Skip to main content
Come Fan with UsTuesday, June 23, 2026

Derek Fisher Cannot Return To Lakers, But Plenty Of Teams Reportedly Interested

Derek Fisher has undergone some surprising moves over the last week. First he was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers to the Houston Rockets in what essentially amount to a salary dump. Sunday, he was bought out by the Rockets and became a free agent.

The veteran point guard won’t be able to return to the Lakers due to new wording in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, but there are quite a few teams that are interested in signing the experienced point guard who has quite a bit of NBA playoff experience.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs have all weighed their options regarding the possibility of signing Fisher, according to ESPN's Marc Stein.

Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are still trying to fill the void created by Eric Maynor's season-ending knee injury, are deciding whether to register a formal bid for Fisher. Sources say that the Los Angeles Clippers, by contrast, are not likely to try to sign Fisher, though they also have a need for a playoff-tested guard after Chauncey Billups' season-ending Achilles' tear and with Chris Paul carrying a heavy load.

The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat are two teams said to be strongly interested in Fisher, while sources told Stein that the San Antonio Spurs have not yet ruled out pursuing Fisher because their planned signing of former Portland Trail Blazers guard Patty Mills has been held up by the fact that Portland has not yet renounced rights to Mills.

Stein reports that Fisher has no plans to retire, meaning there’s a good chance he joins up with one of those teams once he’s able to clear waivers on Wednesday afternoon.

For more on the Lakers, visit Silver Screen and Roll and SB Nation Los Angeles. For more on the Rockets, visit The Dream Shake and SB Nation Houston.

See More:

More in General

GeneralFromPosting and Toasting
An SB Nation New Yorker needs our helpAn SB Nation New Yorker needs our help
GeneralFromPosting and Toasting
General
Sabastian Sawe breaks 2-hour barrier, shatters marathon world recordSabastian Sawe breaks 2-hour barrier, shatters marathon world record
General

The mythical two-hour mark was broken at the London Marathon.

By Bernd Buchmasser
A Huge Dog
THE HISTORY OF CHARGING THE MOUND, EPISODE 1THE HISTORY OF CHARGING THE MOUND, EPISODE 1
Play
General
Super Bowl 60 coin toss resultsSuper Bowl 60 coin toss results
General

The Seahawks and Patriots will open the Super Bowl with the coin toss to determine who starts with the ball. We have the full coin toss results for Super Bowl 60.

By David Fucillo
General
Marc Marquez completes a comeback for the agesMarc Marquez completes a comeback for the ages
General

MotoGP’s Marc Marquez completed a comeback for the ages with his 2025 title

By Mark Schofield
General
How to make sure SBNation.com appears in your Google search resultsHow to make sure SBNation.com appears in your Google search results