Buzz: Hansen impresses, Wemby returns and storylines to watch

2025 NBA summertime league has been filled with breathtaking rookie debuts, young players looking to unafraid roster spots and plentifulness of chatter surrounding the upcoming season's biggest storylines.

Las Vegas has seen plentifulness of highlights, including Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks triumphing implicit Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers successful the No. 1 pick's debut.

But plentifulness of different NBA storylines are already unfolding. Our NBA insiders person been connected site, talking to beforehand bureau unit and scouts arsenic the aboriginal of the league performs up of the 2025-26 NBA season.

San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama and his kung fu training, Josh Giddey and the Chicago Bulls' declaration stalemate and much were discussed arsenic summertime league roars on.

What was the speech of the tournament? Our insiders person you covered.

Wembanyama believes Kung Fu grooming was beneficial

We archetypal spotted Victor Wembanyama stateside July 8, arsenic helium pedaled an workout motorcycle successful the inheritance portion caller Spurs summation Luke Kornet conducted his quality league successful San Antonio astatine Victory Capital Performance Center. The sighting signaled a instrumentality to on-court concern for Wembanayama, who had conscionable returned from grooming with monks during a 10-day enactment astatine a Shaolin temple successful Zhengzhou, China, followed up by a abrogation successful Japan, wherever helium produced a mates of viral moments.

Get utilized to proceeding astir unconventional grooming methods from Wembanyama this season.

Those adjacent to the French phenom are rapidly learning astir his thirst for pushing boundaries physically and mentally. It's precisely wherefore helium chose to bid successful China, according to sources, who said the 21-year-old wanted to enactment his assemblage done a antithetic method of grooming to larn much astir himself.

According to sources, Wembanyama came distant from that grooming believing it did him immoderate good.

In summation to improved intelligence focus, Wembanyama believes immoderate of the moves progressive successful kung fu grooming taught him much astir however to execute optimal assemblage positioning done a amended scope of movement, which could beryllium beneficial connected the court.

After starring the NBA successful blocked shots past play (176), contempt playing conscionable 46 games due to the fact that of heavy vein thrombosis successful his close shoulder, Wembanyama progressed good successful his betterment and told French paper L'Équipe, "I'm officially cleared to return" successful a communicative published Monday.

Wembanyama brought the assemblage astatine summertime league to its feet Thursday, erstwhile helium strolled to his courtside spot alongside teammates Jeremy Sochan, De'Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, Julian Champagnie and Keldon Johnson with his Spurs starring the Philadelphia 76ers by much than 20 points successful the 2nd 4th of the club's opener.

San Antonio won that crippled 111-70. -- Michael C. Wright

Is a Lauri Markkanen commercialized adjacent successful the Utah Jazz's younker movement?

The Jazz person parted ways with veterans Jordan Clarkson, John Collins and Collin Sexton this summer, clearing the mode for Utah's postulation of young picks to make and beryllium evaluated during different play that is apt to extremity with the champion imaginable lottery odds.

This has prompted a batch of scouts and executives to wonderment whether the Jazz would commercialized 28-year-old Markkanen next, arsenic caller president of hoops operations Austin Ainge takes implicit arsenic the superior decision-maker successful the franchise's rebuild.

That is not Utah's intention, sources told ESPN.

It would beryllium excessively overmuch to picture Markkanen arsenic untouchable, but the Jazz inactive task the All-Star guardant arsenic a cardinal subordinate successful their aboriginal core.

Utah listened to offers for Markkanen past summer, but nary of the talks with different teams ever came adjacent to tempting CEO Danny Ainge and GM Justin Zanik to marque a trade. The Jazz yet awarded Markkanen a five-year, $238 cardinal maximum renegotiation and extension, allowing him to motion the woody past Aug. 7 and making him ineligible to beryllium traded earlier past season's deadline.

That declaration isn't a interest for Jazz politician Ryan Smith, whose roster is loaded with rookie deals. However, opposing executives said the wealth does dampen Markkanen's theoretical commercialized value, peculiarly arsenic he's coming disconnected the worst shooting play of his career, albeit successful challenging circumstances.

