Los Angeles Clippers Rumors

Clippers To Waive Jahmyl Telfort, Sign RayJ Dennis To Two-Way Deal

December 3rd, 2025 at 9:59pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Clippers are planning to sign RayJ Dennis to a two-way contract, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter). The move comes four days after the Pacers waived Dennis to sign Ethan Thompson.

Jake Fischer of the Stein Line confirms the report (via Twitter) and adds that Dennis is expected to step into a role on the Clippers’ guard depth chart following the recently announced departure of Chris Paul.

Fischer adds that Los Angeles will waive Jahmyl Telfort to make room for Dennis (Twitter link).

Dennis, a 24-year-old, 6’1″ point guard, played 13 games for the Pacers this season, averaging 4.9 points and 2.0 assists in 12.9 minutes per game.

Telfort played 29 minutes over seven games for the Clippers after going unselected in the 2025 draft.

Clippers Rumors: Zubac, Collins, Paul, Sanders, Lue, Bogdanovic

December 3rd, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

There have been “mixed signals” about whether the Clippers would seriously entertain the idea of discussing a trade involving standout center Ivica Zubac this season, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, who hears that no player on the roster has generated more interest from teams around the league than Zubac.

If the Clippers ultimately decide they’re willing to explore moving Zubac, the expectation is that they’d seek at least two first-round picks, sources tell ClutchPoints. Siegel wonders if the Celtics, who have a hole in the middle, could make a play for Zubac using Anfernee Simons‘ expiring contract, noting that L.A. had interest in Simons before he was traded from Portland to Boston. However, that sounds like mere speculation at this point.

One thing that seems clear, according to Siegel, is that the Clippers are open to making a deal involving John Collins and his expiring $26.6MM contract. L.A. acquired Collins from Utah in a three-team trade over the summer, but he has yet to make the sort of impact the team had hoped for. His scoring average of 11.9 points per game is his lowest since his rookie season in 2017/18, and he’s knocking down just 31.6% of his three-point tries while averaging a career-worst 4.9 rebounds per game.

Here’s more on the Clippers:

Keith Smith of Spotrac and a panel of ESPN insiders explore potential next steps for the Clippers and Chris Paul after their surprising divorce. As Smith observes, if the Clippers waive Paul within the next two or three weeks, it would be a strong signal that the team plans to promote Kobe Sanders from his two-way contract to a standard roster spot sooner rather than later. L.A. would need to add a replacement for Paul within 14 days of waiving him and doesn’t currently have enough room below its first-apron hard cap to sign a free agent to a minimum-salary contract. Converting Sanders, who could get a rookie minimum deal that wouldn’t be subject to tax variance, would be the only viable path to filling the 14th roster spot right now if Paul is cut.
Paul “called out” teammates, coaches, and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank during his brief stint as a Clipper, a league source tells Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. According to Turner’s source, Paul apologized, but “everyone was fed up.” Turner adds that there’s no guarantee Paul will end up signing with another team once he’s officially let go by L.A., given his age, his declining production, and his “powerful” voice in the locker room, which not every team would welcome.
Amid rumors that head coach Tyronn Lue and Paul weren’t on speaking terms in recent weeks, Frank told reporters today that Lue is a “hell of a coach” and that he’ll remain in his current position “for a long time,” per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link).
The Clippers initially stated that Bogdan Bogdanovic was considered day-to-day due to his left hip contusion, but the veteran guard will miss a seventh consecutive game on Wednesday as a result of the injury, tweets Law Murray of The Athletic. Bogdanovic last suited up on November 20.

Clippers Announce They’re ‘Parting Ways’ With Chris Paul

December 3rd, 2025 at 11:13am CST by Luke Adams

11:13 am: Paul clashed with members of the Clippers’ organization as a result of his leadership style, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link), who hears from sources that the team felt the veteran point guard had become “disruptive” in his efforts to vocally hold players, coaches, and front office members accountable.

Former Clippers guard Lou Williams made similar comments earlier in the day during an appearance on FanDuel’s Run It Back show, noting that Paul was attempting to hold players and coaches accountable and “had some criticisms” of the Clippers’ front office (Twitter video link).

