CLEVELAND, OHIO - MARCH 24: Head coach Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers talks with Donovan Mitchell #45 during the first half against the Orlando Magic at Rocket Arena on March 24, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
INDEPENDENCE — The Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled to stay healthy all season. This has led to them having 41 different starting lineup combinations and just three players participating in 65 or more games. For context, a team like the Boston Celtics had 23 different starting lineup combinations and nine players available for 65 or more gams.
Fortunately for the Cavaliers, things are trending in the right direction heading into the start of the playoffs on Saturday. Head coach Kenny Atkinson confirmed that 14 of the team’s 15 players were full participants in what Atkinson described as a “real practice.” That includes Jarrett Allen (knee), Donovan Mitchell (ankle), and Sam Merrill (hamstring), who were on the injury report late in the regular season.
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The one player who wasn’t a full participant was Thomas Bryant. He was still able to do some on-court work. Atkinson noted that he was “surprisingly ahead of schedule” with the calf injury he’s been dealing with.
Being healthy has allowed them to focus on one of the most important aspects of succeeding in the playoffs, and one of the things that let them down last postseason: Conditioning.
Conditioning has been an overarching focus of practice this week. The Cavs want to be prepared to take on a Toronto Raptors team that plays at one of the fastest paces in the league. They’ve done circuit training with the VersaClimber to get ready for playoff intensity. However, that preparation didn’t just start this week. It’s been a focus for this group for almost a year.
“It wasn’t just about yesterday’s [circuit training],” Atkinson said. “It’s about June and July. We’ve done a lot of things in the offseason and in-season to be ready for the intensity and physicality. It’s going to be a big part of this series.”
When the Lakers begin their opening-round playoff series against the Rockets Saturday, they will be without Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, both working their way back from injury.
Consequently, DraftKings Sportsbook has the Rockets priced as -600 favorites heading into the first round of the postseason. LeBron James and the Lakers are 90:1 to win the Western Conference and 150:1 to win the NBA Finals as of this writing.
Are the Lakers completely without hope, though? Using FTN’s Stats & Charting, let’s take a look at their roster to see if there is any reason to think they could make some noise during these playoffs.
Can LeBron James turn back the clock?
During the regular season, LeBron James averaged 29.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 10.4 assists per 36 minutes with Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves off of the floor. In the past month, James has a +2.6% Field Goal Percentage Over Expectation and has scored +0.7 Points Over Expectation, indicating that he’s still been performing at a high level.
Following the All-Star break, the Lakers were 8.4 points better per 100 possessions with James on the court, compared to when he was on the bench – offering further evidence that he’s still capable of turning back the clock.
What does the supporting cast look like?
In five games following the injury to Luka, the Lakers relied on Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton and Luke Kennard for more contributions on the offensive end of the floor.
The good news for Los Angeles is that those players performed well in an expanded role. Hachimura, who averaged 11.5 points this season, scored 16.6 points per game down the stretch. Notably, he was 7-for-10 from the field against the Thunder and shot 50% from the field against the Suns – two playoff teams. Ayton and Kennard saw similar increases in scoring while maintaining strong efficiency.
During the team’s final 3 regular season contests, Hachimura, James, and Ayton each posted an +8.0% FGOE or better.
Does Houston have a problem?
Houston was 25-15 SU and ranked fourth in the NBA in net rating during their first 40 games this season, but lost Steven Adams to injury Jan. 18. From that point, the Rockets were 27-15 SU, but they ranked only 11th in net rating.
Houston led the NBA in rebound% (55.7%) prior to Adams’ injury, but regressed slightly in that area during the second half of the campaign. They also had the seventh-worst turnover rate in basketball during that span, which diminished the potency of their offense.
The Lakers defensive rating was 1.3 points better with Doncic off of the floor following the All-Star break. It’s not impossible to think that Los Angeles could make life difficult for Houston’s offense in the opening round.
The Takeaway
The Lakers went 10-8 SU in games with Luka Dončić unavailable and 17-14 SU in games with Austin Reaves inactive during the regular season. LeBron James had his workload monitored diligently this year, hoping to keep him fresh for the most important games of the season. The level of difficulty goes up in the playoffs, but his recent production in our Stats & Charting metrics indicate that he has plenty left in the tank. If his supporting cast can continue to knock down some open shots against Houston, there is at least a little bit of hope for Lakers fans – more than the current betting odds suggest.
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The 2026 NBA Play-In Tournament continues today with two more matchups; first up, the Orlando Magic head to Philadelphia to face off with the 76ers.
Both teams finished the season with identical 45-37 records, but Philadelphia finished ahead of Orlando and captured home court advantage in today’s game by winning two out of three meetings against Orlando this season.
The last time the Magic and 76ers shared the court was back in January and ended in a 103-91 Sixers victory.
Magic vs. 76ers: what to know
What: NBA Play-In Tournament
When: April 15, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Streaming: Prime Video (try it free)
The winner of tonight’s game will advance directly into the playoff bracket as the No. 7 seed, while the loser will have another shot at the No. 8 seed against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
Magic vs. 76ers start time:
Tonight’s (April 15) Magic vs. 76ers game tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET, but pregame coverage on Prime Video will begin at 7 p.m.
How to watch Magic vs. 76ers for free:
The entire NBA Play-In Tournament, including Magic vs. 76ers, is streaming exclusively on Prime Video, so you’ll need an Amazon Prime subscription to watch the game.
If you aren’t a Prime Video subscriber yet, you can get started with a 30-day Amazon Prime free trial, including Prime perks like the Prime Video streaming service, free two-day shipping, exclusive deals, and more. After the free trial, Amazon Prime costs $14.99/month or $139/year.
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All 18- to 24-year-olds, regardless of student status, are eligible for a discounted Prime for Young Adults membership as well, with age verification. After a six-month free trial, you’ll pay 50% off the standard Prime monthly price of $14.99/month — just $7.49/month — for up to six yearsand get all the perks.
This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.
The Los Angeles Lakers are set to begin the playoffs on Saturday night against the Houston Rockets, but an early-April injury to Luka Doncic has the superstar point guard expected to miss the entire first round.
I break down the latest Luka Doncic odds and how the injury subsequently affects the Lakers’ NBA odds, which have taken a tumble as a result.
How we got here
Despite the Los Angeles Lakers catching fire following the All-Star break — including a 16-2 run in February and March — things came to a crashing halt on April 2, as Luka Doncic suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain in the third quarter of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Prior to the injury, Doncic was absolutely stuffing the stat sheet, leading the league with 33.5 points per game while averaging 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per contest.
