Category: NBA

Miles “Deuce” McBride enters the 2026-27 season as the longest-tenured New York Knicks player following Mitchell Robinson’s exit and he’s surely turned into an important contributor for the reigning champs after averaging a career-high 12.0 points while shooting 41.3% from three last season.

According to SNY’s Ian Begley, the Knicks and McBride’s representatives have remained in regular contact, but New York’s financial situation could make a long-term extension difficult.

“This one is tricky because Miles McBride has definitely earned a raise,” Begley reported. “He’s outplayed his contract (3 years, $13 million) by a significant amount.”

"It's worth noting that the Knicks and McBride’s representatives have been in regular contact ahead of the season. In a perfect world, those conversations would produce a multi-year extension for McBride."

Knicks Mailbag: What's Miles McBride's future in New York? (via… pic.twitter.com/FbZdlU4S7F

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 10, 2026

McBride is entering the final season of that contract. Begley noted Knicks owner James Dolan’s mandate not to exceed the NBA’s $221 million second apron this season as the major roadblock for reaching such an agreement.

Potential extensions for Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart and eventually Jalen Brunson will inevitably increase the money committed to New York’s starting lineup, and McBride looks like the one set to absorb most of the collateral damage — assuming all parties find a way for him to stay.

“So there isn’t much financial wiggle room for a McBride extension,” Begley reported.

In a promising updated and despite the constraints, neither side has given up on the possibility of extending their relationship.

“In a perfect world, those conversations would produce a multi-year extension for McBride,” Begley reported. “The longest-tenured Knick, McBride loves New York, loves his teammates; he was an integral part of this team’s rise.”

We all know the alternative, as harsh and hard to stomach it might be: trading Deuce before next year’s deadline. That said, there’s no doubt McBride is one of (if not the absolute best) the lague’s most valuable sixth-man trade chips and would attract significant interest from other teams.

“We’re certainly not there yet,” Begley reported. “But logic tells you that’s where things could be headed.”

For now, McBride is set to enter the season with New York with one year left on his deal and a date we’ll all remember no matter what ends up happening circled in his calendar: ring night in late-October.

Dwight Howard’s retirement didn’t last long.

It didn’t even last a year.

Six months after announcing that he was stepping away from basketball, the Basketball Hall of Fame center — inducted in 2025 — is returning to the court for another stop in an increasingly well-traveled post-NBA career.

Howard, who turns 41 in December, will be joining Black Fortress Tbilisi in the Georgian Super League.

No, not the same Georgia where the Atlanta native is from, but the Georgia across the Atlantic, home to — among others — Magic center Goga Bitadze and Lakers forward Sandro Mamukelashvili.

And yes, Howard is aware of the Georgia connection.

“Georgia, I’ll be on my way! Not my hometown, Atlanta, Georgia, but Tbilisi, Georgia!” Howard wrote in the caption of the post announcing his signing.

“I saw all your flags in the comments on my last post and decided that’s where we should take the journey!”

Black Fortress earned promotion to the country’s top division after previously competing in the second tier.

The GSL is far from being considered one of the premier overseas leagues, a list including Liga ACB in Spain, Serie A in Italy, the NBL in Australia and the French LNB Elite, among others.

Still, Howard will join the GSL as he continues to play pro basketball into his 40s.

“I’m coming here to spread the game of basketball, the game that I love,” Howard said in Thursday’s video. “I cannot wait to start with the Black Fortress team, baby. Hey, we breaking everything down.”

Howard announced his retirement from basketball in March, saying he wanted to step away from the game and devote more time to his family.

It continues a lengthy basketball journey for Howard since his final NBA season with the Lakers in 2021-22.

Howard joined the Taoyuan Leopards of Taiwan’s T1 League for the 2022-23 season, averaging 23.2 points, 16.2 rebounds and five assists per game.

He later played for the Philippines-based Strong Group Athletics in the 2024 Dubai International Basketball Championship and joined the Taiwan Mustangs in the Asian Tournament later that year.

Howard also signed with the Mets de Guaynabo of Puerto Rico’s Baloncesto Superior Nacional in 2024, although he never appeared in a game for the league.

His stateside basketball career continued in 2025 when he joined the Los Angeles Riot of Ice Cube’s BIG3.

Howard was selected first overall by the Magic in the 2004 NBA Draft and spent 18 seasons in the league, earning eight All-Star selections and eight All-NBA honors.

At his peak, he was one of the best players in the league and the focal point of the Magic’s 2008-09 team that made the NBA Finals.

