Given the amount of money he’s set to receive after the 2026-27 season, it’s clear that the Cavs value Mitchell as a huge star in the league. Apparently, so does Adidas. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, Mitchell has recently joined a group of elite talent after Adidas announced the D.O.N. Issue #10 on Thursday.

“Donovan Mitchell joins a group that includes LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Damian Lillard and Klay Thompson to produce 10 signature shoes with the same company,” Charania wrote on Instagram.

Charania also noted that Mitchell’s new multiyear deal with Adidas will continue to deliver resources for his alma mater, Greenwich Country Day. Adidas will further provide underprivileged students with access to educational materials.

“The new multiyear deal will also deliver Adidas’ further resources for his high school, Greenwich Country Day, to provide students from underserved communities with access to educational resources,” Charania continued.

While Shams mentioned only those seven players reaching 10 or more signature shoes with one company, it’s worth noting that they are active players.

There are seven more players on the list who are already retired from the league. That includes: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and Derrick Rose.

Whether the list includes active or retired players, it still features a selection of elite names. In only nine years in the league, Mitchell has already solidified himself as one of the brightest stars to ever step foot on an NBA court.

Cavaliers Star Opens Up About LeBron James Not Returning to Cleveland

Earlier this summer, all eyes were on LeBron James after he declared that he wasn’t re-signing with the Los Angeles Lakers. Many speculated that James would return to the Cleveland Cavaliers to cap his historic career.

However, the King took everyone by surprise when he decided to join the Philadelphia 76ers instead. It was a move nobody saw coming, especially given the options he had.

To many, Cleveland was the perfect way to finish his career, given that he was born in Akron, Ohio, and started his NBA career with the Cavs. Donovan Mitchell was also open to playing next to James in hopes of bringing the Cavaliers their second NBA title in franchise history.

In a recent interview with Complex host Ashley Nicole Moss, Mitchell shared his thoughts on the possibility of LeBron going back to Cleveland.

“Yeah, it was definitely on the brain. You’d be naive to think that that’s not a possibility,” Mitchell said. “But I like to live in the real and not the what-ifs… At the end of the day … it’s his decision to make. He’s earned that right. Like, he’s done this for 20-something years… At the end of the day, if he were here, we’d welcome him.”

James is now set to debut in Philly alongside his new superteam, which includes Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey. The 76ers are one of the favorites to win the title this coming season.

It’ll be interesting to see how different the Cavs’ standing will be now that LeBron has seemingly made the Eastern Conference more competitive.

Apparently, the Sharks didn’t stop with Russell this offseason. They also acquired former NBA star JaVale McGee. The Score reported on Instagram that, as of Oct. 1, McGee is set to sign with the Sharks.

“JaVale McGee is signing with the Shanghai Sharks,” the post reads.

For those unaware, this isn’t McGee’s first stint in the CBA. Earlier in February, the veteran big man signed a contract with the Beijing Ducks for the 2025-26 season. He then made a late debut in March.

Interestingly, this will be the first time McGee and Russell become teammates on a basketball team. Throughout their tenures in the NBA, McGee and Russell never had the opportunity to share the hardwood. Despite playing for the same teams throughout their careers, they’ve never been on the same side.

It’ll be interesting to see how lethal their duo will be in the CBA, especially since they’ve both played at the highest level in the NBA. McGee is a former champion with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Meanwhile, Russell has experience playing alongside NBA legends like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. With that type of experience under their belts, the Sharks are surely in for a treat.

Shanghai Sharks Could Go Back-to-Back With the Addition of D’Angelo Russell and JaVale McGee

Earlier in June, the Shanghai Sharks claimed victory in the CBA Finals after beating the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions. This is the Sharks’ first CBA championship in 24 years. The last time they won the title was in the 2001-02 season, when NBA legend Yao Ming led them to a championship.

This time around, former NBA player Brandon Goodwin led the charge after winning the Finals MVP award. Goodwin was a beast throughout five games.

In Game 1, he had a huge double-double performance, putting up 34 points and 12 assists. In Game 4, he scored 28 points in 40 minutes of play. He then sealed the deal in Game 5, adding 25 points, four assists, three rebounds, and two steals.

While the Sharks have proven to be the best team in the 2025-26 season, led by a player who has only played four years in the NBA, the landscape is about to change for them in the 2026-27 season. This is because of the addition of D’Angelo Russell and JaVale McGee.

