2025-26 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

feel like you're not understanding the cap here. we DO have that much space AFTER maxing reaves because reaves's cap hold is 21 million, no matter what salary we sign him to. that's factored into the 50 million. you simply time his signing last. this happens all the time and is why lebron not getting the PO was such a HUGE deal. had that not happened, you'd be right, and we'd be at lebron's whim, trading everything that's not nailed down for demar derozan or something.

and once the season starts, we'll have plenty of tradable salary in the form of...whatever we spend the 50 million on. if we completely strike out, you sign brook lopez's corpse to a one-year 25 million dollar deal meant to be traded like gs did with kuminga last summer. easy peasy

Theoretically, but that’s not being realistic. Ayton is getting a pay raise. If Rui wasn't traded, he's getting resigned. We won't have 50M to spend.

Signing Brook's corpse, doesn't help improve the team any. How do you replace Lebron's impact with whatever is left?

Otherwise we just let Lebron and Rui walk for nothing, so what free agent targets, are you thinking about, (in the 20-25M) range, that's going to replace those numbers?

The team just took 2-3 steps back for some cap space, in a weak a** free agent market? That's not my idea, of some kind of great plan..



rob made four great mid-level moves just this summer: ayton for 7 million. smart for 5. laravia for 6. and NOT DFS for 12.

nobody saw any of that coming. i trust him more than us, tbh.

Implying that Rob orchestrated the buyouts? I'm more crediting those move to Luka's presence. You can give it all to Rob, but if we lost to Houston in the 1st rd? I trust Rob to land on his feet somewhere, after getting fired.

 

A. Gordon is 30. He just signed a 4 year-deal. He plays most of his mins defensively at the 4 (like 98 percent). He'll have 3 more left after this year. Do we take a chance there if assuming LBJ retires? Braun, Watson, and Jones play way more mins at the wing and all arer appropriately size 6'6 and above...just a thought.

 

Freaking Clippers won last 11 games out of 13

 

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We asked over 100 people in sports which leaders they most admire. Here are the top 40

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, Golden State coach Steve Kerr and Detroit coach Dan Campbell all finished in the top 10.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, Golden State coach Steve Kerr and Detroit coach Dan Campbell all finished in the top 10. Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Lance King, Geoff Stellfox, Gregory Shamus / Getty Images


The Athletic logo
The Athletic Peak staff
Jan. 15, 2026



This story is part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering the mental side of sports. Sign up for Peak’s newsletter here.

Our goal with this list was simple: We asked a bunch of people in North American sports to rank the five leaders they most admired in 2025.

We picked the phrase “most admired” because it is intentionally vague. You don’t have to know someone to admire them. You can also admire leaders for different reasons: The way they communicate, the way they handle adversity or the spotlight, and, of course, their success.

That’s the great thing about leadership: It’s subjective. What works for one person might not work for someone else.

We left it to each participant to determine what they admired. We also did not have any rules against voting for people you worked with or played for. The leaders just had to be active as a coach, player or executive in 2025 (no Nick Saban, for example).

We surveyed most of the 116 participants in October and November — it takes a long time to put together a project like this — and we suspect that might have something to do with the lower positions of coaches like Mike Vrabel with the New England Patriots and Curt Cignetti with the Indiana Hoosiers (and likely why Pete Carroll, who was fired by the Las Vegas Raiders recently, received votes. Believe it or not, Carroll wasn’t the only coach from our list who was fired).

Then again, this list was never intended to reflect the people experiencing the best results in 2025. That matters, of course, but we didn’t want it to mean everything.

In the end, our panel was intentionally diverse — though almost exclusively from North America — made up of Hall of Fame coaches from the collegiate and pro ranks and assistant coaches from all levels of college and professional sports; current and former professional players, leadership experts and executives.