He won three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards from 2009 through 2011 and was named All-Defense on five occasions, including four first-team honors from 2009 to 2012.

The season hasn’t even begun, and the Suns are already dealing with unfortunate injury news. We learned today that Mark Williams suffered a torn left labrum during a scrimmage, and there is currently no timetable for his return.

This injury will have Mark Williams out several months from what I am told. There is no timetable on his return at this point. https://t.co/gSzu7Gc456

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) September 11, 2026

Can I get a Homer Simpson “Doh!” from the crowd? Pop open a Duff beer and absorb the fact that for a team that needs health to compete successfully in the Western Conference, this is a significant blow. Phoenix will now be without its starting center for an undetermined amount of time before the season has even tipped off. I guess it’s better that he misses the first half than the second half, right?

Mark Williams has always carried questions about his ability to stay healthy, and this injury is only going to fan the flames of that narrative. For a player who signed a three-year, $38 million contract this offseason, the timing is brutal. From Williams’ perspective, however, there is at least some security. He got the contract. Phoenix committed to him. Now the focus has to shift away from the narrative surrounding his health and toward getting back on the floor.

So what does this mean for the Suns moving forward?

First and foremost, it completely changes a topic I wrote about earlier this week, when I called Phoenix’s center depth one of the more underrated aspects of the roster. Maybe this one is on me, and for that, I am sorry. Goodbye optionality, hello testing of the depth.

The one advantage here, if you want to call it that, is that Williams was projected to be the fifth option offensively. Phoenix wasn’t building the offense around him, which makes this injury easier to absorb than it would be if he were the team’s primary, secondary, or even tertiary scoring option. His role was going to be complementary. Create extra possessions on the offensive glass, finish putbacks, set some screens, roll hard, and provide a vertical threat around the rim. That was his destiny. So while losing Williams is far from ideal, it isn’t a death blow for Phoenix.

The biggest beneficiary of this situation is sophomore center Khaman Maluach. The 10th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft is going to get his chance. He flashed this summer in Las Vegas, and based on what he showed from a development and productivity standpoint, there were already questions about how the Suns would begin integrating him into the rotation and giving him more opportunities to grow. Well, the door is wide open now. Time for the 7’2” center to walk on through it.

There will be an adjustment period for Khaman and for the fan base. As Maluach puts more tape out there, opposing teams will learn how to attack what he does well and where he remains vulnerable. Expectations must be tempered accordingly, but the tools are obvious and provide a basis for excitement. He has size, rim protection, screening, rim running, and the potential to stretch the floor.

The bigger question is how Jordan Ott decides to structure the rotation. Does Oso Ighodaro step directly into the starting role vacated by Williams? Or does Maluach get the opportunity right away? There probably isn’t an answer yet. Training camp and preseason should help dictate how Phoenix handles it.

My assumption is that Ott would lean toward starting Oso because of how connective he is offensively. Oh, and Ott adored Oso last season and his skillset. His screening, ball-handling, ability to facilitate from the five, and quick decision-making allow him to raise the level of the players around him. On a team where center is an ancillary position, that kind of connectivity can be extremely valuable with the starters.

But there’s another side to that argument. Those same attributes also make Oso an ideal backup big because he can help organize the second unit and elevate the players around him. His ability to keep possessions flowing could make the bench more productive and efficient. 

And maybe the starters don’t need as much help creating offense. Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and Miles Bridges already give Phoenix plenty of creation. That group may benefit more from having Maluach next to them because he brings a completely different set of skills.  He may not be as switchable on the perimeter as Oso, but his length and rim deterrence can give Phoenix’s perimeter defenders more freedom to gamble. His size should also make him a positive rebounder on both ends, creating extra possessions and fitting directly into the philosophy Jordan Ott established last season.

That is the decision Phoenix now has to make. Do you use Oso’s connectivity to make the starters even cleaner offensively, or do you let Maluach’s size and defensive presence complement what those four already do well?

My guess is there will be a transition period. Oso Ighodaro probably starts the season at center as the Suns try to stabilize the offense, while Maluach comes off the bench and Phoenix gets a better look at what he can handle against NBA competition. 

But at some point, I think it’s in the Suns’ best interest to flip that switch. Give Maluach the reins. Let him play through mistakes, learn what works, learn what doesn’t, and find out how quickly his tools can translate into consistent production. Then you can move Oso back into a role where his connectivity can strengthen the second unit. The rotations will fluctuate regardless. Jordan Ott will have opportunities to build different combinations depending on what a game requires, whether that’s more shooting and spacing, more size and rebounding, or more athleticism and pace.

