Category: NBA

Several former Rutgers basketball players have made their mark on the NBA this season. Dylan Harper has looked good coming off the bench for the San Antonio Spurs, while his brother, Ron Harper Jr, has contributed solid minutes to the Celtics when he was called up from the G-League. After taking some time to adjust to the NBA in the first half of the season, Dylan’s former teammate and good friend Ace Bailey is starting to prove why he was drafted so high.

Over the past few games, Bailey has scored 95 points for the Utah Jazz. He recorded 33 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists in the team’s 128-96 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He followed that up with a 25-point game in a losing effort to the Philadelphia 76ers before scoring 37 points in a losing effort to the Toronto Raptors. He is the fifth-youngest NBA player to score 25 points per game in three straight games. The four ahead of him are LeBron James, Cooper Flagg, Carmelo Anthony, and Devin Booker.

While it is stunning how well he has done in this recent set of games, this reflects an overall trend that shows him starting to adjust to the league overall. In the 10 games the Jazz have played since the start of March, Bailey has scored at least 20 points in five of them and has had 15 or more points in all but three. His average of 21.2 points this month is his highest monthly average since joining the league. His overall shooting percentage has gone up drastically as well, as he is hitting 46.6 percent of his shots from the floor and 43.8 percent of his shots from three.

Bailey will look to continue his streak of dominance as the Jazz are set to play a very vulnerable Washington Wizards team next on their schedule.

In addition to Bailey, Dylan Harper has had a few solid outings in his last few games, recording 24 points against the Indiana Pacers and 21 points against the Miami Heat. He is still being used largely in a reserve role, recording just over 20 minutes per game in most of his appearances, while Bailey, on the other hand, has been playing around 30 minutes on average. This is largely due to the teams that each of them is on, rather than their overall skill.

The hope is that Bailey will finish the season strong and give the Jazz faithful a reason to be excited for the future while both Harper brothers continue to contribute meaningful minutes on a playoff contender.

Down a fair few key guys, the Milwaukee Bucks got an almighty butt-whooping in their second visit to LA this season, falling 129-96 to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Bucks tried hanging in there, but their lack of offensive juice became too much against the Kawhi-led Clippers. Funnily enough, this was the first game between these two sides this season; they meet on Sunday in Milwaukee for the second. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast, Bucks In Six Minutes, below.

Player Grades

Ryan Rollins

27 minutes, 13 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 5 turnovers, 6/16 FG, 1/5 3P, -37

Started well, going 5/8 in the first half (which included him taking Kawhi one-on-one and winning), but tailed off in the second half. Looked pretty fatigued, which is reflected in his turnovers. Also had nothing to slow down Darius Garland.

Grade: C+

Myles Turner

20 minutes, 7 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 2/7 FG, 1/5 3P, -22

I liked the looks he took from three, but they just didn’t go in. He seems to play worse without KPJ being there to get him open looks. That said, his defensive awareness was poor, losing his man a few times. Moreover, it’s not good enough to get no boards when the team gave up 11 offensive rebounds for the game. Brook Lopez dominated this matchup, ironically.

Grade: D+

AJ Green

20 minutes, 15 points, 2 assists, 4/5 FG, 4/5 3P, +4

All of his three-point attempts came in the second half, and he made the best of them. AJ has been building as of late.

Grade: B

Bobby Portis

19 minutes, 11 points, 6 rebounds, 5/12 FG, 0/2 3P, -24

Scored multiple times from his trusty wing post-ups, but looked a step slow against some of their athletes, getting burned at the rim by the likes of Jordan Miller and Kobe Sanders. He did well when he was guarded by Isaiah Jackson, though.

Grade: C-

Ousmane Dieng

26 minutes, 7 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 turnovers, 3/8 FG, 1/4 3P, -37

Way more of a mixed bag for Ous than the last game. Unlike the case with Booker, he had nothing for Kawhi (then again, it’s freaking Kawhi). Also, he was bothered by physicality, giving the ball away way more than he should have.

