Category: Basketball

From at least one perspective, the Milwaukee Bucks’ offseason isn’t among the best in the Eastern Conference. Following the trade of the franchise’s best player ever and the Gary Trent Jr. fiasco, CBS Sports contributor Sam Quinn gave Jon Horst and the Bucks a C- for their efforts.

“Without control over their own first-round picks, they should have no fear of the relegation zone. They should be trading any veterans with a shred of value – most notably Myles Turner and Tyler Herro – for whatever draft capital they can get. They haven’t. They set themselves up for a disappointing offseason by waiting too long to trade Antetokounmpo, and sure enough, that’s how things played out,“ Quinn wrote.

Still, the Bucks weren’t given the worst grade in the conference, with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Brooklyn Nets receiving D+ and D grades, respectively.

Milwaukee might have dodged the basement of Quinn’s Eastern Conference grades by taking the Heat’s offer for Giannis instead of the Boston Celtics’, which was highlighted by Jaylen Brown (who was ultimately dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers). While the Heat package didn’t bring the Bucks back an All-NBA talent, it did give them multiple assets—players and picks—that they can work with down the line, whether they keep them on the roster or flip them for future assets. On top of that, they selected Brayden Burries with their number 10 overall pick, whose impressive play in the Las Vegas Summer League already has him looking like a draft steal.

Ultimately, while Quinn’s perspective might be that the Bucks aren’t in a good position, the Summer League play of Brayden Burries and Nate Ament, along with the expected growth of Kel’el Ware, Kasparas Jakučionis, and Jaime Jaquez—not to mention Tyler Herro’s impending second act—gives Bucks fans reason for hope that they should lean into as the 2026-27 approaches.

One thing that might make Quinn retroactively change his grade would be if the Bucks got Peyton Watson. Of course, there is a real possibility that, in order to acquire Watson, the Bucks might need to give up Ryan Rollins. What say you?

Brew Hoop community, what would you grade the Bucks’ offseason? Get your grading pens out and use them in the comment section below.

Dylan Cardwell, Max Raynaud detail wholesome relationship with Precious Achiuwa originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The “Beam Boys” officially are staying in Sacramento.

With veteran forward Precious Achiuwa re-signing with the Kings on a two-year, $11.2 million contract, the notorious group that also consists of second-year players Dylan Cardwell, Maxime Raynaud and Nique Clifford is sticking around ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season.

“I’m super excited to have [Achiuwa] back,” Cardwell told NBC Sports California’s Tristi Rodriguez in an exclusive interview.

“I don’t know how he came along with the ‘Beam Boys,’ but he added the glasses, and I feel like the glasses are the most important part, and the ‘Beam Boys’ are about the glasses. There was this one random game, he had glasses going on and I was like, ‘Wow, this is actually really cool.’

“So, I’m super excited to have him back. He’s a great teammate, just a good guy to be around, and obviously a great ‘Beam Boy.’ We just like guys who are buying into the culture that Max, Nique and I are trying to set up, and like I said, he’s just a fun guy to be around.”

Despite a disappointing 2025-26 season, the “Beam Boys” were some of the biggest standouts throughout the year, especially for stepping up after the Kings suffered major injuries to their stars, from Domantas Sabonis to Zach LaVine.

Achiuwa was one of the biggest surprises from the Kings’ 22-60 season, averaging 10.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in 73 games and 57 starts.

“He said it all, I agree,” Raynaud followed up on Cardwell’s thoughts on Achiuwa’s return to the team.

With one full NBA season under their belt, Cardwell, Raynaud and Clifford should only develop and improve as the 2026-27 season approaches.

Last season, Cardwell averaged 5.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in 44 appearances, while Raynaud recorded 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in 74 contests, earning the France native NBA All-Rookie Second-Team honors.

Now with the addition of rookie guard Darius Acuff Jr. to the team’s young core, who the Kings selected with the No. 7 overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft, the future only is looking bright in Sacramento.

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Men lie, women lie, and numbers lie too.

Well, people use numbers to lie. Guns don’t kill people. People kill people with guns, and it’s harder to kill people without guns, so guns are still part of the problem.

Some NBA fans have an almost instinctively negative reaction to numbers. They’re quite sure that statistics are a pox upon basketball analysis. “Watch the games”, goes the refrain.

As if we’ll reach the same conclusions.

There’s been a statistical analysis making the rounds on X lately that does not look kindly upon the Udoka-era Houston Rockets. Analyst David Lee has compiled a study suggesting the Rockets have the worst offensive environment for player development in the NBA over the last two seasons.

Firstly, a caveat: I have some issues with Lee’s framing. It’s not a methodological complaint (although I’d be lying if I said I knew what Moreyball % was, but Lee is generally smart and I’m sure it means something)*. It’s not about the findings.

*Probably it’s threes and layup volume?

I just don’t understand how this isn’t a broader analysis of each team’s offensive environment. It seems to me that Lee is extrapolating under the assumption that a better offensive environment is a better developmental environment. To that end, there are relevant measurable variables – available on-ball reps, average age of roster, probably more – that I’d like to see factored into the study.

Nonetheless, I won’t throw the baby out with the bathwater (which is one of my favorite expressions, because what an egregious mistake it would be to discard a human baby in the process of throwing out bathwater). Any Rockets fan with working eyes knows that there’s something here. If we take Lee’s study to broadly analyze offensive environment, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Rockets are at the bottom.

What’s to be done?

