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And-Ones: D. Williams, Cousins, Front Offices, Kuzminskas, More

February 23rd, 2025 at 5:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Former No. 2 overall pick Derrick Williams has signed with the Mets de Guaynabo ahead of the 2025 season, the Puerto Rican team announced this week (via Instagram; hat tip to Sportando).

Williams, who was selected right after Kyrie Irving in the 2011 draft, appeared in 428 NBA games across seven seasons from 2011-18 before spending several years in Europe. The veteran forward, who will turn 34 this May, last suited up for Panathinaikos in Greece during the 2022/23 season.

The Mets de Guaynabo also made another notable roster announcement this week, indicating (via Instagram) that they’ve reacquired the rights to four-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, who last played for the team in 2023.

According to Joseph Reboyras of Primera Hora (Twitter link), former NBA guard J.J. Barea, who is currently the Mets’ head coach, said a few days ago that Cousins’ return isn’t yet a lock. However, the former NBA center, who is now 34, has shown interest in returning to Puerto Rico for the coming season and was scheduled to meet with Barea this week to discuss the possibility.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • In a massive feature article, Sam Quinn of CBS Sports ranks all 30 NBA front offices, from the Thunder at No. 1 to the Bulls at No. 30. Quinn divided teams into 11 separate tiers, with the Celtics (No. 2) and Spurs (No. 3) joining Oklahoma City in the top group, while the Mavericks (No. 27), Suns (No. 28), and the Kings (No. 29) rounded out the bottom tier..
  • Former NBA forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas, who appeared in 69 games for New York from 2016-18, has announced his retirement from the Lithuanian national team and won’t compete in EuroBasket 2025 this offseason, as Eurohoops relays. “I feel that now is the right moment to say thank you and step aside,” Kuzminskas said as part of a larger statement.
  • Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Insider link) takes a look at 15 of the NCAA freshman who have emerged as top prospects for the 2025 NBA draft and poses one key questions for each player, including how high Cooper Flagg‘s offensive ceiling is, whether Kasparas Jakucionis‘ modest athleticism will limit him, and whether Tre Johnson can improve his shot selection.
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And-Ones: Shaq, TNT, MVP Race, All-Star Game, 2025 Draft

February 14th, 2025 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal has reached an agreement on a new long-term deal with TNT Sports that will be worth in excess of $15MM per year, reports Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports.

Although TNT Sports will no longer have the right to broadcast NBA games after the 2024/25 season, the show’s popular Inside the NBA studio show will remain on the air, with the company licensing it to ESPN beginning this fall. O’Neal’s agreement with TNT ensures that he’ll still be part of the show’s panel going forward.

O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith have each reportedly talked to new NBA media rights partners NBC and Amazon, who will begin broadcasting games next season. However, Barkley and O’Neal have deals in place to remain with TNT and the expectation is that Smith will sign a new multiyear contract with the network too, according to McCarthy. As for host Ernie Johnson, he’s considered a “TNT lifer,” McCarthy writes.

We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic earned the top two spots on 99 of 100 ballots submitted by media members to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link) in his latest Most Valuable Player straw poll. Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo claimed a single second-place vote, with Jokic coming in third on that voter’s ballot. However, it’s clearly a two-player MVP race between Gilgeous-Alexander, who received 70 first-place votes and 910 total points, and Jokic, who got 30 and 788, respectively.
  • The NBA and NBPA will speak to this year’s All-Stars this weekend to stress the importance of competing hard in Sunday’s All-Star event for the sake of both fans and the business, league sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter video link). The All-Star game has been a low-intensity affair for years, but the league is hopeful that a new mini-tournament format featuring three shorter games will help address that issue.
  • The 2025 NBA draft class continues to look stronger, according to Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN, who write in an Insider-only story that NBA executives are enthusiastic about the overall depth in the class, not just the potential difference-makers at the top of their boards. The international class also may be better than initially believed, with as many as nine possible first-round picks in that group, Givony and Woo say. The ESPN duo has updated its full mock draft, from Duke freshman Cooper Flagg at No. 1 to South East Melbourne forward Malique Lewis at No. 59.
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And-Ones: MVP Race, Maledon, Flagg, Dybantsa

January 21st, 2025 at 10:40am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s Most Valuable Player race for this season already looks like it’ll be a two-man race, according to Zach Harper of The Athletic, who points to the current betting odds as evidence.

