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The NBA Draft Combine is approaching, and three Illini players were invited to participate in Chicago. The combine will run from May 10-17 at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis. Players will compete in five-on-five scrimmages, skill drills, measurements, medical examinations, and interview sessions.

A total of 73 players were invited, including Illini standouts Keaton Wagler, Kylan Boswell, and Andrej Stojakovic. All three former Illini appear in recent NBA mock drafts and will have a chance to improve their stock during the NBA Draft Combine.

Where do the Illini rank in NBA mock drafts?

Jeremy Woo (ESPN):
Keaton Wagler – #6
Kylan Boswell – #52
Andrej Stojakovic – #54

NBADRAFT.NET:
Keaton Wagler – #6
Andrej Stojakovic – #45

Adam Finkelstein (CBS Sports):
Keaton Wagler – #7

NBA Draft Room:
Keaton Wagler – #8
Kylan Boswell – #82

USA Today:
Keaton Wagler – #6

We will have a better idea of where former Illinois players Keaton Wagler and Kylan Boswell could land following the NBA Draft Lottery on May 10. Junior guard Andrej Stojakovic appears in some mock drafts but is expected to return to college for his senior season.

Boswell has exhausted his eligibility, and Wagler is projected to be a top-10 pick, meaning both players are expected to remain in this year’s draft. Illini fans will likely get another look at them during NBA Summer League action in Las Vegas beginning in mid-July.

Boswell is still just 21 years old and will now get his opportunity to prove himself at the professional level. While the G League may be the most likely outcome initially, Boswell will have the chance to earn an NBA roster spot or sign a two-way contract. The Champaign native also spoke about how much Brad Underwood has meant to his development over the past two seasons.

“He’s (Brad Underwood) meant everything for me. How much he demands from me – I think will translate to help me just in whatever my career takes me,” said Kylan Boswell on head coach Brad Underwood.

Wagler is expected to become one of the highest Illinois basketball players ever selected in the NBA Draft. While it is unlikely he surpasses Deron Williams as the highest draft pick in program history at No. 3 overall, he could potentially tie Kendall Gill at No. 5, Red Kerr at No. 6, or George Bon Salle at No. 7. Wagler would become Illinois’ highest draft pick since Meyers Leonard was selected No. 11 overall in 2012.

Minnesota Timberwolves at San Antonio Spurs
Date: May 6th, 2026
Time: 8:30 PM CDT
Location: Frost Bank Center
Television Coverage: ESPN

Game 1 was not pretty. It was not elegant. It was not the kind of series opener that ends with everyone breathlessly talking about offensive genius or some masterclass in modern basketball.

No, this was a rock fight. It steel-cage match with a shot clock. And somehow, the Timberwolves survived it.

They walked into Frost Bank Center, stole home-court advantage, and escaped with a Game 1 win by the skin of their teeth. This was not a comfortable victory. This was the Wolves clinging to a seven-point lead late, watching it shrink to four, then two, then holding their breath as Julian Champagnie’s potential game-winning three clanged off the rim and allowed every Wolves fan to exhale.

From the opening possession, it was obvious this series was not going to look anything like the matchup with Denver. Against the Nuggets, Minnesota discovered that Denver’s rim defense was basically a velvet rope with no bouncer. Attack Jokic, make him move, pressure the paint, force rotations, rinse, repeat. Against San Antonio? Different universe. The game opened with blocks on both ends, which was appropriate because Victor Wembanyama spent the night reminding Minnesota that layups are now a privilege, not a right.

Twelve blocks.

Twelve.

Well, maybe seven or eight blocks and a few missed goaltends and fouls if you believe Chris Finch (and of course we do!). Either way, Wembanyama managed to turn the paint into a restricted military zone. The Wolves had 24 points’ worth of shots sent flying in the opposite direction, and somehow they still found enough offense to win. That alone should tell you two things: this Wolves team has some real playoff scar tissue, and this series is going to be an absolute grinder.

Minnesota did not have anyone who could match Wembanyama’s alien anatomy, because nobody does. But what the Wolves did have was collective defensive toughness. They made San Antonio work. They kept the Spurs to 102 points. They turned the game into a series of ugly possessions, hard contests, forced decisions, and physical collisions. Both teams landed punches. Both teams went on runs. Neither could fully break away.