Rockets must improve offense

Here’s where it gets tricky: By the numbers, the Rockets’ offense under Ime Udoka has been good.

Last year, their 117.5 Offensive Rating was 8th in the NBA. Their 2024-25 114.9 rating was 12th. It turns out that replacing Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green with Kevin Durant will bolster your offense even in the absence of your starting point guard.

A system’s complexity shouldn’t be mistaken for its effectiveness. The Rockets’ playbook is bare-bones. We all know that offensive rebounding buoyed the team’s rating. Their 52.3% Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%) ranked 23rd.

Does it matter how the sausage is made? Well, it depends on what’s in the sausage. Put differently, it depends on whether we think an NBA offense can be largely carried by isolation reps and offensive rebounding.

Frankly, it probably can – with the right roster. Therein lies the issue. On a points per possession (PPP) basis, the Rockets’ best isolation player last year was 37. Durant’s 1.02 PPP landed in the 78.8th percentile. Alperen Sengun was in the 50.5th, and Amen Thompson in the 68.7th on lower volume.

Out of all Lee’s stats, Assist Percentage feels like the most significant. The Rockets don’t care much for moving the ball. A more sophisticated system would leverage Sengun’s surplus positional playmaking to use motion to create open shots.

So, we arrive at a crossroads. The Rockets can reshape their roster in Udoka’s image, find a coach who’s going to build a system around Sengun and Thompson, or at least impose on Udoka (and/or his staff) to throw some wrinkles into the game plan).

This piece isn’t designed to advocate for either direction. It’s simply saying that building an offense around isolation and offensive rebounding isn’t going to work if you don’t have elite isolation players.

There’s no sense in crunching many numbers to come to that conclusion.

Somewhere on YouTube right now, a craftsman is prying a water-stained dresser out of a pile somebody left by the curb. Half a million people or more will watch him do it. They’ll watch him strip the ruined finish, find the grain underneath, and restore something beautiful that was an hour from the landfill.

There’s a reason those videos hold us. Restoration is patient work. It rewards the eye that sees what a thing could be instead of what it has become. Anyone can buy new. It takes a craftsman to look at distressed wood and know the distress is a surface problem.

On Sunday, the Mavericks pulled Zaccharie Risacher off the curb.

The find

The deal itself is simple from the Dallas side. Oklahoma City needed off Lu Dort’s money, because that’s what happens when a champion tries to stay together under the second apron. The hard choices come for everyone eventually, even the model franchise. Atlanta wanted Dort. And the Mavericks, seeing two teams that needed each other, inserted themselves as the facilitator and walked out with a 21-year-old former No. 1 overall pick.

The outgoing price: Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta and Chicago’s 2027 second-round pick to Oklahoma City. Dallas even got a deeply protected 2027 second back from Atlanta in the deal, while Risacher’s $13.8 million salary slid into the traded player exception created in the Anthony Davis trade.

Nembhard had real moments as a rookie and a rough Summer League, and trading him from the thinnest position on the roster tells you Dallas valued this upside swing more than its current point guard depth. That exchange amounted to a guard the front office was willing to move and a reshuffling of second-round equity for a player who went first overall two years ago.

What’s under the finish

Here is what the league sees when it looks at Zaccharie Risacher: a No. 1 pick from a weak draft who went backwards in year two. Points down. Minutes down. Phased out of the rotation by spring. In a redraft, he doesn’t go first. Maybe he doesn’t go in the lottery.

Here is what else is true.

Risacher came over from France at 19 and put together a genuinely decent rookie season: 12.6 points a game, four 30-point nights, more than any rookie in the league that year, and a runner-up finish to Stephon Castle for Rookie of the Year. Then came the sophomore campaign, and it was a disaster. The organization lost confidence in him, and somewhere in there, you have to wonder if he lost confidence in himself.

We look at a draft slot and a stat line and we expect the graph to ascend, year one to year two, like the player is a software update. These guys aren’t robots. Imagine being 19, in a foreign country, trying your best, doing pretty well, and then having the floor drop out in year two while most of the league writes your basketball obituary at 21.

It is worth noting that the executive who led the decision to draft him first overall was gone. Atlanta fired Landry Fields after Risacher’s rookie year, leaving the people who moved him on Sunday without the same reputational stake in defending the pick. That’s how a former No. 1 selection ends up priced like distressed wood. The people selling it weren’t the ones who paid the original price.

The acquisition price is distressed. The contract decision is not entirely. Dallas must decide by October 31 whether to exercise a $17.4 million option for 2027-28, before the restoration has had much regular-season time to reveal itself. The bet is still favorable. It simply isn’t costless.

There’s one more layer of irony worth savoring. Last winter, when the Mavericks were shopping Anthony Davis, Risacher’s name surfaced in trade rumors with Atlanta. Those talks fizzled. Davis went to Washington instead, and that trade created the very exception Dallas just used to bring Risacher in anyway. The wood found its way to the shop after all. It just took the scenic route.

The tool they kept on the shelf

Earlier this month in this space, the argument was that the real brilliance of the six-team Aldama trade was what Dallas didn’t spend. By routing Khris Middleton back to Washington in a sign-and-trade, like a boomerang returning to the hand that threw it, the front office preserved the full Davis exception and kept most of its mid-level spending power intact. The biggest tool stayed on the shelf.

On Sunday, they took it down and used it.

