u/Odd-Direction9452

Atlanta and Charlotte, league sources say, have engaged in on-and-off trade discussions at various points this month on trade frameworks that would feature the Hornets' Dorian Finney-Smith and the Hawks' Buddy Hield.

One version of a proposed trade, league sources say, could have included former lottery pick Devin Carter, but the Hawks elected to waive Carter on Sept. 11, setting up the former Providence star to sign with Boston.

League sources say that the Hawks have been exploring potential trades that include Hield's $9.7 million salary all summer. If something does come to fruition with the Hornets, sending out Hield in a deal for Finney-Smith would furnish Atlanta with a wing defender who boasts notable size ... although Finney-Smith played in only 37 games last season after undergoing ankle surgery in June 2025.

It should also be noted, though, that Finney-Smith's $13.3 million salary is 2027-28 is non-guaranteed.

https://marcstein.substack.com/p/lots-of-the-latest-albeit-not-as?r=1m9zg&utm\_medium=ios

The Nuggets, I’m told, have emerged as a team to watch in pursuit of Cam Whitmore.

Whitmore, selected 20th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft, was recently waived by Cleveland after the Cavaliers acquired him as part of the five-team megatrade that landed Peyton Watson in Northeast Ohio.

https://marcstein.substack.com/p/late-night-nba-intel-takes-on-monday?r=1m9zg&utm\_medium=ios

The Lakers are still conducting interviews for multiple positions, sources say. A job posting for a video producer was posted to the sports-industry job site, Teamwork Online, two weeks ago.

But other sources, including high-ranking ones, have acknowledged that high-end positions, particularly in basketball operations, aren’t actively being filled. While some people in the organization push back on the notion that the Lakers are in a “hiring freeze,” multiple sources acknowledged that it would be foolish for the organization to make hires of consequence while in this strange moment of its history.

That likely includes the assistant general manager position Rob Pelinka said the Lakers planned on hiring this offseason to handle personnel and scouting. The team hired Rohan Ramades as its assistant general manager of strategy and data systems at the end of the season, and he’s made positive early impressions. It also offered the other assistant general manager job to Minnesota’s Steve Senior and Philadelphia’s Prosper Karangwa, but both executives elected to remain with their teams.

Conversations about a front-office build-out are ongoing, one source said, but it’s not fully clear how or when the lead of much-needed pro scouting staff will be installed.

The pending changes — Iger and Kushner’s groups are in their “diligence” phase of the purchase — have certainly caused some anxiety for employees bracing for another ownership change. The last transition, from the longstanding familial touches of the Buss family to a more bottom-line-driven Walter regime, included multiple rounds of layoffs.

Still, multiple sources in different departments expressed optimism about the direction of the franchise under Iger and Kushner. Some felt the Dodgers’ impact on the Lakers was pushing too hard toward analytics and doing so with an arrogance that turned off some people in basketball operations and the locker room. Those people weren’t upset to see a pathway for new management to come in, even if it’s a bit of a mystery and doesn’t have the track record of the Dodgers’ success.

FREE TO READ

The Heat's Sunday signing of Klay Thompson — after Thompson surrendered nearly $10 million of his $17.5 million salary for the coming season to encourage Dallas to finally buy him out after six-plus weeks of discussions between the sides — puts Miami at 13 standard NBA contracts.

Now the Heat must decide whether they want to carry 14 or 15 players during the regular season. Nick Richards continues to be regarded as a prime candidate to sign if Miami elects to add another big man while Heat alumni Gabe Vincent and Keshad Johnson have also been under consideration.

https://marcstein.substack.com/p/the-latest-late-night-nba-intel-d05?r=1m9zg&utm\_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=split

The drama might not stretch to the Lakers’ latest sale— the sale from Walter to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner seems like it’s still on track.

A source with knowledge of Mark Walter’s thinking told The Athletic that the current Lakers owner didn’t believe the latest Buss family disagreement would threaten his deal with Iger and Kushner, which values the Lakers at a record $12.5 billion. Two other league and team sources also said they don’t expect the conflict to impact the transaction that will push the Lakers into their next chapter. In that sense, who the Lakers’ majority owner will be when the 2026-27 season begins isn’t the pressing question at hand.

Sources familiar with the siblings’ position said they believe the family trust clearly gives them the ability to make decisions by majority vote and that their actions are consistent with previous rulings.

Jeanie and her legal team also believe strongly in their position, with a 2017 court order from the Los Angeles Superior Court cited as the foundation of their stance.

“That trumps everything,” as one league source close to the situation put it.

