Mike Gansey, Nick U’ren Among Sixers’ Potential Front Office Targets
Cavaliers general manager Mike Gansey and Phoenix Mercury GM Nick U’ren are among the potential candidates to watch as the Sixers seek a replacement for Daryl Morey in their front office, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
A longtime Cavaliers staffer who initially joined the team as a basketball operations seasonal assistant in 2011, Gansey has worked his way through Cleveland’s front office over the last decade-and-a-half. He spent three years as the team’s director of G League operations and two as the general manager of the G League team, known at the time as the Canton Charge. Gansey was named the NBAGL’s Executive of the Year in 2017 and earned a promotion to Cavaliers assistant GM later that year.
Gansey was later elevated to a GM role in 2022 during the same offseason that Koby Altman was promoted from GM to president of basketball operations. The veteran executive has since been connected to multiple rival teams’ front office searches, most recently interviewing with the Bulls before they hired Bryson Graham.
U’ren, meanwhile, spent five years in Phoenix with the Suns and Mercury from 2009-14, working in various video room roles. He was hired by the Warriors in 2014 and won four titles with the team over the next nine years. He held multiple positions during that time, including manager of advance scouting, special assistant to the head coach, and director of basketball operations.
U’Ren returned to Phoenix as the Mercury’s general manager after the 2023 WNBA season. After going 9-31 in ’23, the Mercury won 19 games in 2024, then went 27-17 and made the WNBA Finals in 2025.
Stein previously linked 76ers consultant Neil Olshey and Thunder executive Vince Rozman, a former Sixers employee, to Philadelphia’s front office vacancy, while noting that assistant GM Jameer Nelson could be in line for an expanded role.
Morey’s successor in Philadelphia is expected to run the front office on a day-to-day basis and will have “a lot of authority,” though Bob Myers, the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, acknowledged last week that he’ll be involved with the Sixers’ “high-level decision making.”
Hoops Rumors Live Chat: 5/18/2026
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Click here to submit your questions about the playoffs, free agency, extension candidates, trade rumors, other offseason moves, the coaching carousel, salary cap, CBA rules, draft lottery reform, or any other NBA-related topic. Then join us at 3:15 pm CT to chat!
Eastern Notes: Wizards, Brown, Celtics, Pacers
The Wizards have won 15, 18, and 17 games in the past three seasons, but team owner Ted Leonsis has no regrets about pivoting to a full roster tear-down – or, as he calls it, a “deconstruction” – after several years mired in mediocrity, he tells Barry Svrluga of The Athletic. Leonsis indicated that he’s happy with the job team president Michael Winger has done to position the Wizards for a more promising future.
“(Winger) said to me three or four times, ‘You know, this could take four or five years,'” Leonsis said. “And I said, ‘I totally understand. I’ve been through the deconstructing stage with the (NHL’s Washington Capitals). I lived through it the first time with the Wizards. I’m prepared. … I don’t see any other path to get out of where we are than deconstruct.’ And they executed it very, very well.”
Of course, the Wizards’ future looks much more positive after the May 10 draft lottery than it did before it — armed with the No. 1 overall pick in a loaded 2026 draft, Washington is in position to add a long-term franchise cornerstone to its young core. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Wizards will become a contender overnight. Leonsis told Svrluga that he considers the rebuild to be “just starting” rather than ending.
“I think it’s an important point on this long, long journey that we’ll be on.” the Wizards’ owner said, before pausing and adding, “The deconstruction, though, is over.”
We have more from around the Eastern Conference:
- So what exactly should the Wizards do with that first overall pick? One rival front office official told Josh Robbins and David Aldridge of The Athletic that figuring that out is a “great (expletive) problem to have.” Of the 13 executives and scouts who spoke to Robbins and Aldridge, seven said they’d take AJ Dybantsa, two expressed a preference for Darryn Peterson, one said he’d want Cameron Boozer, and three didn’t commit to a specific prospect.
- While Jaylen Brown will technically be eligible for a contract extension as of July 26, Brian Robb of MassLive.com notes that the Celtics will likely feel no sense of urgency to get a new deal done at this point, given that there are still three years left on Brown’s current super-max contract. Robb doesn’t expect a Brown extension to be among Brad Stevens‘ offseason priorities.
