Lakers starting forward Rui Hachimura has signed a 2-year, $28M deal with the LA Clippers.
The Lakers are losing one of their main forwards to their crosstown rival.
Rui Hachimura will sign with the Clippers in free agency, adding to the long list of players who have departed the Lakers as part of their roster reconstruction.
Hachimura agreed to a two-year, $28 million deal with the Clippers, ESPN first reported.
Lakers starting forward Rui Hachimura has signed a 2-year, $28M deal with the LA Clippers. Getty Images
There’s a team option for the second year.
The report added that Hachimira and camp came to an understanding with the Clippers early in free agency and waited for the Lakers’ offseason moves to take place before pursuing a sign-and-trade, but that didn’t come to fruition, with Hachimura agreeing to a deal without the Lakers’ involvement.
Hachimura addressed his departure from the Lakers on social media.
“Thank you Lakers Nation for the past three years,” he said. “We had some great moments and I will always remember the memories we made together.”
Hachimura is expected to fill the starting power forward spot for the Clippers after they traded Kawhi Leonard to Toronto. Getty Images
The Lakers relinquished Hachimura’s cap hold and the free agency rights that would’ve allowed them to go over the salary cap to resign him to make their additions.
Hachimura’s return to the Lakers after 3 ½ seasons with the franchise was viewed as “unlikely,” a source told The California Post over the weekend, though it wasn’t clear where he would play next.
But the 6-foot-8 forward will get to stay in his preferred destination of LA with the move to the Clippers.
Hachimura was a key part of Los Angeles’ success in the postseason when they upset the Rockets in 6 games. Anadolu via Getty Images
Hachimura averaged 12.3 points (51.6% shooting) and 4.3 rebounds in his 228 regular season games (146 starts) with the Lakers after they acquired him from the Wizards in February 2023 for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks.
The Lakers re-signed Hachimura to a three-year, $51 million deal when he was a free agent during the 2023 offseason.
He significantly improved his 3-point shooting after coming to L.A., making 41.5% of his 3s during his Lakers tenure after shooting 35.6% on 3s with the Wizards.
Hachimura, who was the No. 9 pick in the 2019 draft, shot 44.3% on 3s during 2025–26, which was the league’s fifth-best mark.
He consistently stepped up during the postseason, averaging 13.4 points on 52.6% shooting (50.7% on 3s) in 36 playoff games with the Lakers.
Hachimura averaged a career-high 17.5 points (54.9% shooting, 56.9% on 3s) and four rebounds in the Lakers’ 10 playoff games this past spring.
With Hachimura’s departure, the Lakers will lose every starter who helped them take a 3–0 lead in their first round playoff series against the Rockets: James, Ayton, Smart, Kennard and Hachimura.
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 09: Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket against Luguentz Dort #5 and Chet Holmgren #7 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first quarter in Game Three of the Second Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on May 09, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
While the Lakers are trying to build their roster into a championship contender, they’ve just lost a big piece of their team via free agency.
Rui Hachimura has reportedly agreed to sign with the Clippers on a two-year, $28 million deal, as first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN.
Just in: Free agent Rui Hachimura has agreed to a two-year, $28 million deal to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/Cixx1ZGPV3
According to Charania, the Clippers and Hachimura agreed on a deal fairly early in free agency and waited to see if the Lakers were open to a sign-and-trade. However, the purple and gold were unwilling to work out a trade, likely due to the cap gymnastics they were already doing.
Realistically, a sign-and-trade would have never happened after the Lakers made their signings, so this feels like some agent posturing.
Hachimira and his agent Darren Matsubara of THE•TEAM came to an understanding with the Clippers early in free agency on finding a deal together. The sides waited for the Lakers to complete their offseason business to pursue a sign-and-trade, but the Lakers didn’t cooperate on an… https://t.co/3v2hzswKm6
Rui shared a message to Lakers fans on his Instagram following the report from Shams.
Rui Hachimura on Instagram: "Thank you Lakers Nation for the past three years. We had some great moments and I will always remember the memories we made together." pic.twitter.com/AfVLbIEAGs
Multiple reports in the aftermath of the signing indicated that Rui wanted to remain in Los Angeles but the Lakers did not prioritize him similarly, so he chose to sign with the Clippers over other teams.
Source says Rui, who wanted to stay in LA, prioritized Clippers over interest from Brooklyn, San Antonio, Golden State, Minnesota, and Portland. https://t.co/ydWzicpRy1
The Mavericks, who still possess the full $15 million midlevel, emerged as a suitor for Rui Hachimura along with the Clippers on top of Brooklyn's long-held interest … but Hachimura had a clear intention to stay in LA after 3 1/2 seasons as a Laker. https://t.co/PqxJ18SDF0
This past season, Hachimura carved out a solid role for himself as an elite shooter coming off the bench for head coach JJ Redick. He averaged 11.3 points and shot 44.3% from 3-point range in the 68 regular-season games he participated in.
In his 10 postseason games, all of his numbers improved as he averaged 17.5 points and shot a whopping 56.9% from 3-point range. Hachimura also averaged 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
His best game of the playoffs was arguably his Game 6 performance against the Rockets. He scored 21 points and went 5-7 from deep, helping LA eliminate Houston.
While he was a player whose flaws were oft-discussed, he was also someone who developed into a valuable role player during his time with the Lakers. Between that and becoming a fan favorite off the court, it’ll be tough to see him don a Clippers jersey next season.
Philadelphia stunned the NBA by trading Paul George for Jaylen Brown last week. Here's why Mike Gansey's blockbuster deal could reshape the franchise's championship window.
