NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Golden State Warriors

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Golden State Warriors.


Free agent signings

  • Jonathan Kuminga: Two years, $46,800,000. Second-year team option. Trade kicker (15%). Re-signed using Bird rights. Waived right to veto trade.
  • Al Horford: Two years, $11,654,250. Second-year player option. Trade kicker (15%). Signed using taxpayer mid-level exception.
  • De’Anthony Melton: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year player option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Gary Payton II: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Seth Curry: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • LJ Cryer: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Marques Bolden: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Bolden has since been waived.
  • Ja’Vier Francis: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Francis has since been waived.
  • Taevion Kinsey: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Kinsey has since been waived.
  • Chance McMillian: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: McMillian has since been waived.
  • Jacksen Moni: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Moni has since been waived.

Trades

  • Acquired the draft rights to Alex Toohey (No. 52 pick; from Suns) and the draft rights to Jahmai Mashack (No. 59 pick; from Rockets) in a seven-team trade in exchange for the draft rights to Koby Brea (No. 41 pick; to Suns).
  • Acquired the draft rights to Will Richard (No. 56 pick) from the Grizzlies in exchange for the draft rights to Jahmai Mashack (No. 59 pick), the Warriors’ 2032 second-round pick (top-50 protected), and the draft rights to Justinian Jessup.

Draft picks

  • 2-52: Alex Toohey
    • Signed to two-way contract.
  • 2-56: Will Richard
    • Signed to four-year, $8,685,386 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.

Two-way signings

  • Pat Spencer
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
  • Alex Toohey
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).

Note: The Warriors carried over Jackson Rowe on a two-way contract from 2024/25.

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $205.3MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $207,824,000.
  • Two traded player exceptions frozen (largest worth $8,780,488).

The offseason so far

When we talk about what an NBA team did in the offseason, we usually refer to their “summer” moves. However, that’s a misnomer for the 2025 Warriors. As RealGM’s transaction log shows, after officially finalizing a pair of trades on July 6 that they’d agreed upon during June’s draft, Golden State didn’t complete another transaction until September 29 — the team officially signed 10 players that day (three of them were immediately waived).

Obviously, Golden State’s front office wasn’t just taking a two-and-a-half month vacation. Jonathan Kuminga‘s restricted free agency was the reason for delay. The standoff between Kuminga and the Warriors became one of the offseason’s biggest stories after the first wave of free agency wrapped up in early July and ultimately took nearly three months to resolve, with the forward taking his decision almost right up to the October 1 deadline to accept a qualifying offer.

Technically, there was no rule preventing the Warriors from filling out the rest of their roster before they figured out what would happen with Kuminga. But that approach didn’t make sense for Golden State for a couple reasons.

For one, the Warriors were exploring the possibility of a sign-and-trade, discussing potential deals with the Suns and Kings. It didn’t sound like they ever gained any real traction with Phoenix, and Sacramento’s various offers – centered around draft assets plus either Malik Monk or the duo of Devin Carter and Dario Saric – didn’t hold much appeal either. But if either of those division rivals had increased their bid for Kuminga and made Golden State seriously consider a sign-and-trade, the team didn’t want to have the rest of its signings already locked in, since that could have resulted in significant roster imbalance.

More importantly, determining whether Kuminga would be back and how much he would be paid in 2025/26 dictated what the Warriors would be able to do with those other roster spots from a financial perspective. Kuminga accepting his $8MM qualifying offer would’ve resulted in a whole lot more cap flexibility than if he’d signed one of the team’s more lucrative multiyear proposals.

Conversely, if the Warriors had hard-capped themselves early in the offseason by, say, using the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Al Horford, they would’ve risked another team giving Kuminga an offer sheet that they wouldn’t have been able to match without shedding salary. No team besides the Nets had cap room for most of the summer, and Brooklyn showed little to no interest in Kuminga, but as we saw with the Bucks and their Damian Lillard/Myles Turner moves, a team that wants to create cap space badly enough can typically find a way to do it.

