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We’re still nearly two months away from the 2026 NBA Draft when, presumably, the Golden State Warriors will add some more young talent. There is, of course, always the chance that the Warriors trade the draft pick in an effort to add a star to the roster, but the most likely outcome is that on June 23, the Dubs add a young player in the lottery.

The playoffs may be the big story in the NBA right now, but for the 14 teams that weren’t invited to the dance, all eyes are on the draft (except, if we’re being honest, for the Warriors, where all eyes are on Steve Kerr’s decision).

Things could get interesting in a hurry for the Warriors, as the lottery hasn’t yet occurred … and while the Warriors are unlikely to move up, they do have a 9.4% chance of earning a top-four pick in a draft that has, well … about four big names.

We’ll have to wait nearly two weeks to see if the Dubs get lucky, but for now we’ll assume that they stay in place, and get the No. 11 pick in the draft. So who might they pick?

ESPN’s Jeremy Woo released his latest mock draft on Tuesday, and has Golden State selecting New Zealand Breakers forward Karim Lopez, who averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game a year ago, while shooting 32.6% from three-point range. Lopez just turned 19 years old, and Woo notes that “Selecting a younger player such as Lopez, who has the experience to potentially slot in early on his rookie deal, might help mesh the short and long-term goals.”

Over at The Ringer, they think the Warriors will take Alabama sophomore Labaron Philon Jr., a do-everything guard known for his winning style. Philon averaged 22.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.2 steals per game last year while being named an All-American, and also shot 39.9% from distance. The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann describes Philon as a, “Gritty and wiry lead guard who, despite having a ‘right play’ mentality, is willing and able to call his own shot and cook at all three levels.“

SB Nation’s own Ricky O’Donnell just released his latest mock draft, and he sees Golden State going with a more experienced option, Michigan senior forward Yaxel Lendeborg. While old for a draftee (he’ll turn 24 before the 2026-27 season starts), Lendeborg is one of the most accomplished players in the draft. After three years in community college, Lendeborg spent three more years in the NCAA, including this most recent season at Michigan, where he won a national championship, was a consensus first-team All-American, and was the Big 10 Player of the Year, while averaging 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game, and shooting 37.2% from distance. Lendeborg is a tremendously versatile player, who will likely be able to play from Day 1 given his age and experience.

As for Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, he also sees Lopez going to the Warriors at No. 11. O’Connor likes Lopez’s versatility on the Warriors, and notes that, “Draymond Green could actually be quite a good mentor for Lopez, given they’re both hard-nosed players who make a winning effort at all times on the court.”

Hopefully the Warriors strike gold in the lottery and don’t end up with any of these players. But as Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Green have proven, you don’t need to be at the top of the draft to land a franchise-altering talent.

The NBA’s new draft lottery proposal is here. 

The league is pushing an expanded “3-2-1 lottery” that would increase the number of teams from 14 to 16, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. 

The new system, which must be approved by NBA owners on May 28, is aimed at curbing tanking and would punish teams that finish with a bottom-five record. 

Under the proposal, “teams that do not qualify for the playoffs or play-in tournament but stay out of the relegation zone (spots four through 10) would receive three lottery balls each,” per Charania.

The teams with the three worst records would go to the relegation zone, meaning they “would have just two lottery balls but have a floor of the 12th pick, while the rest of the 13 lottery teams could fall as far as the 16th pick.”

Teams that undergo long-term tanking efforts would be punished as well. 

If approved, teams couldn’t win the lottery in back-to-back years or get three straight top-five picks. 

As tanking chatter grows louder around the NBA, the commissioner’s office is exploring a new way to make losing less appealing.

“We should have a system where you should hate to lose,” commissioner Adam Silver reportedly said on a recent conference call. “It shouldn’t be a badge of honor. Losing should be uncomfortable.”

The current system sends 14 non-playoff teams to the lottery, where the franchises with the worst three records each have a 14 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick. 