According to Charania, head coach Tyronn Lue and Paul hadn’t been on speaking terms for several weeks. Haynes, meanwhile, reports (via Twitter) that Paul asked to meet with Lue a few weeks ago to discuss allegations that he had been a negative presence for the team and the Clippers’ coach refused to meet with him.

6:51 am: The Clippers have put out a statement announcing that they’re “parting ways” with future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul, who signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the team over the summer for what will be his final year in the NBA.

NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link) first reported the news at around the same time Paul posted an Instagram story that reads, “Just found out I’m being sent home,” accompanied by a peace-sign emoji.

“We are parting ways with Chris and he will no longer be with the team,” Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said in a statement to Law Murray of the Athletic. “We will work with him on the next step of his career.

“Chris is a legendary Clipper who has had a historic career. I want to make one thing very clear. No one is blaming Chris for our underperformance. I accept responsibility for the record we have right now. There are a lot of reasons why we’ve struggled. We’re grateful for the impact Chris has made on the franchise.”

Sources confirm to Murray that the decision to part ways with the Clippers wasn’t Paul’s and wasn’t initiated by him.

A 12-time All-Star who made five of those All-Star appearances during his first stint with the Clippers from 2011-17, Paul returned to Los Angeles for his age-40 season in the hopes of providing his former team with some reliable depth behind star point guard James Harden.

However, the season hasn’t gone as planned for Paul or the Clippers, who are off to a miserable 5-16 start. The 21-year veteran averaged just 2.9 points and 3.3 assists in 14.3 minutes per game across 16 outings as a Clipper, shooting 32.1% from the floor. He fell out of the rotation for several games in November and has only returned in recent weeks as L.A. deals with a handful of injuries to key players.

Despite the apparent split between the two sides, the Clippers are unlikely to waive Paul anytime soon unless he agrees to a buyout. The team is currently operating just $1.28MM below its first-apron hard cap and doesn’t have the ability to sign a free agent to a prorated minimum-salary contract until January 7.

Since L.A. is carrying just 14 players on its standard roster, waiving Paul would drop that number to 13 and would require the club to get back to the 14-man minimum within two weeks. Given those roster and cap limitations, the Clippers will likely wait until Paul becomes trade-eligible on December 15 and explore the market for him at that time, assuming he’s not open to negotiating a buyout.

According to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link), the Knicks have discussed the idea of targeting Paul in a trade to add point guard depth. New York is dealing with a hard cap of its own and would need to send out at least a minimum-salary player in order to accommodate Paul, who used to be represented by Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose when Rose was still a player agent.

As Murray writes, this development with Paul represents the latest instance of the Clippers unceremoniously divorcing from a key figure of their “Lob City” era. Back in January 2018, the team traded Blake Griffin to Detroit just a few months into his new five-year, maximum-salary contract with L.A.

Nikola Jokic, Cade Cunningham Earn Player Of The Month Honors

December 2nd, 2025 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Pistons guard Cade Cunningham are the NBA’s Players of the Month for October/November, earning the honor for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, per an announcement from the league (Twitter link).

It’s the ninth time that Jokic has won a Player of the Month award over the course of his 11-year career. He earned it in this case with a superlative start to the season that saw him comfortably average a triple-double – 28.9 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 10.9 assists per game – while leading Denver to a 14-5 record.

Jokic’s shooting percentages were arguably even more remarkable than his per-game averages, as he shot 63.7% from the field and converted 45.3% of his three-point attempts.

The Nuggets star came out on top of a competitive field that included nominees like fellow MVP candidates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder and Luka Doncic of the Lakers. Clippers guard James Harden, Rockets center Alperen Sengun, Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, Lakers guard Austin Reaves, and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards were also nominated for Player of the Month in the West, according to the NBA (Twitter link).

In the East, meanwhile, Cunningham’s Pistons have been one of the most pleasant surprises of the season’s first six weeks. While Detroit was viewed as a strong playoff contender, few NBA observers expected the team to win 16 of its first 20 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference at the end of November.

Cunningham was the driving force behind the Pistons’ hot start, averaging 28.8 points, 9.4 assists, and 6.4 rebounds in 36.8 minutes per game across 17 outings, while shooting 45.6% from the floor and 81.5% from the free throw line.

Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown, Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Heat guard Norman Powell, Magic forward Franz Wagner, and Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were also nominated for Eastern Conference Player of the Month, which Cunningham won for the first time in his career.

