NBA Schedule Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Flagg, In-Season Tourney, Escrow Payments, Broadcasting Deals

August 12th, 2024 at 10:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cooper Flagg goes No. 1 overall to the Nets. Dylan Harper is selected No. 2 by the Wizards. Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has released his latest 2025 mock draft in the aftermath of major AAU tournaments, NBA camps, FIBA competition and the Paris Olympics.

It will be difficult for any prospect to recreate the buzz that enveloped Victor Wembanyama in 2023. However, there’s no doubt Flagg is the target right now for all rebuilding teams, according to Wasserman.

Rounding out the top five are Ace Bailey (Trail Blazers), V.J. Edgecombe (Pistons) and Drake Powell (Jazz).

Wasserman used FanDuel’s latest projected win totals to determine a draft order.

We have more from around the basketball world:

The NBA will unveil the schedule for the second annual in-season tournament on Tuesday afternoon via NBA Today on ESPN, the network’s PR department tweets. Officially called the Emirates NBA Cup, the six groups for the early rounds of the tournament were revealed last month.
NBA players had 5.25% of their salaries taken out of their paychecks for escrow payments for the 2023/24 season after the league finished its annual financial audit, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic reports. The escrow program was established in 2011 to ensure that players don’t receive more than their contractual agreement with the team. The NBA normally takes out 10% of player’s salaries throughout the season to put into escrow to allow for the possibility that aggregate salaries outpace the players’ share of BRI, Vorkunov explains. It then returns money to players if its audit shows it had withheld too much.
NBA officially struck rights deals with ESPN, Amazon and NBC that will provide the league with $77 billion over 11 years, beginning in 2025/26. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand details how those agreements came about and how they’ll impact the league.

Knicks/Celtics, Wolves/Lakers To Play On Opening Night

August 12th, 2024 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s opening night schedule will feature home games for the league’s two most accomplished franchises, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the Celtics will host the Knicks in the early game, while the Lakers will host the Timberwolves in the late game.

The Celtics, who won their record 18th NBA title in June, will receive their championship rings on opening night, which will take place on Tuesday, October 22. That game will be the first for the new-look Knicks, featuring Mikal Bridges.

The game between the Lakers and Timberwolves will feature several stars who participated in Saturday’s gold medal game in Paris, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Lakers and Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert of the Wolves.

Both games will air on TNT Sports, which will be distributing NBA games for one final year in 2024/25, assuming their lawsuit against the league doesn’t result in a new broadcast rights deal that begins in ’25/26.

The full regular schedule for the 2024/25 NBA season is expected to be released later this week, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. In the meantime, here are a few more notable matchups, courtesy of Charania:

The new-look Sixers, led by former MVP Joel Embiid, reigning Most Improved Player Tyrese Maxey, and free agent addition Paul George, will host the Bucks on October 23 to open their regular season (Twitter link).
The first regular season game at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood will be played on October 23, when the Clippers host the Suns (Twitter link).
Klay Thompson and the Mavericks will visit the Warriors on November 12 in Thompson’s first trip back to the Bay Area (Twitter link). That will also be the first game of the in-season tournament (NBA Cup) for both Dallas and Golden State (Twitter link).
The NBA Finals rematches between the Celtics and Mavericks will take place on January 25 in Dallas and February 6 in Boston (Twitter link).
In case you missed it, 2024’s Christmas Day matchups were reported last week.

Christmas Day Games Include Sixers-Celtics, Lakers-Warriors

August 8th, 2024 at 9:20pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA’s leaked slate of Christmas Day games will feature several heavy hitters.

Sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that, as usual, five games will be broadcast, highlighted by a marquee matchup between two longtime Eastern Conference foes, the revamped Sixers and the Celtics. Boston, the reigning league champion, will host.

The schedule will be rounded out by several clashes between starry clubs, from veteran-laden squads to young up-and-comers. The Spurs will travel to Madison Square Garden to play the Knicks. A Western Conference Finals rematch is also on the docket, as the Mavericks will host the Timberwolves.