Grade: C+

Pete Nance

31 minutes, 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 5/12 FG, 1/4 3P, -14

Like Rollins, Nance started well but tailed off in the second half. Had a nice back-cut for the dunk, as well as a slam in transition (dude sneakily has bounce). And although his second half wasn’t great (3/8 shooting), it should be taken in context as to who he was out there with for most of that half.

Grade: C

Jericho Sims

19 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 2/2 FG, -22

His first bad game in a minute. Jericho seemed bothered by the amount of physicality they were using, and simply wasn’t as effective as a switch defender as he had been, getting roasted by Garland in one instance. Had butter fingers catching the ball on a few occasions.

Grade: D+

Taurean Prince

19 minutes, 5 points, 6 rebounds, 2/7 FG, 1/5 3P, -22

Missed most of his shots and had some poor possessions guarding Kawhi. On one occasion, guarding him in the corner, he didn’t really even try to move his feet, instead reaching for the ball and allowing the blow-by.

Grade: D+

Gary Trent Jr.

31 minutes, 20 points, 7/13 FG, 6/10 3P, -12

A real breakout game for Gary. Granted, many of his makes came in garbage time, but still, he took each shot with the confidence of someone who’s been a regular in the rotation.

Grade: A

Andre Jackson Jr.

16 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1/1 FG, +11

Credit where it’s due, AJax came into the game and made a positive imprint, primarily through his passing. He even had a few hockey assists (when they pass to the guy who gets the assist), which he won’t get credit for. On one occasion, he made a really nice lefty hook pass off the roll-replace action to AJ Green. Even took (and made) a three with confidence, as his defender went under the screen.

Grade: A-

Doc Rivers

Eh. With what Doc had at his disposal, I can’t poke too many holes in his game; the team looked worn down, both physically and emotionally. Continuing to give Trent more minutes has been a good move. I get the decision, but starting Prince over Green isn’t the move to make if you’re looking at this from a future-focused POV. Again, not saying it’s necessarily the “wrong” decision, though.

Grade: C

Garbage Time: Thanasis Antetokounmpo,

Inactive: Kyle Kuzma, Kevin Porter Jr., Cam Thomas, Alex Antetokounmpo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Gary Harris, Cormac Ryan

Bonus Bucks Bits

• Doc referenced the team losing in Utah and then bouncing back in Phoenix as a sign that one bad night doesn’t mean they are a bad team.
• As I wrote in the rapid recap, the Bucks began the third quarter shooting 1/11 from the floor; they also shot their first free throw at the 3:59 mark (on a technical foul) since the first quarter. Yikes.
• Per Eric Nehm, This is the Bucks’ 10th loss by 25 or more points.
• The Bucks had 22 turnovers, 14 of which came in the first half.
• Darius Garland looked so much better than he did when he first came back.
• Jordan Miller and Kobe Sanders have been godsends for the Clippers.
• Bogdan Bogdanovic, who obviously has an interesting history as it relates to the Bucks, has fallen out of Ty Lue’s rotation for most of this season.

Up Next

The Bucks finish out the road trip tomorrow night in the PNW against the Blazers. Catch the game at 9:00. p.m. CDT on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.

San Antonio is on a heater! They have now won six in a row and 22 of 24, making them the best team in the NBA over the last couple of months by a notable margin. Furthermore, many of these wins have been against good-to-excellent teams, and had last night’s game occurred a couple of weeks ago I would have counted Miami in that set.