And then there was Anthony Edwards. His 18 points will not end up on one of those glossy playoff graphics. By Ant standards, it was almost pedestrian. But if you watched the game, you understood how important his presence was. After everything with the knee, after the uncertainty, after wondering whether Minnesota’s superstar would even be available, he came back and gave the Wolves just enough downhill juice and clutch shooting to matter.

He was one of the few players who could look at Wembanyama lurking near the rim and still say, “Yeah, I’m going anyway.” He was willing to stare down that massive wingspan and launch a cold-blooded three right past it.

So many Wolves possessions became a game of cat and mouse. You could see guys driving, seeing Wemby’s shadow stretch across the lane, and suddenly reconsider the plan. Minnesota had multiple shot-clock violations. Other possessions ended in desperation heaves because the Spurs’ defense, powered by the human cell tower in the middle, had swallowed up the first, second, and third option.

So even if Ant was not fully Ant, he gave Minnesota something it desperately needed: pressure. Confidence. A killer instinct.

Julius Randle had his moments too, especially late, when Minnesota needed someone to manufacture offense through brute force. It was not always pretty, but in the fourth quarter, when the Spurs were pushing and the Wolves were trying not to cough up a game they had spent all night wrestling into their possession, Randle used his strength to bully his way into points, draw contact, and keep Minnesota upright.

Mike Conley was enormous. Filling in for the injured Donte DiVincenzo and Ayo Dosunmu, Conley reached into the old-man bag and pulled out four critical threes, the exact kind of stabilizing shot-making Minnesota needed. Every one of those makes mattered.

Naz Reid mattered too. As the third big in Minnesota’s frontcourt rotation, he gave the Wolves a needed offensive counterpunch, attacking the rim when the opportunity was there and spacing the floor when San Antonio’s defense tilted inward. Against Wembanyama, you need bigs who can force decisions. Naz did enough of that to help Minnesota survive.

But surviving Game 1 is not the same thing as solving the Spurs. That’s the danger heading into Game 2. The Wolves stole home court. They proved they can win this kind of game. They sent a little doubt into every talking head who confidently penciled San Antonio into the Western Conference Finals because Wembanyama is the future and the NBA loves a coronation story.

But now comes the real opportunity: Minnesota can leave San Antonio up 2-0.

A Game 2 win changes everything.That puts the young Spurs under the kind of psychological pressure they have not had to deal with yet. That forces Wemby and company to go on the road against a battle-tested Wolves team that has spent the last three postseasons collecting scars, receipts, and road wins in hostile buildings.

Game 1 was the first bite.

Game 2 is where the Wolves decide whether they are satisfied with that, or whether they are ready to really sink their teeth in.

With that, here are the keys.

1. It Begins and Ends With Defense

If Game 1 made anything clear, it is that points are going to be expensive in this series.

Minnesota is not walking into this matchup and dropping 125 unless something truly bizarre happens. Wembanyama’s rim protection is too overwhelming. The Spurs can turn ordinary possessions into escape rooms. That means the Wolves have to win the same way they won Game 1: by making San Antonio just as uncomfortable.

Holding the Spurs to 102 points was a strong start, but it was not perfect. Minnesota still gave up too many easy looks, especially when San Antonio got out in transition. In the half court, the Wolves were able to lock in, communicate, and force the Spurs into tougher possessions. But when San Antonio ran off misses, pushed after makes, or caught Minnesota cross-matched, things got dicey fast.

That cannot be the tradeoff. The Wolves cannot spend 20 seconds defending beautifully only to get burned because they are late getting back the next trip. Transition defense has to be a priority. The Spurs are young, fast, and fearless. If you let them run, they will. If you let them build confidence with easy baskets, suddenly their half-court offense gets lighter too.

Minnesota’s defense has to be connected from possession one. Wall off the paint. Contest without fouling. Get back. Finish possessions with rebounds. Make San Antonio earn everything.

Because the Wolves are not winning this series in a track meet. They are winning it in the mud.

2. Stay Out of Foul Trouble

Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle both finished Game 1 with five fouls. Stephon Castle fouled out for San Antonio. The whistle was tight, and while that spoke to the physicality of the game, it also created a dangerous tightrope for Minnesota.

The Wolves cannot afford to have McDaniels stapled to the bench for long stretches. We saw in the Denver series how quickly things shift when Jaden picks up early fouls. In Game 5 against the Nuggets, he got two quick ones and Minnesota’s defense immediately lost most of its bite. Against San Antonio, his availability is even more important. He is one of the few Wolves with the length, feet, and defensive instincts to bother multiple Spurs actions. He has to be on the floor. He has to be aggressive. But he also has to be smart.

