Southeast Notes: Jakucionis, Fontecchio, Young, Davis, Magic
Heat guard Kasparas Jakucionis wound up playing in 53 games, including 12 starts, during his rookie season. The Miami brass was pleased with his development, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes.
“I’m very encouraged by the progress that he’s made,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s willed himself through his work and consistent actions to be pretty consistent in our rotation the last several weeks. That was hard-earned. “He’s a lot better now than where he was coming into training camp, and certainly where he was in summer league. But he’s relentless, and he wants to get better. You have to respect his competitive spirit. He’s a competitor out there, even as a young player, so he’ll continue to get better.”
Jakucionis scored in double figures in three of his last seven games and also had a nine-assist performance against Washington earlier this month.
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Despite an erratic season, Simone Fontecchio would like to re-sign with the Heat, Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net relays. He’ll be a free agent this summer. “I’d love to stay here,” Fontecchio told Italy’s Sky Sports. “I wouldn’t want to move my family again because we’re great in Miami. Just as importantly, I feel really comfortable with everyone here, from the owners to the coaching staff, and especially in this locker room, which is special because of the group it’s created.” Fontecchio appeared in 70 regular season games but his playing time and production weren’t consistent. He has averaged 8.5 points in 16.7 minutes per game.
- In his offseason guide, ESPN’s Bobby Marks says the top priorities this summer for the Wizards are Trae Young‘s and Anthony Davis‘ contract situations. Young has a June 23 deadline to either exercise his $49MM player option or become an unrestricted free agent and could sign a longer-term deal with Washington either way. Davis cannot become a free agent but is eligible to sign a four-year extension as of Aug. 6. The first year of such an extension would replace his $62.8MM option for 2027/28.
- While the Magic‘s season won’t end if they lose a play-in game at Philadelphia 0n Wednesday, it will call into question the direction of the franchise, Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel opines. Bianchi believes it stands as a referendum as to the progress they’ve made in recent years.
Bucks Notes: Rivers, Shams, Giannis, Green, More
Before Doc Rivers and the Bucks officially announced on Monday that he won’t be returning as the team’s head coach for 2026/27, Rivers claimed during an appearance on the Run it Back show on FanDuel TV (Twitter video link) that ESPN’s Shams Charania got upset about Rivers joking prior to All-Star weekend that Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the captains for the celebrity game, should “trade” Charania.
“Shams took that so personal that he actually called the Bucks and yelled at them to take (the clip) down,” Rivers said, laughing and describing ESPN’s top NBA insider as “emotional.”
Rivers added that he heard from “10 different people” after that incident who told him that Charania would publish a “revenge article” on Rivers and the Bucks, which is how the veteran coach explained last week’s ESPN report that included several behind-the-scenes details from anonymous sources on a dysfunctional season in Milwaukee.
“I just report the news and the truth can hurt sometimes,” Charania said during a Monday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video links). “… If (the Bucks) spent as much time dealing with their own internal problems as they did responding to accurate reports, they wouldn’t be in the mess that they’re in right now. … I’m just here to document and cover it the right way.”
Here’s more on the Bucks:
- Eric Nehm of The Athletic shares his own reporting on a disappointing Bucks season, citing multiple league sources who say that Rivers told several veteran players following a March 21 shootaround in Phoenix that he thought they’d “failed him.” The coach also questioned their “commitment, conditioning, focus, and leadership,” according to Nehm, who said those vets didn’t take kindly to Rivers’ remarks. “That’s when I checked out on this season,” one player told The Athletic.
- In an interview with Mark Medina of EssentiallySports, Bucks broadcaster Marques Johnson said that the Antetokounmpo saga in Milwaukee – including a disagreement between the star forward and the team about his health – is “as toxic as it appears,” referring to it as a “bad situation.”
- Identifying a few potential candidates for the Bucks’ newly opened head coaching position, Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentions a couple names that have been previously reported – former Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins and current Bucks assistant Darvin Ham – and adds two more to the list: Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney and Heat assistant Chris Quinn. Sweeney is a former Bucks assistant who formed a strong bond with Antetokounmpo, Owczarski notes, while Milwaukee received permission to interview Quinn in the past.
