The May hiring seemingly came out of nowhere and a recent piece by The Athletic supports the notion of spontaneity. That said, there were underlying motivating factors, the right people in the right places and excellent timing that played big parts in May’s favorable response to the Mavericks.
The spontaneous ask
Mavericks’ GM, Mike Schmitz — himself a new hire in the organization overhaul — has a history with Dusty May, so it was not at all unusual for him to dial the coach’s phone on the morning of May 24. The purpose of the call was to inquire about the various Michigan players who would be available in the NBA Draft taking place just a month from when the call took place – one of whom, Morez Johnson, Jr., was of course selected by Dallas with their 9th pick. During that call, Schmitz took his shot. He asked May if he would be interested in the coaching vacancy in Dallas. May suggested he always had the desire to coach in the NBA, but fully anticipated he would pick up where he left off as the Michigan head coach next season. Then things changed.
What moved the needle for May?
Fresh off the NCAA spring meetings at the time of Schmitz’s call, May recognized there were certain things about the college game that are here to stay, for better or worse. May cited a frustration with the NCAA requiring coaches to partake in fundraising and other non-coaching obligations.
“I just spent so much more of my time doing everything but coaching,”
This notion speaks volumes. May, a well-regarded, well paid NCAA coach at the very top of the game, still found some measure of dissatisfaction with his situation. Why? He was being distracted from what he wanted to do most – coach.
This is extremely good news for Mavericks’ fans who are about to embark on the adventure of a youth movement. May is a player’s coach. One who desires to mentor and develop young players, which the Mavericks are rife with.
May further realized he may not get another opportunity like he could have with Dallas. Coaching Cooper Flagg and teaming up with a longtime friend in Schmitz were major boons, as was the leadership of new team President Masai Ujiri.
“You have to really believe and trust in who’s deciding the team for you.”
May seemingly enjoyed building his own team in Michigan – effectively serving as de facto GM. That scenario would not be a viable option in Dallas. However, with Schmitz and Ujiri running the decision-making show for the team, May was confident he would have the team he needed despite not having final say on the roster.
Once again, this is reason for Mavericks’ fans to feel good. Think what you will of Ujiri and Schmitz at this point, but their names alone build confidence in the world of basketball. May had an inherent trust in the pair – one because of a shared history and the other because of a successful resume. The Mavericks have two legitimate basketball professionals running the organization, something they haven’t had in nearly three decades.
Don’t ask, don’t get
The subtext of how all of this played out is intriguing, and in some ways, ironic. Just a few years ago, Mark Cuban thought wise to hire Nico Harrison largely based on his relationship with players. On the surface, it wasn’t necessary the worst approach, despite now knowing the colossal failure it quickly became. Now, without the glitz and glam of a former Nike executive, Dallas has a President and GM working in tandem, using their own relationships to make moves.
To be clear, this story is not about Nico Harrison, the tumultuous recent past or anything of that era. However, juxtaposing that with the current state of affairs is important. The fact that the unassuming Schmitz and Ujiri have contacts of their own, longstanding basketball pedigree and the ability to close a deal that gets the Mavericks the top college coach for their young team, are important factors in what the front office is capable of doing. Schmitz made a call with a single purpose and ended up getting the Mavericks a new head coach simply by asking the question and letting his relationships and history do the rest.
I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.
Bangladesh has furthered the pressure on Australia in the Top End Test in Darwin with a superb batting display and will seek to complete a massive upset over world’s top ranked Test team over the next three days in the Northern Territory capital.
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 24: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics talks to the media after the game against the Philadelphia 76ers during Round One Game Three of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on April 24, 2026 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
To some, the NBA regular season schedule release isn’t very notable. Everyone plays everyone and we just find out when they play. However, I love it and wanted to give some takeaways to it.
