Category: Basketball

Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals is just hours away and the status of a key player is still up in the air.

New York Knicks backup center Mitchell Robinson, who suffered a broken right pinky finger early last week, is the lone player to appear on the injury report for both the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.

The Knicks said Robinson did not suffer the injury during a game or practice but did not provide any additional information about the origin of the injury.

Robinson, who has had several injury issues throughout his career, had been available for New York this postseason. In 13 playoff games this year, Robinson has averaged 5.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.6 bocks and 0.5 steals across just 14.2 minutes per game.

Robinson is the first center off the bench to spell starter Karl-Anthony Towns, but Robinson’s struggles from the free throw line — he’s shooting just 30.2% from the line this postseason — have forced Knicks coach Mike Brown to be more calculated with Robinson’s playing time. That’s magnified further because opposing teams have resorted to intentionally fouling Robinson to put him on the line.

Still, Robinson tends to have extremely impactful minutes because of his high effort and intensity. He’s also dominant on the offensive glass and is averaging 2.5 offensive rebounds in his short time on the floor.

Because the Spurs have Victor Wembanyama, one of the toughest players to guard in the entire NBA, Robinson would be a key piece in neutralizing Wembanyama’s effectiveness.

Here’s everything you need to know about Mitchell Robinson’s status ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals:

Is Mitchell Robinson playing tonight in Game 1 of the NBA Finals?

It’s still unclear. According to multiple reports, Robinson had been planning to play through the injury and was planning on wearing a brace. But when the first official injury report published the evening of Tuesday, June 2, Robinson was still listed as questionable.

When asked earlier Tuesday about Robinson, Knicks coach Mike Brown declined to give too many details but said Robinson “did individual stuff” Monday, June 1.

Presumably, Robinson and the Knicks medical staff will monitor Robinson’s injury prior to the game and will see how he responds to activity during shootaround prior to making a formal determination.

Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.

Mitchell Robinson stats

In 60 games this season, Robinson averaged 5.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

In the postseason, Robinson’s minutes have declined a bit from his regular season average, in large part because of his struggles from the free throw line.

Mitchell Robinson injury: what it means for Knicks

If Robinson is forced to miss time, third-string center Ariel Hukporti becomes the next man up. Hukporti, who is in his second season, appeared in just 54 games this season — most of that coming in garbage time — and played just 9.2 minutes across those appearances.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mitchell Robinson injury update, status for NBA Finals Game 1

After so many years off, I can’t believe we are getting round four of my all-time favorite series: Fraternizing with the Enemy, where I discuss happenings with a writer from the enemy other team. We’ve had three great series through the first three rounds of the playoffs, and now, not only have we reached the pinnacle known as the NBA Finals, but we’ve come full circle with a rematch with the Spurs’ first ever Finals opponent from 1999: the New York Knicks. There’s no one better to get down to brass taxes with than Russell Richardson: editor-in-chief of SB Nation’s Knicks blog, Posting and Toasting.

J.R.

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling strong 20th century vibes right now. As if I want to party like it’s 1999, or at least watch basketball like it. Twenty-seven years have passed since the Knicks and Spurs met in the playoffs and here we are in the year that the NBA Finals validates the in-season NBA Cup Tournament. 

Ever since San Antonio eliminated Minnesota in the second round, I’ve been saying that New York scared me more than OKC. But during games 1, 2 & 7 against the Thunder, I was more tense than I’ve been for any game in over twenty years, so I don’t know that stack-ranking teams by induced fear will accomplish much. Before the OKC series, people were saying how much both teams had developed since they last played, but the Knicks have undergone at least the same kind of improvement since SA and NY have met. Which makes me wonder, with all of these changes on both sides, how long a series do you expect?

R.R.

Pleased to meet you finally, J.R. I have three tickets to see Wilco this month, so when a message arrived from Wilco, I assumed Jeff Tweedy was checking on my choices for the setlist.

Funny story: My reason for picking the Knicks to win in five games is not rooted in basketball logic. A few months ago, my wife and sister-in-law asked about attending a Wilco show at Beak and Skiff (an excellent venue). With a date of June 16, a potential Knicks conflict didn’t register. Why? Because it’s been decades since the Knicks last played in June, and they weren’t exactly living up to expectations this season. I bought tickets. Child care was arranged. Now, I’m in a pickle: either the Knicks wrap this up in five, or I’ll need to fake an injury so I can watch Game Six. What’s the marital equivalent of an SGA flop?

But if you pinned me down, I’d predict: Impossible Four, Unlikely Five . . . Knicks in Six.

Your memories of the 1999 Finals must be fonder than mine. For one, I was inebriated throughout the series, watching from a Belmar barstool while my soon-to-be (and eventually ex-) wife drowned me in whiskey. Suffice it to say, my recollection is blurry. For two, look at those box scores. Yikes! The Knicks scored 77 in Game One and 67 in Game Two. It’s crazy to remember that they averaged 86 points per game that season. Sure, that was nearly the lowest in the league, but the NBA was still a far cry from the point-paloozas of today. In 25 years, teams will average 150 and play exhibition games on Mars.

The current Spurs team has no trouble running up the scoreboard. And in the playoffs, they’ve looked more cohesive than the iteration New York beat in the NBA Cup. Even then, they were no pushovers; the Knicks had to rally in the fourth, winning the quarter 35–19. When the Thunder were favored in the WCF, I was skeptical. San Antonio proved me right. They’re truly the best in the West, and, truth be told, they’re a helluva lotta fun to watch.

I can’t wait for these two teams to lock horns. I’m here for any and all of your questions, although brilliant answers are not guaranteed (many brain cells died before this blogger sobered up). I’m curious to know what you think is different between the Spurs of this moment versus the team that NY beat in the Cup game. I have assumptions (a young team coming to understand each other’s rhythms and style after playing more games together, for instance) but you’ve watched them more than I.

J.R.

The changes the Spurs have undergone since the Knicks beat them on December 16 is a fun topic because some started soon after, and some have just been completed in overcoming Oklahoma City. 

The first transition was in the team’s approach on offense. Early in the season, the offense ran through Victor, and opponents were selling out to stop him at all costs. Sometimes this would work  (the early-season games against Phoenix are great examples) and San Antonio’s offense simply cratered. Even in the games they won, the Spurs would go through extremely long offensive droughts. This continued until the all star break after which Wemby suddenly showed that he’d learned that he didn’t have to be the center of the offense for the team to win. 

Suddenly, instead of calling for the ball while 20 feet from the basket, going on-on-one, and driving into loads of help defense and turning the ball over (which he’d done a lot of last season), he would set screens and roll while the defense stretched to keep him from the rim, which opened up all kinds of opportunities for the Spurs shooters and drivers to exploit. That’s the environment in which Wemby would then attack, and defenses have a hard time defending so many threats, and that explains the run they went on from February through the end of the season. 

Then the postseason came, which taught the coaching staff and the team to deal with situational threats that are rarely seen during the regular season. The OKC series was an advanced education in developing new offensive strategies on the fly, and if they hadn’t passed that test we wouldn’t be talking right now. 

So that’s what’s changed since we met. There was the final meeting of the year in that stretch, which New York won, and it’s apparent that the Knicks are a different beast from any of the previous Spurs opponents because of how they handled SA during the 20+ game stretch in which their only loss was to the Knickerbockers. Then as if that weren’t enough, they unlocked KAT’s point center module and started tearing through teams. San Antonio made it past the defending champs largely through size and physicality, but New York has shooting AND length. They have size at the wing that can dwarf the Spurs, and they’re on a win streak longer than the Thunder’s 8-0 run to start the playoffs. 

All that to say, I haven’t seen enough of the Knicks’ recent games to have anything close to a good foundation to make an educated guess from. So I have some questions that would help me get ready for the series; some about basketball, some about the fanbase, and some about you: Has point KAT been that big a deal? In other words, was placing the ball in his hands the move that facilitated the 9-0 win streak? How much point KAT have they been using?

R.R.

Indeed, like the Spurs, New York has improved since December — and not just by dumping Guerschon Yabusele. It took a while to get cooking, though.

“Wemby suddenly showed that he’d learned he didn’t have to be the center of the offense for the team to win.”

You could say the same about Jalen Brunson.

Throughout the season, many complained that Mike Brown should play Brunson off the ball more often, for multiple reasons. It saves his legs, and it diversifies the offense. But the Knicks kept drilling the same formula repeatedly.

Through two seasons, the Towns-Brunson pairing was never as successful as it could have been. Countless games started stale and didn’t improve until the reserves came in to mix up the lineup. Usually, KAT would flourish while Jalen rested in the second quarter, and he’d get some buckets in the third, letting Jalen take center stage in the fourth.

Here’s another gripe: For whatever reason (either by his choice or the coach’s) KAT doesn’t post up. It didn’t happen under Thibs, either, so you can draw your own conclusions. We came to accept it, but it drove some of the fanbase nuts.

Anyway, the first three games of the playoffs followed the same script they tried all season. And after falling behind 1-2 to the clearly less-talented Hawks (losing each game by one point), many fans wondered if our hopes had been too high.

Then, a change. Point-KAT was unleashed; the team started playing faster, exploiting more fast-break opportunities; the scoring load was shared across all five starters (plus one sharpshooting Shamet); and their defense has bordered on criminally abusive. They unlocked an unprecedented level of beautiful basketball during their 11-game winning streak — and their historic numbers back it up.

Some specific changes we’ve seen is Mikal Bridges bringing the ball up the court more often, and Hart taking off on a sprint if he’s hauled in a rebound. That means a good defender has to chase Jalen around away from the ball, while the other four starters go to work — and each can shoot or attack the rim.

Karl is an exceptional passer. As the hub, he can thread a pass to a cutter, zip it out to a corner (and from there it swings until an open shooter is found), rise up for a high-percentage shot, or put his shoulder down and drive to the cup.

So the Knicks unlocked basketball nirvana by relying less on Brunson as the primary ball handler, rocketing defensive rebounds down the court for fast-paced buckets, and letting KAT operate as a hub. Just as the Spurs learned to rely less on Wemby, the Knicks did the same with Jalen. And, lo and behold, both players became even more valuable to their teams.

A few Q’s for you. Where do you think the Spurs will most surprise the Knicks? What vulnerabilities worry you the most? (You mentioned size, but most of your key guys are 6’5” and up — and Wemby is a friggin’ tree.)

