NBA Player News

Grant lands on the injury report after playing 33 effective minutes in Saturday’s win over Houston. Under normal circumstances, Kris Murray would be the player of interest (but not a must-add) if Grant cannot play. However, Murray is also questionable for Monday’s game, and both sitting would free up minutes for Rayan Rupert. He is not worth adding in most leagues.

The 76ers will get a head start on training camp due to their two preseason games against the Knicks in Abu Dhabi. However, whether Embiid will be ready to go after undergoing knee surgery in April is unknown. “I know he’s working very, very hard and I think things look good,” Nurse told talkSport’s Brian T. Smith. “Whether he’s ready for training camp or not, I think there’s maybe a lot more decisions than that to make before we get there. But our main thing is that he’s healthy to play and play to his nearest capabilities, because he’s awesome, no doubt about that.” Embiid has totaled 58 games in the two seasons since he won Most Valuable Player honors in 2023, and the 76ers are a vastly different team when their 7-footer is on the floor and playing at full strength.

Hayes, the 7th overall pick in the 2020 draft, struggled for most of his four years in Detroit before appearing in six games with the Nets last season. Due to Brooklyn’s many injuries, he started five of the six games he appeared in, averaging 9.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 27.2 minutes. According to BeBasket’s Gabriel Pantel-Jouve, Hayes is focused on landing another NBA opportunity despite receiving interest from multiple Europe-based clubs, which included an offer from ASVEL that the guard rejected. Hayes is no longer eligible for a two-way contract, so he must earn a standard contract to stick in the NBA for the 2025-26 season.

It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames aren’t much for routine days off. The Giants are certainly committed to those three and probably Jung Hoo Lee, Heliot Ramos and Patrick Bailey as 2026 regulars, leaving openings at second, in right field and at DH. But the first two of those spots are currently occupied by younger players anyway in Casey Schmitt and Drew Gilbert. We wouldn’t expect much to change with the core group going forward. Marco Luciano, Luis Matos and maybe Wade Meckler could get looks between the outfield and the DH spot.

Edwards, who spent last year on a two-way with Dallas, will now join the Nuggets, though the official terms of the deal weren’t reported. However, with Denver already having 14 players under contract and all three two-way spots filled, this could be just a training camp deal for Edwards that isn’t guaranteed. Still, he’s been a solid player through the first four years of his career after being a second-round pick and could certainly work his way into a role with Denver, though it likely won’t be a large one.

The older brother of Cavaliers standout Evan Mobley, Isaiah has appeared in 23 games across three NBA seasons. The 6-foot-10 power forward, the 49th overall pick in the 2022 draft, spent most of the 2024-25 season in the G League, making one appearance with the 76ers. Mobley most recently played for the Warriors at the NBA 2K26 Summer League in Las Vegas.

After three-plus seasons with the Bulls, Green split the 2024-25 season between New Orleans and Cleveland. In 68 total games, the 6-foot-5 wing averaged 5.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 18.5 minutes. While Green did start 19 games last season, 18 with the injury-riddled Pelicans, the production was not consistent enough to make him a player worth holding on fantasy rosters. That’s unlikely to change in 2025-26 given Detroit’s depth.

Not selected in the 2023 NBA Draft, Norris has spent most of his two professional seasons in the G League. He appeared in three games for the Celtics last season, averaging 2.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 11.7 minutes. Sunday’s transactions open up a two-way contract slot for the Celtics, days after the team acquired RJ Luis as part of a deal with the Jazz.

Sochan was gearing up to represent Poland at EuroBasket, beginning on August 27, when he felt pain in his calf. While the injury is not considered serious, the decision has been made to send him back to San Antonio for rehab. The expectation is that Sochan will be healthy when the Spurs begin training camp in late September, so the impact on his fantasy prospects should be minimal at worst. Sochan was a late-round option in fantasy leagues last season, ranking just outside the top-150 in per-game value. Only appearing in 54 games negatively impacted his totals value, as expected.

Muscala, who retired from basketball last summer, will remain around the NBA and reunite with first-year coach Jordan Ott after spending time with him in Atlanta. Muscala will look to help Phoenix remain competitive after trading Kevin Durant to Houston.

According to the Heat, Highsmith suffered a torn right meniscus while training in his hometown of Baltimore. With the team’s timeline, the wing may be available in time for the start of the regular season, but that isn’t guaranteed. Highsmith has not been a consistently impactful fantasy asset with the Heat, but he’s been able to earn rotation minutes.