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The Cleveland Cavaliers will look for a strong start in their second-round series against the Detroit Pistons.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves found an offensive approach that worked in the fourth quarter of Game 1, gashing the San Antonio Spurs’ defense with Rudy Gobert on the bench.
This Timberwolves vs. Spurs same-game parlay expects Minnesota to double-down on that approach in Game 2 on Wednesday, May 6.
Rudy Gobert had six rebounds in Monday’s first quarter, and he still ended with 10 boards, falling short of a prop that was set at 10.5 to start the series, albeit at plus-money.
Gobert played an excellent 30 minutes in that tight win, helping the Minnesota Timberwolves tilt this series. Eight of those minutes came with Victor Wembanyama off the court, the San Antonio Spurs’ superstar’s only time off the court.
Minnesota is likely to focus Gobert on the chances with Wembanyama on the bench, but those are also likely to be few and far between, further limiting Gobert’s minutes.
Even when Gobert is on the court facing Wembanyama, Minnesota found success bringing Wemby into screen action, where he is prone to playing drop coverage despite Gobert creating separation in the on-ball defense. That allows for open 3-pointer looks for shooters like Anthony Edwards, Mike Conley and Naz Reid.
Gobert’s screen effectiveness helps the Timberwolves’ offense despite him not scoring, not to mention he managed just seven points in Game 1.
Less Gobert will help both offenses. When he sat for the first 10-plus minutes of Monday’s fourth quarter, Minnesota scored 32 points. It had not yet managed more than 24 in any of the first three quarters.
Get Douglas Farmer's full breakdown of this game, including his best bet, plus the latest NBA odds, injuries, and betting trends, in his Timberwolves vs Spurs predictions for Game 2.
Stay up-to-date with the latest NBA Championship odds for each remaining team, as well as NBA title splits, betting trends, and the previous list of teams that have won the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
See what the current line movement and updates are in the NBA Finals MVP odds race, along with Finals MVP betting trends, favorite analysis, and recent superstars to receive this award.
Never lose track of where each series sits with our live NBA Playoff bracket, as well as the updated prices for each team to win their respective series — round by round.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
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It is all pretty simple, really.
Mike Brown is only the Knicks’ head coach because not even back-to-back 50-win regular seasons were enough to save his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, from being fired after New York stumbled in the Eastern Conference Finals last spring.
The implied word from on-high for all to see that even though Thibodeau posted a .565 winning percentage over his five years and won NBA Coach of the Year in 2021, the franchise's first trip to the doorstep of the NBA Finals in a quarter of a century was unsatisfactory.
The perception – and possible reality, too – is that there is a mandate for the first-year man in New York: It better be a trip to the NBA Finals or bust.
“People have talked about a mandate, I'm coaching to win,” Brown said Tuesday after a dominant Game 1 win of the Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
“It doesn't matter what others say,” he continued. “I'm disappointed if we're not in the Finals and having a chance to win it."
Brown said he’s been “fortunate, blessed, lucky” to have made the Finals six times with three different teams during his career as a head coach and assistant, with four titles.
“It’s the best feeling in the world, and I know that’s what I do it for,” he said.
As far as the “mandate and all that stuff,” Brown said the NBA Finals-or-bust attitude is something the head coach embraces.
“That’s what I expect, that’s what I want to do,” he said, “and hopefully it can happen, but who knows?”
Despite acknowledging at least that elephant in the room, Brown doesn't let the proverbial Sword of Damocles above his head impact his coaching.
"He doesn't listen to the outside noise and doesn't let that affect him," Josh Hart said Tuesday. "He's focused every day on how he can come in and make this team better. He listens to his coaches, and he listens to us with our feedback and what we have to say, and asks us questions and stuff like that.
"I think it's just a good line of communication with everyone within the organization, with obviously him at the helm of how we can make this team the best unit that we can be. And he's doing an amazing job."
So are the Knicks playing at a championship level in the head coach's eyes?
“We’re playing well at the right time, but I think we have room to grow,” Brown said. “We can’t give up 34 free throws like we did last night. It’s gonna be tough if you give up 34 free throws. We had 15 turnovers last night. We can’t have 15 turnovers against this team because they thrive at the free-throw line, they thrive in the steal game, they convert those turnovers into points really quickly.