Treatment plan
Doncic returned from Spain on Tuesday after undergoing regenerative therapy, which reportedly included stem cell injections.
Still, cutting a potential return timeline from 4–6 weeks down to 3–4 weeks would still sideline Doncic for the entire round against Houston, as even if the series went the distance, a potential Game 7 would fall well before that timeframe.
LA, we have a problem
Lakers head coach J.J. Redick addressed the media on Monday, giving the latest update on the injuries to both Doncic and star guard Austin Reaves.
“They’re out indefinitely. I’m not going to have an update for you this week. They’re out indefinitely” - JJ Redick on the injury statuses of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves pic.twitter.com/h9awcSTLcP
Despite having home-court advantage for Round 1, the Lakers are listed at +450 to win the series against Houston at bet365, and they have fallen all the way to +15000 to win the NBA Finals.
The Luka-less Lakers are currently listed as 5.5-point underdogs ahead of Saturday's Game 1 against Houston.
The NBA's Play-In Tournament might be underway, but the regular season is not a wrap. The end-of-season awards have yet to be handed out, and still there are major questions surrounding more than a few of them.
Does Victor Wembanyama deserve MVP after leading his team to an unexpected No. 2 seed in the Western Conference while playing some of the greatest defense fans have ever seen? Or should that distinction go to the reigning MVP who put together another incredible performance as one of the league's top scorers and clutch performers? Is Nickeil Alexander-Walker a shoo-in for most improved player, or can dark horses such as Deni Avdija or Jalen Duren make a push? Does Chet Holmgren have any shot at defensive player of the year?
These are the questions fans want answered, and we'll get them soon. For now, though, all we can do is look at the odds to try to figure out what will happen. Here are the odds for each of the NBA's major awards. (All odds via BetMGM.)
NBA MVP odds
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder (-5000)
Victor Wembanayama, Spurs (+2000)
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (+6600)
NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds
Victor Wembanyama, Spurs (-10000)
Chet Holmgren, Thunder (+1200)
NBA Most Improved Player odds
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Hawks (-1250)
Jalen Duren, Pistons (+800)
Deni Avdija, Trail Blazers (+6600)
Jalen Johnson, Hawks (+15000)
NBA Sixth Man of the Year odds
Keldon Johnson, Spurs (-833)
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Heat (+500)
Naz Reid, Timberwolves (+10000)
Reed Sheppard, Rockets (+10000)
Tim Hardaway Jr., Nuggets (+10000)
Ajay Mitchell, Thunder (+10000)
Isaiah Stewart, Pistons (+25000)
NBA Coach of the Year odds
Joe Mazzulla, Celtics (-150)
J.B. Bickerstaff, Pistons (+115)
Mitch Johnson, Spurs (+4000)
Charles Lee, Hornets (+25000)
Quin Snyder, Hawks (+50000)
When will NBA awards be announced?
The official timeline for the NBA's end-of-season awards has yet to be announced but should be coming soon. Last year, the first major award was announced April 21, with sixth man of the year going to Boston's Payton Pritchard. The final major award was announced more than a month later (May 22) when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took home the MVP.
The announcements for this year's awards are likely to follow a similar schedule with multiple awards being announced as the playoffs progress.
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Mitch Johnson can finally start drawing up game plans.
Following the Portland Trail Blazers’ messy 114-110 victory over the Phoenix Suns in the Play-In, Victor Wembanyama and the No. 2-seeded San Antonio Spurs are now officially set to meet Deni Avdija’s No. 8-ranked club in the Divisional Round of the NBA Playoffs.
Home games at San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center are scheduled to take place:
If you’d like to be there to see the Spurs in the postseason for the first time since 2019 during the Greg Popovich era (!), tickets are available for all four hypothetical showdowns in the Lone Star State.
At the time of publication, the lowest price we could find on seats for any one Frost Bank Center contest was $114 including fees on StubHub.
Fans hoping to catch a game at Portland’s Moda Center can snag seats for as low as $112 including fees.
Prior to this high-stakes series, the Spurs and Blazers met on April 8 in San Antonio. Although Wemby and Stephon Castle sat due to injuries, De’Aaron Fox led the charge with 25 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Keldon Johnson chipped in 20 on 8-of-15 shooting.
“We did a good job with some responses throughout a game against a very competitive team that really pushed the envelope pressuring on one end and trying to drive you on the other end,” Johnson said in a postgame press conference.
Given their lopsided records — San Antonio finished the year 62-20 to Portland’s 42-20 — and the Spurs’ taking two of three from the Blazers in the season series, oddsmakers list Wemby, Castle and Fox as “massive -2000 favorite(s) to advance, with the Trail Blazers coming in at a very long +1000.”
Still, there’s no reason for fans to rest on their laurels.
The squad can certainly use all the help they can from Spurs Jackals to ensure they advance to the Western Conference Semifinals to take on the winner of the Nuggets-Timberwolves series.
For more information, our team has everything you need to know and more about the San Antonio Spurs vs. Portland Trail Blazers 2026 Western Conference Divisional Playoff Series below.
San Antonio Spurs playoff home game tickets
A complete calendar including all announced Spurs home game dates at the Frost Bank Center and the best prices on tickets can be found here:
San Antonio Spurs home game dates
Ticket prices start at
Game One Sunday, April 19 8 p.m.
$142(including fees)
Game Two Tuesday, April 21 7 p.m.
$114(including fees)
Game Five Tuesday, April 28TBD
$159(including fees)
Game Seven Saturday, May 2 TBD
$438(including fees)
Portland Trail Blazers playoff home game tickets
All Blazers playoff home game dates at the Moda Center and the cheapest tickets available can be found below.
Portland Trail Blazers home game dates
StubHub prices start at
Game Three Friday, April 24 7:30 p.m.
$116(including fees)
Game Four Sunday, April 26 12:30 p.m.
$112(including fees)
Game Six Thursday, April 30 TBD
$147(including fees)
How to watch the Spurs and Blazers on TV
Fans hoping to catch Johnson’s club on the tube can watch all first-round playoff games on ABC, ESPN, TNT, Prime Video, NBC and NBA TV.
Just make sure to review your local listings before tuning in.
If you don’t have cable, your best bet may be DIRECTV.
About Spurs-Blazers
In 2025-26, the San Antonio Spurs went head-to-head with the Portland Trail Blazers three times.
Their first matchup went down Nov. 26, 2025 as part of the NBA Cup. San Antonio won that showdown 115-102 without Castle and Wemby once again. De’Aaron Fox went off and dropped 37 while Devin Vassell added 23.
