Oklahoma City lost three starters in five days, the first trade calls point at New Orleans, and the NBA board for Oct. 26-Nov. 2
The Oct. 26-Nov. 2 board follows Oklahoma City from a 4-0 start to three injured starters, prices the New Orleans wings the Thunder would have to trade for, and logs every rookie-option decision before Monday's deadline.
This issue covers Oct. 26–Nov. 2, 2026, the second week of the season. Seven days produced no completed trade, one team's collapse and the first real money decision of the year.
Oklahoma City began the week 4-0 and finished it without three starters. New Orleans finished it holding the two names league executives put on Oklahoma City's shopping list. 1
The board at a glance
| Player or lane | Status | Verified development | Contract, cap or roster mechanism | Next signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jalen Williams, Thunder | Injured | Fractured left fibula and dislocated ankle on Oct. 25; surgery on Oct. 28. 2 | A disabled player exception would be worth a little over $15MM, and a league physician must judge him likely out through June 15. 2 | Oklahoma City's application for the exception. |
| Cason Wallace, Thunder | Injured | Torn labrum in the left shoulder; operated on Oct. 30 by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. 3 | A Wallace disabled player exception would come in at $3.7MM; his five-year, $139MM extension starts in 2027/28. 2 | Reevaluation before the season ends. 3 |
| Chet Holmgren, Thunder | Injured | Small patellar tendon tear in the right knee; biological treatment on Oct. 30, out eight to 10 weeks. 3 | He is in the first season of a five-year rookie scale maximum. 4 | The eight-week mark lands on Dec. 25 in Minnesota. 4 |
| Herb Jones, Pelicans | Exploratory | Multiple executives named him a logical Oklahoma City target after the injuries. 1 | $14.9MM this season, then a three-year, $67.6MM extension that lifts him to nearly $21MM in 2027/28. 1 | Dec. 15, when the trade market opens. |
| Trey Murphy III, Pelicans | Exploratory | New Orleans has told teams multiple first-round picks would be needed to move him. 1 | $27MM this season and $60MM over the next two, a number that forces a core player back in any match. 1 | Dec. 15. |
| Nique Clifford, Kings | Denied | League sources floated the second-year wing; Sacramento says it values him and feels no pressure to move him. 5 | A 2025 first-round pick with years left on his rookie scale deal, the cheaper kind of target. 1 | Whether Clifford returns to Doug Christie's rotation. |
| Oklahoma City's 15th spot | Stalled | Ochai Agbaji agreed on Oct. 30 and the deal was dropped on Oct. 31. 6 | Filling the slot unlocks two-way flexibility and a hardship application; a disabled player exception adds no roster spot. 4 | Which free agent Oklahoma City signs instead. |
| Nikola Topic, Thunder | Completed, declined | His $7.48MM option for 2027/28 was declined on Nov. 1. 7 | The decision projects to save about $60MM against Oklahoma City's 2027/28 tax bill. 7 | Topic reaches unrestricted free agency in 2027. |
| Thomas Sorber, Thunder | Completed, exercised | His $5.12MM third-year option was picked up on Nov. 1. 7 | Sorber has not played a game for Oklahoma City after two knee procedures. 7 | A debut date. |
| Kristaps Porzingis, Warriors | Exploratory | Golden State is willing to wait for the market to develop, and a buyout that returns money would widen it. 8 | $20MM this season with $3MM guaranteed for 2027/28; the Warriors are $20.4MM into the luxury tax. 9 | Dec. 15. |
| Tidjane Salaun, Hornets | Pending | Charlotte picked up Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley and said nothing about Salaun. 10 | His fourth-year option is worth $10,445,632 and the deadline is Monday. 11 | Today. |
| Cody Williams, Timberwolves | Completed, declined | His $7.67MM option was declined; Terrence Shannon Jr. and Joan Beringer were picked up. 12 | The decline caps Minnesota's own offer next summer at the option value, while rival teams can bid higher. 12 | July 2027. |
| Pacome Dadiet, Knicks | Completed, declined | His $5,373,608 option was declined. 13 | New York projects about $14.7MM below the second apron in 2027/28 with nine players signed, if Towns, Hart and Kolek are picked up. 13 | 2027 free agency. |
