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Former MLB All-Star Kurt Suzuki is moving from the Los Angeles Angels front office to the dugout.

Suzuki was named the next manager for the Angels on Tuesday:

Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network first reported the news.

Sam Blum of The Athletic reported the Angels gave Suzuki a one-year deal:

This news comes one day after it was reported that Albert Pujols and the Angels had ended talks. Blum previously reported the two sides were not able to get “close” on money and years for a potential contract prior to ending talks.

Suzuki, 42, had a 16-year playing career from 2007 to ’22. He was originally drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2004 and played for five different teams during his MLB tenure, winning a World Series with the 2019 Washington Nationals.

Since his playing career ended in after the 2022 season, Suzuki has been cutting his teeth in the Angels front office as a special assistant to general manager Perry Minasian.

The Angels were among the teams that Suzuki played for, spending his final two years with the team from 2021 to ’22. He made the All-Star team in 2014 with the Minnesota Twins.

It’s going to take time before the Angels are competing for a playoff spot again, but they have started to find some quality young players they can build around. Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel are both under 25 years old and have played well since arriving in the big leagues in 2023.

After the Angels wrapped up a 72-90 record in 2025, the club announced on Sept. 30 that Ron Washington would not be returning as manager. Washington missed the final three months of the season after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery on June 30.

Ray Montgomery, who served as interim manager in Washington’s absence, was also not brought back.

Suzuki has a familiarity with the Angels organization and owner Arte Moreno that should serve him well in this new role, but there are a lot of holes that need to be filled before they can return to respectability in the AL West.

Their pitching staff featured three starters who were at least 34 years old. MLB.com ranked the Angels’ farm system as the fourth-worst in the league, with just two top-100 prospects.

This is a job that will require patience because there are a lot of things within the fabric of the organization that need changed before the Angels can realistically become a playoff contender again.

Suzuki’s cache throughout the league generally and within the Angels organization specifically should afford him the time to show what he can do while they front office continues to build up the farm system.

The Angels have had 10 consecutive losing seasons with just one playoff appearance since 2010. Their last win in a playoff game was Game 5 of the 2009 ALCS against the New York Yankees, two years before Mike Trout made his MLB debut.

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  Zach KramOct 22, 2025, 08:30 AM ET

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  Zach Kram is a national NBA writer for ESPN.com, specializing in short- and long-term trends across the league’s analytics landscape. He previously worked at The Ringer covering the NBA and MLB. You can follow Zach on X via @zachkram.

The modern NBA is typically a league built around competitive windows rather than perennial contention. Every team has missed the playoffs at least once in the past decade, except for the Boston Celtics (who last missed in 2013-14).

As they build and pay their rosters — especially under the current collective bargaining agreement — teams must understand their competitive cycles and strategize accordingly. As the 2025-26 season begins, which teams need to win now, and which would prefer to compete later instead?

It’s that question that informs our Now or Later rankings, which use a mathematical model to place all 30 teams along that spectrum.

The Now or Later rankings are made up of two parts with equal weight. The first is money score, based on each team’s projected total payments across upcoming seasons, with spending for the current season counting the most. The second is draft score, based on the value of the future first-round draft picks that each team holds, factoring in the protections and swaps that affect what each pick might be worth.

Those two factors summarize not just each team’s anticipated competitive time frame, but its flexibility to adjust, as well. An organization that has already traded all its picks and locked in its core to expensive long-term deals is showing clear win-now urgency and can’t easily make changes midstream.

So, let’s analyze the rankings, where the first-place team is the most desperate to win now and the 30th-place franchise is the most content to win later.

Jump to a team:
ATL | BOS | BKN | CHA | CHI | CLE
DAL | DEN | DET | GS | HOU | IND
LAC | LAL | MEM | MIA | MIL | MIN
NO | NY | OKC | ORL | PHI | PHX
POR | SAC | SA | TOR | UTA | WAS

As the 2025-26 season begins, which teams need to win now, and which would prefer to compete later instead? ESPN Illustration

Last year: 4th
Money rank: 1st
Draft rank: 6th

The Cavaliers lead the league in money score by a huge margin because they’re the only team above the second apron in 2025-26. And they’re no slouches in the draft department, either, because they don’t control any of their next four first-round picks as a result of the Donovan Mitchell trade. They basically couldn’t be more of a win-now team if they tried.

That won’t necessarily translate into actual wins. Last season, the Phoenix Suns were the most win-now team by these rankings, and they didn’t even qualify for the play-in tournament. Cleveland has much higher ambitions in 2025-26 and should have a better chance of fulfilling them one season after winning 64 games and the East’s No. 1 seed. But these Cavaliers haven’t reached the conference finals yet, and falling short again would be an undeniable disappointment given everything they’ve invested in this season’s team.

Last year: 16th
Money rank: 4th
Draft rank: 2nd

The Magic experienced the largest year-to-year jump up these rankings of any team. They traded a major pick haul for Desmond Bane and gave Paolo Banchero a max rookie extension a year after giving Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs large extensions of their own.

After years of treading water and slowly building from within, the Magic now have a very expensive core — they’re already right around the projected second apron line for next season — that hasn’t accomplished anything yet. That’s a dangerous position to occupy. But in the wide-open East, they chose to adopt a win-now posture sooner than expected, and it might pay off: Orlando has the second-best projected record in the East this season, according to ESPN’s Kevin Pelton.

