Category: Basketball

San Antonio Spurs (62-20, second in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (64-18, first in the Western Conference)

Oklahoma City; Saturday, 8 p.m. EDT

LINE: Thunder -3.5; over/under is 212.5

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Series tied 3-3

BOTTOM LINE: The San Antonio Spurs visit the Oklahoma City Thunder in game seven of the Western Conference finals. The Spurs defeated the Thunder 118-91 in the last matchup on Friday. Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 28 points, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 15.

The Thunder are 41-11 against Western Conference opponents. Oklahoma City ranks third in the league with 34.6 defensive rebounds per game led by Chet Holmgren averaging 7.0.

The Spurs have gone 36-16 against Western Conference opponents. San Antonio is second in the Western Conference with 47.0 rebounds per game led by Wembanyama averaging 11.5.

The Thunder's 13.8 made 3-pointers per game this season are only 0.8 more made shots on average than the 13.0 per game the Spurs give up. The Spurs are shooting 48.3% from the field, 4.6% higher than the 43.7% the Thunder's opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.1 points and 6.6 assists for the Thunder. Holmgren is averaging 15.1 points over the last 10 games.

Stephon Castle is scoring 16.6 points per game and averaging 5.3 rebounds for the Spurs. Wembanyama is averaging 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 7-3, averaging 113.9 points, 41.2 rebounds, 26.2 assists, 10.6 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.3 points per game.

Spurs: 6-4, averaging 116.7 points, 48.7 rebounds, 25.5 assists, 9.0 steals and 7.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.8 points.

INJURIES: Thunder: Ajay Mitchell: out (calf), Jalen Williams: out (hamstring), Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee).

Spurs: David Jones Garcia: out for season (ankle).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Right now, Kelsey Pfendler is out on the open ocean, trying to become the first American woman (and the youngest + fastest) to solo row the Mid-Pacific.

Typically, the route runs from Monterey, CA, to either Hanalei Bay or Honolulu, a distance of roughly 2,000+ nautical miles (depending on how much one gets knocked off course).

Only two other women have accomplished this feat. The fastest, Lia Ditton, did it in 86 days. Pfender is currently on Day 9. And as of 5 pm this afternoon, she has traveled 327 nautical miles so far.

Her tracker estimates that she will arrive in Hawaii on August 28th.

I’ve always wondered what it is that spurs people into taking on tasks like this. Is it just something different in their brain chemistry? Is it a latent ability to turn a journey of 2,000+ miles into digestible chunks of distance and time? A talent for being able to ignore discomfort and focus purely on the light at the end of the tunnel?

Every now and then, I find myself tuning into the History Channel’s survivalist competition show Alone, watching people who’ve willingly isolated themselves out in the subarctic wilderness huddle in makeshift shelters, collecting food in the most rudimentary ways imaginable, and trying to avoid predators, while the voice of Ned Stark echoes in my head.

“Why would anyone sign up for this?” I say to myself, as I contort my body into just the right angle for me to flick a particularly large food crumb from my chest into the trash can.  

Impressive display of physical and intellectual powers aside, I think this neglects a question that’s almost as good: why would anyone watch this?

It’s days upon days of watching people making minor improvements against a tide of self-imposed difficulties, while they try to avoid committing/falling prey to a competition-ending mistake.

And yet, I know that if there were a live camera of Pfendler’s journey, I’d be checking it at least a couple of times a day, just out of sheer morbid curiosity.

How do I know this? Because I’ve been writing about the Spurs for years now, from the last season of playoff berths through both the worst and most middling parts of a rebuild, and I couldn’t stop watching their games.

Not even on nights when they were blown out in the middle of already sprawling losing streaks, and the game wasn’t mine to write about. Even if I missed it in real time, I’d find myself watching it later, combing through the carnage for a bright spot that I could cling to.

I can’t for the life of me explain why I did that. And I think it’s safe to presume that I’m not the only Spurs fan who is at a loss in this regard. I could have just tuned out until the Spurs were good again and skipped out on the self-imposed misery of trying to chart progress in a vacuum of talent.

Instead, I found myself paying even closer attention than I did during the good years. You just cannot plot the minutiae of positive development at a distance; it asks more of you than that.

There’s something extra precious about joy when you really have to dig for it. When you’re trying your best to find something good in a challenging situation, championing players whose stories or improvements you might otherwise have glossed over in the heady days of consistent victory.

I think in some ways I learned more about what makes for good basketball watching bad teams than I did watching the Spurs when they were at their best. You develop an even stronger appreciation for the miracle of the 2014 Beautiful Game when you’ve seen what the opposite of what that looks like, and how hopeless it can feel.

This might be the most I’ve ever appreciated a Spurs team, even as someone who was there for all five championships. I didn’t have this context in 1999. Suddenly, they were on the television, and I had missed most of the struggles prior to 1995.

And these Spurs aren’t just winning. They’re thrashing a championship roster. They’re going toe-to-toe with a team that’s every bit as deep and brimming with assets, and that already made it over the hump, and they’re doing it through injuries, and adjustments, and spurts of officiating so questionable that fans from other regions of NBA Twitter/the media have united over it.

They’re on the cusp of greatness. It happened so fast, and so agonizingly slowly, like the accruing defeats and eventual victory of potty-training one’s children. I don’t wanna go back, but I can’t exactly forget the journey either.

I watched the Spurs play perfectly balanced basketball last night with the satisfaction of Thanos wiping out half a planet in service of his vision of the greater good. You could see the desire in their faces, like you do when a good boxer pulls himself up off the mat.