Losing Williams is not ideal. But it does force the organization to accelerate Maluach’s development. And that is where the stakes become more interesting. The Suns are no longer developing him entirely on their own timetable. They may need him now. That means the organization has to find the balance between giving a 20-year-old enough responsibility to grow without asking him to become something he isn’t ready to be.

The challenge will be avoiding overreactions in either direction. If Maluach struggles for a few games, that doesn’t mean he isn’t ready. If he dominates for a week, that doesn’t mean he has arrived. Development isn’t linear. There will be highs. There will be lows. There will be nights where he looks like the future and others where he looks every bit like a 20-year-old center still learning the NBA.

What Williams’ injury does is guarantee that we’re going to learn more about Maluach much sooner than expected. And that fits into the larger evaluation taking place this season. Phoenix isn’t only trying to win games. The Suns are also figuring out which young players can become legitimate pieces of the future while evaluating Jalen Green and what his own long-term place in the organization looks like.

Maluach was always going to be part of that process. Now he may be one of the most important parts of it.

With it being the 25th anniversary of the 911 attacks, people around the world remember the people who were lost that day and honor the heroes who sacrifice their lives not only that day but every day of the year. Organizations across the city, including the Houston Rockets, took part in events celebrating the role first responders play in our everyday lives.

The Rockets have held events for several years to show their appreciation for 911 Dispatchers, firefighters, police, and all first responders across the city. Last year, the Rockets visited the Tunnel to Towers Foundation to serve lunch to military veterans on Patriot Day.

For the 25th anniversary, the Rockets, Houston Comets, and Toyota Center staff will visit the remaining Houston Police Department and Houston Fire Department stations to deliver T-shirts, collectibles, premium snacks, and complimentary tickets to an upcoming Rockets home game.

On Saturday, the Rockets will support the 9/11 Heroes Run hosted by the Travis Manion Foundation. For today’s event: Rockets General Manager Rafael Stone, Head Coach Ime Udoka, Rockets Guard Reed Sheppard, Rockets Forward Jae’Sean Tate, Bruce Thornton, Bogdan Boganovich, and Rockets Chief Operating Officer Ryan Tanke all visited the Houston Police Department – South Central Substation and the Houston Fire Station 8.

During the event, the media spoke with each individual about what this day means to them and the upcoming season. The DreamShake asked Stone how much better the bench will be this season with the additions of Boganovich and Marcus Smart.

Rafael Stone talked about the veterans brought in this past offseason but also spoke what will ultimately determine the Rockets success this season.

“Our team only gets to where we want to get if our younger players continue to really improve so the onus is still on them.” pic.twitter.com/vWGCqtxohS

— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) September 11, 2026

The Rockets were a bottom-five team in the league in bench scoring, which forced them to rely heavily on their starters, particularly Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson. Stone and the coaching staff hope they have improved that part of the team so there isn’t so much pressure on the starting five.

Stone also said it is good to have veterans on the team, but ultimately it comes down to the young players.

Rafael Stone talked about the veterans brought in this past offseason but also spoke what will ultimately determine the Rockets success this season.

“Our team only gets to where we want to get if our younger players continue to really improve so the onus is still on them.” pic.twitter.com/vWGCqtxohS

— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) September 11, 2026

Udoka also spoke with the media about what this day means to him and the organization, and how it felt to see his floor general, Fred VanVleet, back on the court.

Here Ime Udoka talks about seeing Fred VanVleet back on the court.

“It’s great in the last month or so he has really ramped it up in San Diego doing his rehab.” pic.twitter.com/nx9v2hPZki

— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) September 11, 2026

VanVleet missed all of last season after suffering a season-ending injury right before training camp during an offseason team workout. The Rockets spent all season trying to make up for the loss of their point guard but never replicated what VanVleet brought to the team. Now, with VanVleet’s return, the Rockets hope he is the missing piece they need to take the next step this upcoming season.

Reed Sheppard, Jae’Sean Tate, and rookie Bruce Thornton also spoke to the media about what it feels like to support first responders around the city, especially on September 11th. They also talked about the upcoming season and how excited they are to get it started.

The Rockets’ next big event is media day and training camp, which should take place in the next few weeks. The Rockets play their first preseason game on October 9th as they travel to China to take on the Dallas Mavericks in back-to-back games, then finish their preseason on October 15 against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Toyota Center.

