Player development associate coach T.J. DiLeo will serve as the Sixers’ summer league head coach.
Jared McCain will continue to rehab from his left lateral meniscus tear and not play in summer league. He watched the team’s minicamp practice Tuesday, according to DiLeo, and and also took a few jump shots afterwards.
The Sixers will first play in the Salt Lake City summer league (July 5-8) and then the Las Vegas summer league (July 10-20). Each team in Vegas will have at least one additional game beyond the initial schedule and the top four teams will advance to the semifinals. Below is the Sixers’ slate:
Saturday, July 5 vs. Jazz at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/NBCSP
Monday, July 7 vs. Thunder at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/NBCSP+
Tuesday, July 8 vs. Grizzlies at 7 p.m. ET on NBA TV/NBCSP+
Thurdsay, July 10 vs. Spurs at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN/NBCSP
Saturday, July 12 vs. Hornets at 6:3 0 p.m. ET on ESPN2/NBCSP
Tuesday, July 15 vs. Wizards at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV/NBCSP
Wednesday, July 16 vs. Mavericks at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN/NBCSP
Edgecombe will be intriguing to watch as he showcases his athleticism and focuses on honing his offensive game.
“Being more of a point guard, but also being aggressive and being a great teammate,” he said Tuesday. “I always want to encourage my teammates at all times. … But definitely being a better point guard. Continue shooting the ball and continue to work on every little aspect of my game, to be honest — finishing, playmaking, ball handling. Everything.”
Broome seems like he could be quite productive this summer after averaging 18.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 blocks in his fifth and final college season.
“He’s got physicality,” DiLeo said of Broome. “He plays hard. He’s got a nose for the ball, really, on both ends of the court. … What’s good about him is he’s a guy that can play hard and also play smart and play with instincts. He’s got a good combination of both of those.
“He had a great (college) career and he’s been successful at every step he’s been at. I’m happy to have him at summer league and (will) try to get him a little better here for the organization.”
The Knicks are adding a versatile piece to their frontcourt on Tuesday, and will sign power forward/center Guerschon Yabusele to a two-year deal.
According to SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley, the two-year deal is worth $12 million and includes a player option for the second season, with the Knicks using the tax-payer mid-level exception to sign one of the best big men on the market.
Originally drafted by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft, Yabusele played two seasons in Boston before taking his career overseas, where he thrived both in the professional and international stage.
Helping France win Olympic silver medals in both 2020 and 2024, Yabusele has also won two Liga ACB titles in Spain while playing for Real Madrid, and also won a EuroLeague championship in 2023.
Following his success with France in the 2024 Olympics, Yabusele returned to the United States and signed a deal with Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 70 games (43 starts) last season.
Standing at 6-8, 260 pounds, Yabusele can play power forward, with the ability to step out and hit threes (38.0 percent from beyond the arc last season) and step in as an undersized center when needed.
If you can't give the NBA scoring leader, MVP, and Finals MVP a supermax extension, who are you going to give it to?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to the richest contract in NBA history, a four-year, $285 million supermax contract extension worth more than $70 million a season on average, a deal first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN.
While that's a lot of money, it's also kind of a no-brainer. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and 5 rebounds a game last season, shot 37.5% from 3, is a plus defender, and led his team to 68 wins. He racked up a historic string of accolades: leading the NBA in scoring, winning the regular season MVP award, leading his team to an NBA title, and being named Finals MVP.
72 POINTS THROUGH 2 FINALS GAMES
The MOST by any player EVER to begin a Finals career!!
This new contract also locks SGA in with the Thunder for six years, through the summer of 2031. These four years will start after the two existing years still on SGA's current contract ($79.1 million total). This new contract would pay him more than $70 million a season for the final two years ($78.9 million in 2030-31). As a bit of accounting, that contract total could decrease slightly before it takes effect — the estimates are based on the NBA salary cap going up 10% a year for the next two years, and the league has already announced that it's first estimates for the 2026-27 season have the salary cap going up "only" seven percent. If that happens, the total on the contract decreases accordingly, it is 35% of the salary cap.
The Thunder are not done with extensions this summer: Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are both extension eligible off their rookie contracts. Both of them are max players (25% of the cap) who would be eligible for a Rose rule 30% of the salary cap extension if they make All-NBA (or, in Holmgren's case, is named Defensive Player of the Year) next season. All of those massive extensions mean the NBA's luxury tax and dreaded second apron will be coming for the Thunder, and how they've built out the roster, but that is still a few years down the road.