Last year: 3rd
Money rank: 2nd
Draft rank: 4th

The Knicks entered firm win-now territory in 2024, when they traded for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns, and they’re taking a Finals-or-bust mindset into this season. New York has an expensive core, even with Jalen Brunson taking a discount on his recent extension, and keeping that group could grow even pricier if Towns signs an extension of his own.

On the draft side, the Knicks will lose their first-round picks in 2027, 2029 and 2031, and they have an unfavorable swap in 2028. Technically, the Knicks have surplus draft capital in 2026, but the top-eight-protected pick they’re owed from the Wizards will almost definitely not convey, at which point it will turn into a pair of second-rounders instead.

Notably, the top three teams in these rankings play in the East, reflecting how the remaining contenders in the weaker, injury-ravaged conference see an opportunity to reach the Finals.

Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jules Bernard (14) goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers’ Justin Edwards (11) during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Philadelphia. AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Last year: 2nd
Money rank: 7th
Draft rank: 3rd

The Timberwolves fell slightly in these rankings overall, but the team that has lost in consecutive conference finals rates as the most win-now group in the West. Minnesota is mostly locked into its current core after extending Julius Randle and Naz Reid, and 2028 is the only time in the next six years that it controls its own pick.

The continuing cost of the Rudy Gobert trade and the price of the Rob Dillingham trade hamper the Timberwolves’ draft flexibility. On draft night in 2024, Minnesota traded its 2031 first-rounder and swap rights in 2030 in exchange for the No. 8 pick, but Dillingham averaged just 4.5 points per game as a rookie and scarcely appeared in the playoffs. With starting point guard Mike Conley aging, the Timberwolves need Dillingham to break out in his sophomore season — both to help the team win now, and to justify the onerous cost they paid to acquire him.

Last year: 1st
Money rank: 13th
Draft rank: 1st

Phoenix ranked first in both money score and draft score last season before a rapid unscheduled disassembly of a putative championship contender. The Suns traded Kevin Durant, waived-and-stretched Bradley Beal and ducked under both cap aprons. They would have fallen further in these rankings if they hadn’t traded for center Mark Williams or given Devin Booker an extension that doesn’t kick in until 2028-29.

As it stands, though, they’re still the first team in these rankings that doesn’t have a realistic path to contention in 2025-26. They’ve traded so many of their picks that they don’t control their own first-rounder until 2032. They can’t win now — but they aren’t positioned to win later, either.

Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets handles the ball during the game against the Toronto Raptors during a preseason game on October 6, 2025 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. Jeff Vinnick/NBAE via Getty Images

Last year: 7th
Money rank: 8th
Draft rank: 8th

At the moment, Denver is the only team that has traded its 2032 first-round pick, which was the cost to exchange Michael Porter Jr. for the lower-salaried (and possibly better) Cameron Johnson. Because the Nuggets also owe top-five-protected picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2027 and 2029, they’re limited in the draft compensation they can ship out in midseason trades.

Although shedding Porter’s salary made Denver’s roster a bit less expensive in the short term, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun are all signed to long-term deals that could limit the team’s financial maneuverability, given ownership’s tendencies. The Nuggets are a win-now team as long as they have Jokic in his prime, and they’re on a conceivable path to winning his second title.

Last year: 5th
Money rank: 5th
Draft rank: 11th

By trading Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday over the summer, the Celtics wiggled their way out of the most punitive financial penalties they could have faced for building such an expensive roster. But they could fall only so far in these rankings when they’re committed to paying Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown $479 million combined over the next four years. This is still a team that wants to win in the near future — just, perhaps, with a one-year delay as Tatum recovers from a torn Achilles.

Last year: 12th
Money rank: 6th
Draft rank: 10th

After trading Luka Doncic last season, Mavericks GM Nico Harrison said he envisioned a three- to four-year time frame for his team to win a championship. That mindset is reflected in this ranking, as Dallas has moved more in a win-now direction despite dealing a superstar in his prime.

The Mavericks would arguably be best-suited to pivot and build around 18-year-old Cooper Flagg and 21-year-old Dereck Lively II. But since last season, they’ve extended Kyrie Irving, Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington, locking every member of their new, veteran-heavy core into place for at least two more seasons.

Last year: 6th
Money rank: 17th
Draft rank: 5th

The Bucks’ urgency is almost existential, as they continue to make risky moves — most notably, stretching Damian Lillard’s remaining salary to be able to sign Myles Turner — with the hope of appeasing Giannis Antetokounmpo and his potentially wandering eye.

Whether those transactions will help Milwaukee advance past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in four years remains to be seen. But with no control of their first-round pick until 2031, the Bucks don’t have any reason to step on the brakes and change direction, whether Antetokounmpo is happy or not.

Last year:9th
Money rank: 23rd
Draft rank: 6th

At one point, the spendthrift Clippers were mainstays near the top of these rankings. But now Ivica Zubac is the only Clipper owed any guaranteed money after 2026-27, so the team ranks in the bottom third of the league in money score.

The Clippers are still working their way out from under a large draft burden, though, as they don’t control any of their next four first-round picks because of the Paul George and James Harden trades. And although LA does have its 2030, 2031 and 2032 first-rounders for now, those picks could be on the chopping block if commissioner Adam Silver decides to enact harsh penalties at the conclusion of the Aspiration investigation.

Last year: 15th
Money rank: 10th
Draft rank: 14th

In theory, the Warriors should be an intensely win-now team, given that their most important players are 39-year-old Al Horford, 37-year-old Stephen Curry, 36-year-old Jimmy Butler III and 35-year-old Draymond Green. But in practice, they still have all of their own picks over the next seven seasons, with the exception of a top-20-protected selection in 2030. The fact that they needed to trade only a single first-round pick for Butler last season (which landed at 20th overall in the 2025 draft) was a big win for the Warriors.

