Pacific Notes: Kings, Sabonis, Warriors, Suns
The Kings are hosting a pre-draft workout on Friday featuring Boopie Miller (SMU), Nick Boyd (Wisconsin), Lamar Wilkerson (Indiana), Anthony Roy (Oklahoma State), Izaiyah Nelson (South Florida) and Ugonna Onyenso (Virginia), tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat.
Sacramento controls three picks (Nos. 7, 34 and 45) in the upcoming draft. Big men Onyenso (No. 43) and Nelson (No. 47) are the top-ranked prospects in that group on ESPN’s big board.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- After Evan Sidery claimed (via Twitter) that the Hornets and Kings discussed a possible trade involving Domantas Sabonis during the 2025/26 season, Ham shot down that rumor (Twitter link). “Not accurate,” a league source told Ham. Sabonis, a three-time All-Star center, is owed $94.1MM over the next two seasons.
- Nick Avila of NBC Sports Bay Area rounds up seven mock drafts for the lottery picks controlled by the Kings (No. 7) and Warriors (No. 11). Four outlets have Sacramento selecting former Houston Cougars guard Kingston Flemings, while only one name appears multiple times (twice) for Golden State: Mexican forward Karim Lopez, who spent the last two seasons with the New Zealand Breakers in the National Basketball League.
- Although the Suns currently only control the 47th overall pick in this month’s draft, they have a recent history of moving both up and down, notes Gerald Bourguet of Sports360AZ.com. He acknowledges the odds of Phoenix being able to land a first-round pick seem fairly low given the limited assets at the team’s disposal, but Bourguet lists five prospects the Suns should consider if they’re able to move into the first round, including Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie and Iowa State’s Joshua Jefferson.
Pistons Notes: Dosunmu, Duren, Thompson, Cunningham, Okorie
The Pistons pursued Ayo Dosunmu at the trade deadline, but the asking price was too high, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic reports. The Timberwolves gave up young guard Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-round picks to the Bulls in exchange for Dosunmu and Julian Phillips. Dosunmu is headed to unrestricted free agency, which factored into Detroit’s thinking about not overpaying for the talented guard.
Patterson addressed a number of other topics in his mailbag article, including Jalen Duren‘s restricted free agency and potential trade targets for Detroit this summer.
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Despite his offensive limitations, Ausar Thompson is an irreplaceable core player as he becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press writes. The Defensive Player of the Year finalist could command a contract similar to the one the Magic’s Jalen Suggs received, Sankofa continues. Suggs signed a five-year deal worth $150.5MM before the start of the 2024/25 season. ESPN’s Bobby Marks recently predicted a five-year extension worth $162MM for Thompson, given his ability to guard anyone on the floor. The front office is hopeful of getting both Duren and Thompson signed this offseason.
- Cade Cunningham‘s strong finish after suffering a collapsed lung late in the regular season added to his superstar trajectory, Sankofa writes for The Free Press. Cunningham averaged 28.1 points, 7.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 40.2% from three during the playoffs. Cunningham was named to the All-NBA First Team. He could meet the super-max (ie. Designated Veteran) criteria if he earns All-NBA honors again in 2027. That would make him eligible for a maximum-salary extension worth up to 35% of the cap instead of 30% on his next contract.
- The Pistons hosted Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie for a pre-draft workout on Wednesday, Patterson tweets. Detroit has the No. 21 overall pick but nothing in the second round, unless it makes a trade. Okorie could be a consideration at that spot — he’s currently ranked No. 27 on ESPN’s Best Available list. Okorie averaged 23.2 points per game in his one-and-done season with the Cardinal.
Pacers Notes: Trade/FA Targets, Nembhard, Pre-Draft Workouts
The Pacers aren’t expected to make a major trade this summer after acquiring Ivica Zubac at February’s trade deadline. However, there are some lower-level acquisitions they could make this offseason and the Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak explores which players they might pursue.
If the Pacers prioritize a scoring option, they could go after a player like Malik Monk or Max Strus. Dopirak anticipates it would require Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard to make such a deal a reality. Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe could also be available if Oklahoma City decides to offload some salary.
