2026 NBA Rumors Live Blog with Latest News, Trade Buzz and Grades

When the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired James Harden ahead of this year's trade deadline, they made it clear that they envisioned a long-term partnership with him.

We may soon learn what they had in mind.

"Cleveland should soon have a verbal agreement on a new multi-year deal with James Harden, who has been expected to swap his $42.3 million player option for next season (which is only partially guaranteed for $13.3 million) for a longer pact," Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported Friday.

Teams are allowed to negotiate with their own free agents ahead of the official start of free agency on June 30, which is how the Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets already came to terms with Austin Reaves and Coby White, respectively. It seems as though Harden may be next in line.

How much of a discount Harden takes will be the big story worth monitoring, particularly as Cleveland navigates its proximity to the second apron.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's offseason salary dump continued Friday.

There are a few ways the Pistons could go about adding Joe without sending out salary, although they figure to loop this into the Isaiah Stewart salary dump that they agreed to with Memphis on Wednesday.

For OKC, this is purely about financial relief. Joe is an elite marksman—he shot 41.5 percent from deep during his four years with the Thunder—but their backcourt is loaded between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Jared McCain and the newly drafted Bennett Stirtz. Given their financial situation, Joe was a luxury that they could no longer afford.

Their loss is the Pistons' gain. Detroit has been hunting all offseason for additional shooting to put alongside Cade Cunningham. Tyler Herro and Norman Powell are higher-volume scorers than Joe, who profiles as more of a three-point specialist, but acquiring him for only two second-round picks is a bargain.

This is a clear win for Detroit and a necessary evil for OKC as it looks for ways to trim its payroll.

Before the Milwaukee Bucks agreed to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat on Monday, the bidding had come down to Miami and the Boston Celtics.

Those weren't the only teams interested in the Greek Freak, though.

According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Jamal Collier, the Bucks "canvassed the league for months, fielding offers and presenting them to his front office and ownership group, then getting feedback from Antetokounmpo's camp as to whether he'd be willing to extend his contract with those teams."

Antetokounmpo's unwillingness to extend with certain teams caused "at least four strong bids" to fall apart, Shelburne and Collier added.

They didn't specifically name any teams, although given the Portland Trail Blazers' reported interest in Giannis—and his reported lack of interest in signing an extension with them—it seems safe to assume they were one of them.

The Charlotte Hornets agreed to trade LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday for a package headlined by Naz Reid and an unprotected 2033 first-round pick.

They might not be done with their roster makeover. On SportsCenter, ESPN's Shams Charania revealed that Hornets forward Miles Bridges is "getting a ton of interest around the league" in the wake of the Ball trade.

Bridges is heading into the final season of his three-year, $75 million contract and is set to earn only $22.8 million this year. His counting stats dipped slightly last season amidst the emergence of Brandon Miller and rookie 2-guard Kon Knueppel, but he still averaged 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 made threes in only 31.0 minutes per game.

Between Bridges, Reid, Grant Williams and Tidjane Salaun, the Hornets suddenly have a logjam at power forward. They also have Ryan Kalkbrenner and Moussa Diabaté at center, and they just spent the No. 14 overall pick on Washington big man Hannes Steinbach.

It would not be a surprise to see the Hornets move on from Bridges as they look to retool their roster around Miller and Knueppel in the post-Ball era.

Despite falling short in their attempt to land Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Boston Celtics are still reportedly exploring trades involving star wing Jaylen Brown.

On Friday, ESPN's Shams Charania revealed what the Celtics have been asking for.

After the first round of the draft wrapped up Tuesday night, team president Brad Stevens stopped short of pledging that Brown would be on the Celtics next year.

"Jaylen Brown is a big part of us," Stevens told reporters. "I'm never going to predict the future. Every indication, everything I think about, over the last few years, has been building around those guys. You never know. But at the same time, the one thing I want to make very clear is how valued he's always been. He's been amazing. He's been an amazing teammate and a great person to be around."

At this point, it seems like a matter of when, not if, the Celtics trade Brown.

Fresh off a breakout season that resulted in his first All-Star and All-NBA nods, Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren is in line for a major payday this offseason. However, the soon-to-be restricted free agent struggled in the playoffs, which may be giving Detroit pause in negotiations.

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Duren "was underwhelmed by the Detroit Pistons' initial offer in restricted free agency and is planning to explore sign-and-trade scenarios when they are permitted on Tuesday."

Since Duren made an All-NBA team, the Pistons are allowed to offer him a max contract beginning at 30 percent of the salary cap rather than 25 percent. Based on the projected $165 million cap, Detroit can offer him a five-year max deal worth up to $287.1 million, while other suitors can offer no more than a four-year, $177.4 million contract.

Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported that there's "an early gulf" in negotiations between Duren and the Pistons. Amick added that "the gap between the sides is large enough that Duren is considering ways to land elsewhere, with the sign-and-trade route deemed preferable to signing an offer sheet with another team that the Pistons could, and likely would, match."

Stein and Fischer mentioned Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown as one potential Pistons target in a Duren sign-and-trade.

The Detroit Pistons are up to something. What that is remains unclear for now.

The Pistons are reportedly eyeing ways to add shooting this offseason after their offense bogged down in the playoffs. However, two of their potential targets—Austin Reaves and Coby White—are already off the board.

According to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Miami Heat guard Norman Powell, Milwaukee Bucks guard Tyler Herro and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe could all be on Detroit's radar.

The Thunder already traded Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks in a salary dump, and Joe might be next. The Bucks just acquired Herro in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, but he might not be long for Milwaukee. And the Heat might have trouble re-signing Powell given their financial constraints in the wake of the Giannis trade.

The Pistons already salary-dumped Isaiah Stewart onto the Memphis Grizzlies, which suggests they have something up their sleeve. Which shooter they add remains to be seen.