This is what preservation is for. You don’t protect an exception to admire it. You protect it so that when a former No. 1 pick shakes loose from a franchise that stopped believing in him, you can absorb his salary without sending out anyone the new front office considered part of its core rotation. The patience in early July paid for the opportunism in late July. That’s craftsmanship. That’s a shop where the tools are kept sharp and hung where the workers can reach them.

Restoring on a staggered start

Now for the part of this that requires honesty about where the Mavericks actually are.

The draft cupboard isn’t barren, but it’s not what any new regime would want. Dallas’s 2027 first goes to Charlotte unless it lands in the top two. Oklahoma City holds swap rights in 2028. The Mavericks’ own 2029 pick is tied up in the Houston-Brooklyn machinery, leaving Dallas with the Lakers’ first instead, from the trade this fanbase will spend a generation processing. San Antonio holds swap rights in 2030. The first draft in which Dallas fully controls its own first-round destiny is 2031.

In the likeliest scenario, Dallas makes three first-round selections between now and then, and none of them come in the lottery. That’s my forecast, and I’ll own it: unless something unforeseen happens to the teams on the other side of those swaps, or the Lakers crater with the cornerstone Dallas handed them, those picks land closer to the end of the round than the top of it.

That’s not a standing start—that’s a staggered one…well behind a fair starting point to judge a set of decision-makers, but it is also life in the NBA. New front offices don’t inherit blank canvases in this league; they inherit the previous regime’s mistakes and get judged on the cleanup. Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz took this job knowing the assets that should have been in the drawer were spent by the people who came before them, spent chasing a window that the same regime then threw the franchise’s cornerstone out of.

So what do you do when you can’t draft your way back and you can’t trade your way to a second star, because the ammunition for that kind of deal simply doesn’t exist? You work the margins. You take on distressed assets, opportunistically, and you bet on your own eye for grain.

Look at what this offseason has actually cost. The No. 9 pick, which they used. A move from 30 to 25 for Sergio De Larrea that cost two future seconds. Their own second-rounders, which they used. And in the six-team deal: Middleton, AJ Johnson, a couple of seconds, and a Golden State first-rounder so heavily protected it was probably never going to be a first at all.

For that, they’ve added eight players to the organization’s young talent pool: Morez Johnson Jr., De Larrea, Tobi Lawal, Vsevolod Ishchenko, Santi Aldama, Marcus Sasser, Tarik Biberovic, and now Risacher. This is a molting, and we’re watching it mid-molt. Judge it at training camp, or at the deadline, or next summer, when the feathers have finished coming in.

But here’s the bet that makes the Risacher trade the signature move of the whole project. Barring another major move, Dallas has no realistic path to having a first-round pick next June. If Risacher spends this season being coached back into the player who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, if he matures into someone you’d take over most of the bottom half of next year’s first round, then Dallas has effectively manufactured the pick it doesn’t own.

It is not the 2019 blockbuster that shipped out a large piece of the future to pair two young stars and accelerate a timeline. It isn’t the deadline deals that spent first-round picks on the pieces of a Finals run. Those were different tools for a different era, and whether this front office would make those kinds of moves is unknowable, because they haven’t been given the chance. They’re maneuvering on the margins by necessity.

So far, they’re doing it beautifully.

What gets restored first

There’s another video genre I can’t stop watching lately. A crew knocks on the door of a stranger’s house, usually someone older, sometimes someone who just can’t keep up anymore, and offers a deal: let us film it, and we’ll restore your yard for free. Half a day later a home that had become a source of quiet embarrassment is quaint again. Cared for again.

Millions of people watch those videos, and I think it’s the same instinct that keeps me transfixed by the woodworking channels. We love watching hidden potential get realized. We love watching someone kneel next to a thing the world gave up on and put in the elbow grease to find out what’s underneath.

That’s what this offseason has been. No big-names to finish off a nearly perfect roster. A restoration, conducted from well behind the starting line, by craftsmen who understood that the Cooper Flagg lottery night was only ever going to matter if the decisions that followed it were shrewd. Under the people who ran this team before, they weren’t going to be. Under these people, so far, they are.

Whether it ends in a title or just a couple of playoff runs that make this city feel like itself again, nobody can promise. But something is being restored in Dallas right now, and it comes before wins, before relevance, before any of it.

It’s hope.

Bleacher Report released their “Top 99 NBA Defenders Ever” and 13 of those 99, at some point in their careers, played for the San Antonio Spurs. The #1 overall greatest defender in NBA history (according to their list) is Bill Russell. Even though he played before many of the metrics were recorded and awards were given, he is a top choice. Here’s how the Bleacher Report staff ranked players:

“To determine the best to ever do it, Bleacher Report’s NBA writers and editors convened for a staff vote. Voters were instructed to consider advanced metrics, traditional production, All-Defensive and Defensive Player of the Year accolades, peak dominance, longevity and the good, old-fashioned eye test.”

The Spurs have some great players on this list.

Let’s start with Tim Duncan listed at #2 despite never winning a Defensive Player of the Year title. He did, however, garner 15 All-Defense selections — eight NBA All-Defensive First Team and seven NBA All-Defensive Second Team — the most for any player in NBA history. Man, could a player be more robbed than Duncan? No DPOY and honestly, I’m still salty that he only got credit for eight of his ten blocks in the 2003 NBA Finals, robbing him of a quadruple-double. The fact that fans and pundits care more than Big Fun alludes to the temperament that led him to greatness in the first place.

