Jaylen Brown Gets Pain-Killing Injections In Right Knee
April 13: Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla confirmed on Sunday that Brown has received pain management injections for his right knee, per Ken Powtak of The Associated Press.
“Just part of the rehab process for him to get back to be his absolute best,” Mazzulla said. “He’s continuing to take care of himself and put himself in great position to be ready for the postseason.”
Asked whether he’s confident Brown will be available when the playoffs get underway, Mazzulla replied, “A hundred percent.”
April 12: Celtics star Jaylen Brown was given pain management injections this week as he continues to try to find an answer for his aching right knee, league sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
Brown suffered a bone bruise several weeks ago, and it has become more painful recently, according to Shelburne. He was limited to 22 minutes and barely played after halftime in Boston’s overtime victory at New York on Tuesday. He sat out Wednesday’s game at Orlando, ensuring that he won’t reach the 65-game minimum to be considered for postseason awards, and he has been declared out for Sunday’s regular season finale against Charlotte.
Shelburne notes that teammate Kristaps Porzingis cautioned Brown against trying to do too much after Tuesday’s outing.
“He’s a tough dude,” Porzingis said. “He always preaches his warrior mindset. He lives by it. But to what extent do we need that right now? Maybe he needs to take care of it and make sure he’s going to be ready for the most important moment. I think we need to encourage him to make sure he does everything he needs to prepare to get it healthy and to prepare for what’s going to come.”
The Celtics had Brown on a minutes restriction for a while, but he worked his way back up to about 30 minutes per night prior to this week, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Barring a setback, he’s expected to be ready for the start of Boston’s first-round playoff series next weekend.
“We just got what we needed to get out of him as he continues to push himself and test himself,” coach Joe Mazzulla said after the Knicks game. “We still got games left so we got what we needed to get, what we needed to see and we’ll just continue to move forward.”
Brown, a four-time All-Star and the reigning MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals, is in the midst of another productive season. He’s averaging 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 63 games with .463/.324/.764 shooting numbers.
Robb points out that Brown has chosen to play through the pain numerous times, even though the Celtics have been virtually locked into the No. 2 seed for several weeks. Brown explained his reasoning after a game last week.
“I’m hoping to feel better and better,” he said. “But there’s no guarantee that rest or anything like that is going to make this thing better, so kind of figuring it out and going through it and getting ready for the playoffs.”
Draft Notes: Uzan, Markovic, Coward, 2025 Mock
Houston junior Milos Uzan, who helped the Cougars reach the final of the NCAA tournament, is declaring for the 2025 NBA draft, agent Aman Dhesi tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
Uzan is a 6’4″ guard who spent his first two college seasons at Oklahoma before transferring to Houston. In 40 games this past season with the Cougars, he averaged 11.4 points, 4.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 31.5 minutes per contest, with a shooting slash line of .453/.428/.783.
Givony suggests that Uzan, who goes No. 42 overall in ESPN’s latest mock draft (Insider link), will be testing the draft waters this spring. If he withdraws from the draft, he will return to Houston for his senior campaign.
Here are a few more notes related to June’s draft:
- Serbian forward/center Bogoljub Markovic is entering his name in the draft, agent Misko Raznatovic announced (via Twitter) earlier this week. Markovic had a productive season for Mega Basket in the ABA League, averaging 13.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 2.6 APG on .526/.391/.757 shooting in 26 games (29.4 MPG). The 19-year-old is another projected second-round pick, coming off the board at No. 50 in ESPN’s mock.
- Washington State senior Cedric Coward is declaring for the NBA draft, agent Todd Ramasar tells Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 (Twitter link). Coward is also entering the transfer portal to keep his options open for his final season of college eligibility. Coward only played six games for the Cougars in 2024/25 due to a shoulder injury, but he put up big numbers in those appearances, averaging 17.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.7 APG and 1.7 BPG on .557/.400/.839 shooting. The 6’6″ small forward is projected to go No. 55 overall in ESPN’s mock draft.
- Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports updated his 2025 mock draft after the NCAA tournament ended earlier this week, with some noteworthy differences from ESPN’s. For example, O’Connor seems higher on South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles (No. 5), Colorado State wing Nique Clifford (No. 14) and Auburn guard Tahaad Pettiford (No. 22) than ESPN is (they go No. 10, No. 25 and No. 39, respectively, in ESPN’s mock). O’Connor is also a little more bearish than ESPN on Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears (No. 11 vs. No. 6 at ESPN) and Illinois forward Will Riley (No. 21 vs. No. 16).
