Wizards GM Expects Anthony Davis To Return This Season
NBA insider Chris Haynes recently reported that Anthony Davis, who was traded from Dallas to Washington last week, was expected miss the remainder of the 2025/26 campaign to recover from hand and groin injuries. Citing a league source, The Athletic confirmed that the Wizards big man was unlikely to play again this season.
However, general manager Will Dawkins said on Sunday that he anticipates Davis making his Wizards debut this season, though a return timeline won’t be established until the All-Star break (Twitter video link via Bijan Todd of Monumental Sports Network).
“The plan for AD right now is to go back to Dallas and finish his rehab,” Dawkins said. “He has a really good team down there. Our doctors met with them, and our medical staff’s going to go down with him. So we want to keep that good thing going that he has.
“During All-Star break, he takes another visit for a doctor. And that’s a big appointment for us to kind of see where his progress is at. And after that, after (the) All-Star break, he’ll return to D.C. and be here with the team.”
According to David Aldridge and Josh Robbins of The Athletic, Dawkins said the Wizards think Trae Young (another trade acquisition) and Davis will help the team be more competitive next season.
“AD is a special player, a special talent,” Dawkins said. “He, obviously, opens up so much on offense because he demands double teams. He can score in different areas. Defensively, he’s been an anchor, rebounder, rim protector when you have him at the four (and) Alex (Sarr) at the five, protecting the paint. (With) Bilal (Coulibaly), Kyshawn (George), Jamir (Watkins), some of our elite wing defenders out there, we want to be long, we want to be athletic, we want to be able to protect the paint better than we have.”
Dawkins also provided an injury update on Young, per Ian Nicholas Quillen of The Associated Press. The four-time All-Star, who has yet to play for the Wizards after dealing with a right knee sprain and quad contusion with the Hawks, will be reevaluated during the break.
“He’s still working on the court,” Dawkins said. “He started doing 1-on-0, he started doing a little bit of more 2-on-2 type actions. … He’s trending in a positive direction.”
D’Angelo Russell Won’t Report To Wizards, May Be Bought Out
Veteran guard D’Angelo Russell is technically a member of the Wizards after being included in the Anthony Davis trade last week. However, it sounds as though his tenure with the team might end before it even begins.
General manager Will Dawkins said the front office has been in contact with Russell and his agents, but Russell won’t report to the team “as we try to figure out what’s best for him and us and our future,” per Henry J. Brown of SI (Twitter video link).
While he didn’t state it outright, Dawkins’ comments suggest the Wizards may either waive or reach a buyout agreement with Russell, who makes $5.7MM this season and holds a player option worth nearly $6MM for 2026/27.
On Sunday morning, Washington waived Dante Exum, another player included the trade. The injured guard will miss the rest of the season following December knee surgery. Exum was on a minimum-salary contract.
Russell was Dallas’ primary free agent addition last summer. The 29-year-old struggled to make an impact in 26 games (19.0 minutes per contest) with the Mavericks though, averaging 10.2 points, 4.0 assists and 2.3 rebounds on .405/.295/.717 shooting.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 draft, Russell has suited up for the Lakers (two different stints), Nets (ditto), Warriors, Timberwolves and Mavs over the course of his 11 NBA seasons. The one-time All-Star holds career averages of 17.0 PPG, 5.6 APG, 3.3 RPG and 1.0 SPG on .427/.363/.793 shooting in 655 games (29.4 MPG).
Dawkins also discussed Jaden Hardy, the fourth former Mav who was sent to Washington. The fourth-year guard arrived in D.C. on Sunday and was inactive for today’s game. Hardy earns $6MM next season with a $6MM team option for ’27/28.
“Excited to have another young, scoring athlete in the mix with our young guys,” Dawkins said. “We’ll see him play a little bit towards the end of the season.”
NBA Announces Eight Participants For Three-Point Contest
The NBA has announced the eight-player field for the 2026 three-point contest, which will take place on February 14 at 4:00 pm CT (Twitter link).
Here’s the full list of participants:
Devin Booker, Suns- Kon Knueppel, Hornets
- Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers
- Tyrese Maxey, Sixers
- Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers
- Jamal Murray, Nuggets
- Bobby Portis, Bucks
- Norman Powell, Heat
Lillard’s inclusion in the competition is a surprise, as the nine-time All-Star will miss the entire season after tearing his Achilles tendon last April. The 35-year-old guard is a two-time winner of the three-point contest.
Booker is another former three-point contest champion, though he’s only shooting 30.7% from long distance this season, which represents a career low.
No. 4 overall pick Knueppel has a chance to become the first rookie to win the event, per the league. The former Duke standout has connected on 42.8% of his outside looks on high volume (7.8 attempts per game).
