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NBA Announces Player Pool For 2025 Rising Stars Event

January 28th, 2025 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially revealed the 10 rookies, 11 sophomores, and seven G League players who have been selected to take part in the 2025 Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend in San Francisco next month.

The following players made the cut, as voted on by NBA assistant coaches (rookies and sophomores) and selected by the league office (G Leaguers):

Rookies

Sophomores

G League Players

* Note: Players marked with asterisks are on standard or two-way contracts with NBA teams.

As usual, the Rising Stars event will consist of four teams and three games. The seven G League players will comprise one team, while the other 21 players will be drafted to three squads on February 4.

The four teams will be split into two first-round matchups and the winners of those two games will face one another for the Rising Stars championship. The two semifinals will be played to a target score of 40 points, while the final will be played to a target score of 25 points.

All three contests will take place on Friday, February 14 as part of All-Star weekend’s opening night. The winning team will compete on Sunday in a similar four-team tournament, with the three other rosters made up of NBA All-Stars.

A handful of injury replacements will be necessary, with McCain, Lively, and Brandon Miller among the players who won’t be available to suit up. Additionally, since players selected as All-Stars won’t play in the Rising Stars event, Wembanyama will almost certainly need to be replaced.

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Lakers Notes: Vincent, Finney-Smith, Vanderbilt, Wildfire

January 8th, 2025 at 9:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Even though the Lakers lost by 21 points at Dallas Tuesday night, the return of Gabe Vincent provided some good news, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Vincent sat out the previous four games with a strained left oblique he suffered December 28. He went scoreless in 24 minutes, but coach J.J. Redick was happy to have Vincent back on the court.

“Have missed his toughness first of all,” Redick told reporters before the game. “He’s someone that has, as the season (goes on), it seems like he’s got increasingly tougher on the defensive end. His screening takes care of the basketball. Another handler. And then he’s shot the ball really well for a sustained stretch starting with that Utah game (on December 1) when he was in the starting lineup. So we’ve missed him. He’s a pro. It’d be good to get a look at the group with him back.”

Price notes that before the injury, Vincent had been playing his best basketball since joining the Lakers in the summer of 2023. He averaged 7.3 points on 43.9% shooting in his previous 11 games.

Shake Milton replaced Vincent while he was sidelined, and Price points out that L.A.’s rotation is the healthiest it has been since acquiring Milton and Dorian Finney-Smith in a December 29 trade with Brooklyn.

There’s more on the Lakers:

  • Finney-Smith has only played five games since the deal, but he’s noticed that the Lakers aren’t communicating enough on defense, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. They gave up 119 and 118 points in two road games this week. “We got to do a better job of talking behind guys, giving them confidence so defenders can crawl up in ball handlers and force them to the rim,” Finney-Smith said. “And we got (Anthony Davis) down there, so we got to use it.”
  • Mismatches have been a problem for the Lakers on defense, as Dallas repeatedly targeted Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht with isolations, observes Johan Buha of The Athletic. The recent return of backup center Jaxson Hayes was supposed to provide another rim protector, but Buha states that Hayes hasn’t been good in that role since he was cleared to play. Jarred Vanderbilt will be reevaluated in a week and Christian Wood is expected to be back soon, but they might not make an impact right away. Redick said Tuesday that Vanderbilt will be eased back into the rotation, probably starting at around 10 minutes per game.
  • Redick said his family was among the many who had to evacuate Tuesday night due to a wildfire that swept through Southern California, per Stefan Stevenson of The Associated Press. The NBA released a statement regarding the status of Thursday’s scheduled game against Charlotte at Crypto.com Arena, relays Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). “We are in communication with the Lakers and Hornets and continue to closely monitor the situation to determine if any scheduling adjustments are necessary related to tomorrow night’s game,” league spokesman Mike Bass said.
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Trade Rumors: Collins, Hachimura, Knecht, Johnson, Kings, Nets

January 7th, 2025 at 1:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Big man John Collins is having a strong season for the Jazz, averaging 17.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, with career highs in assists (2.5) and steals (1.1) per game, as well as three-point percentage (43.8%).

While Collins’ contract – which includes a $26.58MM salary this season and a 2025/26 player option worth the same amount, will limit his value on the trade market, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) hears the 27-year-old has drawing interest from several teams.