Same goes for Randle. Same goes for Gobert. Same goes for Naz. Against Wembanyama, the Wolves need every big body they have. They cannot afford cheap fouls 30 feet from the basket. They cannot afford frustration fouls. They cannot afford reaching when verticality will do. Every whistle that sends a key Wolf to the bench makes life easier for San Antonio.

The best ability is availability, and in this series, that might be more than a cliché. It might be the difference between a 2-0 lead and a tied series.

3. Keep the Offense Moving, And Find Ways to Remove Wemby From the Play

Game 1 was a warning: if the Wolves let San Antonio’s defense get set, possessions can die slow, painful deaths.

Wembanyama changes everything. He doesn’t just block shots. He changes decisions before they happen. He makes drivers hesitate. He makes cutters pull up short. He makes guys second-guess what used to be automatic. That is how you end up with multiple shot-clock violations and late-clock prayers.

The answer is not to simply “be tougher” and drive into him anyway. That is how you end up as Block No. 13.

The answer is movement.

The ball has to move side to side. The Wolves need to make San Antonio’s defense rotate, make Wemby turn his head, make him guard multiple actions instead of letting him sit in the paint like a final boss waiting for challengers. The more static Minnesota becomes, the more powerful he gets.

One of the most encouraging wrinkles late in Game 1 was the way Randle helped wall off Wembanyama from the play, using his body to seal him and create cleaner driving lanes. That is the kind of stuff Minnesota has to lean into. Screen him. Pin him. Drag him away from the basket. Make him choose between helping and giving up something else.

You are not going to eliminate his impact. But you can make him work harder to apply it.

That means Ant attacking at the right times. Randle using his strength intelligently. Naz spacing and cutting. Conley organizing. The offense has to be active, deliberate, and patient enough not to panic when the first look disappears.

Against Denver, the Wolves could attack the rim as Plan A.

Against San Antonio, Plan A has to be creating the conditions where attacking the rim is even possible.

4. Hit Shots (And For the Love of KG, Hit Your Free Throws)

Minnesota shot 38% from three in Game 1. They needed every bit of it.

Conley’s four threes were massive. Edwards’ late shot mattered. Naz hitting from deep mattered. In a game where the rim was guarded by a skyscraper with timing, the three-point line became the team’s lifeline.

The Wolves do not need to shoot 45% from deep to win this series, but they cannot afford one of those 24% disaster nights. They need mid-30s or better. They need the open looks to go down. They need to punish the Spurs when the defense collapses or when Wembanyama is pulled out of position.

But it is not just about making shots. It is about generating the right ones. No desperation heaves because the possession got stuck. No contested threes early in the clock because someone didn’t want to drive. No wasted chances after beautiful ball movement. If the Wolves create clean looks, they have to cash them in.

And free throws? …Enough.

This has been a season-long issue, and it cannot follow them deeper into the playoffs. The margin in this series is too thin. Every point matters. When the Wolves earn trips to the line, they cannot treat them like extra credit. These are professional basketball players. Good ones. There is no reason for the free-throw percentage to resemble something from a middle school tournament.

5. Stay Physical and Keep Punishing Wembanyama

Wembanyama had a triple-double. He blocked 12 shots. His defensive impact was absurd.

He also scored just 11 points.

That is not an accident.

Minnesota did a strong job making his offensive life uncomfortable. They bodied him. They leaned into him. They denied easy catches. They made him fight for position. They forced him into an 0-for-8 night from three. Now, will that happen again? Probably not. Wemby is too good, too talented, too inevitable to expect another quiet scoring night.

But the approach has to stay the same.

Make him feel the series.

Randle has to keep using his strength. Gobert has to make him work inside. Naz has to be physical. Everyone has to box out. Every drive by San Antonio has to be met with bodies, not open lanes. The Wolves cannot allow the Spurs to live off second-chance points and easy putbacks, which nearly cost them Game 1.

This is where Minnesota’s size and experience need to matter. San Antonio has the alien. Minnesota has the grown men. Use them.

The Wolves are not going to out-finesse the Spurs. They are not going to win a verticality contest with Wembanyama. They have to make this a strength battle. A positioning battle. A will battle.

Make the young team feel the older team’s weight.

The First Bite Wasn’t Enough

The Wolves stole Game 1, but stealing home court only matters if you protect the advantage it gives you. A split in San Antonio is fine. A 2-0 lead heading back to Target Center is something else entirely. That is a statement. That is pressure. That is a young Spurs team suddenly facing the reality that playoff series are not won by highlights, hype, or wingspans alone.