Golden State has the flexibility to make a splashy win-now move midseason if it’s as good as the projections and advanced stats think and wants to make a real run at another title.

Last year: 10th
Money rank: 9th
Draft rank: 15th

The 76ers are stuck between two paths. The win-now route centers on Joel Embiid and Paul George, who are both in their 30s and due more than $100 million combined this season. But with the health of both veterans uncertain, the 76ers could instead pivot to a future-oriented strategy centered on young guards Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain and VJ Edgecombe.

Last season’s 24-58 record suggests this isn’t the right time for any all-in moves from GM Daryl Morey, which might explain why Philadelphia still has several future picks in its cupboard. But as long as Embiid is on the roster and even theoretically at full strength, the 76ers have to at least consider trying to maximize his remaining competitive window.

Last year: 19th
Money rank: 14th
Draft rank: 12th

New Orleans rose in these rankings after trading an unprotected 2026 first-rounder and adding the two years and $65.9 million remaining on Jordan Poole’s contract. But are the Pelicans ready to win this season? They reached the playoffs in 2023-24 but lost 61 games in an admittedly injury-riddled 2024-25 campaign, and they have one of the West’s lowest over/under totals entering this season. Last month, new head of basketball operations Joe Dumars said a playoffs-or-bust goal would be “shortsighted.”

Last year: 8th
Money rank: 24th
Draft rank: 9th

Want to know why LeBron James hinted at his discontent with the Lakers’ direction over the summer? Just look at this placement, as his team is right in the middle of the Now or Later rankings. In his 40s, James feels the urgency to win now. But the Lakers are taking a longer approach with Doncic — 14 years James’ junior — in the fold.

Other than Doncic, who signed a max extension in August, every other projected starter can enter free agency next summer, and the Lakers’ cap sheet is entirely clean after 2026-27. The Lakers have ample flexibility to build around their new star in the seasons to come. Notably, the 2027 free agent class could include such stars as Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Towns, Mitchell and old friend Anthony Davis, among many others.

Last year: 20th
Money rank: 11th
Draft rank: T-16th

The Raptors are tied for the most boring draft list in the league: They control all of their own first-round picks for the next seven years, and they don’t control anyone else’s. So, if they want to support a winning push in a weak Eastern Conference — and it seems like they do, given all the big salaries they’ve handed out — the Raptors have the assets to incentivize a trade partner.

Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) drives to the basket while defended by guard San Antonio Spurs Stephon Castle (5) and forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the second half at Frost Bank Center Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Last year: 11th
Money rank: 15th
Draft rank: T-16th

The middle is a good place to reside during a gap year, as Indiana mostly sat out the summer following Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles tear. It remains to be seen how the Pacers replace longtime center Myles Turner, and they’ll have to navigate Bennedict Mathurin’s restricted free agency next summer, but only Haliburton and Pascal Siakam are making more than $20 million this year or next.

Like Toronto, Indiana hasn’t traded for or away any first-round picks for the next seven years.

Last year: 13th
Money rank: 22nd
Draft rank: 13th

Potential extensions for Tyler Herro and Norman Powell await, but for now, the Heat have plenty of flexibility and not many commitments ahead of them. Less than a year after the ignominious end of the Butler era, it makes sense that they would still be searching for their next bold direction.

Whether in free agency or with a trade for picks — Miami owes only a lottery-protected 2027 first to Charlotte, stemming from the disastrous Terry Rozier trade — the Heat will, as always, be at the forefront of every star transaction rumor.

Last year: 28th
Money rank: 20th
Draft rank: 21st

San Antonio leaped up 10 spots after it traded for and extended De’Aaron Fox, but it’s still in the early stages of building a contender around Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs have an extra pick incoming from the Hawks, plus favorable swaps in 2026, 2028, 2030 and 2031 — meaning they could keep getting rewarding picks even when Wembanyama is in his prime and their own pick presumably lands in the late 20s each year.

Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks drives to the basket during the game against the Houston Rockets during Preseason on October 16, 2025 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images

Last year: 14th
Money rank: 21st
Draft rank: 20th

The Hawks pulled off a nifty trick over the summer by simultaneously improving into a sleeper contender and gaining future roster flexibility. Thank goodness for the Pelicans, whose two trades with Atlanta over the past year — for Dejounte Murray and the draft pick they used on Derik Queen — have helped the Hawks salvage the wreck of the first Murray trade, from which they still owe multiple picks to the Spurs.

A potential Trae Young extension looms, and that would push the Hawks back up these rankings if it materializes. But, all of a sudden, the combination of win-now potential and win-later assets gives Atlanta one of the most enviable long-term outlooks in the East.

Last year: 21st
Money rank: 26th
Draft rank: T-16th

Detroit didn’t overreact to last season’s success, staying the course over the summer and barely nudging up the Now or Later rankings. But that could change at any time; the team would be an excellent fit for Lauri Markkanen if the Jazz decide to trade their big-money forward. But at the moment, the Pistons control all of their future firsts and don’t have any large financial commitments beyond franchise cornerstone Cade Cunningham. Patience is a virtue.

Last year: 23rd
Money rank: 12th
Draft rank: 24th

In an era increasingly defined by financial decisions, the Rockets have done well to navigate their long-term planning; for instance, Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. all signed sub-max extensions when they were eligible. Houston’s roster might not remain on affordable deals for long. Amen Thompson might be worth the full max next summer, but the Rockets are well-positioned to accommodate that new contract alongside their existing commitments.

