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Damian Lillard had offers from dozens of teams
Damian Lillard had offers from "dozens" of teams around the league before signing a three-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. "Boston, Minnesota, dozens of other teams had minimum and mid-level exception offers out to Damian Lillard in the last several weeks," said Charania.
While many NBA fans were stunned by the reunion, ESPN’s Shams Charania offered insight into the motivation behind Lillard’s decision — and it had little to do with money or title hopes. “Being home in Portland, being back with his three kids, was by far the biggest, most important factor in Damian Lillard returning to re-sign with the Portland Trail Blazers,” Charania said on SportsCenter. “He was going to spend the year rehabbing his Achilles tear in the Portland area anyway. So, returning to the Blazers franchise, even though he requested a trade just two years ago, was something he deeply cared about.”
In September, Wojnarowski stunned the sports world when he announced his departure from ESPN and pivoted to college athletics. “I love my new job. Helping players grow as athletes and as people is incredibly rewarding,” he said. “St. Bonaventure changed my life. I was the first in my family to attend college, and this place gave me a foundation. Now, my job is to give back—whether it’s to our students, alumni, or community.” Though he remains connected with former colleagues in media, he says he has no regrets: “That chapter is closed. I loved working at ESPN, but this new role excites me in a completely different way.”
Nine-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard agreed to a three-year, $42 million contract to return to the Portland Trail Blazers, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Lillard's deal includes a player option in 2027-28 and a no-trade clause. Lillard joins the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James as the only NBA players with a true no-trade clause in their contracts.
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Lillard will use the 2025-26 season to rehabilitate his injury, but a return to the franchise and Portland, where his family and children reside were of the ultimate importance, per sources. He also had multiple midlevel exception and minimum offers from NBA contenders, per sources.
This offseason, the Timberwolves reached a deal to bring back Naz Reid and Randle before free agency began on June 30 but elected not to sign reserve Alexander-Walker. A new contract for the guard would have put the Timberwolves over the second apron once again. They are currently $5.9 million below the threshold. "What the apron rules do to teams is force you to prioritize what players to retain and also put a greater emphasis on your former draft picks to play a greater role," an Eastern Conference executive told ESPN.
After the Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2025 playoffs, NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Antetokounmpo was open-minded about leaving Milwaukee. “With the Knicks and all the other teams kind of keeping an eye on Milwaukee and what may or may not happen there, I think one of the reasons why he (Bridges) has not been extended yet is because once you extend him, you cannot trade him for six months,” Begley said on The Putback. “And I think until the Giannis stuff is fully settled, and I don’t think it’s fully settled yet, as much as I’m sure Bucks fans hate to hear that because I would hate to hear that if I was a Bucks fan, but I don’t think it’s fully settled yet. “And so as teams continue to keep an eye on that, continue to at least plan with that somewhere in the back of their mind, I think that’s why you haven’t seen Bridges extended yet. When he does extend, I think that would tell you Giannis is put to bed, is off the table in a sense.”
Before taking the Rockets offer, the Suns had in-depth discussions with the Minnesota Timberwolves about moving Durant for a package that included star center Rudy Gobert, guard Donte DiVincenzo, promising forward Terrence Shannon Jr. and the 17th pick in this year's draft, sources told ESPN. Had that deal come to fruition, there was a place for Beal in the lineup, and the Suns might've made it a priority to keep him.
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More than 20 teams expressed interest in Bradley Beal
Soon after, the Suns gave Beal and Bartelstein permission to speak to other teams about joining them via buyout, the best signal yet that the Beal era in Phoenix was ending. More than 20 teams showed interest, sources said. Eventually Beal met, via Zoom, with half a dozen teams about how he might fit with them.
The Clippers were one of the teams that had already shown interest in Beal and were on his short list. When the Powell deal happened, talks accelerated, sources said. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and head coach Ty Lue, who as a native of Mexico, Missouri, has a long relationship with St. Louis native Beal, spoke to Beal about what the Clippers could offer. But the key voice came from James Harden, who lobbied the Clippers' front office to chase Beal and then reached out to him directly to make the sale, sources said.
The Suns had hoped to get Beal to leave more money on the table than just the $13.9 million. Talks went back and forth and got heated, sources said. Ultimately, Beal left the least amount possible to make the waiver work, to the penny. "There were some intense conversations," Mark Bartelstein said.
According to Marc Spears of ESPN, Stephen Curry plays a potentially crucial role in how Horford may go about this decision. Spears claims that Horford's eldest son is a massive fan on Curry and could push his father to officially confirm the deal which has reportedly already been agreed upon with a handshake deal. "But keep in mind, do you know who I think is going to be in this decision? His 10-year-old son, Ean," Spears shared Tuesday on "NBA Today." "He just started traveling with Al on the road about two seasons ago. The kid loves basketball. I know he's like, 'Dad! Steph Curry, dad!' I can see Ean convincing his dad to keep playing."
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