Minnesota has a chance to put real weight on San Antonio’s shoulders. The Spurs are talented. They are hungry. They are not going away because they dropped one close game at home. Wembanyama will adjust. Their coaches will adjust. Their guards will push harder. Their crowd will be louder. Everything about Game 2 will be more difficult.

Let it be.

The opportunity remains the same.

The Wolves have the experience. They have the scars. They have the defensive identity. They have the physicality. They have just enough offensive punch, if they execute, to make this series theirs.

But it will not happen by accident. They need to defend like Game 1 was not good enough. They need to stay out of foul trouble. They need to move the ball with purpose. They need to hit their threes. They need to stop throwing away free points at the line. They need to make Wembanyama feel bodies every single trip down the floor.

The first bite drew blood.

Now comes the next one.

This is where the apex predator does not relax after wounding its prey. It tightens the grip. It gets more physical, more focused, more relentless. It keeps attacking before the opponent has a chance to recover.

Game 1 was the warning.

Game 2 is the chance to make San Antonio truly feel the weight of the hunt.

Before Game 1 against the Minnesota Timbwolves, I chatted with Thilo Widder from our sister site Canis Hoopus about how the Spurs would need to get more creative on offense to counter the Wolves’ size advantage. We saw that play out in a tight, defensive-minded Game 1 loss for the Spurs, so today, we discuss what adjustments they’ll need to make and if the young, inexperienced squad has what it takes to make them, or will the play0ff-hardened Wolves, fresh off two straight Conference Finals appearances, show them how it’s done.

J.R. Wilco

What a game! Of course I would have preferred a different outcome, but this is what Spurs fans have been missing for the last 9 years; a high level of competition, important games, high-stakes, pressure, and … relevancy. 

Here’s what we know about this series after Game 1. It’ll be a shame if this doesn’t go the distance. That might sound weird, so I’ll clarify. As a Spurs fan, of course I want it to end in five games with San Antonio completing the Gentleman’s Sweep and running the table – no matter how unrealistic that is. But as a basketball fan, I’d love little better than to sink my teeth into 336 minutes of these two teams trading haymakers. 

I mean, come on now, Monday night’s first three plays were all blocks by tall French dudes! The game was tighter than the lid on a 10-year-old jar of grandma’s strawberry preserves. Neither team ever got a double-digit lead? Every time I thought the Spurs were going to get some breathing room, someone in a white jersey did something laughably athletic and timely to end San Antonio’s run. 

Example #1: The Spurs like to end quarters on at least a mini-run by setting up a two-for-one such that they take a shot, giving the other team the ball with about 30-ish seconds left on the clock. Well, Minnesota not only knows this, they’re aware that Fox is often the player taking the last shot, and even as he works around the Champagnie screen and gets free for a paint jumper that’s so in his sweet spot it’s in danger of giving him diabetes, Hyland leaves Julian, blocks Fox from behind and Randle gets a dunk at the buzzer. Example #2: End of the 2nd quarter Conley and Clark mess up Vassell and Fox’s pick and roll, and even though De’Aaron ends up getting into the lane with just Randle in front of him, he’s not fully in control and loses the ball. 

In neither quarter of the first half were the Spurs able to even get a shot off in their final possession. And people were criticizing Mitch Johnson for not calling a time out at the end of the 4th. But I think it would have been foolish to allow the Minny defense to get set when they’ve already shown the ability to blow up your usual end-of-quarter offense during the flow of the game. Anyway, that’s the kind of defense that needs to be put under a microscope in order to understand it so that it can be better attacked, and that’s precisely what I believe San Antonio’s coaching staff is doing right now. 

Which brings me to Finch and Co’s job prepping their team, and the expectation of the next game. With the Wolves getting to the Western Conference Finals two years in a row, you’ve been through long postseason runs, what kinds of adjustments are you used to seeing, what do you expect them to do next, and how much fun are you having?

Thilo

That was certainly something. While you guys may have missed that (long postseason runs), I don’t think Wolves fans will ever get used to it. I mean we used to have to sell first round picks for cash considerations so we could fire our coach! We’re that team!! And we just upset a two seed that was only +400 or so to sweep us!

There’s always that element of surprise with these Wolves. I try to be realistic only to have them blow those expectations out of the water, only to let me down the second I start believing. This happened during Game 7 against the Nuggets in 2023-24 and during Game 4 of the Suns series in 2024-25. I can’t wait for it to happen again now that I’m believing.

