Category: Sports News

Sixers draft profile: Ace Bailey has inspired tons of pre-draft debate  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

A scouting report on NBA draft prospect Ace Bailey:

• Position: Wing 
• Height: 6-foot-7.5 (without shoes)
• Weight: 203 pounds 
• College: Rutgers 

Strengths 

Bailey plays with a serious smoothness and self-assured nature. He has explosive bursts — out-of-nowhere blocks, emphatic slams — but largely seems to glide with an athleticism beyond combine testing numbers. 

Rutgers’ listing of Bailey’s height at 6-10 was a bit generous. Still, he’s got good size for an NBA wing, including a wingspan just over 7 feet. It also helps that Bailey has a high release on his jump shot and can fire it very quickly. 

Shotmaking is the most attractive aspect of Bailey’s game. He scores plenty of tightly guarded buckets — catch-and-shoot jumpers, pull-ups, leaners, post-up fadeaways. As a freshman in the Big Ten, Bailey averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 blocks and one steal per game. 

He believes he can make anything and that he’ll be great in the NBA. Asked about players he’s modeled his game after at the combine, Bailey told reporters, “(Kevin Durant), Paul George, Jayson Tatum and (Tracy McGrady). I can see some (Carmelo Anthony) in me, too. We create shots, we can shoot over defenders, create our own space.” 

Bailey’s defensive tools are eye-catching. It’s not hard to imagine his positional versatility and weak-side shot blocking being significant assets at the next level. Given Bailey’s youth (18 years old) and the muscle he’s likely to gain over the next few years, the notion that he’s due for major development on both ends is reasonable. 

Weaknesses 

On a 15-17 Rutgers team, Bailey’s decision-making wasn’t stellar. He dished out just 38 assists over his 30 games and committed 61 turnovers.

If Bailey continues to lean on shooting in the NBA, it’s fair to have questions about why his basic numbers were unimpressive. He shot 46 percent from the floor, 34.6 percent from three-point range and 69.2 percent at the foul line. Shot selection is relevant here, and Bailey was much better on free throws in the second half of the season — 46 of his final 56, 82.1 percent — but he doesn’t have the sharpshooting résumé of prospects like Tre Johnson and Kon Knueppel.

Bailey’s lack of physical strength may be limiting early in his NBA career, especially when it comes to reaching the paint and scoring there. If that’s the case, he’ll need to be an elite jump shooter in order to score efficiently. 

Separate from Bailey’s skills, his handling of the pre-draft process has drawn headlines. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported, “The feedback from his interviews at the draft combine in Chicago was not all that positive, with some teams expressing concern about his lack of preparation and focus.” Bailey canceled a scheduled workout with the Sixers and has not yet visited any teams, ESPN reported.

Fit 

The Sixers may wind up with a guard-heavy core of the future that features Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain and Quentin Grimes. Bailey certainly would not be redundant. 

For any team, the optimistic vision of what Bailey could be is appealing. No one would mind a two-way wing who drains tons of tough shots. 

Of course, it’s possible to think Bailey could become a fantastic NBA player and still feel someone else like VJ Edgecombe is a better overall prospect. There’s clearly no consensus. 

George is a noted admirer of Bailey. 

“I think he has big-time potential,” George said on his podcast. “He has big-time talent. He can score from any spot on the floor. He has an isolation game, which you don’t see that often in kids that size that early. He can make plays, he can shoot over the top of defenses, he can take advantage of mismatches, he can handle the ball in pick-and-rolls. He can catch and shoot. He can defend. 

“I’ve seen him play elite defense on chase-down blocks … running guys off threes, keeping guys in front of him. I think he just has tremendous talent across the board. … I love his upside, man. I’ve been a fan of his game for a little while now and I think he’s going to be huge in the league. People think it might take him a minute, based on his skill set, but I think he’s going to come into the league and make noise right away.” 

Watch: Thunder player's baby amusingly knocked out on NBA Finals podium originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Oklahoma City relished a raucous atmosphere at Paycom Center after the team won the NBA title for the first time in the city’s history.

