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Garrison Mathews To Sign Camp Deal With Knicks

September 11th, 2025 at 3:19pm CST by Rory Maher

The Knicks intend to sign free agent guard Garrison Mathews to a training camp contract, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (via Twitter). Mathews’ agent, David Bauman, confirmed the news to Bondy (Twitter link).

According to Bondy, Mathews will compete with Landry Shamet for a spot on New York’s regular season roster.

Nearly 85% of Mathews’ field goal attempts over the course of his career have come from behind the three-point line, and the former Lipscomb star has converted 38.2% of those outside looks. He also has a knack for drawing fouls on three-pointers.

Mathews, who turns 29 years old next month, has spent the past two-plus seasons with Atlanta. In 47 games last season, the 6’5″ shooting guard averaged 7.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists while knocking down 39.0% of his threes in 17.7 minutes per contest.

Mathews started his NBA career as a Wizard after going undrafted in 2019, spending two years with Washington. He also spent a year-and-a-half with Houston prior to being traded to the Hawks ahead of the 2023 trade deadline.

Mavs Sign P.J. Washington To Four-Year Extension

September 11th, 2025 at 11:05am CST by Dana Gauruder

September 11: Washington has officially signed his extension with the Mavs, the team announced (via Twitter).

September 3: The Mavericks and forward P.J. Washington have agreed to a four-year contract extension worth nearly $90MM, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. Washington’s new deal will run through the 2029/30 season.

The first year of the veteran extension will have a starting salary of $19,813,044, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. That is the maximum allowed — a 140% increase of Washington’s $14,152,174 salary for this season. With 8% annual raises, the total value of the deal will be $88,762,437.

Washington will be ineligible to be traded during the upcoming season once he officially signs the contract, since it will exceed the extend-and-trade limitations.

The Mavericks have been locking up veteran contributors throughout the offseason. They also signed Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gafford to three-year deals — Irving’s begins in 2025/26, while Gafford’s starts in ’26/27.

The Mavericks acquired Washington from Charlotte at the trade deadline in February 2024 and he was a key part of the team’s run to the Finals that season, starting in all 22 games. Last season, the 27-year-old averaged 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals per night with shooting splits of 45.3% from the field and 38.1% on 3-pointers in 57 games.

In 390 career regular season contests, Washington has averaged 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in 30.6 minutes per game.

Washington will play a regular role in a loaded Dallas frontcourt that also features Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Gafford, and No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg.

Kawhi Leonard Received Endorsement Payment After Minority Owner Invested In Aspiration

September 11th, 2025 at 8:10am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers‘ lone minority owner made a nearly $2MM investment in Aspiration while the company was in dire straits. The San Francisco-based environmental firm then made a $1.75MM quarterly payment to Kawhi Leonard on the same day the company laid off 20 percent of its workforce, Pablo Torre reports on his latest “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast as relayed by The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.

It’s the latest development regarding the potential salary cap circumvention by the Clippers. Last week, Torre broke the story that Leonard signed a $28MM endorsement deal with the company, then performed no work after Aspiration received a $50MM investment from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. A subsequent report indicated that Aspiration agreed to pay Leonard an additional $20MM in company stock.

The NBA has hired a law firm to investigate the matter, and commissioner Adam Silver said on Wednesday that the burden of proof is on the league to find any wrongdoing by the Clippers.

Under the terms of the endorsement deal, Leonard was to be paid $1.75MM on a quarterly basis for four years. In December 2022, Clippers minority owner and vice chairman Dennis J. Wong made an investment of almost $2MM in Aspiration despite the fact that its independent auditor, KPMG, had resigned, and the company was already facing lawsuits worth millions for missed payments.

Aspiration missed a payment to Leonard in the fall before paying him in December, following Wong’s wire transfer to the firm, according to documents obtained by Torre. Payments to Leonard were marked as “critical.”

Leonard’s uncle and business manager Dennis Robertson had repeatedly contacted the company about the missed payment.

“There’s a huge freeze because there’s no money to be spent. So from the finance team’s perspective, we feel like we’re on the other end of collections calls. People are constantly coming in asking for their money. Between those months when all of this is missing – so September, October, November, and leading up to December, the actual certainty of the company even existing is up for grabs,” a former Aspiration employee told Torre. “At that point, are we gonna get paid as employees? Why does Uncle Dennis keep calling us? We have such bigger concerns that we’re thinking about, which is our own salaries. Are we gonna have to go through layoffs? Where is the money gonna come from? But lo and behold. Uncle Dennis gets paid.”

The Clippers issued a statement to Torre, which read, “The details of our relationship with Aspiration are under NBA investigation, but it is clear the company was a house of cards that defrauded Steve and many others. We look forward to sharing the facts with the league and providing them with all the information they need.”

