Lakers fire Buss brothers from scouting roles
The Lakers are reorganizing their basketball operations department and have terminated brothers Joey and Jesse Buss from their respective front office positions.
Category: NBA
NBA news.
Flagg misses first game with illness as Mavs fall
Flagg misses first game with illness as Mavs fall
Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg missed Wednesday night’s 113-111 loss to the Knicks with an illness, coach Jason Kidd said.
Jonathan Kuminga reportedly 'feels like the scapegoat again' with move to Warriors' bench
Jonathan Kuminga reportedly 'feels like the scapegoat again' with move to Warriors' bench
To open the season, Jonathan Kuminga seemed to have found a groove with the Warriors. Through the season’s first nine games, he averaged 17.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and shot 41.4% from 3-point range. Coach Steve Kerr said Kuminga was the team’s fourth full-time starter.
In the last five games, he has fallen off to 9.6 points and five rebounds a game, shooting 15.4% from beyond the arc, with almost as many turnovers (2.7) as assists (2.8). With that, Kerr moved Kuminga to the bench, but that has brought up old feelings from a long and rocky relationship with his coach, reports Anthony Slater at ESPN.
“He feels like the scapegoat again,” one team source said …
Kuminga, team sources said, had voiced to Kerr a desire to be coached harder. There was even a meeting about it in their Sacramento hotel prior to the ninth game of the season and Kerr appeared to make it a point during the Kings game to call Kuminga over and get on him constructively several times.
But 4-1 became 6-6. Kuminga’s knees began bothering him. His defensive juice and burst to the rim lessened. He went 1 of 9 shooting at home against the Pacers, missing all five of his 3s. Coaches dinged him for his perimeter shot selection as a reason for his minute reduction (season-low 20).
The cloud over all of this is that, as of Jan. 15, Kuminga becomes trade eligible, and the Warriors are expected to test the trade waters. Part of the point of the two-year, $46.8 million contract (with a team option the second year) was that it was very tradable. This is a case where it feels like a fresh start somewhere else would be good for Kuminga, but the Warriors are not going to get much value back in a trade if he is struggling in a bench role. Kuminga has been out of the last four games with knee tendonitis, and the Warriors went 2-2 during that part of the road trip.
At some point in the next month, Kerr is going to lean on Kuminga again — the Warriors could use his athleticism — but if he is going to prove to other teams he deserves the opportunity he feels he is not getting in Golden State, he has to be more consistent. And stay healthy.
He has to look like the guy from the first nine games of the season.
Sources: Spurs’ Castle (hip flexor) out 1-2 weeks
Sources: Spurs’ Castle (hip flexor) out 1-2 weeks
Spurs second-year guard Stephon Castle will be reevaluated in one to two weeks, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania, after an MRI revealed a left hip flexor strain.
Where will the Spurs turn without Victor Wembanyama?
Where will the Spurs turn without Victor Wembanyama?
Victor Wembanyama’s presence — 7-foot-infinity with arms long enough to box with God, able to block 3-pointers from inside the paint and finish at the rim from outside it — is overwhelming. The challenge now facing the San Antonio Spurs? Finding a way to make sure his absence isn’t.
What was initially diagnosed as calf tightness, sidelining Wembanyama from San Antonio’s Sunday win over the Sacramento Kings, was revealed after an MRI to be a left calf strain. While the Spurs declined to provide a timetable beyond “providing updates as appropriate,” the ailment is expected to sideline the 21-year-old superstar for at least a few weeks …
The time lost for calf strains in the NBA is roughly 2-3 weeks, but 1:3 cases will miss more than 20 days and 1:5 cases will miss more than 30 days.
— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) November 17, 2025
… and, given how dicey a proposition it can be to play on a strained calf, how precarious lower-extremity injuries can be for a figure as towering as Wembanyama, and how absolutely vital the French phenom’s health is to the Spurs’ present and future, you’d expect San Antonio’s braintrust to err on the side of exercising an exceptional amount of caution when it comes to clearing the big fella to return to the fray.
“Obviously, we’ve seen around this league recently, the calf-tightness thing is not something you want to take lightly,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson told reporters Sunday. “Don’t want to push it there.”