However, the Heat’s outlook has dimmed considerably since their win over Milwaukee on March 12th, and – even though they have plenty of incentive to fight for wins over the next couple of weeks – Miami was clearly overwhelmed last night, allowing the Spurs to take firm control by halftime. Even so, the game produced a number of box score highlights, including several rare occurrences:

• San Antonio followed up its dominant rebounding performance against Indiana with an even better showing against the Heat, including a +24 edge in total rebounds and +10 margin on the offensive glass. One result of this was that the Spurs had notable advantages in offensive opportunity, including seven more field goal attempts and eight more free throws.
• Speaking of free throws, San Antonio was also excellent from the line, going 25-of-28. Even so, Miami generated a FT% margin of +5.71 percentage points by missing just one free throw in 20 attempts. Unfortunately for the Heat, their only award for this achievement is joining an ignominious club: In the 16,743 regular season games since the start of 2012-2013, this is just the 16th contest in which a team has lost by 25+ points while having a FT% of at least 95% on 20+ attempts.
• The margin of victory also seems remarkable when one considers that Miami made 16 threes, one more than the Spurs. In the same set of 16,743 regular season games this is just the 17th case in which a team lost by 25+ points while having a positive 3PM differential and making 16+ shots from distance. Of course, the reason this combination is so rare is that teams that make this many threes tend to be shooting well, which was absolutely not the case for Miami last night.
• As I already mentioned, offensive volume was a big part of the Spurs’ easy victory last night; for example, San Antonio still outscored the Heat by six at the free throw line despite Miami’s edge in FT%. Volume and efficiency were also important from the field, where the Spurs’ extra shots and +7.52 percentage-point FG% margin helped them earn a +10 FGM differential.
• Including this game, only 153 winners have had FGM and FTM differentials of at least +10 and +6 (respectively) in the 16,743 regular season contests since the start of 2012-2013. The average margin of victory in this set is just over 36 points, and only 14 other members of the group have won by 25 or less. As such, San Antonio’s win last night can be seen as an underachievement, though I won’t be losing any sleep over it.

What are Team Graded Box Scores?

Very briefly, these box scores grade winner-loser differentials for basic box score statistics, with the grade being based on the winning team’s differential relative to other NBA winners during a defined reference period. Think of it like a report card for understanding how a given winner performed relative to other winners. The reference period used runs from the start of the 2012-2013 season to the latest date of play, including only games in the same season category (i.e., regular season and playoff games are not compared to each other).

Data Source: The underlying data used to create these box scores was collected from Basketball Reference. In all cases, the data are collected the morning after the game is played. Although rare, postgame statistical revisions after data collection do occur and may affect the results after the fact.

HAFJELL, Norway (AP) — Olympic ski champion Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil adds World Cup giant slalom season title.

Saints target two positions in pre-draft visits

Seems like a pattern is starting.

2026 NFL Draft: Saints Hold Valuable Trade Asset with No. 8 Pick

The trade back conversation is back.

Cameron Jordan Fuels Chiefs Rumors by Congratulating Travis Kelce on $54.7M Contract

The Cam Jordan saga continues.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Suns fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Ten games left. That is all that separates the Phoenix Suns from the end of the regular season, and it brings them to a place they have never been before as a franchise, staring down the reality of the Play-In Tournament. 

It is still a relatively new wrinkle in the NBA, introduced in 2021, and Phoenix has managed to avoid it up to this point. The closest they came was in 2024, when they landed in the sixth seed and were promptly swept by Minnesota in the first round. Now it feels inevitable. The numbers back it up, with Basketball Reference giving the Suns a 91.8% chance to finish seventh in the Western Conference, which plants them firmly in Play-In territory.

A lot can shift over ten games. The NBA has a way of bending expectations when you least expect it, but the runway is short and the direction feels set. Phoenix is trending toward hosting a Play-In game, one night with everything on the line, a chance to secure the seventh seed and earn a date with the second seed out West. That reality starts to shape the way you look at the standings, because it is no longer about climbing; it is about positioning and survival. You begin scanning the teams circling that eighth spot, wondering who you would rather see, who presents the cleaner matchup, who carries the kind of chaos you want no part of. 

So let’s take a look at the group fighting for that final Play-In position, and what each potential opponent could mean for the Suns.

Los Angeles Clippers

Odds of 8th seed: 62.4%

The Clippers sit under .500 at 35–36, 4.5 games back of Phoenix for that seventh seed, and with only 11  games remaining, it is a steep climb to make up that kind of ground. It can happen – the league has a way of tightening and twisting late in the year – but the math is not in their favor. Still, they sit squarely in the conversation as a potential Play-In opponent, and they are not a team you casually dismiss.