1. Jaylen Brown’s return
I was surprised that Jaylen Brown’s return to Boston was not on Christmas and I was even more surprised that it was just on a random Thursday that will be televised on Amazon Prime on the 2nd night of a back-to-back for the Celtics. Clearly, the NBA just did not value that game as much as Celtics fans and a lot of other people who follow the NBA thought they would.
It doesn’t change how emotional that night is going to be for Celtics fans though. Jaylen Brown is a Celtics legend who many thought would retire a Celtic. Instead, he now plays for one of Boston’s biggest rivals and will be out for blood trying to prove that Boston made a bad decision.
2. A lot of back-to-backs
It is not entirely clear on how many back-to-backs the Celtics will play this year.
I count 16 back-to-backs for the Celtics next season.
For what it is worth, my count was 16, which would be tied for the most in the league and, as Daniel Donabedian noted, the most back-to-backs the Celtics have had since 2016-17.
As Sean Grande notes, the Celtics might have a few guys who don’t play in back to backs this season. New center Mitchell Robinson is one example, as he did not play in such games for the Knicks last season.
3. A lot of national TV games in February and early March
From February 2nd to March 14th, the Celtics will play 19 games, 12 of those games will be on national TV.
Boston will play in 27 national TV games this season, meaning 15 of the remaining 63 games are scheduled to be nationally televised. If you take out the first two Celtics games, 13 of 61 games will be on national TV.
Yes, the Celtics are tied for 8th in the league in that category. However, almost half of the games come over a 19-game stretch (which makes sense as the NBA loads up on national TV games between the end of football and beginning of March Madness).
4. A long homestand followedby a long road tripthen another homestand
On December 14th, the Celtics tip off a 7-game, 15-day homestand against the Washington Wizards that caps off against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Then, on December 30th they start a 6-game, 11-day west coast road trip that starts in Chicago against the Bulls and ends in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
After they come home, Boston will play 9 out of 10 games at TD Garden with only a trip to the nation’s capital as their lone road game over that stretch to play against the Wizards.
This is all after a November in which they play 12 of 16 games on the road.
It is a weird scheduling quirk and one that we haven’t seen a lot over the past fews years for Boston. One thing is clear: there are a lot of long road trips and long homestands for the Celtics this season.
5. Atough close to the season
Of the Celtics final 7 games of the season, 4 will come against teams that were in the playoffs last season (that doesn’t include games against the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat, who are widely expected to return to the playoffs after missing them last season). Five of the 7 games will also come on the road.
Over their last 7 games, Boston will play at the Pacers, at the Cavs, home against the Heat on a back-to-back, at the Knicks, at the Magic, at the Hawks and they close the regular season home against the Bucks.
If the Celtics are in a tight playoff race as the regular season comes to an end, it will be a grind for them to get the highest seed possible. On the other hand, this could represent a good test for Boston as they get ready for the playoffs.
Australia’s batters have a massive rescue mission ahead of them as their Bangladesh counterparts dominated on a historic day two of the first Test in Darwin.
SAN ANTONIO - MARCH 19: Gregg Popovich, Head Coach of the San Antonio Spurs talks with Don Nelson, Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors prior to the game on March 19, 2010 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2010 NBAE (Photo by D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
This post is going to be short and sweet. Here’s the video of Gregg Popovich speaking at Don Nelson’s funeral on Thursday in Dallas. It speaks for itself:
Pop looks and sounds as if he continues to progress in his recovery. Really great words. It was 100% Pop, classic, and still classy given the the depth of the event.
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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 03: Hendrix Lapierre #29 of the Washington Capitals looks on during the second period of a game against the Utah Mammoth at Capital One Arena on March 03, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
PensBurgh’s 2026 edition of the Top 25 Under 25 countdown rolls on with Hendrix Lapierre, a 24-year-old forward who gets a fresh start with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the hopes he can blossom the way a few other young players have in recent seasons.
The Penguins offseason began with the trade for Lapierre, bringing him over from the Washington Capitals for third-and fifth-round draft picks.