The odds of winning the No. 1 pick decrease gradually for the other 11 teams outside the top three, from 12.5 percent for the team with the fourth-worst record to 0.7 percent for the team with the 14th-worst record.

“Incentives need to be fixed,” Silver said last month. “We will fix them. I’m looking forward to that.”

In March, Silver said the league will likely “need to do something more extreme than” previous changes with teams exhibiting “overt behavior… that prioritizes draft positioning over winning.”

Chat about tonight’s NBA playoff games here. Sorry I’ve been busy all day!

The top men's college basketball recruit has made his decision.

Forward Tyran Stokes committed to Kansas, he announced on "Inside the NBA" on Tuesday, April 28 in a major get for Bill Self and the Jayhawks.

It's been a major sweepstakes as programs awaited to see where Stokes would choose to play college ball, as he was the last major prospect yet to announce his decision. He is the consensus No. 1 recruit in the country per 247Sports and ESPN. The Seattle-native chose Kansas over other contenders in Kentucky, Oregon, Louisville and Southern California.

The newest Jayhawk is also a contender to be the top overall pick in the 2027 NBA Draft.

Breaking: Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 recruit in the SC Next 100 Class of 2026, has committed to Kansas, he announced on Inside the NBA. pic.twitter.com/tPjZWdLYPo

— ESPN (@espn) April 28, 2026

At 6-7 and 230 pounds, Stokes has displayed elite skills on both sides of the ball to make him one of the top high school players in the country. He has the ability to handle to ball on the perimeter while also dominating near the bucket, all while maintaining a stout defensive game with the ability to create steals.

In his senior season at Rainier Beach (Seattle), he averaged 31 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four steals per game while leading his team to a state title. He also had one game where he scored 63 points.

What Tyran Stokes means for Kansas

By choosing the Jayhawks, Self also secures another talented recruiting class that includes two five-star prospects in Stokes and guard Taylen Kinney, and brings a major boost to Lawrence after concerns about the future.

There was speculation Self could retire after Kansas was eliminated in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the fourth straight season the Jayhawks failed to advance to the Sweet 16. However, he decide to return for his 24th season, and he gets another top recruit in the process after last season's team featured Darryn Peterson, who declared for the NBA draft..

Peterson was one of several players that have left Kansas, which includes Flory Bidunga, Melvin Council Jr. and Bryson Tiller.

Stokes gives Kansas a chance to improve its March fortune, trying to compete for another national championship since winning it all in 2022. In addition to Stokes and Kinney, other recruits include four-star rated players in center Davion Adkins, forward Trent Perry and guard Luke Barnett. Kansas also got additions in the transfer portal in Keanu Dawes (Utah), Christian Reeves (Charleston) and Leroy Blyden Jr. (Toledo).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tyran Stokes commits to Kansas basketball, Bill Self: What it means

The Knicks (2-2) host the Atlanta Hawks tonight at Madison Square Garden in Game Five of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. A win puts either team one victory away from advancing to the second round.

Tip-off is 8:00 pm EST on NBC and Peacock. This is your game thread. This is Peachtree Hoops. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Be shining ambassadors of Knicks fandom. And go Knickerbockers!

A mind-blowing batch of stats from an unlikely 76ers comeback vs. the Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

I hope you didn’t turn the TV off when the Celtics were up 13. 

The Celtics went up 63-50 a couple minutes into the third quarter Tuesday night in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference First-Round series at TD Garden.

The rest of the game? Sixers 63-44.

It added up to an improbable 113-97 Sixers win,  reducing the Celtics’ lead in the best-of-seven series to three games to two.

You want stats?

We got stats!

