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The Washington Wizards have the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. That is a huge morale boost for the fans. And yet … the organization is willing to make moves with that pick, including trading down that very pick, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report and The Stein Line.

It’s important to note that it is very rare for a team that has a No. 1 overall pick traded before he plays for that team. But it has happened twice in relatively recent memory.

The last such case was in 2017 when the Philadelphia 76ers acquired the No. 1 pick to select Markelle Fultz from the Boston Celtics who received the No. 3 pick to select Jayson Tatum. Fultz ultimately bounced between multiple teams while Tatum became Boston’s franchise player and led the Celtics to a championship in 2024.

Also, in 2014, the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted Andrew Wiggins of Kansas No. 1 overall before trading him in a package for Kevin Love. The move ultimately worked out for the Cavaliers who would go on to win the NBA championship two years later. Even for Wiggins, he had a strong start to his NBA career for the Timberwolves. Wiggins ultimately became an All-Star in 2022 for the Golden State Warriors, as well as an NBA champion.

Again, it’s very rare for a team to trade the No. 1 pick away, whether before the draft or soon after. And anything Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger said about “considering” trading down from the No. 1 pick? Well, any sound front-office executive will say that to maintain maximum leverage.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

What a game! I kind of inexplicably blacked out 12 minutes into the game and gained consciousness a few moments later to watch the rest of the entertaining wrestling match/basketball game trying to piece together what happened like in the movie Memento. You, fellow readers, get the pleasure of going with me on this journey to find the truth.

The first truth we find is that De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper led the team with 24 points apiece, and both guards’ hands were busy with 3 steals each to match the aggressive defense played on both sides. Fox justified his previous “Clutch Player of the Year” award by making timely plays down the stretch for the good guys while Harper justified being the number two overall pick by making professional play after professional play.

Take a good look at this highlight below because it’ll be the last time you’ll get to see these! For this game at least, let’s keep our fingers crossed.

If you’re a fan of Arrested Development, you’ll get this reference. If you’re not a fan of Arrested Development, I don’t know what to say—I can only bring so much culture into your life. Victor Wembanyama’s plus/minus was -1 tonight in 12 minutes of play on the floor. He managed 4 points, 4 rebounds, and one assist in those 12 minutes.

What gives? It’s like he really is an alien and the mother ship suddenly came down and plucked him from the court while blasting disco music like Gonzo’s alien family did in Muppets from Space. Even the official San Antonio Spurs Twitter account is missing a whole chunk of highlights of the first quarter after this assist from De’Aaron Fox to Wembanyama. The mystery thickens!

Other than this highlight of Dylan Harper with the beautiful subtle ball fake and step through, there’s no other highlight (evidence) of the entire 1st quarter, whether of Wembanyama or anything Spursy. I had the game on mute so I could only assume that after Wembanyama’s sudden disappearance the Spurs were also shocked but tried to keep it close—closing out the mystery quarter down 4 to the Timberwolves.

I scanned the sidelines and even peaked into the raucous crowd but could not find a trace of the man in the jersey stitched with the number “1.” I asked my two colleagues in the living room with me if they had seen the 7-foot Frenchman that abruptly vanished from our television screen earlier. I was only met with “Huh? Why are you talking to me in a weird Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes British accent?” and “Can I go to bed *after* I finish watching Finding Nemo”? (Note: Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and anyone who’s a mom to someone!)

That being said, Carter Bryant surely made his mother proud with this easy dunk off the pretty ball movement from Harper to Julian Champagnie, who found Bryant open under the basket.

Somewhat similar to Game 2 against the Portland Trail Blazers when the boys unexpectedly lost Wembanyama early in the game, it seemed to take the air out of their sails. For this game, they seemed just a bit better equipped to deal with the cards dealt. Luke Kornet, for one, stepped up and played 26 solid minutes of clean the glass, put all the put backs back, and blocked or altered all the shots.

