Speaking toFred Katz of The Athletic,Hawks big manKristaps Porzingis revealed that the mysterious illness that affected him late in the 2024/25 season and in the playoffs was eventually diagnosed as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. The condition, known as POTS, causes a person’s heart to beat faster than normal when he sits or stands up and can result in extreme exhaustion or dizziness when it goes untreated or undiagnosed.
“You know how people say, ‘Oh, I’m so fatigued.’ I’ve never used those words. I don’t even like to speak in those terms, but I really was like that,” Porziņgis said.“At that time, I could just lay on the couch and be a house cat.”
According to Katz, after getting a diagnosis confirmed, Porzingis has been able to manage the condition without medication — a high-salt diet and a more regimented resting schedule (off the court) are among the key factors.
Within his larger story about Porzingis and the Hawks, Katz notes that the offseason traded to Atlanta came as a bit of a surprise to the big man, since his agent had been keeping him up to speed on Boston’s trade discussions with three other teams: theClippers,Spurs, andSuns. While Porzingis may have been surprised to learn of his landing spot, he wasn’t upset about it.
“We are an aspiring team, a young team that aspires to win a championship one day, and that’s the cool part,”Porziņgis said.“Even by the betting odds, we’re not too far off.”
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TheMagic took a major gamble bytrading forDesmond Bane, butPaolo Banchero believes the high-scoring guard is exactly what Orlando needs to be a serious contender in the East, writesMarc J. Spears of Andscape. The team sent a lot of assets to Memphis in return, parting withKentavious Caldwell-Pope,Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and a first-round swap. Banchero has no doubt that Bane will be worth the high price.
“It’s a great fit for who we are as a team,”he said. “He adds what we’re missing, and he also adds to what we already have. It’s like the perfect match. We don’t have anybody who can make shots like him, who can kind of leverage the way he is able to make shots, then make plays for others and get downhill and create. He’s a Swiss Army knife just as a player, as a guard. He is stronger than 99 percent of the guards in the league with how he’s built. He’s going to fit into what we do.”
Bane tells Spears that he received a Father’s Day text fromGrizzlies general managerZach Kleiman, along with a request to talk right away. Kleiman followed up by FaceTiming him to break the news of the trade. Even though Bane was caught by surprise after spending his first five NBA seasons in Memphis, he insists there’s “no bad blood at all” and he’s happy to be in a good situation in Orlando. He also regrets that the Grizzlies weren’t able to make a long playoff run while the foundation of the team was together.
“I feel like we never really got a chance to see what it would be like for a full season with our core and everybody healthy,”Bane said. “But you can only wait so long. In this business, you only got so many years to make something happen.”
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TheMagic played their preseason opener on Saturday, picking up a 126-118 win over the Heat. While preseason action can only tell you so much, Orlando was able to get some valuable information on some of their new guys, as well as seeing their roster mainstays in action.
One of the standouts of the game was rookie guardJase Richardson, writes Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel (subscriber link).
The 25th pick in the 2025 draft, Richardson came out of the gate cold and later admitted to feeling the nerves in his first real NBA action, but he quickly settled into the rhythm of the game. He finished with a team-high 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three, along with four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
“There’s just a level of confidence that he possesses reading the game, recognizing what guys are doing and how they’re playing him,” said head coachJamahl Mosley. “His speed is such a big advantage for him, but then the other side of it is we talked all the time about how inquisitive he is and how he wants to know what to do in any situation.”
While the backup point guard spot will likely be primarily manned byTyus Jones onceJalen Suggs recovers from injury, Richardson’s ability to function as an on- or off-ball player could help him carve out a role sooner rather than later if he’s able to maintain his aggression and shooting efficiency.
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Responding to a question aboutKevin Porter Jr.‘s increased responsibilities in 2025/26 now thatDamian Lillard is no longer on the roster,Bucks head coachDoc Rivers suggested that the plan will be to start Porter at point guard, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic relays (via Twitter).
“He started out as a high draft pick. He started. They put the ball in his hands. He could literally take any shot and he did,”Rivers said.“And now he comes from that, from not playing at times, coming off the bench, being out of the league, to now back to starting. And that’s a huge a responsibility for him to run the team and still be aggressive. That’s the hardest thing to do, I think, in basketball is from the point guard, understand when and when. It’s just hard, and so I’m sure at times he’ll be great at it and then at times he may struggle at it, but we’ll support him and get him right.”
As Rivers alluded to in his comments, Porter was the starting point guard in Houston from 2021-23, but was out of the NBA during the 2023/24 season due to a domestic violenceincident.
Returning to action last season, Porter was up and down for the Clippers, but thrived following a deadline deal to Milwaukee. In 30 regular season outings for the Bucks, he averaged 11.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 19.9 minutes per game and posted a shooting line of .494/.408/.871.
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AsMagic guardJalen Suggs continues to make his way back from a left knee trochlea cartilage tear that has sidelined him since January, the team is targeting opening night for his return, president of basketball operationsJeff Weltman said on Monday, according toJason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required).
Suggs had originally hoped to be back to 100% for the start of training camp, but now the plan will be to use camp and the preseason as a ramp-up period. As Beede writes, the goal will be to get him on the court in one of Orlando’s four preseason games before the regular season tips off.
