Thunder/Wolves Notes: SGA, Nuggets Series, Randle, Edwards
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made sure to let his teammates know that his 2025 Most Valuable Player award belonged to them as much as it did him, Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman writes.. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged over 30 points per game for the third year in a row en route to his first career MVP as the Thunder went 68-14 this season.
“You guys are really like my brothers, and I really mean that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said to his teammates. “And without you guys, none of this would be possible, and I want you guys to know this award is your award, too.”
Gilgeous-Alexander lost last year’s MVP race in a landslide, but bested Denver’s Nikola Jokic this time around.
“All the moments I got cut, traded, slighted, overlooked, I had nights where I thought I wasn’t good at basketball, had nights where I thought I was the best player in the world before I was,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
We have more from the Thunder/Wolves playoff series:
- The Thunder are back to their dominant ways after a challenging second-round series against the Nuggets, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes. Neither of their first two games against Minnesota have been particularly close. “Our resolve in that series is what got sharpened,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “We had our backs against the wall and had to respond multiple times.”
- Julius Randle has been one of the major drivers for the Timberwolves‘ Western Conference Finals push, but he had his first tough game of the postseason in Game 2 against the Thunder, scoring just six points and making only two of his 11 field goal attempts. As Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes, Randle’s poor showing came at the worst time for the Wolves, who now face a 0-2 deficit. “We know what type of defense they are,” Randle said. “They’re going to swarm you. So I’ve got to get myself into actions, setting screens, on the move. I think I was just like standing and spectating a little too much today.”
- Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards refused to speak to reporters after Game 2 after he was fined $50K for dropping an f-bomb during his media session after Game 1, per Krawczynski (Twitter link).
Nuggets Notes: Offseason, Jokic, Malone
The Nuggets are facing a crucial offseason as they look to keep building a championship team around star Nikola Jokic. Choosing the right general manager will be a critical first step, as they will have important roster decisions to make, but the decisions don’t end there.
Avoiding the second tax apron will likely be a priority for the Nuggets as they weigh roster moves, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. The team let Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leave in free agency last summer to avoid the second apron, and Durando warns not to expect a change in that mentality this summer, especially with Aaron Gordon‘s and Jamal Murray‘s extensions set to kick in and Jokic becoming extension-eligible in July.
The Nuggets can aggregate salaries in a trade and have one future first-round pick available for deals, but their depth proved problematic throughout the year, making a two-for-one deal a dicey proposition.
Christian Braun and Peyton Watson are also extension-eligible. While Watson will likely be a wait-and-see candidate, Braun established himself as a solid starter in the league this year and was a top-five finisher in Most Improved Player voting this season. His extension candidacy will be an interesting case to monitor, according to Durando.
Russell Westbrook also has a player option this summer, and while his time on the floor proved an up-and-down experience, he helped provide stability at times, especially when Gordon missed games.
Durando identifies center depth, on-ball perimeter defense, and three-point shooting as the crucial areas to address this summer, and at least one of those issues could be solved by Denver’s reported interest in Ty Jerome, though Jerome’s rising price tag and the club’s lack of financial flexibility could make that a tricky match. Durando also poses the question of whether the Nuggets involving Murray or Michael Porter Jr. that would upgrade the roster.
We have more from the Nuggets:
- Denver running it back would be a waste of Jokic’s prime, writes Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Renck argues that, while vice chairman Josh Kroenke said the right things during his press conference, relying on internal improvements won’t be enough to bring Denver back to contention. This is especially true given the injury issues that have popped up as the Nuggets’ core has aged.
- Jokic’s season was ranked as the 10th-best year ever by a non-MVP winner by Frank Urbina of HoopsHype. He was the first non-guard to ever average a triple-double and willed an injured team lacking depth to the fourth seed in the Western Conference. He’s the only player in NBA history to put up a 29/12/10 stat line, Urbina adds. Coincidentally, Jokic’s 2022/23 season, in which he lost out on MVP to Joel Embiid, is ranked one spot behind this one, at 11th.
- Former Nuggets head coach Michael Malone made a stir this week when he referred to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the MVP before the award was announced. However, he took the time out to correct the record for ESPN. “I did vote for (Jokic) again this year, if I had a vote,” he said before Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. “Want to make sure the people in Denver know that because, right now, I’m getting a lot of heat back home.”
Breaking Down Three Suns Head Coach Candidates
It has been widely reported that the Suns are down to nine candidates in their search to find their fourth coach in four years. In a series of articles, Duane Raskin of AZ Central broke down the varying strengths of three potential first-time NBA head coaches.
