Category: Basketball

Two months after claiming the second national championship in program history, Michigan has found itself in the market for a new men’s basketball coach.

The last coach to leave right after winning the tournament was former Kansas coach Larry Brown, who made a habit of leaping from one spot to the next in his well-traveled career.

Dusty May was not supposed to follow that same path. After a steady building process resulted in one of the best teams in recent NCAA history, the belief coming out of this year’s Final Four in Indianapolis said that May was poised to become one of the faces of college basketball.

Opinion: Days before leaving, Dusty May sounded all-in at Michigan. Then, poof!

Dusty May leaves for Mavs: Jon Scheyer stays. Duke trolls

Instead, he’ll be off to the NBA as the next head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. But May’s offensive system and the Wolverines’ impressive roster means his impact could linger under reported interim coach Mike Boynton Jr., if he’s able to keep the team together and out of the transfer portal.

Boynton will have this coming season to convince Michigan to give him the full-time job. Looking toward next winter, here’s USA TODAY Sports’ glance at where Michigan could eventually go to permanently fill May’s shoes:

Mike Boynton Jr., Michigan (interim)

Boynton ran the defense under May — his work helped the Wolverines outscore opponents by nearly 20 points per game — and was the head coach at Oklahoma State from 2017-24. The results were very mixed: OSU won 20 games three times and reached the second round of the tournament in 2021 but went just 119-109 overall and 51-75 in Big 12 play. Still, Boynton has the qualifications and experience to step into the job at a late date and potentially keep the roster intact, or at least strong enough to stay a factor in the Big Ten and Final Four hunt.

Josh Schertz, Saint Louis

The list of outside candidates begins with Schertz, a close friend of May’s and a coach with a similarly prolific up-tempo offensive scheme. His system could be installed fairly seamlessly and mesh well with the Wolverines’ current roster. Schertz has also proven himself by winning 32 games at Indiana State in 2024 and then leading Saint Louis to 29 wins and the second round of this year’s tournament, where the Billikens were bulldozed by Michigan. Schertz could come eventually with May’s recommendation, which might carry weight in the school’s search.

Nate Oats, Alabama

Oats signed a massive extension that links him to Alabama through 2032 and has experienced his share of controversy, most recently this past season with Charles Bediako’s eligibility debate and guard Aden Holloway’s suspension in the wake of felony drug charges. But he’s also won 70% of his games, reached the Final Four, made two Elite Eight trips and advanced out of the tournament’s opening weekend in each of the past four years. He also spent a decade coaching high school basketball in Michigan before being hired as an assistant at Buffalo in 2013. Oats is in a good spot with the Crimson Tide but could be enticed by the opportunity to coach a program with more support and resources.

Billy Donovan

Donovan is currently out of coaching after stepping down from his spot with the Chicago Bulls after the end of the regular season. While he had his share of NBA success, Donovan is best known for the powerhouse he built Florida, where he claimed back-to-back national championships. Despite his time away from the college game, Donovan has essentially been linked to every major NCAA job opening since he left the Gators over a decade ago. Is Michigan the position that would bring him back? May showed how quickly the right coach can make things happen in Ann Arbor. But it’s unknown whether Donovan is interested in navigating the current landscape of college sports.

T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State

Otzelberger seems very content in Ames, having already declined overtures from more historically relevant programs since kickstarting the Cyclones’ current run in 2022. Since taking over five seasons ago, he’s led Iowa State to three Sweet 16 berths, four 20-win seasons and at least 25 wins in each of the past three years. While Otzelberger’s teams have been more recognized for defensive intensity, he’s proven himself to be malleable enough as a coach to potentially blend in his style with the tempo that defined May’s tenure.

Brian Dutcher, San Diego State

Formerly a longtime Michigan assistant who was on the staff for the 1989 national champions and then spent another 18 years under former Michigan coach Steve Fisher with the Aztecs, Dutcher has won at least 21 games in every season since replacing Fisher in 2017 and led SDSU to the national title game in 2023. A few factors not in Dutcher’s favor are his age — he’ll turn 67 in October — and that SDSU has taken a bit of a recent dip, dropping out in the First Four of the 2025 tournament and missing this year’s bracket altogether.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan basketball coach candidates to replace Dusty May after this season

The Mavericks are hiring Dusty May from Michigan University to be their next head coach. He is the first coach since John Beilein in 2019 to make the leap, who resigned in February of 2020 after winning just 14 of his 54 games. Beilein, much like May, coached at Michigan and had a winning percentage north of 60 percent in his college career, making both established winners before their NBA tenure. While Beilein quickly flamed out in the big leagues, the Mavericks hope May follows a different path. 

To find a different outcome, the Mavericks are going to have to fight history. Of the last 12 college coaches to get hired by an NBA team, only two had winning records. Billy Donovan is the lone survivor still coaching from this group, and has a very respectable career record of 469-413 (53.2 percent). Brad Stevens is the other great hire over the last 30-plus years, who went 354-282 over his eight seasons in Boston before famously making the transition to General Manager, where he has excelled since. Stevens is surely the guy that Dallas had in mind when making this decision, but the rest of the group gives enough pause to be cautious when setting expectations for the defending National Champion’s success at the next level. 