Moritz Wagner, the Magic big man who is coming off a left ACL tear, isn’t quite as far along as Suggs, Weltman acknowledged on Monday.
“Moe’s timeline is different,”Weltman said. “He’s further away. You guys know there have been unfortunately a series of ACLs in the last decade of the NBA and an associated timeline with that. But you guys also know Moe Wagner. So, he’s not your normal guy. He’s attacking it. and we’re hopeful he can beat that timeline. What that looks like exactly is too soon to say.”
Wagner said he has gotten through the injury rehab portion of his recovery process and is now working on getting back into game shape, according to Beede. At the team’s first practice on Tuesday, Suggs was able to take part in “all of the non-contact drills,” per head coachJamahl Mosley, while Wagner did many of the same drills but was “probably two steps back” of Suggs in terms of progress (Twitterlinks).
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NewMagic swingmanDesmond Bane feels good about how he’ll fit alongside star forwardsPaolo Banchero andFranz Wagner, tellingMark Medina of Sportskeeda.com that he thinks his skill set “complements those guys very well” and will help “open up the floor for them to attack and do their thing.” Bane also pointed to Orlando’s roster versatility when asked why he’s confident about the team’s ability to be a contender in 2025/26.
“I think we can play so many different lineups,”he told Medina.“We have so many different handlers. We have so many different screeners. We have guys that can get baskets one-on-one when the game slows down and you get into crunch time. So we really have a lot of tools on this roster.
“It’s always easy to talk this highly at this time of the year. But once you get into December, some guys are playing well, some guys aren’t, some guys are in the rotation, some guys aren’t. That’s when teams really have a choice to come together or split. So we have a long way to go. It’s a long journey. But we got good people in the building and people that work hard and care. So I think that gives us a chance. That’s all you can ask for.”
Bane will be playing for a new team for the first time since entering the NBA in 2020 — he spent his first five professional seasons with theGrizzlies, who traded him to Orlando in June. Speaking to Medina, the 27-year-old made it clear he harbors no ill will toward his former team for ending their relationship over the summer.
“I’m rooting for Memphis 80 games out of the year,” Bane said.“I hope they do well. I got a lot of guys out of there that are up for contracts and things like that. So I want it to work out for them and that they get everything that they deserve. So I’m looking forward toward seeing how they do, and hoping for the best of them. There’s no bad blood at all.”
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Magic fans are embracingDesmond Bane following Orlando’s blockbuster acquisition of the scoring guard early this offseason,The Athletic’s Josh Robbins writes. Bane is feeling the love in the city.
“I haven’t been to the grocery store yet, honestly,” Bane said. “But my car broke down on the side of the road today on the highway. There was a decent amount of people screaming my name outside the window. So I think that it’s safe to say that Orlando fans are excited.”
The excitement surrounding Bane reflects the expectations fans have for the team. Orlando with Bane in tow looks poised to be an Eastern Conference contender this season. Bane joinsPaolo Banchero,Franz Wagner, andJalen Suggs as cornerstones of a rapidly improving roster.
As Robbins writes, the East is wide open next season. Cleveland and New York will almost certainly enter the year as favorites to win the conference, but major injuries toJayson Tatum andTyrese Haliburton have created some uncertainty at the top. The Magic are hoping to take advantage.
“I don’t think that there is any limit to put on what this team can do,” Bane said. “I mean, we are a new team, adding some new pieces and things like that. But we have a very good roster in place, a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things. So it’s very exciting from that standpoint. I just want to come in and be the glue, the guy that brings his whole thing together, kind of rounds out some of the gaps that they may have had in their team.”
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With most of the NBA’s offseason action now in the books,Chris Herring and Kevin Pelton of ESPN identify the 14 NBA “newcomers” whose changes of scenery will have the greatest impact in 2025/26.
There are no surprises at the top of the list, which features newRockets forwardKevin Durant at No. 1,Magic guardDesmond Bane at No. 2, andNuggets forwardCameron Johnson at No. 3. However, Herring and Pelton deviate a little from expectations at No. 4 by including a head coach:Mike Brown of theKnicks. As Herring writes, it’s possible no coach in the league will face more “title-or-bust pressure” than Brown in his first year on the job.
Lakers centerDeandre Ayton rounds out the top five on the 14-man list, which – outside of Brown – is made up exclusively of players.
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Bulls head coachBilly Donovan, who won back-to-back NCAA titles with Florida during his college coaching career, wasinducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday. Starting guardCoby White attended the ceremony and spoke to Chicago Sports Network about Donovan’s “amazing accomplishment” and what he likes about having him as a coach (Twitter video link).
“He’s honest,” White said of Donovan. “He pushes you, he’s going to get the most out of you. And for the most part, he’s always been upfront with me.
“But he also believes in his players. He gets his players to compete every night. He builds a relationship with his players, which often times you don’t see (with NBA head coaches).”
Donovan signed amultiyear extension with the Bulls in late July, while White is entering the final year of his contract, which will pay him about $12.9MM in 2025/26.
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The Spurs andHawks are considered the co-favorites to make the biggest leap in the NBA during the upcoming season, according to a panel ofESPN Insiders.
The panel made its predictions on a wide variety of topics, including the team most likely to make a big move before the trade deadline (theWarriors received the most votes) and the next superstar to request a trade (Zion Williamson was the top vote-getter).
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