Since December 20, the Clippers are 29–15, the sixth-best record in the NBA over that stretch, and it speaks to how they have reshaped themselves on the fly. They moved on from a significant portion of their core, sending James Harden to Cleveland and Ivica Zubac to Indiana. And instead of folding, they found a rhythm. There is structure to what they do, there is confidence in how they play, and it shows up night after night.

The Suns split the season series 2–2, although the timing of those games matters. Three of those matchups came in the opening weeks of the season, back when everything still felt fluid and undefined, and only one has come since the calendar flipped to 2026. That game, February 1, was a 117–93 Clippers win that never felt competitive.

In March, the Clippers are 8–5, a notch above the Suns at 6–6 over the same stretch, and it reinforces the idea that this is a team playing with purpose as the season tightens. If this is the matchup that materializes, it would not be comfortable and it would not be forgiving.

Portland Trail Blazers

Odds of 8th seed: 26.2%

The Portland Trail Blazers sit a half-game behind the Clippers, which sets the stage for a tight race between those two teams as the season winds down. Every night carries weight for them, every result nudges the standings, and it feels like that eighth seed could swing back and forth all the way to the finish line. They have already dropped two games to the Clippers this season, and with two more matchups remaining, including that 81st game on April 10, there is a built-in pressure point that could decide who stays afloat and who slips to ninth.

Phoenix holds a 2–1 edge over Portland this year, although the lone loss tells a story of its own. That 92–77 defeat on February 22 came under some strange circumstances. The Suns were without Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks, and rolled out a starting group of Collin Gillespie, Jalen Green, Ryan Dunn, Royce O’Neale, and Mark Williams. It never found a rhythm. The offense stalled possession after possession, the shots did not fall, and the numbers reflect it. Phoenix shot 36.5% from the field, one of their roughest nights of the season, and finished with their lowest scoring output in nine years.

It is the kind of game you log, you remember, and you try to contextualize when projecting forward. Because while the Suns have had success against Portland, they have also seen how quickly things can get muddy against them, especially when the roster is stretched and the margin for error disappears.

Golden State Warriors

Odds of 8th seed: 7.5%

Golden State feels like a team running on fumes right now. They are 2–9 in March as injuries have chipped away at their rotation, and they are hanging on more than they are building anything sustainable. From a Phoenix perspective, there is a quiet sense of relief in that, because a healthy Warriors team has a way of turning every possession into a problem. The Suns are 1–2 against Golden State this season, with their lone win coming in a tight 99–98 game on December 18.

The Warriors sit at 33–38, two games back of the eighth seed, and the path forward is narrow. It would take a real push over their final 11 games to climb into position, and they are fighting uphill in the tiebreaker scenarios as well. Portland holds the edge after taking three of four in their season series, and the Clippers have won two of three so far, with one more meeting still on the schedule.

That final Clippers game, the last game of the regular season, lingers as a potential swing point. If the standings stay tight, it could carry real weight. For now, Golden State remains in the mix, but it feels fragile, a team searching for stability at the exact moment the season demands it.

Those are the names on the board, the paths that could cross with Phoenix when the Play In lights come on. And with the Suns essentially settled into their spot, the lens shifts a bit. It is no longer about chasing, it is about watching, about tracking the chaos unfolding beneath them and seeing which version of it rises up to meet them.

So the question becomes simple, even if the answer is not. Who do you want?

That is where we are. Ten games left, and instead of scoreboard watching above, it becomes about the teams below, about rooting for outcomes that shape the cleanest path forward. Not an easy path, because nothing about this team has been easy, but the one that gives you the best chance to survive and move on.

Tonight, the Knicks (47*-25) host the Pelicans (25-47) at Madison Square Garden. New York has won six straight, including Sunday’s blowout of the Wizards, while New Orleans went 6-4 over their last 10.

The teams last met December 29, 2025, with the Knicks winning 130-125 at the Smoothie King Arena. Brunson led New York with 28 points and 10 assists, while Zion Williamson paced New Orleans with 32 points.