Of the ten “duds”, three won over 100 games in the NBA and five won under 70. Two were fired early in their third season, and four lasted two or fewer. The flame-outs were quick and obvious, and given that all six guys hired between 1994 and 2000 had losing records, there was good reason just six more coaches were hired in the same fashion over the next 26 years. 

What none of those guys did, however, was win a national title the year they left college. May is coming off a fantastic year that ended with nets being cut and the culmination of his meteoric rise to prominence. The closest any of the guys over the last 32 years (the full list is here) came to doing that was Rick Pitino in 1997, when he lost the National Championship game and then accepted a job to coach the Celtics. He did not win more than 36 games in any of the next four seasons as Boston’s head coach. 

While history may not be on May’s side, he certainly has the resume to believe that he is closer to Brad Stevens than John Beilein. He has won everywhere he has coached; he hovered above .500 for four seasons at Florida Atlantic (FAU) and then exploded for 124 wins in 150 games over his next four at FAU and Michigan. That run included two Final Fours, two conference championships, and one National Title. He is a proven winner and is an exciting hire for Dallas. But he will have to overcome the hurdles that present themselves when transitioning from a college locker room to one with grown men. It’s okay to be happy that the Mavericks think they have their guy, but be aware that there are real and repeated failures with previous poachings of college coaches.

LeBron James has not made a decision about his future, but the uncertainty surrounding the NBA’s all-time leading scorer is already becoming one of the league’s biggest offseason storylines.

With free agency set to begin on June 30, James appears to be keeping every option on the table, from returning to the Los Angeles Lakers to exploring other opportunities — or even retirement.

According to ESPN insider Ramona Shelburne, initial conversations between James’ camp and the Lakers have remained informal and exploratory.

“LA is the first team he can talk to because they’re their own free agent,” Shelburne said on SportsCenter. “My understanding is they had initial conversations with LeBron James’ representative, but he has not even fully committed to returning next year in these conversations.”

Shelburne described the discussions as little more than both sides “keeping in touch,” noting that no contract figures have been discussed and no commitment has been made.

“I think that’s been interpreted as something like, ‘LeBron is still assessing his options,’” Shelburne said. “Whether that is retirement or whether that is other teams.”

That uncertainty was echoed by James’ longtime agent Rich Paul, who recently dismissed widespread speculation surrounding the four-time NBA champion.

“There’s nobody that knows anything about anything that pertains to LeBron,” Paul said. “LeBron James is gonna take as much time as he needs and wants.”

Paul added that roughly 10 to 12 teams have already expressed interest in James should he decide to leave Los Angeles.

Despite turning 42 during the upcoming season, James remains one of the league’s most productive players. He averaged 21.3 points, 7.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds across 70 games during the 2025–26 campaign, proving he can still impact winning at a high level.

The financial component could complicate matters. James earned $52.6 million last season, while the Lakers may prefer greater salary flexibility as they continue building around Luka Dončić.

According to Shelburne, James may be reluctant to take a substantial pay cut, particularly after feeling his sacrifices in recent years have gone underappreciated.

If James ultimately decides to continue playing elsewhere, Shelburne identified three realistic destinations: the Lakers, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors.

For now, however, no decision has been made.

The Lakers remain in contact. Rival teams continue to monitor the situation. And LeBron James, perhaps for the first time in years, appears to be carefully evaluating every possible path before making what could become one of the most consequential decisions of the NBA offseason.

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Hang uno up in the rafters. Booker is in his #15 era.

New number, new Book. Scoring 70 points in a loss Book is out, and gold medal Book is in. The Olympic 3 and D Book. The “I’ll do it” Book. The being-anything-the-team-needs-him-to-be Book. 

What could the player that Steve Kerr named the “Unsung MVP” of the 2024 Olympic gold medal team bring to the run-it-back Suns? I say, he’ll bring what he’s always brought, exactly what his team needs to win.

Steve Kerr went on to say this about Devin Booker.

“He’s probably the guy who has been the most adaptable to go from a different role in the NBA to a new one here. He’s adapted to being an on-ball guy, ball mover. The offense clicks when he’s out there, the defense is really good.”

In my opinion, the Suns need Booker to fill a new role in the 2026-27 season. More CP3, less Kobe. More Gary Payton, less Allen Iverson. This Suns team doesn’t win a playoff series or nab a 4-5 seed because Booker takes more shots. Not if that means Jalen Green has to take fewer shots. Or Dillon Brooks gets trigger-shy. Or Collin Gillespie defers. This isn’t the 2017 Suns, or the CP3 Suns that needed Booker to flame on every night. Booker doesn’t have to provide the bulk of the shots on this Suns team. SG1 isn’t a winning strategy. Let Ant and Spida spin their tires in the conference finals, chasing that title. The answer isn’t always more gas.

You know what the run-it-back Suns need more than 25 shots a night from Booker? Some of that Paris Olympics defense.

For being a team that wants to build off the defensive side of the ball, the Suns couldn’t keep anyone out of the lane, and by the time they got to the playoffs, the secret was out. Expect teams to attack the Suns with the drive until the tape gives them reason to pause. The Suns can’t be the type of swarming defense Jordan Ott envisions if they can’t stay in front of the ball. The coaching staff and front office are surely working to address that weakness, but could the Suns’ best player be a part of the solution?