Chris Quinn, the associate head coach for the Heat, has been a popular name after a turbulent season in Miami that presented the coaching staff with a wide variety of challenges.
According to Raskin, Quinn was considered an instrumental part of keeping the team together through the ups and downs of the Jimmy Butler trade drama and the transitional state that came from pivoting to a new era. That points to his ability as a developmental coach, with Tyler Herro‘s offensive growth considered a prime example.
Quinn is also considered the “right hand man” of head coach Erik Spoelstra when it comes to in-game adjustments. This is an important detail, considering the Heat are largely considered one of the better teams in the league when it comes to their game plan and execution.
Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney is another candidate. Raskin writes that he’s famous for having a limitless work ethic for himself and demanding the same of his players. A longtime confidant and collaborator with Jason Kidd, he’s described by league sources as “a winner that will hold players accountable.”
Jordan Ott is a Cavaliers assistant coach who is widely viewed as a leading candidate in the job hunt, reports Raskin. This is thanks, in part, to his ties to Suns owner Mat Ishbia via their shared alma mater of Michigan State, where Ott was a video coordinator for five years.
Raskin describes Ott as a grinder with a specialty in player development, thanks in part to his abilities as a teacher of the game through film sessions in which he imparts his understanding of offensive and defensive principles. While the current version of the Suns is a veteran team whose stars may not need much teaching, getting the fringe players on the rotation to become real contributors would help maximize the roster. The Suns have also struggled to create an identity on either side of the ball, so having a tactician running the show could help from an organizational standpoint.
Ott also has a preexisting relationship with Kevin Durant, as Ott was an assistant with the Nets when Durant played there.
Brenen Lorient Withdraws From NBA Draft
North Texas forward Brenen Lorient will return to college basketball, according to Jon Chepkevich of Draft Express (Twitter link), who reports that he’s withdrawing his name from the 2025 NBA draft.
Lorient is a 6’9″ athletic forward who averaged 11.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 0.9 steals per game while shooting 47.8% on three-pointers (in just 23 total attempts) in his junior season. He was named the AAC Sixth Man of the Year and All-AAC First Team.
Chepkevich reports that Lorient, who spent his first two years at Florida Atlantic University, will play his senior year at West Virginia, joining four-star shot-making wing Jayden Forsythe and newly-hired coach Ross Hodge.
Lorient declared for the draft while maintaining his NCAA eligibility last month. He is not on ESPN’s current big board of this year’s top 100 league prospects and he falls just outside ESPN’s top-100 transfer portal list.
College early entrants have until the end of the day on May 28 to withdraw from the NBA draft if they want to retain their NCAA eligibility.
Cade Cunningham Earns Salary Bump With All-NBA Nod
As a result of earning a spot on the All-NBA Third Team on Friday, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham will see the value of the five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension he signed last summer increase by a projected total of nearly $45MM.
Cunningham’s contract included Rose Rule language. The Rose Rule allow players coming off their rookie scale contracts to receive salaries worth more than 25% of the cap in year five if they make an All-NBA team during the season (or two of the three seasons) before their extension goes into effect. Players can also qualify by being named Most Valuable Player or Defensive Player of the Year.
Cunningham’s 2025/26 salary will now be worth 30% of the cap instead of 25%. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projections, that means his five-year deal will be worth $269,085,780 instead of $224,238,150.
[RELATED: Maximum Salary Projections For 2025/26]
Cunningham was one of four players to sign a rookie scale extension that included Rose Rule language last summer. Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, who was named to the All-NBA Second Team on Friday, had already earned a bump to 30% as a result of winning the Defensive Player of the Year award. His five-year deal will look identical to Cunningham’s.
The other two players who signed Rose Rule rookie scale extensions – Magic forward Franz Wagner and Raptors forward Scottie Barnes – didn’t receive any end-of-season awards, so their new contracts will begin at 25% of the cap and will be worth $224,238,150 across the next five seasons.
Meanwhile, Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. would have qualified for a designated veteran extension – also known as a super-max contract – if he had earned a spot on any of this year’s three All-NBA teams. However, he finished 17th in total voting, with 55 points, falling a little short of the required threshold. Clippers guard James Harden beat him out for the final Third Team spot with 68 points (Twitter link).
As a result, Jackson won’t be super-max eligible this offseason. That means in order to extend him, Memphis will likely need to give him a raise on his 2025/26 salary of $23,413,395 via renegotiation.
