TL;DR
- Mario Hezonja signs with the Cavaliers for $2.8 million, returning to the NBA for the first time since 2020 after a four-year stint with Real Madrid.
- Kobe Bufkin agrees to a training camp deal with the Pelicans after averaging 21.3 points in a strong Summer League performance.
- Jonathan Kuminga remains unsigned as the standoff between the Lakers and Hawks drags past July 26, freezing the market for the league's best available player.
Games and results
Basketball calendar goes quiet after Summer League title
The last competitive games wrapped July 19 with Golden State's championship run in Vegas; nothing tips until preseason in October.
The 2026 NBA Summer League concluded with the Warriors' championship victory on July 19, marking the end of meaningful basketball until October, when training camps and the preseason resume. No games are on the docket through late September, leaving the focus entirely on front-office moves and roster construction. The next firm date every team is circling is the 2026-27 regular season schedule release, expected in mid-August (via ESPN).
Trades and roster moves
Hezonja returns from Europe; Bufkin lands with Pelicans
Two veterans on low-cost deals give teams depth after the high-profile free-agent signings fade.
Mario Hezonja comes home. The Croatian forward signed a one-year, $2.8 million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, marking his return to the NBA after six years playing in Europe, most recently with Real Madrid. Hezonja, the No. 5 pick in 2015, has not played in the league since the 2019-20 season. He shot 38.4 percent on catch-and-shoot threes over four years in Madrid, giving Cleveland floor spacing on a salary-cap bargain (via NBC Sports).
Bufkin lands a camp spot with New Orleans. Guard Kobe Bufkin agreed to a training camp deal with the Pelicans after a strong Summer League run in Las Vegas, where he averaged 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in three games. The 22-year-old, a 2023 first-round pick, has bounced between the Hawks and Lakers the past three seasons. His Summer League performance opens a path to a 2026-27 roster spot (via Yahoo Sports).
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's buyout is in motion. The 33-year-old wing is negotiating with Memphis to exit his $21.62 million contract so he can sign with Philadelphia for the veteran's minimum and reunite with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, per recent reporting (via HoopsHype).
Standings and playoff race
Offseason standings frozen until teams set their rosters
With free agency's final moves still unsettled, the real pecking order waits for training camp and injury news.
The NBA standings board stays blank in late July, with no playoff race to read in the dead of the offseason. The forward-looking picture depends on which teams land their remaining targets—most notably whether Jonathan Kuminga finally signs—and whether the league's injured stars return healthy in October. Until the major free-agent standoffs resolve and camps open, any ranking of next season is speculation. The Eastern Conference landscape shifts depending on whether LeBron James' new-look 76ers can hold off the defending-champion Knicks and Celtics, while the West watches Oklahoma City and San Antonio jockey for position (via ESPN).
Draft and free agency
Kuminga market stays frozen as Hawks, Lakers remain far apart
The league's best available player enters the final week of July still unsigned, his contract talks locked in a standoff over pick swaps.
The summer's marquee free agent is still in limbo. Jonathan Kuminga, the explosive 23-year-old forward who declined a low-ball offer in hopes of a bigger deal, remains unsigned as the Lakers and Hawks continue to clash over a sign-and-trade framework. Los Angeles has offered Jarred Vanderbilt and a 2032 first-round pick swap, but Atlanta has resisted absorbing Vanderbilt's salary, and the two sides show no signs of breaking the deadlock. With free agency now three weeks deep, Kuminga's unsigned status holds up ripple moves across multiple rosters (via HoopsHype).
Hezonja and Bufkin fill secondary roles. Beyond the Kuminga standoff, the role-player market continues to move, with the Cavaliers and Pelicans both deploying low-cost deals to add floor spacing and backcourt depth as camps approach.
Business of the league
NBA investigates Trent contract; expansion bids near deadline
The league takes a harder look at the Bucks' Gary Trent Jr. deal while Seattle and Las Vegas prepare to submit formal expansion proposals.
The league is scrutinizing the Trent contract. The NBA announced it will investigate the Milwaukee Bucks' four-year, $64 million deal with Gary Trent Jr., signed earlier this month, citing concerns about potential salary-cap circumvention. The Bucks are already one of the league's biggest spenders after going all-in at the deadline, and Trent's contract terms raised eyebrows across the league. The investigation is part of the league's ongoing effort to police aggressive cap maneuvering (via CBS Sports).
Expansion bids for Seattle and Las Vegas are imminent. The NBA's exploration of adding teams to Seattle and Las Vegas is accelerating, with ownership groups preparing formal bids expected to land in the $7 billion to $10 billion range per franchise. The league's Board of Governors is eyeing the 2028-29 season as the target launch date for two new franchises in the West, which would force a conference realignment and likely push one current Western Conference team to the East. Multiple bidders have already surfaced in Las Vegas, while Seattle's market remains more concentrated (via ESPN).