Booker played good defense last season. Can he make that a more consistent part of his game? Can he step up and take on a difficult assignment in a playoff series? Could he hold up when he gets switched onto Ant, Luka, or Shai. What would that allow the rest of the team to do? If Booker is mixing it up on defense, game in and game out, what kind of effort are you going to get from Jalen Green? How does that intensity transfer to the young core? How aggressively do Collin, Oso, Fleming, and Dunn play? A great individual offensive performance can increase everyone’s confidence shooting the ball. Could great individual effort from Book on the defensive end have a similar effect? The rising tide raises all boats. The Suns need Devin Booker to be the rising tide, on the defensive end, and as a playmaker on offense.

Booker’s numbers weren’t as off from previous seasons as the fan reaction would have you think, but the efficiency numbers were down. Yet the biggest critique from Book’s post-season performance was that he wasn’t aggressively seeking his shot. Then people see Jalen Brunson in the finals relentlessly attacking, and everyone stands up and says, “See! That’s what Booker needs to do.” But when Booker was at his best, making finals runs, getting MVP votes, and making all NBA teams, he was efficient. His 45.6 FG% last season was the lowest it’s been since the 2017-18 season, and his 33.0 3PT% was the lowest it’s been since the 2018-19 season. How does forcing contested shots help that?

Booker is great when he’s pushing the 50/40/90 mark. If he has to shoot it 15-17 times a game instead of 20 to get there, so be it. Booker needs to leverage his basketball IQ and gravity to be a playmaker first, like you see from superstars like Jokic or Lebron. Not just to create open looks for his teammates but also to open up better looks for himself. Lebron and Jokic don’t attack the wall teams build to contain them. They work the ball around the wall until the defense has to come out to cover the corners of the court they thought they could sacrifice. That’s when Jokic or Lebron start scoring. That’s how they get the looks they want, not the looks the defense wants.

Booker would benefit from being a more opportunistic scorer this upcoming season. When he’s playing with the bench unit at the end of the first quarter. Go nuts. When the Suns brick consecutive shots, and the other team sparks a run. Get aggressive, get a bucket. When he catches Austin Reeves in rotation. Take him to the hoop. But you don’t need to kill yourself in the first half getting to your spot if Green or Brooks are getting good looks. Be smart about when you spend your energy. The Suns don’t need Booker to take over in the second quarter; they need him to get buckets in the 4th. That’s how, on any given night, Booker can take fewer shots than Jalen Green or Dillon Brooks and still be the franchise player the Suns pay him to be. CP3 had it down to a science.

Booker can’t stay 2023 forever. I’m sure he looks at guys like Lebron and CP3, who stretched their careers out long past their expected expiration date, and thinks how he could do the same for his career. Their games evolved with age, with the way defenses played them, with the teams they had around them. Booker’s game will evolve too.

From coming off the bench for Calipari at Kentucky to hitting corner threes for Steve Kerr in the Paris Olympics, Devin Booker has always been willing and able to assume whatever role he needs to play to win. For over a decade, he’s been the Sun’s offensive engine wearing the number 1. Maybe that’s not what the Suns need right now. Maybe the Suns need the Olympic Booker. Maybe it’s time for Suns fans to open their minds to what #15 has to offer.

Or maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the only thing that will change about Devin Booker is his number. Let me know in the comments what you expect from Book next season. Will we see a new Book? Or will SG1 strike back?

The Dallas Mavericks hired Dusty May! It’s a busy week around these parts but I asked the staff to react!

Matt: Yes. The move feels ahead of the curve, not painfully behind it. It will be great to have an X’s and O’s man on the Mavericks’ sideline. May is certainly not “watching, just like you guys.” He develops young talent, and the Mavs are likely to get younger in the immediate future. I’m all the way in and stand ready to be laughed out of the room if it goes wrong.

Bryan: If Dusty could handle Yaxel’s annoying ass and still make a team of transfers look like one of the best title teams in the last decade, I’ll gladly take him here. Spreadsheets Fan Club won the war, and the Dallas Mavericks should reap the benefits with May at the helm for Cooper’s early career.

Michael: I love this. It had become apparent we were targeting an NBA assistant or the top two college coaches. The latter (Jon Scheyer and Dusty May) were ironically, the “bigger” names of the bunch despite not being in the NBA. May demonstrated a keen ability to pull a team together to win a National Championship, and while time will tell how successful he will be at the NBA level, there are positive signs he’s going to be just fine. Worst case, we should have every confidence he can capably manage young guys, which the Mavs will hopefully be overflowing with before long. Even if he only sticks around a few years for something of a rebuild, there could still be huge benefits. Simply put, there isn’t much I’m questioning or doubting. This feels like a great hire for what we need, with the potential for big upside and a real chance May could be at the helm for years to come.

Chris: I’m normally a little skeptical about college to NBA hires, but I love this for the Mavs. May is fresh off a National Championship with Michigan so he’s proven he can win and do it a lot. He completely turned around the FAU program and then delivered Michigan its second championship. He’s a genius basketball mind with a knack for X’s and O’s. He’ll be great for helping recognize young talent, developing talent, and (hopefully) leading the Mavs back to eventual contention.

