Category: Basketball

Earlier this month, we touched on the possibility of the Dallas Mavericks moving veterans Daniel Gafford and Kyrie Irving this offseason as the team looks to rebuild for the future with Cooper Flagg as its centerpiece. In many ways, those deals make a lot of sense. Dallas is starved for picks after this upcoming draft and veterans of this caliber could likely restock those tapped reserves.

In respect of moving Kyrie Irving in particular, there is a valid counterpoint that retaining him is the smarter choice. Irving has won a championship, brings veteran leadership (which a rebuilding team could benefit mightily from) and is an enticing pair for Flagg. Pragmatically, his trade value is also arguably at a low point given he just missed an entire season, lending more credence to him sticking around. According to Marc Stein (subscription required), Irving is set to do just that.

The Mavericks have received trade inquires for Kyrie Irving, per Marc Stein’s latest Substack

The Mavericks, sources tell the Stein Line, have been messaging to teams that Kyrie is not available https://t.co/pfCziaar1tpic.twitter.com/k53HSRsFCy

— Mavs Film Room 🐴🎥 (@MavsFilmRoom) June 12, 2026

Stein says the Mavericks have received inquiries from other teams regarding Irving’s availability in a trade. Intuitively, we all have basically known this for some time. However, he goes on to indicate that the Mavs have thus far shut down any such conversations as they indicate to teams that Irving is not on the trading block. This echoes Mavs’ President Masai Ujiri’s comments in a recent press conference, where he spoke highly of Irving and touched on his excitement to see him and Flagg share the court.

That said, even a well-respected and well-connected guy like Stein gets it wrong sometimes (who doesn’t?), but let’s assume this report is spot on. If Irving is firmly in the fold, that is one less trade piece Dallas has in play. That, in turn, seemingly increases the odds of another vet (or more) heading toward the door. Stein further suggests that Gafford, P.J. Washington and Klay Thompson are the most likely Mavs to be moved. Further, it means another starting spot in the rotation is covered alongside Flagg, which may influence how Dallas goes about their draft choices in a few weeks. It’s certainly not unreasonable to think the #9 pick will be a starting caliber player, but with Irving running point, does that influence who Dallas intends to select in this draft rife with guard talent? There are many options here – select a guard and start him next to Irving, select a guard and bring him off the bench, don’t select a guard at all… There has been significant focus on Dallas acquiring a young backcourt player to usher in the future with Flagg, but it’s really anyone’s guess what Dallas will do now. Whatever the case, if Stein is correct, whomever they pick in a few weeks can expect to team up with both Flagg and Irving.

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

The Celtics are interested in trading Jaylen Brown to the Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and rumors skyrocketed Thursday after that was revealed by Kevin O’Connor.

According to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, an NBA source confirmed the Celtics are more than bystanders.

But according to Winderman, the possibility of a deal involving Brown and Antetokounmpo might not be so simple because the Celtics need to find a third team to be part of the deal.

Winderman wrote that the Bucks are looking to maximize draft capital, youth and manageable contracts in an Antetokounmpo deal.

Brown is set to enter his age-30 season and still has three years left of a five-year, $285.4 million contract he signed after the Celtics won their first NBA championship with Brown and Jayson Tatum.

With Brown’s age and hefty contract, there might not be as much interest by the Bucks in breaking up the Celtics’ core. Wilderman noted, though, that the Hawks and Pelicans might be interested in acquiring Brown.

Tatum missed most of the 2025-26 season nursing a torn Achilles that he suffered in the 2025 NBA playoffs.

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Brown was in MVP talks for most of the season, finishing with averages of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists. The Celtics (56-26) finished the regular season in second place in the East behind the Pistons (60-22).

But after a first-round exit in the playoffs, in which the Celtics blew a 3-1 lead against the 76ers, Boston might look for a change.

