Category: NBA

The struggle bus will be parked outside American Airlines Center on Friday as the Dallas Mavericks (24-52) host the Orlando Magic (40-36) and both teams limp toward the end of the 2025-26 NBA season. We get through this one, and there are only five more of these things to go. You can do this, Mavs fans.

Hopefully you’ve found something better to do with your Friday night than watch this team play something like basketball, but if you’re still interested, we’ll be there for you with all manner of half-assed game insights and postgame commentary, because we’re completionists if nothing else.

Here are three nuggets to chew on as we prepare for the fresh hell that surely awaits on Friday.

Last time out

Friday’s game is the second and final meeting between the Mavs and the Magic this year. Dallas dropped a baffling 115-114 loss to Orlando on March 5 on a last-second dunk by Wendell Carter Jr. Jalen Suggs hit four 3-pointers for the Magic in that game, including one on the possession before Carter’s decisive jam, in response to Cooper Flagg’s three-point play on the other end that gave the Mavs a 114-110 lead with 38 seconds left.

That game was Flagg’s first after missing nine games with a sprained foot. Flagg scored 18 points and dished six assists on a bad 7-for-22 shooting night, which has become the norm for the rookie lately. Flagg has hit a challenging stretch where he’s had good production, but with a tendency toward inefficiency, caused to some extent by a combination of his rookie-year whistle and the dearth of talent around him on the offensive end.

No one on the Magic roster did much of anything to will the team to the win over the Mavericks. Dallas just crumbled in the third and fourth quarters, as they have many times this year. Tiago da Silva was Orlando’s leading scorer in that game, with all of 19 points.

Freefallin’

The Mavericks’ situation is well documented. Ethical tankers. In the hunt for a pick near the top of the 2026 NBA Draft. Not all that worried about winning, to put it mildly.

The last time these two teams met, on March 5, the Magic were in the middle of a 13-4 stretch, which would run their win-loss record all the way up to 38-28 by March 14. Since then, Orlando has lost eight of 10 games. It’s no coincidence that the Magic started losing soon after guard Anthony Black went down with an abdominal strain. He’s missed the team’s last 14 games, and the duo of Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane has had a tough time keeping the thing together without him. Orlando sits in ninth place in the Eastern Conference as of the start of Friday’s game, still clinging to their play-in positioning. Black has been ruled out of Friday’s game as of Thursday afternoon.

So, don’t count your losses before they hatch, Mavericks fans. Sprinkled in with some losses to good teams throughout the Magic’s last 10 games was a loss to the putrid Indiana Pacers on March 23.

Winnable games remaining

With six games left in the 2025-26 season, Friday’s matchup with the Magic appears to be one of just two winnable games left on the Mavericks’ slate. If your eyes are already on the hefty haul of guards in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft, you’d love for the Mavericks to find a way to gracefully bow out at some point against Orlando.

The Magic have the firepower to do away with the Mavs, sure. But you never know what version of Orlando you’re going to see on any given night. The Magic, much like the Mavs, have a proven ability to lose any kind of game: high-scoring up-and-down affairs as well as the dreaded and plodding race to 100 points.

They should lose the next four, at the Los Angeles teams, at Phoenix and at San Antonio, before having a puncher’s chance again in the season finale against the Chicago Bulls.

The die is cast. The stage is set. The drama will be wanting, but the right results coming home could bear sweet fruit in the future.

Braylon Mullins hadn't hit a 3-pointer in the first 39 minutes and 59 seconds of Connecticut’s Elite Eight game against Duke before Alex Karaban passed the ball to him for the eventual 40-foot game-winning shot with under a second left.

It’s a shot that represented more than a punched ticket to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

"It's like a dream come true, dream scenario, made-for-TV movie or — I guess it goes right to streaming now," UConn coach Dan Hurley said.

Indiana’s Mr. Basketball from last season sent his team back to his home state to compete for a third national championship ring in the past four years.

REQUIRED READING: Braylon Mullins watched his shot 'countless' times, but Final Four is UConn freshman's focus

"You play for those moments," Mullins said after the game. "You dream about that. … That's a one-of-a-kind experience."

It was also a moment that depicted one of the roles the Greenfield, Indiana native has grown into for Hurley’s program this year: reliable and exuberantly confident shooter in key moments.

"This is kind of what I’ve dreamed of, and this is the position that I wanted to put myself in coming out of high school," Mullins told USA TODAY Sports in Philadelphia ahead of the Men’s NCAA Tournament. 

On a team of veterans like Karaban, Solo Ball and Tarris Reed Jr., Mullins plays with an edge when he’s making shots, something that was missing from UConn’s roster last year. It’s what has led to gaining the trust and respect from his teammates to not back down from challenging shot attempts. 

"It’s just kind of what the game gives you," Mullins said. "I know that I’m going to be put in spots that coach Hurley wants me to be put in and I’m going to shoot what is given to me. I know all my teammates want me to shoot those shots."

Braylon Mullins drains a long ball and Coach Hurley is HYPED for him 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6pAD8jLR5j

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 23, 2026

He backs up this edge and swagger with his stats: 11.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. He became the first Big East freshman since Marquette’s Markus Howard to knock down 50 made 3-pointers in the regular season.

"Once he’s hitting (shots), it just opens up everything else for us," Karaban told USA TODAY Sports. "He’s been doing it since the summer, so (I’m) never really going to tell him to turn down a shot."

The Huskies freshman is an impactful piece of the puzzle for much more than his shooting.

REQUIRED READING: UConn vs Illinois prediction, analysis, Final Four expert picks for men's March Madness

He’s able to impact the game defensively with steals and blocks, and then offensively with mid-range shots and playmaking. Pair that with his 3-point shooting, and its recipe for winning basketball. A recent example is UConn’s first round win vs. Furman when he overcame a bad shooting night with six assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Mullins' ability to impact the game in multiple ways has gained Hurley’s respect. 

"You don't get far in this tournament unless your freshmen can do that," Hurley said of Mullins' growth in the tournament ahead of the Elite Eight. "He's a three-way player. He's out on the glass. He's a critical threat on offense, but he's also like an underrated defensive player with a maturity about him where, if he goes through stretches of the game where he's not getting shots, not making shots, he keeps playing winning basketball."

"The courage. The young man -- he's a rare human being. A toughness about him... He was due."@UConnMBB's Dan Hurley spoke with @TracyWolfson after Braylon Mullins' dramatic game-winner pic.twitter.com/oS6Pf9wCcV

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 29, 2026

The season hasn’t come without its ups and down for the freshman, though. But his maturity and composure help him provide the missing puzzle piece, too.

