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I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right – Bennett Stirtz is definitely not one of the Big 3 prospects that the Jazz need to consider with their 2nd overall pick. However, players with Stirtz’s combination of ball handling, shooting versatility, and awareness don’t come around often, and deserve to be scouted in the event that the Jazz fall in love and decide to trade into the later half of the first round. You can count on the Iowa guard to consistently make the correct decisions, and he has the skills to then capitalize on the advantages he created. However, analyzing Stirtz is more complicated than the simple reading of his talents would indicate. His coach at Iowa, Ben McCollum, coached a style of play so unlike anything Stirtz will encounter at the next level, that it takes some real work to understand whether or not Stirtz will be able to provide anything close to his impressive collegiate production.

On The Surface

Team: Iowa Hawkeyes

Height: 6’2.5 (barefoot)

Weight: 186

Wingspan: 6’6

Age on draft day: 22.73

Counting Stats: 19.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG (0.3 ORPG), 4.4 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.2 BPG, 48/36/85 shooting splits

Strengths

What Stirtz is good at, he is really good at. His shooting provides a skill that he’ll be able to hang his hat on in the NBA, and his aptitude in this regard far exceeds the raw counting stats. While his near 40% clip from downtown in his junior year at Drake better represents the level of shooting prospect that Stirtz is, no stat can properly quantify the otherworldly touch Stirtz has on his shot. His attempts are often remarkably difficult – with very few other ballhandlers or offensive options on the team, a difficult Stirtz jumper was often the most efficient look for the Hawkeyes. His shot is stable in all sorts of circumstances – against type coverage, off of movement, or after a step-back, and a Stirtz look still feels like it’s going in. Due to the unique construction of the Iowa offense, Stirtz shot off-the-dribble jumpers at 97.4 percentile frequency, and somehow maintained elite efficiency despite that heavy offensive load: 83.7 percentile efficiency during his senior season. Simply put, if you need someone to take a shot at the end of the shot clock, Stirtz is one of the best choices in the class. Naturally, he’s even more efficient on catch-and-shoot shots – his efficiency in this play-type was in the 89.5th percentile. However, due to Iowa’s heavy dependance on their star guard, these shots were not a huge part of his offensive diet, with his frequency being in the 29.7th percentile. There isn’t a roster in the NBA that would rely on Stirtz to the same extent that Iowa did, so it’s easy to expect for his overally efficiency to increase as his difficult shot diet of off-the-dribble looks are replaced with his more effective catch-and-shoot opportunities.

However, even if Stirtz is used more off of the ball in the NBA, it would be a waste of his talents to not let him utilize perhaps his defining skill – in my opinion, Stirtz is the best pick-and-roll operator in this draft class. While he lacks the dynamic speed necessary to take advantage of switches, his understanding of angles, timing, and positioning combined with an exceptionally functional handle and his aforementioned shooting touch allowed him to spearhead consistent offensive production, even without high level offensive teammates. Once again, his assist numbers undersell his talent as a passer. While not outstanding in this regard, his vision and accuracy are sound and versatile – if a teammate becomes open as a result of his pick-and-roll probing, it’s likely that he will recognize this and capitalize. And, if he is the one that the defense sags off of, he is a threat to score from all 3 levels, with his rim finishing (70% efficiency) being perhaps his most underrated trait.

No matter the type of offense he is asked to participate in at the next level, Stirtz will be a solid contributor because he simply knows how basketball works. He moves instinctively off of the ball, he understands when to shoot, and he knows when to make the extra pass – basketball comes easy to Bennett, and so I struggle to see a world where Stirtz is not a key cog in a team that wins games. He’s a cerebral player, and that is evident in nearly every aspect of his game.

