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Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell Named Players Of The Week

November 24th, 2025 at 2:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (Twitter links).

Gilgeous-Alexander led the defending champions to four wins during the week of November 17-23 while averaging 31.0 points and 6.5 assists per contest and shooting 60% from the field and 64.3% from beyond the arc. Oklahoma City was +82 in SGA’s 125 minutes on the court last week.

Gilgeous-Alexander also earned Player of the Week honors three weeks ago and is the second repeat winner of the award this season, joining Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

Mitchell posted averages of 31.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game as the Cavaliers went 3-1 this past week. He opened and closed the week with matching 37-point performances against the Bucks and Clippers, going 14-of-22 from the field in each of those two outings.

Santi Aldama (Grizzlies), Luka Doncic (Lakers), De’Aaron Fox (Spurs), James Harden (Clippers) and Jokic (Nuggets) were the other Western Conference nominees for Player of the Week.

Jalen Duren (Pistons), Josh Giddey (Bulls), Brandon Ingram (Raptors), Kon Knueppel (Hornets), Tyrese Maxey (Sixers), Norman Powell and Kel’el Ware (Heat), Ryan Rollins (Bucks) and Franz Wagner (Magic) were also nominated in the East.

Eastern Notes: Ivey, Pistons, George, Carter, Cavs

November 23rd, 2025 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

Playing in his first regular season game since January 1, Pistons guard Jaden Ivey made his season debut on Saturday in Milwaukee and helped his team pick up its 12th straight win by registering 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 15 minutes, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.

Ivey said during his post-game media session that he “cherished the moment” to be back on the court after being sidelined due to a fractured left fibula last season and right knee surgery this fall. Ivey said he had “so much gratitude to be out there again,” and his head coach suggested the team reciprocated that feeling.

“We’re just happy to have him back,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters, including Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “That’s the most important thing. For him to have that joy and competition and competing with his teammates, that was the most important thing for him out there. Obviously you see the way that he can impact the game at a high level. Fifteen minutes is hard to catch a rhythm sometimes but I thought he did all the things we needed him to do. This was just more celebration of his journey to get back out on the court and we were happy to be a part of it.”

All 13 Pistons who were active for the game saw the court in the 129-116 win over the Bucks, with 11 logging at least 13 minutes. Bickerstaff said after the victory that he’s going to try using a 12-man rotation going forward as he assesses Detroit’s best lineups and fits.

“We’re going to give guys opportunity, especially in the first half and see how the game progresses in the second half,” Bickerstaff said (Twitter link via Sankofa). “It may not always be easy but guys are going to have an opportunity because they’ve earned it.”

We have more from across the Eastern Conference:

With the 14-2 Pistons sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings and well positioned from a salary cap perspective for in-season roster moves, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) evaluates whether it makes sense for them to try to make a major trade before February’s deadline. Gozlan ultimately concludes that Detroit is more likely to wait until the 2026 offseason to take a big swing.
Sixers forward Paul George played well in his second game back from knee surgery on Thursday, contributing 21 points and five rebounds in 25 minutes of action. George’s conditioning still isn’t 100%, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, but he provides the team with some stability at the forward spot and said all the right things after the game about his role. “Listen, whatever it is, to make the game easy for No. 0,” George said, referring to Tyrese Maxey. “I’ve been saying he’s been doing a lot for us. He might not want to say it, but I know he’s tired. He’s got to be tired. So, you know, I’m just trying to make the game easy for him within the offense, play my game.”
Starting center Wendell Carter Jr. has been an under-the-radar impact role player for the Magic so far this season, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel, who takes a look at the ways in which Carter is making the team better both offensively and defensively. “Both sides of the floor, (he has) a huge gravitation. Whether that’s rebounding, defensive position, I feel like that’s stuff that maybe goes unnoticed,” teammate Tristan Da Silva said of Carter, who is averaging 12.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game on .530/.458/.797 shooting.
Darius Garland (toe) and Jaylon Tyson (concussion) returned to the Cavaliers‘ lineup on Friday after missing five games apiece due to injuries and were on minutes restrictions of roughly 30 minutes, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. While the Cavs got some reinforcements in that game, they remain banged up as they prepare to host the Clippers on Sunday. Jarrett Allen (finger) will miss a second consecutive contest, while Craig Porter Jr. has been ruled out for the first time this season due to a left hamstring strain, per Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Injury Notes: Leonard, Jerome, Murray-Boyles, Heat, Cavs

November 20th, 2025 at 6:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard went through portions of Wednesday’s practice, though he didn’t do any contact drills, head coach Tyronn Lue told Law Murray of The Athletic and other media members (Twitter video link).

