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NBA Rumors
The daily league-wide NBA rumors page
By InsideHoops.comUpdated Wednesday, December 10, 2025 at 2 a.m. ET
Hours before the biggest start of his life against Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic, Derik Queen took a seat in a row of chairs between the New Orleans Pelicans' two practice courts following a recent morning shootaround. The 20-year-old center acts his age and has a kid-like joy. He has a smile filled with braces and an endearing cartoonish laugh that not even the Pelicans' sinking season has spoiled. "That's exactly what he is -- a kid," DeAndre Jordan, who won a title with Jokic in 2023 and is now mentoring Queen in New Orleans, told ESPN. "He still got a little baby fat." Queen is the face of one half -- along with No. 7 pick Jeremiah Fears -- of the Pelicans' future for which new executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars paid a steep price. - ESPN.com
The postgame jersey exchange seemed inevitable after a showcase of rookies unfolded at Smoothie King Center with Dylan Harper helping San Antonio best New Orleans 135-132 on Monday night to spoil a historic night from Pelicans rookie Derik Queen. "I'm happy for him," Queen said of Harper. "[I] played against him in college, knew him growing up, played against him in middle school. I'm just looking forward to more battles against him. I think I was on Twitter or something. Somebody said the next [draft] class is going to be better than us or something like that." Harper and Queen made strong cases for the Class of 2025. The 13th pick in this year's NBA draft, Queen scored a game-high 33 points with 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 blocks to become the first rookie center in NBA history to produce a 30-point triple-double, according to ESPN Research. - ESPN.com
Miami Heat player Terry Rozier pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he helped gamblers placing bets on his performance in NBA games. The 31-year-old point guard formally entered the plea during his arraignment in federal court in Brooklyn on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges, and he was released on a $3 million bond secured by his home in Florida and another property. Prosecutors say Rozier conspired with friends to help them win bets on his performance in a March 2023 game when he played for the Charlotte Hornets. He was also instructed not to gamble, have firearms or to have any contact with victims, co-defendants and witnesses in the case. Rozier, who's from Ohio, additionally surrendered his passport and was restricted to traveling between Florida, Ohio and New York unless granted prior approval. - ESPN.com
A game after he failed to reach 10 points for the first time in 17 years, LeBron James turned back the clock to score 10 straight points in the fourth quarter alone to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 112-108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. "At 40 years old, I mean, it just takes a while for my body to kind of get back into a rhythm," James said. "And so it felt good tonight to kind of feel like myself a little bit." In Toronto on Thursday, he looked every bit of those 40 years, missing 13 of the 17 shots he took as his record streak of 1,297 games in double-digit scoring was snapped -- albeit in poetic fashion with James finding Rui Hachimura with a game-winning assist at the buzzer. Against Philadelphia, he looked like his old self, scoring a season-high 29 points while shooting 12-for-17 from the floor, with seven rebounds, six assists and a steal to thwart the Sixers' final offensive possession for the finishing touch. - ESPN.com
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 in three quarters, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Dallas Mavericks 132-111 on Friday night to claim their 14th straight win. Gilgeous-Alexander made 10 of 12 field goals and 11 of 12 free throws to help the Thunder improve to 22-1 overall. He scored at least 20 points for the 95th straight game, the second-longest streak in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 126 straight from 1961 to 1963. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said Gilgeous-Alexander's lethal efficiency on offense is a reflection of his steady improvement over eight seasons in the NBA. - ESPN.com
Rockets star Kevin Durant drilled a 10-foot jumper with 6:15 remaining in the first quarter Friday night against the Phoenix Suns to become the eighth player in NBA history to reach 31,000 career points. Entering the matchup against his former team, Durant needed four points to hit the milestone. He got there with a pair of free throws and a midrange jumper on his third attempt of the night. Durant finished with 28 points in the Rockets' 117-98 win, bringing his career total to 31,024, good for No. 8 on the all-time scoring list. "It's incredible," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. "I played against him his rookie year and a few times after that and remember him coming in and guys trying to guard the same way [they do] now, being physical with him, take him off the ball. He's learned to adapt, to adjust. To be able to do this with the longevity at this high level efficiency-wise as well, it's an incredible career [and] a long way to go." - ESPN.com
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The InsideHoops.com NBA rumors page features the biggest NBA news and rumors stories from around the league. We've updated this page literally almost every day since the 2000-01 season. There is usually one main morning update, and sometimes a second afternoon or evening update. On special occassions, like around the trade deadline, the draft, or the approach and first week or so of free agency, updates are more frequent. Sometimes 5 or 10 times a day. And literally every hour or two on the biggest days of the basketball year. But in general what you should do is bookmark this page and make it a daily read. Because then you'll know everything all the hot stories that matter most.