On the point of adjustments, I will give myself a quick pat on the back for calling that Fox would be the target, the supposed weakest link named by the coaching staff. That has always been the first change Chris Finch and the rest of the bench have done in the playoffs.

Finch understands, as most coaches do, that while regular season games are about how much you can keep your formula intact, the playoffs are all about how well and how quickly you can change while preventing the opposing team from getting what they’re most comfortable doing.

From the outside looking in, the Spurs seem like they want Fox, Harper, and Castle to get to the paint alongside Wembenyama to absolutely bully opposing teams inside the arc offensively while funneling everyone inside towards Wemby.

Well, they certainly did the latter half. The only issue? The Minnesota Timberwolves are a team of psychopaths.

Wemby blocked everything and it didn’t matter. Minnesota still got 50+ shots in the paint. That’s the funny realization that Finch came to. Blocks don’t always end possessions and Wemby can only do so much.

The issue with the Wolves is that they seem to flame out as that third series approaches. Every team gets the crap kicked out of them only for Minnesota to burn themselves out. It’s why I still struggle to fully believe.

As far as what to expect, I assume that nothing will change as far as paint volume goes. The biggest change will be who is taking those shots. Ayo Dosumnu will be coming back and did the same to the Nuggets. I think the biggest difference will come with how Rudy Gobert is deployed. Maybe he isn’t a head-to-head matchup with Wemby (Randle did a better job, truth be told), and is instead used to overwhelm the Wemby-less minutes.

That’s where my first question comes in. Wembanyama was not the biggest let down of the two main stars, but he is far more crucial than Fox. How do you think the approach changes, or do you think it’s just a question of hitting shots instead of missing them? Additionally, do Wemby’s gaudy blocked shot numbers actually hide the fact that his rebounding/defensive play finishing left a lot to be desired? How do you deal with that?

J.R.

First, when you’re talking about comparing one game to the next, it’s never just about one factor, even if it’s hitting shots. Let’s say that you look at the average score of a player and figure that he can be depended on to deliver that. Well, over a season he can, but in a single game there are too many variables. It’s easy to say, “We’ll be fine on Wednesday because those outside shots will drop,” but maybe Minnesota gets to the line more and hits all of their free throws. Or San Antonio doubles their average turnovers and starts hemorrhaging transition points. There are just far too many factors involved in every game to imagine a single category improving and then expect everything else to stay the same. 

As for Wemby’s play, it’s wild to think that in a game when he tallied a dozen blocks and 15 boards, that his defense and rebounding could have been better, but there it is. Wemby still leaves his feet for fakes when he’s around the basket, and I don’t think anything besides time and seasoning will cure it. I don’t know whether this is conventional basketball wisdom, but it’s my firm belief that jumping to challenge midrange or perimeter shots is fundamentally sound. But when it comes to big men around the basket, they should raise their arms to challenge but keep their feet to be available for the rebound. This goes doubly for Wemby because he’s so tall that he affects shots sometimes even when he doesn’t make a move to block. Bottom line, the idea of defense is to get a stop, not to get blocks. I like it when he denies a guy, but I like ending an offensive possession even more. 

The Wolves decided that they’d just keep attacking regardless of how many blocks he got, and you can’t argue with the results. As to how you deal with that, I’m not sure but it’s got to be a team thing. Funneling drivers to Wemby definitely works when Gobert is on the court, begging to be ignored, but when Minnesota goes small you’ve got to find someone better than Shannon for Vic to guard. He’s so fast that the instant Victor gets hung on a screen, it’s over. 

But all is not lost. I don’t expect Fox to have two stinkers in a row, and some regression to the team’s mean for threes can be expected unless the Timberwolves have some magic potion that makes the team they’re playing forget how to shoot open looks from deep. That would sound laughable, but it seemed to happen to Denver, and we know what happened in Game 1. 

How about your take on Game 2: do you think it’ll be as close as Monday, and do you see the Spurs solving some part of what Finch has planned?

Thilo

I actually texted a boss at another gig (who among us does not have too many jobs?) about this today and said “I’m expecting a 20-point win for San Antonio because anything else would set off alarm bells.”

So let’s just say, I think San Antonio will solve something, I just wonder what that will be.

It’s hard to win a game on the road, especially with how intense the Frost Bank Center looked to be during stretches of that fourth quarter. It’s even harder to win two games on the road. It’s impossibly hard to win the first two games in a series on the road in the second round against a higher seed team.