Every increment we’ve watched so far, they’ve lived. You could see it in the way that Devin Vassell stuck doggedly with his man, and the extra effort that Keldon Johnson made to avoid being a defensive liability, after spending years in no-man’s land and focusing on the little things while other teams and players contended for something that felt more substantial.

You could see it in Julian Champagnie’s focus, as he played at with such ignited fervor that he led the starting lineup in +/- after spending most of the series being targeted by the Thunder on the less-glamorous end, and after years battling his way through the G-league, to the bottom of the roster, to a critical slot spacing the floor for a monk-like Victor Wembanyama, so locked in that he was almost detached in his fury, detonating on Oklahoma City players both inside the paint and outside the arc, until their heads were almost visibly spinning.

You could see it in the old-man voodoo that Harrison Barnes broke out, determined to make the most of his time on the court and his first (and maybe last) legitimate shot at the Finals in a decade, after almost 400 games spent in the basketball purgatory otherwise known as Sacramento.

If there’s a glaring difference between the mentalities of the Spurs and the Thunder, it’s that one of these teams is still coming from a place of struggle. The pain of losing is still fresh and real and far too close for comfort — for the players, for the staff, for the fans.

Outside of the tracking map on her website, the only other record of Kelsey Pfendler’s journey are the short daily videos she posts as updates (and, I suspect, proof of life).

On the 6th day of her journey, she encountered incoming rough-weather conditions. Though her small boat is built to self-right in the event of capsizing, she spent part of the day securing items to the tiny vessel and charging her solar batteries.

I can only imagine how frightening it was to continue rowing on the open, endless water cresting in 14-foot waves and storm-force winds, but her video from the 8th day was much more disconcerting.

Still enduring the remnants of undesirable weather in combination with the forceful opposing currents off the coastline of California, she had been rowing with all her might to merely hold her position for over a day, and she was near tears in a mixture of physical exhaustion and sleep deprivation.

But then, near the end of the two minutes of explanation, she visibly rallied. Having rowed this route once before, in a team of 4, she had known what she was getting herself into. She had known how hard this would be, she said, and then she focused on how close she was to finally turning fully west and hitting the trade winds and currents that would assist her in the length of her journey.

She wasn’t focused on the remaining distance or how early she was in her journey, just that (what she believed to be) the hardest part was almost over.

And that’s exactly what this whole stretch of seasons has felt like to me. The Spurs are going into Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Win or lose, they’ve finally turned the corner westward, and though a considerable distance is still stretching out before them, the currents and winds are friendlier than they’ve been in a long, long time.

There have been so many days where it felt like the Spurs were fighting to just hold position, both in the past and in the current series from Game 2 onward. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t stop watching.

I’ve always argued that much of the interest in sports revolves around its imitation of life, and the way it rewards hard work in opposition to reality. But perhaps it’s just that it’s easier to access optimism in that arena.

Live is long and full of so much losing, and sometimes it feels like we’re all just fighting to reach the trade winds.

The Spurs and Kelsey Pfendler are both finally there, and we get to rejoice with them. Maybe it’s always been about the rejoicing.

One way or another, the Spurs are almost through the storm. Strap everything down. Prepare for the worst. But we’re all going to end up on the other side of it, and there’s still plenty of ocean to cross when it’s over.

It’s just nice to know that the current is finally flowing with us. However it goes, there’s comfort to be found in that.

Takeways

• After having difficulty finding a groove against the Thunder big men, Luke Kornet had his best game of the series, and it allowed San Antonio’s bench to both build and help hold their 20-point lead over OKC. While some of his ineffectiveness in the series was due to the difference between what he and Thunder players were being allowed in the paint, it was good to see him rise above it in such a critical game. He only tallied 3 points, but he diverted far more shots than his block count would suggest, and then threw down a dunk in the fourth quarter that felt like a spiritual game-ender. And though rebounds have been hard to come by, he made the most of his 13 minutes by bringing down five of them, two very critically on the offensive end. If this version of Kornet shows up in Game 7, I’d put all the money on the Spurs to win it, because the Thunder had a hell of a time making any headway against it.
• This game would not have been a blowout without Dylan Harper summoning his best, as he was an absolute nightmare for the Thunder to contain. I get that same sense of abject unfairness in watching bench players trying to deal with him that I used to get when peak Manu Ginobili got unleashed against 2nd stringers trying to make a name for themselves in the league. I don’t know how long Harper will play from the bench. He seems like he’s on too stratospheric a course for it to last too much longer, but what’s scary is the ease with which he’s dissecting championship-level defenses. He’s been playing through hamstring issues since the last series, and any lack of explosiveness hardly seems to matter because he just sees space differently than other players and/or creates it to the point that he just glides right through it. I have no idea what this kid’s ceiling is, but he’s breaking into/approaching some freaky territory for a rookie guard, and any time you’re in the same company as Magic Johnson, Manu, and Tony Parker, the future is bright beyond belief.
• I haven’t talked a whole lot about the third-stringers this postseason, seeing as they really haven’t gotten a lot of play unless it’s in a blowout, but that unit really decided to secure the lead last night, closing it out with a sequence of passing that I had no idea they were even capable of, and have sadly been unable to find in video form. I’m sure the Spurs will tighten up this part of the bench in the off-season, with Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee both visibly past their expiration date, but I think we have a tendency to view everything through the lens of talent, and neglect how important certain personalities are to the success of a roster. There’s no negativety or resentment brewing at the end of the bench, and these guys deserve praise for being so wholesome in that way, and always ready to play (or, much more often, not play) without a hint of complaint. It’s certainly worth remembering and throwing a little praise their way.
• Lastly, in the event that this is the end of the season, I’d just like to thank you all for reading and engaging and bringing what you bring to the table. For a comparatively small market, we’re still towering amongst our peers in the blogosphere, and that’s down to the quality of the people who read and interact with our work. In the event that this goes sideways (*knock on wood*), I trust my colleague Charlie to ease us into the offseason in his characteristic style. But if not, I’ll see y’all back here for my first-ever Finals WWLs! I’ve run my best lap, and I’m passing on the baton. Here’s hoping Wemby’s (and Charlie’s) anchor leg gets there. In the meantime, we’ll all just keep paddling.