To give you a taste: We surveyed Hall of Famers (Bill Cowher, Tara VanDerveer, Rebecca Lobo), a Heisman Trophy winner (Andre Ware), an MLB MVP (Dale Murphy) and an NFL MVP (Matt Ryan); current general managers (J.J. Picollo, Monica Wright Rogers, Nick U’Ren), head coaches (Kalani Sitake, Lindsay Gottlieb, Laura Harper, Adia Barnes) and a head coach who was also a Heisman Trophy winner (Eddie George); a team president (Raven Jemison), national champions (Muffet McGraw, Carolyn Peck, Margueritte Aozasa), World Series champions (Joe Maddon, Travis Ishikawa), Super Bowl champions (Richard Sherman, K.J. Wright, Cliff Avril), NBA champions (Shaun Livingston, Jason Terry, Bruce Bowen), WNBA and NBA champions (Michael Cooper), World Cup winners (Joy Fawcett), a USWNT team captain (Christie Pearce Rampone) and Olympic gold medalists (Jordan Chiles and Cat Osterman).

Our hope is for this to become an annual list. But for now, here are the 40 most admired leaders in sports from 2025:

1. Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors coach
Kerr, 60, had an illustrious career in basketball before coaching, winning three championships as a reserve guard for the Chicago Bulls alongside Michael Jordan and another two while playing for Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. However, when it comes to leadership, it’s his tenure guiding the Warriors’ dynasty that has made him one of the most respected coaches in professional sports.

Kerr has cited a litany of influential leadership figures in his life, from his father, the late Malcolm Kerr — assassinated in 1984 while serving as president of the American University of Beirut — to coaches such as Popovich, Phil Jackson, Pete Carroll and former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp. His style, a mix of all, has commanded attention from coaches across sports, as well as leadership experts and executives.

Credentials: Kerr’s teams have won four NBA championships and appeared in two more NBA Finals. Sure, he may have been accorded some of the most talented NBA rosters of this century, including Steph Curry and Kevin Durant at their primes, but our voters took notice of his ability to communicate with empathy, manage a roster of superstars and remain a steady presence amid the daily drama of professional basketball.

What our voters said:
Tara VanDerveer, former Stanford women’s basketball coach: “In the pros, you’re going to trade people, but I think he’s loyal to the person, and he’s also true to the team in that he has to make tough decisions that are all about making the team better.”

Dale Murphy, former MLB MVP: “When things are challenging, great leaders don’t separate themselves from the players. He doesn’t separate himself when things don’t go well and he sheds the praise — he deflects it — when things do go well.”

Gregory Sullivan, Missouri professor: “The best coaches balance support and demand, and Kerr lives in that sweet spot: high support, high challenge.”

2. Dawn Staley, South Carolina women’s basketball coach
Staley was one of the trailblazers of the WNBA, a six-time All-Star who became one of the top floor generals of her era. In 18 seasons at South Carolina, she has proven to be one of the best culture builders in sports, transforming the Gamecocks into a powerhouse.

Credentials: She has won three NCAA titles and made seven Final Fours as a coach — including five in a row since 2021. In the process, she’s become an advocate for women’s sports and a respected voice in basketball.

What our voters said:
Sue Enquist, former UCLA softball coach: “She teaches you how to hover above the noise, have fun and grow. She is a truth teller.”

Eddie George, Bowling Green football: “Her impact goes far beyond wins and championships. She builds people, sets standards and has left every program better than she found it. Dawn transcends sports; the best leaders in every arena look to her for wisdom, perspective and guidance.”

Scoonie Penn, former NBA assistant coach: “It’s the way players always talk about her, the love they show her, the way they go back to the school and the way she shows up for them. That’s really powerful.”

3. Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors guard
Widely regarded as perhaps the greatest shooter in NBA history, Curry helped revolutionize basketball with his style of play and inspired a new generation of players to focus on long-range shooting. He’s also helped establish an updated model for a superstar leader: steady, collaborative and joyful.

Credentials: Curry is a four-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors and two-time MVP, including the first-ever unanimous MVP in 2016. He also won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He has played his whole NBA career with the Warriors.

