Category: NBA

The offseason is here for the Golden State Warriors, and Mike Dunleavy Jr. has a whole lot of decisions to make over the next few months. There will be rumors, reports, draft picks, signings, and likely trades. But for now, we only know two things: first, the roster that takes the court in October will be different than the roster that ended the season in April. And second? Well, it won’t be too different.

With that said, let’s take a look at the contract situations for the 18 players who ended the 2026-27 season wearing a Warriors jersey, so we can properly take stock of the offseason waiting ahead.

Guaranteed contracts (6)

Jimmy Butler III(1 year, $56.8 million)
Steph Curry (1 year, $62.6 million)
Moses Moody (2 years, $25.9 million)
Brandin Podziemski (1 year, $5.7 million)
Will Richard (1 year, $2.2 million, with a non-guaranteed contract in 27-28, and a team option in 28-29)
Gui Santos (2 years, $9.6 million, with a player option in 28-29)

This is where the guaranteed money is, but it doesn’t mean the money is guaranteed to still be around come Opening Night. In reality, Curry is the only player here who is truly guaranteed. Butler’s contract would almost certainly have to be included in any trade for a star, while Santos and Moody’s deals could be used to make the money add up in a trade. Podziemski has a bit of trade value, and would be an appealing piece if the Dubs make a big swing. Richard would also make a nice throw in.

While these deals are all fairly short term, expect the Warriors and Curry to work on an extension this summer … and possibly one with Podziemski, too.

Non-guaranteed contracts (2)

LJ Cryer
Malevy Leons

Cryer and Leons both impressed, the former for his hot shooting and the latter for his toughness. According to Spotrac, both players signed two-year, two-way contracts. All two-way contracts are non-guaranteed, as they’re prorated and the team can cut the players at any time without owing additional money. Furthermore, two-way contracts do not count against the salary cap.

Player options (3)

Draymond Green ($27.7 million)
Al Horford ($6 million)
De’Anthony Melton ($3.5 million)

The Warriors would likely be thrilled if Melton or Horford picked up their player option for next year, as the veterans were key players this past season, and provide steady play that Steve Kerr loves. I would assume that Melton seeks more money elsewhere, though he struggled towards the end of the season, so who knows. Horford will have to decide whether he wants to retire, chase a ring with a more competitive team, or run it back with the Dubs.

Green’s contract is the interesting one. He definitely won’t surpass the $27.7 million mark in free agency, and with Kerr returning, I’d be shocked if Draymond wants to play elsewhere. But he could opt out and re-sign — essentially restructuring his contract — to give himself a little bit more long-term security, while giving Dunleavy more short-term flexibility to build a competitive roster.

Unrestricted free agents (5)

Charles Bassey
Seth Curry
Gary Payton II
Kristaps Porziņģis
Nate Williams

Some interesting names here, and it’s hard to tell who might return. Bassey impressed the team during his very short stint, but it seems unlikely that it was enough to sway them into giving him a guaranteed deal; though if no one signs him this summer, I’d expect that he’s in camp at the very least. The younger Curry was a feel-good addition last year, and his spacing could really aid a Warriors team that no longer has Buddy Hield, but are the aging Dubs really interested in a player who is on the tail end of his career and was only healthy for 10 games last season?

Porziņģis is, obviously, the biggest name here, and his time with the team was a mixed bag following February’s trade. On the one hand, his skillset on both offense and defense was an excellent fit, and he seemed to get along well in the locker room as well. On the other hand, his availability remains a huge issue, and it remains to be seen what his market will be like from other suitors. It certainly raised a few eyebrows how non-committal he was when asked about whether or not he wanted to return during exit interviews.

It’s hard to imagine Payton playing elsewhere. He loves the Warriors, Kerr loves him, and GPII has seen firsthand that the grass isn’t greener on other rosters. But we’ll have to wait to see if the team has space on the roster for him. He’ll almost certainly only cost the veteran’s minimum.

Williams, like Cryer and Leons, impressed on his two-way contract. It wouldn’t be surprising if he’s back on the same deal.

Restricted free agents (2)

Quinten Post
Pat Spencer

The Warriors like both Post and Spencer. It’s also clear that they need to improve their roster, so neither of these guys will be at the top of the free agency list. But it’s easy to envision either returning — especially Spencer.

The Knicks are sleeping in their own beds, spending time with loved ones, enjoying another week-plus off after their second consecutive sweep.

But they will not get too comfortable during the layoff, preparing for their first series-opener on the road in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

“I think it helps even just being on the road a little bit, being in a hostile environment,” Mikal Bridges said following Thursday’s practice. “That should just get the mindset right off the jump anyway … Second time going around it, knowing that, ‘OK, we just got to pick it up.’ ”

Whether it was the result of rest or rust, the Knicks put up their worst three quarters of the postseason in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, nine days after completing their sweep of the 76ers.