Full stop, I was not excited about this upcoming Philadelphia 76ers season. Not even a little bit.
The Sixers had just been swept out of the playoffs by the Knicks in the second round -- a team that went on to win the whole thing -- and the offseason was shaping up to be exactly the kind of quiet, underwhelming stretch that Philadelphia fans have become all too familiar with. Kelly Oubre and Quentin Grimes walked. Dean Wade got signed, which is fine -- Wade is a perfectly solid rotation player -- but he is not the kind of move that makes you look up from your phone. And then there's the whole Paul George situation, which was still hanging over everything like a storm cloud that refused to move.
It was looking, frankly, like another season of managed expectations and carefully worded press releases about culture and development. Then, new president of basketball operations, Mike Gansey picked up the phone. And everything changed.
The trade is stunning by any measure. The 76ers are sending George, two first-round picks in 2028 and 2031, and two second-rounders to Boston in exchange for Jaylen Brown, the 2024 Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star, and one of the most productive players in the Eastern Conference over the last decade. Philadelphia doesn't just shed the most albatross of a contract in the league in one clean motion. They replace it with one of the best wings in the game, coming off the best season of his career.
That's not a good trade. That's a franchise-altering trade, and it was made by a first-time front office decision-maker in his first major move on the job. Gansey, the former college basketball grinder who worked his way up through Cleveland's scouting department, just did something in his first week that Daryl Morey -- one of the most celebrated executives in the history of the sport -- never managed to do in his entire tenure in Philadelphia: He fixed the PG problem.
Let's talk about what getting out of that contract actually means, because it's hard to overstate. George was owed $54.1 million this season and had a $56.6 million player option for 2027-28, a total of over $110 million for a 36-year-old who averaged 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in his second season with the Sixers and spent a quarter of the year serving a suspension. In any other trade scenario, the 76ers would have had to attach significant draft capital just to get another team to take that deal off their hands. Instead, they got Brown for it. As one league executive put it this week, you could make the case that Philadelphia essentially got Jaylen Brown for free. That is not hyperbole; that is just the math.
Now consider what Brad Stevens had to do on the other side of this trade. Stevens has been one of the most respected executives in the NBA since transitioning from coaching, coming off winning Executive of the Year last season. He built one of the most consistently excellent teams of the last decade. He is calm, methodical, and almost never reactive. And yet here he is, trading his cornerstone wing -- who, by the way, never asked to leave -- in the immediate aftermath of getting eliminated by the 76ers in the first round, after failing to land Giannis in what would have been an earth-shattering blockbuster.
This is Stevens panicking. It might be the first time anyone has ever been able to say that sentence with a straight face. The Celtics missed on Giannis, turned around, and traded Brown to a division rival. Jaylen Brown called himself "excited and disappointed" in the same statement. That tells you everything about how this went down in Boston.
Which brings us to the motivation angle, and this is the part that should genuinely scare the rest of the Eastern Conference. Brown doesn't just arrive in Philadelphia as a consolation prize. He arrives as a player who finished sixth in MVP voting last season, who has played in more wins than any player in the league over the last 10 years, and whom his own organization tried to trade numerous times over the years, and when that didn't work, shipped him out of town anyway without a phone call. That's fuel. That is the specific kind of disrespect that turns good players into great ones and great players into something else entirely. If Jaylen Brown comes to Philadelphia with a chip on his shoulder the size of the Liberty Bell, the 76ers are the direct beneficiary of every slight Boston just handed him.
And the roster he's walking into is genuinely frightening. Tyrese Maxey was the league's fifth-leading scorer last season. Joel Embiid is a two-time scoring champion when healthy. VJ Edgecombe is a walking playoff moment — the kid hit big shot after big shot in his first postseason and didn't blink, just winked -- and is only getting better. Now add Brown, and that's four legitimate options on any given night, four players who can take over a game in different ways, and a coaching staff in Nick Nurse that knows exactly what to do with that kind of versatility.
The contract continuity is also worth noting. Brown is owed $57 million this season, $61 million next, and $64.9 million in 2028-29. Maxey's extension kicks in. Embiid is locked up. Edgecombe is on his rookie deal through this window, which means the Sixers have two clean seasons to compete before they have to address what paying Edgecombe looks like when his extension comes due. The window is real, the runway is defined, and for the first time in what feels like years, the variables are actually manageable.
Maddie Meyer / Getty Images
None of this is guaranteed, of course. We're talking about the 76ers, after all -- the franchise where the improbable somehow becomes routine. This is the team that watched rookie Zhaire Smith nearly lose his life because of an undiagnosed peanut allergy, saw Markelle Fultz seemingly forget how to shoot, endured Ben Simmons' confidence completely evaporate, had fans uncover the infamous BurnerGate scandal involving Bryan Colangelo's secret accounts, and even somehow traded away hometown kid Mikal Bridges -- whose mother WORKED FOR THE TEAM -- on draft night, only to watch him eventually celebrate a championship with the Knicks years later.
Simply put: Something always seems to go sideways in Philadelphia. And that's not to mention the annual collective holding of breath in Philadelphia any time Embiid hits the floor, though some of those fears are somewhat eased by Brown's arrival, bringing one of the league's most reliable iron men to a roster that has desperately needed one thing over the years -- health. On top of that, Brown and Embiid have history; Brown literally called Embiid a flopper on a livestream after their playoff series. Chemistry will need to be built. And the depth behind the starting five is still thin enough that injuries could unravel everything in a hurry.
