NBA Explores Launching Streaming RSN Hub For 2026/27
The NBA has let its teams know that there’s a chance it will introduce a streaming hub for local broadcasts as soon as next season, sources tell Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal. Many clubs’ local broadcasts have been thrown into disarray due to the fact that Main Street Sports Group, which has regional TV agreements with 13 NBA teams, is likely headed for insolvency.
That group of 13 teams – which includes the defending champion Thunder, along with the Spurs, Pistons, Cavaliers, Clippers, Heat, Timberwolves, Magic, Hornets, Hawks, Pacers, Grizzlies, and Bucks – would be the most likely candidates to be involved in the NBA’s new streaming hub.
As Friend points out, there are a few more teams (the Suns, Jazz, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, and Pelicans) who have already abandoned their respective regional sports networks and could be candidates for the new venture as well. On top of that, Friend’s sources suspect the four teams who have deals with NBC Sports – the Celtics, Warriors, Sixers, and Kings – could be in play due to a sense that NBC may want out of the regional sports network business.
The other eight teams broadcast games on their own networks, which doesn’t necessarily rule them out, but would make it more complicated for the league to negotiate deals with each of them.
While it remains unclear exactly what the new setup will look like, Friend hears that the NBA has engaged in talks with potential partners like YouTube TV, DAZN, Amazon, and ESPN as it considers a package that might resemble NFL Sunday Ticket.
The total number of teams that opt in figures to be a major factor in determining the viability of this new streaming hub, Friend writes, citing sources who think the NBA would need to guarantee a broadcast partner a certain threshold of clubs in order to secure a significant deal. With enough teams involved, industry insiders believe an agreement would be worth billions, Friend adds.
Due to its financial woes, Main Street has missed payments to its teams on January 1, February 1, and March 1, per Sports Business Journal. The NBA originally didn’t plan on launching this sort of streaming hub until down the road, Friend writes, but it has become a higher priority in order to help teams make up for those lost rights-fee payments.
Although the league has informed its teams that it’s trying to get something together for the 2026/27 season, there’s no guarantee that will happen, so Main Street clubs have been advised to explore lining up a bridge deal for their local broadcasts. Those teams are exploring both linear and streaming options, Friend notes.
Friend also points out that, since a new league-wide streaming hub may overlap with League Pass, the NBA may need to either restructure League Pass or eliminate it all together down the road. Amazon currently distributes League Pass as part of its national broadcast agreement with the NBA, so those negotiations would be simpler if the league ultimately strikes a deal to make Amazon its partner on a new streaming RSN.
Rivers Concerned About KPJ's Knee, Says Kuzma Won't Remain Out Of Rotation
- Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. is missing Wednesday’s game with swelling in his right knee, which is the same knee that he tore his meniscus in early this season. Coach Doc Rivers is hoping it won’t lead to another extended absence, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). “We’re hoping not. I’ll just leave it there,” Rivers said. “They’re gonna do more stuff tomorrow to check, but it’s a lot of swelling and then you have concerns. … It’s been bothering him the last couple of weeks really, but it just hadn’t swollen up the way it has, so there’s some concern there.”
- Kyle Kuzma was kept on the bench as the Bucks lost to Boston on Monday, but Rivers said that won’t be a regular occurrence, Nehm adds (Twitter link).
Central Notes: Strus, Ivey, Bulls, Rollins
Cavaliers wing Max Strus still isn’t ready to make his season debut following offseason foot surgery, but recent imaging on his foot has shown “progressive healing” and he has advanced to participating in individual on-court workouts, the team announced on Tuesday in a press release.
According to the Cavs, Strus will go through a “structured ramp-up program” that will include controlled team activities and practices at both the NBA and G League level.
There are now just five-and-a-half weeks left in the regular season, so while head coach Kenny Atkinson said recently that he still expects Strus to return before the postseason, time is running out for the 29-year-old to make an impact on the 2025/26 Cavaliers.
We have more from around the Central:
- Bulls guard Jaden Ivey won’t travel with the team on its five-game road trip that begins on Thursday in Phoenix and runs through next Friday in L.A., but it doesn’t as if the club has seriously considered shutting him down for the rest of the season, writes Brian Sandalow of The Chicago Sun-Times. Head coach Billy Donovan added that forward Patrick Williams (quad) and big man Jalen Smith (calf) both have a chance to play during the upcoming trip.
