While Knueppel started slowly in Las Vegas, the lottery pick’s play was a key reason why the Hornets won their first summer league title. He led the Hornets in scoring on Sunday and was also effective as a rebounder, a constant for Knueppel throughout the team’s five games. Once the regular season begins, he should fit well within an offense headlined by LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller. As a rookie, Knueppel will likely be a player who possesses a high floor in fantasy basketball, but his ceiling may be limited.

The Lakers can’t complete the reported signing of Marcus Smart until Wednesday, as he needs to clear waivers, and there’s also a need to free up cap space. Regarding the latter issue, the Lakers have reportedly waived Goodwin to get below the first apron. While he was solid for the Lakers last season, only $25,000 of Goodwin’s salary for the 2025-26 season was guaranteed. Goodwin will likely catch on with another team before next season begins, given his defensive ability. The Lakers also waived Shake Milton earlier Sunday.

While Fears did match his summer league turnover average in Friday’s defeat, committing five, he was more productive in the assist category. The lottery pick dished out four assists in New Orleans’ summer finale, and he was also productive in the points, rebounds and steals categories. Once the regular season begins, Fears won’t be under similar pressure to balance getting his shots and setting up his teammates. Also, he’ll be playing with and against better players. Given Fears’ age, as he won’t turn 19 until October, it’s unsurprising that he was inconsistent in Las Vegas.

While the Jazz suffered another defeat in their final game of the summer, Williams’ production against the Bulls was positive. Coming off a disappointing rookie season, it’s unsurprising that the 2024 lottery pick would play in all five games in Las Vegas. Whether or not the final performances boost Williams’ confidence ahead of the 2025-26 season remains to be seen. However, given the number of young forwards on the Jazz roster, he won’t be worth the risk in most redraft leagues.

According to the Pelicans, Queen suffered a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist during the Pelicans’ July 15 loss to Portland. The procedure was successful, but the 12-week timeline means the first-round pick may not be ready to go when the 2025-26 season begins. At a minimum, Queen will miss most of training camp, if not all. Yves Missi was positioned to start the season at the Pelicans’ starting center; Friday’s news changes nothing. However, more minutes may be available to Kevon Looney and Karlo Matkovic early on.

The contract includes a player option in 2027. Lillard now will have a 2025-26 set salary of $70M between his Portland and Milwaukee deals, and a salary of $141M over the next two years, according to Charania. The 35-year-old point guard is heading back to where his career began when the Trail Blazers selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. Lillard is unlikely to play much if at all this season as he recovers from Achilles surgery, but looks to finish his career right where he started it. The deal includes a no-trade clause.

Harper only appeared in two games after dealing with a groin injury, and he played a total of 42 minutes across his appearances. He clearly didn’t need to be out there, and the Spurs decided it wasn’t worth risking further injury. David Jones-Garcia should return to the starting lineup as he continued to make a case of Summer League MVP.

Beal will have a player option for the second season of his deal with the Clippers, so if he has a bounce-back year, he could certainly decline the option and sign a larger deal next summer, which makes this a great scenario for him. Beal should start at shooting guard, likely alongside James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, John Collins and Ivica Zubac, making this one of the best lineups in the league in 2021. How well will it work next season? That’s on coach Tyronn Lue to figure out. This is certainly a fun collection of talent. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kris Dunn will likely lose out on minutes with Beal in the mix.

The expectation is that LeBron will be with the Lakers for training camp. If you follow every single rumor that happens during the NBA offseason and read between the lines, you can see that LeBron has been pulling some stunts to create some drama. But if you look at the bigger picture, there isn’t really a move that makes sense for both the Lakers and another team that LeBron will also agree to, since he has a no-trade clause. The reality is that LeBron will be a Laker next year in what could be his final NBA season.