- Observing that the Celtics want to get more athletic and add another ball-handler this summer, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscription required) explores whether the club might be able to address either of those needs with the No. 27 overall pick in the draft. Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie, Duke forward Isaiah Evans, and Texas wing Dailyn Swain are among the prospects Washburn considers as possible targets for Boston.
- After losing their first-round pick on lottery night, what’s next for the Pacers this summer? Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required) attempts to answer that question, noting that the team may want to add another wing with size. Dopirak examines which trade and free agent targets might be realistic for Indiana and weighs whether it would make sense for the club to trade back into the draft, likely in the second round.
Poll: Who Will Win Western Conference Finals?
The most anticipated playoff series of the 2025/26 NBA season is set to get underway on Monday, as the defending champion Thunder take on the fast-rising Spurs to determine who will represent the Western Conference in this year’s NBA Finals.
The Thunder will enter the series as the favorites for obvious reasons. Their 64-18 record during the regular season was the best mark in the NBA, and they’re the only team not to lose a playoff game so far, having sped through the first two rounds with four-game sweeps over the Suns and Lakers.
Oklahoma City comfortably held the NBA’s top defensive rating (106.5) and net rating (+11.1) during the regular season, and they also had the league’s seventh-best offensive rating (117.6), with newly crowned back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way.
Although Gilgeous-Alexander is the head of the snake, the Thunder have one of the NBA’s deepest rosters. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams have each earned an All-Star nod in the past two seasons; Ajay Mitchell has enjoyed a breakout postseason, averaging 18.8 points per game to emerge as a go-to secondary scorer alongside SGA; guards Jared McCain and Isaiah Joe have provided additional firepower off the bench; and Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Luguentz Dort, and Jaylin Williams have all made an impact on both ends of the court in regular rotation roles.
The Thunder were a little better than the 62-win Spurs in the regular season and have looked more dominant the playoffs so far. They also hold the experience edge over San Antonio, whose young stars are experiencing their first postseason. Still, it was hard to be any hotter than the Spurs were in the second half of the season, when they won 30 of their last 34 games. And while they’ve dropped three games in the playoffs, two of those losses came in games Victor Wembanyama left early, due either to an injury or an ejection.
Wembanyama, who finished third in MVP voting and was named Defensive Player of the Year, is the biggest reason to believe in the Spurs. He’s the NBA’s most impactful defender and rim protector by a significant margin, and San Antonio has looked unstoppable anytime he’s on the floor — the team had a +17.0 net rating during his 1,866 minutes in the regular season and has bumped that number to +21.9 in the playoffs.
But as is the case with Gilgeous-Alexander in Oklahoma City, this isn’t a one-man show. Stephon Castle has averaged 19.9 points and 6.1 assists per game during the postseason, with a .490/.440/.797 shooting line. De’Aaron Fox (18.8 PPG, 5.8 APG), Dylan Harper (13.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG), Devin Vassell (12.5 PPG, 4.9 RPG), and Julian Champagnie (10.9 PPG, .452 3PT%) have also played key roles in the first two rounds. And while Keldon Johnson has been up and down in the playoffs, he’s the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year and came up big with the Minnesota series tied at two games apiece, scoring 21 points in a Game 5 victory.
Perhaps most importantly, no team played the Thunder tougher during the regular season than the Spurs did. Because they met in the NBA Cup, the two clubs ended up facing one another five times, and San Antonio won four of those matchups, including three by double digits. Oklahoma City didn’t have a losing record against any other team this season.
Ahead of Game 1, we want to know what you think. Will the Thunder hold off the Spurs and get a chance to win a second consecutive NBA Finals, or will San Antonio knock off the defending champs and make it back to the Finals for the first time since 2014?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your predictions.
Who will win the Western Conference finals?
Pelicans Hire Jamahl Mosley As Head Coach
12:02 pm: The Pelicans have officially confirmed that they’ve hired Mosley as their new head coach, announcing the move in a press release.
“Jamahl has earned tremendous respect across the NBA for his leadership, professionalism, and the strong relationships he develops with players and staff,” Pelicans executive VP of basketball operations Joe Dumars said in a statement. “He has consistently demonstrated an ability to develop young talent while establishing teams that compete with toughness, discipline, and togetherness. His teams reflect his coaching style through their defensive intensity, effort, preparation, and commitment to playing the right way. Those qualities reinforce the long-term stability of a winning culture.”
