Community Shootaround: Who Will Come Out Of The East?
The Pistons have held the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference since early November and have maintained a firm grip on that spot. At 42-14, Detroit has a 4.5-game lead on its next-closest competitor in the conference and has a 10-2 record against the other Eastern teams currently in playoff (ie. top-six) position.
However, there are still questions about the Pistons’ ability to win three consecutive playoff series and represent the Eastern Conference in the 2026 NBA Finals. A relative lack of postseason experience is one potential concern. Detroit’s first-round exit last spring represented the team’s first playoff appearance since 2019 and the only taste of the postseason that young stars like Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren have gotten so far.
A lack of offensive firepower is another possible red flag for the Pistons. The team leans heavily on Cunningham for scoring and shot creation and lacks reliable play-makers and knock-down shooters alongside him. Detroit ranks 28th in the NBA in three-point makes per game (11.1).
Monday’s loss to San Antonio exposed those flaws and cast a spotlight on Trajan Langdon‘s decision not to be more aggressive at this month’s trade deadline, notes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required). The Pistons’ only real pre-deadline acquisition was wing Kevin Huerter, who has struggled with his outside shot this season and fallen out of the team’s rotation in the past three games.
If not the Pistons, who else could come out of the East this spring? Well, the Celtics hold the No. 2 seed despite being without Jayson Tatum all season as the All-NBA forward recovers from an Achilles tear. With Jaylen Brown taking on the primary role, Boston has built the best offense in the conference without its usual leading scorer, writes Esfandiar Baraheni of The Athletic, posting a 120.0 offensive rating that exceeds the team’s mark from 2024/25.
Still, there’s no guarantee Tatum will be able to return to action before the end of this season, and the Celtics would miss him more in big postseason moments than they do in a typical regular season game. And even if Tatum does make it back in the coming weeks, is it realistic to expect him to be back to his old self in time for the playoffs after such a lengthy layoff and challenging rehab process?
The Knicks, who have the NBA’s third-best offensive rating, hold the No. 3 spot in the East at 37-22 and are coming off a conference finals appearance in 2025. New York is a good team, but under new head coach Mike Brown, the club has also looked “like a world beater one quarter and a bottom-feeder the next,” according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, who suggests we may not know for sure until the playoffs how good the Knicks really are.
Interestingly, none of those three teams are currently the betting favorites to win the East, according to most sportsbooks. That honor belongs to the Cavaliers, who have looked resurgent in recent weeks after a shaky start to the season and have pulled into a tie with the Knicks at 37-22. The Cavs, winners of 13 of their past 15 games, have “renewed confidence” following the deadline acquisition of James Harden, head coach Kenny Atkinson said following his team’s victory over New York on Tuesday (story via Jamal Collier of ESPN).
“We understand we’re a better team,” Atkinson said. “That spirit, that confidence for some strange reason, it makes you play harder, compete harder, compete harder defensively. I felt like we were kind of missing that edge, that belief. I feel like we’re regaining that. A lot of it has to do with who we added in the trade.”
The Cavaliers were widely viewed as a favorite to win the East in the fall after winning 64 regular season games in 2024/25 and being derailed by injuries in the playoffs. Enthusiasm about their ceiling waned as they hovered around .500 through Christmas, but it has been building again as of late. For what it’s worth, the Cavs are also the only one of the East’s projected playoff teams that doesn’t have a losing record against the Pistons so far in ’25/26 — the teams have split their two matchups.
The Raptors, Sixers, Magic, Heat, Hawks, and Hornets are all lurking in the Eastern Conference playoff picture as potential threats.
A Philadelphia team that has Joel Embiid and Paul George wouldn’t be an easy out. The same is true of a fully healthy Orlando squad, though we haven’t seen that very often in the past year or two. Charlotte still has a ways to go to even make the playoffs and would be an underdog in a first-round series, but few teams have been hotter in recent weeks — since January 22, only the Cavs (12-2) and Spurs (11-2) have a better record than the Hornets (12-3).
We want to know what you think. Which team do you expect to represent the East in the NBA Finals this season? Is Tatum’s potential return the wild card that could swing your decision or are there other factors you think will ultimately determine how the postseason plays out in the Eastern Conference?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Hawks Notes: Kuminga, Young, Johnson
Jonathan Kuminga‘s first game with the Hawks on Tuesday was a resounding success, writes Paul Newberry of The Associated Press.
In 24 minutes off the bench, the former Warriors forward – who was dealt to Atlanta at the trade deadline – scored 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals. The Hawks outscored the Wizards by 16 minutes with Kuminga on the floor en route to a 119-98 victory.
As Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays, head coach Quin Snyder told reporters after the game that Kuminga showed “a lot of maturity” by sharing the ball with his new teammates and letting the game come to him. The 23-year-old, whose Hawks debut was delayed due to a left knee bone bruise, said it hasn’t taken him long to get comfortable as he adjusts to his new club.
“I think is very simple,” Kuminga said. “It’s basketball at the end of the day. I try to be a student of the game, as much as I can to kind of be learning from other players here, from JJ (Jalen Johnson) and Nickeil (Alexander-Walker), just asking them questions about pretty much everything, just trying to pick their brain.”
We have more on the Hawks:
- Before Kuminga enjoyed a big Atlanta debut, the story entering Tuesday’s Hawks/Wizards matchup was Trae Young‘s return to his longtime NBA home. The veteran point guard, who made four All-Star teams during his time in Atlanta, still hasn’t played since being traded to Washington due to knee and quad issues, but he was on the Wizards’ bench and got emotional when the Hawks played a tribute video during the second quarter, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “I just wanted the Hawks fans to know how much I love and appreciate them,” Young said before the game. “… The fans showed us so much love throughout the years that I was here, even the years that we were down. It felt like there was still a lot of love. So, I’ve got so much love for this city and these fans.”
- An otherwise positive night for the Hawks was marred to some extent by Jalen Johnson exiting Tuesday’s win in the first quarter due to a left hip flexor injury. The All-Star forward was ruled out for the rest of the game after being evaluated by the team’s training staff. “There was enough there not to send him back in the game,” Snyder explained, per ESPN. It’s unclear whether Johnson will miss additional time as a result of the injury.
- In case you missed it, former Hawk Nikola Djurisic is reportedly nearing a deal with the Serbian team Crvena Zvezda after having been waived by Atlanta last week.
Lakers’ Rosen: Pelinka ‘Empowered’ To Continue Running Basketball Ops
The Lakers introduced their new president of business operations to the media on Tuesday, with longtime Los Angeles Dodgers executive Lon Rosen speaking to reporters for the first time since being hired by the NBA team.
As Dan Woike of The Athletic writes, there has been speculation around the league since Mark Walter took over majority control of the franchise about whether the new leadership group might make front office changes that impact Rob Pelinka‘s future with the Lakers. However, Rosen made it clear on Tuesday that he envisions Pelinka remaining in his position as Los Angeles’ president of basketball operations and general manager.
“I just run the business side, Rob’s empowered to do what he does,” Rosen said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “(Dodgers executives) Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi, they have involvement helping Rob a bit. It gives you a deeper bench, and I think Rob appreciates that. And it is unique. But they have a skill set that they can transfer some of it here. And that’s really how we look at it.
“Look, I have a really good relationship with Rob. I’ve known Rob Pelinka from when he was representing Kobe (Bryant). I met him many, many years ago.”
Rosen’s comments line up with the remarks Pelinka made to the media in the wake of this month’s trade deadline. He said at that time that the Lakers would be expanding their basketball operations department in the coming months and want to build a deep front office like that of the Dodgers, the MLB team Walter owns. But Pelinka also stressed that he, governor Jeanie Buss, and Walter would continue to be the ones making basketball decisions, and Rosen confirmed as much.
Pelinka was originally hired as the Lakers’ general manager under president of basketball operations Magic Johnson in 2017. He took over control of the front office in 2019, was promoted to VP of basketball operations in 2020 and was eventually promoted again to president of basketball operations in the spring of 2025, receiving a contract extension at that time as well.
Notably, before joining the Dodgers in 2012 as the team’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Rosen was the longtime agent for Johnson, the former Lakers star and lead basketball executive who unexpectedly resigned from his role in 2019 and accused Pelinka of disparaging him behind his back.
Johnson and Pelinka have mended fences since then and Rosen referred to Johnson on Tuesday as one of his “closest friends,” but the Lakers’ new president of business opreations said the Hall-of-Famer won’t be returning to any sort of day-to-day role in the organization.
“Earvin’s involved with all types of things,” Rosen said, per McMenamin. “He owns football teams, baseball teams, soccer teams, insurance companies, a lot of things. He’s always going to have some type of involvement with all the teams, but he is not going to have a day-to-day involvement. It’s going to be no different since he left the Lakers.
“Obviously, he’s a huge fan of the Lakers, but he’s not going to be, ‘Hey, Rob, go sign this player. Do that.’ He’ll always be involved with all the teams that he’s involved in, but no, he’s not going to have day-to-day involvement, at all. He is a super Laker fan and he’ll continue to be a super Laker fan. It’s not bad to have that.”