Meanwhile, the Rockets could strike gold in the draft, as they hold the Suns’ unprotected picks in 2027 and 2029 and swap rights with the Nets in 2027. If not for one other team later in these rankings, Houston would stand out as the NBA team doing the best job straddling the line between competing in the present and preserving capital for the future as it attempts to build a perennial winner for the next decade and beyond.

Last year: 25th
Money rank: 16th
Draft rank: 22nd

After a short rebuild, Portland is taking its first steps toward present-day contention. The Trail Blazers added a pair of veteran guards — Holiday and the injured Lillard — over the summer, and they splurged on extensions for Toumani Camara and Shaedon Sharpe this week.

But the Trail Blazers are still firmly on a future-oriented timeline. They have a few extra picks and swaps, thanks largely to the Lillard trade, and other than Camara and Sharpe, Holiday and Jerami Grant are their only players scheduled to earn more than $14.4 million in any upcoming season. Rising wing Deni Avdija, whose contract includes three more years for $39.3 million total, is signed to one of the best bargain deals in the league.

Last year: 17th
Money rank: 19th
Draft rank: 23rd

It’s somewhat surprising that the Kings didn’t tumble further down these rankings after the Fox trade, but part of Sacramento’s return in that three-team deal was wing Zach LaVine (and his pricey contract) rather than extra picks. Between LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and new point guard Dennis Schroder, this is still a veteran-heavy team — which doesn’t really fit the win-later ethos suggested by this ranking, or the Kings’ decision to move on from their franchise guard.

Last year: 27th
Money rank: 3rd
Draft rank: 29th

The Thunder ranked 21st in money score last season, then rocketed up to third in that category by extending Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. Yet Oklahoma City is still owed so many future picks and swaps from a variety of teams — the Rockets, Clippers, Jazz, 76ers, Nuggets, Spurs and Mavericks — that the defending champions are still this far down the overall rankings.

Put another way, among title contenders in 2025-26, the Thunder are the team that least needs to win now. Their future is so bright that it’s almost as if their presently wide-open championship window is a bonus, a luxury gift that arrived earlier than expected.

Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey, left, battles for the ball against Minnesota Timberwolves forward Joan Beringer, right, during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game in Chicago, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Last year: 22nd
Money rank: 27th
Draft rank: 19th

After trading LaVine, Chicago has the fourth-lowest money score in these rankings, ahead of only the three worst teams in the league. The Bulls have a rich history and play in a big market, and they’ll have oodles of cap space after this season. Can they capitalize on that opportunity and attract stars who can return a middling franchise to its glory days?

Last year: 18th
Money rank: 18th
Draft rank: 26th

The Grizzlies are in a strange place. On the one hand, they won 48 games last season and have reached the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, and All-Stars Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. still lead the way. On the other hand, the Grizzlies are flush with draft picks following the Bane trade, and at least by the objective numbers, they look like one of the most win-later teams in the league.

Resolving that tension could be tricky; the Grizzlies still can win with Morant and Jackson, while every team behind them in these rankings is a candidate to finish with the worst record in the league. But tricky isn’t bad, necessarily. When in doubt, it’s better to have a lot of future draft picks than not.

Last year: 24th
Money rank: 25th
Draft rank: 27th

There’s a big gap between the top 26 teams and the bottom four in these rankings, which makes sense, as the last four teams are also the four teams with the worst win projections in 2025-26. The win-later label fits.

The best of those teams in the present is Charlotte, which has slowly been building up its draft stash, not with one blockbuster deal that returns a boatload of picks but by acquiring one pick at a time: for Rozier, for P.J. Washington, for Mark Williams and for serving as a dumping ground for Jusuf Nurkic’s contract.

Washington Wizards forward Malaki Branham (8) drives to the basket against Detroit Pistons forward Bobi Klintman (34) in the fourth quarter at Little Caesars Arena. Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Last year: 26th
Money rank: 30th
Draft rank: 25th

The Wizards have nowhere near the draft capital of the other worst teams in the league. That could change if CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton start hot and are flipped for surprising returns at the deadline, but Washington likely missed its chance when Bradley Beal’s contract was nearly untradable. The Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets acquired massive pick packages when they dealt their stars, whereas the Wizards largely landed second-round picks and swaps from Phoenix for Beal.

Last year: 29th
Money rank: 28th
Draft rank: 28th

I’ve been calculating these rankings for four years now, and Utah has ranked 29th or 30th every time. And because all of Utah’s extra draft capital is concentrated in 2027 and beyond — in fact, it owes a top-eight-protected pick to Oklahoma City in the 2026 draft — it’s unlikely to move any higher up the rankings anytime soon. Much like in the Western Conference standings, the Jazz will continue to be stuck at the bottom for a while.

Last year: 30th
Money rank: 29th
Draft rank: 30th

With extra first-round picks in the years to come from the Knicks, 76ers and Nuggets, plus other teams depending on how complicated multiteam swaps play out, the Nets have by far the most draft capital of any team. Even though they owe a juicy swap to Houston in 2027, the Nets still rank as the league’s most win-later team on the strength of that war chest of picks.

Will the Nets view next season as the time to start winning, lest they send a top pick to Houston, or will they stay the course and view that swap as a sunk cost, much as they did the picks they sent to Boston in the mid-2010s? The answer to that question will dictate the near-term future for the Nets, who, for now, are depending on a whole lot of rookies to lead them to a whole lot of losses in 2025-26.

