Victor Wembanyama Skips Media Session After Game 5 Loss
After playing his worst game of the 2026 postseason, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama exited Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center on Tuesday night without speaking to the reporters who were waiting to hear from him, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.
As Amick writes, it was a surprising move from a young star who was voted the most media-friendly player in the NBA this year by the Professional Basketball Writers Association. Wembanyama’s decision to duck his post-game media duties will force the league office to decide whether to issue him a fine, since those media sessions are mandated by league rules.
It was a frustrating night for Wembanyama and the Spurs, who were defeated by a score of 127-114 and now trail the Thunder 3-2 in the series. The 22-year-old made just 4-of-15 shots from the floor, including 0-of-5 from beyond the arc. His 20 points represented his lowest mark of the series and his six rebounds were well below his playoff average.
San Antonio was outscored by eight points when Wembanyama was on the floor, marking the first time in the Western Conference finals and just the third time in the playoffs that the Defensive Player of the Year had a negative net rating. The only other two postseason contests in which the Spurs were outscored during Wembanyama’s minutes were the ones he exited early due to an injury (in round one) or ejection (in round two).
Head coach Mitch Johnson acknowledged during his own post-game media session that the team will need a bigger game from its superstar in San Antonio on Thursday in order to avoid elimination and force a Game 7, as Michael C. Wright of ESPN relays.
“He’s got to take more than 15 shots,” Johnson said. “Even with the (12) free throws, he’s going to have to score more than 20 points for sure.”
Asked whether Wembanyama’s off night was a result of a lack of aggression or if it was a game plan issue, Johnson suggested it was a combination of both factors, Wright notes.
“OKC did a good job. We’ve got to do a better job,” Johnson said. “That’s probably the easiest in terms of when you (look at) surface-level stuff that he’ll definitely need to take more shots. But there’s a lot of things all over the place. Even when we had advantages, we just didn’t make simple plays and take advantage of the opportunity, that possession. In this type of game, you’ve got to be sure of everything you’re doing in a very secure, mature way.”
“I think they send so many bodies towards him, it’s hard at times,” teammate Stephon Castle added. “I think he just wants to make the right play and wants to win. So, it’s tough. But yeah, he’s our best player. We need him to be aggressive. I feel like him being aggressive opens up shots for other guys.”
Bulls Get Permission To Interview Cavs’ Johnnie Bryant
The Bulls have been granted permission to interview Cavaliers assistant Johnnie Bryant for their head coaching job, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link).
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype first reported that Bryant was a potential candidate for the head coaching vacancy in Chicago.
Bryant was hired by the Jazz as a player development coach in 2012 and was promoted to an assistant role two years later. After working under Quin Snyder from 2014-20, Bryant left for New York, where he was the Knicks’ associate head coach until 2024. He reunited two years ago with Donovan Mitchell in Cleveland, having been hired by the Cavaliers as Kenny Atkinson‘s associate head coach.
Bryant has received consideration for multiple head coaching positions in recent years. He interviewed with the Cavs before they hired Atkinson and was a finalist last June for the Suns’ job that ultimately went to Jordan Ott.
The Bulls and new head of basketball operations Bryson Graham are casting a wide net as they seek Billy Donovan‘s successor this spring. In addition to Bryant, the candidates linked to the job in recent weeks include Sean Sweeney, James Borrego, Micah Nori, Dave Bliss, Wes Unseld Jr., Lamar Skeeter, Ryan Schmidt, Jerry Stackhouse, and Chris Quinn.
While Borrego and Unseld have previous experience, the other candidates connected to the Bulls would be first-time NBA head coaches.
2026 NBA Offseason Preview: Brooklyn Nets
The Nets entered the 2025 offseason in possession of five first-round picks and the most cap room in the NBA. Brooklyn surprised many people around the league by setting a record and actually making all five selections, taking Egor Demin (No. 8), Nolan Traore (No. 19), Drake Powell (No. 22), Ben Saraf (No. 26) and Danny Wolf (No. 27), rather than packaging some of the picks to try to move up or exchanging a few for future first-rounders.