"(He’s) special. Super special," Karaban said of Mullins. "His maturity as a freshman, his composure, the way he carries himself, you don’t really typically see it as a freshman. Especially someone who was a McDonald’s All American. 

"He’s not asking people for shots. He’s not asking for the ball. He just wants to do whatever the team wants, whatever the team needs to win."

So if it is a key shot (or multiple) down the stretch or impacting the game defensively, Mullins will now look to finish putting the puzzle of a third national title celebration in the past four years together with his teammates in front of the hometown crowd over the next few days. 

The first step to that comes Saturday against No. 3 Illinois in the Final Four. 

"It's unbelievable to be in the position I am," Mullins said.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Braylon Mullins serving as UConn's missing piece in Final Four run

There are rough evenings. 

And then there are nightmares. 

For the Lakers, the latter might even fall short of describing what happened Thursday.  

They imploded against the reigning champion Thunder in a measuring stick game, 139-96. Luka Doncic suffered a left hamstring injury in the third quarter and will undergo an MRI exam on Friday. And Austin Reaves got banged up and was grabbing at his side and back throughout the contest. 

It was a disaster for a team that had spent the last month clawing their way up the Western Conference standings with a 16-2 run. They had inserted themselves into the championship contender conversation. Doncic had risen to the forefront of the MVP race. 

The Thunder took a pin to those narratives, popping them as though they were nothing but overinflated balloons filled with hot air. 

The Lakers knew what was on the line against the top-seeded Thunder and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

This was their test to show they were the real deal. But long before Doncic got injured, they arrived for their final exam hungover and without a pencil. 

It might seem hyperbolic to claim one game carries so much weight. 

But then again, did you watch Thursday’s contest? 

In the first quarter, the Lakers were outshot from the field, 63% to 33%, and they had more turnovers (eight) than field goals (five). 

In the second quarter, they trailed by as much as 35 points. 

Their deficit grew as large as 46 points, their biggest hole of the season.

“They beat the s—t out of us tonight,” said Reaves, who had a team-high 15 points along with four turnovers. 

The Thunder emphatically stomped out the Lakers’ roaring flame, reducing all of the hope and excitement of the last month to embers struggling for oxygen. 

The Lakers aren’t contenders. And Doncic is not the MVP. 

But it gets way, way worse than that. 

If Doncic’s injury is serious, LA may not even get past the first round of the playoffs. 

And if Doncic misses the team’s final five games, he’ll be disqualified from all NBA awards because of the league’s 65-game threshold. [Doncic has played in 64 games this season.]

That’s right, the guy who’s leading the league in points (33.5), is third in assists (8.3) and sixth in steals (1.6) could’ve gone from trying to surpass Gilgeous-Alexander for the league’s most prestigious individual honor to being wiped off the board entirely in one dreadful evening. 

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“At this point, at this juncture of the season, it’s the last thing you want to see,” said LeBron James, who had 13 points, six rebounds and two assists in the second-worst loss of his career. “Especially, anybody on our team. But when you have an MVP candidate on your team, the last thing you want to see is somebody go down with a hamstring injury.”

Thursday was one of those nights that will haunt the Lakers, especially coach JJ Redick. 

Doncic was grabbing at his left hamstring in the second quarter. Why the heck did Redick allow him to re-enter a game in which the Lakers were down by 31 points at halftime? Doncic wasn’t going to rescue the team on a night in which he had more turnovers (six) than field goals (three). 

“We checked him out,” Redick said. “He got work done. He was cleared. I mean, again, we’re not going to put a player at risk. Those things happen.”

Doncic should’ve never played in the third quarter. That was a massive mistake that could have major consequences for a team that was soaring. 

It was just one of those nights. 

LA had beaten multiple contenders over the last month, including the Rockets (twice), Timberwolves, Knicks and Nuggets. 

If they had beaten the Thunder, they would’ve been considered real threats for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. And Doncic’s MVP case would’ve become far more bulletproof. 

Instead, they walked away from Thursday’s game mortified and hobbled, like a boxer who fought way above his weight class. 

This wasn’t just a bump in the road. It was an unraveling. 

It was a nightmare. 

But the Lakers don’t get to wake up from this and pretend it never happened. 

Some nights you have it, some nights you don’t. And for the Phoenix Suns, the nights where it is not there have started to show up a little too often. As the season winds down, that early joy, the feeling of watching a group outperform expectations, it has faded, and it has faded as quickly as their point of attack defense.

Thursday night in Charlotte felt familiar. The issues on the perimeter showed up again, and everything flows from that. When you cannot keep the ball in front, the defense bends, and then it breaks. The paint opens up, rotations get late, and without consistent rim protection, teams feast inside. That is how you end up asking why the Suns give up so many points in the paint. It starts on the outside.

Give credit where it is due: the Charlotte Hornets play hard, they are feisty, and they will make you earn it. But Phoenix did not help themselves. And that is the part that sticks.

Because the game opened with a different feel. The Suns dropped 41 in the first quarter, and with Mark Williams back and Dillon Brooks settling in during his second game back, it felt like maybe things were starting to line up. Like the timing was coming back, like the pieces were finding each other again.

And then it unraveled.

Phoenix scores 41 in the first quarter, then just 19 in the second. Offensive consistency remains the challenge

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) April 3, 2026

They lost every margin that matters. Second-chance points, points in the paint, bench production, points off turnovers, three-point efficiency; you run down the list, and Charlotte had the edge everywhere. The Phoenix Suns looked a step slow — sometimes two — reacting instead of dictating, chasing instead of controlling.

And yeah, nights like that happen. You can live with a bad night. The Charlotte Hornets are not a pushover. They play with energy, they play with pace, and when they get rolling it is tough to deal with. But the concern is not just one night. It is the pattern.

Over the last two months, the Suns are 12–15. That is the 11th-worst record in the league in that stretch, sitting right alongside teams that are not trying to win games. Injuries have played a role, no doubt. And now that guys are returning, there is an adjustment period, rotations shift, roles change, and timing gets thrown off.

Since February 2, the Phoenix Suns are 12–15. The only teams with the worse record? Bucks, Warriors, Kings, Grizzlies, Jazz, Bulls, Mavs, Pacers, Nets, Wizards.

So all of the tanking teams. pic.twitter.com/3O9YnCFWni

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) April 3, 2026

But earlier in the season, they were navigating those same challenges and still finding ways to win. It did not always look clean, but it worked. Right now, it is not working the same way.

This team needs to be one that can beat you in multiple ways. That is how they are built, that is how they found success. Lately, they are losing in multiple ways instead. And that is the part that sticks as the season starts to slip toward its end.