Without a pay bump, Jackson’s maximum extension would be worth $146,848,813 over four years, which may not be enough to convince him to sign. If the Grizzlies renegotiate next season’s salary to give him a raise, they would be able to offer up to 140% of his new ’25/26 salary in that first year of an extension.
2024/25 All-NBA Teams Announced
The 2024/25 All-NBA teams have been officially announced by the league (Twitter link).
A total of 100 media members voted on the All-NBA teams, with First Team votes counting for five points, Second Team votes counting for three points, and Third Team votes counting for one point.
This year’s All-NBA teams are as follows:
First Team
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder (500 points)
- Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (500)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (500)
- Jayson Tatum, Celtics (500)
- Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers (414)
Second Team
- Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves (318)
- LeBron James, Lakers (289)
- Stephen Curry, Warriors (244)
- Evan Mobley, Cavaliers (238)
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks (232)
Third Team
- Cade Cunningham, Pistons (223)
- Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks (172)
- Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers (79)
- Jalen Williams, Thunder (73)
- James Harden, Clippers (68)
The top four vote-getters, Antetounmpo, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic, and Tatum, were all unanimous selections to the First Team. James led the Second Team with 17 First Team votes, compared to Mitchell’s 61. Cunningham was the only member of the Third Team to receive First Team votes (six) — he also earned 10 more Second Team votes than the next closest vote-getter, as Towns had 40.
This announcement marks the first All-NBA selections for Cunningham, Mobley, and Williams, and – on the other side of the coin – the 21st consecutive selection for James. No other player in NBA history has been named to more than 15 All-NBA teams.
Curry set a franchise record with his 11th All-NBA selection. Edwards became just the fourth Timberwolves player to be named to multiple All-NBA teams, joining Kevin Garnett, Kevin Love, and Towns.
Other players who received votes, along with their respective point totals, were the Rockets‘ Alperen Sengun (58), the Grizzlies‘ Jaren Jackson Jr. (55), the Clippers‘ Ivica Zubac (15), the Cavaliers‘ Darius Garland (6), the Kings‘ Domantas Sabonis (4), the Pacers‘ Pascal Siakam (4), the Heat‘s Bam Adebayo (3), the Hawks‘ Trae Young (3), and the Suns‘ Devin Booker (2).
The Cavs, Knicks, and Thunder were the only teams to feature multiple All-NBA players. Both the Thunder and Knicks are currently playing in the conference finals for a shot at advancing to the NBA finals.
This is the second year that All-NBA teams have been positionless and have required players to meet a 65-game minimum to qualify for consideration.
Several players, starting with Cunningham, gained or lost eligibility for salary increases due to the All-NBA results. We have more details here.
Nuggets Face Important General Manager Decision
After firing Calvin Booth a week before the end of the 2024/25 season, the Nuggets are heading into an important offseason without a general manager. Whoever steps in to fill that role will be tasked with building out a roster around star Nikola Jokic, despite not currently owning a pick in the 2025 draft and facing a financial situation that could force changes to the starting lineup.
Based on vice chairman Josh Kroenke‘s track record, interim GM Ben Tenzer should be considered to hold pole position in the search, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Tenzer has served as the GM of the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s G League affiliate squad, for the past two years and has been with the organization since 2005.
Durando writes that current assistant GM Tommy Balcetis could also be a candidate if the team hires from within, though Kroenke has publicly stated there’s no guarantee that’s the direction he will take.
“I would be naive if I didn’t think about soliciting opinions outside these walls, whether that’s from some of my own basketball contacts, or hiring a firm that perhaps might be able to give me a list of some of the brightest upcoming minds in the league,” Kroenke said, per Durando.
Minnesota’s GM Matt Lloyd has been one name circulated in recent weeks, Durando reports. The Timberwolves have seen success while being aggressive on the trade market, including trading into the lottery last summer to select point guard Rob Dillingham. With the Nuggets experiencing a talent drain over the past few seasons, a willingness to take big swings could be viewed as a positive attribute by the team’s top decision-makers.
In addition to candidates currently employed by other teams, such as the Heat’s Andy Elisburg and Trent Redden of the Clippers, Durando notes that there are several high-profile names who might be available.
Bob Myers has been working as an ESPN analyst since leaving his position with the Warriors two years ago, and it’s worth wondering if he would be open to returning to basketball operations. It has been previously reported that league-wide belief is that it would take a “significant” offer and the perfect fit to lure him out of retirement.