A smaller skill but an important one – Stirtz has my vote as the player with the most stamina in the draft class. This past season, he played 37.7 minutes per game, and for each of those minutes the entire opposing defense was honing in on him. He’s a true endurance runner, and I would be fascinated to see how that skill is utilized in the NBA where he won’t be playing every minute of every game as the only offensive option. A unimportant but fun fact; in conference play in 2024-2025, Stirtz pulled a Wilt Chamberlain and averaged 40.3 minutes per game, which is more than the amount of minutes in regulation – he literally never came off the court.

Weaknesses

With that offensive profile, we can be sure that it isn’t talent that is limiting Stirtz’s high-end upside. Unfortunately, Stirtz’s athleticism can sometimes impede his productivity on both ends of the court. He isn’t immobile or ground bound by any means, but he does lack the strength of a Darius Acuff, the vertical pop of a Mikel Brown, and the end-to-end speed of an Ebuka Okorie. While his shooting projection is solid, it’s worrying how much he had to rely on difficult jumpers. This is a symptom of lacking top-end speed or quickness – without being able to separate consistently from his defender, he is sometimes forced to settle for contested shots. He’s exceptionally skilled at those shots, but no one is so skilled as to make these shots more efficient than an open jumper or attempt at the rim. While I still have high hopes in his offensive projection, his highest-end upside is certainly constrained due to his lack of dominant physical traits.

This athleticism deficiency extends to the defensive end as well, although the analysis on his translation is once again made difficult due to his unique collegiate situation. He isn’t a glaring negative like Acuff was this year – he moves his feet well and knows where to be – but you wouldn’t mistake him for a defensive difference-maker either. He was often stationed on the least intimidating offensive option and recuperated in the corner while watching the action go on around him. However, in especially pivotal moments, he showcased some high level processing and quick hands. You would hope that once he reaches the NBA and shoulders a less all-encompassing offensive load that he would be able to maintain that higher-level defensive production, but expecting him to be anything more than a net-neutral in a playoff context is unrealistic.

While concerns about age are sometimes overblown – if a guy can play, he can play – it is worth mentioning that Stirtz is about 3 years older than many of his peers in the 2026 guard class. At this moment, I think Stirtz is a better basketball player than any non-Darry Peterson guard in the draft, and that he has accessible areas of improvement, but his overall room for growth is lower than some of his younger counterparts.

Conclusion/Fit on the Jazz

For all watching the playoffs, it is clear that the Jazz need additional ball-handlers. The Spurs and Thunders have an abundance of riches in regards to their stalwart perimeter defenders, and once the postseason comes around, those defenders are allowed to be more physical than ever. While a projected starting lineup of Keyonte, Peterson, Markkanen, Jackson Jr., and Kessler is intriguing for a number of reasons, that is a lot of playmaking burden resting on George’s shoulders – I would say that lineup features 2 good dribblers and 1 good passer, and it’s not like all of these high-level creators are sitting on the bench either. Bennett Stirtz would provide much needed offensive resilience for when the going gets tough, with his enviable combination of on-ball creation (likely relegated to his minutes with the bench) and off-ball savvy (more useful when playing alongside Keyonte or our pick at #2). Think of all of the strong off-ball options that the Jazz already have – they will be given so many more opportunities for success with another strong passer on the roster who can fit with the singular strong passer we already have (Keyonte George). No matter who we draft at 2 or pick up in free agency, our offense will be able to make room for Stirtz because he’s just good enough at everything. Need a pick-and-roll partner with Kessler? Stirtz is your guy. A movement shooter to capitalize off of Markkanen collapsing the defense? You can count on Bennett. A cog in the blender, or a late-shot clock creator, or a recipient of Nurkic’s top-of-the-key passes? While he won’t replicate the huge offensive usage of his time at Iowa, Stirtz can do all of these plays and more. He won’t be fixing any of our defensive issues on the perimeter, but with a more subdued offensive load and two huge safety nets in the paint, we can hope that he won’t be a complete sieve on that end. Stirtz is a player I would’ve been happy to take at 8 had the Jazz slipped in the lottery, but now could be an elite value play for the Jazz to make a move for in the later half of the first round.