The Lakers have an eventful offseason on tap in 2026. They’re in position to create significant cap room and will be able to trade up to three first-round picks after having just one tradable first-rounder at this year’s deadline. Austin Reaves will also be up for a new contract, while LeBron James‘ deal is set to expire too. The four-time MVP has yet to confirm whether he plans to continue his career — and if he does so, whether he still wants to be a Laker.
Bulls Notes: Simons, Ivey, White, Losing Streak, Collins, Dillingham
There’s uncertainty regarding the status of two recently acquired guards, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan told the media, including The Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley, on Tuesday.
Anfernee Simons is dealing with a left hand fracture. After Simons injured his hand on Saturday, he had imaging done on Monday. That revealed what the Bulls referred to as a preexisting fracture in the hand, which he’s been dealing with since training camp with the Celtics. However, he doesn’t require a surgical procedure unless the injury worsens, and he could return soon.
“He did have some difficulty in Boston with it in training camp and missed a little bit of time, maybe 10 days with it,” Donovan said. “The fracture hasn’t quite healed and I think him seeing a hand specialist they decided that once the pain subsides, he’s fine to go back to play. I don’t know how long that’s going to be.”
Jaden Ivey, meanwhile, is dealing with left knee soreness that will keep him out at least two weeks. Donovan discussed that issue in more detail on Tuesday.
“We started him on a program, right now just to ramp him up physically,” Donovan said. “A lot of it has been to get the strength back in around his knee. That process started a couple days ago, so he’s in the midst of doing that. Talking to the medical guys it’s going to be pretty intense for him, the program to get the strength back as quickly as possible, so he’s going to have to really work hard on that part of it. I think he feels better not playing, the pain has subsided, but the biggest concern the medical guys have is his strength.”
Ivey underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee in October. He previous suffered a fractured left fibula last January that ended his 2024/25 season early.
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- Coby White isn’t dwelling on the past when it comes to his Bulls career. White was dealt to Charlotte earlier this month with free agency looming. “You could always live in ‘what could have been,'” he said, per Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune. “I’ve kind of learned through my life that ‘what could have been’ brings you nothing but anxiousness and worry. Things happen for a reason. That’s just how the chips fell. A lot of it is out of your control. I don’t really try to live in the ‘what if.'” White made his Hornets debut against his former team on Tuesday and finished with 10 points and four assists in 16 minutes.
- The Bulls’ losing streak stretched to 10 games, their longest since January 2019, as they were blown out 131-99 by the Hornets on Tuesday, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network tweets. Matas Buzelis was the lone bright spot, as he scored a career-high 32 points.
- Zach Collins was shut down for the season over the weekend after it was determined he required toe surgery. He actually apologized to Donovan for his lack of availability this season. ‘‘I just told him, ‘I’m sorry, man,’’’ Collins said, per Cowley. ‘‘I thought I had a lot more to give him this year. Unfortunately, between the wrist and the toe, I just didn’t have a chance to show it. ‘I thought I had a really good summer. I was really looking forward to helping the team. It’s been a frustrating year injury-wise as a whole for the team, but individually I knew I had more to give him and felt like the team would have been in a better spot had I not gone through all these injuries.’’ Collins, who played just 10 games, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
- Another recently acquired guard, Rob Dillingham, is getting an extensive look amid all the changes and injuries in the backcourt. “I’ve got an opportunity here,” he told Poe of the Tribune (subscription required). “At least here I’m getting on the floor, you know? It’s up to me to perform to the best of my opportunity, and then from there it’ll keep growing and growing.” It’s been a struggle thus far for the former Timberwolves guard. He played 23 minutes against the Hornets but shot 2-for-9 from the field and committed three turnovers, compared to five assists. Through his first seven games as a Bull, Dillingham is averaging 7.6 points while shooting 39.2% from the floor and 18.2% on three-pointers.
Pacific Notes: Santos, Green, Ayton, Kings
Power forward Gui Santos has seen his role expand with the Warriors in recent weeks and it’s given a major confidence boost to the 2022 second-round pick, he said on 95.7 The Game’s Willard and Dibs show.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I’m feeling really good right now about the shooting, you know the confidence,” Santos said (story via Kevin Borba of NBC Sports Bay Area. “I think especially when you know that you’re going to play every night when you know that like your team trusts you, the staff trust you, that gives you way more confidence to go out there. You take shots with confidence, you take shots that you think like, ‘yes this shot is one shot that I got shoot it and I’m going to make it.’ And I feel good right now I’m in this position.”