But there was someone not fazed by the rowdy cheers and excitement of 18,000-plus fans.

That someone was Isaiah Hartenstein’s baby son.

As the Thunder celebrated being crowned the latest NBA champions, fans noticed how Hartenstein’s son was knocked out asleep on his father’s chest on the podium. Even teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, also named Finals MVP, helped prop up his head to avoid being further slumped.

ESPN reporter Lisa Salters talked to Hartenstein on the podium and asked him about his son.

“I don’t know why he’s asleep right now, but I guess it’s not loud enough,” Hartenstein said before giving fans an order. “I’m going to need y’all to get louder real quick.”

Despite the fans’ increased volume of cheers and claps, the baby remained knocked out.

The NBA world had plenty of reactions to the moment, including former Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant, who congratulated his ex-team for its victory.

It’ll make a great story for Hartenstein to tell his son one day when he’s grown up.

OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joins elite club after NBA Finals, MVP wins originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

He’s the most valuable player. The scoring champion. And now, an NBA champion along with NBA Finals MVP.

All in one season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has entered one of the game’s most elite clubs.

The 26-year-old Canadian is atop the basketball world now in almost every way imaginable. Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder captured the NBA title on Sunday night, beating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 to win the finals in a seven-game thriller.

He becomes the fourth player in NBA history to win MVP, Finals MVP, a scoring title and play for a champion in the same season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it once, Michael Jordan then did it four times, and Shaquille O’Neal was the last entrant into that fraternity — until now.

“A lot of hard work, a lot of hours in the gym,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “This isn’t just a win for me. This is a win for my family. This is a win for my friends. This is a win for everybody that was in my corner growing up. This is a win for the fans, the best fans in the world.”

The title caps a season where the Thunder won 84 games, tied for the third most by any team in any season in NBA history. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the season with 64 games of at least 30 points. The only other players to score 30 points that many times in a season: Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Bob McAdoo, James Harden, Jordan and Abdul-Jabbar.

It is amazing company. With due respect to those legends, Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t care. The Thunder are NBA champions. That’s more than enough for him.

“Focusing on just being the best version of myself for this basketball team, for whatever it takes, for however many games it is, however many possessions is needed, however many moments,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Ultimately, I’m just trying to stay in the moment. I think that’s what’s gotten me here. That’s what has helped me achieve the MVP award, achieve all the things I’ve achieved. It’s helped this team win basketball games.”

This was not a sneak attack up the ladder of superstardom. Gilgeous-Alexander has been climbing those rungs for years.

He’s one of only two players — Giannis Antetokounmpo is the other — to average at least 30 points per game in each of the last three seasons. He led Canada to a bronze medal (over the United States, no less) at the World Cup in 2023, been an All-Star and first-team All-NBA pick for three years running, played in his first Olympics last year, and just finished a season where he posted career bests in points and assists per game.

He scored 3,172 points this season, including playoffs, the ninth-most by any player in NBA history.

Oh, and he’s a champion now.

“He’s getting better every year in just about everything,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I think he’s really improved as a playmaker. … And then he’s an unbelievable scorer, and incredibly efficient. We lean into that. He leans into that. He’s learned when teams load up on him and they overcommit, to get off it early, and I think that’s reflected in the way we’ve played offense throughout the course of the season.”

Opponents have no choice but to marvel at how Gilgeous-Alexander does what he does. He’s not a high-flying artist like Jordan, not an unstoppable force of power like LeBron James, not a 3-point dazzler like Stephen Curry. He looks like he’s playing at his own pace much of time, largely because defenses have few ways to slow him down or speed him up.

“Shai, he’s so good,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton — who suffered a serious lower leg injury that knocked him out of Game 7 in the first quarter — said during the series. “He’s so slippery in between those gaps. He splits screens, like, I don’t know how he’s doing that. … He’s a really tough cover.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is the face of basketball in Oklahoma City, is rapidly becoming one of the faces of the NBA — his jersey is now one of the highest-selling — and it’s no secret that he is the icon for fans in Canada now. It used to be Steve Nash, the first Canadian to win NBA MVP.