Current Draft Projections (most recent big board/mock draft)

No Ceilings: 18

ESPN: 19

Bleacher Report: 21

CBS Sports: 18

ClutchPoints: 23

What would be some feasible ways to attain Bennett Stirtz? There are two options that immediately come to mind. There are reports that the Thunder are planning to wheel and deal with their 4 picks – they simply don’t have the roster spots to keep them all. Would they be interested in a future pick for #17, in the name of continuing to spread their wealth of assets into the future? Another team that comes to mind is the Detroit Pistons, currently sitting at #21. This seems to be near the back-end of Stirtz’s draft range, but if the Jazz feel like they can get their guy at this spot, I would suggest calling with an offer of their choice of bench piece (Svi and Filipowski in particular could be interesting to Detroit) along with a less-valuable draft pick than the one we would offer to OKC. If I were Detroit, I’d be happy to snatch up Stirtz myself, but after a disappointing postseason run as the #1 seed, I could see there being pressure coming from the top to shore up the rotation with win-now moves.

Is Stirtz a draft sleeper that you would want the Jazz to acquire? What are some trades you can put together to sneak the Jazz into the back-half of the first round? Let me know in the comments!

Charles Barkley didn’t even wait for the final buzzer to tear into the Cavaliers during their season-ending loss, which punched the Knicks’ ticket to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. 

The Cavaliers started off Monday’s elimination game strong before the Knicks overpowered them for over three quarters in what turned into a 130-93 loss for Cleveland at Rocket Arena.

The outcome seemed destined before halftime rolled around, and Barkley took the moment to rail on the Cleveland’s lack of effort. 

“Kids at home, if you want to see what the word quit means: to give up. The verb of that: CA-VA-LI-ERS,” he said on “Inside the NBA” at the half. “This is what you see… They were down 29. This is just effort here. This is just effort.” 

Chuck teaches the kids at home what the word 'quit' means pic.twitter.com/dLcblwyKxY

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 26, 2026

Barkley then had the producers play clips to highlight his point about the lack of effort from the Cavs. 

“How do you give up 23 fastbreak points in a half?” Barkley asked. “Players aren’t going to say they quit, but you know what shows? Their actions.

“Lisa [Salters] and Malika [Andrews] were talking about [Cavs players] saying they believe. Well, I believed they were going to get their ass whooped and that’s what’s going to happen.”

The “Inside the NBA” crew didn’t stop there either. 

After the loss, Kenny Smith said that he believed the Cavaliers “took a step backwards because it showed what you’re vulnerable to, to everyone else in the Eastern Conference.”

Smith added that the Cavaliers needed to change their offensive identity for Cleveland to take that step. 

"[The Cavs ] also took a step backwards because it showed what you're vulnerable to, to everyone else in the Eastern Conference."

Kenny Smith believes Cleveland needs to change their identity to be able to compete for a title pic.twitter.com/zOY1LbyBvU

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 26, 2026

The comment was in response to comments from Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson, who has taken plenty of criticism this series for not using timeouts in Game 1 as the Knicks mounted a historic comeback, and comments about how the Cavaliers were winning games in an analytical sense.

Knicks fans partied like it was 1999 on Monday night, punctuating a dominant run to the NBA Finals with a one-sided sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers that plunged the Big Apple into jubilant chaos.  

The win ended a 27-year dry spell since their last Finals appearance — and Knicks nation was quick to use the opportunity to make up for lost time.

“The city has been waiting for it since 1999. We’ve been through so many losses and the fans have always stuck close. It’s nice to finally be on the winning side,” Kevin Calle, a 30-year-old human resources manager from New Jersey, told The Post outside of Radio City’s watch party.

“It’s our time. The team is made up of a lot of underdogs. Let’s hope Manhattan makes it out alive tonight!”

While the scene at a Radio City remained under control, Madison Square Garden was plunged into a frenzy where thousands of revelers packed the streets immediately outside The Mecca.