Greetings, Panthers fans. Welcome to the weekend.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-football sports, you name it. As long as it’s allowed by the site’s ToS, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread

The Atlanta Hawks are beginning to trim down their roster towards an eventual list of 15 names plus three two-way names. The team had 16 guaranteed contracts as of early Friday afternoon.

But now, per a report from Jake Fischer of Yahoo and the Stein Line substack blog, Atlanta has chosen to part ways with a player they acquired this very offseason:

The Atlanta Hawks are waiving former lottery pick Devin Carter, according to league sources.

— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) September 11, 2026

Devin Carter, a guard drafted in the lottery just two offseasons ago, came to the Hawks with a 2033 second-round pick, so it’s clear that move was primarily made to take on the future asset.

Carter is on the books in 2026-27 for around $5.2 million that the Hawks will eat assuming that he goes unclaimed on the waiver wire.

The Lakers’ front office makeover continued on Friday. 

The team announced it hired Keith D’Amelio as the franchise’s director of integrated performance systems, in addition to making the already-known hiring of Eric Amsler as an assistant general manager official. 

D’Amelio and Amsler’s are the Lakers’ first major hires since Mark Walter agreed to sell the majority ownership of the Lakers to businessman Josh Kushner and ex-Disney executive Bob Iger at the historic valuation of $12.5 billion.

“Continuing to invest in and strengthen our basketball operations group is a top priority as we build for the long-term success of our team and players,” Lakers president of basketball operations/general manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “Eric and Keith bring a wealth of experience that will add valuable expertise across our organization. Eric is a highly respected talent evaluator with an extensive background in scouting and player personnel, while Keith brings a unique perspective at the intersection of athlete health, performance, sport science and technology. We are excited to welcome them both to the Lakers.”

D’Amelio, who most recently worked for the New York Liberty, has over 25 years of experience across professional and collegiate sports in athlete health, performance, sport science and innovation.

D’Amelio was most recently the Liberty’s chief innovation officer, working across the WNBA franchise’s basketball operations, health and performance, analytics and applied science. 

Before working for the Liberty, he spent 13 years at Nike, in addition to having roles with the Stanford’s men’s basketball team, the Raptors and Celtics.

Amsler’s official title with the Lakers is assistant general manager, player personnel. 

He spent 22 years in the Heat organization, starting as an intern in 2004-05 before working his way up to various other roles, including being the Heat’s vice president of player personnel before joining the Lakers.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, a day that changed the course of history and reshaped society as we know it. For those who know 9/11 only as a chapter in a history book, understand that it was a line of demarcation. There was life before September 11, and life after it. 

Anyone who lived through that day remembers where they were, what they were doing, and the feeling that something had permanently changed. I was a freshman at Scottsdale Community College at the time and remember sitting at a bench on campus, attempting to comprehend what happened and what it meant moving forward. It’s hard to believe a quarter of a century has passed since those tragic and horrific events, and the repercussions are still felt today, whether we always recognize them or not.

September 11 carries another anniversary for me, a much more personal one. It was the day I graduated from Basic Combat Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in 2003. After struggling through two years of community college, I joined the United States Army because guys my age were doing something meaningful, serving and defending the country, while I felt like some jackass without direction, purpose, or structure.

The Army gave me structure. There was an order to things. A cadence to every day. Wake up. PT. DFAC. Training. MREs. More training. DFAC. Shine your boots. Go to bed. Then wake up and do it again. I didn’t fully appreciate the structure being drilled into me during those hot, humid days in Missouri, or Misery, as I still like to call it. But that structure became a cornerstone of my life.

That cadence is still with me today. And, strange as it sounds, you can see some of it in the way we approach SunsRank. Like life in the military, an NBA season has rhythm. Structure. An order of operations. Here at Bright Side, SunsRank is part of that cadence. 

Before the season starts, we rank the entire roster from top to bottom based on who we believe the best players are at that exact moment. It becomes a snapshot of our collective thinking before anything real happens. Then come the player previews. Then Media Day. Training camp. Preseason. And finally, the season itself. That’s the structure. That’s the order of things.

Before we reveal the final preseason SunsRank tomorrow, I wanted to first show how the writing staff views this roster. These are the voices who will help narrate the 2026–27 Phoenix Suns, and these rankings represent their baseline for how they see each player and where they fit within the hierarchy of the roster.

Here are our rankings.