The newly Klay Thompson-less Warriors will host the Lakers, and the Nuggets will travel to Phoenix to face the retooled Suns.

Philadelphia almost completely overhauled its roster around incumbent All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The new additions are headlined by nine-time All-Star combo forward Paul George, who departed the Clippers to sign a four-year, maximum-salary deal with the Sixers. Philadelphia also signed seasoned free agents like forward Caleb Martin, center Andre Drummond, and shooting guard Eric Gordon while bringing back wing Kelly Oubre Jr.

The Celtics retained all of their own key players after going 64-18 in the regular season and 16-3 in the playoffs. A pair of new extensions for All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum and All-Defensive Team guard Derrick White highlighted the team’s transactions, though longer-term uncertainty looms as owner Wyc Grousbeck is looking to sell the franchise.

Led by Defensive Player of the Year and impending Olympic medalist Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs figure to improve on their paltry 21-61 record in 2023/24. The team signed 12-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul to a one-year deal this summer, and traded for veteran combo forward Harrison Barnes. San Antonio also used its No. 4 pick in the lottery on NCAA championship-winning UConn guard Stephon Castle, the 2023/24 Big East Freshman of the Year.

The Knicks, meanwhile traded for former All-Defensive small forward Mikal Bridges this summer to maximize their ability to switch on the wing. The team also re-signed free agent forward OG Anunoby to a long-term contract and free agent center/power forward Precious Achiuwa to a shorter-term deal, inked All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson to a contract extension, and brought aboard veteran point guard Cameron Payne for extra depth.

Fresh off its first NBA Finals appearance with star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, Dallas added future Hall of Famer Thompson away from the Warriors as part of a sign-and-trade, while also acquiring young guard Quentin Grimes from the Pistons. Dallas also signed free agent wing Naji Marshall to a three-year deal.

After winning their first (two) playoff series in 20 years this spring, the Timberwolves traded for the draft rights to No. 8 pick Rob Dillingham and retained several of their own free agents.

While Golden State did lose out on Thompson, the Warriors quickly pivoted on the perimeter, signing free agent guard De’Anthony Melton and signing-and-trading for free agent wings Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield. The team is hoping to rebound from a finish as the West’s No. 10 seed and a quick play-in tournament exit.

Denver let free agent starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk in free agency and brought in reserve guard Russell Westbrook.

The Suns hired title-winning head coach Mike Budenholzer and signed Tyus Jones to a steal of a veteran’s minimum contract. Phoenix also brought back several of its own free agents, including wings Josh Okogie and Royce O’Neale and Damion Lee. The team also inked free agents Mason Plumlee and Monte Morris to minimum-salary contracts.

The most questionable omission from all this Christmas scheduling is clearly the Thunder, who claimed the West’s No. 1 overall seed last season and added ex-Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein via a lucrative three-year, $87MM deal. Oklahoma City also dealt guard Josh Giddey – who fell out of the starting lineup in the playoffs – to Chicago for All-Defensive wing Alex Caruso.

With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having finished as the MVP runner-up last year and young pieces Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams set to develop, the Thunder look poised to contend for the West’s top seed once again.

League Announces Game Dates For 2024 NBA Cup

July 11th, 2024 at 4:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has revealed its schedule (and a new logo) for the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup, the freshly re-branded second annual edition of the league’s in-season tournament, via a press statement.

According to the presser, the group play stage of games is slated to begin on Tuesday, November 12, and will continue on “Cup Nights” across a few successive Tuesdays (Nov. 19, Nov. 26, and Dec. 3) and Fridays (Nov. 15, 22, and 29).

The 30 NBA clubs will be allocated into five-team groups within their own conference, based on 2023/24 season records — each group will include one team that finished in the top three in its conference, one that finished between Nos. 4-6, one that finished between 7-9, and so on. Each team will play the other four squads in its group once during the group play stage.

