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After years of searching for better frontcourt play, the Lakers made big changes this offseason.

Gone are Deandre Ayton, Maxi Kleber and Jaxson Hayes. In their replacement, the Lakers took a big swing by trading for Walker Kessler and signing Kevon Looney.

Kessler is the premier acquisition. He is joining the team with the expectation that he’ll be the big of the future.

While satisfying the starting center spot is great, the team could use more depth.

In a recent article by Dan Woike in The Athletic, he detailed how the team currently desires to bolster the frontcourt.

Between Looney’s 21 games and the five Kessler played last season, the Lakers are, according to team and league sources, hunting for reinforcement at the center position. But that search won’t be easy. The center market is largely a mess. In addition, the Lakers already have 16 guaranteed contracts and no open roster spots.

Kessler said he’s good to go health-wise, so hopefully his injuries are a thing of the past.

Still, it’d be ideal to have a backup you can rely on in case he misses a game here and there. Looney doesn’t seem ready for that kind of role. He is an older, more limited player. Last season he played just 21 games.

Looney is a solid rebounder and screener, but his offensive production was never great, and it’s declining. With the Pelicans last year, he scored just 2.8 points per game and shot 41.7% from the field.

If the season started now, he’d likely be taking over Hayes’ minutes. It’s hard to imagine Looney can produce at the same level that Hayes did.

Looney playing the Kleber role, as a third-string big who knows how to be a professional, would be a better situation for him.

If the Lakers opt to sign a center from the unrestricted free agent market, Nick Richards and Drew Eubanks remain available.

Richards averaged 5.8 points and 5.1 rebounds last season. However, he was traded to the Bulls midseason and performed well there, averaging 9.4 points and 7.6 rebounds in a larger role.

Eubanks played with the Kings last season and averaged 5.2 points while shooting 59.6% from the field.

Whether via a trade or by signing a player, the goal seems to be for LA to snag another backup center option.And it’s why they continue to look for that reinforcement even with all of their roster spots currently being accounted for.

Given how important the frontcourt is for the Lakers, they should be able to figure out how to improve the depth at that position before the start of the year. The only unknown currently is who it will be.

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The Golden State Warriors still need to add some players to fill out their roster, and it seems they’ve narrowed down the candidates. According to a recent report by Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the Dubs are considering center Kelly Olynyk, combo guard Brandon Williams, and guard Gabe Vincent for the team’s final three roster spots alongside a pair of internal options (re-signing Gary Payton II or promoted LJ Cryer from his two-way deal). Siegel clarified that “a few other names could emerge.. but the Warriors will be adding at least one more guard.”

“With about an $8 million buffer between their current payroll and the second apron, the Warriors have three open roster spots left,” Siegel wrote. “Sources say Kelly Olynyk, Brandon Williams, Gabe Vincent, and Gary Payton II are all players in consideration for a minimum deal from the Warriors, along with current two-way guard LJ Cryer.”

Olynyk is a veteran stretch-five, who would seemingly replace departed restricted free agent Quinten Post, who signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Grizzlies (the deal includes multiple team options). In his prime, Olynyk’s size, shooting, and passing abilities seemed like an excellent fit alongside Steph Curry and Draymond Green, but at 35 it’s unclear whether he has enough left in the tank to make a major impact. Last season, Olynyk only played 8.6 minutes per game across 42 contests, averaging just 3.2 points and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 25.5% from three with the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs. However, he was much more productive the season prior between the Pelicans and Raptors. He played 20.3 minutes per game, averaging 8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while making 41.8% of his three-point attempts.

Vincent, 30, is a defense-first guard who emerged as a key role player with the Miami Heat, where he thrived alongside Jimmy Butler in the team’s run to the finals in 2023. He signed a lucrative three-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers following the trip to the finals and was immediately derailed by injury. Since returning, he has struggled to regain his form. While Vincent has never been an above-average offensive player, he made a career-worst 35.2% of his field-goal attempts last season. Granted, he did make 34.1% of his three-point attempts. He averaged 4.4 points, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 rebound in 16.6 minutes per game (53 appearances between the Lakers and Hawks).

While Olynyk, Vincent, and Payton all fit in the category of “veteran role player probably past their prime,” Williams is undeniably a more volatile potential option. Williams has appeared in just 140 career NBA games over the past five years and was not a rotation player until last in the 2024-25 season with the Dallas Mavericks. Over the past two years, however, Williams has emerged as a productive microwave scorer averaging 11.5 points, 3.4 assists, and 2.5 rebounds in just 19.7 minutes per game (99 games).

