Let’s get you caught up on the latest NBA Buzz, including Deandre Ayton rumors, Collin Sexton‘s status and some Rockets notes:
- The Pacers are closing in on signing Deandre Ayton and Evan Sidery of BasketballNews speculates that the deal could end up being a sign-and-trade that sends Myles Turner to the Suns. Indiana has roughly $26.2 million in cap space and in that price range, it’s possible that Phoenix simply matches an offer sheet Ayton receives. There were reports of the Pacers’ intent to hold onto Turner earlier in the offseason, though those could have simply been smokescreens. For what it’s worth, Turner is in the final year of his contract, making $18.0 million.
- We are always careful to aggregate items from podcasts but on Zach Lowe’s latest, the ESPN scribe explained that recently explained the Rockets have had “very preliminary” extension conversations with Kevin Porter Jr. Tim MacMahon— who is Lowe’s guest on the podcast—indicated that there are some mixed feelings about KPJ within the organization. Porter was the No. 30 overall pick back in the 2019 draft and he played 50 games for the Cavaliers before being traded to the Rockets.
- On the same pod, Lowe indicated that Eric Gordon remains likely to be traded and there was chatter about how the shooting guard should be able to land a first-round pick in any deal.
- Some around the league believe Collin Sexton is likely to remain with the Cavaliers and Spencer Davies of BasketballNews hears that there’s confidence within the organization as well. Whether Sexton returns via a new deal or simply accepts his qualifying offer remains to be seen.
- James Wiseman made his return to NBA action, playing for Golden State’s Summer League team over the weekend. “It felt good,” Wiseman said (via Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated). “There’s a lot of stuff I gotta work on. When I was out there, my timing was pretty off. But it’s my first game. I had fun out there. I could have played more. My conditioning is getting better.”