However, the Suns aren’t one of those clubs — there have been no talks between Phoenix and Utah about Collins, Gambadoro reports. That’s not a surprise, given Phoenix’s apron-related constraints.

Here are a few more trade-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:

  • Rival executives have told Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report that the Lakers have shown no interest thus far in discussing deals that would involve forwards Rui Hachimura and/or Dalton Knecht. That lines up with reporting from Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who suggested last month that the team viewed Knecht as a long-term keeper and wouldn’t be eager to part with Hachimura.
  • Within the last few weeks, the Lakers, Grizzlies, Kings, Thunder, and Pacers are among the teams that have been mentioned as potential suitors for Nets forward Cameron Johnson. According to Net Income and Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily, one well-placed source said that much of what’s been written about Johnson recently is “completely incorrect.” However, that source didn’t offer any further specifics, per NetsDaily’s duo, who note that there’s plenty of time for the situation to develop before the February 6 trade deadline. NetsDaily also hears from sources that Sacramento has been willing to offer at least one first-round pick for Johnson, but Brooklyn is seeking a more significant return.
  • In a separate story, NetsDaily stresses that the Nets continue to focus on maximizing their cap room for 2025 and aren’t interested in taking on multiyear money in trades. That means, for instance, if the Kings wanted to make a Johnson trade that included Kevin Huerter (who has an $18MM guaranteed salary for 2025/26), it would likely require a third team.
  • In a pair of ESPN articles for subscribers, Brian Windhorst examines the biggest roster holes for 15 potential contenders and explores the odds of each of those clubs making a significant trade, while Bobby Marks and Kevin Pelton identify one trade candidate to watch from all 30 NBA teams.
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Lakers Rumors: Trade Targets, LeBron, Davis, Bronny, Hachimura

December 17th, 2024 at 12:12pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers are expected to be one of the most active buyers on the trade market during the 2024/25 season, though it remains unclear how much of their available draft capital they’re willing to move and how significant a deal they’ll make, says Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

As Buha notes, the Lakers were also considered likely to buy last season, but ultimately stood pat at the February trade deadline, choosing not to surrender a first-round pick. However, there’s hope that Golden State’s deal for Dennis Schröder (which saw the Warriors give up three second-round picks and get one back) may be a signal that teams’ asking prices for useful role players will be more modest this time around.

The Lakers are believed to be in the market for three kinds of players, according to Buha: a “physical, defensive-minded” center, a three-and-D wing, and an athletic guard with some size who can defend at the point of attack. As Buha writes, players the Lakers have been linked to in the past, including Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas and Nets wings Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith, are among the targets who would make sense at this season’s deadline.

Jazz guard Collin Sexton and center Walker Kessler, Raptors swingman Bruce Brown, Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant and center Robert Williams, and Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma are some of the other potential players of interest who have come up in Buha’s conversations with team and league sources. However, the Lakers aren’t expected to be in on former All-Stars like Jimmy Butler, Zach LaVine, and Brandon Ingram, Buha adds.

Here’s more on the Lakers and their approach to the trade deadline:

  • Unsurprisingly, the Lakers aren’t considering trading LeBron James and Anthony Davis and almost certainly wouldn’t do so unless they asked to be dealt, sources tell Buha. Other players unlikely to be moved include Austin Reaves, Max Christie, and Dalton Knecht, who are viewed as potential long-term pieces.
  • While Bronny James isn’t untouchable, he’s not expected to be included in a trade that doesn’t involve his father, sources tell The Athletic.
  • One or more of the Lakers’ four mid-sized contracts – D’Angelo Russell ($18.69MM cap hit), Rui Hachimura ($17MM), Gabe Vincent ($11MM), Jarred Vanderbilt ($10.71MM) – figures to be included in any deal of note this season. Of those players, Hachimura looks like the one the Lakers would least want to move, Buha writes, though the forward would probably also have the most trade value of the four. Russell hasn’t drawn significant interest from potential suitors during previous discussions, Vincent has dealt with injuries and has struggled offensively since joining the Lakers, and Vanderbilt has yet to make his season debut as he recovers from offseason surgeries on both feet.
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Lakers Notes: James, Vincent, Russell, Jackson, Knecht

December 2nd, 2024 at 8:14pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers notched a one-point win over Utah and it was an old-school game of sorts for LeBron James. His usage rate is down noticeably this season but coach JJ Redick put the ball in his hands regularly in the second half and he attempted 14 fourth-quarter shots.

