Category: Basketball

With football season beginning in earnest this weekend, the attention of many is on the gridiron, and understandably so. However, that also means fantasy basketball is right around the corner, making this an excellent time to begin the mock draft process.

Some may prefer the standard snake draft process, with or without a third-round reversal, while others favor the salary-style draft. With $200 to play with, the task is to build out a roster capable of delivering glory (and, in some instances, prize money) in the spring.

Do you spend most of your funds on a few elite players and then fill out the roster with low-cost options toward the end of the draft? Or do you look to take a more balanced approach, which may result in a stronger roster on the back end? Rotoworld fantasy basketball analyst Raphielle Johnson recently participated in a salary mock draft hosted by Fantasy Basketball International'sAdam King. Below are the results and some thoughts on how the draft played out.

Note: This draft was conducted with a 12-team, 9-category format.

The primary reason for a salary mock draft is to understand better how much players are commanding on the market. Of course, a Nikola Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Victor Wembanyama will command a high fee. But how much are managers willing to pay? Based on the early data, our salary mock was more conservative regarding the money managers were willing to pay. According to Hashtag Basketball, Jokić's average in Yahoo! leagues was $85 and $69.60 in ESPN leagues. In our mock draft, which was completed on Fantrax, the winning bid for the three-time MVP was $69.

Four players commanded winning bids of more than $60. In addition to Jokić, Gilgeous-Alexander ($62), Luka Dončić ($62) and Wembanyama ($61) were also above that threshold. Four more players came off the board for at least $50: Anthony Edwards ($55), Cade Cunningham ($54), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($51) and Anthony Davis ($50). Among the high-priced players are some health concerns, notably Wembanyama, Cunningham and Davis. However, these players rank among the best in fantasy basketball when healthy, so the high dollar amounts are understandable.

- What should we make of the draft values of Joel Embiid and Zion Williamson?

For managers participating in standard drafts, Embiid and Williamson are two of the more polarizing prospects. While the question in that format is when they should be selected, for managers in salary drafts, the question is how much they should spend. Embiid, who is not guaranteed to be healthy when the season begins after undergoing knee surgery, went off the board for $18, while Williamson's fee was $16. Williamson, whose 2024-25 season ended prematurely due to a back injury, has surpassed 60 games twice in his six NBA seasons. Fantasy managers are right to be concerned about these two, with Embiid offering a higher ceiling in nine-cat leagues when healthy.

- How much are managers willing to spend on stars working their way back from injury?

Embiid and Williamson aren't the only players whose values took a hit due to injury. With Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) already ruled out for the season, the values of the Pacers' Andrew Nembhard ($13) and Bennedict Mathurin ($5) received modest boosts, while Pascal Siakam's price tag in this mock draft ($19) was significantly lower than his Yahoo!/ESPN average according to Hashtag Basketball ($30).

Boston's Jayson Tatum ($2) has not been ruled out for the 2025-26 season, so it makes sense that he would come off the board. His absence to begin the season should raise the fantasy ceilings of Derrick White ($22), Jaylen Brown ($18) and Payton Pritchard ($19), but Brown's price in the mock was nearly $10 lower than his projected value. Is $19 too much to pay for Pritchard? That may depend on Anfernee Simons ($7), who has been the subject of trade rumors despite not making his official Celtics debut.

Lastly, Dallas guard Kyrie Irving ($1) continues to rehab from the ACL tear he suffered in early March. While January has been reported as a potential target for his return, it was clear in this mock draft that managers weren't willing to take the risk. Also, D'Angelo Russell, who will begin the season as Dallas' starting point guard, went for just $2 in this mock draft.

- How much should we be willing to pay for the rookies?

Dallas' Cooper Flagg was the first rookie put up for bid, with his final price of $19. By comparison, his average price in Yahoo! and ESPN leagues is just under $25, according to Hashtag Basketball. Other than the top overall pick in June's draft, there wasn't much willingness to spend cap money on first-year players in this draft.

Spurs guard Dylan Harper was not nominated for a bid, likely because the backcourt already has De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell rather than the rookie undergoing thumb surgery recently. The hope is that Harper will be recovered in time for the start of the season. Phoenix's Khaman Maluach, who appears likely to begin the season as Mark Williams' backup in Phoenix, went off the board for $2, while college teammate Kon Knueppel was a $1 bid.

One rookie I wish I'd nominated in this mock draft is Washington's Tre Johnson. While that rebuilding roster is loaded with young players, especially on the wing, his scoring ability could make him a valuable rookie, especially during the second half of the season.