	Voita	Brandon	Holden	Bruce	Luke	Mark	Tom	Kevin	Justin
Devin Booker	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Dillon Brooks	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	3
Jalen Green	2	3	4	3	3	6	2	3	2
Miles Bridges	4	4	3	4	4	3	4	4	4
Collin Gillespie	6	6	5	5	5	4	5	5	5
Jordan Goodwin	7	7	6	7	7	5	6	7	8
Mark Williams	5	5	7	6	6	10	9	8	6
Luke Kennard	8	8	8	8	9	9	10	9	10
Oso Ighodaro	10	10	10	9	10	7	7	6	9
Khaman Malauch	9	9	9	10	8	8	8	10	7
Rasheer Fleming	11	12	11	11	11	11	12	11	11
Koa Peat	12	11	12	15	13	14	13	12	13
Ryan Dunn	14	14	15	12	14	13	11	13	12
Haywood Highsmith	16	16	14	14	12	12	14	14	15
Jamaree Bouyea	13	15	13	13	15	16	15	16	14
Pat Spencer	15	13	16	16	16	15	16	15	16
CJ Huntley	17	17	17	17	18	17	18	18	18
Koby Brea	18	18	18	18	17	18	17	17	17

You’ll notice that some writers are higher on certain players, while others are clearly lower. That’s a good reminder that SunsRank is built around a subjective question. Who is better than whom? There isn’t always a clean answer.

So after looking through the rankings, I identified a few of the larger deviations from the group and asked each writer to explain why they had certain players higher or lower than everyone else.

---

Mark, you had Jalen Green ranked 6th on the roster, which feels a little lower than where most people might expect him to land. What kept him from cracking your top five?

Mark Bowser: I viewed the rank as a question of value, which, to me, needs to consider production per dollar of contract amount. Right now, Gillespie and even Goodwin have shown more value per dollar and greater availability. This could obviously change as the season progresses. If Jalen shows he can facilitate, pound the rock and turnover less, continue to produce rim pressure and threes — and do it for 75+ games — then he might rise to #2 on my list.

Brandon, you were the highest on Koa Peat, putting him 11th in your rankings. What is it about Peat, whether it’s his upside, versatility, or potential role, that made you more bullish on him than the rest of the staff?

I believe Peat’s body is NBA-ready, and he brings a lot of what the Suns don’t have at the forward position. He is a bruiser. He is physical. He plays with toughness, and plays with an edge. He can handle the ball, make plays for others, and finish at or around the rim. I view his transition to the NBA as a seamless one, and believe many will look back and wonder how he fell as far as he did. He may not get minutes right away, but by the end of the year, it’s easy to envision him being an impact player, at whatever role he is assigned.

Holden, you were the lowest on Ryan Dunn, placing him 15th. After everything we saw from him last season, what caused him to slide that far down your SunsRank ballot?

Holden Sherman: Once Rasheer Fleming started to get more playing time, Dunn became unplayable. His inability to space the floor and his lack of progression on the offensive end renders him unplayable when Phoenix is playing a center or forward that can’t space the floor.

Tom, you came in on the lower end with Mark Williams, ranking him 9th. Is that more about concerns with Williams himself, or are there simply other players on this roster you value more heading into the season?

Tom Mildenberger: Any discussion about Mark Williams has to start and end with availability. 60 games were a jump, but he wasn’t available when we needed him the most in the postseason. Beyond that, I’m not super high on his impact.

He’s a legit 7-foot starting center, but despite his Go-Go-Gadget arms, he’s not a great rim protector, nor is he a plus rebounder for his position. Those are two things the Suns are going to need more from at the center. It’s really easy to compare him to Deandre Ayton as they are physically very similar players, but Mark Williams production has never surpassed the Ayton line. A lot of that may be due to inconsistencies with health, and I’m not completely out on Mark Williams potential, but until I see a rise in blocks and ten rebounds a game, the Western Conference playoff teams feature a lot of good centers.

Right now, I see Mark Williams as an average center when he’s on the court.

Kevin, you have Oso Ighodaro at 6th, easily the highest ranking among the staff. What do you see in his game and his potential role that made you willing to put him that high?

Kevin Humphreys: Last season, Oso Ighodaro played in all 82 games and earned the trust of Jordan Ott to close out games for the Suns. His switching ability on defense and his connectivity on offense are unique to the roster. With score-first players like Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and Miles Bridges all playing significant minutes, the Suns will need connectors on the floor, which is where Ighodaro will slide in and be a valuable asset to the team. If Maluach’s ability to stretch the floor is legit and they can play together in the second unit… look out. Despite having Mark Williams and Maluach on the roster, I expect to see Ighodaro closing games again this season because of his high basketball IQ.