The single-game elimination knockout round for the top eight teams (three group winners and one wild card in each conference) are slated to tip off on December 10 and 11, with the quarterfinals played in the teams’ own normal markets. Winners will advance to the semifinals (Dec. 14) and the final (Dec. 17) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The 22 eliminated teams will play two assigned regular season games, one at home and one on the road, on December 12-13 and December 15-16. The quarterfinals losers will play each other during that same window.

Last year, the Lakers defeated the Pacers in the inaugural in-season tournament championship game, with Anthony Davis racking up 41 points and 20 rebounds in the victory.

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NBA Schedule

Tournament’s Final Four Set, Regular Season Schedule Finalized

December 6th, 2023 at 7:08am CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks and the Lakers earned quarterfinal victories on Tuesday night, joining the Pacers and Pelicans as the final four teams that will head to Las Vegas to compete for the championship in the NBA’s first-ever in-season tournament.

Milwaukee pulled away from New York in the second half in Tuesday’s early game, with superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard combining for 63 points in the 146-122 victory.

In the late game, the Lakers benefited from a generous timeout call in the closing seconds (Twitter video link) and eked out Phoenix in a 106-103 nail-biter, led by LeBron James‘ 31 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds, and five steals.

The schedule for Thursday’s semifinals at T-Mobile Arena is as follows:

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Indiana Pacers (4:00 pm Central time)
Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans Pelicans (8:00 pm CT)

The winners of those semifinal matchups will square off in the in-season tournament final at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday at 7:30 pm CT.

Players on standard contracts with the Bucks, Pacers, Lakers, and Pelicans have now secured bonuses worth at least $100K (two-way players will earn half that amount). A semifinal victory would increase those bonuses to at least $200K, while the champs will earn $500K apiece.

The Celtics, Knicks, Kings, and Suns, meanwhile, will come away with bonuses worth $50K per player for making the knockout round, but won’t get the opportunity to head to Vegas for the tournament’s final stage.

Instead, the Knicks will travel to Boston on Friday, while the Kings will visit Phoenix on the same night. Those newly added regular season contests represent the 82nd game on each team’s schedule. Thursday’s semifinals will also count toward the NBA’s regular season standings, but Saturday’s final won’t, since that will be the 83rd game on those teams’ schedules.

Schedule For NBA Tournament Non-Qualifiers Set

November 29th, 2023 at 7:45am CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA in-season tournament will reach the quarterfinal stage next week and the eight qualifiers and their seeds were finalized on Tuesday. The 22 teams that failed to advance had two holes in their schedules that needed to be filled.

Those matchups were determined late Tuesday evening, with each team receiving a home and away contest, NBA Communications tweets. The newly-scheduled games will take place next Wednesday (December 6) and Friday (Dec. 8).

The Cavaliers and Magic, who missed the quarterfinals despite their 3-1 tournament records, will face each other in Cleveland on Wednesday. Cleveland will then visit the Heat (2-2 tournament) on Friday.

The Nets, who also had a 3-1 tournament record, wound up with a road game against the Hawks (1-3) and home game against the Wizards (0-4)

The Sixers, who finished 2-2 in the tournament, drew a road game against the Wizards and a home game against the Hawks.

In the West, the Timberwolves were the only 3-1 tournament team that didn’t reach the quarterfinals. They’ll host the Spurs (0-4) and visit the Grizzlies (0-4).

The defending champion Nuggets will visit Los Angeles to face the Clippers (1-3), then head home to take on the Rockets (2-2). The Warriors, who were knocked out of contention by Sacramento on Tuesday, drew a home game against the Trail Blazers (1-3) and a road contest against the Thunder (1-3).

Here’s the full schedule for next Wednesday and Friday:

Wednesday, Dec. 6

Orlando at Cleveland
Memphis at Detroit
Miami at Toronto
Philadelphia at Washington
Brooklyn at Atlanta
San Antonio at Minnesota
Charlotte at Chicago
Oklahoma City at Houston
Utah at Dallas
Portland at Golden State
Denver at LA Clippers

Friday, Dec. 8

Toronto at Charlotte
Detroit at Orlando
Atlanta at Philadelphia
Washington at Brooklyn
Cleveland at Miami
Minnesota at Memphis
Golden State at Oklahoma City
Chicago at San Antonio
Houston at Denver
LA Clippers at Utah
Dallas at Portland

Two more regular season games will be added to the NBA’s schedule after the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament are complete, since the four teams that lose those matchups will require an 82nd game on their respective schedules.

