PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 12: Vj Edgecombe #77 of the Philadelphia 76ers is introduced before a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Xfinity Mobile Arena on April 12, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The shirt was white, the sweater blue and the tie spiffy. Diamond studs sparkled in both of VJ Edgecombe’s earlobes, and he wore Gucci sunglasses. Indoors. At night.
Impressive as the ensemble was, Tyrese Maxey was thinking more about the calendar than he was clothing as his backcourt partner strutted across the Sixers’ locker room Sunday night, after they beat Milwaukee in the final game of Edgecombe’s first NBA regular season.
Rather, Maxey was mulling what lies ahead – play-in purgatory against Orlando on Wednesday night. And, possibly, the playoffs beyond.
He was thinking, too, about the season Edgecombe has fashioned. How he unveiled a 34-point effort in his very first game, in Boston, and from that point on tailored his game to fit the team’s needs.
Defense and athleticism? Sure, everybody knew the Bimini native would provide those things when the Sixers made him the third overall pick last June. But ball-handling and shot creation? They were a bonus. And clutch scoring? From a guy who doesn’t turn 21 until July? Double bonus.
So as Edgecombe neared the pack of reporters that had gathered at the far side of the room, Maxey made an announcement.
“He ain’t a rookie no more,” he hollered.
Not that he ever looked like one, no matter his attire. As veteran center Andre Drummond said, Edgecombe’s belief in himself was evident from the “first game, first practice, the day he walked in.”
“He walked in like, ‘I’m here,’” Drummond added.
And he never wavered. He finished with averages of exactly 16 points a game, as well as just under six rebounds and just over four assists. His shooting numbers – .438/.354/.818 – were acceptable, and figure to get better in the years ahead.
Edgecombe won’t win Rookie of the Year – that honor will surely go to one of two Dookies, the Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg or the Hornets’ Kon Knueppel – but there’s little doubt he will be a big part of the team’s future.
“It’s amazing what VJ has done this past season,” Drummond said, and again he mentioned the rookie’s self-assurance.
“Maybe it’s just the generation of kids that are coming up now,” the 32-year-old said, “because I could say that for all the guys in the draft. They just have this confidence and swag that they play with.”
Kids these days, amirite?
Drummond broke in at age 19 with the Pistons, in 2012-13. Though he averaged nearly eight points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes a night that season, he remembers being “timid” – that he was “trying to figure out how to fit in and how to make it work.”
“And then with these guys now it’s just like, ‘It’s my show’ – like, ‘I’m here to take over,’” Drummond said. “And it’s pretty dope to see what VJ has done this year, and the games he’s won for us and just his confidence, man. I’ve got to speak on the confidence. It’s insane, and I love that for him. It was there right away.”
Nick Nurse clearly believed in Edgecombe as well, seeing as he used him 35 minutes a night over the 75 games the rookie was available, equaling the league’s 10th-highest rate. (Maxey led the NBA at 38 minutes a game.)
And hey, that was fine with Edgecombe.
“Not one complaint,” he said. “Sometimes I used to get mad when I had to come off the court, but now I realize it’s for the best.”
He made the most of his time, improving so much as a ball-handler that he now jokes he is “PG1” – i.e., the team’s No. 1 point guard, ahead of Maxey. He also shone in clutch situations, shooting 58.7 percent when the spread was five points or fewer in the final five minutes of regulation or overtime.
That came as a surprise to Nurse, as did Edgecombe’s “ability to go get a basket with the shot clock winding down, or just when we need a bucket to keep the scoreboard moving, or make one in the fourth quarter.”
“I think he had all the other stuff kind of coming out of the gates … the defense, the rebounding, the shot-blocking, all those kinds of things,” the coach added.
While it was not readily apparent, Edgecombe did say there was something of an adjustment period, that it took until midseason for the game to slow down for him.
“I ain’t gonna sit and act like it took me two games,” he said. “Nah, it took (until) about halfway through. I mean, even now, it’s still kind of slowing down.”
But he never did. The Bucks’ coaches showed video clips of each of the Sixers in their locker room before Sunday’s game, and the captions under Edgecombe’s highlights were reflective of his nature: “Sprinting in transition. … Aggressive in transition. …. DHO (i.e., dribble handoff) attack – trying to get downhill. … Physical finisher. … ISO (i.e., isolation) – physical. … Crashing the glass.”
He shot a tepid 4-for-11 from the floor while scoring nine points in the 126-106 victory, but handed out 11 assists while turning the ball over just once. And his overall late-season production has been impressive. He was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month after averaging 18.9 points a game in March, including his two biggest scoring games of the season, a 38-pointer against Sacramento on March 19 and a 35-pointer against Oklahoma City four days later.
All of which made him wonder about the commonly held notion that rookies hit the so-called wall at this time of year.
“I’m not too sure where the rookie wall is,” he said. “Maybe someone can explain it to me. Obviously the season had its ups and downs. I’ve had my ups and downs. We’re human. I just try to keep building daily, just to make sure I’m bringing my best foot forward every night.”
No doubt he has some fine shoes to wear while doing so. Because it seems abundantly clear that VJ Edgecombe is all dressed up and has someplace to go. Someplace that nobody else might have envisioned, but a place he sees very clearly through those Gucci sunglasses.
“It’s pretty cool going against a top-75 guy like that, first ballot Hall of Famer,” Garland said. “It will be cool just to compete with a guy like that. The skill and the ability that he has, that affected me and the way that I play.”
Garland is averaging 18.8 points and 6.7 assists per game, filling some of the void left after James Harden was dealt to Cleveland.
“It’s super cool to see that on the other end, Garland continued. It’s gonna be fun. Any time you play against a top-75 guy like that or a first ballot Hall-of-Famer or someone that you’re inspired by or looked up to and watched when you’re growing up, it’s always super cool to go against him and go at him a little bit. I’m super excited about that, but my main goal is trying to win the game, so that’s all that matters to me.”
Garland was a former first-round pick for the Cavaliers and helped get Cleveland back on the map as a true contender before being traded to Los Angeles. Curry responded to Garland’s comments with nothing but gratitude.
“It’s surreal that you’re this deep into your career and you have that influence,” Curry responded. “He was a guy when he first showed up in Cleveland that you knew was gonna be a problem in the league just because of his skillset, his composure, obviously his speed.
The 38-year-old will do his best to keep up with Garland’s speed on Wednesday night in a win-or-go-home scenario.
“He’s just a gamer. I know he’s been dealing with some injuries early in the year and over the course of his career,” Curry added. “But when he’s out there, he’s always a threat. It’s great to see him continue to grow, and even in a new setting, continuing to figure it out.”
No matter the outcome of Wednesday’s play-in game, there is no love lost between these two elite point guards.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 19: Cade Cunningham #2 of the Detroit Pistons smiles and laughs against the Boston Celtics during the second quarter at Little Caesars Arena on January 19, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images) | Getty Images
When I was home sick from school as a kid, a common tradition in our house was watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In one of the movie’s most notable moments, Matthew Broderick speaks directly to the audience and says, “Life moves pretty fast, and if you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it.” I can’t help but think, as the Detroit Pistons wrap up a historic 60-win season, that it’s easy to get caught up in what’s next and forget to savor the beauty of the present. As this amazing team gears up for a postseason run, and the eyes of fans turn to the play-in tournament to scout for the best matchups, I sense fans overlooking the moment itself. Certainly, there’s time and reason to worry about these things, but let’s not soon forget where we were as a franchise and fanbase just two seasons ago.
