Jalen Williams left the floor at Paycom Center on a stretcher with 1:14 remaining in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 108-101 win over the LA Clippers on Sunday. On Monday, the Thunder announced that Williams has a fractured left fibula and a dislocated left ankle and will need surgery.
Just a week into the 2026-27 season, three teams have reasons to buy before February’s trade deadline, and three have reasons to sell. Most players who signed as free agents this summer become eligible to be traded Dec. 15. Records below are entering Friday’s games.
Buyer: Oklahoma City Thunder
[Editor’s Note: Per Shams Charania, the Thunder are signing Ochai Agbaji as of October 30, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. ET.]
Williams was hurt on a drive and went down under the basket. The game was stopped for about five minutes before Oklahoma City closed out the win. Thunder general manager Sam Presti announced the diagnosis at a news conference in Oklahoma City on Monday.
“We’ll have a timeline for everybody once we get through the surgery,” Presti said.
Cason Wallace, another starter, was also hurt Sunday and needs shoulder surgery. Wallace agreed Oct. 19 to a five-year, $139 million rookie-scale extension, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
Through his first five seasons, Williams averaged 17.9 points in 251 games. He has been an All-Star and an All-NBA selection, and he played the 2025 title run with a torn ligament in his right wrist.
The guard depth was already down one before opening night. Rookie Otega Oweh ruptured his right Achilles tendon in an Oct. 13 preseason game against the Indiana Pacers and is out for the season.
Oklahoma City holds three traded player exceptions created in the deals that moved Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins. In The Stein Line, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer floated Memphis Grizzlies guard Ty Jerome, who played for the Thunder from 2020 to 2022, as a fit, while specifying they were not reporting talks. Jerome scored a career-high 45 points against the Utah Jazz last week.
The Thunder entered Wednesday 4-0 and suffered their first loss of the season that night, falling 120-96 to the Mavericks in Dallas. Oklahoma City enters Friday 4-1 and plays at the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
WHAT A START TO THE SEASON FOR MEMPHIS
First 5-0 start since the 2014-15 season
— NBA (@NBA) October 30, 2026
Buyer: Miami Heat
Miami led Dallas 84-83 after three quarters Monday at Kaseya Center and lost 113-109, falling to 0-4 in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s first season with the franchise. Antetokounmpo had 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists for his first triple-double with the Heat. Bam Adebayo scored 8 points on 3-of-10 shooting. The Heat got their first win two nights later, beating the Atlanta Hawks 129-117 on Wednesday.
The Minnesota Timberwolves scored 131 points against Miami on opening night. The Detroit Pistons scored 128, the Charlotte Hornets scored 115, and Dallas scored 113.
Three of the four losses came at home, Monday’s included.
“You cannot press the panic button and panic,” Antetokounmpo said.
Miami acquired Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis from the Milwaukee Bucks in a trade that became official July 6. The Heat sent out Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, the No. 13 pick in the 2026 draft, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2030 pick swap, and a 2033 second-round pick.
Antetokounmpo carries a $58.5 million cap hit this season and holds a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28. He becomes eligible for a supermax extension Jan. 6, 2027.
On The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, Charania said a slew of teams are monitoring Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving and that Miami has one first-round pick eligible to be traded.
“Is that enough to get Kyrie Irving? My sense is probably not,” Charania said.
Miami enters Friday 1-4 and hosts the Indiana Pacers that night.
The Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks are reportedly discussing a trade that would send Kyrie Irving to Miami, while Dallas would go into full rebuild mode around Cooper Flagg. Miami Heat receive: – Kyrie Irving Dallas Mavericks receive: – Nikola Jović – Pelle Larsson – 2028 1st Round Pick – 2029 2nd Round Pick – 2030 1st Round Pick Imagine this lineup
— Basketball Ground (@BBallGround) October 30, 2026
Buyer: Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets lost 96-84 at Oklahoma City on Oct. 22 and lost 134-114 at home to the Golden State Warriors on Monday. Denver improved to 2-2 with a 104-91 win at New Orleans on Wednesday and plays at the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
Before the roster cutdown deadline, the Bucks turned down a Denver offer of Zeke Nnaji, two future second-round picks, and a second-round pick swap for guard Kevin Porter Jr., Fischer reported. Milwaukee waived Porter before opening night.