Celtics Convert JD Davison To Standard Contract
April 13: Davison’s promotion is now official, according to the Celtics.
April 12: The Celtics are converting two-way guard JD Davison to a two-year standard contract, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Boston had an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary.
Boston drafted Davison in the second round of the 2022 draft. In his three years on two-way deals, the 22-year-old has appeared in total 35 games with the Celtics, averaging 1.7 points in 5.2 minutes per contest.
Davison has seen much more playing time at the G League level, averaging 20.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 8.0 assists across 133 regular season games. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBAGL this season after averaging 25.6 PPG in the regular season.
Being converted to the standard roster will make Davison eligible for the playoffs.
It’s unclear what the specifics are on his deal at this time, but it may feature little to no guaranteed money for next season. Conversions around this time of year help give contending teams longer looks at developmental players into the offseason and gives them the flexibility to decide whether to keep them around. Davison would have been eligible for restricted free agency this offseason had he not been converted.
Because the deadline for signing players to two-way contracts passed in March, the Celtics are not eligible to sign another player to fill Davison’s slot. Drew Peterson and Miles Norris occupy Boston’s other two-way slots, with Norris on a two-year deal that runs through 2025/26.
Blazers Sign Coach Chauncey Billups To Multiyear Extension
10:50am: Billups’ extension is now official, the Trail Blazers confirmed in a press release.
“The core of Chauncey’s leadership is his ability to build a collaborative culture and growth mindset for our young team,” said Jody Allen, chair of the Portland Trail Blazers. “We’re very happy to extend his contract as head coach, and excited to see his continued work developing our players and transforming this team into one capable of long-term success.”
According to Chris Haynes (Twitter link), Portland exercised its option on Billups for ’25/26 and his extension covers two additional years, so he’s now under contract until 2028.
10:32am: The Trail Blazers intend to sign head coach Chauncey Billups to a multiyear contract extension, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.
Billups’ new deal comes less than a week after general manager Joe Cronin signed his own multiyear extension with Portland. The two have been friends for decades, Charania notes.
2024/25 was the final guaranteed season of Billups’ initial contract with the Blazers, who held a team option for ’25/26. He has been the club’s head coach since ’21/22, compiling a 116-211 regular season record (.355 winning percentage) over the past four seasons.
Billups indicated last summer that he might not be interested in returning as Portland’s head coach beyond this season, and rumors in the first few months of ’24/25 suggested that the two sides were likely to part ways. However, the Blazers somewhat unexpectedly went 10-4 heading into the All-Star break, and the 48-year-old said at the time that he was happy with the team’s progress and hoped to see the rebuild through.
“Me personally, I definitely think that I’ve done enough (to earn a new contract),” Billups said in February. “But I’m also not about to petition for that. I’m not gonna do that. I feel like I’ve done enough. I feel like I’ve developed a ton myself, which needed to happen.”
As Charania writes, the Blazers have gone 22-18 since January 19 and have a top-five defense during that time. Portland holds a 35-46 record heading into Sunday’s season finale vs. the Lakers after winning just 21 games a year ago.
Billups had a highly successful career as a player, having been named to the Hall of Fame last year. The five-time All-Star won a championship and Finals MVP with Detroit back in 2004.
Raptors Sign Colin Castleton To Two-Year Deal
April 13: Castleton’s contract with Toronto is now official, the team confirmed in a press release.
April 11: Second-year center Colin Castleton will be leaving the Sixers and returning to the Raptors on the final weekend of the regular season, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
Castleton, who was on a two-way contract with the Grizzlies earlier this season, was waived by Memphis in January, then inked a pair of 10-day deals with Toronto in March before joining the 76ers on a 10-day pact last Thursday.
In 24 total outings for those three teams in 2024/25, Castleton has averaged 4.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 15.8 minutes per game. He played his best basketball this season with the Raptors, putting up 6.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 10 games (four starts) over the course of his 20 days with Toronto.
Because a player can’t sign more than two 10-day contracts with a team in a season, the big man was only able to return to the Raptors if he and the team agreed to a standard contract.
They’ve done just that, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, who tweets that Castleton and two-way player A.J. Lawson are getting essentially the same deal — a two-year contract that isn’t guaranteed beyond this season. That will allow the Raptors to take a longer look at the duo this offseason, including in Summer League.