Bright Side Baller Season Standings

Chalk up another Bright Side Baller for Devin Booker following the loss against the Magic. You can pin your blame in plenty of directions for the overall team performance that night. Booker was leaast at fault.

Bright Side Baller Nominees

Game 77 against the Hornets. Here are your nominees:

Jalen Green
25 points (10-of-19, 3-of-6 3PT), 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 1 block, -11 +/-

Devin Booker
22 points (9-of-22, 3-of-8 3PT), 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, -13 +/-

Dillon Brooks
13 points (5-of-12, 3-of-5 3PT), 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 turnover, -14 +/-

Grayson Allen
13 points (4-of-10, 2-of-6 3PT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3-of-5 FT, 0 turnovers, -16 +/-

Mark Williams
12 points (6-of-7), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 3 blocks, -12 +/-

Oso Ighodaro
6 points (3-of-6), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 turnovers, -7 +/-

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Where do you end up?

Welcome to Part III of a four-part series taking a look at the proposed changes to the NBA Draft Lottery that are being put before the Board of Governors to prevent tanking. If you’d like to catch up, check out Part I and Part II. Before we take a look at the second proposal, it’s important to reiterate the current draft rules.

As it stands, the 14 teams that do not make the Playoffs are eligible for the lottery. Don’t confuse making the Play In Tournament with making the Playoffs – they are not the same. 16 teams make the Playoffs when all is said and done, with 14 heading to the lottery. Lottery odds are flat (14%) for the three worst teams, with the odds decreasing from there down to the 14^th worst team (0.5%). The team with the worst record can receive no worse than the 5^th pick, as the lottery only determines picks 1-4 with the rest of the draft order following inversely of a team’s record.

Option 2 – increase the number of lottery teams significantly, draft position based on record across two seasons

Key aspects of the proposal include:

• 22 teams in the draft lottery (10 that miss the Playoffs outright plus 8 that make the Play In Tournament plus 4 that lose in the 1^st Round of the Playoffs).
• Draft positioning is determined by a team’s record across the current season and the season prior (e.g. a team that goes 20-62 and 24-58 will have a record of 22-60 for purposes of draft order).
• A minimum win total floor TBD will be implemented (e.g. if we assume a floor of 25 wins, any team with fewer than 25 wins in either of the two seasons will have their win total bumped to 25 in that season for purposes of draft order).
• Top 4 draft positions determined by lottery drawing.

Thoughts on the proposal

If we thought the first proposal was a no-nonsense bid by the NBA, this proposal is truly next level. This scenario leaves only eight teams in the league outside the lottery. With the four first round losers entering the mix, there is plenty of room for insanity to ensue.

Since 1984 when the Playoffs expanded to 16 teams, there have been six 1 seeds to lose to the 8 seed in the first round of the Playoffs. The Seattle Sonics (1994), Miami Heat (1999), Mavericks (2007), San Antonio Spurs (2011), Chicago Bulls (2012) and Milwaukee Bucks (2023) all hold the dubious distinction. It is rare, but happens. This proposal means the best team in the league could possibly secure the 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Imagine the Thunder adding a Darryn Peterson or Cam Boozer because of one flukey Playoff loss. Highly unlikely, but when it happens, all but a single fanbase is going to be grabbing their pitchforks and torches.

The two-season lookback also adds potential chaos. Let’s use the Indiana Pacers as an example. In 2024-25, they won 50 games and took a trip to the NBA Finals. In 2025-26, they are on pace to win 18 games, largely due to the season-long absence of Tyrese Haliburton. That would put them at an average of 34 wins under this proposal, greatly increasing their chances of a higher pick despite being an otherwise elite team. On the other hand, the Mavericks were a 50-win Finals team in 2023-24 before imploding their franchise with one of the most notorious trades in sports history. Both teams would have their draft odds skewed in the wrong direction based largely on anomalous occurrences.

What it could mean for the Mavericks

Chaos is difficult to predict, and this scenario at least invites chaos, however unlikely it may be. The two-season lookback doesn’t strike me as doing the Mavericks or any other team any real favors. I actually think the overall proposal could encourage tanking. Case in point: the Pacers are doing it right now and they don’t even have the incentive this proposal affords teams. If a good team gets some bad injury luck, they are highly incentivized to completely tank the following season to better their draft odds. Add in a win floor and teams will simply use that number of wins as their tank-target.

My best guess is that Dallas ought to hope this proposal isn’t the winner. The Mavs likely won’t have control of their own pick (after this offseason) until 2031. Following up a few years of no pick control with a much wider field of lottery teams could really send Dallas on a long walk of poor draft outcomes.

I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.

Today's money is not tomorrow's direct deposit — not for the respective teams and conferences represented in the Men's NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA's system of financial payment for the teams who earn entrance into March Madness and then advance is a convoluted, six-year process.

When is one game a unit and one unit six slices of the pie?

March Madness, of course.

Blue bloods or new bloods? Ranking college basketball's top programs

Final Four bold predictions: Which drought continues? Who wins it all?

The NCAA's system designates every game as a unit. The units then are divided into six shares teams earn for every game in which they appear in the tournament.

This year, according to a sitting NCAA Division I athletic director and a power conference representative who spoke to USA TODAY Sports, as well as several projections, slot the per-game value for teams in the men's tournament at approximately $2.1 million per game.

Simple, right? Not really.

The funds are distributed directly to the member conferences of the various teams, and payouts for this year's tournament will not begin until next year.

The payments then are broken down into the six-slice pie. Distributions right now on the men's side for the six-year window actually are comprised of just five total NCAA tournaments because the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the men's and women's 2020 championships. Women's basketball units are distributed over a three-year timeframe.

In this year's men's tournament, Texas, for example, earned four games or units worth 24 shares for the league.

That's approximately $8.4 million the Longhorns have positioned themselves to earn for the SEC. A year ago, when Todd Golden's Florida Gators won the national championship, the SEC paced all leagues with a record 35 NCAA Tournament games/units that resulted in $70 million in earnings for the league.

However, that number would grow this year because of a change the NCAA voted to adopt on Jan. 14 in its Division I Business Session.

The NCAA and its affiliate members voted to increase unit allocations into the Final Four, adding a total of three units to this year's 68-team field. Florida would have netted the SEC an additional $4 million for its championship.

"(This) vote emphasizes the importance of rewarding schools who invest in the development of their basketball programs and reach not just the Final Four," Dan Gavitt, the NCAA's senior vice president of basketball, said at the time in a release, "but ultimately achieve the pinnacle of success in this sport by competing for and winning the national championship.

