Newsstand Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers To Retire Michael Cooper’s No. 21 In January

August 15th, 2024 at 3:58pm CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers will retire Michael Cooper‘s No. 21 jersey on January 13 when they host San Antonio, the team announced (via Twitter).

A Los Angeles native, Cooper was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in April. He won five championships while spending his entire NBA playing career with the Lakers. Cooper was primarily known for his excellent defense, earning eight All-Defensive nods and winning Defensive Player of the Year in 1987.

Cooper averaged 8.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.2 APG and 1.2 SPG while shooting 46.9% from the floor and 83.3% from the free throw line in 873 regular season games from 1978-90. He primarily came off the bench, only starting 94 contests, though he was certainly a valuable sixth man, averaging 27.1 MPG in his career.

Cooper has coached for several different organizations since his playing days ended, including as an assistant for the Lakers and Nuggets. He was briefly interim head coach of Denver as well. Cooper won back-to-back WNBA titles as head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002 and also won a D League title with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds in 2006 (the D League has since been rebranded as the NBA G League).

Now 68, Cooper is currently a men’s assistant coach at Cal State Los Angeles. The Division II school had its best-ever season in 2023/24, notes Paul Helms of the university’s website.

2024/25 NBA Schedules By Team

August 15th, 2024 at 2:24pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has officially unveiled its full regular season schedule for 2024/25.

The season will begin on Tuesday, October 22 and wrap up Sunday, April 13. The play-in tournament will take place from April 15-18, with the playoffs beginning on April 19.

The league’s announcement highlighted the fact that each team is only scheduled for 80 games at this point. That’s due to the in-season tournament, now known as the NBA Cup, whose schedule was previously revealed.

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

Listed below are links to the full 2024/25 season schedules for each NBA team, organized by conference and division. The team-by-team schedules for ’24/25 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

Veteran Wing Joe Harris Retires

August 15th, 2024 at 11:41am CST by Rory Maher

Veteran wing Joe Harris has decided to retire, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 33rd overall pick of the 2014 draft, Harris spent his first season-plus with the Cavaliers, who traded him to Orlando when he sustained a season-ending foot injury in 2015/16. The Magic released him, and he wound up signing a multiyear contract with Brooklyn as a free agent in July 2016.

Harris had by far the most productive run of his career with the Nets, emerging as a reliable rotation player and one of the best outside shooters in the NBA.

Over a three-season span from 2018-21, Harris averaged 14.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists, posting an elite shooting line of .497/.458/.782 in 214 games (30.6 MPG). He led the league in three-point percentage in two of those three campaigns.

Unfortunately, Harris’ career was derailed at the beginning of the ’21/22 season when he sustained a major ankle injury. His lucrative long-term contract with Brooklyn turned into an albatross, as the 32-year-old was never able to regain his pre-injury athleticism.

The Nets traded Harris to the Pistons last summer in a salary-dump move. He only appeared in 16 games (10.6 minutes) with Detroit and struggled when he did play in ’23/24. The Pistons released Harris in February, making him an unrestricted free agent.

In 10 NBA seasons, the former Virginia star averaged 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 504 regular season contests, including 283 starts (24.4 minutes). His career mark of 43.6% from three ranks fifth in NBA history. Harris also won the three-point contest in 2019, Charania notes.

Knicks Re-Sign Jacob Toppin To Two-Way Deal

August 14th, 2024 at 2:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Restricted free agent forward Jacob Toppin is back under contract with the Knicks, according to the team, which announced today in a press release (Twitter link) that he has been re-signed to a two-way contract.

New York made Toppin a restricted free agent by issuing him a two-way qualifying offer after he finished the 2023/24 season on a two-way deal with the club. According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), the 24-year-old simply accepted that qualifying offer.

The younger brother of former Knicks forward Obi Toppin, Jacob signed a two-way contract with the organization last July after going undrafted out of Kentucky. He spent nearly his entire season with New York. He had his contract converted to a 10-day deal in February, then returned on a new two-way contract after those 10 days were up.

Toppin played sparingly at the NBA level, appearing in just nine games for New York, but he was a key contributor for the Westchester Knicks in the G League, averaging 17.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 35.1 minutes per game across 42 Showcase Cup and regular season contests. He registered a shooting line of .455/.323/.781.