So even though we knew for most of the summer what most of the Warriors’ roster moves would look like, those moves weren’t finalized until the fall. At that point, Kuminga accepted a two-year, $46.8MM deal that includes a second-year team option, no trade veto rights, and a 15% trade kicker; Horford received a two-year contract worth the full taxpayer mid-level exception with a second-year player option and a 15% trade kicker; De’Anthony Melton got a two-year, minimum-salary contract; Gary Payton II signed a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal; and second-round pick Will Richard received a rookie minimum salary on his four-year contract.

Horford, who will turn 40 next June, is one of the NBA’s oldest players, while Melton is still making his way back from the torn ACL that ended his 2024/25 season after just six games. But as long as they’re healthy, both players are excellent fits for this Warriors roster.

Horford is a savvy, smart defender who is capable of stretching the floor from the five spot. Melton can do a little bit of everything, and his versatile defense makes him an intriguing backcourt partner for Stephen Curry. In a very limited sample of 47 minutes before Melton’s ACL tear last season, lineups that included that Melton/Curry duo had a +38.4 net rating.

The big question is what happens with Kuminga. While it was a relief when his three-month free agency eventually came to an end, a two-year deal that includes a second-year option doesn’t exactly lock in his long-term future. Rather than making a decision on how the former lottery pick fits into their long-term plans, the Warriors simply postponed that decision for at least a few more months.

Kuminga will become trade-eligible on January 15 and it feels like there’s a very real chance he’s moved at some point during the three-week window between that date and the trade deadline — especially if Steve Kerr and his coaching staff continue to have trouble finding a consistent role for the 23-year-old that mutually benefits him and the team.


Up next

Seth Curry, who is on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract, has spent the preseason on the same roster as his superstar brother for the first time since he entered the league in 2013. However, the Warriors don’t have enough room below their second-apron hard cap to keep the younger Curry brother on their regular season roster — at least not yet. As of mid-November, Golden State would be able to fit a prorated minimum-salary contract under that hard cap and could reunite the Curry brothers.

While it does sounds like the plan is to bring Seth back at some point, the Warriors may not do so immediately once they’re eligible to next month, since it would leave them with essentially no wiggle room below the second apron for the rest of 2025/26. I expect Seth to be a Warrior by season’s end, but the team could end up carrying a 14-man roster for at least a couple months.

Jackson Rowe, Pat Spencer, and Alex Toohey currently occupy Golden State’s two-way slots, but I wouldn’t be shocked if LJ Cryer, who is on an Exhibit 10 contract and has played well in the preseason, is converted to a two-way deal by Monday’s deadline. Rowe could be the odd man out, given that he was a holdover from last season and has had a very limited role this fall.

Finally, although Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis are currently eligible for veteran contract extensions, I’d be somewhat surprised if either player gets a new deal in the coming days. The Warriors barely have any money on their 2027/28 cap and would presumably prefer to maintain that flexibility for the time being. If Green or Jackson-Davis signs an extension at this point, it would probably have to be a short-term deal that includes little to no guaranteed money beyond ’26/27. The team would probably be happy to wait until 2026 to get serious about those negotiations.

Bulls Waive Yuki Kawamura, Will Sign Trentyn Flowers

The Bulls have waived two-way guard Yuki Kawamura, the team announced (via Twitter).

According to K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link), the Bulls’ PR department specified that Kawamura was released due to a medical condition. As Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic tweets, the Japanese point guard had quickly become a fan favorite in Chicago, but was ruled out earlier this preseason due to right lower leg pain.

The Bulls will fill their two-way vacancy by signing Trentyn Flowers, agents Mike Silverman and Troy Payne tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). 

Flowers, a 6’7″ wing, spent 2024/25 — his rookie season — on a two-way deal with the Clippers. He only played a total of 27 minutes in six appearances with the Clips, but was a regular contributor for their G League affiliate in San Diego. In 42 combined games (30.7 MPG) with San Diego, Flowers averaged 17.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 1.9 APG, with a shooting line of .475/.385/.740.

The Clippers tendered Flowers a two-way qualifying offer in June, which he quickly accepted, locking in a partial guarantee worth $85,300. However, the 20-year-old was cut a few days ago and cleared the waiver wire, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Kawamura, who had been the shortest active player in the league at 5’8″, was a star in Japan before signing an Exhibit 10 deal with Memphis last fall. He was promoted to a two-way contract just before ’24/25 began and spent his rookie season with the Grizzlies, playing a modest role in 22 games (4.2 MPG).