THEY SCORED 11 POINTS: The Celtics have played 400 home playoff games in franchise history, and their 11 points Tuesday night are the 4^th-fewest they’ve ever scored in the fourth quarter of a home playoff game. They scored nine against the Bucks in 1983, 10 against the 76ers (Syracuse Nationals) in 1954 and 10 vs. the Pacers in 2005. It’s their 5^th-fewest in any game in 754 all-time playoff games. It’s their fewest 4^th-quarter points vs. the 76ers in any game – regular season or postseason – in 36 years, since they had nine in a 97-93 76ers win at Boston Garden in 1988. The 76ers’ 17-point 4^th-quarter advantage – 28-11 – is the 5^th-largest ever against the Celtics in a playoff game and it’s tied for the 76ers’ 2^nd -largest ever. Their only larger 4^th-quarter playoff margin was 18 points (32-14) in a win over the Heat in their 2018 Eastern Conference 1^st-round game at American Airlines Arena.

BIGGEST LOST EVER: The Celtics led 86-85 going into the fourth quarter before losing by 16 points. That makes this the Celtics’ worst loss ever when they led going into the fourth quarter. Their previous biggest loss after leading going into the fourth quarter was 15 points when they led the Pistons 73-71 in Game 3 of their 1989 Eastern Conference First-Round series before losing 100-85 at Boston Garden. It was also the 76ers’ biggest postseason win after trailing going into the fourth quarter. They won three games by eight points after trailing after three quarters, most recently in 1982, when they trailed the Celtics 90-88 going into the fourth quarter of Game 2 of their 1982 Eastern Conference Finals series at Boston Garden before winning 121-113. The Celtics were 46-5 in their last 51 playoff games when they had the lead going into the fourth quarter and 60-5 all-time vs. the 76ers when leading in the playoffs going into the fourth quarter.

MAGIC FROM JOEL: Joel Embiid shot 0-for-5 from 3 but 12-for-23 overall from the field for 52 percent. He’s only the second player in NBA history to shoot over 50 percent from the field and score 33 points in a game where he took at least five 3’s and didn’t make any of them. In 2017, Kyrie Irving was 0-for-7 in the Cavs’ loss to the Golden State Warriors but shot 16-for-29 overall (55 percent). Before this series, only 12 Sixers had ever shot 0-for-5 in a playoff game. In this series, three 76ers have done it a total of four times – Kelly Oubre in Game 1, V.J. Edgecombe in Games 1 and 3 and Embiid in Game 5. 

76ERS OWN TD GARDEN: After beating the Celtics 111-97 in Game 2 last Tuesday and again in Game 5 Tuesday night, the 76ers have won back-to-back games in a series in Boston for the first time in 58 years. In 1968, they beat the Celtics 115-106 in Game 2 of their Eastern Division Finals series at Boston Garden and four days later won 110-105 in Game 4. They wound up losing that series in seven games. Last time the 76ers won any two games in a row in Boston was in 1980 and 1981. They won Game 5 of their 1980 Eastern Conference Finals series 105-94 and a year later won Game 1 of their 1981 Eastern Conference Finals series 105-104.  They won the 1980 series and lost the 1981 series.

HOW ABOUT THAT 4^TH QUARTER? In the fourth quarter, the Celtics shot 3-for-22 from the field for 14 percent and 1-for-14 from 2-point range for 7 percent. They had 29 possessions and made three baskets. In the fourth quarter alone, Neemias Queta was minus-16, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White were both minus-14 and Jayson Tatum was minus-9. Tatum, Brown, White and Queta shot a combined 1-for-15 in the fourth quarter. For the 76ers, V.G. Edgecombe, Tyrese Maxey, Quentin Grimes and Paul George were all plus-16 an Embiid was plus-16. The 76ers shot 9-for-17 in the fourth quarter for 53 percent. And how about this: In the fourth quarter alone, Maxey and Edgecombe – two guards – combined for nine rebounds, five for Maxey, four for Edgecombe. Maxey and Embiid each had as many baskets in the fourth quarter as the Celtics.