But here's the bottom line. The 76ers just escaped one of the worst contracts in basketball and landed one of the best two-way players in the sport in the same transaction. Whether you think Brown is slightly overrated -- and there are many people who do, this writer included -- the relevant comparison isn't Brown against the ideal. It's Brown against what the 76ers had before. A focused, motivated Jaylen Brown coming off his best season is infinitely preferable to a suspended, declining Paul George at $110 million over two years. That's not even a debate.
Philadelphia fans were bracing for another quiet summer. They got a blockbuster instead. Credit where it's due; Mike Gansey walked in the door and immediately made the biggest and best move this franchise has made in years.
Memphis has Zach Edey at center and has agreed to trade for Isaiah Stewart as a backup big, but the team wanted a more traditional five and a big body behind Edey. So they went after a Golden State restricted free agent.
Warriors restricted free agent center Quinten Post will sign a three-year, $30 million offer sheet with the Grizzlies, reports Shams Charania of ESPN. That gives the Warriors 48 hours — until 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday to match the offer, or Post is headed to Memphis. That $10 million a year price tag may make it too pricy for the Warriors to match, reports Anthony Slater of ESPN. Especially if they are going to make an offer to LeBron James or others.
Post took a step forward in his second season, particularly on defense, and he averaged 7.7 points and four rebounds a night, averaging a little more than 17 minutes per game. In a Western Conference with Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic, Chet Holmgren, Walker Kessler and more, every team is looking for big bodies and ways to defend more inside.
A restricted free agent signing an offer sheet has become increasingly rare in recent years — the last player to sign an offer sheet without it being matched was Bogdan Bogdanovic in 2020, going from Sacramento to Atlanta. Usually, teams and players work out a number that suits both sides (although without much leverage, it is often a team-friendly deal), or they work out a sign-and-trade, as recently seen with Walker Kessler going from the Jazz to the Lakers.
This offer sheet also uses means some salary cap rules gymnasitcs for Memphis.
Quinten Post's offer sheet will come out of the Non-Taxpayer MLE for the Grizzlies, if the Warriors don't match.
That means that Memphis will likely tie the Isaiah Stewart acquisition into the Santi Aldama trade. Expect that one to ultimately be a four- or five-team deal.
The LeBron James sweepstakes swells to six teams as rumors swirl
When LeBron James informed the Los Angeles Lakers he would not be returning for the 2026–27 season, it was evident the decision was a league-altering one.
Now, James is testing the free agent market at 41 years old and his next destination will certain have implications for the rest of the NBA.
There are reportedly six teams that are operating under the belief that they’re in the running to sign James, per NBA insider Marc Stein. Those teams include the Philadelphia Sixers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors.
The LeBron James sweepstakes swells to six teams as rumors swirl.
The sixth team is perhaps the most surprising candidate of the bunch with the Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly in the running. Unlike the other five finalists in the sweepstakes for James, Minnesota had never previously been linked to the four-time NBA champion.
But the Timberwolves’ reported interest in signing James points to the organization’s desire to get franchise superstar Anthony Edwards a championship caliber team.
There are still SIX teams who believe they are in the running to sign LeBron James, per @TheSteinLine
Cleveland and the Heat make sense for obvious reasons as James won titles with both teams, but the former would be storybook for the veteran as he began his career with the Cavaliers.
The Warriors also present an interesting option for James as the move would give him a chance to team up with Steph Curry and play for head coach Steve Kerr, both of whom won a medal with James at the Olympics in Paris.
The Nuggets and Sixers could use another star-studded name on the roster, thus landing James would certainly give both squads a better chance of contending for the 2026–27.
At this stage of his career, James is looking for complete basketball happiness. Only time will tell where the NBA’s all-time leading scorer believes he can find it.
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CAMDEN, NJ - JUNE 25: Labaron Philon Jr. #00 of the Philadelphia 76ers poses for a portrait during the Philadelphia 76ers press conference introducing Labaron Philon Jr. on June 25, 2026 at the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex in Camden, NJ NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
For the first time in a long time, the Sixers will not participate in the Salt Lake City Summer League, and instead will open play in Vegas.
The Vegas Summer League tips off later this week and the Sixers on Monday announced their roster for the games.
It’s a rookie-heavy roster, with Johni Broome being the only player with NBA experience. The second-year big man is looking to bounce back after an underwhelming rookie campaign which saw him miss time with a torn meniscus late in the regular season.
The headliner of the roster is the 22nd overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Labaron Philon Jr. The rookie out of Alabama will likely factor into the team’s rotation this season, even with the signing of veteran guard Anferenee Simons.
There are a couple names that might like familiar to you true Sixers sickos. Forward Saint Thomas and big man Drew Cisse both spent time with the Delaware Blue Coats last season.
Meanwhile, Duke Miles, a bulldog guard who played his final collegiate season at Vanderbilt, was reportedly signed to an Exhibit 10 contract. That means Miles will be in camp with the Sixers, but will be financially-incentivized to join the Blue Coats over another G League affiliate.
The Sixers begin play this Thursday, July 9, as they go up against the Detroit Pistons at 5:30 p.m. on Amazon Prime. They then play Saturday, July 11, against the Indiana Pacers at 5:30 p.m., and Tuesday, July 14, vs. the Houston Rockets at 4 p.m. Those games will also be in Prime. They’ll close out the slate on Wednesday, July 15, against the Orlando Magic at 4 p.m. on ESPNU.
There will be more games after that. The top-four teams will participate in a playoff. The other 26 teams will play one additional game.
The LeBron James sweepstakes appear to be at a standstill, which could be a bad sign for the Warriors.
