers emerged from the ceremony over the weekend. That’ll last forever, along with the lasting memory of the four as Celtics champions.

“It’s everything. I wouldn’t be here without Boston, without coming to Boston, without Danny Ainge believing in my coaching from the start,” Rivers told CLNS Media/CelticsBlog in Connecticut on Friday.

“There’s no way I would be here. Kevin and Paul and Ray and all those guys. Listen, you see all these great teams being put together and most people don’t win with them. You need guys to buy in, and I had the greatest group, those guys in particular, they were the Big Three, they bought into me and I really believe that’s why we had such quick success. When that all got together, people said we’re gonna have to wait a year and then you’ll have a chance. None of them believed that and neither did I.”

As inevitable as Saturday’s reunion felt following the thawing of the rift between Garnett and Allen in particular which began when Allen attended Garnett’s Celtics jersey retirement in 2022, the likelihood of them all returning to Boston feeling so connected to the Celtics and each other wasn’t certain before that.

Rivers’ own Boston exit didn’t happen cleanly before up-and-down stints between the Clippers and the 76ers, where he battled the Celtics head-on in the playoffs. We all remember Rivers and Daryl Morey’s lament over the 2023 playoff officiating trying to gain favor going into Game 7. A controversial rise to the head coaching position in Milwaukee after that marked the end of the Giannis Antetokounmpo era there. Rivers, whose coaching record became more scrutinized in recent years, always found love in his return to Boston.

The same goes for Pierce, who’s faced personal challenges and a castoff from the ESPN spotlight across the last decade. He found his way home after traveling through Brooklyn, Washington and LA when Joe Mazzulla began prioritizing having Celtics legends around the team more regularly early in his coaching tenure.

Garnett, whose legacy splits between Minnesota and Boston, will receive a long overdue ceremony to retire his Wolves uniform this season when the Celtics visit on Feb. 28. Debate remains about retiring Allen’s No. 20 in Boston, since worn by Gordon Hayward, Jabari Parker, Mo Wagner and JD Davison, but few critique his Celtics credentials anymore. The TD Garden crowd showered Allen in adoration during a BYU-UConn game there last fall before telling CLNS he doesn’t think about the jersey retirement anymore.

Nonetheless, Saturday’s reunion seemed to put all that individual history aside. “It was a goal, I could tell you that,” Rivers told CLNS/CelticsBlog. “I’m a big believer, and I’m gonna say this in my speech, but I think when you win it, you do have a blood transfusion. You should be together for life. Those three in particular have had their ups-and-downs, and the fact that they all three agreed to be together on the stage and have dropped the BS, is the way I’d like to put it, is just absolutely amazing. It may be my last great coaching feat, getting them together, but it wasn’t hard. That’s what was so shocking. All three of them, immediately, I called separately, and they all were quick to be added.”

Rivers focused on relationships in his speech, the bond that 2008 team shared beginning with an expletive-laced reaction by Garnett to their preseason duck boat ride starting at 8 a.m., where they manifested the championship. He continued to reflect on the importance of the training camp in Rome and how it created chemistry early.

Rivers managed the Big Three feud, his own up-and-down relationship with Rajon Rondo, who also attended on Saturday after spending recent seasons on Rivers’ Milwaukee coaching staff and increased scrutiny of his coaching record through playoff disappointments with the Clippers, 76ers and Bucks. Yet he put the spiel about about his excuses, which have become infamous, aside to focus on the people around him. His coaching staffs which included Tom Thibodeau and Sam Cassell in attendance, his wife, children and brother Grady, who emotionally sat on camera while Rivers neared tears remembering their late parents. De’Andre Jordan and James Harden also attended the ceremony.

That, more than any coaching feat, gained Rivers the endearment that expanded far beyond the basketball world. His famous voice, massive personality and spirited outspokenness on social issues made him an American icon as much as a basketball one. He became one of the league’s leading voices through the George Floyd protests, the Bubble and Kobe Bryant’s death. Rivers’ final trip as a head coach to Boston this spring fittingly featured his passionate defense of his criticism of ICE.

“Back to basketball,” he quipped after the back-and-forth with a reporter about the subject. “But life is more important, as you guys know.”

