Atlantic Notes: Barnes, Pritchard, Stevens, Maxey
The Raptors won Game 4 over the Cavaliers despite missing 26 of 30 three-point attempts and shooting just 32.0% from the field. That’s a feat no team in playoff history has ever accomplished, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.
It was an anomalous victory, which makes sense, because it was led by their anomalous star, Scottie Barnes. Barnes shot 6-for-15 from the field and 0-for-3 from three, yet he scored or assisted on 35 of the team’s 93 points and was everywhere defensively.
Barnes had an excellent season for the Raptors, getting his second All-Star nod while averaging 18.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and coming in fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Despite his play, he was not widely predicted to be the best player in the series, yet through four games, he’s been exactly that, writes Michael Grange from Sportsnet.
“He’s just a winning player, man,” said teammate RJ Barrett, who has also had a strong series. “He scores, he moves the ball, he rebounds, he defends, he does everything out there. He has a killer mentality, but I think the biggest thing right now is he is playing with force, he’s really making the defence have to guard him.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Payton Pritchard scored a playoff career-high 32 points in the Celtics‘ big Game 4 win over the Sixers. He credits the work he’s put in studying how the great players in the league maximise their advantages and skill sets. “I feel like obviously there’s genetic freaks,” Pritchard said. “I’m not one of them. But, like, LeBron (James) is a perfect example, too. He takes great care of his body daily. He makes little sacrifices. He’s talked about his sleep habits, his eating and all that. But even guys like Al Horford and Jrue Holiday, they’re able to play so long because of the habits they created.” He doesn’t drink, limits his bread and sweets, and changed his sleep routine, all in the search for peak performance.
- Brad Stevens had his work cut out for him last summer after losing nearly his entire frontcourt, along with Holiday. While the players and coaching staff deserve immense credit for turning what was thought to be a gap year into a 56-win season, the job Stevens did in identifying talent like Neemias Queta to bring into coach Joe Mazzulla‘s system is deserving of an Executive of the Year award, Chris Forsberg writes for NBC Sports Boston.
- Despite getting big man Joel Embiid back for Game 4 on Sunday, the Sixers were blown out 128-96 by Boston. Star guard Tyrese Maxey was uncharacteristically quiet in the first half, scoring seven points on just three shots. He chastised himself for his lack of aggression after the game, Brian Robb writes for Mass Live. “That absolutely can’t happen,” Maxey said. “That’s just unacceptable by me. It wasn’t meant to happen that way. We can’t win basketball games with that happening, and I take full responsibility on that one.” Maxey finished with 22 points on 14 shots, after attempting at least 20 field goals in each of the first three games.
Blazers Notes: Avdija, Game 4, Williams, Moda Center
An altercation between Spurs guard Stephon Castle and Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija at the end of Game 4 captured fans’ attention, less for the shoving that occurred after Castle made an and-one layup and handed Avdija the ball, and more for their different reactions following the game, Tom Orbsorn of the San Antonio Express-News writes.
The Spurs guard dismissed the incident as little more than two competitors facing off. However, the Blazers’ star took things a bit more personally.
“You can be tough, you can be, you know, physical, but there’s a level of disrespect I’m not going to accept,” Avdija said. “… At one point, it was just disrespectful. I’m not playing that.”
Avdija had previously spoken on the roughness of the series, noting that the two teams seemed to be trading off who set the tone in terms of physicality, Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report notes (via Twitter). Such a trend might have contributed to the escalating tension between the two players, both of whom tend to embrace contact.
“Game 1, they were more physical. Game 2, we were more physical. Last night, they were more physical,” the Israeli-born forward said. “… Next game, I expect to wear two mouth guards.”
We have more Blazers notes:
- Portland suffered consecutive second-half collapses in Games 3 and 4 and now finds itself on the brink of elimination. But while the Blazers may have their backs against the wall, they’re determined not to go down easily, Joe Freeman writes for The Oregonian. “We’re still alive,” coach Tiago Splitter said. “And we’re going to fight. This group is a special group. They’re going to keep fighting.” With the strong performances the Spurs have gotten across the board so far, though, Freeman wonders if the fighting spirit is enough to get back into the series, especially now that Victor Wembanyama is back.
