Category: Basketball

If you were drafting a player solely on winning, Cam Boozer might be that player. In every competitive league that Boozer has been a part of, he’s been a winner. And not just a winner, but dominant. Don’t believe me, here’s a list of his accomplishments:

• High School (Christopher Columbus High School, FL): Won four consecutive Florida state championships and a national title.
• International (USA Basketball): Went an undefeated 13-0, securing gold medals at the 2023 FIBA U16 AmeriCup and 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup. He was named MVP for both tournaments.
• Nike EYBL: Won three Nike Peach Jam titles during his AAU circuit career.
• College (Duke): Captured the ACC regular-season title, the ACC Tournament MVP, and led the Duke Blue Devils to the Elite Eight. He led the country in double-doubles (22) while averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. All that while shooting 55.6% from the field and 39.1% from three.

If there’s one thing that Cam Boozer has done, it’s win basketball games, and if you are drafting Boozer, that’s exactly what you can expect him to do.

The only reason Boozer isn’t the clear-cut #1 pick in this draft is that it’s one of the top-heavy drafts in a long time. Boozer is going up against two of the most impressive on-ball prospects we’ve seen in some time in AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson. That said, there’s no reason that Boozer shouldn’t get considered by the Washington Wizards or the Utah Jazz at the #1 or #2 pick.

If you wanted a description of Cam Boozer’s game, it would be that he’s quite literally good at everything a big will be asked to do. Boozer can score from everywhere on the floor as a true three-level scorer. He’s an elite three-point shooter whether it’s off the bounce or the catch. That elite shooting forces defenders to run out to contest his shot, which leads to him driving and scoring. If the big is there on the drive, he can drop a floater with fantastic touch. His bread and butter typically comes in isolation with his back to the basket. He has an array of moves, whether it’s pure brute force backing down a mismatch, he’ll face up and knock down a pull-up jumper, or he’ll go with a wide array of spin moves leading to a variety of baby hooks.

He’s also a deft passer, whether passing within the offense, kicking out to shooters in the short roll, or passing to an open shooter out of the post. The thing his passing shows is an elite-level IQ, and it’s that IQ that gives you confidence that his game can translate to the NBA.

The only question marks about Boozer concern his defense and potential position. Boozer was not a good rim protector in college, and that weakness will only get worse in the league. That means that Boozer will be playing exclusively at the power forward. That’s not a big issue, but it does make roster construction around him vital to maximize everything he does. For example, Boozer’s back-to-the-basket game gets neutralized a bit if he’s on the floor with a non-stretch center. In college, where Boozer got blocked a surprising amount on post-ups, that will only get worse in the NBA, where he’ll face bigger, more athletic opposition. Now, that doesn’t mean he can’t figure things out, it’s just something to consider, and it means a good chunk of his game might be taken away. That said, Boozer can still do a lot with the ball, and a smart coach will find a lot of ways to use him. If he’s not backing people down in the post, he can just replace those post plays by getting the ball at the top of the key. He can hit cutters, pull up from three, or make his patented punishing drives to the basket.

As I mentioned before, the other element that raises some questions is his defense. Boozer can’t protect the rim, and he might also struggle on the perimeter in the NBA. Very rarely do you see multiple bigs on the floor that can’t handle and shoot. There will also be coaches that will challenge Boozer by forcing him to defend more agile 3s and 4s. It will be fascinating to see how Boozer handles those matchups. If he does well, then he’s the type of player that can contribute to championship-level basketball, maybe even be the leader of a championship team. If he can’t, then he becomes a liability come playoff time. A team deciding to make Boozer their franchise player is betting that Boozer can figure that element of his game out. And if there’s one thing we know about Boozer, he figures out how to win wherever he plays, there’s no reason to think he can’t do that in the NBA.

At FanDuel, Boozer is +1500 to go #1, but you never know if a GM makes a surprise decision and changes the entire layout of the draft. Could Utah make an unexpected move for Cam Boozer at #2? We’ll find out on June 23rd.

Whenever a new set of rules is adopted by a league, like the NBA’s new anti-tanking draft lottery, there will always be unintended consequences.

Now, when the system is as absurd as the one implemented by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, there’s going to be lots and lots of those types of ripple effects.

Last week, the league adopted a new draft lottery system that flattened odds overall and will punish teams for both being really bad and for being bad for a consecutive number of years. In doing that, it also brings play-in teams into the equation, increasing their odds of earning a top pick in the draft now.

For example, last year, the Hornets lost the second play-in game, landing in the 14th spot in the lottery. Subsequently, they had a 2.4% chance of moving into the top four and a 0.5% chance at the No. 1 pick. Under the new rules, which go into effect next season, the team in the 14th spot in the lottery now has a 2.7% chance at the first pick.

However, importantly, all 16 picks will be drawn now instead of just the top four with the remainder of the lottery sorted by record. So, a team could make the play-in, lose, and end up with a top pick in the draft all in the span of a couple of months.

By nature, those unintended consequences won’t be known until teams start operating under the new rules and find the loopholes. We’ve already started to see them as teams read the rules, most notably in that teams can not have top-five picks even if they own another team’s pick.