Dalton Knecht and Saddiq Bey could be options to fill that role without sacrificing a top-eight player, Dopirak notes. Khris Middleton, Anfernee Simons, Kevin Huerter, Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre, Ayo Dosunmu and Bones Hyland are among the players who could be targeted with Indiana’s non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Here’s more on the Pacers:
- Guard Andrew Nembhard played in 57 games and averaged a career high 31.3 minutes per night in 2025/26. His counting stats rose but his intangibles are just as crucial to the team’s success, Tony East writes in a CircleCitySpin.com piece. “I think I’ve always been a guy who tries to lead by example and go out there and show I can compete,” Nembhard said. “But I think this year I was put in a position where I had to voice my opinion more, kind of rally the troops in a way.” Nembhard is entering the second season of a three-year, $58.65MM contract.
- The Pacers will hold their third and fourth pre-draft workouts on Thursday and Friday, respectively, according to a team press release. Thursday’s workout includes John Camden (California), Melvin Council (Kansas), Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State), Corey Stephenson (Florida International), Malik Thomas (Virginia), and Jalen Warley (Gonzaga).
- Their Friday workout includes Sam Alexis (Indiana), Chris Bell (California), Kylan Boswell (Illinois), Maliq Brown (Duke), Isaac McKneely (Louisville), and Braden Smith (Purdue). Indiana currently doesn’t have a pick in this year’s draft, but a trade could change that. The team also figures to be active after the draft adding rookie free agents on Exhibit 10 and/or two-way deals.
Western Notes: Suns, Mavs, Burries, Giannis, Westbrook
The Suns have numerous decisions to make regarding their own free agents, Spotrac’s Keith Smith notes in his offseason preview.
Mark Williams will be a restricted free agent and Phoenix should tread cautiously, according to Smith, who writes that Williams is a solid but not overly impactful center and has a lengthy injury history. The big man could wind up signing his $9.6MM qualifying offer.
The fact that Phoenix holds Early Bird rights on guards Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin should allow the front office to give them competitive offers and retain the duo. Smith anticipates something in the range of $40MM over four years as a solid baseline for Gillespie and views a three-year, $18MM offer as fair value for Goodwin.
As for a potential extension for Dillon Brooks, Smith notes he turned 30 in January and thus the franchise shouldn’t get carried away. A four-year, $100MM contract should be considered a fair offer.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The Mavericks should seriously consider Arizona freshman guard Brayden Burries with their lottery pick at No. 9, James Piercey of Dallas Hoops Journal writes. Burries made 39.1% of his three-point tries during his one-and-done season with the Wildcats, in which he averaged 16.1 points per game. With Cooper Flagg serving as a point forward, Burries could be an ideal complement to the team’s franchise player. Burries is also a stout point-of-attack defender, Piercey adds.
- The Trail Blazers should make an aggressive trade proposal to the Bucks to win the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, Bill Oram of The Oregonian opines in a subscriber-only column. While Portland showed some growth this season, the Blazers need a star talent to make them true contenders. Oram believes that if a smaller market club has a chance to add a proven superstar, it must go all-in on that opportunity. Oram also notes the Trail Blazers have a built-in advantage — they control Milwaukee’s first-round picks from 2028 to 2030.
- Russell Westbrook, who played his first 11 seasons with the Thunder organization, is giving back to the Oklahoma City community. He returned to the city on Monday for the groundbreaking ceremony of the multi-purpose stadium that’s set to open in 2028, according to The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto. Westbrook teamed up with Christian Kanady, the founder and CEO of Echo Investment Capital, to develop the surrounding stadium district. The 10,000-seat outdoor venue will be the home of Oklahoma City’s pro soccer and football teams, which will compete in the United Soccer League and United Football League, respectively. Westbrook is headed to unrestricted free agency this summer.
Draft Notes: Momcilovic, NBA Comps, Sleepers, Dybantsa
Milan Momcilovic, who tested the draft waters this spring before deciding to withdraw and use his final year of NCAA eligibility, will be transferring from Iowa State to Kentucky for the 2026/27 season, according to Jeff Borzello of ESPN (Twitter link).
Momcilovic had been the top prospect in the transfer portal after an impressive junior year in which he led the nation with a 48.7% mark on three-point attempts. The 6’8″ forward averaged 16.9 points and made 3.7 threes per game over the course of 37 outings for the Cyclones, earning a spot on the All-Big 12 second team.