"The expansion of these funds also continues to increase financial support to members during this pivotal time in college sports in which student-athletes are receiving unprecedented benefits from their schools."

Many leagues choose to use the funds earned in March Madness — such as the SEC's $70 million haul a year ago — as part of its equal revenue-distribution amongst its members.

The ACC, however, shifted its longstanding revenue-sharing policy in June 2025 to reward its March Madness and College Football Playoff participants with a greater revenue share.

For its participating team, whether it be for one game or multiple contests, the Sun Belt Conference provides a "50% threshold" off additional revenue for the year that team advanced into the NCAA Tournament.

Furman earned an extra share for the Southern Conference three years ago when it ousted Virginia from the tournament; that additional revenue will continue being distributed by the conference for the next four years after it received corresponding shares in 2024-25.

The NCAA also covers participating teams' travel costs — with exceptions. The athletic director told USA TODAY Sports the NCAA sets fixed amounts for the average cost a commercial airfare ticket, daily hotel rate, daily travel rate and per diem.

Schools can, however, choose to charter a jet rather than fly commercially and incur the expected cost-differential.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness is big business. Each game is worth more than $2 million

With only a handful of games left in the regular season, it seems a good time to update where Wemby is in blocks. Keep in mind that this list is “all-time” and the accumulation here took players their entire career. He’s already a 2x Block Champ and a shoo-in for his third straight. Additionally, Wemby was just named the Defensive Player of the Month for the third month in a row. He also seems to be a lock for Defensive player of the Year, and by Kendrick Perkins estimation the first to receive the honor unanimously.

Let’s start with this. After Wednesday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors, Wemby had a total of 617 career blocks, ranking him 225th all time.

Here’s a sample set:

The next active player on the list is Daniel Gafford who currently has 649 career blocks (and still going). Everyone else from the 224th to 210th has retired.

In the near future Wemby will pass James Worthy (624), Tom Chambers (627), Spencer Haywood (629), DeSagana Diop (630), Mickey Johnson (632), Andre Iguodala (633), Danny Green (634), Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Clifford Ray (638), Nazr Mohammed (639), Kobe Bryant (640), John Henson and Dominique Wilkins (642), Jim Chones (643), and Carmelo Anthony (644).

For reference (and comparison):

Kobe Bryant played 20 seasons.

Andre Iguodala and Carmelo Anthony played 19 each.

Nazr Mohammed had 18 seasons

Tom Chambers played 16 seasons.

Danny Green and Dominique Wilkins played 15 seasons apiece.

Spencer Haywood played 13 seasons, his first with the ABA.

James Worthy, DeSagana Diop, Mickey Johnson, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim each played 12 seasons.

Jim Chones and Clifford Ray each had 10 years in the league.

John Henson managed to get his blocks all within 8 seasons.

By comparison, Wemby is just wrapping up his third season, and has missed over a half-season worth of games thus far.

He’s more advanced than anyone could have anticipated. And he shows no signs of slowing down.

To be honest, his numbers should be greater, but so many players refuse to shoot when he is in the vicinity. His presence detours so many shot opportunities.

Spurs kept Wemby in street clothes last night against the Los Angeles Clippers, but he’s expected to be back in action on Saturday as the Silver & Black face the Denver Nuggets.

Go Spurs Go!

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The Atlanta Hawks absolutely cannot be stopped.

They finished the month of March with a record of 13-2, and going back to the All-Star break, the Hawks have rocketed up the standings with a mark of 18-3 since February 11th.

When the team has this level of success, individual accolades tend to follow.

On Thursday, the announcements came down, and two Hawks were honored with monthly awards. First, Jalen Johnson was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month:

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić and Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson have been named the Kia NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played in March. pic.twitter.com/Cq5NUmN2V6

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 2, 2026

He averaged a bonkers 22 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists per game while playing in 13 of the 15 games last month. It’s his first career Player of the Month award, something he can pair with a Player of the Week award he won earlier this season.

The orchestrater of the players also earned recognition from his peers. Head coach Quin Snyder was tapped as the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month:

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder have been named the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in March. pic.twitter.com/rEnfuIhJxD

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 2, 2026

The award is Snyder’s fifth of his career — the other four happening in the Western Conference during his eight-year stint with the Utah Jazz. The award comes after Snyder picked up his 500th career win around a week ago.

Jaylen opens up about left hand narrative, improved court vision and more originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jaylen Brown is in his 10th NBA season — and he keeps getting better.

The Boston Celtics star is averaging career highs across the board in points (28.8), rebounds (7.0), and assists (5.3) per game while improving his shooting percentage (47.6 percent) despite a higher volume of shots. With Jayson Tatum sidelined until early March, Brown has thrived in a lead role for Boston, emerging as a legitimate MVP candidate while helping the C’s maintain a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference.

Brown has dispelled plenty of narratives this season; he’s been consistently strong driving to the basket with his left hand despite that part of his game previously being viewed as a weakness, and he ranks second on the Celtics in assists after being viewed as a more ball-dominant player earlier in his career.

Brown recently sat down with NBC Sports Boston analyst and ex-Celtics champion Brian Scalabrine to watch film from his dominant 2025-26 season to date. Brown discussed the criticism around his left hand, his growth as a playmaker and much more. Here are two notable soundbites:

Brown opens about left hand issues

“I think there was some truth to it,” Brown told Scalabrine about the narrative that he struggled on drives with his left hand. “… I had a major surgery on my left wrist, and then I actually reinjured it again in 2023. So in 2021, I had a major surgery where I tore all the ligaments on my left hand.

“Basketball, the game is ruthless. If the team knows that you had an injury, they’re gonna try to force you to that. And then I had a loose body again in 2023 where I had a chip in my wrist that had to get fixed. So, I think that was a real criticism or critique of my game is that I struggled going left, but a lot of it was due to injury.

“As I’ve gotten more healthy, I’ve done stem cells and stuff like that in my wrist that’s helped improve the flexibility and the motion. I’ve been able to get back to being more progressive with my left hand. But at one point, I barely could dribble the ball with my left hand at times, you know what I mean? So, I was out there playing with one hand behind my back.”

Brown describes how the game has slowed down for him

“I think I’ve definitely been more patient,” Brown told Scalabrine. “I’ve slowed down in certain areas where you still see me use my athleticism and explosion in certain areas, but then you’ll notice I’ll get real slow, almost like I’m going at a casual pace. Because the slower you go, the easier it is to read everything. The faster you go, the harder those reads are.

“If you slow down where you’re going two miles per hour, you can see the stop signs, you can see the dog, you can see the mailman putting stuff in the mail. You see everything when you slow down. When you’re going too fast, you’re driving full speed, you’re not seeing nothing. Everything is a blur.