To provide another example, the Nets own the Nuggets’ 2032 first round pick. If Brooklyn picked in the top five in the 2030 and 2031 drafts but has things figured out while Denver stinks and would provide them another top-five pick, the Nets will not be allowed to pick in the top five even though it’s not their own pick.

Great work, Adam Silver.

More of these types of details will be found out moving forward, but an unintended result of all this could be the freedom with which picks are traded. If a team can so easily move into a top pick despite being a middling team, the calculation for making a deal changes.

No longer is a team that is going to be battling for the play-in trading a straightforward late-lottery pick. The odds and format will change things. Unless you’re a team with a clear direction, then second-guessing is going to come into play now.

And that could help the Lakers.

LA is not second-guessing about their future. They have a north star in Luka Dončić and a clear path to contention every year. They also have draft picks to trade and a roster that needs reshaping. There should be no hesitation on their end to go and find upgrades.

Teams might see the new lottery odds, realize how injuries could derail a season and decide to take the risk on a future Lakers pick. At the same time, if the other teams aren’t as willing to make those deals, then the picks could

If they enter the offseason with aggression and other teams enter with doubts of risking a potential top pick in the draft, could LA actually take advantage of those unintended consequences of the new lottery rules?

The inverse could also be true. Will Oklahoma City see the same value in having a host of draft picks if they can’t routinely make them top-five picks? The same goes for San Antonio.

And if the trade market is barren for draft picks, will those teams feel more eager to pull the trigger?

The Lakers find themselves at an interesting crossroads. The league just changed how the draft works, ahead of an offseason in which the Lakers have made it clear for years that they’ll have multiple draft picks to trade.

Is it a change that improves their ability to build a contender this summer? Or could there be other unintended consequences that shake things up?

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

Another NBA Finals opens in San Antonio.

Mike Brown was on the bench — in what is now known as the Frost Bank Center — with Gregg Popovich during the 2003 NBA Finals, serving as a young assistant in the title series against the Nets, which ended with a parade along the San Antonio River.

Four years later, Brown was a second-year head coach with a 22-year-old superstar (LeBron James), attempting to lead the Cavaliers to an upset of Tim Duncan’s Spurs.

Now, Brown, 56, is heading back to a city where his family still resides, needing to defeat the friends and the franchise that helped catapult his career to claim his first championship as a head coach.

“They definitely want to beat me and I want to kick their ass,” Brown said following Sunday’s practice. “You love ’em and you can always love ’em before and after … I got ties to San Antonio and you appreciate the people, you appreciate the journey and all that other stuff. But at the end of the day, just like they want to beat you, you definitely want to beat them.”

Brown was a hard-working but relatively inexperienced 30-year-old when he arrived in San Antonio, where he’d spend three years (2000-03) as an assistant who designed thorough scouting reports and color-coded practice itineraries.

Popovich (the five-time title-winning head coach who serves as the Spurs’ president of basketball operations) became a trusted mentor and close friend.

After Brown was fired as a head coach for the third time in 2014, Popovich helped convince him to unofficially end his coaching sabbatical by offering him a role as a volunteer consultant for the Spurs, giving Brown an open invitation to attend every game, practice and meeting he desired.

Brown, who had recently gone through a divorce, took up part-time residence in San Antonio — sleeping in a double bed, beneath a Spiderman poster, in the former bedroom of Danny Ferry’s son — and spent more than half a season with the Spurs, helping the coach he could never properly repay.

“The job that he’s done, not only on the court with that team and the organization, but off the court too, is gonna be imprinted as long as the game of basketball exists,” Brown said. “He still has a huge presence. He’ll always have a presence. His presence is very much felt all the time.”I’ve got a lot of respect for the organization for a lot of different reasons. I worked there, having an opportunity to work there and being part of a championship there and my family being down there too reminds me of good times.”

Through the Knicks’ first eight postseason games, there was no player who was more valuable than OG Anunoby.

In the NBA Finals, he may be Mike Brown’s most important player again.

While Anunoby will be counted on to continue his career-best postseason run — ranking second on the team with 19.7 points while shooting 57.7 percent from the field (48.3 percent on 3-pointers) — it may be the 28-year-old’s defense that determines whether the Knicks will end their 53-year title drought.

Anunoby is expected to spend significant time matched up with San Antonio’s 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama, and the 6-7 wing’s previous encounters with the French superstar offer hope that the Knicks can limit the damage done by the former No. 1 overall pick.

Among players who have served as the primary defender on at least 100 possessions against Wembanyama, Anunoby has allowed the fewest points per possession, bothering the Spurs big man with his 7-2 wingspan, physicality and athleticism.

“OG is an extremely versatile guard, and you know, the luxury of having a guy like that is he’s long enough, athletic enough, strong enough to guard quick, smaller guys, he’s obviously got the size and athleticism to guard big wings, and then he’s got the strength and the length and the intelligence to guard bigger guys,” Brown said Sunday. “So having a guy like that gives us a ton of versatility to be able to move him around, knowing that he can adapt, slash, adjust, or whatever you want to call it, on the fly.”