Like many, I grew up watching the “Goin’ to Work” iteration of the Pistons. As they won 50-plus games year after year, it almost became easier to focus on their shortcomings rather than their triumphs. So instead of appreciating their run of six consecutive conference finals appearances, I often found myself disappointed that they only won one finals, or lamenting their lack of offense and star power in the playoffs. Of course, for about the next 20 years, we became painfully aware of how much we had taken Ben Wallace and co.’s success for granted. As the 2010s dragged into the 2020s, there was little to no hope for a once-proud franchise. And in the bargaining stage of grief, I vowed to never take for granted the Pistons playing meaningful basketball again, if and when that ever happened. Heck, I was desperate enough to just settle for seeing the team represented in the All-Star Game.
Fast forward to this season, where the team came out of the gates fast and never let up. But even as the wins mounted despite injuries and suspensions to key players, there seemed to be a large section of the NBA media, and Pistons fans alike, who remained skeptical. Much of the year, the narrative around this team was focused on the holes in the roster rather than what was going right. Questions such as “does this group have enough shooting?” or “Who is going to score come playoffs other than Cade?” constantly swirled around the team, no matter how much success they had. And that’s peculiar, because just two years ago, the organization was huddling up to make decisions on the futures of Monty Williams and Troy Weaver. Now, instead of focusing on Cade Cunningham officially stamping his name amongst the best in the game, admiring Jalen Duren’s rise to All-NBA caliber player, or marveling at this team’s embrace of the rugged, defense-first mentality of Pistons championship teams of the past, we instead wondered if the team had enough shooting or shot creation. How are fans making the same mistake again? Listen, I get it, these are real questions that will soon have answers. But I see fans again overlooking the team’s success, as they did when it was contending for titles in the Palace of Auburn Hills.
This is supposed to be the fun part.
The team is still on the rise. They are still a year away from becoming accountable to real playoff expectations. Young teams rarely go unscathed in the postseason, and the Pistons may be no exception. Or maybe they will be. They have a fantastic young core that they don’t yet have to consolidate. The East is relatively weak at the top. The roster is fully healthy for the first time in months. Maybe Daniss Jenkins will prove to be the secondary creator that we hoped Jaden Ivey would be. Maybe Duncan Robinson will hold up defensively in crunch time. Maybe Duren and Ausar Thompson will build on their playoff synergy from last year. Maybe not. If they flame out in April or May, so be it. Collecting battle scars is part of the climb for most championship teams. But don’t forget to first, even if for just a moment, enjoy where we are. There is not a single Pistons fan who wouldn’t have signed up to take their chances in the playoffs with a gritty, overachieving, yet potentially flawed roster just two short years ago.
The expectations, they’re coming. The scrutiny of the roster is coming too, like a freight train. The calls to mortgage the future for the present, they’re on the horizon. Depending on what happens beginning Sunday, much will be written one way or another. But that’s for a later day. In the meantime, don’t forget to stop and look around. Your Detroit Pistons are the one seed in the Eastern Conference, inconceivable just 18 months ago. Don’t miss the chance to savor this moment before things get hard.
Though OG Anunobyis an integral piece of the Knicks' lineup on both ends of the floor, defensive versatility remains his calling card.
The defensive demon can check opponents one-on-one, but he’s also a quality help defender. Anunoby’s two-way ability will be crucial to New York’s first round matchup with the Atlanta Hawks, making him an X-factor for the series.
Anunoby is coming off another strong regular season. In 67 games, the 6-7 forward averaged 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals.
Though he’s not one of New York’s two All-Stars on the roster, Anunoby might be the club’s most impactful player. When he’s on the floor, the Knicks are an elite team. When he sits, they're good, but not great. That’s been the case for the past few years since the Knicks acquired the forward in a 2023 trade from the Raptors.
This season, New York had a plus-9.2 net rating in the 2,224 minutes that Anunoby played. That number plummeted to plus-3.5 with him on the bench.
A candidate for the NBA’s all-defensive team this season, expect Anunoby to be all over the floor on that end. In New York’s 108-105 win against the Hawks last week, Anunoby started the game defending Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu as New York hid Karl-Anthony Towns on guard Dyson Daniels.
It allowed him to impact the game as a help defender. When Anunoby played with the bench early in the second quarter, he guarded the Hawks' leading scorer, Jalen Johnson. The Hawks don’t have a traditional point guard and play four-to-five players who are listed from 6-5 to 6-8, so Anunoby has multiple players he can be assigned to check throughout the series.
Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jalen Johnson, and CJ McCollum / Imagn Images/Envato Elements/SNY Treated Image
Keeping Johnson in check will be a priority for the entire Knicks lineup. A 6-8 All-Star forward, he led Atlanta in scoring, rebounds, and assists this season. He has the handle to manipulate the defense and take slower defenders on the drive. If opponents switch smaller players on him, he can bully them in the paint.
Even if Anunoby isn’t guarding Johnson for the entirety of each game, his help defense and secondary rim protection will be important to slowing down the Hawks offense.
Offensive simplicity
The Hawks have been one of the best teams in the league lately, going 20-6 after the All-Star break. Defense has been where they have excelled the most, allowing just 108.6 points per 100 possessions, the second-best figure in the NBA during that time.
On offense, Anunoby should keep the game simple like he has for most of this season. Of his 804 field goal attempts this season, 443 of them (55 percent) came without a dribble, according to NBA Stats. It’s where he’s effective as a cutter and three-point shooter from the corners.
Though he’s capable on straight line drives, Anunoby is better when he doesn’t have to put the ball on the floor. In New York’s win last week, the Hawks switched on many of the off-ball screen actions the Knicks set. They often run split actions with Towns as the playmaker at the top of the key. It has created confusion for the defense at times and easier scoring opportunities for players like Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges.
Anunoby should be able to find opportunities on dives to the rim, and if the Hawks switch a smaller player on to him like CJ McCollum, there’s opportunities to attack.
Anunoby is a star in his role with the Knicks and that star should shine bright as he impacts both ends of the floor in the opening round.
PORTLAND, OREGON - FEBRUARY 03: Mark Williams #15 of the Phoenix Suns goes to the basket against Donovan Clingan #23 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the second half at Moda Center on February 03, 2026 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Phoenix Suns now await the Portland Trail Blazers tonight in Downtown Phoenix.
This is who most Suns fans wanted in this game, but as the old saying goes: “Be careful what you wish for.” Avoiding Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers is great, but as we all know, getting what you wish for isn’t always a blessing in the NBA. The Portland Trail Blazers are a sneaky, deep, and athletic team. I do not expect the Suns to take them lightly.
Phoenix finished the regular season 45-37, good for the 7th seed. Portland finished a few games behind them at 42-40, which locked them into the 8th seed thanks to a tiebreaker over the Clippers.
1) Recent History: Means Nothing
The Suns won 2 of 3 games against Portland this season, with their lone loss coming in a game where they didn’t have Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, and Grayson Allen. They scored 77 points in that game. Phoenix blew them out by 17 in the opening meeting and won by five in the 2nd contest.
Last 10 Games
Suns — 5-5 (W1)
Blazers — 7-3 (W3)
We can throw all of that out the window now. None of it matters. As we saw in the 2024 series against Minnesota, the Suns swept them in the regular season only to get swept in the playoffs. These regular-season matchups don’t mean much. By the time the playoffs roll around, teams are typically much different versions of themselves.
2) Injury Report: Positive News
We’ve all seen it by now, and the injury report looked like a never-ending CVS receipt. It’s common this time of year for “injuries” to occur out of thin air as teams prepare for the playoffs, especially in the final days of the season.
The updated report shows some GREAT news! Grayson Allen is the only one who appears on the injury report for Phoenix. That does not mean they’re out of the woods by any means, as this is the time of year players will often play through nagging injuries. Here’s to hoping they are all as close to 100% as they can be.
Grayson Allen (left hamstring soreness) is listed as questionable for the Suns tomorrow against the Blazers.
One key matchup that will not draw as many headlines will be the big man matchup between Mark Williams and Donovan Clingan. Phoenix also has Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach (unlikely the rook gets burn in a playoff setting) to throw at Portland’s big man if they need bodies or Williams finds himself in foul trouble.