Russell is a former NBA All-Star, while McGee is a three-time NBA champion. Their experience will undoubtedly prove to be more than useful for the Sharks heading into the next season.

The 2026-27 CBA season is set to commence on Oct. 16. Given the amount of talent the Sharks have brought in, Shanghai fans could be looking forward to another title run.

Powell knows the territory. He played through the LeBron era in Toronto and spent his Clippers years across the hall from the Lakers. He has just signed a two-year, $45 million deal in Chicago, with a team option in year two, after a first All-Star season in Miami. So, does his answer hold water? Well, the Lakers were swept 0-4 by Oklahoma City as they made an embarrassing playoff exit without Luka Doncic, while LeBron James is now gone.

Online betting sites are seemingly in agreement. The latest basketball betting odds ahead of the new season have pushed the Lakers all the way out to +2000 to win the Western Conference, well behind +135 favorites OKC and the +160 defending conference champion San Antonio Spurs.

So, with Powell’s words ringing in our ears, we got to thinking: Who are the NBA’s most overrated teams heading into the 2026-27 season? Here are our four picks.

Los Angeles Lakers

A 53-29 record and the fourth seed look sturdy until you remember the ending: four straight losses to Oklahoma City, with Doncic, the league’s scoring leader at 33.5 points per game, sidelined by a hamstring strain. LeBron left for Philadelphia on June 30. In the opening days of free agency, Los Angeles landed Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade costing two unprotected firsts and two swaps, re-signed Austin Reaves for four more years at $180 million, before adding Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kevon Looney, Matisse Thybulle, and Ziaire Williams.

What does it say that a team priced at +4000 for the title in late July, with a 45.5-win total ESPN’s Brian Windhorst called “an insult,” is still the one getting called overrated? That’s a hype complaint, not a pricing one.

Eleven new faces are learning JJ Redick’s system across 15 back-to-backs, with perimeter defense and hamstrings unresolved. Best case: Doncic wins MVP, Kessler becomes the lob threat, and 50-plus wins follow. Worst case: one projection has them 46-36 and sixth in the West.

Miami Heat

Forty-three wins, tenth in the East, and an overtime play-in loss at Charlotte, the Heat’s first missed playoffs since 2019, in a season when Bam Adebayo scored 83 points in a single March game against Washington. Miami’s answer was a blockbuster. Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakučionis, the No. 13 pick, two further unprotected firsts, a swap, and a second went to Milwaukee for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis. Tim Hardaway Jr. and, after a Dallas buyout, Klay Thompson followed, and Andrew Wiggins got a two-year extension.

Embed tweet here – https://x.com/bovadaofficial/status/2077889578422165810?s=46&t=Jxc74bqcdlQ9Bjed4TR1Jw

Powell, meanwhile, walked to Chicago after averaging 21.7 points. The Antetokounmpo-Adebayo pairing is a real defensive strength, but the overrated case is easy to make: a roster hard-capped near the first apron, thin draft capital, Davion Mitchell projected as the starting point guard, and a 31-year-old Giannis who played just 36 games last season. Best case: a healthy Giannis anchors an elite defense, and Miami climbs to a top-four seed. Worst case: spacing problems and a return to the play-in with few picks left to fall back on.

Denver Nuggets

Can Denver really be considered overrated when the same core won 54 games, closed the regular season on a 12-game winning streak, and led the league in offensive rating? Nikola Jokić averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 10.7 assists, and Jamal Murray made his first All-Star team. Still, the season ended in a six-game first-round loss to a Minnesota team missing Anthony Edwards, which is where the doubts begin.

The summer made the roster thinner. Hardaway left for Miami; Tyus Jones, Marvin Bagley III, DeMar DeRozan, and Alpha Diallo all signed for the minimum; the Nuggets matched Spencer Jones’s offer sheet and sent Peyton Watson to Cleveland in a sign-and-trade. The payroll sits above the second apron.

Jokić again put off extension talks and could reach free agency in 2027, though he said back in 2025 that his plan was to be “a Nugget forever.” Best case: Jokić and Murray stay healthy, DeRozan scores off the bench, and Denver contends again. Worst case: a thin bench and Jokić rumors produce another early exit.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland is regression dressed up as continuity. The Cavs went 52-30, took the fourth seed out East, won a seven-game series over Toronto and Detroit, and reached their first conference finals since 2018, when the Knicks swept them. Since then, Donovan Mitchell has signed a four-year, $273 million extension, James Harden has re-signed for three years at roughly $97 million, and Watson has arrived on four years and $88 million.