For now, to the victor go the spoils, and nobody was more of a victor last year than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
After trading center Jonas Valančiūnas to the Denver Nuggets for veteran big man Dario Šarić, Drew Eubanks, who was waived by the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, plans to sign with Sacramento after he clears waivers, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported, citing sources.
The Los Angeles Clippers are waiving center Drew Eubanks and Eubanks plans to sign with the Sacramento Kings on a one-year deal after he clears waivers, sources tell ESPN. Additional frontcourt depth for the Kings. pic.twitter.com/rBgBMV7iLg
Eubanks, who signed with the Spurs as an undrafted free agent in 2018, played three-plus seasons with San Antonio before he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in Feb. 2022. Eubanks then played for the Phoenix Suns two seasons ago, before splitting time between the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers last season.
In 61 combined games (four starts) between Utah and Los Angeles during the 2024-25 NBA season, Eubanks averaged 4.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game on 59.3-percent shooting from the field.
The 28-year-old likely will serve as center depth behind star big man Domantas Sabonis.
Amari Williams was born in Nottingham and attended Myerscough College in Lancashire before playing college basketball in the United States [Getty Images]
Boston Celtics draft pick Amari Williams was always destined to be a top professional, according to one of his college coaches.
Williams, 23, was drafted into the NBA by the Celtics after being chosen as the 46th overall pick.
He became the third English-born active player in the NBA joining Brooklyn Nets' forward Tosan Evbuomwan and OG Anunoby of the New York Knicks.
The 7ft centre previously attended Myerscough College in Lancashire before moving to Drexel University in Pennsylvania and later the University of Kentucky in the United States.
"When he was at Myerscough he was going to be a professional in some form but once he got to Kentucky it was like, he's definitely going to be a professional in the highest level," Myerscough College coach Mike Bernard told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"He's now understood that he's done everything possible to make it this far. He's made all the right decisions, he's had his bumps in the road and he knew that this was going to happen.
"We pushed and hoped for everything with him, and we let him know that these bumps are going to come, but he now knows he's done it and he's really thankful to everyone for everything they've done."
Boston, who are the most successful team in NBA history having won a record 18 championships, have added front-court depth to their roster with the arrival of Williams.
Basketball is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK and is the second-most popular team sport, with more than 1.5m people playing weekly.
Neal Hopkins, who works alongside Bernard at Myerscough College, said that aiding Williams' ascent into the NBA is a proud moment for him and the college.
"Mike and I have been coaching for a number of years, and Mike's had an extended professional career prior to coaching," he added.
"It was one of my ambitions as an up-and-coming coach to try and oversee or be part of someone's journey to the NBA.
"It's unbelievable and unprecedented. We're full of pride. Hopefully, this will inspire the next generation to come through."
The New York Knicks’ search for a new head coach may be nearing a conclusion soon.
After conducting a first round of interviews over the last two weeks, the Knicks have formally invited Mike Brown back for a second interview, which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, league sources tell . In addition, New York is considering bringing back both James Borrego and Micah Nori for second interviews, multiple league sources said.
Brown and former Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins were the first two candidates interviewed.
During this process, the Knicks also reached out to South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, league sources told . And while she impressed in that conversation, she is currently not considered a finalist for the position, league sources said.
Hiring a head coach would close a search that has undergone many twists and turns since New York fired Tom Thibodeau shortly after losing in the Eastern Conference finals.
Before interviewing Brown and Jenkins, the Knicks — who are conducting the only coaching search in the league — attempted to obtain permission to speak with multiple head coaches currently employed by other teams, including Houston’s Ime Udoka, Dallas’ Jason Kidd, Minnesota’s Chris Finch, and Chicago’s Billy Donovan. All of those requests were denied. Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison publicly shut down a potential Kidd-to-New York move last week during his news conference following the NBA Draft.
Brown, who appears to be the clubhouse leader for the job, was fired midway through last season by the Sacramento Kings. During his first two seasons with the Kings, Brown led them to their first back-to-back 40-plus-win seasons since 2004-2006. Brown previously coached the Cleveland Cavaliers to a finals run in 2007 and coached the Los Angeles Lakers briefly before spending several seasons as an assistant coach on Steve Kerr’s Golden State staff.
Borrego was the head coach of the Hornets from 2018 to 2022 and was fired after leading Charlotte to a 43-win campaign in his final season. After taking time off, Borrego spent last season as an assistant in New Orleans. Borrego comes from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree and is considered an offensive-minded, analytically-driven coach.
Nori is the only potential finalist without head coaching experience. He has been an NBA assistant for several years and is someone many in NBA circles believe will soon become a head coach. Nori has spent the last four years in Minnesota next to Finch. Before that, he was with Dwane Casey in both Detroit and Toronto, with stops in Denver and Sacramento in between. Nori is regarded as a creative offensive coach.
