And-Ones: Las Vegas, Free Agents, WNBA, Misery Index
The NBA’s Board of Governors will vote this week on whether to explore adding expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle. Mike Vorkunov, Jesse Granger, Vic Tafur, Sabreena Merchant and Oskar Garcia of The Athletic consider whether Las Vegas is the right choice for NBA expansion.
While the general consensus among the authors is that the city would be a viable choice for expansion despite being a relatively small media market, Tafur suggests that it would benefit the league if the potential new team is able to be competitive sooner rather than later, as Las Vegas “does not have a strong attention span.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) examines the contract situations of 10 players who will or could be free agents this summer, including four Lakers (Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Luke Kennard and Marcus Smart) and two Pistons (Tobias Harris and Daniss Jenkins). Reaves has earned a significant raise on his current contract and has boosted his value this season, according to Gozlan, who wonders if a rival team might give the 27-year-old guard a two- or three-year maximum-salary deal in an effort to poach him away from Los Angeles. Either way, Gozlan expects Reaves to still be a member of the Lakers in 2026/27.
- The WNBA and WNBPA have reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, the NBA announced in a press release. Players are projected to receive major pay increases across the board, among other noteworthy details.
- Zach Harper of The Athletic lists the top five teams on his Misery Index, with the Bucks coming in at No. 1, followed by the Kings at No. 2 and the Pelicans at No. 3. Not only has Milwaukee had a very disappointing season, but the team also doesn’t have young players to build around or much hope of turning things around in the near future, Harper writes.
Southwest Notes: Wemby, Missi, Marshall, Christie
While he acknowledges that he would vote for Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander if the season ended today, Sam Amick of The Athletic says Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama continues to strengthen his case in the race for Most Valuable Player and could steal some top-two votes that have long appeared earmarked for Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.
As Amick points out, the on/off numbers are a point in Wembanyama’s favor, as the Spurs have a +16.0 net rating when he’s on the court and a 0.0 mark when he’s not, for a 16-point difference. That exceeds the 10-point gap between the Thunder’s net rating when Gilgeous-Alexander is and isn’t on the court. And while SGA is one of the NBA’s top scorers, Wembanyama, the overwhelming favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, is the more impactful player on the other end of the court.
It’s also not out of the realm of possibility that the Spurs could catch Oklahoma City in the Western Conference standings, Amick notes. San Antonio is just 3.5 games out of the No. 1 spot, and Wembanyama has talked about wanting to get to the 60-win mark, whereas the defending champion Thunder may feel less compelled to push hard for seeding at the end of the regular season.
We have more from around the Southwest:
- Pelicans center Yves Missi was considered a prime trade candidate leading up to this season’s deadline, but he remained in New Orleans and has impressed head coach James Borrego, who spoke glowingly of the second-year big man after he racked up 10 rebounds, five blocks, and five assists in a win over Dallas on Monday. “We’re using him a number of ways defensively,” Borrego said, per Rod Walker of NOLA.com (subscription required). “Then he gets out and runs. He’s all over the offensive glass. He’s made tremendous strides.”
- Another pre-deadline trade candidate, forward Naji Marshall, is showing why the Mavericks weren’t eager to consider moving him last month, writes Nate Sanchez of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). Marshall, who spoke earlier this season about his desire to play alongside Cooper Flagg long-term, had his best game of the season on Monday in New Orleans, with 32 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and no turnovers. “I appreciate everything about Naji,” Flagg said after the game. “He’s just such a good basketball player, all-around, consistent. He shows up every single night and is just a true professional.”
- Flagg, Marshall, and fourth-year wing Max Christie have been a few of the bright spots in an otherwise forgettable season for the Mavericks. Even with Dallas falling well out of the play-in picture, Christie told Spencer Davies of R.org that he wants to “finish strong” and resist letting fatigue get the best of him in what has been a career year so far. The 23-year-old will become extension-eligible this July as he enters the third season of a four-year, $32MM contract.
Southwest Notes: VanVleet, Murray, Flagg, Jerome
Rockets guard Fred VanVleet is still holding out hope he can return this season after tearing his right ACL in September RealGM relays. VanVleet made those comments on a recent episode of the Unguarded podcast (YouTube link).
“I’m about five, five and a half months, almost six months now,” VanVleet said. “So, I’m getting there. I’m getting stronger. I’m getting better. I’m moving around a lot better. I’m getting some good on-court workouts.
“I think a lot of the predictions of where I was going to be were made pre-surgery, so we’ve had to adjust that timeline as things go on. But again, selfishly, I’m always going to keep my window open. I’m not going to come on here and tell you, ‘Oh, I’m not coming back,’ and then I come back like, ‘Oh, surprise.’ But I’m not ruling it out, and I’m not saying I’m coming back. I’m just rehabbing, I’m working on myself, and I keep that goal in mind because I’ve made such good progress.”