Wembanyama — the first unanimous NBA Defensive Player of the Year — will create countless issues for the Knicks as a rim protector, but the 22-year-old’s offensive impact has seen him ping-pong between being the best player in the world and a passive observer.

In San Antonio’s postseason wins, Wembanyama has averaged 27.9 points and 12.1 rebounds while shooting 55.3 percent from the field and 46.3 percent on 3-pointers.

In the Spurs’ losses, he has posted 14.5 points and 8.3 rebounds, shooting 39.4 percent from the field and 18.5 percent on 3-pointers.

It is the biggest test of Anunoby’s career, the greatest opportunity to prove he deserved better than a selection to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team.

“[The voters] were wrong,” Brown said. “He should have been First Team All-Defense because of his versatility. And it’s shown throughout the course of the most important time during the year, which is the playoffs, and it will continue to show going into the Finals.”

Josh Hart has a unique take on potentially being defended by Spurs unicorn Victor Wembanyama.

“That’s the only unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, so that’s a pretty good sign for me, right?” Hart said Sunday after practice. “That means I’m a pretty good basketball player.”

Hart was somewhat joking, knowing if the Spurs do in fact put the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama on him, the intent is to allow the big man to roam, cut off the paint and protect the rim.

It’s up to Hart to make them pay from beyond the arc.

Other playoff opponents have defended him in a similar fashion, and during the regular season the Spurs used Wembanyama on Hart for large stretches too.

“For me, it’s shoot the ball with confidence. Or be quick to make other plays — dribble handoff, stuff like that,” Hart said. “If he’s down the floor, that’s my [job] to get [Jalen Brunson] open looks, [Mikal Bridges] open looks, [Karl-Anthony Towns] open looks. It’s not different in terms of anything I’ve seen before. I’m comfortable making those plays.”

It has been a strong postseason for the gritty Hart.

He is averaging 11.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.8 steals in 33 minutes.

---

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

---

His 3-point shot has been inconsistent, Hart shooting it at a 30.3 percent clip on 4.7 attempts.

But he has been better of late.

In the last five games, he is 13-for-32 from distance.

“Any time a team does that, like Cleveland — Cleveland put their big on Josh and Josh won us a game doing it,” coach Mike Brown said. “I’ll tell you Josh works very, very hard on his shooting and playmaking because he knows that he gets guarded by centers, and my message to Josh is, ‘Let it fly, let it fly, let it fly,’ because we believe in it.

“So we know that they’re probably going to come in and put their center on Josh, and if Wemby’s down the floor and that ball gets swung to Josh, first of all, he’s a great decision-maker. But secondly, if he’s open, his feet are set, we want him to let that thing fly.”

The Los Angeles Clippers don’t necessarily have to hit the reset button after a mediocre 2025-26 season but will need to make the right decisions to replenish their roster for the future.

The Clippers will enter the NBA draft with the fifth overall pick on Tuesday, June 23.

It's the franchise’s lowest draft selection since picking Oklahoma's Blake Griffin with the No. 1 overall pick in 2009.

The Clippers likely will consider a guard with their first-round pick.

Even though the team acquired guard Darius Garland before the trade deadline during the season, the Clippers will consider their options from a guard-heavy list of draft prospects.

A forward could also be considered despite Kawhi Leonard’s likely return to the Clippers.

There’s still a chance that Leonard could be moved, but interested teams would have to be willing to make a trade offer and look past any potential punishment by the NBA for Leonard and the Clippers for their alleged involvement in a “no-show” agreement with a company to funnel extra compensation to the player.

L.A. Clippers experts' mock draft selections

USA TODAY Sports: Kingston Flemings, Houston, guard

CBS Sports: Keaton Wagler, Illinois, guard

ESPN: Keaton Wagler, Illinois, guard

Bleacher Report: Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas, guard

NBAdraft.net: Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas, guard

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clippers mock draft: LA gets rising star in latest version

So, you saw the title above. Why ask it?

We live in a world which is human. Things happen in life. Maybe Monumental Basketball President or Washington Wizards General Manager Will Dawkins have a change of heart and pick someone not named AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer or Caleb Wilson. What does it mean, and why?

According to FanDuel’s draft odds, the Wizards will almost definitely draft one of the aforementioned “Fantastic Four.” But if none of the four are picked at No. 1 (and we’re assuming the Wizards will keep the pick), why? THAT would be the shocker.

Well, we’re going to just keep it straight. Here’s why:

1. Maybe a prospect outside of these four impresses Winger and Dawkins so much that they believe he is the future. That would be a high risk move that would either make the two look like geniuses or get them fired in a couple seasons.
2. Maybe all four players are adamantly against playing in Washington and the Wizards don’t see a favorable trade opportunity involving the pick so they keep it.
3. And players are human. We sometimes forget that. No one wishes injury, but what if we live in a world where at least some of these prospects are found to be unable to play professionally due to a condition? Isaiah Austin of Baylor comes to mind back around the 2014 NBA Draft.

So yeah, when it comes to this No. 1 pick, the Wizards aren’t looking to be “smarter than everyone else.” They want a safe bet as a potential franchise player, especially after a prolonged period of tanking. So my prediction on who the Wizards will pick? Since death and taxes are the only guarantees in life, seeing a “Fantastic Four” prospect representing the DMV this fall is pretty damn close to those two guarantees.