It would instrumentality rather a haul for the Jazz to see moving Markkanen, astir apt requiring him to reconstruct his worth by performing good for those kinds of offers to travel the Jazz's way.

The anticipation successful Utah, however, is that Markkanen is inactive successful a Jazz azygous erstwhile the franchise yet becomes competitory again. -- Tim MacMahon

Victor Oladipo moving toward NBA return

Oladipo past appeared successful an NBA crippled successful 2023 with the Miami Heat, erstwhile helium tore his near patellar tendon successful a playoff crippled against the Milwaukee Bucks. The two-time All-Star, 33, was portion of a well-attended backstage workout successful Las Vegas connected Monday morning, with a ample contingent of NBA and European teams attending. Oladipo played full-court five-on-five successful a radical workout of planetary pros. Multiple squad sources successful attendance came distant impressed, with Oladipo described arsenic being successful fantabulous signifier arsenic helium pursues different comeback.

The No. 2 prime successful the 2013 draft, Oladipo was named the NBA's astir improved subordinate and made the All-NBA 3rd squad and All-Defensive squad successful 2018, a highest that was shortened by aggregate genu injuries the pursuing season. His agelong wounded past has delayed his imaginable return, but there's presently immoderate information astir the league that helium mightiness yet enactment his mode into a roster spot, arsenic teams finalize plans to circular retired their extent entering the fall.

Oladipo expressed his enthusiasm for a imaginable instrumentality successful a societal media station Sunday. -- Jeremy Woo

I consciousness truthful large close now!! Better than I felt successful the past 7 years mind, assemblage and soul. I cognize I americium a fighter! I cognize I americium a warrior! I person seen each lens this crippled and this league has to offer. I cognize I tin assistance immoderate squad successful immoderate relation triumph successful immoderate way! I besides cognize the radical want...

What does a spread twelvemonth look similar for the Indiana Pacers?

A Saturday day tip-off betwixt the Pacers' and Oklahoma City Thunder's summertime league squads near galore successful the gym reminiscing astir the epic NBA Finals that had concluded conscionable a fewer weeks earlier. It besides had galore wondering what the 2025-26 play holds for Indiana.

After losing Tyrese Haliburton to an Achilles teardrop and Myles Turner arsenic a escaped cause to the Bucks, the Pacers are facing an uphill conflict to support their Eastern Conference title and rebuild their team. In the meantime, the Pacers are expecting an discourtesy that could look overmuch antithetic adjacent play and volition astir surely not beryllium arsenic high-octane without Haliburton moving the show, squad sources told ESPN. Instead, the Pacers are apt going to thin into the strengths of Andrew Nembhard arsenic a shot handler. He doesn't person the aforesaid burst arsenic Haliburton, particularly arsenic a scorer, but is simply a bully decision-maker with bully timing successful the fractional court.

A fewer executives besides pointed to Bennedict Mathurin arsenic idiosyncratic they judge volition prime up the scoring slack near by those 2 absences. They'll beryllium keeping a adjacent oculus connected him this play to spot however helium handles a superior scoring role. -- Jamal Collier

Negotiations betwixt Chicago Bulls and Josh Giddey are ongoing

The stalemate betwixt Giddey and the Bulls continues into different week arsenic the marketplace for restricted escaped agents remains cold. Giddey was contiguous successful Las Vegas and had luncheon with Bulls manager Billy Donovan, sources told ESPN, and Bulls executives were scheduled to conscionable with Giddey's cause during the week.

Multiple sources told ESPN they expect Giddey and the Bulls to yet travel to a declaration agreement, and the 2 sides person had immoderate affirmative discussions. Yet, Giddey has been seeking a declaration for astir $30 cardinal annually. With small headdress abstraction disposable this summer, Giddey's options for alternatives extracurricular of Chicago dried up quickly, giving the Bulls leverage to clasp disconnected for a much team-friendly deal. -- Collier

Execs ringing the alarms connected 2027 draft

After a banner 2026 class, executives are acrophobic astir what's next

Bleary-eyed executives person hardly had a accidental to crook the leafage connected the 2025 NBA draught class. Still, they are already moving afloat throttle into the adjacent draught cycle, with a engaged summertime successful store headlined by FIBA tournaments, grassroots events, sneaker institution camps and assemblage practices.

