2026 NBA Rumors Live Updates with Latest News, Free Agency Buzz and Grades

"I'm still processing how this all went down," Jaylen Brown writes as part of his farewell to Boston. "I'm excited and disappointed at the same time. I earned my respect from this city. I never asked for shortcuts or special treatment. I simply showed up every day, put my head down, and accepted every challenge.

"I'm big on respect and actions speak louder than words," he continues. "To the people of Boston, thank you."

Surely, nobody will read into the "I'm big on respect" line. Not one bit. Nope, nope, nope.

Sources told SI.com's Chris Mannix that prior to trading Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Boston Celtics "kicked the tires" on Trey Murphy III. Mannix goes on to note that the Brown trade "gives them more assets to pursue" the New Orleans Pelicans wing.

Murphy would be an excellent fit in Beantown, because, well, he'd be an excellent fit anywhere. He has flashed a deeper-than-advertised on-ball arsenal, but his gravity as a shooter remains his bread and butter. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla could concoct some nasty offensive sets with him on the floor.

Murphy's potential path to Boston is nevertheless dicey. The three years and $87 million left on his contract match the Celtics' apparent desire for sub-max deals, but it also means the Pelicans will command a ransom for his services. The optics of sending out more first-rounders for him, a zero-time All-Star, when Boston only guaranteed itself one additional first as part of the Brown trade wouldn't be great.

Complicated still, unless the Celtics are getting New Orleans to accept a three-for-one package built around Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and another small salary, they can't make the math work without including Derrick White or Paul George. White figures to be a non-starter, and the Pelicans are probably less interested in PG than they would have been in Brown.

The Philadelphia 76ers are signing Anfernee Simons to a two-year, $12.3 million deal, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. That is a friggin' steal.

At this price point, Simons will fit into what's left of the Sixers' $15 million non-tax mid-level exception. The rest of it is already earmarked for Dean Wade, who's signing a four-year, $39 million deal. Getting two legitimate rotation players with this money is excellent work by Philly.

Simons profiles as a fantastic fit on a roster that currently counts Tyrese Maxey as its only lights-out shooter. The 27-year-old saw his efficiency dip after being traded from Boston to Chicago, but he promises both away-from-the-ball spacing and another layer of off-the-bounce jump-shooting.

Even with his cold finish on the Bulls factored into the equation, Simons ended the season in the 96th percentile of catch-and-shoot efficiency on treys and 90th percentile of pull-up three-point efficiency, according to BBall Index. Adding that kind of offensive punch for what amounts to less than the mini MLE is bonkers value.

Grade: A+

Yves Missi appears to be the New York Knicks' top choice to replace Mitchell Robinson. But the New Orleans Pelicans ain't having it, according to NBA Insider Chris Haynes.

The Knicks were linked to Missi at the trade deadline as well, so it's no surprise they've inquired again. Yet, because he's on the books for $3.5 million, this might suggest they're prepared to move Deuce McBirde.

New York is hard-capped at the second apron. That means it can't take back more money in trades than is going out. So unless they are attempting to aggregate Tyler Kolek and Pacome Dadiet, McBride's $4 million salary is the only other (reasonable) option.

Giannis Antetokounmpo would be on the Boston Celtics right now if the team didn't lowball him in extension talks, according to The Ringer's Bill Simmons.

"[Giannis] didn't sign off on the Miami trade for a couple days there," he explained on The Bill Simmons Podcast. "And they were talking about extensions with the Celtics. It came down to, it was two years and 30 percent of the cap or three years and 35 [percent of the cap]. The Celtics were pretty entrenched at two [years] for 30 [percent of the cap]. Giannis wanted the three [years] for 35 [percent of the cap]. And they couldn't agree on it. That was when he green lit the Miami trade."

This is insane if true. It would mean Boston went from moving Jaylen Brown for one of the five best players in basketball to accepting a package for its five-time All-Star that's being widely and rightly panned—all by choice.