While Dennis Rodman (#7) may have been an awful fit in San Antonio from a personality standpoint, there is no denying his amazing defensive talents. Rodman, a two-time DPOY, made seven All-Defensive First Teams. The Worm was the rebounding champion for seven straight years. From 1992-1998, no one was more aggressive on the boards that Rodman. He was so adept defensively that teams didn’t even need him to score.

David Robinson (#11) is the second Spurs player on the list to have spent his entire career in San Antonio. Together with Tim Duncan, the Spurs won their first two NBA titles. In 1992, The Admiral claimed his DPOY award after being the league’s rebounding leader (1991) and blocks leader (1992). He added a scoring championship (1994) and MVP (1995) to his accolades showing he was one of the most athletic and well-rounded players of his time.

Following directly behind Robinson in the #12 spot is Kawhi Leonard. While Leonard’s time with San Antonio ended on strained terms and much of his post-Spurs career has been riddled with injuries, The Klaw landed back-to-back DPOY honors in 2015 and 2016 while leading the NBA in steals in 2015. His current playing status is uncertain as an investigation of a “no-show” endorsement deal is holding up the trade that would send him back to Toronto.

Bruce Bowen (#24) was known for his defensive acumen during his time with the Spurs. After receiving his first NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2001 with the Miami Heat, he signed with the Spurs picking up two more Second Team honors before grabbing five consecutive NBA All-Defensive First honors and three championship rings.

Victor Wembanyama, who just nabbed the first ever unanimous DPOY award this past season, is #36 on the list, and sure to move up as the years go by. He has been the blocks leader every year since he was drafted and currently sits 223rd in NBA blocks. That’s all-time. He’s accumulated more career blocks than guys who played more than a decade. Names like Nikola Jokic, Ivica Zubac, and James Worthy have been passed as he continues to dominate the paint and reshape the game.

Alvin Robertson (#37) won DPOY in 1986 and was the NBA steals leader three times during his career. He’s the only player in NBA history to record a quadruple-double with steals as one of the categories.

Artis Gilmore (#77) has a magnificent set of stats that he racked up in the 70s. Unfortunately for the Spurs, he played in San Antonio in the mid-80s. Same goes for Paul Pressey (#85) who shined in the mid-80s and spent two post prime seasons with the Spurs at the top of the 90s with limited play.

Chris Paul (#29), Maurice Cheeks (#51), and Theo Ratliff (#87) each played one season with the Spurs and while their defensive resumes are impressive, most of their accolades were accumulated before their time with the Silver & Black.

Derrick White (#89) has the opposite issue. While he was a great player for the Spurs, he’s shined while in Boston picking up his defensive honors while playing with the Celtics.

Check out the entire list HERE.

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How Steph Curry's injury-shortened 2025-26 NBA season impacts his mentality originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

While Steph Curry still remains one of the top NBA players, the Warriors star currently is 38 years old and only has a few seasons left in his illustrious basketball career.

Especially after an injury-shortened 2025-26 NBA season due to patellofemoral pain syndrome, reality seems to be kicking in for the 17-year veteran that being able to play the game he loves at an elite level is not built to last forever.

When asked about how his injuries last season affect his preparation for his 18th year in the NBA, Curry detailed the various changes in how he trains and takes care of his body.

“It does. But it also adds to the understanding of basketball mortality and the fact that I won’t be able to play forever. You don’t dwell on it, but it changes the intentionality. It gives me a sense of urgency about trying to get the most out of what’s left,” Curry told The Hollywood Reporter’s Chris Gardner.

“I have to train differently. My body is different at 38 than it was even five years ago. I try to work smarter when it comes to everything that I do. I still want to be the hardest-working guy in the room and try to live on that. Whatever happens, it all takes care of itself on the court. When I get back into the season, that’s the fun part.”

Curry’s wife, Ayesha, also added that she believes the two-time NBA MVP has at least one more championship run left in him despite his age and recent injury history.

“I just know you have one more chip in you. I tell him this every other week. One more,” Ayesha commented.

The four-time NBA champion was sidelined for 39 total games last season, 27 of which were due to runner’s knee. Curry still managed to average 26.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists and shoot 39.3 percent from 3-point range during the season.

Throughout his career, Curry has never played a full 82-game season, but has appeared in 70-plus games in nine of his 17 NBA seasons.

The 12-time NBA All-Star selection is entering the final season of his current contract with the Warriors worth approximately $62.5 million, with the likelihood of another extension being on the horizon between Curry and Golden State’s front office.

Regardless of how this NBA offseason unfolds, whether or not free agent LeBron James or another superstar lands with the Warriors, there is no doubt Curry will finish his highly successful career in Golden State at some point in the near future.

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Anthony Dell’Orso came to the United States from Australia four years ago in hopes of improving his pro prospects. After a successful college career, one that culminated with helping Arizona return to the Final Four, he’s going back home.

The ex-UA guard has signed a 3-year contract to play for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League, the top professional league in Australia and New Zealand.

The 6-foot-6 Dell’Orso spent the past two seasons with Arizona, appearing in 66 games with 28 starts, averaging 7.9 points per game. He came off the bench as a senior and averaged 8.5 per contest, hitting 100 3-pointers in his UA tenure.

Dell’Orso, who began his college career at Campbell, shot 35.2 percent from 3-point range in the collegiate ranks. He scored a career-high 26 against Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals in March, draining six triples, and had back-to-back 22-point performances in February when Koa Peat and Dwayne Aristode were unavailable.