Now, Nash has help.

“You can only imagine and get excited about all the kids around the world, but in particular Canadians that will be affected so positively, whether they’re basketball players or not, by the way he carries himself, by the way he executes and commits to his profession,” Nash said. “It’s remarkable and he’s an amazing example for everybody out there, not just kids.”

There’s no question Nash had some impact on Gilgeous-Alexander’s rise in the game. Another great who did: Kobe Bryant.

There are parallels: similar body types, even similar ways they answer questions. Bryant famously said “job’s not finished” when asked about his Lakers getting within two wins of a title one year; Gilgeous-Alexander had a similar moment after the Thunder got to three wins in this series, saying “we haven’t done anything.”

They have now.

“He is probably my favorite player of all time,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Bryant. “Never got the chance to meet him. With me, with kids all across the world, his influence has gone through the roof. He’ll be remembered forever because of the competitor and the basketball player he was. Yeah, I’m hopefully somewhere close to that as a basketball player one day.”

He’s not there yet.

But Gilgeous-Alexander got one day closer Sunday, when he reached basketball’s mountaintop for the first time.

“It means everything,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We rose to the moment. And here we are.”

Thunder claim first NBA championship with 103-91 Game 7 win vs. Pacers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The NBA championship is headed to Oklahoma City for the first time ever.

In Game 7 of the NBA Finals Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder emerged victorious at home with a 103-91 win over the Indiana Pacers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took home the Finals MVP honors in the same season he won his first league MVP.

The excitement was palpable, given it was the first Game 7 in a final series since 2016 when the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame the Golden State Warriors.

But the good vibes were sucked out of the air at Paycom Center and behind TV screens at the five-minute mark of the first quarter.

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who entered the game with a calf strain suffered earlier in the series, went down with an Achilles injury and was later ruled out. He was visibly in tears and overcome with emotion after a blazing-hot start. His season ended with a lead on the biggest stage in basketball.

Without their franchise cornerstone, the Pacers needed to do the improbable. Indiana looked shaken after Haliburton left the court, but remained composed and actually went into overtime with a 48-47 advantage.

But the Thunder turned it around in the third quarter, showing much more determination and less nervy hands than the opening half. They opened to a nine-point lead before T.J. McConnell, Haliburton’s backup, singlehandedly took matters into his own hands.

McConnell’s run didn’t last long enough, however, as Oklahoma City then pushed to a double-digit cushion and led by 13 going into the fourth. The 33-year-old guard was responsible for his team’s last 12 points, with Pascal Siakam questionably on the bench.

The lead ballooned in favor of Oklahoma City in the early stages of the fourth to as much as 22. Indiana, which had a miraculous run of stunning comebacks victories in its journey to this stage, did not have one last complete turnaround in the tank despite trimming the gap.

Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 29 points. He struggled on 8 of 27 shooting, but went 11 of 12 from the foul line. Jalen Williams, who had a major 40-burger earlier in the series, added 20 points on 7 of 20 shooting.

Chet Holmgren turned in a smoother performance, going 6 of 8 from the floor for 18 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace each chipped in 10 points off the bench.

Indiana was led by Bennedict Mathurin’s 24 bench points and 13 rebounds, while McConnell had 16. The starters didn’t have the momentum, as Siakam finished with just 16 points on 5 of 13 shooting in 37 minutes. Andrew Nembhard was the only other player in double figures with 15 points on 4 of 10 shooting.

Defense wins championships, and the key difference boiled down to the turnover differential. The Thunder had eight turnovers and conceded 10 points off them. Indiana coughed up the rock 23 points, allowing 32 Thunder points to come to fruition.

It’s a whopping tilt, especially given the 3-point numbers that have become ever so important in the modern game. The Thunder went 11 of 40 for a 27.5% rate, while Indiana shot 11 of 28 from deep for a 39.3% clip. Should Indiana have let it fly more in a do-or-die scenario?

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, 40, also won his first league title, exhibiting a steady five-year climb from being at the bottom of the Western Conference to the top of the NBA summit.