Apr 7, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams (15) celebrates with Devin Booker (1) against the Houston Rockets in the first half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Portland is a bottom-4 defense against centers this season. This is where I would love to see a “Book-Mark” duo thrive in the P&R, forcing the Blazers to make tough decisions in their defensive rotations. Phoenix must take advantage of and hunt mismatches in the halfcourt.
Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams vs. Mark Williams and Oso Ighodaro. Let’s get it.
4) Playoff Play-In Book
We’ve seen the levels that Devin Booker is capable of reaching in important games. They’re going to need that version of him in a single-game elimination environment.
He’s entering the contest healthy and playing some of his best basketball of the season. Phoenix’s offense hums when he is in rhythm without forcing it, which means his teammates are going to need to knock down shots to keep Portland’s defense honest. Portland will do everything it can to throw that rhythm off and disrupt him.
Jrue Holiday has experience guarding Booker in big moments (too soon), and the Blazers have size and athleticism across the board to make it tough for him. As long as Book plays under control and within the flow of the offense, I expect a big game out of him.
Whether it’s by dropping 30+ points (efficiently) or through his playmaking chops and gravity for everyone else… we need a vintage Booker performance in this one.
5) Role Players at home
This is what swings games. Which role players will rise to the occasion? Historically speaking, role players always tend to play better at home come playoff time. Could it be a Royce O’Neale game that propels Phoenix? Will Jordan Goodwin’s chaotic energy lift them when they need it most? Or will it be a Collin Gillespie masterclass? Oh, and PLEASE DO NOT BE AFRAID TO PLAY RASHEER FLEMING IN THIS ONE. Sorry for the Jae Crowder all-caps moment, just had to emphasize it.
We shall see. Either way, Phoenix will need everyone to pitch in. Portland has a deep team as well, so the bench units, even if they aren’t tapped into as much as the regular season, will be vital in this one. If Phoenix’s role guys get outplayed by Portland on their own floor, the margin for error for Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, and Jalen Green shrinks dramatically offensively.
So, who will it be tonight? Shoot your shot in the comments.
Apr 3, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) is greeted by his teammates as Flagg leaves the game against the Orlando Magic during the fourth quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The 2025–26 Mavericks season didn’t just fall short of expectations. It unraveled almost immediately, forcing everyone involved to confront how fragile the foundation really was. This was a team that entered the year expecting to compete right away, expecting to be playing meaningful basketball deep into April, and instead looked disjointed from the opening week. That early loss to Washington in Game 2 wasn’t just a bad night. It felt like the first real crack. From there, it didn’t take long for the fanbase, and honestly, the organization, to realize that what Nico Harrison had envisioned was not a bold retool but a complete miscalculation. The roster lacked cohesion, the identity wasn’t there, and the “plan” never materialized. By early November, ownership made the move they almost had to make, firing Harrison after a 3–8 start, not just to change direction, but to signal accountability. It was less about fixing the team overnight and more about admitting that the path they had taken after the Finals run had gone completely off course.
From that point on, the season was defined by instability. Injuries hit key players at multiple points, forcing constant lineup changes and eliminating any chance at continuity. At the same time, trade rumors swirled around several core pieces, casting a cloud that never really lifted. On the court, that instability showed up in the way Dallas played. Jason Kidd’s “free-flow” offense was supposed to provide flexibility, and in some ways it did. It allowed players to step in and out without a rigid system breaking down. But the downside became obvious. A roster filled with players who all needed similar touches and operated in similar areas of the floor struggled to define roles. Possessions often felt random. Some nights it clicked for stretches, but more often it resulted in stagnant offense, missed shots, and a team that never developed a consistent rhythm.
The trade deadline was the moment when everything finally shifted from confusion to clarity. The Mavericks pivoted hard. Moving off the Anthony Davis centerpiece of the original Doncic deal, prioritizing draft capital, and embracing a long-term view weren’t just roster adjustments. It was the organization fully acknowledging what this season had become. More importantly, it allowed them to center everything around Cooper Flagg. With that shift, roles began to make more sense. The offense, while still inconsistent, became more purposeful because it finally had a focal point. Instead of trying to spread responsibility across a flawed roster, the Mavericks leaned into their one undeniable strength. Flagg became the engine. And for the first time all season, the basketball started to look somewhat coherent.
And that’s ultimately what this season will be remembered for. Not the losses. Not the dysfunction. But the emergence of Cooper Flagg. As the youngest player in the NBA, he didn’t just show flashes. He developed in real time into a primary creator and offensive hub. By April, he was averaging over 21 points and 5 assists, handling point guard responsibilities, and showing a level of composure that is rare even among elite prospects. His growth as a playmaker stood out the most. Early in the year, he was reacting. By the end, he was dictating. He got more comfortable getting to his spots, reading defenses, and managing possessions under pressure. His ability to shift between forward and guard roles, play through contact, and maintain production against high-level defenses speaks to both his physical and mental development. Coaches trusted him more. Teammates relied on him more. And he responded every time. The combination of skill, feel, and mentality has already pushed him into legitimate Rookie of the Year territory, and more importantly, into the conversation as a future superstar.
That’s why, despite everything, there is still a clear sense of direction. Even ownership sees it. The organization openly acknowledged that this season was “really difficult,” but emphasized that having a generational talent like Flagg provides an extraordinary opportunity to reshape the franchise. That optimism is real, but it doesn’t hide the urgency. Dumont also made it clear that this is an extremely important offseason and that the Mavericks have “a lot of work to do.” And that might be the most important takeaway. The hard part isn’t identifying the centerpiece. It’s building everything else around him correctly.
That process starts at the top. Dallas still needs to hire a president of basketball operations, someone who can establish a real identity, build a functional roster, and create a culture that this team clearly lacked throughout the year. This hire is not just about basketball decisions. It’s about direction. It’s about finally aligning the front office, coaching staff, and roster around a single vision.
From there, the decisions only get more complicated. The Mavericks have to nail their draft pick. With where they are, there’s no room for error. That player has to complement Flagg, whether that means adding guard creation, perimeter defense, or shooting. Then there’s Kyrie Irving. His presence represents both opportunity and uncertainty. Does he fit the timeline of a team building around a 19-year-old? Can he elevate this group, or does his timeline conflict with where the franchise is headed? The same questions apply, in different ways, to veterans like Klay Thompson and P.J. Washington. These are productive players, but the Mavericks have to decide whether they are part of the next version of this team or assets that can be used to reshape it.
And beyond the roster, the scope of this offseason is even larger. Ownership is exploring major infrastructure decisions, including a new arena and entertainment district that could define the franchise’s future for decades. That matters because it reflects the scale of what’s happening. This is not just a rebuild on the court. It’s a full reset of the organization’s identity, from leadership to roster to long-term vision.
That’s what makes this season so strange to evaluate. It began with expectations of immediate contention and ended with one of the most disappointing records in recent franchise history. But buried inside all of that failure is something that changes everything. The Mavericks found their cornerstone.
DALLAS, TEXAS - APRIL 12: Leonard Miller #11 of the Chicago Bulls drives to the basket against Cooper Flagg #32 of the Dallas Mavericks during the first half at American Airlines Center on April 12, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the GettyImages License Agreement. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This video is an attempt to put Cooper Flagg’s rookie season in context, and it makes some interesting points, particularly statistically.
The narrator compliments Kon Knueppel, but argues that Flagg’s season has been on a completely different level. He compares his rookie season to what LeBron James did in his first year in the league, and argues that Flagg’s is more impressive.
Various people appear here, including Kevin Durant, Colin Cowherd, and Charles Barkley, who is enormously impressed. Check out these comments he made about Flagg:
“I’ve said this before. Kobe was great later. McGrady, Garnett—the only player I had ever seen who was ready for the NBA right out of high school has been LeBron James until now. LeBron came in day one… to see a teenager play this well, uh, is incredible, man. Plain and simple.”