NBA Confirms Mavs’ Exhibition In Spain, Releases Full Preseason Schedule

August 30th, 2023 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

As previously reported, the Mavericks will play an exhibition game against Real Madrid in Spain this fall, with the contest scheduled to take place on October 10 at the WiZink Center in Madrid, the NBA confirmed today.

Real Madrid is Luka Doncic‘s former team, as well as the reigning EuroLeague champion, having defeated Olympiacos to win this year’s Final Four in May. The club features several former NBA players, including point guard Facundo Campazzo, who had a brief stint with the Mavericks last season.

In addition to confirming that exhibition game, the NBA announced (via Twitter) its full preseason schedule for 2023, starting with the Mavs facing the Timberwolves in Abu Dhabi on October 5. The first game in the U.S. will take place two days later, as the Lakers visit the Warriors on Oct. 7.

The preseason will wrap up on Oct. 20, with 15 NBA teams playing their final preseason game on that Friday before the regular season begins. The Magic will face Brazilian team Flamengo in one of that day’s eight games.

In addition to Real Madrid and Flamengo, the international clubs participating in the NBA’s preseason are the Cairns Taipans (Australia), the New Zealand Breakers, and Maccabi Ra’anana (Israel).

The Taipans will play in Washington on Oct. 10 and Toronto on Oct. 15; the Breakers will be in Portland on Oct. 10 and Utah on Oct. 16; Maccabi Ra’anana will visit Brooklyn on Oct. 12, Cleveland on Oct. 16, and Minnesota on Oct. 17.

And-Ones: Clippers, Player Tiers, World Cup, Schedule

August 17th, 2023 at 10:49pm CST by Tristan Tucker

While the NBA appears to be putting an emphasis on giving teams more rest between games, the Clippers likely won’t be reaping those benefits. Kurt Helin of NBC Sports put together his list of schedule tidbits after today’s reveal, a handful of which involve the Clippers. Helin notes that Los Angeles will travel 50,670 miles next season, the most by any one team. That figure is well above the 47,066-mile trek the Nets, the team that travels the second-most next year, will take on.

The Clippers also have the most instances of having three games in four nights, with 25. The Nuggets have the fewest with 16. Los Angeles also has 10 matinee home games next year, which Helin notes helps explain owner Steve Ballmer‘s desire to build a new arena.

Lastly, Helin notes that the Clippers are included in what he calls the NBA’s “rivalry week,” from Jan. 23 to Jan. 27. That week, the Clippers take on the Lakers while the Heat play the Knicks, and Brooklyn and New York face off.

Helin has other notes on the NBA’s schedule, including Denver having the easiest strength of schedule, though the difference is marginal. The Warriors start and finish the season with big road trips and the Celtics have the most rest-advantage games this season. Helin also writes that, as usual, the NBA didn’t schedule any games during the NCAA’s men’s tournament finals on April 8, Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving and Nov. 7 for election day.

We have more notes from around the basketball world:

Seth Partnow of The Athletic has been breaking the NBA’s top 125 players into tiers. His tier five included 45 players, his tier four featured 41 players, his third included 21 players and now, he’s revealed his second tier, which encompasses 12 players, from Nuggets guard Jamal Murray to Lakers forward LeBron James. The six players in tier one will be revealed in the coming days.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst appeared on SportsCenter (YouTube link) to discuss the 2023 World Cup Team and how coach Steve Kerr helped construct the roster. Windhorst says that while the team doesn’t have much collective FIBA experience, it has come together quicker than expected due to no questions about individual roles. The Americans are 3-0 in their three exhibition games thus far.
With the NBA’s schedule coming out today, writers from both ESPN and Yahoo Sports came together to discuss some of the key matchups and reunions for the coming season. ESPN’s panel debates the most interesting opening week games, the most exciting reunions, and most difficult 10-game stretches, among other topics. The most probable NBA Finals preview matchup was another topic debated by ESPN’s panel and while there was no consensus, the Nuggets, Bucks, Celtics, Suns and Knicks seem to be the early favorites. Meanwhile, Yahoo Sports lists out every noteworthy game this coming season. Highlights include a Jan. 1 matchup between the Rockets and Pistons that features a clash between Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson, Chet Holmgren‘s likely NBA debut against Chicago on Oct. 25, and a rematch of the electric Kings and Warriors playoff series from last year on Oct. 27.