- These Bulls, who have lost 12 of its last 13 games, seems as far away from contention as any version of the team in recent years, but Josh Giddey remains hopeful that it won’t take long for the front office to rebuild a roster capable of contending, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “When I was in Oklahoma, we went from the worst team in the league to the best team in the league in 24 months,” Giddey said. “We did it pretty quickly. A lot of rebuilds don’t necessarily happen that fast. Obviously, with the people and personnel we had it got sped up pretty quickly. Over those three years, we built a lot of really good habits, winning habits.” Cowley notes that replicating what the Thunder did is “completely unrealistic” for the Bulls, but suggests there’s no reason why the team needs to spend the next several years deep in lottery territory.
- Bucks guard Ryan Rollins spoke to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about turning things around after a challenging start to his NBA career, which included being cut by Washington in January 2024 at around the same time he was charged with seven counts of petit larceny for shoplifting. Now in his fourth NBA season, Rollins has emerged as a candidate for Most Improved Player by averaging 16.8 points, 5.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game on .466/.411/.761 shooting this season. “I always knew I was this good,” he said. “I just needed the opportunity and needed a coach to trust me to be able to let me work through my mistakes and grow. I always knew my capabilities.”
Cunningham, Wembanyama Earn Player Of The Month Honors
Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham has become the first player to be named Player of the Month twice this season, earning the Eastern Conference award for February after also having done so in October/November, the NBA announced today (Twitter link).
Cunningham’s Pistons maintained their comfortable lead atop the Eastern Conference standings by going 9-2 in March. The former No. 1 overall pick led the way, averaging 25.4 points, 9.9 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.5 blocks in 33.5 minutes per contest, with a .472/.373/.769 shooting line.
Cunningham’s biggest game of the month came after the All-Star break when he racked up 42 points, 13 assists, and eight rebounds in a victory over the Knicks in New York. That was one of six double-doubles he recorded in February.
Cunningham beat out fellow nominees Jarrett Allen (Cavaliers), Desmond Bane (Magic), Jaylen Brown (Celtics), Jalen Brunson (Knicks), Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks), Brandon Ingram (Raptors), Brandon Miller (Hornets), and Ryan Rollins (Bucks) to claim the monthly award in the Eastern Conference, according to the league (Twitter link).
Meanwhile, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama – another former first overall pick – was recognized for the second time this afternoon, earning Player of the Month recognition in the Western Conference after also having won the Defensive Player of the Month award.
In addition to anchoring the West’s best defense in February, Wembanyama put up big offensive numbers, contributing 22.5 points and 3.5 assists to go along with his 11.3 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game. It was enough to earn the 22-year-old the first Player of the Month award of his career.
San Antonio has dominated the Western Conference’s monthly awards after enjoying an 11-0 February — while Wembanyama took home Player of the Month and Defensive Player of the Month, his teammate Dylan Harper was named Rookie of the Month.
The other nominees for Player of the Month in the West were Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan, Lakers guard Luka Doncic, Rockets forward Kevin Durant, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard.
Bucks Notes: Giannis, Kuzma, Dieng, Ryan
The Bucks fell behind early at home against Boston on Monday and never recovered, eventually getting blown out by a score of 108-81. Still, the team was encouraged to have star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo back on the court. The two-time MVP had 19 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes and said after the game that he felt good, albeit a “little bit rusty,” per Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
“It doesn’t matter if I play 18 minutes, 20 minutes, 22, whatever, I’m just happy that I’m out there,” said Antetokounmpo, who missed the previous 15 games due to a strained calf. “I’m just in a mindset where I try not to take nothing for granted. Obviously, did not play well tonight, but at the end of the day, I’m just happy that I’m out there being able to help my teammates in any way that I can and just do what I love, which is play basketball.”
That 15-game layoff represented the longest absence of Antetokounmpo’s 13-year career, and he’s on track to play his fewest games in a season since he entered the league. The 31-year-old observed on Monday that he has made a habit over the course of his career of beating his projected recovery timelines and returning from injuries early, but acknowledged that it’s a habit he might have to get away from in his 30s.