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Dejounte Murray continued his strong comeback from his Achilles tear. The Pelicans guard racked up 35 points, seven rebounds and four assists against Houston on Friday in his eighth game of the season. “On both sides of the ball, he was fantastic down the stretch,” Pelicans’ interim head coach James Borrego said, per Rod Walker of NOLA.com.
- Cooper Flagg had 25 points for the Mavericks against Cleveland on Friday and feels he’s finally recovered from the midfoot sprain that sidelined him for eight games. “I really feel I hadn’t come back with my pop, like my athleticism has kind of been lacking since I got hurt and came back,” Flagg told Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News. “I finally felt like I was getting my pop back a little tonight.”
- Ty Jerome, who joined the Grizzlies during the offseason on a three-year, $27.66MM contract, had 21 points against Detroit on Friday. He’s averaging 20.1 points and 5.4 assists in his first 12 games for Memphis after missing most of the season due to a calf strain. “I mean Ty’s been very solid for us the whole time,” coach Tuomas Iilaso said. “He’s turning into one of the premier creators in the whole league. [He’s] able to create shots for himself and for others, and he gets the toughest assignments every night. Today, [the] Pistons we’re able to put a lot of length, a lot of physicality on him, and they also stepped up on the pick-and-rolls, to try to get the ball out of his hands. But, somehow, he always finds a way.”
Southwest Notes: Middleton, Mavericks, Zion, Sengun
Khris Middleton helped the Mavericks snap an eight-game losing streak during Thursday’s victory at Memphis, writes Dwain Price of Mavs.com. The veteran small forward had a season-high 35 points (on 10-of-17 shooting) in just 25 minutes, with 22 of those points coming in the fourth quarter.
According to Price, Middleton’s 35 points are the most by a Mavs reserve since Rodrigue Beaubois had 40 in March 2010.
“It was a good feeling,” Middleton said, referring to his fourth-quarter explosion. “I think it’s a better feeling to get a win after the last couple of losses, but definitely once you get a couple going like that in the fourth quarter like I did, it feels good.
“But you got to give credit to my teammates again for the screens and just trying to find me and trying to get me going. You just feel like anything that you shoot or throw up there it’s got a chance to go in, so I’m a shooter and you get a couple to go down you keep firing.”
Middleton will be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t sign a veteran extension before the new league year begins on July 1.
We have more from around the Southwest:
- In a mailbag for The Athletic, Christian Clark answers a handful of questions about the Mavericks, including the team’s search for a permanent general manager and the future of Kyrie Irving. Clark expects Irving, who won’t play this season as he recovers from a torn ACL, to be in a Mavs uniform in 2026/27 no matter who Dallas selects in June’s draft.
- Zion Williamson‘s salary for 2026/27 is now 60% guaranteed after he made his 51st appearance of the season on Friday, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter links). The Pelicans forward will have another 20% of his $42.2MM salary for next season guaranteed if he reaches the 61-game mark, with the final 20% hinging on whether he meets certain weight criteria specified in his contract, Marks adds.
- Rockets center Alperen Sengun was sidelined for Friday’s contest vs. New Orleans due to lower back pain, tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic. It’s unclear if the two-time All-Star will miss additional time as a result of the ailment.
Pelicans Notes: Hot Streak, Murray, Ingram, Tough Stretch
The Pelicans‘ second-half surge continued on Wednesday with a 122-111 win over Toronto. Trey Murphy III had 28 points and Dejounte Murray supplied 27 as New Orleans collected its 22nd victory, surpassing last season’s win total. The Pels have won seven of their last 10 games.
“We’re trying to build winning habits every day on and off the court,” Murray told Les East of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “Every game is a playoff game. There’s nothing like building momentum going into the offseason.”
Here’s more on the Pelicans:
- Murray has reached double-digit points in all seven games he has played since returning from his Achilles injury and has increased his scoring average to 17.6 points per game. “He’s bringing a fire and competitiveness,” Borrego said, per East. “He’s infusing confidence and fight and this group is rallying around that. It’s his shot-making, his defense, his communication, his leadership.”
- In his return to New Orleans, Raptors forward Brandon Ingram had 22 points but didn’t score in the fourth quarter. He said “everybody showed love” in his visit with his new team. Ingram said New Orleans was his home away from home after getting dealt by the Lakers in 2019. “It reminded me of home. I can say this, how ‘ghetto’ it was *laughs*. The slang. Everything. It just reminded me of home,” he told Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link). “When I traveled around town, it reminded me of Kinston (North Carolina). There was connectivity from me walking in different restaurants, the love that we shared. It always felt like home.”