A little over a month later, the Blazers squeaked past the Spurs 115-110 on Jan. 3. And, yes, Wemby rode the pine. No, he did not play against Portland once this season. Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan all scored over 20 to secure the win.
With a healthy Wembanyama in tow, Tiago Splitter’s squad will have to find a way to guard the 7’4″ big man. To that, we say good luck Donovan Clingan and Jerami Grant. They’ll need it.
2026 NBA playoff schedule
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OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - NOVEMBER 12: Jaxson Hayes #11 of the Los Angeles Lakers grabs the rebound during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 12, 2025 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The good news for the Lakers is that they won the regular-season series against Houston 2-1. The obvious bad news is that they’ll have to play without Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić, who are out indefinitely.
This provides the Lakers’ head coach, JJ Redick, with the difficult challenge of trying to win a playoff series without his two best players. After Lakers practice on Tuesday, he established two keys to winning the series: rebounding and turnovers.
“Again, taking care of the basketball and boxing out,” Redick said. “That’s the series. Schemes, personnel, obviously important. But if we don’t take care of the ball, we don’t box out, we’re not going to win the series. They were No. 4 in scoring opportunities, we were No. 23. We don’t have the luxury with Luka and AR out of getting killed in scoring opportunities every single game. We have to box out.
“We’re going to place an emphasis on every drill and practice. We started practice with boxing out today. You got to put it in their mind and that was literally the only thing we said about Houston today. Today was about us and having a practice and getting sharp with our stuff. Tomorrow, we’ll introduce personnel. Thursday, we’ll do our scout like we would. Friday will be a reinforcement of that scout. Saturday, we’ll be good to go. The only thing we did today was box out and take care of the ball.”
Across their three regular-season contests, the Rockets outrebounded the Lakers 130-91. In fact, the Lakers lost the rebounding battle in every single game against Houston.
That didn’t stop them from winning more than they lost, but it’s a clear weakness they’d like to fix. Especially, as Redick has mentioned, now that Dončić and Reaves are out. This makes the Lakers even smaller and takes out two players who average 12.4 rebounds per game combined.
In many ways, rebounding is a team sport. It requires focus and a collective effort to box out, so regardless of who grabs the board, it’s someone on your side. Every Laker will have to be a better rebounder, especially players like Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura, who can fluctuate from having great rebounding games to poor ones.
Beyond the rebounding, turnovers will be a key. The Lakers, being shorthanded, will have to play as close to perfect basketball as possible. LA only lost the turnover battle once in their three games against Houston, so hopefully that continues now that LeBron James and Luke Kennard will be the main ball handlers for LA.
After Tuesday’s practice, Marcus Smart discussed another x-factor that’s hard to quantify, but is still a very real part of each playoff series.
“Willpower,” Marcus Smart said. “We’re competitors. We’ve been doing this for a while. We’ve been doing it at the highest level. They’re going to try to come in and punk us and if you’re willing to allow it, you will be punked. I don’t think we have any guys that’s willing to be punked on this team. We might not be the most athletic or strongest, but we got to have heart.”
They’ll need all that heart and more to come out on top, as the Lakers are clear underdogs in this series.
Karl-Anthony Towns had an up-and-down 2025-26 season for the Knicks. While he earned his second All-Star appearance in two years with New York, he also averaged a career-low 31.0 minutes per game, and his 20.1 points per game were the lowest since his rookie season.
But speaking with reporters on Wednesday ahead of the Knicks’ first round playoff matchup with the Atlanta Hawks, Towns said that he, and the entire team, will be judged on what they do in the postseason.
“It’s great that we put ourselves in this position, to be in the playoffs in this position, but at the end of the day, the regular season doesn’t mean anything if we don’t capitalize on this opportunity,” he said.
"This is the time. We've got to go out there and we've got to execute and we've gotta capitalize on this opportunity. At the end of the day, we'll be judged on what we do on this run."
Towns’ fit and role in Mike Brown’s system has been a topic of discussion all season, but the versatile big man could be a real matchup problem for the Hawks. Towns had 36 points and 15 rebounds against Atlanta back in December, and he went for 21 points and 12 rebounds against them earlier this month.
“I’ve got to continue to impact winning and do whatever this team needs me to do or sacrifice for to get us the win, so I’m willing to do that,” he said.
“Trust my work, that’s where my confidence is built,” he later added. “It’s built when there are no lights, no cameras, no fans. Just me, the basketball and the hoop. Me and the great (assistant coach) Mark Bryant, we get to work and my confidence is built there.”
The Knicks took two out of three head-to-head matchups with the Hawks this season, but Towns knows Atlanta, who finished first in the Southeast Division this year, will provide a challenge.
“I mean, they’re a great team,” Towns said. “They’re young, they’re athletic, and they cause turnovers. So, we expected ourselves needing to be the best. We just have to continue to use those one percents every game in the regular season to be the team we want to be at this time.”
Offseason moves are another aspect of the pre-draft process that fantasy managers need to consider. New faces in new places, either via free agency or trades, significantly impact the outlooks of players, whether it's the one being moved or the teammates around him. Here are ten potential free agents (unrestricted, restricted and player or team option) whose statuses will affect fantasy basketball in 2026-27.
Harden has a player option worth just over $42.3 million for the 2026-27 season, and his time in Cleveland has been a success so far. In 26 regular-season games, with the Cavaliers going 19-7, The Beard averaged 20.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.5 blocks and 3.1 three-pointers in nearly 34 minutes.
While Harden isn't the prolific scorer that he was during his prime, he's still a capable playmaker who has shot 43.5 percent from three since joining the Cavaliers. Plus, their current rotation has a wealth of offensive options that were bound to lessen Harden's influence as a scorer. And availability has not been an issue recently, with Harden playing at least 70 regular-season games in each of the last three seasons.
G Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers
Like Harden, Reaves has a player option for next season, worth just under $15 million. Given the production, especially this season, he's due for a major payday this summer. Injuries limited Reaves to 51 appearances in 2025-26, but he was highly productive when on the floor, averaging 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.3 three-pointers in 34.5 minutes per game.
His fantasy outlook for 2026-27 will be affected by what happens with LeBron James, but last summer signaled a shift from James to Luka Dončić as the franchise's focal point. If LeBron isn't in the fold, Reaves becomes an even better fantasy prospect in Los Angeles.
C Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons
Duren essentially bet on himself going into the 2025-26 season, not agreeing to a rookie extension before the October deadline. He'll be a restricted free agent this summer, and the first-time All-Star stands to strike it rich. Duren appeared in 70 games for the Pistons, averaging 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks in 28.2 minutes. Whether you're talking about points or category leagues, Duren was a top-50 player on the team that finished the regular season with the best record in the East. He didn't have a top-50 ADP last fall; that won't be the case ahead of the 2026-27 season.
G Trae Young, Washington Wizards
Injuries limited Young to 15 games this season, five after being traded to the Wizards in January. He has a player option for next season worth just under $49 million, and remaining in Washington either on that deal or a reworked contract would significantly affect the fantasy values of multiple players. Young being in the mix eliminates most of Bub Carrington's redraft league value, and he wasn't the best option in those formats down the stretch, even with increased playing time.
Wings like Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George and Will Riley will have to take on more responsibilities defensively, but each could benefit as finishers with Young running the show. This can also be said for Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr, although there are questions regarding how those two bigs will fit alongside each other. Young will remain an early-round draft pick, regardless of league format.
F LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
James, who will turn 42 in December, has not yet decided whether he'll play next season, so we'll operate as if he's definitely playing. As an unrestricted free agent, what would his market be, with the age countering the lengthy list of achievements. Does he stay with the Lakers on a reduced deal, freeing up more money for Austin Reaves? Does James head elsewhere with designs on winning a title for a fourth different franchise? Given the skill set, he can fit in just about any system, even if the fantasy ceiling is lower than it was in seasons past.
F/C Kristaps Porziņǵis, Golden State Warriors
When healthy, Porziņǵis can be an excellent fantasy asset, especially in category leagues. However, availability is a major concern, with injuries including a lingering illness, limiting the Warriors' forward/center to 32 games this season between Golden State and Atlanta. Porziņǵis averaged 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.6 steals, 1.2 blocks and 1.7 three-pointers in 24.0 minutes per game, shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 84.2 percent from the foul line.
After entering the 2025-26 season with a Yahoo! ADP just outside of the top-50, Porziņǵis is highly unlikely to reach those heights next fall. A healthy KP can be a top-50 fantasy player, if not better, but the recent issues making a risky player to commit an early-round pick on.
C Isaiah Hartenstein, Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder will have some decisions to make this summer, as starters Hartenstein and Luguentz Dort have team options for the 2026-27 campaign. Limited to 47 games, iHart has a team option for next season worth $28.5 million. In those appearances, the 7-footer averaged 9.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks in 24.2 minutes, shooting 62.2 percent from the field and 61.0 percent from the foul line.
Hartenstein's abilities as a rebounder and facilitator make him a solid center option, especially for those punting free-throw percentage. If he were to move on this summer, Jaylin Williams is someone whose fantasy value would receive a boost if the Thunder were to stick with a two-big lineup; Cason Wallace or Ajay Mitchell would benefit if the Thunder decided to slide Jalen Williams to the four.
G Fred VanVleet, Houston Rockets
VanVleet, whose player option for next season is worth $25 million, has not played this season due to a torn ACL suffered just before the start of training camp. Unfortunately, the injury kept fantasy managers from seeing how a partnership between VanVleet and Kevin Durant would work, with the latter's offensive gravity likely making it easier for the former to find quality shots.
Even with VanVleet shooting 37.8 percent from the field in 2024-25, his lowest percentage since his rookie season, the Rockets guard was still a top-75 player in category leagues. He's capable of remaining a highly valuable guard in fantasy basketball next season, especially if playing alongside Durant.
G/F Norman Powell, Miami Heat
Powell was on a roll to begin his first season with the Heat, averaging 23.0 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting in 45 games before the All-Star break. Unfortunately, injuries limited his availability and productivity after the break, pushing the Heat wing's season-long fantasy value outside of the top-50. Powell will be an unrestricted free agent, and uncertainty in Miami may place him in a holding pattern.
Do the Heat make a run at Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is not eligible to sign an extension with the Bucks until October? If so, what would Milwaukee's asking price be? Does Powell even wait to see how that situation plays out before deciding on his future? At his best, Powell can offer excellent fantasy value, but there are some unknowns for fantasy managers to consider.
C Nikola Vučević, Boston Celtics
Vučević, who will be an unrestricted free agent, moved from a starting role to the bench when he was traded from Chicago to Boston. A fractured finger suffered in early March limited him to 16 regular-season appearances with the Celtics, with Vooch recording averages of 9.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.6 blocks and 1.1 three-pointers in 21.1 minutes. Fitting into a new rotation is never easy, and the injury did Vučević no favors. However, his fantasy value as a reserve does not come close to what he can offer when starting. And Neemias Queta's emergence makes it incredibly difficult for Vooch to start in Boston in 2026-27.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - APRIL 10: Tyrese Maxey #0 of the Philadelphia 76ers brings the ball up the court against the Indiana Pacers during the first quarter at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on April 10, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Sixers have the basketball world right where they want them: limping into the Play-In Tournament while their best player is sidelined due to injury once more. Before they host the Orlando Magic tonight in beautiful South Philadelphia, here are five thoughts I currently have involving the team…
Are the Magic falling apart?
As much as we (rightfully) clown the Sixers, Orlando might be in even worse shape.
The Ringer’s Raheem Palmer reported yesterday that “The Magic are dealing with major turmoil in their locker room with my sources saying that a star player is willing to demand a trade if the head coach Jamahl Mosley isn’t fired at the end of this season.”
This isn’t to say that Nick Nurse’s job security is iron clad in Philly in comparison, but I’ll take any semblance of discontent I can get from the Sixers’ opponent. Let’s hope they collapse in spectacular fashion in front of our eyes!
I’m nervous about the referees in this one…
The crew chief for the officials in the Sixers-Magic game? None other than Tony Brothers himself.
I’m expecting a disaster on that front that could swing the game in either direction come late in the fourth quarter.
The Sixers will go with their black throwback uniforms for all home postseason games
I have mixed feelings here. The uniform move does harken back to the last time the Sixers had concrete postseason success, but it’s a little played out and overdone, no? It’s the lone move the organization can make to give the fan base a little juice, but still!
This is why I’m always a little wary when people want beloved throwback uniforms to become a team’s primary look again. It’s about scarcity and wanting what you can’t have. The Eagles’ Kelly Green throwbacks? They’re perfect a couple times per year. This version of the Sixers’ City Edition uniforms? I give the team credit. I liked the way they incorporated them throughout the season. There can, in fact, be too much of a good thing though. They otherwise lose their pizzazz!