Bruce, you’re the high man on Jamaree Bouyea, ranking him 13th. What has he shown you that makes you think he deserves a little more respect in the SunsRank hierarchy?

Bruce Veliz: Bouyea gets the 13th ranking as he has proved last year that if he gets an opportunity, he can make the most of it. The big question revolving around that this season, though, is whether he will still get those opportunities with a deeper roster this year.

Bouyea is someone to me who could make a rotation if all the stars align for him, and that could become a possibility here in Phoenix.

---

Who do you align with most? Which writer shares a similar methodology, ranking philosophy, and overall SunsRank with you? Maybe that’s the writer you’ll find yourself agreeing with throughout the season because your perceptions of the team are similar. Or maybe you’ll identify a writer or two who are consistently higher or lower on certain players than you are.

That’s part of the point. Our goal has always been to provide a complete, holistic picture of the Phoenix Suns, not clickbait designed purely to shock and awe. Because if history has taught us anything, shock and awe campaigns tend to be heavy on noise and light on substance.

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Kawhi Leonard expects to rejoin the Raptors, seven years after leaving the franchise in free agency for the Clippers.

The Clippers and Raptors have had a trade agreement in place to send Leonard back to Toronto for 2 ½ months.

And yet, as of Friday, Leonard was officially on the Clippers’ roster, with there being uncertainty of when the Raptors will acquire him.

That uncertainty has been brought back to the forefront in light of federal prosecutors opening a criminal investigation into the Clippers over allegations the team circumvented the NBA’s salary cap for Leonard.

On June 30, two months before the NBA announced the penalties for the Clippers’ violations of the league’s salary cap rules by “initiating off-court income opportunities” for Leonard with four different companies, the Clippers agreed to trade Leonard to the Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round draft picks (2031 and 2033), a 2027 first-round pick swap and two second-round picks. 

The trade was put on hold on July 9 amidst the NBA’s investigation of the Clippers-Leonard scandal, with the Raptors stating it was going to wait until the league’s investigation was complete since they would’ve assumed the risk for any potential outcome of the investigation impacting Leonard. 

But the findings of the investigation, and punishments stemming from it, have been known for over a week: A $30 million fine for the Clippers; Clippers owner Steve Ballmer (one year), president of business operations Gillian Zucker (one year) and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank (six months) all being suspended for their roles in the scandal; Leonard being forced to pay the NBA $700,000 for restitution for improper benefits he received from the Clippers, and his uncle and former business manager, Dennis Robertson, being been banned by the NBA from all business dealings for five years.

But with the start of training camp two weeks away, an element of timing is coming into play. 

As first reported by NBA Insider Jake Fischer, Leonard was in South Florida this week as part of an organized minicamp with Raptors players, but was a limited participant because the trade isn’t official yet. 

Marc Stein reported on Friday that the Clippers and Raptors are able to co-submit the trade for league approval for it to become an official transaction. 

So what’s the hold up?

The main reason the trade hasn’t happened yet has been the unknowns surrounding the Clippers’ internal infrastructure.

With Ballmer and Zucker suspended, the Clippers governor in Ballmer and one of their alternate governors in Zucker aren’t allowed to be involved in the franchise’s operations. 

Nor is Frank, who is in charge of the Clippers’ basketball operations.

The only alternate governor who is permitted to be involved with the Clippers’ operations is Dennis Wong, who owns 1% of the franchise. Besides Ballmer, he’s the only person with an ownership stake in the Clippers.

The NBA would likely have to approve Wong as the Clippers interim/temporary governor before Leonard’s trade to the Raptors is official.

A potential roadblock: Wong sent Aspiration Partners, which was one of the four companies involved in the Clippers-Leonard scandal along with Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance, $1.99 million through his DEA 88 Investments. And nine days later, Aspiration paid Leonard $1.75 million as part of its endorsement deal with the star forward. 

Wong wasn’t mentioned in the 35-page summary report by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which was the law firm that investigated the Clippers for cap circumvention.

It isn’t clear whether the NBA will approve Wong as the Clippers temporary governor. 

It also isn’t clear who is and who will be running the Clippers basketball operations while Frank is suspended. 

Clarity may come during or after the NBA’s Board of Governors meetings on Monday and Tuesday in New York. 