HE’S ALMOST 36: George, who turns 36 on Thursday, had 16 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals, becoming the 5^th-oldest player in NBA history to reach those benchmarks in a playoff game. The only older players with 16, 9, 7 and 2 are LeBron James, Kareem Jabbar, Steph Curry and Scottie Pippen.

WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? Andre Drummond made his only 3-point attempt, and he’s now 4-for-6 from 3 in the series. That’s more 3’s than he had in five regular seasons from 2021 through 2025 combined (three). 

GRIMES FROM ARDMORE! Grimes made four 3’s in just 24 minutes, the 2^nd most 3-pointers in franchise history by a player in 24 or fewer minutes. Buddy Hield made six against the Knicks in 2024. Grimes’ four 3’s is also 3^rd-most in 76ers history by a player off the bench. In addition to Hield in 2024, DeAndre Melton made five off the bench in Boston in 2023.

With both teams suffering a slew of injuries to key players, this Lakers-Rockets series hasn’t exactly been beautiful basketball. All of the games have featured offensive struggles and the winning team having to grit and grind their way to victory.

The Lakers have been the better team under these conditions and won the first three games. In Game 4, though, they couldn’t complete the first-round sweep and were blown out by the Rockets.

Los Angeles out-rebounded Houston and scored more points in the paint despite Alperen Şengün having a stellar game, so why weren’t they able to pull off the win?

LeBron James offered an explanation postgame.

“Defense wasn’t our problem tonight,” LeBron said. “It was our offense. Defense wasn’t our problem. I mean, s—, we turned the ball over 23 times for 30 points?… Defense wasn’t our problem. It was offense.”

Not only did the Lakers turn the ball over constantly, but even when they held possession, they didn’t do much with it. As a team, they went 5-22 from 3-point range, which equals a woeful 23% from deep.

LA scoring just 96 points in Game 4, just isn’t enough to win many postseason games. Even in victories, the purple and gold have struggled offensively. In these playoffs, they have an offensive rating of 108.6, which ranks 11th out of 16 playoff teams.

“This is a top ten defense the entire season,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said. “It’s obviously very challenging without your two leading scorers to generate offense. We’ll take a look at the process again on that end as well. I know our points per shot and our expected points per shot were slightly below our season average. So, to me, it goes back to the two keys. Take care of the ball and we’ll look at that and how we can be better there.”

The Lakers might not have to worry about missing their two best scorers anymore, as Austin Reaves is expected to return for Game 5.

If he does, then that gives LA a tremendous offensive boost. Reaves averages 23.3 points per game and is a much more reliable player to depend on to score 20-plus points than, say, Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard, who have done it during this series, but can’t regularly.

“Again, they played a great game,” Redick said. “I think our guys came into the game with the right intent. [Houston] certainly played a really good offensive game. They didn’t do anything differently. We can certainly be better with some of our small details whether it be pick and roll up to touch, our shifts, all that stuff. Our shifts to close, we did a better job of boxing out tonight but some of that was they made more shots. We’re going to look at it over the next two days and get better.”

Despite the offensive struggles, the Lakers are still in the driver’s seat. They are up 3-1, have Game 5 at home up next and have home court in case somehow this series goes the distance.

If they can make the appropriate adjustments and get Reaves back, they can still easily win and advance to play the Thunder.

The main path towards that outcome is to improve offensively. So far, Redick and the Lakers have proven that when things need fixing, they get it done. We’ll see if they do so in Game 5.

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

The Atlanta Hawks (2-2) try to repeat their Game 2 win in Madison Square Garden tonight in Game 5.

Jock Landale (right high ankle sprain) has been ruled out.

Starting lineup:

• G CJ McCollum
• G Nickeil Alexander-Walker
• F Dyson Daniels
• F Jalen Johnson
• C Onyeka Okongwu

Please join in the comments below as you follow along.

Where, When, and How to Watch and Listen

Location: Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York, NY

Start Time: 8:00 PM EDT

TV: NBC

Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM)

Streaming: Peacock, Sling TV