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  Tim BontempsOct 21, 2025, 06:10 PM ET

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  Tim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what’s impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.

The New York Knicks ruled out Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson on Tuesday for their season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In addition, All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns was downgraded to doubtful on Wednesday afternoon.

Hart, who is dealing with lumbar spasms, has been sidelined since playing seven minutes in the preseason opener against the Philadelphia 76ers in Abu Dhabi almost three weeks ago. Robinson, who is listed out due to left ankle injury management, has been out since playing in the first half of New York’s preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 9.

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“Still the same,” Knicks coach Mike Brown told reporters after practice Tuesday. “Neither one practiced today, but we’re going to keep monitoring them, and I’ll get with the medical staff and we’ll see what we’re going to do.”

Brown has repeatedly said that Robinson is not injured; the Knicks have said he has been out for “workload management” since the middle of last week.

“Really, it’s load management,” Brown said Tuesday. “Which means that, obviously, if we deemed it necessary, could he possibly go? Yeah, he could possibly go.

“He missed a lot of games last year so we want to be cautious going forward with him. That’s about the extent of it right there.”

The Cavaliers, who along with the Knicks are expected to challenge for the Eastern Conference title this season, will be without Darius Garland (toe) and Max Strus (foot). De’Andre Hunter was questionable with a right knee contusion.

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Ray-Ray McCloud III and the New York Giants reportedly agreed to a contract one day after the wide receiver was released by the Atlanta Falcons, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s D. Orlando Ledbetter.

McCloud was a healthy scratch each of the Falcons’ past two games, a 24-14 home win against the Buffalo Bills and a 20-10 road loss at the San Francisco 49ers.

“Coaching decision on Ray-Ray tonight, just like everybody else, anybody that you put down that’s not active,” head coach Raheem Morris said after the Bills game, per Falcons reporter Terrin Waack. “Decided to put him down tonight. He’ll be back out competing next week. We’ll see where we go. We had everybody we needed. We got everybody we wanted tonight, and we got out there and got a big win.”

McCloud didn’t practice last week leading up to the 49ers game.

“I wouldn’t say it is a disciplinary thing,” Morris said last Friday, per Waack. “More a football thing with something we have to get straightened out.”

McCloud, 29, signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the Falcons in 2024. He caught 62 passes for 686 yards and a touchdown last season but had just six receptions for 64 yards and no scores in four games this year. He’s played eight NFL seasons overall for the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers and Falcons, catching 158 passes for 1,518 yards and two touchdowns.

McCloud was the Falcons’ No. 3 wide receiver last year behind Drake London and Darnell Mooney and entered the season at that same spot on the depth chart.

However, McCloud was soon sent home, with Morris saying it was an “excused absence.”

“I sent him home,” Morris also said Friday, per ESPN’s Marc Raimondi. “Excused absence—home. Working through some things right now that are private with my young man, and we’ll figure those things out as we go.”

Morris also noted that this wasn’t a disciplinary issue.

“It is just more a football thing and what we got to get straightened out,” Morris said.

Raimondi noted that McCloud and former Falcons wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard were very close. Hilliard was let go after Week 3, when the team lost 30-0 to the Carolina Panthers.

McCloud went public with his thoughts on Hilliard’s firing after the move was made official.

A representative for McCloud declined comment when ESPN reached out on Friday.

Without McCloud last Sunday, the Falcons’ No. 3 wide receiver in terms of snaps was David Sills V (45 percent), per Pro Football Reference. Casey Washington (17 percent) and KhaDeral Hodge (four percent) also saw time.

McCloud will join a Giants receiving corps that is in need of help given injuries to Malik Nabers (torn ACL) and Darius Slayton (hamstring).

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Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is back at practice for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury on Sept. 28.

Jackson joined the Ravens on the field about 20 minutes into practice and was seen running and practicing warm-up throws, per The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec.

Jackson had not previously played or practiced since suffering a hamstring injury in the third quarter of a Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Ravens have since gone 0-2 with Cooper Rush and Tyler Huntley under center. Rush and Huntley most recently combined for just 117 passing yards and no touchdowns in a Week 7 lossto the Los Angeles Rams.

Jackson started out the season by throwing for 869 yards with 10 touchdowns and one interception through four games.

The two-time NFL MVP had completed 71.6 percent of his passes while adding 166 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries prior to his injury.

With Baltimore’s playoff odds in jeopardy following a 1-5 start to the season, the team will hope its Week 7 bye gave Jackson enough recovery time to return ahead of Week 8.

Given how much the Ravens rely on their quarterback’s mobility, the team will need to assess his recovery status before deciding if he will be able to participate when Baltimore returns to action Sunday with a home game against Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears.

If Jackson remains sidelined for the Week 8 contest, Rush and Huntley could once more split the workload as the Ravens look to turn around what has so far been a disappointing 2025 season.

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  Tim MacMahonOct 22, 2025, 01:24 AM ET

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  • Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
  • Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
  • Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM

OKLAHOMA CITY — The symbolism didn’t strike Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the moment as the clock ticked down in the second overtime of Tuesday night’s season opener against the Rockets.

His sole focus was on trying to figure out a way to score the winning points, not on the fact Kevin Durant was defending him. The superstar matchup in the deciding moments of a thrilling season opener probably wasn’t lost on the Paycom Center sellout crowd, which spent the night booing Durant and celebrating Gilgeous-Alexander and his Thunder teammates after finally watching a championship banner raised to the rafters.

