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Free agency, which started slowly when it officially opened at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, is in full swing.
Two of the NBA's most storied franchises are strengthening their frontcourt. The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to send two first-round picks to the Utah Jazz for center Walker Kessler, while signing free agents Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton and Quentin Grimes.
The Boston Celtics are signing center Mitchell Robinson, who recently won a title with the rival New York Knicks, and have also agreed to a one-year deal with veteran guard Mike Conley.
Follow along for the latest news, agreements and analysis with our team of reporters, and check out the live reaction on The Athletic NBA Show.
While the Lakers are locking up about 20 percent of their cap with Walker Kessler as the starting center, they’re finally getting a presence at the rim on both ends of the floor. For the last few years, the Lakers have pieced together the center position with Deandre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood. Kessler is one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, and he will be the guy tasked with cleaning up whatever Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves give up in drives on the perimeter.
Kessler should own the boards too. During the 2024-25 season, he averaged 12.2 rebounds, with 4.6 of them coming on the offensive boards. It’s nearly impossible to keep him off the glass. On offense, he doesn’t have a ton of versatility, but he’s sure-handed and will score around the rim. There’s a belief he’ll be able to stretch the floor at some point — he was going to try to add that to his game last season but we only saw five games from him and eight attempts, so it’s hard to know if that’s actually a thing. The one issue for Kessler might be at the free throw line, but you’ll take that with everything else he gives you.
For two hours, they dined and talked in a South Carolina steakhouse, and what Portland Trail Blazers coach Micah Nori noticed most about his lunch partner was the sincerity of his words, the seriousness of his facial expressions and the excitement that was unable to be contained.
Ja Morant told his new coach that he couldn’t wait to play for the Blazers.
“I think we are going to get the best version of Ja,” Nori said. “I think we are going to get a motivated Ja.”
The Magic cannot stretch Jonathan Isaac's $8 million because they will re-sign him for one year, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Isaac will end up making about $4 million less than if the Magic had picked up his original contract.
The Magic are now $2.5 million from the second apron with 14 contracts.
The Rudy Gobert trade in Utah lives on, and will now yield a player who might still be paying for the Jazz in the 2040s.
The initial 2022 trade between the Jazz and Wolves sent the rights to Walker Kessler, four first-round picks and a pick swap to the Jazz. With Kessler being traded to the Lakers today for two more swaps and two more first-rounders, the Jazz are netting out at six firsts — five of which are completely unprotected — and three swaps (although the first of those in 2026) went unexecuted.
Utah turned the first of those Wolves picks, in 2023, into guard Keyonte George. The 2025 pick (Walter Clayton) and the 2027 pick were traded to Memphis in the deal for Jaren Jackson, Jr.. And Utah still has a top-5 protected Wolves pick in 2029 coming to them, in addition to the two swaps and two firsts from the Lakers in the Kessler deal.
The Jazz also own unprotected firsts from Cleveland and 2027 and 2029, plus a Cavs swap in 2028, from the 2022 Donovan Mitchell trade. They also have a a 2031 Phoenix unprotected first-rounder.
All told, they have future firsts and three swaps from other teams, and only the 2029 Wolves pick is even slightly protected.
The cost was steep but the Lakers feel like Walker Kessler is the perfect center for a team built around Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves — and they’ve paid significantly for that fit.
Anthony Davis had some thoughts on the Lakers' acquisition of Walker Kessler, a rim-protecting center.
As a Laker, Davis consistently referenced his preference to play power forward. He did so again in January of 2025, just days before the Lakers traded him for Luka Dončić.
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Walker Kessler did not like what he was being offered by the Utah Jazz in restricted free agency. He decided to go out and find a new home, hoping the Jazz would work with him and that new team on a sign-and-trade. Luckily for him, that’s exactly what he found in the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kessler is set to sign a $130 million deal over four years and being traded to Los Angeles in exchange for the Lakers’ 2031 first-rounder, 2033 first-rounder and first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. The Lakers finally have their big man, and believe their core of Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Kessler will lead the next era of Lakers basketball.
Is this the right move? Should the Lakers have given up so much of their draft capital to sign Kessler is that deal? Let’s bust out the red ink and slap some grades on this trade.
The Lakers just spent a projected $260 million in one hour.
Mitchell Robinson always said that “hack-a-Mitch” means a team fears and respects him.
So, naturally, he goes to the team that did it more than any other team in the NBA: The Celtics.
In the span of a few minutes, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired four key players.
Click the links to learn more.
The Golden State Warriors had no Bird rights on De'Anthony Melton and needed to use exception money to bring him back on a two-year, $11 million deal, likely the biannual exception. The dollar amount of the deal is less than the taxpayer mid-level exception, which means Golden State would only be hard-capped at the second apron by this deal. The Warriors are still $22 million beneath that threshold with four open roster spots. Using the biannual exception would not prevent Golden State from using its entire non-taxpayer MLE on LeBron James.