“And they didn’t shoot well. We know they’re gonna shoot better. We know that [Tyrese] Maxey is gonna be more aggressive, so we have to be even more alert than what we were in our last game.”
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The Minnesota Timberwolves did not blink when Victor Wembanyama blocked shot after shot in Game 1. They proceeded to upset the San Antonio Spurs thanks to an offensive outburst in the fourth quarter.
My Timberwolves vs. Spurs predictions and these NBA picks expect Minnesota to lean into that fourth-quarter recipe come Game 2 on Wednesday, May 6.
The Minnesota Timberwolves entered the fourth quarter Monday night trailing the San Antonio Spurs by three. Rudy Gobert went to the bench for the next 10:16; when he returned, the Timberwolves led by seven.
Minnesota had scored 32 points in those 10 minutes, already eight more than it had in any previous quarter. A five-out lineup featuring Julius Randle and Naz Reid as the Timberwolves’ big men pulled Victor Wembanyama too far from the hoop to bolster his inflated blocks stats, and suddenly, Minnesota could score.
Expect more of that look in Game 2, costing Gobert minutes as the game wears on.
COVERS INTEL: The Spurs outscored the Timberwolves 45-40 in the 21:32 that both Gobert and Wembanyama were on the court in Game 1. That went better than Minnesota expected, but it is still a matchup the Timberwolves should want to lessen.Fewer Rudy Gobert minutes should help both Minnesota’s and San Antonio’s offenses. In the 21:32 that Gobert faced Wembanyama, the Spurs’ offensive rating was 104.7 while the Timberwolves’ was 93. For the entirety of the game, San Antonio’s offensive rating was 106.3 while Minnesota’s was 108.3.
The math does not need to delve further than that. Gobert serves a purpose in this series, but his minutes need to be limited compared to Wembanyama’s, and that should propel both offenses.
After Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said his team “lied” to him all season, evidenced by their Game 1 loss at Denver, Minnesota has gone 5-1 against the spread, exceeding bookmakers’ expectations by an average of 14.5 points, even when including the ATS loss. For what it’s worth, that ATS loss came by just the hook. Find more NBA betting trends for Timberwolves vs. Spurs.
| Location | Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX |
| Date | Wednesday, May 6, 2026 |
| Tip-off | 9:30 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN |
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Dallas landing Masai Ujiri to take over basketball operations is seen by many as a coup. One of the most respected front office minds in the league, the man who built the Toronto Raptors into champions, comes to a Mavericks team in the midst of a self-inflicted rebuild (including rebuilding its reputation with its fans) after Nico Harrison made the Luka Doncic trade.
Why did Ujiri choose Dallas? Two words: Cooper Flagg. Ujiri made that abundantly clear at his press conference.(Quotes via Abby Jones.)
"The one difficult thing to find anywhere, anywhere in sports, it's a generational player, and we have one. We've planted a Flagg here. We have one player here that can turn everything and it is so hard to find in sports."
And...
"You've got Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards and Nikola Jokic all for the next 7-15 years. Okay, now you have to convince me that I have to beat all those guys. Okay, you gotta come with something in your pocket, okay? …And in his pocket he had Cooper Flagg."
"We have a saying in Africa, we say, 'when kings go, kings come' and a king went [Luka] and we have a little prince [Cooper Flagg] here now. He's turning into a king and I think we have to start thinking that way."
Also from that introductory press conference.
• Ujiri said he was going to look at every aspect of basketball operations and reassess it. With that, Jason Kidd may not be safe as head coach.
Masai Ujiri says he spoke to Jason Kidd yesterday. Ujiri was noncommittal when I asked him if Kidd will be Dallas’ head coach next season.
— Christian Clark (@christianpclark) May 5, 2026
• Ujiri said he is excited to see what Kyrie Irving, who missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL, looks like next to Flagg. It did not sound like Ujiri is looking to trade the nine-time All-Star point guard.