“… I know certain spots on the floor where, no matter who’s guarding me, I have a good chance of getting a good shot up. So, I’m just identifying those spaces, and then as the flow of our offense goes, I’ve always got my eye on where those spaces are. … When I get there is when I try to slow down and focus on my footwork.”

Watch the full interview in the video player above, or on YouTube below.

An Achilles injury is one ofAn Achilles injury is one of the most devastating injuries an athlete can suffer. Knee injuries used to be nearly as bad, but arthroscopic surgery has really changed that. ACL injuries still require major rehab, but it’s become fairly manageable. Achilles injuries are still a very difficult thing to overcome, one of the most devastating injuries an athlete can suffer. Knee injuries used to be nearly as bad, but arthroscopic surgery has really changed that. ACL injuries still require major rehab, but it’s become fairly manageable. Achilles injuries are still a very difficult thing to overcome.

So when former Blue Devil Jayson Tatum collapsed in a heap last year during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks, his future was at best cloudy. He was expected to miss all of this season and come back next year, if things go well.

For that matter, the Boston Celtics were also expected to suffer this season. However, both have exceeded expectations.

The Celtics are currently 51-25, good for second place in the East, behind only Trajan Langdon’s Detroit Pistons (the Pistons are 4.5 games ahead at 56-21). Most of that was without Tatum, who returned to action on March 6th, less than 10 months after his injury. That’s almost miraculous.

And remarkably, on April 1st, Tatum got his first triple-double after coming back, racking up 25 points, 18 rebounds, and 11 assists against Miami on April 1st.

It’s a bit under the radar somehow, but what Tatum is doing may be the most amazing story in the NBA this spring.

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This race, unexpectedly, has become a lot closer.

Although it feels like a two-man battle at this point, with no team having more than six games left in the 2025-26 NBA regular season, these players are quickly running out of chances to elevate their arguments for Most Valuable Player.

Thursday, April 2 was an interesting night, too, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Luka Dončić of the Los Angeles Lakers facing off, while phenom big Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs played the Los Angeles Clippers.

Here’s this week’s USA TODAY Sports NBA MVP rankings:

USA TODAY Sports NBA MVP rankings

5. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics

He has simply not let up. He dropped 43 in a rout Wednesday, April 1 against the Heat and has scored at least 29 points in his last seven games, and is averaging 33.6 over that stretch. More importantly, he has been the biggest reason for the Celtics to be a real threat in the East, despite missing Jayson Tatum (Achilles rehab) for most of the season. Brown has led Boston to a decently comfortable hold on the No. 2 seed in the East, and, even though Tatum is returning to form, Brown is looking poised to have a massive postseason.

4. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

He has notched triple-doubles in five of his last six games, as the Nuggets are peaking at the right time. Denver has won seven consecutive games and 10 of its last 12, and Jokić has been as consistent and dependable as always. He leads the NBA in rebounding (13.0) and is the only player averaging a triple-double (adding 27.7 points and 10.8 assists). He’s having a monster season, so it’s kind of absurd to rank him fourth. It’s just a testament to the players above him on this list, and the seasons they are having.

3. Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers

In 17 games in March, Dončić scored 600 points, becoming just the 10th player in NBA history to put down that output in any single month. The Lakers, crucially, went 15-2 over that stretch and have been impressive, with recent victories over the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Rockets (twice) and Cavaliers. Thursday’s blowout loss against the Thunder was a letdown, as Dončić struggled from deep, going just 1-of-7 from 3-point range. But the bigger problem was a left hamstring injury that sidelined him and may jeopardize his eligibility for individual awards. Thursday night was his 64th game, leaving him one shy of the minimum.

2. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

This has actually gotten really close. Wembanyama missed Thursday night’s game against the Clippers with a right ankle injury management designation, but his play as of late has closed the lead the top player on this list has held for much of the back half of the regular season. No player impacts the game on both sides more than Wembanyama, who has dropped 41 points in each of his last two games. As if that wasn’t enough, he swatted away 3 shots in each and collected 10 rebounds Monday, March 30 in a win over the Bulls and hauled in 18 Wednesday against the Warriors. San Antonio has won the last 15 games that Wembanyama has played in.

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

He remains the most consistent force in the NBA and Thursday’s beatdown of the Lakers was proof of how dangerous he can be. Gilgeous-Alexander had scored a smooth 21 points by halftime, as Oklahoma City had opened a massive, 31-point lead on the Lakers. Before that, SGA dopped 47 points in an overtime victory against the Pistons, and he has extended his consecutive 20-point streak to a ridiculous 137 games. Still, he’ll need to close strong because Wembanyama is making a late charge.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA MVP rankings after Luka Doncic injury

The Cleveland Cavaliers did enough to escape with a 118-111 win over an undermanned Golden State Warriors team.

Max Strus’s timely shotmaking saved the Cavs. He poured in 24 points on 6-10 shooting from deep. That included scoring eight in the fourth quarter and burying two threes in the closing minutes to put the game away.

The Cavs have so much offensive firepower in the starting five of Strus, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. Strus can get lost in the shuffle with his off-ball movement and the attention the dynamic guards demand. The Cavs were able to find Strus enough late and ultimately secured the victory because of it.

This is a much more well-rounded offensive attack when they’re able to get this level of contributions from a proven playoff performer like Strus. He’s rounding into form at the right time as he’s combined to go 17-28 (60.7%) from three over his last three outings.

Overall, the late-game offensive execution since the Harden trade has been impressive. It was again here as the Cavs generated quality looks seemingly every time down the court.

The Cavaliers are doing this without any one player dominating the ball. Harden was orchestrating the offense late once again, but he wasn’t controlling possessions. Every member of the starting five scored four or more points in the final frame, with each scoring critical baskets to help put the game away.

More importantly, this five-man group has good playmakers for their position at every spot. When they create advantages — as Harden is known for doing — everyone on the court can capitalize on it by finding the open man.

This pass from Mobley is a great example of that. The Warriors showed help defense on Harden at the top of the arc. He found the open man in Mobley. And when the defense rotated over to prevent a shot at the rim, Mobley located Strus alone in the corner.

The ball is always faster than the man. Even if the defense does make the right play initially, if you’re moving the ball as efficiently as the Cavs have been in the clutch, you’re eventually going to find a crack in the armor.

The best offenses are often the most well-rounded and diverse. The Cavs have shown over the last several weeks that they can dissect opposing defense in a variety of ways, and did so again here.

Free-throw shooting is a concern for the bigs. Mobley’s struggles at the line have been well documented over the last month. He didn’t get many chances to prove himself at the charity stripe here, but he missed both opportunities he had.