The Knicks’ search has taken them beyond the NBA Draft and into the early days of free agency. The team is limited in its financial capabilities, but, according to league sources, is expected to sign veteran bench scorer Jordan Clarkson once he clears waivers later this week. Clarkson and the Utah Jazz agreed to a buyout late last week.
Mike Brown's second interview with the Knicks is on Tuesday, according to SNY sources.
Others may come in for second interviews. Brown garnered support in first interview.
The Knicks have also interviewed James Borrego, Taylor Jenkins, and Micah Nori.
Brown’s interview on Tuesday will include owner James Dolan; it’s common practice for a candidate to meet with team ownership in the late stages of interviews prior to a final decision being made.
The team reportedly will waive nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard in order to make room for free agent Myles Turner, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday.
Turner, fresh off a Finals run with the Indiana Pacers, will sign a four-year, $107 million deal with a player option in the final year, Charania reported.
Lillard, who turns 35 this month, suffered a torn Achilles in April during the playoffs — putting his availability for next season in serious doubt. The Bucks will waive and stretch his contract, spreading out his remaining $113 million as dead money over the next five seasons.
The Bucks’ roster shake-up represents a massive shift as they hope to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo in town. The Greek Freak reportedly was weighing his future this offseason after Milwaukee suffered its third straight first-round defeat.
Newly-extended general manager Jon Horst has responded to Antetokounmpo’s doubts with a busy week of transactions. Longtime center Brook Lopez signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency, while the Bucks re-signed key rotation pieces in Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr. and Taurean Prince.
With the Pacers looking at a potential gap year as Tyrese Haliburton recovers from a torn Achilles, Turner is leaving the team that drafted him way back in 2015. The 29-year-old big man has career averages of 14.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.
As for Lillard, the star guard will be forced to join a third team after an unsuccessful two-year stint in Milwaukee. His numbers remained consistent, but he was unable to bring the Bucks back to the big stage after being traded by the Portland Trail Blazers for Jrue Holiday in 2023.
Now, Lillard joins a shrinking list of available free agents. It’s unclear what his market could be, given his age and the fact that he is unlikely to suit up next season.
The team reportedly will waive nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard in order to make room for free agent Myles Turner, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday.
Turner, fresh off a Finals run with the Indiana Pacers, will sign a four-year, $107 million deal with a player option in the final year, Charania reported.
Lillard, who turns 35 this month, suffered a torn Achilles in April during the playoffs — putting his availability for next season in serious doubt. The Bucks will waive and stretch his contract, spreading out his remaining $113 million as dead money over the next five seasons.
The Bucks’ roster shake-up represents a massive shift as they hope to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo in town. The Greek Freak reportedly was weighing his future this offseason after Milwaukee suffered its third straight first-round defeat.
Newly-extended general manager Jon Horst has responded to Antetokounmpo’s doubts with a busy week of transactions. Longtime center Brook Lopez signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency, while the Bucks re-signed key rotation pieces in Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr. and Taurean Prince.
With the Pacers looking at a potential gap year as Tyrese Haliburton recovers from a torn Achilles, Turner is leaving the team that drafted him way back in 2015. The 29-year-old big man has career averages of 14.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.
As for Lillard, the star guard will be forced to join a third team after an unsuccessful two-year stint in Milwaukee. His numbers remained consistent, but he was unable to bring the Bucks back to the big stage after being traded by the Portland Trail Blazers for Jrue Holiday in 2023.
Now, Lillard joins a shrinking list of available free agents. It’s unclear what his market could be, given his age and the fact that he is unlikely to suit up next season.
The Sixers signed Yabusele to a minimum-salary deal last summer from Real Madrid, bringing him back to the NBA for the first time since his 2018-19 season with the Celtics.
Yabusele was second on the Sixers to Ricky Council IV with 70 games played last season. Along with his offensive skills, the 29-year-old’s hustle and basketball intelligence were consistent bright spots. He averaged 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
“I have that feeling that I really didn’t have when I was in Boston,” Yabusele said on Nov. 10. “I have that feeling right now to be able to play, compete with tough teams, tough players, and that’s what I was looking for.”
The Sixers planned to employ Yabusele primarily at power forward, but he played heavy center minutes because of injuries to Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond.
“He’s done so many different things — played the five, played the four, started, come off the bench,” Tyrese Maxey said on Dec. 23. “He’s done everything that Coach has asked him to do. All you can do is appreciate someone like that, man. Shoot threes, rebound, post up. Sometimes we’ve got to throw the ball to him in the post because he’s a matchup problem down there. … Yabu’s been great.”
