Basketball: the main stories of 08.09.2026

New Orleans have cleared the decks. Jordan Hawkins, the 14th pick of the 2023 draft, and Micah Peavy went to Memphis with a future second-rounder, and ESPN's Shams Charania reports the point of it was roster space for Bennedict Mathurin. One outlet reports the follow-up: The Athletic's Will Guillory says the Pelicans intend to waive 41-year-old Taj Gibson, who only joined Memphis in February and arrived in the same deal. Three seasons in, Hawkins never held down a rotation place; the club has now spent a second-round pick to be rid of the contract rather than wait for him to find one.

Two lines on the Lakers, both from single reports. Quentin Grimes said he wants the assignment on the opposition's best scorer every night and that the move mattered because Los Angeles actually wanted him; Bronny James sees himself as a secondary creator alongside Luka Doncic. Separately, Lake Show Life reports the club tried to attach Jarred Vanderbilt to both the Kessler and Kuminga talks and found no side willing to take the money. Minnesota, meanwhile, looked at Sasha Vezenkov before signing Kuminga, according to Marc Stein — the same Vezenkov who spent the day talking about losing Thomas Walkup to Dubai after yesterday's $2.6m transfer.

FIBA's five-year ban on Lithuanian coach Rimantas Grigas over sexualised harassment is the day's one item carried by three outlets and confirmed on the federation's own site.

• Euroleague club owners plan a general meeting in the first half of October, journalist Sotiris Vetakis reports, with the venue not yet set — the details are due shortly.
• Marius Grigonis, back at Zalgiris, said of Ergin Ataman: "find me one player who gets on with this coach".
• Zalgiris also lose new signing Saben Lee for several weeks with a hamstring injury; he misses the London Invitational.
• UNICS signed 27-year-old centre David McCormack from Bayern for 2026/27.
• Portland gave South Korean swingman Lee Hyun-jung a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal.
• Jimmy Butler is building up his court work and could return in January or February, ESPN's Anthony Slater reports.
• Atlanta promoted Peter Dinwiddie to executive vice-president of basketball operations.
• Sam Amick reports Jalen Duren and the Pistons are closing the financial gap.
• Denver made Peyton Watson one offer and did not improve it after he turned it down, per The Denver Post.
• James Edwards expects Miles McBride to be moved before February unless the Knicks extend him first.
• Chris Paul called his 61-point game for his late grandfather the greatest moment of his career.
• Ricky Rubio said he stayed on at Joventut to help take the club back where it belongs; Alec Peters said his move to Milan had been building for a long time.
• CSKA guard Samson Ruzhentsev said Brooklyn see their future in Egor Demin, and rated his own side as competitive in the Euroleague.
• Women's World Cup last 16 in Berlin: Hungary play Japan and Germany meet South Korea on 8 September.