You’ll notice a trend in these homages to Golden State Warriors players best nights from last season. Many of them came with the team in injury shambles.

This entry into the series is about Quinten Post answering the call. There is a version of Post’s career where December 8 never happens. Where the Warriors keep him in Santa Cruz , bring him along in small doses, protect him from moments that are too big too fast, and let him develop on a schedule that makes everyone comfortable.

The Warriors weren’t supposed to discover anything that night other thn survival. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Al Horford were out. The Chicago Bulls were coming into Chase Center expecting a soft landing against a short-handed roster, and by every reasonable measure, Golden State was the kind of team you schedule when you need to get right. But in reality the Dubs won 123-91 and never trailed, and the most important thing that happened had nothing to do with the final score.

Post made threes on the team’s second and third possessions of the game, as if he wanted to establish immediately that this was not going to be a polite, careful, let-me-find-my-footing kind of night. He finished with 19 points on five threes in 26 minutes, and somewhere in the middle of all of it, he attempted a through-the-legs pass while setting a screen that had no business being as smooth as it was.Young players trying to survive in the NBA don’t attempt passes like that. Players who believe they belong do.

The box score tells one story. But anyone watching that night understood they were seeing something else: a player stamping his arrival in the way that competent people do when they stop waiting to be introduced and just start working.

The defense is what separates this performance from a hot shooting night and puts it in this series. Post was asked to carry a heavier defensive load without Horford and Green to cover for him, and he met that challenge by making Nikola Vucevic, a multiple All-Star center, look confused for most of the evening.

Vucevic kept finding bodies where he expected space. Drives turned into kickouts. Post’s contests appeared a split second sooner than Chicago expected. Possession after possession, the Bulls discovered that attacking the rookie wasn’t producing the results they thought it would. He held Vucevic to nine points on 13 shot attempts, and that defensive performance might have been even better than the offense.

I’m taking Quinten Post vs the Bulls over any other player in NBA History

— WarriorsMuse (@WarriorsMuse) February 9, 2025

If you want to point to a night that shows what QP is capable of when the chips are stacked agains this squad, look no further than that big December win against the Bulls despite missing hall-of-famers.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The New York Knicks have certainly waited long enough. The Eastern Conference champions will end up with 10 full days off before they face the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, compared to just three for the Western Conference champions.

Plenty will wonder if that rest will lead to rust for New York, but logic expects more fatigue to show up for San Antonio than anything else.

And that edge, however short-lived and intangible, could prove crucial for the Knicks in the NBA Finals beginning on Wednesday, June 3.

Before diving into our NBA picks, let's take a look at the latest Knicks vs. Spurs NBA Finals odds, including the series price, spread, and total games markets.

Knicks vs Spurs NBA Finals predictions

Odds as of 5-31. 

Knicks vs Spurs series odds

Some lookahead lines expected the San Antonio Spurs to be -225 favorites if they won the West, leaving the New York Knicks at about +185. They also suggested the Knicks would be better cast as a +2.5 underdog in the series odds rather than a +1.5 underdog.

But now that San Antonio escaped the West, it is only a -210 favorite. That may not be much of a move, but cutting the Knicks’ odds to +175 is still more than a 5% move.

For that matter, odds are somewhat heavily set expecting a seven-game series. As a 1.5-game underdog, New York is juiced to -130.

Then why is the series total heavily juiced to -250 on the Under 6.5 games? That difference effectively sums up the chance of the Knicks winning the series. If they do, it is unlikely to be on the road in a Game 7, even if that is the exact path the Spurs just took to slip by the Thunder.

Knicks vs Spurs series preview

Statistical Breakdown

It becomes difficult to compare postseason résumés. The Knicks not only faced lesser competition — they did, no one needs to waste time arguing this fact — they also so laughed at that competition that it further skews any view of the Eastern Conference.

But it is worth noting that New York has shot 40.0% from beyond the arc in 14 postseason games, the best mark in the NBA, while also giving up only 30.5% from beyond the arc, also the best mark in the NBA.

It may seem overly simple to highlight that stat, but this is a make-or-miss league. And if the Spurs’ youth cannot find quality shots against the Knicks’ perimeter defense, that could prove decisive.

Unsurprisingly, given they both reached the NBA Finals, these are the two best defensive ratings in the postseason and two of the three best offensive ratings.

How the Spurs will win

In short, Victor Wembanyama.

San Antonio is deeper than New York, though at this point in the postseason, both teams should ride with the horses that got them here, and one of the greatest perks of a deeper rotation is the comfort in getting out in transition.

The Spurs turned over the Thunder with an abundance, an otherwise rather rare occurrence, and then San Antonio raced downcourt, capped by Devin Vassell’s Game 7-ending dunk. That should be especially effective when Wembanyama plays a role in transition, given Karl-Anthony Towns has long struggled in transition defense.

But beyond that, how will Jalen Brunson thrive when facing Wembanyama at the hoop? Brunson’s deep shooting has trailed off in the postseason; he wrecked the Cavaliers by getting into the paint and the midrange. Those shots should be too often obscured by Wembanyama’s long reach.