- Given the Blazers’ struggles to hold the leads they’ve been able to build, it may be time to consider a lineup change, and the most obvious choice is to promote backup center Robert Williams III, Sean Highkin writes for the Rose Garden Report (subscriber link). Second-year big man Donovan Clingan has struggled, both against Wembanyama and in the minutes the Spurs’ star sits, while Williams has arguably been Portland’s second-best player through four games. When asked about a potential change, Splitter didn’t rule it out, nor did he confirm it. “We’ve got to see all the options,” he said.
- The Blazers’ stadium, Moda Center, is likely to get the funding the team has been seeking, as Oregon governor Tina Kotek signed Senate Bill 1501, which allows the state to contribute $365MM to renovations, Bill Oram writes for The Oregonian. Now the decision will go to the Portland City Council. “The state has done its part and we’re not done,” Kotek said. “We are going to stay at the table, we are monitoring. We are going to watch this thing all the way to the end because this is a significant investment for the state.”
Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard Fined By NBA
The Lakers’ backcourt duo racked up a pair of fines for their comments to the referees after Game 4, the league announced (via Twitter).
Marcus Smart has been fined $35K for “questioning the integrity of game officials,” while Luke Kennard was fined $25K for “directing inappropriate language towards game officials,” the NBA said, adding that the offending incidents took place after Game 4 concluded.
Smart, surrounded by both Lakers and Rockets players after the final whistle sounded, appeared to be shouting and pointing at referee James Williams, who ejected both Deandre Ayton and Adou Thiero during the second half of the game. Kennard was on the outskirts of the scrum at the time, talking to someone off screen (Twitter video link).
The Lakers seemed particularly displeased with the ejection of Thiero, a rookie who was playing in his first postseason game. He was thrown out of the game along with Aaron Holiday after the two players physically battled for position under the basket (Twitter video link).
“I’m more pissed off about them kicking Adou out. That was uncalled for and it made no sense,” LeBron James said after the game (Twitter video link). “Think that’s his first time he’s ever been thrown out of a game in his life. I don’t think that was warranted. Give him two technicals, the kid just got in the game, that was ridiculous.”
Thunder Notes: Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Caruso, McCain
The Thunder were able to win Game 3 handily against the Suns, despite missing Jalen Williams, thanks to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his superpower: inevitable consistency, Joe Mussatto writes for The Oklahoman.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game with 42 points, a playoff career-high, along with eight assists, and did it the same way he always does: hitting step-back threes, getting to the foul line, and operating in the mid-range. It was a masterful performance — only Russell Westbrook has scored more in a Thunder playoff game — but it was also entirely ordinary for the MVP.
“He’s got great poise and composure,” head coach Mark Daigneault said of his star after the Game 3 victory. “I think his confidence has something to do with that, he feels agency over his performance so he’s never gonna let anything else or anybody else get in the way of him or his best performance.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 34.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the series heading into Monday’s Game 4.
We have more Thunder notes:
- With Williams sidelined due to a hamstring injury, Ajay Mitchell was given the starting nod in Game 3, and while he didn’t have the most efficient night, making just 5-of-20 field goal tries, he showed fearlessness during his minutes, Rylan Stiles writes for Sports Illustrated. “He’s obviously not shy, so that’s a start. Winners fail and losers hide. He wasn’t hiding,” Daigneault said of Mitchell’s performance. “That’s one of the things I love about this team. We’ve got a bunch of guys who lean into the competition.”
- Alex Caruso was greeted with boos by the Phoenix home crowd after Suns’ star Devin Booker claimed he only received a technical foul in the previous game after the Thunder guard had lobbied for it. Caruso was undeterred and showed why he’s such a driver of winning, writes Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. He did the little things, disrupting passing lanes and finding the Suns’ weak points on defense. “I love being able to find and pick apart little advantages that we can gain through the game,” Caruso said. “My mind, especially during the postseason, is always running and tinkering and looking for different ways to take advantage of the game.”
- While he only scored seven points on eight shots in the win, Jared McCain‘s impact off the bench in the second quarter was huge and earned him an A-minus grade in Stiles’ post-game recap. McCain’s 12 minutes of action helped the Thunder tread water in the minutes without Gilgeous-Alexander, which Stiles says will be the key to the Thunder’s postseason success, especially with Williams out.
Magic Notes: Bane, Isaac, Cain, Series Lead
The Magic‘s big offseason addition came through on Saturday when they needed him most. After scoring 17 points on 20 shots in Game 1 and 12 points on 11 shots in Game 2, Desmond Bane got hot in Game 3, scoring 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting and hitting 7-of-9 three-pointers.