• Team governor Patrick Dumont reiterated that ownership is committed to Dallas, and while they are looking to build a new arena that will be their home "for 40 years" that will be in the greater Dallas area.
The 2026 NBA Draft lottery is on Mother's Day this year, with every team that didn't make the playoffs seeking the gift of the right ping-pong ball combination on Sunday, May 10. A whole batch of franchises tanked this past season just to have a better shot at securing the best choice possible in what's considered a strong draft class. So much so that NBA commissioner Adam Silver is considering radical changes to the NBA draft lottery system.
Teams have been lining up for the top of the draft board. BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson of Kansas, Duke's Cameron Boozer and UNC freshman Caleb Wilson have largely been considered the best four prospects but in varying orders. The potential prizes extend beyond that this year, though. The latest first-round mock draft conducted by USA TODAY Sports through Microsoft Copilot's artificial intelligence chatbot shows – when compared to one done just two weeks earlier with the same team order – the perception of this draft is fluid before its exact order is known.
The top five picks remained the same, but there was plenty of movement from there. New prospects were elevated into the first round by AI or higher in the NBA draft pecking order with another two weeks of intel. Other players were dropped out of the top 30 selections. More will be decided over the next week or so, when the NBA Draft lottery and NBA Draft Scouting Combine are held in Chicago.
Here's Microsoft Copilot's latest 2026 NBA mock draft heading into the draft lottery, as curated by USA TODAY Sports
You can compare AI's picks to the latest USA TODAY 2026 NBA mock draft by clicking here.
USA TODAY Sports asked Microsoft Copilot AI to generate a mock draft for the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft featuring only players who could be eligible this year. Microsoft Copilot assigned the draft order based on regular-season NBA records and the latest draft lottery tiebreakers, with the worst record getting the No. 1 pick and the best record getting the No. 30 pick. It used current mock drafts from reputable websites, as well as team needs, prospect analysis and potential pick swaps/protections, to determine the first-round selections for each team in this exercise.
AI models still have issues with accuracy as seen in the mock draft below. Of particular note, Microsoft Copilot had several picks inaccurately assigned to teams based on previous trades and pick swaps.
Here's a 2026 NBA first-round mock draft, according to Microsoft Copilot AI, as of May 5:
Note: The Hawks receive the better pick between the New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks through a trade during the 2025 NBA draft. The Bucks get the lesser of the two selections.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA mock draft 2026: AI makes first-round picks for every team
The Kentucky Wildcats are nearing completion of their 2026-2027 basketball roster, with just a couple more spots to fill.
Kentucky native Malachi Moreno was expected back on the team after he tested the NBA Draft waters. However, some recent draft rankings and projections have left some wondering if he could actually stay in this year’s draft.
The Georgetown (KY) native was mocked 31st overall to the New York Knicks in Jonathan Wasserman’s latest mock draft at Bleacher Report, one spot shy of the first round. His pro comparison was former Wildcat Nick Richards, who saw great success in his junior year in Lexington.
As a few players could potentially withdraw from the draft process in the coming weeks, Wasserman believes Moreno could be a first-round pick based on his size alone.
“With NIL bringing back a handful of first round guys, Malachi Moreno has a chance to capitalize on that during the draft process,” Wasserman said. “There is already enough intrigue around a 19-year-old, 7-footer with strong shot-blocking and passing metrics, plus some touch indicators. Certain teams would prefer to gamble on a freshman with Moreno’s tools, production, impact, and historically translatable/valued archetype, rather than a projected 23-year-old rookie in a shallow draft.
“Scrimmages at the NBA combine will represent a huge opportunity for Moreno to generate more first-round interest.“
Moreno was invited to the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago next week. This is a huge opportunity for Moreno to showcase his size and athleticism in front of NBA scouts, teams, and front offices. The scrimmages will be aired on television as BBN and Mark Pope will be keeping a close eye on the 7-footer.
From Luke Kennard’s Game 1 performance, to Marcus Smart’s offensive surge in Game 2, to Deandre Ayton’s play in Game 6, there were so many great moments for the Lakers during their series win over the Rockets.