The 24-year-old received extended run with the Memphis Hustle, averaging 12.7 PPG, 8.5 APG, 3.1 RPG and 1.0 SPG on .383/.365/.761 shooting in 31 games (31.6 MPG). The Grizzlies didn’t give him a QO though, and he was an UFA for a few weeks prior to impressing with the Bulls’ Summer League team, earning himself a two-way deal.

Chicago will have 18 players under contract once Flowers’ agreement is finalized.

Jazz Waive Mo Bamba, Pedro Bradshaw, Sean East II

The Jazz have released Mo Bamba, Pedro Bradshaw and Sean East II, the team announced in a press release.

All three players were signed to non-guaranteed training camp deals and are candidates to open the 2025/26 season with the Salt Lake City Stars. Assuming they all had Exhibit 10 language in their contracts, each player is now eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days with the Jazz’s G League affiliate.

Bamba, a 7’0″ center, was a one-and-done prospect after playing his college ball for Texas. He holds seven years of NBA experience, mostly with Orlando, the team that selected him sixth overall in the 2018 draft.

The Magic traded Bamba to the Lakers in February 2023, and he was cut by Los Angeles that summer. The 27-year-old spent 2023/24 on a minimum-salary deal with the Sixers and signed the same sort of contract last summer with the Clippers.

The Clips traded Bamba to Utah in February as part of a salary-dump deal involving P.J. Tucker. The Jazz waived Bamba the following day.

Bamba spent some time in the G League with the Pelicans’ affiliate while looking for another NBA opportunity and found one on March 10, when he signed a 10-day deal with New Orleans. He was unable to secure another guaranteed contract after that deal expired.

Bradshaw and East were signed a few days ago. Bradshaw played in Australia and Germany last season, while East played in Canada and Romania. Neither has appeared in a regular season NBA game to this point in their careers.

Utah’s roster is theoretically set for the regular season, with 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts and all three two-way spots filled.

Pistons Sign, Waive Four Players

October 17: After spending training camp and preseason with Detroit, Bediako, Garcia and Williams have been waived as well, per the league’s transaction log.


September 18, 9:46 pm: The Pistons have waived Ukomadu, according to the NBA’s transaction log.


September 18, 1:14 pm: The Pistons have signed center Charles Bediako, forwards Dawson Garcia and John Ukomadu, and wing Brice Williams to non-guaranteed training camp contracts, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).

Bediako, who went undrafted out of Alabama in 2023, has played in the G League for the past two seasons, first for the Austin Spurs and then for the Grand Rapids Gold. The seven-footer appeared in 50 games for the Gold last season, averaging 9.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per contest, then had his returning rights traded to the Motor City Cruise (Detroit’s affiliate) earlier this week.

Garcia is an undrafted rookie who agreed to a deal with the Pistons in June after a five-year college career that included a three-year stint with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The 6’11” forward put up 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 35.3 minutes per game in 32 outings as a super-senior in 2024/25, with a shooting line of .474/.373/.783.

Ukomadu played for Motor City last season after going undrafted out of Eastern Kentucky in 2024. The 6’7″ forward made 53.0% of shots from the floor, including 45.9% of his three-point tries, but played a relatively modest role for the Pistons’ NBAGL affiliate, averaging 8.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game.

Williams, like Dawson, went undrafted this June, then suited up for Detroit’s Summer League team in Las Vegas. In his final college season at Nebraska in 2024/25, he scored 20.4 points per game on .471/.370/.883 shooting in 35 appearances (all starts). he also contributed 4.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per contest.

All four players likely signed Exhibit 10 contracts, which are non-guaranteed minimum-salary deals that can be converted into two-way contracts before the start of the NBA regular season.

Since all three of the Pistons’ two-way slots are occupied, the more likely outcome for Bediako, Garcia, Ukomadu, and Williams is that they’re waived and then report to the Motor City Cruise — Bediako and Ukomadu would be returning-rights players, while Garcia and Williams could be designated as affiliate players. They’d be eligible to earn bonuses worth up to $85,300 if they spend at least 60 days with the Cruise.