They opened 4-of-23 on 3-pointers. They scored 71 points in the first 40 minutes, falling behind by 22. A night defined by Jalen Brunson’s heroics started with the Knicks’ leading man shooting 7-of-19 (0-for-5 on 3-pointers) before he guided the greatest postseason comeback in franchise history.

This time, the crowd will not help carry them to the finish line. This time, the Knicks will enter a series as underdogs for the first time this postseason, facing one of the toughest defenses of this era.

“Comparing our situation from last time, just being mentally and physically locked in,” Brunson said. “I think that’s really important for us and that’s what we have to focus on these next couple of days.”

Knicks coach Mike Brown’s seventh appearance in the NBA Finals will be his third trip after an extended break.

In 2017, he filled in for Steve Kerr, leading the Warriors to a sweep in the Western Conference finals before Golden State cruised to a title. Following a sweep in the 2019 conference finals, the Warriors lost Game 1 on the road in Toronto and eventually the series.

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“It’s hard to manufacture the competitive environment that you’re going to be in in Game 1,” Brown said. “So [we want] to continue to just find different ways to keep that competitive spirit or to keep that edge as high as you can … The biggest thing that I think should help us is knowing that as a group, the last time we went through this we started off a little slow in that game, and we can’t afford to do that again. Our guys, they’re a veteran group. They’ve been really resilient, and they’ve done a good job of growing quickly anytime they’ve hit adversity.

“The biggest thing is reminding them what happened in Game 1 of our last series, and let them know that when you’re watching these teams, it can’t happen this time around.”

The Spurs rattled Oklahoma City with a cogent 35-22 first quarter and a convincing 32-13 third quarter (including a 20-0 run) to secure a resounding game 6 win and force game 7 on Saturday night (NBA / Peacock 7:00 PM CDT). San Antonio did it by honoring its possessions, limiting its penchant for turnovers, and nearly doubling up the Thunder from three in the minutes that mattered. The Spurs also had the unexpected bench scoring advantage (46-38) in a trend that could bode well for Saturday evening. Victor Wembanyama (28 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals) matched his four field goal total from game 5 in the first quarter alone and his Spurs led from start-to-finish. While the Thunder starters struggled with their outside shooting, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso led a spirited backup effort to prevent a runaway over 2 1/2 quarters before San Antonio’s second-half detonation.

Wembanyama and Castle (17 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds) received a crucial boost from rookie Dylan Harper (18 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists), who had his best game since game 1 tonight as the third banana to his more heralded teammates. Devin Vassell (12 points and 2 blocks) and Julian Champagnie (10 points and 6 rebounds) supplied timely shooting and suffocating defense to aid San Antonio’s impressive start. Carter Bryant supplied a healthy dose of defensive pressure in his limited minutes, and Keldon Johnson performed well (9 points and 3 rebounds) in his spot minutes.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (15 points and 4 assists) was kept contained throughout the game with contributions from Isaiah Hartenstein (10 points and 5 rebounds) and Chet Holmgren (10 points and 11 rebounds) being empty calories. Wallace (11 points) and Caruso (7 points) provided an early bench boost for Oklahoma City. Jalen Williams returned to action for the first time since game two, but did not significantly impact the game

A 9-2 opening burst caused Mark Daigneault to call for time within 90 seconds. While Wembanyama and Castle got off to good starts, Vassell and Champagnie held up their end of the outside shooting bargain with three combined triples. Gilgeous-Alexander connected on his first two shots, and the Thunder defense kept the Spurs out of the lane over several minutes. Given the very close-quarters combat nature of the previous games, it was surprising that the teams combined for a ‘only’ handful of fouls in 10 minutes of action. Just as they had started the period, Wembanyama and Castle pieced together a 5-0 run to get San Antonio to 35-22.

Behind McCain and Wallace’s scoring, Oklahoma City closed the gap with the Spurs to six quickly. San Antonio’s rookie guard Harper supplied his most points since the first two games of the series. A pair of jumpers by Wembanyama pushed the lead back out to double-digits. The physicality ratcheted leaps-and-bounds late in the half with Vassell and Bryant instigating a good amount of San Antonio’s defensive presence. The Thunder threateningly found their shooting touch late in the stanza – bringing their deficit down to seven.

The Spurs continued to nudge the Thunder players well away from their comfortable spots throughout a third quarter that seemingly rattled Gilgeous-Alexander, and timely and accurate shooting from Vassell, Champagnie, and Harper increased the San Antonio advantage back to 15. During a 20-0 run coinciding with a good amount of minutes for Wembanyama to rest, Harper figured the most prominently in hastening the Frost Bank Center crowd to a froth. A Holmgren lay-up broke a 7+ minute Thunder drought and the Spurs went to the fourth up 92-66.