Playing You Out – The Theme Song of the Evening:

Currents by Eisley

A few days ago, I put out a call for Golden State Warriors mailbag questions. We didn’t get a ton this time around, but what we lacked in quantity we made up for in quality, with some excellent questions.

The boring answer is that it’s pretty rare for first-round talents to have these types of workouts. HoopsHype has been doing a fantastic job tracking all the reported workouts across the league, and a quick glance at their list reveals that only a small handful of first-rounders have had individual workouts, while the vast majority of workouts are for potential second-round picks and undrafted players.

Why is that? Because these sorts of workouts are fairly meaningless, and almost entirely meaningless for top prospects. Individual pre-draft workouts are, in essence, going through the movements of a very basic workout, with a softball job interview attached. That can still have value, but the value is primarily for deciding who to target for Summer League rosters and camp invites, and who could be a quality two-way addition. It also goes both ways: it’s an opportunity for those players to decide what team to sign with if they go undrafted.

The Warriors probably have 10-15 names they’re considering with the No. 11 pick. At this point, the Warriors have presumably seen all of them play in person, have watched virtually all of their college games, have talked with their college coaches, have had conversations with them, and have seen them at the combine. Nothing is going to change with 45 minutes of cone drills and a 10-minute interview, and so neither side is particularly interested (most projected lottery picks flatly refuse individual workouts).

That’s not to say that the Warriors haven’t gotten to know all of their potential draftees well (there’s a joke to be made somewhere in here about having dinner with them all and seeing what foreign languages they speak). But there are avenues to do that beyond the reported workouts. And while a mild-mannered workout isn’t going to impact how the Warriors feel about the 10-15 players they’ve done extreme due diligence on for their first-round pick, it can be a difference maker for the 200-300 players they’re considering for their second-round pick, two-way contracts, and Summer League roster, all of whom have had significantly less time making an impact on the organization than the first-rounders have.

Indeed, as our own Sean Keane noted in his article about the new rules, the Warriors would have had a 5.4% chance at the top pick under the new format, as opposed to the 2.0% chance they actually had. I think you hit the nail on the head: it’s going to reduce super-tanking, which is really the issue. No one cares about teams that aren’t good and aren’t making maximum effort to change that in the short term; it’s the teams that are blatantly trying to lose games that are ruining the fan experience (looking at you, Utah), and hopefully this will help keep that at bay.

NBA scouting is still nothing compared to the intense and rigorous scouting that you see in baseball, but it is still a very big deal. According to RealGM’s database, the Warriors have two scouts, two pro scouts, two international scouts, and one advance scout, but that underscores just how many hands and eyeballs are at work leading up to the draft. Assistants, special assistants, and video coordinators are all playing huge roles here, along with part-time employees. And, ultimately, everyone up to Steve Kerr and Mike Dunleavy Jr.

In general, though, these things work like a pyramid. The lowest-level people in the process compile massive amounts of info on massive amounts of players, and as it moves up the chain, players are eliminated and the fat is trimmed from the data. It’s a process that starts as soon as the college basketball season begins, and doesn’t stop until draft day.

But seriously, it’s nothing compared to baseball: according to the San Francisco Giants’ directory, they have 64 different full-time employees with the word “scout” in their title.

9ergold:
I understand you may not be able to answer this …

How can the NBA roll into the draft without first holding the Clippers accountable for hiding player payroll off the books and away from the NBA with zero draft pick penalties (as was levied against the penalty for the T-Wolves when they cheated the league on payroll hidden off the books) as well as the next season status of Kawhi, who was at the center of the matter?

It’s like Silver doesn’t plan to penalize the Clippers or Kawhi at all and acting like just nothing terrible even happened? To me, this undermines the credibility of the league, makes a joke of the NBA’s payroll & salary tier structure, and spits in the eye of every other team that didn’t cheat.

It’s a great question, and one that only Pablo Torre will be able to get to the bottom of. The simplest answer — though surely not the entire story — is that the NBA just hasn’t finished their investigation. It’s a massive investigation, and they’ve hired a huge, respected law firm to handle it. It’s going to take a while, and the league isn’t going to act until the investigation is completely concluded.

With that said, it wouldn’t surprise me if the league is waiting until after the offseason to do anything, regardless of the investigation. Assuming that they do find Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers guilty, it would make sense that they would seek to punish both. But what if Leonard gets traded, as has been rumored? If Leonard stays on the Clippers, the league could punish both parties in one fell swoop by suspending Leonard for a lengthy period (they would, presumably, further punish the Clippers with a fine and/or draft pick penalties).

But let’s say that the Clippers trade Leonard to, oh, I dunno … the Warriors. It’s hardly fair if the NBA then suspends Leonard for 25 games and punishes the Dubs, right? So I suspect sometime after the offseason chaos is over, the league will announce a conclusion to the investigation and some punishments that likely won’t faze Steve Ballmer.

MidcoastPerson:
Kerr emphasized that the Warriors need players who are regularly on the court. Does this mean they move on from both KP and Horford? If so, who would you replace them with?