The astir forward-thinking of those executives are already ringing alarm bells successful their beforehand offices for the 2027 NBA draft, which appears to beryllium an particularly anemic radical of rising precocious schoolhouse seniors and planetary players calved successful 2007 and 2008.

"This is 1 of the weakest precocious schoolhouse classes I've seen successful a agelong time," 1 grizzled endowment evaluator with extended acquisition successful the amateur younker abstraction told ESPN.

"There mightiness not beryllium a azygous All-Star successful this group, and aft the archetypal fewer prospects, I'm not definite however galore NBA starters I spot either from the different five-star recruits. New players ever emerge, but by present we usually person a beauteous bully thought of who the astir elite prospects are, and it's looking similar slim pickings, adjacent much truthful than the anemic 2024 NBA draft, which astatine slightest had respective high-end planetary prospects we could constituent to."

College coaches making the rounds astatine summertime league person echoed akin thoughts, saying they've been mostly underwhelmed by the deficiency of prima powerfulness among prospects ranked astatine the apical of the 2027 recruiting class. This is causing them to program connected being adjacent much assertive successful the transportation portal alternatively than spending important sums connected five-star prospects who mightiness not beryllium bully capable to marque impacts arsenic freshmen astatine the assemblage level.

This improvement could besides person large implications connected however assertive NBA teams determine to beryllium successful dangling 2027 first-round picks portion perchance repressing the appetite for teams considering tanking their mode to a precocious draught pick. It besides puts important unit connected rebuilding teams to guarantee they are successful presumption to onshore successful the talent-rich apical 5 of the 2026 draft, which features 5 All-Star oregon franchise-caliber prospects: high-schoolers Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, Cam Boozer, Nate Ament and Mikel Brown.

NBA teams are hoping to find caller prospects who look astatine adjacent week's FIBA U18 EuroBasket tourney successful Belgrade, Serbia. Last year's lawsuit yielded six first-round picks, not including a seventh planetary imaginable successful Egor Demin, who would person participated had his Russian nationalist squad not been banned due to the fact that of the warfare successful Ukraine. -- Jonathan Givony

Yang Hansen impresses

The biggest astonishment of the draught was the Portland Trail Blazers, who seemingly reached to instrumentality 7-foot-2 large antheral Hansen with the No. 16 prime a twelvemonth aft drafting 7-2 halfway Donovan Clingan successful the lottery.

But successful his archetypal moments nether the lights, his accomplishment level impressed rival coaches and executives, peculiarly with his passing. He's going to beryllium a project, but it didn't instrumentality agelong to spot wherefore Portland was funny successful him. Some observers wondered however helium volition grip the gait successful the NBA successful the agelong term. But Hansen, who has said he's a instrumentality of Nikola Jokic, is going to stay a taxable of involvement heading into adjacent season, particularly successful seeing however rapidly helium tin accommodate to the league -- and however helium and Clingan volition coexist. -- Tim Bontemps

The astir absorbing determination to watch

As the NBA considers expansion, with Las Vegas and Seattle the astir apt destinations, 1 conflict to ticker is which squad mightiness descent to the Eastern Conference to accommodate 2 newcomers successful the West. Although that alteration is not imminent, that anticipation seems peculiarly meaningful up of a play successful which the spread betwixt the 2 conferences could turn due to the fact that of injured East stars Haliburton and Jayson Tatum (plus erstwhile Bucks defender Damian Lillard).

A squad worker relayed that their front-office unit had erstwhile debated years agone however overmuch they would commercialized to determination from the West to the East, and the decision was "a lot." But during Saturday's 'Hoop Collective' unrecorded amusement successful Las Vegas, caller Timberwolves co-owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez were reluctant to marque their lawsuit arsenic 1 of the starring candidates.

"I deliberation you've got to beryllium cautious what you privation for," Lore said. "It volition beryllium what it volition be." -- Kevin Pelton