Jeremy: The Mavs needed to hit a home run with this hire, so why not go out and get one of the brightest minds in the sport? May’s evolution from Florida Atlantic to winning the National Championship at Michigan proves that his system travels and he knows how to win in multiple places. Granted, the NBA is a completely different animal, but the Mavs are going younger, so adding a college coach to grow alongside them isn’t a bad decision. If they select any of his players in the draft (Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson), I’ll like this hire for the Mavs even more.

Gracie: I couldn’t be more thrilled. I’m even happier that the search is over heading into the draft and free agency. Hearing his name in the mix, I was skeptical on hiring a college guy, but his record speaks for itself. The fact that he has three of his guys in the mix for the draft combined with their championship run shows that he can coach and get his guys to where they need to be. I am excited to see what he can do with Flagg and whoever they draft on Tuesday.

Ben: I’m more skeptical than most about hiring a coach with no experience in the NBA. May might be worth the risk considering his résumé, but the college and NBA basketball ecosystems are just so different.

That being said, the college basketball world is changing, and maybe the two experiences overlap more than they have in the past. If the Mavs front office is thinking this, May is a great choice to take a chance on.

Kirk: Since I had essentially ruled this hire out due to various reports around the hiring process, I am thrilled that they were wrong. I don’t know enough about May. Michigan fans are upset, so that must mean something. Here’s hoping he’s awesome.

The most important player on the Detroit Pistons is undeniably Cade Cunningham. He is now a multitime All-Star, All-NBA player, and a true superstar. It is also clear that Trajan Langdon considers the core players alongside Cade to be Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren. Ausar for his all-world defense and Duren for his rim pressure, inside-scoring, and growing offensive repertoire.

But if you asked me which two players most defined the Detroit Pistons these last two seasons, I’m not sure I’d say any of the above. When I think about how this team went from the league’s cellar to a 6o-win team, I think about the energy, passion, grit, and voracious defense it took to get there. That is what the Detroit Pistons are to me.

And that is most exemplified by two bench players — Isaiah Stewart and Ron Holland. Those are also two players almost certainly being sent out in a deal for Tyler Herro, based on people I have spoken with within league circles and close to the franchise.

It’s clear to Trajan Langdon and everyone else what this team was missing in the playoffs — secondary playmaking, ball handling, and shot making. Those are not things you will find on the resume of either Stewart or Holland. You’d also find that in abundance with Herro, who has his flaws but is undeniably an extremely dangerous scorer at multiple levels and in multiple ways.

The Pistons, however, risk losing the very identity that got them to this point. Holland hasn’t broken out, and he still has a long way to go as a reliable offensive threat, especially from the perimeter. But he’s also the player I most associate with Making Things Happen™ when the Pistons needed a spark.

I wish Stewart would bomb away more from deep, but he’s one of the most impactful interior defenders in the NBA. He was one of only three players who held opponents to sub-50% shooting within 3 feet of the rim on three or more attempts per game.

It might seem like you’re sacrificing your fifth- and ninth-leading scorers to obtain a true No. 2 option on team desperate for it. Swapping out 18 points and low-usage minutes for a 20-25 point-per-game scorer. That’s all true. But you’re losing so much more than that.

You’re losing the heart and soul of the Pistons, and other players will need to step up to provide that juice, or the Pistons could find themselves stumbling backward instead of hurtling forward toward title contention.

Jalen Duren will need to learn how to not just defend the paint but also make people a little scared of bringing the ball inside. Ausar Thompson will need to be at least as willing a shooter as Holland was, while also taking every opportunity to dive on the ball, create chaos, and score in transition.

It’s unclear whether this deal is even possible if the Pistons send out the No. 21 pick instead of Holland. It depends on what Miami and/or Milwaukee values. But trend lines are pointing to Detroit keeping the pick and losing Holland.

For Trajan Langdon to send out the first draft pick he ever made for this franchise is significant. He needs to ensure that the player they select at No. 21 hits.

This is one of the few all-in adjacent moves Detroit is going to be able to make with this core. He can’t afford to make mistakes.

After Dusty May's stunning exit from the Michigan men's basketball program, the Wolverines will be looking within for the immediate replacement.

Michigan is expected to promote assistant coach Mike Boynton Jr. as the interim head coach, according to multiple reports. The decision comes less than a few hours after May's departure to take the job with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks on Monday, June 22.

Boynton joined May's staff when he arrived in Ann Arbor in 2024, after spending seven seasons in charge of Oklahoma State. His time with the Cowboys was up-and-down, with one NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021 with a team that featured eventually NBA draft No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham. In addition to the one March Madness trip, Oklahoma State had two NIT bids under Boynton.

He finished with a 119-109 record in Stillwater.

Possible Dusty May replacements: Michigan may have interim fix. But who could be long-term option?

Opinion: Days before leaving, Dusty May sounded all-in at Michigan. Then, poof!

At Michigan, Boynton has been in charge of the team's defense, which was among the best in the country in the past season, giving up just 69.5 points per game with a nation's best 38.2% defensive field goal percentage.