Adam Silver: Burden Of Proof Is On League In Clippers Investigation

September 10th, 2025 at 6:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Commissioner Adam Silver said investigators will carry the burden of proof in the NBA’s probe of potential salary cap circumvention by the Clippers, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday at his annual preseason news conference following the conclusion of the Board of Governors meeting, Silver said the league needs to focus on “the totality of the evidence” rather than the “mere appearance” of impropriety.

“The burden is on the league if we’re going to discipline a team, an owner, a player or any constituent members of the league,” Silver told reporters. “I think as with any process that requires a fundamental sense of fairness, the burden should be on the party that is, in essence, bringing those charges.”

The NBA hired a law firm this week to handle the investigation of whether owner Steve Ballmer and the team violated league rules through Kawhi Leonard‘s $28MM “no-show” job with Aspiration. Ballmer was an investor in the green banking company, which has since gone bankrupt.

Sources told Bontemps that Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz plans to conduct a thorough investigation, and no firm deadline has been set to reach a conclusion.

Silver added that he’s “a big believer in due process and fairness,” and said other NBA owners feel the same way about the case.

“At least what’s being said to me is a reservation of judgment,” Silver said. “I think people recognize that that’s what you have a league office for. That’s what you have a commissioner for — someone who is independent of the teams. On one hand, of course, I work collectively for the 30 governors, but I have an independent obligation to be the steward of the brand and the integrity of this league. … To the extent we have had discussions (with the board of governors) — they’ve been limited — we communicated to them that we engaged Wachtell to do this investigation. And maybe I cut off any further conversations and said, ‘Let’s all withhold judgment, let’s do this investigation and then we will come back to you in terms of our findings.'”

Silver addressed a few other topics in today’s news conference:

He confirmed the new All-Star Game format, which will feature two teams of American-born players and one international team in a round-robin competition. Silver expressed hope that the new approach will help to motivate the players. “I think in the case of the NBA, this is what I’m trying to convey, particularly to younger players, is that All-Star is a big deal,” he said. “There’s been great traditions out there. People have great memories of these All-Star Games. It’s part of the fabric of this league, the excitement that comes from it and the engagement from our players.”
Discussions are continuing on a potential new NBA-run European league, and Silver said he and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum traveled this summer to Europe, where they met with stakeholders. Silver also denied speculation that the venture in Europe will replace NBA expansion efforts. He called them “completely different entities” and said expansion was discussed at the board meeting, although there’s nothing new to report. “Part of the difficulty in potentially assessing it is a sense of long-term value of the league, and a little bit maybe it’s a high-class problem, but as with some of the recent jumps in franchise valuations, that sort of creates some confusion in the marketplace about how you might even price an expansion franchise,” Silver said. “I’ll only say it’s something that we continue to actively look at.”
Silver refused to say if there are any limitations on Malik Beasley‘s availability while the league investigates his role in a gambling scandal. “I’ll only say there that the investigation is ongoing,” Silver said. “As I understand it, there’s still a federal investigation that’s ongoing of Malik Beasley as well. We will address whatever is presented to us in his case.”

Kings Waive Terence Davis

September 10th, 2025 at 4:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings have waived shooting guard Terence Davis, per the NBA’s official transaction log (hat tip to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype).

Davis, 28, spent most of the past two seasons in the G League. He signed with Sacramento in April and appeared in the final game of the regular season. His contract included a non-guaranteed $2,546,675 salary for the upcoming season, so the Kings won’t be on the hook for any more money after releasing him.

Davis entered the NBA with Toronto in 2019, but he had his best seasons with the Kings after they acquired him at the 2021 trade deadline. He was a valuable scorer off the bench for two and a half years before going to the G League.

He suffered a ruptured Achilles during the 2023/24 season, but was able to fully recover and averaged 14.3 points per game on 40.2% three-point shooting for the Wisconsin Herd last year.

Sacramento is now down to 14 standard contracts, including Keon Ellis, whose $2.3MM deal is also non-guaranteed. The Kings currently have all three of their two-way slots filled, but no other players are on the offseason roster.

Sacramento has been rumored to have interest in trading for Jonathan Kuminga or signing Russell Westbrook, and parting with Davis provides more roster flexibility for either of those moves to occur.

Hawks Sign Charles Bassey To Exhibit 10 Contract

September 10th, 2025 at 3:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have signed big man Charles Bassey, the team announced in a press release on Wednesday. It’s a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract, a league source tells Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).

Bassey was selected by Philadelphia with the 53rd pick in the 2021 draft. He was waived after one year with the Sixers and signed with San Antonio, where he played for the past three seasons.