I don’t think so. I think they very much hope that Al Horford opts into his deal, and they’ll be interested in bringing back Kristaps Porziņģis at the right price. The Dubs can talk all they want about having players regularly on the court, but at the end of the day, they’re an old team, and they’re in need of talent more than availability, so…

That said, I do think they target younger and more available players to round out the bench. They’re not bringing back both Gary Payton II and Seth Curry. But another way to address availability is to just have more players who deserve playing time. Part of why the Warriors have felt like they don’t have enough healthy bodies is because players like Trayce Jackson-Davis, Jonathan Kuminga, Quinten Post, Will Richard, and Buddy Hield fluctuated between being deserving of minutes and being glued to the bench. Get better players and it makes it easier to put up with Horford only playing 55 games.

RIP Thunder the mascot:
Steph Curry has gifted Warrior fans and the entire bay area an unquantifiable amount of sporting success and general philanthropy over the last decade and a half. Unfortunately, but predictably, there has been a diminishing return of success as his growing supermax salary has engulfed a larger % the team’s salary cap. No thanks to injuries nor Father Time, either..

It’s rare but we’ve seen players sacrifice a hit on their salary for the greater good of the team. Look no further than Jalen Brunson and the Knicks who are, not coincidentally, in the finals this year. ESPN reported that Steph is eligible to sign a 2-year 136.7 million dollar extension in August. Do you see Steph taking a pay cut via a contract extension? If so, what can we offer this game breaking talent without insulting him… without insulting the players union.. and without stirring up a Kawhi cap circumvention controversy? It’s almost sacrilege to wonder.. but I think we all know how competitive our team will be without.

I wouldn’t expect a pay cut, but you never know with Steph Curry. If someone is willing to do it, it’s him. Though they will be very careful about not circumventing the rules, as you mention.

But here’s why I don’t expect it to happen: it usually doesn’t actually do anything. When players do take discounts, it’s usually when all the pieces are in place and a star is sacrificing a few million to make it easier to retain everyone (you might recall that Kevin Durant did this when he was with the Warriors). But for a team in Golden State’s situation, Curry taking a slight discount on an extension isn’t going to change things. It’s not going to give them the money to chase a free agent this year (where his max contract is already set), and it’s unlikely to make a tangible difference in the books next offseason. In all likelihood, taking a discount really only accomplishes one thing: saving Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, the two people in the organization with more money than Curry, a few million.

Thanks for the questions, everyone!

Mike Breen had a chance to call last year’s Eastern Conference finals, even though the series was on TNT.

The longtime Knicks play-by-play announcer on MSG Network has been a prominent fixture in the NBA as the lead play-by-play caller on ESPN.

But last year, TNT’s Kevin Harlan offered Breen a chance to call the Knicks ECF series against the Pacers despite Breen’s status with the Worldwide Leader.

Breen explained the situation with The Post’s Dexter Henry on a recent episode of “New York Got Game.”

“We had the West and TNT had the East,” Breen recalled, citing that he’d be calling the series between the Thunder and Timberwolves. “Kevin Harlan, the great Kevin Harlan, who is a dear friend, they’re calling the Knicks-Pacers [series].”

Breen continued: “He calls me couple of days before the series and he says, ‘You know what?’ He goes on, ‘You’ve been waiting almost three decades for the Knicks to be in a conference final because it was the first in 25.’ He goes, ‘I want you to call the games for TNT. I’m going to go to my bosses. I’m going to tell them you should do it, and I’ll go do the West for ESPN.'”

Breen, when asked by Henry, confirmed that Harlan was serious.

“‘I know my bosses would love to have you, you deserve it,'” Breen remembered. “‘This is the team you’ve followed all this, you deserve it.’ And he goes, ‘”And even if ESPN doesn’t want to use me, and they want to use one of their announcers, whether it was Dave Pasch or Mark Jones, I’m fine, I’ll sit it out.’ That’s the kind of man Kevin Harlan is. I was so touched by that.”

Breen added that he thought about it overnight, and Harlan called him the next day, but acknowledged they both decided it might not have been the best for their employers, ESPN and TNT, respectively.

The NBA Board of Governors met on May 28 and passed a comprehensive lottery reform intended to stop tanking that will take effect starting with the 2027 draft, the league announced. Only the Memphis Grizzlies voted against the proposal, commonly referred to as the “3-2-1” model, which significantly alters how the lottery will work going forward and has some retroactive effects.

It’s not a surprise the proposal passed, as there have been rumors outlining the model and suggesting it had broad approval. Here’s all you need to know.

How the new lottery works

• The lottery will be expanded to include 16 teams.
• One of the reform’s main goals is to dissuade teams from bottoming out. To do so, the league will punish the teams with the three worst records by awarding them only two lottery balls each, out of a total of 37. Teams from fourth to 10th will receive three balls each. The ninth and 10th seeds will receive two balls, just like the bottom three. The losers of the seventh vs. eighth play-in will receive one each.
• Previously, only the top four picks would be decided by the lottery. Now, the order of all 16 picks will be decided by the lottery, but the bottom three teams can’t pick lower than 12th. Picks from 12th to 15th can’t be protected in trades.
• In hopes of deterring long rebuilding processes and preventing anyone from getting too lucky, teams won’t be able to get the top pick in consecutive drafts or to pick in the top five three times in five years. The rule starts counting from the 2025 draft and includes traded picks.
• The commissioner will have more power when it comes to curbing tanking, up to changing lottery odds or where teams pick.
• The reform includes a sunset provision, which means the changes will be in place until the 2028/29 season. After that, the league will decide whether to stick to it or make other tweaks.

