ESPN Panel Tabs Spurs, Hawks for Biggest Jump; Edwards Tops Shooting Guard List; Lundberg Eyes New Euro Stop; Hayes-Davis Signs with Suns
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A group of ESPN Insiders believes the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks are poised to make the league’s largest improvement during the 2025-26 NBA season, naming the two clubs co-favorites for the biggest leap.
The same panel picked the Golden State Warriors as the team most likely to engineer a major transaction before the trade deadline and forecast Zion Williamson as the superstar most apt to request a move.
Shooting Guard Rankings
In The Athletic’s “The Bounce” Top 40 Shooting Guards list, columnist Zach Harper placed Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards at No. 1. Devin Booker (Suns) and Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers) rounded out Tier 1, described as players with MVP potential. Tier 2—identified as guards capable of taking over a game—featured Desmond Bane (Grizzlies), Klay Thompson (Warriors), Bradley Beal (Kings) and Zach LaVine (Bulls).
Lundberg Leaving Partizan
Danish guard Gabriel “Iffe” Lundberg will not return to Partizan Belgrade, Sportando reported. According to TeleSport, Zenit St. Petersburg and Olympiacos have expressed interest in the 29-year-old, who appeared in four games for the Phoenix Suns during the 2021-22 NBA campaign.
Hayes-Davis Chooses Phoenix
Hapoel Tel Aviv owner Ofer Yannay said he had a verbal understanding with free-agent forward Nigel Hayes-Davis that the former Wisconsin standout would sign in Israel if an NBA deal failed to materialize. Hayes-Davis, who played in Turkey last season, ultimately accepted a one-year contract with the Suns. “We were sure we were bringing Nigel Hayes-Davis,” Yannay told Eurohoops.net. “He had an option to go to the NBA, and he basically said, ‘I’ll try to get a contract in the NBA, and if I don’t, I’ll come to you.’”
Source: Hoops Rumors