LeBron chose Philadelphia over a Cleveland return. Wade, Schröder, Strus, Nance Jr. and Ellis are gone as ownership pared back the league’s largest luxury tax bill, and Mario Hezonja joined on a minimum deal. Kenny Atkinson remains coach.

Is there a cleaner illustration of a roster getting thinner while expectations stayed put than a team the market still has tied for fourth-best East title odds? Harden turned 37 in August, and an offence ranked sixth sat beside a defense ranked 15th. Best case: Watson fills the fifth-starter gap, the defense improves, and Cleveland returns to a conference finals. Worst case: thin depth is exposed, and the Cavs slide into the play-in.

Jeff Teague said that if he had the No. 1 pick in a hypothetical draft between the two legends at the start of their careers, he’s walking away with Shaq, no hesitation. Teague laid out his reasoning on the “Club 520” podcast, built almost entirely around how each player looked the moment they stepped into the league.

“You got to think about when they first came into the league — don’t think about Bron 25 years, 4 or 5 teams,” Teague said. “Think about when Shaq first came into the league and Bron first came into the league.”

Jeff Teague says if he had the number one pick and it’s between Shaq or LeBron he’s taking Shaq over LeBron:

“You got think about when they first came into the league don’t think about like, Bron 25 years 4 or 5 teams think about when Shaq first came into the league and Bron… pic.twitter.com/r8SYJQCJG8

— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) October 1, 2026

From there, Teague pointed to just how immediately dominant O’Neal looked as a rookie in Orlando. “I seen Shaq’s first year in Orlando. Shaq looked crazy. I’m going with Shaq,” he said, before adding the detail that sealed his decision. “What, the second year Shaq was in the Finals? Yeah, I’m taking Shaq.”

Teague didn’t stop at nostalgia, either. He argued that the modern NBA’s style of play would only amplify O’Neal’s advantage today. “Now, in this year, the way it’s played now, I’m definitely taking Shaq,” he said, “because ain’t nobody going to be able to stop him.”

Teague’s reasoning isn’t just about memory. O’Neal’s rookie season in Orlando produced 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game, instantly making him a Rookie of the Year and an All-Star-caliber force. By his third season, the Magic had reached the NBA Finals, a trajectory Teague used as the core of his argument over James, who didn’t reach his first Finals until Year 4 in Cleveland.

The modern-era argument also holds up given how O’Neal’s specific brand of dominance – a 7-foot-1, 325-pound center who could simply overpower anyone in the paint – rarely gets matched in a league that has shifted toward spacing and perimeter play.

With fewer true back-to-the-basket giants populating today’s rosters, Teague’s point about nobody being able to stop O’Neal physically holds true.

This isn’t the first time Teague has brought up a provocative LeBron-related topic on his podcast. He previously made headlines for an offhand claim that James used performance-enhancing drugs during his Miami years, a comment he later clarified was meant as a joke about how dominant that version of James looked.

Taken together, Teague has built a pattern of bold, attention-grabbing opinions about James’s legacy. But this latest one lines up with a GOAT debate O’Neal himself has never shied away from either.

With four championships, three Finals MVPs, and a statistical peak many consider unmatched at the center position, O’Neal’s résumé gives Teague’s pick real substance beyond just a hot take.

Whether or not it changes anyone’s mind about where James ultimately ranks, it’s clear Teague isn’t alone in believing Shaq’s prime version of dominance would hold up just fine in any era, including this one.

Los Angeles finished 2025-26 with a 116.4 defensive rating, 19th in the NBA, despite winning 53 games. That made defense one of the clearest areas for the front office to address this offseason. The Lakers responded by adding defensive-minded pieces such as Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, Adou Thiero and Quentin Grimes, while also bringing in Walker Kessler to provide rim protection.

Reaves has now experienced that personnel change from the worst possible perspective for an offensive player: he had to try to score against it.

“They all annoy the hell out of me. Like I talked about, Matisse (Thybulle) and Ziaire (Williams), yesterday were on the same team and it was not my team, which wasn’t fun,” Reaves told Lakers insider Daniel Starkand. “But it’s good to just get those reps in early. I think they’re two of the best defenders in the league. They can guard multiple positions; they’re length, Matisse’s anticipation is top tier. I’m excited to have them on our team and see what they can do.”