Why the reform could be good

Tanking has always been a controversial topic in the NBA, where a single player can change the fate of a franchise, and the draft is the best way to secure elite talent at a cheap price and have control over it for years. The league has seen extreme versions of it before, but it was getting worse lately.

Not only were there teams that built their roster with as little proven talent as possible, but also some that had talent but were either holding healthy players out from games or sitting them in second halves to secure losses, which was even worse for optics. Something had to be done to prevent the regular season from being completely meaningless and from having games that became farces. Change was needed, and decentivizing teams from being the worst in the league should at least help avoid the most embarrassing tank jobs.

The worst teams still have a chance of getting the top pick, so anyone who tries to win but simply can’t is not automatically doomed, and the teams that were previously stuck in mediocrity because they were too good to get the best odds but not good enough to make the playoffs have a path to finding a centerpiece without having to bottom out. The draft should still provide fan bases hope, but now full teardowns won’t be as enticing, which could help with parity.

The changes are drastic, but the sunset provision shows that the league is not committed to them. If they don’t work, they can reverse them or find another solution.

Why the reform could be bad

The plan might have been discussed for years, but there wasn’t a lot of time between the news coming out that change was likely and this sweeping reform. Teams made moves thinking something similar to the now old lottery system would remain in place. The best example is the Grizzlies, which traded Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Jazz for a pick that now has zero chance of landing in the top five, because Utah has picked there twice already in the past two drafts.

As for the future, even if some of the changes might deter tanking at the lowest spots, it might incentivize it near the play-in range, as it might be better for teams to finish just below the 10th seed and get an extra lottery ball. That’s just one of many potential unintended consequences of a plan that might implement some good changes, but it is so comprehensive that it could alter how the league works in unpredictable ways, at least for the next few years. A more gradual approach might have been better.

Ultimately, even if someone agrees with all the changes in a vacuum, there should have been reforms to free agency and trading to go with them. The reason franchises in small or non-glamorous markets were more likely to tank is that it was the best and arguably the only way they could land foundational stars. Restricted free agency keeps young players with the team that drafted them, and established superstars normally dictate where they land. Tanking isn’t a good thing, and it provided no guarantees, but it at least gave franchises that can’t normally attract top-tier talent a plan on how to get it.

The changes don’t really matter for the Spurs

The Spurs already had their top three picks in five years and have a core in place that should keep them in contention for a while. The Hawks’ pick they own in 2027 seemed unlikely to land in the lottery now that Atlanta has reshaped its roster. The swap right to the Celtics’ pick in 2028 is the only one that falls into the window where the changes are guaranteed to be in place, but Boston was never expected to be a bottom-three team, and that hasn’t changed.

If anything, the reform helps the Spurs. No one will be able to land near the top of the draft consistently in the next few years and build a core that could rival San Antonio’s. The Silver and Black will be fine with these changes. Whether they are good for the rest of the league remains to be seen.

The Nets, it would seem, are more than like to take one of two lead guards on the night of June 23 at Barclays Center, either Mikel Brown Jr. or Darius Acuff. The are the most mentioned candidates for the No. 6 pick by draftniks and assorted pundits. And indeed, both are worthy of such consideration.

But, no one is claiming to know Sean Marks & co. thinking as we sit down a little more than three weeks away from the NBA’s big event. No one seemingly has the goods on who the Nets have had in HSS Training Center nor when they might work out and sit from interviews. There’s been no leaks from the annual May meeting of scouts that was featured in last year’s SCOUT docu-series.

So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that speculation about the Nets’ likes and dislikes is rising along with fan interest. On Friday, Brian Lewis profiled Keaton Wagler who most have penciled in at No. 5 to the Clippers, while ESPN’s Jeremy Woo added some intelligence on the full-range of prospective picks between Nos. 5 and 10, suggesting the Nets may have interest in Brown, Acuff and Wagler as well as the 6’9” Karim Lopez of the New Zealand Breakers, 6’4” Houston point guard, Adary May, the 7’3” center and anchor of Michigan’s NCAA champs and Nate Ament, the 6’10” wing whose draft stock has been up and down and now up again all year long.

Lewis highlights both Wagler’s positives — his height and wingspan plus his winning ways — as well as negatives — his lack of athleticism and whether he fits with Egor Demin.

There’s a very real possibility Wagler could be available for the Nets when they’re on the clock at Barclays Center. And as many non-Peterson guards as there are in this class, Wagler is confident he’s the best of the lot.

“I think I’m just super-versatile, being able to play multiple positions, not just a point guard or just shooting guard, but being able to play on or off the ball,” Wagler said. “And then also being able to play with other really good players is a skill that I think I have, knowing when it’s my time or when it’s someone else’s time.”

Despite middling athleticism and explosion, that versatility would be useful for the Nets.

Wagler met with the Nets at the NBA Combine and they’re expected to have him in, but there are issues, chief among them his athleticism. As our Collin Helwig reported after the Draft Lottery measurements were released, he not only finished fourth among the quarter in 3/4- court sprint but placed 50th among the 70 participants. He doesn’t worry about that hurting him. The rest of the game compensates, he says.

“I mean, I’ve heard it my whole life, that I’m not the most athletic, not the fastest,” Wagler told Lewis. “I think all last year I showed that you don’t have to be the most athletic to score the ball or be a really good player. And that’s kind of what I did. I just find different ways to use my body, even though I’m not the strongest, but being the aggressor, using my pace [of play] and then getting into the lane.

“I’m definitely super-versatile, can play multiple positions — the 1, 2 right now — and I continue to put on weight and get stronger, even the 3,” Wagler told Lewis. “So, my ability would also be my playmaking ability to be able to pass the ball, make the right play, take care of the ball.