How will the Spurs win? We all know the answer. Wemby.

How the Knicks will win

Defense and experience.

New York has continued to play a relentless defense in the post-Tom Thibodeau era. That is almost a default when you have both OG Anunoby and Josh Hart in your starting lineup. If they can stifle Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, suddenly, Wembanyama may not be enough scoring for San Antonio.

And the more pressure the Knicks can dump onto Castle and Harper, the better. This may be Wembanyama’s first playoff run, but he has seen plenty of high-pressure moments in his international and European careers. But Castle and Harper are still so young — and with due respect to Castle’s NCAA title with UConn — this is entirely new ground for them.

Harper could not get Rutgers into the NCAA Tournament last year. Could Madison Square Garden now rattle him? Not to be dramatic, but yes, it absolutely could.

Meanwhile, the Knicks are packed with veterans who should meet this moment. Because of one towering Frenchman, these rosters may appear lopsided, but some deference should be given to New York’s experience.

Knicks vs Spurs series props

Victor Wembanyama Finals MVP

-185 at bet365

That is a lot of juice, but the Spurs are -210 favorites for a reason, and if they do indeed win their first title without Tim Duncan, it will be because of another No. 1 pick manning the paint.

Presume Wembanyma has a relatively pedestrian series, at least by his standards. In 17 postseason games, he has averaged 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 3.5 blocks per game. Those are, indeed, Finals MVP numbers.

The better question may be wondering how San Antonio could win the Finals without Wembanyama being named MVP. Find the gap between this -185 price and the -210 series price.

Perhaps Jalen Brunson (+210) would average 35 points through the series and still lose? Or Stephon Castle (+5000) may average double-digit assists, sitting at 6.7 per game this postseason and 7.6 in the Western Conference Finals.

Those both seem rather unlikely. If thinking about betting the Spurs to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy, your smarter move would be to simply bet Wembanyama to win the Finals MVP.

When will series finish: Game 6

Speaking of Wembanyama in a starring role, FIFA and the World Cup organizers are thrilled the Spurs advanced to the NBA Finals. Game 6 in Madison Square Garden will tip off mere hours after France’s World Cup debut … in New Jersey.

World Cup games typically take about two hours, right? Certainly in group play. France should thus beat Senegal at about 5 ET on June 16 in the Meadowlands, and Game 6 will tip off at 8:30 ET. Traffic and chaos may make that a tighter commute than ideal, but expect plenty of French fans in the stands cheering on Victor Wembanyama.

Game 7 actually has the shortest odds in this consideration at +205, but the French aspect of Game 6 lends some value to thinking Wemby could win his first ring on the road, but also in front of favorable fans.

Karl Anthony Towns — Most threes made

+500 at bet365

The question with Karl-Anthony Towns has always been how many 3-pointers will he take, not how many of them will he make. Poor shooting spells have been distinctly rare throughout Towns’s career.

Perhaps more than ever, New York needs Towns to shoot with volume. Doing so is the Knicks’ best hope of pulling Wembanyama away from the rim.

Put Towns and Jalen Brunson into pick-and-rolls. If Wembanyama knows Towns is ready to pop from deep, he may have to play aggressively on the perimeter, giving Brunson a needed moment to find a crease.

Towns has shot 48.9% from deep this postseason. Shoot, big fella. Taking 3.2 per game will not be enough, though that number has absolutely been deflated by the Knicks’ penchant for blowouts in their last 10 games.

Shoot six or seven times from deep each game. Make three per game. That may be New York’s best offensive approach.

Best Bet

Knicks to win Game 1 & lose series 

+475 at bet3365

Parlaying these two items, with very rough math, would argue for a price closer to +300. Of course, as soon as New York wins Game 1, the series price would drastically adjust, but not by this much.

First of all, the second round went exactly to this tune, the Timberwolves slipping by the Spurs but then losing in six games.

Second of all, this is where the Knicks’ rest advantage should be most prevalent. Their Game 1 moneyline is +170; expect Game 2 to be closer to +200 no matter the Game 1 result.

This prop’s price is too high, and Game 1 is New York’s best chance at turning the series sideways. The Knicks should empty the proverbial chamber on Wednesday, though that could then become a pyrrhic victory.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander plans to let Sam Presti cook this summer.

The two-time MVP and one-time NBA champion assures the media that he will provide no input on offseason decisions as the Thunder seek to reclaim championship status in the league following their seven-game loss to the Spurs in the Western Conference finals.

The Thunder held their exit interviews on Sunday, less than 24 hours after their season ended.

But even before that, we heard from the reigning league MVP moments after the loss to San Antonio.

“I will give zero input,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after the loss, regarding having a voice in offseason decisions. “I will let Sam Presti, the greatest GM ever, do his job.”

"I will let Sam Presti, the greatest GM ever, do his job."

Shai on the Thunder's offseason roster moves pic.twitter.com/HOwqcmE6hH

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 31, 2026

Presti and the Thunder face a more difficult offseason than they’re accustomed to, with a lot of questions looming over their summer.

OKC hasn’t had to worry about finances, but that ends this summer.

Gilgeous-Alexander will enter the final year of his rookie extension, but his veteran extension will begin in 2027-28.