Toppin also participated in the 2024 dunk contest, though he was eliminated before the final round.

The Knicks have filled all three of their two-way slots, with Toppin joining Ariel Hukporti and Kevin McCullar.

There are now just two restricted free agents left on the market, and both are Cavaliers: Isaac Okoro (standard) and Emoni Bates (two-way).

League Announces 2024 NBA Cup Schedule

August 13th, 2024 at 2:49pm CST by Luke Adams

After previously announcing the dates and groups for its second annual in-season tournament, the NBA today revealed the schedule for the group play portion of the event. The group play stage of the tournament, which is now known as the Emirates NBA Cup, will begin on November 12 and run through December 3.

The group play games will take place on four Tuesdays and three Fridays during the fall. The NBA put out its schedule by date and by team.

Each Tuesday will feature a nationally televised doubleheader on TNT, while ESPN will nationally broadcast doubleheaders on the Fridays. NBA TV will also air three tournament games on the afternoon of November 29 (Black Friday), prior to ESPN’s doubleheader.

The quarterfinals will take place on December 10 and 11, with the semifinals to follow on Dec. 14 and the final to be played on Dec. 17. The higher-seeded teams will host the quarterfinal matchups, while the semifinals and final will take place in Las Vegas.

The NBA Cup will tip off with a pair of nationally televised marquee matchups on November 12, with Paul George and the Sixers hosting the Knicks in Philadelphia, followed by Klay Thompson and the Mavericks visiting the Warriors in the Bay Area.

The Lakers, the champions of last year’s inaugural in-season tournament, will be featured in nationally televised games on Nov. 15 (at the Spurs), Nov. 26 (at the Suns), and Nov. 29 (vs. the Thunder).

The full NBA regular season schedule for 2024/25 will be announced on Thursday, according to the league.

Jazz Sign Oscar Tshiebwe To Two-Way Contract

August 12th, 2024 at 6:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Jazz have signed forward Oscar Tshiebwe to a two-way contract, according to a team press release. Utah opened up a slot by waiving Taevion Kinsey on Monday, which was confirmed in the press release.

Tshiebwe spent the 2023/24 season on a two-way deal with the Pacers after going undrafted. He appeared in eight NBA games and averaged 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 5.3 minutes per game.

Tshiebwe excelled at the G League level. He was named Rookie of the Year and All-NBA G League First Team after appearing in 23 regular season games (21 starts) for the Indiana Mad Ants and averaging 16.2 points, 16.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 27.2 minutes per contest.

The Pacers had extended a two-way qualifying offer to Tshiebwe, which made him a restricted free agent and gave Indiana the right of first refusal. But all of the Pacers’ two-way slots are filled, so it appears they were willing to let him sign elsewhere.

Tshiebwe played for Indiana’s Summer League squad in Las Vegas last month, averaging 11.6 points and 8.6 rebounds in five games.

Tshiebwe was the unanimous National Player of the Year and Southeastern Conference Player of the Year for Kentucky as a junior in 2021/22. As a senior in 2022/23, he was a unanimous Second-Team All-America selection and led the nation in rebounding for a second straight season.

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.

Jazz Sign Kyle Filipowski

August 12th, 2024 at 11:32am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have signed second-round pick Kyle Filipowski to his first NBA contract, the team announced today in a press release.

Filipowski, a 7’0″ forward/center, declared for the draft this spring as an early entrant after averaging 16.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 30.4 minutes per game across 36 starts in his sophomore year at Duke.

He posted a shooting line of .505/.348/.671 in his final college season for the Blue Devils and was a consensus second-team All-American.

Although he was invited to the green room for the first night of the 2024 draft, Filipowski fell out of the first round and was selected by Utah with the 32nd overall pick on day two. He impressed last month at the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 16.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 2.4 APG in five games (25.3 MPG).

While Filipowski’s contract details aren’t yet known, the Jazz’s announcement indicates he received a standard contract rather than a two-way deal, which was expected. Given his draft slot, a three- or four-year deal with at least a couple guaranteed seasons seems likely.