“Like, OK, yeah, hurt my groin, had to be out three weeks, four weeks, came back in like 10 days,” Antetokounmpo said, per Nehm. “But I’m 31 years old, just gotta be able to be more smarter moving forward because things that I was able to do in the past, maybe I’m not able to do now. And I’ve just gotta be more methodical with my rehab, the way I take care of my body, the way that I play, but yeah, that’s pretty much it. Moving forward, I just gotta be smarter.
“… I’m not 24 years old anymore. I’m 31. I’m still 31 years old. It’s not like I’m 36 or 37. But yeah, when you deal with a lot of soft tissue injuries, it’s hard. … If you’re not able to take care of your soft tissue injuries, they can linger. And I think that’s what has happened this year. I feel like I’ve been playing the whole year with like a deficit.”
We have more on the Bucks:
- Kyle Kuzma had the best game of his season in December at home vs. the Celtics when he scored 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting, but the veteran forward received a DNP-CD in Monday’s matchup with Boston. As Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, Kuzma’s DNP-CD was one of a few changes head coach Doc Rivers made to his rotation, as relative newcomer Ousmane Dieng entered the starting lineup and veteran wing Gary Harris saw his first extended stretch of playing time in several weeks.
- Dieng scored 13 points in a team-high 30 minutes on Monday, and Rivers sounded impressed by what he has seen through 10 games from the former lottery pick, Owczarski adds. “I loved what ‘Ous’ did,” Rivers said after the loss. “This young kid, we gotta give him as many minutes as we can while we’re trying to win games.”
- The two-way contract that guard/forward Cormac Ryan signed with the Bucks last week is a two-year deal, Hoops Rumors has learned. That means Milwaukee will have the option of hanging onto Ryan through the 2026/27 season before he becomes eligible for restricted free agency, though teams’ two-way slots typically undergo significant turnover each offseason.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Will Return Monday
5:05 pm: Antetokounmpo will indeed return tonight, the Bucks announced (via Twitter), but he’ll be on a minutes restriction, head coach Doc Rivers said (Twitter link via Eric Nehm of The Athletic).
12:36 pm: Giannis Antetokounmpo is expected to play on Monday in the Bucks’ home game against the Celtics, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
Antetokounmpo hasn’t suited up since Jan. 23 due to a right calf strain. He has missed 15 games due to his latest injury but the Bucks have managed to hang around the fringes of the play-in tournament race without him, going 8-7 during that stretch.
Antetokounmpo has officially been listed as questionable to play tonight by the Bucks, Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets.
Milwaukee currently trails the seventh- and eighth-place teams in the Eastern Conference, Orlando and Miami, by five games. Atlanta has a 3.5-game lead over the Bucks, while 10th-place Charlotte has a three-game cushion.
Antetokounmpo also missed three weeks of action in December. He’s averaging 28.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists while appearing in 30 games. Having been out for 29 games, the two-time MVP is ineligible for postseason awards.
The Bucks theoretically could have improved their chances of making the lottery by having their star sit out the rest of the season, but that wasn’t on their agenda. How they finish up could determine their course of action regarding plans to continue to build around Antetokounmpo or whether he’ll be on the trading block this summer.
The superstar forward is signed through the 2027/28 season but holds a $62.8MM option on the final year of that contract. He’ll become extension-eligible this October.
Central Notes: Bucks, Schröder, Allen, Thompson
A Bucks team that fell to 18-29 on February 1 and was facing the prospect of being without star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo for several more weeks has pulled off an unexpected turnaround in recent weeks, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. With eight wins in its past 10 games, Milwaukee has reentered the play-in race as Antetokounmpo nears a return.
While the Bucks’ current 8-2 stretch began a couple days before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, big man Bobby Portis doesn’t believe it’s a coincidence that the team has been playing better since the deadline passed without Giannis – and most of the rest of the players on the roster – going anywhere.
“So much outside noise about trades, so much outside noise about everything else that doesn’t involve winning, it kind of puts a dark cloud over your locker room,” Portis said. “It’s human nature to go out there and second-guess yourself. Human nature to be like, ‘Am I really gonna be here?’ You know what I’m saying? Now the deadline’s over, guys can just go out there and hoop and just play free and do what’s needed to win.”
