NBA News, NBA Rumors, Trades, Free Agency (2024)

Dante Exum underwent a successful surgery on Tuesday to repair a right wrist injury. ESPN's Shams Charania reports Exum is expected to miss three months.

As previously reported, Exum sustained the right wrist injury earlier this month during training camp. Further medical updates on Exum’s status will be provided as appropriate.

Exum averaged 7.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 19.8 minutes over 55 games last season with the Dallas Mavericks.

Ja Morant has been diagnosed with a mild ankle sprain. The Memphis Grizzlies will be cautious with Morant as he recovers from the injury, but he is expected to play in their regular season opener on October 23rd at the Utah Jazz.

Morant played in just nine games during the 23-24 season between his 25-game suspension and subsequent shoulder surgery.

The Boston Celtics waived forward Tristan Enaruna. Boston signed guard Jay Scrubb to an Exhibit 10 deal to fill out their training camp roster.

Enaruna did not appear in either of the Celtics preseason games against the Denver Nuggets in Abu Dhabi. The 6-foot-8 forward is expected to join the Maine Celtics for the upcoming G League season.

Scrubb missed last season due to a torn ACL. He was set to join Boston on a two-way deal for last season prior to the injury. Scrubb is also expected to play for Maine in the G League this season. The 6-foot-4 combo guard is fully recovered from the ACL injury and ready to resume his career.

The Denver Nuggets have signed center Charles Bediako and guards Andrew Funk and Will Richardson to Exhibit 10 contracts. All three players are expected to join the Grand Rapids Gold of the G League following the preseason.

Bediako was with the San Antonio Spurs on a two-way contract last season, until he tore his meniscus in late-December. In 17 G League games with the Austin Spurs, the 7-foot center averaged 5.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Funk finished last season a two-way deal with the Chicago Bulls. Prior to that, he had played for Grand Rapids. In 49 total G League games, the 6-foot-5 guard averaged 13.6 points and shot 37.7% on 9.1 three-point attempts per game.

Richardson went undrafted out of Oregon at the 2024 NBA Draft. In 33 games as a senior with the Ducks, the 6-foot-5 guard averaged 12.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed forward Miller Kopp to an Exhibit 10 contract. Kopp is expected to join the Oklahoma City Blue of the G League for the upcoming season.

Kopp played in 41 games for the Blue last season. The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 8.3 points off the bench for the Thunder's G League affiliate.

When Paul George agreed to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, Daryl Morey accomplished his goal of acquiring another All-Star player to join Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. But Morey concedes the plan they put in place more than a year ago was an unlikely one with the odds of success at less than 50 percent.

“We were taking what we thought was the best plan to keep ourselves in title contention, but it definitely was a risky plan,” Morey toldThe Athletic. “They don’t always work out, but we felt like all the other plans were worse.”

Players of George's caliber typically re-sign with their incumbent teams for the most money available, but the LA Clippers changed direction and suddenly were more cautious in their negotiations than they had been previously. This opened up a window for the Sixers to sign George in free agency.

“It was definitely risky, yeah, but it was also the best plan,” Morey said. “A risky plan doesn’t mean it’s a bad plan. It just could be the best plan. It was definitely the best plan.”

Daquan Jeffries has suffered a fractured fifth metacarpal in his right hand. Jeffries will be out indefinitely with the injury.

Jeffries appeared in 17 games last season with the New York Knicks and was included in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade.

The Charlotte Hornets have waived Duane Washington Jr. Washington appeared in two preseason games with the Hornets.

Washington has appeared in 79 games across two NBA seasons with Indiana and Phoenix, averaging 9.1 PPG, 1.5 RPG and 1.9 APG.

The Miami Heat will name the court at Kaseya Center after Pat Riley, the team announced.

The court with Riley's name will be unveiled on October 23, with the team opening their season against the Magic.

Riley, who is entering his 30th season with the franchise, has led the Heat to three championships.

"This has been one hell of a journey that [owner] Micky [Arison] and I have taken together over the last 30 years. The goal from day one was to win, and win big. We did. We won championships, sprayed each other with champagne, had parades, celebrated on this floor, in this arena, in the streets with our great fans and hung the names of our greatest players from the rafters," said Riley in a statement.

Dallas Mavericks chief executive officer Cynt Marshall announced that she will retire on December 31.

Marshall, who was hired in the role in 2018, was the first Black female CEO in NBA history.

"My three-year commitment has more than doubled in time. I cherish every day of our journey together. We've made the Mavs better. We've made communities better. We've made our industry better. Y'all made me better. I pray that I'm leaving it better than I found it," wrote Marshall in a letter to employees.

Marshall decided that she would retire weeks ago and had recently reached a retirement agreement with Mavs Governor Patrick Dumont.