Shams: Klay Thompson to sign 2-year deal with Heat

Lively underwent season-ending surgery in December after playing in just seven games last season. It’s unclear what his status will be as the regular season approaches, though he hasn’t suffered any setbacks. It just takes time for a big man to recover from a major foot surgery, and they don’t want to rush him back and risk further injury. If he isn’t available for the season opener, Daniel Gafford should be locked in as the starting center, and even if Lively is available, Gafford still may start if they opt to bring Lively along slowly.

Charania’s report aired on ESPN Wednesday afternoon. Towns is eligible to sign a four-year, $276 million max extension. According to a report from Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, the Knicks are asking Towns to take less than the max, which explains how the negotiations have seemingly fallen apart. Towns’ stock will likely never be higher coming off a championship run where he was arguably the second-best player on the team. He’s coming off the board in the early part of the second-round of fantasy drafts.

Ball reflected on his NBA career in a podcast appearance that made the rounds Wednesday morning. The 28-year-old point guard spoke about how he had given everything to the game of basketball and even candidly admitted he never reached the peak of his potential due to chronic knee injuries. Still, Ball never explicitly said he was retiring and cleared up confusion over whether he intends to continue his NBA career in a tweet Wednesday. He indicated that he’s waiting for a team to show interest in signing him and also mentioned the length of the NBA season, implying he might be willing to join a team midseason as an injury replacement. For now, it doesn’t seem like the last chapter of Ball’s NBA career has been written just yet.

“I don’t want there to be no drama,” Curry told ESPN Wednesday. “No talking points. This team should be competitive and go win.” The 38-year-old point guard became eligible for a two-year, $136.7 million extension in August. Curry is currently in the final year of his contract, but described finishing his career with the Warriors as an “obvious goal.” Golden State will begin practicing next week in Hawaii as Curry prepares for his 18th season in NBA.

Ball missed all of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons with knee injuries and wasn’t the same player in his last two seasons. The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Lakers, Ball spent two years each with Los Angeles, New Orleans and Chicago before spending his last season in Cleveland. Ball was selected to the All-Rookie team in 2017-18 and averaged 10.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists across 322 career games in the NBA.

Nembhard, who appeared in 60 games and averaged 6.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game as a rookie with the Mavericks, has been traded twice this offseason. Acquired from the Hawks on Tuesday in a trade that sent Dorian Finney-Smith to Atlanta, the 6-foot guard will reportedly be waived. Once he clears waivers, Nembhard will become an unrestricted free agent. Staying with the Hornets would have eliminated what little fantasy value he had, as Charlotte has Coby White, Dennis Schröder and first-round pick Christian Anderson at point guard.

The full deal was Nembhard, Buddy Hield and cash for Dorian Finney-Smith. After going undrafted in 2025, Nembhard had a solid rookie year for Dallas. However, they ended up trading him to Atlanta in July, and he has now been swung to Charlotte. He’ll likely compete with Dennis Schroder and Christian Anderson for some of the backup point guard minutes behind Coby White.

Hield, who began the 2025-26 season with the Warriors before being sent to Atlanta in the Jonathan Kuminga trade, appeared in just seven games for the Hawks. With Atlanta adding Luguentz Dort and Aaron Wiggins via trade and Kingston Flemings via the draft, Hield’s chances of earning rotation minutes were unlikely to improve, even though the Hawks guaranteed his salary for next season. Unfortunately for Hield, Charlotte has a similar logjam on the wings, lowering his chances of becoming fantasy-relevant in 2026-27.

The deal had been rumored in recent days, and now it’s happening. Charlotte acquired DFS and three second-round picks in a cost-cutting move for the Rockets in July and have now swung him to Atlanta. The three-and-D forward should fill out some depth minutes for the Hawks behind Jalen Johnson, but it is unlikely he plays significant minutes, barring an injury.

With Leonard’s trade to Toronto finally completed last week, they didn’t waste any time to ensure his second stint with the team would be longer than the first. This will keep Kawhi with the Raptors for the next three seasons. They’ll be all in on trying to win another championship with Leonard leading the way for the next few seasons.