After being a first-round pick by the Capitals (No. 22 overall in 2020), Lapierre spent the first six years of his career in the Capitals organization and produced some mixed results. He made his initial NHL debut late in the 2021-22 season by appearing in six games, and then spent the next few years split between the Capitals and the American Hockey League.
The 2025-26 season was his first full year in the NHL, appearing in 74 games and scoring just four goals with 12 assists. He did not score his first goal of the season until Jan. 23, ending what had been a shocking 90-game regular season goal-scoring drought that stretched all the way back to March 18, 2024. It’s really difficult to be an NHL player and go 90 consecutive games without scoring a single game, and it is a frustrating combination of bad luck and some overall struggles.
But while the offense has not always been there at the NHL level for Lapierre in the form of actual goal-production, he has still managed to make himself useful, especially when it comes to his defensive play. That was especially the case during the 2025-26 season when he had some of the best defensive metrics on the entire Capitals roster among the team’s forwards.
Of the 12 Capitals forwards that logged at least 500 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time, Lapierre had the following ranks defensively:
Expected goals against per 60: 2.43 (first)
Scoring chances against per 60: 23.8 (first)
High-danger scoring chances against per 60: 9.31 (first)
He did have some of the more favorable offensive zone start numbers on the roster (51 percent, which was the fourth-highest on the roster), but the play generally went in the right direction when he was on the ice. The Capitals out-chanced, out-shot and out-scored their opponents with him on the ice. And while the offensive zone start numbers were somewhat favorable, it’s not like he was playing alongside the Capitals’ best offensive players.
His most common linemates throughout the course of the season were the likes of Brandon Duhaime, Ethan Frank and Sonny Milano. That is very much a depth role, and he mostly played it well despite the lack of offense.
It creates an interesting situation for him as it relates to the Penguins going in to the 2026-27 season.
On one hand, the Penguins are already overloaded at the forward position, to the point where a player like Justin Brazeau, who scored 17 goals a year ago, is going to have a hard time finding a spot in the lineup, let alone returning young players like Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty.
But the Penguins are also looking to improve their overall defensive play, and that isn’t just going to come from changes on their defense pairings (where half of the lineup has already been overhauled this offseason with Kaedan Korczak, Declan Carlile and Trevor van Riemsdyk all coming in). It also has to come from their forward play, and given what Lapierre showed in his first full season with the Capitals, he can potentially help improve that a lot in a depth role. Especially following the offseason departure of Noel Accairi and his free agent signing with the Philadelphia Flyers.
He also fits the mold of the type of player the Penguins have been targeting over the past year-plus: Early-to-mid-20s, at one time a top prospect, some success at the NHL level, even in a limited role, and probably needing a fresh start and change of scenery somewhere else. They have had some success with those moves.
The question now becomes whether or not Lapierre can win a roster spot in a deep forward competition, and whether or not there is more offensive upside to his game.
At the very least he has a chance to be an effective bottom-six player and defensive forward. If he can add some more offense to that the Penguins will have found themselves another good player.
BOSTON, MA - 1968: Bailey Howell #18 of the Boston Celtics shoots the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers circa 1968 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1968 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
NBA history spans 80 seasons, and as CelticsBlog readers well know, the Boston Celtics have won a league-high 18 championships. This month, we are recapping each of those title years.
“Boston is dead! Boston is dead !”
The winning streak ended in 1967. The eight-peat would not be extended. It seemed like the Philadelphia 76ers had emphatically ended the Boston dynasty – but in 1968 the Celtics would have something to say about that.
Red Auerbach had retired from coaching after the 1966 championship and was succeeded by Bill Russell, who took on the role of player-coach. That dual responsibility is unheard of today, but it wasn’t uncommon in the first three decades of the NBA. The league has seen 40 player-coaches, the last one being – fun fact – the Celtics’ Dave Cowens, who had a 27-41 record after coach Satch Sanders was fired a month into the 1978-79 season.
“We’re only dead until October.”
