The offseason is still young, but the Michigan State presence around the NBA has already been dragged through a whirlwind of change.
A few Spartans have barely seen their situations shift at all, but most of the group has already been pulled into trades, option decisions, coaching changes, and a few good-natured jabs along the way. From Miles Bridges to Draymond Green to Gary Harris, the headlines have come fast.
Jase Richardson has been the one steady exception so far. The rookie didn’t make a huge splash in his first year, but he did show some promise as an offensive option off the Magic bench. He’ll be back in action for NBA Summer League next week.
Miles Bridges ended up in the middle of one of the louder moves of the early offseason. On Sunday, Mat Ishbia and the Phoenix Suns sent Royce O’Neal, Grayson Allen, and a future first-round pick to the Hornets in exchange for Bridges and two draft picks.
Phoenix is bringing in a player who can give them 20 points a night to pair with Devin Booker, who nearly committed to the Spartans as a five-star in the 2014 class. The move also came out of nowhere, especially with Charlotte clearly in teardown mode after dealing LaMelo Ball earlier in the week.
Draymond Green’s news came Monday, and it was the kind of move that can set off a chain reaction. He declined his $27 million player option for 2026-27 and became a free agent, a decision tied to the idea of opening up cap space for the Warriors to chase LeBron James this offseason.
The expectation is that Green still re-signs with Golden State, with the hope that taking less money helps make room for LeBron. That choice could ripple well beyond just one roster spot.
Green has also been publicly trolling new teammate Yaxel Lendeborg from Michigan.
Elsewhere, Max Christie got into the fun side of the offseason when he wore a Michigan State jersey during Morez Johnson’s rookie welcome presser. Christie’s own situation changed too, since Michigan’s Dusty May will now be his head coach. That alone makes for an interesting setup.
Gary Harris also settled his situation by picking up his $3.8 million player option with the Milwaukee Bucks, keeping him in the league as a veteran depth piece.
Jaren Jackson Jr. has not had a dramatic offseason so far, but his 2025-26 season was already his wildest in some time after he was traded from the Grizzlies to the Utah Jazz in the winter. That deal stood out as one of the biggest blockbuster moves of the regular season.
And Xavier Tillman chose a different route entirely, heading overseas instead of looking for another NBA contract. With his minutes shrinking over the last few years, he opted for a place where he can play meaningful minutes and still get paid well.
There’s still more coming, too. Jaxon Kohler, now with the Jazz, and Carson Cooper, with the Grizzlies, are both set to take part in NBA Summer League next month.
For a group that’s usually scattered across the league, this has already been one busy offseason for Michigan State’s NBA alums.
In Other News...
Draymond Green Already Has A Rookie Testing His Patience
Yaxel Lendeborg has barely gotten through the introduction phase with the Warriors and already found himself in the kind of veteran-rookie exchange that tends to follow players into training camp. The rookie, who was drafted by Golden State, said at a press conference that Draymond Green had not responded to his outreach, a comment that quickly put one of the leagues most recognizable veterans in the middle of a small but very public back-and-forth.
Green wasted little time addressing it, turning the moment into a joke about rookie hazing and making clear the relationship is still in the early, teasing stage. For the Warriors, it is the sort of off-court banter that can be harmless in May and suddenly feel more revealing once camp opens, especially with a young player trying to find his footing around a veteran who has never been shy about setting the tone. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Freshman Big Already Looks Like An Izzo Project
Ethan Taylor has only just arrived in East Lansing, but the freshman big already has the kind of profile Michigan State usually covets. A former top center prospect who spent part of the summer on Team USA, Taylor comes in with real pedigree and the size to become another long-term paint presence in Tom Izzos program.
What stands out early is how willingly he has embraced the coaching and the demand that comes with it. Michigan State has a history of turning talented young frontcourt players into reliable college pieces, and Taylor looks like the next one in that pipeline, with plenty of room to grow as the seasons go on. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State May Be Losing A Hometown Recruit It Needed Most
Anthony Cartwright was the kind of hometown target Michigan State needed to land early in Pat Fitzgeralds tenure, a four-star tight end from Franklin who fit the profile of a program trying to reestablish itself in its own backyard. Instead, the Spartans appear to be watching the recruitment tilt away from East Lansing, with recruiting experts and projections pointing the 2026 prospect toward a different national power after his recent visit.
For Michigan State, the miss would sting beyond the normal recruiting disappointment because Cartwright is a legacy recruit with deep family ties to the university. The Spartans have spent years trying to keep top in-state talent from slipping out of reach, and this is exactly the type of battle they needed to win to make an early statement. Instead, they may be left hoping there is still time to turn a race that has already started to separate. [Read more 🡒]