Observations

• The stark differences in officiating and physicality between games 2 and 6 should be a real focus of Adam Silver’s this summer instead of lottery business. (yes, I’m typing this as I typed the words ‘Wembanyama,’ ‘Castle,’ and ‘Harper’ numerous times tonight).
• Wembanyama – even at this stage of his career, is a more consistent free throw shooter than Tim Duncan and David Robinson at their peaks.
• A debt of gratitude is owed to Assistant Coach Rashard Lewis for getting Bryant ready for these playoff rounds.
• Very strange to hear Carmelo Anthony imploring the Spurs’ rotation players to ‘deliver the nastiness’ and ‘get the hustle plays.’
• The (very subjective) 25-26 Spurs comps that I had going into game 5: 1990 Bulls (lost to Detroit in 7), 1998 Lakers (lost to Jazz in 4), 2005 Suns (lost to Spurs in 5), 2011 Thunder (lost to Mavs in 5).
• Sequence of the Game #1: Late in the first quarter, Vassell admirably defended a 2-on-1 OKC fastbreak – standing up Gilgeous-Alexander on his lay-up attempt and then knocking away Caruso’s tip try. Harper encouragingly hit a three at the other end to make it 26-17.
• Sequence of the Game #2: San Antonio showcased a ’Beautiful Game’ possession late in the opening half that saw Harper flick a pass baseline to Carter Bryant in the corner to Fox on the left wing to Wembanyama on the right wing. The superstar center drove slow-motion into the lane for a floater.
• Sequence of the Game #3: After a well-defended possession moments into the third, Wembanyama snared the long carom, and fed a streaking Castle near the paint. Castle found Champagnie on the left baseline for a corner three.
• Sequence of the Game #4: That 20-0 run in the third quarter looked way different than the tempporarly 15-0 run San Antonio started game 3 with.

Game Rundown

Champagnie saw his first three go down from the tip. Just like in game 4, Hartenstein responded with two floaters in succession. Wembanyama sandwiched two threes around a block on McCain. Lu Dort hit Oklahoma City’s first three. Wembanyama assertively drove Hartenstein deep into the lane and hit an effortless fadeaway. Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down his first two shots. San Antonio started settling for threes and their offense unsurprisingly stalled out. Vassell’s pair of triples put the Spurs up five. Gilgeous-Alexander noticeably didn’t fall to the ground on two misses. Fox and Johnson helped keep the Spurs’ sufficiently ahead. Wembanyama’s stepback three and Castle’s shotclock beating jumper helped put San Antonio up 13 at the end of one.

McCain’s transition three got Oklahoma City to within 10 to start the second period. San Antonio diligently drew three team fouls on the Thunder, and Harper’s three kept their advantage in double digits. Wallace’s pair of threes brought the Thunder within six. Harper confidently knocked down a baseline jumper and powered a lay-up over Hartenstein. His playmaking allowed Castle and Fox to get a breather over much of the quarter. Jaylin Williams (240 lb) got ‘laid out’ by Bryant (220 lb) on a pick. Bryant responded with an emphatic slam at the other end, and Vassell turned away Holmgren at the rim during a heated sequence. The Thunder put together a 10-5 run to make it a 60-53 game at the half.

Coming out of the break, Vassell hit his fourth three, which was answered by yet another Hartenstein floater. Shortly after, Wembanyama was whistled for a questionable goaltend on a Gilgeous-Alexander and-1. Wembanyama excellently kept Oklaoma City out of the paint. Holmgren and Harteinstein did tally two tip-ins to keep the Thunder in striking distance. Castle executed a nifty stepthrough move in the paint to draw an and-1, and Harper followed that with a stepback that would have made James Harden proud. Gilgeous-Alexander made contact with Harper’s head on a foul, but it was not reviewed for any further escalation. An emboldened Harper drew another foul on the next possession by driving it through several Thunder defenders. By the time San Antonio completed its 20-0 run, Oklahoma City essentially lost its chance to close out the series tonight.

Okay, Grandpa, sit down. Put the remote down, this is important to the game of basketball that you love.

You know how every year some NBA teams spend the entire season losing on purpose? Not because they’re bad necessarily, but because they want to get draft lottery balls. They call it tanking, and for the last twenty years it has essentially been the league’s version of financial fraud. A franchise intentionally burns down its own house hoping the insurance payout is a 19-year-old who can dunk from the free throw line.

The NBA has apparently decided it has seen enough.