It's a move that makes sense given Boynton was the only staff member with head coaching experience. The Wolverines previously had an assistant in Justin Joyner, who left to take the Oregon State job.

May's departure this late in the summer also makes it rough for Michigan to find a permanent replacement option when nearly all coaching positions are filled. Boynton will likely be in charge of Michigan for the entirety of the 2026-27 season as the Wolverines searched for a permanent replacement, which Boynton could end up filling.

Michigan is coming off a national championship season, and when Boynton's hiring is official, he will have to work to ensure the team's roster stays intact given the transfer portal rules for when a new coach is hired.

Can Michigan basketball players transfer with Dusty May leaving?

Yes, NCAA rules allow for the creation of a special transfer portal window following a head coaching change. At that time, players can enter the portal and potentially sign with another team.

When can Michigan players enter the portal?

According to the NCAA on Jan. 14, 2026, the Division I Cabinet enacted immediate rules changes for the transfer portal, including those for a team going through a coaching change.

Per the NCAA:

When a head coaching change occurs, a 15-day period will open five days after the new head coach is hired or publicly announced. If a new head coach is not announced within 30 days of the previous head coach's departure — and the 31st day after the head coach's departure is after the championship game — a 15-day window will open. The additional head coach departure window is available only after the basketball transfer window opens through Jan. 2.

Five days after Michigan hires or publicly announces its hire, the 15-day transfer portal will open, allowing players to enter and potentially sign with a team. The 15-day window will open if the Wolverines are unable to make a hire within 30 days of May's departure for the NBA.

That is separate from a 15-day transfer window that opens the day following the championship game, which in 2026 was on April 4.

Mike Boynton coaching record

Boynton joined May's staff in 2024 after serving seven years as Oklahoma State's head coach. Boynton was on Brad Underwood's staff for a year at OSU before Underwood left for Illinois. Boynton was elevated to head coach and posted a 119-109 (.522) record, which included two NIT quarterfinals appearances and a trip to the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Boynton Jr. to be named Dusty May's replacement, Michigan interim coach

At his exit interview, one of the edicts from President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka is that the Lakers needed lob threats and wings with athleticism.

Join the club.

It’s the desire of every NBA team to find athleticism on the wings and at the center position. The surest way teams can find that, then, is in the NBA Draft.

With just over a day left before the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, the projected Lakers’ picks are mostly either lob threats or wings with athleticism, which shouldn’t be a surprise. There is also one name that is coming up with increasing regularity as well.

Let’s look at the latest mock draft roundup.

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ESPN — Isaiah Evans, wing, Duke

On paper, Evans looks like he fits the mold of an athletic wing at 6’5” with a wingspan of nearly 6’9”. However, he instead fits the mold of a sharpshooter, which certainly could fill a need as well.

Here’s Jeremy Woo’s breakdown on the pick:

Evans’ long-range shotmaking has kept first-round interest high, and he appears likely to come off the board in the 20s. He has nice size for a wing shooter, measuring 6-5½ barefoot at the combine, and has a pathway to becoming a valuable role player if he can continue to flesh out his game, particularly on defense. Though he is more of a play finisher and spacer than a creator, his ability to hit shots off movement is rare and perpetually coveted by NBA teams.

This should be a best-available pick for the Lakers, who should be focused on the bigger picture of building around Luka Doncic but are also dealing with new contracts for LeBron James and Austin Reaves. Evans’ shooting could be a useful addition and a strong fit for him playing off L.A.’s stars.

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The Ringer — Jayden Quaintance, forward, Kentucky

Over the last week, Quaintance has been linked more and more to the Lakers. There’s certainly logic to it. He’s a great defender who can rebound at a high level, two things the Lakers could use.

Here’s what The Ringer had to say about him and his fit in LA:

Life with Luka Doncic can be tricky for guys who have grand aspirations or ideas about who they are as players. But for some, life gets simpler in a glorious way around Doncic, and Quaintance fits that bill to a T. If you’re focusing on Quaintance’s choppy and ridiculously brief tenure at Kentucky due to his injury recovery, you’re not going to come away with a clear picture of who this guy could become. Watching his tape from Arizona State a season prior is the way to go. I think he’s an All-Defense-level prospect on one end and the type of powerhouse who can punctuate Luka pick-and-rolls 10 to 15 times a game on the other. It comes down to health for Quaintance, but at pick no. 25, he is more than worth the risk.

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CBS Sports — Jayden Quaintance, forward, Kentucky

Drafting Quaintance would certainly be a bet on both his medicals being clear and that the Lakers could develop him into a more refined player. If both of those things check out, then the team could pull off a steal by taking a player with injury concerns with the focus on the long term.

Here’s Cameron Salerno’s thoughts on the Lakers taking him:

The Lakers biggest need heading into the offseason should be finding a center. If Quaintance is still on the board, that should be the pick. He is one of the most unique prospects in this class. After playing in just four games at Kentucky last season, his stock has taken a hit. Still, when healthy, he is one of the best defenders in the class.