Two weeks on the shelf would cost Wembanyama seven games. Three weeks would cost him 10. Any more than that — league sources told Tom Osrborn of the San Antonio Express-News that Wemby will be reevaluated in two to three weeks, which isn’t the same thing as saying he’ll be back in two to three weeks — could, for the second consecutive season, cost Wembanyama his eligibility for year-end individual awards like Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year, as well as recognition on the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams. (And, if he would’ve gone on to actually win MVP this season, making himself eligible for the 30% max on the rookie-scale extension he can sign this summer, it’d cost him tens of millions of dollars, too.)
Wembanyama ticketed himself for serious consideration on all of those ballots with a sensational start to the 2025-26 NBA season. Entering Tuesday’s play, he ranks 14th in the NBA in scoring, second in rebounding, and first by a mile in blocks per game. He’s on pace to become the third player since the NBA started tracking blocks in 1973-74 to average 25 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 swats, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and David Robinson — and he’s scoring more efficiently than those two Hall of Fame legends did.
Big Vic leads the Spurs in minutes, field-goal attempts, free-throw attempts and frontcourt touches per game, and in usage rate, finishing nearly 31% of their offensive possessions with a shot attempt, foul drawn or turnover. He’s the double-team-demanding, game-plan-distorting hub at the center of their 12th-ranked offense; he’s the all-consuming, all-trace-erasing black hole at the dark heart of their fifth-ranked defense.
He is, literally and figuratively, the biggest reason why San Antonio has raced out to a 9-4 start, within just a game of second place in the brutally competitive Western Conference; the Spurs can’t just replace him. So: What can they do?
Can D’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle carry Spurs?
On offense, the picture starts with shifting more shot-creation and scoring responsibility toward the backcourt, where De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle have both gotten off to strong starts.
As my colleague Tom Haberstroh recently noted, reigning Rookie of the Year Castle — who’s been ruled out of Tuesday’s game against the Grizzlies with left hip flexor soreness — has leveled up significantly as a facilitator, ranking 10th in assists (7.5 per game) and 15th in points created via assist (19.5 per game) as he took on a larger role in the Spurs offense with Fox sidelined to start the season. The 6-foot-6 Castle has used his quickness and strength to become a north-south demon, averaging 13.1 drives to the basket per game — just behind All-Stars Paolo Banchero and Donovan Mitchell — taking 40% of his shots at the rim and converting a sparkling 68% of them.
Those repeated paint attacks pay additional dividends in the form of trips to the foul line. Castle’s averaging 6.5 free throws per game, drawing shooting fouls on nearly 22% of his attempts, and has the seventh-highest free-throw attempt rate of any player to take at least 75 shots this season, putting himself in the context of contact magnets like Banchero, Jimmy Butler, Zion Williamson and Luka Dončić. A few more forays into the paint and trips to the charity stripe would go a long way toward helping San Antonio’s offense stay afloat without Wembanyama serving as the tide that lifts all boats.
So, too, would Fox reminding everyone why he earned an All-NBA selection three seasons ago, and why the Spurs gladly handed him a $229 million maximum salaried contract extension over the summer.
Fox has hit the ground running in his first five games since returning from a preseason hamstring strain, averaging 22 points and 6.8 assists in 34.2 minutes per game on pristine 51/38/92 shooting splits. That’s good for a true shooting percentage of .613, which would be far and away the most efficient scoring mark of his career. He’s also doing it on fewer shot attempts, fewer touches, less time of possession and a lower usage rate than he’s had since his first two years in the league.
On one hand, that’s an indication of Fox working to fit comfortably into a (slightly) more circumscribed role as a No. 2 option next to a no-doubt-about-it centerpiece like Wembanyama. On the other, Fox’s strong showing in his first game sans Wemby — a 28-point, 11-assist performance in a win over his old team in Sacramento — offers a reminder that one of just nine players in the NBA to average better than 24 points and six assists per game over the past half-decade is eminently capable of scaling up and shouldering a heavier burden when necessary.
“Sometimes you can be freed of decision-making when you have less options to choose from,” Johnson told reporters after the win over the Kings. “You got the big fella to [keep] happy, when Steph plays [as well], so [Fox] probably could be a little bit more aggressive tonight. Not have to play nice.”