The last time I can remember away teams taking 2-0 leads regularly was during the bubble and this is so vastly different.

I will say though, I harped on about playoff experience during the first episode (?) of this series, and that is something that I think will continue to be relevant. Mitch Johnson is not Gregg Popovich. He has not been here. He likely wouldn’t be here if Pop had the health to stick around.

Yeah, it is hard to win on the road, but it’s probably easier to imagine winning on the road when you have a track record (which the Wolves now shockingly do) than when your rotation has 90% of its career playoff minutes coming from old man Harrison Barnes.

Maybe that’s too short or dismissive of an answer, but I truly think it comes down to that. Experience matters and the Spurs – the dynastic, ever relevant Spurs – lack that right now.

To that point, it’s kind of hard to see who will lead the team in this series. It feels a little premature for Wemby to take that over alongside all his on-court roles, and Fox surely needs to play better for that to happen. Castle and Harper are not good enough to outshow their age in that regard too.

People will laugh at this comparison, but the Pistons have Tobias Harris. The Wolves have Mike Conley. The Thunder needed Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein. Vets are important, and the Spurs don’t have a ton of them to unite behind. 

Every team needs that. Every single championship team stresses the importance of those guys. Who will be that underappreciated, often unutilized guy to step up? It remains to be seen how the game will turn out, but that’s what I’ll be watching for.

LeBron James and the Lakers pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NBA Playoffs history in the first round, defeating the Houston Rockets despite missing the services of MVP candidate Luka Doncic. But for King James' record 23rd NBA season to continue, he'd have to pull off a miracle by dethroning the reigning champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder. And that's a miracle that probably won't come true if you watched Game 1 on Tuesday night.

Despite a great game by LeBron, the Lakers lost by 18 points, signifying this could be a quick series. But on the bright side for the four-time NBA MVP, he's got something to look forward to when his team gets eliminated.

RELATED: Watch LeBron James' awesome YouTube golf debut

According to J.R. Smith, who appeared on FanDuel's "Run It Back" on Tuesday, the 2016 championship Cleveland Cavaliers squad has a 10-year reunion trip planned. And not just any trip, but a big-time golf trip now that James has caught the golf bug bad.

Smith, one of the best celebrity golfers around, was asked about LeBron's new love of the game. And he revealed the following:

"Scotland, Northern Ireland . . . a golf trip," Smith says in the clip. "These boys want to play 36 holes a day . . . I don't know how many they'll finish."

Nice little jab by J.R. there, but you can tell he's thrilled that LeBron has become a golfer.

"They're locked in," Smith says with a smile. "I'm like, OK, now we talking. Now we talking."

Sounds amazing, J.R. And if you guys need any help planning—or anyone to round out your group, please let us know.

RELATED: A celebrity golfer's tough round & Rory McIlroy's movie(?) cameo

More ‘impact' at the rim? Key takeaways from Brad Stevens' press conference originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Brad Stevens cut right to the chase in his end-of-season press conference at the Boston Celtics’ practice facility Wednesday.

“I’m pissed,” the Celtics president of basketball operations told reporters. “I’d rather be playing New York. We all would.”

The Celtics were one win away from advancing to the second round to face the Knicks, but blew a 3-1 series lead to the Philadelphia 76ers en route to their earliest playoff exit since Stevens’ final year as head coach in 2021.

So, there was Stevens on Wednesday fielding questions from reporters on the team’s play style, how to improve the roster and much more.

Stevens covered plenty of ground in the 33-minute press conference, which you can watch in full below. Here are his most notable answers:

Jaylen’s apparent “frustration” with Celtics

Tracy McGrady raised eyebrows on a recent episode of his podcast with Vince Carter by suggesting Jaylen Brown’s “frustration lies deep within the (Celtics) organization,” adding, “There’s just been a lot of stuff that I’ve been hearing just going on with the Boston organization with JB.”

Stevens was asked directly about Brown’s apparent frustration Tuesday.

“I talked to Jaylen on Monday a little bit just real quickly, and it was nothing but positive,” Stevens replied. “He has not expressed those frustrations to me.

“We’ve been here 10 years together. I love JB and everybody around here loves JB. I’ll be here, and my door is always open.”

More ‘impact’ at the rim?