Golden State, who is pursuing the 41-year-old superstar this offseason, and initially was believed to be the favorite to sign the unrestricted free agent, does not feel confident that it will be the team to land the 22-time All-Star, ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported in a story published Monday, citing sources.
“On the James front, Warriors sources continue to express a low level of optimism that James will ultimately pick them as his next team, but they intend to keep roster space open for James until he ultimately declares his choice,” Slater wrote.
When James informed the Los Angeles Lakers on June 30 of his decision to play elsewhere in the 2026-27 NBA season, a decision that came one day after Warriors forward Draymond Green strategically declined his player option in order to free up salary cap space, many, understandably, viewed Golden State as the frontrunner to land James.
However, after the Philadelphia 76ers made a seismic trade for star forward Jaylen Brown, and other teams, like the Cleveland Cavaliers, James’ hometown team that he has had two separate stints with, and the Miami Heat, another one of James, former teams, among others, became heavily involved, Golden State has faced much steeper competition for his services.
And now, almost one week into NBA free agency, the Warriors soon might need to pivot to other options to replenish their roster.
FIFA’s suspension of the red card USMNT’s Folarin Balogun received in the team’s round-of-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina has been making headlines across the sports world.
The decision essentially will make the 25-year-old striker available for USA’s round-of-16 matchup Monday against Belgium.
Amid the social media storm following FIFA’s announcement, Warriors star Draymond Green shared his thoughts on the controversial move, relating it to a previous experience of his during the 2016 NBA Finals.
With Golden State leading the Cleveland Cavaliers 3-1 in the 2016 NBA Finals, Green was suspended for Game 5 of the series after being assessed a Flagrant 1 foul in Game 4. The foul call came with less than three minutes left in the game when LeBron James stepped over Green, who fell to the court and swung his arm in retaliation.
The Cavaliers won the next three games of the series and claimed their first NBA championship in franchise history, ending the Warriors’ magical run that included an NBA record-setting 73 wins during the 2015-16 regular season.
Meanwhile, Balogun received a straight red card on July 1 for a foul on Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic, which automatically suspends the USA forward by one game.
Balogun scored one of USA’s two goals against Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as two goals against Paraguay in the group stage, making him an important piece to the team’s offensive attack.
FIFA’s reversal of Balogun’s red card has resulted in an abundance of mixed reactions, including the Belgian Federation, which was looking to appeal the decision ahead of USA and Belgium’s round-of-16 matchup. FIFA dismissed Belgium’s appeal, keeping Balogun available to play in the upcoming match.
Green certainly would have appreciated a reversal of his suspension 10 years ago, but for now, the 2016 NBA Finals will continue to be the one moment in Golden State’s dynastic run that many Warriors fans try to erase from their memories.
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 19: Alijah Martin #55 of the Toronto Raptors dribbles the ball during the game against the Sacramento Kings during the 2025 NBA Summer League game on July 19, 2025 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Candice Ward/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Las Vegas Summer League is only days away and suspense is starting to build as rosters, schedules, and media continues to be released.
The Raptors first game will be against Boston this Friday at 9pm ET. Leading up to this, let’s take a look at five outcomes we’d like to see from this year’s roster:
1 – A Summer League championship
This one is obvious. Last year we were close, but eventually lost the semifinal game to Sacramento. The roster construction isn’t dissimilar, but had the benefit of a few more players with past NBA experience.
Like most Summer League Teams, Toronto has a combination of sophomore players, this year’s draft picks, undrafted players, and guys with previous NBA or G-League experience looking for a spot.
Collin Murray-Boyles, Alijah Martin, and Chucky Hepburn, last year’s rookies, will all make an appearance. How much they play is still up for debate, especially CMB, given his phenomenal playoff performance. This could also change based on whether or not they clinch a playoff spot. If they do, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them get extra time.
This year’s draft picks, Allen Graves and Jaden Bradley, should see significant minutes as they already have contracts worked out for next year and this will be their first chance to play against NBA guys.
Seth Lundy is the only other rostered player with previous NBA experience, who was drafted in the second round in 2023 by the Clippers. The remainder of the roster is composed of rookies: Brandon Angel (previous Summer League experience), Aziz Bandaogo (Raptors 905 G-League international draft pick), Nate Bittle, Nimari Burnett, Jalen Celestine, Tyson Degenhart (905 last year), AJ Hoggard (905 last season), Tyreke Key (905 for the last two seasons), Jamarion Sharp (prior G-League and professional experience), and Malik Thomas.
While a lot of those names may not be familiar to you or jump off the page, this roster has lots of potential. Solid guards, size, and enough experienced guys to keep them competitive.
2 – Promising back-up guard play
One of the obvious questions about the Raptors’ current construction is at the guard position. Shead is improving in leaps and bounds and hopefully Quickley will have fewer injuries this year. Even still, having another option to slot in behind those guys or in the event of injuries is a must. Alijah Martin is the most obvious choice, especially with his G-League performance last year.
This is the perfect opportunity to let some of these guys get some run against NBA competition. Decision making, distribution, and long range shooting will all be things Toronto can use this season, and any of the guards on this roster could make a case for being the next guy up.
It would also be awesome to see a little bit more of this:
The other obvious question about the Raptors’ current construction is centre depth. Losing Mamu is definitely a blow, meaning CMB who’s a bit undersized and Jackson-Davis who barely saw the floor last season. The League seems to be slowly shifting to requiring a 7-footer, in part to guard guys like Wemby, Holmgren, Kessler, and (when he’s healthy) Porzingis. The Raptors don’t have anyone to fit that bill right now, and while it may be a bit of a long shot, there is a trio of 7-footers on this roster that will be fun to watch and could, at a minimum, have potential to make a two-way spot or the 905 roster. This will be a great opportunity to see how these guys are able to
So far, Jamarion Sharp looks like the frontrunner right now (as you will see in a second), but Nate Bittle, and Aziz Bandaogo both have the height and build to fit the bill.