“He, as a teenager, coming into the league to be that ready. To be that ready. And he is ready. But the funny thing is the thing that makes him ready is he went 20 for 29… He is a great [volume shooter] only when he’s shooting well and he doesn’t take bad shots. That’s what I [was] impressed about more. His defensive effort is probably elite as well, but his shot selection takes him to another level.”
Flagg’s season is over now, and we get to see where he goes from here. His coach, Jason Kidd, had very brief advice for him: rest. Let your body heal up.
Flagg did have a spectacular season, but he carried a huge burden for Dallas, and Kidd is right.
Knowing Flagg, though, he’ll take a few days and get back in the gym.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MARCH 25: Payton Pritchard #11 of the Boston Celtics looks on during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at TD Garden on March 25, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On a sunny August afternoon, I sat down with Payton Pritchard to discuss the reality that the upcoming Celtics season was being widely deemed a Gap Year.
He laughed.
“There’s only one mindset, always,” he told me then. “I’ve never been on any team in my life where the mindset wasn’t to try to compete for the championship.”
It’s the right thing to say, of course.
What kind of competitor would relent to the notion that an entire NBA season was a wash?
But I could immediately tell that he wasn’t just saying it because that was the right thing to say. All summer, I had chatted with people around the NBA — media members, executives, scouts, coaches — and almost all of them warned me I was in for a long season of losing, a significant departure from my first two years on the Celtics beat.
A 10-minute conversation with Pritchard almost single-handedly convinced me otherwise — as ridiculous as that may sound. The then-27-year-old was back in Boston, where he had begun working out with the other Celtics youngsters after spending most of the summer on the Cape with his wife, Emma. He was already getting to know the new guys and reuniting with the same Celtics coaches who led the team to 61 wins the year prior.
On this particular day, Pritchard hosted a 1-on-1 basketball tournament at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury. Afterwards, we caught up, and I began to broach the topic of the year ahead.
When I said the word “Gap Year,” Pritchard’s face quickly changed. He looked at me in the most matter-of-fact way he could, his eyes widening.
“It’s not a gap year,” he said firmly. “It’s a year to prove something, take a step, and show people that we are still that team.”
Still that team? They weren’t still that team.
In my first year covering the Celtics, they were historically dominant, winning 64 games en route to a championship. The following year, they won 61 games.
But after an unexpected elimination in the second round of the playoffs last Spring, the Celtics lost Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday in salary-shedding trades, and Luke Kornet and Al Horford to free agency. Franchise cornerstone Jayson Tatum was likely to miss the season with an Achilles rupture he suffered in May. However you wanted to slice it, the offseason served as a financial overhaul, and this wasn’t the same team coming back in the fall.
But Pritchard was a perennial winner, playing for an organization that’s won more titles than any other. He was a key part of the 2024 championship team, and now, he was just months removed from a Sixth Man of the Year, career-best season.
His pedigree of winning began much earlier than the pros. In college, he was the starting point guard for the Oregon Ducks for four straight years, during which time his team won 70% of its games (and the PAC-12). In high school, the Oregon native won four straight state championships.
Why would things change now?
“We’ll put the pieces together,” he told me. “And we will come out and compete, and try to win every game, and put together a great season – and go for a championship.”
I left that conversation convinced, in large part because Pritchard, much like Jaylen Brown (whom I spent time with in July), has a compelling, no-nonsense way of talking. The competitive character, as Joe Mazzulla often calls it, almost oozes out of him.
That spirit had been heralded by many. When I first started covering the Celtics, Pritchard’s college coach, Dana Altman, told me that few people in this world rival his competitive fire.
“I really admire him,” Altman said. “I’ve been able to do this for a long time, and he’s one of the most focused, hardest workers I’ve known. And he’s very competitive; he competes in practice, in games, and he hates to lose.”
Two months after Pritchard and I spoke on that hot summer afternoon, I penned a column: “The Celtics are going to be much better than you expect.” And, in 1500 words, I tried to justify why.
They’d play faster, I maintained. (That ended up being completely false — the Celtics have held the slowest pace in the entire NBA this season).
They’d lean on their three-point shooting efficiency, I wrote. That turned out somewhat true; the Celtics have hit 36.7% of their three-pointers this season, good for the 8th-best in the league. But Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Derrick White have all had down years from beyond the arc, and efficient three-point shooting is not the main driver of the team’s success this season.
More veteran players like Xavier Tillman and Chris Boucher were due for career years. That turned out wrong: neither player even survived the trade deadline.
Looking at the roster, I couldn’t quite make the basketball case for it. But a single conversation with the Celtics’ spark plug told me that the outside perception of the franchise’s incoming season was way off.
Then, the Celtics started 0-3
Three consecutive losses felt like 15 in a city so used to winning. First, the Celtics dropped a nail-biter at home to the Philadelphia 76ers. Then, they got blown out on the road by the same New York Knicks team that ended their season months earlier. And, two days after that, they got pounded on the boards in Detroit.
On October 26th, after the 119-113 loss to the Pistons, the basketball world almost definitively concluded what many had already speculated: the Celtics were poised for a season of losing.
Still, Pritchard walked off the Little Caesars Arena court alongside Mazzulla, as confident as ever.
“We said to each other: ‘This is only gonna make us stronger,’” Pritchard said. “We were going in the right direction. A lot of people didn’t think that, losing our third game. But I remembered it was like, ‘Okay, we were going to start turning the corner. And then, little by little, every day, we’re getting better and better.’”
Joe Mazzulla and Payton Pritchard have embraced a competitive mindset since the preseason. | Getty Images
Addressing the media after that loss to the Pistons, Pritchard sang the same tune.
Everything was going to be just fine.
The Celtics had to clean up their rebounding, and they would.
His open shots were going to fall (Pritchard shot an abysmal 17.4% from three-point range in October).
They just needed some time.
“I knew there was gonna be some adjustment period,” Pritchard told me. “A lot of people in different roles, and people seeing different matchups and different positions, really. It was gonna be an adjustment at first.”
Baylor Scheierman said the team’s togetherness was what stood out during that time.
“There was no separation in the locker room, regardless of what went on, ” he said. “There’s no separation. We stayed together. And that’s kind of how it was, through the ups and downs of the whole year.”
After the 0-3 start, the Celtics went on to win 56 of their next 79 games. Only three teams in the league — the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, and Detroit Pistons — have been better in that span.
How ‘competitive character’ became the name of the game
In the Celtics locker room on Friday night, after the Celtics earned their 55th win, Pritchard turned to Jaylen Brown.
“Great season, man,” he said. “Just a great season.”
Brown nodded emphatically.
The Celtics had just secured the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference for the second straight year. Another postseason run faced them, their fifth as teammates.
“That’s a great season,” Brown said.
<p>From the beginning, Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard breathed life into a Celtics team most had counted out. </p> | Getty Images
Eight months have passed since Payton Pritchard assured me the Celtics would be great, after he rejected the notion of the Gap Year on that hot summer day in Roxbury.
The 2025-2026 Celtics were still that team, just as he said they would be, finishing with the fourth-best record in the league.
Last week, I sat down with Pritchard to reflect on that initial August conversation and his unwavering faith in a Celtics squad most had ruled out.
Was he psychic? Did he know something we didn’t? Was it a conversation he had with Joe Mazzulla? An off-season meeting?
It turns out it was never that complicated.
“The people that were returning,” Pritchard said, “had something to prove.”
For Pritchard, that’s always been the mindset: “I live in a state of trying to prove people wrong.”
And, he feels that the locker room is filled with those kinds of players.
Luka Garza and Neemias Queta were both 2021 second-round draft picks who got their careers started in the G-League. Both players were fourth-string centers last year, and both have worked tirelessly to become key rotation players, with Queta now establishing himself as one of the best young centers in the league.