I think Stephon Castle felt what I felt: shock, confusion, a bit of anger, and hunger for some birria tacos. And who could blame him? A rowdy game will bring that out of you. So much that he even dunked on his own teammate!

Amid the circus, it’s worth pointing out the crisp and purposeful ball movement of these Spurs. Here, Devin Vassell makes a crazy circus shot of his own, but the play was set up by ping-ponging passes initiated by Castle and fed through Champagnie.

What a flip into the bucket by Harper. It’s like his limbs move independently of his body.

OK as we got toward the end of this game, I have considered all the available evidence to me (i.e., self-imposed Twitter blackout, live broadcast on mute, ignoring family (only briefly! It was *still* Mother’s Day), pretending to read group chats and only replying with 👽 emojis), and the only conclusion I could come up with is that Victor Wembanyama got thrown out of the game for laughing. It happened to Tim Duncan so why couldn’t history repeat itself?

In all seriousness, losing Wembanyama to a flying elbow (to be clear, an elbow that he himself threw with those pterodactyl wings he calls arms) was a huge blow to the team and this game. It’s worth noting that our boy did spend last summer with Shaolin monks and Kevin friggin’ Garnett. The “there are two wolves” inside of us narrative could not be more true in this case where it seems like nirvana and Kevin friggin’ Garnett (a Timberwolf, no less) were constantly at odds with each other.

It’s like Frank Costanza stood alone and screamed “Serenity now!!” into the void while multiple Timberwolves clawed at him. Even Lloyd Braun couldn’t save the day, but the hopefully the good guys will have their fearless leader back in time for the next match.

If you missed the game because you were too busy writing sticky notes to yourself with reminders to buy milk, watch more games on mute, and to enjoy Game 5, here are the full-game highlights:

Next up, the Spurs head back to San Antonio for Game 5 against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

Incoming Dallas Mavericks president of basketball operations and alternate governor Masai Ujiri said in his introductory press conference on Tuesday that he wanted to bring “calm” to an organization beset by tumult in the year-plus before he was hired.

In a sit-down interview with team Chief Communication Officer Gina Miller later in the week, Ujiri preached “focus, purpose and an honest direction toward winning.”

Yea. Sign us up for some of that.

Listening to the man now in charge of the once proud franchise that was submarined by previous leadership to the point of ethical (perhaps too ethical) tanking for much of the 2025-26 season, through his introductory presser and this latest interview, gives one the sense that he lives everything he talks about. He has a process to get there. Maybe most importantly, he’s done it before.

Ujiri says it, and he makes you believe he has a plan to make it happen. When he says he wants to bring calm, he says it in a measured tone. When he talks about talent evaluation, he brings with him a new incoming general manager whose ball-knowing acumen in recent years has been proven prescient. When he talks about purpose, he cites his years’ worth of work growing the game globally with Basketball Without Borders.

The skins are on the wall behind him, but he doesn’t want attention. He doesn’t just have a reputation for being a relationship guy. He’s spent his entire career in the game of basketball forging them across the globe.

He told several anecdotes during the interview that make his landing in Dallas sound like a little dose of cosmic kismet, even if he also admitted the plain truth up front that “if there weren’t issues [in Dallas], I wouldn’t be here talking to you.”

He’s forged connections with several longtime Mavericks through his time in scouting, from Kike Vandeweghe, who gave Ujiri his first full-time job in an NBA front office as a scout in Denver, to Donnie Nelson, who he met and competed with on the international scouting trail. He’s worked with Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash through his years at Basketball Without Borders, where he also connected with “a lot of the NBA players who came through like Shawn Bradley, Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, Kyrie [Irving] and Rolando Blackman.”

“This franchise has lived in me somehow, and then this happened so organically,” Ujiri said. “The global footprint of the Dallas Mavericks is right there. I’m proud to be associated with the growing up of Dirk in the league, with Steve Nash, all these guys that set the tone for where we were going, not only as a team, but as a league. This is a big part of our game, and I’m so proud that this organization was at the forefront of this.”