Undrafted last month, Dell’Orso signed with the Sacramento Kings for the NBA Summer League. He appeared in four games, two in the California Classic and two in Las Vegas, and scored 12 points with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Per Olgan Uluc of ESPN, Dell’Orso’s contract with Perth includes opt-outs for him to return to the NBA if another opportunity presents itself. For now, though, he’ll be joining a Wildcats team that went 33-21 during the 2025-26 season and reached the semifinals of the NBL Playoffs.

The Perth Wildcats have won 10 championships in the 10-team NBL, most recently in 2020. Other Arizona alum who have played in the NBL include Parker Jackson-Cartwright, who has been with the New Zealand Breakers for parts of the past three seasons, as well as Chase Jeter and Keanu Pinder.

Generally speaking, most people consider either Michael Jordan or LeBron James to be the GOAT of professional basketball. Jordan was an incredible presence from 1984 to 2003, minus his first two retirements. As for James, he started playing in the NBA in 2003 and, for better or worse, is still playing (he is not the player he used to be, and at some point, his diminishing skills will hurt his legacy).

As we said, most people would go with one of them for the greatest of all time, but not everyone. Take Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Kareem has a somewhat forgotten choice: Oscar Robertson. Robertson was somewhat overshadowed in the 1960s by the Boston Celtics, and the Lakers, first with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, and later with Wilt Chamberlain, but was he truly great?

Absolutely, he was, and this video makes a plausible argument for placing him ahead of Jordan and James.

Robertson, first and foremost, was decades ahead of his time. He was a 6-5 point guard who averaged a triple-double. He was immensely skilled, and strong enough to box out much bigger players.

As the video suggests, Kareem, who played with the Big O for two seasons early in his career, is uniquely qualified to judge greatness. He played against Chamberlain, with Magic Johnson, and against Jordan and Larry Bird.

The basic argument is that Robertson had a combination of total skills, talent, and control of the game that was well beyond that of Jordan and James. Not many people will accept this, because they’ve mostly seen Jordan and James, and Robertson is now 87 years old, and not everyone saw him in his prime.

But it’s a plausible argument as you watch this. What do you think?

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LeBron James possibly signing with Warriors draws eye-popping Bronny reaction originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

LeBron James has kept his cards so close to the vest, that not even his own son seems to know where he will go.

The elder James remains a free agent as a handful of prominent NBA teams continue to vie for his services this summer, and it’s unclear when a decision might come.

His oldest son, Bronny, recently was approached on the street by Instagram creator biggy22x, who first asked James to share a message to the youth before then asking the pressing question Warriors fans wants to know: Is his dad going to Golden State?

“Man, I don’t know where he’s going,” Bronny said laughing. “That would be crazy if he did.”

While Bronny might not yet know where his dad will play next season, it’s safe to assume he, and the James family, at least, has some sort of inkling about where the 22-time NBA All-Star realistically could end up and how close he is to making a decision.

However, one organization James won’t choose, is the Los Angeles Lakers, which he officially departed earlier this offseason and where he was able to play alongside his son Bronny for the past two seasons.

Now, with James potentially joining the Warriors, the father and son soon could become Pacific Division and Western Conference rivals.

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Why pairing LeBron James, Jimmy Butler together would be tricky for Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Everything Jimmy Butler III has said or done since coming to the Warriors signifies contentment with the franchise. He arrived 17 months ago with a smile that remains in place as he rehabs from surgery to repair a torn right ACL. He’s sincere, or a superb actor.

Statements made by Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy in recent months indicate Butler – his former teammate for three NBA seasons with the Chicago Bulls – will be a Warrior once he is cleared to play.

Meanwhile, the Warriors are hoping against hope that LeBron James will agree to joining their roster.

The dialogue linking James to the Warriors is mostly related to his positive relationships with Draymond Green, Stephen Curry and coach Steve Kerr. As for Butler, it’s as if his early season unavailability nudges him outside the chatter.

There could be more than that, though. Specifically in terms of “fit,” a factor generally at the top of Kerr’s roster-building process.

Butler is a wise 36-year-old small forward who plays big, eagerly bullies into the paint, takes great pleasure in creating easy shots for his teammates and has a knack for drawing fouls that result in free throws. Butler is at his best when he has the ball.

James is a wise 41-year-old small forward who plays big, eagerly bullies into the paint, takes great pleasure in creating easy shots for his teammates and has shot more than 12,000 free throws. James is at his best when he has the ball.

Butler and James are not the same player, but they share so many attributes and competitive characteristics that having them on the same roster results in considerable replication.

Moreover, putting them on the court together would relegate one to the margins. Who plays off the ball? Who stands in the corner prepared to catch-and-shoot?

That doesn’t suit either. Butler has been on five different NBA teams, and was a focal point at every turn. James has been on three different teams, always the focal point – until last season in Los Angeles.

“I was put into some positions I’ve never been in before in my career, actually in my life,” James told reporters in May, after the Lakers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs. “I’ve never been a third option in my life. To be able to thrive in that role, for that period of time, then to step back into that role that I’ve been accustomed to over my career, over my life playing this sport . . . that was pretty cool for me at this stage in my career.”

Being the “third option” behind Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves was not so appealing that James wanted to stay in LA, the most convenient location for his lifestyle. Remaining in that role with the Lakers would have granted him the highest possible salary.