On Thursday, the league’s Board of Governors voted 29-1 to overhaul the draft lottery beginning in 2027, introducing something called the “3-2-1 Lottery” and attaching enough anti-tanking measures to make Sam Hinkie wake up in a cold sweat.

The NBA's new draft lottery odds, visualized ⬇️ https://t.co/bUdgWPReF9pic.twitter.com/IizHm5nL3M

— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) May 28, 2026

The simple explanation is that being the worst team in basketball is no longer the best business strategy.

Under the current system, teams at the bottom of the standings receive the best odds at landing the No. 1 overall pick. That’s why every spring fans find themselves watching perfectly healthy 24-year-olds develop mysterious soreness in seventeen different body parts while their teams explain that shutting them down is in everyone’s best long-term interests. Somehow every franchise doctor in America reaches the exact same diagnosis right around March.

The new system flips that incentive on its head. The three worst teams in the league will actually receive fewer lottery balls than the teams directly above them. Teams finishing fourth through tenth worst receive three balls. The bottom three teams receive only two. The NBA is essentially telling teams that there is now a meaningful difference between rebuilding and shamelessly face-planting down a flight of stairs.

There’s now a 71% chance the NBA’s No. 1 pick falls to a 6th place-12th place team. Only a 29% chance it falls to a bottom 5 team, per @ShamsCharania.

Wow, wow, wow.

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 28, 2026

Think about how insane that would have sounded ten years ago. Imagine sitting through a 67-loss season, paying for tickets, and convincing yourself this suffering is all part of some master plan. Then draft night arrives and the league informs you that after all that losing, your grand prize is the twelfth pick and a player whose college highlights are mostly him setting really good screens.

The NBA just looked tanking teams dead in the eye and said, “Have you considered trying?” For years the league has watched franchises race toward the bottom because the reward structure encouraged it. Now the reward structure is encouraging something else. The lottery is expanding to sixteen teams and play-in teams will receive lottery balls. The league is giving itself the power to reduce lottery odds, alter draft positions, and levy significant fines if it believes a team is deliberately tanking.

In other words, the NBA isn’t just changing the game. It’s announcing that if you find a loophole, they’re planning to close that too. Whether any of this actually stops tanking remains to be seen. NBA front offices employ some of the smartest people in sports. Give them a rule and they’ll spend six months looking for the side door.

But for the first time in a long time, the league has attached actual risk to being awful. And as someone who watched the Warriors spend a decade proving that there are ways to build a champion besides intentionally setting your roster on fire, I can’t say I’m mad about it.

The ping-pong balls are still bouncing. They’re just a lot less friendly to quitters now.

Mikal Bridges has actually been to a Finals before. He knows what the experience is like.

And all the extras that come along with it — extra praise, extra criticism, extra media obligations, extra questions, extra attention.

He is one of only two players on the Knicks, along with Jordan Clarkson to have played in the Finals (OG Anunoby was on the Raptors but did not play in the 2019 Finals).

Bridges’ advice for his teammates centers on handling that extra praise.

“Just worry about what we have to do to be better,” Bridges said after practice Thursday. “Not get too into the media and all the stuff. A lot of questions, a lot of talk about how great we are, how great we’ve been. That doesn’t matter, we just gotta worry about being ourselves and stay locked in. And go win.”

There is so much fanfare around the Knicks, who are in the Finals for the first time since 1999. It’s coming from ordinary fans, from celebrity fans, from neutrals, from other local athletes, from local media and from national media.

They have broken record after record during their 11-game winning streak. Chief among them: They outscored their opponents by 262 points during those 11 games, the best point differential across 11 games in NBA history, regular season or postseason.

New York City has been whipped into a frenzy. Right now, Knicks players are gods among men. Everyone wants a piece of them.

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That’s all nice and fine. But the Knicks want to ignore all of it.

Coach Mike Brown, who will be appearing in his seventh Finals as either a head coach or assistant, knows the toll all of it can take if not handled properly.

“There are a lot more distractions that you have to navigate,” Brown said Thursday. “So you have to be, I was talking to Allan Houston and he used the right word when I was talking to him about it, but you have to be real intentional about what you’re doing because you’re gonna get pulled in so many different directions. And everybody is human and it’s natural to get pulled here, get pulled a little here, get pulled a little there and think that you’re OK. But at the end of the day, after doing the media and practice, you’re getting pulled in three or four different directions because you’re gonna have your family around you, you’re gonna have friends around you, you’re gonna have people wanting tickets, you’re gonna have people wanting you to go on this show, that show.

“At the end of the day, you may not realize it, but it can be fatiguing for you to do all of that stuff while trying to focus on some of the biggest games of your life. Again, going off of what word Allan Houston used, trying to be intentional about everything that we do during this time, while keeping an edge, is gonna be huge.”