BetOnline.ag currently lists Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the frontrunner at -400, followed relatively closely by Nuggets center Nikola Jokic at +250. After those two, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks is all the way down at +4000, with Celtics forward Jayson Tatum at +5000.

Last season’s MVP Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander were among the three finalists for the award in 2024 alongside Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, who has already missed more than 17 games, taking him out of the running due to the 65-game rule. 2023 MVP Joel Embiid will also fall short of 65 games and has been eliminated from contention.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Tony Parker, the president of ASVEL Basket in France, said during an interview with RMC Sport (YouTube link) that he believes current ASVEL standout Theo Maledon will receive NBA offers in the offseason, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. Maledon, who previously played 177 regular season NBA games for three teams from 2020-24, has averaged 18.0 points and 4.5 assists per game in 22 EuroLeague outings this season, posting a shooting line of .457/.387/.889.
  • Within the same interview, Parker expressed interest in getting ASVEL involved in the NBA’s rumored foray into European basketball, Askounis notes. “When you see what the NBA is doing, they are very strong. Whether it is marketing or the new TV rights contract that will start next year,” Parker said. “We need to be associated with that. I want there to be NBA Europe and for us to be part of it.”
  • Duke standout Cooper Flagg has solidified his place atop the 2025 NBA draft class with his recent play, according to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, who says Flagg’s performance over the past month – 23.4 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 4.6 APG, and a .561/.500/.881 shooting line – is arguably the best stretch for a college freshman since Zion Williamson was a Blue Devil.
  • Meanwhile, Jared Weiss of The Athletic checks in on some of 2026’s best prospects, including A.J. Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer, who were taking part in the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. over the weekend. While Dybantsa wasn’t at his best during the event, Weiss says he spoke to multiple scouts who believe the 6’9″ wing could eventually become the NBA’s second-best player behind Victor Wembanyama.
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And-Ones: Team Canada, DSJ, 2025 Draft, Kendrick

December 21st, 2024 at 9:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

Canadian players are still dealing with the disappointment of not winning a medal at this year’s Summer Olympics, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Featuring a roster loaded with NBA talent, Team Canada had a chance to reach a milestone for the nation’s basketball program. Instead, they left Paris empty-handed with the realization that the next opportunity is four long years away.

“It’s different once it’s over and you realize that you’re not going to be in that position, not have a chance for four more years,” RJ Barrett said. “Like, that’s a rough part about it, especially when we felt like we had a team that had a great mix. I think we had young guys, but not rookies, you know, and we had guys in their prime or close to their prime, and we had some vets that are still at a good stage in their career. We had the experience, and we had the talent, we got we had the coach. We felt like that was our time, but I think experience, and those type of tournaments is huge.”

The Canadians looked like a legitimate threat to capture the gold after going undefeated in pool play against Greece, Australia and Spain, who were all viewed as medal contenders. But their hopes ended quickly with an 82-73 loss to France in the quarterfinal round. Grange notes that Canada was able to control Victor Wembanyama, holding him to seven points on 2-of-10 shooting with Dillon Brooks guarding him for much of the game, but Guerschon Yabusele and Mathias Lessort led the hosts to victory by combining for 35 points.

“Every year, I get a chance to win an NBA championship,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said, “(but it’s only) every four years I get a chance to try to win the Olympics, you know?”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • When Dennis Smith Jr. entered the G League player pool, he was expecting to be claimed by the Spurs‘ affiliate, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer write in a Substack column (subscription required). Instead, he wound up with the Bucks‘ affiliate, making his future in the G League less certain, sources tell The Stein Line. Real Madrid reportedly has interest if Smith wants to play in the EuroLeague.
  • Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey are making an impact at Rutgers, but the NBA executives and draft experts who talked to Adam Zagoria of NJ.com believe Duke’s Cooper Flagg remains very likely to be the top pick in 2025.
  • Frank Kendrick, who was part of a championship team with the Warriors during his only NBA season, died this week at age 74, the team announced (via Twitter). Kendrick also won an NIT title at Purdue and was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.
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And-Ones: NBA Cup, Timma, Trade Candidates, Flagg