James Borrego’s team has the league’s 20th offensive and 24th defensive rating. They score 115.6 points per game but allow 119. Trey Murphy III averages 21.8 points on efficient shooting and stretches the floor. Zion delivers 21.3 points, dominating inside when healthy and alert. Herb Jones locks down wings with elite defense and hustle, rating in the 97 percentile for deflections. And Dejounte Murray has averaged 18.7 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in 10 games this season.

Expected starters tonight are Murphy, Saddiq Bey, Williamson, Jones, and Murray.

On the injury report, New York lists Miles McBride and Landry Shamet (knee, bone bruise) as OUT, and Kevin McCullar, Jr (knee/quad). as questionable. The Pelicans have Bryce McGowens down as questionable (toe).

Prediction

ESPN win probability sits around 77% for the Knicks. Okie dokie. These Pelicans are a tougher team now that Murray has recovered from a torn right Achilles, and they’ve split the games he’s played this year. Expect New York to have some trouble with these birds, but to pull away in the second half. The Pels are a 35% shooting team from the perimeter and do most of their scoring within the arc. Key to victory: dominate the boards, force turnovers in transition for easy points, and let Towns exploit mismatches inside. Knicks win by eight for their second seven-game win-streak of the season.

Game Details

Who: New York Knicks (47*-25) vs New Orleans Pelicans (25-47)
Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Time: 7:30 PM ET
Place: Madison Square Garden, NYC
TV: NBC / Peacock
Follow: @ptknicksblog and bsky

* Should be one more, but NBA Cup wins smell like fish.

Last night in Miami, Victor Wembanyama hit two personal career milestones.

Eight seconds into the second quarter, Wemby picked up his 600th block against Nathan Powell. The block upset Erik Spoelstra earning him a technical foul.

Two minutes later Wemby scored his 4000th point on an emphatic dunk lobbed by Crater Bryant (see 35 second mark):

Wemby came into the game with 598 dunks, ranking him 233rd all-time. He is now one of only 233 people to ever tally 600 dunks (since the stat was monitored).

Put that into perspective — 600 dunks in 174 games. At that rate, he can have doubled his game count and his blocks by then end of the the 2027-2028 season. And 1200 block total ties Wemby with Chris Webber who’s currently in the 66th spot all-time.

While that marker is still a ways away, it is not outside the realm of reality for a talent like Wembanyama’s.

In the meantime, Wemby ended the night in Miami with five dunks — 603 total — knotting him in the 232nd spot with Jamaal Magloire, a 6’11” center who played for eight teams over his twelve seasons.

As far as active players go, he is hot on the heels of Nic Claxton with Ivica Zubac and Alex Len not far ahead. At the rate Victor is picking up blocks, he’ll surpass all three and a dozen retired players (including former Spurs sharpshooter Danny Green) by the time the season ends.

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Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cavs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Last Friday, it was reported by ESPN’s Remona Shelburne that the Bucks are looking to get younger stars back in a possible Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. One of the two players the article mentioned as a target, according to sources, is Evan Mobley.

We don’t know how interested the Cavs are in a deal like this, even though it was reported at the deadline that the Cavs were one of presumably many teams that had a conversation with the Bucks about trading for Antetokounmpo. Nothing came of it then, but we’ll see what the summer holds.

How the Cavs approach this offseason will likely depend on how the playoffs go. If the Cavs show that this core can make a deep postseason run, they’ll likely be hesitant to shake things up too drastically. However, if they flame out again in the second round or earlier, everything is on the table.

Even so, is trading for Giannis the best option?

Antetokounmpo is still one of the absolute best players in the league despite how bad Milwaukee has been this season. The hesitation lies in his availability going forward. Giannis has struggled to stay healthy this season, missed some of the Bucks’ 2023 postseason games, and was out for the entire 2024 playoffs. Those concerns are only going to get worse as he enters his age-32 season on the final year of his current deal.

