Eastern Notes: George, Rondo, Heat, Thompson
The Sixers only got six total points from their reserves on Thursday, but an impressive all-around performance from their starters, each of whom scored at least 14 points, helped them secure a victory that will send the series back to Boston for a Game 7 on Saturday.
Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 30 points and Joel Embiid nearly had a triple-double (19 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists). But the team also benefited from a big game third star Paul George, who scored 23 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. George fueled a defensive effort that limited Boston to 41.9% shooting on the night.
As Dan Gelston of The Associated Press writes, George referred to his first season in Philadelphia as “rock bottom.” He was limited to 41 games in 2024/25 due to injuries and the team registered just 24 wins after giving him a four-year, maximum-salary contract. While George only made 37 appearances in ’25/26, that was largely due to a 25-game suspension that served as an extended recovery period for his knee issues and resulted in something of a “physical rebirth,” Gelston notes.
“I’m finally enjoying it now that I’m able to do things I was once able to do again,” George said. “It’s fun again. It’s like seeing who I am again. How can I be relevant again? How can I chase some of the things I was doing in my past? … Before the suspension, I was kind of saving myself for games because of the soreness and I wanted to be as fresh as possible going into the games. Now, I can focus on basketball.”
“Once he came back from his 25 games, he had a mission,” Maxey said of his veteran teammate. “I think he’s been accomplishing that mission.”
We have more from around the Eastern Conference:
- With reports linking Rajon Rondo to New Orleans’ head coaching vacancy, Eric Nehm of The Athletic explores how Rondo’s two years as a coaching associate with the Bucks have helped prepare him for a larger coaching role. Rondo, who worked closely with breakout guard Ryan Rollins in Milwaukee, told Nehm that he believes he’s ready to coach a team. “I know I can do it now,” Rondo said. “I have the discipline, preparation and, obviously, it’s about having the right people around you. I feel like I know who I am, and I know the people I can trust in this business for the most part. I’ve had a lot of great mentors, a lot of people rooting for me. I definitely think I’ll be ready to go.”
- Given how few top players have reached unrestricted free agency in recent years, carving out significant cap room isn’t as advantageous as it once was for would-be contenders. Still, Heat president Pat Riley said during his annual postseason media session that his team is planning on opening up cap space in 2027. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald relays Riley’s comments and breaks down what they mean for the club’s approach over the next 12 months, noting that extensions or multiyear deals for Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, and Norman Powell seem unlikely.
- Cade Cunningham led the way with his 45 points, but Ausar Thompson was the Pistons‘ “silent hero” in Wednesday’s Game 5 win, writes Coty M. Davis of The Detroit News. Thompson, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason, scored just six points but racked up 15 rebounds, six assists, five steals, and two blocks, all team highs. “Ausar is awesome. He understands how to impact the game,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “What stands out is that he sacrifices himself every single night to do whatever the team needs from him. He has taken on tough defensive assignments. Not to mention his ability to get deflections, get steals and create chaos out there.”
NBA Announces 73 Invitees For 2026 Draft Combine
The NBA announced today (via Twitter) that 73 prospects have been invited to attend this year’s draft combine, which will take place in Chicago from May 10-17.
In addition to those 73 players, a handful of standout players from the G League combine, which is also held in Chicago just before the combine begins, are expected to receive invites to stick around for the main event.
Not all of the prospects invited to the combine will end up remaining in the 2026 draft pool, since many are early entrants who are testing the waters while retaining their NCAA eligibility.
College players must withdraw from the draft by the end of the day on May 27 if they wish to preserve that eligibility, while non-college players face a decision deadline of June 13. The feedback they receive from NBA teams at the combine may be a deciding factor for players who are on the fence.
Here’s the list of players who have been invited to the 2026 draft combine:
(Note: For players in international leagues, the country listed is where they had been playing, not necessarily where they’re from.)