December 17th, 2024 at 10:56am CST by Luke Adams

While the NBA Cup figures to be a regular part of the league’s schedule going forward, there will likely still be some tweaks to the format and the schedule in future seasons, according to stories from Joe Vardon of The Athletic and Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

Managing the schedule for both the knockout round games and the extra regular season contests for teams not in Las Vegas is a challenge, but Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault isn’t thrilled that his team will play a road back-to-back set on Thursday and Friday on the East Coast after its Cup final in Vegas on Tuesday, as Vardon relays.

“We’re basically on a six-day West Coast road trip right now, and our next game coming out of this is three time zones away, four-hour flight to Orlando and then a back-to-back against Miami — which if you look that as a road trip, is an unprecedented road trip,” Daigneault said. “The NBA would never schedule that. They would never put a team a on six-day West Coast road trip, and then fly them east for a back-to-back.”

Besides considering potential scheduling tweaks, the league may explore a new location for the final four of the NBA Cup. According to Vardon, Abu Dhabi’s public investment fund has expressed interest in hosting the event, though that would create more significant scheduling issues. Cities like Mexico City, Nashville, Tampa and San Diego have also inquired about hosting, per Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal.

As for for the format, the NBA and Amazon – which will broadcast the NBA Cup knockout round beginning next season – have discussed possible changes, including possibly moving the tournament later in the regular season, says Bontemps.

Sources who spoke to ESPN cautioned that there’s no guarantee the format will look any different next season, but Bontemps suggests expanding the group-play stage from four games to eight is one idea the NBA may explore, since it would increase the odds of the league’s top teams advancing to the knockout round and create more marquee matchups.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Veteran Latvian forward Janis Timma has been found dead in Moscow, according to a report from the Russian news agency TASS (via Eurohoops), who say that authorities believe it was a suicide. Timma was selected by the Grizzlies with the No. 60 pick of the 2013 draft and had his rights traded to the Magic in 2015 but never signed an NBA contract, having spent most of his career competing in European leagues — in addition to playing in Latvia, Russia, Spain, Greece and Turkey, he also had stints in the G League and in Puerto Rico. Timma won Baltic League and Latvian League titles and was named an All-Star a total of five times in Latvia and Russia.
  • Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has published his first “trade board” of the 2024/25 season, identifying 30 of the most notable players who are candidates to be on the move by February 6. Vecenie’s list is headlined by Jimmy Butler, Zach LaVine, and Cameron Johnson and includes three or more players apiece from the Bulls, Nets, Hawks, Trail Blazers, Wizards, and Jazz.
  • Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Insider link) spoke to NBA executives and scouts about Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, exploring his strengths and weaknesses, what makes him a unique prospect, and why he’s the favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft. Andrei Kirilenko, Jayson Tatum, Franz Wagner, Aaron Gordon and Grant Hill are some of the current and former NBA players Woo’s sources referenced as comparables for Flagg.“I don’t think he’s a generational guy — I think that word started getting used too frequently,” one executive said. “(But) when you look back at this draft, if he goes at 1, regardless of if other people end up better, nobody is going to say that was a bad pick.”
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And-Ones: China, 2025 Draft, Doncic, Trade Deadline, Trends

December 6th, 2024 at 11:31am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Nets and Suns will play two preseason games in Macao next October, which marks the first time the NBA is playing in China since 2019, Shams Charania of ESPN reports (Twitter link). The NBA later formally announced the decision (Twitter link).

“Bringing preseason games to Macao will showcase the excitement of the NBA to fans in one of the world’s emerging hubs for sports,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said in the statement. “The Nets and Suns feature an exciting mix of established and rising stars, and we look forward to engaging fans, aspiring players and the local community in Macao through these games and a variety of interactive events, youth development programs and social impact initiatives.”