While Momcilovic would have been drafted if he had opted to go pro this spring, he’ll maximize his earnings by playing one more college season. Sources tell Adam Zagoria of NJ.com (Twitter link) that the 21-year-old’s NIL deal with the Wildcats will be worth over $6MM.
Momcilovic will now be draft-eligible in 2027.
We have more on the draft:
- ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Jeremy Woo solicited feedback from scouts and executives and assigned NBA comps to the top 12 prospects in this year’s class. For instance, their high-end forecast for Duke’s Cameron Boozer is Kevin Love with more ball skills, whereas their low-end projetion for Boozer would be Domantas Sabonis with better outside shooting. Multiple scouts have also compared Boozer to Al Horford due to his high basketball IQ, Bontemps notes.
- Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports identifies five of his favorite first-round sleepers in this year’s draft, going to bat for Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie, Santa Clara forward Allen Graves, Kentucky big man Jayden Quaintance, Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas, and Michigan forward Morez Johnson.
- With AJ Dybantsa widely projected to be the Wizards‘ pick at No. 1, Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network explores some of the BYU forward’s strengths and weaknesses, with input from Dybantsa himself.
Draft Rumors: Clippers, Boozer, Acuff, Flemings, Carr, Burries
There’s an expectation that the Clippers will listen to trade-down offers for the fifth overall pick in the 2026 draft, league sources tell Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports.
Noting that reports have linked the Thunder to Cameron Boozer, who’s projected to be a top-three pick, O’Connor wonders if Oklahoma City might be able to use the 12th and 17th picks and an unspecified player to move up to fifth, and from that point potentially packaging the fifth selection to try to move into the top three with an “overwhelming offer,” perhaps including Chet Holmgren.
Obviously that’s just O’Connor brainstorming/speculating, but the Thunder have a trove of future first-round picks, plus their payroll is about to become very expensive, with roster-building restrictions in place if they’re over the second apron.
Oklahoma City also has a history of avoiding massive payrolls, O’Connor notes, having traded James Harden to Houston in the 2012 offseason when he was eligible for a rookie scale extension. Holmgren’s Game 7 performance vs. San Antonio and past history of struggling offensively in big moments could make the team more willing to part ways with him before his maximum-salary rookie scale extension kicks in next season, O’Connor writes.
Here are a few more rumors and notes related to the upcoming draft:
- Speaking of Boozer, one NBA general manager gave the following assessment of the former Duke star, who won several college Player of the Year awards as a freshman: “I don’t think he’s a franchise player, but I also know exactly what I’m getting with him,” the GM told Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68 (Twitter link). “Both (AJ) Dybantsa and (Darryn) Peterson have a chance to be franchise players in the league. Boozer can be a great second option.”
- The Mavericks are believed to have interest in trading up for Arkansas guard Darius Acuff, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints. Dallas controls the ninth, 30th and 48th picks in the upcoming draft, while Acuff is widely projected to go in the top seven. Previous reports have said the Kings, who control the seventh pick, are high on Acuff and are considered his floor. Sacramento has also been impressed by Houston guard Kingston Flemings, a projected top-10 pick, in the lead-up to the draft, sources tell Siegel.
- The Bulls and Mavericks have “known interest” in Baylor guard Cameron Carr, arguably the biggest winner at the draft combine, per Siegel. Chicago has four picks in this month’s draft: fourth, 15th, 38th and 56th. For what it’s worth, Jeremy Woo of ESPN had Carr going 15th overall in his latest mock draft.
- While Brayden Burries is considered a lock to be drafted in the lottery, his range seems pretty wide, Siegel writes. One scout from a lottery team sounded impressed by the Arizona guard before the combine, according to Siegel. “He’s simply a sound player,” the scout said of Burries. “Good vision, great instincts, good vibes around him. His teammates love playing with him. Nobody ever says, ‘Well, he can still work on this and that.’ This guy is the complete package when it comes to being cool and collected.”
Pre-Draft Workouts: Grizzlies, Warriors, Pistons, Keita
Arizona forward Koa Peat was among the prospects who worked out for the Grizzlies on Monday, league sources tell Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link).
Peat is a projected first-round pick, coming in at No. 25 on the latest big board from Jeremy Woo of ESPN and No. 18 on the big board of Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, though his stock has reportedly been falling due to concerns about his shooting.