Injuries were an issue for Bassey during his time with the Spurs — his 2022/23 season was cut short due to a non-displaced patella fracture, then he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in December 2023. The 24-year-old appeared in 36 games in 2024/25, averaging 4.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per night.

Bassey was a standout with the Celtics during Summer League play this July, averaging 15.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest in Las Vegas while shooting 70.4% from the field across three outings. He reportedly drew interest from Partizan Belgrade, but has decided to remain stateside as he seeks an NBA roster spot.

While most camp invitees who receive Exhibit 10 contracts don’t end up making their teams’ regular season rosters, there could be a pathway for Bassey to earn a spot in Atlanta. As we detailed last week, the Hawks are carrying just 11 players on fully guaranteed contracts (plus Vit Krejci with a significant partial guarantee), so players with non-guaranteed deals or small partial guarantees – including Bassey, Caleb Houstan, Mouhamed Gueye, and N’Faly Dante – could be vying for two or three roster spots.

Because he has four years of NBA experience, Bassey isn’t eligible to have his Exhibit 10 deal converted into a two-way contract.

NBA Conducting Own Investigation Into Malik Beasley

September 10th, 2025 at 1:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA is conducting its own investigation into Malik Beasley related to allegations of improper gambling on games and prop bets, the league confirmed to ESPN’s David Purdum. Beasley is “fully cooperating” in that probe, attorney Steve Haney told ESPN.

Word broke in June, just ahead of his free agency, that the veteran sharpshooter was under investigation by the U.S. District Attorney’s office due to unusual betting activity on Beasley-related wagers during the 2023/24 season.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported in August that Beasley is no longer a “target” in that investigation, though subsequent reports indicated that he’s still a “subject” of the investigation, meaning he’s not entirely in the clear.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, the NBA has the right to investigate a case and hand out its own penalty (e.g. a fine or suspension) unless a player is explicitly found not guilty in a court of law. So even if federal investigators don’t charge Beasley, that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t face any punishment from the league, though presumably the findings in both investigations will be similar.

Investigators in the case are reportedly focused on unusually heavy betting activity on Beasley’s statistics in January 2024, including a Jan. 31 game in which action on his “under 2.5 rebounds” prop bet surged significantly in the hours leading up to tip-off — he ended up grabbing six rebounds in that game, meaning the bets deemed unusual lost.

The NBA’s investigation into Beasley is believed to be in its final stages, a source familiar with the situation tells Purdum. For what it’s worth, the 28-year-old wing recently published an Instagram post in which he stated that “my decision is near,” which may be a reference to a free agency decision.

Beasley and the Pistons were reportedly deep in talks on a three-year, $42MM deal before word of the federal investigation broke and Detroit pulled that offer. The Pistons no longer have the cap space or exceptions available to make that sort of offer for Beasley, but could go up to a starting salary of $7.2MM using his Non-Bird rights.

The Cavaliers, Knicks, and Timberwolves are among the other teams said to have registered interest in Beasley. He’s coming off a strong season in Detroit in which he was the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up after averaging 16.3 points per game and finishing second in the NBA in three-pointers made (319).

Trey Lyles Signs With Real Madrid

September 10th, 2025 at 8:55am CST by Rory Maher

September 10: Lyles has officially signed with Real Madrid, according to a press release from the team.

September 4: Free agent big man Trey Lyles is finalizing a contract with Real Madrid, sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. The news of Lyles landing with the EuroLeague powerhouse was first reported by Javier Maestro of Spanish outlet Encestando.

Agent Rich Paul confirms to Marc Stein of The Stein Line that Lyles is signing with Real Madrid (Twitter link). Lyles’ one-year deal will be worth $3MM and will feature an NBA out clause, per Grant Afseth of RG.org.

A 10-year NBA veteran, Lyles has spent the past three-plus seasons in Sacramento. In 69 appearances with the Kings last season, the 6’9″ power forward averaged 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 34.0% from three-point range in 19.6 minutes per game.

Lyles, who has also been used as a small-ball center in recent years, apparently didn’t attract much NBA interest on the open market this offseason, which is a little surprising given his solid-if-unspectacular track record as a contributing role player.

While Lyles was linked to the Heat last month, Miami re-signed Dru Smith shortly thereafter, seemingly ending any further speculation on that front.

Despite playing 10 years in the league, Lyles is still only 29 years old — he turns 30 in a couple of months. The 6’9″ Canadian played one college season at Kentucky prior to being selected 12th overall back in 2015.

Lyles has largely been a rotation regular reserve throughout his career, holding averages of 7.6 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 650 regular season contests, including 131 starts (18.4 MPG). His career shooting slash line is .441/.347/.741.