Yet, Williams averaging more than 20 points and 5 assists per 36 minutes in each of the past two seasons has not earned him a big pay day because of his limitations defensively and as a shooter. A career 28.0% shooter from three, Williams finished last season 36-155 (23.2%) from behind the arc. Still, Williams’ ability to score and get to the free-throw line remain intriguing. Still only 26, he could be a perfect bench scorer for the Warriors if his shot bounces back next season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are firmly in the mix for both Jonathan Kuminga and Peyton Watson. Both forwards would be acquired via a sign-and-trade, with Max Strus and Dennis Schroder as the two players who Cleveland is willing to give up.

Strus ($16.6 million) is on an expiring contract that could be of interest for a team like the Denver Nuggets, who are trying to navigate a hefty payroll. Absorbing Strus, gaining his talents for a season, and then not having to pay him long-term is a benefit.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype says the Cavs have expanded their search for a wing by becoming more involved in Watson’s situation in Denver.

“The Cavaliers have recently called to express interest in a sign-and-trade for Denver Nuggets restricted free-agent forward Peyton Watson, league sources told HoopsHype. The newfound interest in Watson comes on the heels of Cleveland also being in the mix for free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga in sign-and-trade discussions.”

Watson, an athletic 23-year-old forward, would fill one of Cleveland’s biggest needs. He has strong potential as a 3-and-D forward. He averaged 14.3 points per game last season on above 40% three-point shooting. That’s music to our ears.

Denver is reportedly asking for one notable player and at least one first-round pick for Watson. To this point, no suitor has been willing to offer a first-round pick to Denver. The Cavs have a 2031 pick they could put on the table.

If it were up to me, that’s a price worth paying.

Schroder ($14.8 million) still has another year left on his deal after this, worth $15 million. That’s an obstacle for a player who isn’t as highly valued around the league. Backup guards, especially undersized ones, aren’t garnering that much interest in today’s NBA. Schroder is still a helpful contributor nonetheless.

Cleveland has also shown interest in Atlanta’s Kuminga for most of the summer. The Cavs would dump either Strus or Schroder to make the deal financially possible. There haven’t been many updates on this front other than Atlanta still searching for a way to retain Kuminga despite interest from other teams.

Greetings, Panthers fans. Welcome to the weekend.

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There’s a beautiful kind of joy that comes from watching a fanbase feel invincible for exactly one quarter.

Rewind to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers are up 22. Donovan Mitchell’s cooking, the crowd at the Garden is booing its own team, and somewhere in Cleveland, ten years of championship famine is doing that thing where it lets itself believe again. You know the feeling. Warriors fans have watched enough other fanbases live inside it to recognize the exact shape of the mirage.

Then the fourth quarter happened, and it happened fast. Up 22 with eight minutes left, the Cavs scored 15 the rest of regulation and folded on the other end while the Knicks picked Kenny Atkinson’s decision to stick with James Harden apart in real time, Harden finishing with more turnovers than made shots for the sixth time that postseason. Cleveland blew the 22, went to overtime tied, scored three points in the extra period, and lost — a franchise-level gut check, live, on national television, in a series they were supposed to at least make competitive. They never did make it competitive after that. New York finished the sweep with a 130-93 blowout, the first time Cleveland had been swept in a playoff series since 2018, when the team doing the sweeping wore blue and gold and had a guy named Curry running the show. Ten years after 3-1 became scripture in that city, Cleveland’s been victimized again by the power of the broom.

But the sweep wasn’t the gut punch. The sweep was just the appetizer, because what came after is the part that actually stayed with me. Here’s where I have to own something. I had zero inside information, no sourcing, nothing but vibes and a decade of watching this league, and I was certain LeBron was landing in Cleveland this summer. It just felt inevitable, the prodigal son, the second act, the fairy tale writing its own ending. Rich Paul was reportedly fielding voice-note pitches from half the league on LeBron’s behalf, with Cleveland on that list alongside Golden State, Miami, and Minnesota, and this wasn’t some distant, theoretical Cleveland pitch either.

Team president Koby Altman and assistant GM Brandon Weems reportedly sat down with Cavs ownership and LeBron’s camp in Akron in early July, his hometown, the actual place where the whole story started, while everyone else in the league was stuck relaying pitches through Rich Paul secondhand. Cleveland got the meeting nobody else got, and they cared enough about landing him that they reportedly held off finalizing James Harden’s new contract until they knew which way LeBron was leaning, betting the structure of their entire offseason on getting a yes.