John Havlicek
During 1966-67, Boston and Philly were two giants at the top. The Celtics posted a 60-21 record, which in most years would lead the league, but the 76ers set a league record at 68-13.
Boston beat New York 3-1 in the first-round best-of-five series, then faced Philly, which had surrounded Wilt Chamberlain with the best supporting cast of his career. The Celtics had won the season series, 5-4, but the inspired Sixers took a 3-0 lead in their playoff matchup. Celtics pride delivered a Game 4 win, but Game 5 in Philly let loose emotions that had been building for a decade. The Sixers ran wild, 140-116, and the crowd chanted “Boston is dead!”
John Havlicek’s response: “We’re only dead until October.”
The 1967-68 regular season
Coaching presented a learning curve for Bill Russell, especially as he had no assistant coach (no team did at that time). Fortunately, his roster was filled with veteran players who could help out while Russell was on the court (which he was for roughly 40 minutes per game). Besides all that, Russell was trying to fill the shoes of the most successful coach in basketball, and perhaps all of sports.
Now with one season under his belt, Russell looked to start winning again in 1967-68. There had been some roster changes.
Russell’s longtime teammate, K.C. Jones, had retired – one of the few Celtics to do so without a ring. But K.C. did have the distinction of being the first player to win as many as eight titles without a loss (Havlicek and Sanders would eventually match that 8-0 mark).
A still-new Celtic was Bailey Howell, a seven-year veteran acquired the year before for seven-footer Mel Counts. Howell was a 6-foot-7 forward who’d played with Detroit and Baltimore (now the Washington Wizards), a six-time All-Star, strong rebounder and dependable scorer who rarely missed a game. This turned out to be one of Auerbach’s best-ever deals.
Another new man was Wayne “The Wall” Embry, also called “Wide Wayne” by radio announcer Johnny Most. Embry was a five-time All-Star in Cincinnati who could set a mean pick and was perfect for the backup center role. A third-round pick was all the Celtics gave up in the deal.
The roster was a good mix of young veterans and older guys. They started the season winning nine of their first 10 and finished 54-28 for second place in the East, eight games behind the Sixers.
Eastern playoffs
This was all that mattered this season: the chance to prove they weren’t done. Boston took on the Detroit Pistons in round one and managed to lose Game 3 at home, falling behind 2-1. Detroit was led by Dave Bing, who’d been Rookie of the Year in 1967, and now was the league scoring leader.
Coach Russell adjusted by moving John Havlicek from sixth man to the starting five, which helped Boston close out the series with three straight wins. Hondo scored 35 in Game 4 on the road, and the Celtics blew the game open with an 80-50 second-half margin. Bailey Howell had 30 points in Game 5 and Havlicek 31 in Game 6 to wrap it up.
Now for the Sixers, who were without injured starting forward Billy Cunningham. Game 1 was played the night after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. The teams were offered the opportunity to delay the series for a period of mourning. They decided to play the first game, then pause for five days. Understandably, their minds and hearts weren’t totally involved in Game 1, but Havlicek had 35 and Sam Jones 28 as Boston made a nine-point halftime lead stand up, 127-118.
Philly regrouped and won the next three games, two of them in Boston. Veteran guard Hal Greer led all scorers with 31 and 28 points in Games 3 and 4, respectively. The situation stoked fears that the Celtics were headed for a repeat of last year. Moreover, no NBA team had come back from a 3-1 deficit.
<p>Bill Russell of the Celtics shoots against Wilt Chamberlain (No. 13) of the 76ers during a game played in 1968 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Copyright 1968 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> | NBAE via Getty Images
The Game 5 crowd at Philadelphia was ready to bury Boston again, but Sam Jones wasn’t giving up. His vintage 37-point performance kept the Celts alive, 122-104. Havlicek joined him with a near triple-double, 29/9/10. Boston pulled away in the second half after trailing by one at halftime. In Game 6, Greer was on fire with 40 points, but his teammate Chamberlain was not, shooting 6 of 21 from the field and 8 of 22 at the line. Havlicek, Howell and Jones combined for 70 points in Boston’s 114-106 win, and the series was 3-3.