I’m also an old man at heart and miss when home teams almost always wore white uniforms in the NBA…
Who could be the unsung hero against Orlando?
Setting aside the likes of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Paul George, who could be the player who flips this game on its head in the Sixers’ favor?
Give me some gritty energy from Dominick Barlow! I’m going with him.
Is it better for the Sixers to be the 8th seed instead of the 7th seed?
I’ve seen some chatter about this online. I actually think, based solely on the first-round matchup, that is the case. I’d rather the Sixers take their chances against Detroit rather than facing the inevitable with a series against Boston yet again. Rooting for the Sixers to lose to Orlando in the hopes of beating Charlotte on Friday instead, however, screams tempting fate to me on top of it just being anticompetitive. “I’d rather the Sixers be in a win-or-go-home scenario” is not a sound strategy given how this franchise has long operated!
Apr 14, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) reacts against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first half during the play-in rounds of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
What is a star in the NBA? What is a superstar? How do you define and separate the two?
There’s some subjectivity to it, but the NBA gives us a baseline with its player participation policy. A “star” is someone who has been selected to an All-NBA or All-Star team within the past three seasons. By that definition, you’re looking at roughly 50 stars in the league in any given year. “Superstar” is where it shifts. That’s where this conversation begins.
In my humble opinion, the subjective definition of a superstar is someone who translates that star status into late-game productivity and postseason success. Someone who rises when the lights are brightest and the margin is tightest. In those moments, they deliver. A dagger jumper. A key defensive stop. The right read that lifts a team. And they do it consistently. At any given time, there are maybe 10 to 13 true superstars in the league. These are the ones who close, these are ones who elevate their teams when the postseason begins.
“Postseason success” doesn’t have to mean a title or even a Finals appearance. Only two teams get that chance each year. But it does mean winning games, winning series, and showing up when it matters most.
That label isn’t permanent. It’s fluid. Being a superstar five years ago doesn’t guarantee you are one today. Charles Barkley was a superstar. If he suited up now, that label wouldn’t apply. There’s a difference between “was” and “is”, and that line matters. Being a superstar isn’t easy. It carries weight. Expectations follow you every possession. The difference is, superstars meet those expectations when the moment calls for it.
Which brings me to Tuesday night, the Phoenix Suns, and Devin Booker.
The Phoenix Suns entered their first-ever Play-In matchup with home court advantage, even as they struggled over the final two months of the season. On one side, a Suns team that went 13–14 after the All-Star break. On the other, a Portland Trail Blazers group that was 15–11 over that same stretch. On the surface, it felt like two teams moving in different directions.
But the Suns had one thing that should have trumped the trends. They had Devin Booker. The best player on the floor. A bona fide star, someone who has touched superstardom, and depending on who you ask, still lives there. He’s paid like it with the ninth-highest salary in the league this season, eighth next year. So you break down the matchup, you run the numbers, you look at tendencies, and it comes back to one thing. You have the better player.
That’s not how it played out.
Because when the game tightened and it came down to execution, Portland had the better player. It was Deni Avdija who rose to the moment. He forced clutch time with a three at the 4:15 mark, pushing it to 100–97. From there, he went 2-of-2 from the field, 3-of-3 from the line, grabbed two boards, and added an assist. Of Portland’s 17 points down the stretch, he accounted for 10, either scoring or creating them.
On the other side, Booker finished 0-of-2 from the field, 3-of-4 from the line, with one assist. He accounted for five of Phoenix’s last 10 points.
Suns were up 98-87. They allowed a 27-12 run to end the game
Crunch time has been a challenge for Booker all season. Across 30 clutch opportunities, he shot 44.3% from the field, 30.8% from deep, averaged 0.98 points per minute, committed 11 turnovers, and sat at a-7. Those aren’t superstar numbers. Star, sure, but they don’t touch what superstars do.
And when you layer Tuesday night on top of that, it lingers. You can point to lineups. You can point to scheme. Tuesday brought it back to something simpler. There’s a ceiling when it comes to Devin Booker late in games, and it’s hard to ignore.
Booker is an elite jump shooter. One of the smoothest in the league. The lift, the release, and the rhythm all look effortless. But that strength can also define the limit. Because for everything he does well, he isn’t elite at getting to the rim, he isn’t elite from three, and he doesn’t consistently absorb physicality at a high level. He’s good in those areas. Not dominant. His 3.4 points per clutch performance in 2025-26 ranks 21st in the league. When the game tightens, the consistency in those areas fades. On Tuesday, it was right there.
Across from him, Deni Avdija looked different. Longer. More forceful. More committed to getting downhill. He kept applying pressure, over and over, and the Suns couldn’t stop it. That’s been his approach all season, and it translated when it mattered most. He attacked the rim, lived at the line, and made the right reads. He had 14 points in the fourth, was 4-of-5 from the field, and had 7 free throw attempts. High percentage decisions when every possession carried weight.
The Suns have no answer for Deni Avdija at the point of attack. Well, they do…they just aren't on the court
On the other end, it felt familiar. Booker working to get to his spots, trying to create space for that jumper. You’ve seen that movie before. You think back to the 2021 NBA Finals, those late-game moments where he kept searching for that same look. I still have nightmares in which Jrue Holiday is ripping the ball away from Devin Booker in the lane. It didn’t come easy then. It didn’t come easy here.
When a defense knows what’s coming and meets it with physicality and connectivity, that shot gets tougher. Booker did get to the line and he found points there. But there were no field goals made in the fourth. 0-of-3 from the field. Sigh.
That pattern has shown up too often this season, especially post-All-Star break, where Booker was 30% from the field in the clutch, 3-7 in the standings, and -30. His 2.9 points in those tight games rank 44th in the NBA. Late in games, when you need your best player to take over, he hasn’t been consistent. His 5.9 points per fourth quarter ranked 22nd in the league. And post-All-Star break, that number dropped to 5.0, which ranked 35th. His 8 turnovers are second in the NBA over that stretch, trailing only former Suns Kevin Durant.
Ya this is not what they are paying for. He needs to be better. Advija had 25 in the second half last night – 14 in the fourth quarter. Book had 3 points in the fourth all on free throws. He also played 9:21 in the fourth. Your best players have to play great to win once you get… https://t.co/aEuvBFE4zF
I keep coming back to the ceiling of Devin Booker, and by extension, the ceiling of the Suns. Booker has limits as a player. He isn’t overly tall, he isn’t long, he isn’t overwhelmingly explosive, and he doesn’t live at the line through physicality and whistles late in games. When things tighten, he doesn’t always find another gear. And when those traits aren’t there, what you go to becomes predictable. We saw it again against the Portland Trail Blazers.