| RJ Barrett, Raptors | Stalled | Extension talks never passed the exploratory stage and were tabled when the season began. 14 | Toronto wants his expiring salary available at the deadline as a matching piece. 14 | Feb. 11. |
| Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr., Nets | Exploratory | Brooklyn lost its first five games, and both veterans' futures are in question. 15 | Porter holds a $40.8MM expiring contract; Randle has a $35.8MM player option for next summer. 15 | Dec. 15. |
| Dwight Powell | Completed | Signed with Fenerbahce for the rest of the season. 16 | Dallas waived him in October; he played 763 games for the Mavericks across 12 seasons. 16 | Whether an NBA roster spot reopens for him. |
Two starters and a center: what Oklahoma City lost
Jalen Williams went down with about 1:15 left in the fourth quarter of the Oct. 25 win over the Clippers. He was fouled in the air on a drive and landed with his left leg under his body. 2
The diagnosis was a fractured left fibula and a dislocated ankle. He had surgery on Oct. 28 and will be reevaluated before the regular season ends. 3
Cason Wallace left that same game in the first quarter with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Dr. Neal ElAttrache operated in Los Angeles on Oct. 30, and Wallace carries the same reevaluation language. 3
Chet Holmgren felt discomfort in his right knee on Oct. 25 as well. Oklahoma City waited five days, then announced a small patellar tendon tear and a biological treatment, with eight to 10 weeks attached to the recovery. 3
Sam Presti took the podium on Oct. 26 and declined to treat the season as lost. "We're extremely optimistic about the recovery for both of the players," he said. "Most importantly, things could've been a lot worse." 2
He was also asked whether he had considered calling Russell Westbrook out of retirement to fill the 15th spot. "I haven't thought about anything relative to the 15th roster spot," Presti said. 2
The rules give Oklahoma City two ways to add bodies, and they are different tools. A disabled player exception is money, worth a little over $15MM for Williams and $3.7MM for Wallace. 2
Getting one requires an NBA-designated physician to determine the player is likely to remain out through June 15. The exception buys spending room, and the roster spot stays as it was. 4
The Thunder entered the week with 14 standard contracts. They sit above the first apron and below the second, and they are not hard-capped. 2
The first tell arrived on Sunday night
ESPN's Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon reported on Oct. 30 that the option deadline would reveal Oklahoma City's direction. "The first tell is going to be what they do with these options," an Eastern Conference executive told them. 1
The same executive put the stake at close to $100MM next season, luxury taxes included, if the team passed on both options. 1
Oklahoma City passed on one. On Nov. 1 the team exercised Thomas Sorber's $5.12MM option and Jared McCain's $6.78MM option, and declined Nikola Topic's $7.48MM option. 7
Sorber's and Topic's options were worth $12.6MM between them next season. 1
Declining Topic's projects to save Oklahoma City around $60MM, given how deep into the tax they project to be, per Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. Martinez read the move as financial rather than a verdict on Topic as a prospect. 7
Topic's file explains why he was the one. He tore an ACL before his rookie season, was limited to 10 games in 2025/26 after chemotherapy for testicular cancer, and had a lumbar microdiscectomy over the summer. 7
He becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer. Oklahoma City, or any team that trades for him, would be barred from offering a starting salary above the $7.48MM option value, while outside teams could go higher. 7
That salary ceiling is the part worth carrying forward. A declined option turns a controllable young player into a player whose next contract the incumbent team can no longer win on money. 12
Analysis: the decision answers the urgency question in the cheapest available currency. Oklahoma City took $60MM off a future tax bill without touching the roster, the draft chest or the players who are healthy. Presti has bought himself a season of information.