David Griffin, Landry Fields, and Monte McNair were let go by the Pelicans, Hawks, and Kings, respectively, last month. Griffin struggled to put together a winning team against the backdrop of New Orleans’ constant stream of injuries, but showed himself to be a high-level drafter. Fields wasn’t able to get the Hawks out of the rut of roughly .500 ball they’ve been in for the past five seasons, but he did manage to put a coherent team vision around Trae Young, with a legion of lengthy, defensive-minded wings who can shoot threes and switch on defense.
Perhaps the most intriguing name floated by Durando is a familiar one to Denver: Tim Connelly. The former Nuggets president of basketball operations left Denver to build the back-to-back conference finalist Wolves, but he has an opt-out in his contract this summer. The expectation is that he will work out a deal with new ownership.
Even if Connelly is available, a reunion seems unlikely, Durando notes, given the Nuggets’ hesitancy to come close to Minnesota’s contract offer last time around. It would presumably take an even more lucrative bid this time to bring him back to Denver.
2025 NBA Offseason Preview: Washington Wizards
When Michael Winger and Will Dawkins took over the Wizards' front office in 2023, they got the go-ahead from ownership to rebuild a roster that had hovered between 25 and 35 wins for five straight seasons. And they wasted no time in tearing things down.
A 15-67 season in 2023/24 - the worst mark in franchise history - earned Washington the No. 2 overall pick in a 2024 draft without any clear-cut future superstars at the top of the class. Alex Sarr was a fine addition in that spot, and the Wizards had acquired a couple extra first-round picks that they used on Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George. But the front office would need a more ample base of young talent - and ideally a singular young cornerstone to build around - before moving onto the next stage of its plan for the roster.
As a result, the 2024/25 season was another slog for the rebuilding Wizards, who traded Deni Avdija to Portland last summer and then leaned further into player development by sending out Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Kuzma midway through the 2024/25 campaign. With the exception of Jordan Poole, the team's top five players in total minutes ranged from 19 to 21 years old, with second-year forward Bilal Coulibaly joining Sarr, Carrington, and George on that list.
Having relied so heavily on first- and second-year players who probably weren't ready for such major roles, the Wizards unsurprisingly finished dead-last in the NBA in net rating (-12.2) by a significant margin. Unfortunately, a victory over Miami on the final day of the regular season dropped Washington to second in the pre-lottery draft order, and some bad luck on lottery night pushed the club all the way down to No. 6 in the actual draft.
It was a brutal - and unlikely - outcome for a team that had a hard time buying a win for most of the season. Having reduced the roles for productive veterans like Poole down the stretch, the Wizards can't say they avoided outright tanking altogether, but they weren't doing it as egregiously as some of their fellow bottom-feeders -- their 18-64 record was much more about an inability to win than a deliberate effort to lose.
There will be some promising young players available at No. 6, but the prospects with the most obvious star potential - like Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, and V.J. Edgecombe - figure to be off the board by that point, forcing Winger and Dawkins to get more creative, and perhaps more patient, as they continue trying to build a roster capable of making it back to the playoffs.
The Wizards' Offseason Plan
In addition to the No. 6 overall pick in this year's draft, the Wizards will control No. 18, having acquired it in a deadline deal with the Grizzlies. They also own a small handful of extra first-rounders and swaps in the coming years, along with a plethora of second-rounders.
International Notes: Bogdanovic, EuroLeague, Asia, Sarr
The No. 27 pick in the 2014 NBA draft, Bogdan Bogdanovic spent three more seasons playing in Europe before making the move stateside in 2017. The veteran swingman has been in the NBA since then, but told reporters at the EuroLeague Final Four this week that he could see himself playing overseas again before his career is over.
“I had that goal when I was leaving (for the NBA), but I’ll see how my health is later in my career,” Bogdanovic said, per Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. “I want to come back, of course, but I have to stay healthy. … I miss it because I’m closer to my friends and family (in Europe). That’s what I miss most. Competition as well, but friends and family first, honestly.”
Bogdanovic, who finished the 2024/25 season with the Clippers following a midseason trade from Atlanta to Los Angeles, added that he’s looking forward to representing Serbia in EuroBasket 2025 and is “optimistic” that Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will participate in the tournament.
“I feel like we have a good opportunity (to win the gold). We can’t hide,” Bogdanovic said, according to Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. “That’s it. We’re going for gold. All those years we’re building something. It’s progress. A process. Hopefully, we’ll stay healthy and we show up healthy and ready to go.”