So, would you trade Mobley for Giannis? Let us know in the survey, and tell us why you voted how you did in the comments.

OK, so Florida's loss to Iowa had a lot of us crumbling up our brackets.

The defending champions were a popular pick to repeat. But the No. 1 seeded Gators were hit with a second-round Hawkeyes dagger, leading many looking for a mulligan on the Final Four predictions.

Sweet 16 predictions: Experts pick who will advance in March Madness bracket

March Madness bracket hot takes: From Sweet 16 upsets to Final Four predictions

So let's give this another try. Here are USA TODAY Sports staff's updated Final Four picks.

HAFJELL, Norway (AP) — Olympic champion Lucas Pinheiro Braathen is well set to add the season-long World Cup title in giant slalom, as he was fastest in the first run after standings leader Marco Odermatt failed to finish on Tuesday.

Odermatt, starting first with the No. 1 bib, skied out of a ragged run where he earlier had to recover from a big mistake.

That opened the door for Pinheiro Braathen, who needs a top-three finish in the last giant slalom of the season to guarantee a first crystal trophy for a Brazilian skier.

The Norway-born Pinheiro Braathen skied more precisely on the slope at Hafjell where he grew up racing and posted a time 0.21 seconds faster than Stefan Brennsteiner.

Loïc Meillard, the Olympic champion in slalom, was third with 0.63 to make up in the afternoon run. Meillard can still top the giant slalom standings if he wins the race and Pinheiro Braathen finishes off the podium.

Odermatt already secured the World Cup season titles in downhill, super-G and overall and also is defending the giant slalom title.

The Swiss superstar has seemed fatigued in the final weeks of the season and does not relish the softer spring-like snow typical of World Cup courses in March.

The men’s World Cup season ends on Wednesday with a slalom. Pinheiro Braathen is competing for that title with his childhood friend Atle Lie McGrath.

___

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

Former #1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft Markelle Fultz signed a 10-Day contract with the Toronto Raptors yesterday after spending time with their G-League affiliate this season. The last time Fultz played in the NBA was with the Sacramento Kings in the 2024-25 season where he averaged 2.9 points in 21 games.

Although the plan in 2017 was always for the Celtics to draft Jayson Tatum, there was a short time where Fultz was thought of to be in Boston alongside the core group of Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, potentially Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart.

This took me back to when the Boston Celtics won the 2017 Draft Lottery and wondering what would have happened if they decided to draft Fultz first overall? What would this iteration of the Boston Celtics look like today? Would this decision have affected the moves made in that offseason? Finally, what does Jayson Tatum’s career look like?

Lead Up to the Draft Lottery

How did the Boston Celtics end up with even a chance at the Number 1 overall pick at this time coming off of a 2016-17 season where they were first in the Eastern Conference Standings, Isaiah Thomas had a top-5 MVP finish, and made the Eastern Conference Finals where they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games?

This draft pick was traded to Boston by the Brooklyn Nets in the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett trade. Brooklyn had a miserable season without both of those guys on the roster, finishing with a league worst record of 20-62. That trade really was the gift that kept on giving.

The Celtics pick was projected to have a 25% chance of finishing number one overall and it finished that way as well, with the Los Angeles Lakers finishing with the second pick and the Philadelphia 76ers finishing with the third pick. Boston now had the chance to pick the no doubt best player in college basketball, Markelle Fultz out of Washington.

Fultz Workouts With Celtics

Markelle Fultz was a star at Washington where he averaged 23.2 points per game and looked like the sure fire best player in college basketball. He was seen better than guys who played in March Madness that year like Lonzo Ball, Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox, Josh Jackson, and Malik Monk.

According to an article written by Chris Forsberg of ESPN, Fultz was excited to potentially join the Celtics saying, “It almost feels like I belong here,” while he looked at some of the pictures of past Boston legends outside of the locker room. He was really excited about the opportunity to be able to wear Ray Allen’s old N0. 20 and play alongside former Washington Huskies alum Isaiah Thomas.