While LA’s victory lap has to come to an end as they prepare to face the Thunder in the second round, one lasting memory that deserves an immediate look back is the string of plays LeBron James and Bronny had in Game 3.
With the Lakers looking to take a commanding 3-0 lead and needing a road win to do so, the family duo delivered.
James set a screen for Bronny and he nailed the three. On the next possession, LeBron lobbed it to Bronny, who converted a reverse layup to give LA a 12-point advantage.
LeBron piled on another five straight points, meaning the James family had scored 10 consecutive Lakers points. During Tuesday’s episode of the “Mind The Game” podcast, LeBron reflected on the iconic moment.
“We had that mini-run between the two of us, and that was just something that I will never, ever forget. Something that I’ve learned, obviously, at my elder stage and being 41 years old to kind of like appreciate the small wins in the moment. That was one of the moments where I kind of, I’ve always, like, always been locked in, and that moment right there, throwing him the lob, seeing him make the three, we kind of going back and forth, I kind of blanked out for a little bit and just really accepted and relished in that moment.
“That’s pretty cool for me as a dad. And then us as colleagues and then our whole family, like, I think I mentioned at one point, like my mom being at the game and her being able to watch her son and grandson in a postseason game at the same time. My wife was there. His sister was there. I think Bryce was back home from college. You can’t even write that script in Hollywood better than what’s going on. So just being super appreciative of it.”
After all the hoopla and screaming about nepotism and privilege, it’s great to see that Bronny has silenced those ridiculous criticisms. He stepped up for a shorthanded Lakers team and played meaningful, playoff minutes for LA during the early parts of that series.
Thanks in part to Bronny’s efforts, the Lakers survived without Austin Reaves, and now that he’s back, they’ve advanced to the next round.
LeBron should take this all in as much as he can because these moments are still amazingly cool and unique. Absolutes aren’t wise to say in any sport, but it’s unlikely we’ll ever see another father-son duo playing at that high a level in the NBA again.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
Somehow, someway, the Pistons clawed their way back from a 3-1 series deficit to win in 7 games. They scrapped their way to a historic second-half comeback in Game 6. This team just won’t roll over, we saw that for 82 games, now we’ve seen it in the playoffs. Wes and Blake come to you just before the beginning of the Second Round of the NBA playoffs to react to the extraordinary Round 1 victory, giving specific props to the superstar that is Cade Cunningham, the leadership of Tobias Harris, and the mind of strategies from JB Bickerstaff. They then turn to the upcoming series against the Cavaliers. Do the Pistons have any advantages? Are the Cavs able to employ the same defensive strategy that the Magic did? And, ultimately, what both teams will need to do to secure a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
We’ve got you covered for all this and more in this week’s episode!
You can watch the entire episode on our YouTube channel
Follow Wes Davenport on Twitter @TheRealWesD3
Follow Blake Silverman on Twitter @BlakeSilverman
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Want to hear your voice on the Pindown? Call (313) 355-2717 and leave your question as a voicemail! The guys will play your message and answer your question on that week’s episode! All we ask is that you keep your questions to under 45 seconds.
The Brooklyn Nets agreed to extensions with Jordi Fernández and his entire coaching less than three weeks ago. Opposing NBA teams are already looking to break them up.
Tuesday morning, Sam Amick of The Athletic wrote a story pooling together everything he’s heard regarding the head coaching searches active around the league. In it, he named Nets assistant Steve Hetzel as a finalist for the lead job in New Orleans.
As for the league’s other coaching vacancy, New Orleans has been deliberating over finalists Darvin Ham (a Bucks associate head coach under Rivers), Steve Hetzel (Brooklyn assistant), Sean Sweeney (San Antonio associate head coach) and Rajon Rondo (a coaching associate with the Bucks),“ Amick said. ”Mosley has long been believed to be a possible candidate if he became available, but it’s unclear as of yet if he’ll be added to the list.
Will Guillory, also of The Athletic, reported on April 27 that New Orleans had conducted at least one interview with Hetzel. Less than two weeks before that, Fred Katz and Eric Nehm named Hetzel in a story titled “Candidates to be first-time NBA head coaches this coming hiring cycle.”