- Wednesday’s contest vs. Toronto began a stretch of nine of 10 games against teams that currently are in the playoffs or at least the play-in tournament, Rod Walker of NOLA.com notes. “It’s a great measuring stick to see where we’re at,” coach James Borrego said. “I think since a little before the All-Star break, we’ve played good basketball. We’ll get tested again here coming up, which is great for us. That’s where you want to be. And we’re going to treat it as such.”
Southwest Notes: Wembanyama, Fox, Plumlee, Ingram
The Spurs are the hottest team in basketball, thanks in large part to the play of Victor Wembanyama. As San Antonio’s stock has risen, so have the MVP chants for the young Frenchman, writes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
“Of course it’s one of my goals,” Wembanyama said of being named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. “I also understand I need to press down the gas a bit in the last part of the season to win that award.”
Wembanyama has averaged 24.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game this season on .506/.360/.810 shooting splits while playing just 29.3 minutes per game. The Spurs have won 16 of their last 17 games and hold the NBA’s second-best record (48-17).
McDonald notes that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic make for some formidable competition for MVP recognition, but Wembanyama’s teammates believe their leader’s case is a strong one.
“We went from not making the playoffs to the second seed,” rookie Dylan Harper said. “There’s not a whole lot to debate.”
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- De’Aaron Fox is thriving as a play-maker for the Spurs of late, and it’s helping to drive their success, Tom Orsborn writes for the Express-News. “I just want to be at my peak physically and mentally towards the end of the season,” he said. “We’re getting there.” Fox’s coaches and teammates have been more effusive in their praise. Head coach Mitch Johnson said that the star guard had hit another gear, while Wembanyama chalked it up to a higher operating level. “What I see from him is great decision-making and really being at peace with the basketball gods, not forcing things, doing the right play,” Wembanyama said. Fox has had at least 19 points and nine assists in each of San Antonio’s last three games, all wins.
- Johnson values the experience that veteran center Mason Plumlee brings to the Spurs, Orsborn notes (via Twitter). “He was a rookie for (Kevin Garnett) and Paul Pierce in Brooklyn, so there’s quite a bit of experience and stories,” the 39-year-old coach said. “(He’s) played with high-level players and played a few different types of roles and has seen different levels of success.” Plumlee saw his first playing time with San Antonio on Tuesday night, grabbing one rebound in one minute of action as the Spurs took down the Celtics, 125-116.
- Coming into Wednesday, it had been 459 days since Brandon Ingram took the court in New Orleans, Rod Walker of NOLA.com writes, and his time there shouldn’t be undervalued by Pelicans fans, even though he’s now wearing a Raptors jersey. Walker calls Ingram one of the best players to ever play in New Orleans, noting that he won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award and was named to his first All-Star team as a Pelican. “He shares a lot of relationships here, so it should be a fun game,” interim head coach James Borrego said before the game. “I hope more than anything the city welcomes him back and embraces him. He gave a lot to this city. Blood, sweat, and tears. He was a competitor.”
Pacific Notes: Brooks, Maluach, Payton, Porzingis, Curry
Suns wing Dillon Brooks was arrested on suspicion of DUI early Friday morning. His teammates say Brooks apologized to them for his actions, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.
“Just hate to see it for him, but he’s human. We’re all humans,” Collin Gillespie said. “We’re not above anybody else. We all make mistakes. He knows that. He owned it He apologized to the team, but we got his back. Human beings make mistakes, we all make mistakes. Learn from it. He’s just in the public eye more than any other regular human being. That stuff goes on every day and you just don’t hear about it from other people because it’s not ‘Dillon Brooks’ per se.”
Brooks, who is sidelined with a fractured hand, was in attendance for the Suns game on Friday but didn’t speak to the media.
“I know he feels really bad about it,” Grayson Allen said. “I’m sure whenever he feels like he needs to say something, he’ll say something, but we’re still focusing on what we can do on the court with him out. We want to get him back and hold it down in the meantime.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Suns barely held off the Pelicans, 118-116, on Friday. Rookie lottery pick Khaman Maluach had a career-high five blocks in a season-high 20 minutes after posting 10 in his previous 27 games. “The biggest thing is just that he knows he’s getting consistent minutes,” coach Jordan Ott said, per Rankin. “Hopefully, the first-game jitters of being in there were out after last night. Doesn’t change, we wouldn’t put you in there if we didn’t believe in you, and we’re going to continue to help him.”
- If Seattle gets an expansion team, Gary Payton II wants to be a part of it. His father Gary Payton, of course, was a longtime star with the SuperSonics. He said, perhaps jokingly, that he’d request a trade from the Warriors to play there. “Respectfully. I love it here so much. But if we do (have a Seattle team) when I’m still here, I definitely want to go back and play there,” he told Nick Friedell of The Athletic. In any case, he’d like to see the NBA have a team in the city. “It was like a dream come true all over again,” he said of a potential franchise in Seattle. “To be able to see them, to be able to go there and we have an opportunity to sit down and watch a game. Hopefully, they can do it here in a few years so I can possibly go back and put on a Seattle SuperSonics jersey. But other than that, it’s for the basketball culture. Even if I do play for them or not, it will be good for the city of Seattle and good for the NBA.”