But until then, the stalled trade involving the Clippers, Raptors and Leonard will likely remain unresolved.

You’re not truly in the dog days of the summer until you start ranking promotional night giveaways.

The Lakers haven’t typically had many giveaway nights during the season, which makes this upcoming season different. Specifically, they’ll be giving away five different bobbleheads throughout the year, including three for former players, along with a couple of other giveaways.

There are a handful of other nights mixed in as well, including Phil Jackson’s statue unveiling at the end of the season as well as LGBTQ+ Pride Night (though I wish they wouldn’t continuously host it during the preseason) and Mental Health Awareness Night.

Here’s a more conclusive list. pic.twitter.com/7FiezaNXn6

— Connor Moreno (@cmorenoNBA) September 10, 2026

However, we’re here to rank the goodie giveaways, so let’s look at the seven nights fans can walk away with a freebie.

7. Norm Nixon Bobblehead, Dec.14

The Lakers will have a series of nights this season honoring figures of the franchise’s past, starting with Norm Nixon. He’s an oft-forgotten part of Lakers history, coming just before the Showtime Era. Still, he was a key piece of title-winning teams.

6. Paul Westhead Bobblehead, Jan. 14

The guy before the guy, Westhead, like Nixon, came just before one of the defining eras of the franchise’s history. And like Nixon, it’s nice that the franchise is honoring him.

5. Kurt Rambis Bobblehead, March 17

While Rambis has sort of sullied his reputation with the franchise for some with his role in the front office over the last decade or so, you can’t tell me that a bobblehead with those goggles won’t look extremely funny. It only would have been funnier if they did it in the game against Boston, considering that is the most iconic moment of his career.

In fact, I’ve even heard a former leader of this website is already camped out at Crypto.com Arena waiting to purchase tickets for this game.

4. Lakers x Dodgers Baseball-style Jersey, Nov. 17

Over/under 0.5 of these teams Mark Walter still owns by the time this game rolls around.

3. Austin Reaves Bobblehead, Dec. 27

Are Austin and Luka going to have a debate over whose bobblehead is cooler? Hopefully neither of them is sporting the awful new Nike jerseys for this season.

2. Luka Dončić Scoring Champion Bobblehead, Nov. 1

It’s cool that the team is honoring Luka winning the scoring title last season, but hopefully next year’s bobblehead is for him winning the MVP this season. A small part of me hoped these were being given away when the team played the Mavs, but that would have felt particularly cruel.

1. Lakers 2020 Championship Ring Replica, Jan. 24

I’m already a big fan of replica ring giveaways. I still have one from the 2008-09 team that I found on eBay years and years ago.

But it’s also an incredibly cool touch that they’re doing this the night Anthony Davis — assuming he doesn’t get traded — comes back to Crypto.com Arena. And yes, I’m still sad that team never got a parade.

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

With ownership of the team still in limbo, the Lakers announced two front office additions Friday, hiring former Miami Heat executive Eric Amsler as assistant general manager, player personnel, while bolstering their sports performance staff with Keith D’Amelio as director of integrated performance systems.

Boosting the team’s behind-the-scenes infrastructure was one of Mark Walter’s major initiatives when the Dodgers’ owner bought the Lakers in 2025. After the season, Lakers president and general manager Rob Pelinka said Walter and the ownership group were working to create two assistant GM positions and upgrade treatment, physical therapy and sports science facilities to mirror the success of the Dodgers.

But the status of such investments came into question when Walter unexpectedly sold his majority stake in the Lakers to Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner last month. The transaction that valued the Lakers at a record $12.5 billion still needs to be approved by the NBA board of governors, which next meets Sept. 14-15, according to ESPN, but approval for the Lakers ownership change will likely not be on the docket.

“Continuing to invest in and strengthen our basketball operations group is a top priority as we build for the long-term success of our team and players,” Pelinka said in a statement. “Eric and Keith bring a wealth of experience that will add valuable expertise across our organization.”

Amsler spent the previous 22 seasons with the Heat, most recently serving as vice president of player personnel and the general manager of G League affiliate Sioux Falls Skyforce. He oversaw the Heat’s scouting department and evaluation of draft, professional and G League prospects.

Amsler joins former New Orleans Pelicans executive Rohan Ramadas as assistant general managers hired this offseason. While Ramadas, who joined the team in May, will be involved in managing the salary cap, analytics and data for the Lakers, Amsler’s responsibilities will mirror the scouting and player development responsibilities he held in Miami.