“Adou (Thiero) has been guarding me all summer when we’ve been playing pickup and stuff,” Reaves continued. “He’s a freak of nature, moves as well as anybody. One of the best athletes in the league. Once he starts thinking about the game more, as we’ve talked about a lot this summer, he’s asked a lot of questions. So he’s very interested in learning, and that’s what he needs.”

That combination is important because the Lakers are not simply adding individual defenders. They are building layers around Doncic and Reaves. Thybulle and Williams give Los Angeles length and positional versatility on the perimeter, while Thiero brings the athleticism to stay in front of bigger assignments. Kessler then gives the group a legitimate defensive anchor behind them.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Lakers would look like now that they have several defensive-oriented pieces on their squad.

Austin Reaves Sets Lakers Expectations For Upcoming Season

There is a reason that confidence matters. Reaves spent last season as one of Los Angeles’ primary offensive engines, and the Lakers now need him and Doncic to carry much of that burden again. Surrounding them with players capable of taking difficult defensive assignments could allow the two stars to be more selective with their energy without sacrificing the team’s overall defensive intensity.

The question now is whether that potential will translate from pickup games and training-camp practices to an 82-game season. The Lakers have the personnel to defend with more size, length and athleticism than they did a year ago, but the pieces still have to function as one unit.

With an entirely new group around them, many are curious to know how different the Lakers’ style of play would be. During the Lakers’ media day on Monday, Reaves set everyone’s expectations for what the new rotation would look like.

“I think just being able to be versatile in what we’re going to do every single possession,” Reaves said. “We’re going to be able to do different things this year than what we were not capable of doing last year. We’re going to be able to play more free-flowing basketball. It’s not going to have to be pick-and-roll every single possession. We’re going to implement good offense.”

While the changes do sound reassuring, we have yet to see whether the Lakers’ new style will work wonders for them in the long run. Fans should expect many adjustments throughout the season as the new team will try to solidify its chemistry.

New York Basketball on X reported that Thomas will officially join the board once the standalone company establishes itself in the first week of the 2026-27 season.

“Isiah Thomas is back,” New York Basketball wrote. “The former Knicks coach & president has been appointed to the board of the Knicks. Thomas will join the board of directors when the Knicks become a standalone public company the first week of the season.”

New York Basketball also noted that because Thomas has maintained a close relationship with Knicks owner James Dolan, it wasn’t a difficult decision for the team to have the former NBA star on board.

“Isiah Thomas has stayed in James Dolan’s orbit since leaving the Knicks, including as an informal adviser, then president of the MSG-owned Liberty from 2015-19, and a Sphere board member since 2020,” New York Basketball wrote.

It’s also worth noting that IT’s role won’t involve anything basketball-related. It’s purely a corporate role that involves answering to shareholders rather than having a say in basketball operations, roster management, or day-to-day team decisions.

Looking Back at Isiah Thomas’ First Stint With Knicks

Isiah Thomas’ initial run with the New York Knicks in the 2000s was quite a mess. In December 2003, Knicks owner James Dolan hired Thomas to replace Scott Layden as the team’s president of basketball operations.

IT immediately went to work, as he was responsible for the Stephon Marbury trade in January 2004. It seemed like a promising start to Thomas’ presidency, as his business decision to trade for Marbury resulted in a playoff appearance. What nobody anticipated was that it would be the only playoff appearance the Knicks would make throughout Thomas’ time as president.

After New York’s first-round exit in 2004, Isiah assembled an expensive roster. He invested in guys like Jerome James, to whom he offered $30 million, and Jared Jeffries, who was also offered $30 million.

Then, in October 2005, the Knicks pursued Eddy Curry in a sign-and-trade deal. The exchange involved multiple first-round picks sent to the Chicago Bulls, which later led to the drafting of LaMarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah, arguably better players than Curry.

In that same year, Thomas hired Larry Brown to become the Knicks’ head coach. On paper, it wasn’t a bad decision, especially since he had formerly coached NBA legend Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. However, Brown’s tenure with the Knicks resulted in a 23-59 record in the 2005-06 season.

Ultimately, Brown was fired after one season, which forced Thomas to step off the sidelines and coach the team himself. From 2006 to 2008, IT served as the Knicks’ head coach while fulfilling his duties as the team’s president of basketball operations.

Apparently, Thomas couldn’t do any better, as he failed to lead the Knicks to a playoff berth within his two seasons as head coach. In the 2006-07 season, New York went 33-49. Then, in the 2007-08 season, Thomas mirrored Brown’s results, going 23-59.

Since everything appeared to be going down the drain for the Knicks, Dolan made the ultimate decision to fire Thomas in April 2008.