“Just trying to get to a shot I’m comfortable shooting in those moments,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “My brain is so in the moment that all those things I don’t even realize.”

Instead of creating a clean look, Gilgeous-Alexander got Durant to bite on a pump fake and foul him. The reigning MVP sank both free throws with 2.3 seconds left, capping a 35-point performance to lift the defending champions to a 125-124 win. Gilgeous-Alexander spoiled Durant’s debut with the Rockets, his fourth team since his free agency departure from the Thunder that is still a sore subject in Oklahoma City more than nine years later.

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Gilgeous-Alexander described the pregame ceremony to celebrate last season’s championship as “surreal.” Durant and the Rockets retreated to the visitors locker room as the Thunder received their championship rings — featuring more than 800 custom-cut, hand-set diamonds and gemstones — before raising the championship banner alongside the center scoreboard.

“It felt like it was going up for 10 minutes,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It was an amazing moment. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”

It took Gilgeous-Alexander most of the game to find a rhythm against the supersized Rockets’ swarming, physical defense, which prioritized forcing the ball out of his hands as much as possible while his All-NBA co-star, Jalen Williams, watched from the bench as he recovers from offseason wrist surgery.

Houston held Gilgeous-Alexander to five points in the first half, fewer than any of his halftime totals from last season, when he led the league with 32.7 points per game. Power forward/center Chet Holmgren scored 18 of his 28 points in the first half to keep the Thunder within striking distance despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s uncharacteristically quiet start.

Gilgeous-Alexander managed only five shots from the field in the first two quarters, committing three turnovers and dishing out only one assist despite repeatedly passing out of double-teams.

“He just stays in the game,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It wasn’t a perfect night for him, but he just stays in it. He understands the 48-minute nature. He understands the 82-game nature. It’s not always going to be perfect. And tonight wasn’t perfect for us collectively. And the guys just kind of played the next play, never lost our focus or resolve.”

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter — after Oklahoma City trailed by as many as 12 points — that Gilgeous-Alexander found any sort of groove. He had 12 points in that quarter, one more than he had in the first three quarters combined, highlighted by a tough midrange pull-up jumper over a tight contest by All-Defensive stopper Amen Thompson to tie the score with three seconds remaining.

“As the game went on, naturally the coverages got looser,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who was 12-of-26 from the field but only 1-of-9 from 3-point range. “I was able to get downhill and to my spots a little bit.”

Gilgeous-Alexander added 12 points in the two overtime periods. He had a chance to win it on the final possession of the first overtime, but Houston’s Tari Eason got a piece of the ball on his baseline jumper. Gilgeous-Alexander scored five points in the final minute as Oklahoma City came back and closed the door.

“You can’t hold down great players all game,” Oklahoma City forward Alex Caruso said. “You can do a job for a while. I think he still ended up with 35, and he had a slow night. That’s just him.”

According to ESPN Research, Gilgeous-Alexander became only the third reigning MVP to record at least 35 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a season opener, joining Stephen Curry in 2015 and Shaquille O’Neal in 2000. Gilgeous-Alexander also had two blocks and two steals, making multiple clutch defensive plays.

“I need to be better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We need to be better than what we just did. We’re going to be a better team in a few months, but I fully believe this team will use tonight as a learning experience. … It was ugly tonight, but I’d rather it be ugly in a win than a loss for sure.”

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LOS ANGELES — An hour after lifting the Warriors to a statement 119-109 road win over the Lakers on Tuesday to open his 15th season in the NBA, Jimmy Butler revealed a questionable bet he made with teammate Draymond Green.

Butler wagered Green that he will finish this season with a better free throw percentage than Stephen Curry, statistically the greatest free throw shooter in NBA history (91.1%).

“I don’t think it’s a bad bet,” Butler said. “But it’s kind of a bad bet.”

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Butler missed the last three Warriors preseason games because of a sprained ankle he suffered in a training camp practice. Cleared in the days leading up to the opener, he started his season with force, scoring 12 points in nine first quarter minutes. Seven of those came from the free throw line.

He finished the night with a team-high 31 points and a 16-of-16 night from the line, the most free throws without a miss in a game for a Warriors player since Rick Barry in 1975.

“He was the reason we became a good team last year,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He provides that stability, that ability to get fouled, go to the line and settle the game down.”

Prior to Butler’s arrival in February, the Warriors shot the fewest free throws in the NBA. After the trade, they had the highest free throw rate. That was a major part of an immediate transformation that rocketed the Warriors from the lottery into the second round of the playoffs, giving them strong internal belief in their ability to contend this season.

“He just controls the game out there for us,” Kerr said of Butler. “We need that. We’ve always been at our best when we can provide the support for Draymond and Steph’s chaos with stability. The chaos is really powerful, but it can get away from us. Jimmy settles us down.”

The Warriors outscored the Lakers by 20 points in Butler’s 35 minutes. They were outscored by 10 points in the 13 minutes he rested.

“The game’s easy,” Butler said. “Everybody pays attention to Steph. I have the easy job.”

Curry didn’t have a spectacular stat line in the opener — 23 points, three 3s, four assists — but he hit the moonball dagger from 35 feet out with 51 seconds left, had an important spurt late in the second quarter and made all eight of his free throws, keeping him in line with Butler’s 100% accuracy rate through one game.

Butler is a career 84.3% free throw shooter. He reached 87% during his 30 Warriors games last season. That’s elite, but still not in the vicinity of Curry, who learned of Butler’s free throw bet during his postgame interview.