“I definitely say my vision, going along with my height, being a tall guard, is something really good to be able to come off ball-screens and read defenders, see over defenses, and … make the right play.”

And he said all the right things about playing in the Big Apple.

Woo wrote about the Nets possible interest in Wagler as part of his top 100 rankings out Friday.

Wagler’s positional size, versatility and unique trajectory have continued to set him apart as a prospect worth investing in, with teams including the LA Clippers and Brooklyn Nets closely studying his case at No. 5 and No. 6 and his draft range unlikely to stretch far beyond those teams.

Wagler wasn’t the only prospect Woo linked to the Nets eith. Of Acuff, he wrote you have to consider the Nets as possibility as well.

Acuff’s range as relatively narrow, with his best-available case beginning with the Clippers at No. 5 and Nets at No. 6, and the Sacramento Kings at No. 7 considered by many to be his floor.

His ability to score at all three levels and increased willingness to involve teammates have greatly boosted his profile as a player potentially worthy of shouldering heavy responsibility and driving good offense.

And Flemings:

Although his mechanics aren’t textbook, he has continued to flash enough shooting growth to excite teams long term, drawing consideration from teams inside the top 10 after a breakout freshman season, with his range starting at No. 5 with the Clippers

And Ament:

He continues to draw looks throughout the lottery, with the Nets and Milwaukee Bucks viewed as possible destinations — two teams that could afford him time and minutes to develop immediately. Finding the right fit will be imperative for his long-term growth.

And Mara:

Rival teams consider him to be in play as high as No. 6 for Brooklyn, with the Hawks, Warriors and Thunder also viewed as potential landing spots in the lottery. Landing with a team that wants to lean into his playmaking skills will give him the best chance to maximize his impact.

And Lopez, assuming the Nets wind up with a pick lower than No. 6:

Lopez is drawing interest from a number of teams in the lottery, including the Clippers, Nets, Bucks and Warriors, with rival teams viewing him as more of a trade-back candidate later on in the case of the Clippers and Nets.

He was helped by his combine measurements, affirming his size to play both forward positions capably and massive hands. He continues to improve and has positioned himself as an intriguing development bet coming off a strong second season in the NBL.

That covers, it would seem, the range of Nets possibilities, but as a close reading of Wo0’s reporting shows, he’s not quoting anyone inside the Nets organization. The most common sourcing is “rival teams.”

Woo hints at the possibility of a Nets move out of No. 6 or finding a way to add another pick — OKC’s two picks at Nos. 12 and 17 have often been mentioned and certainly, the Nets have the assets to make a move with 32 picks, including nine tradeable first rounders. Moreover, the Thunder have some interesting decisions to make with the payroll and rotation. Remember, they’ll be adding two former first round picks next season who have been laid low by illness — point guard Nikola Topic — and injury — big man Thomas Sorber. Both are 20. So adding two more rookies might not be the most efficient development planning. They might want to move those picks back a year or more and the Nets have the bulk of their firsts starting in 2028.

It will take a while for things to work out or even come out. It’s a rare thing for the Nets to telegraph who they like, the two exceptions being Dzanan Musa in 2018 and Day’Ron Sharpe in 2021. So as we keep saying, stay tuned and be patient.

The post-Daryl Morey era of 76ers basketball is underway.

The team has hired Mike Gansey as its new president of basketball operations after a 15-year stint with the Cavaliers, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Gansey had worked his way up the Cavs front office for years and was the team’s general manager since 2021 after a four-year stint in the same role with the Cavaliers’ G League team.

Gansey, 43, helped build the current Cavs roster, which earned its first Eastern Conference finals appearance since LeBron James left in 2018, though they were swept by the Knicks.

The Cavaliers have been a playoff mainstay in the Eastern Conference, making the postseason in each of the last four seasons, which they hadn’t done since 2014-18 during James’ second stint.

Gansey is assuming a 76ers roster entering the offseason with many questions after Morey’s firing.

Joel Embiid is going to make a combined $120 million for the next two seasons, with a $67 million player option in 2028-29.

Embiid, 32, would turn 35 that March.

Paul George enters the third year of a four-year deal, pocketing $54 million next season with a $56.6 million player option for 2026-27.

Tyrese Maxey has three years left on his contract and is scheduled to make north of $40 million next season.

Philly also has Kelly Oubre, Quentin Grimes and Andre Drummond as notable free agents to be.

The Phoenix Suns have numerous decisions ahead of them this upcoming offseason, including multiple restricted free agents, unrestricted free agents, and players with trade value. The following series will examine those decisions as our writing team presents both a point and a counterpoint for each.

The offseason ahead forces the Phoenix Suns into a delicate balancing act. There is a very real temptation to shake up the backcourt following a season that left everyone wanting more despite exceeding expectations. Still, Jalen Green shouldn’t just be cast aside as expendable trade bait. That is, unless the perfect deal comes along.

Arriving in Phoenix in late June as a part of the blockbuster trade that sent Kevin Durant to Houston, Green was brought in to provide a premium athletic punch next to Devin Booker. 

Green is a high-octane offensive motor with immense upside, but it’s clear his first year in the Valley wasn’t entirely a smooth ride. He has far more to his game than a standard isolation scorer; he is a legitimate athletic downhill threat who puts massive structural pressure on the paint when he attacks. While a recurring hamstring injury sidelined him for a significant chunk of the calendar, and his raw efficiency was highly erratic, Green still showcased why he is one of the most dynamic young assets on the team, posing a physical problem for opposing defenses that few others on this roster can replicate.