J.R.

When the NBA Cup final was over, who could have expected that both teams would be in the Finals because their centers started initiating their offense as 7-foot point guards? Well it’s happened. I know that KAT has spent far more time in that role, but Point Wemby made a significant contribution at the beginning of Game 7 in OKC and it helped the Spurs build their first lead. So I’m wondering how much of that we’ll see in the Finals, and I’m enjoying with anticipation the media losing their minds over a series in which centers are leading their teams in assists. With how much of a copycat league this is, it would be interesting to see how far the idea can go. 

As to how the Spurs will surprise the Knicks, I think it has to be with Dylan Harper. The rookie has played well all year, but there’s nothing about his play in the playoffs that looks the slightest bit like it’s his first season in the league. Of all the changes the Spurs have made since they’ve played NY, Harper’s emergence has to be the one that I think will have the biggest effect on the Finals because he’s like no one else at his age in ages, literally. When his numbers aren’t matching Magic Johnson’s rookie playoff stats, they’re setting rookie postseason records. If he hadn’t gotten an adductor injury during the WCF, there’s no way he’d be able to surprise anyone because I believe that it would have been a shorter series, and he’d have been one of the major Spurs stories heading into the Finals. Even with the 3-4 subpar games from Dylan as he recovered his health, you can make a strong case that San Antonio doesn’t eliminate OKC without him. 

On the vulnerabilities front, it’s all about New York’s size for me. You’re right that the Spurs have big guards, but their forwards are undersized against most teams in the league. Against Anunoby and Robinson, they’re almost tiny. Also, San Antonio likes to guard opposing centers with a guard or a wing, so that Wemby can roam the paint and play Gandalf. (You shall not pass!) If they do that in the Finals then that’s another matchup the Spurs are small in, which could create rebounding problems and a bevy of other issues, crossmatching, etc. 

Ok, my questions for you: Who did you want to advance between the Thunder and the Spurs and why? And are you concerned about one of the consistent issues over the past few postseasons: rest-induced rust for the team that ended its series early?

R.R.

Cooper Flagg deserves his flowers, but Harper deserved more votes for Rookie of the Year. His skills and poise in the biggest moments have impressed us at P&T. Wemby, Castle, and Harper: three excellent drafts for you, my friend!

Upon examining the strengths and weaknesses of both Western Conference finalists, I argued that the Knicks should want to face the Spurs. Not the greatest take, in hindsight. I assumed that San Antonio’s youth and mounting fatigue after a grueling three rounds would make them less formidable than the defending champion Thunder. Furthermore, many of these young Spurs had never played so many games without a break, counting both the regular season and the postseason. After watching them lay out OKC on the road in a closeout game, I should probably surrender my sportswriting license.

Now I’m a little worried that the Knicks have had too much time off. It wouldn’t astonish me if New York loses Game One. They’ve played just eight games in the past month, and while that absolutely keeps them fresh, allows for injury recovery, etc., I wonder how they can maintain their game conditioning. Playing 40+ minutes of NBA basketball is different from 40 minutes on a stationary bike. You’ll recall that they were pretty rusty early in Game One against Cleveland after nine days’ rest. They fell behind by 22 points before their amazing, miraculous, one-for-the-ages comeback to win in overtime.

Excuse me while watch that fourth quarter and overtime again.

Phew, I’m back. Needed a shower after that. . . . Yeah, so, this break between Game Seven and the Finals might actually be the perfect length for San Antonio — long enough to get healthy and prepare for its opponent, short enough not to lose momentum — while eight days off might not be ideal for New York.

Question for you: Has there been any word on De’Aaron Fox’s high-ankle sprain? He seemed really limited in the Thunder series, but I’d imagine he’s getting better all the time (forgive the obligatory Beatles reference). How do you feel when Castle plays lead guard? I recall he had an 11-assist, 11-turnover double-double in Game One of the WCF.

J.R.

Your request for an Official Sportswriting License from the Guild of Legitimate Sportswriters was approved? Lucky! I guess I shouldn’t wonder; you live in New York state after all. Must be nice to cover the largest media market in the hemisphere. Meanwhile, we small market folk have to make do with the sportswriting licenses we find at the bottoms of a cereal boxes. But that didn’t stop me from getting mine laminated and displaying it proudly in my home office workstation right next to my typewriter, my dogeared copy of the AP Stylebook, and my horn-rimmed glasses with the old prescription that I only use to focus the sun to burn ants after the Spurs lose. 

As for the Knicks’ Game 1 comeback win, there is no shame in re-re-watching those recaps, particularly when you have so much time to wait before your team can generate new highlight reels. I’m only a couple days removed from Game 7, and I found myself going down the rabbit hole of one video after another and had to tear myself away when you messaged me to say it was my turn to write. That said, isn’t it interesting that both the Knicks and the Spurs had to endure overtime in the first game of their conference final series? Makes me wonder what other kinds of similarities there are to be uncovered over the next two and a half weeks.

In order to answer your question about any news concerning the condition of Fox’s ankle, I need to introduce you to the Spurs media landscape. This isn’t like the Big Apple where the media is strong enough to get a coach fired if they don’t get complete enough answers to their questions. In San Antonio, the tenure of the head coach doesn’t rely on anything except the good will of the owner, and that good will has essentially been granted to Gregg Popovich for life. (In case you don’t know, Popovich is still the president of basketball operations which means that he is the one in charge of hiring the general manager. In other words, Pop named his successor.) In this environment, we find out about the news concerning injuries at the same time that everyone else does: an hour and 15 minutes before tip off. So, no, there’s no additional word outside of our own speculation surrounding what kind of advanced treatment he’s receiving. (No need to apologize for Beatles references. I love the Fab Four.)

My feelings about Castle are not particularly complicated. First and second-year players aren’t known for being able to avoid turnovers, and Stephon is no exception. His exceptional qualities are so many and varied that I happily classify the turnovers as the price for entry. I remember hearing Steve Kerr, at the beginning of the Golden State dynasty, discuss the Warriors’ turnovers in terms that I’d never heard a coach use before. He said something to the effect that the team was at its best when the ball moved, and he would prefer that his players made mistakes while passing for advantage, as opposed to mistakes of passing omission. It sounded revolutionary at the time because Pop always considered turnovers an existential threat. Castle turns it over less frequently when Fox is out there to calm things down. The problem at the beginning of the Thunder series was Fox‘s absence, which hopefully won’t happen again. 

For my next queries, I have to go back to the All-Star game for the set up. Wemby and KAT played together and Victor got quite upset about more than one of Towns’ … defensive choices. Much seemed to be made about Wemby’s body language with people interpreting it as him blaming KAT for the loss. This also seemed to play into a reputation for a certain lack of focus on defense in high leverage moments. 

So my questions are: is this reputation earned, what forms do his miscues take, and are you concerned about how he’ll handle the kind of complex and fluid defensive schemes that success in the Finals requires?

R.R.

Ah, yes, I heard tales of sportswriters sharing malteds with Gregg Popovich on a bench outside the Alamodome while watching tumbleweeds roll by. Meanwhile, in the metropolis, writers interviewed players in the Champagne Room at Scores (allegedly). Alas, everyone’s too brand-conscious for such extracurricular hijinks these days, or at least they don’t invite me along for the fun.

True confession: I loved Pop as a coach. He was a gruff, fundamentals-focused skipper like Thibs, who deserves credit for laying the foundation that made this Finals appearance possible. Pop always seemed both perfectly suited to San Antonio and an odd fit. He got far more rope than he would have in New York thanks to the small market and his winning track record, yet he was also outspoken, unconcerned about offending the season-ticket-holder base. We saw one aspect of the man in front of the camera. The fact that former players like Tim Duncan are helping him recover from his stroke speaks volumes about his character (and theirs).

On the subject of injuries, the Knicks are notoriously tight-lipped as well. We may never know how Mitchell Robinson broke his finger. If Leon Rose & Co. hadn’t done such a tremendous job building the roster, they’d be pilloried for their silence. I believe Leon has sat for one interview in six years as president of basketball operations. Try getting away with that in any other city, or any other profession.

In my Game Two preview of the Eastern Conference Finals, I wrote something like, “Lord Silver must be smiling.” Early on, both conference finals looked destined to be epic when each began with an overtime thriller. Then the Cavs folded like laundry. While we were ecstatic that New York steamrolled the next three games, there wasn’t much drama to it.

The Finals should be a helluva show. I wouldn’t be surprised if both teams rip off a 15-point run every game, but a blowout either way feels unlikely–if the teams take turns, winning one, losing one, etc. My family and I live about three hours from the city, though my son in Brooklyn insists we’d be safer farther away during the Finals—maybe bunkered in an Airbnb in Buffalo. If the Knicks win, the fans might steal the Statue of Liberty. If they lose, City Hall could burn to the ground.

Regarding Castle’s turnovers: I’m too lazy to look it up, but Mike Brown recently explained why some turnovers are better than others. His logic shared the spirit of your Steve Kerr reference. Still, 11 giveaways is an Ooof. I hope Stephon will be as generous to the Knicks. You’re right, though; with Fox back, Castle will have fewer opportunities to cough up the rock.

Here’s the thing about Towns. Knicks fans have pulled out copious amounts of hair over two types of fouls: Karl’s occasional brain-fart foul and, worse, his hook-on-the-drive foul. His teammates didn’t care for them, either. You could see the blood drain from their faces when he hooked his way into another offensive infraction and then argued that he was the victim.

During this 11-game winning streak, however, Karl has played with discipline. We pray it continues. If he gets into foul trouble early against the Spurs, though, New York will be in trouble. Why? Mitch hasn’t exactly wowed us this postseason and has claimed to be dealing with mental health issues. Add a broken finger and he’s a real wildcard. Ariel Hukporti is the team’s third-string center. If you haven’t heard of him, there’s a reason for that.

Cleveland’s size neutralized Point-KAT early on in the conference finals. New York still won the battle in the paint, however, and pushed the pace to great effect. This series will be different, of course. We expect that Mitch Johnson will strategize to limit KAT, points in the paint will be hard won, and the Spurs will have springier legs than the Cavs, but we’re also sure that Mike Brown knows all this and will plan accordingly. The Knicks have so many offensive weapons, a stifled KAT just means that one of the other guys gets to eat.

I’m curious what similarities, and differences, you’ve seen between Johnson and Pop. And finally, what’s your pick for the series? Who wins, and in how many games?