“No chance,” Curry said of Butler’s odds. “But I like a little game within the game. So game on.”

The subplot on this night for the Warriors came at the starting power forward position. After a summer of contract drama, Jonathan Kuminga was rewarded with a starting opportunity to open his fifth season following a strong training camp and preseason.

Kuminga’s first half included a few of the rushed midrange shots and in-traffic turnovers that often frustrate Kerr and have led to his benching. But Kerr said he appreciated the way Kuminga acknowledged the bad plays with a wave to the bench and adjusted his approach in the second half.

“I think he has really, really matured,” Kerr said. “I think he has a better sense of what’s needed now compared to past years. Jimmy has really helped him too. Jimmy has talked to him a lot during camp, taken him aside during practices. Remember, Jonathan just turned 23.”

Kuminga had 13 third-quarter points, including three 3s and a backdoor cut using Curry’s gravity on a slipped screen. Kuminga’s four 3s tied a career high. His six assists were one shy of a career high. His nine rebounds included an offensive rebound in the final sequence that had the locker room buzzing postgame.

“That rebound is what everyone in the world has been waiting to see,” Green said. “You have that athleticism, you go make big plays. You have superstar potential, you go make big plays. Those are game-winning plays. When you ask for opportunity, you must deliver. He’s been very vocal about his opportunity, and he delivered.”

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Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Buddy Hield joked about having disdain for teammate Jimmy Butler following the Dubs’ 119-109 season-opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

When asked by a reporter to describe his relationship with Butler, Hield replied, “You can’t figure it out already? I just don’t like him, simple as that. No, Jimmy’s cool, man. Jimmy’s cool. He’s been that spark for this team and he just brings a unique vibe that every team needs.”

Butler was the driving force behind Tuesday’s victory, scoring a team-high 31 points, which included going 16-for-16 from the free-throw line.

Hield also played a big role in his own right, leading all players in bench scoring with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.

Both Hield and Butler were newcomers to the Warriors last season, as Hield spent the entire year with Golden State, while the Dubs acquired Butler from the Miami Heat prior to the trade deadline.

The duo became fast friends, often eliciting laughter from reporters with their press conference antics. The Warriors even paid homage to their memorable media sessions with a bobblehead that was given out prior to a preseason game last week:

As much as their personalities mesh off the court, it can be argued that their skill sets on the court are even more complementary.

Butler, 36, is a six-time All-Star who has thrived over the years thanks to his defensive ability, mid-range game and penchant for getting to the free throw line.

After leading the Heat to a pair of NBA Finals appearances, Butler provided a jolt to the Warriors upon his arrival last season.

In games Butler played for Golden State after the trade, the Warriors went 23-7, and they went on to reach the second round of the playoffs.

While Butler is a highly versatile player, Hield is relatively one-dimensional. However, Hield excels at that one dimension, which is long-range shooting.

The 32-year-old guard averages 3.0 three-pointers made per game in his career and shoots 39.7 percent from three-point range.

After being a starter for most of his career with the New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers, Hield settled into a bench role with the Warriors last season.

Appearing in all 82 games, he poured in 203 trifectas, which ranked top 20 in the league despite playing less than 23 minutes per contest.

Both Butler and Hield bring talents that tend to translate to winning basketball, so it came as no surprise that they both contributed heavily to Tuesday’s win.

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After a tension-filled offseason that left plenty of doubt about his future with the Golden State Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga earned high praise from his head coach following their season-opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Steve Kerr told reporters after the game that Kuminga has “really, really matured” coming into this season and highlighted how Jimmy Butler “has really helped” him as he looks to take his game to another level.

Kerr specifically cited the adjustments made at halftime, with Kuminga playing more in the flow of the offense in the third quarter when the Warriors were able to open up a 17-point lead at one point.

Kuminga and Kerr haven’t often felt like they were on the same page over the past four seasons.

The Ringer’s Logan Murdock reported in May that Kerr was “incensed” during a late-season game against the Portland Trail Blazers “after several instances in which Kuminga looked off Curry to create his own offense.”

Kuminga didn’t play in Golden State’s next three games, including the play-in tournament win over the Memphis Grizzlies and Game 1 of the first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets.

During Kuminga’s restricted free agency over the summer, negotiations seemed tense between the two sides to the point his agent, Aaron Turner, publicly spoke out about what they were seeking.

Turner appeared on The Hoop Collective podcast (h/t ESPN’s Anthony Slater) in September expressed a strong desire for the Warriors to include a player option in their contract offer:

“If [the Warriors] want to win now, if you want a guy that’s happy and treated fairly who is a big part of this team, we believe, moving forward, you give him the player option. You do lose a little of that trade value [giving that up]. But if it’s about the here and now, you give him that. You don’t get a perfect deal, but you get a pretty good deal and he gets to feel respected about what he gets and we all move on and worry about winning, helping Steph [Curry].”

Kuminga ultimately signed a two-year, $48.5 million contract with a team option for the second season. Almost as soon as the ink dried on the deal, there were reports that the Warriors would look to trade the 23-year-old as soon as he becomes eligible to be dealt.

Kerr told reporters after the deal was done that the next step in Kuminga’s development was everyone focusing on “getting better” because “that’s been the thing that’s held him back—what we need verse what he wants to do.”

Tuesday’s game was a positive step for Kuminga. Even when he missed five of his six shots in the first half, he had five assists and five rebounds. He was a driving force for their offense in the crucial third quarter that made the difference in the game.