- Antetokounmpo’s future and the head coaching search are the focus of Bobby Marks’ Bucks offseason preview at ESPN.com, but Marks also examines the team’s cap situation and its tradable assets, and suggests Milwaukee needs to find a lead guard and establish an identity on defense after plummeting to 26th in the NBA in defensive rating in 2025/26.
- Fourth-year sharpshooter A.J. Green, whose four-year, $45MM extension will begin in 2026/27, set a new franchise record by making 11 three-pointers in the Bucks’ regular season finale on Sunday. Steve Megargee of The Associated Press has the story.
Lakers’ Redick: Doncic, Reaves Remain Out Indefinitely
Neither Luka Doncic nor Austin Reaves is close to returning to action for the Lakers, according to head coach JJ Redick, who told reporters on Tuesday not to expect a formal update on either player before Game 1 of the team’s first-round series on Saturday.
“They’re out indefinitely,” Redick said of his injured guards (Twitter video link via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin). “I’m not going to have an update for you this week. They’re out indefinitely.”
The news doesn’t come as a real surprise. Doncic suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2, while Reaves sustained a Grade 2 oblique strain in the same game, and both injuries typically require a recovery period of at least four weeks or so.
Given the fact that the Lakers’ first-round series may already be over by that four-week mark, both players are doing their best to make it back as quickly as possible, and news that Doncic will return stateside later this week after undergoing treatment in Spain for his injury generated some buzz. But it was never realistic to expect him or Reaves to be available for the start of the playoffs.
Without Doncic or Reaves, the Lakers have leaned more heavily on LeBron James and Luke Kennard for ball-handling and play-making. James averaged 11.0 assists per game in his last four outings of the season, while Kennard averaged 6.4 APG in five appearances after Doncic and Reaves went down.
Marcus Smart, who returned on Friday following a nine-game absence due to a right ankle injury, also figures to play a key role in Los Angeles’ backcourt in the first round against Houston.
Eastern Notes: Donovan, Okoro, Hornets, Whitmore, Sixers
As of Sunday night, Billy Donovan and the Bulls hadn’t scheduled their end-of-season meeting that will help determine whether he remains in his role as head coach, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required).
However, the expectation is that it will happen at some point this week and that Donovan won’t take long after the meeting to make a decision on his future, Poe adds. Bulls leaders, including CEO and president Michael Reinsdorf, have expressed strong interest in retaining Donovan after parting ways with top basketball operations executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, and multiple players have also said they hope the veteran coach returns.
“We’re at this pivot point right now,” Donovan said on Sunday. “Everything has changed. So for me to have to sit down and have a conversation — that’s really what I want to do, just to find out where we’re all at on this and how we’re going to move forward.”
We have more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Bulls forward Isaac Okoro has another year left on his contract, but after being traded last summer, he knows there are no guarantees he’ll still be in Chicago for the start of the 2026/27 season, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Okoro said on Monday that he’ll “just control what I can control” and focus on improving as a player this offseason. “It’s the NBA, it’s the business, and I can be traded again somewhere,” he said. “I love being here and I love the culture we’re trying to build, so I just have to try and control what I can control. But I’ve gotten used to it. I’ve only been traded one time, but in Cleveland come every offseason I felt like I could have been traded.”
- In a pair of in-depth stories, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic take a closer look at the turnaround in Charlotte, where the Hornets have gone from being a perennial punching bag to an exciting young team on the rise. As Vorkunov details, besides bringing in new leaders – general manager Jeff Peterson and head coach Charles Lee – and compiling a promising young core of players, the Hornets have dramatically upgraded their organizational infrastructure under co-owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin, hiring more than 60 new people, renovating their arena, and beginning construction on a new practice facility and team headquarters.