Spins like this must be taken with a metric ton of salt. At the same time, Simmons' intel doesn't not line up with what we know. The Milwaukee Bucks may have always preferred the Heat's trade package. But with a player option for 2027-28, Giannis had enough leverage to make the final call between Boston and Miami.

The Celtics haggling over money and years with the two-time MVP they were aggressively chasing is harder to believe. Then again, this also lines up with what's happened since. If Boston was queasy about paying Giannis max money into his mid-30s, it explains why team president Brad Stevens didn't place premium value on having Brown on the books for $180-plus million over the next three years.

Granted, this is tougher to square away knowing 36-year-old Paul George has two years and $110-plus million left on his deal. But again, if you're pinching pennies with Giannis, it stands to reason you'd prioritize shaving off one year's worth of megastar money while getting back a first-round pick and a first-round swap.

The Miami Heat are looking to add a guard with some size, according to Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine are all listed as prospective targets.

Beal is the only free agent listed among those three. KCP and LaVine would need to broker buyouts with their respective teams for Miami to have a realistic shot at them.

Fortunately for the Heat, they are positioned to be at the front of the line if the Memphis Grizzlies or Sacramento Kings cut bait. Since Miami is hard-capped at the first apron, it is allowed to sign players who get waived or bought out and are making more than the $15 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

The Heat also have their eye on free-agent Anfernee Simons, per Marc Stein of The Stein Line, but the 27-year-old is likely out of their price range. Miami already used $6.5 million of the $15 million MLE on Tim Hardaway Jr., and it's tough to believe Simons won't have offers for more than $8.5 million per year.

League sources are wondering whether the Los Angeles Lakers will try dumping Deandre Ayton or Jarred Vanderbilt in hopes of creating enough room to re-sign Rui Hachimura or land Jonathan Kuminga, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

On the one hand, this makes some level of sense. Ayton and Vanderbilt were both expendable before. They are even less integral following the arrivals of Walker Kessler and Sandro Mamukelashvili. Hachimura and Kuminga would be more valuable as combo forwards, though neither of them move the defensive needle.

On the other hand, the Lakers are so asset-strapped that swinging salary dumps feels like a pipe dream. Their best trade chips are a 2032 first-round swap and 2033 second-round pick.

Some team can probably talk themselves into absorbing Ayton's $8.1 million expiring contract without much, if any, compensation. The same cannot be said for the two years and $25.7 million remaining on Vanderbilt's deal.

Don't be surprised if and when LeBron James takes a while to choose where he'll sign in free agency, folks. As ESPN's Shams Charania said on Get Up:

"After LeBron James' decision to leave the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, he returned back to the...golf course. And so, clearly, LeBron James is not in a rush right now to make a decision. He's evaluating everything. But his biggest priority in all of this is finding a team where he feels like he's going to have a chance to play meaningful basketball [and] compete for a championship. My understanding is this will not financially driven, money decision."

Charania goes on to note that three teams continue to pop up as LeBron's most likely destination in conversations around the league: The Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat.

Regardless of where he signs, it doesn't seem as if LeBron as a timetable for when he'll do it. Plan your July 4 weekend accordingly.

If an unknown number of NBA teams had their way, Jaylen Brown wouldn't be the only Boston Celtics star on the move. Jayson Tatum would be on his way out, too.

"The Celtics received calls on Jayson Tatum over the last couple of weeks," ESPN's Shams Charania said during an appearance on Get Up (h/t RealGM). "They shut those down completely, from my understanding. But when it came to Jaylen Brown, they were open to listening, and they have been for quite some time now."

It-never-hurts-to-ask due diligence is more rampant across the NBA than most realize. Stab-in-the-dark calls about the availability of superstars happen all the time.

And yet, this rumor takes on new meaning in the aftermath of Brown's departure. Between the openness with which he was shopped and what the Celtics accepted for his services, teams clearly think something is rotten in Beantown.