The partnership is the result of a years-long effort to repair the relationship between the two sides after commissioner Adam Silver and the league didn’t reprimand then-Rockets general manager Daryl Morey after he tweeted support for protests in Hong Kong in 2019, Charania and Brian Windhorst write.

NBA games were then temporarily removed from broadcasts in China and sponsorships were lost. The relationship has been mended largely in part to NBA China’s CEO Michael Ma, according to Charania and Windhorst.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Duke’s Cooper Flagg is still the top-ranked prospect on Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report’s latest mock draft, but Rutgers’ Dylan Harper is beginning to put pressure on him for that top spot. The 18-year-old Harper scored 36 points against Notre Dame and 37 against Alabama. Despite Harper’s strong play, executives have a hard time seeing Flagg being unseated from the pole position, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Insider link). BYU’s Egor Demin and Rutgers’ Ace Bailey are among other players who will push to hear their names called No. 1 overall.
  • While Luka Doncic is obviously primarily focused on the Mavericks‘ current season, he’s still excited that Slovenia qualified for EuroBasket 2025 and is looking forward to the chance to suit up for them, Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal reports. Slovenia is also up to potentially host EuroBasket in 2029. “That would be a dream come true, playing in front of fans in a big tournament at the EuroBasket,” Doncic said.
  • The NBA trade deadline could see reduced action as compared to other recent seasons, due in part to the restrictive CBA but also fewer bad contracts across the league, Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to RealGM). “Teams are a little bit smarter and I just think the intelligence into the game and the way teams are operated and the gameplay is taking some of the stuff fans kind of like — at least some of the older school fans,” Windhorst said.
  • Hornets two-way player Moussa Diabate has played well amid Charlotte’s frontcourt injuries, which is one recent trend worth monitoring, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz. Diabate is averaging just 3.1 points per game, but has grabbed 7.8 rebounds (3.6 of which are offensive boards) per night. The Lakers playing better when LeBron James is off the court and Atlanta owning L.A.’s first-round pick are other trends worth keeping tabs on as the season progresses, Katz notes.
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And-Ones: Harper, Bailey, Demin, Wembanyama, Langford

December 3rd, 2024 at 9:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

It’s a mixed bag for the Rutgers’ freshmen duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey so far this season, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo. While Harper is considered a rising prospect and potential top pick, Bailey heads the list of prospects “who still have a lot to show.” The ESPN duo also identifies Houston’s Joseph Tugler, Duke’s Kon Knueppel and Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis as risers during college basketball’s first month with an eye toward the 2025 draft.

We have more from around the basketball world:

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And-Ones: 2025 Draft, Flagg, All-Star Game, Coaches

November 12th, 2024 at 9:17am CST by Luke Adams

With the NCAA men’s basketball season underway, draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have updated their 2025 NBA mock draft at ESPN.com (Insider link), projecting next June’s top 30 picks based on their own scouting and intel from executives around the league.

There are no surprises at the top of ESPN’s latest mock draft. The projected picks at No. 1 (Cooper Flagg), No. 2 (Ace Bailey), and No. 3 (Dylan Harper) remain unchanged since Givony and Woo published a mock in June, and V.J. Edgecombe and Nolan Traore are still in the top five.

Still, there are some notable risers or fallers elsewhere in the first round. Duke freshman Kon Knueppel (No. 17 in June) is up to No. 6, while Ratiopharm Ulm guard Ben Saraf comes in at No. 13 after not showing up in June’s mock draft. Conversely, Real Madrid wing Hugo Gonzalez has slipped from seventh to 12th, while Miami freshman Jalil Bethea is down to 25th after having placed 13th in June.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • In a separate story for ESPN.com, Baxter Holmes takes a closer look at Flagg’s journey from growing up in a small town in Maine to becoming a Duke Blue Devil and basketball’s top prospect. Holmes’ feature includes several entertaining anecdotes, including one about how a 13-year-old Flagg “dominated” a Boston-area pickup game run by former NBA forward Brian Scalabrine.
  • While commissioner Adam Silver recently acknowledged that the NBA is weighing the idea of using a new format for this season’s All-Star Game, veteran NBA insider Marc Stein (Substack link) says he doesn’t expect the league to opt for a U.S. vs. the World matchup in February. Still, sources tell Stein that format is a possibility that has been discussed within the league office, so it may still be in play for future seasons.
  • Michael Scotto of HoopsHype spent 24 hours this fall behind the scenes with the Pacers‘ coaching staff and shares his takeaways and insights on what a day in the life of an NBA coach looks like.
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And-Ones: Knueppel, Bailey, Jordan Jersey, Cap Projections, G League Deal