- Discussing the deep vein thrombosis that cut his third NBA season short, Wizards forward Cam Whitmore suggested on Monday that not being able to play basketball during the second half of 2025/26 was a secondary concern, given the serious nature of the issue. “That was a life-threatening (situation),” Whitmore said, per Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network (Twitter link). “… I’m grateful just to be alive, to be honest. I’m grateful to talk to my family.”
- Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice and Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required) consider what the Sixers‘ rotation will look like during the play-in tournament this week, with Aaronson suggesting it won’t be a surprise if guards Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe both get to 40-plus minutes on Wednesday vs. Orlando.
Pelicans’ Dumars: ‘No Intentions’ Of Trading Zion Williamson
Pelicans forward Zion Williamson told reporters on Monday that he hopes to remain in New Orleans going forward. On Tuesday, executive VP of basketball operations Joe Dumars suggested in his own end-of-season press conference that the former No. 1 overall pick will get his wish.
“We have no intentions of doing that,” Dumars responded when asked about the possibility of trading Williamson this summer (subscriber-only story via Rod Walker of NOLA.com). “We are going into the offseason looking forward to Zion coming back next year and playing great again next year.”
Williamson, who was limited to 30 games in 2024/25 due primarily to hamstring and adductor strains, had a healthier year in ’25/26, making 62 appearances and averaging 21.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 29.7 minutes per game. It was just the third time in seven NBA seasons that the 25-year-old has been able to play in at least half of New Orleans’ games.
The fact that he avoided major injuries this season and has just two seasons remaining on his five-year, maximum-salary contract should give Williamson’s trade value a bump entering the summer, but it doesn’t sound as if Dumars is eager to pursue a deal.
Obviously, the Pelicans’ head of basketball operations isn’t under oath when he’s speaking to reporters, so there’s nothing to stop him from stating that he plans to keep Williamson and then changing his mind later in the offseason. But it’s worth noting that Dumars gave the former Duke star a similar vote of support early in the 2025 offseason, shutting down the trade rumors surrounding Zion at that time, and he ultimately stuck to his vow that Williamson would open the 2025/26 season with the team.
More trade rumors swirled around Williamson during the season, but he once again stayed put, and Dumars suggested on Tuesday that the Pelicans weren’t the ones initiating the discussions that led to those rumors.
“Those phone calls come in and people ask about a player and two hours later it comes out that you had a conversation about (trading) a player,” Dumars said. “But you left out the most important part. We said no.”
Because he appeared in 61-plus games this season, Williamson’s 2026/27 salary of $42.2MM is at least 80% guaranteed entering the offseason — it would be fully guaranteed if he meets certain weight-related benchmarks or if he remains under contract through July 15, which appears to be a lock. The Pelicans forward, who will be extension-eligible this offseason, will make $44.9MM in 2027/28 and would reach unrestricted free agency in ’28 if he doesn’t sign a new contract before then.
Nets Notes: Offseason, MPJ, Clowney, Minott, Draft
After going 46-118 over the past two seasons, the Nets have some incentive to take a step forward in 2026/27. They won’t control their own first-rounder in the 2027 draft, so another year spent near the bottom of the standings won’t necessarily net them a lottery pick. Still, general manager Sean Marks was somewhat evasive when asked on Monday just how aggressively the Nets will try to accelerate their rebuild this offseason, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
“It depends a little on what becomes available. You just never know,” Marks said. “We’ve put this Nets team and franchise in a place to be able to be opportunistic. Does that fit our timeline? Does this particular trade work for us right now?
“You can always add talent, but does that talent fit our approach and for the development of these young guys, fit in with the group we have? So, those are discussions I look forward to having with (head coach) Jordi (Fernandez) and the rest of the coaching staff, front office, mostly (team owner) Joe (Tsai) — when we want to add and how we want to add.”
Besides considering how vigorously to pursue outside talent, the Nets will also face a major decision on their leading scorer, with Michael Porter Jr. eligible for a contract extension as he enters the final year of his current deal. Porter will earn $40.8MM next season and would be come an unrestricted free agent in July 2027 if he’s not extended before then.