That leads to the bigger question. How far can this team go when the focal point is paid like a superstar but runs into these challenges late in close games? What’s the ceiling? Add in the financial reality, $23.2 million in dead cap, and the margin tightens even more. Booker may take up 34.6% of the cap next season with his $57.1 million contract, but when you factor in that dead money, it plays closer to 40.3%. That matters. It limits flexibility. It shapes what you can build.
There’s emotion tied to all of this, and there should be. Booker is a player this fan base loves, and rightfully so. Loyalty doesn’t last long in this league. Having him here for over a decade is rare. It’s something to appreciate. When his name is called before every game, you feel it. You know why people are there. This is Booker’s city.
Longevity doesn’t create superstars, however. Superstars are defined by continual postseason success. So it’s irresponsible to treat Devin Booker as infallible or irreplaceable. You can appreciate what someone has done and still be honest about what you’re seeing. That’s sports. That’s life. That’s business.
Booker has been at the center of a team that exceeded expectations. He, individually, did not. He finished as a top-ten scorer and carries a top-ten salary, yet he still struggled late in critical games. Both are true. He hasn’t won a postseason game since May 7, 2023. In 11 seasons, how many times has this team truly felt like a championship threat? Two?
He isn’t alone in this. Plenty of players struggle late. The difference is consistency when the pressure rises. The ones who deliver in those moments earn the label. Booker isn’t there right now. He’s the face of the franchise, the player this city rallies behind, and he also had a rough night against the Portland Trail Blazers. It adds to a season where the returns haven’t matched the expectations. Multiple things can be true at once.
We entered that game believing the Suns had the best player on the floor. We left with a different feeling. Deni Avdija put up 41 to Booker’s 22 and did it by imposing his will. You can call it a one-game sample, but the broader trend pushes back on that idea. Avdija is on the rise. A star, not quite a superstar, but trending in that direction. He has multiple ways to generate points late, especially when possessions tighten.
Booker has done that in the past. We’ve seen it. But past production doesn’t guarantee present results. What you were doesn’t automatically carry over to what you are now. And it poses the question of who you want to be.
Maybe this is emotional. A reaction to a frustrating loss in a game the Suns let slip away, embarrassingly coughing up an 11-point lead late. Emotions can make smart people look stupid, right? You can’t put the loss entirely on the shoulders of Devin Booker, but there is no doubt that he needs to be better. This isn’t new, and at some point, it has to be acknowledged.
The hope is that Devin Booker responds when the season is on the line Friday. That’s the moment. That’s the opportunity. At the same time, there’s a part of you that hopes it doesn’t come down to clutch time again. Because right now, the numbers and the recent history aren’t in his favor.
The regular season is over, and the Celtics did that thing they’ve been doing for years: stacking wins, figuring things out on the fly, and somehow ending up right back in the mix heading into the playoffs. It wasn’t always clean, and it definitely wasn’t always predictable, but here they are — two months away from Banner 19 with a real path to get there in front of them.
So before things get weird (because they always do), we wanted to start with the big question: what does a championship run actually look like for this team? And just as important, what’s the version of this postseason where it all falls apart? We asked the CelticsBlog crew how they see both sides playing out.
If the Celtics win the title, how do they do it? If they don’t, what went wrong?
Jeff Clark: The Celtics win the title by doing what they’ve been doing all season. Completely buying in, playing team basketball, and trusting each other. In a weird way, the Tatum injury created opportunities for everyone to step up, which means Tatum doesn’t have to put everything on his shoulders.
Now, if they lose, I would have to imagine that another team just reached another level. There would be no shame in losing to the Thunder, Spurs, or Nuggets in the Finals. I could see the Pistons overwhelming the team with physicality and getting hot from 3. It could happen, but I like our chances against anyone.
Bill Sy: We saw a lot of experimenting towards the end of the regular season, whether that was the dynamic between the Jays when they were both on the court, Brown becoming more of a pure scorer and challenging the officials with his physical play, and Tatum flexing his all-around game. However, like it has the last couple of years, it may come down to the three-point shooting. The Celtics were 7-11 when they hit less than 30% from behind the arc. Last year, they were 1-3 in the postseason. During the championship run, they were 2-1 — an indication just how special that banner year was.
Rich Jensen: If the Celtics win the title, it will be due to Jayson Tatum being far enough along in his recovery to make such an outcome possible. Is this a tautology? Yes it pretty much is. But winning the Finals is all about Tatum’s health. Without Tatum, the Celtics are just a very good basketball team—to be sure, a team that most other teams would like to be, but not, in my opinion, championship caliber.
With Tatum recovering, they are a very good team indeed, but I’m still not convinced that they are championship caliber. Tatum is clearly not all the way back, but the nice thing is that it’s all downhill from here. He should continue to improve as the playoffs wear on. The only question is how good he will be by the time he needs to be good enough to make the difference between winning it all and coming up short. If Tatum’s progress isn’t as quick as it needs to be, the C’s are going to stall out somewhere along the line.
Ian Inangelo: If the Celtics win the title, it will be on the back of the defense locking down their opponents with the offense from guys outside of Brown and Tatum stepping up in timely moments. If they don’t I would assume it would end up in a loss to a team who takes advantage of the Celtics inexperience and depth, and are just able to out shoot them from three.
Mark Aboyoun: If Boston wins Banner 19, it’s because the role players continue to produce. Boston can’t afford guys like Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser or even Baylor Scheierman to have off nights. Now that we’re in the postseason, those three in particular need to maintain their current level and make sure they knock down open shots or, in Pritchard’s case, continue to be aggressive, especially when one of Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum is on the bench.
If they don’t win the championship, it’s because Joe Mazzulla couldn’t figure out the big-man rotation. Neemias Queta has proved to be an above-average center this season and is the team’s only true defensive center. If he gets in foul trouble, Luka Garza and Nikola Vučević are more offensive players and, at times, struggle defensively.
Boston, MA – April 12: Boston Celtics center Luka Garza celebrates after hitting a late 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. The Celtics and Orlando Magic played at TD Garden on April 12, 2026. (Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
Nirav Barman: The Celtics certainly have the experience and the coaching to win it all this year. Even though we lost several big pieces from the 2024 run, the Championship DNA is still strong with this team. Winning or losing really just comes down to the execution this year. Boston’s depth is what’s kept them atop the East, different guys being ready on different nights. The margin for error is much slimmer in the playoffs, so it’ll come down to if Joe can find the right combos for any given night.