The majority -- if not all -- of those first-rounders the Nets added in last year's draft were viewed as long-term projects rather than players who could contribute to winning immediately, reinforcing the perception that Brooklyn was more focused on the future than the present. The team also made a significant trade last summer, sending Cameron Johnson to Denver for Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick.
The Nuggets paid a steep price in that deal, which gave them the financial flexibility to add Jonas Valanciunas, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown last summer to bolster a thin bench. They entered the 2026 playoffs as the No. 3 seed and had home-court advantage over No. 6 Minnesota but were upset in the first round.
Denver's early ouster was theoretically a boon for Brooklyn -- if the Nuggets get more aggressive in pursuing win-now players around Nikola Jokic, the value of that 2032 first-round pick could increase, depending on how the draft lottery (assuming it still exists) works by that point.
Porter was a good on-court fit for the Nets, who surprisingly went 7-4 in December with the top-ranked defense in the league during that month following a 3-16 start to the season. That led to some rumblings that maybe Brooklyn wouldn't be able to land a top pick in a loaded draft that owner Joe Tsai made it clear the team was focused on before 2025/26 began.
While the Nets will undoubtedly point to their December success as a reason for optimism going forward, the rest of the season made it seem more like a mirage than anything that could carry over to 2026/27. The team went 3-17 from January 1 through the February 5 trade deadline and then 7-25 from the deadline through the end of the season, finishing with the second-worst record in the league at 20-62.
Brooklyn's poor overall performance meant the team entered the draft lottery with a 52.1% chance at staying in the top four but 47.9% odds of falling to either No. 5 or No. 6, with the latter being the most likely (26.0%) individual outcome. Much to the Nets' chagrin, they were leapfrogged by multiple teams in the lottery for the second straight year, falling from No. 2 in the pre-lottery order to No. 6 in the draft.
Rather using their excess cap room last offseason or at the deadline, the Nets largely carried it over to 2026, which means they once again project to have the financial flexibility to go in a number of different directions this summer. They also don't control their 2027 first-round pick (Houston has swap rights), though the reported terms of "3-2-1" lottery reform proposal could actually incentivize the Nets to tank again, since finishing in the bottom three would reduce the Rockets' odds of landing a top pick.
The Nets' Offseason Plans
Sean Marks went from never making a lottery pick in his career as the Nets' general manager to having two in a row after the team pivoted to a rebuild following the trades of James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in 2022 and 2023. The problem is that all the losing over the past couple years has only resulted in the eighth and sixth selections. Although that's not an unusual outcome based on the way the current lottery system works, it's a disappointing one for Brooklyn.
Draft Notes: Brown, Jazz, Mitchell, Warriors, Kings, Timberwolves
Projected lottery pick Mikel Brown Jr. will work out this week for the Jazz, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports tweets. Brown told O’Connor he’s been fully cleared from the back injury he suffered while playing for Louisville. Brown averaged 18.2 points and 4.7 assists in 21 games.
The Jazz hold the No. 2 overall pick, so the visit may be about the team taking the opportunity to get familiar with as many of this year’s top prospects as possible — or performing due diligence in case of a trade down. ESPN has Brown ranked at No. 9 on its big board.
Here’s more draft news:
- St. John’s forward Dillon Mitchell is among the players the Warriors will evaluate on Wednesday, according to Adam Zagoria of NJ.com (Twitter link). Miami guard Tre Donaldson and Vanderbilt forward Tyler Nickel are also visited Golden State on Wednesday, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson tweets. That trio will be looking to move into the second-round conversation. The Warriors hold the 54th overall selection.
- The Kings‘ staff will take a look at Dominique Daniels (Cal Baptist), Kylan Boswell (Illinois), Elias Ralph (Pacific), Trevon Brazile (Arkansas), Baba Miller (Cincinnati), and Chauncey Wiggins (Florida State) on Wednesday, Sean Cunningham of KCRA tweets. Miller (No. 45) and Brazile (No. 48) are the highest-ranked prospects among that group. Sacramento holds two second-rounders at 34 and 45.