- Matt Able, G, North Carolina State (freshman)
- Darius Acuff, G, Arkansas (freshman)
- Amari Allen, F, Alabama (freshman)
- Nate Ament, F, Tennessee (freshman)
- Christian Anderson, G, Texas Tech (sophomore)
- Tobe Awaka, F, Arizona (senior)
- Flory Bidunga, F/C, Kansas (sophomore)
- Tyler Bilodeau, F, UCLA (senior)
- John Blackwell, G, Wisconsin (junior)
- Cameron Boozer, F, Duke (freshman)
- Kylan Boswell, G, Illinois (senior)
- Nick Boyd, G, Wisconsin (senior)
- Jaden Bradley, G, Arizona (senior)
- Trevon Brazile, F, Arkansas (senior)
- Maliq Brown, F, Duke (senior)
- Mikel Brown Jr., G, Louisville (freshman)
- Brayden Burries, G, Arizona (freshman)
- Cameron Carr, G, Baylor (junior)
- Chris Cenac, F/C, Houston (freshman)
- Rueben Chinyelu, C, Florida (junior)
- Ryan Conwell, G, Louisville (senior)
- Sergio De Larrea, G, Spain (born 2005)
- AJ Dybantsa, F, BYU (freshman)
- Zuby Ejiofor, F, St. John’s (senior)
- Isaiah Evans, G/F, Duke (sophomore)
- Jeremy Fears, G, Michigan State (junior)
- Kingston Flemings, G, Houston (freshman)
- Ja’Kobi Gillespie, G, Tennessee (senior)
- Allen Graves, F, Santa Clara (freshman)
- Keyshawn Hall, G/F, Auburn (senior)
- Juke Harris, G, Wake Forest (sophomore)
- Joshua Jefferson, F, Iowa State (senior)
- Morez Johnson, F/C, Michigan (sophomore)
- Alex Karaban, F, UConn (senior)
- Jack Kayil, G, Germany (born 2006)
- Toibu Lawal, F, Virginia Tech (senior)
- Yaxel Lendeborg, F, Michigan (senior)
- Karim Lopez, F, Australia (born 2007)
- Aday Mara, C, Michigan (junior)
- Nick Martinelli, F, Northwestern (senior)
- Baba Miller, F/C, Cincinnati (senior)
- Dillon Mitchell, F, St. John’s (senior)
- Milan Momcilovic, F, Iowa State (junior)
- Malachi Moreno, C, Kentucky (freshman)
- Izaiyah Nelson, F, South Florida (senior)
- Tyler Nickel, F, Vanderbilt (senior)
- Ebuka Okorie, G, Stanford (freshman)
- Felix Okpara, C, Tennessee (senior)
- Ugonna Onyenso, C, Virginia (senior)
- Otega Oweh, G, Kentucky (senior)
- Koa Peat, F, Arizona (freshman)
- Darryn Peterson, G, Kansas (freshman)
- Labaron Philon, G, Alabama (sophomore)
- Jayden Quaintance, F/C, Kentucky (sophomore)
- Tarris Reed, C, UConn (senior)
- Billy Richmond, G/F, Arkansas (sophomore)
- Richie Saunders, G, BYU (senior)
- Emanuel Sharp, G, Houston (senior)
- Braden Smith, G, Purdue (senior)
- Hannes Steinbach, F, Washington (freshman)
- Bennett Stirtz, G, Iowa (senior)
- Andrej Stojakovic, G/F, Illinois (junior)
- Peter Suder, G, Miami (OH) (senior)
- Luigi Suigo, C, Serbia (born 2007)
- Dailyn Swain, G/F, Texas (junior)
- Tyler Tanner, G, Vanderbilt (sophomore)
- Meleek Thomas, G, Arkansas (freshman)
- Bruce Thornton, G, Ohio State (senior)
- Milos Uzan, G, Houston (senior)
- Henri Veesaar, C, North Carolina (junior)
- Keaton Wagler, G, Illinois (freshman)
- Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina (freshman)
- Tounde Yessoufou, G/F, Baylor (freshman)
It’s worth noting that the NBA and the NBPA agreed to several combine-related changes in their latest Collective Bargaining Agreement. Here are a few of those changes:
- A player who is invited to the draft combine and declines to attend without an excused absence will be ineligible to be drafted. He would become eligible the following year by attending the combine. There will be exceptions made for a player whose FIBA season is ongoing, who is injured, or who is dealing with a family matter (such as a tragedy or the birth of a child). That player would be required to complete combine activities at a later date.