Mike Dynon: To win the title, it’s a given that the Celtics will first need everything Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum can give them. JB just finished a regular season that should put him on first-team All-NBA, and JT basically looked like his old self with 10 double-doubles and one triple-double in 16 games. If the Jays deliver as expected, winning will come.
Another key will be if Derrick White can get on a heater. We know DWhite provides defense, basketball IQ and leadership at elite levels. This season, though, he made a career-low 39.5% of his overall field goal attempts, and at the arc his percentage was down nearly six points from the year before. The Celts are accustomed to White nailing clutch threes with regularity, and they will certainly need that now.
Finally, can the supporting cast overcome their postseason inexperience? This is the 15th season for Nikola Vucevic, but he’s played in just 16 playoff games. Other than the rookies, add up all the expected contributors – Vooch, Queta, Scheierman, Garza, Walsh and Banton – and they’ve appeared in 51 total postseason games. For context: Al Horford has 197 playoff appearances.
If these things don’t go Boston’s way, their season will end too early. But if they do, get ready for a parade.
Ryan Paice: If the Celtics win, it will be because the Jays are the best duo in today’s league and the team’s crew of role players hit their shots. I have faith the defense will remain elite, as this group has consistently performed at a high level under Mazzulla and features an impressive toolbox of solid defensive options. But for this team to win, Brown and Tatum are going to have to keep the offense churning and executing at all times — especially down the stretch.
The Jays are the engine of the Celtics offense, and when they struggle the team can get desperate and jack up shots to its own detriment. I wouldn’t put it past Pritchard, Hauser, Queta, and the Stay Ready crew to win a couple of the games the Jays struggle in, but they have to perform at their highest levels if the C’s are going to go all the way.
If they don’t, it will be because an opponent successfully slowed down the dual-engine heart of the offense and it sputtered out when it mattered most.
Gio Rivera: If Boston finds itself back in the NBA Finals, it’ll be because of two defining factors: the team’s depth and its core principles. Throughout the regular season, regardless of circumstance, the Celtics rarely missed a beat. Outside of their season-opening 0-3 start — the beginning of a new-look team adjusting to life without Jayson Tatum — they seldom found themselves in a prolonged skid, as they didn’t lose more than twice straight for the remaining 79 games of the regular season.
2025-26 CELTICS (NBA Rank)
First three weeks… W-L 5-7 (20th) Offense: 14th Defense: 13th 3-point%: 27th O Rebounding: 12th D Rebounding: 27th Rebounding: 21st
Since… W-L 51-19 (3rd) Offense: 2nd Defense: 4th 3-point%: 5th O Rebounding: 5th D Rebounding: 3rd Rebounding: 3rd
Anfernee Simons was terrific across his 49 games in Boston. Josh Minott flashed his potential in spurts. Then, of course, the remaining newcomers — Luka Garza, Hugo González, and Ron Harper Jr. — all delivered in their moments under the spotlight too.
Garza emerged as an offensive-rebounding maestro while shooting a career-best 43.3 percent from three and knocking down a career-high 55 triples throughout the regular season. González made notable defensive strides and delivered a clutch game-tying three in Brooklyn. Harper provided 22 points in San Antonio after Jaylen Brown’s ejection.
Together, they proved Boston doesn’t just have depth — the team is comprised of role players capable of shining as bright as any starter on the roster. Their collective impact became a vital fixture of the Celtics’ identity and success. If that remains intact, Boston will be very difficult to match. If it doesn’t, the team will face a repeat fate of Round 2 last season, collapsing in utter underachievement.
Grant Burfeind: If the Celtics win the title, it’ll be because they stick to what they’ve been doing all season. The ball moves, the threes fall at a normal (not even nuclear) rate, and the defense travels every single night. This team already has a crystal clear identity, and when they lean into it, they’re incredibly hard to disrupt. This version of Boston that doesn’t beat itself, doesn’t panic when a game gets weird, and just keeps stacking good possessions until the other team breaks first is oh-so fun to watch and oh-so hard to beat.
If things go sideways, it’s probably going to look familiar. A couple games where the offense stalls into isolation-heavy possessions, a lid materializes over the rim, and suddenly everything feels harder than it should. Add in a cold stretch from one of the Jays or a series where the opponent dictates pace and turns it into a grind, and now you’re playing in that uncomfortable space where variance actually matters. This team has answered a lot of those questions already, but the playoffs have a way of dragging old concerns back into the light.
NEW YORK (AP) — The numbers are in, and the NBA says Year 1 of its new television deals were a hit.
The league released numbers for the regular season on Wednesday, showing that 170 million people in the U.S. watched NBA games across the league's four primary broadcast platforms this year — those being ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock, and NBA TV.
Those numbers are the league's best in 24 years, the NBA said, plus represented an 86% rise over last season.
Prime Video was part of the league's television rights package for the first time this season and NBC/Peacock returned for the first time in a generation. The league signed a new 11-year, $76 billion-plus media rights deal in 2024 to show games on those two platforms along with ABC/ESPN and NBA TV.
Those deals kicked in at the start of this season.
Other highlights of the viewership numbers:
— NBA games across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock and NBA TV had the the highest average viewership in 13 years, up 35% over last season.
— A total of 57 telecasts this season reached an average of 2 million viewers, the most since the 2011-12 season.
— People watched NBA games for more than 920 million hours, up 25% over last season and the most since 2011-12.
— The NBA's social media channels generated a record 228 billion views this season, according to Videocites. That's up 13% over last season.
— Attendance over the past three seasons in NBA arenas is higher than any three-season span in league history.
— Viewership for NBA Cup group play games was up 90% from last season.
— The audience for the All-Star Game on NBC, averaging 8.8 million viewers, was the largest for the league's midseason showcase event since 2011.
The NBA Play-In Tournament can't do much better than Steph Curry vs. Kawhi Leonard as the Golden State Warriors take on the Los Angeles Clippers tonight.
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Warriors computer picks
Draymond Green Over 7.5 points (+100)
Projection: 9.48 points
Draymond Green has been a quiet scorer to end the season, but he averaged 8.9 points per game in March and reached double figures in seven of his 13 games. Curry's gravity alone will create some easy buckets for Green.
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Gui Santos Over 10.5 points (-115)
Projection: 12.96 points
This is a short line for a guy who's averaged north of 15 points per game since the start of March and scored 20+ five times over that span.
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Kristaps Porzingis Under 18.5 points (-105)
Projection: 16.41 points
It's been hard for Kristaps Porzingis to find a rhythm, considering he's played just 32 games this season (15 for the Warriors). In those 15 games, he's cleared this number just five times.
