Hoops Rumors

As we detailed on Friday, Ben Simmons‘ debut with the Clippers on Thursday went about as well as it reasonably could have, earning him praise from head coach Tyronn Lue. Lue wasn’t the only one impressed by the former No. 1 overall pick, who registered 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals in his first game for his new team. Simmons’ Clippers teammates spoke … [Read more...] about Pacific Notes: Simmons, Bamba, Lakers, Tucker, Suns, Fultz

Ten NBA teams are still operating in luxury tax territory in the wake of last Thursday’s trade deadline, but this season’s total projected luxury tax payments – and the clubs projected to be taxpayers – have declined significantly in recent weeks. As of January 23, a total of 14 teams projected to be taxpayers, Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter links) observes, with the 16 … [Read more...] about Projected NBA Taxpayers For 2024/25

The Nuggets are a suitor to watch for Raptors big man Chris Boucher, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter links). However, even though Denver “definitely” has interest in Boucher, the team is extremely limited in terms of both draft assets and appealing matching salary. Its two most expendable veterans, Zeke Nnaji ($8.9MM) and Dario Saric ($5.2MM), are both on … [Read more...] about Trade Rumors: Boucher, Nuggets, Vucevic, Pelicans, Suns

Despite not having a no-trade clause, Suns star Kevin Durant essentially nixed a trade to the Warriors, but that didn’t prevent “several more teams” from inquiring about the 36-year-old ahead of today’s deadline, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on SportsCenter (Twitter video link). Charania reiterates that Durant was caught off guard by seeing his name pop up in rumors and did … [Read more...] about Suns To Revisit Kevin Durant Trade Talks In Summer?

Despite an up-and-down season in Phoenix, there had been no indication up until a couple weeks ago that Kevin Durant wasn’t perfectly happy with the Suns or that he was in any danger of seeing his time with the team come to an end. That changed in the days leading up to last Thursday’s trade deadline, when rumors began percolating about Durant’s possible availability. While the … [Read more...] about Community Shootaround: Kevin Durant’s Future