NBA free agency opens with Spurs, Rockets, Hawks, Magic and Mavs among those making early moves

Victor Wembanyama has another big man to help him out in San Antonio. The Houston Rockets continued their offseason overhaul. And Orlando and Atlanta made moves with eyes on contending this coming season as the NBA's free agency period got underway Monday.

The Spurs lured center Luke Kornet away from Boston with a four-year, $41 million deal, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team cannot announce the deal until the league's signing moratorium for most contracts is lifted on Sunday.

Kornet was part of Boston's 2024 NBA title team and has shot 68% from the field in 205 games, mostly off the bench, over the last three regular seasons. He figures to add frontcourt depth to the Spurs, who are hoping to have Wembanyama — the 2023-24 NBA Rookie of the Year and an All-Star this past season — back and ready to go after he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in a shoulder back in February.

The Rockets, meanwhile, added veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith on a four-year, $53 million deal shortly after free agency opened. ESPN first reported the deal, and a person with knowledge of the agreement confirmed the terms to AP.

Houston becomes Finney-Smith's fourth team after stints with Dallas, Brooklyn and the Los Angeles Lakers. He'll be added to a Rockets club that earlier this summer landed Kevin Durant in a blockbuster trade with Phoenix, though that deal cannot receive formal approval from the NBA until next week.

Finney-Smith averaged 8.7 points and was a 41% shooter from 3-point range this past season.

ESPN also reported that the Rockets' run on free agents continued with the addition of center Clint Capela, who spent the first six years of his career in Houston before playing for the last five seasons in Atlanta. Capela agreed to a three-year deal with the Rockets, ESPN said.

Dallas, which needed some point guard help especially because the newly re-signed Kyrie Irving — rehabbing from an ACL tear — may not be ready to play until about midseason, agreed with D'Angelo Russell on a two-year contract worth nearly $13 million.

Russell would be part of the backcourt depth on a club with an imposing front line that, if healthy, would include No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis and promising young center Dereck Lively II.

Atlanta added Nickeil Alexander-Walker from Minnesota on what will be a four-year, $62 million deal following a completion of a sign-and-trade with the Timberwolves. Minnesota will get a draft pick, cash considerations and will create a trade exception once the deal is finalized, a person with knowledge of the move told AP.

The Magic, meanwhile, added Tyus Jones on a one-year deal. He joins an Orlando roster that already landed Desmond Bane from Memphis in a trade, and the Magic — who played long stretches last season without Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs because of injuries — should be a legit East contender this season if healthy.

It was a big night for the Jones family: Tyus Jones' brother, Tre Jones, agreed Monday on a three-year deal to return to the Chicago Bulls.

The free agency period officially opened at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, but in actuality, was rolling long before that.

LeBron James has already opted in to a $52.6 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers for this coming season, the Rockets traded for Durant — not a free agency move, obviously — and the Los Angeles Clippers saw James Harden decline his option in return for a new deal and a raise. There was even a surprise addition to free agency, with Portland announcing it has bought out the contract of former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton, allowing him to sign with any team he chooses.

And on Monday, even before the shopping window officially started, more deals: Nicolas Batum will come back to the Clippers, his agency said, on a two-year deal, while Joe Ingles agreed to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Deals like those could get done before the official start time because teams are allowed to negotiate with their own free agents once the NBA Finals are finished.

In other deals confirmed by AP on Monday night:

— The Los Angeles Clippers added Brook Lopez — most recently of Milwaukee — on a two-year deal worth about $18 million.

— Veteran guard Bruce Brown returned to the Denver Nuggets, a team he helped win the 2023 NBA title.

— Center Kevon Looney agreed to a two-year deal with New Orleans, after he spent his first 10 seasons with Golden State.

— Guard Caris LeVert will sign a two-year deal worth nearly $15 million annually with the Detroit Pistons, a team that won 14 games in 2023-24 and then won 44 games to earn the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference this past season.

— Luka Garza joined Boston, after the Celtics lost Kornet, on a two-year, $5.5 million deal, agent Mark Bartelstein said.

The NBA announced Monday that it has set the salary cap for the coming season at $154.647 million, the maximum allowed 10% increase over the level for this past season.

The tax level for the 2025-26 season is $187.895 million, the league said.

— Julius Randle returns to the Timberwolves with a potential $100 million deal.

— Bobby Portis stays with the Bucks, keeping the popular sixth man in Milwaukee.

— Duncan Robinson terminates his contract with the Heat, though he may return.

In very specific situations, teams can announce signings when completed. But in most situations, and this even applies to some draft-related trades (such as the one involving Durant going to Houston), teams won't be able to announce those until at least July 6.