In the month of February, Santos is averaging 29.7 minutes, 15.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He’ll be eligible for restricted free agency after the season.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- As with his past teams, Deandre Ayton is frustrating the Lakers with his inconsistent play. Ayton has a minimal offensive role but the team is trying to unlock his potential as a rebounder and defender. Coach JJ Redick also sees plays where the ball should go inside to Ayton. “There’s positive trends,” Redick said after practice Monday, per Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “We did watch some film today. There was some real positive trends defensively. I think his spirit and engagement and stuff has been really good. I think for all the guys, if he has a smaller player on him, that’s an advantage for us. Let’s just get him the ball. I think it’s just thematically across the team, we have to pass it to each other more and trust each other more. … In terms of him running and putting pressure on the rim and offensive rebounding, particularly against switches and smaller players, he could be better there.” Ayton is averaging career lows in points (13.0), rebounds (8.4) and minutes (28.1) per game.
- Jalen Green has missed a good portion of his first season with the Suns due to hamstring injuries. He’s now in a position to make a major impact with both Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks out due to injuries. “I think I bring a little bit of everything,” Green told Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports. “Play faster, get some steals and get into the open lane. I think that’s where my biggest impact is, getting to the rim, the three and scoring.” Green is averaging 16.8 points over his last four games.
- The Kings‘ franchise-record losing streak of 16 games was finally snapped on Monday, as Russell Westbrook scored 25 points in a 123-114 road victory over Memphis. Precious Achiuwa matched his season-high with 20 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds. “We needed this,” Achiuwa told NBC Sports California, as Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee relays. “It’s been a bit of a rough path for us the past couple games. We’ve played really well a lot of those games. We were just unfortunate not to come out with a win, but tonight we’re glad. It feels good to win.”
Djurisic Returning To Serbia After Being Waived By Hawks
Nikola Djurisic, who was waived by the Hawks last week, is on the verge of signing with Serbia’s Crvena Zvezda, Eurohoops.net relays via a Meridian Sport report.
Djurisic mulled offers in Europe after Atlanta chose to convert Caleb Houstan‘s two-way deal into a standard contract.
The 43rd overall pick in the 2024 draft, Djurisic spent his first season in the G League with the College Park Skyhawks, then signed a three-year standard contract last summer. However, only the first year was guaranteed.
Djurisic never played for Atlanta. He suited up for 21 games with the Skyhawks this season, averaging 9.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 42.7% overall but just 19.0% on his three-point attempts.
Now, the 22-year-old is returning to his homeland to play in the ABA League and the EuroLeague.
Injury Notes: Brown, Hayes, Siakam, Thompson, Jovic, Goodwin
Celtics star forward Jaylen Brown won’t play on Tuesday against the Suns due to a right knee contusion. He was originally listed as questionable but was downgraded about seven hours before tipoff, Brian Robb of MassLive.com reports.
This will be the sixth game Brown has missed this season. The veteran wing is averaging 29.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game and scored a team-high 32 points in 36 minutes on Sunday against the Lakers.
Here’s more injury news from around the league:
- Lakers big man Jaxson Hayes will miss tonight’s game against Orlando due to a right ankle sprain, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweets. Hayes played just five minutes against Boston on Sunday before exiting due to that injury.
- Rockets guard Amen Thompson will sit out Wednesday’s home game against Sacramento due to left quad tendinitis, Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Thompson played 29 minutes against Utah on Monday, contributing 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists in Houston’s 20-point victory.
- Pacers forward Pascal Siakam won’t play against Philadelphia tonight due to a left wrist sprain, Tony East of Forbess tweets. It will be the seventh game he’s missed this season.
- Heat forward Nikola Jovic has returned to Miami during the team’s current road trip for back treatment, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. Miami plays Milwaukee tonight and wraps up its trip in Philadelphia on Thursday. The Heat’s next home game is Saturday against Houston. It’s been a rough season for Jovic, who has been in and out of the rotation after signing a four-year, $62.4MM extension in October.
- Suns guard Jordan Goodwin, who is dealing with a left calf strain, will be re-evaluated in one to two weeks, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. Goodwin had a 17-point outing against Orlando on Saturday, then missed the next contest against Portland. The Suns also confirmed Dillon Brooks‘ four-to-six week timeline before a reevaluation of his broken left hand.
How Starter Criteria Could Impact 2026 RFAs
A player who is eligible for restricted free agency doesn't become a restricted free agent by default. His team must issue him a qualifying offer to avoid having him become unrestricted.
The value of a qualifying offer - which is essentially a one-year contract offer that gives the player's original team the right of first refusal in the event he signs an offer sheet with a rival suitor - is determined by one or more factors, including the player's draft position, his previous salary, and/or his minimum salary. The player's role in the year or two leading up to his restricted free agency also plays an an important part in determining the amount of his qualifying offer.