J.R. 

The best description I have of Mitch Johnson is that he’s a updated version of Pop. There are so many similarities between them that it’s easier to describe the differences. Pop was famously against ever giving another team points. He lost a number of games over the years because he wouldn’t foul when up three, which allows the opponent to tie with a three and win in overtime. Johnson has ended my agony by handling end game strategy more to my liking. Also, San Antonio’s defense is far more modern than it was toward the end of Pop’s tenure. 

Before I make a prediction, I have to address the Jose Alvarado situation: SA’s coaches better have the guys trained up on his gambits so he can’t create extra possessions with his wonderful sneakiness. Also, there’s the fact that we haven’t yet discussed the player who’s guaranteed the championship ring this year, Jeremy Sochan. Just putting this here for the moment, so we remember to chop it up before the series is over. 

Now to the series: I like the Spurs in 6 (yes, even on the road at MSG), but I could see them winning in 7 or 5 depending how things break. First, they have the rust/rest early advantage. Second, I don’t think the Knicks have had to face the same quality of opponents that the Spurs have had to overcome and the adjustment to the level of play might be worth something in this series. Third, if San Antonio can keep Wemby off KAT and near the basket, then his ability to lock down the paint throws a major wrench into New York’s offense. 

So there you have it; I hate making predictions and you got one out of me. Anyway, here’s to an entertaining series opener, and I’ll see you on the other side!

If the Spurs want to win the NBA Finals, they'll have to buck this historical trend originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

In addition to having a 7-foot-4 alien who can shoot, pass, dribble and single-handedly stop elite offenses from getting to the rim, what makes the San Antonio Spurs’ run to the NBA Finals unique is they possess what most champions typically lack: youth.

When the NBA’s championship round tips off Wednesday night, the Spurs will be looking to become the youngest Finals winner in recent NBA history.

NBC News analyzed the average ages of NBA champions’ playoff rotations since 2016, and San Antonio would be the youngest team to win a title — out-young-ing last year’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Spurs rotation’s average age is 24.4, while their opponent, the New York Knicks, are coming in at a relatively ancient 28.8.

Compared with the overall average championship age of 27.8, San Antonio is 3.4 years younger, while the Knicks are 1.0 years older.

The Spurs aren’t just a relatively young team on the whole — their best players are also on the younger side.

San Antonio’s leading scorer in the postseason is center Victor Wembanyama, who is only 22 years old and in his third year in the league. Wembanyama would be the youngest leading scorer to lead his team to a Finals victory in recent history. (If he wins Finals MVP, he would join Magic Johnson and Kawhi Leonard as the youngest players to win it.)

The Spurs’ three leading scorers — Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox — would also be tied with last year’s Thunder as the youngest top-scoring trio of the last 11 NBA Finals.

Compared with New York, San Antonio is led by neophytes. The Knicks’ leading scorer, Jalen Brunson, is 29 and in his eighth season in the NBA. New York’s top three scorers — Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby — also average 29, with none younger than 28.

The median age of leading champion scorers is 27, with Wembanyama coming in a clean five years younger.

At least through three playoff rounds, youth and inexperience haven’t been barriers for the Spurs. They’ve already beaten a team that made two straight conference finals, the Minnesota Timberwolves, as well as last year’s champion, Oklahoma City, en route to the Finals.

In fact, less playoff seasoning may even help San Antonio.

“The lack of experience is a strength of us,” Wembanyama told ESPN on Tuesday. “Because we could do impossible stuff because we don’t know it’s impossible.”

If the Spurs want to win the NBA Finals, they'll have to buck this historical trend originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

In addition to having a 7-foot-4 alien who can shoot, pass, dribble and single-handedly stop elite offenses from getting to the rim, what makes the San Antonio Spurs’ run to the NBA Finals unique is they possess what most champions typically lack: youth.

When the NBA’s championship round tips off Wednesday night, the Spurs will be looking to become the youngest Finals winner in recent NBA history.

NBC News analyzed the average ages of NBA champions’ playoff rotations since 2016, and San Antonio would be the youngest team to win a title — out-young-ing last year’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Spurs rotation’s average age is 24.4, while their opponent, the New York Knicks, are coming in at a relatively ancient 28.8.

Compared with the overall average championship age of 27.8, San Antonio is 3.4 years younger, while the Knicks are 1.0 years older.

The Spurs aren’t just a relatively young team on the whole — their best players are also on the younger side.

San Antonio’s leading scorer in the postseason is center Victor Wembanyama, who is only 22 years old and in his third year in the league. Wembanyama would be the youngest leading scorer to lead his team to a Finals victory in recent history. (If he wins Finals MVP, he would join Magic Johnson and Kawhi Leonard as the youngest players to win it.)

The Spurs’ three leading scorers — Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox — would also be tied with last year’s Thunder as the youngest top-scoring trio of the last 11 NBA Finals.

Compared with New York, San Antonio is led by neophytes. The Knicks’ leading scorer, Jalen Brunson, is 29 and in his eighth season in the NBA. New York’s top three scorers — Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby — also average 29, with none younger than 28.

The median age of leading champion scorers is 27, with Wembanyama coming in a clean five years younger.

At least through three playoff rounds, youth and inexperience haven’t been barriers for the Spurs. They’ve already beaten a team that made two straight conference finals, the Minnesota Timberwolves, as well as last year’s champion, Oklahoma City, en route to the Finals.

In fact, less playoff seasoning may even help San Antonio.

“The lack of experience is a strength of us,” Wembanyama told ESPN on Tuesday. “Because we could do impossible stuff because we don’t know it’s impossible.”

Florida State head coach Luke Loucks wants to approach recruiting and the transfer portal a little differently than other big schools. The Seminoles aren’t a blue blood, but they can certainly outpace and outperform those schools under his watch.

Coming from the NBA coaching circles, Loucks has seen the best of the best. He did help coach Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green with the Golden State Warriors after all. 

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So what’s the pitch for Florida State basketball? They’re coming off an 18-15 campaign in his first season at his alma mater, so something’s going right!

“Yeah, so we can do things a little bit differently than most staffs in America,” Loucks said on Pardon My Take. “There’s probably two other staffs that can do what we can do and preach the message, in terms of, you come to Florida State, we are going to train you like a pro, because that’s all we know. Half of our staff came from the NBA. So, in terms of your player development, your nutrition, your weight room, all these kids say they want to get to the NBA, but then they train like college kids. 

“Now, the great ones will get there either way. It doesn’t matter, but for all those guys in the fringes, like you’re training like a college player, and I’ll tell them, I used to run draft workouts for multiple organizations. The best college players would get an NBA workout and have no idea, because everything’s different – spacing is different, the cutting is different, ball movement’s different, the terminology is different. We’re going to train you like an NBA player before you get there, so when you get there, you don’t just get there, you can stick. And I think that’s first and foremost.” 

Loucks isn’t just going after the big fish. Him and his staff know where to find the diamonds in the rough and that can make Florida State a special place.

“The second thing I’m a big believer in buying stock low,” Loucks said. “And right now, like, we haven’t been to a tournament in four or five years, but you can feel the momentum of, like, all right, we got some good things going.

“You can go to one of these top programs, and I’m not going to name them, and just be another guy on their list of, or you can come to Florida State and help us turn this into one of those programs. And to me, a lot of kids resonate with that, like I go to Florida State and, like, be one of the guys everyone remembers. Or you can go to Big Blue Blood and, like, yeah, you’re just a list of another 100 guys, no one’s gonna remember you.”

In Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight, Karl-Anthony Towns will anchor the center position for the New York Knicks against the San Antonio Spurs. It’s been a long and bumpy road for the former number one overall pick, but Towns has finally reached the summit of the NBA Playoffs.

KAT is playing the best basketball of his career. In these playoffs, he is averaging 16.9 points per game on incredible 57/49/89 shooting splits while putting up 10.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game as the Knicks have won 11 straight games en route to their first Finals appearance since 1999.

It wasn’t that long ago, though, that many would have thought all of that would be impossible for Towns, a fact Minnesota Timberwolves fans know all too well. In his first eight NBA seasons, Towns and the Wolves made the playoffs just three times as KAT drew criticism after each series.

In his first two playoff games in 2018, Towns scored a total of just 13 points as James Harden, Chris Paul, and the Houston Rockets took a 2-0 series lead. In the series-defining Game 3 of the 2022 series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Towns took just four shots as Memphis came back from 20 points down (nearly twice) to take control of the series.

Towns played better in the 2023 loss to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets, but ultimately, the Wolves were 0-3 in the playoff series with huge questions looming about Towns’s ability to be an effective player in the Playoffs.

All of that changed for KAT in the 2024 Playoffs.

During the 2023-24 regular season, the Wolves won 56 games, earned the three-seed after sitting on top of the Western Conference for much of the season, and, despite being underdogs, swept Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and the Phoenix Suns for the franchise’s first playoff series win in 20 years.

Towns guarded Durant the entire series and held his own against a matchup that, on the surface, seemed primed to play KAT off the court. In the series-ending Game 4, KAT put up 28 points on 11-17 shooting from the field and 4-6 from beyond the arc.

It was the first data point that proved a team with Towns as one of its top players could win big games in the Playoffs. With Anthony Edwards ascending and Rudy Gobert sharing the frontcourt, Towns ceded the spotlight, accepted his smaller role, and flourished as the team’s secondary scorer.

It was also a gigantic moment for the Timberwolves franchise, which had only won two previous playoff series in its history. While the previous two decades had seen little success, that series victory in Phoenix signaled a new era of Timberwolves basketball.

“It was KAT, man” pic.twitter.com/Bs4eRgZYcn

— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) April 29, 2024

The Timberwolves kept it rolling in the next series against the defending champion Nuggets, eliminating them in seven games to reach the Western Conference Finals.

Towns, with the help of Gobert, guarded reigning-MVP Nikola Jokić and, similar to Durant in the previous round, kept his matchup in check as much as anyone can against one of the greatest players in the history of basketball.

That entire series culminated with Game 7 in Denver when the Wolves came back from down 20 points in the second half. Towns was the Wolves’ leading scorer that night and kept the game from spiraling out of control in the first half when no one else on the Wolves could score.

KAT punctuated the win with the putback dunk with less than a minute left and the final defensive rebound as the clock hit zero. If the victory over the Suns wasn’t validation, this one against the Nuggets certainly was, as the game and series stand as possibly the best moment in the history of the Timberwolves franchise.