“He did a few things,” Lue said. ” … He’s definitely gotten better. I mean, I don’t know how long it’s gonna be (until he returns). But he’s definitely gotten better. Just seeing him on the floor yesterday was really good to see.”

Leonard, a two-time Finals MVP, was off to a strong start this fall prior to suffering right ankle and foot sprains on November 3. The Clips were 3-3 in the six games Leonard played but have gone just 1-7 without their highest-paid player. The 34-year-old missed his ninth straight game on Thursday in Orlando.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Free agent addition Ty Jerome has yet to play for the Grizzlies in 2025/26 after suffering a high-grade right calf strain during the preseason. The seventh-year guard will be reevaluated on Friday, with a return timeline expected to come in the days after that examination, tweets Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Collin Murray-Boyles, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2025 draft, will miss his second straight game on Friday due to an MCL sprain in his right knee, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca relays (via Twitter). The Raptors forward/center has averaged 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per game through 11 appearances as a rookie, with a shooting line of .500/.500/.762.
Heat forward Andrew Wiggins has been diagnosed with a left hip flexor strain and will be sidelined for his first game of the season on Friday in Chicago, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Fourth-year forward Nikola Jovic was ruled out of Wednesday’s game with a right hip impingement and will miss at least two more, as he didn’t travel with the team on its two-game road trip, Jackson reports.
While Cavaliers sharpshooter Sam Merrill will be out for the second straight contest on Friday with a right hand sprain, it’s possible point guard Darius Garland could return to action. The two-time All-Star is questionable against Indiana, per the NBA’s injury report, as are Jarrett Allen (right third finger strain) and Jaylon Tyson (concussion). Garland has missed the past five games after re-injuring his surgically repaired left great toe last week, but head coach Kenny Atkinson recently said the 25-year-old was “really close” to suiting up.

Central Notes: Atkinson, Antetokounmpo, Turner, Cunningham

November 19th, 2025 at 9:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

Cavaliers’ head coach Kenny Atkinson had a strong reaction to the news that Cleveland had been fined $100K for violating the league’s player participation policy, Chris Fedor writes for Cleveland.com.

“I think my number one job is to continue to protect the health of our players,” Atkinson said. “So [it’s] kind of that simple. I think that Miami game, we came home at 3:30 in the morning, so you have to anticipate sometimes too, what the schedule looks like. We have those discussions, we make decisions. I’ll rock with that decision.”

The player participation policy was changed prior to the 2023/24 season in an attempt to address what the NBA felt was an issue of star players resting despite being otherwise healthy. Stars under the policy are defined as players who have made an All-Star or All-NBA game within the past three years.

The Cavaliers violated the policy last Wednesday by resting both Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, though Atkinson disagrees with the message the NBA’s fine sends.

“We win that game too,” Atkinson said. “So, to me, you throw that on top of it and it’s like, wait a second, are you discrediting the guys that played that night? Is that a weird way to look at it? We’re in a competitive environment here. So, on top of it, we helped develop guys and we won the game and then we get penalized for it.”

Atkinson said that while he understands the policy, he doesn’t plan to change his approach moving forward.

We have more from around the Central Division:

The Bucks have struggled to maintain leads with Giannis Antetokounmpo off the floor, a trend that will be put to the test with the news that the star forward will miss at least the next week or two, writes Eric Nehm for The Athletic. Nehm notes that the Bucks this season have outscored opponents by 7.6 points per 100 possessions with Antetokounmpo on the floor, but have been outscored by 12.8 points per 100 possessions when he’s not playing. According to Nehm, the team will have to lean heavily on early-season breakout guard Ryan Rollins, who has led Milwaukee in scoring in games Antetokounmpo has missed. “It doesn’t look good right now,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We got [Kevin Porter Jr.] out and Giannis out. That’s not great for our team, but we’re either going to find somebody or find something to run that will pay dividends later, and that’s the stretch we’re about to go through.”
The news of Antetokounmpo’s injury is also a blow to the budding chemistry between the Bucks‘ newly formed partnership between the two-time MVP and Myles Turner. Grant Afseth of RG.org writes that the addition of Turner has given the Bucks a chance to bridge the past iterations of the team to its future. That connection started on the court, but extends to how they support each other in terms of the mental side of the game, which was evident when the team visited Indiana for the first time following Turner’s Pacers exit. “To be able to come here in Indiana, all-time leading block leader, to be booed… he might not say it, but it kind of hurt,” Antetokounmpo said. “We are here to pick him up, tell him how much we love him and respect him. We understand how much he gave for the team Indiana and how much he’s willing to give for Milwaukee.”
As the Pistons have gotten off to one of the hottest starts in the league, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has been particularly impressed by star Cade Cunningham‘s demeanor and relationships with his teammates, regardless of whether the team is having success or piling up losses like it did earlier in his career, writes The Athletic’s Hunter Patterson. “He could’ve been pissed off. He could’ve been frustrated. He could’ve blamed everybody else, but never once did you hear him do that. The only thing he ever did was put his head down, go to work and accept responsibility,” Bickerstaff said. “I marvel at a guy that age, who is able to handle his teammates the way he does. (He’s) a guy who very easily could separate himself from the group, but he never does. He’s always the one pulling people together. He doesn’t want to be treated any differently. He can eat without taking food off your plate. There’s nothing better than that from your superstar.”

Injury Notes: Melton, Banchero, McDaniels, Garland

November 19th, 2025 at 6:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors provided an update on guard De’Anthony Melton on Wednesday, announcing in a press release that Melton has intensified his workouts and participated in practices and scrimmages with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League (Twitter link). According to the club, Melton will continue to be integrated in practices and scrimmages with the NBA team and will be reevaluated in 10 days.

Melton tore his ACL last November and underwent surgery to repair the tear on December 4, sidelining him for the rest of the 2024/25 season. He has continued to progress through the final stages of his recovery after rejoining Golden State on a minimum-salary deal prior to the season.

According to Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link), December has been the “floating target” for Melton’s season debut, so he could be just a few weeks away from returning to action.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Magic forward Paolo Banchero, who is dealing with a left groin strain, will remain out for a fourth straight game on Thursday vs. the Clippers, tweets Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. It’s worth keeping a close eye on how much time Banchero misses, since his maximum-salary rookie scale extension includes Rose Rule language — he could earn a significant raise if he makes an All-NBA team this season, but he’d only be eligible if he appears in at least 65 games.
Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels has been diagnosed with a sprained left wrist after exiting Monday’s game in the third quarter due to the injury, per The Associated Press. McDaniels will sit out on Wednesday vs. Washington, marking his first injury absence since December 8, 2023. The 25-year-old is off to a hot start, having averaged 17.5 points per contest with a 52.1% mark on three-pointers through 14 games.
Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland will miss a fifth straight game on Wednesday after re-injuring his surgically repaired left great toe last week, but head coach Kenny Atkinson doesn’t anticipate Garland’s absence lasting much longer. “He is close,” Atkinson said (Twitter link via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com). “Really close.”

Kevin Love Discusses Trade To Utah, Role With Jazz

November 18th, 2025 at 3:23pm CST by Luke Adams

After joining the Heat during the 2022/23 season, veteran big man Kevin Love didn’t expect to be on the move again. Love tells D.J. Siddiqi of ESportsInsider.com that he and his family “laid down roots” in Miami and that the trade sending him to Utah during the 2025 offseason was “definitely unexpected.”

“(The Heat) got better (in the trade); they got Norman Powell,” Love said. “They got better. But yeah, it still stung in the few weeks after the facts. I’ve seen all this before. It doesn’t make it any easier.”

Love, who turned 37 this year, was considered unlikely to stick with the rebuilding Jazz for long. Reporting in early September indicated that the expectation around the NBA was that he’d be traded or bought out before the regular season tipped off.

However, Love tells Siddiqi that the organization has been “amazing” to him and that it has been a “truly great experience” to be part of the Jazz so far. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the 18-year veteran will finish the season in Utah, but he’s in no hurry to part ways with his new team.

Love has had a role both on and off the court in Utah so far, appearing in seven of the past eight games and averaging 14.0 minutes per night off the bench while also providing veteran leadership on a young roster.

“Walker Kessler going down has provided me more minutes, at least in the near future, in the last several games,” Love said, referring to Kessler’s season-ending shoulder surgery. “But again, even if I’m not playing, I think my role — it’s great to have a role in my 18th season — is being able to be that veteran leader, a sound voice, somebody that preaches and acts on accountability and just continues to show what professionalism looks like every single day.