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Clippers computer picks
Bennedict Mathurin Over 11.5 points (-120)
Projection: 15.37 points
Bennedict Mathurin is coming off a 20-point night against these very Warriors and scored 17 points when these teams met on March 2.
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Kawhi Leonard Under 29.5 points (-110)
Projection: 26.19 points
The insane scoring totals Kawhi Leonard posted through much of the season took a slight dip at the end, clearing this total just once in his last 10 games. His minutes could see a slight bump, but a 30-point night is still a lot to ask.
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Bennedict Mathurin Over 3.5 rebounds (-125)
Projection: 5.09 rebounds
He's cleared this number in four of his six games this month and 15 of 20 going back to the start of March. He's averaged 5+ rebounds per game every month this season, making this a low bar to clear.
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How to watch Warriors vs Clippers tonight
Location
Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA
Date
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Tip-off
10:00 p.m. ET
TV
Prime Video
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Another week remains for players to enter the portal until Tuesday, April 21. Even when the portal closes, teams will be able to make additions to the roster ahead of next season.
As the 2025-26 season taught us with Michigan winning the national title, building through the transfer portal is as important as ever in college basketball.
Transfers added: PG Jackson Shelstad (15.6 points per game, 4.9 assists per game, 2.9 rebounds per game at Oregon); C Flory Bidunga (13.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.5 asp at Kansas); G Karter Knox (8.1 ppg, 4.5 aps at Arkansas)
There has been no bigger winner in the transfer portal early on than Louisville. The Cardinals have the No. 1 transfer portal recruiting class so far with the addition of Bidunga, who had a case as the best player to enter the portal this cycle.
Adding Helstad and Knox to the mix helps round out a roster in a big make-or-break season for head coach Pat Kelsey.
Indiana
Transfers added: PG Markus Burton (18.5 points per game, 3.7 assists per game, 2.8 rebounds per game at Notre Dame), SG Jaeden Mustaf (10.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.4 apg at Georgia Tech); SF Darren Harris (3.3 ppg at Duke)
Key transfers lost: G Nick Dorn (8.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg); G Jason Drake; SG Jasai Miles; G Aleksa Ristic; PF Josh Harris
The football program is the defending national champion, yet the basketball program has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2022-23. Something isn't adding up. With the addition of a proven scorer in Burden and a couple of potential rotation players, could the Hoosiers put themselves back on the map in the 2026-27 season?
Providence
Transfers added: Dink Pate (16.0 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, 3.6 assists per game with G League's Westchester Knicks); Miles Byrd (10.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.6 apg at San Diego State); Gavin Hightower (4.1 ppg at South Florida)
Key transfers lost: SG Stefan Vaaks (15.8 ppg, 3.2 apg); SG Jason Edwards (16.5 ppg, 3.0 apg); SG SF Jamier Jones (11.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg); C Oswin Erhunmwunse (6.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg)
With the hiring of Brian Hodgson, the Friars have had a strong portal season. Adding two big-time scorers in Pate and Byrd will help the team replace the production of their second- and third-leading scorers from last season. Adding a player like Hightower, who is familiar with the system, is also a big addition.
Texas
Transfers added: PF David Punch (14.1 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game, 2.0 assists per game at TCU); PG Isaiah Johnson (16.9 ppg, 3.0 aspg at Colorado)
Key transfers lost: F Cam Heide (5.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg); G Simeon Wilcher (5.6 ppg)
Sean Miller's first season leading Texas basketball featured a ton of ups and downs. The Longhorns did reach the Sweet 16 and so far have a chance to build on that with a strong transfer portal haul. Puch was USA TODAY's No. 5-ranked player available, while Johnson was in the top 20.
Losers
Kansas
Key lost transfers: F Flory Bidunga (13.3 points per game, 9 rebounds per game, 2.6 blocks per game); F Bryson Tiller (7.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg); G Elmarko Jackson (4.8 ppg); G Jamari McDowell (3.3 ppg); G Jayden Dawson (2.1 ppg)
Transfers added: n/a
It's been a mass exodus for Kansas basketball despite Bill Self announcing his return to the Jayhawks for the 2026-27 season. Losing Bidunga is the biggest loss for the program, as he was their second-best player and their best player is off to the NBA draft.
Self will have his work cut out to make key additions the rest of the way, as he will be starting from scratch when it comes to rotation players from last season.
Kentucky
Key lost transfers: G Denzel Aberdeen (13.5 points per game, 3.4 assists per game, 2.5 rebounds per game); G Collin Chandler (9.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg); F Mouhamed Dioubate (8.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg); G Jaland Lowe (8 ppg, 2.4 apg); F Andrija Jelavic (5.5 ppg, 4 rpg); G Jasper Johnson (4.9 ppg); C Brandon Garrison (4.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
Transfers added: n/a
Is Mark Pope in trouble in Lexington, Kentucky? The Wildcats exited the NCAA Tournament early again in 2026 and have since lost eight players to the transfer portal — including a pair of starters to SEC foes. Kentucky will need to add to its roster to remain competitive in 2026-27.
The good news: Malachi Moreno, the 7-foot center, could return. He did enter the NBA draft while maintaining his eligibility.
LSU
Key lost transfers: PG Dedan Thomas Jr. (15.3 points per game, 6.5 assists per game); C Mike Nwoko (13.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg); PF Jalen Reed (9.5 ppg, 5.7 pg); SG Mazi Mosley (6.3 ppg);
Transfers added: n/a
LSU opted to hire and bring back Will Wade while still holding onto Matt McMahon. While the hire might work out for the Tigers in the long run, it has impacted them in the transfer portal with eight players headed out of Baton Rouge and none coming back to the program, yet.
North Carolina
Key lost transfers: G Luka Bogavac (9.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg); G Derek Dixon (6.5 ppg, 2.7 apg); W Jonathan Powell (4.8 ppg); G Kyan Evans (4 ppg, 2.5 apg); F Zayden High (3.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
Transfers added: G/F Neoklis Avdalas (12.1 ppg, 4.6 apg, 3.1 rpg at Virginia Tech)
With Hubert Davis out and Mike Malone in, the Tar Heels will have a different look for the 2026-27 season, which includes a brand-new backcourt. On top of that, top recruit Dylan Mingo reopened his commitment.
However, unlike the other teams on this list, Malone has started his rebuild with a strong addition of Neoklis Avdalas.
Raphielle Johnson
Warriors
Clippers