Following the game, Towns gave one of the best postgame quotes in the history of the Timberwolves. In classic KAT fashion, he responded, “How much more we gotta lose?” to a question about the team needing to lose before they win in the NBA Playoffs.

“How much more do you want us to lose, we’ve been losing for 20 years!” – Karl-Anthony Towns pic.twitter.com/eCGjys4ayf

— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) May 20, 2024

KAT had done plenty of losing, but that time is over now.

The winning in 2024 has continued for KAT since he was traded to New York. Last season, Towns eliminated the reigning champion for the second straight season, taking down the Boston Celtics as the Knicks made the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years.

Now, they are in the NBA Finals and sit just four wins away from NBA immortality.

In two short years, the narrative of Towns’s career has completely flipped from an overpaid liability to a fundamental piece of three straight conference finalists and a potential NBA champion. Now, starting Wednesday night in San Antonio, Towns has a chance to put an exclamation point on everything and become a New York City legend.

Some Timberwolves fans in Minnesota will be jealous of the Knicks’ success, try to re-litigate the trade that sent Towns to New York, or wallow in what they see as a validation of their Minnesota sports doomerism.

Many more will be cheering for KAT and the Knicks and will celebrate their success if they actually win the championship.

I know I will.

The New York Knicks are back in the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years. As it turns out, of all possible opponents, the San Antonio Spurs will be waiting on the other end in a rematch of the 1999 Finals.

San Antonio will have a slight edge over New York, holding home-court advantage thanks to its better regular-season record. The Knicks, however, enter the Finals having won both the regular-season series against the Spurs and the NBA Cup final.

Truth be told, this matchup will certainly not lack sublime basketball or star power. From bona fide MVP candidates Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama to legitimate All-Stars Karl-Anthony Towns and De’Aaron Fox, the series is loaded with talent. Add in a host of established and rising stars such as OG Anunoby, Dylan Harper, Mikal Bridges, and Stephon Castle, and the stage is set for a compelling showdown.

As usual, the Posting & Toasting crew has gathered once again around the round(ball) table to cut through the noise and tackle the pressing questions surrounding New York’s Finals matchup with the San Antonio Spurs. Our panel of basketball geniuses took on the juiciest topics:

How many games will the Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals last, and who wins the title?

Antonio: Six. It’s all been about the West Coast this, the Spurs/Thunder that, and everybody seems to have 1) skipped the Knicks’ scorching run through the Eastern Conference bracket or 2) just decided it’s better to simply just forget about it. In any case, all those are wrong, and New York is playing the best basketball these days, whether they like it or not. The Spurs are damn weird—because of Wemby and their neophyte squad—that I refuse to believe they won’t put up a fight. It’s still NYK bringing it back home at the end of the day and in front of the Knicks faithful.

Miranda: I dunno. Every other round I had a sense, usually pretty short. I don’t expect either team will be swept, be it literally or gentleman-arily, so that only leaves choosing six or seven games, which you already know is the likeliest outcome. So I’ll say Knicks in eight.

Zeno: Oh baby. I can’t believe we’re here. It won’t truly set in until I turn on ABC on Wednesday night, but I can feel the butterflies already. Contrary to the way the Knicks have played for the last month-plus and the general feeling among NBA fans that the West is so ridiculously better than the East, this series will go at least six games. If the Knicks win, it’s going six. If the Spurs win, it’s going seven. We’re Knicks fans, and dammit, I believe. Knicks in six.

Kento: The traumatized fans in me has been at odds with the more optimistic side of that has seen this team run through the Eastern Conference in historic fashion. The Spurs will be the toughest team the Knicks have faced, and it’s more likely that it goes seven games than it is for the Knicks to sweep like they did the last two series. But I just think the Knicks are deeper, more talented, and more experienced team, matchup better than any of the Spurs’ past opponents, and it feels like that special something is in the air with this team. I’ve taken the Knicks in five or six in each of the last three series, and I won’t stop here. The Knicks capitalize on the big opportunity, and win it in six.

Polaniecki: I’m going the full seven. This one is going to be a barn burner. There’s an old saying: “A playoff series doesn’t really start until the road team wins a game.” I could see this series heading back to San Antonio for Game 7 with neither team stealing one on the road. Of course, if the Knicks win Game 7 in San Antonio, that theory would kind of contradict itself. In that case, the series would start and end at the exact same time.

Beyond Jalen Brunson, who is the most important Knick in the NBA Finals?

Antonio: Must be Towns this round, both offensively and defensively. Even if the Spurs place Wemby on Hart, it’ll be key to have Towns moving around and playing QB to have San Antonio’s heads spinning and to mess with their assignments and coverages. Not to mention Towns taking advantage of his bulkier frame to deal with Wemby inside and punish him physically as much as possible. The Alien has the height, but the cat must flex his muscles.

Miranda: Mikal Bridges. Pretty simple. If he scores 18 a game on 80/60/100 splits like he has the past month, while remaining demonically disruptive on D, then the Knick wings have a great chance to outplay the Spurs’, and thus a better chance to win the series. If Bridges morphs back into milquetoast Dr. Jekyll, there won’t be anywhere in NYC for him to Hyde.

Zeno: OG Anunoby. While I do think that Mitch’s broken pinky could be a massive factor, he wouldn’t play enough either way for him to usurp the man who has been statistically the best Wemby stopper in the league. His hamstring has gotten plenty of time to heal, having only played four games in four weeks, and he looked like he got his burst back at the end against Cleveland. If things go right, Anunoby could be a dark horse to win Finals MVP, ala Andre Iguodala.

Kento: Hart will be important too as his shooting could help nullify the Spurs’ ghost coverage, but we’ve seen that Brown has learned to keep that leash short, and lean on Shamet, and McBride when needed. But Towns’ ability to continue being an offensive hub, stretch the floor, punish cross matchups, while being a much improved defender could be the main difference. If Towns can be the third best player in the series, and do so by a wide margin, New York should have two of the three best, and most impactful players in the Finals. And given the depth they have outside of Brunson and him, they should like their chances should Towns accomplish that.

Polaniecki: Without a doubt, it’s Karl-Anthony Towns. I might even go as far as saying he’s more important to the Knicks winning this series than Jalen Brunson.

That’s not to take anything away from Stephon Castle or Dylan Harper. Both are capable of having huge moments and swinging games in San Antonio’s favor. But when you look at the Spurs, everything still revolves around Victor Wembanyama.

How Towns matches up with Wemby on both ends of the floor remains to be seen. If Towns can pull him away from the basket offensively while also holding his own defensively, it could completely change the complexion of the series.

The Spurs will go as far as Wembanyama takes them. His leadership and performance will be the driving force behind everything they do, which makes the Towns-Wembanyama matchup one of the biggest storylines of the Finals.

What must New York do to win the Finals and avenge the loss to San Antonio from 1999?

Antonio: Halt the Spurs’ pace and don’t let them click from three-point range. Keeping the defense at the level it’s been for the first three rounds of the playoffs would be optimal, but it’s obviously asking a ton to demand the team to keep putting on shows like the last 11 times we’ve watched them play. The Spurs have dethroned the reigning champs and are hellacious in both D&O while playing quick ball. The Knicks have a strong 3P% compared to the Spurs’ percentage, and if they can keep it that way and KAT does his thing all around the court, that’d be massive.

Miranda: Second question first: let 1999 go. Even if the Spurs did kill the Knicks then, think of it as a mercy killing. Those Knicks won their championship getting to the Finals, period. Ain’t no vengeance to be had. To win this time? Well, in ‘99 the Knicks nearly had the series going back to San Antonio for Game 6, before a jitterbug-quick southpaw point guard hit the critical, corner baseline jumpers that lifted the Spurs to the title. So I guess whatever the Knicks do, if it’s late and close don’t ignore De’Aaron Fox in the corner.

Zeno: Defend the perimeter. Wemby is going to get his, but the Spurs can be deadly offensively outside of him, specifically by using his gravity to their advantage. We all remember what Julian Champagnie did on New Year’s Eve, and we saw how guys like Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Dylan Harper knocked down clutch shots in Game 7. A disciplined defense is the key to a parade down the Canyon of Heroes.

Kento: Win the possession battle. If the Knicks can limit turnovers against a younger more athletic team, while forcing their inexperienced backcourt to cough up turnovers, the game could easily swing. The same can be said for the rebounding battle. The Spurs struggled to keep the Thunder off the offensive glass in game seven of the Western Conference Finals, and had troubles with the Knicks’ offensive rebounding during the regular season as well. If the Knicks can win those battles, the Spurs, and especially Wembanyama, may eventually tire out, and their elite defense may falter.

Polaniecki: Game 1 could very well decide this series, and stealing it on the road won’t be easy, especially if it comes down to the final minutes. Those kinds of losses can be deflating.

The Knicks are going to have to shake off the rust quickly. Remember how slowly they came out in Game 1 against Cleveland? They can’t afford a start like that this time around. San Antonio is too good to spot an early lead, particularly on its home floor.

What concerns you most about the Knicks entering the Finals?

Antonio: Others here have experience with past Knicks trips to the Finals. I have not. I have no damn clue how these dudes might or might not react to operating under the brighter lights. I have never followed any sort of run like this closely, far from it. It’s been 11 consecutive wins, and I live in constant fear that it just cannot realistically be happening and will end abruptly and catastrophically. Will all of the good be karma’d by an awful Finals? Will Mitchell Robinson’s pristine bill of health come down crashing at the worst possible time? Will Josh Hart forget how to shoot a rock? Will Mikal Bridges return to his Bench Mikal version? Will Shamet, Clarkson, and Deuce turn into bland bench players? Everything points toward a huge NO, at least not to all the questions above, but I won’t believe it till I see it.

Miranda: That Donald Trump will use his tanking Q rating and the buzz around the Knicks to come to MSG with the series on a knife’s edge, fake an assassination attempt and use that to attack Zohran Mamdani’s leadership and New York’s autonomy. And that his friend James Dolan will use his illegal-if-not-unethical facial recognition tech to finger the wrong people for it.

Zeno: The unknown. This is uncharted territory for an entire generation of fans, including myself. You’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop. In a basketball sense, I wonder how this team will handle two things: not having home court advantage for the first time and the expected adversity. They haven’t experienced defeat in 40 days. When it inevitably happens, how quickly can they flush it? Can they avoid going down 0-2 heading home to the Garden? There’s a multitude of things to think about.