However, the Nuggets managed to sign the former Dallas Mavericks rookie by offering him a two-way contract, per NBA insider Shams Charania.

“Guard Ryan Nembhard has agreed to a two-way NBA contract with the Denver Nuggets,” Charania reported on Instagram.

It’s been a wild summer for Nembhard. Prior to signing his two-way deal with the Nuggets, he technically still had one year remaining in his contract with the Mavericks. However, in July, Dallas decided to trade him to the Atlanta Hawks.

This came as a surprise, especially given how Nemhard performed in his rookie season. Out of the 60 regular-season games he played, Nemhard started in 27 games. He also had a high usage rate, averaging 19.5 minutes per game. Within that time, he averaged 6.6 points, 5.3 assists, and 2.2 rebounds.

While some believed his journey this summer would stop in Atlanta, the Hawks traded him to the Charlotte Hornets as part of a package that included Buddy Hield for Dorian Finney-Smith.

Unfortunately for Nembhard, the Hornets then waived his remaining $2.1 million in his contract. The good news is that the Nuggets saw his potential and made space for Nembhard by waiving two-way guard KJ Simpson.

The bad news? Given that he’ll be playing under a new two-way deal, Nembhard is expected to make approximately $585,000. That’s less than half of what he was supposed to make before getting waived by the Hornets.

Now that Nembhard will be in a Nuggets uniform, let’s see how he helps Nikola Jokic and co.

Nikola Jokic Guarantees Future With Nuggets

Without question, Nikola Jokic has become the undisputed face of the Denver Nuggets. While many will always argue that basketball Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony is also worthy of that position, Jokic was the only franchise player to lead the Nuggets to an NBA championship.

At 31 years old, Jokic is still in his prime. Last season, the Serbian giant averaged his second consecutive triple-double season. The Joker put up 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, 10.7 assists, and 1.4 steals, while shooting an efficient 56.9% from the field.

Given those numbers, who wouldn’t want to have Jokic on their team? With that said, many are wondering why the Joker hasn’t signed an extension with the Nuggets yet. Jokic’s contract is set to expire soon, as he enters the fourth year of his current five-year deal, with the fifth year a player option.

Many have speculated that, because the Nuggets have failed to replicate their 2023 success, the Serbian giant might test free agency in the summer of 2027. Fortunately for Denver, it may not be the case.

During a Monday interview with Jokic at the Nuggets’ media day, he reassured fans that he intends to stay with the team. Jokic declared that he intends to sign a contract extension next summer.

“I’m going to sign next year, if they want me,” Jokic humorously said.

Apparently, by delaying his extension, Jokic has increased his contract value. Sources report that the Joker is now eligible to sign a record five-year supermax contract worth $350 million to $360 million. That’s nearly $100 million compared to his current contract, which is worth $276.1 million.

Months later, with training camp underway, Perkins has taken that praise a full step further.

“I also believe he’s going to win MVP this season,” Perkins said of Edwards, crediting the new pairing directly. “LaMelo Ball is gonna impact Anthony Edwards in such a positive way that I got Anthony Edwards as my frontrunner going into this season as the MVP.”

"I also believe he's going to win MVP this season."
@KendrickPerkins is expecting big things from Anthony Edwards playing next to a playmaker like LaMelo Ball pic.twitter.com/cRVfRHJPYw

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) September 30, 2026

He finished third in the league in scoring last season at 28.8 points per game, behind only Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but he did it without a true table-setter alongside him.

Ball averaged 7.1 assists in 72 games for Charlotte last season and led the league in made three-pointers. He gives Minnesota exactly that. Perkins pointed out that Ball elevated Kon Knueppel’s efficiency and argued that the same boost could help Edwards.

Edwards himself has been more cautious about instant chemistry. He acknowledged that the first year playing alongside Ball could be rocky as both adjust to sharing the ball in new roles.

Head coach Chris Finch has said the staff is focused on generating more catch-and-shoot opportunities for Edwards, whom he called elite in that role. He’s also expecting the pairing to unlock another level from veterans like Rudy Gobert.

Perkins’ argument wasn’t only about offense. Edwards played 61 games last season due to a mix of injuries, and Ball’s arrival was meant to lighten the creation burden that contributed to that wear and tear.

Fewer possessions spent generating his own shot from scratch, Perkins has argued, should mean a more efficient and more available Edwards over an 82-game schedule, both qualities required for an MVP campaign.