The market Oklahoma City would have to enter
If Presti does shop, the executives ESPN spoke to kept pointing at New Orleans. Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III were the two names offered as logical fits for a team that had just lost two All-Defensive wings. 1
The Pelicans have set a high price on Murphy across several transaction cycles, telling teams multiple first-round picks would be required. 1
Money is the harder problem. Murphy makes $27MM this season and is owed $60MM over the next two, which forces a core player into the return to match salaries. 1
Jones is cheaper and newly expensive. His extension begins next season and lifts his salary from $14.9MM to nearly $21MM in 2027/28, and one Western Conference executive called the result "a negative value contract to us." 1
The cheaper route is a player with years left on a rookie deal, which is how Presti acquired McCain from Philadelphia in February. Several league sources raised Sacramento's Nique Clifford. 1
Sacramento's answer came back the same day. The Kings say they value Clifford and do not feel compelled to trade him. 5
Two things in Oklahoma City's own history argue for waiting. The franchise has been here before: in 2014-15, Kevin Durant had three foot surgeries and played 27 games, and the front office resisted reactionary trades. 1
The team won 45 games that season, missed the playoffs by one, then won 55 the next and took 73-win Golden State to seven games. The same people are still in charge. 1
At the 2024 deadline, Presti again chose flexibility over a splash. He moved future salary to absorb Gordon Hayward, which created the room to sign Isaiah Hartenstein that summer. 1
The urgency argument rests on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. "As great as Shai is, you really owe it to him to try to cash in on his prime," one Western Conference executive told ESPN. 1
Another Western executive, noting Gilgeous-Alexander is 28, answered that his prime "is not a short window." A Western scout put it more simply: "Are you really going to mortgage two or three years to try to salvage one year?" 1
The payroll is the constraint underneath all of it. Oklahoma City projects past $500MM in salary and tax for 2027/28, and close to $600MM if nobody is moved off the books. 1
The calendar is looser than it looks. The team has until the February 2028 trade deadline, 15 months out, to finalize spending and its 2027/28 tax bill. 1
Two new revenue streams complicate the budgeting: an expansion payout that could exceed $500MM per team, and a new taxpayer-funded arena. 1
Analysis: the Pelicans' names are the ones a team would want and the ones this payroll can least absorb. Murphy requires a core player back, and Jones arrives at a number that another front office has already priced as a loss. The realistic Oklahoma City trade is smaller and younger than the one the injury created demand for.
The 15th spot that was filled and then was not
Oklahoma City's roster was one short all week, and on Oct. 30 it moved. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported that the Thunder intended to sign Ochai Agbaji to a non-guaranteed minimum deal. 6
The reasoning was mechanical. Occupying the 15th spot frees a team to use its two-way players more freely and makes it eligible to apply for a hardship exception. Holmgren's diagnosis that evening made a hardship far more likely. 4
By the next morning the deal was gone. Shams Charania of ESPN reported Oklahoma City had stepped back to reevaluate its options with the open spot. 6
The Clippers showed what the hardship route looks like when it is used. Los Angeles, with five players yet to debut, was granted the provision and signed Blake Wesley to a 10-day deal worth $150,898, running through Nov. 7. 17
The eligibility bar is specific: at least four players who have missed three consecutive games and are expected out at least two more weeks. The exception allows a signing even with no open spot on the 15-man roster. 17
Philadelphia used the other tool. After Ariel Hukporti's season-ending Achilles tear, the 76ers applied for and were granted a disabled player exception worth $1.7MM. 18
That exception is priced at half the injured player's salary or the mid-level amount, whichever is smaller. It can sign a free agent to a one-year deal or claim a player in the final year of his contract. 18
Its limits are worth knowing for Oklahoma City. The prorated minimum will not dip below $1.7MM until Dec. 13, applications close on Jan. 15, and an unused exception expires on March 10. 18
Golden State is in no hurry
Anthony Slater of ESPN reported on Oct. 28 that the Warriors will let the Porzingis market develop. "Right now, the Warriors are showing a willingness to remain patient with the Porziņģis contract and let the market materialize," he wrote, citing league sources. 9
A buyout is the lever that would widen the market. If Porzingis gives back a large chunk of the $20MM, the expiring deal becomes more appealing to a team hunting financial relief. 8
Golden State has also examined voiding the contract. Porzingis has stayed away from the facility, and the club shifted his status from "general illness" to "not with team." 9
Voiding would clear almost the entire tax bill and drop the Warriors under the first apron. It would leave them able to add only minimum-salary free agents, and it needs Porzingis to cooperate. 9