It remains to be seen exactly how the Sixers will proceed at center behind Embiid. They have two young big men in the fold with Adem Bona and Johni Broome. Drummond exercised his player option, though The Athletic’s Tony Jones reported Monday night that the Sixers “have been trying to move him over the last 24 hours.”
Gilgeous-Alexander became the 11th player in league history to be named regular season MVP and Finals MVP while winning the title in the same season. He earned the latter award after leading the Thunder to their first championship in the OKC era, defeating the Indiana Pacers in a seven-game series.
The three-time All-NBA guard led the NBA by scoring 32.7 points per game during the regular season as the Thunder rolled to a 68-14 record.
He became the first player in 25 years to win the scoring title and lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the same year and the fourth player ever to complete a trifecta of scoring title, regular season MVP and championship.
Gilgeous-Alexander joined the Thunder in 2019 after spending his rookie season with the LA Clippers. He was dealt to OKC as part of the blockbuster trade that paired Paul George with Kawhi Leonard on the Clippers, a trade that also gave the Thunder the draft pick they used to select forward Jalen Williams.
With Gilgeous-Alexander leading the charge, the Thunder went from a 24-win team to NBA champions in a three-year span.
Gilgeous-Alexander became the 11th player in league history to be named regular season MVP and Finals MVP while winning the title in the same season. He earned the latter award after leading the Thunder to their first championship in the OKC era, defeating the Indiana Pacers in a seven-game series.
The three-time All-NBA guard led the NBA by scoring 32.7 points per game during the regular season as the Thunder rolled to a 68-14 record.
He became the first player in 25 years to win the scoring title and lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the same year and the fourth player ever to complete a trifecta of scoring title, regular season MVP and championship.
Gilgeous-Alexander joined the Thunder in 2019 after spending his rookie season with the LA Clippers. He was dealt to OKC as part of the blockbuster trade that paired Paul George with Kawhi Leonard on the Clippers, a trade that also gave the Thunder the draft pick they used to select forward Jalen Williams.
With Gilgeous-Alexander leading the charge, the Thunder went from a 24-win team to NBA champions in a three-year span.
If you’re looking for some sort of light at the end of the tunnel as the Boston Celtics’ championship roster is stripped for parts to pay the rent on the 2024 title season, set your gaze toward the summer of 2027.
It says something about the joy that Kornet brought to Boston that the initial reaction from most Celtics fans was, “Hey, good for Luke!” before they bemoaned the loss of a third core member of Boston’s title team in the span of seven days.
Kornet deserves his payday — one the Celtics simply were not equipped to give him. He’s a great success story: Under-recruited by colleges and undrafted in the NBA, Kornet toiled in the G-League for multiple seasons before finding a home in Boston. Not only did Kornet blossom into a starter-caliber center and an analytics darling, he permeated joy and led the league in laughs created per 36.
The harsh reality is that Boston will enter the 2025-26 season without at least four of their top nine players from the 2024 title team. Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis were dealt in cost-saving moves, Kornet got his payday to join Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio, and Jayson Tatum could miss the entirety of next season while rehabbing from Achilles surgery.
The Celtics are probably not done tinkering, either. The team is still hugged up against the second apron, but there are pathways now to not only staying behind that roster-restricting line but getting out of the luxury tax completely.
That likely would involve eventually moving off newly-acquired guard Anfernee Simons and his $27.7 million expiring contract. The Celtics also must ponder the futures of Sam Hauser (whose $45 million extension kicks in this season) and new addition Georges Niang (who is making $8.2 million on an expiring contract) as well.
An offseason focused on math is no fun. But here’s the potential end game: If the Celtics avoid the luxury tax in each of the next two seasons, the team would be positioned to splurge in the summer of 2027. Boston could restock the pieces around whatever version of the Tatum/Jaylen Brown/Derrick White core that remains and spend at least two more seasons pursuing titles.
The new collective bargaining agreement is going to make this a new reality in the NBA. If you want to chase titles, you’re going to do it in short windows while being prepared to pivot (unless you have a treasure trove of young players and draft picks like Oklahoma City). The Celtics got ahead of the incoming crunch by trading for (and extending) Holiday and Porzingis.
But everyone knew those contracts would be untenable starting this summer. The acquisition of Banner 18 helps ease the pain of this offseason.
This isn’t to write off the next two seasons, either. But the reality is that once Tatum fell to the floor at Madison Square Garden in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Celtics needed to play a long game.
