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Wolves Among Teams To Touch Base With Malik Beasley

August 26th, 2025 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves are among the teams that have been in contact with Malik Beasley‘s camp about the free agent swingman, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Minnesota joins the Pistons, Cavaliers, and Knicks as the teams known to have expressed interest in Beasley, Scotto notes.

As we detailed earlier today, while the 28-year-old is no longer a target of a federal investigation into unusual gambling and prop betting activity, he’s still considered a subject of that probe, so he hasn’t been fully cleared by either investigators or the NBA. However, his outlook has apparently improved enough that teams are increasingly willing to explore the idea of signing him.

Beasley spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Timberwolves from 2020-22 before being traded to Utah as part of the Rudy Gobert mega-deal during the ’22 offseason. He put up some of the best scoring numbers of his career in Minnesota, averaging 15.1 points per game in 130 outings, with a 38.9% mark on three-point tries.

The Timberwolves have 13 players under contract and are operating about $5.9MM below the second tax apron, so they would have the ability to offer Beasley more than a minimum-salary contract using the taxpayer mid-level exception, especially if they’re not committed to carrying a 15th man to open the regular season.

The Pistons still control Beasley’s Non-Bird rights, giving them the ability to offer him a first-year salary worth up to $7.2MM. However, their level of interest in re-signing him after adding Caris LeVert and Duncan Robinson this summer is unclear.

The Knicks and Cavaliers are both limited to minimum-salary offers. As Scotto points out, Cleveland’s desire to add another wing may have increased in the wake of Max Strus‘ foot surgery.

Cavs’ Strus Undergoes Foot Surgery, Out At Least 3-4 Months

August 26th, 2025 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers wing Max Strus underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair a Jones fracture in his left foot, the team announced today (Twitter link). The injury occurred during an offseason workout.

According to the Cavs, Strus is expected to resume basketball activities in approximately three to four months. That means he’ll be sidelined for the start of the regular season, which will tip off in less than two months.

It’s a tough break for the Cavs and for Strus, who averaged 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 25.5 minutes per game during his second year in Cleveland in 2024/25. He’s one of the team’s most reliable three-point shooters, knocking down 38.6% of 5.9 attempts per game last season, and finished the year as the starting small forward.

The silver lining for the Cavs is that there should be enough wing depth on the roster to get by without Strus during the first half of the season. De’Andre Hunter is the leading candidate to move into the starting lineup, with newly re-signed sharpshooter Sam Merrill likely in line for an increased role off the bench.

Veteran forward Dean Wade and second-year wing Jaylon Tyson are among the other reserves who should move up on the depth chart this fall.

A Jones fracture is a break in the fifth metatarsal, the bone that connects the pinkie toe to the base of the foot. Zach LaVine (2024), Dariq Whitehead (2023), and Ryan Rollins (2023) are among the NBA players who have dealt with similar injuries in recent years.

The three-to-four month timeline provided today by the Cavs is a projection for when Strus will resume basketball activities, so his absence will likely extend beyond that. But for what it’s worth, four months from today would be right around Christmas.

Jazz Sign John Tonje To Two-Way Contract

August 26th, 2025 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have officially signed second-round pick John Tonje to a two-way contract, according to NBA.com’s transaction log (hat tip to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype).

Tonje, 24, spent four seasons at Colorado State, then transferred to Missouri in 2023 for his super-senior season, but was limited to eight appearances due to a season-ending foot injury. He was granted a medical redshirt and made the most of his final year of college eligibility with a breakout season at Wisconsin in 2024/25.

In 37 games for the Badgers, Tonje averaged 19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 31.1 minutes per game, posting a shooting line of .465/.388/.909. The 6’5″ shooting guard was a consensus second-team All-American and was named to the All-Big Ten first team.

Using a pick they’d previously acquired from the Clippers, the Jazz selected Tonje with the No. 53 overall pick in June.