The 19-year-old helped the Wildcats go 36-3 in 2025/26, winning the Big 12 tournament and advancing to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament before falling to eventual champion Michigan.
Malik Dia (Ole Miss), Jestin Porter (Clemson) and Latrell Wrightsell (Alabama) were also part of Monday’s workout, according to Cole. Memphis controls the third, 16th and 32nd picks in the 2026 draft.
Here are details on a few more pre-draft workouts from around the NBA:
- The Warriors are hosting six prospects — Obi Agbim of Baylor, Tucker DeVries of Indiana, Tamin Lipsey of Iowa State, AK Okereke of Vanderbilt, Peter Suder of Miami (Ohio) and Lamar Wilkerson of Indiana — for a workout on Monday, the team announced (via Twitter). Lipsey (No. 69) is the highest-ranked player of the six on ESPN’s board. Golden State holds the 11th and 54th picks in June’s draft.
- The Pistons held a pre-draft workout on Monday that included Wisconsin’s Nick Boyd, George Washington’s Rafael Castro, Kansas State’s Nate Johnson and Florida’s Xaivian Lee, reports Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Of the four, Castro is narrowly considered the best prospect (No. 73) by ESPN, with Boyd ranking just behind at 77th. Detroit has one pick — 21st overall — in the upcoming draft.
- Former BYU big man Keba Keita isn’t among ESPN’s top 100 prospects or Bleacher Report’s top 75, but he’s drawing a good deal of interest in the pre-draft process. Keita recently auditioned for the Jazz and has roughly 12 other workouts on tap, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says NBA clubs are “intrigued” by the Malian center’s “length and athleticism.” Utah only controls the second overall pick, but Keita could be a two-way or Exhibit 10 candidate if he goes undrafted.
Thunder Rumors: Giannis, Mobley, Hartenstein, Draft
The Thunder were unable to defend the championship they won last year, and there’s an expectation around the league that their roster will look different in 2026/27, writes Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).
However, none of the rival executives Stein has spoken to “strongly believe” Oklahoma City will pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo in the wake of the Thunder being eliminated from the postseason. That more or less echoes previous reporting from Sam Amick of The Athletic.
President of basketball operations Sam Presti has frequently taken a long-term approach to team-building over the past several years, Stein notes, and the Thunder came close to winning the Western Conference finals despite missing Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell for much of the series.
The Thunder certainly have the assets to make a blockbuster trade if they want to, but a deal for the Bucks superstar “would genuinely shock” people around the league, according to Stein. That’s partly because Antetokounmpo’s presence could dramatically change the meticulously developed culture Presti has helped foster in Oklahoma City.
Here are a few more rumors related to the Thunder:
- Amick reported that there’s long been “chatter” about the Thunder’s interest in Evan Mobley, and league sources tell the Stein Line that OKC tried to acquire the third pick in the 2021 draft in order to select the former USC big man. However, the Cavaliers “rebuffed” those efforts, according to Stein, who points out that president of basketball operations Koby Altman tried to preemptively shut down potential inquiries on Mobley at his end-of-season press conference last week. Altman called the 2024/25 Defensive Player of the Year a “a huge part of what we do” and “consistently our best player throughout the playoffs,” per Stein.
- Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (subscriber link) recently suggested the Thunder are likely to decline their $28.5MM team option on Isaiah Hartenstein with an eye on re-signing their starting center to a long-term deal. Stein has heard similarly, writing that early indications point to Harteinstein remaining on the team in ’26/27, even if that option is declined.
- Multiple reports have indicated that the Thunder are expected to be aggressive with their two first-round picks (Nos. 12 and 17), perhaps with a goal of moving up to select Cameron Boozer. However, rival clubs have gotten the sense that Wizards, Jazz, Grizzlies and Bulls are determined to stay in the top four, according to Stein, who says a “more realistic trade-up target” for Oklahoma City could be Aday Mara.
Southeast Notes: Heat Draft, Avdija, Sweeney
Would the Heat consider drafting a smaller guard — by height and/or weight — with their lottery pick? It’s not out of the question, according to The Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman.