- Players who attend the draft combine will be required to undergo physical exams, share medical history, participate in strength, agility, and performance testing, take part in shooting drills, receive anthropometric measurements, and conduct interviews with teams and the media. Scrimmages won’t be mandatory.
- Medical results from the combine will be distributed to select teams based on where the player is projected to be drafted. Only teams drafting in the top 10 would get access to medical info for the projected No. 1 pick; teams in the top 15 would receive medical info for players in the 2-6 range, while teams in the top 25 would get access to info for the players in the 7-10 range.
Injury Notes: Ingram, Tatum, Harris, Huerter, Lakers
After initially listing Brandon Ingram as questionable for Friday’s do-or-die Game 6 due to right heel inflammation, the Raptors are downgrading the veteran forward to doubtful, according to Michal Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
Ingram, who exited Game 5 in the second quarter after aggravating a heel issue that sidelined him for three games during the final few weeks of the regular season, is still experiencing pain in that heel and wasn’t on the court for the portion of Friday’s shootaround that was open to the media, tweets Jamal Collier of ESPN.
Ingram was Toronto’s leading scorer during the regular season but has struggled in the first round of the playoffs vs. Cleveland, making just 19-of-58 shots from the floor (32.8%), including only 14-of-45 two-pointers (31.1%). Still, he demands significant defensive attention when he’s on the floor and his absence figures to hamper the Raptors’ offense as they attempt to extend their season on Friday. With Ingram unavailable in Wednesday’s second half, the club made just 15-of-50 (30.0%) field goal attempts.
The good news for the Raptors is that forward Scottie Barnes, who was hobbled in Game 5 after taking a shot to the quad, isn’t listed on the injury report and will be good to go for Game 6.
We have more injury-related notes from around the NBA:
- Celtics forward Jayson Tatum didn’t play the last 16 minutes of Thursday’s loss to Philadelphia. Tatum, who returned in March from a torn right Achilles, was battling a left leg issue, he confirmed after the game, but he downplayed the issue and suggested he’ll be fine for Game 7. “It was my other leg,” Tatum said, per Brian Robb of MassLive.com. “So not the one I injured last year. I wasn’t overly concerned. I came out at four minutes (left in the third quarter) like I was supposed to and just kind of assessed the game. And they took the starters out fairly early in the fourth quarter. So yeah, it was not like that big of a deal.”
- Pistons forward Tobias Harris (left ankle sprain) and Kevin Huerter (left adductor strain) are both listed as questionable for Friday’s Game 6 in Orlando, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic (Twitter link). Huerter has played a very limited role in the series, scoring just six points in 42 total minutes, but Harris has started and scored at least 16 points in all five games, so his status will be worth monitoring closely ahead of tonight’s contest.
- Outside of Luka Doncic, who isn’t close to returning from his left hamstring strain, the Lakers have an otherwise clean injury report for Friday’s Game 6 in Houston, tweets Jovan Buha. After winning the first three games of the series, the Lakers will get their third chance to close out the Rockets and avoid a Game 7.
Nikola Jokic: ‘I Still Want To Be A Nugget Forever’
On the heels of a dispiriting first-round exit, Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic didn’t express any reservations about continuing his career in Denver, writes Anthony Slater of ESPN.