9:55 am: The Pelicans will hire Jamahl Mosley as their next head coach on a five-year contract, sources tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Team officials have been in “constant communication” with Mosley since he was fired by the Magic on May 4 following their first-round playoff loss, Charania adds. They were able to meet in person during last week’s draft combine in Chicago.
Charania states that the Pelicans believe their situation is similar to Orlando’s in 2021 when Mosley took over following a 21-61 season. Mosley steadily built the Magic into a playoff team that placed a heavy emphasis on having one of the league’s best defenses.
Mosley will replace interim coach James Borrego, who was among the candidates that were interviewed during the search. He was hired as the team’s associate head coach in 2024 and compiled a 24-46 record after Willie Green was dismissed in November. There’s no word yet on whether Borrego will remain with the franchise or what the plans are to round out Mosley’s staff.
The Pelicans had been conducting a coaching search since the regular season ended more than a month ago, and there was speculation that their interest in Mosley was the reason the process was taking so long. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line first mentioned Mosley as a potential candidate all the way back in the fall when Green was let go, while Michael Scotto confirmed last month that the coach had “several admirers” in New Orleans.
Other reported candidates for the job included Bucks coaching associate Rajon Rondo, Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel, Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney, and Bucks associate head coach Darvin Ham.
Mosley had a 189-221 record in his five seasons with the Magic and led the team to three playoff appearances. However, his failure to advance past the first round led to his dismissal as he lost in seven, five and seven games over the last three years.
He’ll be in charge of a Pelicans team that has underachieved in recent seasons, but features a good mix of veteran players and young talent, Charania notes in a full story. New Orleans doesn’t own its first-round pick in this year’s draft, and its only current selection is at No. 58.
The Pelicans’ decision leaves Orlando, Chicago and Portland as the remaining teams without head coaches in place.
Dubai Basketball Expresses Interest In Guerschon Yabusele
Dubai Basketball is “very interested” in signing Guerschon Yabusele if he decides to resume playing overseas, according to Oscar Herreros of Sportando.
The French forward is expected to have plenty of EuroLeague interest this summer after spending the past two seasons in the NBA. He declined his 2026/27 player option in February to help facilitate a trade from the Knicks to the Bulls. He said last month that he’s hoping to extend his NBA career, but he might have better options in Europe.
Yabusele spent two unproductive years in Boston after being selected with the 16th pick in the 2016 draft, but he blossomed into a star in Europe and had his best seasons with Real Madrid. He caught the attention of NBA scouts and executives with an outstanding showing for France in the 2024 Olympics and chose Philadelphia out of several NBA offers.
Yabusele showed promise during his return to the league with the Sixers in 2024/25 and signed a multiyear deal with the Knicks last summer. However, he couldn’t duplicate that performance in New York and wound up out of the rotation, averaging just 8.9 minutes in 41 games. He got a bit of a revival with a trade to Chicago at the deadline and finished the season strong, starting 19 of the 26 games he played for the Bulls and averaging 10.0 points and 5.7 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per night while shooting 38.3% from three-point range.
At age 30, Yabusele faces an uncertain NBA future, especially with the changes in Chicago’s front office. Although he plans to explore his NBA opportunities, a return to Europe may wind up being more profitable.
Dubai made its EuroLeague debut last season with a roster that featured several ex-NBA players, and the franchise continues to be aggressive in its pursuit of high-level talent. Former NBA big man Mamadi Diakite is also rumored to be considering a deal with Dubai.
Knicks Notes: Bridges, Towns, Robinson, Layoff
Knicks head coach Mike Brown decided to keep Mikal Bridges in the starting lineup after he struggled in the first three games of the first-round matchup vs. Atlanta. The veteran wing rewarded Brown’s faith in him by playing well at the end of that series and throughout the second-round sweep of Philadelphia, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post.
“It’s always great when your coach has got trust in you,” Bridges said after practice on Saturday. “Yeah, that’s great. And teammates staying with it, keeping me confident, as well. I think we all know the end goal is just trying to win games and do whatever it takes to win. Even in my mistakes, just try to do whatever it takes and know that I just gotta bounce back and learn from them.”