What our voters said:
Jason Terry, Utah Jazz assistant coach: “His demeanor and disposition and how he handles himself.”

Johnny Tauer, St. Thomas men’s basketball coach: “Two of our program tenets are intrinsic motivation and competitive joy. He embodies these traits at levels I’ve never seen another pro athlete exceed.”

Margueritte Aozasa, Texas women’s soccer coach: “A large part of my own coaching philosophy is ‘let your strengths be your strengths.’ He honed his specialty so much it literally changed the way a whole generation plays and appreciates the sport of basketball. He doesn’t always seek the spotlight but finds a way to use his performance and his platform to inspire those around him.”


At 71, UConn coach Geno Auriemma became the oldest coach to win a Division I basketball title in 2025.Luke Hales / Getty Images
4. Geno Auriemma, Connecticut women’s basketball coach
Auriemma has become synonymous with women’s basketball, a direct communicator and master motivator who built perhaps the sport’s greatest dynasty. He’s also proven incredibly resilient; he won his first NCAA Championship in 1995 with Rebecca Lobo as his star and his 12th 30 years later, with Paige Bueckers leading the way.

Credentials: Auriemma has won 12 NCAA championships, appeared in 24 Final Fours and holds the record for most victories in college basketball history at the Division I level — men’s or women’s. He has also been voted the AP national coach of the year nine times.

What our voters said:
Tamika Williams-Jeter, Dayton women’s basketball coach: “Coach is a winner, lover of detail and a menace. He never stops learning about himself and how to motivate the people around him.”

John Cook, former Nebraska volleyball coach: “He was a role model and somebody I studied throughout my coaching career. I think great leaders have to be adaptable and adjust to the times, especially in the last few years in college sports. He sticks to what he believes in, but he’s learned to adapt.”

Chad Brown, former NFL linebacker: “A lot of leaders shy away from uncomfortable conversations. He doesn’t. He believes growth lives in those moments, and his players end up better for it. What really separates him, though, is that he’s evolved. He’s coached through different eras, different styles, different personalities and he’s adjusted without losing who he is. That’s hard to do. Most leaders either refuse to change or lose their identity trying to.”


14. Brad Stevens, Boston C Bags president of basketball operations

 

What could go wrong? I don’t see the fit.

 

Good. OKC didn’t need another top 4 pick

 

mayybe. i'm actually not sure.

also really not sure about that, tbh.

we could give ayton a raise to the mle and sign rui at his market value (mle) and still have 30 million to spend, thereabouts.

the hope is that you find better fitting players. the lopez corpse was an absolute worst case scenario--you just conjure a big expiring, preferably in the form of someone who can at least play a little.

not worried about numbers. but say, peyton watson and keon ellis and one more guy (maybe a john collins type) could slot in and make us a better team than we are right now, imo.

i honestly don't think it's really the plan. it's a good fallback option if the deadline market isn't kind to us. we only have one tradeable first right now. not sure what kind of purchasing power people think that has.

yes, at least in part.

he's better than gabe right now or really any guard on roster other than reaves. if we make a move that opens a roster spot and doesn't return a backup guard, i'd take paul. i'd like to have the revenge tour player on our team for once, lol.

 

Im jumping ship if that happens...

 

You might have a point there.

 

Exactly.

no thanks.

 

We should try to lift Brad Stevens from the pukes!!

 

Holy s***, finally. Yes. Presti first, Stevens if Presti says no.

 

Noooooo to one of the most unlikable players of the modern era.
We would then have two!!!!

 

ANTMAN ERUPTED TONIGHT.

55 PTS (26 in 4Q, new career-high)
10 3PM

He joins Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving as the only players in NBA history to total 55+ PTS and 8+ 3PM in a game before turning 25!

 

Future Laker.

 

doubt it

 

yeah, he inherited a good situation, but he's also just made a lot of good choices. i actually think he's much better than presti, tbh. stevens didn't have to go through multi-year tanks to build his team, nor did he bungle an iteration of a contender with poor choices like presti did the first time.