Ignoring all of that is much easier said than done. It’s hard not to get caught up in the moment.

How can it be accomplished?

“I think it’s different for everybody,” Jalen Brunson said. “I’ve been off social media. I may post one thing and then just go back to deleting it. You just gotta block out the noise. You gotta do whatever you can to make sure you’re locked in. Everyone is different. Every individual has their way of blocking out things.

“It’s important to not hear some of the things. When there’s negative things being said about you, it’s important to ignore them. When there’s positive things about you, it’s easy to read them and feel good. You can’t do one and not the other. So just block it out as best as you can.”

The Knicks are the center of attention in New York City right now. Soon, they’ll be at the center of attention across the country.

But they’re doing everything they can to keep their focus directed inward.

It’s draft night. The lights dim as the spotlight illuminates the Barclays Center stage. Colors and logos flash from the jumbo video screen as NBA commissioner Adam Silver approaches the podium. A smile nearly as luminescent as the reflection from his cranium flashes across his face as he takes a final step and leans into the microphone.

“With the first pick, in the 2026 NBA Draft,” Silver begins, the tension within the crowd materializing in the atmosphere. “The Washington Wizards select… TINGUS PINGUS!”

A stunned silence washes over the arena. Cries of “What?”, “Who?”, and “No!” pepper the stands as mystery is hastily ushered out by realization. Chaos breaks out. It’s anarchy. Replica jerseys are torn to ribbons and lit ablaze as the draft’s attendees roar in disapproval. The broadcast zooms in on BYU star AJ Dybantsa, who had instinctively arisen before his name was even called. Eyes open wide, the anticipated number-one pick stares through the fabric of reality, desperately searching for an explanation.

Somewhere, Kristaps Porzingis smiles.

But none are more surprised than Draft HQ out in Salt Lake City, where the Jazz front office desperately scrambles to gather their thoughts as every great player is still available with the second overall pick.

Utah has a decision to make, and it’s one they must make quickly, because their team is on the clock, and the game plan has been thrown out the window.

You, the reader, are present in the Delta Center’s war room. Austin and Danny Ainge elbow Ryan Smith as the trio turns their attention to you. The room is still. The phone line to Brooklyn is in your grip. With every option available at number two, the decision is yours to make: who are you picking?

We asked you, the loyal (and might I add, attractive) readers of SLC Dunk, who you would prefer Utah to take with the second overall pick, and this is how you voted.

1. Darryn Peterson, G, Kansas (53% of votes)
2. AJ Dybantsa, F, BYU (38% of votes)
3. Cameron Boozer, F, Duke (9% of votes)

Disagree with the pick? Demanding justice for Pingus? I didn’t make the list; you did. If you’ve got a qualm or two, however, that’s why these articles have comment sections, my friends.

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Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.

This playoff run has been a series of firsts for the San Antonio Spurs.

Thursday, May 28 presented yet another: this is the first time this young Spurs core is facing elimination in the postseason.

The Spurs are hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals in a must-win situation, as San Antonio is looking to knot the series up a three games apiece to force a Game 7.

All eyes are on the two stars in the series, Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the two-time consecutive Most Valuable Player, of the Thunder.

Here are live takeaways from Game 6 of the Western Conference finals between the Spurs and Thunder:

This Victor Wembanyama makes the Spurs close to unbeatable

It became clear in the first few minutes of Game 6 that Wembanyama was correcting his mistakes from Game 5.

After playing too passively two nights ago, Wembanyama set the tone early, going 4-of-6 from the floor in the first quarter and 9-of-16 in the first half to take 22 points into intermission.

The rest of the Spurs are feeding off Wembanyama, whose effort on defense and rebounding have also lifted San Antonio. Through the first half, Wembanyama has also hauled in 5 rebounds — which is just one fewer than his total from Game 5.

That said, Wembanyama did launch 8 attempts from 3-point range. And while he made three of his first four, he cannot be settling too much for perimeter shots; the Spurs are at their best when Wembanyama is attacking the rim.

The Thunder need another scorer to emerge

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 points in the first half, but only got to the line twice. Cason Wallace dropped 11 on a perfect 4-of-4 half (including three drained triples). The next closest Thunder scorer was Alex Caruso with 7 points.

Oklahoma City, however, needs one of its secondary stars — Chet Holmgren (6 points) or Jared McCain (5) are top of mind — to get going with more consistency.

Jalen Williams is playing, though he’s on a minutes restriction with his hamstring injury, and can’t be counted on to be a reliable scoring threat.