Bridges, who went scoreless with four turnovers in 21 minutes in the Game 3 loss vs. the Hawks, has averaged 15.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals on .667/.444/1.000 shooting over the last seven games, all victories. He played a critical role in slowing down Sixers star Tyrese Maxey, Schwartz notes.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Brown hasn’t used the double-big lineup of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson very much during the playoffs, but the results have been spectacular when they’ve been on the court together, notes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News (subscription required). In their 20 shared minutes, the Knicks are outscoring opponents by an average of 27.9 points per 100 possessions. “I came to a little bit of a revelation with those guys,” Brown said. “We feel it’s a little easier to play with them — not just defensively, but offensively, too.”
- The Knicks have won seven straight games since Brown gave Towns a greater role in running the offense, and Towns’ college coach, John Calipari, has been delighted by the results, per Mike Lupica of The New York Daily News (subscription required).“What everybody is seeing is that playing through him the way they are doesn’t take away from anybody else’s game,” Calipari said. “On the contrary, it adds to everybody else’s game. And is exactly right for this team. The style of game he’s been playing, especially since they got behind the Hawks, I call that (Nikola) Jokic style, and that’s without him getting a ton of shots.”
- The Knicks closed out their second-round series last Sunday and will have a nine-day break by the time the conference finals begin Tuesday night. Brown isn’t sure whether that will be an advantage for his team or not, relays Zach Braziller of The New York Post. “I’ve been in both situations, playing while a team’s waiting and I’ve been waiting while a team’s playing,” Brown said. “You can say a lot theoretically. You can say they’re going to be tired, but you can also say they have a competitive edge because they’ve been going at it for seven games and we’ve been off. You keep trying to do different things during the course of the downtime to keep them sharp, keep them focused and try to keep their competitive edge up as much as you can.”
Cavaliers Notes: Mitchell, Merrill, Allen, Conference Finals
Donovan Mitchell has enjoyed plenty of memorable playoff moments during his nine years in the NBA, but he never advanced past the second round until the Cavaliers beat the Pistons in Game 7 Sunday night. After contributing 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds in the 31-point victory, Mitchell called it “a breath of fresh air” to be heading to the conference finals, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.
“Even last year, when we lost to Indiana, we had our goals set on getting to the Finals. We’re just one step closer,” Mitchell said. “But yeah, it’s been almost a decade of running into the same issue. So for sure, I personally, and as a team, we can breathe a little bit.”
Playoff disappointments followed Mitchell from Utah to Cleveland and were especially acute last season when the Cavs were ousted in the second round as the No. 1 seed. They appeared to be headed in that direction again after dropping Game 6 at home on Friday, but they bounced back with a dominant performance, controlling Sunday’s contest from the opening minutes. It was an important victory for a team that was likely headed for major changes with another early exit.
“It does mean something,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “This was the next step for us. First day of training camp, I put up the playoff record over the last three years, 11-15. I’ve been saying all year we have a lot to prove. We still have more to prove. That’s the next part of it, but we proved something to ourselves, that we could take that another step.”
There’s more on the Cavaliers:
- The team’s playoff path hasn’t been easy, going seven games in each of the first two rounds against a pair of physical opponents, but the players see some advantages to all the challenges, Collier adds. “Listen, you’d love to sweep every series, but I think these have been great opportunities for us to get to know each other a little better, develop some more belief and just continue to get better,” Sam Merrill said. “And that’s what the playoffs are about. You got to keep getting better, make adjustments, and then find a way to win.”
- Jarrett Allen, who has been criticized in the past for not delivering in the playoffs, turned in his second straight impressive Game 7, finishing with 23 points and seven rebounds. He received a motivational text from team chairman Dan Gilbert two hours before the game, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reveals in a subscriber-only story, and Gilbert talked to Atkinson about Allen’s importance at a team dinner Saturday night. “He goes, ‘You know who the key to this whole thing is?’ I was thinking (James) Harden, Mitchell. He goes, ‘The key to this whole thing, the spark, is Jarrett Allen. I said, ‘Really?’” Atkinson said after Sunday’s game. “Sometimes you have people who observe from afar. Plus, Dan knows the team well and he knows these guys.”
- The Cavs won’t get much time to rest before facing the Knicks in Game 1 of the conference finals Tuesday night. They brought oversized suitcases on Saturday’s team charter with the expectation of heading to New York instead of just spending two days in Detroit, Fedor states in a separate story (subscription required). “For us, we can’t really look at it and say, ‘All right, we did it, we got to conference finals.’ That’s not the end all,” Mitchell said. “We’ve still got more to do. It’s all about the belief in the locker room. We’ve got each other’s back and that’s the biggest thing. I believe we’ve all been a believer since day one, and we’ve got more work to do. We’re always going to have bumps in the road, but it’s how we stick together. We’ll go to war with each other any day of the week.”