- Kristaps Porzingis and Seth Curry have been upgraded to questionable for the Warriors‘ game on Saturday in Oklahoma City, ESPN’s Anthony Slater tweets. Porzingis, battling an illness, has only played once for Golden State since being acquired at the trade deadline. Curry has been out since Dec. 4 due to a sciatic nerve-related injury
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.
Southwest Notes: Jordan, Murray, Sheppard, Prosper
After signing with the Pelicans at the start of the regular season, veteran center DeAndre Jordan made two appearances in his first week on the roster in October, then didn’t see any action until after last month’s All-Star break. He has played regular minutes since then, earning five starts and logging double-digit minutes in each of New Orleans’ past six games.
Even before his return to the rotation, Jordan “elevated our program tremendously,” according to interim head coach James Borrego, who spoke glowingly about the the 37-year-old’s leadership and “massive impact” on the Pelicans’ locker room, per Mark Medina of EssentiallySports.
“He has a high standard,” Borrego said. “He’s the first one to show up. Pregame, he does his work. Then you add the leadership piece. He’s wrapped his arms around the vets. He’s wrapped his arms around the young guys. … He’s brought us an edge and a physicality. He’s a massive and tremendous communicator. I think that’s what we’re trying to get our young guys to develop more. That’s the ability to communicate, especially for bigs. It’s massive. To look like a big defense or be a good defense, you have to talk, especially from that five spot. He does it as well as anybody.”
Despite not seeing the floor for over three-and-a-half months and playing for a team that opened the season by losing 31 of its first 39 games, Jordan hasn’t been discouraged by his situation or the modest role he has been asked to take on, he told Medina.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve embraced that locker room leader and mentor kind of role,” Jordan said. “Whenever my number is called, I’ll be ready to play and contribute in any way that I can in the days that I’m not playing. I encourage my teammates. I’ll criticize them when it’s necessary. I let them know about things that I see on the floor. I give them knowledge back.
“… We don’t want to be complacent and okay with losing nine or 10 games in a row. But we’ve had a lot of young guys who are playing big minutes early. So it’s about being able to get them some familiarity with the NBA and the speed and the sets and coverages. So that next year when we’re a healthy team, and these guys have a full rookie season under their belt, we’ll be better.”
Asked how much longer he hopes to play, Jordan – who is in his 18th NBA season – said it’s long been a goal to get to 20 seasons in the league if he can.
We have more from around the Southwest:
- Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray has been effective since returning from his year-long absence due to an Achilles tear, scoring at least 13 points in each of his first four games, but he’s still not ready to play in back-to-back contests. Murray has been ruled out for Thursday’s matchup with Sacramento, the first of a back-to-back, due to “return to competition conditioning,” according to the team. Forwards Trey Murphy III (neck spasm) and Zion Williamson (right ankle sprain) are both considered questionable to suit up.
- With Reed Sheppard playing some of the best basketball of his career recently in an increased role, Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports and William Guillory of The Athletic examine the strides the Rockets guard is making in his second NBA season and consider what his role will look like once starters Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. return from injuries. “My teammates are giving me the space to grow, and they’re pushing me to be aggressive. That’s made it a lot easier for me,” Sheppard told Guillory. “It hasn’t always been perfect, but I’m working to fix the mistakes. I know I can play an important role for us to get where we want to go.”
- The second year of Olivier-Maxence Prosper‘s new two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Grizzlies is a team option, as Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Prosper’s rest-of-season salary is $527,879, while his 2026/27 option is worth $2,497,812.
Pelicans Sign Josh Oduro To Two-Way Contract
4:00 pm: Oduro’s two-way deal is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
8:33 am: The Pelicans have reached an agreement on a two-way deal with big man Josh Oduro, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
A 6’9″ forward/center who went undrafted out of Providence in 2024, Oduro had brief stints with the Pelicans during each of the past two preseasons and has spent his pro career to date with the Birmingham Squadron, New Orleans’ G League affiliate.
In 35 games this season for the Squadron, the 25-year-old has averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 28.6 minutes per contest, making 56.0% of his shot attempts from the floor and 63.3% from the free throw line.
As we noted earlier this morning, the Pelicans entered the day as the only team with an open two-way slot. Given that Wednesday is the last day for teams to sign players to two-way contracts during the 2025/26 regular season, an update on New Orleans’ plans had been expected.
Oduro will join guard Trey Alexander and center Hunter Dickinson as the Pelicans’ two-way players and will be eligible to be active for up to 11 regular season games for New Orleans for the rest of the season.