If Brown and White are the centerpieces of Boston’s roster next season, this team is still good enough to linger in playoff contention in the injury-ravaged East. But as teams like Atlanta and Orlando load up to start this summer, and as Cleveland and New York tinker after highly successful seasons, the pathway toward title contention remains full of obstacles.
Maybe the Celtics fill out their roster with enough talent to plod through. Maybe they pivot to a soft tank if things fizzle next season. The 2026 offseason is enticing, and Boston has a bunch of picks to help its maneuverability. Player development should be a greater priority, and it will be interesting to see if the team can mold some new superstar-in-their-role players in the same way that Kornet was hardly an eight-figure player when he first arrived.
Newly-signed big man Luka Garza should get every chance to show what he can do with greater opportunity. Simons, if carried into the season, gets a chance to show that he can be more than just a volume scorer.
But the key move in getting back to legitimate title contention might be as simple as avoiding the luxury tax over the next two seasons. That would reset the costly repeater penalties that had Boston staring at a $500 million total spend had it not stripped its roster this summer. The Celtics were on pace to pay $8.5 dollars (or more) for every dollar spent over the luxury tax line.
Reducing the bottom line has been no fun, but it had to be done sooner than later. So why not navigate it now before Tatum is back at the peak of his powers?
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The Celtics currently project to enter the summer of 2027 with only Tatum, Brown, White, Hauser, and Pritchard on the roster at a total of $176.3 million. Add in Baylor Scheierman, and their payroll will sit at roughly $181 million at a time the second apron could be closer to $244 million.
Boston could comfortably field a roster in the neighborhood of $300 million for two consecutive seasons without costly repeater penalties. Brown and White reach free agency at the end of that second season, creating a potential pathway to the next pivot in the summer of 2029.
Maybe Stevens has a different vision moving forward. Maybe the top end of the roster is simply too expensive to keep intact and a bigger swing awaits. But there’s a pathway to putting together a new core in the summer of 2027. There’s a chance for what’s left of this core and chase Banner 19 together again.
Waiting is painful. Not having someone like Kornet to ease the tension doesn’t help either. But there’s light at the end of this tunnel. Even if it doesn’t feel like it the past week.
The team reportedly will waive nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard in order to make room for free agent Myles Turner, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday, citing sources.
Turner, fresh off a Finals run with the Indiana Pacers, will sign a four-year, $107 million deal with a player option in the final year, Charania reported.
Lillard, who turns 35 this month, suffered a torn Achilles in April during the playoffs — putting his availability for next season in serious doubt. The Bucks will waive and stretch his contract, spreading out his remaining $113 million as dead money over the next five seasons.
The Bucks’ roster shake-up represents a massive shift as they hope to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo in town. The Greek Freak reportedly was weighing his future this offseason after Milwaukee suffered its third straight first-round defeat.
Newly-extended general manager Jon Horst has responded to Antetokounmpo’s doubts with a busy week of transactions. Longtime center Brook Lopez signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency, while the Bucks re-signed key rotation pieces in Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr. and Taurean Prince.
With the Pacers looking at a potential gap year as Tyrese Haliburton recovers from a torn Achilles, Turner is leaving the team that drafted him way back in 2015. The 29-year-old big man has career averages of 14.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.
As for Lillard, the star guard will be forced to join a third team after an unsuccessful two-year stint in Milwaukee. His numbers remained consistent, but he was unable to bring the Bucks back to the big stage after being traded by the Portland Trail Blazers for Jrue Holiday in 2023.
Now, Lillard joins a shrinking list of available free agents. It’s unclear what his market could be, given his age and the fact that he is unlikely to suit up next season.
The Kings are making moves early in NBA free agency.
With veteran guard Dennis Schröder reportedly agreeing to sign a free-agent contract with Sacramento on Monday, the Kings made another move on Tuesday morning, trading center Jonas Valančiūnas to the Denver Nuggets for big man Dario Šarić, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported, citing sources.
The Sacramento Kings are trading Jonas Valanciunas to the Denver Nuggets for Dario Saric, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/D2Xmbm4DN1
Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported, citing sources, that the trade is a 1-for-1 swap of Valančiūnas and Šarić and there are no additional terms in the deal.
Sacramento originally acquired Valančiūnas form the Washington Wizards in a deal before the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline, and in 32 games (nine starts) with the Kings, Valančiūnas averaged 8.7 points, 7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game on 55.6-percent shooting from the field.
Šarić, who was limited to just 16 games (four starts) with the Nuggets last season, averaged 3.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game on 36-percent shooting from the field.