Dylan Harper is providing a crucial spark off the bench

The dynamic rookie has struggled over the last three games, combining to score just 18 points on 5-of-16 shooting over that span.

In the first half Thursday night, Harper was aggressive and in a rhythm, scoring 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

It couldn’t have come at a better time, as starting point guard De’Aaron Fox missed all five of his shot attempts and didn’t record a single point. Fox does have 4 rebounds and 4 assists, but San Antonio will need scoring from the point guard position, and Harper’s energy off the bench has been massive, especially because he’s not afraid to get out in transition.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thunder vs Spurs Game 6 takeaways: What we have learned

I’m back from my Memorial Day vacation and I’ve been waiting to get this one off about Cleveland’s demise. There was a point during Game 4 when the camera panned across Rocket Arena and you could see Knicks fans celebrating while Cavaliers fans sat frozen in their seats trying to process what had just happened.

And for Golden State Warriors fans who enjoyed a bitter rivalry with The Land, this was pretty amusing not just because Cleveland lost. I mean, the Warriors and Cavaliers haven’t really been rivals in years. LeBron left and the Dubs are figuring out who they are at this juncture of their dynasty. But there is still something deeply funny about watching the Cavaliers spend years trying to convince themselves they had rebuilt a contender only for the whole thing to collapse under the bright white lights of the Eastern Conference Finals.

“Analytically… we’ve won 2/3 games on the expected (score),- Cavs HC Kenny Atkinson.

The Cavs have lost all 3 games of the Knicks series. pic.twitter.com/TQNHG2lZsJ

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 24, 2026

The Knicks didn’t just beat Cleveland. They swept them with aggression, finishing it all off by walking into Rocket Arena and winning by 37 points for good measure, 130-93. They turned what should have been Cleveland’s biggest game in years into a three-hour public humiliation. By halftime the arena already sounded nervous. By the fourth quarter it sounded like Manhattan had annexed Ohio.

Going to be a really weird Cavs offseason. Mitchell’s eligible for an extension nobody is going to feel 100% great about and you have to trade him if he doesn’t sign it. Gotta either re-sign Harden or lose him for nothing. Mobley and Allen will both be in trade rumors. Probably a…

— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) May 26, 2026

And honestly? Warriors fans already knew where this was headed.

The Cavaliers spent the first two rounds of the playoffs leaking oil everywhere. Seven games against Toronto. Seven games against Detroit. Then they blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 1 against New York and spiritually never recovered from it. Even when the score stayed close later in the series, the energy didn’t. The Knicks looked like a team discovering itself. Cleveland looked like a team slowly realizing it had miscalculated something important.

“Genuinely, I do feel like we are the better team,” – James Harden after the Cavs were swept by the Knicks 🫨🫨🫨 pic.twitter.com/JtDk8A7D2F

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 26, 2026

The Cavaliers had talent all over the floor this season. Mitchell is phenomenal. Evan Mobley remains terrifying defensively. Harden can still manipulate a defense when he has space to breathe. But the deeper this series went, the more Cleveland looked like a team relying on individual rescue attempts while New York looked like five people operating the same machine. That is what real contenders look like. This was the Knicks kicking the door off the hinges and spending four games revealing how fragile Cleveland actually was.

And from a Warriors perspective, there was something nostalgic about it.

The old Cavaliers used to walk into Finals games with LeBron James carrying the emotional weight of an entire franchise on his back like a demigod. You always felt pressure radiating off those teams even when Golden State was better. This version felt different. Talented? Absolutely. But watching this series, there was never a moment where they felt inevitable. So now the Knicks head to the NBA Finals for the first time in over 25 years while Cleveland heads into an offseason full of uncomfortable questions about roster construction, identity, and whether this core is actually built for deep playoff basketball. Judging by the brooms falling from the sky all over Ohio this week, the East takeover might need to wait. I feel overall glad that former Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson got to take his team so far, but it’s sad to see him chained to Cleveland’s curse.

The lights came on and the Cavaliers blinked. And somewhere deep in the soul of Dub Nation, a lot of people probably smiled watching it happen.

If there’s one thing this postseason run has shown, it’s that the San Antonio Spurs can compete with the very best in the NBA when star phenom Victor Wembanyama is at his best.

And after Wembanyama struggled to assert himself in a Game 5 loss that put San Antonio in an elimination situation, Wembanyama came out with urgency and intent Thursday, May 28 in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

San Antonio is facing a 3-2 series deficit and must win Game 6 to avoid elimination.