James, however, wanted to explore his options, which are many. He’s seeking, according to representative Rich Paul, personal joy, family comfort, trustworthy teammates and a reasonable a chance for fifth ring. None of the teams leading the LeBron Polls offers all four components.

The Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers would pull LeBron far away from his West Coast base. So would the Cleveland Cavaliers, who offset some of that by being his “second home.” The Warriors are closest to LA but adding James merely moves them from the middle of the NBA to somewhere in the 8-to-12 range.

Which brings us to another of Golden State’s longtime fantasy acquisitions: Anthony Davis.

It’s well known that James, moving into his 24th NBA season, considers Davis one of his favorite teammates. They led the Lakers to a championship during the Covid-impacted Bubble Season in 2020. Davis currently belongs to the Washington Wizards, and league sources indicate that they plan to keep him as part of a core with Trae Young, No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa and Davis. Seven-foot Alex Sarr, 21, would alleviate AD’s concerns about playing center.

Davis in two weeks will be eligible to sign a max contract extension with Washington. The Wizards are hinting they’re committed to AD being part of their future, but Aug. 6 is the “put up or shut up” date. If they immediately affirm their ties to Davis, he likely stays. Any stalling or low-balling with Paul and the Klutch group could change the game.

With James still weighing his options, there is growing speculation that his decision could be tied to Davis’ future. If AD wants out, that could open the door for the Warriors.

Any attempt to pry Davis from Washington via sign-and-trade would have to include multiple NBA draft picks and a big salary. Such as that attached to Butler, who will be paid $56.8 million in the final year of his deal.

That outcome remains a longshot – even less likely than landing James – but the Warriors would be negligent not to pursue it if it were to deliver LeBron.

One thing, however, is certain. The LeBron-Jimmy roster fit, as smart as they are, would be tricky for Kerr.

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We’re at the part of the summer where LeBron James is controlling the basketball narratives because there’s nothing to talk about. Apparently, the decision would have happened by now had Adam Silver not rushed him.

Apparently, James is just like us and gets irritated by Adam Silver too.

But that may just be a ruse. It appears that Klutch would like to make a trade happen that would get Anthony Davis to either Cleveland or Golden State, and that might help James make his decision.

But how would this affect the Jazz?

Well, it appears the Jazz might be willing to take part in a multi-team deal that would send Jarrett Allen to Utah, which makes sense with the departure of Walker Kessler.

If this report from Marty Mush is to be believed, maybe there’s a shot at Utah getting their replacement center? Allen has a three-year $90M deal and could be the answer Utah is looking for now that Kessler is gone. It would be remarkable for Utah to keep the assets they got from the Lakers and still get a starting-caliber center as they enter the season.

That said, it appears this is dependent on the Wizards, Cavs, and Golden State as well, and if some sort of deal can be hashed out.

Shaquille O’Neal is weighing in on LeBron James’ NBA destiny.

The retired athlete — who played eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 to 2004 — addressed James’ decision to leave the California-based team ahead of his unprecedented 24th NBA season.

“Go where you can win, LeBron. When it’s over for us, it’s over,” O’Neal, 54, exclusively told the California Post in a new interview. 

“You never want to sit back and say, ‘I shoulda, I coulda, I woulda.’ I would say [go to] Cleveland, Golden State, Miami or even Philly.”

James, 41, shocked the sports world in June when he announced he was leaving the Lakers after eight seasons, having previously played with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2003 to 2010, 2014 to 2018) and Miami Heat (2010 to 2014). He averaged 25.9 points, 7.9 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals since joining the Lakers as a free agent in 2018.

“LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in history. We will always be thankful for his eight years with the Lakers — including the title he led us to in 2020 under the toughest imaginable circumstances and the countless records he broke in purple and gold,” Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said in a statement at the time.

“We wish him all the best in the future, both on the court and off. He will always be a cherished part of the Lakers family.”

In response to the post, James wrote, “No, THANK U! Truly a honor to wear the [purple and gold] while trying to continuing the greatness & legacies that came before me! Hope I made a few proud during my stint.”

Since the surprising announcement, fans have patiently been waiting for any news regarding James’ next move. While many have speculated that the four-time NBA Champion will likely land with the Warriors, Heat or Cavaliers, no decisions have been made at this time.

The California Post reported Tuesday that the majority of the NBA’s free agency business remains on hold while James weighs his options on where to play next.

Insiders told us that multiple teams and players within the league are currently in “a holding pattern” until the athlete finalizes his decision on where he’ll finish out his NBA career.

As for O’Neal, he exclusively spoke with Page Six while promoting his new true crime series, “Game Day Murders,” which he executive produced for Today Investigation Discovery.

“I’ve been a sports guy, I’ve been a true crime guy, and finally, we’re going to merge the two together,” he explained, when asked why he decided to take on the project. 

Calling himself a “true crime junkie,” the Lakers legend noted that he likes it because “everybody has that detective in them.”

“Game Day Murders,” hosted by veteran sports broadcaster Lindsay Czarniak, premieres July 27 at 10 p.m. ET on ID.

The series is also available for streaming on HBO Max.

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The LeBron James free agency saga has yet to reach its denouement, and the latest report reveals the reason for the delay.

James is reportedly “slow-playing” his decision to see if a suitor can trade for Anthony Davis or Kyrie Irving, according to Yahoo Sports writer Kevin O’Connor.

Davis and Irving are both former teammates of the 41-year-old, who won two of his four NBA championships with said All-Stars.

Now, it appears James is looking to reunite with one of the two as he pursues complete basketball happiness.