When Danny Ainge was about the workout, he didn’t give much information saying, “He’s talented…I didn’t find anything today that I didn’t already know, which is the same case with almost every draft workout. … He has a personality, has some charisma — he’s fun.”

Little did we know that Ainge had a master plan that would change the history of the Boston Celtics franchise forever.

The Trade and Draft

Danny Ainge traded the first overall pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the third overall pick in the 2017 draft plus another future first round pick. This gave the 76ers a chance to draft Fultz and pair him along with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, but what was the Celtics plan?

Projections at the time had them taking Kansas forward Josh Jackson with the third pick, but Ainge had his heart set on a forward from Duke named Jayson Tatum. Boston would select Tatum with that pick and the rest was history.

It came out after the fact that the Celtics were always going to select Tatum whether it was with the first pick or not and that paid off in spades for Boston, winning countless awards and making deep playoff runs that eventually ended with a championship in 2024.

Fultz on the other hand did not work out with the 76ers. He was later diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome on his shoulder, completely messing up his shooting mechanics. When the 76ers traded for Jimmy Butler the next season, it was over for Fultz’s time in Philadelphia, being traded to the Orlando Magic in 2019 after only 33 games with the team that drafted him. Fultz would play 5 seasons with the Magic but deal with some devastating injuries like a torn ACL and other knee and shoulder issues. He would play 21 games for the Kings last season but didn’t find a spot on an NBA roster until now.

Hypothetical Scenarios

I always wonder what would have happened if Markelle Fultz was drafted by the Celtics with the first overall pick. There would have obviously been a log jam at the point guard position with Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, and Terry Rozier at those spots and if Fultz had the same injury issues he did with the 76ers, there’s a chance he could have been moved on from in a similar way.

However, this might have stopped Boston from trading away Thomas in exchange for Kyrie Irving. Would Ainge have made the deal if they had Fultz who could have been the point guard of the future?

What about Gordon Hayward? He was a free agent that was recruited heavily by the Celtics and Isaiah Thomas specifically. Would he have still signed here?

What about Jayson Tatum’s career? He might have ended up getting chosen by the 76ers or Phoenix Suns at picks 3 or 4 since it felt like the Lakers were always going to take Lonzo Ball. Would his career have been as successful on a worse team or would it have looked similar to the career of Josh Jackson with the Suns?

Thankfully, we don’t have to ever live out these scenarios in real time. It feels like the we ended up with the best possible timeline for the Celtics as a whole but it is a crazy domino effect that could have had some real serious implications on the future of the franchise for Boston.

Over four action-packed days, a 64-team bracket was quartered.

And with it, we’ve got 16 men’s college basketball teams whose dreams of a national championship get to live for at least a few more days.

With the Final Four and national championship pictures now much clearer than they were a week ago, how do the remaining teams stack up?

Sweet 16 predictions: Experts pick who will advance in March Madness bracket

Here’s a ranking of the Sweet 16 teams:

Re-Ranking Sweet 16 teams

16. Texas

The Longhorns fit the traditional mold of an underachieving power-conference team that gets some favorable matchups and starts to play up to its potential in the single-elimination crucible of the tournament. Their three wins in five days against NC State, BYU and Gonzaga may not be the end for them, either. Dailyn Swain is one of the best bucket-getters remaining in the field and seven-footer Matas Vokietaitis is averaging 18.3 points and 11 rebounds per game in the tournament.

Despite its placement on this list, this is the kind of team that could absolutely give Purdue problems.

For 68 men’s college basketball programs, March comes with the opportunity to compete for a national championship in front of millions of fans on the biggest, grandest stage that their sport has to offer.

For dozens of others outside of the NCAA tournament field, and even some in it, March is a time to dream of better days that might be ahead in the not-so-distant future.

The annual college basketball coaching carousel is a time for hope, with programs across the country looking for the x-and-o maestro or ace recruiter who can help them compete for NCAA tournament appearances, conference titles and maybe just maybe Final Fours and national championships.

REQUIRED READING: If North Carolina fires Hubert Davis, here are six candidates to consider