Nothing like seeing your first round draft pick suiting up to build suspense for the upcoming season. Plus, like most years, at least half of the fan base has questions about Toronto’s pick, so it would be nice for him to silence some of the doubters with a strong Summer League performance.
He’s shown a lot defensively, from long range, and operating off the catch from the point in college. Seeing how that could potentially work in our system is super exciting.
If there’s one thing Toronto hangs their hat on, it’s defence. Last year they started rough, but had the fifth-best defence by the end of the season. Martin, Hepburn, Murray-Boyles, and Sharp are among the players on this roster that prioritize and are known for their defensive prowess. Ultimately, everyone here is trying to prove they’re fit for this system and it would be nice to see the guys coming up the pipeline have the same mindset and ability at that end of the court.
It’s also the most fun part of Toronto’s game to watch.
DALLAS, TEXAS - JUNE 29: A detail view of a Dallas Mavericks logo before the introduction of Dallas Mavericks head coach Dusty May before a press conference at American Airlines Center on June 29, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I know things start to break, so here’s a new one.
As I’m publishing this, the NBA Free Agency moratorium is ending shortly. That means a lot of reported deals get signed, but perhaps there will be surprises too. Then later this week we’ll have NBA Summer League to cover. Dallas plays Thursday, Saturday, and Monday. A significant cohort of Mavs Moneyball staff is going, so if you’re going, let me know.
The Mavericks actually have a pretty good team, so expect decent enough basketball.
As usual, have fun within this space. Let me know if there are issues.
DENVER, COLORADO - APRIL 27: Kyle Anderson #12 of the Minnesota Timberwolves warms up before Game Five of the First Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena on April 27, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There’s a specific kind of anxiety that lives in your phone now.
You’re at the grocery store or walking the dog or doing whatever normal people do in July when basketball isn’t happening, and a notification slides down from the top of the screen. Shams Charania, ESPN. You see a player’s name. Kyle Anderson. You see the years. You see the dollar figure. But you can’t see the team. Not until you tap it. Not until you open the app and let the full post load and your stomach does that little half-second gymnastics routine while your brain screams please don’t be Dallas, please don’t be Dallas, please don’t be…
Toronto Raptors.
Oh, thank the basketball gods.
This has happened to me at least five times in the last week. And every single time, the relief has been real, physical, almost spiritual. Because the Mavericks are having a quietly excellent offseason, and a huge part of what makes it excellent is what they haven’t done.
Masai Ujiri’s front office drafted Morez Johnson Jr. at nine. They grabbed Sergio de Larrea later in the first round via trade. They appear committed to holding onto Kyrie Irving as he returns to the floor this year. They traded a heavily protected first-round pick and two future seconds for Santi Aldama, a 25-year-old combo forward who averaged 14 points and nearly seven rebounds last year. They have a year-two Cooper Flagg who won’t turn 20 until December. Dereck Lively II is reportedly 7’3” now with a 7’9” wingspan. The positive ledger is long and it’s real.
But I want to talk about the negative space. The signings that didn’t happen. The alternate timeline.
The Darkest Timeline Has a Name
Because here’s the thing: as dark as the actual timeline got after the Dončić trade, we can imagine a darker one. A timeline where Nico Harrison and Jason Kidd are still running this franchise, scrolling through free agent lists with the same philosophical blinders that produced the worst trade in franchise history and perhaps in professional sports.
Harrison’s front office had a type. If you came up through the AAU circuit, if you were a sneaker-convention fixture, if you were a recognizable NBA name who could be acquired through a relationship rather than through rigorous evaluation, you were in the pipeline and on the dubious trade-target list, where Jrue was perilously close to the Joker. If you were a 20-year-old guard lighting up the ACB in Spain? Probably not on the radar.
The Harrison regime shed its European connective tissue and never replaced it with an overseas find of its own. There was no impactful effort to scout or recruit international talent from overseas that turned over a single gem during that era. The scouting lens was narrowed in its final analysis to who Nico knew or approved of in the abstract, and the results looked like it.
So let’s play a game. Let’s look at a few free agent moves from the last week, imagine how each one might have played out in the somehow-still-here Harrison timeline, and collectively exhale.
Kyle Anderson → Toronto Raptors (1 year, $3.9 million)
Anderson is 32, entering his 13th season, and has been traded to five different teams in the last two years. He’s a solid, unconventional player. In the Harrison timeline, Slow Mo might have been the starting small forward, with Nico calling it “veteran leadership.”
Have a nice season in Toronto, Kyle.
Mike Conley → Boston Celtics (1 year, minimum)
Conley is 38 years old and entering his 20th NBA season. He averaged a career-low 4.5 points in 18 minutes a game last year. He is, by all accounts, a wonderful human being and a respected locker room presence.
He is also the exact player Nico Harrison would have signed instead of trading for Marcus Sasser. I can see the press conference. I can hear the phrase “championship run.” I can feel my soul leaving my body.
Enjoy Boston, Mike.
Keon Ellis → Brooklyn Nets (2 years, $18 million)
Ellis is 26 and a perfectly useful 3-and-D wing who’s a little undersized at 6’4” and not much of a playmaker. He’s not a bad player. He may even be a helpful one in Brooklyn.