As Nehm details, while the Bucks’ recent success has been a team effort, guards Kevin Porter Jr. and Ryan Rollins are leading the way. The duo has combined to average 43.3 points and 13.2 assists per game during that 8-2 stretch, with Porter shooting 53.5% from the field and Rollins hitting 49.1% of his three-point attempts.
“I think the more that we’ve been working out together, getting some practice (and) some two-mans in, we’re just confident in those stretches,” Porter said of he and Rollins starting and closing games together. “We gotta continue to do it. There’s nothing like game reps at the end of the day. It’s been a long season, so we’ve had those reps early on, but we were able to learn from those reps, also. So, I think that’s what you’re seeing a little bit of.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- With James Harden out on Wednesday due to a thumb injury, one of the other guards the Cavaliers acquired at this month’s trade deadline stepped up — Dennis Schröder made his first start as a Cav and had 26 points and five assists in a hard-fought loss to Milwaukee, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). “I’ve always felt in my mind that he is a starting point guard in this league,” said head coach Kenny Atkinson, who coached Schröder in Atlanta earlier in his career. “That’s the way I’ve always looked at him. He’s done it before. If (Harden is out), then we are covered with Dennis.” Schröder twisted his ankle near the end of the game, but said that he should be “alright” going forward, Fedor notes.
- Although Jarrett Allen has benefited from having Harden as a pick-and-roll partner, the Cavaliers center was already in the midst of a hot streak before the star guard’s arrival in Cleveland, says Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Allen credits a pep talk from Atkinson, who told the veteran big man on January 28 that he needed him to “step up.” Since then, he has averaged 20.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game during a 9-3 stretch for Cleveland. For what it’s worth, Allen was involved in a few trade rumors leading up to the deadline, but the Cavs opted not to make a move.
- Hunter Patterson of The Athletic takes a closer look at Ausar Thompson‘s value to the Pistons, writing that the third-year wing views himself as one of the NBA’s best defensive players. “One thousand percent. I think I’m the best,” he said. “But I can always get better. And I know there are a lot of great defenders, but that’s just the way I feel.” While re-signing center Jalen Duren figures to be Detroit’s top offseason priority, Thompson will also be eligible for an extension beginning in July as he enters the final year of his rookie scale contract.
Bucks Sign Cormac Ryan To Two-Way Contract
Wisconsin Herd guard/forward Cormac Ryan has been called up to the NBA, having signed a two-way contract with the Bucks, according to the official NBA transaction log.
Ryan, who went undrafted out of UNC in 2024, spent his rookie year with the Oklahoma City Blue before joining the Herd this past fall. In 29 appearances for Milwaukee’s G League affiliate this season, he has averaged 20.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.5 steals in 31.2 minutes per game, posting a strong shooting line of .486/.421/.884.
Although it’s only Ryan’s second professional season, he’s already 27 years old, having spent six years at the college level with Stanford, Notre Dame, and North Carolina, so he’s not exactly an up-and-coming young prospect. Still, the Bucks are rewarding him for his strong play in the G League by giving him the first in-season NBA contract of his career — he previously signed non-guaranteed camp deals with OKC and Milwaukee.
The Bucks have had an open two-way spot since waiving Mark Sears in January, so no corresponding roster move will be necessary to create an opening for Ryan. He’ll join Alex Antetokounmpo and Pete Nance as Milwaukee’s two-way players.
As our chart shows, Ryan will be eligible to be active for up to 13 NBA regular season games for the rest of the 2025/26 regular season. He’ll likely also continue to play a key role for the Herd while on his new two-way deal.
Injury Notes: Tatum, Antetokounmpo, Garland, Thompson
Jayson Tatum, who is making his way back from an Achilles tear he suffered last spring, has been a full participant in five-on-five scrimmages for the Celtics, Shams Charania said on ESPN’s NBA Today (YouTube video link).
According to Charania, the keys for Tatum physically are building his conditioning and strengthening his calves through a high volume of scrimmages and practices. However, the biggest factor will be making sure he feels ready to go mentally and isn’t thinking about the injury while he’s playing.
The Celtics will not push Tatum, but they’ll get him on the floor once he feels fully like himself again, which is why there is still no set timeline for his return, Charania adds.
“A dozen people here — doctors, Celtics officials, Jayson Tatum himself — they’re going to gather in a room when he’s ready and get him to a point where he wants to be, which is, in March, and as we get closer and closer to the playoffs, make a decision about whether he’s able to make it back on the floor,” Charania said.