Hetzel got his start coaching in the NBA as the assistant video coordinator for Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs in 2005. Since then, he has served as an assistant coach for Mike Brown, Lawrence Frank, Steve Clifford, Chauncey Billups and now Jordi Fernandez in Cleveland, Detroit, Charlotte, Orlando, Portland and Brooklyn. He worked in player development early on before being lauded as a smart tactician in the back half of his career. He also served as the head coach of the Canton Charge for the 2013-14 season.
Indeed, Hetzel has been by Fernández’s side during each his first two seasons in Brooklyn, serving as coach both times in the Summer League as well. Hetzel even led the Nets to one of their 19 wins last year and perhaps their most demonstrative one. With Fernández unable to coach at home against Milwaukee on December 14, Hetzel stepped in as his interim replacement and propelled Brooklyn to a 127-82 victory, which tied a franchise record for their largest win margin ever in a game.
This would be Hetzel’s first full-time head coaching job if he lands the job and departs Brooklyn. It’ll also land the Nets another question mark ahead a sure-to-be intriguing offseason.
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse stepped away from the team Tuesday, May 5 so he could attend the funeral of his older brother.
The 76ers coach flew home to Iowa after the loss against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the NBA conference semifinals following the death of his older brother, Steve Nurse, per The Philadelphia Inquirer. Nurse's brother reportedly died "unexpectedly" on April 29 before Game 6 between the 76ers and the Boston Celtics in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Steve Nurse, who was 62 years old, was the longtime athletic equipment manager for the University of Northern Iowa.
According to The Athletic, the 76ers held a film session but no practice Tuesday afternoon.
Nurse is expected to rejoin the organization in New York Tuesday evening. Game 2 against the Knicks is Wednesday at Madison Square Garden at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Nurse has coached the Sixers for three seasons, beginning with the 2023-24 season, and has taken the team to the playoffs twice, including this year. Nurse began his head coaching career with the Raptors in 2018-19 after five years as assistant in Toronto. He led the Raptors to their first NBA title in his first season with the team.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nick Nurse away from Philadelphia 76ers for older brother's funeral
The NBA Draft Lottery is less than a week away. The Washington Wizards, Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets each have the highest odds — 14% — in the lottery to land the No. 1 pick in what is expected to be a loaded draft. Recent years also have seen a number of teams jump bottom of the lottery into the top three of the draft, including the Dallas Mavericks, who won the lottery last year and earned the right to take the future Rookie of the Year, Cooper Flagg.
The defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who had the best record for the second season in a row, could even win the lottery. They own the Los Angeles Clippers’ pick courtesy of the Paul George trade.
This figures to be the final NBA Draft Lottery in its current format before the league likely puts a new system in place for next season in an effort to reduce teams tanking for better odds. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2026 including, the top prospects.
NBA mock drafts: 3.0 • 2.0 • 1.0 | NBA Draft combine participants
The lottery is at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, May 10. It will be at Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center and coincides with the draft combine.
It will be on ABC, ahead of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers.
The 14 teams that didn't make the playoffs have a chance to land the No. 1 pick. The teams that finished with the three-worst records — Washington, Indiana and Brooklyn — each have the highest odds (14%) at winning the No. 1 pick.
Here are the odds for every team in the draft lottery, based on team records at the end of the regular season. Teams that finished the season with identical records had their draft order determined by a random drawing.
Record: 17-65
Odds for No. 1 pick: 14%
Record: 19-63
Odds for No. 1 pick: 14%
Due to the Ivica Zubac trade with the Clippers, if the Pacers’ pick lands between the 5-9 spots on lotto night, it will go to L.A.
Record: 20-62
Odds for No. 1 pick: 14%
Record: 22-60
Odds for No. 1 pick: 11.5%
Record: 22-60
Odds for No. 1 pick: 11.5%
Record: 25-57
Odds for No. 1 pick: 9%
Record: 26-56
Odds for No. 1 pick: 6.8%
The Pelicans owe their unprotected first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks as part of their 2025 draft-night trade.