The Hawks (46-36) were one of the NBA’s more surprising teams after finishing the 2025-26 regular season in sixth place. But after blowing a 2-1 series lead against the Knicks and losing Game 6, 140-89, in the first round of the playoffs, their season ended.

The Pelicans (26-56) are coming off a miserable season and missed the playoffs. They could look to pair Brown with Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III, who led them in scoring last season after averaging 21.5 points per game.

The stunning victory by the New York Knickerbockers over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday gave ABC the most-watched NBA Finals Game 4 since 1998, the year of Michael Jordan’s last championship with the Chicago Bulls.

Nielsen data showed an average of 20.9 million viewers watched the Knicks overcome a 29-point halftime deficit to top Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs 107-106 at Madison Square Garden, the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history. The Knicks have a 3-1 lead in the series and will play Game 5 on Saturday in San Antonio, attempting to win their first NBA championship in 53 years.

Through the first four games, the NBA Finals are averaging 19.6 million viewers, also the highest since the Bulls-Utah Jazz faced off on NBC in 1998. The series is on track to become the most-watched since the NBA Finals moved to ABC and ESPN in 2002.

“The match-up is ideal from a media business standpoint, featuring the nation’s largest media market with New York, teams with robust followings and multiple all-stars, especially Wemby, the compelling new face of the NBA,” said Lee Berke, president of LHB Sports Entertainment & Media, Inc.

The Knicks-Spurs series is up 116% over the first four games of last year’s match-up between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. But the most encouraging numbers for ABC and ESPN is the growth among younger viewers, who have become harder to reach in the age of social media and streaming. Ratings among teens aged 12 to 17 are up 138% while the 18 to 24 age group is up 147%.

Read more:2026 Super Bowl scores 124.9 million viewers, second-largest audience in history

ABC is also seeing spikes in viewing among women, up 121%, and the Latino audience due to its large populations in the markets of New York and San Antonio, according to Flora Kelly, ESPN’s senior vice president for audience research.

Viewing in the New York market alone is accounting for 15% of the national audience. The average price for a 30-second commercial on the telecasts topped $1 million each, according to people familiar with the figures who were not authorized to comment publicly. Some spots have gone for as much as $2.3 million.

In addition to delivering highly competitive games, the NBA Finals also had President Trump and pop superstar Taylor Swift in attendance at Madison Square Garden. Both are capable of turning a live TV event into a full-blown spectacle.

“What we’re seeing is that this Spurs-Knicks series is a tremendous cultural moment,” Kelly said.

Trump attended Game 3, making him the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals. While Trump was a fixture at Knicks games before he entered the national political scene, some commentators, such as ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, believed the president’s insistence on attending Monday’s contest became a distraction that disrupted the home team’s momentum. (The Knicks lost the game 115-111, ending the team’s streak of 13 consecutive wins.)

Swift showed up for Game 4, joining “Law & Order: SVU” star Mariska Hargitay and the other celebrities who regularly show up courtside at Madison Square Garden.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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

Los Angeles bringing back LeBron James is more complicated this offseason than at any other time during his Lakers tenure. Given that he is an unrestricted free agent, he can go wherever he wants and the Lakers can’t just pay James what he is actually worth.

The franchise has to pay Austin Reaves, who is also an unrestricted free agent. Considering he reportedly wants over $40 milllion and other teams are reportedly interested in signing him, LA might have to pay a hefty price to secure their backcourt star.

So, the Lakers have to figure out how to do that and still pay LeBron to keep their three stars together. That’s going to be a challenge for this front office, but perhaps the first question they have to ask is if they should even bring James back to begin with?

He is still a top player in the NBA, but his decline has begun. LeBron averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2
assists per game. That was the lowest points average for LeBron since his 2003-04 rookie campaign.

Father Time might not be winning, but the clock is now on its side.

This is part of the reason LeBron became the third option for the Lakers this season. LeBron taking such a role is something he has never had to do, and it certainly was never the best course of action for a team he was on before.