Kento: Mitchell Robinson’s health. One of the major reasons Knicks fans preferred to face off against the Spurs, and not the Thunder, was because of the Knicks’ unique ability to make things more difficult for Wembanyma than almost any other team. Robinson was a big part of that. Towns, given the defense has played, and Anunoby will still provide some resistance, and their strength could wear the young big man down over the course of what could be a long, and physical series. But the Knicks’ chances of winning it all increase greatly if Robinson is effective.

Polaniecki: Adding another disappointment to the Knicks decades long book of disappointments.

Heading into the Finals, what gives you the most confidence about New York amid its postseason run?

Antonio: The fact that they have put together such a great postseason run for a long, sustained period of time and against three different teams, that they come into the Finals uber-rested for the second consecutive series, and that, for all the Nova Knicks jokes out there, it actually feels like the group is so close and the chemistry so pure that this team is simply going to fight through whatever they face and still come out on top. Due’s due.

Miranda: This is the best Knicks team I’ve ever seen, playing the best basketball I’ve ever seen. The most balanced, with meaningful depth and the right mix of experience and not-old-yet. Their offensive (Brunson) and defensive linchpins (OG) are as good as any in the game today. Missing out on the Thunder was a break, iff only to the extent that the Spurs aren’t quite as large and accomplished as OKC. Also, it’s been 27 seasons since the Knicks last lost in the playoffs to a Western team. I bet they can keep that streak going.

Zeno: As I said, they haven’t lost in 40 days. It’s very rare that a team has this dominant a playoff run and loses. This team is an absolute juggernaut right now and is playing with a level of swagger that we haven’t seen before, but they’ve also remained levelheaded and locked in on the ultimate prize. No matter what happens next, they’re etched into history for what they’ve done to this point, and there’s no reason to doubt them at this point. They will fight their asses off for this city.

Kento: Everything we’ve seen in the last two series. During their historic run, the Knicks have answered so many questions that we had about them entering the postseason. Brunson has flourished playing off the ball more. Towns has been playing the best two-way ball of his life. Anunoby has seemingly reached new heights on offense. Bridges has regained his confidence on offense, and is playing more physically defensively at the point-of-attack. Hart has shown more willingness to continue shooting the ball against ghost coverage, knocking down five threes in game two of the Cavaliers series. And Brown has proven that while he may be a bit slow to react accordingly, he almost always finds the right solutions. If the Knicks continue just doing what they’ve been doing, it might not matter what the Spurs do, or how they play, even if they are the best team the Knicks have played thus far.

Polaniecki: I do believe this is the best Knicks team since 1994, and maybe even since 1973. I’m not saying that just because they’ve reached the Finals either.

When you compare the level of consistency, the way they’ve sustained success, and the current run they’re on, I don’t even think the 1999 team clears them. That group was memorable, but this version feels more complete and more capable on both ends of the floor over a longer stretch. What they’ve done over this stretch feels different, not just in terms of results, but in how convincingly they’ve controlled games at times against high-level competition.

Mark your calendars 📅

The official schedule of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs!

Game 1: Wednesday, June 3 at 8:30pm/et on ABC pic.twitter.com/efQTxikDHT

— NBA (@NBA) May 31, 2026

Cameron Boozer’s NBA track is pretty set: unless something very strange happens, he’ll go between the #1 and the #4 picks, and lately, a lot of people have suggested that maybe he’ll be the first pick.

Time will tell, obviously.

For his Duke teammate, Isaiah Evans, his path is less certain. He didn’t test that well athletically at the combine, and that is a negative.

However, he has a deadly perimeter shot, and a lot of teams could use that, not least of all the Detroit Pistons.

The Pistons ran out of gas in the playoffs against Cleveland when they just couldn’t get it going outside.

Given his golden arm, Evans could go a long way towards fixing that.

And it’s worth mentioning that Trajan Langdon is Detroit’s GM. If anyone knows how to spot a great shooter, it’s going to be the Alaskan Assassin.

• NBA Draft Report: Isaiah Evans Works Out For Detroit Pistons
• Every NBA team should be interested in Duke’s Isaiah Evans
• 2026 NBA draft profiles: Philadelphia 76ers prospect Isaiah Evans
• 2026 NBA draft profiles: Philadelphia 76ers prospect Isaiah Evans
• 2026 NBA Draft: Isaiah Evans Scouting Report

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The Sixers were at the forefront of the sensation that was the 2025 rookie class. They immediately slotted No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe into the starting lineup on opening night and played him 35 minutes a night. Edgecombe’s production correlated with team success all season as Philadelphia made it back to the playoffs and won a round.

They certainly did not get as much instant success from their second-round pick. At No. 35 overall, the Sixers selected Johni Broome out of Auburn. The 6-foot-8 forward was an interesting prospect to say the least. He had just carried his Tigers to the National Championship, but was set to turn 23 years old just weeks after being drafted and had some really troubling measurables coming out of the combine.

It wasn’t a shock that Broome spent more of his rookie season with the Delaware Blue Coats than the main club. He played in 18 games with the Coats compared 11 for the Sixers. In only one of those 11 games did Broome see minutes in non-garbage time.

Even in blowouts with the benches emptied, Broome looked concerningly a step behind the competition on the floor. This was most notable in the game he got the most extended run, a game in which he played 17 minutes in a 41-point loss to the Orlando Magic.

His 2-of-9 performance that night is a big reason he ended his rookie season shooting 16% from the field. Despite hardly ever seeing an NBA floor the rest of the season, Broome was able to go through the proper rite of passage for a Sixers rookie. He tore his meniscus in late February, sinking chances he had at getting reps in Delaware down the stretch of the season as well.

Broome did get cleared to return for the end of the season, but only appeared again in a couple fourth quarters in the second round of the playoffs in which the New York Knicks had thoroughly smashed the Sixers. Broome’s rookie season ended with him averaging 0.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.

The playing time and production are so minute it’s impossible to really evaluate, and yet at the same time it still feels bad enough to be concerning. He simultaneously didn’t get much of a chance at the NBA level yet did enough to make his detractors already write him off.

There’s already a debate over how bad of a miss it was drafting Broome at 35. On one hand, it’s only a second-round pick, but a pick as high as 35 is often viewed a little more highly.

There was only one player to go after Broome in the second round who was an obvious, that being Maxime Raynaud of the Sacramento Kings. As a center, Raynaud was an easy draft miss Broome skeptics pointed to given the uncertainty that is Joel Embiid’s health status. It didn’t help that Raynaud made Second Team All-Rookie.

No NBA career should be judged by the first 11 games alone. Broome did at least have some success in Delaware. Over eight games he averaged more than 19 points a game, including a 50-burger in February just weeks before he injured his knee. Removing his G-League production though, Broome has yet to show any real flash at the professional level.

The Spurs struggled against the Knicks in the regular season. Should New York be considered the favorite because of those matchups? 

Marilyn Dubinski: While the Spurs’ loss in New York was their lone blemish of February, if we’ve learned anything in these playoffs, it’s to disregard the regular season.  The Cup Final came with Wemby still coming off the bench (and admittedly not focused since he had lost his grandmother), and the Spurs won their home game (albeit behind a franchise record 11 threes from Julian Champagnie). All those games were outliers in their own ways, and both teams have come a long way since then.  It’s also hard to know what exactly to think of the Knicks right now because of how quickly they went from disappointing to close the regular season to flying through an easy first three rounds in part due to upsets on the other side of the East bracket.  I think it will be a very tight match-up, but homecourt advantage will be the difference for the Spurs.

Mark Barrington: No, because both teams have gotten a lot better since then. It’s hard to know how good the Knicks are right now, since they’ve been lapping the field in the kiddie pool that is the Eastern Conference playoffs. 

Can Landry Shamet continue to look like a bigger, stronger Steph Curry? [I think his shooting returns to Earth in this series, although he will continue to be a key player for them.] 

Is Jalen Brunson going to be able to create enough space with his compact structure and elite body control? [I think that Victor’s length will bother him in the paint.] 

Will KAT avoid taking 4 or 5 dumb fouls per game? [As if. KAT gotta KAT.]  

Is Josh Hart the ultimate glue guy? [Yes.] 

Will Mitch Robinson even play, and if he does, can he hit a free throw? [Jeremy Sochan is teaching him the one-handed free-throw technique as we speak.]

The deal is that the Knicks aren’t a known quantity at this point. They’ve had an incredible run so far, but they’ve hardly been tested. They’ve beaten the teams in front of them, and handily. I feel like it’s a pretty even matchup at this point. 

Devon Birdsong: The favorite? No, I don’t really think so. Cleveland may have been the team least suited to giving them trouble in the East, and the East is still pretty visibly the weaker conference to begin with. I’m honestly not sure the Knicks would even be here if the Sixers hadn’t summoned the inexplicable magic that put them over the Celtics. I see these teams as being remarkably even, and with a cleaner bill of health than previous matchups, I think you have to take this whole series as a start from scratch. Unlike the Thunder, the Knicks did get at least one real challenge in their opening series against the Hawks, but I still think the Spurs are going to benefit from having had to overcome so much in practically every series. If I were looking at this from an outside perspective, I’d be inclined to agree with Vegas, and slightly favor the Spurs, actually. 

Jeje Gomez: Regular season wins and losses don’t matter as much to me when it comes to the playoffs as how the matchup actually went. And considering that, I don’t think the Knicks should be the favorites, but they shouldn’t be underrated either. They do present significant matchup issues for Wembanyama and they have a bunch of wings who can potentially limit San Antonio’s driving game and punish overhelp with their shooting. It’s borderline impossible after the Western Conference Finals to think that there’s a better NBA team than the Spurs, but in terms of matchups, the Knicks are definitely dangerous.

What aspect of the game will determine who gets the ring?

Dubinski: I think it will be a combination of three-point shooting and how it’s defended.  The biggest key for the Spurs will be to not leave shooters open to play help defense on Brunson.  It worked fine against Minnesota because they were lacking in shooters and Ant wasn’t always looking to pass, but it almost burned them against OKC because Caruso and McCain got hot in stretches, hence why they adjusted back to “Stop everyone else and make SGA beat us”. The Knicks have SEVEN main rotation players who shot over 36% from three on three or more attempts during the regular season, so the Spurs can’t cede that shot. Trust Castle (or whoever is on Brunson), stay at home, and play man-to-man defense.  Make them beat you one-on-one.