The Celtics attempted the most 3-pointers in the playoffs by a wide margin (46.1 percent) yet made just 33.7 percent of them (10th among 16 playoff teams) while shooting worse than 30 percent in all four of their losses to Philly.

Stevens was asked several questions about Boston’s affinity for the 3-point shot and whether the team will consider changing either its strategy or its personnel this offseason to be less reliant on the deep shot.

His responses were telling, and arguably the highlight of Tuesday’s press conference.

“My general feeling watching us play in really each of the last two playoffs … was, we had a hard time generating really good looks on that first shot,” Stevens said. “So, we’ve got to figure out a way to do better in that.”

“One of the things that we’ve got to figure out is how to have more of an impact at the rim, and I think we do need to add to our team to do that. Everybody plays a role in that, but at the end of (Game 7), Embiid is standing at the rim on all those possessions or a lot of those possessions.”

That sure sounds like Stevens wants to add more frontcourt depth to complement the current tandem of Neemias Queta and Luka Garza — or at least pursue a player who can create offense inside the 3-point line.

“I think the biggest thing is, can we generate looks at the rim? Yeah, everybody wants to do that, and every one of us would prefer a dunk over a 3. Every single one of us. Those are hard to get, and we struggle to generate them.”

Why Tatum didn’t play in Game 7

The details around Jayson Tatum’s injury are still a bit murky. After sitting out the fourth quarter of Game 6 in Philly due to “left leg stiffness,” the Celtics star wasn’t listed on Boston’s initial injury report last Friday, then popped up as “questionable” with “left knee stiffness” on Saturday afternoon before being ruled out for Game 7 against the Sixers later than night.

According to Stevens, Tatum mostly stayed off the leg on Friday and went through a workout Saturday morning to see how his leg would respond. The answer, apparently, was “not well.”

“I watched (the workout), and clearly (it) didn’t feel right,” Stevens said. “It’s not a long, long-term concern, but it certainly didn’t look right when he was working out and didn’t feel right. So, it made sense to be smart about that.”

Tatum added that players coming back from a serious injury like Tatum’s ruptured Achilles his right leg have “a tendency to overcompensate,” and suggested that may have led to Tatum’s left leg issue.

A vote of confidence in Mazzulla

Stevens gave a measured response when asked for his assessment of head coach Joe Mazzulla, who is a finalist to win NBA Coach of the Year due to the Celtics’ regular-season success but received criticism for some of his decision-making in the postseason.

“First of all, I know how hard that job is, “Stevens said. “I know all that goes into it, and I know he and his staff are putting everything they can into it.

“When I say that we struggle to get by, I think that’s — we need to add to our team. So, I think our coaching staff, like all of us, can continue to improve and get better.

“That said, I think they’re very good, and we need to continue to provide them the resources um to grow and get better and continue to be the best that we can be.”

A strong endorsement of Gonzalez

Stevens was much more effusive in his praise of rookie Hugo Gonzalez, the team’s first-round pick (28th overall) in the 2025 NBA Draft.

“Hugo had a great rookie year and is a critical part of us moving forward, because his athleticism can meet the moment in the big games,” Stevens said. “That’s a real thing. You can see it. You know it.

“His strength is off the charts. He’s one of the strongest guys on our team pound-for-pound right now as a 20- year old. So, he’s got a bright future.”

Gonzalez averaged just 14.7 minutes per game, though, and saw just 19 total minutes of floor time over seven playoff games. Stevens acknowledged that despite Gonzalez’s physical attributes, the Spain native wasn’t able to “separate himself” from those who played instead of him.

One and done for Vucevic?

Stevens took a swing at the NBA trade deadline by dealing Anfernee Simons for Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic. The veteran struggled to find his footing in Boston, suffering a finger injury just one month after joining the Celtics and finding himself on the bench in Game 7 against the Sixers.

Vucevic is set to hit unrestricted free agency this offseason, and while Stevens offered some praise for the big man, it wouldn’t be surprising if he lands elsewhere this summer.

“Getting traded here when he did, he had some moments; broke his finger, that probably set him back,” Stevens said. “And then, (the Sixers series) was a hard matchup for all of us.

“I thought that Vooch gave us all that he had and did what we asked. It was a hard matchup, and I have a lot of respect for Vooch as a person and as a pro.

“I thought he was really good in our locker room. I thought he was a really good person to have around.”

Masai Ujiri is a splashy name to fill the Dallas Mavericks’ president of basketball operations (and alternate governor) position, and one sure to spark endless fodder for debate for podcasters and basketball content creators.