“We really slowed things down in the second half and tried to get the matchup we wanted for LeBron to just handle in that pick-and-roll,” Redick said, per Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “And truthfully, that was the best offense we were going to generate. So whether we missed or made it, we just kept going to that. I thought we got some clean looks that could have given us a little bit more of a cushion. But I liked our execution offensively.”

We have more on the Lakers:

  • Gabe Vincent, thrust into the lineup on Sunday due to the absence of Austin Reaves (left pelvic contusion), scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. It was Vincent’s first double-digit scoring outing in his 30 regular-season games as a Laker, Khobi Price of the Orange County Register notes. Vincent joined the Lakers as a free agent on a three-year, $33MM contract prior to last season.
  • Vincent’s stint as a starter didn’t last long. D’Angelo Russell replaced him in the lineup against Minnesota on Monday, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets.
  • Los Angeles will likely look to include Vincent as a salary filler with draft pick compensation in trade talks, Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype reports. The Lakers could potentially dangle Vincent and future second-round picks in a deal for Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas, a coveted Lakers target, Scotto adds.
  • The Lakers announced last month that they’ve commissioned a statue of former coach and player Pat Riley on their Star Plaza. It’s expected to be a prelude to an eventual announcement about a statue for another former coach, Phil Jackson, Marc Stein reports in a Substack article.  Riley coached the Lakers to four championships in the 1980s, while Jackson coached the Lakers to five.
  • The Lakers have been searching for years to find a dead-eye shooter to complement James. They may have finally found that player in rookie wing Dalton Knecht. “We, as a front office, have sort of chased in theory the exact player he is, a movement shooter,” Lakers vice president of basketball operations and GM Rob Pelinka told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “And then not only is he a movement shooter, but a movement shooter with athleticism, which is a really unique combination.”
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Pacific Notes: Kawhi, Lakers, Crowder, Beal, Nurkic

November 30th, 2024 at 11:37am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard is “progressing well” in his recovery from the right knee issue that has sidelined him this fall and postponed his season debut, head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters on Friday (Twitter video link via Law Murray of The Athletic).

“He’s been able to get on the court and do some things on the court, which is good for us,” Lue said. “Just still checking every box, making sure he’s doing the right things and his workouts are really good. Making sure we don’t let it get to the next step until he checks those boxes. Our medical staff has done a great job with that, making sure that we make sure he’s 100% when he comes back.”

Following Paul George‘s departure in free agency and without Leonard available to open the season, the Clippers weren’t viewed as a serious contender in the Western Conference entering this season.

However, they’ve held their own in Kawhi’s absence, posting a 12-9 record through the first quarter of the season, good for eighth in a competitive Western Conference. Lue said on Friday that Leonard is “very excited” about what he’s seen from the team so far and is looking forward to helping out when he returns. Still, there’s no set timeline for when that will happen.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • When they replaced D’Angelo Russell with Cam Reddish in their starting lineup earlier this season, the Lakers were making an effort to solidify their defense. Their most recent lineup tweak – elevating rookie Dalton Knecht and moving Reddish back to the second unit – suggests they’re leaning more into their greatest strength, their offensive firepower, says Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Before being held to a season-low 93 points on Friday against the NBA’s No. 1 defense (Oklahoma City), the Lakers had the league’s fourth-best offensive rating (116.3).
  • James Ham of The Kings Beat takes a closer look at what newly added forward Jae Crowder brings to the table for the Kings, pointing out that the 34-year-old is the kind of defensive-minded veteran that head coach Mike Brown likes to rely on. Crowder figures to move from the starting five to the bench once DeMar DeRozan is healthy, but he’ll likely still get regular minutes, Ham writes.
  • Suns guard Bradley Beal appears to have avoided a major setback after exiting Wednesday’s game early due to calf and ankle soreness. As Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter links) relays, Beal (left calf injury management) and Jusuf Nurkic (right quad contusion) are both officially listed as questionable for Saturday’s game vs. Golden State, though head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters on Friday that he viewed them as probable to play.
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Pacific Notes: Crowder, Beal, Podziemski, Knecht, Reddish

November 28th, 2024 at 10:50am CST by Dana Gauruder

Jae Crowder went from being out of the league at the beginning of the week to starting for the Kings on Wednesday. After signing with the team earlier in the day, Crowder was immediately inserted into the lineup. The veteran forward played 27 minutes and contributed eight points, four rebounds and a steal as Sacramento defeated Minnesota to snap a four-game losing streak.