Not only did Bane lead the Magic to a 2-1 series lead over the top-seeded Pistons, but he also tied Dennis Scott‘s franchise playoff record for made threes in a postseason game, Mike Bianchi writes for the Orlando Sentinel.
“Hopefully, I break (the record) before these playoffs are over,” Bane said after the game.
That kind of shooting from Bane is what the Magic envisioned when they traded for him. And at least for one game, it changed the way the Pistons had to guard them.
“I think that opens up another dimension for our group,” Franz Wagner said of Bane’s shot-making, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.
We have more news and notes from the Magic:
- Previously listed as doubtful, Jonathan Isaac has been ruled out for Game 4 with a left knee sprain, The Sentinel’s Jason Beede notes (via Twitter). Isaac hasn’t suited up since March 12, when he played just one minute. He hasn’t logged 10 minutes since February 26, and he has only been available for 52 games this season.
- Jamal Cain‘s box score impact might not be significant, but he has earned the trust of his teammates with his steady, veteran play, Beede writes. “[The players] celebrate him when he has some success, but he just does all the little things within a game, rebounding, guarding multiple players,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “And just does it without saying anything, just (does) what’s necessary to help this team get a win.” While Cain was a member of the 2023 Heat, who went from a No. 8 seed to the NBA Finals, this series represents his first chance to actually get on the floor in the playoffs. “I knew he was a rotational player (back) in open gym,” Bane said. “Just the way he defends, the way he’s able to make open shots … (He’s) unselfish and plays extremely hard. Those guys don’t grow on trees. So, I knew it was only a matter of time, and in this league when you get your opportunity, you’ve got to be ready. And he was ready.”
- It has been sixteen years since the Magic led a playoff series after three or more games, Josh Robbins writes for The Athletic. It hasn’t been an easy road to get to this point, but the players and coaching staff have overcome adversity and earned this opportunity to extend the series lead on Monday night through their resilience and timely coalescing, Beede adds. “We just want to win so bad,” star forward Paolo Banchero said. “Once we got into the play-in, got our spot in the playoffs … It’s a new season, that’s all we kept saying. It’s a new season, new energy.” The Magic know that the Pistons are not going to make things easy on them as Detroit faces an unexpected uphill climb. “We know what the next game holds,” said Jalen Suggs. “We know the magnitude of it, and we’ve got to come out and continue doing the things that we did tonight and build off of a couple key learning moments that we can take with us into the next one.”
Cooper Flagg Named NBA Rookie Of The Year
Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg has been named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year for the 2025/26 season, the league announced today (Twitter link).
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft and the youngest player in the league, Flagg led all qualified rookies with 21.0 points per game while also contributing 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.2 steals in 33.5 minutes per night across 70 contests (all starts). According to the NBA (Twitter link), Flagg and Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan are the only rookies since 1973 to lead their respective teams in total points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
Flagg is the third player in Mavericks history to be named Rookie of the Year, joining Luka Doncic (2019) and his current head coach Jason Kidd (1995), per the team (Twitter link). Flagg, Jordan, and Doncic are the only three players in the past 45 years to average at least 20 points, six assists, and four rebounds per game as rookies.
Flagg narrowly beat out his former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel, who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting after leading the NBA in total three-pointers (273). The Hornets swingman, drafted fourth overall last June, trailed Flagg in points (18.5), rebounds (5.3), and assists (3.4) per game, but scored his points more efficiently, shooting 47.5% from the floor, 42.5% on three-pointers, and 86.3% from the free throw line. Flagg’s shooting line was .468/.295/.827.
There was a sense that Knueppel’s historic shooting numbers and the Hornets’ relative team success might give him the edge. Charlotte finished 18 games ahead of Dallas in the NBA’s regular season standings, while Knueppel became the first rookie to ever lead the league in three-pointers.
However, Flagg was rewarded for his all-around contributions and the way he handled becoming the focal point of the Mavs’ offense with Anthony Davis traded and Kyrie Irving sidelined, gaining the upper hand with a strong finish to the season. From March 21 onward, Flagg averaged 25.5 PPG on 46.1% shooting and had separate games of 51 and 45 points, while Knueppel averaged 14.1 PPG on 39.1% shooting.