Toronto waived Orlando Robinson and Cole Swider on Thursday, opening up a pair of spots on the 15-man roster. At the time, reports indicated that Robinson, Swider, Lawson, and Castleton were among the candidates to fill those openings on new multiyear deals. It appears Lawson and Castleton will be the ones filling out the roster, with Robinson and Swider the odd men out.
Castleton’s 10-day contract with Philadelphia technically runs through Saturday, but with the Sixers not in action again until Sunday, it’s possible they’ll terminate his deal a day early in order to free him up to sign with Toronto.
Warriors Convert Braxton Key To Standard Contract
The Warriors have converted forward Braxton Key‘s two-way deal to a standard contract, according to the NBA’s official transactions log.
The wording in the NBA’s log indicates it was a straight conversion of Key’s one-year contract rather than a brand-new multiyear deal, so he remains on track to be a free agent this summer, when his new contract expires.
As our Luke Adams wrote yesterday, the Warriors had an opening on their standard roster ahead of Sunday’s regular season finale. They have filled it by promoting Key, who is now eligible to appear in the postseason.
A four-year veteran, Key has played a total of 37 NBA games with Philadelphia, Detroit, Denver and Golden State since he went undrafted out of Virginia in 2020. He spent most of 2024/25 in the NBA G League with the San Diego Clippers before signing a two-way contract with the Warriors at the beginning of March.
Key excelled at the NBGL level this season, filling the stat sheet with averages of 16.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.1 blocks on .506/.282/.670 shooting in 49 total games with San Diego and the Santa Cruz Warriors (31.7 minutes per contest). He was named the G League’s Defensive Player of the Year earlier this month.
Hornets Re-Sign Jaylen Sims
The Hornets have re-signed Jaylen Sims for Sunday’s regular season finale after his 10-day contract expired overnight, per a team press release.
As our tracker shows, the Hornets currently have a full 15-man standard roster. However, they were able to sign Sims using a hardship exception, as the team has multiple players dealing with significant injuries.
Hardship contracts typically cover 10 days, but Charlotte’s season concludes today. He will earn $6,650 for one day of work with his hometown team, and the Hornets will carry an identical cap hit on their books.
A 6’6″ shooting guard, Sims went undrafted out of UNC Wilmington in 2022 and has spent the past three seasons suiting up for the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s NBA G League affiliate.
Sims made 49 combined appearances for the Swarm in 2024/25, averaging 19.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 32.9 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .442/.375/.837. The 26-year-old also played in five games (18.2 MPG) for the Hornets this month, averaging 6.0 PPG and 2.0 APG on .421/.400/.833 shooting.
Sixers Sign Isaiah Mobley
The Sixers have signed free agent power forward Isaiah Mobley, the team announced in a press release.
Mobley was the 49th overall pick of the 2022 draft out of USC. He spent his first two seasons on two-way contracts with Cleveland, appearing in a total of 22 NBA games in a limited bench role.
The Cavaliers chose not to retain Mobley last summer, and he eventually signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the 76ers for training camp. He was released before the 2024/25 campaign began and has spent the entire season with their G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.
Mobley got off to a slow start during the fall’s Tip-Off Tournament, averaging 11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists on .375/.333/.556 shooting in 13 games (25.2 minutes per contest). The 25-year-old played much better during the NBAGL’s regular season, averaging 17.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG and 3.4 APG on .471/.315/.750 shooting in 22 games (28.3 MPG).
The terms of Mobley’s contract were not disclosed, but Philadelphia currently has a full 15-man roster, and today’s announcement doesn’t say anything about waiving another player. That means Mobley was almost certainly signed via the hardship exception for Sunday’s regular season finale.
Colin Castleton‘s hardship deal with Philadelphia ended last night, and he will reportedly sign a two-year contract with the Raptors, so Mobley will essentially take that extra spot for one day. Marcus Bagley is also on a hardship deal with the Sixers, who qualify for multiple hardship exceptions because they have several players sidelined with long-term injuries.
Mobley is the older brother of Cavs big man Evan Mobley.
Pacific Notes: Warriors Vs. Clippers, Reaves, Redick, Kuminga
Sunday is the final day of the regular season, but the matchup between the Warriors and Clippers is virtually a playoff game, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. The winner will wrap up an automatic playoff berth, while the loser could slip to seventh place and a spot in the play-in tournament.
“High stakes, huh?” Clippers center Ivica Zubac said after Friday’s one-point victory at Sacramento. “It’s been like that forever. Imagine if we didn’t win all these games.”