Ron Harper Jr. went undrafted and bounced around the league on four two-way contracts before landing in Boston. Jaylen Brown carries a chip on his shoulder irrespective of circumstance. The list goes on and on.
“You’ve got to credit Joe for creating a culture of that, but also Brad [Stevens] picking players that have a chip on their shoulder, that love to play basketball,” Pritchard said. “A lot of us, besides JT and JB, were late round picks, and so you got to have a chip on your shoulder to make it.”
Asked Payton Pritchard if he feels this Celtics locker room has a disproportionate amount of guys that thrive on proving people wrong:
“I would say so. I think you got to credit Joe for creating a culture of that, but also Brad picking players that have a chip on their shoulder… pic.twitter.com/9ALpDVqgVM
Sam Hauser, who also went undrafted and began his career in the G League, similarly carries that edge.
“Going undrafted and feeling like you were better than some of the guys who got drafted ahead of you definitely puts a little bit of a chip on your shoulder, and you just want to go in and try to prove yourself and try to prove that you belong,” he said. “I feel like, naturally, when people write you off as a human being, or, I guess as a player, I should say, naturally, you’re just gonna have a little extra motivation.”
All year long, Joe Mazzulla has deflected praise and credited the team’s ‘competitive character.’
Earlier this month, I asked him to define what the oft-used phrase meant.
“It’s just having a group of guys that care about winning, care about the process of that. Every practice, film session, every shootaround, everything’s important,” Mazzulla said. “They just compete every single minute. That kind of defines every guy we have.”
“Guys in this locker room, every time they get a chance to play, they want to come out and prove that they’re worthy of being a rotational player, starter, or whatever it is,” Pritchard said.
When did Pritchard know it was all beginning to click?
He points to a December 1st win in Cleveland as a turning point in the season. They entered the game with a 10-9 record after dropping a close game in Minnesota. And, they were without Derrick White and Neemias Queta on the second night of a back-to-back.
Pritchard took it upon himself to lead the group to a win over one of the East’s premier teams, dropping a season-high 42 points. The Celtics, despite being shorthanded, pulled out the victory.
“That’s when I started noticing, like, ‘Okay, the pieces are coming together a little bit,’” Pritchard said.
Payton Pritchard decided to lead by example
Before the season, Pritchard and Mazzulla discussed how the team was going to approach the challenges that lay ahead.
“We talked about my mindset going into it, and how we were gonna lean on how I approach everything day-to-day, and being a leader for those young guys,” Pritchard said. “The mentality of showing up, game in, game out, and trying to prove yourself every night. That was the thing that we talked about the most – the culture of this team, how we wanted to be.”
Pritchard made a concerted effort to lead by example, handling his own fluctuating role with grace. He finished the year averaging a career-best 17 points and 5.2 assists, but his night-to-night production varied.
He started the first 49 games of the season, but was moved to the bench after the trade deadline. And, anytime he was asked, he downplayed the sacrifice that came with moving to the bench midyear: with Anfernee Simons gone, leading the second unit was simply what made sense.
A hallmark of the Celtics’ success this year has been that different players stepped up every night. Sam Hauser started 49 games. Jordan Walsh started 25. Baylor Scheierman started 20. And, for a stretch, Hugo Gonzalez looked like one of the most impactful rookies in the league.
Players cycled in and out of the rotation — but largely handled it with grace because they always knew they’d get another chance.
“It just helps everybody in the locker room to understand their moment could come,” Pritchard said. “To never get too far down and frustrated, because you might get called up in the next game.”
Pritchard, who has fallen out of the rotation plenty of times during his career — and racked up DNPs during Mazzulla’s first season at the helm — became a chief disseminator of that message.
“Keep working on your game, be a good teammate, and then, when it is your moment, everybody’s gonna be happy for you,“ he told his teammates. “And, if it’s not your moment? Be happy for the other person.”
Last year, Neemias Queta benefited from Pritchard’s guidance firsthand.
“He always preached the view of perspective – trying to see outside of the moment that you’re living in,” Queta told me. “It might not be right now, but [this time] is for you to get better and work on other stuff. You might not be getting repetition on the court, so you just want to attack your workouts with a different type of mindset, whether it’s working on your jump shot, working on defense, working on stuff that can help you right away, or eventually later on down the line. It was huge for me. Back in those days, I really took that to heart. He was able to do [those things] to get himself on the court. And I think when he told me that and [gave me] that type of assurance, it just made my life so much easier.”
On Friday night, Pritchard was awarded the Celtics’ Red Auerbach Award, an honor bestowed upon the Celtics player who best embodies the spirit of being a Celtic “through exceptional performance both on and off the court.”
Mazzulla said the 28-year-old had earned the selection through his five years with the organization: “It’s been an honor to coach him.”
“He’s been with us for some time,” Mazzulla said. “It’s just what he’s grown into and where he’s been over the course of his time. You just take a look at a guy that was constantly having to compete with other guards and not getting a ton of time — a 9th, 10th man to come in and come off the bench and spark us, and then [he entered] the starting lineup, and then back off the bench, and he’s just kind of playing.“
Brad Stevens and Rich Gotham presented Payton Pritchard with the Red Auerbach on Friday. | NBAE via Getty Images
Pritchard feels like he’s always been a natural leader. But, in his first few years in Boston, he was far from the loudest voice in the room.
“You’re maybe not gonna speak in the locker room and hear your voice, but you can still be a leader in the way you approach every day,” he said. “You can tell a leader from the first day he walks in.”
Others have taken notice.
“In the locker room, he’s one of the most vocal guys,” Queta said. “He’s pretty much been able to communicate with all types of personalities that we have — he’s just a great teammate.”
Last week, when Pritchard reflected on our August conversation, he emphasized how much of his unwavering confidence came from simply being a part of the Boston Celtics: “You stay in a championship mindset.”
“Boston lives in a state of — a championship is the only goal,” he said. “A championship organization is, top to bottom, [about] the work ethic everybody puts in. It’s the little things. It’s the custodian at the practice facility; he shows up on time. He puts in his work. The front office does the same thing – they’re there early. The training staff, the weight room. Everybody is held to a standard of work ethic. Obviously, the players work hard, and they’re held to that standard, but it’s everybody.”
Pritchard looks at the disappointment of last year as a building block, rather than a setback. And before the year began, he decided to use it as fuel.
“Maybe that helped us for this year. If you live in that mindset of always going for it,” he trailed off. “If it doesn’t happen this year, it could happen the year after, or the year after that. It’s all building for the future.”
The Celtics’ playoffs will begin on Sunday. What their future holds remains to be seen. But one thing was certain: regardless of available personnel, regardless of how the offseason went, he was right about one thing.
Devoted NBA fans recognize how appropriate this matchup is in the NBA Play-In Tournament. If two teams both delightfully surprised their fans and largely flew below the general radar all season, they were the Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns. Shining a spotlight on the pair is appropriate.
This same-game parlay, one of many Trail Blazers vs. Suns predictions and NBA picks for the Play-In Tournament, respects Phoenix’s backcourt more than anything else Tuesday night.
Our best Trail Blazers vs Suns SGP for April 14
The Phoenix Suns have hardly gotten to enjoy all three of Devin Booker, Jalen Green, and Dillon Brooks at the same time. A hip contusion and a hamstring worry kept Green sidelined until the All-Star Break, at which point Brooks broke his hand, and then Booker suffered an ankle concern.
The good news: All three look available for the Play-In Tournament.
The bad news: Green appeared to injure his knee last week against the Mavericks just four minutes into the game, and he may actually be limited against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
This backcourt should bother nearly any opponent if it's ever in sync and fully healthy at the same time. If that happens to be this week, then how will Portland defend all three? Devote Jrue Holiday to Booker to the best results possible, sure, but then?