Tonje will fill Utah’s lone remaining two-way opening, joining Oscar Tshiebwe and Elijah Harkless as the team’s two-way players. The club now officially has 19 players under contract, two shy of the offseason limit.

P.J. Washington Likely To Reach Extension With Mavericks

August 24th, 2025 at 9:00pm CST by Eli Cohen

After Dallas unexpectedly earned the No. 1 pick and the ability to draft Cooper Flagg this spring, the team’s crowded frontcourt has been a popular topic of speculation. In Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, the recently extended Daniel Gafford, and Dwight Powell, the team has a number of talented big men. Add in Flagg, Naji Marshall and Caleb Martin as forwards who can play the four, and the rotation quickly fills up.

However, P.J. Washington shouldn’t be considered the odd man out, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link). It’s a sentiment shared by general manager Nico Harrison, who has expressed enthusiasm this summer about the idea of Washington and Flagg sharing the floor together.

Washington will become extension-eligible this Friday, two years after he signed his current contract, for a four-year deal worth nearly $90MM, according to Stein, who hears from league sources that the two sides are expected to reach a deal.

Stein notes that the newly-27-year-old Washington has admirers around the league following a productive season-and-a-half in Dallas, including the 2024 Finals run in which he averaged 13.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and hit the clutch free throws that helped the Mavs advance to the Western Conference Finals.

However, due to extend-and-trade restrictions, any extension that includes a first-year raise exceeding 20%, has a subsequent raise exceeding 5%, or adds four new years to his deal would make Washington ineligible to be traded before the 2026 deadline, ensuring he plays out the season in Dallas.

Washington started all but one of his 57 games last year for the Mavs, averaging 14.7 points, a career-high 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks per contest while shooting 38.1% from three.

Cavaliers Among Teams Interested In Malik Beasley

August 24th, 2025 at 11:29am CST by Rory Maher

The Cavaliers are among the teams that have checked in on free agent wing Malik Beasley, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The Knicks are another team interested in Beasley, Scotto adds. Multiple reporters have stated that New York has been monitoring Beasley’s situation.

Beasley is no longer a target of the federal gambling investigation being conducted by the Eastern District of New York, his lawyers recently told Shams Charania of ESPN.

However, as Michael McCann of Sportico details, just because Beasley is no longer considered a “target” of the federal investigation doesn’t necessarily mean he’s fully in the clear. It’s possible he still may still be a “subject” of the investigation, which has a different legal meaning with the Department of Justice.

And even if the 28-year-old is cleared of any type of criminal wrongdoing, that doesn’t necessarily mean he has not broken any NBA rules, McCann writes. The league will have to determine independently whether or not Beasley broke any “contractual, labor and employment obligations.”

The 6’4″ shooting guard is 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 while shooting a career-high 41.6% from long distance and ranking second in the NBA in three-pointers made (319).

Scotto points out that Knicks senior vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas signed Beasley to a lucrative contract while he was running Minnesota’s front office in 2020. Both the Cavaliers and the Knicks have open standard roster spots, but they can only offer Beasley a minimum-salary deal, Scotto notes.

Rockets’ GM Says Bucks Weren’t Willing To Discuss Major Deal

August 23rd, 2025 at 7:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been the target of trade speculation ever since the Bucks were ousted in the first round of the playoffs, but a rival general manager indicated that Milwaukee hasn’t been willing to discuss deals involving the two-time MVP.

Appearing Friday on ESPN Radio’s Houston affiliate (YouTube link, hat tip to Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire), Rockets GM Rafael Stone said he wasn’t able to make any headway on a major deal with the Bucks. League rules preclude Stone from commenting on specific players, but he responded to a question from the hosts about “the big man from Greece in Milwaukee.”

“I deal well with (Bucks general manager) Jon Horst, I really like him,” Stone said. “Jon was very clear that they weren’t doing anything. So that was that.”

Numerous stories have indicated that the Bucks don’t plan to pursue an Antetokounmpo trade unless he requests one. There have been multiple reports this summer that Antetokounmpo is still assessing his future in Milwaukee to determine if he can win a title there, but he hasn’t made any public comments to indicate that he wants out.