Frankly, they might be right. Even if they are, it doesn't appear the Celtics are so down bad they're prepared to entertain moving Tatum. At least not yet.

It turns out Marcus Smart may be joining the Houston Rockets on the mini mid-level exception after all, according to Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports.

ESPN's Shams Charania initially reported that Smart would be signing a two-year, $13 million deal. Since that comes out to more than a mini mid-level contract, the assumption has been that H-Town would cut salary so it could use part of the $15 million non-taxpayer mid-level to get the agreement over the hump and fit restricted free agent Tari Eason under the first apron hard-cap.

As Iko notes, the Rockets are indeed looking at deals to offload Dorian Finney-Smith and the three years and $39.7 million left on his contract. But Houston's urgency has lessened "to some degree" because Smart is taking the mini MLE.

A two-year deal at that price point comes out to around $12.4 million—about $600,000 less than was originally reported. While the raw is negligible, the clarification is a big deal. It means the Rockets are hard-capped at the second apron rather than the first, making them even less vulnerable to rival overtures for Eason.

After three seasons with the Toronto Raptors, head coach Darko Rajaković is getting a multi-year contract extension, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

This is well-deserved. Rajaković's coaching philosophy has proved extremely adaptable over the past three seasons. He has incorporated a bunch of different player archetypes into his offense and instilled aggressive defensive tenets that scale to lineups both with and without traditional size at the center spot.

The Raptors have also improved every year under their head honcho. They won 25 games in his first season; 30 in his second; and racked up 46 victories last year, while ranking in the top 13 of both offense and defense for the first time since their title-winning 2018-19 campaign.

Extending Rajaković now is the ultimate display of continued confidence, too. Toronto just traded for Kawhi Leonard. That significantly raises on the stakes on next season and beyond. The Raptors clearly believe Rajaković is up to the challenge.

The Boston Celtics didn't set out to accept Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks for Jaylen Brown. They were apparently hoping the Philadelphia 76ers would give them five firsts and VJ Edgecombe.

You're reading that correctly.

Speaking on SportsCenter, ESPN's Shams Charania revealed that Philly initiated talks for Brown, and that Boston's asking price was delusionally high.

"The Celtics had such a high bar on a deal," Charania said. "They were thinking if you're gonna trade us Paul George we need four firsts, five firsts. We need a player like a VJ Edgecombe. That was the bar that was set early. There were other teams around the league that might of stopped conversations or moved on to do other deals, but the Sixers stayed with it."

If this report is true, new Sixers president Mike Gansey deserves a medal for his negotiating exploits. Celtics president Brad Stevens, meanwhile, has some questions to answer. Mainly: If that is what you wanted for Brown, why move him for a fraction-of-a-fraction of that asking price instead of just, ya know, keeping him?

Anfernee Simons has "emerged" as a primary target for the Dallas Mavericks, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line. The 27-year-old shooting guard is considered extremely up-for-grabs after the Chicago Bulls, his incumbent team, signed Norman Powell to a two-year, $45 million deal.

Dallas is well positioned to bag him if its interest is serious. Even after acquiring Santi Aldama from the Memphis Grizzlies, the front office has the full $15 million mid-level exception to spend.

The Mavs checking in on Simons at all is encouraging. It proves they're committed to surrounding Cooper Flagg with better floor-spacers.

Though Simons' three-point accuracy fell off a cliff after getting traded from Boston to Chicago, he finished the season in the 96th percentile of catch-and-shoot efficiency on treys and 90th percentile of pull-up three-point efficiency, according to BBall Index. By comparison, Flagg's teammates ranked in the 19th and 21st percentiles, respectively, for the same categories.

If you have attempted to rationalize the Boston Celtics' return for Jaylen Brown by thinking he forced their hand, then phew, do we have the update for you: That didn't happen, according to SI.com's Chris Mannix.