But with Luka as No. 1 option and Reaves as another ball-dominant player, this was the way to optimize LA.

So, for our SB Nation Reacts survey this week, we asked Lakers fans if they want LeBron back next season and the results indicated they do.

It was a close poll, but in the end, LeBron is still wanted because he remains an elite player. We saw that in the first round, when he dominated the Rockets without Luka Dončić and with Austin Reaves missing most of the games.

He is still an All-Star player and a fantastic starter. Walking away from LeBron wouldn’t make the Lakers better. In fact, they’d have to bring in a couple of players to try to match LeBron’s production. And even if they do that, those players are likely to cost more than LeBron’s deal will end up being and it’s unlikely they’ll be as good.

So, the best course of action for LA to win now still includes LeBron. The question is: can they figure out a dollar amount that satisfies everyone?

It’s in the Lakers’ best interest to do so.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

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The Spurs could be without their backup center for a must-win Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Knicks. Luke Kornet has been listed as questionable in the injury report due to illness.

Kornet has not had a good playoffs and has only averaged a shade under eight minutes per game in the Finals. He’s only scored three total points in the series and pulled down nine total rebounds. San Antonio has been outscored by a total of 19 points when he’s been on the floor. It’s a horrible matchup for Kornet, who is not quick enough to guard Karl-Anthony Towns on the perimeter or switch effectively and struggles on the defensive boards against Mitchell Robinson. On paper, his potential absence shouldn’t have a big effect on the Spurs’ chances of forcing a Game 6.

The problem is, the Silver and Black don’t really have other viable big men to spare Victor Wembanyama, who is already averaging 40 minutes a game and at times has looked fatigued. While Kornet has not been effective, Kelly Olynyk, Bismack Biyombo, and Mason Plumlee still probably represent a downgrade. Mitch Johnson will likely go small instead if his backup big man misses the game, with Carter Bryant potentially getting minutes at center, as he has in the past. Bryant has not been good in his limited playing time, but he could be the best alternative.

The Spurs are down 3-1 in the Finals and are facing elimination. Game 5 will tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, June 13.

Victor Wembanyama didn't go full Joe Namath poolside in Miami before Super Bowl III, but the big man came close.

When asked about the mood around the Spurs ahead of Saturday night's Game 5, facing a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA Finals to the Knicks, the Frenchman said the team "absolutely" believes they can spring a most unlikely comeback.

"Everybody thinks, everybody knows, we're going to do it," Wembanyama said Friday.

"I feel like we need to isolate that one game and take it one game at a time," he continued. "I think it would be a mistake to waste our energy on multiple games. It's one game at a time."

Guard Devin Vassell echoed the "one game at a time" mantra. 

"Nothing is guaranteed. Nothing is promised. But we know we've at least got one game," Vassell said. "So we need to go 1-0, and whatever we need to do for that to happen, we've got to do that."

He added: "We've got our backs against the wall. Let's just focus on trying to go 1-0... and then from there we'll just try to walk it down."

The comments come after the Spurs saw a 29-point third-quarter lead – that was still at 20 points with under 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter – slip away in a tremendous collapse in Game 4 at MSG.

Wembanyama said there were "a thousand ways we could have not lost that game," but the team has shifted its focus to Saturday night.

"It felt like there was a time to process this, to really dwell on it. But not anymore," he said.

The Game 4 loss wasn't the only one the Spurs and Wembanyama let slip through their fingers. The Spurs let a 14-point third-quarter lead slip in Game 1 and Wembanyama had a terrible late turnover and missed two shot attempts in a one-point loss in Game 2.

"We're very confident, but yeah, I wouldn't say it was so hard to, like, shake off, right?" Wembanyama said about Game 4. "Harder than any other game before, by far, for sure. I mean, now we're over it. It's the playoffs. There's no time to regret things for too long."

Vassell added the Spurs feel they've played the Knicks "really good for the past four games."