That’s the point. A disciplined front office can pass on a decent player because he doesn’t quite fit the build. The old Mavericks too often treated available and familiar as if they were synonyms for sensible. Sometimes the sign of a grown-up front office is not that it avoids obvious disasters. Sometimes it just declines the wrong perfectly fine player at the wrong perfectly fine price.
Good luck in Brooklyn, Keon.
Javonte Green → Detroit Pistons (1 year, $3.95 million)
Green re-signed with Detroit at 32, and this is the one that you can imagine easily in a post-Luka delusional Nico timeline. If he were still here, Harrison could easily be envisioned welcoming Javonte Green as the quintessential “win now charade” signing.
A 30-something journeyman role player who fills a roster spot and lets a GM gesture toward activity without actually building anything. In the Harrison timeline, Green is your sixth man and you’re being told to feel good about it.
Tobias Harris → San Antonio Spurs (2 years, $31 million)
Harris signed with a division rival for $31 million fully guaranteed, pushing his career earnings past $330 million. He’s turning 34 this month. He’s a fine player who will give San Antonio respectable minutes next to Wembanyama.
He’s also the kind of name and price tag that would have had Harrison feeling great about himself at the introductory press conference and Mavericks fans doing cap sheet math by December.
The Spurs can have him. Bon appétit.
Kyle Lowry → Retired
And then there’s Kyle Lowry, who announced his retirement this week. He’s 40 years old. He played 14 games last season as a locker room mentor in Philadelphia. The Raptors are signing him to a one-day contract on Monday so he can retire in Toronto, where he belongs.
In the Harrison timeline, Nico is on the phone before Kyle even gets the chance to schedule that ceremony. He’s pitching a championship run. He’s talking about those 40-year-old knees having one more season in them. He’s describing a veteran mentorship role that somehow also involves 22 minutes a game.
The Raptors are trying to set up a podium, and Nico Harrison would be trying to talk Kyle Lowry out of using it.
What the Negative Space Tells You
None of this is meant to disrespect any of those players. They’ve all had real careers and earned their money. The point is about organizational philosophy, and what it reveals when a front office consistently declines to do the thing that the previous regime would have done reflexively.
The Ujiri front office didn’t sign a single one of those players. They drafted a dynamic frontcourt player from Michigan, whose coach they just hired. They drafted a guard from the top Spanish league who’s drawing blatantly unfair early comparisons to another nifty passer with a Euro league past. They traded for a young combo forward on a team-friendly deal. Everything they’ve done has felt intentional. Even the things that haven’t worked out feel like they came from a plan rather than from panic.
The Mavericks are rebuilding. You don’t pass on Morez Johnson Jr. at nine because Daniel Gafford is still on the roster. You don’t decline to trade for a 25-year-old combo forward at Aldama’s price because PJ Washington is still here. Those are veteran contracts, and veteran contracts move. There are months between now and the start of the regular season, and there is at least another year before genuine playoff aspirations should extend beyond a first-round exit at best.
Ujiri has been in the job for five proverbial minutes. The roster has open surgery scheduled. Diagnosing the patient mid-procedure and calling it a failure is the kind of analysis that sounds smart in a column and evaporates the moment a single trade clears the logjam that everyone, including the front office, already knows is there.
I’d love to be proven wrong on the timeline and see meaningful basketball deep into the playoffs out of nowhere. But calling this offseason a loss because the rebuild isn’t finished in week one? Bleak and dour stuff from a guy who should know better.
The Mavericks aren’t done building. The offseason still has moves to make and questions to answer. But right now, every time a Shams notification slides down your screen and the team turns out to be someone else, you can exhale.
The adults are running this.
Have a nice season, gentlemen. Genuinely. Just not here.
It's a 6-pack of action in the NBA Summer League on Monday, with most eyes set on a dynamite matchup between No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson and No. 3 pick Cameron Boozer, as the Jazz take on the Grizzlies.
Other top 10 players that should be in action include Sacramento's Darius Acuff Jr, the debut of Brooklyn's Mikel Brown Jr (no. 6), and Atlanta's Kingston Flemings, the no. 9 pick.
Check out my NBA Summer League Predictions and free NBA picks for Monday, July 6.
NBA Summer League predictions for July 6
Pick
Memphis Grizzlies moneyline
-133
Sacramento Kings moneyline
+150
Atlanta Hawks moneyline
+100
Today's Summer League Picks
Grizzlies moneyline (-133 at Kalshi)
Utah Jazz rookie Darryn Peterson starred in his debut in an overtime win over Atlanta, pouring in 21 points on a cool 11-for-21 shooting.
Cameron Boozer looked great in his debut too, piling up 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting, four boards and four assists in a blowout win over OKC.
Different positions, but this is the first of many head-to-head matchups we will see at the pro level, and I think both want to shine.
Peterson wins the duel, but this Memphis Grizzlies roster is a little supercharged, with legit star Cedric Coward on the roster, and former 2023 Round 1 picks Olivier Maxence-Prosper and Taylor Hendricks battling for roster spots.
Kings moneyline (+150 at Kalshi)
Darius Acuff quite literally fit his pre-draft profile to a T in his debut: he led the Sacramento Kings in scoring with 25 points and wasn't bashful about hoisting them up, going 9-for-29 from the field while also adding three assists.
As I predicted, the hungry Milwaukee Bucks hammered the split Warriors squad, but then followed that up by getting beaten by 20 points by the Nets.
Acuff sat out the Kings' 91-85 win over Warriors Blue, and they may have unearthed a rotational big in Victor Lakhin.
The 6-foot-11 Russian, who went undrafted last year, led the Kings with 12 points, six rebounds and an assist.