Detroit now has a full 21-man offseason roster.

Bulls Sign, Waive Mac McClung

4:24 pm: McClung has officially been signed and waived by the Bulls, according to the transaction log at NBA.com.


1:59 pm: The Bulls have agreed to a deal with free agent guard Mac McClung, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

McClung, 26, has become a household name among NBA fans by winning the league’s past three slam dunk contests. However, he has still seen limited game action at the NBA level, appearing in just six total regular season contests for four teams from 2021-25. He was on a two-way contract with the Magic for all of last season, but logged just 10 total minutes in two outings for Orlando.

McClung has starred in the G League in recent years, earning a spot on the All-NBAGL first team in 2024/25 after being named MVP in ’23/24. In a total of 44 appearances for the Osceola Magic last season, he averaged 23.0 points, 5.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 32.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .481/.344/.828.

With 15 players on guaranteed contracts and three on two-way deals, the Bulls may not have a spot available on their regular season roster for McClung. If the plan is to have him play for their G League affiliate, then the Windy City Bulls would need to acquire his returning rights from Osceola.

Assuming McClung signs an Exhibit 10 contract, he’d be eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days with Windy City.

Bucks Sign, Waive Johnny Davis, Jeremiah Tilmon

October 17, 4:23pm: As expected, Davis and Tilmon have been waived, per NBA.com’s transactions log.


October 17, 7:38 am: In addition to finalizing their deal with Davis, the Bucks also signed center Jeremiah Tilmon, according to the NBA transaction log at RealGM.

Tilmon has bounced around the G League and a handful of non-NBA leagues around the world since going undrafted out of Missouri in 2021, most recently playing for the Shenzhen Leopards in China during the 2024/25 season. Like Davis, he almost certainly signed an Exhibit 10 contract and is likely on track to join the Wisconsin Herd.


October 16: Former lottery pick Johnny Davis has agreed to a contract with the Bucks, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).

While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Davis will almost certainly sign an Exhibit 10 deal and be waived by Saturday. In that scenario, he would be eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days with Milwaukee’s G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Davis, who grew up in La Crosse and played his college ball at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Davis, 23, was the 10th overall pick of the 2022 NBA draft after a pair of college seasons with the Badgers. The 6’5″ shooting guard never lived up to that lofty draft status in parts of three seasons with the Wizards, who traded him to Memphis in February. He was released by the Grizzlies a couple weeks later after he didn’t appear in a game with the team.

Davis finished last season in the NBAGL with New York’s affiliate team in Westchester. He went unsigned throughout the offseason prior to this agreement with the Bucks.

In 112 career games with Washington, Davis averaged 3.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .397/.273/.561.

The Bucks have a pair of roster openings and don’t need to waive anyone to add Davis.

Mavericks Release Banton, Robinson-Earl, Smith

The Mavericks have requested waivers on Dalano Banton, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Dennis Smith Jr., the team announced today (Twitter link).

All three NBA veterans were on non-guaranteed contracts for training camp. Banton’s deal contained both Exhibit 9 and Exhibit 10 language, meaning he’s now eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he reports to the Texas Legends and spends at least 60 days with Dallas’ G League affiliate.

Robinson-Earl and Smith, meanwhile, were on Exhibit 9 deals, protecting the Mavs in the event of an injury to either player, which thankfully did not occur.

Banton was the 46th overall pick in the 2021 draft and has played in 216 regular season games for Toronto, Boston and Portland over the past four seasons. In ’24/25, he made a career-high 67 appearances, averaging 8.3 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.0 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .391/.324/.728.

The Canadian guard looked like a relative long shot to make Dallas’ roster, given that he was signed a week after training camp had gotten underway.

Robinson-Earl, a 6’9″ forward/center, was also selected in the second round of 2021 (32nd overall) and has appeared in 197 regular season contests for Oklahoma City and New Orleans over the past four seasons. In ’24/25, he averaged 6.3 PPG and 4.8 RPG in a career-best 66 games (18.8 MPG) for the Pelicans, posting a shooting slash line of .455/.341/.836.