Just as notable, perhaps, as Kuminga’s impact on the game was that Kerr felt confident enough to put him in the starting lineup. It was his first regular-season start since Dec. 15, 2024.

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  Brian WindhorstOct 22, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

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  • ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010
  • Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years
  • Author of two books

TEX WINTER, ONE of the 20th century’s great basketball coaches, once summed up a classic NBA paradox with five words: Everything turns on a trifle.

The league’s best teams often teeter on a knife’s edge, thriving thanks to continuity but in a constant state of fragility, which explains the current state of the weakened Eastern Conference.

The two favorites, who meet in a made-for-television opener Wednesday in New York, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Knicks (7 p.m. ET on ESPN), are in this place because of the consistency of their rosters and misfortune of fellow contenders.

The gut-churning images of Damian Lillard, then Jayson Tatum, and then Tyrese Haliburton, each taking fateful missteps and tearing their Achilles tendons in a matter of weeks in a painful playoff stretch has provided these two teams with the most precious of NBA opportunities.

The window to reach the Finals for the Cavs and Knicks, who return all of their key players with additional depth down their roster, is wide open.

For now.

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“We have a target on our backs,” new Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “We better bring it.”

The Cavs have been accelerating toward this moment for five years, amassing a team with two All-NBA players, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, four players who have All-Star appearances on their résumés, and an impressive spread of depth that has ballooned their payroll to just under $400 million this season, including luxury taxes.

But because of that, they have entered the nether world known as the second apron, and they are the only team currently living there.

Last season, three teams — the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves — were in this penal zone of tax and roster restriction, and all three fled this season by shedding key players.

Three teams that were in it the season before also bailed out after one uncomfortable year.

No one stays in the second apron long, at least not in the new rule’s infancy. So, while the Cavs’ core players are all in their 20s, keeping this group together could well be untenable unless the team starts to win bigger and now. The Celtics, for example, were in the second apron in 2023-24 and, after winning the 2024 title, they stayed in the second apron as ownership spent nearly $100 million in luxury taxes in the two-year span.

The Cavs have been upset as the higher seed in two of the past three seasons in the playoffs, and last season’s second-round exit to the Indiana Pacers in five games was bitter, after a 64-win season appeared to set them up for a long run.

“The question will come for us,” Cavs president Koby Altman said. “How do you navigate this collective bargaining agreement and the restrictions that we have? For us, we’ve set ourselves up to have a runway with the guys we have.”

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But all runways eventually run out of pavement, and the Cavs are nearing the end of theirs.

That’s why Altman traded for defensive specialist guard Lonzo Ball in the offseason and added multiple backup big men to give the Cavs some size after the Pacers exploited them inside.

“We’re not reinventing this thing,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We’ve really created an identity not only on court but how we practice, how we develop, all of it. We’re going to double down on all that. But we do need to make some tweaks to how we play.”

Part of that is to put more offensive responsibility onto Evan Mobley’s plate. He will have the ball more this season and is expected to take another step as a playmaker after he juiced his scoring average to a career-best 18.5 points last season, especially with Garland out as the point guard recovers from toe surgery.

There is also more expected from forward De’Andre Hunter, whose midseason acquisition last season guaranteed the Cavs would enter the second apron.

Now with Max Strus out for months because of a foot injury, Hunter’s role will change — from Sixth Man of the Year contender to starter, after a summer of work that excited Cavs coaches.

As the Celtics and Pacers, the last two Eastern Conference champions, shed key players such as Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Myles Turner over the summer as they faced gap years with their franchise players Tatum and Haliburton in long-term rehab, the Knicks, too, kept their roster intact and added to it.

Though they upgraded their depth with one of the league’s best bench scorers, Jordan Clarkson, and added energetic French forward Guerschon Yabusele, the controversial firing of coach Tom Thibodeau, who took the Knicks to the conference finals for the first time in 25 years, represents the only core personnel change.

Brown, for his part, has brought with him a higher-tempo offense that he says he believes will make the Knicks less predictable and ease the burden on All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson, who led the league last season in clutch scoring and dribbling, a combination that was admirable but burdensome.

“It’s always good to have short-term memory to focus on what is going on ahead and figure out how you can be better,” said Brunson, who also led the NBA in usage rate and field goal attempts per game over the past two postseasons. “You can learn from things in the past.”

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The Knicks have barely, but expertly, dodged the second apron by relative pennies over the past two seasons, which has left open some trade options, such as being able to combine salaries in a deal.

But the six first-round picks they traded for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns in 2024 — deals meant to surround Brunson with defensive protection, in Bridges, and a pick-and-roll partner, in Towns — has left them deeply invested in the current roster.

Those limited pathways first showed up in August when talks surrounding a trade for Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t progress.

One of the league’s signature stars expressed an interest in being a Knick, but the Knicks couldn’t, or wouldn’t, make a serious enough offer for the Bucks to consider.

Which puts even more pressure on the 2025-26 Knicks, who might indeed have the best chance at a Finals run in 25 years.

The Antetokounmpo interest was the type of opportunity the Knicks have searched for, in one way or another, for more than a decade as they repeatedly have failed to land a superstar.

Perhaps those talks could be revisited this season or next summer. But there is no guarantee on that or that Antetokounmpo will have the Knicks at the top of the list, should he reconsider a departure from Milwaukee, a process he probably would control with only one more season after this one on his contract.

For now, though, those big trade thoughts are secondary.

“Our team is unified and has the continuity needed to do great things,” Towns said. “We showed that last year and we’re going to build off that.”

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