To be fair, Boston shouldn't have cared even if Brown was agitating for an exit. He has three guaranteed years left on his deal. The Celtics, in theory, had all the leverage.

What they accepted from the Philadelphia 76ers—Paul George, two firsts and two seconds—ultimately suggests that they had a lower opinion of Brown or that we don't know the full story. A source familiar with the Cs' thinking told Mannix "J.B. had to go."

Is that because of his Twitch streams? Or because he claimed last season was his personal favorite, despite winning a title and Finals MVP in 2024?

Some think it has more to do with the three years and $180-plus million left on his contract. That's doubtful. Paul George has two years and $110-plus million remaining on his deal. If the goal was to escape the final season of Brown's pact, the Celtics could have simply waited.

This is all to say: Boston's motivations for acting like it had to deal Brown remain a mystery. But we at least know the move wasn't the result of a trade demand.

Frontloading Julian Champagnie's three-year, $45 million deal is a wise move by the San Antonio Spurs. His salary will now decrease in 2027-28, when Victor Wembanyama begins his eventual supermax extension, and again in 2028-29, when Stephon Castle's next deal would take effect.

Sure, the amounts are small. Champagnie's salary declines by $350,000 in each of the latter two seasons. But every cent of flexibility counts in the Era of Aprons.

Just ask the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are cost-cutting around the second apron right now. Or the New York Knicks, who are Super Mario-ing their way around the second apron as well.

What was already a home-run deal by the Spurs is officially even friendlier.

Grade: A

After burning through their available cap space and trade assets on non-wings, the Los Angeles Lakers are on the prowl for—you guessed it!—an actual wing. And a "high-upside swing receiving consideration" is Jonathan Kuminga, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic.

"Consideration" makes it sound like this is the Lakers' call. That would be a genuine shocker since they only have a minimum contract to offer.

Kuminga is an intensely flawed player. His defensive engagement comes and goes. The jumper is shaky. He can freelance too much when he gets the ball. The rebounding vacillates. The tunnel vision is real.

Still, if he's actually in play for the minimum, the Lakers shouldn't hesitate to bet on putting his athleticism, scoring upside and tantalizing-yet-fleeting flashes of two-way play to good use.

Just $10 million of DeMar DeRozan's $25.7 million salary for next season is guaranteed. He is apparently pushing for the Sacramento Kings to waive him (or trade him) so that he can find a new home before the market completely dries up, according to Yahoo Sports' Kelly Iko.

Sacramento feels like a good bet to grant DeRozan his wish at some point. As of now, it will be over the luxury tax if it keeps on the books.

Planning around DeRozan's defensive limitations and finite three-point shooting can be difficult, but he remains a low-turnover maestro of the mid-range with the ball-handling and vision necessary to run secondary offense. He is coming off a season in which he averaged 18.4 points and 4.1 assists while knocking down 52.1 percent of his twos.

It'll be fascinating to see how in-demand DeRozan is once he reaches the open market. Price will have a lot to do with it. Suitors will probably line up if he's willing to take mini-MLE money or less.

Marvin Bagley III is signing a one-year minimum deal to become the Denver Nuggets' latest backup center.

The 27-year-old is working off a solid 2025-26 campaign in which he split time with the Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks. Though he doesn't provide much playmaking or defense, he is a strong offensive rebounder who knows how to get a bucket.

Last year turned out to be the most efficient season of his career. He finished in the 83rd percentile of points per shot attempt and converted over 76 percent of his looks at the rim in the half-court.

Bagley is best served as as a play-finisher but has traces of a floor game. The 46.6 percent clip he posted on 52 three-point attempts is also something to watch.

Denver has gotten in the habit of rostering vastly different Nickola Jokić backups year-over-year. Bagley's arrival is no exception. He is a stark departure from Jonas Valančiūnas' more bruising style. If last year is any indication, Bagley has the higher offensive upside. So while he can by no means be the Nuggets' biggest move of the summer, he's worth a look at the minimum.

Grade: B+