He was critical during the play-in games against Portland and Golden State, keeping Phoenix’s playoff hopes alive for just a bit longer.

Expanded Role + Growing Pains

Green’s 2025–26 season naturally requires us to look through an optimistic yet grounded lens. This wasn’t a flawless debut campaign, to say the least. Missing all of December and most of January with a recurring hamstring injury disrupted his rhythm significantly, and watching his three-point efficiency slide to a cold 31.3%, alongside a 42.2% overall field-goal percentage, are glaring yellow flags of caution to monitor.

Across his 32 regular-season appearances, Green averaged 17.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. However, the efficiency split between wins and losses tells the real story: in Suns victories, he shot 45% from the field and 33.6% from deep, but in losses, those numbers plummeted to 39% and 28.3%. When Jalen isn’t hitting shots, his tendency to “hijack” the offense can stall out ball movement, occasionally leading him to take more field goal attempts than Devin Booker, which is a structural flaw this team cannot afford.

Yet, when he got his legs underneath him, the aggressiveness and high-intensity vertical pop were undeniable. Let’s not forget his true ceiling: he saved the Suns’ season in the do-or-die play-in game, putting together a masterclass to lift Phoenix past the Golden State Warriors. He has an elite first step and vertical bounce that force opposing coaching staffs to respect him, even during an objective shooting slump.

3 Reasons the Suns Should Keep Him

With the Suns’ influx of guard depth, it is incredibly easy to fall into the trap of viewing Green as expendable trade bait, similar to Grayson Allen. Just on a larger scale, from a role and salary-wise. But trading away a high-upside athletic weapon to clear a positional logjam could be a panicked mistake if the return doesn’t check several boxes.

1. Perimeter Gravity + Paint Pressure

Even in a down shooting year, Green still commanded defensive attention. Teams don’t completely leave him open on the perimeter because they are terrified of his lightning-quick first step and ability to explode downhill.

When Booker is running the offense, the floor geometry completely changes if Green is loaded on the wing. If he can tighten up his shot selection, his ability to aggressively attack closeouts and pressure the rim will transition from an erratic luxury into necessity. It comes down to being a make-or-miss league sometimes, and when Green is “on,” he is nearly impossible to stop.

2. Physical Engine

This Suns team has historically been plagued by athleticism and toughness gaps, often leaning too heavily on perimeter finesse.

Jalen Green possesses the exact explosive, high-motor archetype that every contending front office craves to puncture modern defensive shells/sets. He is a constant downhill threat with an explosive first step and athleticism to get where he wants on the court more often than not.

While his defense and playmaking still require major development and discipline, having that raw vertical power already in-house is a massive competitive advantage you don’t just throw away.

3. The Moveable $36.3M Sweet Spot

What makes Green even more vital is his financial structure heading into next season. He is under contract for ~$36.3 million for the 2026–27 campaign. In an era where the restrictive second apron can completely paralyze a front office, Green’s contract sits in a highly productive mid-tier sweet spot. It is a highly movable asset. For that exact reason, his name surfaces in potential trade rumors. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a large chunk on the surface, but it’s not one of those impossible-to-move type of deals. Especially at his age, with the flashes he’s shown.

If the front office can find a premium blockbuster deal where combining his salary with another contract nets an elite, high-level forward that perfectly aligns with our timeline, you absolutely pick up the phone. But trading him for pennies on the dollar just to clear the runway is a mistake.

Closing Thought

As mentioned in my Grayson Allen piece, guard depth is a position of strength, not a flaw that requires a panicked offseason over-correction. Unless it makes sense.

Jalen Green is far from a finished product; his health history and shot selection are entirely valid concerns that keep this team’s ceiling volatile. However, unless a landscape-altering frontcourt piece becomes available via a consolidated trade package, keeping Green’s transition pressure, elite physical ceiling, and competitive fire in the Valley is the smartest path forward.

Let’s see if he can take the leap in year two with the Suns. If the perfect deal comes along that moves the needle, you look at it. Otherwise, let’s welcome Jalen back to the Valley with open arms.

The Thunder will be without one of their stars for their biggest game of the season thus far.

Oklahoma City shooting guard Jalen Williams has been ruled out for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals against the Spurs with a left hamstring sprain, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Friday.

Williams, 25, initially suffered the injury during Game 2 of the Thunder’s first-round series against the Suns.

Despite missing the Thunder’s next six games following the injury, the swingman returned for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

Williams put up 26 points and seven rebounds while playing 37 minutes in the series opener, but left Game 2 after playing just seven minutes due to re-aggravating the lingering injury.

After missing the following three games, Williams retuned for Game 6, but saw just 10 minutes of action and took only one shot during the Thunder’s 118-91 loss to San Antonio.

During Thursday’s Game 6 loss, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said that Williams’ Game 7 status would be up to him and how his body is responding to the ongoing injury, The Athletic reported.

“He’s been hellbent on trying to get himself to this point. I give him credit,” Daigneault said. “He’s a big team guy, big competitor. He’s obviously not 100%. He didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what to expect.

“So it was a matter of getting him out there in an insulated role and see what he could bring to the team. … He hasn’t done a full return to play the way that he would.”

Injuries have already derailed Williams’ fourth year in the NBA, with the All-Star missing time to start the 2025-26 season recovering from a wrist injury, along with a right hamstring strain causing him to be sidelined for roughly 30 regular season games.

In just 33 games played this season, Williams, averaged 17.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.5 assists while shooting 48.4 percent from the field.

The Philadelphia 76ers are hiring Mike Gansey as their new president of basketball operations, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Gansey had spent the past season as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ general manager.