"We just really haven't been able to close out games," the guard said. "Obviously, a credit to them. But we feel like we have been able to control a lot of this series, and we've just got to figure out how to finish these games."

After his comments following the Spurs' Game 4 collapse, Victor Wembanyama was asked if he has a better sense of whether or not the Spurs believe they can pull off a 3-1 comeback in the NBA Finals:

"Yeah, absolutely. Everybody knows we're going to do it. I feel like we need to… pic.twitter.com/mS7F8QW9ov

— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) June 12, 2026

Knick fans may think Victor Wembanyama is public enemy No. 1 currently, but a former Knicks head coach sure doesn’t think that way.

Isiah Thomas, who coached the Knicks from 2006-08 and also served in the front office, defended Wembanyama Friday morning on the “Run it Back” Show, saying he’s been the victim of physical abuse all NBA Finals long and pushed back on the idea the Spurs star is “dirty.”

“Wemby has been the victim of some of the dirtiest s–t ever. I mean, people are grabbing and holding him,” Thomas said.

"Wemby has been the victim of some of the dirtiest sh*t ever… they're lucky he hasn't popped one of them in the face."

Isiah Thomas doesn't want an ethical big man @MichelleDBeadle | @boogiecousins | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23pic.twitter.com/UHVVWKl5KQ

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) June 12, 2026

“With Wemby, we’re allowing people to grab and hold him, knock him down. They literally have him locked up. With his demeanor, they’re lucky he hasn’t turned around and popped one of them in the face real quick,” Thomas added. “Big men, normally you don’t get to be this aggressive with them without them having the ability to retaliate, hold their temper and all of that.”

Thomas compared the situation to “hack-a-Shaq,” where teams would purposely hit and foul Shaquille O’Neal to send the poor free-throw shooter to the line.

“Shaq took more abuse in our league than probably any NBA player that’s ever played,” Thomas said.

In regards to Wembanyama, Thomas may be in the minority.

Knicks fans were fuming after Wembanyama shoved Jalen Brunson to the ground early in Game 3 and wasn’t called for a flagrant foul.

Even though the NBA reviewed the play Tuesday, they did not penalize him.

In the third quarter of Game 4, Wembanyama was called for a flagrant foul after elbowing Karl-Anthony Towns in the face.

The flagrant now means Wembanyama is at three flagrant points this postseason after getting two for elbowing Naz Reid in the second round.

One more flagrant would lead to an automatic suspension.

Wembanyama and the Spurs are on the brink of elimination after blowing a 29-point lead in Game 4, and trail the Knicks 3-1 as the series shifts back to San Antonio for Saturday’s Game 5.

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New York’s success in the Finals has been great for the public, especially live bettors during the most-wagered NBA game ever at DraftKings.

Key Takeaways

• Game 4 generated more betting action than any NBA game in DraftKings' history.
  
  
• The Knicks have captured a wide betting audience both in New York and across the U.S.
  
  
• Bettors are already backing underdog New York in Game 5 in San Antonio.

The Knicks pulled off an incredible 29-point rally to go up 3-1 in the best-of-seven Finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday in a game that was highly favorable to bettors, both before and during the contest. 

“The Knicks and the public are locked in on each other, and it's been going well for the general public,” DraftKings’ Johnny Avello told Covers on Friday. 

That’s a trend that will likely continue heading into Saturday’s Game 5 when the Knicks can clinch their first championship since 1973. 

Avello doesn’t believe the series shifting back to San Antonio on Saturday will hurt the betting handle at this point, and he predicted before the series began that this would be the most-bet NBA Finals at DraftKings since the company began operating legal sports betting in 2018.   

“We knew that there was going to be Knicks money. We knew that from the outset,” Avello said. “We've had future money on them throughout the year, and the hype was so high on them coming to the series that we knew the bettors would be playing them on the moneyline, especially when they were underdogs.”