Clippers Notes: Struggles, Powell, Harden, Zubac

December 2nd, 2025 at 7:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers went just 2-13 in November, making it one of the worst months in franchise history, writes Law Murray of The Athletic. As Murray observes, the Clippers have had 13 or more losses in a month in the past, but none of the other versions of the team that achieved that ignominious feat had the sort of expectations entering the season that this one did.

Injuries have resulted in the Clippers relying on certain players more than they wanted to, Murray notes, with John Collins and Kris Dunn having entered the starting lineup in recent weeks despite head coach Tyronn Lue determining before the season that he preferred having both players coming off the bench.

Many of the Clippers’ offseason additions also haven’t worked out as expected. Center Brook Lopez and point guard Chris Paul have very much shown their age and have fallen out the rotation, while shooting guard Bradley Beal suffered a hip injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season.

A defense anchored by Ivica Zubac was one of L.A.’s strengths last season, when the team finished third in defensive rating. However, the Clippers have plummeted to 27th in that category this season, according to Murray, who writes that the club doesn’t get back on defense, doesn’t defend three-pointers or rebound well, and doesn’t force turnovers.

Here’s more on the struggling Clippers:

The Clippers’ December began the same way their November did — with a loss at the hands of the Heat, led by former Clipper Norman Powell. Powell scored a team-high 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting and was a +33 in his 32 minutes on the court, as his former club fell to 5-16 on the season. “I would have never guessed that they were going to be 5-16 and where they’re at right now,” Powell said after the game, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
As Reynolds details, after the Heat opened the second half on a 9-0 run on Monday, Lue pulled his entire starting five just 86 seconds into the third quarter. Four of those five players eventually got back into the game, but James Harden – who had five turnovers and was a -39 in 20 minutes – didn’t return. According to Reynolds, Lue entered the post-game interview room almost immediately after the game ended, didn’t see anyone there, and left, so there wasn’t an opportunity to ask him about the lineup decision.
As bad as the season has gone for the Clippers, they’re in a decent position to pivot away from their current roster if they’re not able to turn things around in the coming weeks, writes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link). While the Clippers don’t control several of their own draft picks in the next few years – including, most notably, the 2026 first-round pick they owe the Thunder – they also don’t have any long-term salary obligations on their books and could probably extract solid value for some of their veterans on the trade market. Zubac, in particular, would be a very popular target, given his age (28) and team-friendly contract (three years, $58.7MM).

Western Notes: Clippers, Suns, Rockets, Wembanyama, Spurs

November 30th, 2025 at 10:43pm CST by Rory Maher

Head coach Tyronn Lue thought having Kawhi Leonard back in the fold would help turn around the Clippers‘ disappointing season, but that hasn’t happened over the past four games, observes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Los Angeles has dropped all four contests since Leonard returned and is now 5-15 after losing at home to a struggling Dallas team on Saturday.

“I know we’ve had some tough circumstances in the last five years, which is six years, but I have been able to figure it out. But this year, it’s been tough,” Lue said.

Lue has tried several different lineup combinations over the first 20 games, Carr writes, but none have been effective. With an injured and aging roster, both the present and future are looking pretty bleak, leading to fans on social media calling for major changes, including the ouster of Lue. Fans aren’t the only ones who are frustrated.

“The situation here is difficult,” James Harden said. “We’re not making shots offensively. Defensively, we just allow game-plan mistakes, we allow that to happen too many times, so that’s one of the reasons why we lose games.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

On the other end of the spectrum, the Suns have been one of the most surprising teams in a positive way through the first quarter of the season. As Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic writes, Phoenix was widely projected to miss the playoffs in 2025/26, and those predictions looked accurate after the team started out 1-4. However, the Suns have gone 11-5 since and are currently 12-9, making them the No. 7 seed in the West. Whether the team’s success is sustainable remains to be seen, but Phoenix has dealt with its share of injuries as well and continues to find ways to remain competitive with players out.
The 13-4 Rockets have the NBA’s second-best offense despite attempting the fewest three-pointers in the league and not shooting well on their two-point tries, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. Houston’s unusual offensive strategy is reliant on dominating the boards, which leads to extra shot attempts — the Rockets are outrebounding their opponents by more than 10 per game, with most of that work coming on the offensive glass.
Injured star Victor Wembanyama has been cheering on the Spurs as he continues to recover from a calf strain, per Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. The French big man has been leading the team’s supporter section — nicknamed “The Jackals” — during recent home games. In fact, Wembanyama came up with the idea of the section and hand-picked the captains over the summer, McDonald writes. “The saying goes, when people show you who they are, believe them,” head coach Mitch Johnson said. “He’s been committed and invested. He’s trusted. He’s worked. He’s had his actions back up his words. It’s awesome.”