Robinson-Early had by far the largest role of the three players during preseason, appearing in all four games for the Mavs while averaging 7.3 PPG and 4.0 MPG in 12.2 MPG.

Despite being out of the NBA last season, Smith is undoubtedly the most familiar face for Mavs fans. Dallas selected the 6’2″ guard No. 9 overall back in 2017, but wound up trading him to New York during his second season as part of the Kristaps Porzingis blockbuster.

Smith has developed into a strong point-of-attack defender, but has struggled to score efficiently throughout his seven-year career. He drew praise from head coach Jason Kidd multiple times during training camp.

The moves seemingly indicate that the Mavs intend to keep guards Dante Exum and Brandon Williams on their standard roster. Exum’s minimum-salary contract is fully guaranteed, but he has dealt with a right knee injury during training camp and preseason and could miss extended time.

While Williams’ deal is only partially guaranteed for $200K in 2025/26, Dallas has been encouraged by the 25-year-old’s development over the past couple seasons, having promoted him from a two-way deal at the end of ’24/25.

The Mavs now have 18 players under contract.

Rockets Sign, Waive Daishen Nix, Caleb McConnell

3:38 pm: Both players have been waived, according to the Rockets (Twitter link via Smith). Houston is now back at 18 players under contract.


3:00 pm: The Rockets have signed a pair of free agent guards, announcing that they’ve added Daishen Nix and Caleb McConnell to their roster (Twitter link via Keith Smith of Spotrac). Houston now has 20 players under contract, one below the preseason limit.

Nix, who has appeared in 99 NBA regular season games since entering the league in 2021, spent the first two years of his career in Houston and played for the Rockets’ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, for much of last season after opening the year on a two-way deal with Minnesota.

In 24 games for the Vipers in 2024/25, Nix averaged 15.3 points, 7.0 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in 32.2 minutes per contest. However, the 6’4″ guard struggled to score efficiently and take care of the basketball — he made just 26.4% of 5.0 three-point attempts per game and averaged 3.8 turnovers per night.

McConnell, a 6’7″ shooting guard, has played in the G League since going undrafted out of Rutgers in 2023. He made 42 appearances for the Greensboro Swarm last season and registered averages of 6.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.6 steals in 25.9 minutes per game.

McConnell was a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for the Scarlet Knights.

The Vipers hold Nix’s returning rights and acquired McConnell’s in a multi-team trade earlier this week, so it’s highly likely that both players will be waived in the next 24 hours or so and then report to Houston’s NBAGL affiliate. Assuming they received Exhibit 10 contracts, which is likely, they’ll each earn a bonus worth up to $85,300 if they spend at least 60 days with the Vipers.

Bucks Sign A.J. Green To Four-Year Extension

October 17: Green’s extension with the Bucks is now official, according to a team press release.


October 16: The Bucks and sharpshooter A.J. Green are in agreement on a four-year, $45MM contract extension, agent Matt Bollero tells ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). According to Charania, the deal is fully guaranteed.

Green, 26, joined the Bucks in 2022 as an undrafted free agent out of Northern Iowa. After playing a modest role in his first two seasons, he emerged as a consistent part of the team’s regular rotation in 2024/25, logging a career-high 22.7 minutes per game in 73 outings and averaging 7.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per night.

Green is a 6’4″ three-and-D wing with a career rate of 42.1% from beyond the arc, including 42.7% last season. The Bucks had a +6.4 net rating during his 1,659 minutes of action in ’24/25, compared to a -0.9 mark in the 2,292 minutes he didn’t play.

Because he was an undrafted free agent rather than a former first-round pick, Green was eligible for a veteran contract extension – not a rookie scale extension – as he entered the final year of his current contract with Milwaukee.

His salary of $2.3MM in 2025/26 is well below the NBA’s estimated average salary ($13.87MM). That meant he was eligible to receive a starting salary worth up to 40% of the estimated average salary on an extension, which worked out to a maximum of $87MM over four seasons.