[Get more Spurs news: San Antonio team feed]
While Fox eschews niceness, it’d be nice to see more out of Devin Vassell, too. When playing alongside Wembanyama, the sixth-year swingman slots somewhat quietly into a complementary role, more frequently spacing the floor than getting involved directly in actions; he finishes just 13.9% of San Antonio’s offensive possessions with a shot attempt, turnover or foul drawn when sharing the floor with Wemby. When Wembanyama’s not on the floor, though, that usage rate jumps all the way up to 24.4%, according to PBP Stats — a jump of a couple of spots in San Antonio’s offensive pecking order. (A handy back-of-the-envelope comparison: That’s the difference between, say, the size of Dyson Daniels’ role in the Hawks’ ecosystem, and the size of Jalen Johnson’s.)
While the presence of Fox and Castle — and the impending return of rookie playmaker Dylan Harper, who’s missed seven games with a calf strain of his own and is expected “to return soon after Thanksgiving,” according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic — should help mitigate the loss of Wembanyama on the offensive end, remaining near the top of the league on defense figures to be a tougher task.
What about the defense without Wemby?
San Antonio has allowed just 106.5 points per 100 possessions with Wembanyama on the floor this season, a level of point-prevention that would rank second in the league, better than anybody but the smothering, rampaging Thunder. Without Wemby, though, the Spurs have been significantly more permissive, allowing 123.5 points per 100 — a rate that would rank 28th in the NBA over the full season, ahead of only the basement-dwelling Wizards and Nets.
There’s a caveat there, though. Luke Kornet — the backup center the Spurs targeted in free agency to maintain an elite level of rim protection even when Wembanyama went to the bench — has missed seven of San Antonio’s 13 games. When he’s been available, the Spurs have more than held serve in non-Wemby time: It’s only been 196 non-garbage-time possessions, but with Kornet in the middle and Big Vic on the pine, the Spurs have conceded just 108 points per 100 — again, a top-two-caliber defensive rating — and outscored opponents by 20 points in 92 minutes.
After developing into a key rotation piece and advanced stats darling in Boston, Kornet has been as advertised as an offensive rebounder, finisher and, most importantly, interior deterrent in San Antonio. Kornet is holding opponents to just 47.4% shooting at the rim when he’s the nearest defender — the sixth-lowest mark among 194 players who have contested at least 25 up-close shots, according to Second Spectrum.
“[Kornet] fits our brand of basketball,” Johnson told reporters. “It may look a little different [without Wembanyama], but we don’t have to alter our style of play.”
Johnson will need Kornet to stand tall in Wembanyama’s stead. Just as important: Even factoring in a heavier workload for Kornet than the 23 minutes per game he’s averaged thus far — the 7-2 reserve averaged 27.7 minutes per game in the 16 starts he made for the Celtics last season, and played 28 in his first start of this season against the Kings, scoring 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting, grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking 3 shots — the Spurs will need to find a way to hold fast when the backup-turned-starter sits down, too.
Bismack Biyombo got the bulk of the backup 5 minutes when Kornet was unavailable earlier in the season. They, um, didn’t go so hot — San Antonio was outscored by 26 points in his 46 minutes of work — which is one reason why the recently-returned-to-health Kelly Olynyk got them against Sacramento.
The 34-year-old Olynyk provides a dose of complementary playmaking (eight assists in 18 minutes against the Kings) and floor-spacing (37.1% from 3-point range for his career) that gives San Antonio a different look offensively; he does not, however, offer anything approaching the kind of rim protection that Wembanyama, Kornet or even a 33-year-old Biyombo bring to the table. (He has always had pretty good hands, though, consistently posting strong steal rates for a big man.) It’ll be interesting to see if Johnson feels compelled to push some different buttons tactically in non-Kornet minutes; San Antonio has played 26 possessions of zone defense in 13 games, according to Synergy Sports tracking, 18th among 28 teams that have used any zone at all.
It’ll also be interesting to see if this represents an opportunity for forward Jeremy Sochan — who has seen his minutes and role dramatically reduced after missing the first six games of the season with a sprained wrist — to reestablish his value. The 2022 lottery pick didn’t reach an agreement on an extension of his rookie-scale contract before the season, meaning he’s headed for restricted free agency this offseason. If he can turn in a strong shift as a versatile defensive piece — potentially even serving as a small-ball 5 in place of Biyombo — while continuing to make his 3-pointers, he could reassert his place in San Antonio’s long-term plans … or, failing that, mark himself as a person of interest for another franchise’s future outlook.