AP Sports Writers Schuyler Dixon in Dallas and Kyle Hightower in Boston contributed to this story.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

FILE - Boston Celtics center Luke Kornet looks on in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Jan. 7, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

FILE - Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) in the second half of Game 7 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

FILE - Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant gestures during the second half of an NBA basketball game on March 9, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

FILE - Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving advances the ball up court during an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks in Dallas, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez,File)

FILE - Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James appears during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, on Feb. 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — With the start of the New Year squarely behind us, it's once again time for the annual CES trade show to shine a spotlight on the latest tech companies plan on offering in 2026.

The multi-day event, organized by the Consumer Technology Association, kicks off this week in Las Vegas, where advances across industries like robotics, healthcare, vehicles, wearables, gaming and more are set to be on display.

Artificial intelligence will be anchored in nearly everything, again, as the tech industry explores offerings consumers will want to buy. AI industry heavyweight Jensen Huang will be taking the stage to showcase Nvidia's latest productivity solutions, and AMD CEO Lisa Su will keynote to “share her vision for delivering future AI solutions.” Expect AI to come up in other keynotes, like from Lenovo's CEO, Yuanqing Yang.

The AI industry is out in full force tackling issues in healthcare, with a particular emphasis on changing individual health habits to treat conditions — such as Beyond Medicine's prescription app focused on a particular jaw disorder — or addressing data shortages in subjects such as breast milk production.

Expect more unveils around domestic robots too. Korean tech giant LG already has announced it will show off a helper bot named “ CLOiD,” which allegedly will handle a range of household tasks. Hyundai also is announcing a major push on robotics and manufacturing advancements. Extended reality, basically a virtual training ground for robots and other physical AI, is also in the buzz around CES.

In 2025, more than 141,000 attendees from over 150 countries, regions, and territories attended the CES. Organizers expect around the same numbers for this year’s show, with more than 3,500 exhibitors across the floor space this week.

The AP spoke with CTA Executive Chair and CEO Gary Shapiro about what to expect for CES 2026. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Well, we have a lot at this year's show.

Obviously, using AI in a way that makes sense for people. We’re seeing a lot in robotics. More robots and humanoid-looking robots than we’ve ever had before.

We also see longevity in health, there’s a lot of focus on that. All sorts of wearable devices for almost every part of the body. Technology is answering healthcare’s gaps very quickly and that’s great for everyone.

Mobility is big with not only self-driving vehicles but also with boats and drones and all sorts of other ways of getting around. That’s very important.

And of course, content creation is always very big.

You are seeing humanoid robots right now. It sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t.

But yes, there are more and more humanoid robots. And when we talk about CES 5, 10, 15, 20 years now, we’re going to see an even larger range of humanoid robots.

Obviously, last year we saw a great interest in them. The number one product of the show was a little robotic dog that seems so life-like and fun, and affectionate for people that need that type of affection.

But of course, the humanoid robots are just one aspect of that industry. There’s a lot of specialization in robot creation, depending on what you want the robot to do. And robots can do many things that humans can’t.

AI is the future of creativity.

Certainly AI itself may be arguably creative, but the human mind is so unique that you definitely get new ideas that way. So I think the future is more of a hybrid approach, where content creators are working with AI to craft variations on a theme or to better monetize what they have to a broader audience.

We’re seeing all sorts of different devices that are implementing AI. But we have a special focus at this show, for the first time, on the disability community. Verizon set this whole stage up where we have all different ways of taking this technology and having it help people with disabilities and older people.

Well, there’s definitely no bubble when it comes to what AI can do. And what AI can do is perform miracles and solve fundamental human problems in food production and clean air and clean water. Obviously in healthcare, it’s gonna be overwhelming.

But this was like the internet itself. There was a lot of talk about a bubble, and there actually was a bubble. The difference is that in late 1990s there were basically were no revenue models. Companies were raising a lot of money with no plans for revenue.

These AI companies have significant revenues today, and companies are investing in it.

What I’m more concerned about, honestly, is not Wall Street and a bubble. Others can be concerned about that. I’m concerned about getting enough energy to process all that AI. And at this show, for the first time, we have a Korean company showing the first ever small-scale nuclear-powered energy creation device. We expect more and more of these people rushing to fill this gap because we need the energy, we need it clean and we need a kind of all-of-the-above solution.

A Coro breastfeeding monitor is pictured at a Coroflo booth during the CES Unveiled tech show Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Yonbo X1 robots are pictured at the X-Orgin booth during the CES Unveiled tech show Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

A Tombot robotic puppy is pictured at a Tombot booth during the CES Unveiled tech show Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

People arrive at the CES Unveiled tech show Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)