Portis is the only big man among the eight competitors. He has also been the most accurate three-point shooter in the field this season, converting 45.1% of his 4.3 attempts per game.
First-time All-Stars Murray (43.2% on 7.5 attempts per game) and Powell (39.3% on 7.2 attempts) are having strong seasons for their respective clubs. Mitchell (37.9% on 9.7 attempts) and Maxey (38.2% on 8.8 attempts) are the highest-volume three-point shooters in the field and are also the top two scorers.
Last year’s winner, Tyler Herro, is currently sidelined because of a rib injury. He declined an invitation to focus on his health over the All-Star break.
Jayson Tatum Begins 5-On-5 Work, Still No Return Timeline
In an appearance on NBA Countdown (Twitter video link), ESPN’s Shams Charania provided an injury update on Celtics star Jayson Tatum ahead of Sunday’s game vs. New York. Tatum is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon he suffered in May during the 2025 playoffs.
“Jayson Tatum has started controlled 5-on-5 scrimmaging with coaches,” Charania said. “He has aggressively attacked his rehab at every turn. There’s more boxes for Jayson Tatum to check. There’s more phases in his rehab, he’s got to practice with the team.”
As Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets, the next step for Tatum will likely be scrimmaging against Boston’s end-of-bench reserves, since full in-season practices are rare.
Tatum said at the end of January that he was undecided on whether or not he’ll attempt to return to action this season. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens recently said the five-time All-NBA forward will only play once he’s been cleared by the involved parties.
“The best time for Jayson Tatum to come back is when he’s 110 percent healthy, he’s fully cleared by everybody that matters in that decision, and he’s got great peace of mind and he’s ready to do it. That’s it,” Stevens said. “That’s the objective, and that’s what we’re going to stick with.”
Charania reiterated what Stevens said on Sunday.
“Jayson Tatum has made clear to the people around him … that he wants to come back as close to Jayson Tatum … as possible. Not a shell of himself, not a lesser percentage of himself,” Charania said.
Alperen Sengun Named To Second Straight All-Star Game
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has named Rockets center Alperen Sengun as an injury replacement for the 2026 All-Star game, the league announced today (via Twitter).
Sengun will replace Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Team World. The reigning MVP is dealing with an abdominal strain that will sideline him through the All-Star break.
It’s the second straight All-Star appearance for Sengun, who is in his fifth NBA season. The Turkish big man has made 44 appearances thus far in 2025/26, averaging 20.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 block in 34.0 minutes per game, with a shooting slash line of .496/.298/.693.
The All-Star game is technically a mini-tournament this year, not an individual game. Three teams will play each other once apiece in 12-minute games, with the top two teams from round-robin play advancing to the championship.
The full list of all the 2026 All-Stars and the teams they’re on can be found here. J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons), Mitch Johnson (Spurs) and Darko Rajakovic (Raptors) will coach the three teams.
Warriors, Nuggets Eyeing Lonzo Ball
3:00 pm: Multiple teams have requested access to review Ball’s medical records, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Pending review of said records, Ball is likely to land with Golden State, according to Fischer, who confirms the Nuggets expressed interest in Ball too (Twitter link)
12:55 pm: In addition to working to convert Pat Spencer from a two-way deal to a standard contract, the Warriors are also interested in signing Lonzo Ball, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (via Twitter).
Fischer’s Stein Line colleague Marc Stein hears Ball is expected to land in the Western Conference (Twitter link). Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints confirms Golden State is interested in Ball, and says the Nuggets are a “serious suitor” for the 28-year-old guard as well (Twitter link).
Both the Warriors (13) and Nuggets (13) have two openings on their 15-man standard rosters and will need to get back up to 14 within two weeks.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, Ball has dealt with a variety of health issues over the course of his career, most notably a left knee injury which caused him to undergo three surgeries and to miss two-and-a-half seasons. The 6’5″ guard spent the first several months of 2025/26 with the Cavaliers, who traded him (and two second-round picks) to the Jazz in a salary-dump move prior to Thursday’s deadline.
Ball was cut by Utah on Thursday after the deal was completed, making him an unrestricted free agent as soon as he clears waivers.
Ball, whom Cleveland acquired last summer in a trade that sent Isaac Okoro to Chicago, struggled mightily with his shot in his lone season with the Cavs, averaging a career-low 4.6 points on a career-worst .301/.272/.667 shooting line in 20.8 minutes per game across 35 appearances. He also chipped in 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Those shooting splits are somewhat misleading, as nearly 84% of Ball’s field goal attempts have been three-pointers, but obviously 27.2% is a poor mark from beyond the arc and well below his career rate (35.5%).