The Bucks have yet to showcase their lottery picks, Braydon Burries and Nate Ament, in Summer League play, but the Kings should roll here.
Hawks moneyline (+100 at Kalshi)
The Oklahoma City Thunder Summer League roster consists of their three 2026 draft picks: Aday Mara, Bennett Stirtz, and Otega Oweh; 2025 2nd-Rounder Brooks Barnhizer; and 14 undrafted players, ranging from as far back as 2022 (Buddy Boeheim!) to eight from this last draft.
It's an experimental roster – as the Thunder are contender-ready, with even their top draft picks likely riding pine behind a slew of talent.
It's a different story for the Atlanta Hawks, who need their picks to fill legit roster spaces on a team that should be in the NBA Eastern Conference mix.
The three expected to make the most impact looked great in their debut.
No. 9 pick Kingston Flemings had 14 points, nine assists and four steals, while 13th pick Zuby Ejiofor had eight points and 11 boards (seven on the offensive end). Second-year man Asa Newell tied for the scoring lead with 15.
They should again be prominent over a Thunder side that's really just trying to catch some kind of lightning in a bottle.
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Monday’s NBA Summer League parlay
Grizzlies moneyline
Kings moneyline
Hawks moneyline
+776 at Kalshi
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After two summer league games — and two DNPs for Mikel Brown Jr. — Nets fans may finally get to see their prized rookie on Monday.
The Nets split their first two contests tilts at the California Classic, dropping their opener Saturday at Sacramento before beating Milwaukee 89-69 the next day.
Brown, Danny Wolf and Nolan Traore all sat out against the Kings, while they had an even more threadbare lineup Sunday. But Brown — the No. 6 pick in last month’s draft — is expected to make his pro debut Monday against Golden State.
Mikel Brown Jr. looks like he may be set to debut for the Nets. AP Photo/Chris Seward
“The approach for the last game, have our roster guys back into the rotation. The hope is that Mikel is ready to play,” Nets summer league coach Dutch Gaitley said. “We’ll see about Danny, see how his back’s feeling.
“But these guys did a great job of setting the tone of ‘this is how we play Brooklyn basketball.’ And we need our guys to continue to strive for what our guys did today. And if our Brooklyn roster can play how our guys played [Sunday], we’re gonna have a lot of success.”
Brown missed a total of 14 games during his freshman campaign at Louisville with a lower back injury — eight games from December to early January, then six at the end of the season.
Now the Nets hope Brown will make his pro debut, though Gaitley wouldn’t put a percentage on the point guard suiting up.
“That is above my pay grade,” Gaitley said. “I think the plan is that he is going to play, but I don’t make the final decisions.”
The Nets held the Bucks to just 32 .324 percent shooting Sunday. Ben Humrichous had 15 points, eight rebounds and shot 5-for-12 from 3-point range. Hunter Sallis — James Harden’s cousin — added 15 points, six assists and six boards while Dion Brown was a plus-27 before limping off at the end.
Brooklyn Nets Mikel Brown, Jr. speaks with the media at the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
The Nets sat Wolf, Nolan Traore Trarore (knee scope), Egor Dëmin, Ben Saraf, Drake Powell, Tyler Bilodeau and Chaney Johnson.
The trade that brought the Nets rookie Joshua Jackson becomes official Monday. Milwaukee didn’t have rookie Nate Ament available for the same reason.
Boston, MA - September 25: Bill Chisholm, the new lead owner and governor of the Boston Celtics, listens as Brad Stevens, president of basketball operations, speaks during an introductory press conference at the Auerbach Center on September 25, 2025 in Boston. (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
Five days ago, the Boston Celtics agreed to trade Jaylen Brown for Paul George and draft compensation. The trade could not be made official until today, so the team hasn’t been able to officially discuss the details or explain the thought process behind the trade. That airspace has invited rumors, inuendo, conspiracy theories, educated guesses (and some uneducated ones), and every opinion under the sun.
At 4PM today we’ll hear from Brad Stevens and Bill Chisholm directly. We’ll get their official statements on the trade and we’ll hear them respond to many questions. I’m just not entirely sure if we’ll hear the full truth of what transpired and what it means for the future of the franchise.
I don’t have a crystal ball, but here are some categories of subjects that are sure to be addressed.
Financial Flexibility
One reason they may have decided to move on from Brown was his contract. Several smart people have pointed out that he’s getting supermax money and probably wouldn’t be ranked by many as a top 5 player in the league (or pick your range). Which makes him a bit overpaid in a league where the 2nd apron is treated as a defacto hard cap. Sure, even the biggest Jaylen Brown fans might accept that, but that’s why you lean into cheaper, high value contracts (like the guys on rookie deals and Payton Pritchard who’s on one of the highest value deals in the league). It also doesn’t explain why you would take back Paul George, widely considered one of the worst contracts in basketball.
I have a feeling that Brad Stevens will talk about flexibility on some level, because flexibility is one of his favorite buzzwords. Chisholm will field questions about how much of this was an ownership mandate, but it doesn’t really come across as a cost cutting move because they didn’t actually cut much cost in the deal.
We probably won’t get the full picture of how much money influenced this deal.
Analytics
One of the most popular topics being discussed in the aftermath of this trade has been the role of analytics in the evaluation of Jaylen’s value. The “well actually” articles and data analysis deep dives have centered around his advanced analytics that can be looked at to paint a pretty negative picture of Jaylen’s value to a basketball team.