If a player starts at least 41 games or logs at least 2,000 minutes in the season before he reaches restricted free agency - or averages 41 starts or 2,000 minutes during the two seasons prior to free agency - it increases the value of his qualifying offer, as we explain in more detail in a glossary entry.
While it's generally a good thing for a player if he meets this "starter criteria," doing so often doesn't have a major impact on his free agency, as we've noted in the past. For instance, if a restricted free agent is on track for a four-year, $120MM contract, it doesn't matter all that much if the value of his qualifying offer gets bumped from $6MM to $8MM, since it was always going to be just a placeholder anyway.
However, seeing the way that free agency played out for RFAs like Jonathan Kuminga, Quentin Grimes, and Cam Thomas a year ago provided a good reminder that changing the value of a player's qualifying offer can have a real impact on his contract negotiations.
Kuminga, for example, failed to meet the starter criteria, which reduced the amount of his qualifying offer from about $10.24MM to $7.98MM. If he'd been eligible for that higher QO, maybe Kuminga would've been more inclined to accept it rather than sign a two-year offer from the Warriors that required him to give up his trade veto power and add a second-year team option.
Grimes, meanwhile, did meet the starter criteria in 2024/25, which bumped the value of his qualifying offer from $6.31MM to $8.74MM. After unsuccessful contract negotiations with the Sixers, he ultimately signed that QO, giving him a de facto no-trade clause for '25/26 and lining him up to reach unrestricted free agency this summer. There's no guarantee Grimes would've made that same decision if his qualifying offer had been worth $2.43MM less -- in that scenario, maybe one of Philadelphia's multiyear offers would have looked more appealing.
As for Thomas, he fell short of the starter criteria due to repeated hamstring issues, resulting in a $5.99MM qualifying offer instead of one worth $8.74MM. He still ended up accepting it, but it's worth asking whether the Nets would have even put that higher QO on the table at all if Thomas had met the starter criteria, or if they would've let him become an unrestricted free agent last July. The contract offers Brooklyn made him before he signed the qualifying offer were reportedly very modest, and the team was willing to waive him outright earlier this month after not finding a trade for him at the deadline.
So which of this year's potential restricted free agents could be most impacted by the starter criteria in the same way that some of 2025's top RFAs were?
Jonathan Kuminga Ready To Make Hawks Debut Tuesday
February 24: The Hawks list Kuminga as available for Tuesday’s game (Twitter link).
February 23: New Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga has been upgraded to questionable ahead of Tuesday’s game vs. Washington, tweets Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks. According to Anthony Slater of ESPN, Kuminga is expected to make his Hawks debut tomorrow against the Wizards (Twitter link).
Kuminga last played on January 22, when he suffered a bone bruise in his left knee after hyperextending it. Atlanta acquired the 23-year-old along with Buddy Hield ahead of the trade deadline in the move which saw Kristaps Porzingis head to Golden State.
The seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft, Kuminga had a prolonged contract standoff with the Warriors as a restricted free agent last offseason. He ultimately signed a two-year, $46.8MM deal that includes a $24.3MM team option for next season.
The final 23 games of the season will be important for Kuminga, as that team option means he could be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Through 20 games this season, he has averaged 12.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 23.8 minutes per contest, with a shooting slash line of .454/.321/.742.
Atlanta, which made a noteworthy change to its starting lineup for Sunday’s win over Brooklyn, is currently 28-31, the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference. This is the fifth straight season in which the Hawks project to make the play-in tournament.
Shaedon Sharpe Has Stress Fracture, Could Miss Rest Of Season
Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe has a stress fracture in his left fibula, Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report tweets. He’ll be reevaluated in approximately 4-to-6 weeks, according to the team, to allow for adequate healing before beginning a progressive return to full basketball activity.
Sharpe hasn’t played since February 6 due to what was originally diagnosed as a left calf strain. The fibula fracture was discovered after follow-up imaging.
Given the timeline provided by the team, it seems likely that Sharpe will miss the remainder of the season. The 2022 lottery pick is averaging a career-high 21.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 30 minutes per game while appearing in 48 contests (42 starts). He’s the team’s second-leading scorer.
Sharpe signed a four-year, $90MM rookie scale extension in October, which kicks in next season.
The loss of Sharpe is a blow to a Portland team that’s currently in ninth place in the West with a 29-30 record. It’s unlikely the Blazers will fall out of the play-in tournament, considering the teams sitting in the bottom five of the conference trail them by at least six games, but the organization may not have Sharpe available this spring as it looks to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.