Title-contender turnaround 

Aside from last year when this team made the Eastern Conference finals, the Knicks have largely been starved for success over the last two decades. Still, in the most populous city in the U.S., they remain king. 

With New York natives spread across the country, celebrities appearing at games, and television ratings through the roof, the Knicks have become an incredibly popular team to watch and bet on. 

“The stars show up. People are tuning in to see who’s coming to the game,” Avello said. “It’s just created a hysteria. It's incredible with this team, how people have backed this team.”

The Empire State, which leads all jurisdictions in sports betting handle each month, certainly carried a large percentage of the amount wagered on Game 4, but Avello said there was plenty of Knicks action from across the U.S. and through sports contract trading on DraftKings Predictions. 

“Customers hung with them, and played them throughout the game,” Avello said.

Bettor-friendly comeback

Bettors feasted on numerous live moneyline odds Wednesday. Avello said the longest they got at DraftKings was +2,200 in the first half. Bettors weren’t deterred and had no problem firing on New York throughout the second half, even when they were down 22 points with eight minutes to play.

The Knicks were still over +1,000 at times in the final quarter before they took their first lead with 1:22 remaining. After falling behind 106-105 with under a minute left, OG Anunoby tipped in the game-winning shot with two seconds remaining, lifting New York to a 107-106 victory in front of a raucous Big Apple crowd.    

“These are the comeback kids, and you know, the bettors, they've been betting this team when they're down,” Avello said. “They have as much confidence in wagering on the Knicks as the Knicks do in winning the game themselves.” 

Will the Spurs recover?

The Knicks head into Saturday night as -500 favorites to win the series but 5.5-point underdogs to do it in Game 5. 

DraftKings has already seen 75% of the bets and 85% of the money come in on the Knicks by Friday afternoon. More than 80% of the wagers are backing New York at +164 on the moneyline. 

“The feeling now is that San Antonio won't be able to recover,” Avello said. “This is the feeling from the bettor that I'm kind of seeing. We knew that the Knicks money would come in each and every game, so no, there'll be no drop-off here.”

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

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Former Knicks teammates Carmelo Anthony and Jeremy Lin said they hashed out 14 years of unanswered questions and false narratives after “Linsanity” took over New York in 2012.

During Friday’s installment of the “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast, Lin — whose rise to fame during the 2011-12 season sparked rumors that Anthony was jealous of his success — explained that the pair had an “honest and direct” conversation and finally reconciled.

“Basically I asked every last question I had: ‘Did that happen? What happened there? What happened here?’” Lin said. “But it was honest. It was direct, it was honest and we were able to definitely clear the air. Obviously perception is reality in certain situations.

“And that’s the thing about that whole stretch was there was a lot that I was unsure about. And so the narratives come, but to be able to talk it out, I appreciate that. And so my biggest thing was when I think back on my career, because I recently retired [last August], I’ve never wanted my story to be me versus anybody else, which we had talked about.

“And I think at the end of all of this, if my name comes up or my story comes up and it’s me versus [Carmelo] or if we’re ever at a point where someone has to choose sides, then I think we failed.”

Anthony, who publicly invited Lin to be a guest on his “7PM In Brooklyn” podcast to “clear the air” last month, explained that it took him some time before he felt ready to answer Lin’s questions.

“These was questions that was built up for 14 years that other people probably was adding on to your pressures and your mindset and your perspective,” Anthony said. “It took me to go through what I went through to have the time to come back and be at peace with being able to answer all your questions with actual facts.”

There were rumblings of a reported feud between the pair during the rise of “Linsanity” after Lin was called up during the 2011-12 season.

At the time, Lin led the Knicks to 10 wins in 13 games when he averaged over 22 points and nine assists.

Anthony was dealing with a groin injury at the time.

“Forget being jealous of what he’s doing, I want him to keep going.”