“I still want to be a Nugget forever,” Jokic said during his post-game media session following Thursday’s Game 6 loss to Minnesota. When asked if that means he plans to sign a contract extension with the team this offseason, he repeated, “I still want to be a Nugget forever.”
Jokic is under contract for two more years, but that includes a player option for 2027/28, so he would essentially enter ’26/27 on an expiring contract if he and the Nuggets don’t work out a new deal by October. A maximum extension for the big man would begin at 35% of the ’27/28 salary cap and would tentatively be worth about $285MM over four years, based on a projected $165MM cap in ’26/27 and a 10% increase the following year.
Jokic nearly averaged a triple-double against the Timberwolves, putting up 25.8 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game. However, his 44.6% field goal percentage and 19.4% mark on three-pointers were well below his season rates and Denver was outscored during his time on the court, so it was a poor series by the three-time MVP’s lofty standards.
Still, it seems safe to assume the Nuggets won’t hesitate to put another maximum-salary offer on the table for their franchise player. The big question is what the roster around him will look like going forward. Jokic admitted that after a first-round loss, the team is “far away” from title contention, but said it was on him to play better and deflected when asked if offseason roster changes are needed.
“That’s not my decision, to be honest,” Jokic said. “Definitely, if we were in Serbia, we would all get fired.”
While the Nuggets’ roster around Jokic will be scrutinized in the coming weeks and months, the same figures to be true of head coach David Adelman, who just wrapped up his first full season on the job. Adelman, who has now lost two of three playoff series since being promoted, hasn’t had nearly as much playoff success so far as the man he replaced, Michael Malone. But Jokic insisted his head coach didn’t deserve to shoulder the blame for the team’s first-round exit.
“It’s not his fault we couldn’t rebound,” Jokic said. “It’s not his fault we couldn’t catch the ball very well. There is nothing to blame David Adelman. It’s all us.”
Missing Peyton Watson (hamstring) for the entire first round and Aaron Gordon (calf) for half the series was a major problem for Denver, given the key roles those wings played during the regular season. But the Timberwolves were arguably even more banged up, with star guard Anthony Edwards out since midway through Game 4 due to a knee injury and guards Donte DiVincenzo and Ayo Dosunmu also missing time.
“They missed a bunch of guys tonight and still won,” Jokic said on Thursday. “Did we need (Gordon and Watson)? Definitely. But if they are not here, we cannot think if, if, if.”
Mavs Unlikely To Get Permission To Speak To Tim Connelly
Even before the Timberwolves pulled off an unlikely Game 6 win over Denver on Thursday without Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, and Ayo Dosunmu available, the Mavericks had grown pessimistic about the likelihood that they’ll be granted permission to speak to Tim Connelly, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
Connelly, the Timberwolves‘ president of basketball operations, was among the “big names” cited a month ago as potential targets for the Mavs as they seek a new top basketball executive. Several of the candidates identified in that report were viewed as essentially pipe dreams, but there was said to be a sense among some rival teams that Connelly might be open to a new job.
However, multiple reports since then have suggested that Minnesota is motivated to lock up Connelly to a longer-term extension, and Stein suggests Dallas is unlikely to get the opportunity to meet with him.
While it may have been trending in that direction even before Thursday night, the Wolves’ upset victory to advance to the second round likely only increased team ownership’s desire to keep Connelly in his current position.
Rudy Gobert, whom Connelly memorably gave up five first-round picks to acquire during his first year on the job, played a crucial role in slowing down three-time MVP Nikola Jokic during that first-round series, while 2024 first-rounder Terrence Shannon Jr. came up big when thrust into a starring role in Game 6, scoring 24 points and grabbing six rebounds.
Additionally, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, and Naz Reid, each of whom has received a long-term commitment from Connelly’s front office, stepped up to help Minnesota advance to round two, and Dosunmu – a 2026 deadline acquisition – had a massive series before missing Game 6 due to a calf injury.
Connelly signed a five-year contract when he was hired by the Timberwolves in 2022, so he has one year left on that deal.