“This summer there’s going to be a lot of those discussions, whether it’s with Michael, there’s a variety of decisions we have to make with a variety of our players on the team,” Marks said, according to C.J. Holmes of The New York Daily News (subscription required). “But in terms of a long-term build, short-term build, I think we’ve positioned ourselves over the last year or two to maintain flexibility and have optionality.”
Here are a few more notes on the Nets as their offseason gets underway:
- Speaking on Monday to reporters, including Holmes, Porter suggested he enjoyed his first year in Brooklyn despite the team’s poor record and would be very open to extending his stay with the Nets. “If it was up to me, I would love to sign an extension with this franchise,” he said. “I would love to spend many, many years in Brooklyn and make this my home and build and watch this franchise take off. … I think as a team we can really have something to build off of.”
- Nets forward Noah Clowney, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension beginning in July, said on Monday that he felt like his third NBA season was a mixed bag, as Lewis relays. The 21-year-old set new career highs with 12.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game but believes he’s capable of more defensively. “I progressed this year, maybe not as much as I wanted to, which I thought I would have,” Clowney said. “But I got better at some different things, and I got more experience. So I’m gonna take that for what it is. I got a lot better at getting to the rim. (My handle) can get a lot better, and that would prevent my turnovers. … Defensively, it’s just always been consistency. I can do it at times, and other times I just don’t.”
- The deal that sent Josh Minott from Boston to Brooklyn in February was essentially a salary dump from the Celtics’ perspective, but the fourth-year forward finished the season strong with the Nets, averaging 10.8 PPG on .491/.395/.800 shooting in 16 games despite battling an ankle injury. Could Minott, whose deal includes a $2.6MM team option for 2026/27, be part of the club’s young core going forward? “I think he’s the best young prospect on the Nets,” a league source told Lewis (subscription required). “He’s probably better than any of their first-round picks, and he’s damn near the same age.”
- After finishing with the NBA’s third-worst record, the Nets will enter the draft lottery tied for the best odds at the No. 1 pick (14.1%), but their single most likely draft slot is No. 6 (26.0%), as Lewis outlines.
NBA Schedules 2026 Draft For June 23-24
The 2026 NBA draft will begin on Tuesday, June 23 and wrap up on Wednesday, June 24, the league announced today (Twitter link). It will take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
As has been the case since 2024, the draft will be held across two days, with the first 30 picks made on day one and the second round – beginning at No. 31 – happening the following day. Each round will begin at 8:00 pm Eastern time, per the NBA.
While the draft format is unchanged, the schedule looks a little different than usual. When the draft was a single-day event, it was regularly held on Thursday evenings, and after switching to the two-day format two years ago, the league has kept the second round on Thursdays while conducting the first round on Wednesdays.
This year, the draft will begin on a Tuesday. The change may be designed to avoid a direct conflict with the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The U.S. is one of the host countries for the event and Team USA will be in action against Türkiye on the evening of Thursday, June 25.
Certain draft-related deadlines that are connected to the date of the draft itself have now been established, including the NCAA’s deadline for early entrants to declare for the draft — it falls 60 days before the draft, which will be April 24 (11:59 pm ET). Additionally, the NBA’s deadline for early entrants to withdraw from the draft pool falls 10 days before the draft. That will be June 13 (5:00 pm ET).
Grizzlies Notes: Morant, Jerome, Offseason, Coward
Since winning 48 games in 2024/25, the Grizzlies have traded away Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. and appear to be embarking on a full-fledged rebuild after posting a 25-57 record this season. Will star point guard Ja Morant be the next veteran on the move this summer?
General manager and executive VP of basketball operations Zach Kleiman was noncommittal on Monday when asked about Morant’s future with the team. As Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal observes, the fact that he didn’t refer to the two-time All-Star as a franchise cornerstone represented a notable departure from his remarks in past end-of-season pressers.