Community Shootaround: NBA Schedule

August 17th, 2023 at 5:18pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The schedule for the NBA’s 2023/24 season released on Thursday, giving fans plenty to look forward to beginning in the fall. From the number of nationally televised games to the league debuts of several players, there’s no shortage of storylines to track this coming season.

As always, there are a number of reunions to keep an eye on. Bradley Beal makes his return to Washington on Feb. 4. Kevin Durant, who won two rings with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, plays in Golden State in front of fans on Oct. 24 for the first time since leaving in 2019. Jordan Poole returns to Golden State on Dec. 22. Chris Paul plays in Phoenix on Nov. 22 for the first time since joining the Warriors. Fred VanVleet plays against Toronto for the first time on Feb. 9.

Outside of returns to previous stomping grounds, there are also several matchups of note. A 2023 NBA Finals rematch between the Heat and Nuggets is scheduled for Feb. 29 in Denver.

The showdown between the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in each year’s draft class is always a date to circle. However, a 2022 offseason foot injury to Chet Holmgren prevented fans from seeing Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft square off against Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 overall selection in the same class who went on to win Rookie of the Year. Now fully healthy, the pair is set to face one another on Feb. 13 in Orlando.

The top of this year’s draft is equally intriguing. While there was no denying Victor Wembanyama would go No. 1 overall, plenty of debate ensued regarding the No. 2 selection. Brandon Miller ended up going second overall to the Hornets, while Scoot Henderson went third to the Trail Blazers. The careers of all three players will be followed with great interest.

Wembanyama squares off against Miller for the first time on Jan. 12. Miller plays Henderson for the first time on Feb. 25. Henderson, who previously played against Wembanyama in an October G League showcase, plays the French big man for the first time in the NBA on Dec. 28.

Outside of that, the Christmas Day games and opening night games appear to be as stacked as ever, with nearly every contender getting a primetime appearance.

It also seems as though the NBA is actively attempting to hand out more rest days to its stars. The biggest issue teams and players alike had with previous schedules is the amount of back-to-back games on a team’s schedule. According to BasketballNews.com’s Alex Kennedy (Twitter link), the team average for road back-to-back games this season is down to 9.0, a record low, down from a then-record low 9.6 back-to-back games last year.

This leads us to our question of the day. What aspect of the ’23/24 schedule excites you the most? Who are you most excited to see make their NBA debut? What is going to be the most exciting matchup? Were any teams snubbed from nationally televised games? Are you planning on attending any specific games?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.

2023/24 NBA Schedules By Team

August 17th, 2023 at 2:43pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has officially unveiled its full regular season schedule for 2023/24.

The season will begin on Tuesday, October 24 and wrap up Sunday, April 14. The play-in tournament will take place from April 16-19, with the playoffs beginning on April 20.

The league’s announcement highlighted the fact that each team is only scheduled for 80 games at this point. That’s due to the new in-season tournament, whose schedule has already been revealed.

The league also confirmed several previously reported marquee matchups, including its five-game Christmas Day slate, an opening night doubleheader of Lakers at Nuggets and Suns at Warriors, and games taking place in Mexico City and Paris.

Listed below are links to the full 2023/24 season schedules for each NBA team, organized by conference and division. The team-by-team schedules for ’23/24 can also be viewed in a single document right here, while the full schedule by date can be viewed here.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

Central Division

Southeast Division

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Northwest Division

Pacific Division

Southwest Division