Barrington: The Knicks are a team that shoots a lot of three-point shots, and in the playoffs, they’ve been going down at a high rate. The Spurs’ defense relies on letting Wembanyama roam to erase the other team’s interior and mid-range shots, which sometimes means they allow opponents to get looks from range. This was effective against the Thunder because they didn’t have a lot of elite shooters. Everyone on the Knicks can shoot three pointers, except Mitchell Robinson, who might not even play. So the Spurs are going to have to keep defenders on the shooters against New York, and that could open driving lanes for Brunson. If the Knicks solve the Spurs’ defense, they will win the series, because the Spurs can’t win a shooting contest against these guys. Well, maybe Julian Champagnie can.

Birdsong: Shooting feels like the easy answer, since the Knicks lead the playoff field in 3pt%, FG%, EFG%, and TS%, but I think it might really come down to two specific match-ups, and one wild card: Anunoby defending Wemby, Castle defending Brunson, and the Karl Anthony Towns factor.

As was pointed out a few weeks ago on Twitter/X, among players who have guarded the Spurs star in at least 100 half-court matchups, Anunoby allows the fewest points per matchup. He has tremendous length and strength in spite of the height disadvantage, and Mike Brown and his staff had plenty of time to see how successful the Thunder were in denying Wemby position. Thankfully, Stephon Castle has had his share of success in giving Jalen Brunson fits when defending him (in 38 possessions where Castle was the primary defender, Brunson scored just 5 points while being held to 28.7% from the field), but there’s an added wrinkle to defending Brunson now that KAT has effectively taken on some serious distribution responsibilities in the postseason. You can’t just focus on Brunson to shut down New York’s ball movement. And this is why Towns is the wild-card of the series. Because of his passing chops (6 assists per game) and his long-distance shooting, he allows the Knicks to run two legitimate big men, and that shooting (almost 50% from three in the postseason) pulls Wemby away from the hoop as the only player with the height to contest it, which leaves the interior up for grabs, and Towns has the ability to hit the open man. I think a lot of this series will hinge on how/if the Spurs are able to defend that with other players. I wonder if we’re going to end up seeing a lot of French Vanilla. 

Gomez: Since the shooting has already been mentioned, I’ll go with turnovers and pace. The Knicks play slow and don’t cough the ball up. They have Brunson, who can normally get a good shot whenever he wants in the half-court and a solid, switchy defense. If they dictate how the game is played, the Spurs could be in trouble. If San Antonio can create some turnovers and push the pace, they’ll be in great shape.

Prediction time: Who will win the championship, and how do you think the series will go? 

Dubinski: Spurs in 7.  I think this will be just as difficult as the last round, perhaps slightly more so based on the match-up.  There will be times when one team is hot and the other isn’t, but I believe in the Spurs’ grit, determination, willpower, and ability to make adjustments. (Also, I want them to win at home but don’t think it will be in Game 5.  Also, also, I have submitted to the power of the Corgi, so I must trust him.)

Barrington: Spurs in 6. Both teams hold home court until Game 6, when the Spurs take the title in MSG, breaking the hearts of the home fans. June 16, mark your calendars!

Victor Wembanyama is Finals MVP, to no one’s surprise. It’s going to be a stressful couple of weeks, folks.

Birdsong: For me, I see the Knicks as presenting all of the issues the Spurs had with the Timberwolves, but with less glaring weakness. They have the length, size, and toughness, but they also have a plethora of three-point shooters. They have a healthy lead guard who is top-notch at both scoring and distributing. And they have a power forward who can stretch the floor and make the pass in reality, as opposed to in theory.The Minnesota series went six games. Barring major injury, I can’t see this not going the full seven. And in that scenario, I think home-court advantage might be the deciding factor. Spurs in 7. 

Gomez: I went with Spurs in six. The Knicks are a horrible matchup, but we’ve seen the Silver and Black find another gear during the playoffs. I expect a close series, even if three-point variance turns a game or two into a blowout either way, but I can see San Antonio showing the killer instinct they displayed against the Thunder if they get a chance to end it on the road.

The 1998-99 season was a year of change in the NBA.

Michael Jordan had retired for a second time, and the league's owners, fed up with the league's financial structure and players' rising salaries, locked the players out after failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

Once a deal was reached, the season began on Feb. 5, and the schedule was reduced to 50 games. The San Antonio Spurs tied for the league's best record and beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, and Portland Trail Blazers on the way to the Finals.

The New York Knicks, as the No. 8 seed, upset the Miami Heat in the first round, becoming the second No. 8 seed to beat a top seed. After sweeping the Atlanta Hawks, they beat the Indiana Pacers in six games to advance to the championship round.

Here are some takeaways from the last Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals matchup:

PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999: 10 things that didn't exist last time Knicks made the Finals

A masterclass in 'offensive' basketball

If fans were coming into this series looking for aesthetically pleasing basketball, they came to the wrong place. Only one time did a team score 90 or more points, and New York failed to even crack 80 points in three separate games. New York shot 39% in the series, including 20% from 3-point land.

Tim Duncan, at 22 years old, was named Finals MVP after averaging 27.4 points and 14 rebounds in the series, which the Spurs won four games to one.

Beginning of a dynasty

San Antonio continued its winning ways for much of the next two decades, winning titles in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014.

Duncan was the catalyst for those winning teams and, in later years, was joined by Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Kawhi Leonard. Duncan was a three-time Finals MVP during the dynasty, and head coach Gregg Popovich retired in 2025 with 1,390 victories, adding 284 more postseason triumphs.

Highlights from the 1999 NBA Finals pic.twitter.com/9ZBVScTE5p

— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) June 2, 2026

Knicks family ties

Jalen Brunson, the three-time NBA All-Star for the Knicks, will attempt to help bring home the team's first title since 1973. Brunson's father, Rick, was a second-year guard on the 1999 Knicks roster. Rick Brunson played only 10 seconds in that series, though, getting in the game in the latter stages of the second quarter of Game 3, an 89-81 New York victory at Madison Square Garden without an injured Patrick Ewing.

Rock bottom for the Knicks

After reaching the Eastern Conference finals in the 1999-2000 season and losing to the Indiana Pacers, the Knicks' playoff success — or success in general — became few and far between. New York had nine straight losing seasons, starting in 2001.

The Knicks did not make a conference finals appearance this century until last season, when they suffered another disappointing loss to the Pacers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Knicks vs Spurs 1999 NBA Finals matchup: What stands out

The 1999 NBA Finals are set.

Excuse me, I mean that the 2026 NBA Finals are set.

But you can forgive me for having a momentary flashback. After all, the last time the New York Knicks were in the NBA Finals, they met the San Antonio Spurs. Now those two teams will meet again starting tonight, with a champion waiting to be crowned.

Now, as SB Nation’s elder statesperson — which is yes a nice way of saying I’m the old one around here — I have the benefit of having lived through that meeting back in 1999. While some of my coworkers were navigating middle school or even elementary school, I was facing the real world having just graduated college. Some of my roommates and best friends that final year in school were Knicks fans. They lived and died with this team.

So it falls on me to take you back in time.

Here is a look back at the 1999 NBA Finals.

The 1998-1999 NBA season

We start by a look at the 1998-1999 NBA season, which might be remembered more for what happened off the court, rather than what happened on it.

First off, the season did not begin until January of 1999, due to a dispute between league owners and the NBA Players’ Association. When the two sides could not reach an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, a lockout began in July of 1998.

That lockout lasted more than 200 days, until a deal was finally reached on January 6, 1999.

The season did not begin until a few weeks later, and schedules were shortened to just 50 games as a result.

Another big piece of off-court news? The dismantling of the Chicago Bulls. Chicago was coming off their second three-peat, but the retirements of Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan, plus the trade of Scottie Pippen to the Houston Rockets and the departure of Dennis Rodman in free agency, opened up both the Eastern Conference and the league at large for a new champion.

How the Spurs reached the 1999 NBA Finals

The 1998-1999 NBA season marked the second year that San Antonio could rely on the pairing of David Robinson and Tim Duncan down low.

And while the Spurs got off to a slow start, beginning the year 6-8, they quickly righted the ship, winning 31 of their final 36 games to finish the year with a 37-13 record. Again, the season was shortened due to the lockout, which ended in January.

That record tied San Antonio with the Utah Jazz atop the Western Conference standings, and San Antonio secured the No. 1 seed in the conference due to a tiebreaker.

Once in the dance, the Spurs stayed red-hot. San Antonio won its opening series 4-1, dropping just one game to the Minnesota Timberwolves. From there, the Spurs swept their way to the NBA Finals, dispatching the Los Angeles Lakers in four games, and then sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference finals. Duncan scored 21 in Game 1 against Portland, adding 13 rebounds, and Robinson scored 20 with ten boards in Game 4 as the Spurs closed out the sweep.

For the first time in franchise history, San Antonio was heading to the NBA Finals.

How the Knicks reached the 1999 NBA Finals

While the Spurs enjoyed a relatively easy path to the 1999 NBA Finals, it was a much tougher road for the Knicks.

Ahead of the 1998-1999 season, New York made several key additions to help Patrick Ewing, adding Latrell Sprewell, Marcus Camby, and Kurt Thomas. Those acquisitions helped the Knicks begin the year with and 8-3 record.

But then, injuries started to mount. Sprewell played in just 37 games that regular season due to a stress fracture in his right foot, and Ewing missed time due to a knee injury. After starting 8-3 the Knicks began dropping games, and hovered around .500 for most of the year.

That stretch cost president and general manager Ernie Grunfeld his job in April.

Wins in six of their last eight games were enough for New York to secure the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, as they finished with a 27-23 record. But that meant a date with the top seed in the East, the Miami Heat. New York won Game 1 in Miami, getting 22 points from both Sprewell and Allan Houston to steal the first game of the series. After dropping Game 2, New York took Game 3 behind a 20-point outing from Sprewell, giving the Knicks a chance to close out the upset at Madison Square Garden at home.