As for Spencer, the 6’2″ point guard reached his 50-game active limit in Thursday’s comeback win at Phoenix. He certainly made a strong case for a promotion in that victory, recording a team-high 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in 32 minutes with Stephen Curry sidelined due to a knee injury.
Overall, the 29-year-old has averaged 5.8 PPG, 2.9 APG and 2.2 RPG on .423/.431/.833 shooting in 36 games (14.4 MPG).
NBA Announces Competitors For Slam Dunk, Shooting Stars All-Star Events
The Spurs‘ Carter Bryant, the Lakers‘ Jaxson Hayes, the Heat‘s Keshad Johnson and the Magic‘s Jase Richardson have been named the participants in the All-Star Slam Dunk competition, the league announced in a press release. It will be held next Saturday at the Clippers’ new Intuit Dome.
All four players will be making their event debuts. Richardson, a rookie guard, does have a familial connection with the contest. He is the son of two-time Slam Dunk champion Jason Richardson (2002 and 2003).
The league also announced the teams for the Shooting Stars competition on Saturday. Four teams of three – each featuring two NBA players and one NBA legend – will compete in the event.
- Team All-Star: Raptors star Scottie Barnes and Thunder big man Chet Holmgren will be joined by three-time All-Star Richard Hamilton.
- Team Cameron: Three Duke University alums will team up, with Hawks All-Star Jalen Johnson and Hornets star rookie Kon Knueppel being joined by former 14-year NBA veteran Corey Maggette.
- Team Harper: Five-time NBA champion Ron Harper Sr. pairs up with his sons, Spurs guard Dylan Harper and Celtics swingman Ron Harper Jr.
- Team Knicks: Knicks teammates and All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns will team up with Allan Houston, who made two NBA All-Star teams and is now a member of New York’s front office.
The Shooting Stars will feature a two-round format, with all four teams competing in the first round and the top two advancing to the final round.
Teams will compete one at a time and have 70 seconds to score points while rotating through seven designated shooting locations around the court, with all three players on a team shooting at each spot in a set order. The team with the higher score in the final round will be crowned the champion.
Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert Calls Out Teammates For Lack Of Effort
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert called out his teammates’ lack of effort following a 119-115 home loss to the floundering Pelicans on Friday.
“At some point, if the players don’t have accountability, someone has to have accountability for the players,” Gobert said, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “I’m on straight effort. I’m just talking straight effort. I’m not even getting to the basketball side of things, like there’s always mistakes are a part of the game, but the effort to me for a team that wants to play for a championship, it’s unacceptable.”
The four-time Defensive Player of the Year didn’t mention any player in particular. However, Krawczynski noted that while the team’s other stars — Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle — scored a combined 59 points, they didn’t appear locked in on the other end of the floor.
Gobert implored the coaches to bench players if they’re not giving their all.
“It should start with ourselves, but it seems like we don’t have that, so I think at some point (it has to come) from the coaches,” Gobert said. “It’s not an easy position for a coach to take guys out of the game. It’s not something that you want to do, but I think if the players don’t show any effort, at some point, no matter how talented we are as a team, if you don’t have that, you just can’t be a winning team.”
Minnesota has lost eight of its last 15 games, ranking 18th in the league defensively during that span. Gobert didn’t give himself a free pass after Pelicans forward Zion Williamson powered for 29 points, mostly near the rim.
“It starts with me. If I’m not showing effort, bench me,” Gobert said. “Take me out of the game. Everybody else will follow. Our best players, leaders, if we don’t show any effort, it doesn’t matter if you score 50, we’re not going to win.”
At 32-21, the Timberwolves sit in sixth place of the Western Conference standings, barely above the play-in line.
“We want to be a championship team. We want to lift that trophy in June,” Gobert said. “This is a lesson that we need to get right now. It starts at the top.”
Bulls, Hornets Amend Coby White Trade
The Bulls and Hornets have amended the terms of the trade that sent Coby White to Charlotte after a physical revealed the seventh-year guard had a left calf injury, which will require him to miss some games, league sources tell Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).
On the NBA’s official injury report, White is listed as out due to a left calf strain.
White, who turns 26 years old later this month, had played in 11 of Chicago’s last 12 games before being traded to Charlotte, but Hornets president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson suggested White would likely be held out through the All-Star break because of his calf injury.
The Hornets originally agreed to send three second-round picks — the Nuggets’ or Hornets’ 2029 selection (whichever was least favorable), the Nuggets’ 2031 pick, and the Knicks’ 2031 second — to the Bulls in the deal. According to Katz, the Hornets will retain that 2029 pick and will send Chicago the two second-rounders in 2031.