“I’ll reiterate Ja has been a pro,” Kleiman said. “Ja has been a pro behind the scenes the last few months here. We have had open dialogue, we’ve had respectful dialogue. I think everyone is on the same page as much as they can be in this situation. I’m not going to speculate on potential transactions.”
Like Morant, reserve point guard Ty Jerome was limited by injuries in 2025/26. But the 28-year-old, a free agent addition last summer, was excellent in his 15 outings, averaging 19.7 points and 5.7 assists in just 22.6 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .474/.420/.875. While Jerome would likely have real value on the trade market this summer, Kleiman suggested the veteran guard remains part of Memphis’ plans going forward, according to Cole.
“I think we were all impressed with the balance Ty was able to strike as a scorer and as a facilitator,” Kleiman said. “He’s a very good basketball player. Of course, we see what he can be as part of this group.”
Here’s more on the Grizzlies:
- Kleiman acknowledged on Monday that there’s plenty of work still to do to turn the Grizzlies’ roster into one capable of contending, but he’s optimistic about the foundation already in place and the assets the team has on hand to keep building. “I’m confident that this is going to be a group people can rally around and be excited about going forward,” he said, per Cole. “I think if you zoom all the way out and look at the group of young players we already have, coupled with having as many first-round assets as nearly anyone in the league, it’s going to speak for itself soon.”
- After another injury-plagued season in Memphis, Kleiman suggested that the team will look this offseason into whether changes can be made within the organization to improve player availability and durability, according to Cole. “Every season, we look at the entire operation and make sure we’re doing what we can to put the group in the best possible spot going into the following season,” he said. “We’ll do that this offseason just like we always do.”
- A bright spot in a forgettable season for the Grizzlies, rookie wing Cedric Coward has made a case for a place on the All-Rookie first team, Cole writes in another Commercial Appeal story. The 11th overall pick averaged 13.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game on 47.1% shooting across 62 contests. Head coach Tuomas Iisalo lauded Coward for his contributions to winning, noting that he’s “just scratched the surface of what he can be,” while veteran big man Taj Gibson said on Monday that Coward reminds him of a “young Jimmy (Butler),” per Jonah Dylan of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
- In his preview of the Grizzlies’ offseason, Bobby Marks of ESPN examines some of the decisions facing Kleiman and the front office this summer, including what to do with Morant. Marks also observes that swingman Jaylen Wells will be extension-eligible beginning in July and could sign an extension of up to four years if the team declines his 2027/28 option as part of a deal.
Poll: Who Will Win Tuesday’s Play-In Games?
The Hornets got off to an 11-23 start in 2025/26, looking awfully similar to the team that lost 55, 61, and 63 games in the three seasons prior to this one. But losing their 23rd game on January 2, Charlotte has been a revelation, posting the NBA’s best net rating (+10.7) and sixth-best record (33-15) during that stretch as youngsters like Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel enjoyed breakout years.
Having been bogged down by their slow start, the Hornets’ red-hot play over the course of three-plus months to close out the season only got them so far. They finished the season ranked ninth in the East, so despite being the conference’s fourth-best team since the new year (behind only Detroit, Boston, and Cleveland), Charlotte will have to win a pair of play-in games to make the playoffs.
The first of those play-in matchups will occur on Tuesday, when the Hornets host the Heat in Charlotte. Although the Hornets are comfortably favored to win that game – most sportsbooks are listing Miami as about a six-point underdog – a victory is hardly guaranteed against a Heat team that finished the year just a single game back of Charlotte and won the regular season series 3-1.
The Heat have had a more up-and-down season than the Hornets. After compiling winning streaks of six and seven games earlier in the year, they lost five in a row in March, which decimated their chances of securing a top-six spot in the East. But they’ve had to deal with a series of injuries affecting top players, including Tyler Herro, who was limited to 33 outings after making the All-Star team last season, and have managed to hold their own anyway, finishing in the top 14 in the NBA in both offensive and defensive rating.