While the Spurs went just 13-23 after a blood clot prematurely ended Wembanyama’s second season, this year’s version of the roster looks — on paper, at least — to be better positioned to withstand a few weeks without him. We’ll find out very quickly whether that’s true: After Tuesday’s meeting with the Grizz, San Antonio will host the surging Hawks before going on the road to face the better-than-expected Suns and feisty Trail Blazers, followed by matchups with Nikola Jokić’s Nuggets and Anthony Edwards’ Timberwolves.
Break even there, and you can feel pretty good about staying in the middle of the pack in a crowded West. Slip into a slide, though, and all of a sudden the vaulted, contention-caliber ceiling that looked imminent during those strong opening weeks of the season might start to seem beyond even Wembanyama’s reach.
The Clippers are bad, expensive and owe their first-round pick to the Thunder — now what?
The Clippers are bad, expensive and owe their first-round pick to the Thunder — now what?
Amid all the Western Conference drama — the gambling scandal that rocked the Blazers, the Mavericks firing their general manager, a disgruntled Ja Morant on the Grizzlies, the Pelicans axing their coach and another atrocious start for the Kings — the under-investigation Clippers have begun the season 4-10.
They are bad, tied for the West’s 11th-best record, owners of a -4.6 net rating that has them on pace for a 29-win season. They are one of the NBA’s most expensive rosters and its oldest team by a fairly wide margin. And they owe their first-round draft pick — a potential lottery selection — to, of all teams, the Thunder.
So, where do the Clippers go from here? (On the basketball court, we mean. They have separate issues off the floor, where the league is currently investigating them for, mainly, alleged salary cap circumvention.)
They can bank on the fact that, over the final six weeks of last regular season, they were arguably the conference’s top team, compiling league bests of an 18-3 record and a +13.3 net rating — drawing dead even with the eventual champion Thunder in that span. In the first round of the playoffs, they lost a seven-game series to the Nuggets, who took Oklahoma City to seven games. The Clips were right there.
Maddie Meyer via Getty Images
And they theoretically got better over the summer, trading away Norman Powell in a move that made way for a trade for John Collins and the signings of one-time All-Stars Bradley Beal and Brook Lopez. They were sound decisions, presuming Beal could replace some level of Powell’s production and adding some versatility in the frontcourt around Ivica Zubac. The Clippers were even deeper, at least on paper.
Then, Beal fractured his hip, not that he was any great shakes to begin with. Lopez, a 37-year-old 7-footer, has very much looked his age. And Collins has been who he has been for nine seasons, never quite fitting in as a more traditional power forward. He has not been spacing the floor the way they needed, shooting 33.3% on 2.6 attempts from 3-point range a game, and he cannot keep up with athletic wings on defense.
Collins, like the Clippers, is better in theory than in actuality. They play like a team of individuals, like a team that was bought and paid for by Steve Ballmer, one of the world’s richest men, and like a team that is more concerned with the familiarity of the names on its roster than whether or not they fit together.
They play like a team led by a 36-year-old James Harden, who is still operating as if he is a perennial MVP candidate. Few regulars have a higher usage rate than Harden’s 30.4%, and few teams have so low an assist percentage as the Clippers’ 60.7%. No team runs a greater percentage of its plays in isolation.
This is not a fun way to play. Not when Harden is incapable of carrying the load he did when he was a top-three MVP finisher for four straight seasons from 2017-20. Not when he is a greater defensive liability than ever before. And not when a quarter of the league is throwing 300 passes per game.
The Clippers are easy to solve. Handle Harden, and they will crumble. It is a recipe that has worked in the playoffs every year. And it is easier to handle Harden, in his advanced age, than at any other point ever.
It does not help that Kawhi Leonard is hurt again. He is nursing a sprained ankle and foot injury that has sidelined him for the past eight games, when the Clippers are 1-7. His return from injury, which head coach Tyronn Lue categorized as “nothing serious,” should stabilize an offense rated 21st and a defense that is even worse.
[Get more Clippers news: Los Angeles team feed]
But how long can the Clippers bank on Leonard being healthy? It is the same old Clippers existence, one that they have lived for as long as Leonard has been on the roster. And we are going on seven years now.
Every year we think it is time to write off the Clippers, and every year they pull us back in. As we said, they closed last season on an 18-3 stretch that convinced us they may be bound for another conference finals, where they peaked as a franchise in 2021. We at least figured them as fringe contenders each year.