L.A. has won all three meetings between the teams this season, but they haven’t faced each other since December 27. That was about a week before Kawhi Leonard made his season debut after missing the first 34 games due to knee issues and a little more than a month before Golden State added Jimmy Butler in a major deadline trade. Both teams have been moving up the standings since then, heading toward Sunday’s clash.
“It’s basketball. The outcome is going to tell what happens,” Leonard said. “So, it’s just going out and playing, that’s all you can do. Play and have fun. Everybody wants to win coming down the stretch.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- After wrapping up the No. 3 seed Friday night, the Lakers are very confident as they approach the playoffs, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Austin Reaves said it felt like five regular seasons wrapped into one because of all the roster changes, but the team wound up in a good place. “We feel very comfortable with what we got in the locker room, from front office, coaching staff to players,” Reaves said. “We’re all locked into one goal and that’s to win a championship. We can play different ways and then we got the best player to ever play the game (in LeBron James) and then probably, arguably (someone who is) going to be one of the best players to ever play the game with Luka (Doncic). And then around that, we have guys that are just bought into winning and that’s what you need when you’re trying to make a run like that.”
- The Lakers made a great decision by hiring J.J. Redick as head coach and were fortunate that UConn’s Dan Hurley turned down their six-year, $70MM offer last June, contends columnist Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times (subscription required).
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday that he hasn’t given up on a front line of Butler, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga, even though the experiment hasn’t gone well so far, according to Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. Golden State has a minus-24.9 net rating in the 38 minutes they’ve been on the court together, and Gordon notes that none of them can stretch the floor as a consistent three-point threat. Gordon also observes that the Butler trade left Kuminga with a reduced role. “He’s handled things really well. He’s working. He’s staying ready. He’s playing hard when he’s out there,” Kerr said. “But the bottom line is when we traded for Jimmy, Draymond became our (power forward) and (center).”
Suns Notes: Beal, Dunn, Bol, Booker
Bradley Beal is disappointed with the way things turned out for the Suns and understands that a lot of the blame is directed toward him, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Beal’s contract, which pays him $53.6MM next season with a $57.1MM player option for 2026/27, would be difficult to unload even if it didn’t include a no-trade clause. Phoenix would like to get rid of that financial burden to move under the second apron, but the front office couldn’t find a taker when it tried to move him before the deadline in hopes of landing Jimmy Butler.
Beal indicated at the time that he would veto a trade unless he was happy with the destination, which raised the ire of Suns fans. He also dealt with injuries that limited him to 53 games and lost his starting job for a while, saying he relied on faith to help get him through a difficult time. Despite the setbacks, he told reporters on Friday that he would be happy staying in Phoenix next season.
“I believe in what we got in there,” Beal said after the Suns snapped an eight-game losing streak. “Things happen. We didn’t have a good year. We couldn’t put it together like we wanted, but nobody hates the other man. Nobody dislikes anybody else. I love Phoenix. I love being here. Hopefully I can continue to be here, but I know (owner Mat Ishbia) is probably going to make some changes, but I enjoyed this group.”
There’s more from Phoenix:
- Ryan Dunn turned in the best game of his rookie season Friday night, scoring a career-high 26 points and matching a career best with 11 rebounds, Rankin adds. He had 11 three-point attempts and has grown more confident in that part of his game as the season has worn on. “Just trusting my shot, just trusting my work, being aggressive on the offensive glass,” he said. “Got some tip-ins, got to the free-throw line.”
- Among the complaints Suns fans have with coach Mike Budenholzer is his refusal to give regular minutes to Bol Bol, Rankin notes in the same piece. In the final home game of the season, the crowd cheered as Bol walked to the scorer’s table with 5:20 left in the fourth quarter, but Budenholzer changed his mind after San Antonio called a time out and Bol never entered the game. “I think they cut (the lead) to 22 or 20 or 18 or something like that and just stuck with Royce (O’Neale),” Budenholzer explained. “Kind of the veteran. Just make sure it didn’t get any closer. Royce had been out there and playing. Just loved his presence. Loves what he brings on both ends of the court in that situation.”
- Devin Booker thanked Phoenix fans for remaining loyal through a rough season and offered a message of hope after Friday’s game, per Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports (Twitter link). “Things will get better,” he said. “It took a true fan to be in there tonight and still support us through what type of season we had. So it was a pleasure to see, still smiles on faces and people cheering and happy to still watch us play.”