Quentin Grimes was the essential get for the Los Angeles Lakers, who badly need a 3-and-D wing to play next to Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić. Collin Sexton was, shall we say, less essential; I don't love his fit on this team and don't really think it's an archetype the Lakers needed.
The reported contracts the Lakers gave out are for slightly more than their available cap space. It is possible one or more include unlikely incentives, which require cap space but get removed from the cap after the contract is signed; thus, when signing multiple free agents sequentially with cap space, it is possible to sign them for "more" than the cap space by using unlikely incentives (which can be worth up to 15 percent of the deal) on all but the last signing.
The other alternative for the Lakers would be to send out a small salary, such as that of Dalton Knecht, either to Utah in the Walker Kessler deal or to another squad with a small exception.
Collin Sexton has agreed to a two-year, $19 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to a league source who was not permitted to speak publicly because the deal is not yet official.
Sexton is set to join a bevy of new Lakers, including center Walker Kessler, forward Sandro Mamukelashvili and guard Quentin Grimes. The 27-year-old shooting guard averaged 15.4 points and 3.3 assists in 68 games with the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls.
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Jazz trade Walker Kessler to Lakers for first-round picks, pick swaps: Source
Sandro Mamukelashvili had a wonderful season in Toronto. The Raptors were starved for shooting, so they needed every bit of his 38.9 percent 3-point accuracy. I think he was one of the most valuable bench players in the league. After the Kawhi Leonard trade, the Raptors had no way of making a competitive offer to retain him.
Like a lot of bench players, especially young ones, Mamukelashvili's play didn't translate to the playoffs. He was more hesitant to shoot than he was in the regular season. He doesn't have the size to battle bigger bodies in the middle and isn't quite quick enough to stay with wings, although he tries. He is a decent facsimile of Rui Hachimura, providing less on defense.
One final thing: The presence of Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves should give him a very simple role on offense, and the addition of Walker Kessler should limit how frequently he has to moonlight in the middle. Any four-year deal close to the full midlevel for a bench player scares me, but this is the right type of situation for Mamukelashvili to thrive. Plus: immaculate locker-room vibes.
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Lakers agree to sign Sandro Mamukelashvili to bolster frontcourt: Sources
As Day 2 of free agency got underway Wednesday morning, the Los Angeles Lakers landed one of the market’s top shooting guards. Quentin Grimes agreed to a four-year, $60 million deal with the Lakers that includes a player option in the final season, league sources granted anonymity to discuss front-office strategy said. ESPN first reported the deal.
Grimes brings several obvious strengths that should fit well alongside Luka Dončić. He’s a terrific on-ball defender, a good athlete and a capable shooter. He can scale his role up or down as needed, and he previously played alongside Dončić with the Dallas Mavericks, giving him familiarity with the Lakers’ star.
In Philadelphia, Grimes played a major role in the 76ers’ 45-win season in 2025-26 and helped the team advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. He spent much of the season in the starting lineup before settling into a sixth-man role once the Sixers were fully healthy. Grimes, who was a restricted free agent at this time last year, played the 2025-26 season on his qualifying offer, allowing him to reach unrestricted free agency this summer.
Guard De’Anthony Melton will return to the Warriors on a two-year, $11 million contract, with the second year a player option, according to a league source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been completed.
Melton had declined his 2026-27 player option earlier in the week to become an unrestricted free agent.
Sandro Mamukelashvili's new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers is for four years and $52 million, with a fourth-year player option, a league source confirms.
The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal with power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, league sources with knowledge of the negotiations told reporters. The contract includes a player option for the fourth and final season. ESPN first reported the deal.
Mamukelashvili, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward, spent the 2025-26 season with the Toronto Raptors. He is entering his sixth NBA season after being selected with the No. 54 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft out of Seton Hall. He averaged a career-high 11.2 points per game while shooting 52.3 percent from the field last season. He also knocked down 1.4 3-pointers per game while shooting 38.9 percent from beyond the arc and is a career 73.9 percent free-throw shooter.
The Lakers already have several players capable of playing power forward under contract, including Jarred Vanderbilt and Jake LaRavia. But Mamukelashvili brings more size than either player. He is also considered a better floor spacer due to his higher 3-point percentage. The Lakers also have a free-agent decision looming with Rui Hachimura, while LeBron James’ departure creates additional opportunity in the frontcourt.
The Los Angeles Lakers are signing Quentin Grimes and Sandro Mamukelashvili, league sources tell The Athletic.
Grimes' deal will be for four years and $60 million, with a player option in the final season. Mamukelashvili will sign for four years and $52 million, with a fourth-year player option.
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