This year feels different, and not just because they have endured their worst start of the Leonard era. It is impossible to think that, as Harden marches towards his 37th birthday and Leonard is a well-worn 34, they can together find the magic required to win four playoff rounds. Remember, this is James Harden, who, with two chances to defeat the 76ers on the final possession of Monday’s game, missed badly twice.
No, this is a team going nowhere. Fast. Or slow. It has taken awhile for us to get here, but we are definitely here: The Clippers are no longer contenders. They are firmly in the class of pretenders.
And it is not like they can tank to the bottom of the standings, as they do not control their own first-round pick for the next four years, owing the next two to Oklahoma City and two more to Philadelphia.
That lack of draft assets also makes it impossible for the Clippers to enter any serious trade conversations for a superstar. For all the talent the Clippers do have, the Bucks are not about to take Los Angeles’ bloated salaries, without much draft compensation, in exchange for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
More likely, the Clippers would have to assume some risk to make improvements, taking on another team’s trouble. The oft-injured Anthony Davis may soon become available in Dallas. Morant is displeased in Memphis. Atlanta is playing awfully well without Trae Young. The Kings may host a fire sale. And Zion Williamson is floating out there in New Orleans. There is talent to be had if the Clips would take a swing.
But do any of those names inspire confidence that they could solve what ails these Clippers, given how much they would have to give up — likely in a three-team deal — just to acquire any available star player.
No, the Clippers are stuck. And we have barely mentioned the allegations of salary cap circumvention against them, for which they are currently being investigated by the league. That is but one of their problems now. The Clips are the Clips again, their outlook in the standings as dire as it is for the future.
The High Score 100: The biggest rankings risers and fallers as we navigate Week 5 in fantasy basketball
The High Score 100: The biggest rankings risers and fallers as we navigate Week 5 in fantasy basketball
The High Score 100 — the top-100 players in Yahoo’s newest fantasy basketball format — is a running reflection of year-to-date performance and trending production. Each weekly update captures who’s actually delivering value and who’s fading.
Here’s a breakdown of the biggest risers and fallers through the fourth week of fantasy basketball — with the complete High Score 100 at the bottom of the article. I’ll be updating my rankings every Tuesday throughout the fantasy basketball season.
Before we jump into the rankings movers, LeBron James is expected to make his season debut as soon as Tuesday night. While he’ll be in the High Score 100 next week — giving me a better chance to evaluate his fantasy value in this format — I expect James to average at least 47 points per game in High Score and be a top-20 (or better) player.
Ok, onto the risers!
Dillon Brooks – FC, Phoenix Suns: 72nd overall (⬆️ 28)
Brooks moved from 100 to 72 in the High Score 100 thanks to a couple of notable performances in Week 4 that brought his per-game average up to 36 fantasy points in High Score. Brooks has become a strong No. 2 scoring option behind Devin Booker, posting a career-best 22 points per game this season. Brooks isn’t doing much for rebounds or assists, but his scoring and steals have made him a viable utility option in High Score.
Michael Porter Jr. – FC, Brooklyn Nets: 38th overall (⬆️ 23)
Porter’s offensive output continues to surge in Brooklyn. Through Monday, Porter is putting up 24 points with 3 assists per contest (both career-highs). It may not seem like a lot, but MPJ is doing more facilitating than he’s been tasked with in the past. He’s just outside the top-40 in High Score on a per-game basis, but I have Porter inside the top-40 this week due to his recent run, averaging 44.8 fantasy points per game over his last six games.
Shaedon Sharpe – G/FC, Portland Trail Blazers: 64th overall (⬆️ 21)
The Most Improved Player race is so deep this year and Sharpe’s fourth-year leap deserves more respect. He’s the Blazers’ second-leading scorer at 22 points per game, plus he’s providing 5 boards and 1.5 steals, a welcome boost that’s paying dividends for fantasy managers. Sharpe jumped into the mid-60s of the rankings after an explosive Week 4, eclipsing 50 fantasy points on two occasions.
Jalen Johnson – FC, Atlanta Hawks: 13th overall (⬆️ 11)
Johnson’s elevation from rank 24 to 13 highlights his breakout status in Atlanta. He tallied 98 points against the Utah Jazz last week, the second-highest total of the season in High Score. That gem really stamped his Jokić-like ceiling — 31/18/14 with 7 steals. With Trae Young out, his playmaking has grown to the point where he’s flirting with a triple-double nightly.