The Trail Blazers best approach would be to get the ball out of Green’s hands and risk whatever damage Brooks does or does not inflict. High usage from Brooks can giveth as much as it taketh, a risk the Suns will have to take regardless of Green’s status, but even more so if he is indeed limited at all.
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The Charlotte Hornets have not seen the postseason in nine years. Technically, the NBA Play-In Tournament does not end the longest active postseason drought in the league, but Tuesday night’s game against the Miami Heat does indeed come after the regular season.
In a literal way, welcome to the postseason, Charlotte.
These Heat vs. Hornets props and NBA picks expect the best offense in 2026 to put on a show for the home crowd on Tuesday, April 14, with Kon Knueppel leading the charge.
Rookies are not supposed to find their groove this easily. Kon Kneuppel led the NBA in 3-pointers this season, outpacing Charlotte Hornets teammate LaMelo Ball by one and No. 3, Luka Doncic, by 19.
More impressively, Knueppel made 42.5% of his shots from beyond the arc, trailing only Jamal Murray’s 43.5% among players who took at least five 3-pointers per game and played a genuine season.
There is no reason to expect Knueppel to slow down now, and with this prop at plus-money, his success brings us value. Expect Knueppel to play more than his 30.4 minutes per game (averaged since Jan. 1) and take more than his 7.6 threes per game (also since Jan. 1).
Knueppel’s impressive and unexpected rookie season took the Hornets from a fun team to a dangerous one, and they should lean on that in their return to the postseason.
Prop #2: Coby White Over 12.5 points
-112 at bet365
Charlotte acquired Coby White in late February and then took some time building him into the rotation. As a backup point guard, he usually plays about 20 minutes, which makes it all the more impressive that he's averaged 16.2 points per game since March 1.
Taking 11.1 shots in 19.6 minutes per game is not light work, but it is the exact role White was asked to fill. His minutes obviously do not overlap much with Ball, so White is asked to keep the pedal pressed to the floor.
His game differs from Ball’s in a number of ways, the most obvious being Ball’s forte is dazzling passes while White looks for his own shot more. That is fine, for as long as the pace is still frenetic, Charlotte has an edge on its opponent.
White’s pace should be emphasized against the Miami Heat, a less athletic and chaotic roster.
Prop #3: Tyler Herro Over 2.5 3-pointers
-105 at bet365
Would the Heat be in this single-elimination moment if Tyler Herro had been available for more than 33 games this season? It is a fair wonder.
But in his limited action, Herro still shot 37.8% from deep this season. Remove the season finale in which he played just 22 minutes, and Herro hit 38.9% of his 3-pointers when starting while taking 6.9 per game.
He is still the same shooter he was that complemented Jimmy Butler, just a bit older and now complementing Bam Adebayo.
Miami’s best hope of keeping up with Charlotte’s offense is Herro firing away from deep. Do not be surprised if he takes eight or nine shots from beyond the arc.
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Feb 5, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (7) celebrates with forward Jalen Johnson (1) and center Jock Landale (31) and guard Dyson Daniels (5) after a go-ahead basket against the Utah Jazz in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images
The Hawks faced a crisis just five games into the season. The star point guard — one of the highest usage players in the league — went down with a knee injury that eventually saw him miss the better part of two months of action.
How would they find enough offense to compete down such a central player?
Well, they found a way.
They would never be able to replicate Trae Young’s mastery of the spread pick-and-roll attack. Instead, they innovated with who they had.
Now that the dust has settled, the Hawks finished 46-36 with the 14th best offensive rating (115.0) despite Young only playing 10 games for the team.
Certainly, it helps to have the rise of a first time All-Star, but in reality, many players have come together in a pass-heavy offense to pick up the slack. This year’s offense has been predicated on constant screening from everyone on the floor, quick decisions with the ball, and spreading the court to its dimensional limits.
As a result, the Hawks have finished with the ninth most assists in a season in NBA history (2,471) as well as the ninth highest assist to field goal ratio in NBA history (.691).
But how have they done managed these records? Let’s take a closer look at some of the defining actions that have powered this offense in a new era of Hawks basketball.
But he’s equally as good as a threat to score as he is in setting up his teammates for transition looks with his downhill pressure and passing.
After rebounds, he always keeps his eyes up, ready to hit streakers down the court for easy opportunities. Maybe the Atlanta Falcons should give him a call:
But really, when there’s a 6-foot-9 215-pound freight train coming at you, defenders think twice before trying to sacrifice their bodies towards slowing him down:
Johnson is the biggest reason behind the Hawks’ up and down attack. And on a team with multiple decentralized ball handlers, there’s no one player that needs to bring the ball up the court. Pretty much everyone but trailing bigs can grab and go off a make or miss.
It’s incredibly beneficial that Jalen Johnson is one of the league’s best defensive rebounders. He finished third in the league in total defensive rebounds behind just Karl-Anthony Towns and Nikola Jokic and eighth in the league among qualified players in defensive rebounding percentage (the number of defensive rebounds grabbed as a percentage of available defensive rebounds) at 27.8%.
This ability empowers him to grab and go, putting pressure on transition defenses trying to organize themselves. And with his elite passing ability for his position, he can always make the right play to find gaps in the defense.
I mean, just look how easily one pass beats all five Pistons defenders here:
Nickeil Alexander-Walker using pin downs and flare screens
Nickeil Alexander-Walker is likely to win Most Improved Player no matter which popular betting and odds-making sites you look at. His growth as a scorer (essentially doubling his output without sacrificing neither his efficiency nor his hustle on defense) is beyond remarkable.
With his season over, he averaged 20.8 points per game on a 46/40/90 triple slash (field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage respectively). Compare that to his previous season where he averaged 9.4 points per game on a true shooting percentage three points lower than this year (58% versus 61% in 2025-26).
Alexander-Walker hit a franchise record 251 threes, fourth most in the NBA this year, often by virtue of his tireless movement off the ball.
With a screen-the-screener action unfolding on the opposite side of the floor, ‘NAW’ floors it to use an Okongwu pin down screen. This is one of many movement triples to open the scoring in a recent game against the Magic:
And he’s probably most dangerous after he’s touched the ball. Defenders simply can’t nap for even a millisecond.
Here, he uses a Jonathan Kuminga screen and a give and screen from Dyson Daniels to put Keon Ellis in the ringer. This wasn’t a designed play, but it ended up being a flare off of a dribble-handoff, a byproduct of Daniels and Alexander-Walker’s chemistry from having played so many on-court minutes together.
Alexander-Walker doesn’t have the best passing vision in the world, but he can create easy reads from his activity and driving aggressiveness. He zooms around another pin down here and draws Jarrett Allen from his corner man Okongwu.
One extra pass springs Zaccharie Risacher for a triple:
But he’s also simply grown as a scorer off drives this year. He finished the year in the top 50 in sheer number of drives, and while he didn’t shoot an amazing percentage on these drives, they still put constant pressure on the defense.
The Hawks have simply needed both the rim pressure and the spacing out to all areas of the three-point line. And Alexander-Walker has been so central towards these aims all season long.
Dyson Daniels screening, dribble-handoffs and short rolls
Dyson Daniels is often maligned as a ‘negative’ offensive player, but that sentiment couldn’t be further from the truth.
Just disregard the three-point shooting percentage, Daniels is absolutely an essential cog in what makes this multi-faceted offense go. For one, per pbpstats, when Daniels is on the floor, the Hawks have a 119 offensive rating. When he’s off the floor, that figure drops to 112 — a swing of +7 points per 100 possessions.
For two, he fills in the gaps for a team that plays an unconventional offensive system. The Hawks’ main center rotation this season (Okongwu, Porzingis, Landale, but even Gueye and Newell at times) are all stretch bigs. That allows Daniels to cut into the paint or hang in the dunker spot as a functional center on offense without mucking up the spacing.
The key to this is his screening. While he’s grown into more of an on-ball player this season — handling the ball and distributing (a career-high 8.4 assists per 100 possessions) — it’s the effort he gives off the ball that unlocks everything.