Game 7 in Philly was close much of the way, with Boston protecting a small lead into the fourth quarter. Guard Wally Jones rallied the Sixers to within four, and later big forward Luke Jackson scored to put them ahead by two with eight minutes left. Havlicek led the Celtics on a 14-7 run over the next five minutes, restoring their lead at 93-88. The Sixers fought back to within three, but in the final seconds Russell blocked forward Chet Walker’s layup. Boston had pulled off the upset, 100-96, and the first-ever comeback from down 3-1.
Boston shot 47.6% from the floor in Game 7 while holding the Sixers to 35.2%. Jones led the Celtics with 22 points while Russell posted 12 points, 26 boards, 5 assists and, according to the Boston Globe game report, unofficially 10 blocks.
Russell said it was the most satisfying victory of his career. Satch Sanders revealed that the pick-and-roll play was the catalyst for the comeback from 3-1.
“We kept running it over and over, again and again…. and Philadelphia just couldn’t deal with it…It forced Wilt into a switching situation and he sort of refused. And when he did switch, he had problems with Sam or Havlicek.”
Chamberlain’s stats were mystifying: 14 points, 4 of 9 field goals, 6 of 15 free throws. He attempted just two shots in the second half. After averaging 24 points in the regular season, that lack of aggression plus missing nine free throws in a four-point loss just didn’t cut it.
In the end, the Celtics were the opposite of dead. They had risen and were heading back to the NBA Finals to meet the Los Angeles Lakers for the sixth time.
NBA Finals
The Celtics were worn down after the Sixers series, and the Lakers were rested, not having the drama in the West that the Cs had in the East. There was a risk of letdown for Boston, as well. Nevertheless, Boston won Game 1 on the parquet, 107-101. The Celtics had a 59-40 second half after trailing at halftime. Then the Lakers, as they always seemed to do in the Finals, regrouped and won Game 2. But the Celtics, as was their habit, won Game 3 in LA and went home tied 2-2.
Turning point
Most of the pivotal Game 5 looked good for the Celtics, who compiled a 30-18 margin in the third quarter and led by 14 with one quarter to go. However, LA rallied to tie, forcing overtime. With 56 seconds left in the OT, Havlicek hit a corner jumper for a two-point lead. Next, Elgin Baylor drove to the rim looking for the tying hoop and got a good look over Don Nelson, but Russell brought the help defense and swatted the shot away.
A Nelson free throw pushed the lead to three. LA was unable to score again and Boston had a 3-2 series lead.
It wasn’t over until…
The Celtics were determined to avoid a Game 7. They made that clear by winning the Game 6 first half, 70-50. The Lakers had no answer.
The heroes we needed
Havlicek was now a full-fledged All-NBA star. He scored a massive 40 points in the closeout Game 6 and for the series led Boston in scoring (27.3) and assists (6.7) per game.
Bailey Howell scored 30 in Game 6. He averaged 21.0 points during the series, second behind Havlicek.
Don Nelson was the hero of Game 5, scoring 26 on 11 of 20 shooting with 12 rebounds and four assists in 43 minutes.
Notable facts and stats
Russell became the first black coach to win a championship.
Boston closed out all three series on the road.
Reserve guard Tom Thacker won a ring this season with Boston. He already had won an NCAA title with the University of Cincinnati, and when he was on the 1968 ABA champion Indiana Pacers, he became he answer to a trivia question.
Howell was acquired in a straight-up trade for Mel Counts, who was now the Lakers’ center.
Nelson was signed by Boston after the Lakers had cut him three years before.
In summary
The Boston Celtics dynasty was revived and flourishing, with 10 banners. Bill Russell got the player-coach job done on both fronts, including playing and winning a Game 7 on the road for the first time. Celtics pride helped them persevere and win against enormous odds. And the Sixers, who a year ago some were calling the greatest team ever, learned how difficult it was to repeat.
