John Hollinger of The Athletic lists 10 under-the-radar players who could swing their respective teams’ seasons. Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, whose shaky jump shot makes him a tricky offensive fit, is one player Hollinger will be closely monitoring in 2026/27.
Peyton Watson (Cavaliers), Tobias Harris (Spurs), Collin Murray-Boyles (Raptors) and Cason Wallace (Thunder) are among the other players who could play critical roles their teams’ success, according to Hollinger.
We have more from around the basketball world:
What is the biggest need for each of the NBA’s 30 teams? Ben Golliver of ESPN considers that question, writing that backup center is the biggest current roster hole for the defending champion Knicks. The Wizards, who finished last season with the worst record in the league, don’t have a specific roster hole but rather need to discover a “winning mentality,” as Golliver puts it.
After the NBA and FIBA released a joint statement on Thursday confirming that they still intend to move forward with their plans for NBA Europe, whether or not they have a deal in place with the EuroLeague, the NBA’s managing director for Europe and the Middle East criticized the EuroLeague’s structure, per Amelie Claydon and Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “There’s cases where a team has won their domestic league, let’s say Spain, and they will never play the EuroLeague,” George Aivazoglou said at the Leaders Week London conference. “There are other cases where sometimes teams play in the EuroLeague, but they have been relegated in their domestic leagues.” Aivazoglou added the goal with NBA Europe is to not only to “retain hardcore European basketball fans” but to attract global interest in European basketball.
Isaiah Hartenstein’s contract with the Thunder was the first deal with a mutual option — where both the player and the team have the ability to opt in (or out) — in 25 years, ESPN’s Bobby Marks previously noted. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) takes a closer look at why the mutual option emerged from relative obscurity and back into contracts after three other players received the clause in their deals this offseason. According to Fischer, multiple agents said they plan to pursue mutual options in the future if they’re unable to land player options for their clients.