Miami also holds the edge in postseason experience over Charlotte. The Heat are old hands in the play-in tournament, having earned playoff spots via the play-in in each of the past three seasons, including as the No. 10 seed a year ago. Conversely, Charlotte hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2016, and the last time they were in the play-in (2022), LaMelo Ball and the Hornets were blown out by 29 points.
Over in the West, the 45-37 Suns will host the 42-40 Trail Blazers in Tuesday’s late game. While the No. 9 Hornets and No. 10 Heat are simply trying to keep their respective seasons alive, Phoenix and Portland are playing in the West’s No. 7 vs. 8 game, meaning one of them will be able to clinch a playoff spot with a victory tonight.
The Suns will host the contest and are viewed as roughly four-point favorites. But the upstart squad, which has enjoyed an encouraging bounce-back season after parting ways with Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant last summer, hasn’t been playing its best basketball in recent weeks. Following a 39-27 start, Phoenix won just six of 16 games to close out the season. The Blazers, on the other hand, wrapped up the regular season on a 10-4 run, picking up a crucial victory over the Clippers on Friday to take control of the No. 8 seed in the West.
Still, like the Heat in the early game, the Suns’ top players have been here before. Top scorers Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks have 76 total playoff appearances between them, while regulars like Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, and Jalen Green have competed in postseason series too. The Blazers have some veterans in their rotation, including former NBA champion Jrue Holiday, but key contributors Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan, Toumani Camara, Shaedon Sharpe, and Scoot Henderson have yet to appear in a playoff game.
Will the home court and playoff experience advantages be enough to earn the Suns a win, or will the Blazers’ late-season momentum carry over to the play-in? Can the Heat recreate last season’s success as a No. 10 seed in the play-in, or will the Hornets show on Tuesday that their second-half run was no fluke?
Vote in our poll below on tonight’s matchups, then head to the comment section to weigh in with your predictions!
Who will win Tuesday's play-in games?
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Charlotte Hornets and Phoenix Suns 39% (287)
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Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers 35% (253)
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Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns 17% (125)
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Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers 9% (67)
Total votes: 732
Injury Notes: Doncic, Heat, Allen, Hunter, Butler
Lakers star Luka Doncic is scheduled to return to the United States and rejoin his team on Friday, reports Melissa Rohlin of the California Post.
Doncic, who suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain on April 2, had been in Spain receiving treatment on the injury in the hopes of accelerating his recovery timeline. According to Dave McMenamin and Shams Charania of ESPN, the All-Star guard has received multiple injections during his time overseas.
Although Doncic will be reporting back to the Lakers, his status going forward remains up in the air. Typically, a Grade 2 hamstring strain requires a recovery period of approximately a month, and Los Angeles won’t want to be cavalier about its franchise player’s health. Still, Doncic is pushing to return as quickly as he can and the team hasn’t offered any updates on his status since ruling him out for the regular season earlier this month.
We have more health updates from around the NBA:
- Heat guard Dru Smith (right big toe sprain / right foot soreness) and Nikola Jovic (left ankle sprain) have been ruled out for Tuesday’s play-in game in Charlotte, but forward Pelle Larsson expects to be available despite being listed as questionable due to a right lower leg contusion, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
- Suns wing Grayson Allen has been listed as questionable for Tuesday’s play-in game vs. Portland, with head coach Jordan Ott referring to him as “day-to-day,” according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Allen, who is dealing with left hamstring soreness, missed Sunday’s regular season finale. It sounds like his availability will be determined closer to tip-off.
- Kings forward De’Andre Hunter said he has made a “complete and successful recovery” from the eye injury that ended his season, tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat. Hunter underwent surgery on his left eye just after the All-Star break due to a detached retina. Although Sacramento’s season is over, the the 28-year-old has been cleared for basketball activities and should be able to go through his usual offseason routine.
- While Jimmy Butler‘s recovery from ACL surgery figures to extend well into the 2026/27 season, he’s making progress, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link), who notes that the Warriors swingman is no longer using crutches.