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place at Symphony Hall in Springfield, a tiny downtown with the Hall at its heart. Watching Harden stroll down a side street to shock and applause, women’s basketball royalty lining the sidewalk and Garnett walking out of the 2,600-seat venue like he, Allen Iverson and Dwyane Wade were leaving a high school graduation was a basketball dream. These figures, Joey Crawford among them, helped shape 2000s basketball and anyone who grew up watching them.

They’re now history, Carmelo Anthony headlining last year’s class and Rivers predicting Rondo will join one soon. It struck me for a moment what the venue, with a sparse group of reporters present and many empty seats in the balcony, would look like when LeBron James enters one day.

Amar’e Stoudamire also entered the Hall of Saturday, as did Mike D’Antoni, Elena Delle Donne, the 1996 US Women’s national team that featured Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie. Mark Few, Chamique Holdsclaw and Candace Parker also received inductions, Parker and Rivers sharing their love for their native Chicago throughout the weekend. The list raised annual debates about the standard for reaching Springfield, but when the memories began flowing and the magnitude of what some of the names meant to the game, and the feeling around it, nobody complained in attendance.

And the huddle Pierce, Garnett, Allen and Rivers shared after will live forever.

“My mom was right, I’m right where I’m supposed to be,” Rivers wrapped. “Ubuntu.”

Kyle Korver is a revered figured as part of the Atlanta Hawks franchise. During a 4.5 season career here, he was one of the most feared shooters in the league, helping the Hawks reach the Eastern Conference finals while being named an All-Star for the only time in his career in 2014-15.

After retiring from his playing career, he joined the Hawks front office as a director of player affairs and development in 2022. The next calendar year, he was promoted to the position of assistant general manager, a title he holds until this day.

But news broke on Monday that after four years in an executive role, Korver will be looking elsewhere in his career. This by word of Marc Stein of the Stein Line substack blog:

NEWS: Hawks assistant GM Kyle Korver is leaving the franchise after four years in Atlanta's front office, @TheSteinLine has learned.

I'm told Korver, who also had an All-Star season as a Hawk, parts on good terms and has expressed excitement about his next post-playing chapter. pic.twitter.com/XGnlXroJTZ

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 17, 2026

This was later confirmed by Brad Rowland of the Locked on Hawks podcast:

As Brad pointed out, the move means two top executives will have left this offseason, so the organization will have work to do in replacing their important contributions.

The NBA released its 2026-27 schedule, and multiple games will be played inside college arenas. Three games are scheduled to take place on college campuses, bringing NBA basketball to new cities and unique venues. The Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets will play at Colorado’s CU Events Center, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Indiana Pacers will play at Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum, and the NBA Cup Final will be played inside Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The NBA Cup has been played in Las Vegas over the last few seasons, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wants to bring the league to iconic college basketball venues.

Hilton Coliseum is one of the best venues in college basketball, and it will be packed for the preseason game on Oct. 7.The Pacers will head to Ames, Iowa, for a Tyrese Haliburton homecoming. Haliburton played for the Cyclones for two seasons before declaring for the NBA Draft following his 2019-20 sophomore season. He was a Second-Team All-Big 12 selection and was selected No. 12 overall by the Kings after averaging 15.2 points per game.

The Denver Nuggets should also attract people living in Boulder who would like to attend an NBA game. University of Colorado graduates and residents of Boulder will likely fill the 11,064-seat arena.

The NBA has an opportunity to capitalize on this idea and continue bringing NBA games to college arenas. The State Farm Center would be a great place to host a Bulls, Timberwolves, Bucks, Wizards or Clippers game. Champaign residents would get the opportunity to see their in-state NBA team or a former Illini play at the next level in their backyard.

The Bulls and Timberwolves are scheduled to play a preseason game on Friday, Oct. 16, and that would be the perfect opportunity for an NBA game to come to the State Farm Center. Many people in Champaign are Bulls fans, while the Timberwolves have two iconic former Illini in Ayo Dosunmu and Terrence Shannon Jr.

Dosunmu was traded to the Timberwolves last season and is expected to have a major role on the team next season. Shannon Jr. has not played as much at the NBA level, but he should have an increased role next season.

Ayo and TSJ could return to the arena where their jerseys hang in the rafters to play against Caleb Wilson and the Bulls. The game would likely sell out and give a preseason matchup some extra juice that it otherwise might not have.