Is Ujiri washed? Or is he the dose of stability that this franchise needs as the Mavericks stare down the task of building around Cooper Flagg? His 12 years heading up basketball operations for the Toronto Raptors, which ended one day after the 2025 NBA Draft after three straight years missing the playoffs, offers definitive evidence both ways.

Ujiri was introduced as the Mavericks’ head man in a press conference on Tuesday at American Airlines Center, an affair that offered little to sway members of either camp.

“To come to this storied organization, the Dallas Mavericks, to come back to the NBA, it’s a blessing and I’m honored and humbled to have this very unique opportunity,” Ujiri said.

“There’s no other way to do this than winning,” he added, when asked for the first time about helping the organization move on from the tumult that started with trading Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers. “There’s a saying in Africa. When kings go, kings come. The king went, and we have a little prince here that we’re going to turn into a king, and I think we have to start thinking that way here.”

Lost in all the banter about what he learned during his year off, musings about coming up in the world of professional basketball and obligatory responses about the trade of Luka Dončić, which went down a full 15 months ago, while Ujiri was still leading the Raptors’ front office, was any clarity surrounding how decision-making will happen in this Mavericks’ front office.

Of course, he’ll be the final word on roster- and basketball-related decisions. He’s here to fill the role traditionally manned by a “general manager,” terminology that has apparently gone completely out of style in NBA circles these days. But he dodged questions about head coach Jason Kidd’s future with the franchise and mentioned co-interim general managers Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley exactly one time in the 35-minute nothing-burger of a press conference during a time where nothing but questions swirl all around the Mavericks.

To be clear, at both his previous posts as a GM-type guy, Ujiri kept the coach he was handed in place for at least three seasons. He kept George Karl in Denver for three seasons when he came on as general manager and vide president of basketball operations for the Nuggets in 2010. He kept Dwayne Casey in place for five seasons with the Raptors after joining that front office in 2013. His track record says Kidd will be the Mavericks’ coach for the 2026-27 season even if he side-stepped direct questions to that effect twice in Tuesday’s presser.

“I had a conversation with Jason Kidd yesterday,” Ujiri said the first time he was asked point-blank whether Kidd would remain in place next season. “I’m going to meet with Jason Kidd and hear his thoughts on everything. He’s done a great job. We’re going to look at this thing from head to toe and evaluate in every way that we can.”

He’s going to be in a million meetings in the next few days. He’s got to make informed decisions, and that takes time. That means evaluating everything and everyone on the basketball side of the organization. Stakes is high — too high to come in shooting from the hip. We get that.

But what we didn’t get from Tuesday’s introductory press conference was any definitive answer on how any of this is going to work moving forward. Without any clarity, we’re left clueless, without any sense as to whether this guy will effectively correct any of the CVS receipt full of problems the Mavericks face as they rebuild. Confidence lags behind clarity. Without any of the latter there is none of the former to be had.

Is Ujiri up to the task in Dallas? Your guess is as good as mine.

This lack of clarity is at least as much on the media assembled at the AAC as it is on Ujiri. Nobody cares who courted who more, team Governor Patrick Dumont or Ujiri. No one cares about the frank five-hour meeting the two shared. No one cares that it was only scheduled for an hour, but Dumont and Ujiri just genuinely liked staring lovingly into each other’s eyes so much that it turned into an all-day affair.

All of one question was asked about Riccardi and Finley’s future with the organization, and it was asked of Dumont, not Ujiri himself. Dumont’s answer was short and rote, with just a tinge of foreboding.

“I want to thank Matt and Fin for the work that they did across this year,” Dumont said. “They did phenomenal work. As Masai spoke about, he’s going to speak to everyone, and talk about the future of the organization, and we’ll go from there.”

Yeesh — I’d be polishing my resume if I were one of those two fellows after hearing that answer.

The central thesis of the presser was that, boy, we sure are glad we have Cooper Flagg. He sure is fun to watch and good as basketball. The rest is a huge question mark.

“The one difficult thing to find anywhere in sports is a generational player,” Ujiri said. “And we have one here. We’ve planted a flag(g) here. It is our job to continue to build the young players on this team. We have to figure it out and put them in the right situations to perform.”

Usiri and the Mavericks will have two more chances in the first round of the NBA Draft next month to put a couple more building blocks into place. Dumont can go on and on about how excited he is to have Ujiri at the top of his front-office food chain. The fans seem to be shrugging their shoulders, thoroughly unconvinced of anything, really.