12-Team, 9-Cat Salary Mock Draft Results

The questions with Ben Simmons have to start here: Does he want to be in the NBA next season? He is questioning whether he wants to, something Stefan Bondy of the New York Post reported last week.

If he does, this may not help his cause: He rejected a contract offer from the New York Knicks, one of the two teams known to have interest in him, reports Marc Stein at The Stein Line.

"The Knicks, league sources said, indeed offered a one-year contract to Ben Simmons that the former All-Star passed on. New York is limited to minimum contract offers as training camps draw near and Simmons entered the summer hopeful of securing a contract above the minimum after he split last season between the Nets and Clippers."

We don't know the details of that contract offer, but as Stein noted it could have only been for the veteran minimum ($3.2 million in his case) and likely was not fully guaranteed. It is doubtful there is a better offer for Simmons out there. Boston is reportedly interested, but the offer would be the same. Through this process, Simmons has reportedly moved on from his agent.

It all comes back to whether Simmons wants to pay in the NBA this season. We know what the contract offers will be, as does he.

Miami is thin along the frontline. Bam Adebayo is an All-NBA level player at the four or five, but has asked to play more four over the course of the regular season to avoid some of the wear and tear of going against bigger centers nightly. The Heat's center rotation beyond Adebayo is promising sophomore Kel'el Ware and two-way player Vlad Goldin. Miami will play Nikola Jovic and Keshad Johnson this season, but both are fours, not fives.

That has the Heat reaching out to a former Miami player, Precious Achiuwa, reports Ira Winderman at the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Achiuwa and guard Goran Dragic were dealt to the Toronto Raptors in the 2021 offseason in the deal that brought in guard Kyle Lowry. Achiuwa since moved on to the New York Knicks, who opted to allow him to move on as a free agent this offseason.

Achiuwa was a solid rotation big for the Knicks last season, averaging 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds a game while shooting 50.2% from the floor. He played more early in the season, but when Mitchel Robinson got healthy, it was Achiuwa whose minutes went to the elite defender.

The Heat have also been in contact with another former player of theirs, center Thomas Bryant, who played last season for Indiana but now remains a free agent.

While Miami has a roster spot, they are just $1.8 million below the luxury tax line — not enough to sign a player to a veteran minimum contract — and don't want to cross that threshold for this roster. That means if the Heat are going to sign Achiuwa, Bryant or anyone else they need to make a roster move. Winderman suggests that the team could buy out the contract of guard Terry Rozier, whom they spent the summer trying to trade (his contract is guaranteed for $24.9 million of the $26.6 million he is owed). The Heat are not under a time crunch to make that move, they can waive Rozier up to Jan. 10, it just depends on how much they like Achiuwa and how much they want him (or another player) on the roster to start the season.

Toraya Reid, the sister of Timberwolves' sixth man Naz Reid, was shot and killed Saturday in New Jersey, a story first reported by Jon Krawczynski at The Athletic.

Responding to a 911 call of shots fired, police arrived at the apartment building in Jackson Township, NJ, at 11 a.m. and discovered Reid, 28, dead from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Shaquille Green, 29, was seen fleeing the scene, according to the prosecutor's office, and was later arrested and has been charged with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon, all in connection with Reid's death. Green and Reid had a "dating relationship," according to the prosecutor's office.

Toraya was the oldest of three, with Naz in the middle, and there is a younger sister, Jakahya.

Naz Reid is a fan favorite in Minnesota, the 2024 Sixth Man of the Year, who has been a versatile and critical part of the team's back-to-back runs to the Western Conference Finals, but also has been very active in the community. This summer he signed a five-year, $125 million contract to stay with the franchise.

The NBA comes home to NBC and Peacock on Oct. 21 — and our starting lineup of analysts can hang with anyone: Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Reggie Miller, Grant Hill and Jamal Crawford.

In a clever new promo for the Oct. 21 NBA season opener on NBC and Peacock — on the night Oklahoma City will raise its first banner — Thunder stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren get their introductions interupped by the NBC crew (including lead play-by-play guy Mike Tirico).

The NBA season tips off on Oct. 21 on NBC and Peacock with a must-watch double header.

First, the Oklahoma City Thunder get their championship rings from Adam Silver and then raise their championship banner — right in front of Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets. It was a cold twist by the league schedulers to make Durant — arguably the greatest player ever to wear a Thunder jersey, but a guy who was unable to lift them to a title — the Thunder's foil for this game. This is also a showdown of two contenders and the top two seeds in the Western Conference last year (and they very well could finish 1-2 again this season).