Banner Years continues Monday with a review of the 1968-69 season and the road to winning Banner 11.
No, seriously. Russell Westbrook played one season with the Houston Rockets. So why does he feel like such an integral part of their recent past?
There are likely a few reasons. Westbrook leaves a huge impression. It was also, at times (for reasons that were largely not his fault), painful to watch. Perhaps most importantly, his lone 2019-20 season as a Rocket was the final, dying gasp of the James Harden era.
But James Harden didn’t retire (as of this writing) yesterday. Russell Westbrook did. When The Beard’s time comes, expect me to publish a piece that largely amounts to “waaaaaaaa”.
My feelings on Westbrook are, probably much the same as a lot of readers, more complicated. My best friends know not to bring up the 2015-16 MVP race around me unless they’re in the mood for a diatribe. In what world is an extra rebound and a half more important than 10 wins? So if the Rockets had schemed for Harden to get rebounds just a bit more often, he averages the forever arbitrary triple-double and gets his MVP?
Ugh. Blarg, even. Let’s move on. For all of his flaws, Westbrook was a transcendent talent.
That’s the point here.
Westbrook was a force with the Rockets
Let it be said that the trade Daryl Morey made to acquire Westbrook could be the first case study in a textbook called “How to not Make an NBA Trade”.
That’s not Westbrook’s fault – that’s Morey’s fault. When he retires, I’ll write a piece about how he meticulously and brilliantly crafted one of the best teams in the NBA only to knock it over like a petulant child who’d grown tired of playing with a sand castle.
The most egregiously horrendous part of the deal was attaching draft capital to flip Chris Paul for Westbrook. The other issue was that Westbrook couldn’t play alongside Clint Capela, which led to the Rockets’ infamous micro-ball experiment.
When they drew the Lakers in the second round of the 2019-20 postseason, we all knew it was over, whether we were willing to admit it or not. It just made clear, intuitive sense. The Lakers started two guys who were 7’0″ tall. Beating them with zero players over 6’7″ was perhaps literally impossible.
Somewhere in the annals of The Dream Shake, I wrote a piece about how I wish the Rockets had, instead of blowing it up and trading Westbrook for John Wall, gone out and got Marc Gasol, or Dewayne Dedmon, or even Paul Millsap the following summer. The same iteration of the team with a stretch big could have made a real title run in 2020-21. What can you do?
We are now 461 words into this article, and precious little has been done to commemorate Russell Westbrook. Again, this is a player with a complicated legacy.
Overcomplicated, even.
February, 2020. Capela is gone, Robert Covington is in. P.J. Tucker is officially the shortest man to ever start at the 5 in the NBA. Westbrook averages 33.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game while shooting 54.9% from the field.
We’re too smart in 2026, or at least too knowledgeable. There is always context. Westbrook had limitations that made winning games more difficult than his counting stats suggest.
Yet, there has to be some breaking point where raw statistical output outweighs everything. Westbrook spent his entire career breaking that point. Say what you want about his approach, playstyle, limitations – the man is averaging 30, 10, and 10.
The man was a human singularity. An iconoclast. He was going to do it his way:
And honestly, for the most part, it worked.
It wasn’t Westbrook’s fault that Tucker was 6’5″ (which, to be clear, is not Tucker’s fault either). It’s not even fair to say it’s his fault that he couldn’t shoot. If you’re questioning Westbrook’s work ethic, you’re asking the wrong questions. It is a skill that he tried and failed to hone.
It’s a curse that befalls all superstar zero-time NBA champions. Their legacy is relitigated into the ground. There will be many think pieces about why Westbrook couldn’t get over the hump.
Let’s not forget that getting over the hump requires extraordinary luck. Westbrook is an NBA Finalist. He went to the Conference Finals three times. That’s a lot of winning for a losing player.