FOLKS ARE GETTING ARRESTED pic.twitter.com/zAVOC7aR3A

— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) May 26, 2026

Some scaled lamp posts, while others used brooms to perform a ceremonial “sweep” and hoisted themselves onto elevated ledges.

Within an hour of the Knicks’ clinching win — a 37-point drubbing of the Cavs — fans were chanting, “f—k the World Cup!”

MetLife Stadium is set to host several World Cup matches in June and July.

Many in the mob weren’t alive to see the Knicks play the lat time they made the NBA Finals in 1999, when they lost to the San Antonio Spurs.

“It’s the New York summer. There’s a lot of things going on. The Yankees are doing well, but we got the New York Knicks taking it to the moon. Taking it to the moon!’ Juan Pablo Estupinan, 23, told The Post outside of MSG — while even younger fans crowd-surfed above him.

“We’re split in baseball, we’re split on football, but New Yorkers are united with the Knicks,” said Henry Hunt, 23, from New Jersey.

“The crowd is going nuts. We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

Knicks diehards who trekked to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4 threw their own party outside of Rocket Arena — turning it up right in front of despondent Cavs’s fans.

Knicks fans shutdown 8th Ave while celebrating sweep of Cavs to advance to the NBA Finals pic.twitter.com/xHXhekiYfp

— SHO’NUFF (@IAMSHO_NUFF) May 26, 2026

“It’s incredible. I’m on top of the world. There is no stopping the Knicks,” Tara Hochberg, 50, of Long Island, told The Post.

“We want Wemby,” Hochberg and dozens of others chanted, referencing Spurs superstar center Victor Wembanyama. And the same call echoed outside of The Garden as the Knicks await the winner of the Western Conference Finals between San Antonio and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Even Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who attended Game 2 in the nosebleed seats at MSG, got in on the action poking fun at the decisive win over Cleveland.

“NYC Sanitation, I’d like to report a sweep,” Hizzoner wrote on X.

Heroes and zeros from the Knicks’ 130-93 Game 4 win over the Cavaliers on Monday night in Cleveland:

Hero

Remember those questions after Game 1 about Karl-Anthony Towns struggling against Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley?

He dominated the Cavaliers big men over the last three games, and was at his best in the clincher, tallying 19 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

In his 26 minutes Monday night, the Knicks outscored Cleveland by 25 points. He also shot 50 percent from 3 (8-for-16) in the series.

Zero

Are the Cavaliers sure they want to pay free agent-to-be James Harden?

He was a mess in this series, and was again a major problem in the final game, limited to 12 points on 2-for-8 shooting.

He also committed five turnovers, and finished with 17 and a minus-55 rating in the four contests.

Unsung Hero

OG Anunoby is all the way back from that right hamstring strain. He threw down two ridiculous dunks that brought the many Knicks fans in attendance out of their seats.

The two-way wing finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Most importantly, he looks like his pre-injury self after a slow start in the Eastern Conference finals.

Key Stat

118: Knicks point differential in elimination games on the road against the Hawks, 76ers and Cavaliers.

Quote

“It’s a magical thing, it’s a historical thing. It’s something that New York has been dying for a long, long time. We’ll enjoy that plane ride, but once we get in those cars and go to our respective homes, it’s going to be back to business.” — Karl-Anthony Towns.

CLEVELAND — Mitchell Robinson has proved to be a survivor: of the Scott Perry regime; of Knicks teams that were not even pretenders, losing at least 45 games in three of his first four seasons in the NBA. 

Robinson was a building block when it started to turn around under team president Leon Rose and a key piece as the Knicks became legitimate contenders. 

Monday night, the longest-tenured Knick became part of the franchise’s first Eastern Conference championship team in 27 years. He experienced losing, and he was impactful enough to be around once it all turned. 

In the clincher, a 130-93 blowout of the Cavaliers, Robinson enjoyed his best game of the series: eight points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes. He’s a key piece to the improved bench from a year ago, a rim-protecting, rebounding machine. Robinson was a starter early in the season, but coach Mike Brown felt going with Josh Hart as a starter and bringing Robinson off the bench suited the team better. 