In the second game of the night, the stars come out: Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors travel down the coast to take on LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers. This will be the 53rd time LeBron and Curry have faced off, and that includes some of the most memorable games of the last decade, including some NBA Finals showdowns. That said, more eyes may be on Luka Doncic, the Lakers' future and a player who went viral this summer after getting in the best shape of his career — consider it a break-up revenge body with the Mavericks after they questioned his commitment and conditioning on the way out the door last February — and has shown it off at EuroBasket, where he leads the tournament in scoring and has Slovenia into the quarterfinals.

It's a strong lineup of games — and NBC has the Hall of Fame lineup of analysts to break it all down.

If the vote were to take place today, Luka Doncic would win EuroBasket MVP.

"Skinny" Doncic — who looks to be in the best shape of his career, a revenge body after Dallas dumped him — has dominated this tournament and on Sunday scored 42 with 10 boards to lift Slovenia past Italy and into the quarterfinals with a knockout round win.

Italy was led by the Heat's Simone Fontecchio, who scored 22 points in the loss.

Slovenia's win sets up a showdown Tuesday with defending World Cup champion Germany, led by Orlando's Franz Wagner and Sacramento's Dennis Schroder.

In other action Sunday at EuroBasket in the Round of 16 elimination games:

• The second leading scorer at EuroBasket is Giannis Antetokounmpo and thanks to a 37-and-10 game from him on Sunday against Israel, Greece also is on to the quarterfinals with a win.

Israel got 22 points from the Trail Blazers' Deni Avdija, who had a fantastic EuroBasket.

• Georgia got 24 points each from former Net and Bull Tornike Shengelia as well as former Butler standout Kamar Baldwin to pull off the upset against France. Orlando big man Goga Bitadze made some key defensive plays.

The French got a dozen points from the Knicks' Guerschon Yabusele, but the Paris Olympics silver medal team was shorthanded in this tournament without Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert.

• Former Raptor Jordan Lloyd scored 24 to help lift Poland to the quarterfinals with a win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Jusuf Nurkic had 20 points and seven boards for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the loss.

Jordan Clarkson was finally a free agent after agreeing to a buyout with the rebuilding Utah Jazz. The veteran guard had numerous potential landing spots but chose New York — a decision he made while at Wimbledon to watch Carlos Alcaraz, he told Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, during a rain-soaked public taping of The Roommates Podcast in Central Park (as relayed by The New York Post’s Stefan Bondy).

It all started with a call from Clarkson's agent Rich Paul.

"Where you wanna go?" Paul asked.

"I said, 'I wanna come to New York,'" Clarkson recalled Saturday night. Paul then reached out to the Knicks to relay Clarkson's interest.

"It all happened in two minutes," Clarkson said. "Then I was a Knick."

Clarkson said the reason he wanted to come to the Knicks was the chance to play at Madison Square Garden and "Feeling the energy from the fans."

Clarkson fills a desperate need for the Knicks. New York was dead last in the league in bench scoring last season at 21.7 points a game (part of that was then coach Tom Thibodeau leaning so hard into his starters). New coach Mike Brown will increase bench minutes and will give Clarkson the green light to light up the scoreboard. The former Sixth Man of the Year is going to be asked to reprise his role as a high-level bench scorer.

Carmelo Anthony could have been elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame many times over. He could have been voted in for his college career, leading Syracuse to a national title. He could have been selected based on his NBA play: 10th all-time in points scored (28,289), six-time All-NBA, 10-time All-Star and a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. He could have been invited in for being a three-time Olympic gold medalist with USA Basketball.

Now, Anthony is officially in the Hall of Fame.

Carmelo gave an emotional, touching speech for his induction, at one point getting emotional about his father. However, the part we're going to remember is how smoothly he handled it when the dogs offstage started barking — this is why he's going to be great as a studio analyst when the NBA returns to NBC and Peacock this fall.

Carmelo began his career in Denver and went on to play for six NBA teams, but for a lot of fans he will always be a Knick.

And he will always be a Hall of Famer.

Dwight Howard is now, officially, a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame — a well-deserved honor we knew was coming for a long time.

What we didn't know is that Howard does a mean impression of his Orlando Magic coach, Stan Van Gundy.

Howard has long been a lock to make the Hall of Fame. He was the best defender of his generation, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, an eight-time All-NBA player, and an eight-time All-Star who won an NBA ring in the bubble with the Lakers and averaged 15.7 points and 11.8 rebounds a game.

Serbia was the pre-tournament betting favorite to win EuroBasket, and with good reason. Led by the best player on the planet in Nikola Jokic, Serbia was the bronze medal winner at the Paris Olympics a year ago (and pushed the USA hard in the medal round), and it was the silver medalists at the last FIBA World Cup. It felt like their turn.