Melo gets real about the narrative that he envied Jeremy Lin's rise to fame pic.twitter.com/BVmTEpUImL

— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) June 12, 2026

Lin’s popularity rose to the point where he couldn’t leave his apartment in New York City without being swarmed by paparazzi, he was the subject of Kim Kardashian dating rumors and he turned down the cover of GQ magazine.

After the 2011-12 season, Anthony made waves when he called Lin’s Houston Rockets contract offer — three years and $25 million — “ridiculous,” which led to reports that he was jealous of Lin’s fast success and it was disrupting what he was trying to build in New York.

Anthony addressed his “ridiculous” remark, saying that Lin deserved for the Knicks to match his offer from Houston instead of letting him walk over luxury tax concerns.

“You got to think from my perspective, everything kind of came and went so fast and now I’m not on the Knicks anymore,” Lin said on the the podcast. “7PM in Brooklyn,” a Wave Original. And after that, I hear publicly a coach saying something and three teammates saying stuff publicly about like, ‘Oh, Linsanity didn’t vibe with everybody in the locker room.’ And so I’m like, ‘You got to think, Melo, I’m hearing this and I’m trying to piece together the story.’”

Anthony also pushed back on the narrative that he was jealous of Lin during “Linsanity.”

“I had to figure my s–t. I was injured. I was hurt,” Anthony said of the “Linsanity” era. “I had to think about how fast I’m going to come back, what I’m going to do, how the f–k I’m going to go help this team, how I got to lead this team.

“I’m in a different position than [Jeremy] is. So I got to deal with a whole bunch of s–t. Forget being jealous of what [Jeremy’s] doing. I want him to keep going. Game win in D.C. Yo, keep going. Toronto. Yo, keep going.”

Melo reveals why he called Jeremy Lin's contract extension 'ridiculous' @FDSportsbook

Melo: "Did he deserve the match, yes … what was ridiculous was the jump."

Lin: "My exit from the New York Knicks crushed me … I would've done anything to stay." pic.twitter.com/GZUnjbHPT3

— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) June 12, 2026

Lin and Anthony reconciled as the Knicks are one win away from their first championship in 53 years. Both have supported their former team throughout the Knicks’ playoff run.

Lin, who announced his retirement from professional basketball in an Instagram post last August, is a guest NBA analyst with ESPN for the 2026 NBA Finals.

Carmelo, who announced his retirement in 2023 following 19 NBA seasons, is an NBA analyst with NBC.

It’s been ten years since a team leading in the NBA Finals 3-1 blew the lead, and the New York Knicks are hoping they aren’t the latest squad to join that list.

After the Knicks’ epic Game 4 comeback against the San Antonio Spurs, they have pushed their opponent to the brink of elimination, but they haven’t finished the job yet as they need one final win.

The Knicks have put themselves in a great position, giving themselves three chances to pull it off, but that adds to a lot of pressure to finish a 53-year drought and hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time since 1973.

The Spurs have proven to be a formidable opponent and they are a team used to the pressure of having to win when it matters most. In their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they fell behind in Game 1 with a loss at home but still managed to beat them in six games to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

When they faced off against the Oklahoma City Thunder, they fell behind 2-1 after Game 3 and 3-2 after a Game 5 blowout loss on the road. They were able to clutch up, win Game 6 at home, and get the job done on the road in Game 7.

“We’ve got to try to put it behind us. Get back to the things that we’ve done well in these games,” Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox said.

“We have to figure out a way to hold the lead. We’ve been able to build double-digit leads in all four of these games, and we’ve got to figure out a way to sustain that. It obviously looks like a steep hill, but this is something that’s happened before. … We feel like we have a team that is able to come back from this, but we have to take this one game at a time.”

Despite their struggles in the second half of Game 4, the Spurs are expected to bring out their best for Game 5 to push the series back to Madison Square Garden for Game 6. The last thing the Knicks need to do is get complacent, otherwise they could see the joke turned around on them.