Full disclosure: This is not one of my favorite players in NBA history. If anything, this is a man who, to no fault of his own, potentially damaged the career of one of my favorite players in NBA history. Still, we should all remember Westbrook for what he was: One of the most unique talents in NBA history.
It didn’t take more than a season of Rockets basketball to see that.
Everybody is hoping for a healthy Steph Curry on Christmas against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. Curry is the sole reason the Warriors are slated to appear on Christmas for a 14th consecutive year. He’s why the Warriors even have 28 national games in the 2026-27 NBA season, down from 34 last season.
The bigger gamble is a healthy and close to full-strength Curry in the Warriors’ one game at Madison Square Garden this season. The game against the New York Knicks falls on a Saturday night, 5:30 p.m. PT on Feb. 13 at The Mecca. Those few details alone are an appointment for must-see TV and a list of top celebrities sitting along the sidelines.
It’s also the sixth and final game of a Warriors road trip that begins in LA and ends across the country in New York. The Warriors play the LA Clippers, Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics and the Knicks, in that order. Fortunately for them, the trip only features one back-to-back when the Warriors play in Chicago on a Tuesday night and Boston on a Wednesday night.
Their game in New York against the Knicks isn’t until that Saturday night, giving Curry and the Warriors two full days off in between. The date and the game hold a much different significance for Golden State than Steph’s yearly showcase under the MSG spotlight.
Why? Because it’s the Warriors’ first game after the Feb. 11 trade deadline.
“We have multiple ways to get better during the season, which is something we’ve done the last few years,” Dunleavy said Tuesday during a video press conference with local media. “Whether it’s adding [Jimmy] Butler, adding [Kristaps] Porzingis, you can go as far back as adding Andrew Wiggins. I’d say we’re pretty good about improving our team in the middle of the year.
“The most important thing right now is we got to get off to a good start. We can’t get in a hole because of the guys that we have out. So we’re gonna have to do some lifting early on to hold down the fort, and then after that, I feel pretty good about our ability. If we need to get better by adding talent, we can and we will.”
Dunleavy is in his third season as Warriors GM. He had a quiet trade deadline his first year when the Warriors were a .500 team at the time and shipped Cory Joseph to the Indiana Pacers for a second-round draft pick. Dunleavy then went star hunting his second year and wound up with Butler in a trade with the Miami Heat. With Curry and Butler both hurt, Dunleavy last season sent Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks for Porzingis.
After playing in 15 games for the Warriors last season, plus the two play-in tournament games, Porzingis returned this offseason on a two-year, $40 million extension. The Warriors brought back Draymond Green, De’Anthony Melton, Al Horford and Gary Payton II. They’re the only team that hasn’t added any talent outside of the draft, with two current open spots on their 15-man roster.
But that isn’t how the Warriors see it.
“If people see us as running back a 37-win team, I would say we’ve added to that team from the way it started last year with a player like Porzingis,” Dunleavy said. “And then most importantly, we get into the season and we see how our guys come back from injuries like Moses [Moody] and Jimmy.”
The Warriors see Porzingis as identical to an offseason addition, and with the highest upside talent at center on the free agent market outside of Detroit Pistons restricted free agent Jalen Duren. They see Horford as someone who can have a much more normal offseason, working with the training staff and being more available at the start of the season. They see Melton as someone who finally gets to enjoy a healthy summer and is a better fit next to Curry than, say, Anfernee Simons.
They see rookie Yaxel Lenedeborg as a Day 1 starter who can help fill the shoes of Butler and Moody as well as anybody else, especially when it comes to the Warriors’ financial strains.
And yes, the Warriors are going to consider Butler and Moody as in-season additions, even as they face uphill battles coming back from injury.
Between Butler and Green, the Warriors have more than $84.5 million in expiring contracts alone right there. Porzingis has a $20 million player option for the 2027-28 season, but only $3 million is guaranteed until July 7, 2027. The Warriors’ books are being cleared for next summer, yet Dunleavy already is hinting at being players during this upcoming season’s trade deadline.