Jalen Duren – FC, Detroit Pistons: 37th overall (⬆️ 5)
Moving up five slots isn’t a lot, but I just wanted to highlight how much of a beast Duren’s been lately. Duren’s leveled up to career-bests in scoring, rebounding and stocks, and has logged at least 50 fantasy points in High Score in four of his last five outings.
JALEN DUREN WITH POWER 😤
He’s up to 15 points & 7 boards in the 2nd quarter!
Watch on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/TiyATL0KDSpic.twitter.com/AaW7wgJnqe
— NBA (@NBA) November 18, 2025
The growth in scoring has been just as important as his commitment on the defensive end, and it’s helped the Pistons reel off a 10-game win streak. He’s looking like one of the best frontcourt players in the Eastern Conference.
And onto the fallers…
Jerami Grant – FC, Portland Trail Blazers: Unranked (⬇️ 27)
Grant’s fall from 83 to off the list reflects his drop in production. His scoring has dropped to 18 points per game, and since he doesn’t provide many counting stats outside of that, he’s not someone you need to hold in High Score. All that said, he’s been one of the best reserves in the league this season.
VJ Edgecombe – G, Philadelphia 76ers: 76th overall (⬇️ 24)
Edgecombe’s slide from 52 to 76 mirrors his fantasy value that’s cooled off from his hot start to the season. While he’s still a must-roster player, the rookie has shot just 32% from the field over the past two weeks, averaging 11 points per game. Fortunately, he’s still getting around a combined 10 rebounds + assists but without the scoring, he needs to be on your bench.
Nikola Vučević – FC, Chicago Bulls: 54th overall (⬇️ 14)
The Bulls are playing well, so it’s surprising to see Vučević struggle with the two things he’s been most consistent at — scoring and rebounding. Over the seven games, Vuc’s per-game production tumbled to 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists per night. Fantasy managers are expecting at least a 17-and-10 double-double, so while it’s too early to really dive into the rankings, some concern is valid.
Myles Turner – FC, Milwaukee Bucks: 93rd overall (⬇️ 10)
I finished my latest rankings update before Giannis Antetokounmpo injured his groin on Monday night. Pending the results of Giannis’ MRI, Turner’s stay on the fallers’ list could be short-lived, considering how much Milwaukee will need him if Antetokounmpo is sidelined.
I’ve been steadily docking Turner each week because he’s barely hanging onto the top 100. He’s averaging 31.4 fantasy points per game, which is 98th overall.
Collin Sexton – G, Charlotte Hornets: 99th overall (⬇️ 8)
The Hornets dealt with injuries to LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller early on, which gave the veteran guard more opportunities to step up and fill the void. The Hornets are almost back to full strength, so Sexton’s dip in the ranks is a combination of recent performance (under 30 fantasy points in his last three games) and getting ahead of what’s to come.
Complete High Score 100 rankings
The High Score 100 is a running reflection of year-to-date performance and trending production.
Note: LeBron James, Jalen Williams and Tyler Herro were excluded from the top-100 because they have yet to play in a game this season.
2025 Fantasy Basketball Rankings powered by FantasyProsECR ™ – Expert Consensus Rankings
Paul George expected to make season debut for 76ers Monday night vs. Clippers
Paul George expected to make season debut for 76ers Monday night vs. Clippers
After missing all of training camp and the first dozen games of the season following offseason knee surgery, Paul George is expected to make his return to the court Monday night when the 76ers host the Clippers.
George is officially listed as questionable, however, he is expected to take the court, reports Shams Charania of ESPN. George has been working out on the court for a month and looked good in post-practice work, according to reports, but the 76ers were cautious with the return of the 35-year-old.
Post-practice Paul George: pic.twitter.com/E4pC5tBFdE
— Noah Levick (@NoahLevick) November 16, 2025
George played 41 games in his first season with Philadelphia, largely due to a knee issue, which is why he underwent arthroscopic surgery this past summer. Last season, the six-time All-NBA player averaged 16.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game when he did play. However, the season before, in Los Angeles, he was an All-Star, averaging 22.6 points per game and shooting 41.3% from 3-point range.