Serbia is out at EuroBasket in the round of 16, eliminated by Lauri Markkanen and Finland.

Miro Little, who plays his college ball for UC Santa Barbara, had 13 points for Finland in the win, as did Elias Valtonen, who had a clutch 3-pointer over Jokic late. Jokic did his part for Serbia, scoring 33 points with eight rebounds in the game, but Serbia missed the steady hand of Bogdan Bogdanovic (out with a hamstring injury).

In other EuroBasket action Saturday:

• Turkiye got 24 points and 16 rebounds from Rockets' big man Alperen Sengun, and with that held off Sweden 85-79 to advance to the quarterfinals.

• In a Balkan showdown, Lithuania beat Latvia despite 34 points and 19 rebounds from Kristaps Porzingis. Hawks fans should be optimistic about Porzingis' performance in this tournament, and it's not just the points.

• Germany pulled away in the second half and handled Portugal to pick up the 85-58 win. Franz Wagner led a deep and balanced German side with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Celtics center Neemias Queta, about to be thrust into a larger role with the team, looked ready for the part with his play for Portugal at EuroBasket, including having 18 points and 11 rebounds in this game.

As expected, the NBA has hired an outside law firm to investigate whether the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented the salary cap with a "no-show" endorsement deal for Kawhi Leonard by one of the team's sponsors.

The NBA has hired the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, reports Joe Vardon, Sam Amick and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. This is the same law firm that investigated the Donald Sterling situation with the Clippers (which ultimately led to the sale to current owner Steve Ballmer) and investigated reports of a misogynistic workplace under former Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver, who was ultimately suspended by the league for a year and sold the team.

This case, if proven to the satisfaction of the other owners (who will vote on any potential punishment), would not lead to as severe an outcome as the sale of the team (circumventing the salary cap is serious for the NBA, but not on the level of racism and misogyny). However, the list of penalties prescribed in the NBA CBA includes fines up to $7.5 million, the forfeiture of draft picks, and potentially the voiding of the player's contract.

This case resolves around an endorsement deal with a Clippers sponsor unearthed by the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast. The timeline breaks down like this: In September 2021, Ballmer made a $50 million investment in Aspiration, a "green bank" company claiming it was planting trees to gain carbon emissions credits it could pass on to its clients. Later that month, Leonard signed a four-year, $176 million max contract extension with the Clippers. At the Clippers' media day at the end of that same month, Ballmer announced a $300 million partnership and sponsorship with Aspiration that was in part an effort to make the then-under-construction Intuit Dome "green." Not long after, Leonard signed a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration. None of that is out of the ordinary (star players signing separate endorsement contracts with team sponsors, with a clause the sponsorship ends if they are traded/leave the team, are relatively common).

Two things make this story take a turn. The big one is that Leonard did nothing for Aspiration, the endorsement was what several Aspiration employees told Torre was a "no-show" job. Leonard never made any public appearances for the company, did not appear in its marketing, nor did he post anything on social media about Aspiration. He got $28 million for doing nothing (Leonards LLC formed for this endorsement is one of the creditors in Aspiration's bankruptcy, as are the Clippers). The other twist is that Aspiration turned out to be a fraudulent company, one that is under federal investigation, filed for bankruptcy, and its CEO pled guilty to defrauding investors of $248 million.

Steve Ballmer and the Clippers have vehemently denied the allegations and said they did nothing wrong. Ballmer said in an interview with ESPN that he was “duped” by Aspiration and its CEO, as were many other wealthy investors and celebrities. The Clippers said this in a statement:

"Neither the Clippers nor Steve Ballmer circumvented the salary cap. The notion that Steve invested in Aspiration in order to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard is absurd. Steve invested because Aspiration's co-founders presented themselves as committed to doing right by their customers while protecting the environment... Neither Steve nor the Clippers had knowledge of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until after the government initiated its investigation. Aspiration was a team sponsor for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons before defaulting on its contract."

Now it comes down to the Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz investigation and what they find — with the investigation being run by a law firm and reporting to a lawyer himself in NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, the bar for direct, hard evidence will be high. However, there is a flood of circumstantial evidence, and the Clippers or Leonard explaining away a no-show contract will be difficult.

Ultimately, it is the other owners who will decide the punishment for the Clippers and Ballmer, and they want to see this report. The other owners will not want slap on the wrist punishment (like the Knicks got with for tampering with Jalen Brunson) that will signal it is okay to circumvent the cap, but how hard they want to come down on one of their own in a case where he claims plausible deniablity is another question (those owners can think "there but for the grace of God go I"). A lot will come down to what this investigation finds.