Stein and Fischer reported Monday that Denver and the Sacramento Kings are among the teams “still evaluating their respective backcourts” and could emerge as Porter suitors. Porter, a 2019 draftee, is not close to two-way eligibility, and the two reported that a new home for him would not come immediately.
Seller: Sacramento Kings
The San Antonio Spurs beat Sacramento 130-103 on Tuesday, dropping the Kings to 0-4. Domantas Sabonis had 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists. De’Andre Hunter scored 24 points, and Zach LaVine added 22.
Sabonis posted to X after the loss.
“Stay the course. Lot of ball left to be played,” Sabonis wrote.
Sacramento fell to 0-5 with a 132-120 loss at New Orleans on Thursday. The Kings play at Memphis on Saturday.
Sacramento waived DeMar DeRozan in July. Ben Simmons, who signed a one-year deal with the Kings in September, tore his right Achilles tendon during an Oct. 18 practice and will miss the season.
LaVine exercised his $49 million player option for 2026-27. His contract and Hunter’s both expire after this season.
Sabonis, 30, is in the third season of a four-year extension, with two years and $94 million remaining, The Athletic’s Sam Amick said in June on Sactown Sports’ The Carmichael Dave Show. Amick also named Malik Monk as a player who could draw interest around the league.
I legitimately believe the Sacramento Kings have the potential to go 0-82
— Riley McAtee (@RileyMcAtee) October 28, 2026
Seller: Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee beat the Pacers 110-102 on Monday for its first win of the season, then lost 132-100 at home to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. The Bucks enter Friday 1-4 and host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. Milwaukee went 32-50 last season, when Antetokounmpo played 36 games.
The Miami trade brought Herro, Ware, Jaquez, and Jakucionis to Milwaukee, along with the No. 13 pick, which became Tennessee big man Nate Ament. The Bucks used their own pick on Brayden Burries at No. 10. They do not own their first-round picks in 2027 or 2029.
Myles Turner is in the second season of the four-year, $107 million contract he signed in July 2025, after Milwaukee waived Damian Lillard and stretched the $112.6 million remaining on his deal over five seasons. Turner’s contract carries a player option for 2028-29 and a 15% trade kicker.
Fischer reported Oct. 15 that the Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers were among the teams gauging the trade market. The two clubs held exploratory talks on a framework that would have sent Dalton Knecht and second-round draft capital to Milwaukee for Jericho Sims. Knecht cleared waivers Oct. 21.
This is the first season under Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins, who was hired in April after Doc Rivers stepped down.
“And at guard from Milwaukee…” Tyler Herro once again the final starter announced in his hometown #Bucks https://t.co/lZRb52lVFp
— Cameron Ezeir (@camezeir) October 27, 2026
Seller: New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans entered Wednesday 0-3 and lost 104-91 to Denver at Smoothie King Center that night. The Pelicans got their first win of the season Thursday, beating Sacramento 132-120, and enter Friday 1-4. They went 26-56 last season.
Herb Jones played sparingly through the first three games under Pelicans coach Jamahl Mosley, Stein reported. Mosley said Tuesday that the staff had planned to evaluate the team over a five-game sample.
“Finding more time for him is going to be a key priority for me,” Mosley said.
A Pelicans official told Stein on Wednesday that the team “has not indicated a willingness to trade Herb Jones.” Stein added that New Orleans has held a high threshold on interest in Jones and Trey Murphy III for months.
Zion Williamson averaged 21.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 62 games last season. He carries a $42.2 million cap hit this season, with two seasons left on his deal. At his end-of-season news conference April 14, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said he still gets calls about Williamson.
“Listen, we have no intentions of doing that,” Dumars said.
New Orleans hosts Atlanta on Halloween.
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