A reunion with either player would be magical, but the reality of a trade transpiring seems far-fetched. The Wizards appear content to keep Davis as their starting big man. Meanwhile, Irving is coming off an ACL injury with the Mavericks, so his performance for the upcoming season is questionable.

The final four suitors in the James sweepstakes are the Cavaliers, Heat, 76ers and Warriors. While there is constant speculation surrounding James, his camp has remained tight-lipped about the unique free agency process.

Despite being the oldest active player in the NBA, James remains effective. He is coming off a 2025-26 season in which he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists for the Lakers.

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James shot 51.5% from the field and 31.7% from 3 last season.

The next move for James is especially important given it could be the final destination of his career. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer hasn’t confirmed whether the 2026-27 season is his final year, but basketball fans are eager to know where James will go after eight consecutive seasons with the Lakers.

Beyond fans, the entire league is waiting for James to make a decision. But one thing is clear: James won’t rush the process.

Fever star Caitlin Clark is going to be featured on the cover of NBA 2K27’s deluxe edition, but fans noticed a weird element to the otherwise cool and historic moment.

Clark’s appearance on the cover marks the first time a WNBA player has been featured on her own global cover of the NBA edition of the game. However, several fans thought the cover didn’t exactly resemble Clark, with many accusing the creators of the game of using artificial intelligence for the digital drawing.

Sports business journalist Darren Rovell commented, “Weird to put someone else’s face on her. They don’t do that for NBA cover athletes.”

“Idk who that is but it’s certainly not Caitlin Clark,” another user posted on X.

Clark’s appearance is the next step for female athletes to be featured on the covers of the most popular basketball video game in the world.

Last year, Angel Reese was featured on the cover of the WNBA-specific 2K26 game, instead of a standard release cover. Several other star WNBA players, including Diana Taurasi, A’ja Wilson, and Sabrina Ionescu, have been on the WNBA cover.

2K has not addressed the rumblings online over Clark’s cover.

Clark joins Spurs star Victor Wembanyama and ex-Bulls star Derrick Rose as the featured cover athletes for the 2K27 edition. Wembanyama is on the standard edition, while the ultra version depicts Rose during his time with the Bulls.

2K did not announce a WNBA edition, leading fans to believe that the company is foregoing that edition in order to honor Clark with the more mainstream NBA deluxe edition.

NBA 2K27 will be released worldwide on Sept. 4.

The Spurs added Tobias Harris. How much better do you think he makes them, and what role do you see him filling? 

Marilyn Dubinski: It’s hard to raise the ceiling that much on a Finals team that only lost due to their own mistakes, but that’s exactly what Harris can help do: bring a veteran presence with a solid game on both sides who won’t make many mistakes.  At this point, it’s tough to say if he or Julian Champagnie will start, and it may come down to a training camp battle or if it’s something as simple as where Champagnie’s outside shooting is more needed: with the starters or second unit.

Mark Barrington: I think he makes the team better by adding more veteran leadership and another scorer and tenacious defender. He could end up starting over Julian Champagnie, but I still think the trio of him, Vassell, and Julian all get about the same amount of minutes. Even though he’s likely a starter, the biggest impact will be on the team’s depth where they don’t have a huge fall-off in talent when one of the starters has to sit.

Bill Huan: Harris gives the Spurs another starting-calibre player, which would be the team’s seventh, assuming Harper comes off the bench again. For a squad that ran out of bodies in the finals (especially at the forward position), this is a vital addition that also provides a reliable veteran presence to a very young team. I do worry about a potential dropoff given that he’s almost exactly the same age as Barnes, and we all saw what happened to HB last year. Still, Harris gives the Spurs another reliable body, and playing on a loaded team will hopefully keep him fresh for the postseason. 

Devon Birdsong: Any time you can add an efficient shooter and scorer to a Finals team, it’s going to make them better. And Harris is far more efficient than some might have you believe. For instance, his Player Efficiency Rating was higher than Devin Vassell’s last season, and their True Shooting Percentages were identical. (In fact, some of his advanced defensive stats were also better) I see Harris as taking on Harrison Barnes’ role of the last two seasons, with Barnes now migrating to ‘break glass in case of emergency’ status, but I think there’s a real question of whether he or Champagnie will start. My guess is that Julian will, because the bench could use a little more scoring punch outside of Keldon Johnson and Dylan Harper, but considering how much San Antonio’s matchup weakness at power forward popped up in the postseason, I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ll see them both get time with the starting unit throughout the season. They’ll need Harris to have a certain degree of familiarity with the starters come playoff time, and Julian has been both seamless and selfless in moving back and forth between the two. I’ve been assured by Spurs Twitter experts that that’s not something that NBA teams do during the regular season, though, so I guess all those years of Popovich experimenting with lineups was just a hallucination on my part. Ça alors! 

Jeje Gomez: I don’t think he raises their ceiling much, but he should help raise their floor. Harris has flaws, but he is a veteran who knows how to play, is durable, and can get a bucket when everything else fails. The Spurs needed guys that fit that mold last season, especially when Barnes started to struggle. As for his role, it would probably be best to bring him off the bench to prevent opponents from putting their center on Harris, like they used to do with Barnes. Harris is a decent shooter but not a knockdown guy, so that makes him an awkward fit for the starters. Still, there could be games where he’s the better option, and it wouldn’t be the worst idea to give him Julian Champagnie’s spot in those matchups.