But Miami staved off elimination, forcing a deciding Game 5 back in Miami. Ewing led the way for New York with 22 points, but a buzzer-beater from Houston gave New York a 78-77 win, pushing the Knicks into the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Up next for New York? A date with the No. 4 seed Atlanta Hawks. But to the surprise of many, the Knicks swept their way to the Eastern Conference finals, getting 34 from Houston in Game 1 and 31 from Sprewell in Game 2 to take both games in Atlanta. With the series win, New York became the first No. 8 seed to reach the conference finals.

That meant another date with the Indiana Pacers, the team that bounced New York out of the playoffs the previous year. The Knicks again took Game 1, this time in Indianapolis, behind 19 points from Houston, but dropped Game 2. That second game was costly for another reason, as an Achilles’ tendon injury that had hampered Ewing for most of the season was revealed to be a partial tear, ending his playoff run.

But veteran Larry Johnson stepped up in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, leading the way with a team-high 26 points. The final point of the night came at the charity stripe, as he drew a foul from Antonio Davis on a three-point attempt with seconds remaining in a 91-88 game. The three-pointer tied the game, and the ensuing foul shot gave New York a 92-91 win.

The teams split the next two games, giving New York a chance to close out the series at Madison Square Garden in Game 6. The Knicks did just that, led by 32 points from Houston and stiff defense on Reggie Miller, who was held to just eight points on 3-of-18 from the field, and New York punched their ticket to the Finals with a 90-82 win.

But the win was also costly, as Johnson suffered a sprained MCL in the game, which limited his effectiveness in the Finals.

The 1999 NBA Finals, revisited

The 1999 NBA Finals pitted wounded Knicks team against the Spurs, who had dropped just one game on their way to the series and were rested after sweeping Portland in the Western Conference finals.

As you might expect, it was not much of a series.

San Antonio took the first two games at home, behind a 33-13 effort from Duncan in Game 1 and a 25-15 effort from Duncan two nights later in Game 2. The Knicks fought back to cut San Antonio’s series lead to 2-1 with an 89-81 win in Game 3, behind 34 points from Houston, but that would be as close as New York got. San Antonio closed out the series, and their first title, with wins in Game 4 and Game 5.

The final game, decided by an Avery Johnson jump shot with under a minute remaining, was played two years to the day that San Antonio drafted Duncan.

Duncan was named MVP of the Finals.

There’s one article I love writing every year, and this is it. It takes time, research, holistic thinking, and a few energy drinks to get me there. I’ve juggled countless thought exercises, spoken with numerous people about their thoughts on the Phoenix Suns’ direction, and considered it all.

Who doesn’t love a good puzzle? That’s exactly what this piece is. It’s my chance to take a full look at the landscape of who the Phoenix Suns are right now, what options are in front of them, and how they can navigate the offseason as I try to piece together my blueprint for how I think they should operate.

And make no mistake, this is a complicated puzzle.

I’m sure somewhere along the way, my math is off. Maybe a contract number gets fuzzy. Maybe a roster-construction idea looks cleaner on paper than in reality. That’s part of the process. This isn’t what will happen. This is, more or less, what I hope will happen. What I want to happen.

This is the piece where I zoom out to look at the Suns holistically, then try to answer the questions we’ve been asking since the team was eliminated in the First Round on April 27. What should they do with the draft? What should they do in free agency? Which team options should they exercise, and which players should they let walk?

I’ll start with where I landed when the season ended. At that point, I kept coming back to continuity and development. I wondered if that would still be the direction I believed Phoenix should take once it was finally time to write this article. That was the initial thesis entering the offseason.

Now it’s time to find out if that thesis still holds up, or if working through every decision in front of the organization pushes me somewhere else. So welcome, my fellow readers. Let’s talk about how you fix the Suns.

The Starting Point

You can’t start building out theories on what the Phoenix Suns should do without a starting point, so let’s begin with the basics.

The salary cap this offseason sits at $165 million. The luxury tax line is $201 million. The first apron comes in at $209 million, and the second apron is $222 million.

Right now, Phoenix has 11 of its 15 roster spots filled, though a couple of those spots are occupied by players on team options. Their current payroll, including that dastardly $23.2 million in dead cap tied to Bradley Beal, Nassir Little, and E.J. Liddell transactions, sits at $184.7 million.

There will be no trading of DevinBooker as a part of this path. I believe that it is a valid conversation to have, and we have had it. I am pro-Book in Phoenix…at least for this offseason.

I contemplated moving off of Jalen Green. In my personal opinion, that is the way to go. He is pricey, duplicative of Booker positionally, and inconsistent as a player. But three things prevented me from pulling the trigger as a part of this plan. First, I truly believe the Suns will bring him back, as they want to see if his development can justify his salary. Second, while he might duplicate Booker’s position, he brings a unique skill set, as he can actually put pressure on the cylinder. Now, if only he could finish around the rim more.

And third? It’s hard to find a trade suitor for him. I played with the trade machine and simply couldn’t find any justifiable or likely candidates who would want his services while providing something that makes sense for Phoenix. He will be much more appealing next summer, when his contract becomes an expiring.

Therefore, Booker and Green return. Those are your high-level decisions relative to trades. Now, for the next steps.

Step 1: Pick up the options and structure Dillon Brooks wisely

The Phoenix Suns have two players with team options this offseason that they can exercise: Ryan Dunn and Jamaree Bouyea. If this were a team sitting comfortably under the cap and looking to upgrade the bench with some spending power in free agency, maybe there’s a conversation about declining one of those options. That isn’t where Phoenix is.

Given the financial tightrope they have to walk and the need to maximize every available asset on the roster, both of those options feel like easy decisions. You pick them up.

Then comes the more interesting conversation, Dillon Brooks.

The rumored extension floating around is as much as four years, $125 million. That breaks down to roughly $31.3 million annually. And as much as I value what Brooks brings to this team, that kind of deal would keep him under contract through the 2031-32 season. At this point, I don’t think anyone should be tied to this roster for that long.

Given where the franchise stands and the direction they’re trying to go, flexibility matters. Yes, they want to deepen it. Yes, they want to reinforce the culture. You don’t do that by locking yourself into paying a 35-year-old Dillon Brooks north of $30 million a season. That’s not good business, nor is it smart. Still, you want to reward the player responsible for assisting in defining your culture, and you want to do so in a way that allows you a flexible contract moving forward.

So, in my blueprint and in the scenario I’m building here, Phoenix signs Brooks to a three-year, $81.7 million contract. That lands at an average annual value of $27.2 million and has him under contract through the 2029-30 season. I’d backload the deal and attach a player option to the final year. That gives Brooks security, gives him flexibility later, and still gives the Suns options.

For now, the Suns remain at 11 of 15 roster spots filled, and the payroll stays at $184.7 million. No new players have been added, and no new money has come in. At this stage, we’re focused on securing the future with Brooks and exercising the team options for Dunn and Bouyea.

Step 2: Turn the draft into an opportunity to get younger and cheaper

Before the Phoenix Suns can start navigating restricted and unrestricted free agency, which doesn’t officially open until July 1, the NBA Draft comes first. Two rounds, the first on June 23, the second on June 24. This is Phoenix’s first opportunity to add a player, whether that ends up being somebody on the active roster or a two-way contract.

With the Suns picking 47th overall, and knowing Isaiah Livers no longer qualifies for a two-way deal, the most likely outcome is pretty straightforward. Phoenix drafts somebody at 47, probably Jaden Bradley out of the University of Arizona, and develops him in the G League. And honestly, I’m not opposed to that. That’s a solid place to develop a young point guard, and the Valley Suns could certainly use more distribution and facilitation. It’s the safe play. Probably the most logical play, too. Maybe it’s Bradley. Maybe it’s somebody else. The conservative move is using that pick on a two-way player and keeping the 15th roster spot open for flexibility.

But that’s no fun.

If we’ve learned anything about this front office, it’s that they aren’t afraid to move around in the draft. Two offseasons ago, Phoenix traded up to grab Oso Ighodaro. Last offseason, they used leftover assets from the Kevin Durant deal to move up and make the first pick of the second round for Rasheer Fleming.

So that’s the route I’m taking here. The Suns move up. And to do it, they make a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies. The trade? Phoenix sends Royce O’Neale to Memphis along with two second-round picks, including No. 47 in this year’s draft, and in return receives Taylor Hendricks and the 32nd overall pick.

Adding Taylor Hendricks gives Phoenix another three-and-D forward, and another player the team can continue to develop at only 22 years old. The 6’9” power forward was selected ninth overall in the 2023 NBA Draft out of the University of Central Florida and was later moved to the Memphis Grizzlies in the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade this past February, along with additional players and draft capital.

He didn’t see a ton of run in Memphis. Across his three-year career, he’s averaged 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds on 45/35/71 splits. There’s some upside there for sure.

The bigger part of this deal is financial. Phoenix moves off Royce O’Neale and his $10.9 million salary for a player making $7.8 million. And another plus with Hendricks? He’s on an expiring contract.

Of course, the immediate question is: why would Memphis do it?

From my perspective, the Grizzlies are in the middle of stripping things down to the studs and reshaping the roster. Veteran presence still matters in that environment. Royce gives them a proven rotation wing and one of the better three-point shooters in the league, plus Phoenix is attaching another second-round pick to the deal.

That becomes a conversation you can talk yourself into. And Memphis already owns the third and 16th picks in the first round. A lot of early mock drafts have them looking at frontcourt players like Cameron Boozer from Duke University and Jayden Quaintance from the University of Kentucky. If that’s how their board falls, a contract like Hendricks becomes a lot easier to part with.

And for Phoenix, that creates an opportunity to add another young, switchable forward and save money in the process.

So step one of navigating the draft is complete. You’ve traded Royce O’Neale to acquire Taylor Hendricks, and in the process, you moved up 15 spots in the draft. Oh, and you saved $3.1 million in the process. Now what?

You draft Zuby Ejiofor out of St. John’s University and add another forward to the organization.

He’s 6’9”, 240 pounds, and he plays a highly fundamental game. He isn’t somebody you’re expecting to consistently knock down threes, especially after shooting 30.5% last season at St. John’s. What interests me more is the 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, and the motor that comes with it.

He’s productive in the paint. He brings physicality. He plays with attitude. And all of that feels aligned with who and what this Suns team is trying to become. At 22 years old, he’s not some raw teenage prospect. He’s older, more developed, and somebody who feels like a cleaner fit for what Phoenix is building.