He also told a story about being at the NBA Draft lottery last year, as he and the Toronto Raptors hoped against hope, just like the Mavericks did, to move all the way up to the No. 1 overall selection and have the chance to grab hold of a special young talent he went back to over and over again during the interview.

“It’s a moment where we’re all human beings,” Ujiri said. “You feel it. You know what the odds are, but you still feel like you are the one. I saw [NBA Deputy Commissioner] Mark Tatum going up to the stage. From the angle I was sitting, I could see, when he got to nine. He was opening up the card and even before he said it, I saw the red [Raptors logo]. We got bumped. We fell. I get home, my kids,, ‘Papa, we didn’t get Cooper Flagg.’”

Fast forward to just over two weeks ago, when Ujiri had finalized his discussions with Mavericks’ governor Patrick Dumont to take the job at the head of Dallas’ front office.

“I told them at dinner,” Ujiri said. “And I’m telling you, they went wild. Cooper Flagg! Cooper! Cooper! It is crazy to me that it came like that, you know, full circle. What an honor, to come to this organization and have that gift. I know we’ve gone through a tough time as an organization, but we all have to really see this moment where we start to grow and show this kid that we are going to grow with you. We are going to support you, and this is the direction that we are going. We were blessed to have been given this kid.”

He talked about watching Flagg practice before the draft and being in awe of his footwork and his wingspan.

“They don’t come often. They really don’t. We have a generational talent here and we are going to do the best possible job here to give him a chance to bring championships to this city.”

And when he says it, you believe he has a plan to make it happen.

You can watch the full interview exclusively within the Mavs app on all iOS and Android devices.

Now that the draft lottery is over, people can start to make some educated guesses about who goes to what team.

Here’s an interesting factor we had not considered: not only is Carlos Boozer Cameron Boozer’s father, he’s also a scout for the Utah Jazz, and the Jazz hold the #2 pick.

Utah can get an 18-year scouting report on Boozer. In all seriousness, Carlos could deliver the most in-depth analysis of not just Cameron’s basketball talents, but also the most in-depth psychological analysis any athlete has ever received.

The question is how objective he could be. Even so, it’s a valuable gift to the Jazz, whatever they decide to do.

Generally speaking, everyone seems to expect Washington to take BYU’s AJ Dybantsa with the #1 pick. But this guy argues that Washington needs post play more, and Boozer fits the bill.

On the other hand, here’s an argument that Boozer’s tailor-made for Memphis, that he and Zach Edey would be monstrous inside. He would also be teammates with near-Devil Cedric Coward, who committed to Duke as a transfer last season before opting to stay in the draft.

Meanwhile, this article expects that with the fourth pick, Chicago will get either Boozer or UNC’s Caleb Wilson. If it works out that way, that’s not bad.

• Cameron Boozer Draft Stakes Loom Large After 2026 Lottery
• How Cameron Boozer became the most polished NBA prospect
• Cameron Boozer: NBA draft scouting report and intel

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Bucks seeking trade offers for Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of draft: Report originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

A trade involving Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo appears closer than ever.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that the franchise is “open for business on trade calls and offers” for the two-time league MVP.

The Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and New York Knicks have long been considered potential suitors for the 31-year-old forward. Charania also mentioned the Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers as teams that pursued him at February’s trade deadline.

Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam said at a press conference last week, where the team introduced new head coach Taylor Jenkins, that he wants there to be a resolution before the draft on June 23-24. Antetokounmpo has one year left on his contract before a player option next summer, making him extension eligible in October.

“Sometime over the next six or seven weeks we’ll decide whether Giannis is going to sign a max contract and stay with us or he’s going to play somewhere else,” Haslam told reporters. “And [general manager] Jon [Horst] and Taylor, along with [co-owner] Wes [Edens] and myself, will make that call and we understand the gravity of that call.”

The trade drama began last summer, when Antetokounmpo reportedly expressed a desire to play for the Knicks. Milwaukee decided to hold onto him for the 2025-26 season, but that backfired as the team limped to a 32-50 record before Doc Rivers departed as head coach.