It’s fair to wonder how Iger and Kushner see this situation, with some wondering whether they’d want to choose a different governor simply because of the messiness of it all. But Walter’s choice to have Jeanie serve as governor for the next four years is known to be part of the contractual agreement from the sale 14 months ago, and a league source close to the situation indicated that it is now considered part of the deal with Iger and Kushner. In essence, if that proves to be the case, Iger and Kushner would be assuming Walter’s ownership role and the governor that comes with it.

What’s more, Iger has offered support for this stance both publicly and privately. Then again, as he hinted during that recent interview with The California Post “if things change, they’ll change.”

That part is true, but it appears to be more of a legal question than an Iger-Kushner one. Jeanie, meanwhile, clearly has no intention of selling her shares before the rest of her governorship is up.

Could there be a way for the rest of the siblings to sell and Jeanie to remain as governor? That would require her finding a way to still own at least 15 percent of the shares, but it is possible. Per a league source, Jeanie would be open to exploring that scenario.

FREE TO READ

Todd Boehly and Mark Walter are in talks to sell their shares in Chelsea to Clearlake Capital.

Buyout talks between the parties have been explored at various times in the two years since The Athletic detailed a breakdown in relations between Boehly and Clearlake, who partnered in the BlueCo consortium which purchased Chelsea for £2.3billion from the sanctioned Roman Abramovich in June 2022.

According to multiple sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, those discussions have resumed with a view to Boehly and Walter selling their personal 12.8 per cent shareholdings to Clearlake, who are majority shareholders with a 61.5 per cent stake.

Last week, just 14 months after buying a majority interest in the Los Angeles Lakers for $10billion, Walter unexpectedly sold the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at a record $12.5billion valuation, against the backdrop of a United States Department of Justice investigation into his business dealings.

Federal investigators are investigating insurance companies Walter owns. Walter did not respond to messages seeking comment for a story into the probepublished by The Athletic on Monday, and federal officials at the agencies conducting the probe declined to comment.

No sale of his or Boehly’s stake in Chelsea is believed to be imminent.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7519895/2026/08/17/todd-boehly-mark-walter-chelsea-shares-sales/?unlocked_article_code=1.6FA.aiVf.tugL8v_l_rPo&source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

Todd Boehly and Mark Walter are in talks to sell their shares in Chelsea to Clearlake Capital.

Buyout talks between the parties have been explored at various times in the two years since The Athletic detailed a breakdown in relations between Boehly and Clearlake, who partnered in the BlueCo consortium which purchased Chelsea for £2.3billion from the sanctioned Roman Abramovich in June 2022.

According to multiple sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, those discussions have resumed with a view to Boehly and Walter selling their personal 12.8 per cent shareholdings to Clearlake, who are majority shareholders with a 61.5 per cent stake.

Last week, just 14 months after buying a majority interest in the Los Angeles Lakers for $10billion, Walter unexpectedly sold the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at a record $12.5billion valuation, against the backdrop of a United States Department of Justice investigation into his business dealings.

Federal investigators are investigating insurance companies Walter owns. Walter did not respond to messages seeking comment for a story into the probepublished by The Athletic on Monday, and federal officials at the agencies conducting the probe declined to comment.

No sale of his or Boehly’s stake in Chelsea is believed to be imminent.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7519895/2026/08/17/todd-boehly-mark-walter-chelsea-shares-sales/?unlocked\_article\_code=1.6FA.aiVf.tugL8v\_l\_rPo&source=user\_shared\_article&smid=ta-ios-share

An ESPN spokesman sent this statement to @TheAthletic: “We stand by our reporting, which included numerous attempts by ESPN to get comment from the NBA.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/author/sam-amick/

I'm told Lakers star Luka Dončić this week opened a dialogue with the team's new lead ownership duo of Bob Iger and Josh Kushner and plans to meet with them at the first opportunity.

Dončić, of course, is spending the entire offseason in his native Slovenia to be close to his two daughters and will be hosting 16 of his teammates in Ljubljana starting Thursday. The only player on the Lakers' roster who won't be there is freshly drafted Cam Carr, who is required to attend a league-mandated rookie orientation that clashes with the Ljubljana trip that Dončić organized.

A stat that provides yet another notch of amplification on what a wild week it was at what is typically regarded as a quiet time of year in the NBA: The Lakers' sale means Dončić is about to play for his fifth and sixth owners just since November 2023: Mark Cuban and Patrick Dumont in Dallas; Jeanie Buss, Mark Walter, Iger and Kushner in Dallas.

https://marcstein.substack.com/p/more-late-night-nba-intel?r=1m9zg&utm\_medium=ios