Both teams entered the series seeking their first ever NBA championships. Oklahoma City started the season with contending aspirations given its upward trajectory the last few years, with the last Finals appearance coming in 2012 — a loss to LeBron James and the Miami Heat with a core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

The Thunder do have a championship under their name from 1979, but that was when they were the Seattle Supersonics.

For Indiana, it also has just one other Finals appearance in its current history. That came in 2000 when the Pacers fell to a Los Angeles Lakers side anchored by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. Indiana’s core featured Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose, Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson.

Pacers fans and the entire organization and will now forever ponder the “What if?” of Haliburton staying healthy after how the game began.

Thunder claim first NBA championship with 103-91 Game 7 win vs. Pacers originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The NBA championship is headed to Oklahoma City for the first time ever.

In Game 7 of the NBA Finals Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder emerged victorious at home with a 103-91 win over the Indiana Pacers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took home the Finals MVP honors in the same season he won his first league MVP.

The excitement was palpable, given it was the first Game 7 in a final series since 2016 when the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame the Golden State Warriors.

But the good vibes were sucked out of the air at Paycom Center and behind TV screens at the five-minute mark of the first quarter.

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who entered the game with a calf strain suffered earlier in the series, went down with an Achilles injury and was later ruled out. He was visibly in tears and overcome with emotion after a blazing-hot start. His season ended with a lead on the biggest stage in basketball.

Without their franchise cornerstone, the Pacers needed to do the improbable. Indiana looked shaken after Haliburton left the court, but remained composed and actually went into overtime with a 48-47 advantage.

But the Thunder turned it around in the third quarter, showing much more determination and less nervy hands than the opening half. They opened to a nine-point lead before T.J. McConnell, Haliburton’s backup, singlehandedly took matters into his own hands.

McConnell’s run didn’t last long enough, however, as Oklahoma City then pushed to a double-digit cushion and led by 13 going into the fourth. The 33-year-old guard was responsible for his team’s last 12 points, with Pascal Siakam questionably on the bench.

The lead ballooned in favor of Oklahoma City in the early stages of the fourth to as much as 22. Indiana, which had a miraculous run of stunning comebacks victories in its journey to this stage, did not have one last complete turnaround in the tank despite trimming the gap.

Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 29 points. He struggled on 8 of 27 shooting, but went 11 of 12 from the foul line. Jalen Williams, who had a major 40-burger earlier in the series, added 20 points on 7 of 20 shooting.

Chet Holmgren turned in a smoother performance, going 6 of 8 from the floor for 18 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace each chipped in 10 points off the bench.

Indiana was led by Bennedict Mathurin’s 24 bench points and 13 rebounds, while McConnell had 16. The starters didn’t have the momentum, as Siakam finished with just 16 points on 5 of 13 shooting in 37 minutes. Andrew Nembhard was the only other player in double figures with 15 points on 4 of 10 shooting.

Defense wins championships, and the key difference boiled down to the turnover differential. The Thunder had eight turnovers and conceded 10 points off them. Indiana coughed up the rock 23 points, allowing 32 Thunder points to come to fruition.

It’s a whopping tilt, especially given the 3-point numbers that have become ever so important in the modern game. The Thunder went 11 of 40 for a 27.5% rate, while Indiana shot 11 of 28 from deep for a 39.3% clip. Should Indiana have let it fly more in a do-or-die scenario?

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, 40, also won his first league title, exhibiting a steady five-year climb from being at the bottom of the Western Conference to the top of the NBA summit.

Both teams entered the series seeking their first ever NBA championships. Oklahoma City started the season with contending aspirations given its upward trajectory the last few years, with the last Finals appearance coming in 2012 — a loss to LeBron James and the Miami Heat with a core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

The Thunder do have a championship under their name from 1979, but that was when they were the Seattle Supersonics.

For Indiana, it also has just one other Finals appearance in its current history. That came in 2000 when the Pacers fell to a Los Angeles Lakers side anchored by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. Indiana’s core featured Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose, Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson.

Pacers fans and the entire organization and will now forever ponder the “What if?” of Haliburton staying healthy after how the game began.