The template for a fix is two years old. In 2024 the Warriors turned De'Anthony Melton's season-ending ACL into Dennis Schroder on the first day Schroder was trade-eligible, at a net cost of two second-round picks. 9
Mike Dunleavy has already gauged the market, which is traditionally quiet in late October. Under the current anti-tanking rules, front offices are reluctant to hand over a usable player for a minor asset this early. 9
Team sources told ESPN they remain extremely pessimistic that Porzingis plays for Golden State again. Steve Kerr has stopped elaborating. "I don't know," he said when asked for an update. "I don't really have anything else to add on this." 9
The interim plan is holding. Golden State's starting five with Yaxel Lendeborg at power forward and Draymond Green at center is plus-22 in a small sample. 9
One roster clock is already running. Graham Ike, on a two-way contract, is limited to 50 games unless the Warriors convert him to a standard deal. 9
The option deadline, team by team
Charlotte answered two of its three questions and left the third open. The Hornets announced third-year options on Kon Knueppel (about $11MM) and Liam McNeeley (about $3MM) and said nothing about Salaun's $10,445,632 fourth-year option. 10
Salaun was the sixth pick in 2024 and the first significant selection of Jeff Peterson's front office. He is averaging 5.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 13.5 minutes. 10
Washington exercised five options in one release: Alex Sarr at $15,611,798, Tre Johnson at $9,061,680, Bub Carrington at $7,257,729, Kyshawn George at $5,435,892, and Will Riley at $3,864,000. 19
Sarr, Carrington and George now become eligible for rookie scale extensions next offseason. 19
Atlanta picked up Asa Newell's $3.56MM option for 2027/28. Newell is outside Quin Snyder's rotation but was scoring 22.2 points per game in the G League. 20
Minnesota's decision was the one with a forward cost. By declining Cody Williams at $7.67MM, the Timberwolves gave up the right to offer him more than that figure next summer. Rival teams face no such ceiling. 12
New York made the same trade. Declining Dadiet's $5.37MM option costs the Knicks the ability to outbid the market on him in 2027, and buys roughly $14.7MM of second-apron room once their other options are exercised. 13
Oklahoma City made both moves in one release. Sorber and McCain stay under control, Topic goes to market with a capped price.
Roster churn at the bottom of the league kept moving too. Los Angeles signed center Lawson Lovering to a two-way contract on Oct. 28 and waived AK Okereke to open the spot. 721
Two expiring deals worth more in February
Brooklyn lost its first five games, and its two veterans are the most likely to move. Michael Porter Jr. has a $40.8MM expiring contract. Julius Randle holds a $35.8MM player option for next summer and could test free agency. 15
Jordi Fernandez defended both publicly and took responsibility for the team's reaction to adversity. "The team is going separate ways," he said after Friday's loss. "I'm responsible for that." 15
Toronto is holding the same kind of asset on purpose. RJ Barrett and the Raptors still share an interest in an extension, but the team tabled talks so his expiring salary stays available as deadline matching. 14
That is the arithmetic behind the quiet weeks. An expiring contract is worth more to a front office in January than the player is in November, and both of these teams are betting on the difference. 15
The week's other injuries
Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves. He had arthroscopic surgery to debride his right knee on Oct. 29. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic reported the belief was a recovery longer than two months, which points at January. 22
Kawhi Leonard, Raptors. Swelling in his left knee will cost him weeks. Chris Haynes reported roughly three to four weeks, and an MRI showed no structural damage. 14
Ja Morant, Trail Blazers. A left hamstring strain suffered Oct. 29 will keep him out at least four weeks. Surgery is not required and a late-November return is possible. 23
Jalen Suggs, Magic. The MRI found a mild bone bruise in his right knee and no structural damage. He will be reevaluated in two weeks. 24
Paolo Banchero, Magic. The low-grade high ankle sprain is being projected at four to six weeks. 25
Jaren Jackson Jr., Jazz. A torn MCL in his right knee will keep him out six to eight weeks, per Shams Charania. 25
Jalen Duren, Pistons. The hamstring strain carries a two-week reevaluation, which puts a return around Nov. 9. 25
What the market is waiting for
Analysis, based on the eligibility rules and cap positions reported above.
Three dates decide whether any of this converts into a trade. Dec. 15 is when most players who signed new contracts become eligible to be moved, and MacMahon's point stands that the market does not really open before then. 1
Feb. 11 is the deadline. Between the two sits Dec. 13, when the prorated minimum first drops below $1.7MM and a small exception starts to buy real salary. 18
Oklahoma City's real deadline is further out. The February 2028 trade deadline is the last point at which the 2027/28 tax bill can be shaped, which explains a week of small decisions rather than one large one. 1
Presti's own history argues the same way. The 2024 Hayward trade looked like a salary dump and created the room to sign Isaiah Hartenstein that summer, filling one of the last pieces of a championship team. 1
Fantasy and roster read
Analysis. These are the depth-chart consequences the reporting implies, not recommendations.