SGA will make north of $40 million next season before jumping up to $61 million the season after, which is the first of a four-year, $285 million deal.

Both Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the team’s first-round picks from 2022, are both going to begin their rookie extensions this coming season.

Holmgren, who had an infamously terrible Game 7, will go from under $14 million this past season to pocketing $41.5 million next year, the first of a $239 million deal over five years.

Williams, who made $6.5 million, will earn the same deal as Holmgren after both were extended on max contracts.

The team will be up against the second apron, potentially, depending on their roster moves.

Isaiah Hartenstein ($28.5 million) and Lu Dort ($18.2 million) both have team options for next year, making their returns unlikely without some creativity from Presti and the front office.

Additionally, the team will have to make long-term decisions soon on Cason Wallace, Kenrich Williams, and eventually, Jaylin Williams, Jared McCain, and Isaiah Joe, all of whom will see their deals end between the summers of 2027 and 2028.

Alex Caruso is also entering the second year of a four-year, $81 million contract, where he’ll make $19.5 million this coming season.

The Thunder will still have the ability to consistently retool as they’ll have 14 first-round picks between 2026 and 2033, including two this year, along with 12 second-rounders.

OKC’s picks in 2026 are at No. 12, No. 17, and No. 37, respectively, and because they have so many deals they’re committed to, with the development of recent first-round picks Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber expected, the team is a prime candidate to take a swing this year, either in the draft or the trade market, or both.

Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs stand before the Knicks' first NBA title since the 1973 season after San Antonio's 111-103 Game 7 win Saturday at the Thunder dethroned reigning-champion Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals, setting the stage for a matchup that has New York laser-focused as prep begins for Wednesday's opener.

"They're a special team," Miles McBride said. "Obviously, they have a Defensive Player of the Year -- obviously, a great organization -- and they've got a lot of great young guys. So, we're just excited for this matchup."

While the Knicks exude confidence with 11 straight playoff wins and two postseason series sweeps en route to winning the Eastern Conference, the Spurs are on a run of their own after they rallied from 3-2 and won the best-of-seven set with OKC and back-to-back NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

"It's going to be tough," Mike Brown said. "They're well-coached. They have an, obviously, tremendous player in Wemby. They're quote-unquote young, to a certain degree, but they have some really good veterans on the team that kind of uplift the young guys and give the young guys a lot of guidance. So, they've got a nice mix of players on their team and they're a team that comes out really aggressive and hits first, their crowd is into it and we've just have to go make sure we try to match or exceed their physicality to start the ballgame while leaning on our standards.

"The group has been resilient the whole year and we've got to keep sacrificing, we've got to keep playing with a competitive edge, we've got to stay connected, got to keep believing in each other and what we're trying to do out on the floor and if somebody's slipping in this area, that area, we've got to make sure that we help get them back on track by holding them accountable. So, all those things are going to come into play, playing a talented, well-coached team like the Spurs."

The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama jumps off the page as the 2026 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and Western Conference Finals MVP, and New York's focus figures to start there, but the Knicks are not sleeping on the depth and balance behind him, which includes rising stars with local ties.

"They're young, athletic, physical -- they can do a little bit of everything," Josh Hart said, "can shoot the ball, finish at the rim, defend at a high level. So, obviously, Wemby's going to get a lot of attention in terms of game plan and media and that, but you can't sleep on guys like De'Aaron (Fox) or (Stephon) Castle, (Dylan) Harper, (Julian) Champagnie because if you do that, it's going to be a long series. So, we've got to give those guys the respect that they deserve and come out focused."

The NBA Finals are set. Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs will face off against Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks in a finals that will break historic NBA clichés. Either an inexperienced team will prove you don’t need experience to win a title, or that you can win a championship with a small guard that isn’t the greatest shooter of all-time (Steph Curry) leading your team in the modern NBA. Can’t forget about those Bad Boy Pistons of course!

No matter the income, a former Phoenix Sun will be victorious and win their first NBA title for the first time since Ish Smith did it with the Denver Nuggets in 2023.

If the Spurs win, Bismack Biyombo, who played on the Suns from 2022-2023, will get a ring, as will Mason Plumlee, who was on the team in 2024-25. If the Knicks win, both Landry Shamet, who was on the Suns from 2021-2023, and Mikal Bridges, who started his career in Phoenix in 2018 until he was traded for Kevin Durant in the franchise-altering deal in 2023, will get a ring. Biyombo, Shamet, and Bridges were all members of the franchise’s most successful regular season in team history, the 2021-2022 season, where Phoenix had the best record in the league and went 64-18.

Bridges, who started alongside Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Jae Crowder, and Deandre Ayton as a part of the 2021 Finals squad, had his best year as a member of the Suns in the 2021-2022 season, averaging 14 points per game on 53% shooting from the field and 37% from deep, and received All-Defensive First Team honors. Bridges didn’t miss a single game during his time as a Sun and holds the longest active streak for most games played in the NBA.

Shamet, playing a reserve role, mostly came off the bench for the team in his two seasons. The best moment of his Phoenix career came in the 2022-2023 campaign in the Western Conference Semifinals, where he hit five threes in Game 4 and scored 19 to help the Suns tie the eventual NBA Champion Nuggets 2-2 through four games.