Here’s a look at Victor Wembanyama’s stats Thursday night in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals:

Victor Wembanyama stats vs. Thunder

• Minutes: 17:23
• Shooting: 9-of-16 (56.3%)
• Free-throw shooting: 0-of-0
• 3-point shooting: 4-of-8 (50%)
• Points: 22
• Rebounds: 6
• Assists: 1
• Blocks: 1
• Steals: 2
• Fouls: 0

Victor Wembanyama first half highlights

WEMBY BACK TO BACK THREES TO START THE GAME 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/8GkL37eU7a

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) May 29, 2026

Wemby having his way inside 💪

A game-high 22 for the Spurs... San Antonio takes a 7-point lead heading into the break of Game 6! https://t.co/rNsDfj4FyHpic.twitter.com/1shRNSyuQP

— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2026

Victor Wembanyama haircut and pregame fit

It became clear Victor Wembanyama was setting a business-like tone even before he set foot on the floor, with a new haircut.

New haircut and ready to roll!

Watch Wemby in a crucial Game 6 between the Thunder and Spurs on NBC and Peacock 🍿 pic.twitter.com/Fstseb39fB

— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2026

Victor Wembanyama regular season stats

In 64 games this season, Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 blocks per game.

Entering Thursday night, he was averaging 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 3.7 blocks per game in the postseason.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Victor Wembanyama stats tonight, Thunder vs Spurs box score

Well, the new NBA balls have finally dropped, lottery balls for the 2027 draft, that is. The 2025-26 season did indeed prove to be the shameless display of deliberates losing for the sake of meager odds that (perhaps) broke tanking. Today the NBABOG or National Basketball Association Board of Governors (an NBA Governor is usually, but not always, a team owner) voted on a new lottery system. The new system will take effect in the 2027 draft.

The system is somewhat abstruse, but looks to severely disincentivize even the already flattened odds of garnering a top pick. The new system will expand the draft lottery to 16 teams, which includes all the non playoff teams, and the teams in the play-in games. The system works by assigning a number of lottery balls based on where a team finishes record wise.

Teams that finish outside the bottom three, but not in the play in games, will receive 3 lottery balls. The number 9 and 10 teams in the play-in games will receive two, the 7 and 8 play-in teams will receive one ball apiece. The three teams with worst regular season records will receive two lottery balls (one of their three balls being “relegated” to the nether hells of the NBA, never to sire a draft pick).

The Two Ball Three will have some protection for being so outright bad though: they will not pick lower than 12th in the lottery. The worst three teams’ odds of receiving a top pick are, of course, one third worse than teams that finish outside the bottom three, and no better than the 9th and 10th play in teams, minus the top 12 guarantee. There is a real sense of reward for a play-in team, with one or two balls in the lottery.

There are further anti-tank provisions. No team may receive two #1 picks in a row, and no team may receive a top five pick in three consecutive years.

There is also a provision against protecting picks top 12 through top 15. (I’m not entirely sure what this means, that’s the NBA’s official language.) The NBABOG will revisit the system in 2029 to determine whether to keep the lottery balls in place, adjust them, or replace them with something else.

Here are some graphics provided by the NBA and it’s fabulous BOG to explain the new system:

Here is sample draft order, again from nba.com and the astonishing BOG.

Here’s the article itself, straight from the BOG.

This is all very interesting, and I think, at first glance, that it will at least improve the quality of regular season games, especially late in the season. It’s better to get out of the top three if a team has it’s own pick. What happens if it doesn’t? I’m not sure, probably it just behaves as a Bottom Three Two Ball pick? Do some protections on picks get removed in 2027 and beyond? Again, it’s currently unclear. What happens if a team picked #1 and then gets #1 again the following season? Does that pick get moved to #2? Again, it’s unclear right now. We will have to await publication of the full language of the resolution, (which I haven’t found at this time).

What does this all mean to the Rockets? It might mean a great deal, despite some saying 2027 is a lesser draft than 2026. It might mean that certain picks for 2027 are suddenly a lot more attractive, as they have a real shot at winning the draft lottery. Next year the Rockets hold their own pick, Phoenix’s pick, and Brooklyn’s pick (there’s further language about who gets the best and worst of these picks). Let’s say, though, that the Rockets are a playoff team, well, they’d pick as normal, in a reverse standings fashion after pick 16. What about Phoenix and Brooklyn? If Phoenix is again a play in team, that’s one or two balls in the lottery. If Brooklyn is 4th worst or above, and not a play in team, that’s three balls. If it’s Bottom Three, that’s two balls, but no worse than 12th.

Those extra chances in the lottery should have a great deal of value. Let’s assume the Rockets just get the BKN and PHX picks. Brooklyn has no incentive not to finish bottom three, but they have no real incentive to be terrible, either. Phoenix might well be a 9th or 10th seed again.

If a team had a pick in this draft that was good, not great, would they swap it for some balls next year? They might well do that, as even in a lesser year, a, say, 5th pick is likely to be better than a 20th, judging by history. This might get the Rockets one of the intriguing guards in this draft. Or nothing may happen, of course.