That’s a team that genuinely thought it had the inside track. He called this one his “last decision,” took real time with it, genuinely weighed retirement, and picked Philadelphia anyway, over the hometown meeting, over the sentimental bookend to eleven seasons and two stints, the most he’s ever spent with one franchise, in favor of a team that had missed the playoffs the year before now built around LeBron, Joel Embiid, and a return trade for Jaylen Brown, chasing a championship window that has absolutely nothing to do with sentiment and everything to do with Mike Gansey deciding high-risk, high-reward was the only lane left. It worked out well for the Sixers. It’s a brutal thing for a franchise to get him in the room in Akron and still watch him walk out of it.

The second gut punch stings more than the first, honestly, because it wasn’t bad luck, it was inertia. While Cleveland waited on LeBron’s decision, they lost Dean Wade and Keon Ellis, their on-ball defense, gone, with nothing lined up to replace it, and there was no pivot to trade Evan Mobley for Giannis while that was reportedly on the table, no pivot to trade Donovan Mitchell for a stack of picks and start over. Instead they extended Mitchell on a deal that already looks shaky, kept an aging Harden who’s now a year further past his prime, and did it all in a conference that got harder while they stood still. One national outlet handed them a D grade for the summer and said it plainly: nobody had a worse offseason than Cleveland, and it wasn’t one bad move that got them there, it was the absence of any move at all.

So here’s where the Cavs actually are. Swept by the team that went on to win it all, thinner than the team that just ran them out of their own building in Game 4. The image that sticks is Akron in early July, Koby Altman and Brandon Weems in a room with LeBron James’s camp and Cavs ownership, the closest thing to a homecoming this franchise has gotten since 2014, everybody in that room aware of what 2016 meant and what it could mean again. And it still wasn’t enough. Cleveland got the one meeting nobody else in the league even got, and the greatest player in franchise history walked out of it and picked somewhere else anyway.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cavs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

It’s been a full week since LeBron James announced his decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers instead of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

That doesn’t leave much time for fans to gather their feelings. Still, we asked you earlier this week if James’ decision has negatively changed how you feel about him.

Cavs fans made themselves clear. This one hurt.

Nearly three-fourths of voters answered that James has negatively altered his connection to Cleveland with his decision to join the 76ers. The fans who participated in our poll said that they feel more negative about James now than before.

That’s understandable. No one wants to feel like a second or third option. Cleveland’s been through this feeling before, and it’s never fun.

Most of the fan base had likely made peace with James potentially ending his career in Los Angeles. But it was hard not to feel hopeful that a homecoming was on the table once James announced he was leaving the Lakers. The results of this decision were always going to be disappointing if the answer wasn’t Cleveland.

That said, I’d hope that no one is taking this too far.

James already fulfilled his promise to Cleveland. He’s done so while remaining true to Northeast Ohio through his various donations and community-building events. This isn’t someone who has abandoned his hometown. He just doesn’t want to end his career here.

It’s okay to feel disappointed by that. And it’s okay to feel like this relationship was more one-sided than you thought. Cavs fans were ready to welcome him with open arms, and instead, he’s leaving them hanging once again.

I’d be interested to see how this poll might change in a year. Feelings are as intense as they’ll ever be coming off the heels of the decision. Perhaps time will heal all wounds.

The Cavs certainly aren’t as screwed as they were the last time James burned them with a decision. Cleveland is still 10th in championship odds according to FanDuel and has the advantage of continuity that some other teams in the mix won’t be afforded next season.

Michael Porter Jr. had a career year and he’s due for a big payday. The one-time champion and near All-Star this past season put up a career-high 24.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

As training camp approaches, General Manager Sean Marks faces his most critical financial decision of the offseason: What is the right price tag for a Michael Porter Jr. contract extension?

Entering the final year of his current deal at $40.8 million, Mark Bartelstein and the Nets front office are still figuring things out, and it sounds like he wants to be back. But Brooklyn boasts ample cap flexibility and locking up the high-volume scorer long-term directly impacts future max cap space.

All said: Nets fans want MPJ kept in Brooklyn, but only at the right price.

Is it realistic? Maybe not. He’s already making more than this…

What do fans think Michael Porter Jr. is worth on the Nets? (AAV)

Nets fans voted this past week and offered their thoughts in the comment section.

The Sub-Max ($30M–$35M)

• Comment: “I voted $25M – $34M / year, but I disagree with the description ‘team-friendly discount’. I think it’s fair market value for the kind of player he is. I put him in a similar category as Mikal Bridges and Trey Murphy — guys who can put up big numbers on bad teams, but put them on a contender and they’re 3rd options at best. It’s not the Nets fault the Nuggets paid him like an all-star.”
  
