Between now and then, the league needs to hold a two-team expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, more than 100 unrestricted free agents need to sign contracts, and the 2026 rookies need to be drafted to their teams. Most importantly, the league and players need to agree on a collective bargaining agreement -- a process 15 months in the making.
From talking to NBA executives and scouts who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, the most likely scenario for the Lakers is to make moves along the margins. NBA people say the Lakers are looking for big wing players, but they said so is most of the league.
In June, he became their first lottery pick in 15 years. And now he's the first Net named to the Rising Stars Competition at All-Star Weekend since 2019. The tanking Nets headed into Tuesday's tilt in Phoenix with the fifth-worst record in the NBA, but they're the youngest team in the league. They have a record five first-round rookies on the roster, led by Dëmin, and the teenage point guard will be Brooklyn's first representative at All-Star weekend since Kevin Durant in 2022.
In their win over the reigning champions, the Miami Heat hauled down 21 offensive rebounds, a season-high at the time. They didn't shoot the bal well, knocking down just 36.9 percent of their attempts. But Miami generated 34 more attempts than OKC. That marked the biggest FGA discrepancy by any team in any single game this year, with a plus-16 advantage on the offensive glass and a plus-five advantage on the glass entirely.
Egor Dëmin was named to the Castrol Rising Stars roster as part of NBA All-Star 2026, becoming the first member of the Nets to earn the honor since Jarrett Allen and Rodions Kurucs did it back in 2019. For a rookie class that arrived with more questions than certainty, his selection stands out as a clear signal that Brooklyn's developmental push is starting to get noticed beyond its own walls.
With one game under their belt, it's clear Kerr didn't undersell Brooklyn's two stars. It's a celebratory moment for an organization that went all-in on Bridges and Johnson after Kevin Durant requested a trade to the Phoenix Suns last season. The pair of franchise cornerstones combined for 29 points on 13-of-19 shooting from the field in Team USA's 117-74 blowout victory over Puerto Rico in an exhibition game on Monday in Las Vegas.
The Toronto Raptors have shared an injury update on Jakob Poeltl as he was back in Toronto to receive a pain relief treatment on his back issue that has kept him out for over a month now. From Raptors: "Jakob Poeltl, who has been managing ongoing back issues, returned to Toronto and has received targeted pain relief treatment. A return timeline has not yet been established, and his status will be updated when he returns to practice."
Accountability. It's the word that's defined Mike Brown's early tenure as head coach with the Knicks, one of several differentiating factors that separate him from former head coach Tom Thibodeau, who the Knicks fired after their Eastern Conference Finals run ended in six games last season. It's not the word, however, Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody was expecting.
