The NBA is investigating the Brooklyn Nets to see if they violated player availability rules in their game against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 27. The Nets rested several players, and pulled others after limited playing time in the 144-122 loss to the Bucks.

Nicolas Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and Cameron Johnson all sat out the game. Mikal Bridges, Royce O'Neale and Cam Thomas were all pulled after the first quarter.

Following the game, Bridges expressed disappointment in the decision. Bridges said he would prefer to play when he's able to.

Before the game, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn admitted that Bridges only played because of his consecutive games played streak. When told of those comments, Bridges said: “I guess for their purposes is why. But I’m healthy, so I [don’t] see why I wouldn’t play.”

Jacque Vaughn said it was an executive decision to rest players.

“I’ve got to think short term and long term and make executive decisions for the betterment of the group,” Vaughn said. “It’s unfortunate tonight that they just got to the point where we’re putting them in harm’s way by putting them out there tonight.”

The Detroit Pistons snapped their 28-game losing streak on Saturday night. If that wasn't enough, Monty Williams added a new face to his coaching staff, as well.

Detroit is hiring Brian Adams to Williams' staff. Adams was previously an assistant under Doc Rivers with both the LA Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. The veteran NBA assistant was hired to coach in Taipei this season.

Adams had also served as head coach of the G League Clippers from 2018 to 2020. Detroit was looking to add to Williams' bench, as assistant coach Dan Burke has been away from the team for the past month dealing with a personal situation.

The Detroit Pistons snapped their 28-game losing streak by defeating the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Detroit had previously set the record for longest single-season losing streak (27 games) and tied the record for overall longest losing streak (28 games).

Following the game, Pistons owner Tom Gores issued the following statement:

“I’m proud of how our guys have continued to fight through adversity. I know it’s been hard, but they’ve kept their heads up and showed real character. The streak is over, but the hard work continues.”

Detroit head coach Monty Williams said he was nearly overcome by emotion following the long-awaited victory.

“I was almost in tears and I’m just so happy for our guys," Williams said.

RJ Barrett had no desire to leave New York or the Knicks. But if a move had to happy, Barrett is happy to be headed home to play in Toronto.

Barrett is a big part of the Canadian National Team and grew up in the Toronto area. He's said to see the Raptors as a great option for him.

Toronto acquired Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, from the New York Knicks in exchange for OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn.

Barrett helped lead Canada to the bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. In that tournament, Barrett averaged 16.8 points and five rebounds per game.

The 6-foot-6 wing will now return home to play a big role for the retooling Raptors. Barrett is expected to start for Toronto, as soon as the trade is finalized following physicals on both sides.

The Toronto Raptors will continue to explore trades involving Pascal Siakam, sources tell ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. No talks, however, have traction with Siakam at this point.

The Raptors traded OG Anuoby to the New York Knicks for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley on Saturday. Both Siakam and Anuoby are eligible for free agency in 2024.

The Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings have been previously linked with a trade for Siakam.

Goran Dragic has announced his retirement from basketball. Dragic will play a farewell game in Slovenia later this season and then will call it a career.

Over 15 NBA seasons, Dragic played in 946 regular season games. He appeared in an additional 62 playoff games, over seven different postseason runs.

Dragic retires holding career averages of 13.3 points and 4.7 assists per game. He finished as a 45.9% shooter overall, including 36.2% on three-pointers.

Dragic began his NBA career with the Phoenix Suns in the 2008-09 season. In addition to two separate stints with the Suns, Dragic also played for the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks.

The 6-foot-3 has also played for his native Slovenia over several different international competitions. In 2017, Dragic helped lead Slovenia to the EuroBasket title. He scored 35 points in the victory over Serbia in the final game.

The Detroit Pistons continue to be uninterested in trading Bojan Bogdanovic unless the offer is a significant overpay.

"Everything I’ve heard and continue to hear is that there are no plans to trade Bogdanovic unless Detroit gets an offer it can’t refuse," wrote James L. Edwards III at The Athletic. "The Pistons want to be good and don’t want to trade good players, even if Bogdanovic’s role is reduced to a bench scorer next season."

The Pistons acquire Bogdanovic before the 22-23 season and signed him to a two-year, $39.1 million extension shortly thereafter.

Bogdanovic cannot become a free agent until 2025 and is represented by Jason Ranne and Darren Matsubara of Wasserman.

Nikola Topic had his loan to Mega MIS ended prematurely as he's been called back to Red Star for the remainder of the season. Topic is currently ranked No. 6 by ESPN in their 2024 draft rankings.

Mark Cuban expounded upon his new partnership with the Adelson and Dumont families after the NBA approved the sale of his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks.

"Nothing's really changed except my bank account," Cuban said on Wednesday. "I feel really good. I think it's a great partnership. It's what the team needed on the court and off. I'll still be overseeing the basketball side of it, but having a partner like Patrick and Sivan and Miriam and their ability to build and to redevelop the arena and whatever comes next beyond that just puts us in a much better position to compete. That's all. That's what it comes down to."

Cuban will maintain a 27 percent stake of the Mavericks' ownership and serve as the team's alternate governor. He acknowledged that there is "no contractual language" in the purchase agreement regarding his authority over basketball operations and that ultimately Patrick Dumont would have "final say" as the team's governor.

Cuban does not expect Patrick Dumont to be heavily involved in basketball personnel decisions.

"He basically said, 'Just do what you got to do. I want to win,'" Cuban said. "I mean, financially, we're in a far better position this afternoon than we were yesterday afternoon to be able to compete like that. So what did [Houston Rockets owner] Tilman [Fertitta] say about being a middle-class billionaire? Those are facts in this day and age. It really matters. So having the partnership and having eventually new and deeper revenue sources allows us to compete better. I talked to Patrick a lot and Miriam and Sivan, and they're committed to winning."

Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka was asked after his team's loss to the Indiana Pacers if he's considered moving Jalen Green to a bench role. Udoka said that despite Green's struggles, that's not something he's considering.

"Obviously, with [Green] playing that way, if he was playing the other way we obviously wouldn’t struggle as much offensively and have to lean on other guys as much or play other guys minutes," Udoka said postgame. "We’ll continue to keep him confident, continue to [help] him improve in certain areas, and he’ll take a jump eventually."

Green remained in the starting lineup for the Rockets back-to-back game against the Phoenix Suns. Houston lost that home matchup, as Green scored 23 points on 8-of-20 shooting.

Houston's young guard is in the midst of a second season where his efficiency has declined. Green is shooting career-lows overall (39.4%) and on three-pointers (33.1%). He's also getting less shots and touches, as the Rockets have improved their personnel around him.