The Mavs, meanwhile, parted ways with their president of basketball operations, Nico Harrison, during the 2025/26 season and had Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi finish the year as co-interim GMs. Both Finley and Riccardi are among the candidates for the permanent job, even as Dallas considers more experienced candidates.
Rockets Notes: Smith, Sheppard, Young Core, Durant
Fourth-year forward Jabari Smith Jr. raised some eyebrows when he said the Rockets were “obviously the better team” ahead of Wednesday’s Game 5 against the Lakers, but he backed up the statement by helping his team stave off elimination again, per Matt Young of The Houston Chronicle.
“It’s just a mindset to have,” said Smith, who had a team-high 22 points, seven rebounds and two blocks while playing solid defense. “I don’t care who we play, I don’t care what team I’m on. When we were winning 22 games (in his rookie season), I would probably have said we were the better team every night. I mean, people are gonna take it how they want to take it, but I don’t care. Whoever I’m with on the court. I’m gonna think that my team is better than the other team.”
The Rockets lost the first three games of the series, blowing a lead late in Game 3. But they now have a chance to even the series at three games apiece on Friday when they return to Houston.
Smith only averaged 20.4 minutes per game in last year’s playoffs, Young notes, but he’s at 42.0 MPG through five games in 2026. The former third overall pick has averaged 19.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG and 1.2 SPG in the series, which he’s hoping to extend further on Friday night.
“You can’t just say it and then come out and tuck your tail,” Smith said of his comment. “You’ve got to get out there fighting and do the things that it takes to win. So, I’m gonna stand on that statement, and we’ve just got to keep proving it.”
We have more from Houston:
- Late-game miscues from Smith and Reed Sheppard contributed to the Rockets’ Game 3 collapse, but Sheppard was more composed with the Lakers attempting another comeback on Wednesday, as Varun Shankar writes for The Houston Chronicle. The second-year guard made some key plays down the stretch, scoring four straight points after the Lakers went on a 11-1 run to get the game within three (Twitter video link). “We didn’t want to let that happen again,” said Sheppard, who played through a cold.
- No matter what happens the rest of the series, young players like Smith, Sheppard, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Tari Eason have shown significant growth over the past two games, according to William Guillory of The Athletic. The Rockets have held L.A. below 100 points each of the past two contests. “Big-time performances by everybody across the board,” head coach Ime Udoka said Wednesday. “You start this really young lineup, and they are somewhat battle-tested now. (We needed to) show growth in certain moments and progress in certain moments. Obviously, in a game situation when you turn the ball over twice and foul a shooter (in Game 3’s collapse), you want to show growth, and I think we did that tonight.”
- ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Thursday morning that Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) will remain sidelined for Game 6. The team hasn’t formally ruled him out yet, but he’s listed as doubtful, Guillory tweets, which suggests he’s unlikely to play.
Blazers GM Cronin On Coaching Search, Dundon, More
Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin conducted an end-of-season press conference on Thursday, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Portland, which was making its first playoff appearance since 2021, was eliminated by San Antonio on Tuesday.
Cronin confirmed the Blazers are conducting a search for a new head coach, stating that interim coach Tiago Splitter is a candidate to be promoted to the position full time.
“But we’re also looking around at other candidates,” Cronin said. “We decided early on we were going to cast a wide net and get to know a lot of different coaches and analyze and evaluate them in relation to Tiago. And timeline-wise, we don’t have a timeline pinned down. We just want to keep meeting people, keep talking to people and having a really thorough process.”
As for the rumors of new owner Tom Dundon being unwilling to fork over top dollar for a head coach, Cronin said that wasn’t necessarily the case.