However, as I wrote earlier this week when I identified Green as an under-the-radar extension candidate to watch, the Bucks were never likely to have to go nearly that high to retain him. I pointed to Sam Merrill‘s recent contract with Cleveland (four years, $38MM) as a reference point for Green and noted that he’s three years younger than Merrill and has been a more accurate shooter (albeit on a lower volume), so he had a case for an eight-figure annual salary.

Still, getting four guaranteed years at more than $11MM per season is a big win for Green — as ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out (via Twitter), his career earnings to date, including his salary for the coming season, total just $6.3MM.

Green is now just one of two Bucks players who is owed guaranteed money beyond the 2026/27 season, along with Myles Turner. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, Ryan Rollins, and Tyler Smith all have player or team options for ’27/28 on their respective deals.

New York Notes: Kolek, Yabusele, Thomas, Powell

In the wake of Malcolm Brogdon‘s sudden retirement announcement, the Knicks are weighing their options for the backup point guard position behind Jalen Brunson.

In the view of Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required), the team has three options: Trade for a backup, give second-year guard Tyler Kolek a chance to earn a rotation role, or take a committee approach, with Miles McBride, Jordan Clarkson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges all taking on additional ball-handling responsibilities.

For his part, Brunson doesn’t sound like someone who wants the front office to go out and make a traded to fortify the depth at his position. He expressed confidence in the team’s in-house options, according to Peter Botte of The New York Post.

“We’re in good hands, great hands,” Brunson said on Thursday. “[Kolek] has been getting better every day. Deuce has been getting better every day. Those guys, they come in and they work on their game nonstop. When you see that, you have the utmost confidence that when their number is called they’re going to be ready to go. So like I said, we’re in good hands.”

Head coach Mike Brown also made it clear he’s not particularly concerned about how the Knicks will get by when Brunson is off the court.

“We feel like we have a deep roster, and a lot of guys will have an opportunity to grab whatever minutes might have been there or might not have been there,” Brown said, per Botte. “It’s just a case of earning your stripes, and we’ll figure it out at the end of the day, whoever’s gonna get whatever minutes are available.”

Here are a few more notes on the NBA’s two New York teams:

  • It hasn’t been an especially memorable preseason for Knicks forward/center Guerschon Yabusele, who has scored just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting in 42 total minutes of action through three games. As Bondy writes for The New York Post, Brown and the Knicks recognize that there will be a “learning curve” for the newcomer as he adjusts to both a new team and a new system. “I’m really trying to be as much as I can be focused to try to get every detail to make sure I’m at the right spot,” Yabusele said. “For me, it’s a new team with new guys so I really try to fit into the system and be a solution, not a problem.”
  • Brown has expressed a desire to treat Friday’s preseason finale as a dress rehearsal for the season and use his “normal rotation” for the game. However, four key Knicks – Hart (back), OG Anunoby (ankle), Karl-Anthony Towns (quad), and Mitchell Robinson (load management) – are considered day-to-day and may not be in position to play big minutes, if they’re available at all, writes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News (subscription required).
  • Given the make-up of the Nets‘ roster, it’s safe to assume Cam Thomas will do plenty of shooting and scoring in 2025/26. Still, head coach Jordi Fernandez is pushing Thomas to take advantage of the defensive attention he’ll receive by improving his play-making and creating shots for teammates, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “Yeah, me and Jordi always talk about it, we always have conversations about it,” Thomas said. “Jordi is also very understanding of who I am as a player. He knows I’m a scorer and he knows how I play. But it’s also the fine line of being aggressive, get your own shot and then getting guys other shots. We always have that dialogue, and it’s great. So this year we have a better understanding. He has a better understanding of me, and I have a better understanding of what he wants.”
  • Nets rookie Drake Powell‘s 13.8% usage rate during his first and only season at UNC was the lowest of any wing ever drafted, per The Athletic, but Fernandez isn’t concerned at all about that, writes Lewis. “I wasn’t there [at UNC], and I cannot judge whether it’s positive or negative,” the Nets’ head coach said. “But I see [Powell] as an elite on-ball defender, as probably the best athlete of this draft, a player that can run a play on the second side, a very good ball-handler. … He’s going to have to take advantage of his minutes. If he starts with [an] opportunity, great. If not, the opportunity will come.”