I’m not going to go into detail pro or con on those numbers. I think analytics are very much a critical part of the game today and need to be considered as part of the overall analysis. The limitations to Jaylen’s game are well documented and don’t always need numbers to back them up. But it has always seemed to me that his positive impact almost always outweighed his struggles.
This is going to be a very delicate thing to address at the press conference. How do they justify the deal with numbers without it looking like they are trashing their former pillar of the team going out?
If he is really a net negative on the court, why did the team invest so much into him in the first place? Why wouldn’t they have traded him earlier? What changed and when did it change? Again, I’m skeptical we’ll hear the full truth about how much the numbers influenced this decision.
The Human Element
There are a lot of other theories and rumors that I’m just going to lump together under the heading of “the Human Element.”
Did Jaylen want his own team? It has been reported that he never asked for a trade, so I’m guessing that won’t be a stated reason. We don’t know how much he indicated a desire to the team to move on or if he was planning on demanding a trade later.
Was the team frustrated with the way Jaylen spoke about the past season on his twitch streams? Honestly, this seems weak even writing it down. Many pearl clutching words have been written and spoken about his “favorite season” comments, which were addressed by him and easily explained away. I don’t buy that this was a big issue and I highly doubt that it will be named explicitly by the team as a reason for the trade.
Did Jayson Tatum want to move on? Personally, I doubt this has anything to do with it and even if it was, (for so many reasons) they would never admit it to be true or have anything to do with the trade.
Jaylen was an extremely popular player with the fanbase and in the community of Boston. The team will undoubtably be very careful with anything they say about him. If anything, they could and should lean into celebrating him as a person and beloved member of the franchise. So if there’s anything personal going on behind the scenes, we won’t hear about it today.
Style of Play
This might be the only thing that makes some sense to me, but on the other hand it doesn’t. Maybe Jaylen shoots too many contested two pointers for the analytics team to be comfortable with. Of course, those are sometimes the only shots that you can get in the playoffs when all the better shots are taken away. So it helps to have a guy that can make those shots.
Brad Stevens stressed the need to put more pressure on the rim. Well, Jaylen does a much better job of that than Paul George, who has evolved into more of a deep threat perimeter player than anything else.
Maybe the team wasn’t confident that Jaylen would be ok sliding back into the 1B role he had before (related to the above section on The Human Element) and George will be happy being a 2nd or 3rd option. That’s not a great reason to make this trade either, and most likely won’t be named as a primary reason.
BOSTON, MA – JUNE 6: Head Coach Joe Mazzulla, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics looks on during the game against the Dallas Mavericks during Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals on June 6, 2024 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Timing
One big question that should absolutely be addressed is “why now?” The word that keeps coming to mind is “desperation.” By all accounts, it seemed like the team did not have good offers for Jaylen but were urgently motivated to complete a deal now. Why?
In any negotiation, you need to have a feel for what your walking away price is and be prepared to walk away if you don’t get it. Somehow, they either put a much lower value on Jaylen than most would have expected, or they were so desperate to get a deal done that they accepted under market value. Couldn’t they have gotten this same kind of deal later in the summer or even at the trade deadline?
Are there other deals coming? If so when? And why couldn’t this have waited to be combined with those additional moves?
Not sure if we’ll get satisfactory answers for this topic, but it will be interesting to hear their responses.
Must See TV
One thing I know, I will be watching and listening very carefully to what is said (and isn’t said). We need answers from the Celtics leadership. I’m just not sure if the answers will tell the full story or if they will be satisfactory to fans.
The cognitive dissonance of this still puzzles me. Brad Stevens has “won” so many deals over the years and has built up so much trust. It is just so jarring to see him “lose” one of this magnitude. What does that mean for the near and long term future? Is there anything that he can say in this press conference that is going to restore part of that trust? I guess we’ll see.
We will, of course, report on the presser. Feel free to use this post as an open thread for comments below.
It’s no secret that most Boston Celtics fans aren’t pleased with Wednesday’s trade that sent superstar Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. But what does Brown’s longtime teammate Jayson Tatum think of the move?
Tatum finally broke his silence on Friday with a social media tribute to Brown. On Monday, former Celtics guard Jeff Teague — an ex-teammate of Tatum and Brown in 2020-21 — shed more light on how Tatum feels about the C’s sending his co-star to an Eastern Conference rival.
“I talked to my boy yesterday, my boy JT motivated,” Teague said. “It ain’t no slight because he was legit like, ‘Damn, can’t believe that s— went down.’ You know what I mean? That’s some bulls—, really.
“You know what I said, I was like , ‘S—, what you gonna do? I was like, ‘S—, the pressure’s on now, killer.'”
Tatum has every reason to be irked by the trade. Not only did the Celtics part ways with Brown after 10 seasons, but they also shipped him to the team they blew a 3-1 series lead against in Round 1 of this year’s playoffs. With Brown now on their side, the Sixers will be an even tougher opponent in 2026-27.
Paul George will look to step up as the new 1B to Tatum’s 1A next season. The 36-year-old veteran averaged 17.3 points while shooting 43.9 percent from the floor in 37 games for Philly last season. Brown, meanwhile, set career highs in points per game (28.7), rebounds per game (6.9), and assists per game (5.1) in 71 games to propel Boston to the No. 2 seed in the East.
Tatum will have plenty on his shoulders as he looks to help the C’s overcome Brown’s departure. After missing most of the 2025-26 season with an Achilles injury, he’ll reprise his role as Boston’s No. 1 option.
The real question is, which members of Boston’s supporting cast will step up to help the team exceed expectations yet again?
Memphis Grizzlies moneyline
Sacramento Kings moneyline 
Atlanta Hawks moneyline 