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Yahoo Sports — Dailyn Swain, wing, Texas

Lastly, there’s someone who fits the more traditional role of athletic wing in Swain. He has an ability to get to the rim and finish and has a jumper that needs work, which sounds a lot like the last player drafted by the Lakers.

Here’s what Kevin O’Connor said about the selection:

What type of support does Luka Dončić need by his side? Versatile wing defenders who can serve as connectors on offense. Swain is relentless getting to the rim, creative as a finisher, and active enough defensively to project as a switchable wing. But the reason he lives at the rim is because his jump shot is genuinely terrible. He has stiff mechanics, bad percentages, and a reluctance to even attempt it that goes all the way back to high school. He made improvements at Texas, though, so there’s hope his soft touch at the line and from the paint will eventually translate.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

At this year’s trade deadline, the Sixers made a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder that we don’t need to rehash for the sake of everyone’s mental health.

Their reported trade target from that deal is now on the move.

In mid-May, Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice reported that Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins was the “primary target” for the Sixers. He added “there was hope” that The Trade That Shall Not Be Named “could lead to a deal also involving Wiggins,” but that didn’t materialize at the time.

Four months later, Wiggins is heading to Atlanta for two distant second-round picks, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. From OKC’s standpoint, it was a purely financially motivated move.

The Sixers have changed front offices since the trade deadline, so perhaps new team president Mike Gansey and vice president of basketball operations Jameer Nelson didn’t value Wiggins the same way that former president Daryl Morey and general manager Elton Brand did. But even if they did, money was the big obstacle in their way, which made Atlanta a far more logical trade partner for OKC.

Why the Sixers couldn’t get Wiggins

The Hawks had an $11 million trade exception after sending Luke Kennard to the Los Angeles Lakers for Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick at the trade deadline. They wound up sending the better of their own second-rounder and the Lakers’ second-rounder in 2032 along with their own in 2030 to acquire Wiggins.

More importantly, they were able to absorb Wiggins into that trade exception without sending salary back to OKC.

The Thunder appear to be in full payroll-trimming mode before having to decide whether to exercise their team options on Isaiah Hartenstein ($28.5 million), Lu Dort ($17.7 million) and Kenrich Williams ($7.2 million). It wouldn’t be a surprise if former Sixer Isaiah Joe and his $11.3 million salary is the next one out the door.

The Sixers have two small trade exceptions, but neither Wiggins ($9.0 million) nor Joe could fit into either of them. They could technically take either one into the $15.0 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception since it can now be used as a trade exception, but doing so would hard-cap them at the first apron. That should be a non-starter at this stage of the offseason.

The first apron is projected to land around $209 million. The Sixers already have more than $172.7 million on their books for next season, and that’s for only seven players. If they used $9 million of their non-taxpayer MLE to absorb Wiggins, they’d be up to $181.7 million in salary with seven open roster spots. That would leave them less than $27.5 million below their first-apron hard cap.

If the Sixers filled five of their remaining spots with players on minimum contracts, that would add $12.25 million to their books. That’d leave them about $15 million to spend on either Oubre or Grimes, or they could bring back one for around $10 million and spend the remainder of their non-taxpayer MLE on another free agent.

Either way, they presumably wouldn’t want to head into free agency hard-capped at the first apron, particularly not for a player like Wiggins. He’d be a solid addition off the bench, but he’d have minimal chance of cracking the Sixers’ starting lineup thanks to Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.

If the Sixers are going to hard-cap themselves at the first apron before the new league year even begins, it needs to be a home run move. Otherwise, they have incentive to see how the Oubre and/or Grimes situations play out in free agency before imposing those kinds of handcuffs on themselves.

The Wiggins deal isn’t likely to be the only trade that goes down this week. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the headliner, while Ja Morant could follow in short succession. Unless the Sixers are trading one of Maxey, Joel Embiid or Paul George, they don’t have the salary-matching contracts to get involved for either one.

In fact, they don’t have the contracts to get involved for hardly anyone on the trade market.

The Sixers’ top-heavy salary structure

Embiid ($58.0 million), George ($54.1 million) and Maxey ($40.7 million) are the only Sixers players who are currently set to earn more than $12 million next year. Edgecombe is next at $11.7 million. Whomever they select with the No. 22 overall pick will temporarily be their fifth-highest-paid player at a whopping $3.6 million.

Despite having so few players under contract, the Sixers are already projected to be over the 2026-27 salary cap. They can’t swing a trade that’s unbalanced salary-wise unless they’re willing to hard-cap themselves at the first apron. (Which, again, should be a non-starter this early in the offseason.)

That top-heavy salary structure is going to limit the Sixers’ options on the trade market this offseason. Salary dumps of productive players should only become more common as teams look to trim their payroll, but the Sixers likely won’t be able to capitalize this offseason.

That shouldn’t be held against Gansey and Co. They’re just playing the hand they were dealt.

They didn’t choose to not outbid Atlanta for Wiggins. They didn’t have a choice in the matter since they couldn’t absorb Wiggins’ contract without sending salary back.

That would have defeated the purpose for OKC, and the same will go for any other team looking to cut costs.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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Dusty May is making the jump from college basketball to the NBA to become the next Dallas Mavericks coach.