“He knows what it takes to win,” coach Mike Brown told Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee. “Not only that, he’s a grown a– man, and he can guard fours, he can guard fives. If somebody gets going that’s in that realm, he ain’t going to back down. He’s going to fight that much harder. You saw it tonight. You’re not going to stop Julius Randle, but you got to fight him.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • Bradley Beal had another injury setback on Wednesday. The Suns wing left their game midway through the fourth quarter with left calf and ankle soreness. Beal was playing just his second game since a five-game absence due to a calf strain. “He had a couple different times where he stepped on somebody’s foot,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said, per David Brandt of The Associated Press. “We’ll hope for the best, but I have no update right now.”
  • Warriors second-year guard Brandin Podziemski has been seeking guidance from mental coach Dr. Graig Chow, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Podziemski has been battling a shooting slump, resulting in reduced playing time. He has shown signs of coming out of his funk, including a 12-point, five-assist performance against Oklahoma City on Wednesday. “I think I’ve let the mental piece of it get to me a little bit,” Podziemski said. “Early on, when I was struggling, the first five, 10 games, I thought it was more physical. Like maybe I wasn’t putting enough into it. But everybody around here knows I’m one of, if not, the hardest workers and I put a lot into it. So I just thought outside the box. ‘Mentally, how can I get to where I want to get to?’ … And Dr. (Chow) has helped, obviously, a lot of people around here. And it doesn’t hurt to try and ask him. So he helped me give me a lot of different things that help me be my authentic self.”
  • Lakers coach JJ Redick tweaked his lineup on Wednesday, reinserting rookie Dalton Knecht and moving Cam Reddish to the bench. Knecht scored a game-high 20 points as Los Angeles cruised past San Antonio to end a two-game slide. “I’m very proud of our group,” Redick said, per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. “The response was great. And it’s funny because it’s literally what I talked about with them before the game. It’s just you got to let go of the past. You got to let go of the recent past and you got to get on to the next thing. And like they’ve done already on several occasions, they’ve responded.”
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Western Notes: Jokic, Hachimura, R. Williams, Warriors

November 22nd, 2024 at 7:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets got some very good news ahead of Friday night’s showdown vs. the defending Western champion Mavericks, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who says three-time MVP Nikola Jokic has rejoined the team and will be active on Friday against Dallas.

Jokic had missed Denver’s past three contests, having been listed as out for personal reasons. As Charania details, the superstar center and his wife welcomed a newborn son on Thursday night.

We have more from around the Western Conference:

  • Lakers forward Rui Hachimura is off the injury report and appears set to return on Saturday vs. Denver after missing four games due to a left ankle sprain, tweets Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. Rookie Dalton Knecht has thrived in the starting lineup over the past few games, but a new starting five featuring Hachimura won three games in a row prior to his injury. “My expectation is that Rui would stay in the starting lineup,” head coach J.J. Redick said, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. “He’s been awesome for us and I think for the group. … Whatever designation Dalton has, whether he’s coming off of the bench or as a starter, I don’t think his role changes at all. And I think for him mentally, there’s no effect to that. He’s just going to be the same guy. We have to, as a coaching staff, we have to be cognizant about getting him longer stretches on the court.”
  • In his first five games for the Trail Blazers this season, Robert Williams has provided a reminder of why he’s so valuable when healthy, averaging a career-high 10.8 points per game on 79.3% shooting while also contributing 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 1.2 steals in just 20.6 minutes per night off the bench. Williams, one of just two Blazers with a positive net rating, has long been viewed as a potential trade chip for Portland, but Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link) wonders if there may actually be a stronger argument for the team keeping the big man, given how well he has fit. For what it’s worth, Bill Oram of The Oregonian (Twitter link) is strongly in favor of making Williams a trade chip, arguing it would be an “egregious dereliction of duty” not to move him.
  • With 13 players averaging between 11 and 30 minutes per game, the Warriors‘ approach to their rotation so far this season has been unprecedented, as Howard Beck of The Ringer writes. Even with De’Anthony Melton out for the season, head coach Steve Kerr is in position to deploy a 12-man rotation when everyone’s healthy, prompting Beck to explore whether that plan is sustainable and what Golden State’s ceiling might be.
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L.A. Notes: Bamba, Clippers, Knecht, Vanderbilt

November 20th, 2024 at 11:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Clippers reserve center Mohamed Bamba is excited about his first two healthy bouts of the 2024/25 season, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Those games were also his first two with L.A. after the former lottery pick inked a one-year minimum deal this summer.