“A lot of the reports on budget out there were a little misleading,” Cronin said. “I have talked to Tom a lot about this. We’re going to pay the coach based on some sort of level of shared risk. If it’s a first-time coach who comes with a lot of risk and doesn’t have a market that we have to necessarily compete in, it’ll be one number. If the coach we’re talking to is a 15-year vet and a future Hall of Famer, it’s going to be a completely different number. And Tom isn’t going to flinch at either of those scenarios. We’re going to be very open-minded to what types of people we interview and would potentially bring in. And I’m not concerned about the number at all.”
Here are few more highlights from Cronin’s presser, largely courtesy of Freeman.
On Dundon’s offseason directive:
“Growth. He wants to see us continue to get better on and off the court. Tom and I spent a lot of time … he’s so competitive and so diligent and so engaged with this team already. He studied us deeply and intensely, watches every game. We talk pretty much after every game. So he got a really good feel for us. Even before he took over, he was watching all the time. And I think he was really encouraged with what he saw. He saw continued growth. He saw a talent base that is very promising, (he) understands the assets that we have moving forward with all these picks that we have.
“He challenges us every day to go gain an advantage, go find the right player at the right price point to keep improving our roster. But also, internally improving our processes and how we’re looking at things, whether it’s from a coaching standpoint, our style of play and our player development techniques, to health and performance or scouting. It’s just overall getting better and better and fine-tuning all these areas that are needed in order for a team like ours to thrive.”
On how the team can improve this offseason:
“From a skill set perspective, I think, the Spurs series showed us that — really, the whole season — we just don’t shoot the ball well enough. Shooting is something we knew we were somewhat deficient in and something that we tried to address a little bit at the trade deadline with (the) Vit Krejci (trade), something that (Damian Lillard) will definitely help with. But it’s still a need moving forward. We played a lot of possessions in the mud where it was a crowd of paint for our attackers, specifically Deni (Avdija), Jrue (Holiday), Scoot (Henderson). They just didn’t have a lot of room to operate. And teams guarded us a certain way, knowing that we were really good at the rim and not great on the perimeter. And I think offensively, that just created issues for us throughout the season, highlighted by high turnover rate and percentages. So that’s one thing.
“We also still need to keep improving our talent base. A lot of that will come internally. I mentioned Dame already. Of course, that’s a big talent boost. But, individually, our guys got to keep getting better. We have a lot of young guys who have a lot of growth in them still, so they’ve got to take another step. But, also, we need to look externally for additions that could continue to boost our talent. This league, this Western Conference, it’s tough. We’ve got to keep getting better and keep stacking these players to be able to compete with these guys.”
On whether the Trail Blazers will make a big splash on the trade market or make moves around the edges:
“We’re open-minded to both. Big splash is definitely something that’s intriguing to us, but only at the right price point. We’re not going to completely sacrifice our future for a short-term swing. But at the same time, we plan to be very active and aggressive and explore all opportunities out there. If none of those opportunities present themselves, we’ll be content doing some smaller things, confident that our talent base is strong and that the addition of Dame, the internal development, fine-tuning some of these skill set deficiencies we have, we can take a nice step whether we make a big splash or not.”
On the decision to keep the two-way players in Portland at the start of the series instead of traveling to San Antonio (Twitter link via Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report):
“That one’s on me. I heard we were going to have some traveling party reductions and I assumed it would include them and didn’t double-check. That’s on me for not communicating it.”
Mitchell Robinson, Dyson Daniels Ejected Thursday
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson and Hawks guard Dyson Daniels were ejected from Thursday’s Game 6 matchup between the two teams, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.
The two players got tangled up during a free throw attempt by OG Anunoby with 4:39 left in the second quarter (YouTube link). There was some pushing back and forth, with several Knicks staffers — including head coach Mike Brown — attempting to restrain Robinson near the sideline.
After the scuffle cleared, the officials conducted a review, which led to both players receiving technical fouls and ejections.
New York was up a stunning 50 points at the time, dominating Atlanta in every facet of the game. The Knicks’ 47-point halftime lead was the largest in NBA playoff history, per ESPN’s research (Twitter link).