Allen did a good job of aggressively attacking the defense, which led to him taking 12 free throws. The only problem was that he made just six of them.

There’s not much to really dive into with missed free throws. They aren’t fun to talk about, and there typically isn’t an easy fix for them. If they were, LeBron James would’ve figured it out a decade and a half ago.

That said, the margins in the playoffs will be incredibly thin. The Cavs don’t have the luxury of leaving points at the line, and they also can’t have their bigs hesitant to attack because they don’t want to take free throws.

Injuries have held the Cavs back all season, and still are.

Even though Cleveland had their four best players on the court together — which has been a rare sighting this season — you can still see that they aren’t close to being whole considering who’s still out of the lineup.

The Cavs were without Dean Wade (ankle) and Jaylon Tyson (toe). And while neither would be considered among the best five players on the team, the lineups that head coach Kenny Atkinson has been forced to use without those two forwards have been rough.

The four guard lineups simply don’t work. Point of attack defense is an issue when the team is fully healthy. Combine that with two players being asked to guard up a position as well, and there are too many holes to clean up for whichever lone big is on the floor.

Additionally, your defense is always just one switch away from a terrible mismatch. The Warriors used this to their advantage as they consistently forced smaller guards onto Kristaps Porzingis and then allowed him to work from there in the high post.

These groupings with four players that are 6’5” or under need to be potent offensively to make up for their shortcomings on the other end. And to their credit, they have been solid. But there’s a difference between spreading the floor out because you have wings and bigs who can create space and doing so with guards.

For one, these four guard lineups don’t have the multiple big screen setters you need to make Atkinson’s motion offense work. And while the Cavs do a lot of guard screening actions already, that is more of a changeup than a fastball.

Despite how much the NBA has changed over the last decade, positions still matter. Or at the very least, having size and a variety of skills does.

Right now, the Cavs don’t have any better options than to continue running these small lineups.

Nae’Qwan Tomlin hasn’t been able to replicate his early-season success much over the past several weeks. Teams know that he isn’t a threat to beat them with his outside shot, which makes it more difficult for him to get to the basket, and in turn cramps the spacing.

Thomas Bryant is the other forward who has shown that he deserves minutes, but he’s a center. That makes it difficult to play him alongside Jarrett Allen.

Atkinson hasn’t been willing to look outside of those options for minutes. Larry Nance Jr. hasn’t played consistent rotation minutes since the beginning of the season. There’s an argument that one of the three two-way players who are forwards should get an opportunity, but since none are eligible for the playoffs on their current deals, it’s not worth seriously exploring.

Getting Wade and/or Tyson back will help. These lineups will have much more size and versatility on both sides of the floor. That will drastically improve how this all looks.

At the same time, how incoherent these lineups are underscores the fragility of the current roster construction.

There are no perfect teams in this new parity era (except the Oklahoma City Thunder). Everyone has holes (again, except OKC). And with the speed of the game, you can’t just play six or seven guys in the playoffs and expect to get by. True contenders need to and can comfortably trot out nine at a minimum.

Health will play a significant role in determining the eventual champion. Not being able to cover up for multiple rotation players isn’t necessarily alarming on its own. At the same time, nothing about what we’ve seen this past week would make you believe the Cavs can compensate for missing either or both Wade and Tyson. That’s a scary place to be and isn’t ideal for the most expensive roster in the league.

The NBA has narrowed down their list of anti-tanking measures to three options.

I think that, unfortunately, this list is too short, and it leaves too many good ideas off the table. Below are some of the ideas that didn’t make the cut…

The Wheel

Proposed by Mike Zarren, the wheel assigns draft picks without regard to record. Instead, the rank order of the picks changes from year to year.

Pros: There’s no point in tanking anymore.

Cons: It will take 32 years to figure out if it works.

The Drop-Dead Date

The lottery seeding is fixed at a certain arbitrary point in time—the All-Star break is often suggested—after this point, further losses don’t improve your odds of getting a top pick.

Pros: It doesn’t matter if you lose games after the drop-dead date.

Cons: It doesn’t matter if you win games after the drop-dead date either.

The Lottery Tournament

Teams will compete to get the most favorable odds in the lottery in a tournament—or the draft order will be fixed by the results of the tournament.

Pros: There’s more basketball to watch and, importantly for the league these days, more basketball to bet on. After expansion, there will be as many teams in the lottery tournament as in the postseason, and this way even players on bad teams can get the chance to play an extended schedule with even more chances to get hurt. Oh wait.

Cons: Does anyone want to see Sacramento hang a banner when they win the lottery tournament?

The Really Complicated Rule System

Under this system, the two-year record of a team is taken into consideration, and a floor will be set, such that no team that wins less than 25 games gets credit for a greater number of losses, and this will be used to determine the odds for a drawing that will assign the first four spots in the draft. The 22 teams in the league with the worst cumulative two-year records will be entered in the drawing.

Pros: It’s complicated!

Cons: The league is actually considering this one.

The Pig in a Poke

The league doesn’t reveal the lottery selection method until the end of the season. Odds could be weighted to favor really bad teams, or they could be even across the board. This takes away a lot of the incentive behind planning to be bad.

Pros: I kind of like this idea.

Cons: Nobody else seems to.

The Big Tumbler Full of Envelopes

A bit of a throwback to the good old days when lottery odds were even across the board, and the drawing was done with plenty of spectacle, instead of taking place in a locked room.

Pros: It’s a great way to get Patrick Ewing, if you’re the Knicks.

Cons: It’s a great way to not get Patrick Ewing, if you’re not the Knicks.

The Trial By Combat

This option would consist of a physical competition that would probably, but not necessarily, be relatively safe. Say an arm-wrestling contest. Teams would nominate a different champion every year who would compete on their behalf. The catch is that the champion has to be employed in a responsible position in the front office, and not with some hokey title like “Assistant General Manager in charge of Arm Wrestling.”

Pros: Who wouldn’t want to watch this?

Cons: I’m not really seeing any

The Hunger Games

It’s sort of like Trial By Combat, but this time the champions for each team are drawn by lot from the team’s fanbase. Of course, fans could also volunteer as tribute, Katniss style, but regardless, the actual competition would be suitably rigorous. Different contests would include “Sitting quietly at the bar while the game is on, after having had a few drinks,” “Ignoring Nick Wright,” “Watching a movie with your significant other while the game is on,” and other feats of endurance designed to test every fan’s stamina.

Pros: Who wouldn’t want to represent the Boston Celtics and bring home the top draft pick?

Cons: The movies and books weren’t that great.