We all know what a conventional pick-and-roll looks like, right? Guard uses the screen from a big and makes the right decision to shoot, drive, or hit the roller in the case of a defensive blitz.
Daniels and Johnson still linked up plenty this season that way:
But when your ‘big’ is a plus-ball handler for his position and your guard is wing-sized, you can ‘invert’ this action. Here, Johnson and Daniels flow into a pick-and-roll where Johnson hits the short rolling Daniels. They have to improvise from there, but it still results in a bucket:
Screening is often the duty of big men, but Daniels flips this on its head, especially when teams put their centers on him. With the prevalence of switching screen actions around the league, Daniels can often get slow-footed centers switched onto Alexander-Walker or Johnson to force a mismatch.
These are the benefits of having a 6-foot-7 athletic point guard who is unselfish enough to sacrifice his body.
Below, Daniels gives to Johnson then flip his screen. That forces Marvin Bagley III — the center in this lineup originally on Daniels — to switch onto Johnson. It’s free eats from there:
And they don’t even need to rely on the All-Star to take advantage of these opportunities. Daniels can even spring Gabe Vincent with a bruising screen on Payton Pritchard:
Yes, Daniels shot below 20% from three this season and he’s averaging fewer than 12 points per game despite playing over 33 minutes per game. But his utility on offense is absolutely indispensable.
For me, the three players listed above are the trio that the offense now centers upon. Yes, Onyeka Okongwu turning into one of the best stretch-5s in the league has opened up space underneath for everyone. Key in-season pickups like CJ McCollum and Jonathan Kuminga have given the Hawks extra punch.
But the Johnson-NAW-Daniels triumvirate are the biggest cogs in the engine. And with all three of them locked up contractually for multiple years, these will be the biggest building blocks of a new offense in Atlanta going into the future.
Jan 17, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen during the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
This season, all the playoffs will be added to a nationally televised broadcast schedule.
In the past, the first round of playoffs featured the local play-by-play and color analysts that fan know and love.
As Spurs fans, it is hard to recall the playoffs without Bill Land and Sean Elliott. It was always hard to say goodbye to them as the Spurs advanced, but then again, the Spurs advancing helped to soften the blow.
This Sunday, the Spurs will enter the postseason for the first time in seven years. This could have been the first time Jacob Tobey called playoff games for the Silver & Black alongside Spurs legend Sean Elliott.
Mike Breen, national play-by-play announcer for ABC and ESPN, spoke out against the decision.
Coincidentally, he was serving as the local broadcaster for the New York Knicks in their last game of the season.
Mike Breen: "1st time ever…entire playoffs exclusive to national TV…poor decision…fans want to hear their home team announcers, at least 1st round…part of the family. I get networks pay a fortune…but fans deserve to be thrown a bone…This is our final telecast of the season" pic.twitter.com/knsUysK261
“No longer can the home team announcers and broadcasters televise the first round. The entire playoffs exclusive to national TV partners…I personally think this is a poor decision. Fans want to hear their team’s announce, at least first round, because for so many of us and all my favorite teams growing up the home team announcers become part of the family. Such a big part of why you root for the team. I get it that networks pay a fortune to get exclusivity. Obviously I work for one of the networks, it’s important to them. But I just think the fans deserve to be thrown a bone once in a while. Let the home team have a little bit of the first round.”
Breen, in his twentieth year as a national broadcaster, understands both sides as he spends much of the season as the Knicks local play-by-play announcer while simultaneously suiting up for national games.
As the playoffs begin, they will look and sound differently than fans have come to know.
Perhaps between Breen, social media, fans, and pundits at all levels there will be enough noise for the league to reconsider after this season.
For now, check your national listings for dates and times.
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Good morning! I hope your TV is in working order. Coming up:
📆 A busy stretch begins
1️⃣ Dallas’ surprise at No. 1
🏆 Rory’s family win
Up First: The NBA leads off a brilliant spring
One of the busiest stretches of important pro sporting events begins tonight, and I mean that in quite a positive way. The NBA playoffs tip off in a few hours, with two Play-In games. This weekend, the NHL playoffs will join. Both sports will crown winners by the third week of June … which is when the World Cup will be fully underway. Oh, and the WNBA season starts in three weeks. More on that in a second.
It’s both dizzying and exciting. Let’s attack the mountain of important sports with what’s happening first: the NBA.
The Play-In Tournament starts tonight, and it’s interesting to have such a new-feeling concept settle into the calendar (format refresher here). This year’s group is arguably the best since the Play-In’s inception in 2020-21. Just one team with a losing record — the Warriors — is playing, which is the fewest in the Play-In’s short history. Is that a good thing? If you look at the standings, you’ll notice that basically every other team tanked. Hm.
Anyway, I asked Bounce writer Zach Harper if any Play-In team could possibly make a Heat-like run (the No. 8 seed in 2022-23 that lost in the finals):
💬 “If anybody is going to do it, it’s going to be the team that ends up in the No. 8 seed in the East. That’s wildly disrespectful to the Pistons. The second-round opponent of either Toronto or Cleveland is what actually makes this feel possible. I could see a healthy Sixers team or this plucky Hornets team do it. Definitely not the Magic.”
Give me the Hornets of that crew, and I will direct all Detroit angst to Zach’s inbox.
The actual first-round matchups are great, too. Overall, there’s a real Thunder-versus-the-field vibe, but I discount that. There are too many big names and great teams throughout each conference. Examples:
Outside of the defending champs, eight teams won 50 or more games. LeBron James’ Lakers (West No. 4) play Kevin Durant’s Rockets (West No. 5) in the first round. The Knicks (East No. 3) and Cavaliers (East No. 4) are still stacked with talent and elite scoring. Nikola Jokić still exists for the 54-win Nuggets (West No. 3).
The newcomers here — Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs (West No. 2, 62 wins), Cade Cunningham and the Pistons (East No. 1, 60 wins) — are even better. The storylines are rich.
I also asked Zach which first-round matchup he is most excited to watch:
💬 “It has to be the Nuggets and Wolves. These two teams had an epic battle in 2024 when the Wolves shocked the world. Both teams are deeper and better than they were then. Both teams are also dealing with key injuries, making them susceptible to losing the series. This should be at least six epic games.”
Let’s switch to the basketball league starting anew:
Eras: A new generation and a draft surprise
Of all the sports we talked about above, none are experiencing a more important moment than the WNBA. Titles are not being decided in the coming days, but after agreeing to a new collective bargaining agreement, the DNA of this league is changed. So last night’s draft felt like another new beginning.
And it started with a mild surprise at the top:
UConn’s Azzi Fudd went No. 1 to the Dallas Wings, making it the second straight year Dallas has drafted a Huskies guard with the top pick. Fudd, a capable scorer who should fit in well alongside Paige Bueckers, hit 45 percent of her 3-point attempts for a UConn team that finished the regular season undefeated. It also doesn’t hurt for chemistry that Fudd and Bueckers are dating.
Big names followed: TCU’s Olivia Miles at No. 2 to Minnesota, Spain’s Awa Fam Thiam to Seattle at No. 3 and UCLA’s Lauren Betts to Washington at No. 4. We also saw a trade in which Seattle nabbed LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson, originally picked by Golden State. The experts say this is a deep draft class. See the grades for every first-round pick.
I want to pause for another second on this new era, which Chantel Jennings highlighted well yesterday:
The players who will be drafted on Monday night will never experience what it’s like to fight for a 401K match or dental insurance. They’ll travel on charter flights. The No. 1 pick will earn $500,000 in her first season — something it took (women’s basketball legend Sue) Bird a decade to make from the WNBA (and seven times as much as the No. 1 pick a year ago, Paige Bueckers).