“… I think that that is extremely important, especially with a young team. I think sometimes people can maybe overvalue a veteran in a locker room, but I do believe that the Jazz honor that, and they’re appreciative of it as well. It makes me want to lean in even more and be the vet that, honestly, I never had.”

Love is in the final season of a contract that can’t be extended, so he’ll reach unrestricted free agency next summer if he’s not waived or bought out before then. He’s not sure how much longer he’ll continue playing, suggesting that he’s taking things on a “year-by-year” basis going forward, but he didn’t close the door on the idea of pursuing a reunion with the Cavaliers before he calls it a career.

“I don’t want to make any assumptions — they’ve been so good to me here already with Utah, and if this is it, then I’m very happy with that,” Love told Siddiqi. “Obviously, Cleveland is a near and dear place to me. But regardless if that happened or not, I’m always going to go back to Cleveland. They were so good to me for my eight-and-a-half seasons there, and continue to be.”

Cavs Fined $100K For Violating Player Participation Policy

November 18th, 2025 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have been fined $100K for violating the NBA’s player participation policy, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

The violation took place on November 12, last Wednesday, when the Cavaliers sat both Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley for rest purposes during the first game of a back-to-back set. The Cavs played in Miami that night before heading home to host the Raptors on Thursday.

The NBA’s player participation policy was modified ahead of the 2023/24 season in an effort to reduce instances of teams holding out star players during the regular season. Under the policy, the NBA defines a star as a player who has made an All-Star or All-NBA team within the past three seasons. Both Mitchell and Mobley meet that criteria.

Although teams are permitted to rest those star players under certain circumstances, an investigation is automatically triggered any time a team rests more than one healthy star in the same game. Cleveland likely would have avoided a fine if they had held out Mitchell on Wednesday and Mobley on Thursday, or vice versa.

A team violating the player participation policy for the first time is fined $100K. A second violation would cost the Cavs $250K.

Central Notes: Nesmith, Pistons, Mitchell, Bucks

November 15th, 2025 at 11:52am CST by Dana Gauruder

The injury-riddled Pacers suffered another one on Thursday as forward Aaron Nesmith suffered a left knee sprain. He won’t play in Saturday’s home game against the Raptors but head coach Rick Carlisle believes the team may have “dodged a bullet” regarding his injury, The Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak reports.

The Pacers think Nesmith avoided a “very serious” injury, according to Carlisle. Nesmith is averaging a career-high 15.5 points per game.

We have more from the Central Division:

The injury-depleted Pistons made it nine in a row with a win over Philadelphia on Friday. They rallied from a 12-point, third-quarter deficit despite Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Tobias Harris watching in street clothes from the bench. “They’ve just got a nastiness to them, and that’s the fun part about our group,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “They like it when it gets thick. They like it when it gets messy and it gets ugly. That’s where they thrive. We like to take people there; we like to push people’s buttons and see how they respond. We’ve just got a bunch of nasty dogs in that locker room, and they love it.”
The Cavaliers didn’t reach the Finals last season despite being a top seed. That’s why Donovan Mitchell isn’t concerned about regaining the No. 1 seed this season. “Playing well at the right time (is what’s important),” Mitchell told D.J. Siddiqi of VideoGamer.com. “Would we love to do both? 1,000%. I’m not going to sit here and say we wouldn’t want to be the No. 1 seed. At the same token, we saw last year that you can do all the things, but if you’re not ready when that time goes and if you’re not necessarily healthy, it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done during the regular season. Would I love to be the No. 1 seed? Sure. But if we’re not, am I going to be panicking? No. As long as we’re playing our best basketball at the right time, that’s all that really matters.”
The Bucks are off to an 8-5 start and The Athletic’s Eric Nehm shares his thoughts on what he’s seen from the team this season.

And-Ones: Brown, Adams, Luxury Tax, Top Rookies

November 14th, 2025 at 4:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Free agent guard/forward Troy Brown Jr. has signed a rest-of-season contract with the Adelaide 36ers of Australia’s National Basketball League, writes Olgun Uluc of ESPN.

The 15th pick in the 2018 draft, Brown spent six years in the NBA, suiting up for the Wizards, Bulls, Lakers, Timberwolves and Pistons. The 26-year-old last played in the league during the 2023/24 campaign.