Antetokounmpo is currently focused on representing Greece in EuroBasket, which ends a couple weeks before the start of NBA training camps, so it’s probably too late in the offseason for him to ask for a trade. His current contract runs through the 2026/27 season, and he holds a $62.8MM player option for the following year.

Horst has been aggressively maneuvering to keep the Bucks in title contention in an effort to convince Antetokounmpo to stay. With Damian Lillard lost for next season with an Achilles tear, Horst waived and stretched the $112.6MM that Lillard had left on his contract for the next two years, creating enough cap space to sign center Myles Turner away from Indiana.

Horst also added Gary Harris, Jericho Sims and Cole Anthony through free agency and re-signed free agents Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., Ryan Rollins and Taurean Prince.

Bucks Sign Amir Coffey To Training Camp Contract

August 23rd, 2025 at 9:52am CST by Earnest Marshall

August 23: Coffey’s training camp deal with the Bucks is now official, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.

August 14: The Bucks are signing Amir Coffey to a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Eric Nehm of The Athletic clarifies (via Twitter) that it will be a non-guaranteed training camp contract for Coffey.

Coffey went undrafted in 2019 before signing a two-way contract with the Clippers. He stuck around the team for three seasons before being converted to a standard deal in 2022. Coffey spent his entire NBA career up to this point with the Clippers, averaging 6.7 points and 1.9 rebounds while shooting 45.5% from the field and 38.4% from three in 323 career games (67 starts).

He was a key contributor for Los Angeles last season, making 13 starts across 72 games and averaging a career-high 9.7 points per game. His role fluctuated slightly across his Clippers tenure — he played significant minutes and made 30 starts in 2021/22 and had a major role again in ’24/25, but saw less action in ’22/23.

Ultimately, the Clippers opted not to bring him back, leaving him as one of the best available free agents still left on the market in mid-August. The Bucks are taking a swing on the 28-year-old wing by bringing him to camp. His contract will likely include Exhibit 9 language and perhaps Exhibit 10 language too, which would put him in line to receive a bonus if he spends at least 60 days with Milwaukee’s G League affiliate.

The Bucks have a full 15-man roster, and Coffey is ineligible for a two-way contract. However, Andre Jackson Jr.‘s upcoming salary is only guaranteed for $800K, so if Coffey was going to battle his way onto the opening night roster, Jackson would appear to be his direct competition based on the club’s current roster.

Windhorst: Kevin Durant, Rockets Expected To Reach Extension

August 22nd, 2025 at 9:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Rockets and Kevin Durant haven’t yet come to terms on an extension following the Rockets’ trade for the 36-year-old former MVP.

While there has been speculation that Houston is unlikely to offer Durant a full max deal and that the star forward is comfortable heading into the season without a new contract in place, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports that there is a belief that the two sides will, in fact, come to terms on an extension sooner or later.

Windhorst cites a source that confirms the two sides have had discussions about an extension and believes such a deal will materialize, though he reiterates that Durant may need to take a deal less than the max to stay a Rocket long-term.

Durant is still a massively talented player, averaging 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists over 62 games last season while shooting 43% from three and earning his 15th All-Star nod. However, Windhorst writes that rather than seeing Durant as the centerpiece of their team, the Rockets view him as the final puzzle piece meant to turn their already highly talented roster, which secured the No. 2 seed in the West last season, into a true contender.

The Rockets signed Jabari Smith Jr. to a five-year extension and re-upped Fred VanVleet on a one-plus-one deal this summer. They also signed Alperen Sengun to a five-year extension last summer. Meanwhile, Tari Eason is currently extension-eligible, and Amen Thompson will follow suit in 2026. The team will likely need to be deliberate with its spending to avoid crowding its books in a way that makes it prohibitively expensive to keep the core together.