Flagg received 56 of 100 potential first-place votes and 412 total voting points, with Knueppel earning the other 44 first-place votes and 386 points (Twitter link). Since the current Rookie of the Year voting format was implemented in 2002/03, only the 15-point gap in ’21/22 – when Scottie Barnes edged out Evan Mobley – was smaller than this year’s 26-point margin.
Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe was nearly the unanimous third-place pick, receiving 93 third-place votes to go along with a single second-place vote. Spurs guard Dylan Harper (five third-place votes) and Grizzlies forward Cedric Coward (one third-place vote) were the only other players to appear on at least one Rookie of the Year ballot.
Which Potential 2026 RFAs Will Actually Receive Qualifying Offers?
Within our list of 2026 free agents, there are currently 17 players in the "restricted free agents" section. However, not all of these players will actually become restricted free agents this offseason.
In order to make those players restricted free agents, their teams must issue them a qualifying offer, which is essentially a one-year contract offer that gives the club the right of first refusal in the event the player wants to sign with another team.
In some cases, that qualifying offer is a mere formality. There was a never a scenario in which the Bulls wouldn't extend a QO to Josh Giddey last offseason, for instance. But if the player's club decides not to issue that QO, he becomes an unrestricted free agent, able to freely sign anywhere.
Even if a team wants to retain a certain free agent, it might not make sense to tender him a qualifying offer if the club isn't comfortable with the idea of him actually accepting that offer due to the cost of the QO or the team's overall cap situation.
Last summer, Brooklyn opted not to issue a QO worth approximately $8.35MM to Ziaire Williams, even though the team hoped to retain him. The Nets were able to eventually re-sign Williams to a two-year, $12.5MM deal that put them in a better position to maximize their cap room.
Of course, in other cases, a team that doesn't issue a qualifying offer to its potential restricted free agent is simply fine with the idea of losing that player. The Trail Blazers passed on a QO for Jabari Walker last offseason, then watched him sign with Philadelphia as an unrestricted free agent.
In total, 10 of 18 players on standard contracts (ie. non two-way deals) who were eligible to receive qualifying offers last June got them from their respective teams. A similar process could play out this time around.
Here's an early look at which potential restricted free agents are good bets to get their qualifying offers and which ones might end up as unrestricted FAs:
Rondo, Hetzel, Ham Interview For Pelicans’ Coaching Job
5:44 pm: Ham also interviewed for the head coaching position last week, Rod Walker writes for NOLA.com.
12:34 pm: Hetzel has also been interviewed for the Pelicans’ head coaching job, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets.
11:00 am: Rajon Rondo is among the candidates the Pelicans are considering as they look for their next head coach, with league sources telling Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) that he has already interviewed for the position.
The former All-Star guard was hired in 2024 as a special assistant on Doc Rivers’ staff in Milwaukee. Fischer and Stein note that he first expressed interest in coaching when he was with Boston early in his career, and Brad Stevens brought Rondo into some staff meetings while he was recovering from a torn ACL. Rondo spent 16 seasons in the NBA before his career ended in 2022.
Fischer and Stein hear that the Pelicans have reached out to several candidates, including Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney, Bucks associate head coach Darvin Ham and Nets assistant Steve Hetzel. Ham has also been mentioned as a potential replacement for the Magic if they decide to fire Jamahl Mosley.
In addition, the Pelicans have requested permission to interview Pistons assistant Jarrett Jack, according to Fischer and Stein’s sources. Jack played in New Orleans for three seasons of his career and moved on to coaching after his retirement in 2021. He spent two years on the staff in Phoenix before being hired by Detroit.
James Borrego, who took over as the Pelicans’ interim coach when Willie Green was fired in mid-November, remains “very much under consideration” to get the job on a permanent basis, sources tell Fischer and Stein. Borrego, who joined the organization as associate head coach in 2024, guided the team to a 24-46 record after replacing Green.
Federal Prosecutors To Bring Bribery Charges Against Terry Rozier
Before being waived by the Heat earlier this month, veteran guard Terry Rozier spent most of the 2025/26 season on leave after being one of several individuals connected with the NBA arrested in October in relation to a federal gambling probe.
It now appears his efforts to clear his name and return to the NBA will face another hurdle, as The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov reports that federal prosecutors intend to bring new federal charges against the former Heat guard, alleging that he solicited and accepted a bribe. This could create a superseding indictment that adds the two new federal charges – sports bribery and honest services fraud – to the two he is already facing, as Vorkunov explains.