Record: 26-56
Odds for No. 1 pick: 6.7%
Record: 31-51
Odds for No. 1 pick: 4.5%
Record: 32-50
Odds for No. 1 pick: 3%
Record: 37-45
Odds for No. 1 pick: 2%
Record: 42-40
Odds for No. 1 pick: 1.5%
The Clippers owe their 2026 first-round pick to the Thunder as part of the 2019 Paul George trade.
Record: 43-39
Odds for No. 1 pick: 1%
Record: 44-38
Odds for No. 1 pick: 0.5%
The draft lottery determines the order of the first 14 picks. It takes place in a private room with NBA officials, representatives of participating teams, select media and the accounting firm Ernst & Young, which oversees the drawings, in attendance.
For the drawings, 14 ping-pong balls (numbered 1 through 14) are dropped in a lottery machine. Before the lottery, 1,000 of a possible 1,001 combinations are assigned to the 14 participating lottery teams. A league representative randomly selects four balls, revealing a four-number combination.
From the NBA:
The drawing process occurs in the following manner: All 14 balls are placed in the lottery machine and they are mixed for 20 seconds, and then the first ball is removed. The remaining balls are mixed in the lottery machine for another 10 seconds, and then the second ball is drawn. There is a 10-second mix, and then the third ball is drawn. There is a 10-second mix, and then the fourth ball is drawn. The team that has been assigned that combination will receive the No. 1 pick. The same process is repeated with the same ping-pong balls and lottery machine for the second through fourth picks.
If the same team comes up more than once, the result is discarded and another four-ball combination is selected. Also, if the one unassigned combination is drawn, the result is discarded and the balls are drawn again.
After the first four picks are determined, the remaining picks are based on regular-season records, in reverse order.
FIRST ROUND NOS. 15-30
15. Portland (to Chicago)
16. Phoenix (to Memphis)
17. Philadelphia (to Oklahoma City)
18. Orlando (to Charlotte)
19. Toronto
20. Atlanta (to San Antonio)
21. Minnesota (to Detroit)
22. Houston (to Philadelphia)
23. Cleveland (to Atlanta)
24. New York
25. Los Angeles Lakers
26. Denver
27. Boston
28. Detroit (to Minnesota)
29. San Antonio (to Cleveland)
30. Oklahoma City (to Dallas)
Dybantsa could become one of the NBA’s most unstoppable shot-creators. At 6-foot-9, he has a special blend of athletic tools with the way he bends, shifts, and explodes with the ball in his hands. Dybantsa led the nation with 25.5 points per game while breaking Danny Ainge’s 48-year-old BYU freshman scoring record with a 43-point eruption. He gets to the rim at will, cooks in the midrange, draws fouls at a high rate, and displays point-forward potential. What will determine his upside is whether he can become a knockdown 3-point shooter, as well as a more impactful defender to take full advantage of his physical tools. But the native of Brockton, Massachusetts, has a tremendously high floor with his scoring skill alone. — Kevin O’Connor
He’s a do-it-all offensive talent who can post up, run pick-and-rolls, set screens, spot up and crash the boards. He doesn’t need to rely on bully ball to make an impact as a scorer or passer. Defensively, some of the questions about Boozer popped up in Duke’s Elite Eight loss to UConn: He wasn’t big enough to defend Tarris Reed, and he got smoked by Alex Karaban on a key 3-pointer on the perimeter. But he plays hard and has improved at every weakness in his game so far. — O’Connor
He can pull up from anywhere and get to his spots. Plus he’s 6-6 and plays with a fluidity that just screams superstar. Not to mention he’s a defensive playmaker with the tools to guard multiple positions and the approach to impact the game even if he’s not scoring. Between the cramping saga, the missed time, the lack of apparent athletic pop, and the stretches where he played heavy minutes but struggled to produce offensively, there’s a lot to be concerned about. But the pre-draft period could answer any questions. — O’Connor
Wilson is the most gifted athlete in the draft class. He's 6-10 with springs for legs. When he's flying above the rim, finishing through contact, and chasing down every shot in his area code, he looks like a future franchise cornerstone. But the conversation changes when you watch his jumper because he hasn’t shown any consistency as a shooter at any level. Still, even without the jumper, he has star upside. — O’Connor
Acuff is not the biggest guard or the most explosive athlete, but he reads defenses like someone who's been in the league for a decade. He emerged as a freshman as a skilled, low-turnover playmaker. And that’s not even what he’s best at. Acuff is a wiry scorer who can get a bucket from anywhere on the floor with a quick trigger, slippery handle, and a feel for manipulating defenses. He has a knack for clutch moments too. The question that follows every undersized guard into the draft is whether the brilliance survives contact with bigger, longer, faster defenders. — O’Connor
The 2026 NBA Draft will again be two days: Tuesday, June 23 for the first round; and Wednesday, June 24 for the second round. Both rounds are in Brooklyn, New York.