The Bucks hold the No. 10 pick in the draft after Sunday’s lottery results. The Warriors will pick at No. 11 and the Heat are at No. 13, giving them the best draft slots among the aforementioned teams.

Charania reported that ownership and front office officials expect a young blue-chip talent and/or a surplus of draft picks in any potential trade, but their leverage is obviously waning as Antetokounmpo gets closer to his 2027 contract opt-out.

Antetokounmpo played 36 games this season as he dealt with groin, calf and knee injuries. He averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game while making his 10th All-Star appearance in 13 seasons.

The Lakers are done. 

They know it. We know it. 

They trail their second-round playoff series against the reigning champion Thunder 3-0, a deficit no NBA team has ever recovered from. So, what’s left to play for in Game 4? 

For the Lakers, there’s pride on the line. They don’t want to get swept. 

LeBron James, who’s undecided about his future, doesn’t want his career to potentially end so unceremoniously. 

Austin Reaves, who has free agency looming this summer after he’s expected to turn down his $14.9 million player option for next season, wants to leave a strong impression as he tries to secure a lucrative contract. 

Lakers coach JJ Redick has gotten the team to fight all season. He’s not going to let them drop the rope now. 

“Still think we can beat them,” Redick said after the Lakers’ 131-108 loss in Game 3. 

Those words ring empty. 

It’s a scream at a rock concert. A gasp underwater. 

The Lakers have no chance of making a historic comeback. Not against the Thunder, who are younger and deeper and make them look like a puttering old Chevy that ran out of gas in the second half of games, where they’ve been outscored by an average of 18 points.

But don’t expect the Lakers to accept a sweep. Not this team. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about them this season it’s that they have a lot of fight.

When they’ve hit walls, they’ve bared their teeth. 

When the Big 3 was an offensive liability, James embraced being the team’s third option, an unprecedented downgrade for a superstar of his caliber who could still lead a team. 

That sacrifice decluttered their offense, leading the Lakers to go on a 16-2 run this spring.

Just as they were considered potential championship contenders, they shockingly lost Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Reaves (oblique) on April 2. After that, they weren’t expected to even make it out of the first round of the playoffs. Not without their two leading scorers, who averaged a combined 60 points a game. 

How did they respond? 

They jumped to a 3-0 series lead over the Rockets. The 41-year-old James put on his Superman cape. Luke Kennard showed he’s more than a 3-point specialist. Marcus Smart put on a defensive clinic. From top to bottom, everyone starred in their roles as they clawed their way past Houston in six games. 

But all of that effort just secured a date with someone completely out of their league.

Against the Thunder, they were facing a team that they lost to by an average of 29 points a game in the regular season. They were without Doncic. But they still fought. They kept games close in the first half before crumbling.

Now they’re facing their toughest challenge. 

How will they respond when things are hopeless? 

If the Lakers win Game 4, they’ll just be buying themselves a trip to Oklahoma City, where they’ll play the league’s top team in one of the toughest arenas. They’ll just be delaying the inevitable. They’ll be prolonging their suffering. 

But still, expect the Lakers to fight. 

James didn’t become arguably the greatest player of all time by waving the white flag when things got tough. 

Reaves didn’t skyrocket from being undrafted to becoming a star by rolling over when things become challenging. 

Would it be embarrassing if the Lakers were swept? Not exactly. Not against this historically great Thunder team that seemingly has an endless army of fresh legs.

What would be embarrassing is if they rolled over Monday.  

“Obviously, this situation sucks,” Reaves said. “But that doesn’t give us the license to quit. We gotta come in here and compete. We owe the organization that. We owe each other that. We owe our fans that. So we’re gonna come here Monday and play as hard as we can.”

Expect the Lakers to go out swinging. 

How small are their chances? 

Teams trailing 3-0 in a playoff series are 0-161 all time. 