Biyombo appeared in just 97 total regular-season games for the team over his two years, filling the role of third-string center, filling in mostly when the team was dealing with injuries or was shorthanded after the Durant trade. And Mason Plumlee had the shortest stint of them all, starting 21 of his 74 games while with the Suns. Although he was known to get into a scuffle or two.

Steven Adams and Mason Plumlee have both been ejected.

pic.twitter.com/6vFPo6kr5dhttps://t.co/xcTwpLcKuM

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 13, 2025

Whether the Knicks win and Shamet and Bridges are champs, or the Spurs do and Biyombo and Plumlee are, a former Phoenix Sun will have helped hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time in a few years. The Finals start Wednesday, June 3rd, at 5:30 Arizona Time on ABC.

Cameron Boozer is one of the most NBA-ready players in the Draft. At 18, he has the build and height of Karl Malone, standing 6’9” in his gym socks and weighing in at an imposing 253 lbs. He averaged 22.7 points and 10.1 rebounds a game in a grueling ACC and March Madness schedule, starting all 38 games as a freshman. Through it all he brought consistency and maturity beyond his years and displayed an SGA-like demeanor. As his coach, Jon Scheyer, noted, “[Cameron] bring[s] it every day…bring[s] the same energy, the same preparation, regardless of what just happened…[H]e’s coming back the same way, [with the] same mentality…to dominate in every aspect” (Brian Stultz, Duke Wire, 2/27/2026).

This should be music to every Jazz fan’s tired ears. This kind of consistency and dominant confidence is largely the opposite of what we’ve watched over the last two seasons. Throw in the family connection to the Utah Jazz, with Cameron’s father, Carlos, spending six seasons playing with the Jazz and returning as a scout in the team’s front office last year, and it raises the hope that Boozer Jr. will stick around longer than just the length of his rookie contract.

Detractors (I hear you) will say, “Yes, that’s fine, but he’s not the most athletic prospect.” Admittedly, Cameron will face some challenges, especially on the defensive end, matching up against more athletic bigs. But if the Jazz are going to rebound from two of the worst seasons in their history, it will take more than highlight reels. It will take consistency, buy-in, and a super-charged work ethic, all of which Boozer has in spades. He’s the kind of player who does whatever it takes to help his team win. While carrying the scoring and rebounding load for Duke last year, for example, he also made his teammates better, dishing out a team high 4.1 assists per game.

All well and good, (you say), but don’t the Jazz have a lot of forwards already? Wouldn’t adding a dynamic guard like Darryn Peterson be a better fit? Sometimes putting too much emphasis on fit stops teams from taking the best player available. Great players find ways to make an impact and demand minutes. Look at Dylan Harper, the number two pick in last year’s draft. He was chosen by the Spurs, a guard heavy team with De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell standing in the way of him playing significant minutes. But Harper has played himself into being a significant part of the rotation, averaging almost 26 minutes a game in the Playoffs. As a bruiser in the paint who can wear down opposing defenses, consistently score and grab rebounds, and open up the court for his teammates, I can see Boozer carving out an important role for himself as the Jazz set their sights on post season success.

As far as NBA comparisons, Alex Golden of SI compares Boozer to a young Kevin Love or Al Horford. Not the sexiest evaluation perhaps, but consider what these two veterans achieved in their careers. Both are NBA Champions, Love with the Cavs and Horford with the Celtics. Both flirted with double doubles in points and rebounds early in their careers, are known as great team players and adapted their skill sets to the needs of their teams. And if the Jazz draft Boozer, he would have the benefit of learning from Kevin Love himself, as well as veterans like Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic.

Considering the skills and physical attributes Boozer already has as an eighteen-year-old, his ceiling is understandably high. A current player comparison may be Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic or Alperen Sengun of the Rockets, who have similar builds and imposing skill sets, and are still ascending in their own right. We have to go back a few years to find Jazz comparisons: Paul Millsap and Carlos Boozer, who played for the Jazz the last time they reached the Western Conference Finals in the 2006-2007 season. Of course, if we want to push the ceiling up to Sistine Chapel proportions, we could mention the greatest power forward in Utah Jazz history, who delivered 18.7 points and 9.3 rebounds a game at Louisiana Tech before being drafted 13th by the Jazz in 1985. Whatever Cameron Boozer’s ceiling turns out to be, let’s hope that if the team does draft him with the second pick, he, like the Mailman, will get to reach that ceiling in a Jazz uniform.

The San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks will face off to decide who becomes the new NBA champion in a reedition of the 1999 Finals. This time, it will be Victor Wembanyama and a young supporting cast trying to win their first ring instead of Tim Duncan and David Robinson for the Silver and Black, and Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns will be the ones hoping to deliver the first title since 1973 for their franchise.

While the betting markets slightly favor the Spurs, the Knicks are a formidable opponent that has destroyed everyone in their path this postseason. They have outscored opponents by almost 20 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs, an absurd amount, in large part thanks to their rock-solid starting lineup and the unstoppable scoring of Brunson.