The full deal saw White and Mike Conley head to Charlotte for Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng and the pair of 2031 second-round picks. Conley was subsequently waived by the Hornets and intends to rejoin the Timberwolves, while the Bulls rerouted Dieng to the Bucks for Nick Richards.
Although this is the first trade of 2025/26 in which the terms were altered due to a player’s health, it’s certainly not unprecedented. For instance, the Sixers added a second-round pick to last year’s Quentin Grimes–Caleb Martin swap when the Mavericks flagged Martin’s hip injury.
The Lakers also rescinded their deal with the Hornets last February after failing Mark Williams‘ physical, though a voided trade is obviously different than the terms being changed. After the trade deadline has passed, a trade can only be voided or accepted as is — the Hornets and Bulls agreed to amend the terms of the White deal prior to Thursday’s deadline, even though the change wasn’t reported until now.
A North Carolina native who played his college ball at UNC, White has battled calf issues on both legs this season. The impending free agent has averaged 18.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds on .438/.346/.805 shooting through 29 games in ’25/26 (29.1 minutes per contest).
Mitchell: Cavs’ ‘Ceiling Is Higher’ With Harden
While several players with All-Star appearances on their NBA résumés were traded this week, only one former Most Valuable Player changed teams: James Harden.
Of the highest-impact players who were on the move this week, Harden was also the only one who was dealt to a team with title aspirations this season — Jaren Jackson Jr., Anthony Davis, and Ivica Zubac all ended up on lottery-bound clubs looking ahead to 2026/27, but the Cavaliers believe Harden will give them a better chance to contend right now.
The Cavs had their first conversation about a Harden trade six weeks ago, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link). That lines up with the timeline provided by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, who says the Clippers began receiving calls about Harden, Zubac, Kawhi Leonard around the time they fell to 6-21 on December 18.
At the same time, Shelburne writes, Harden’s representatives began to assess the market in the hopes of getting ahead of potential trade discussions and getting a better sense of which teams might be interested in him. According to Shelburne, a reunion with the Rockets – whose starting point guard Fred VanVleet is out with a torn ACL – was an idea that intrigued Harden, but Houston didn’t reciprocate his interest.
Cleveland, on the other hand, did show interest in Harden, viewing him as the sort of player who could get the most out of big men Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen while sharing the ball-handling responsibilities with Donovan Mitchell, per Shelburne. Darius Garland had been that player sharing the backcourt workload with Mitchell in recent years, but he has been plagued by toe issues over the past year.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman strongly denied rumors that the team was frustrated by Garland’s durability and injury prevention, referring to that reporting as “BS,” per Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Still Garland’s inconsistent availability this season has been an issue for a team very much in win-now mode.
According to reports from Tony Jones of The Athletic and Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required), Harden and Mitchell spoke at length on the phone on Tuesday night, a day before the Clippers and Cavaliers reached an agreement on a trade sending Garland and a second-round pick to Los Angeles for Harden. That conversation helped convince the two star guards that they wanted to team up and that they believe in the Cavs’ championship upside.
“We both know that it’s going to be an adjustment,” Mitchell told Jones. “But, we’re excited. I’m excited about what he can do for me as a player, and I’m excited about what he can do for our team as a whole. We want the same thing. We both want a championship. So, at the end of the day, we’re shooting for the same goals, and we have to go about trying to win at a high level.”
Mitchell went on to acknowledge that he’s going to have to “figure out how to play without the ball a little bit,” but he pointed out that he’s done that before and indicated he’s confident he can do it again. According to the six-time All-Star, both he and Harden are willing to do what it takes to maximize Cleveland’s potential for a title.
“Our ceiling is higher,” Mitchell told Fedor. “We all know what he brings. But with that, there is an expectation of what we have to do. We weren’t able to get it done for the past three years and now the goal is to try to get it done. This is the time. Gotta go out and do it.”
Asked about how he intends to utilize the Harden/Mitchell duo in his new-look backcourt, head coach Kenny Atkinson suggested he’s not worried about the fit, according to Fedor.
“Great players fit together,” Atkinson said. “Usually, it’s rare that that doesn’t work. So now it’s up to us as coaches and collaborating with Donovan and James on what that looks like, how that looks, what do the rotations look like, how we stagger them, how we play when each is alone on the court, how we play when they’re together. That’s all things to figure out.
“But usually when you have such talented players and I can’t emphasize this enough, high-IQ players, it makes it a heck of a lot easier for the coaching staff to figure out. I think with the great ones, you step back and let them be themselves.”