It's a significant move within college basketball, considering May just led Michigan to the national championship, is one of the top coaches in his profession and had been in talks with the Wolverines for a contract extension.

Opinion: Days before leaving, Dusty May sounded all-in at Michigan. Then, poof!

According to multiple reports, May wasn't the only prominent college basketball coach to have interest in the Mavericks' job, which comes with coaching 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg. Per the Field of 68's Jeff Goodman, Flagg's college coach, Jon Scheyer, had "major interest" in the position but elected to stay with the Blue Devils.

Shortly after news broke May was leaving the Wolverines after two seasons, Duke’s social media team posted a photo of a young Scheyer in a Duke T‑Shirt — perhaps a Bat‑signal–style nod meant to signal his commitment to his alma mater.

pic.twitter.com/YzosxPhim3

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) June 22, 2026

Scheyer and Flagg were awfully successful in their lone season together in Durham, which included a 35-4 overall record and the program's first Final Four appearance in the post-Mike Krzyzewski era.

Named the Naismith and Associated Press Player of the Year, Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in the 2024-25 season under Scheyer. In the Blue Devils' Final Four loss to Houston, Flagg scored 27 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals, making him the first player since defensive stats became official in 1986 to lead a team in all five categories in a Final Four game.

He was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Mavericks.

Duke is expected to be one of the top teams in the country once again under Scheyer this season. The Blue Devils return guard Caleb Foster and center Patrick Ngongba II, while they added Wisconsin guard John Blackwell and Belmont forward Drew Scharnowski to the roster through the transfer portal.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jon Scheyer wanted Mavs job, stayed at Duke. Dusty May bolted for NBA

In last week’s Reacts survey, we asked you one more—final?—time about the ongoing Giannis trade saga, which may or may not be headed for a resolution by tomorrow evening’s NBA Draft. Pretty simple questions here, but we wanted to see how opinions have or have not changed since the season ended. First off: do you want to trade Giannis or not?

In our final Tuesday Tracker of the season, a similar 53% of fans polled wanted the trade to happen regardless of what Giannis wants. But if you go back to our Tuesday Tracker before the trade deadline, 57% didn’t want the Bucks to trade him. That was before his knee injury, and Milwaukee’s late-season slide took them out of the play-in picture completely, of course.

Next up, if a trade does indeed occur, will fans feel betrayed by the Bucks, especially given all that’s happened over the last year?

Taken together, these two results paint a picture of an increasingly over-it fanbase. The publicly self-imposed deadline of tomorrow’s draft for an answer on Giannis’ future, one way or another, might elicit something by tomorrow. Or it might not. Either way, people are tired of the media cycle and wish either party—the Bucks or Giannis—would do something about it.

Check out FanDuel, the official sportsbook of SB Nation.

Dusty May was the hottest name on the NBA radar for months, yet every time his name came up, he had a policy.

May wasn't going to talk about other jobs — at least, not specifically.

I sat down with the now-former Michigan basketball coach on June 17 for an overarching conversation about U-M's program. We discussed his frontcourt trio that's expected to be lottery selections, his returning guards that could be as good as any backcourt in the country, a pair of McDonald's All American incoming freshmen, the five-in-five rule and other players who could step up this season.

Dusty May contract: How much is coach's buyout to leave Michigan for Mavs?

What's next? Can Michigan players enter portal with Dusty May leaving?

The sit-down concluded with probes about his current job and any potential for a new one. While he acknowledged he had yet to sign his extension with Michigan, he implied it was moving forward without a hitch. Also, given when he signed an extension last year it came in July, this didn't seem exceedingly out of the ordinary.

"Two days ago, I had a discussion about a couple details, and a week before that had a couple discussions about details," said May, to which I asked if the plan is still to go forward. "Yeah. I mean ... I don't even understand the issues with contracts because it's like the contracts are only as good as the buyout.

"But there's active negotiations, minor details. ... I don't spend much time thinking about it and talking about it."

That was old news by the morning of Monday, June 22, when reports surfaced May, 49, had agreed to become the next coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Two years and two months after coming to Ann Arbor, where he went 64-13, won a Big Ten Tournament title, a Big Ten regular season title and the national championship just two months ago, May was off to the NBA.

May's name was floated for just about every position that came open this past cycle — the Magic, Pelicans, Bulls, Bucks, Trail Blazers and most recently Mavericks. I asked him about what it's like hearing his name for all these openings.

"What's the saying, peacock today, feather duster tomorrow?" he responded. "Yeah, you feel appreciated, but I think every job that's been open this year, I've heard my name. ... I think that's more media-driven than anything else."

When asked if some teams had actually reached out to him, he said "very few." I probed back and specifically mentioned the Mavericks.

"I'm not talking about other jobs, right?," he said. "I've said it before. If I spend time talking about every job, that becomes the Brad Stevens joke where, a Division II, JUCO comes open and they say they 'gotta make Brad Stevens say no.'

"There's no reason to talk about jobs because there's going to be 10 jobs next year — 10 in the NBA and 10 in college. I'm just not talking about it. I think I've been pretty clear. I'm not talking about jobs."