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Doncic, Allen, Kuminga, Payton

November 29th, 2025 at 11:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

The reeling Clippers lost at home for the sixth consecutive time, falling to the Grizzlies, 112-107, on Friday. They’ve dropped 12 of their last 14 overall. The Clippers were up 16 in the first half but couldn’t sustain that momentum.

“Every second half, we don’t come out right,” center Ivica Zubac said, per Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. “We’re not playing the right way. It feels a little bit mental. The second half we got to string some wins, man. We got to string some wins.”

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard scored 39 points, but it wasn’t enough to turn around their fortunes.

“That’s a challenge you got to face and I’m up for it and we just got to go out there and tuck in our jerseys and get ready to scrap if we really want to win,” Leonard said. “It can’t be two players, can’t be three. It has to be the whole 15, the unit, even guys on the bench that’s not playing.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Luka Doncic haunted his former team in the Lakers‘ 129-119 win over the Mavericks. Doncic piled up 35 points and 11 assists. “I think he’s done a good job throughout the year of finding balance, whether he’s on or off-ball, of hunting 3s and touching the paint,” coach JJ Redick said, per Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports. “When he’s in that mode, he’s just really hard to guard. He’s really been in a groove with that balance, particularly late in games.”
Suns guard Grayson Allen (right quad contusion) didn’t play against the Thunder on Friday but head coach Jordan Ott is optimistic Allen will return soon, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. “Trending in the right way. Yesterday played full court. We’re just continuing to see how he reacts after that. Everything is moving in a good direction,” Ott said. Allen hasn’t played since Nov. 13.
Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, who last suited up on Nov. 12, is listed as questionable to play tonight against the Pelicans, Brett Siegel of Clutch Points tweets. Kuminga is dealing with soreness in both knees. Gary Payton II (ankle) is probable, while Stephen Curry (quad), Al Horford (sciatica) and De’Anthony Melton (knee) remain out.

Field Set For NBA Cup Knockout Round

November 29th, 2025 at 7:41am CST by Dana Gauruder

The group stage of the NBA Cup was completed on Friday, determining the matchups for the knockout round.

In the East, Group B winner — the Magic — captured the No. 1 seed. The Raptors, the Group A victor, snared the No. 2 seed with the Knicks, who emerged from Group C, in the No. 3 slot. The Heat earned the wild card bid and No. 4 seed.

On the West side, the Thunder grabbed the No. 1 seed after taking Group A. The Lakers, who won Group B, got the No. 2 seed with the Spurs, the Group C winner, nailing down the No. 3 seed. The Suns collected the wild card bid and No. 4 seed.

Here is the knockout round schedule, per NBA.com:

Quarterfinals

December 9
- No. 4 Heat at No. 1 Magic (6:00 p.m. ET)
- No. 3 Knicks at No. 2 Raptors (8:30 p.m. ET)
December 10
- No. 4 Suns at No. 1 Thunder (7:30 p.m. ET)
- No. 3 Spurs at No. 2 Lakers (10:00 p.m. ET)

Semifinals

Saturday, Dec. 13 (Las Vegas)

Championship

Tuesday, Dec. 16 (Las Vegas)

Meanwhile, the 22 teams who did not advance to the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup have each had two regular season games added to their initial 80 to fill that mid-December gap on their schedules.