Prosecutors claim that the NBA and the Hornets, with whom Rozier played during the time period in question, are victims of the guard, who “deprived” them of his “honest services,” Vorkunov adds (Twitter link). A grand jury will hear the new charges, which were revealed on Monday before a federal judge.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, who wants the court to dismiss the case, said that he was informed of those new charges just two hours prior to Monday’s hearing, Vorkunov writes.
Word broke back in January 2025 that federal prosecutors in New York were investigating Rozier as part of a probe into illegal sports betting. Investigators were specifically looking at a game that took place on March 23, 2023.
Ahead of that game, one bettor reportedly placed 30 wagers in 46 minutes on the “unders” on Rozier-related prop bets at a casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, raising alarms about potential suspicious activity. At the same time, there was a rush on multiple sportsbooks in New Orleans of under bets on Rozier props. Sportsbooks and the NBA were alerted, and some books stopped taking bets related to Rozier’s performance that day.
After recording five points, four rebounds and two assists in 9:34 of action in the first quarter, Rozier exited the game during a timeout and didn’t return, citing a foot issue. All 30 of those “under” prop bets won as a result of the abbreviated outing, and Rozier didn’t play the final eight games of the 2022/23 season due to the injury.
NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2026 Draft
The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2026 draft, announcing in a press release (Twitter link) that 71 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 60 are from colleges and 11 had been playing for teams internationally.
While that early entrant total exceeds the number of players who will be selected in this year’s draft (60), it’s down significantly from the figures we’ve seen in recent years. In fact, it’s the lowest since 2003, per Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). A record 353 early entrants initially declared for the draft in 2021, but that number dropped to 283 in 2022, 242 in 2023, 201 in 2024, and 109 a year ago.
The NCAA’s NIL policy, which allows college athletes to be paid based on their name, image, and likeness, has been a major factor in that downward trend — fewer prospects feel the need to go pro as soon as possible when they’re earning big money at the college level.
The huge dip in the past two years can also be attributed in large part to the fact that nearly all college seniors are now automatically draft-eligible. In recent years, most fourth-year seniors faced an “early entrant” decision because they were granted an extra year of NCAA eligibility due to COVID-19 and didn’t have the 2020/21 season count toward their typical limit.
This year’s total of 71 early entrants figures to decline even further by May 27 and again by June 13, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. The former date is for college players who wish to retain their NCAA eligibility, while the latter is for international prospects. The leftover early entrants after June 13 will join the college seniors with no remaining eligibility and other automatically eligible players in this year’s draft pool.
Our tracker of early entrants for the 2026 draft is fully up to date and can be found right here.
Here are the changes we made to our tracker today:
Newly added players
College players:
These players either didn’t publicly announce that they were entering the draft or we simply missed it when they did.
- Alijah Arenas, G, USC (freshman)
- Jacob Cofie, F, USC (sophomore)
- Cruz Davis, G, Hofstra (junior)
- Kennard Davis, G/F, BYU (junior)
- Gabe Dynes, C, USC (junior)
- Eian Elmer, F, Miami (OH) (junior)
- Colby Garland, G, San Jose State (junior)
- Isiah Harwell, G, Houston (freshman)
- Louis Hutchinson, G/F, Alabama (junior)
- Paulius Murauskas, F, Saint Mary’s (junior)
- Sebastian Rancik, F, Colorado (sophomore)
- Andrej Stojakovic, G/F, Illinois (junior)
International players:
These players weren’t previously mentioned on our list of international early entrants. The country listed here indicates where they last played, not necessarily where they were born.
- Francesco Ferrari, F, Italy (born (2005)
- Marc-Owen Fodzo Dada, G, France (born 2006)
Players removed
Despite reports or announcements that the players below would declare for the draft, they didn’t show up on the NBA’s official list.
That could mean a number of things — they may have decided against entering the draft; they may have entered the draft, then withdrawn; they may have had no NCAA eligibility remaining, making them automatically draft-eligible; they may have incorrectly filed their paperwork; or the NBA may have accidentally omitted some names.
Because they’re absent from the league’s official list, we’ve removed the following names from our own early entrant list.
Note: Some of these players may also be transferring to new schools. Their 2025/26 school is listed here.
- Dai Dai Ames, G, California (junior)
- Terrence Brown, G, Utah (junior)
- John Mobley Jr., G, Ohio State (sophomore)