Top NFL Draft prospect Rueben Bain Jr. was the driver in a 2024 car crash that seriously injured a passenger, 22-year-old Destiny Betts, who later died from her injuries, according to court documents obtained by The Athletic. The crash report stated that Betts was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Bain was cited for careless driving, but it was later dismissed. Read our full story.
More news:
Shaquille O’Neal offered to buy an engagement ring for the couple that went viral at a Pacers game last week. Read more.
ESPN’s Dick Vitale, 86, was diagnosed with melanoma. More details here.
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton didn’t play this season after tearing his Achilles tendon in last year’s finals, but he said yesterday he also has a lingering shingles infection. It sounds painful.
Michael Malone has landed his first recruit out of the transfer portal at North Carolina: Virginia Tech’s Neoklis Avdalas.
Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm filed an injunction to seek the return of over $500,000 from his parents in their ongoing dispute. Read our full story.
Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick announced this season will be his last. More here.
German soccer club Union Berlin fought back against sexist comments after appointing Marie-Louise Eta as the team’s head coach for its final five games. Read the full backstory.
Boris Becker’s 1989 U.S. Open tennis trophy sold for over $357,000 at auction. It’s one of the rarest tennis sales ever.
I couldn’t choose between the two quarterfinal matchups: Liverpool against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG up 2-0 on aggregate) and Atlético Madrid against FC Barcelona (Atlético up 2-0, too). An elite start to a good sports day.
📺 NHL: Capitals at Blue Jackets
7 p.m. ET on ESPN
Both of these teams are now eliminated from playoff contention, but it might be our last time seeing Alex Ovechkin in an NHL game. Turn it on.
📺 NBA: Heat at Hornets
7:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video
The first of two Play-In games tonight, with Trail Blazers-Suns following directly after at 10 p.m. ET. Both of these are good games.
📺 Soccer: USWNT vs. Japan
10 p.m. ET on TNT/HBO Max/Peacock
The second of three friendlies in a week against the No. 5 team in FIFA’s rankings (the Americans are No. 2). The USWNT prevailed 2-1 on Saturday, a promising start.
One last Masters story, and it is a banger: Brendan Quinn wrote about how Rory McIlroy’s first Masters win belonged to the world. This one, however, belonged to his family. Make time for that today.
A battle has emerged in the baseball world: collectors versus teams, over paper tickets.
The North Dakota men’s hockey team didn’t win a national title at the Frozen Four last week. But the takeaway for the Fighting Hawks is much more important: The sleeping giant has awoken.
More North Dakota! What a day. Grace Raynor has the story of a small town in the rural state with 1,000 people that has produced two blue-chip football recruits this year. Welcome to Kindred.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The Jazz Chisholm Jr. forceout saga.
The path won’t be easy. The NBA postseason tends to span around two months, and multiple seven-game series can take a toll on the bodies and minds of players, almost as if the playoffs were a mini-season.
All of which means there are plenty of storylines and narratives to parse through ahead of the games.
Here are the six biggest questions headed into the 2026 NBA postseason:
Can the Thunder repeat as champions?
Winning a title changes a team. For one, they know what it takes to get there. For another, it creates internal and external pressures; Oklahoma City may feel like it needs to live up to its promise of championship-level play and other teams will view the Thunder as the established entity that needs to be upended.
The Thunder are indeed built to repeat. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the likely NBA Most Valuable Player, is the most consistent star in the league. Jalen Williams has returned to form from his hamstring injury. Chet Holmgren has been a solid defensive presence. And the Thunder are deep and talented, creating matchup issues all over the floor.
Championship teams typically get significant contributions from role players. Who might those be?
Think players like Alex Caruso and Luguentz Dort last season for the Thunder, or Sam Hauser for the Celtics the year before. Which players are going to step up this postseason to elevate great teams to championship contention, particularly in the clutch or in high-leverage situations?
Possible candidates include Keldon Johnson (Spurs), Baylor Scheierman (Celtics), Julian Strawther (Nuggets), Mitchell Robinson (Knicks), Keon Ellis (Cavaliers) and Tari Eason (Rockets)
Will the Lakers linger around long enough to get healthy?
NBA leading scorer Luka Dončić is set to rejoin the Lakers on Friday, April 17 from his trip to Spain for treatment on his grade 2 hamstring injury. Still, it’s uncertain when he’ll be cleared to return to play. Austin Reaves (oblique strain) is expected to be out to around mid-May. That timeline puts Los Angeles squarely in the second round.
The Lakers, however, will have to contend with a very solid Houston Rockets team in the first round, a team that finished the season 9-1 in their last 10 games. Dončić and Reaves were the highest-scoring duo in the NBA this season. Without them, the Lakers will be nowhere near as dangerous. It’s going to be tough for them to topple Houston without Dončić and Reaves.
Will the Knicks finally get over the hump?
Last season, New York reached its first Eastern Conference finals in 25 seasons. The Knicks fired former coach Tom Thibodeau and sent the message that the only acceptable outcome moving forward, with this current roster build, was a title.
That puts an immense amount of pressure on coach Mike Brown and the Knicks players. Of all playoff squads, this is the one with the most continuity among its players, many of whom go back to their college days. That stability and familiarity can go a long way in the playoffs, but the Knicks will need to avoid cold spells and will have to amplify their defensive intensity if they are to win their first NBA Finals since 1973.
Can any under-the-radar team make a deep run?
Mostly because of his struggles to get out of the second round of the playoffs, Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers often get overlooked as a viable threat in the East. The Minnesota Timberwolves have made consecutive appearances in the Western Conference finals, but with the strength of the Thunder, Spurs and Nuggets, Minnesota is a modest longshot. The Hawks posted the best winning percentage in the East after the All-Star break (.769) but are a young, untested team. Can any of them get hot at the right time and challenge the balance of power?
Can any Play-In team break through?
In a vacuum, the Clippers appear to be the team in best position to make noise in the playoffs. They can compete with the best teams out West as long as Kawhi Leonard is healthy, and the trade for Bennedict Mathurin was an underrated move that infused scoring off the bench. But if L.A. emerges from the Play-In Tournament, it will face the defending-champion Thunder in the first round, a tall task.
Out East, it might be the surprising Hornets, who posted the best net rating in the East (11.1) after the All-Star break. Charlotte can shoot the ball and plays with pace and offensive ingenuity. The Hornets, though, would get the No. 1 Pistons. Cade Cunningham is still making his way back from his collapsed lung injury, so there is some weakness in Detroit’s case.
The NBA regular season is over, which means many teams are shifting their focus entirely to the 2026 NBA Draft.
With nearly half of the teams done with games for the season, their scouts and front office executives will soon determine which future pros they may add to their roster for next year. After an exciting March Madness tournament won by the Michigan Wolverines, several prospects showed exactly what they can offer in the league.
As many collegiate players announce their intention to declare early entry to the 2026 NBA Draft, we can start to develop a more clear picture of what this class may look like.
The 2026 NBA Draft Lottery, which will determine the order of picks one through fourteen, will be held May 10 in Chicago, followed immediately that week by the draft combine, also in Chicago.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the No. 4 pick will play out with Sacramento Kings making the selection.
Our draft order is based on Tankathon.com and factors in trades, including swaps and protections.
Sacramento Kings 2026 projected draft picks
No. 5, No. 34 and No. 45 (via CHA)
Sacramento Kings 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 4 overall, Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina
Kalbrosky's Analysis:
The Kings need the best player available regardless of fit, and that is North Carolina freshman Caleb Wilson, who unfortunately missed the NCAA Tournament with a broken thumb. Wilson, who also suffered a hand fracture earlier in the season, did more than enough to earn this placement. According to Bart Torvik, before the injury the All-ACC big man led the nation with 67 dunks recorded. He was also the only player under 20 years old to reach thresholds of 2.5 percent for both block and steal percentage while also notching a defensive rebound percentage above 20.0 percent.
Kon Knueppel
Tyler Herro
