NBA rumors

Anthony Davis becomes eligible for a contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers this August worth approximately $167 million over three seasons. Davis signed a five-year, $190 million contract with the Lakers during the 2020 offseason following their championship. Media experts in the US are conflicting about whether Los Angeles should offer Davis this max contract extension already this summer. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin says: “You play out this year with him. You see where things stand with him and LeBron. Obviously, then you risk the second year he has left, he can opt out and leave as a free agent. (…) You hope Anthony Davis stays healthy and you get the best out of him next year. But I don’t think they’re going to be in a position to be interested in a long-term extension for him this summer”.

Brian Windhorst, however, disagreed: “They do not want him messing with free agency in 2024. That’s a primary offseason thing for the Lakers. Get Anthony Davis locked down. Past even when LeBron James is signed for”.

Khris Middleton could become a free agent this offseason if he declines his $40.4 million player option, but he was an active participant in the Milwaukee Bucks’ coaching search.

Middleton was included during meetings with Milwaukee’s final coaching candidates, as reported by Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

The Houston Rockets have interest in Fred VanVleet, Brook Lopez, Cam Johnson and Dillon Brooks in free agency, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

The Rockets will also pursue James Harden, with VanVleet viewed as a potential secondary option if Harden re-signs with the Sixers. Houston has over $60 million in cap space and wants to add a table-setting point guard along with upgrades on the wing and at center.

The Phoenix Suns are finalizing a deal to hire Frank Vogel as coach, sources told ESPN on Friday.

Agreement is a five-year, $31 million contract to make the 2020 championship coach the new head man in Phoenix, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic

According to Shams Charania, the Chicago Bulls and Nikola Vucevic are in talks for a contract extension.

Without an agreement by June 30, the big man will become an unrestricted free agent.

Vucevic has produced 17.6 points and 11 rebounds per game this year.

Nick Nurse has reached an agreement to become the next coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Nurse — who won an NBA championship and a coach of year award with Toronto — now gets to coach the 2023 MVP Joel Embiid.

According to Marc Stein, Golden State Warriors GM, Bob Myers, could leave his role this week anticipating the expiration of his contract set for the end of June. Myers is reportedly looking to take a break from the NBA. He’s run the Warriors front office for the last nine seasons and could be looking to step back from the NBA for a while. Should that happen, Golden State is expected to promote Mike Dunleavy Jr. to run the team’s basketball operations.

Recent guests on The Ryen Russillo Show included C.J. McCollum. Zion Williamson was one of the subjects McCollum and the presenter in question addressed. Williamson’s career is now in his hands, according to McCollum and other players who have told him as much.

“I’ve had serious conversations with him on multiple occasions,” McCollum said. “Not just me, Larry (Nance Jr.). I’ve told him, ‘You can be as good as you wanna be, and that’s not for everybody’. The level of the best version of him is a level that everybody can’t get to.”

Only Williamson, according to McCollum, can aspire to be the dominant force he has occasionally been throughout his career.

“Your ceiling is unlike anything the NBA has ever seen,” McCollum said he’s told Williamson. “But it’s up to you to take full advantage of whatever that is. I can’t want it for you. Mom can’t want it for you. Dad can’t want it for you. Staff can’t want it for you. So, it’s up to you to decide what that looks like. You’ve got to figure out what you want to do with this game, because this game will go where you take it.”

The Dallas Mavericks’ intention remains to re-sign Kyrie Irving in free agency this summer. This would close the door on the Los Angeles Lakers, who would need support from Dallas to find cap space and bring Irving back alongside LeBron James.

Los Angeles is unlikely to create the necessary cap space to sign Irving. This would mean a sign-and-trade deal would have to be in place to bring Irving to the Lakers.

Marc Stein reports that the Mavericks have no interest in acquiring D’Angelo Russell in a sign-and-trade deal.

The Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly chosen their coach for the next season. Mike Budenholzer’s replacement will be Adrian Griffin, an assistant from the Toronto Raptors.

ESPN Sources: The Milwaukee Bucks are planning to hire Toronto Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin as the franchise’s next head coach. Sides are progressing on terms of an agreement. pic.twitter.com/Kz1iydRKsF

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 27, 2023

Despite Phoenix Suns’ interest in him, expectation in the NBA is that Tyronn Lue will continue in being the coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, reports Marc Stein. Sources with knowledge of coaching searches says that Lue is not a viable option for any current openings.

According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Houston Rockets’ expectation is to bring James Harden back to Texas during the offseason.

The reporter adds that the consensus among NBA insiders is that the guard will eventually return to Houston.
Harden will not exercise his 35 million-plus player option to sign a new multi-year deal with his next team.

Houston in free agency will have around 60 million in salary cap space, so they can offer Harden a max-contract.

The 33-year old guard ended last year with 21 points and an NBA-leading 10.7 assists per game.