NBA Player News

Topic (back) will be limited when training camp begins, Clemente Almanza of USA Today reports

General manager Sam Presti announced the restriction Thursday, and Topic is currently dealing with a back issue stemming from offseason surgery. The 21-year-old guard's participation level will be worth monitoring throughout camp as Oklahoma City prepares for the preseason.

Sarr will be a partial participant when training camp begins as he continues his recovery from surgery to repair a fractured right foot,Josh Robbins of The Athletic reports.

General manager Will Dawkins said Thursday that Sarr is expected to be ready for the start of the regular season, so the limited workload to begin camp appears precautionary. Sarr underwent surgery in mid-June, and his progress during the preseason will be worth monitoring, but there currently doesn't appear to be significant concern about his availability for Opening Night.

Richmond agreed to a contract with the Cavaliers on Wednesday, Paul Garcia of The Spot Up Shot reports.

The exact terms of the deal are unclear, though Richmond could compete for a spot on the Cavaliers' regular-season roster in training camp. Over 36 G League appearances with the Capital City Go-Go last season, he averaged 10.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.6 blocks in 25.7 minutes per game.

Lively (foot) has not been cleared to participate in training camp yet and is slowly ramping up to begin basketball activity, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com reports.

Lively underwent right foot surgery in December after appearing in just seven regular-season games (four starts), during which he averaged 4.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.6 blocks and 0.6 steals across 16.4 minutes per contest. MacMahon notes that Lively has not suffered a setback. However, the big man is still in jeopardy of missing time to begin the 2026-27 regular season, and it wouldn't be surprising if he operates under a heavy minutes restriction upon his return. If the 22-year-old misses an extended period, Daniel Gafford, Santi Aldama (knee) and Morez Johnson would be candidates for increased burn.

Jones agreed to a contract with the Cavaliers on Wednesday, Paul Garcia of The Spot Up Shot reports.

The exact terms of the deal are unknown, though it wouldn't be surprising to see Jones compete for a spot on the regular-season roster during training camp. He appeared in 10 regular-season games with Denver while on a two-way pact last season, averaging 2.9 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 8.8 minutes per contest.

Sandfort agreed to a training camp contract with the Timberwolves on Wednesday, Paul Garcia of The Spot Up Shot reports.

Sandfort could compete for a spot on Minnesota's regular-season roster, though it's possible he'll be waived before training camp begins since the organization now owns his G League rights. The 24-year-old appeared in 25 outings with the G League's Oklahoma City Blue in 2025-26, averaging 10.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.6 blocks in 27.4 minutes per showing.

Jared Weiss of the New York Times believes coach Mitch Johnson needs to find ways to increase Harper's minutes this year.

Weiss thinks the optimal way to boost Harper's playing time would be to close games with all three of Harper, De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle on the floor. It remains to be seen how willing the Spurs will be to deploy more frequent small-ball looks, as they would then have to squeeze either Devin Vassell or Tobias Harris from the lineup more often. Harper remains one of the favorites for the Sixth Man of the Year award heading into the new campaign.

Jared Weiss of the New York Times believes that Fox should start over Dylan Harper in 2026-27.

The calls for Harper to unseat Fox as the Spurs' starting point guard grew louder this past postseason, when the former soundly outperformed the latter, particularly during the NBA Finals. Fox appears to be in pole position to begin 2026-27 as the starter over Harper, but any kind of slow start could jeopardize his hold on the top spot if Harper carries his NBA Finals success into the new season.

Castle appears to be locked into a starting role at shooting guard, per Jared Weiss of the New York Times.

There's some discourse surrounding whether or not Dylan Harper should start over veteran De'Aaron Fox in 2026-27, but Castle seems to be safe from that debate. Castle was instrumental to the Spurs' deep playoff run last year, averaging 18.2 points, 6.1 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 1.5 three-pointers per game across 23 postseason appearances.

Sears signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Portland on Wednesday, per Joe Freeman of The Oregonian.

Sears is expected to be waived and eventually moved to the G League's Rip City Remix. He was a two-way player for the Bucks last season.