As Katz observes, Daniels and Robinson had been going at each other throughout the series. Robinson received an unsportsmanlike technical in Game 2, when he committed a moving screen on Daniels and then walked over the Australian guard, who was knocked to the ground (YouTube link).
While I’d be surprised if Robinson receives a suspension for Thursday’s incident, his status is at least worth monitoring for Game 1 of New York’s next playoff series. The Knicks will face the winner of Boston vs. Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Wolves’ Dosunmu, Anderson Out For Thursday’s Game 6
The Timberwolves will be even more shorthanded on Thursday, as Ayo Dosunmu (right calf soreness) won’t be able to suit up, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Head coach Chris Finch previously said Dosunmu was a game-time decision. He was officially listed as questionable.
It’s a tough blow for Minnesota, as Dosunmu has become critically important due to the injury absences of Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles rupture) and Anthony Edwards (hyperextended left knee and bone bruise). DiVincenzo will be out several months, while Edwards is expected to miss multiple weeks.
Dosunmu has had a huge series against the Nuggets, leading the Wolves in scoring at 21.8 points per game, with a scorching hot shooting line of .609/.545/.950. The impending free agent guard is also averaging 4.0 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 32.4 minutes per night through five games.
Veteran forward Kyle Anderson, who’s battling an illness, was also downgraded to out, per the team (Twitter link). The 32-year-old only played 20 total minutes in the first four games of the series, but he had six assists, four points and three rebounds in 15 minutes in Game 5.
The Timberwolves will have to lean heavily on Bones Hyland, Mike Conley and Terrence Shannon Jr. in Game 6 with their top three guards out. Minnesota, currently holding a 3-2 lead in the first-round matchup, will be attempting to close out the series at home tonight.
Hornets Notes: White, Diabate, Offseason, Draft
Hornets head of basketball operations Jeff Peterson reiterated a couple weeks ago that the team is interested in re-signing Coby White. The 26-old guard says the feeling is mutual, telling Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer that the Hornets’ employees “create a fun environment,” which he values. White also likes the on-court fit.
“I think just the basketball, how they play, how they compete, what they’re building is something I can look forward to being a part of,” White said. “They say I can be a part of the culture that they’re building. And they obviously play a style that kind of benefits me. People could tell that by the end of the season, how I was playing. It was probably one of my most efficient stretches I had in terms of minutes and what I was doing in those minutes.
“So, yeah, I think everything just aligns right. And like I said from the jump when I first got here, something just felt right. And I think it was all part of God’s plan for me to be here.”
White, a North Caroline native, said he loves being part of the Hornets, who haven’t made the playoffs in 10 years, the longest active drought in the NBA. Still, the team certainly appears to be on the upswing after a 33-15 run to end the regular season.
Here’s more on the Hornets:
- One significant factor in the team’s success over that prolonged stretch was the play Moussa Diabate, an undersized center who won the league’s Hustle Award on Thursday. The French big man tells Boone he’s thrilled to claim the award, but believes it’s “only the beginning” of what he’s capable of. “It’s great,” Diabate told The Charlotte Observer. “It shows that I’ve been putting a lot of work in and just playing hard. That’s what it comes down to. I think it’s really a definition of who’s playing hard. The ones that maybe don’t get the proper recognition, but are still out there doing the work or are very impactful without showing as much on the stat sheet.”
- Yossi Gozlan of the Third Apron (Substack link) previews the Hornets’ offseason, pointing out that the team has two first-round picks in the 2026 draft and a surplus of future first- and second-rounders going forward. Re-signing White would have Charlotte operating as an over-the-cap team this summer, according to Gozlan, who also projects Brandon Miller to sign a highly lucrative rookie scale extension, which would kick in during the 2027/28 campaign.
- In case you missed it, the Hornets’ two first-round picks are currently at Nos. 14 and 18 in the pre-lottery order. Charlotte has a 0.5% chance of moving up from No. 14 to No. 1 at the draft lottery, which takes place May 10.