AROUND the NBA:

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Jason Kidd joins ESPN’s coverage roster this season and will contribute across both game and studio coverage. Widely regarded as one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, Kidd was a 10-time NBA All-Star, five-time All-NBA First Team selection, NBA Champion and member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. Former NBA Champion Jeremy Lin also joins ESPN’s roster after contributing to the network’s coverage of the 2026 NBA Finals and NBA Summer League. Lin will appear across ESPN’s studio programming, including NBA Today.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Hunter Patterson: Cade Cunningham on the Pistons: “I still feel like we’re a little slept on, man. I still feel like people don’t really give us the credit that maybe we’ve earned. But again, that’s the beauty of it. I think that’s part of being in Detroit.” Asked Cade Cunningham about Pistons’ movement offensively during preseason: “I think it makes us be able to play a better tempo and gets us easier shots, no matter who’s on the floor. … I’m excited about it and I’m excited for us to continue to get better at it.” Cade about Ausar playing on ball: “AT is somebody that can pass the ball at a super high level, can handle the ball. It’s just natural for us to use him more in that light and allow him to explore more of that. He hasn’t had enough of that in his time with us.”

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[michaeltex]

Per Tim McMahon via ESPN...

The Spanish club Basket Zaragoza is challenging Oklahoma City Thunder rookie lottery pick Aday Mara's eligibility to play in the NBA this season, stating that he remains under contract with its team for the 2026-27 season, a contention disputed by the Thunder.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

NBA Courtside: Byron Scott on DeMarcus Cousins comments saying Larry Bird wasn’t doing it like Cooper Flagg: “Cooper Flagg don’t got sh*t on Larry Bird. I’m gonna tell you that straight up. Larry Bird to me still is and I even hate saying it like this the coldest white boy I’ve ever seen play basketball because of the fact that he hated for white boys to even guard him because he thought that was disrespectful.” It’s definitely a tough to even compare a guy to Larry Bird that’s only played one season let him play his career out then let’s have this debate at the end of his career.

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[HoosierDaddyKid]

OKC will heave 220+ million for their top 6 players (SGA, Chet, J Dub, Hartenstein, Wallace, Caruso) in 27-28 season...huge pressure to win it all this season imo.

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[windjc]

OKC will heave 220+ million for their top 6 players (SGA, Chet, J Dub, Hartenstein, Wallace, Caruso) in 27-28 season...huge pressure to win it all this season imo.

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Absolutely. And if they fail who is going to pay them to get out if that situation?

[michaeltex]

Absolutely. And if they fail who is going to pay them to get out if that situation?

Given all the upcoming picks OKC has, and knowing they'll need slots for whatever selections they do make, some of their guys may be playing to maximize their trade value. Although we'll hear terms like "key contributor off the bench".

According to BR they, for the 27-28 season are at $237M for 12 contracts, but five of those are TOs (Jay Williams, Topic, Sorber, McCain, Mitchell) worth ~$31M. Wallace is up for a rookie extension after this year or he goes to FA (rFA?). For reference, they are at roughly $215M starting this season with 14 contracts.

For the starting season, Tax line is $200M, 1st Apron is ~$209M and 2nd Apron is ~$222M. NBA is projecting a 6.7% cap increase for next season, which would raise the 2nd Apron to ~$237M.

In the eye-opener category - for the trio of Jalen Williams, Holmgren and SGA, their salary committments are (roughly):

26-27 - $124M
27-28 - $150.5M
28-29 - $161M
29-30 - $174M
30-31 - $185M (SGA has a $75.6M PO)

Note that SGA signed a supermax extension, so his numbers may actually drive the total up. 

If OKC plans on keeping this core together, they HAVE to keep bringing in cheap picks, develop them for a couple seasons, then trade them for future picks to keep fueling the pipeline.

[SkenfromLMF]

Absolutely. And if they fail who is going to pay them to get out if that situation?

There is always New Orleans...

[windjc]

Given all the upcoming picks OKC has, and knowing they'll need slots for whatever selections they do make, some of their guys may be playing to maximize their trade value. Although we'll hear terms like "key contributor off the bench".

According to BR they, for the 27-28 season are at $237M for 12 contracts, but five of those are TOs (Jay Williams, Topic, Sorber, McCain, Mitchell) worth ~$31M. Wallace is up for a rookie extension after this year or he goes to FA (rFA?). For reference, they are at roughly $215M starting this season with 14 contracts.

For the starting season, Tax line is $200M, 1st Apron is ~$209M and 2nd Apron is ~$222M. NBA is projecting a 6.7% cap increase for next season, which would raise the 2nd Apron to ~$237M.

In the eye-opener category - for the trio of Jalen Williams, Holmgren and SGA, their salary committments are (roughly):

26-27 - $124M
27-28 - $150.5M
28-29 - $161M
29-30 - $174M
30-31 - $185M (SGA has a $75.6M PO)

Note that SGA signed a supermax extension, so his numbers may actually drive the total up. 

If OKC plans on keeping this core together, they HAVE to keep bringing in cheap picks, develop them for a couple seasons, then trade them for future picks to keep fueling the pipeline.

What if any of these 4 get injured? What if Wallace under performs this year? We’ve seen teams do not want to take on salary. I wonder if the OK owner is trying to make up for trading Durant, Westbrook and Harding when he had them all?

Now he is going with a super high risk play. If any of these players don’t live up to their salaries OK is stuck with them.