After being waived by Milwaukee ahead of the regular season, Kevin Porter Jr. isn’t necessarily expected to find a new home right away, a source briefed on his status tells Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). However, despite drawing some interest from teams overseas, Porter is focused on remaining in the NBA and is optimistic about his chances of doing so, Stein and Fischer add.

A number of NBA clubs are evaluating their backcourts early in the season and could emerge as options for Porter if they determine they’re not entirely confident in their current options, according to The Stein Line’s duo. The Nuggets and Kings – two teams previously reported to have talked to the Bucks about a possible Porter trade – are among those who could still be landing spots for the veteran guard.

Still, Denver is operating far above the luxury tax line and Sacramento doesn’t have a ton of breathing room below that threshold, so the idea of adding Porter may have held more appeal when it involved sending out some salary in a trade as opposed to signing him as a 15th man.

Here are a few more items of interest from Stein and Fischer:

• Just four months before they were forced to waive him, the Grizzlies were telling teams at June’s draft that it would take a first-round pick for them to part ways with second-year guard Walter Clayton, league sources tell The Stein Line.
• Although forward Pete Nance ultimately re-signed with the Bucks on a two-way contract after clearing waivers last week, he received two-way interest from both the Sixers and Lakers as well, according to Stein and Fischer.
• The Wizards and Bilal Coulibaly engaged in some “11th-hour” negotiations on a potential rookie scale extension ahead of last Monday’s deadline, per Stein and Fischer. While no deal was reached, Stein and Fischer view the fact that Washington took those discussions down to the wire as a signal that the team still views Coulibaly as part of its future.
• Basket Zaragoza, Aday Mara’s former team in Spain, didn’t end up blocking him from making his NBA debut for the Thunder, but the Spanish club continues to insist that it still holds the rights to the big man through 2027. Asked by The Stein Line about the matter, a FIBA spokesperson offered the following response: “FIBA is aware of the matter, which has been the subject of ongoing legal proceedings for several years in Spain. This case has certain particularities and a rare level of complexity which require in-depth legal analysis. FIBA’s focus remains the protection of the integrity of the international transfer system in basketball.”