Anyhow, there will surely be more to come on the ins and outs of these new balls in the fullness of time.

Terry Rozier accepted a $100,000 bribe in order to exit a 2023 NBA game early as part of a gambling scheme, federal prosecutors alleged in a new indictment filed against the former Hornets and Heat guard on Thursday. 

The new indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York alleges that Rozier told Deniro Laster that he would come out of the Hornets’ March 23, 2023, game against the Pelicans in the first quarter, and Lester then shared that information with bettors. 

The indictment includes additional charges of bribery in sporting contests and honest services wire fraud conspiracy. 

The indictment names the NBA and the Hornets as the victims. Rozier has denied being a part of the sports betting scheme. 

Prosecutors said Rozier used a leg injury that he was dealing with late in the 2022-23 season as the reason to pull himself out of the game and was to receive $100,000 for his troubles, while gamblers placed total wagers of more than $258,700 on the under on Rozier’s stats for that particular game. 

Rozier played a little more than nine minutes before he exited the game, finishing with five points, four rebounds and two assists.

The indictment indicated that he took a smaller bribe of $70,000 since the four rebounds he pulled down during the 2023 game caused some bets to lose, according to ESPN. 

The new indictment came on the same day that Marves Fairley pleaded guilty to charges connected to the conspiracy, and alleged that he had paid Rozier as part of the scheme. 

“I agreed to pay a player to change their game performance,” Fairley said in the Brooklyn federal courthouse on Thursday, per The Athletic. 

Rozier was one of six individuals indicted last year on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering charges in the NBA-related investigation.

Tonight, the San Antonio Spurs host the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. Tip off is at 8:30 p.m. ET. Watch on NBC or WRC-TV in the DMV. If the Thunder win tonight, they go back to the NBA Finals. Enjoy!

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Tonight is the 99th game of the season for the young Spurs, more games than any of the starters have ever played in a season. We have seen the future of the NBA in this series, as Wembanyama broke into the conference finals with the most consequential game of his career in Game 1. He hasn’t been able to duplicate that effort in every game, but you have to give the Thunder some credit for defensive adjustments that have limited his efficiency, and also factor in the fatigue caused by the intense pressure of a high-stakes game every two days with travel and distractions. That fatigue was definitely a problem in Game 5, as Wemby had a pedestrian effort by his standards and The Silver and Black couldn’t overcome the offensive surge by the Thunder. The Thunder also has to deal with the same factors, but they’re the defending champs and they have the experience advantage. The Spurs will have to learn fast to catch up to the OKC juggernaut.

The Thunder have benefited greatly from their superior depth, and even when hit by injuries, their bench players have stepped up with superior efforts when they’ve had to fill in for the absence of starters. Jalen Williams (JDub) has hardly played in this series, but Ajay Mitchell (until he was injured) and Jared McCain have filled in admirably, and whoever who has come out to play when the starters rest has outplayed the Spurs reserves. Even if the Spur lose this series, the Thunder have shown the Spurs where they need to improve. The Spurs starters have played the Thunder pretty even, but the reserves have not held up, and there are several players on the Spurs bench that are not playable in non-garbage time. This series also shows how important home court is. The Spurs finished two games behind the Thunder in the regular season, and a couple more wins could have guaranteed them a Game 7 at home.

The Spurs have had an incredible journey so far this season, going from a team that hadn’t made the playoffs since 2019 to a team that’s competing in the conference finals against the defending champs. If that journey stops tonight or Saturday, it’s not the end, it’s just the beginning. The Spurs are at the stage the Thunder were in 2024, where they returned to the playoffs after an absence and gained the experience that led them to a championship in the next year, except that you can argue that the Spurs are on a bit of a faster track because they’ve gone further and been more competitive. A lot of things have to go right for a team to win a championship, but the Spurs have set a solid foundation this season. The team will need to improve and make some moves to take the next step, but I have confidence in the organization and players that they can do that.

But before we talk about all that, the Spurs have a game to play tonight. The least they can do it to make OKC hav to play another game to soften them up for the Knicks. Or maybe the Spurs can take another game in the Paycom Center. If the Spurs win Game 7, forget all of that stuff I said about being happy with the journey so far. Let’s win it all. LET’S GO SPURS!

Game Prediction:

The Thunder refuse to come out of the locker room after halftime when the referees refuse to eject the fan who awards an Oscar to SGA after every flop, and lose by forfeit.

San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma Thunder, Conference Championship Round, Game 6
May 28, 2026 | 7:30 PM CT
Streaming: Peacock
TV: NBC
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