While George is set to return, the 76ers are listing Joel Embiid, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Adem Bona as out. The Clippers will be without Kawhi Leonard, Bradley Beal (out for the season), and Derrick Jones Jr. against the 76ers.
NBA PER (Week 4): Nikola Jokic Ranks 1st At 37.7
NBA PER (Week 4): Nikola Jokic Ranks 1st At 37.7
Nikola Jokic has overtaken Giannis Antetokounmpo for the top spot in the NBA in PER with a mark of 37.7. Jokic has a TS% of .769 to go with his league leading 52.5 assist percentage. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic and Jalen Duren round out the top-5. Jokic has led the NBA in PER each of the past five seasons.
NBA PER (Week 4):
1. Nikola Jokic: 37.7
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo: 34.2
3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 32.3
4. Luka Doncic: 29.1
5. Jalen Duren: 26.1
6. Victor Wembanyama: 25.4
7. Julius Randle: 25.1
8. Kawhi Leonard: 24.8
9. Anthony Edwards: 24.4
10. Donovan Mitchell: 24.4
11. Austin Reaves: 23.8
12. James Harden: 23.5
13. Jimmy Butler III: 23.4
14. Joel Embiid: 23.2
15. Tyrese Maxey: 23.1
16. Jalen Johnson: 22.9
17. Lauri Markkanen: 22.6
18. Stephen Curry: 22.4
19. Alperen Sengun: 22.2
20. Moussa Diabate: 22.1
So … how's that Washington Wizards rebuild going?
So … how's that Washington Wizards rebuild going?
Losing, in and of itself, isn’t that big a deal for the Washington Wizards.
For one thing, it’s something they’ve done quite a lot of over the past few years. The Wiz haven’t even approached .500 since 2017-18, a span in which they’ve lost a higher percentage of their games than any franchise except the Pistons. While Detroit is now firmly on the upswing, though, Washington remains mired in the mud — which, for another thing, is kind of the plan for an organization that is still climbing out of the smoking crater left in the wake of the John Wall/Bradley Beal era and boasts the NBA’s youngest roster.
Losing 11 games in a row, though? With the 11th coming in a game where you trailed for virtually the entire final three quarters … going down by as many as 24 points … to the similarly disastrous and previously 1-11 Brooklyn Nets … at home?
down by 20 to the 1-11 nets and tyrese martin is licking his lips at us on our way to an 11th straight loss
does it get worse than this pic.twitter.com/mO9sBXXKRE
— WizardsMuse (@WizardsMuse1) November 17, 2025
Well, that’s a sizable enough deal that, just a baker’s dozen games into the 2025-26 NBA season, the nigh-upon-winless 1-12 Wizards sounded a worrying alarm:
The Wizards had a player-only meeting after tonight’s game, Kyshawn George said
— Varun Shankar (@ByVarunShankar) November 17, 2025
From Josh Robbins of The Athletic:
“We buckled to the adversity,” coach Brian Keefe said. “We fouled when we shouldn’t. We didn’t dig in when they made certain runs. This group has never done that. That was disappointing on all of our end. We have to own that. But that was the thing that was bothering me the most, is that after the initial start of the game, which I thought we came out with a necessary mindset and attitude, once we got hit, we didn’t respond well.”
It was a bad enough performance that, after Keefe spoke to the team following the final buzzer, the Wizards held a players-only meeting in their locker room.
“We needed that talk, I think,” [Wizards forward Bilal] Coulibaly said afterward. “The guys just stepped up, the vets, the guys that have been used to winning. That’s what we’re trying to do here in the next year. So they had to talk to us, and they did a great job about this and everybody was listening.”
That, in part, was the argument for the Wizards trading for the likes of Khris Middleton and C.J. McCollum. Bringing in a pair of respected 10-plus-year veterans who have been on teams of consequence — in Middleton, a three-time All-Star who played a key role on the Bucks’ 2021 NBA championship team; in McCollum, someone who’d averaged 20 points per game for 10 straight seasons and went to the 2019 Western Conference finals with Portland — would help Keefe and his coaching staff show the ropes to Washington’s 10 players aged 22 and under. Under their guidance, hoped-for cornerstones like Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson would come to understand what it takes to travel the road to NBA relevance: to transform from the team every opponent can’t wait to face to one worthy of respect.
In the third season after dealing Beal, though … it’s proving to be an awfully long road.