In hindsight, this reads differently than it felt in the moment. At the time, it felt similar to some of the conversations he and I had in Indianapolis last spring, where the rumors were swirling North Carolina was going to pounce as a true blueblood of the sport and steal him away from Ann Arbor.

He doubled down and told me he was happy in Ann Arbor and didn't plan on leaving.

That same weekend, athletic director Warde Manuel shot down the reports and told the Free Press the two had agreed in principle to a new deal. Just more than a week later, after U-M won the national title, Manuel said it in Crisler Center in front of thousands of people — with May's approval — that "[May] will be the leader of this basketball team for many years to come," eliciting a roar and standing ovation from the crowd.

May's previous deal featured a $4.6 million base salary for this year. He earned another $500,000 in bonuses for winning the Big Ten ($50,000), being named Big Ten Coach of the Year ($50,000), winning a Final Four game ($200,000) and the national championship ($200,000) for a total of $5.1 million.

One could only figure it will be much larger than that in Dallas, with a future star player already on the roster, a top-10 pick in this week's NBA Draft, plus a major media market with an organization that's not afraid to spend money.

It fits a lot of the criteria May needed in order to be pulled away from the Wolverines.

There's no sugarcoating this: It's a detrimental blow for Michigan. In two years, May took a last-place Big Ten team and turned it into the best team in the country and appeared to have the program poised to become a powerhouse for years to come.

He was a master in the transfer portal. After the NBA Draft on June 23, it's likely his five transfer portal big men he landed in two years in Danny Wolf, Vlad Goldin, Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. will all be on NBA rosters, and four of them will have gone as first-round selections.

U-M appeared to have real staff continuity going into the 2026-27 season, with only Justin Joyner (who took over as Oregon State head coach) seemingly on the way out. Now, the leader of the entire operation is off to lead the Mavericks along with Cooper Flagg.

Oh, don't forget, the Mavericks have the No. 9 pick in the draft. Flagg is a big, versatile forward who can handle the ball and create for others. May likes that. What else does he like? Pairing another big man with him.

Keep an eye out for a Mara-May reunion on Tuesday night.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What Dusty May told me days before leaving Michigan for Mavs

Not even three months removed from winning the 2026 Men's NCAA Tournament, Michigan men's basketball is looking for a new coach.

Dusty May, who won the title in just his second year coaching in Ann Arbor, will take the head coaching position of the Dallas Mavericks, a team that went 26-56 amid a 12th-place finish in the Western Conference in 2025-26. That said, the Mavericks have building blocks for success, including a top-10 pick in a loaded 2026 NBA Draft class and 2025-26 Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg.

Opinion: Days before leaving, Dusty May sounded all-in at Michigan. Then, poof!

Why is Dusty May leaving Michigan? What we know of new Dallas Mavs coach

The question now is what is to happen with the players remaining on Michigan's roster. While some players, such as Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr., have already declared for the draft as first-round selections, others will have the opportunity to leave Ann Arbor via the transfer portal — but not immediately.

Here's what to know of the NCAA's transfer rules, and when Wolverines players can transfer from Michigan:

Can Michigan basketball players transfer with Dusty May leaving?

Yes, NCAA rules allow for the creation of a special transfer portal window following a head coaching change. At that time, players can enter the portal and potentially sign with another team.

When can Michigan players enter the portal?

According to the NCAA on Jan. 14, 2026, the Division I Cabinet enacted immediate rules changes for the transfer portal, including those for a team going through a coaching change.

Per the NCAA:

When a head coaching change occurs, a 15-day period will open five days after the new head coach is hired or publicly announced. If a new head coach is not announced within 30 days of the previous head coach's departure — and the 31st day after the head coach's departure is after the championship game — a 15-day window will open. The additional head coach departure window is available only after the basketball transfer window opens through Jan. 2.

Five days after Michigan hires or publicly announces its hire, the 15-day transfer portal will open, allowing players to enter and potentially sign with a team. The 15-day window will open if the Wolverines are unable to make a hire within 30 days of May's departure for the NBA.

That is separate from a 15-day transfer window that opens the day following the championship game, which in 2026 was on April 4.

Dusty May salary, buyout: Michigan coach contract details, and what he said of extension

Michigan basketball roster: Who did Michigan sign in transfer portal this offseason?

• Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati): 4-star | No. 13 player in portal | No.3 C
• J.P. Estrella (Tennessee): 4-star | No. 23 player in portal | No. 7 PF
• Jalen Reed (LSU): 4-star | No. 163 player in portal | No. 33 PF

Michigan basketball high school recruit rankings

Michigan's 2026 high school recruiting class ranks No. 4 nationally and No. 1 in the Big Ten, according to 247Sports' Composite rankings. Here's who the Wolverines signed, including their national rank:

• Brandon McCoy Jr.: 5-star | No. 10 player nationally | No. 2 PG
• Quinn Costello: 4-star | No. 45 player nationally | No. 8 PF
• Lincoln Cosby: 4-star | No. 47 player nationally | No. 17 SF
• Joseph Hartman: 4-star | No. 97 player nationally | No. 12 SG
• Malachi Brown: 4-star | No. 148 player nationally | No. 46 SF
• Marcus Moller: International

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dusty May to Mavs: What's next for Michigan players? Can they enter portal?