San Antonio has faced tougher opposition, none harder than the reigning champions, the Thunder, but it has also been dominant. Wembanyama has been historically impressive on defense and has answered the call in big games while their guard trio continues to look like a two-way force. It should be a great matchup between the two best teams of their respective conferences.

NBA Finals schedule

Mark your calendars 📅

The official schedule of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs!

Game 1: Wednesday, June 3 at 8:30pm/et on ABC pic.twitter.com/efQTxikDHT

— NBA (@NBA) May 31, 2026

Game 1: Wednesday, June 3, 7:30 p.m. CT at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

Game 2: Friday, June 5, 7:30 p.m. CT at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

Game 3: Monday, June 8, 7:30 p.m. CT at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Game 4: Wednesday, June 10, 7:30 p.m. CT at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Game 5: Saturday, June 13, 7:30 p.m. CT at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio*.

Game 6: Tuesday, June 16, 7:30 p.m. CT at Madison Square Garden in New York*.

Game 7: Friday, June 19, 7:30 p.m CT at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio*.

*If necessary.

The Spurs have homecourt advantage after finishing with 62 wins to the Knicks’ 53 in the regular season.

There will be two days between Games 2 and 3, and for the rest of the way after Game 4, to account for travel time. The extra day of rest could have big implications for both teams, as they rely on a short rotation.

How to watch the NBA Finals

ABC will be in charge of broadcasting all games. League Pass will also broadcast the games, but regional restrictions apply, so make sure to check for blackouts in your area.

Serious question: are the Sacramento Kings a basketball franchise right now or postgraduate NBA talent pipeline? Have we realized that they at one point had and let go of Tyrese Haliburton (NBA Finals last year), De’Aaron Fox, Mike Brown, and Harrison Barnes (all in the NBA Finals this year)?

In Sactown, players arrive with potential and coaches arrive with ideas. Then they leave scorned with a chip on their shoulder to get their championship credentials with someone else’s logo on their chest.

This isn’t a eulogy for Fox or Mike Brown. It isn’t even really about Tyrese Haliburton, though we’ll get there. This is about a franchise that keeps finding the right people at exactly the wrong time, in exactly the wrong environment, and then watching those people walk out the door and become who Sacramento always needed them to be.

The indictment isn’t that Sacramento drafted badly; no,they found the right ones. They just consistently created conditions that made leaving feel like the only logical next move.

back to back finals appearances oh sacramento 💔 pic.twitter.com/TnqKtmPcHX

— cj (@wsgadIibs) May 31, 2026

Start with Haliburton. The Kings traded him to Indiana for Domantas Sabonis in February 2022, a deal that at the time made a certain kind of front-office sense. Sabonis came, helped Sacramento end a 16-year playoff drought, and delivered the franchise’s best season in nearly two decades. The Kings won 48 games in 2022-23, earned the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed, and for one genuinely beautiful moment looked like they were next.

Then they ran into the Warriors and lost in 7 games. At the time, it felt like a painful but necessary lesson. Young teams lose before they win. Michael Jordan went through Detroit. Stephen Curry went through L.A. and San Antonio. Sacramento looked like a team taking its first punch on the road to something bigger. It turns out that wasn’t the beginning unfortunately. The Kings spent the next two years proving that Golden State wasn’t the cause of the problem. The Warriors were just the messenger.

Because while Sacramento was losing to Golden State, Haliburton was quietly becoming one of the most clutch players in the league. He made four game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in a single postseason. Every time the Kings lost three straight, Haliburton highlights started circulating like a seasonal allergy. Every fourth-quarter collapse came with a fresh round of “remember when they traded him?” discourse. Sacramento couldn’t escape him because Indiana kept winning and Haliburton kept looking like exactly the kind of star you spend a decade trying to find, only to trade him for the guy who was supposed to be the safer bet.

Then it got worse. Mike Brown was fired on December 27, 2024, after the Kings stumbled to a 13-18 start. Six weeks later, Fox was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in a three-team deal that returned Zach LaVine. That’s what Sacramento decided a 28-year-old All-Star point guard was worth after helping drag the franchise out of a 16-year drought.

It all started with bizarre negotiations between the Kings and Mike Brown after they missed the playoffs in ‘24.

Felt like they were so shell-shocked from being the 3 seed in ‘23 to losing the play-in, Mike was blamed. Ignoring the players regressing and injuries.

In ‘25, they…

— Allen Stiles (@The_StilesFiles) May 26, 2026

One year later, in a cruel twist, Fox/Barnes and Brown are both going to the NBA Finals as opponents. Fox and Barnes in San Antonio, surrounded by Victor Wembanyama and a cast of young stars, having helped stun the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a Game 7 road environment that would have broken a less resilient group. Brown is in New York, coaching the Knicks to their first Finals appearance since 1999, eleven wins deep into a run that has looked remarkably composed for a team everyone counted out.

Somewhere over the next few weeks, someone from that ex-Kings group is going to stand on a stage holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Kings fans will see a former coach and a former franchise player and another June spent imagining alternate timelines. The cruelest part is that neither outcome will feel surprising.

Some franchises build champions, but good ol’ Sacramento just keeps writing recommendation letters.