We have more injury news from around the NBA:
- Bucks coach Doc Rivers believes that star Giannis Antetokounmpo is nearing a return from the calf strain that has sidelined him since late January, The Athletic’s Eric Nehm reports (via Twitter). “I know he’s close,” Rivers said. “I don’t think he’s close like tomorrow, but he’s getting closer and he looked great… I can tell you what my eyes see and he looks good.” Rivers previously told Nehm that Antetokounmpo had participated in 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 work without experiencing setbacks, and that he didn’t necessarily need to progress to 5-on-5 to be cleared for return (Twitter link).
- Darius Garland has yet to suit up for the Clippers since arriving in Los Angeles as the cornerstone of the James Harden trade, and that won’t change in Thursday’s game against the Timberwolves. However, there are encouraging signs, as Law Murray of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that Garland is participating in 5-on-5 workouts. With the two-time All-Star injured, the Clippers have been relying on Kris Dunn and, occasionally, rookie Kobe Sanders to man the starting guard spots.
- Amen Thompson is sitting out the Rockets‘ game against the Kings with a quad injury, but Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle writes that coach Ime Udoka doesn’t believe it will be a long-term issue (Twitter link). Udoka said that Thompson has been playing through the injury and that he hopes that this absence will only last one game.
Southeast Notes: Bane, Davis, Gardner, Heat, Giannis
It continues to be an up-and-down season for the Magic, who hold a 30-26 record and the No. 7 spot in the Eastern Conference standings. However, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required) writes, they’ve gotten all they could’ve hoped for out of veteran wing Desmond Bane after surrendering a package that included four first-round picks to acquire him last summer.
Bane is one of just two Magic players to appear in all 56 games so far. And after scoring 34 and 36 points in the team’s back-to-back set in Phoenix and L.A. over the weekend, his scoring average is up to 20.1 points per game on .483/.388/.913 shooting. The 27-year-old is also chipping in 4.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per night.
“He reminds me of a lot of older guys in this league,” teammate Wendell Carter Jr. said of Bane, per Beede. “Guys who have established themselves and have a mindset of, he’s going to play his game no matter what. His process is going to remain the same.
“Early on (in the season), he was struggling a little bit but one thing about it, he stuck to what he knows he’s good at. And now we’re seeing the benefits of what trading for a guy like that does. His continued elevation just shows he’s one of the best in this league in terms of his position, shooting the 3-ball, getting downhill, facilitating, play-making … He’s exactly what we need.”
The Magic have Bane under team control through the 2028/29 season. He’s owed $126.5MM on the final three years of his contract.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Wizards big man Anthony Davis has yet to debut for his new team as he recovers from a hand injury, but he expressed excitement about his fit on the roster in a conversation with Wes Hall of Monumental Sports Network (YouTube link). Davis said he believes he and Trae Young can be a “dynamic duo” on offense and that he’s looking forward to teaming up with former No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr on the other side of the ball. “On the defensive end, it’s going to be insane,” Davis said, lauding the young Frenchman for his versatility and ability to protect the rim.
- Less than a week after signing his first standard NBA contract, Heat swingman Myron Gardner was forced to give up a chunk of his salary, having been fined $35K by the league for his role in an altercation with Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. As Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes, Gardner insists he didn’t mean to bump Pippen from behind, while head coach Erik Spoelstra said he thinks the NBA is “making a point” with the fine, since the altercation spilled into the crowd. “We disagree with (Gardner’s fine),” Spoelstra said. “Pippen is the one that pushed it into the stands, and Myron didn’t really retaliate. Once he was on the ground, he was laughing. So if it was somebody else, I don’t think it would have been (a) $35,000 fine. But we’ll move on.”
- With the Heat set to visit Milwaukee on Tuesday, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald checks in on where things stand with Miami’s pursuit of Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, which was put on hold after the trade deadline passed without a deal. The Heat will be able to offer up to four first-round picks for Antetokounmpo this summer, Jackson notes, though it remains to be seen whether or not they’ll get the opportunity to seriously reengage the Bucks in trade talks, since Giannis could decide to stay in Milwaukee or the Bucks could get another offer they like more.