Filipowski was one of the last 2024 draftees to officially sign a contract, as the Jazz looked to maximize their cap room well into the offseason in case trade opportunities arose. They’ve been in the process of using up that cap space in recent days, renegotiating and extending Lauri Markkanen‘s contract, then officially signing Drew Eubanks and Svi Mykhailiuk.

Utah now has 13 players on standard contracts, with Johnny Juzang‘s reported four-year contract still to be finalized. The team has also filled all three of its two-way slots, so its roster could be almost ready for the regular season.

Jazz Sign Svi Mykhailiuk To Four-Year Deal

August 12th, 2024 at 6:37am CST by Rory Maher

AUGUST 12: The Jazz officially signed Mykhailiuk over the weekend, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

AUGUST 9: The Jazz plan to sign free agent swingman Svi Mykhailiuk to a four-year, $15MM contract, agent Michael Lelchitski tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

A 27-year-old from Ukraine, Mykhailiuk was the No. 47 overall pick of the 2018 draft after playing four years of college ball at Kansas. He has bounced around the NBA over the course of his six seasons, playing for the Lakers, Pistons, Thunder, Raptors, Knicks and Hornets. He spent the 2023/24 campaign with the Celtics, winning an NBA championship as a role player.

In 41 appearances with Boston last season, Mykhailiuk averaged 4.0 PPG and 1.2 RPG while shooting 38.9% from three-point range (10.1 MPG). In 293 career regular season games, including 56 starts (15.8 MPG), Mykhailiuk has averaged 6.3 PPG, 1.7 RPG and 1.3 APG while shooting 36.3% from deep.

Based on the reported terms, Mykhailiuk may have received more than the veteran’s minimum, which would have been worth about $12.3MM over four years for a player with six years of experience. If that’s the case, the Jazz will have to use a portion of their cap room to complete the transaction.

While Mykhailiuk is signing a four-year deal, I’d be a little surprised if more than one year is fully guaranteed, given his previous team history. Still, he could be given a real opportunity to earn minutes with Utah, which only has 10 players on guaranteed standard contracts, plus the reported but not yet official deals for Drew Eubanks and Johnny Juzang. The Jazz also have an unsigned draft pick, former Duke big man Kyle Filipowski, who was selected 32nd overall in June.

U.S. Wins Olympic Gold Medal In Paris

August 10th, 2024 at 4:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

Team USA closed out an unbeaten run through the Olympics by defeating France 98-87 in Saturday’s gold medal game.

In front of a thunderous home crowd, the French team was able to close within three points late in the contest, but Stephen Curry sealed the victory by sinking four dramatic three-pointers in the final three minutes. Playing in his first Olympics, Curry hit eight shots from beyond the arc Saturday and led the U.S. with 24 points.

“That was an unbelievable moment,” he told NBC’s Mike Tirico. “I’ve been blessed to play basketball at a high level for a very long time. This ranks very high in terms of the excitement and the sense of relief getting to the finish line.”

Kevin Durant reached a milestone by becoming the first men’s basketball player with four Olympic golds. He made his first start of this year’s Olympics in the gold medal game and contributed 15 points.

LeBron James, who picked up his third career gold, posted 14 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, while Lakers teammate Anthony Davis had eight points and nine boards. James earned Olympics MVP honors.

It’s the fifth straight gold for Team USA, which hasn’t lost in Olympic competition since 2004. With 11 All-Stars on the roster, this year’s squad has drawn comparisons to the 1992 Dream Team as one of the most talented groups ever assembled.

“I think we might be the only team in the world whose fans are ashamed of them if they get a silver medal,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “That’s the pressure that we face. But our players, and you saw Steph, they love the pressure. They appreciate this atmosphere and they were fantastic.”

The French took home silver for the second straight Olympics after also losing to the Americans in the gold medal game at Tokyo. Victor Wembanyama had his best game of the tournament on Saturday with 26 points and seven rebounds, while Guerschon Yabusele added 20 points.

France became the first nation to win a medal while hosting the Games since Team USA did it in 1996.

“For sure, it’s a disappointment because we expected we could do it,” French coach Vincent Collet said. “But we have to recognize at the end that they are better. We are very close … When they make fantastic shots, that’s the difference.”

Serbia claimed the bronze medal by defeating Germany earlier today.