• Comment: “I say 3yrs/$100M same as Randle’s last extension. Could even be $110M over 3yrs, which pushes it to the 3rd option in the poll. I look at what he should’ve got on his last deal as the leaping off point, not what he actually received. What he was paid on his last deal is why Denver had to attach a first round pick to move him. A $35M avg (give or take $1-2M) would be fair and keep his deal as movable should the Nets or he want a change.”
  
• Comment: “Don’t sign him for any more than you can trade him for. Given how contracts have looked lately, I’d guess that’s $30 million AAV. If that means a sign-and-trade next summer, so be it.”

Market Rate Reality Check ($40M+)

• Comment: “I think final deal will need to average 43 – 45 mil for total of 4 seasons including upcoming one. Preferably frontloaded so I see the total as 4/175-180.”
  
• Comment: “There’s no reason for anyone to think it’s going to be at a discount. And it shouldn’t be. Again, who else are the Nets paying money to now or in the near future? I don’t see any big ticket items coming this way. A 4 year deal for 170M is probably about where this ends up imo, tho the Nets may try to get him signed for 3 plus an option. Maybe that works, idk. I do think it’s fair to compare the Brandon Ingram deal, which I believe was 3/120M.”
  
• Comment: “MPJ was the number 1 player coming out of high school who never reached his full potential because of chronic back pain. He seems to have gotten over the back injury completely and just had his best season of his career in a tanking year. Seems like jordi can get the best out of him. I would expect him to be better than he was last year and potentially be an all star player. I would extend at all costs.”

Thanks to everybody who voted and/or participated.

This is a sponsored post. Check out the latest lines, futures, and player props by visiting FanDuel.

Let’s cut right to it. Trimming down decades of Knicks basketball to four shooting guards is an agonizing task.

Carving out the floor general Mt. Rushmore incited a few fierce debates. But the 2-guard spot is a whole different bag of beans. In many cases, the shooting guard position is the soul of the franchise. It has never just been about scoring. We are not simply looking at players who plumped up their stat sheets. New York’s history at 2-guard includes a mixture of confidence, erratic shot-making, and gritty defense that carried the emotional weight of the fan base.

Getting the list down to four faces meant leaving some legends off the rock. Even though their careers are worth the praise, they too are left in the viewing area, glancing up at the Knicks’ true shooting guard elite.

The Cuts

Before we get into the mountain, let’s show a little love to the ones that just missed the cut. The basketball historians are going to be furious with me, but neither Richie Guerin nor Carl Braun made our Rushmore.

Leaving Guerin off of the mountain really stings. The franchise’s first true backcourt superstar, he made the All-Star team six straight times and was the first Knick ever to score 50 points in a game. We all remember that 57-point outing in 1959, right? That single-game point total served as the franchise record until Bernard King finally broke it in 1984. The premier scorer of New York’s early days, Braun led the team to three straight finals appearances in the 1950s and earned five All-Star appearances himself.

So why are they both off the mountain?

When you really sit down and look at what makes a modern Knicks legend, it is not just about strong, consistent numbers in an eight-team league. It is all about lasting impact and the iconic playoff moments that define a generation. Most importantly, it is about banners. Guerin and Braun laid the foundation, but the four players on our Mt. Rushmore built the house.

Earl “The Pearl” Monroe

When the Knicks traded for Earl Monroe in 1971, the basketball world was skeptical about the fit. The narrative was that he could not coexist in a backcourt with Walt Frazier. Both possessing an overwhelming amount of flair, they were rivals who both needed the ball in their hands to be effective. Legitimate questions surrounded how two alpha players could both thrive in Red Holzman’s team-first system.

Instead of clashing, the two stars adapted perfectly. They formed the “Rolls Royce Backcourt,” which remains one of the greatest duos in NBA history. Sacrificing a chunk of his individual scoring numbers, Monroe brought a playground style of basketball that completely shifted New York’s dynamic. His elite spin moves and hesitation dribbles haunted defenders and effortlessly opened up the floor for his teammates.

Together with Frazier, Monroe figured the backcourt out and won the 1973 NBA Championship. A two-time All-Star in a Knicks uniform, Monroe is a Hall of Famer whose #15 hangs in the rafters of Madison Square Garden. Without a doubt, “The Pearl” is the undisputed first face on our mountain.

Allan Houston

If we are discussing the purest, most visually pleasing jump shots in basketball history, Allan Houston makes the short list with his flawless mechanics. The Knicks’ primary offensive anchor in the late 90s and early 2000s, he consistently carried the scoring load in an era where points were hard to come by.