He joined Cleveland’s front office in 2011-12 before rising through the ranks. He was promoted to assistant general manager in 2017, serving under Koby Altman. He was then promoted to general manager in 2022, still under Altman.

The Cleveland Cavaliers finished this season with a 52-30 overall record and were fourth in the Eastern Conference. The New York Knicks swept the Cavs in the conference finals.

The Knicks also swept the 76ers in the conference semifinals. Philadelphia, which had a 45-37 overall record, fired Daryl Morey after the season.

Jonquel Jones grew up a fan of the Detroit Pistons. 

Their success during the early 2000s, known as the franchise’s “Goin’ to Work” era, inspired a young Jones. 

The Pistons, anchored by Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Ben and Rasheed Wallace, went to six consecutive Eastern Conference finals from 2003-2008.

They went to back-to-back NBA Finals, winning it all in 2004. 

But it wasn’t just the results that drew Jones in. It was the way the Pistons produced those results. 

“I loved the way that they played,” Jones said Friday before the Liberty’s 75-68 win. “I feel like it was a very different style for what was really popular back then.” 

The Los Angeles Lakers had Kobe Bryant. The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted LeBron James in 2004. 

The Pistons didn’t have an obvious individual superstar. But together, they shined. 

Detroit relied on their chemistry and togetherness. 

“I just felt like the Pistons were, to me they looked like a basketball team through and through,” Jones said. “They played that way and they all were rewarded for that, like, going to the All-Star game and being able to start the All-Star game with their starters, and I don’t know, just being a really successful team, Eastern Conference Finals, championships, all that stuff and they just played the right way, they moved the ball and they relied on each other and you saw it.” 

With the Liberty’s lineup acting like a revolving door, Jones has gone back to what made that Pistons team she admired when she was a pre-teen. 

Sabrina Ionescu is set to miss her third consecutive game — second with back soreness. That leaves Pauline Astier as the team’s only true point guard. But there are plenty of other players who can handle the facilitating responsibilities, including Jones. 

“It’s just my game,” Jones said after tallying four assists in back-to-back games. “I’m the type of player, I see two or I see teammates open, I just want to move the ball because that’s just the type of basketball that I love to play. And I grew up being a huge Detroit Pistons fan, watching Rip and Tayshaun and Chauncey, and they played team ball and so that was always the type of basketball that I wanted to play, and I wanted to be a part of so I just try to play the way that I want our team to play.” 

Jones probably embodies more of Rasheed Wallace’s skill set, with her accurate passing and ability to stretch the floor as a big. 

Her favorite player of that Pistons’ era, though, was Hamilton. 

“I know that probably nobody’s probably ever said that before, but Rip was my favorite,” she said. “But it was just that whole Pistons team, like, I feel like I could take a little bit of something from everybody. So Chauncey Billups, like, when I was younger I was a guard. Tayshaun, just getting up and down the court, ball handling, obviously just being elite in every level, Rip midrange, Rasheed Wallace tough in the paint. Ben Wallace rebounder. So I feel like you can kind of see aspects of each of those starters in my game now.” 

The Liberty might be getting close to having an empty injury report but they will need Jones to continue to embrace the Pistons’ blue-collar grit and teamwork for the team to be successful. 

“When JJ is aggressive, we’re a better team,” coach Chris DeMarco said. “Sometimes it’s more than that. Sometimes, there’s other variables throughout the game and maybe she hasn’t touched the ball, maybe defensively sees a couple bad calls, she’s in foul trouble, has to play differently, so sometimes it’s outside things that hurt her, but again, especially third quarter [Wednesday], she made that little run, she’s really aggressive. Ill say it again, she’s been fantastic.” 

Jalen Williams has been ruled out of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, according to the NBA injury report released on Friday, May 29.

He will not play as the Oklahoma City Thunder host the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, May 30 in an attempt to return to the NBA Finals.

The Thunder guard/forward, who averaged 17.1 points per game this season, reinjured a hamstring injury in Game 2. He sat out Games 3, 4 and 5 and returned to the court for Game 6, where the Spurs evened the series to force Game 7. He played just 10 minutes off the bench and had one point, a free throw.

The New York Knicks are mostly at full-strength as they prepare for the franchise's first NBA Finals since 1999.

Knicks center Mitchell Robinson suffered a broken pinky earlier in the week, according to reports. However, it is still unclear how Robinson sustained the injury.

Knicks coach Mike Brown told reporters Friday that Robinson did not sustain the injury in a game or practice, and added that he's aware that Robinson has had surgery.

"I don't know much about the details, obviously I know that he had surgery and all that," Brown said. "For me it's the same thing, I don't want to know. Just let me know if he can play and when he can play. Just like we normally would, we're getting everybody else ready to go."

He added: "For me, I'm always going with who's available today and (Robinson) didn't practice today, so we're getting whoever we need ready to go."

When a reporter asked Brown a follow-up inquiring exactly how Robinson was hurt, a member of the Knicks' media relations staff interrupted and said "we're not going to get into specifics."

Robinson reportedly plans to play. The NBA Finals begin Wednesday, June 3. The Knicks are preparing to face the winner of the Western Conference finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.

Robinson has been a key contributor off the bench for New York, providing size and an interior presence defensively when Karl-Anthony Towns is off the floor.

Despite battling numerous injuries in his career, Robinson has been a stud for the Knicks during the postseason, averaging 5.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.6 bocks and 0.5 steals in just 14.2 minutes per game in 13 playoff games this year.

Robinson has made the most of his sparing minutes, giving the Knicks additional scoring opportunities by grabbing 2.5 offensive rebounds per game.