“If you just look at our books, our assets, all that stuff, we’ve got a lot of ways to entice teams and make things available and worthwhile for them to do a trade with us,” Dunleavy said. “So for those reasons, I feel pretty confident that if we have to improve the roster in the middle of the season we can.”
Looking at the Warriors’ assets, they own their first-round pick in each of the next three years. It belongs to them in 2030 if the pick falls between Nos. 1 and 20, but goes to the Memphis Grizzlies if it’s between Nos. 21 and 30. They then again own their first-round pick in 2031, 2032 and 2033.
Dunleavy says the Warriors have been “super aggressive” in years past, whether it be the offseason or going into the trade deadline. But the Warriors have been holding onto first-round draft picks as if they’re a delicate baby. You’d have to go all the way back to the summer of 2013 to find a time when the Warriors sent two or more first-round picks out in a trade. That brought them Andre Iguodala.
Butler didn’t involve multiple first-round picks. Neither did Wiggins. Most recently, the Warriors have balked at using two or more first-round picks on players like Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard, two aging stars who have their own injury concerns.
The Warriors were 25-24 when they traded for Butler in 2025. Last season, they were 27-24 when they traded for Porzingis. What kind of team will they be when the trade deadline comes around this season?
A total of 53 games will have been played by then. The Warriors will have gone on the road for 27 games and stayed back at home for 26, without including games from the results of the NBA Cup. Those first 53 games going into the trade deadline also include 10 back-to-backs, with two to go in the final 27 games.
The team the Warriors have put together for the season opener has never been how they look coming out of the trade deadline under Dunleavy. Internally, the Warriors don’t view themselves as running it back. Externally, they’re already touting their ability to look different a few months from now.
“If this was the in-season cup that we were solely focused on, yeah, we probably have a different roster right now,” Dunleavy said. “We’d be getting ready for a sprint, but it’s a marathon, and we have a season to get through, and we have the ability to improve our team not only in the offseason but throughout the season. And so that’s something I keep in mind and don’t feel like hey, we have to have our team set come October 21.
“The best version of our team is the most important version. It has to be in April, May and hopefully June.”
That is, as long as the Warriors can first make it through October, November, December and so on, a problem they’re again trying to reverse.
First Test, day two: Australia 198; Bangladesh 351 for 6 in Darwin
Opener hits maiden Test century as tourists build 153-run lead
A maiden Test century by Tanzid Hasan has given Bangladesh a 153-run lead against an Australian side that were forced to use eight bowlers in Darwin.
In just his second Test match, the 25-year-old left-hander’s brilliant 101 put the Tigers in position to push for what would be their greatest win in long-form cricket.
Australia’s torrid start to the first Test against Bangladesh continued to begin the second day in Darwin, with the unfancied tourists powering towards a big first innings lead.
Lincoln’s joint head coaches, Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen, hope Championship rivals underestimate ‘amazing squad’
The last thing the Championship needs is another spying scandal, so when a lorry emblazoned with KGB parked up alongside Lincoln City’s training ground on Tuesday lunchtime there was laughter as staff pondered whether the Soviet Union was examining their set pieces. It shows the relaxed atmosphere at one of the second tier’s newest clubs, one that has had a summer of change yet maintained continuity by appointing joint head coaches.
Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen have replaced Michael Skubala, who led the Imps to 103 points and promotion back to this level after 65 years away before leaving for Bristol City. It was a symbiotic appointment because while the former assistants were devising a sales pitch to the club’s hierarchy, the wheels were already in motion to promote from within. Their plan is to banish English football’s memories of Liverpool’s ill-fated pairing of Roy Evans and Gérard Houllier. The duo are doing final preparations for Saturday’s season opener at the Riverside against Middlesbrough, who have spent more than £20m on summer signings – Lincoln have spent a quarter of that across their 142-year history, indicating the task ahead.