D’Amelio most recently served as chief innovation officer for the New York Liberty, where he worked across basketball operations, health and performance, analytics and applied sciences. His previous NBA experience includes stints with the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics. He also worked with Stanford men’s basketball and Nike.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Final Score: Sixers 104, Raptors 101 (OT)

Series score after result: Philadelphia leads 3-0

Embiid’s stat line: 33 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 12-of-20 FGs, 3-of-8 3PTs, 1 block, +8 rating

For the second time in our five-part series, we have a performance in the postseason from Joel Embiid that came against Nick Nurse. It started with Game 3 against Toronto in 2019, which took place in Philadelphia, and continues with Game 3 versus the Raptors in 2022 in Toronto.

By this point in Embiid’s career, pressure was beginning to mount on both Embiid and the franchise. The honeymoon between the Sixers and their fans after winning a round in each of the first two postseasons Embiid was a part of in 2018 and 2019 was over. The team got whitewashed by the rival Celtics in the COVID bubble in 2020 and had one of the more embarrassing choke jobs in Philadelphia sports postseason history against Atlanta in 2021.

There was still plenty of talent on the roster, as the Sixers won 51 games in 2021-22, with only Miami’s 53 wins being greater than that, and the headache that was Ben Simmons gone. But this series against the Raptors was one in which the Sixers could really do themselves no favors with the fans regardless of the outcome. It was a Toronto team that was struggling to remain relevant in league circles after winning a championship in 2019. Everyone knew the Raptors weren’t going to win another title any time soon and they would be rebuilding soon enough. Essentially, there wasn’t much to gain for the Sixers when it came to quelling the growing perception that they were a team of choke artists.

To no one’s surprise, Philly won the first two games of the series easily, blowing Toronto out by 20 in Game 1 and coasting to a 15-point victory in Game 2. But, as you often see in a playoff series with one team’s talent being vastly superior to the other’s, the underdog came out packing its biggest punch back on its home floor in Game 3 down 2-0. The Raptors led by 10 in Game 3 both at the end of the first quarter and at halftime. The Sixers were sleepwalking during the first 24 minutes as Embiid had just five points, only attempted five field goals in the first half and turned the ball over four times in the opening two quarters.

But Philadelphia decided to fight in the second half rather than pack it in and get ready for Game 4 still holding a lead in the series. Embiid had 18 points in the third quarter alone and looked much more aggressive going 6-of-9 from the field in the quarter, one that he played all 12 minutes of. Suddenly a 10-point halftime deficit was down to just one heading into the fourth.

So often in recent postseason history for this franchise, the Sixers have been the team that might look good early in a game but would get caught blinking and get tight in the second half and find a way to lose. This game was a rare occurrence in which Philadelphia appeared to smell blood in the water, knew it was the superior team and the Raptors were the team whose hot start dissipated and struggled to execute in the guts of the game.

The Sixers trimmed off the final point of the 10-point halftime deficit in the fourth quarter and pushed the game to overtime. Whether it was nerves from both teams or fatigue, it was apparent that the two teams were limping to the finish line as the fourth quarter was the lowest-scoring quarter of regulation and the two teams combined for just 15 points in the five-minute overtime.

But it was the final three points that became particularly memorable. Having engineered the comeback in the second half, Embiid got a chance to put the icing on the cake and give the Sixers a stranglehold on the opening round series. He did just that.

Joel Embiid’s buzzer beater vs. the Raptors to take 3-0 series lead in the first-round of the playoffs. Embiid finished the game with 33 points pic.twitter.com/W6dxLJladi

— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) December 31, 2022

It wasn’t quite a buzzer beater, but it might as well have been and Philly took a 3-0 series lead. In typical Sixers fashion, they found a way to make it interesting, losing Game 4 in Toronto and then getting thoroughly outplayed in Game 5 at home before going back to Canada to close the series out in six.

Sixers fans, how do you feel about this game and moment for Embiid now? As we discussed, this was a Raptors team that everyone knew was coming out of a contention window and no longer viewed as a viable threat to win an NBA championship. Other than Embiid’s shot to win Game 3, there really wasn’t anything in this series, or in the next series against Miami, that stands out as a notable postseason memory for the franchise. But the Sixers did trail by double digits at halftime against the same team that eliminated them in heartbreaking fashion three years earlier. They came back to win the game and stick a dagger in the hearts of the Raptors and their fans thanks to a shot that will forever be remembered as one of Embiid’s greatest. That’s got to be worth something, right?