Bamba’s first outing for the Clippers on Sunday was fairly strong. In a win against Utah, Bamba played for 15 minutes, scoring nine points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor and one made free throw, while also chipping in eight boards.

“It was really good,” Bamba said regarding the game. “I told myself out there today it wasn’t going to be a matter of making shots or scoring. It was going to be just trying to get extra possessions and things of that nature.”

Bamba scored three points in his encore performance on Monday. The big man missed the first month of the season with a chronic knee injury. He played through the ailment during his 2023/24 run with the Sixers, but the Clippers opted instead to sideline him for a month.

“It was annoying but it’s not one specific injury,” Bamba said. “I kept getting this pocket of fluid in my knee and it was frustrating because we couldn’t figure out why it was happening. Now, though, we have a plan to manage it moving forward.”

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

  • In a crowded West, the Clippers are seeking to thread the needle of competing while also developing their young players, according to Law Murray of The Athletic. L.A. is currently 8-7 on the year, and in the midst of a game on Wednesday. With All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard hurt indefinitely, Murray notes that fans are wondering why the Clippers are still leaning so heavily on veteran guards James Harden and Norman Powell, both on the wrong side of 30, and not giving opportunities to intriguing youngsters Jordan Miller, Kobe Brown, and Bones Hyland.
  • Lakers head coach JJ Redick has indicated that rookie wing Dalton Knecht has earned legitimate rotation minutes going forward – as well as the trust of coaches and teammates – thanks to his recent scoring output, per The Athletic’s Jovan Buha (Twitter link). Through his first 14 games, the Tennessee alum is averaging 11.3 points per contest on .523/.464/.923 shooting splits. With forward Rui Hachimura hurt, Knecht has started Los Angeles’ last three games. Across those starts, he averaged 26.0 PPG on .636/.615/.857 shooting.
  • Lakers reserve forward Jarred Vanderbilt‘s recovery from surgery on both feet in May has been slower than Los Angeles had anticipated it would be, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. The 6’8″ vet is expected to keep rehabilitating for at least two more weeks, at which time his progress will be reassessed. Price notes that Vanderbilt hasn’t played for L.A. since incurring a right mid-foot injury in February. The 25-year-old is in just the first season of a four-year, $48MM extension deal he inked during the 2023 offseason.
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Pacific Notes: Ishbia, Durant, Ellis, James, Knecht

November 19th, 2024 at 8:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns owner Mat Ishbia told ESPN’s Shams Charania (video link) that he anticipates his team will be able to lock up Kevin Durant beyond his current contract, which expires in 2026.

“We expect Kevin to sign an extension and be with us for the long-term,” Ishbia said. “We hope he finishes his career here in Phoenix. That’s what we expect.”

Durant, 36, is currently sidelined by a left calf strain, but was averaging 27.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game prior to the injury. Durant has a $57.4MM salary next season, the final year of his current contract. He declined to sign a one-year extension before the regular season but can sign a two-year deal during the 2025 offseason.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • Keon Ellis came off the bench and scored a career-high 33 points in a controversial one-point loss to Atlanta on Monday. The Kings guard made nine 3-pointers for shorthanded Sacramento. “The way he shot the ball tonight was definitely incredible and kept us in the game,” De’Aaron Fox told Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “He had big moments for us, and then getting to the line down the stretch, he was big for us.”
  • LeBron James‘ increased play-making is one of five takeaways from the Lakers’ current five-game winning streak that Jovan Buha of The Athletic details. James is averaging 9.2 assists per game, the second-highest mark of his career. Another of Buha’s takeaways is the improved play of Max Christie, though he may not hold onto his rotation spot once injured players return to action.
  • Dalton Knecht has scored 60 points in the last three games and The Athletic’s John Hollinger describes the rookie’s impact on the Lakers in his latest column. The 17th pick of the draft has made 40.4% of his 3-point attempts. He has filled a role for a much-needed shooter to balance the offense.
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