“I always remind our scouts,” Heat assistant general manager Adam Simon said, “we always talk about we have our principles of what we like, what we look for. There’s things that we always try to like. Who doesn’t like length? Who doesn’t like athleticism? Who doesn’t like positional size? But, as you know, there’s heart and there’s IQ and there’s ability to outplay deficiencies that you might have based on size. And if you look in the history of the game, if you basically overlook something based on one aspect of the evaluation, that player can outplay it.”
Winderman notes that Jalen Brunson has led the Knicks to the Finals this season. Alabama’s Labaron Philon (who weighs 176 pounds), Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson (180), Louisville’s Mikel Brown (180), Houston’s Kingston Flemings (183) and Baylor’s Cameron Carr (184) are some of the smaller guards who are expected to come off the board in the first round.
“There are players that aren’t athletic that make it,” Simon said. “There’s players that are in that size range that become Hall of Famers.”
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- On draft night two years ago, the Wizards agreed to trade Deni Avdija to the Trail Blazers for a 2024 first-round pick (which was used to select Bub Carrington), a 2029 first-round pick, second-round picks in 2028 and 2030, and veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon. Was it a mistake? It’s a complex question, considering how Avdija has blossomed in Portland. However, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic notes, trading Avdija helped position the Wizards to win high lottery picks in the 2025 and 2026 drafts.
- Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney was officially hired as the Magic‘s head coach on Monday. What should Orlando fans know about him? He’s noted for his creativity, he’s respected by superstars, and he has been a serious candidate for numerous head coaching openings in recent years before the Magic hired him, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel writes.
- In case you missed it, the Hawks officially confirmed that Onsi Saleh is now the team’s president of basketball operations and has signed a “long-term” contract extension.
Pacers Notes: Zubac, First-Round Picks, Sharp, Taylor
The Pacers saw a big hole in their lineup after Myles Turner signed with Milwaukee. That’s why they acquired center Ivica Zubac from the Clippers in February, even though they wound up losing a lottery pick in this year’s draft.
“You look at these teams that are still playing (in the playoffs), they all have very, very good starting fives. You’ve gotta have five good starters to go deep into the playoffs,” Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan told The Ride With JMV (107.5 The Fan) as relayed by Tony East of Forbes.com. “We can’t go out there with maybe a hole at one of those positions and expect to compete for a championship.”
The fact that Zubac has a cap hit under $22MM to next two seasons and the Pacers didn’t have to give up any core players in the deal made the move more attractive to Indiana’s brass, according to Buchanan.
“This was all of us on board with this (trade). Like I said, we’re still excited about this group. Nothing’s changed,” he said. “Some of the other options moving forward, if (we’d) have waited until this summer, (were) going to require (us), because of where we’re at cap wise, to sacrifice some of (our) core players. And we just didn’t want to do that. With Tyrese (Haliburton) coming back and Pascal (Siakam) still in his prime, we didn’t want to keep the status quo going into next year,” he added. “We’re big fans of Zu. Still are. That’s why we made the trade.”
Here’s more on the Pacers:
- While Indiana lost its lottery pick, the team still has five first-rounders over the next six seasons to use as bargaining chips in a trade –they own first-rounders in 2027, 2028, 2030, 2031, and 2032, East points out. The Pacers cannot trade their 2027 first-round pick right now, but will be able to do so after this month’s draft is over. Also, once the draft ends, teams will be able to move their 2033 first-round picks. “We have some flexibility. We have five of our next six years [of first-round draft picks],” president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said. “Some of those trades where it’s four and five and six picks, they’re out. They’re done. They’ve shoved their chips in and they’re done. And we’ve got a full slate, five out of six.”
- Speaking of this year’s draft, Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp visited the Pacers for a workout last weekend, East tweets. The Pacers currently don’t own a pick, but that didn’t dissuade Sharp from working out for the club. “Everywhere you go, you’re being evaluated. That’s how I approach it. It’s not whether the team has a draft pick,” he said. Sharp is ranked No. 45 overall on ESPN’s Best Available list.
- The Pacers’ G League affiliate, the Noblesville Boom, announced Monday that assistant coach Bryce Taylor has been promoted to head coach, the Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak reports. He succeeds Tom Hankins, who has coached the team since 2021 when it was still the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Taylor has been an assistant with the G League affiliate for the last three seasons.