Brown spent part of last season in Turkey, then briefly played in Puerto Rico in the spring.

“Troy has great size and length,” 36ers GM Matt Weston said in a press release. “He’s a legitimate shooter who is very good on the defensive side of the ball with great hands.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

The Brisbane Bullets of the NBL have released former NBA point guard Jaylen Adams, Uluc reports for ESPN. Adams went undrafted in 2018 out of St. Bonaventure and spent most of his rookie year on a two-way deal with Atlanta, ultimately making 41 total NBA appearances through the 2020/21 campaign. He has spent most of the past four seasons in the NBL, including winning MVP in ’21/22 and leading the Sydney Kings to a title that season. However, the 29-year-old has looked disengaged of late, according to Uluc, and his statistics are down considerably from last season. The team cited behavioral and cultural concerns as reasons why it decided to cut Adams loose, sources tell Uluc.
Eric Pincus of SportsBusinessClassroom.com has updated his NBA luxury tax tracker for the ’25/26 season, with 16 clubs currently below the tax line and 14 teams in tax territory. The Nets and Jazz have the most room under the tax, while the Cavaliers have — by far — the most expensive roster in the league, with a projected tax bill of nearly $164MM.
ESPN’s Zach Kram ranks the top 10 NBA rookies, writing that his list is based on how each young player has performed through the first three weeks of the season and not a projection or a prediction on who might win Rookie of the Year. Three Hornets (Sion James at No. 8, Ryan Kalkbrenner at No. 5, and Kon Knueppel at No. 3) are on Kram’s list, with Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe ranked second and Grizzlies wing Cedric Coward coming in at No. 1.

Central Notes: Giannis, Pacers, Ball, Porter, Essengue

November 13th, 2025 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out Wednesday’s game vs. Charlotte due to what the team referred to as patellar tendinopathy affecting his left knee. However, speaking to reporters prior to the game, head coach Doc Rivers suggested that Antetokounmpo’s absence was more about managing his workload during a tough part of the schedule rather than an injury the team is seriously concerned about.

“What are we, five games in seven days?” Rivers said (Twitter links via Eric Nehm of The Athletic). “It’s just a lot. And we looked at this before it all started, this was the game, if we were going to sit him, just because it was right in the middle and it gives him four days off.

“This one was a little rough because we weren’t sure. I know I wanted him to (sit). I asked him before (shootaround), trying to talk him into not playing, which is rare for me to do. But it just felt like health-wise, this is the right decision.”

Antetokounmpo is off to an excellent start this fall, averaging 33.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 32.9 minutes per game through his first 10 outings. Wednesday’s contest was the second he has missed this season, and while Milwaukee picked up a victory without its star forward vs. Golden State on October 30, the team dropped last night’s game in Charlotte, falling to 7-5 on the season.

We have more from around the Central:

The Pacers had some players back from injuries on Tuesday, including point guard T.J. McConnell making his season debut. However, the club gave up a season-high 152 points in a blowout loss to Utah, prompting McConnell to refer to the defensive effort as “pitiful,” per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required). “We just have to be better in terms of fight, in terms of pride,” McConnell said. “That’s really not gonna get it done.” The defending Eastern Conference champions are now 1-10 to open the season.
With Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell among the Cavaliers‘ regulars inactive on Wednesday in Miami, Lonzo Ball earned his second start of the season and reserve guard Craig Porter Jr. played a season-high 32 minutes. Fred Katz of The Athletic looks at how Ball is fitting in with the Cavs so far this season, while Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required) covers Porter’s “heroic” night — the third-year guard had 19 points and nine assists, with a game-high +21 on/off court mark, in the victory over the Heat.
Bulls rookie forward Noa Essengue had a big G League debut on Tuesday, scoring 28 points in 29 minutes for the Windy City Bulls, according to Julie Poe of The Chicago Tribune, who shares five takeaways from Essengue’s performance. However, Essengue remains an odd man out in Chicago’s frontcourt rotation, so this won’t change the team’s development plan for him, says Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I think sometimes you can get preoccupied with the scoring aspect of it,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “I know he had a big night offensively, but if he’s getting out in transition, getting to the backboard, slashing, cuts, that’s great. I think we all know the shooting part of it needs to continue to develop, his body needs to continue to develop, but can he get things into the game we’re going to need him to?”