Oklahoma City's minutes are the week's biggest redistribution. Ajay Mitchell is averaging 16 points, three rebounds and four assists with 2.5 stocks, and Jared McCain started Monday and scored 18 with four threes. 25
Aday Mara becomes more relevant than he looked on Oct. 28. Dan Titus of Yahoo Sports wrote that piece while Holmgren was listed day-to-day with tendinitis; the eight-to-10-week diagnosis arrived two days later. 25
LaMelo Ball takes on more of Minnesota's scoring with Edwards out. Ayo Dosunmu is the direct replacement, and Terrence Shannon Jr. is the add behind him. 25
Orlando runs through Franz Wagner while Banchero and Suggs sit. Tristan da Silva and Anthony Black pick up the minutes, and Black opened his season with 18 points on five threes. 25
Toronto's wing minutes go to Ja'Kobe Walter, who started in Leonard's place and is averaging 13 points, 2.7 threes and 2.3 steals. 25
Detroit replaced Duren internally and got 22 points and nine rebounds from Paul Reed on Tuesday. Reed is the add for the next two weeks. 25
Portland's guard rotation changes without Morant. Scoot Henderson started Saturday and posted 14 points and three steals in 31 minutes, with Vit Krejci playing a season-high 24. 23
Phoenix's need is a roster question more than a minutes one. Chris Haynes reported frustration in the locker room about the absence of a traditional point guard, and John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports pushed back that there is no dissension. 26
The Suns have an open roster spot and no indication they intend to use it on a guard. Collin Gillespie, second on the team at 4.3 assists, is the closest thing to a traditional point guard. 26
Next signals
- Nov. 2: Tidjane Salaun's $10,445,632 fourth-year option is due. 10
- Nov. 7: Blake Wesley's 10-day contract with the Clippers expires. 17
- Around Nov. 8: Jalen Suggs's two-week reevaluation. 24
- Around Nov. 9: Jalen Duren's two-week window closes. 25
- Late November: Ja Morant's four-week reevaluation. 23
- Dec. 13: The prorated minimum drops below $1.7MM, which is when a small disabled player exception starts to buy real salary. 18
- Dec. 15: The trade market opens as offseason signings become eligible. 1
- Dec. 25: The eight-week mark of Holmgren's recovery, in Minnesota. 4
- Jan. 15: The last day to apply for a disabled player exception this season. 18
- Feb. 11: The trade deadline. 1
- February 2028: The deadline for Oklahoma City to shape its 2027/28 tax bill. 1
References
- 1
- 2Thunder's Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace Out Indefinitely\
hoopsrumors.com
- 3Thunder Medical Update\
nba.com
- 4
- 5
- 6Thunder No Longer Signing Ochai Agbaji\
hoopsrumors.com
- 7
- 8Warriors reportedly willing to be patient with Kristaps Porzingis trade market\
nbcsportsbayarea.com
- 9
- 10
- 11Rookie Scale Option Decisions Due On Monday\
hoopsrumors.com
- 12Timberwolves To Decline Option On Cody Williams\
hoopsrumors.com
- 13Knicks Declining Fourth-Year Option On Pacome Dadiet\
hoopsrumors.com
- 14Raptors Notes: Leonard, Poeltl, Jackson-Davis, Barrett\
hoopsrumors.com
- 15Nets Notes: Randle, Porter, C. Johnson, Fernandez, Brown\
hoopsrumors.com
- 16Dwight Powell Signs One-Year Deal With Fenerbahce\
hoopsrumors.com
- 17Clippers Sign Blake Wesley To 10-Day Hardship Deal
hoopsrumors.com
- 18Sixers Granted Disabled Player Exception For Hukporti
hoopsrumors.com
- 19Wizards Exercise Rookie Scale Team Options On Five Players
hoopsrumors.com
- 20Hawks Exercise Asa Newell's Third-Year Option
hoopsrumors.com
- 21Lakers Notes: Sale, Carr, Williams, Vanderbilt
hoopsrumors.com
- 22
- 23Trail Blazers Notes: Morant, Henderson, Avdija, Krejci
hoopsrumors.com
- 24Jalen Suggs Out At Least Two Weeks With Knee Bone Bruise
hoopsrumors.com
- 25
- 26Lack Of Traditional PG A Source Of Frustration For Suns?
hoopsrumors.com
This story was produced automatically by a channel. One sentence is all it takes for Neodrop to keep producing for you.