Sitting fourth all-time in franchise scoring with 11,165 points, Houston only trails Patrick Ewing, Frazier, and Willis Reed. Using that aforementioned silky smooth shot, he is also second in franchise history in made three-pointers. A two-time All-Star with the Knicks, Houston’s consistent effectiveness continued even as the roster around him shifted.

Though his stats are worthy of recognition, they are not what puts Houston’s face on the mountain.

Obviously, it’s the runner in Game 5 against the Heat in 1999. If you were alive at the time, you know exactly where you were when it happened. Even though I was just 10 years old, I can still remember sitting on my living room loveseat, the only person paying attention, and jumping up and down as Houston ran down the court, punching the air in celebration. You know exactly how it felt watching that ball float in the air, bounce off the front of the rim, hit the backboard, and finally fall through the net with 0.8 seconds left.

Without question, it is one of the top three most important shots in Knicks history. It sparked an unfathomable run to the finals and secured Houston’s spot on Rushmore.

John Starks

This is where we ditch pure stats and lean into culture and unfiltered passion. John Starks does not have the numbers of a Guerin or Bruan. But if this mountain is based on what it actually means to be a Knick (FYI, it is), Starks might be the most important face carved up there.

The origin story itself is legendary. We all know about his bagging groceries, playing in the minor leagues, and going completely undrafted. Literally fighting his way onto the roster, he famously attempted to dunk on Patrick Ewing in practice and injured his knee, keeping the team from cutting him. From that moment on, he transformed into New York’s emotional engine. Consistently playing with a chip on his shoulder, Starks feared no one. Whether it was Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, or anyone else stepping onto the Garden floor, he was up to the challenge.

Of course, we will always have “The Dunk.” It is the ultimate highlight and a play that still gives so many people chills every time it is shown.

Of course, because we are Knicks fans, we must acknowledge the pain. Starks cannot be brought up without mentioning the 2-for-18 shooting performance in Game 7 of the ’94 Finals against Houston. It still stings (maybe not as much after this season). Starks was both deeply flawed and incredibly erratic, but he gave his absolute heart and soul to New York. He lived and died with every possession, just like fans do both in the stands and at home. You cannot write the history of the Knicks franchise without John Starks.

Dick Barnett

The final spot is where we bring the hammer down on anyone clamoring for us to include the 1950s guys. Dick Barnett possesses the ultimate “ace in the hole” in this debate for one simple reason: rings.

When people reminisce on the golden era of New York basketball, Frazier, Reed and Monroe generally receive most of the historical glory. However, Dick Barnett was a ruthless and high-scoring contributor who served as a crucial piece of both the 1970 and 1973 championship teams.

Averaging close to 16 points per game over his nine seasons with the Knicks, his signature Fall Back Baby” Jumper was close to unguardable. A bizarre mechanical masterpiece, the shot devasted defenses for years. When Reed went down in the 1970s Finals, players like Barnett stepped up and kept the offense going. We simply cannot construct a Knicks shooting guard Mt. Rushmore and leave off a two-time champion whose jersey is retired—the hardware and legacy matter. The debate ends right there.

So, there it is.

We have “The Pearl,” Houston, Starks, and Barnett. It is a Mount Rushmore built on elegance, grit, and hardware.

Now it’s your turn. Who am I disrespecting? Are the historians right to demand Guerin over Starks? Does Barnett really deserve the nod over Braun just because he won two rings? Did I totally miss someone obvious? Let me know where I went wrong below.

While the Golden State Warriors have re-signed Draymond Green as they fill out their roster after losing the LeBron James sweepstakes, Dubs free agent Gary Payton II remains on the market. However, according to a report by Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, Payton remains “in consideration for a minimum deal from the Warriors” as the front office is working to fill out the roster, which has three spots remaining. Per Siegel, Payton “shares a level of mutual interest in returning to the Warriors.”

A basketball journeyman for most of his twenties, Payton found his place as a high-energy role player who has the ability to lockdown players on the perimeter. Payton has played with the Warriors for each of the past six seasons (although he did also have a short stint with the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2022-23 season). Despite his long injury history, Payton has been quietly one of the Dubs healthiest role players over the past two seasons.

In 2025-26, Payton averaged 7.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 0.9 steals in 15.6 minutes per game across 73 appearances on 58.3%/29.1%/65.0% shooting. For his career, the 33-year-old Payton has averaged 5.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 steal in 15.1 minutes per game on 56.4%/32.8%/63.0% shooting.