Greetings from Boston, where I’ve arrived for a couple of days of Celtics practices that look a lot different than they have in recent years. Thanks to everyone who signed up for the newsletter this week. The feedback has been fantastic and I’m excited to keep building this community week after week. To that end, I’ll be making a Mailbag a regular part of the newsletter. Feel free to send comments/questions to mannixmailbag@gmail.com.
WNBA Labor Dispute Looming?
The WNBA is on fire, or at least that’s the conclusion everyone is drawing after Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier napalmed WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert this week. I’m not sure airing out private conversations, no matter how inflammatory, is useful, but it did fully illustrate the divide between players and WNBA management as the two sides struggle to complete a new collective bargaining agreement.
Napheesa Collier’s full statement today, where she challenged Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the WNBA with directness and stunning detail we rarely hear from active players. Worth listening to every word. pic.twitter.com/IRTvTc52EA
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) September 30, 2025
That’s at the root of all this. The two sides have until Oct. 31 to hammer out a new deal, and by the sounds of it, they are miles apart. A work stoppage could be inevitable, which it seems to me could be catastrophic for the WNBA. Players have leverage. There’s money to be made in Unrivaled, the fledgling three-on-three league co-founded by Collier. There are opportunities overseas. A work stoppage could bleed into next season. The W, turbo charged by the arrival of Caitlin Clark, has seen exponential growth over the last two years. This labor dispute could undo some of that.
Nikola Jović Contract Intel
The four-year, $62.4 million extension the Heat handed Nikola Jović was eye-catching. Jović has shown signs of being a solid role player. He averaged 10.7 points last season and has shot in the high 30s from three-point range in each of his last two. But Jović has never played more than 46 games in a season and has never really looked like more than a reliable fourth or fifth man. I asked a rival team executive for his thoughts on the Jović contract.
“It’s a little over the mid-level so not a terrible deal,” says the exec. “I don’t think he has done enough to earn that, but they see him every day. If he develops, you get a good player on a very good deal. If it doesn’t, it won’t kill your cap sheet.”
Replacement Rockets
I’m on record that the Rockets will be fine without Fred VanVleet, with Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard more than capable lead guard replacements. Who the Rockets will miss is Dillon Brooks, who was part of the package Houston shipped to Phoenix in exchange for Kevin Durant. Durant, obviously, more than makes up for Brooks’s on-court production. But Brooks’s toughness was a big part of Houston’s identity last season. Someone will need to fill that void.
Tari Eason thinks it’s him. Injuries have derailed Eason the last two seasons. But the rugged, 6' 8" wing is an emerging defender who is already a semi-reliable mid-30% three-point shooter. Eason told SI this summer was about improving his mental focus. “I wanted to make sure that nothing can really throw me off or affect me,” says Eason. And on a recent trip to Houston, Eason told SI he’s eager to fill Brooks’s sneakers.
“I think Dillon, what gave him an advantage over some people is what people didn’t know about him—he’s very cerebral,” says Eason. “He’s watching the games. He’s watching tendencies. He’s watching so much basketball that that can really help him in certain ways. I’m probably a little bit more athletic than Dillon is. I can move around. I’m a little bit more switchable, so adding that to my game as far as the mental side that he brought, for sure, I think I could bring that and then some.”
How Brooks handled the mental side are lessons Eason says will stick with him.
“Just not getting caught up in a game,” says Eason. “There’s 48 minutes in a game, so you can’t get upset over one miss. You can’t get upset over one bad shot, one bad play or outside factors like a coach yelling at you, things like that. Ime [Udoka] is tough on us, but that’s how I like to be coached at the same time.
“Sometimes there was tension with that, but that’s always good because I think we grew a lot from that. So, just him teaching me not to get caught up in certain things, and then knowing what’s going to happen. Reading stuff or knowing plays and know what’s going to happen before it happens.”
Steve Kerr’s Contract Situation
Steve Kerr isn’t sweating the final year of his contract and Warriors fans shouldn’t either. Normally it’s not great when a coach is on an expiring deal. But Kerr, 60, has 11 years and four titles of credibility with Golden State. He has the unequivocal support of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. If he wants to be there beyond this season, he will be.
I interpreted Kerr’s contract status as a way for both sides to maintain some flexibility. If the Warriors have a great season that encourages the team to keep the team together, Kerr comes back. If it goes south and the team needs to do some retooling, both sides could go a different direction. It’s impossible to believe that money or contract length would break Kerr and the Warriors up.
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
Listen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show onSI’s YouTube channel.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA Insider Notebook: Rockets’ Identity Shift, Steve Kerr’s Future.