Against the Thunder, whom Redick called “one of the greatest teams ever,” whatever infinitesimal chance they have shrinks to something imperceptible by the human brain.

The Lakers may be swinging at the air. 

But they’ll still be swinging. 

Otherwise that would be a truly tragic end to a season filled with so much heart. 

Sunday evening’s Game 4 in Minneapolis did not go as planned for the San Antonio Spurs.

With  8:39 left in the second quarter, Wemby was ejected when his right elbow hit Reid’s throat.

Forgetting for a second that, had it been any other player, the elbow would have landed on Reid’s chest, the foul represents a lapse in Victor’s judgement and tranquility. Considering his pursuit of ethical basketball, the move is most uncharacteristic.

Unfortunately, the implications of the flagrant technical 2 are not yet complete. Victor Wembanyama could face a game suspension of the incident due to the nature of this foul. The NBA will review the play as standard procedure, which means there is a chance the league could decide on its own punishment.

After the game, head coach Mitch Johnson praised Wemby for “protecting himself,” pointing out that Wemby has been physically challenged beyond a realm of appropriate.

After the game, studio analysts Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthony, and Tracy McGrady said there is no chance Wemby misses Game 5.

Spurs are back in San Antonio Tuesday night for the tiebreaker at the Frost Bank Center.

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INDEPENDENCE — The Cleveland Cavaliers won Game 3 against the Detroit Pistons, but in a way that their head coach called “unsustainable” 15 minutes after the final buzzer. The next day after practice, he echoed those same sentiments.

“I hate to keep bringing up that possession game stat, -14,” Kenny Atknison said about Game 3. “I think there’s a big difference between the first and second half. Minus two in the possession game in the second half. So we did better. Like I said postgame, that’s not sustainable, especially the rebounding.”

The Pistons are one of the best teams in the league at grabbing offensive rebounds and forcing turnovers. They collected 34.3% of their missed shots in the regular season (2nd) and turned over their opponent on 16.8% of defensive possessions (1st). Consistently creating more opportunities for their offense allowed a somewhat stagnant attack to finish the season just inside the top 10 for offensive rating.

We’ve seen the benefit of this through the first three games of the series.

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The Pistons have grabbed over 34% of their missed shots in all three games so far this series. That puts them above the 69th percentile or better each game. This has translated to 19, 16, and 18 second-chance points.

The Cavs cleaned up the turnover issues after struggling in Game 1. They’ve committed a lower percentage of turnovers for possessions in the most recent two games of the series. They’ve shown that they can overcome this problem. The same isn’t true for the rebounding, which is worrying Atkinson.

There are a couple of factors that go into winning the rebounding battle. How you play defense is one of them.

“There’s certain schemes you rebound better at,” Atkinson said. “It’s just a fact. So we take that into account. Unfortunately, they got a great player (Cade Cunningham). We have to be up higher. Our bigs aren’t as close to the rim.”

Physicality is the other.

“Their bigs are elite, elite at offensive rebounding,” Atkinson said. “A lot of times, our bigs are wrestling with their bigs. That’s why Donovan [Mitchell] having 10 rebounds was huge last night. Max [Strus] is coming in. It’s going to be a guard-rebounding series.”

These clips show why that’s so important. Jarrett Allen and/or Evan Mobley are busy boxing out Detroit’s bigs. If you’re boxing out properly, making sure your assignment doesn’t get the ball, you’re creating a way for one of your teammates to come in and secure the possession.

Rebounding is a team activity, and not always an individual stat.

“We are giving it our best effort,” Jarrett Allen said. “They are strong. They are big bruisers down there, and will say even though we don’t get the rebounds, Donovan having 10 rebounds last night, six rebounds in the other game [is huge].”

The Cavs have shown for spurts that they can keep Detroit off the glass. Particularly, down the stretch of Game 3 where they allowed just five offensive rebounds compared to the 12 they surrendered in the first half. Whether they’re able to play more like the second half or not will go a long way in determining whether they can come back in this series.