Stein’s Latest: LeBron, Sixers, Magic, Blazers, Giannis
Has LeBron James played his last NBA game? That’s the question Marc Stein wondered on Saturday at his Substack.
Stein and people he trusts around the league think James is likely to play a record-extending 24th season in 2026/27, but Stein acknowledges that no one — maybe not even James — knows the answer.
James, a 21-time All-NBA member, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The 41-year-old’s “runaway preference” would be to remain with the Lakers, Stein writes, and they’re believed to be open to that scenario as well — with a caveat.
According to Stein, Los Angeles would like to bring back LeBron at a “much lower number” than the $52.6MM he made this season. However, Stein views that scenario as “thorny,” since James has never accepted the sort of discounted rate the Lakers might prefer to offer.
Still, the other teams that could appeal to James — the Warriors, Cavaliers, Knicks and Clippers — may not be able to offer him much in free agency either, Stein notes. That might make retirement a more viable option, even though Stein suspects the NBA’s all-time leading will play another season.
Stein also detailed several other items of interest in his Sunday edition of The Stein Line:
- Bob Myers, the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, recently said the Sixers‘ new head of basketball operations would have “a lot of authority” but that he expects to be involved in major personnel and roster decisions moving forward. That has led to a “widespread belief” around the league that Myers will explore the possibility of hiring Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh for the job, according to Stein, who points out that Saleh worked with Myers in Golden State. However, Stein hears Saleh is expected to remain with Atlanta, as the 76ers would require permission to speak to him, and that seems unlikely to be granted after Saleh finished second in Executive of the Year voting.
- According to Stein, there have been “rumbles” about the Sixers potentially being intrigued by Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, but he’s still under contract for another year and Minnesota didn’t show any interest in letting him speak to Dallas before the Mavericks decided to hire Masai Ujiri.
- Regardless of what happens with the front office search, Stein has heard chatter throughout the season about Sixers assistant GM Jameer Nelson potentially being promoted to an “expanded role.” The former NBA point guard is highly regarded in Philadelphia and in the league and is “routinely described” as a possible future GM, Stein writes. 76ers consultant Neil Olshey and Thunder executive Vince Rozman, a longtime former Sixers employee, have also been connected to Philadelphia’s front office vacancy after the team fired Daryl Morey.
- The Magic hope to hire an experienced head coach to replace Jamahl Mosley, per Stein, and Billy Donovan is still viewed as a “strong candidate” for the position despite backing out of the same job to return to the University of Florida in 2007. Tom Thibodeau is another experienced coach who remains a free agent, Stein notes.
- Sources tell the Stein Line that Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori can be added to the list of names the Trail Blazers have expressed interest in as they search for a new head coach. For what it’s worth, former Blazers head coach Terry Stotts threw his name into the hat recently as well, texting longtime Oregon sportswriter Dwight Jaynes that he’d like another crack at the job. “I would love to come back to the Blazers and Portland,” Stotts told Jaynes. Stotts, who confirmed his agent has reached out to Portland about the position, spent the last two seasons as the Warriors’ top assistant.
- According to Stein, the following statement from president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is among the reasons the Celtics keep popping up as a potential suitor for Giannis Antetokounmpo: “One of the things that we’ve got to figure out is how to have more of an impact at the rim,” Stevens said. “And I think we do need to add to our team to do that.”
Spurs To Play Two Games In Europe Next Season
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs will return to Paris, France during the 2026/27 season, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, who reports (via Substack) that the Pelicans are San Antonio’s expected opponent.
The Spurs split a pair of games in Paris against the Pacers in January 2025. This coming January (2027), they’re slated to play one game in Paris and one in Manchester, England, Stein writes.
Orlando and Memphis split this year’s NBA games in Europe, which took place in Berlin, Germany and London, England. Magic forward Franz Wagner and his older brother Moritz Wagner are both Berlin natives.
Stein hears the league has targeted Berlin and Paris as the 2028 hosts of the two European games.
After going 62-20 during the regular season and dispatching Portland and Minnesota in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Spurs are set to face the defending champion Thunder on Monday in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. The Pelicans went just 26-56 in 2025/26, tied for the seventh-worst record in the league.