After the embarrassing loss to Brooklyn, the Wizards enter Monday’s action ranked 28th in offensive efficiency, 29th in defensive efficiency and 30th — dead last — in net rating, according to Cleaning the Glass. They are woeful in the half-court, whether scoring or defending. They are even worse in transition, ranking 28th in points per 100 possessions added on offensive fast breaks and 30th — again, dead last — in points-per-100 added by opponents on their transition chances. They’ve been able to limit 3-point attempts, ranking sixth in the share of opponents’ shots that come from long distance … but have been unable to prevent the most efficient shots in the game, with opponents taking nearly 34% of their attempts directly at the rim, fifth highest in the NBA.
In an era when it seems like every head coach in the league is harping on the importance of winning the possession battle, the Wizards are losing it, night in and night out, to an almost unfathomable degree. They give up more offensive rebounds than they snag themselves; they allow more free throws than they generate for themselves; they turn the ball over way more often than they take it from the other team. Add it all up, as Jared Dubin does at Last Night in Basketball, and Washington is averaging 11.4 fewer possessions per game than its opponents — a deficit nearly twice as large as that of the team with the second-largest disparity (Milwaukee, -6.1).
Scott Taetsch via Getty Images
As it turns out, giving opposing teams way more scoring chances than you get, struggling to convert on yours and not being very good at preventing them from scoring on theirs is a one-way ticket to Yikesville. According to Dubin’s adjusted efficiency metrics, the Wizards’ offense has scored about six fewer points per 100 possessions than a league-average unit this season, and their defense has allowed about seven more points-per-100 than a league-average outfit. That adds up to an adjusted net rating of -13.4 points-per-100 — which would be the third-worst season of any team since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, ahead of only the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks, who finished 11-71, and the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats, who finished 7-59 in a lockout-shortened campaign.
Those teams finished with two of the five worst winning percentages in NBA history. That’s the deep water in which the Wizards have plunged — and, just a month into the season, it sure looks like they’re on the verge of staying sunk.
For now, at least. There have been silver linings: George’s growth as a playmaker and shooter; Sarr’s improving finishing on the interior and rising rebounding, block and assist rates; lottery pick Johnson’s instant-impact bucket-getting and high-volume 3-point shooting. Those players continuing their development into better, more well-rounded players is of incalculably greater importance to the Wizards’ future than an extra win or two here or there this season — especially considering Washington owes its 2026 first-round draft pick to the Knicks, but only if it falls outside the top eight after the draft lottery.
(That pick, originally dealt to Houston in the 2020 trade that shipped out Wall and imported Russell Westbrook, wound up going to Oklahoma City in the 2021 swap that made Alperen Şengün a Rocket. It then landed in New York via the 2022 draft-night deal that allowed the Thunder to draft Ousmane Dieng … and helped the Knicks clear the salary-cap space to sign Jalen Brunson away from Dallas in free agency. Trades involving future draft picks: They really turn you into Charlie trying to track down Pepe Silvia.)
The way to ensure there’s no chance of handing Leon Rose a late lottery pick is to finish with one of the four worst records in the NBA. (If it doesn’t land in the top eight, the Wiz only owe New York two future second-rounders. Much better.) If the Wizards do that and wind up drafting a prospect like Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer or AJ Dybantsa to join Sarr, George, Johnson and Co. — and if Wizards brass is able to turn the expiring contracts of Middleton and McCollum into future talent, either before February’s trade deadline or this summer, when Washington could be looking at more than $100 million in salary-cap space — then someday all the sturm und drang of this dismal “early phase of the rebuild” will dissipate and feel like little more than a bad dream.
Living through it in the moment, though, must feel like a nightmare — for Keefe, who waited the better part of two decades for his shot at a head coaching gig, only to lose 80% of his first 134 games; for the vets, stuck doing a bid on a going-nowhere team and waiting for some interested suitor to swoop them up and return them to meaningful basketball; and especially for the young guys, watching the L’s pile up and wondering if they’re ever going to reach the light at the end of the tunnel.
“It’s tough,” George told reporters. “You’ve got to switch your mindset and focus on the process. I think it eventually is going to affect you, but you’ve got to make sure that you keep your mindset focused on the right thing. We’ve just got to be able to go on to the next game and be able to just make sure the process is right, even though the results are not there.”