The next question becomes contract structure. Do you place Zuby on a two-way deal, or do you use a standard roster spot? For this exercise, I’m going with the standard deal. That puts him around $1.4 million. Noah Penda, who went 32nd overall last season, landed around $1.3 million, and with the rookie minimum projecting around $1.4 million for the 2026-27 season, that’s the number I’m using here.

So that’s how we navigate the draft. You move off Royce and save $3.1 million. You move up 15 spots. You add two 22-year-old power forwards to the mix, and one of them comes on an expiring contract. So where does that leave things?

Pre-draft, Phoenix sat at $184.7 million with 11 players rostered. Post-draft, you’ve lowered payroll by $1.7 million and bumped the roster to 12 players.

And because you moved off Royce for a player on an expiring contract, the 2027-28 cap sheet starts looking cleaner, too. And, as we get ready to navigate restricted and unrestricted free agency, every dollar counts.

Step 3: Bring back your depth via free agency

This is where the challenge really begins. And this is where you can’t help feeling frustrated that the Phoenix Suns are carrying $23.2 million in dead cap this season. Up to this point, Phoenix sits $17.1 million below the luxury tax and $25.1 million below the first apron. That feels manageable on paper. Then you remember there are still three open roster spots and three players you’d ideally like to bring back. That’s when things get interesting in a hurry.

So what do they do? And how do they do it? You start by figuring out what actually matters most to Phoenix. Is avoiding the luxury tax the top priority, especially with repeater tax implications hanging out there? Or is this a team willing to cross that $201 million line if it means keeping continuity intact? And beyond that, how comfortable are they with going over the first apron, knowing the restrictions that come with it and how much harder it makes roster building?

Personally, I don’t think Phoenix is overly concerned with being above the luxury tax. At least I hope they aren’t. Mat Ishbia has shown he isn’t afraid to spend. Yes, this would be spending on a team you probably wouldn’t label a true contender today. That part is fair. At the same time, they clearly want to stay competitive. They clearly want to protect continuity. And if that means paying into the tax to make it happen, I believe the organization would be willing to do it.

And there’s one important caveat to always keep in mind. It’s about where you are on the final day of the NBA season. So in theory, the Suns can bring back Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin, and Mark Williams, then buy themselves time. Time to evaluate. Time to see how the roster performs. Time to make decisions based on what the team actually looks like once the season starts. And for a front office trying to balance flexibility with continuity, that matters a lot.

And that’s the direction that I think this team will go. And honestly? I think it’s the right way to go. So let us begin with what bringing back Mark Williams looks like.

Bringing Mark Williams back gives Phoenix an important buffer as Khaman Maluach continues to develop. We know Mark’s injury history, and although he played a career-high 60 games this past season, his career average remains 41.5 games played per season. There’s a real chance he misses time this season, and if that happens, the door naturally opens for Maluach in year two. And that can work in Phoenix’s favor. If Maluach pops, if he looks ready and starts showing real growth, then you’ve put yourself in a position where Mark becomes more expendable and potentially somebody you can shop on the market come the trade deadline. If Maluach still looks raw, then you still have stability at the center spot whenever health allows.

The obvious question with Mark is price. What is he worth? What does his market actually look like? My guess is there won’t be a huge amount of interest. This year’s unrestricted free agent center market has plenty of options, and a lot of teams can find comparable production for cheaper or find somebody with a cleaner injury history. And maybe Phoenix sees it that way, too. Maybe they decide not to bring him back and go fishing in that pool.

For continuity purposes and for Maluach’s development, I think they keep him. And I think they do it on the qualifying offer.

Yes, Bobby Marks floated out $14 million annually as something Mark could potentially get on the open market. If another team wants to pay that, then you tip your cap, thank him for his time, and move on. You look at options on the unrestricted free agent market. That’s easy.

If that market doesn’t materialize, I bring him back at $9.6 million for this season, knowing he’d hit unrestricted free agency next summer. And by then, Phoenix should have a much clearer picture of what it actually has in Maluach. That makes the decision cleaner. That makes the timeline make more sense. And it gives the Suns another year of stability at a position where having it matters.

Jordan Goodwin is somebody the Suns should absolutely bring back. He’s part of the culture. Part of the identity. He’s gritty, he hustles, and he sets the tone every night he’s on the floor. He feels like the soul of this team. That’s not something you casually let walk out the door. At the same time, because of the apron restrictions, it may become a real possibility. And if that happens, it hurts.

Phoenix has Early Bird Rights on Goodwin, which gives them flexibility. They can structure a deal anywhere from roughly $4 million to $9 million annually. Then the question becomes whether Goodwin is willing to take a hometown discount or if he wants to test the market.

And honestly, that would make sense. He’s 27 years old. This could very well be his best chance to land a meaningful contract. There aren’t many teams with major spending power, which helps Phoenix a bit. Yes, another team could use part of a mid-level exception or the non-taxpayer mid-level to make a run at him, although those routes come with their own restrictions.

That’s why in this scenario I’m betting on continuity. I’m betting on fit. And I’m betting both sides find common ground. The number I land on is two years, $11.3 million. That feels fair for Goodwin. It rewards the role he’s carved out and keeps Phoenix intact. 

That number could rise if the Suns decide to move off Mark Williams and go searching for another center in unrestricted free agency. In this version of the offseason, they don’t. They keep Williams. They keep Goodwin. And they keep building around the identity they spent all season trying to establish.

Lastly, there’s Collin Gillespie. He showcased exactly what he can bring this season and earned himself a real raise. And he’s a fantastic story. Honestly, he’s the kind of story you want your organization connected to. A player you brought in, developed, watched grow from a two-way contract into a guaranteed deal, and now he’s positioned to cash in because of the work he put in.

Now he hits unrestricted free agency, and Phoenix has to pay him accordingly. For me, that number comes to three years at $32.4 million. Yes, that’s a sizable number for a backup point guard. I’m still doing it. He’s worth it. He fits what Phoenix is trying to build. He understands the system. He’s earned trust. He brings steadiness when he’s on the floor, and there’s real value in knowing exactly what you’re getting from that position every night.

Could another team offer more? Absolutely. And maybe one does. Much like Jordan Goodwin, there’s more financial flexibility here if Mark Williams walks and Phoenix reallocates those dollars. In this version of the offseason, I’m keeping the group together. 

And part of making that work is including a player option in year three. That gives Gillespie flexibility and gives him the chance to bet on himself if his progression continues. Which feels fair. Because if that growth keeps trending the way Phoenix hopes, he’ll have earned the right to cash in again.

So when restricted and unrestricted free agency wraps up, you’ve accomplished the mission. Three more players added. Three roster spots filled. Fifteen players under contract. Mark Williams comes back at $9.6 million, Jordan Goodwin returns for $5.5 million, and Collin Gillespie gets $10 million. That puts Phoenix at $25.1 million spent in free agency and brings the payroll right up to $208.1 million.

Now, if we’re being exact, and I know some of you absolutely will be, the final number lands at $208,116,977.

Boom. Under the first apron. Mic drop.

This keeps the Phoenix Suns under the first apron while filling every roster spot and maintaining continuity across the board. Your depth is fortified, and you have enough financial flexibility to keep options available if adjustments are needed later in the season.

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I’ve avoided the daunting first apron, and that matters because crossing that line starts cutting into your flexibility in a real way. If you want to make trades, salary matching must be within 100%, and you can’t take back more money than you send out. You lose access to acquiring players via sign-and-trades. You also can’t sign a player waived during the regular season if his original salary was greater than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. In this scenario, those restrictions stay off the table.

Phoenix still has some flexibility. A lot of that flexibility comes through Haywood Highsmith. The “Locksmith” is owed $3.8 million next season, although only $1 million of that is guaranteed. His deal doesn’t fully guarantee until January 10, 2027. By then, you should have a much better understanding of his role, what this team looks like, and what steps you may need to take to get under the first apron, if necessary.

The same applies to Jamaree Bouyea. His team option can be exercised now, and that salary also doesn’t become fully guaranteed until January 10, 2027.

So yes, this is a tightrope. And it’s a tightrope the Phoenix Suns are going to keep walking for a while because of the dead cap on the books, all the way through 2030 (thank you, Bradley Beal). They have to be careful. The Suns have to balance fiscal responsibility with competitiveness. That isn’t easy, but it is the right thing to do. It’s not flashy, it’s not sexy, but that is the path that will open more doors than it locks. Don’t let your short-term greed get in the way of your long-term greed.

This is my blueprint. Yes, Phoenix lands around $209 million in payroll in this scenario. And yes, being roughly $8 million over the luxury tax means that bill turns into something closer to $26 million once repeater tax penalties are factored in. That’s expensive, that’s the cost of doing business, and that’s the cost of carrying dead cap. That’s the cost of trying to stay competitive. That’s the cost of continuity.

And when I look at the roster I have created, I believe it works. You still have an open two-way slot, and I believe it’s competitive. I believe it preserves optionality if the organization decides it needs to pivot. And I believe it gives you a healthy mix of veterans, youth, and upside worth investing in.

That’s who Phoenix is right now. This isn’t a team polishing the edges of a championship contender. This is a team trying to strengthen the path it’s on. They are a team focused on development, leaning into continuity, trying to figure out if this next era of Suns basketball is actually sustainable. Because if it is, you can start making different decisions a year or two from now. You can get more aggressive, adjust the vision, and attack the next phase.

Currently, this is who the Suns are. And this is the path I’d take. I know it’s optimistic to believe that Williams would come in at the qualifying offer and that Gillespie would take a $32.4 million deal. Perhaps they don’t. Perhaps the Suns let Williams walk, sign an unrestricted free agent center on a veteran minimum deal, and reinvest those savings into Gillespie and Goodwin’s contracts. ‘Tis possible.

At the end of the day, there’s no perfect answer here. There probably never was. The Suns are navigating the consequences of past decisions while trying to build something healthier moving forward, which naturally makes every offseason choice a balancing act. 

That’s why I keep coming back to continuity and development. Let this group grow. Let the younger players keep earning opportunities. Let Jordan Ott continue shaping the identity Phoenix spent all last season trying to establish. Then evaluate from there. Allow health to be your friend, considering your three highest-paid players missed a combined 96 games last season. See what they can do from here, and for the love of AC Green’s celibacy, avoid three-guard lineups. Maybe a year from now, the vision looks clearer. Maybe the next pivot presents itself naturally. 

For now, the smartest move feels like patience, trust in the foundation, and giving this version of the Suns another real chance to prove what it can become.