Ben Simmons returns to the NBA after a full year out - for 3.5 million dollars

Three-time All-Star Ben Simmons missed the entire 2025/26 season and is now returning to the league on a one-year deal worth 3.5 million dollars with the Sacramento Kings. That figure says everything: a player who was once the first pick of the draft is now signing for less than backup centres earn. Simmons travelled to Sacramento for detailed medical examinations, on-court workouts and meetings with coach Doug Christie. The Kings and the Australian national team say he looks and feels healthy - a statement we have heard in previous years too. He last played in 2024/25, split between Brooklyn and the Clippers, averaging 5.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 51 games. After the move to the Clippers those numbers fell to 2.9 points in 16.4 minutes. He enters his eighth NBA season and nobody talks about him as a future anymore, only as a question.

Kuminga turned down the Lakers for Minnesota - and for a message from Edwards

After a two-month wait, Jonathan Kuminga signed a two-year, 13 million dollar deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The interesting part is what he turned down: a Los Angeles Lakers offer that would have paid him more for one season than he will earn in two in Minnesota. Instead of three guaranteed years he took two with a player option - meaning he wants to keep control over the timing of his next contract rather than hand it to the team. And here is the part that sounds familiar around here: the decision was tipped by a conversation with Anthony Edwards. Minnesota's star promised him defence first - "we'll be a team that's hard to play against, you, me, Rudy and Jaden McDaniels" - and then something Kuminga did not have at Golden State: the ball in his hands. "I know you can cook on offence," Edwards told him. Sometimes one phone call is worth more than a few million.

Olympiacos took down Fenerbahce in the final second, Fournier top scorer

In the semi-final of the pre-season tournament in Crete, Olympiacos beat Fenerbahce 82:77 in a game decided in the closing seconds. The Turkish side led for most of the contest and entered the final quarter at 58:57, but the Greeks executed better down the stretch. And they did it without Sasha Vezenkov, Jean Montero and Nikola Milutinov - so with a considerably shortened roster. Former Final Four MVP Evan Fournier scored 19 points, Donta Hall added 16 points and 8 rebounds, and Tyler Dorsey 15. Fenerbahce's best was Wade Baldwin with 16 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. In the final Olympiacos face Red Star, who beat Olimpia Milano. It is pre-season, but Olympiacos's pre-season form rarely lies.

Madžari is no longer Madžari: the runner-up became KK Skopje 2023

Macedonia's basketball runner-up has changed its name - KK Madžari is from now on KK Skopje 2023. The club says the change is not cosmetic and that the aim is to connect with the capital and with the Municipality of Gazi Baba, where, as they put it, athletes have been produced for years. The slogan is neatly packaged: "From Madžari to Skopje. From tradition to the future. From the stands to the court." The club simultaneously called on the supporters' group "Pirati" to fill the stands again. And here is the question every fan in the region already knows: how many times has a rebrand brought better results, and how many times just a new logo and the old budget? A club's name changes in a day. The basketball played under that name does not.

MZT, Madžari and TFT might play in Monte Carlo

Partizan president Ostoja Mijailović confirmed that an official request to join the ABA League has arrived from Monaco. One scenario under consideration is that the club first plays in ABA 2 and then, if conditions are met, moves up to the strongest regional competition. For Macedonian basketball that would mean something concrete: MZT Skopje and Madžari could end up in the same group as Monaco and travel to Monte Carlo, while TFT, because of the format of its group, could not meet a French club in the first phase - though a meeting in a later phase is not ruled out. Monaco has become a serious European name in recent years, so its entry into the regional league would be the most attractive scenario available. The key word, though, is "would" - the request has been submitted, there is no decision. Until then, Skopje's clubs travel to Monte Carlo on paper only.