Lyles spent two years apiece with Denver, Utah and San Antonio at the start of his career. He also had a six-month stint with Detroit during the 2021/22 campaign. This will be Lyles’ first European stop, Urbonas notes.

Real Madrid won both the regular season and playoffs of Spain’s top domestic league (Liga ACB) last season, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the EuroLeague playoffs. The team’s roster features several former NBA players, including Chuma Okeke, Theo Maledon and Mario Hezonja, among others.

Heat Open To Exploring Norman Powell Extension

September 9th, 2025 at 1:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Norman Powell will likely open the 2025/26 season on an expiring contract, but the Heat are open to the idea of extending the veteran wing if the start of the season goes well, a source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

The Heat acquired Powell in July from the Clippers in a three-team trade that sent Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love from Miami to Utah. While the move helped push the Heat into luxury tax territory (they later got out of the tax by trading Haywood Highsmith), the outgoing package was a modest price to pay for a talented offensive player coming off arguably the best season of his career.

In 60 games (all starts) for the Clippers in 2024/25, Powell averaged 21.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 32.6 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .484/.418/.804. He set career highs in points and minutes per contest, as well as three-pointers made (3.0 per game; 179 in total).

Powell, 32, will make about $20.5MM this season in the final season of the five-year, $90MM contract he signed with Portland as a free agent during the summer of 2021. He’s eligible to sign an extension at any point between now and June 30 — if he doesn’t complete a new deal by that time, he’ll reach unrestricted free agency next offseason.

The Heat’s salary cap situation going forward isn’t too bad, with nearly $35MM for Terry Rozier and Simone Fontecchio set to come off the books at the end of the 2025/26 season. However, Miami will also need to figure out whether Tyler Herro (UFA in 2027) and Andrew Wiggins (player option for 2026/27) are part of the long-term plans — and if so, at what price.

Given that Powell has yet to suit up for the Heat, it makes sense that the front office would prefer to wait until after the season begins to assess his fit and perhaps to get a clearer sense of what the team’s future cap situation will look like (Herro will be able to sign an extension between October 1 and the start of the regular season).

Nets Still Operating Below Minimum Salary Floor

September 9th, 2025 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

Even after officially re-signing Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Ziaire Williams, the Nets are still operating slightly below the minimum salary floor, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.

While the exact terms of Williams’ new deal haven’t been confirmed, it sounds like it will be identical to Sharpe’s contract, which includes a cap hit of $6.25MM for 2025/26. That would increase Brooklyn’s team salary to about $138.53MM — this season’s minimum salary floor is $139.18MM, and Marks confirms that the Nets are roughly $649K below the floor.

As we detail in our glossary entry, the minimum salary floor comes in each season at 90% of the salary cap. In the past, a team was required to reach that threshold by the end of the regular season — if it didn’t get there, it was simply required to make up the shortfall by paying the difference to its players.

However, under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams must reach the minimum salary floor by the start of the regular season. A team whose salary is below the minimum floor at the start of the season won’t receive a share of the end-of-season luxury tax payouts and will have a portion of its cap room (the amount between its team salary and the minimum floor) frozen.

Last season’s end-of-season payout to non-taxpayers was approximately $11.5MM per team. While there’s no guarantee the 2025/26 payout will be quite that high, it’s safe to assume the Nets won’t simply give up that money, so we can count on them making a move to reach the salary floor by the start of the season.

However, it won’t necessarily be as simple as signing a player to a minimum-salary contract. Four of the 18 players on Brooklyn’s current roster are either on non-guaranteed deals or have small partial guarantees — the Nets will have to set a 15-man roster for the regular season, and if they end up waiving two or three of those players on non-guaranteed contracts, it would further reduce their overall salary, moving the club further away from the minimum floor.

For instance, if the Nets were to cut Tyrese Martin, Drew Timme, and Keon Johnson, it would remove approximately $6.23MM from their books, moving the team about $6.87MM below the minimum salary floor.

If the Nets opt to waive a player or two with a guaranteed salary and keep more of their non-guaranteed contracts, the gap between their team salary and the minimum floor wouldn’t be as significant, but it still may require a free agent signing above the minimum to reach the floor.

While a free agent signing is a possibility, it’s probably more of a last resort, since it would make more sense for Brooklyn to continue using its leftover cap room on the trade market to take on unwanted salary attached to draft assets. The Nets have already taken that route this offseason in deals for Michael Porter Jr. (who was sent to Brooklyn with an unprotected 2032 first-round pick), Terance Mann (with this year’s No. 22 overall pick), and Haywood Highsmith (with a 2032 second-rounder).

The Nets still have $16.1MM in cap room remaining and could further increase that figure by waiving one or more of their players on non-guaranteed salaries.

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