November 4th, 2024 at 10:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

While Duke’s Cooper Flagg is expected to be the top pick in next year’s draft, another Duke freshman has scouts excited too, according to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. Kon Knueppel is being compared to Rockets lottery pick Reed Sheppard — a highly skilled player with elite shooting ability who was relatively underrated entering the year.

If Flagg isn’t the top pick, Rutgers’ Ace Bailey is the main candidate to supplant him. Listed at 6’10”, Bailey has shown serious shot-creation ability. Another player who has impressed scouts is Egor Demin, a 6’8″ guard who made a late commitment to BYU.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • A game-worn Michael Jordan jersey from the Bulls‘ 1996/97 season has sold for $4.68MM via Sotheby’s, according to ESPN’s Dan Hajducky. The jersey was worn in at least 17 games during the season. It’s the fourth-most expensive NBA jersey sold by Sotheby’s. Jordan holds the all-time record with his $10.1MM “Last Dance” jersey.
  • The salary cap is projected to go up by $14MM to $154.6MM next season, but that won’t make much of a difference in terms of opening up cap space around the league, according to Spotrac contributor Keith Smith. The Nets and Wizards are the only teams projected to have meaningful cap space next summer.
  • In an NBA G League swap, the Windy City Bulls received the returning player rights to Jordan Hall by sending Chase Audige‘s returning player rights and a 2025 G League second-round pick to the Long Island Nets (Twitter link). Hall, who played nine games with San Antonio during the 2022/23 season, signed with Italy’s GeVi Napoli of the Lega Basket Serie A this summer but was waived last month.
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And-Ones: Harrell, Parity, Projections, Season Previews

October 14th, 2024 at 1:10pm CST by Luke Adams

After reaching a deal in September with the Adelaide 36ers to join the team as a short-term replacement for injured forward Jarell Martin, veteran big man Montrezl Harrell is now in advanced talks with the Australian club to sign a rest-of-season contract that would allow him to stick around after Martin returns, reports Olgun Uluc of ESPN.

According to Uluc, the 36ers and Harrell’s agent have been talking for the past few weeks about a possible full-season deal, and the expectation is that the two sides will get something done. If they do, the 36ers will have to deactivate a local player in order to keep Harrell active.

The NBA’s former Sixth Man of the Year is off to a strong start in Adelaide, averaging a double-double (15.7 points, 10.3 rebounds) during his first five games in Australia’s National Basketball League. While Harrell is interested in returning to the NBA, there’s a sense that’s more likely to happen in February or March after the NBL season ends, Uluc explains.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • When the Celtics won the NBA title in the spring, they became the sixth different team in the last six years to claim a championship. That’s just the second time in league history that has happened, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, who takes a closer look at the current era of NBA parity, exploring why it happened and what it means going forward.
  • John Hollinger of The Athletic previews the season for the seven teams he projects to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, from the Wizards at No. 15 to the Hawks at No. 9. Using his BORD$ formula, Hollinger forecasts just 14 wins for Washington, seven fewer than any other team in the conference. He also has the Pistons moving up to 11th place, with the Raptors claiming the second play-in spot at No. 10.
  • Zach Kram of The Ringer previews the coming season by sharing one defining statistic for all 30 teams, such as 23.4 for the Thunder (the average age of their roster) and 31.2 for the Nuggets (their three-point attempts per game last season, last in the NBA).
  • Tim Bontemps of ESPN identifies 10 individuals who will help define the 2024/25 season, ranging from players like Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns to front office executives such as Calvin Booth of the Nuggets and Mike Dunleavy Jr. of the Warriors. Bontemps’ list also includes a top prospect (Cooper Flagg), an analyst (Charles Barkley), and a head coach (J.J. Redick), among others.
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