Here are the newly added games for those clubs, according to the league:

December 11:

L.A. Clippers at Houston Rockets
Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks
Portland Trail Blazers at New Orleans Pelicans
Denver Nuggets at Sacramento Kings

December 12:

Chicago Bulls at Charlotte Hornets
Atlanta Hawks at Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers at Philadelphia 76ers
Cleveland Cavaliers at Washington Wizards
Utah Jazz at Memphis Grizzlies
Brooklyn Nets at Dallas Mavericks
Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden State Warriors

December 14:

Washington Wizards at Indiana Pacers
Philadelphia 76ers at Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Hornets at Cleveland Cavaliers
Milwaukee Bucks at Brooklyn Nets
Sacramento Kings at Minnesota Timberwolves
Golden State Warriors at Portland Trail Blazers

December 15:

Detroit Pistons at Boston Celtics
New Orleans Pelicans at Chicago Bulls
Dallas Mavericks at Utah Jazz
Houston Rockets at Denver Nuggets
Memphis Grizzlies at L.A. Clippers

Regular season games for NBA Cup quarterfinalists:

If Toronto and Orlando advance to the NBA Cup Semifinals, the Miami at New York game will be played on Dec. 14
If Toronto and Miami advance to the NBA Cup Semifinals, the Orlando at New York game will be played on Dec. 14
If New York and Orlando advance to the NBA Cup Semifinals, the Toronto at Miami game will be played on Dec. 15
If New York and Miami advance to the NBA Cup Semifinals, the Toronto at Orlando game will be played on Dec. 15
If San Antonio and Oklahoma City advance to the NBA Cup Semifinals, the L.A. Lakers at Phoenix game will be played on Dec. 14
If San Antonio and Phoenix advance to the NBA Cup Semifinals, the L.A. Lakers at Oklahoma City game will be played on Dec. 14
If L.A. Lakers and Oklahoma City advance to the NBA Cup Semifinals, the Phoenix at San Antonio game will be played on Dec. 15
If L.A. Lakers and Phoenix advance to the NBA Cup Semifinals, the Oklahoma City at San Antonio game will be played on Dec. 15

2025/26 NBA Disabled Player Exceptions

November 28th, 2025 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

A disabled player exception can be granted when an NBA team has a player go down with an injury deemed to be season-ending. The exception gives the club some additional spending flexibility to add a single-season replacement in the trade market or in free agency

We go into more detail on who qualifies for disabled player exceptions, what they’re worth, and how exactly they work in our glossary entry on the subject. But essentially, a DPE allows a team to sign a player to a one-year contract, trade for a player in the final year of his contract, or place a waiver claim on a player in the final year of his contract. The exceptions are worth either half the injured player’s salary or the amount of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception (whichever amount is less).

Because the rules related to disable player exceptions are somewhat restrictive and the exceptions themselves generally aren’t worth a lot, they often expire without being used. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on which disabled player exceptions have been granted, just in case.

We’ll use this space to break down the teams with disabled player exceptions available for the 2025/26 league year, updating it as the season progresses if more teams are granted DPEs and/or to indicate which ones have been used.

Teams have until January 15 to apply for a disabled player exception and until March 10 to actually use them.

Here’s the list so far:

Available disabled player exceptions:

Houston Rockets:
- $12,500,000 (Fred VanVleet)

VanVleet tore the ACL in right knee at an unofficial team mini-camp in September, prior to the start of training camp, and underwent surgery to address the injury a few days later.

A report in October indicated that the Rockets had applied for a disabled player exception in response to VanVleet’s injury, and while there was no follow-up report confirming that request was granted, Eric Pincus of Sports Business Classroom has the $12.5MM DPE on his list of available exceptions, which suggests the NBA officially signed off.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, they’re operating about $1.26MM below their first-apron hard cap and can’t surpass that threshold at any time during the 2025/26 league year. As a result, they can’t really add salary using the VanVleet disabled player exception at this point, though there’s a chance it could come in handy on the trade market, or in free agency later in the season.

Indiana Pacers:
- $14,104,000 (Tyrese Haliburton)

Haliburton’s injury technically occurred during the 2024/25 league year, as he tore his right Achilles tendon during Game 7 of the NBA Finals in June. However, because the injury will sideline Haliburton for all of ’25/26, the Pacers were granted a disabled player exception. It’s worth the amount of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, since half of Haliburton’s $45.6MM salary would far exceed that amount.

The Pacers are operating about $4.7MM below the luxury tax line, so they’re unlikely to add a significant amount of extra salary during the season, but this exception is big enough that there are a variety of ways in which they could end up using a portion of it.