Tony Parker Working Toward NBA Coaching Job

August 22nd, 2025 at 8:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

Tony Parker is hoping to find his way back to the NBA, this time as a coach, writes David Loriot for L’Equipe. This involves enrolling in a coaching course, according to Kevin Martorano of Sportando.

Parker, the 18-year NBA veteran, four-time champion, and 2007 NBA Finals MVP, has been president of the French team ASVEL since 2014. In that time, the team has rostered NBA players such as Guerschon Yabusele and eventual NBA No. 1 overall picks Victor Wembanyama and Zaccharie Risacher.

Now, though, Parker says he wants to step away from his front office position and familiarize himself with the rigors of coaching life.

“My dream is to coach in the NBA,” Parker said in an interview with L’Equipe.

To do so, Parker is working to obtain his DESJEPS degree, or Higher State Diploma of Youth, Popular Education and Sport, along with a secondary degree, the DEPB or Professional Basketball Coach Diploma, which he will likely receive in May 2026.

After Parker was a surprise guest for the ASVEL under-15 team on Thursday, running the team through training, he spoke about what that experience meant to him.

“It confirms what I’ve been feeling since last year: I missed the court,” he said. “The adrenaline, the daily grind, I missed all of that. I think it’s the right timing for me. I’ve been retired from sport for six years and I feel it inside me.”

In the lead-up to this decision, Parker said he spoke with his former coach Gregg Popovich, as well as French sports legends Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, all of whom imparted advice.

“Last October, after my first discussion with Pop, I felt this strong desire. I asked him for advice, the Spurs opened the doors to me in January, February, March, where I was able to observe everything over seven or 10 days,” he said, before adding that Zidane and Henry helped convince him to obtain his coaching degree.

“I don’t need it to coach in the NBA,” Parker said with a smile. “But I said to myself, why not go back to school?”

Parker added that he has been approached by several clubs (presumably NBA teams), but that he preferred to get his diploma, and then to pursue a path that could eventually end with him being the head coach of an NBA team. He also wouldn’t rule out the idea of one day coaching the French national team.

“Everyone knows that I’m friends with [French national team coach Freddy Fauthoux], I love him, he’s my guy! But in the very long term, why not,” Parker mused. “It’s clear that if you embark on this career, one day, you’ll want to coach the French team, that’s for sure. But before that, I have so many things to do.”

Warriors, Spurs Interested in Trey Murphy III

August 22nd, 2025 at 5:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Warriors remain locked in a contract standoff with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga, but that hasn’t kept them from poking around the league for upgrades on the trade market. One name that has come up in their search, writes Jake Fischer for The Stein Line, is Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III.

Fischer says the Warriors approached the Pelicans about Murphy this summer. However, he notes that New Orleans has turned away offers for the recently-turned 25-year-old, who is coming off a breakout year that saw him score 21.2 points per game after averaging 14.6 PPG over the previous two years.

Murphy, who is on a favorable contract (four years, $112MM), is a 6’8″ wing who can shoot (career 38.3% from three), defend at a solid level, and has shown flashes of self-creation. The Warriors have placed a premium on shooting, as illustrated by Fischer’s report that they have refused to consider sign-and-trade offers that would force them to part with either Moses Moody or Buddy Hield, two of the team’s top marksmen outside of Stephen Curry.

Fischer adds another name to the list of potential suitors for Murphy: the Spurs. According to Fischer, San Antonio has also registered trade interest in the athletic wing.

Murphy would be a clean fit with the Spurs, who could use a big wing shooter to complement guards De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, and Stephon Castle – an extremely talented trio that doesn’t feature a reliable outside shooter – as well as versatile forward Jeremy Sochan.

However, all the reasons teams such as the Spurs and Warriors are interested in Murphy’s services are also reasons the Pelicans would be reluctant to part with him. That’s especially true given the uncertainty surrounding Zion Williamson, both in terms of his long-term health and off-court allegations. Murphy, the recently extended Herb Jones, and Jose Alvarado have been on the team longer than anyone outside of Williamson, and Murphy’s game has grown tremendously in that time.