Edwards and Ball entered the league together in the 2020 draft class. Minnesota has reached the Western Conference Finals twice in the past three seasons, losing to Dallas in 2024 and Oklahoma City in 2025.

Perkins put that history on Edwards. He said that the front office has done its part and “it’s okay to want more,” a way of raising the stakes on a supporting cast finally built to match his talent.

Whether the fit translates into an MVP campaign will play out over the course of the season. From “best backcourt in the NBA” in July to an outright MVP prediction in September, his read on Edwards and Ball has only gotten bolder as camp has approached.

Duren is a restricted free agent who skipped Monday’s media day and hasn’t reported to training camp. He turned down a five-year, fully guaranteed $200 million offer from Detroit, with a deadline just before midnight Thursday to accept it. According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Hunter Patterson, the standoff has now pulled in one of the league’s bigger names.

“League sources also confirmed an ESPN report indicating that the Washington Wizards would have interest in a Duren-for-Anthony Davis trade, but that scenario – like all the others – does not appear to be of interest to the Pistons,” they wrote.

ESPN’s Marc J. Spears already reported that Washington was among four teams – along with Milwaukee, Atlanta and Sacramento – exploring a Duren sign-and-trade. Davis, who Washington acquired from Dallas last season, is eligible for a four-year, $275 million extension.

But the Wizards have said they’ll wait until during the season to discuss it. Making a Duren swap is a way to get value now rather than gamble on a new deal for a 32-year-old with an extensive injury history.

The Pistons’ resistance isn’t about a lack of options. It’s about what Duren represents. He averaged nearly 20 points and more than 10 rebounds a game last season, helping Detroit reach the No. 1 seed in the East, and at 22 years old, he’s a foundational piece rather than a rental.

Team president Trajan Langdon called him “one of the biggest contributors” to that success, and has said publicly he wants Duren back in camp, even confirming he hasn’t spoken to him all summer.

Jalen Duren reportedly felt disrespected by the weight clauses included in earlier contract proposals. Also by comparisons to teammate Ausar Thompson’s five-year, $155 million extension. Detroit has since removed the weight clause from its latest offer, but the damage to the relationship appears to have lingered past that fix.

For now, the Pistons are betting that no external offer, not even one built around a player like Davis, is worth more than keeping the center they traded up for on draft night. Whether that bet holds depends on what Duren does before Thursday’s deadline, and how much longer Detroit is willing to wait him out.

The pattern has repeated itself once more, and once more the Lakers passed. According to ClutchPoints insider Brett Siegel, Los Angeles had a real opportunity to land Hield this offseason as he bounced from the Atlanta Hawks to the Charlotte Hornets and finally to the Chicago Bulls.

“A possible consolidation trade is something the Lakers have looked at quite a bit this offseason, both reaching out to teams and having teams reach out to them about the possibility of a deal … One player that stood out in multiple deals due to the trades he was involved in was sharpshooter Buddy Hield,” Siegel wrote.

“Sources say the Lakers could’ve made a “2-for-1 move” to trade for Hield, but the organization ultimately elected against doing so.” he added.

The Lakers had the pieces to make it happen. Siegel reported that L.A. could have executed a “2-for-1 move” to acquire the sharpshooter, sending out two contracts in exchange for one.

Rob Pelinka’s front office chose not to pull the trigger. While the exact reasoning wasn’t detailed, the likely reason was draft capital.

A move for Hield would probably have required Los Angeles to attach a second-round pick, something the front office has historically been reluctant to give up even for proven shooting.

The decision looks more consequential given where the Lakers’ roster currently sits. Los Angeles has 16 players on guaranteed contracts for only 15 standard spots, meaning that a trade or release is coming before opening night regardless of what happens with outside targets.

Dalton Knecht has emerged as the most likely cut. The Lakers reportedly tried including him in trade talks for Hield earlier in the summer – talks that ultimately went nowhere.

That is part of why passing on Hield feels strange. A 2-for-1 trade would have solved two problems at once: clearing a surplus contract and adding one of the league’s most reliable three-point shooters to a team built around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

Instead, Siegel pointed to Bulls big man Jalen Smith as a name the Lakers might pursue next. A stretch center who could address frontcourt depth in a way that Hield wouldn’t have.

For now, the LA Lakers are left to explain a roster imbalance they could have avoided and a shooter they’ve chased, in one form or another, since 2018. Hield landed in Chicago instead, the latest team to get the player the Lakers kept circling but never signed.