The rookies that suited up had some good moments in Summer League. Do you expect any of them to contribute in 2026/27? 

Dubinski: Tarris Reed stands the best chance, especially since Victor Wembanyama and Luke Kornet were two of their more injury-prone players last season.  I don’t think the two-way players will play much, if any role (which has been the case the last couple of seasons now), and while Jayden Quiantance will hopefully be ready to start playing at some point this season, I wouldn’t expect him to truly have a role until next season.

Barrington: Tarris Reed will probably spend most of the first half of the season in Austin, but he could be a big part of the rotation after the All-Star break. Maliq Brown and Ja’Kobi Gillespie look more like projects to me, and we will have to see how well they do in Austin to see if they can contribute in San Antonio. If they do make it to the regular rotation, I don’t think it happens this season. 

Huan: Like everyone else said, I expect Reed to get some developmental run but I’d be floored if he saw any meaningful minutes in the postseason (barring injuries). I’m not sure if he’ll be ready to be the team’s third big by then, but he’ll surely be better than Plumlee and Biyombo, right…??? I think we should keep our expectations relatively low, but Reed’s development this season should still be a major storyline given that Kornet’s on a short-term deal and the Spurs will want to get younger and cheaper at the backup centre spot soon. 

Birdsong: Reed is definitely in line to find some minutes at some point, if for no other reason than a history of both Wemby and Luke Kornet missing time, but out of players who suited up for Summer League, Carter Bryant is the easy choice. The real question is what his minutes will end up looking like with Harris added to the forward rotation. Someone is going to have to take a step back, but the Spurs also have to figure out a way to continue to develop a player who contributed in the postseason. For me, this is the 2nd biggest roster question for the season after how the guard minutes will be allocated. 

Gomez: The Spurs will have trouble giving everyone minutes and touches even without considering the rookies, so I doubt any will get a regular role. Reed is likely going to be the one that gets the most playing time of the four, because he has an NBA-ready body and knows his strengths and weaknesses. I expect him to at least get a shot at minutes when one of Wembanyama or Kornet misses games, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Carter Bryant out there as a small-ball center while Reed sits. Regardless of their roles this year, the most important factor will be their development. San Antonio will need cheap role players when the roster gets more expensive, so if spending time in Austin is the best way to get the rookies ready for the future, that’s where they should be.

As the roster stands right now, who do you think will start and who do you think won’t be part of the rotation to start the season?

Dubinski: I think the rotation will be basically identical to last season, with Harris replacing Barnes in the top 10 rotation, and then it’s just a matter of whether he or Champagnie starts.  There may also be more minutes for Carter Bryant, perhaps at Keldon Johnson’s expense, which absolutely pains me to say, but at some point they’re going to have to determine if he’s a keeper past this season or if Bryant can make him expendable. (Just typing that about KJ crushes my soul!)

Barrington: As I mentioned above, I think that Tobias Harris starts over Julian, but that Champagnie will end up playing about the same number of minutes as the starters. Dylan Harper is definitely a starter-level talent, but I think he plays the Manu role again this year, coming off the bench while also getting a spot in the finishing lineups in big games. De’Aaron Fox had a bad playoff series against the Knicks, but the team is betting on a resurgence this year as he begins the season fully healthy for the first time in a few years, and he’s going to start. 

Carter Bryant will be a bigger part of the rotation as an undersized center when the Spurs are playing a smallball lineup. It will surprise no one that I think that Harrison Barnes will have a reduced role this season, and that Jordan McLaughlin will only play spot minutes when needed as an injury replacement or to finish out games where the score isn’t close. I think the acquisition of Tarris Reed allows the Spurs to experiment more with a French Vanilla lineup with both Kornet and Wemby out on the court at the same time, but that won’t happen until later in the season.

Huan: I agree with everything Marilyn said, although I’m not as big of a KJ stan as she is (please don’t come after me!!). The big question remaining is who starts between Champagnie and Harris, given that it sounds like Harper is “open” (or whatever the terminology was) to coming off the bench again. When the offseason first opened, I really thought that the end game would be starting all three guards, but if Harper is ok with being their 6th man for one more year, then the Spurs will need to take advantage. 

Birdsong: Barnes is almost definitely going to be out of the rotation by default, but I’m also curious to see how the minutes for Luke Kornet end up playing out with the addition of Harris. The Spurs probably want to find time for Bryant, so I wonder if Kornet’s minutes end up resembling something more like his allocation in the postseason (13 mins) rather than last year’s regular season (21 minutes) if Harris or Bryant need those extra eight minutes. The one thing about a team being this deep is the complications it creates in terms of playing time. PTR staff writer (and former college coach) Lee Dresie once wrote a piece on minutes allocation that I think about at least a dozen times each season, and I think figuring that balance out will be no small challenge for Mitch and Co. (though injuries may help them make some choices easier)

Gomez: I think Champagnie will continue to start unless the lineup that destroyed opponents last season regresses. That leaves some awkward fits off the bench, as Harris, Keldon Johnson, Carter Bryant, and Harrison Barnes, who are all power forwards, would likely have to play in lineups together. I’m assuming Barnes doesn’t get minutes and Harper, Harris, Johnson, and Kornet are the top four bench guys in terms of playing time, with some Bryant sprinkled in. Now, if Bryant’s shot improves, I can easily see him leapfrogging Johnson in the depth chart, which would bring about some uncomfortable questions about KJ’s future. But we’ll worry about that when/if it happens.