Following a surprisingly fun All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles and an active trade deadline, the NBA is now gearing up for the home stretch of its 2025-26 season.
Questions abound regarding how best to handle tanking for maximal lottery odds, as several teams appear to be blatantly throwing games (our Chicago Bulls have essentially been throwing their whole roster since the deadline) in pursuit of a stacked 2026 NBA Draft class.
While NBA commissioner Adam Silver bandies about potential tanking solutions and experiential AI options, the league’s good teams are gearing up for this final burst of the regular season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Eyeing A Milwaukee Comeback This Season?
Will 10-time All-Star power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo rejoin the suddenly-sorta-surging Milwaukee Bucks before the end of the 2025-26 NBA season?
Per the Bucks, the two-time league MVP is nearing a comeback from the right calf strain that has held him out since Jan. 23.
“I feel good. I feel 100 percent, to be honest with you,” Antetokounmpo said. “When you come back from an injury and you go through the rehab, you gotta check the boxes, right? So I gotta do things.
“I feel like the break doesn’t help, because now I gotta get on the court, I gotta play some 1-on-1, 3-on-3, 5 vs. 5. Players are on vacation right now, so it’s kinda hard for me to do that.”
Two of the Bucks’ new additions have been making waves since the deadline.
Former Oklahoma City Thunder deep-bench forward Ousmane Dieng, the No. 11 pick in 2022, has been averaging 12.7 points on .560/.500/.500 shooting splits, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 blocks and 0.7 steals across his first three games for Milwaukee. Milwaukee has gone 2-1 with Dieng aboard.
Former Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Cam Thomas has been registering solid averages of 16.7 points while slashing .474/.385/1.000, 2.0 boards and 1.7 dimes in 19.3 minutes per as a reserve.
Impending Free Agent Norman Powell Reveals Future Aspirations
Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn ImagesFirst-time All-Star guard Norman Powell, 32, has been thriving with the Miami Heat during the last year of a five-season, $90 million contract.
Powell informs Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald and Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel that he’d like to work out a long-term agreement to stick in South Beach.
“This is definitely a place that I want to be,” Powell said. “It’s been nothing but great. Coming here getting adjusted, the organization has been amazing. I love where I’m at. I love the setup. I love the mentality. I love the approach. It has been, honestly, a super easy transition because I feel like everybody in the organization has the same mentality I have of pushing yourself to achieve the best and be the best version of yourself. It’s been fun.”
This year, Powell has been pacing the 29-27 Heat with 23.0 points on .474/.396/.843 shooting splits, along with 3.6 boards and 2.6 dimes a night.
Mike Conley Officially Returns to the Timberwolves
Jesse Johnson-Imagn ImagesMike Conley‘s circuitous route back to the Minnesota Timberwolves has officially been resolved!
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reveals that the former one-time All-Star has returned to Minnesota on a rest-of-year deal. The OSU product, 38, was flipped to our Bulls as part of the club’s deal to offload Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner Ayo Dosunmu ahead of the trade deadline.
Conley was then shipped off to the New Orleans Pelicans in a subsequent deal. New Orleans then waived Conley, which allowed him to return to the Timberwolves.
Minnesota held off on re-signing Conley so that it could wait as long as possible, 14 days, to return to the necessary long-term standard roster sum of 14 players. Conley was first obtained by the Timberwolves from the Utah Jazz at the 2023 trade deadline, and finally stepped into a bench role just this past fall.
Donte DiVincenzo has been the Timberwolves’ non-traditional starting point guard option, next to four-time All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards. Conley had been averaging 18.5 minutes per bout, while logging just 4.4 points on 32.2 percent field goal shooting.
Multiple Ex-Bulls to Represent Team USA in FIBA World Cup Qualifiers
Andy Lyons-Getty ImagesFormer Chicago Bulls two-way swingman Malcolm Hill has been announced as one of the 12 players who’ll represent Team USA in this year’s FIBA World Cup qualifiers. He’ll be joined by another ex-Bull, forward Terry Taylor.
The U.S. will square off against the Dominican Republic on Feb. 26 and March 1 at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.
Among the other big names mentioned are former journeyman point guard Brandon Knight, former 2020 No. 2 draft pick James Wiseman, and journeyman former lottery selection guard Elfrid Payton.
Odds & Ends
The Golden State Warriors are inking former Long Island Nets G League player Jeenathan “Nate” Williams to a two-way contract, per Marc Stein of The Stein Line. The 27-year-old has played sparingly in the NBA since going undrafted out of Buffalo in 2022, having suited up for 42 games with the Houston Rockets from 2023-25 and just five contests with the Portland Trail Blazers as a rookie in 2022-23. Following overtures from multiple playoff squads (including, allegedly, the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers), free agent forward Haywood Highsmith is signing on with the Phoenix Suns for multiple seasons, his agent Jerry Dianis informs Shams Charania of ESPN. The 6-foot-5 tweener forward had logged four NBA seasons with the Miami Heat on various deals, but was flipped to the Brooklyn Nets over the summer. He went under the knife for a right knee meniscus tear in August. After hitting his 50-game cap with the Philadelphia 76ers as a two-way player, forward Jabari Walker saw his agreement converted to a two-year, standard deal, according to Charania. The 23-year-old is a solid bench defender. Both he and forward Dominick Barlow earned promotions from their respective two-way agreements. Earlier this week, Philadelphia also brought in free agent veteran point guard Cameron Payne, a one-time Bull, for some scoring support behind two-time All-Star Tyrese Maxey. Doug Moe, who won NBA Coach of the Year honors in 1988 while with the Denver Nuggets, has passed away at the age of 87 from an illness, per Mike Monroe and Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. A 6-foot-5 swingman as a player, Moe was a three-time ABA All-Star and a 1969 league champ while with the New Orleans Buccaneers, Oakland Oaks, Carolina Cougars and Virginia Squires. As a head coach, he led the San Antonio Spurs from 1976-80, the Nuggets from 1980-90, and finally the Philadelphia 76ers in 1992-93. He most recently served as a Denver assistant coach during the Carmelo Anthony era, from 2003-08. Following a disappointingly quiet trade deadline, the Orlando Magic have made a minor transaction, cutting two-way player Orlando Robinson and replacing him with 6-foot-6 guard Alex Morales, reports Scotto.Hence then, the article about around the nba giannis powell conley world cup more was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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