ABC/ESPN will broadcast the first round, and the second round will be on ESPN.
Almost certainly. NBA commissioner Adam Silver wants to curb the wide-spread tanking teams engaged in ahead of this season’s draft.
The league reportedly will put forth a new 3-2-1 format for a vote by team owners on May 28. The new format will create a system where each team gets a certain number of ping-pong balls to win the No. 1 pick. Here’s how it looks in reverse order of the standings and then play-in game participants:
No. 1-3: two ping-pong balls (5.4%)
No. 4-10: three ping-pong balls (8.1%)
Teams in 9-10 play-in games: two ping-pong balls (5.4%)
Losers of 7-8 play-in games: one ping-pong ball (2.7%)
The league hopes non-playoff teams will be incentivized to stay competitive late in the season. It also provides the No. 8 seeds in the East and West at least one shot at the top pick.
In addition, the league will not allow teams to win the top pick in back-to-back seasons or win a top-five pick in three consecutive seasons.
NEW YORK (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse was away from the team Tuesday ahead of Game 2 of its second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks to attend the funeral of his brother.
Nurse's brother Steve Nurse, 62, died unexpectedly last Wednesday. Nick Nurse left the team following Philadelphia's 137-98 loss to open the second round against the Knicks on Monday for the service on Tuesday in Ankeny, Iowa.
Nurse is expected to rejoin the Sixers for Game 2 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
“I'd like to pass my condolences along to Nick Nurse and his family, his brother's family and all their friends," Knicks coach Mike Brown said at the team's training center in suburban Greenburgh. “Life is precious and you don't wish that upon anybody, so I'd like to pass along my condolences to him and his family while they're going through these times.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Eliminating the Thunder from the playoffs is no easy task.
Last year, no one could do it. This season, they have yet to lose, much less even flirt with the idea of being eliminated.
The Lakers are well aware of the challenge at hand as they begin their series against OKC. They understand that a near-perfect performance will be required, especially considering that they are still playing without Luka Dončić.
On Tuesday’s episode of the “Mind The Game podcast”, LeBron James laid out the realities of what it’s going to take to pull off this upset.
“We cannot shortcut the details. In order for us to give ourselves a chance to win games, we cannot shortcut the details and the game plan. We know we can’t stop everything. It’s impossible. They’re that great. But if we can control the controllables, which is not turning the ball over because we know how great they are when it comes to pick sixes and how handsy they are and the athleticism and speed that they play with. Then we can give ourselves a chance, and that’s all you can ask for in the postseason is a chance to compete and compete to win games.”
The recipe to beat the Thunder is still being concocted, but how to lose to them is well-known. If you turn the ball over, they’ll take advantage. Thunder opponents have a turnover rate of 16.5, which is the third highest in the playoffs. Off of those turnovers, OKC scores an average of 20.8 points per game. So, they not only create advantages, but they also make you pay.
Add in the fact that the Thunder never foul — at least according to head coach JJ Redick, with his tongue in his cheek — and OKC employs MVP winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and has one of the deepest benches in all of basketball and it’s difficult to find a weakness that can be exploited.
So, it’s all about the Lakers controlling what they can control. That means protecting the ball, getting good looks at the basket and defending as well as anyone can against the Thunder.
LeBron’s done impossible tasks like beating the prime Warriors and even winning against the Rockets in the first round this season, so we’ll see if he can pull another unprecedented upset by taking down the Thunder.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
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