“Mitch can start for any team in the league — any team. And if he started, he might be first team all-defense and some other things, who knows?” Brown said.

“But this does not work if Mitch does not allow us to do that. If he doesn’t sacrifice himself and allows us to do that, because you’re talking about a starting center that you throw in the game maybe for 30 seconds sometimes, or two minutes, whatever it is, you pull them right back out. So it starts and ends with him, and him sacrificing himself for the team.”

This could be Robinson’s final year as a Knick. He is an unrestricted free agent. But before any of that, there is a title up for grabs. The Knicks are going to need Robinson in the next round, especially if there is a 1999 NBA Finals rematch against the Spurs. Victor Wembanyama could be waiting, and the Knicks could have an answer for the 7-foot-4 unicorn in the defensively gifted Robinson. 

The New York Knickerbockers are returning the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. Every Spurs fan remembers (or depending on your age, is familiar with) with those particular Finals.

The franchise has made four Finals appearances, but New York has not won a title since 1973.

They head into the 2026 Finals on a heater, completing the sweep of the Cavaliers last night in Cleveland.

Cleveland, who haven’t made it this far into the postseason since LeBron James moved to Hollywood, had been steadily improving since the pandemic bubble of 2020. In 2022, they brought in Donovan Mitchell and began producing winning records again. This season, they made a midseason trade for James Harden, finishing the season with the former MVP on a 20-9 run.

They landed forth in the Eastern Conference. After a seven game series against the Toronto Raptors, they faced the top seeded Detroit Pistons. They upset the Pistons in the seventh game blowout on Detroit’s home court.

Last night they suffered the second sweep that New York has dished out in these playoffs. The Knicks elimintaed the Hawks in six games in the first round of the playoffs before sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers.

James Harden has made the playoffs in each of his seventeen seasons, but has never hoisted the Larry O’Brien.

Jalen Brunson and company now await the winner of the Western Conference Finals. A Spurs match up reunites the two since the Spurs won the first of their five titles.

A Knicks/Spurs finals series also continues not having back-to-back champions, a trend since the Warriors last back-to-bcak in 2019.

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The Garden is shaking, the streets are buzzing and the wait is officially over.

For the first time in over two decades, the New York Knicks are Eastern Conference Champions.

It took sheer grit, the relentless motor of Josh Hart, the elite scoring of Karl-Anthony Towns and the absolute superstardom of Jalen Brunson to get the job done. But this run isn’t just about punching a ticket to the Finals; it’s about celebrating a squad that finally brought real, heavyweight basketball back to New York City (by way of Cleveland).

Now that the confetti has dropped and the Eastern Conference trophy has been hoisted, you need the gear to prove you were here for the ride.

The MVPs of merch, Fanatics, have officially launched the Knicks’ championship collection, and considering the hunger of this fanbase, inventory isn’t going to last long.

From the official Locker Room hats worn by the players during the celebration to exclusive autographed memorabilia, here is just the tip of the iceberg of the best Knicks Eastern Conference Champs gear to snag right now.

Looking for more — we got you.

Josh Hart New York Knicks Nike Unisex 2026 NBA Finals Patch Swingman Jersey – Icon Edition

Jalen Brunson New York Knicks Nike 2026 NBA Finals Patch Swingman Jersey – Icon Edition

Karl-Anthony Towns New York Knicks Nike 2026 NBA Finals Patch Swingman Jersey – Icon Edition

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New York Knicks Fanatics T-Shirt 2026 NBA Eastern Conference Champions

New York Knicks Fanatics 2026 NBA Eastern Conference Champions Hometown T-Shirt

New York Knicks WinCraft 2026 NBA Eastern Conference Champions Collector Pin

New York Knicks New Era 2026 NBA Eastern Conference Champions Locker Room 9FIFTY Snapback Hat

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