The Softball League

Who doesn’t like corporate sponsored softball leagues? Well, why not have one every summer to set the order for the following season’s draft? Sure, this seems like a variation of the two previous options, but it deserves special mention because this would be an actual slow-pitch league, not just a tournament. The only ringers teams could bring in would be guys from the team roster. So maybe save a fourteenth or fifteenth spot for a real slugger?

Pros: Joe Mazzulla coaching a softball team.

Cons: I didn’t come up with this idea, Bill Sy did.

The Fantasy Basketball League

This league would run concurrently with the regular season. GMs from various teams would draft for a fantasy league at the start of each season. Importantly, they can draft players from any team in the league. Maximum chaos will occur when a team GM drafts a player that’s truly hated by that team’s fanbase. Can you imagine what would happen if Brad Stevens drafted Lebron James?

Pros: Knowing that SGA’s grifting is good for your draft position.

Cons: Feeling good about that grifting.

The Ouija Board

Pretty much what the name suggests. Designated league representatives would consult a Ouija board to determine the draft order.

Pros: It’s completely impartial

Cons: Or is it?

The Vote

Each team would vote on which team should get the top pick. The catch, obviously, is that no team can vote for itself. Teams can’t trade votes, or agree to support each other in different years.

Pros: Complete and utter chaos

Cons: None—except for the chaos.

The Roulette Wheel

The league might as well go all-in on gambling and set the draft order this way as well. I mean, it’s already called a lottery… But why not just put team reps around a roulette wheel and whoever’s luckiest over the course of, oh, say, an hour, gets the top pick.

Pros: It’s gambling, so it’s got to be good

Cons: What if all this gambling isn’t good?

The Carnival Midway

When the draft rolls around, the players eligible for it are awarded as prizes for winning various games on a carnival midway. Want Keaton Wagler? You’d best be prepared to peg five tin ducks with a suspiciously inaccurate BB gun.

Pros: This rectifies the longstanding shortage of cotton candy and funnel cake at the NBA draft

Cons: The Kings might get mixed up and end up drafting an oversized teddy bear by mistake.

The High School Essay Contest

General managers from each team would be required to submit an essay to the league saying why they should get the top pick that year. The team with the best essay would get the top pick.

Pros: It’s better than the current system, which is “my team deserves the top pick because we are terrible.”

Cons: There’s a risk that some GMs are illiterate.

6 key questions left for Sixers, from seeding to starters  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

As of Friday morning, heading into a back-to-back vs. the Timberwolves and Pistons, the Sixers have six regular-season games to go and sit sixth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Let’s look at six key questions for the team with postseason looming:

Can Sixers avoid the play-in?

The odds of the Sixers staying in the top-six and steering clear of the play-in tournament feel like a coin flip.

They trail the fifth-seeded Hawks by 1.5 games and also lost the regular-season series to Atlanta, so rising would be unlikely. That’s especially true because the Sixers have the NBA’s fourth-hardest remaining strength of schedule, according to Tankathon.

The Raptors and Sixers both currently sit at 42-34. The teams split their regular-season series, but the Sixers hold the tiebreaker over Toronto because of their superior record against other teams in the Atlantic division. The Sixers are 9-7, the Raptors 4-10. 

The other teams in play-in spots are the Hornets, Magic and Heat. The Sixers lead Charlotte by 1.5 games, Orlando by two games and Miami by 2.5 games. 

Basketball Reference’s playoff probabilities report says the Sixers have a 41.9 percent of finishing in the top-six. 

Who’s going to start in the postseason? 

Kelly Oubre Jr. has come off the bench in the three games he’s played since returning from a left elbow sprain. Does Sixers head coach Nick Nurse anticipate eventually sliding Oubre back into his starting five? 

“I don’t know about that,” Nurse said Wednesday night before the Sixers’ road win over the Wizards. “I envision probably having some changes here and there going down the stretch. He’s probably going to be involved in that, but he might not be the only one.”

After opening the season on a two-way contract, Dominick Barlow has wound up starting 58 games so far. Nurse has had plenty of valid reasons to like him as a starter. 

“He’s played really well,” Nurse said. “Not always, but a lot of times he’s been a factor on the offensive glass. He’s always a factor on the defensive end. He’s continued to grow in his switch-ability. We can play some different coverages with him; he can switch out on to most guys and do a lot of good work there for us.

“And then obviously, most of the time it was just a numbers game. There were always one, two, three, four guys out and he ends up kind of being there, and he earned it as well. 

“Now that everybody’s back, I thought Kelly probably needed a game or two rhythm-wise. And then again, (Barlow) reminded of us how good he is paired along Joel (Embiid). So there’s lots of stuff going on there to look at and evaluate.”

Barlow’s teammates are very aware that his impact often doesn’t come through shotmaking.

“He knows his role, man,” Tyrese Maxey said. “He’s a star in his role. … He does all the dirty work for us. He guards who he needs to guard, he rebounds — offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds. He’s a connector and he does a really good job of just being who he is. We need him.”

Can Sixers sustain contender-caliber defense?

The Sixers rank 18th in the NBA in defensive rating.

Both on paper and on the floor, they’ve appeared capable of better. One suggestion of a higher defensive ceiling: The Sixers’ defensive rating in fourth quarters is third in the NBA behind only the Knicks and Thunder. Their stellar defensive rating of 98.0 in clutch situations is the best in the league.

Glimpses of greatness won’t be good enough in the playoffs, though. 

“Especially when you’re talking about competing for a championship, we’ve got to be a better defensive team,” Paul George said.

George’s play post-suspension is a reason for optimism on the defensive end. His scoring’s attracted the most attention — 28.0 points per game over his last four, including a 39-point performance against the Wizards — but the 35-year-old forward has looked excellent physically on both sides of the ball. 

“The games were coming fast and my body just wasn’t responding quickly enough,” George said Wednesday. “So I knew. It was a hard decision: Do I keep playing? I knew my body just needed a little time to heal without so much pounding and wear and tear. 

“I knew that the 25-game suspension, I was going to use it wisely, stay in shape, stay sharp, stay working. … I knew that this was kind of a blessing in disguise with the time off that I needed to get ready.”

How costly could rebounding woes be? 

The Sixers’ third-quarter troubles have been well-documented. They still have the NBA’s worst net rating in third quarters this season at minus-13.1.

Defensive rebounding has been a problem across all quarters for three years in a row. The Sixers are on track for another bottom-five season in defensive rebounding rate, per Cleaning the Glass. Last time the team was in the playoffs, the Sixers were decisively worse than the Knicks on the boards during their first-round series loss. 

In Nurse’s eyes, some of the rebounding struggles are fixable. 