Here are a few more items of interest from around the international basketball world:
- The EuroLeague is expected to expand from 18 to 20 teams beginning next season, according to reports from Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews and Alessandro Maggi of Sportando (Twitter link). Hapoel Tel Aviv, Dubai BC, and Valencia are the favorites to join the league next season, with ALBA Berlin exiting, according to Urbonas. In addition to working on expansion, EuroLeague officials are expected to meet with the NBA and FIBA next week about the NBA’s own European league.
- What exactly is the Asian University Basketball League? Myron Medcalf of ESPN.com takes a closer look at the college basketball organization launching this summer in Asia and speaks to AUBL CEO Jay Li about his goal of finding and developing the next NBA star from the continent. “We are not just an Asian basketball league,” Li said. “We could be the centerpiece of youth talent development for the entire world when it comes to developing Asia’s next Yao Ming, Asia’s next Jeremy Lin.”
- Dame Sarr, a 6’8″ wing from Italy, has committed to Duke for the 2025/26 season, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Sarr, who has spent the past two seasons playing for Barcelona in Spain, had a big game at last month’s Nike Hoop Summit, establishing himself as a potential 2026 first-round pick to watch. “My ultimate goal is to play in the NBA,” Sarr told ESPN. “There’s no better place to prepare you for that than Duke. For me to be as NBA-ready as possible, and become the best version of myself, I needed to have both experiences — playing for a pro team like Barcelona, and playing in a different type of professional environment like Duke against other players my age. Opportunity, minutes, repetition — this route is the best next step for me at this time.”
Lakers Notes: Okongwu, Center Targets, Finney-Smith
Asked during an appearance on the Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre podcast whether he has heard any buzz linking the Lakers to Onyeka Okongwu, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin said Los Angeles inquired with the Hawks about the big man earlier this year. McMenamin believes Okongwu was one of the centers Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka asked Luka Doncic about before the team reached an agreement to acquire Mark Williams.
“I do know that the Lakers made a call to the Hawks around the trade deadline about Okongwu,” McMenamin said (52:38 mark; hat tip to Ron Gutterman of Lakers Nation). “I think lob threat, athleticism, absolutely. In terms of being a perfect fit, maybe not. They might not get a perfect fit though. Clint Capela of ’17/18 probably was a perfect fit, but we’re in ’25/26 now. So that is kind of the spot they’re gonna be in.”
After voiding their deal with Charlotte for Williams in February due to concerns about his physical, the Lakers figure to make it a priority this summer to add a center in free agency or via trade. While there has been speculation about more ambitious trade targets like Nets big man Nic Claxton, McMenamin wonders if it would be in L.A.’s best interest to take a more conservative approach this offseason.
“I am of the opinion to not go all-in on someone like a Claxton, etc. making $20-30 million (per year),” he told McIntyre. “… They’re going to have the taxpayer mid-level available to them, so I’d try to go and get a guy at that level and if he doesn’t prove to be the best fit, make sure you’re holding on to one of your picks and then you can try to pursue something come February.”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes a closer look at how the Lakers might address their hole in the middle this season. Pincus suggests that Daniel Gafford would be an ideal trade target, though he wonders if the Mavericks would be reluctant to make another deal with L.A. so soon after the Doncic blockbuster. Pincus also mentions the Raptors‘ Jakob Poeltl and the Magic‘s Goga Bitadze as possibilities, but acknowledges that Toronto will likely be reluctant to part with Poeltl and that Bitadze is more of a backup than a starter.
- Dorian Finney-Smith‘s contract situation is up in the air heading into the summer, since it’s unclear whether he plans to pick up the $15.4MM player option on his current contract or opt out in search of a new deal. However, as Khobi Price of The Orange County Register writes in a subscriber-only story, it sounds like the veteran forward wants to stick with the Lakers — during his exit interview, he referred to his half-season with the team as “amazing.”
- Assuming Finney-Smith remains with the Lakers, McMenamin expects him to be a valuable part of next season’s roster, as he said on his aforementioned podcast appearance with McIntyre. “I think Dorian Finney-Smith will be a major contributor on this year’s Lakers team,” McMenamin said. “He did not come in healthy and it took him some time to get some rhythm. With him having the comfort factor, the health factor on his side, I think he’ll be right there with being considered the (Lakers’) third-best player along with Austin Reaves.”