Los Angeles Clippers:
- $2,677,000 (Bradley Beal)

The Clippers were awarded their disabled player exception in the wake of Beal’s season-ending hip injury. It’s worth half of his $5.35MM salary.

The Clippers are in nearly the exact same situation as the Rockets, with an open spot on their 15-man roster but without enough breathing room below their first-apron hard cap to sign a free agent to fill that spot until later in the season, with or without this DPE. The Clippers’ team salary is about $1.28MM below their hard cap, limiting their spending options for now.

Oklahoma City Thunder:
- $2,327,520 (Thomas Sorber)

For a second straight year, the Thunder’s top draft pick will miss his entire rookie season due to an ACL tear. Oklahoma City knew about Nikola Topic‘s injury when they drafted him in 2024, but Sorber’s happened in early September during an offseason workout.

The Thunder were granted a disabled player exception for Sorber’s injury, but it’s not worth much. The only ways in which it could realistically end up being useful would be to trade for a player on a near-minimum contract that can’t be absorbed using the minimum salary exception or to outbid a team offering a prorated minimum-salary deal on the buyout market.

Oklahoma City’s position relative to the luxury tax line is worth noting. The team is just over $1MM away from that threshold and will likely want to stay below it this season to avoid starting the repeater clock.

Siegel’s Latest: DeRozan, Sabonis, Wolves, Claxton, Kuminga, Wiggins

November 28th, 2025 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Of the three Kings veteran stars considered in-season trade candidates, DeMar DeRozan looks like the one most likely to be on the move ahead of the February 5 deadline, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.

As Siegel explains, DeRozan’s relatively team-friendly contract structure – $24.6MM this season and a $10MM partial guarantee on his $25.7MM salary for 2026/27 – makes him a more manageable investment for most clubs than either Zach LaVine or Domantas Sabonis. LaVine is earning $47.5MM this season, with a $49MM player option for ’26/27, while Sabonis will be owed $94MM over the next two seasons after making $42.3MM in ’25/26.

The Bucks, Clippers, Heat, Trail Blazers, and Grizzlies are some of the potential suitors to watch for DeRozan, says Siegel, though he doesn’t explicitly state that all those clubs have shown interest in the veteran forward.

Sabonis, who is currently on the shelf with a meniscus tear, will likely have to show he’s healthy before drawing real interest on the trade market. According to Siegel, the Sacramento big man isn’t expected to begin the return-to-play portion of his recovery process until sometime around Christmas.

Here are a few more rumors from around the NBA, courtesy of Siegel:

There’s a “growing sense” that the Timberwolves would be willing to sell high on forward Julius Randle in the right deal this season, Siegel writes. Minnesota is known to be on the lookout for a point guard, having checked in on Ja Morant. The team has also inquired about Cavaliers guard Darius Garland for the past year-plus, sources tell Siegel. However, the Wolves’ lack of tradable first-round picks will be complicate their ability to make any major moves.
Nets center Nic Claxton is considered a trade candidate and has come up in discussions with sources around the NBA as a possible Warriors target, Siegel writes. However, given that the Nets showed no interest in pursuing Jonathan Kuminga using their cap room when he was a restricted free agent over the summer, it doesn’t appear the fifth-year forward would be a target for Brooklyn. Claxton has also been considered a potential Lakers target dating back to last season, Siegel notes.
The Pacers are among the teams that have been keeping an eye on Kuminga, having “quietly” scouted him since the start of last season, according to Siegel, who wonders if the Warriors would have any interest in a deal involving Bennedict Mathurin. There’s a sense around the league that Indiana might look to move a player like Mathurin, Jarace Walker, or Obi Toppin due in part to the club’s cap situation going forward, Siegel adds.
The Warriors are known to have interest in forwards Trey Murphy III and Herbert Jones and will likely talk to the Pelicans during the season, Siegel writes. It’s unclear if New Orleans would be open to moving either Murphy or Jones, but they represent the sort of “versatile wings” that Golden State will likely be targeting in a Kuminga trade, Siegel explains.
If the Heat were to trade Andrew Wiggins this season, they’d be seeking a first-round pick, plus a player or two who could step into their rotation and be a positive contributor, per Siegel. The Lakers were linked to Wiggins during the offseason and the Bucks also inquired about him, Siegel reports, but Miami hasn’t had any serious trade talks about the veteran forward as of late.