“The first thing is our defensive rebounding needs to be better more consistently,” he said. “Again, it seems to get pretty good the last 18 minutes of the game, but it’s not very good in stretches. A lot of those come from a high volume of threes. I don’t think we’ve been great at running down long, loose-ball types of rebounds and that definitely needs an improvement. I think we’ve got the speed and athleticism to run those down. A lot of those long shot, long rebounds I think are the majority of them. 

“And then I would like to improve our side of it. We’d like to be a good crash team. We have been at times this year, but it’s not been as good recently as it was (earlier) in the year, so we’d like to get that back, up that a little bit and get our own share of put-backs and kick-out threes off of offensive rebounds.”

Will Maxey’s progress as floor general make a big difference?

By the numbers alone, Maxey’s only taken a modest step forward this season as a passer. His 0.95 assist-to-usage ratio would be a new career high, according to Cleaning the Glass. He had a 0.88 assist-to-usage ratio last year. 

The stats might undersell Maxey’s progress running the team a tad. He’s stumbled here and there in clutch moments — every star guard does — but Maxey’s certainly appeared more comfortable dictating the Sixers’ offense. Nurse almost never minds when he veers from a scripted play or invents something on his own. 

Much of that confidence stems from Maxey refusing to let himself fade from games. Even when Embiid is dominating or George is on fire, the Sixers need Maxey eager to attack. Compared to past postseasons, Maxey will have a greater sense for all the nuances of being a lead guard.

“I think we’ve got him to an aggressive state of mind,” Nurse said. “I think he’s got that where it needs to be. … I just see him where he’s tweaking plays a little bit that maybe we were calling for him and he puts someone else in there. Again, just to get VJ (Edgecombe) going, to get Kelly a bucket, to get Paul one. I think that’s growth for him for sure.”

Joel Embiid 

No formal question here because the truth remains that asking whether Embiid will play on a given night sometimes leads down strange paths. The Sixers’ Friday morning injury report listed Embiid as doubtful against Minnesota because of the illness that caused him to miss Wednesday’s win.

It is clear that Embiid always wants to play and has generally looked like an All-Star again this season when available. 

He’s dealt with an absurd amount of health misfortune in past postseasons. Stringing together some strong games before the playoffs would be nice for Embiid, but the Sixers will be happy with any route that involves him being (and staying) healthy in the postseason. The team is obviously much better when Embiid takes most of the center minutes as opposed to the alternative world of Adem Bona, Andre Drummond and small-ball options. 

North Carolina needed a basketball coach, and it set its sights on one in the Final Four.

Its top target had a good job. A darn good one, and one newspaper columnist felt adamant Roy Williams wouldn’t leave Kansas, even if his alma mater tried to call him home to Carolina. Williams already turned down UNC once before, a few years previously.

No way Roy’s going to Carolina.

So read the headline of Joe Posnanski’s column in the Kansas City Star on April 2, 2003. Two weeks later, Posnanski wrote another column about how he got it all wrong. He trusted a coach to have loyalty. Whoops, rookie mistake.

If we’ve learned one thing in the more than two decades since then, it’s to never say never when it comes to these situations, and that a coach’s loyalty is the underdog when matched up against his ego.

Now here we are at another Final Four, and UNC’s hiring, and it’s déjà vu, with stay-or-go questions hovering over the coaches of the two favored teams in Indianapolis.

Tommy Lloyd fuels speculation about UNC job

This time, nobody’s writing there’s “no way” Tommy Lloyd would leave Arizona for UNC. That doesn’t mean Lloyd will definitely bolt, but even he’s not saying he won’t. Lloyd himself fed into speculation he’s a prime option for UNC when he said, “Arizona’s going to have another good coach after me, I promise you.” And, when will Arizona need to hire its next coach? Will that be next week? Next year? Ten years from now?

No telling. At least, Lloyd’s not telling, other than to say he’s “present in the moment” and that neither he nor his players are distracted by UNC speculation.

He’s probably right about his players, anyway.

Arizona’s Brayden Burries, Koa Peat and Motiejus Krivas are projected first-round NBA Draft picks. Wildcats point guard Jaden Bradley is a senior. They’re out the door after this Final Four, regardless of Lloyd’s decision. A fifth starter, Ivan Kharchenkov, might return for another college season, but thanks to the transfer portal, he could follow his coach if Lloyd decided to leave. No stress. No fuss. No distraction.

Twenty-three years ago, KU star Wayne Simien expressed open frustration when Williams jilted the Jayhawks for North Carolina. Now, athletes better understand it’s not personal, it’s just business, because players field interest from other high-paying suitors, too, and face business decisions of their own.

Is Dusty May more of a 'Michigan man' than Bill Frieder?

While we’re on the subject of déjà vu, here’s Michigan with a team that can win it all, but will coach Dusty May prove himself a “Michigan man” or a renegade?

If UNC would like to have Lloyd, then it should love to have May. He’s now a veteran of Final Fours, having led Florida Atlantic there in 2023.

Toppmeyer: Dusty May so good, you almost forget Sherrone Moore — now, UNC needs him

Perhaps, Michigan can breathe slightly easier than Arizona's administration, because at least May isn’t talking about how great Michigan’s next coach is going to be.

Even if May wouldn’t leave Michigan for UNC, the Tar Heels could cause a domino effect that results in May leaving Michigan. Just as the Wolverines lost John Beilein to the Cleveland Cavaliers, May has the goods of a future NBA coach. And if UNC hires Billy Donovan, well, then the Chicago Bulls will need a coach, won’t they?

Michigan knows what it’s like for a coach to spurn it. When Bill Frieder accepted the Arizona State job ahead of the 1989 NCAA Tournament, Bo Schembechler promptly booted Frieder and promoted Steve Fisher, explaining his decision with the now-famous line that, “A Michigan man is going to coach Michigan.”

The lesson Frieder provided: If you’re leaving for another job, maybe don’t tell anyone until the NCAA Tournament is finished.

Worked out great for Michigan. Fisher led the Wolverines to a national championship.

Never mind a Michigan man. The Wolverines would do well to keep their Indiana man. May got his start as a student manager under Bob Knight, but Frieder proved a coach’s alma mater doesn’t mean everything to everyone, even if Mama lured Williams home in 2003.

“I was a Tar Heel born. When I die, I'll be a Tar Heel dead,” Williams said after he took the UNC job.

In between, he became a turncoat at Kansas.

We learned then that when North Carolina wants to hire a Final Four coach, it’s naïve to think, “no way.”

Blake Toppmeyer is a columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tommy Lloyd, Dusty May would be great for UNC — if they pull a Roy Williams