- Ebuka Okorie, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Jaden Bradley, Nickel and Sam Hoiberg visited the Timberwolves on Friday, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. Okorie (Stanford) and Bradley (Arizona) are each among the top 50 prospects by ESPN, with Okorie at No. 26 and Bradley ranked No. 46.
Knicks Notes: Team Building, Brunson, Brown, Hart, Workouts
The Knicks are patiently awaiting the NBA Finals after sweeping Cleveland. How did they finally turn into a Finals team? The Athletic’s Fred Katz takes an in-depth look at that topic.
Some of the key moments included trading Kristaps Porzingis, which gave them future flexibility, deciding not to trade away assets for Jalen Brunson before they signed him as a free agent, and the subsequent deals for Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart.
The New York Daily News’ Peter Sblendorio, meanwhile, details how the Knicks’ 2022 bet on Brunson has paid major dividends.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Brunson could join a very exclusive club if the Knicks go on to win the NBA championship, Vincent Goodwill of ESPN notes. Only two players 6’2” or under have been the undisputed headliners of their teams and led them to a championship. Isiah Thomas and Stephen Curry have done it and Brunson is now four wins away from becoming a member of that group.
- Mike Brown wasn’t the Knicks’ top choice to replace Tom Thibodeau but his strategies and adjustments have proven his skeptics wrong, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post writes, Brown has been fired four times since 2010 but now sits four wins away from joining Red Holzman as the only other Knicks head coach with an NBA championship. “Our business is funny. In my previous job [with the Kings], I supposedly took them to a point that was higher and it didn’t work out,” Brown said. “I truly felt these Knicks were an NBA Finals team. I felt we had a true opportunity. Some jobs you take, you say, ‘OK, we’ll get better and we have to make the playoffs right now.’ But this one, I felt we legitimately had a chance if we could help them figure it out and the players can stay together during the process. Especially when we hit adversity. Because we hit adversity at different parts in this season. Not just us as a whole group, but even guys individually and myself as well. I did have that belief from day one.”
- Hart was acquired from the Trail Blazers for Cam Reddish, Svi Mykhailiuk and guard Ryan Arcidiacono along with a first-round pick. That trade turned out to be a huge reason why the Knicks are now the Eastern Conference champions, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post opines.
- The Knicks hosted six draft prospects on Tuesday — Arkansas’ Meleek Thomas, Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou, USF’s Izaiyah Nelson, BYU’s Keba Keita, Missouri’s Mark Mitchell and Akron’s Amani Lyles, according to SNY’s Ian Begley (Twitter links). Thomas and Yessoufou are the most intriguing names in that group, as Thomas is ranked No. 25 overall by ESPN and Yessoufou is ranked No. 34. Ugonna Onyenso, a seven-foot center who played last season at Virginia, has a workout scheduled with the Knicks this weekend, Bondy tweets. He is ranked No. 43 overall by ESPN. The Knicks have the 24th, 31st and 55th picks in the upcoming draft.
Jalen Williams, Ajay Mitchell Declared Out For Game 5
May 26: Williams is listed as out for Game 5, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets.
May 25: The Thunder have listed Jalen Williams as questionable for Tuesday’s critical Game 5 against the Spurs, tweets Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman.
Williams’ official injury designation is left hamstring strain injury management. He has missed the past two games due to the left hamstring issue, which he first strained on April 22 in Game 2 of Oklahoma City’s first-round series vs. Phoenix. He was absent for the entire second-round sweep of the Lakers due to that injury, then aggravated it in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals vs. San Antonio.
While Williams, a 2024/25 All-Star and All-NBA wing, has a chance to play on Tuesday, the defending champions have already ruled out Ajay Mitchell, who injured his right calf in the third quarter of Game 3. The second-year guard, who also missed Game 4, is dealing with a right soleus strain.
The Thunder struggled to score in Sunday’s Game 4 loss without two of their main offensive initiators, putting extra pressure on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder will host the Spurs on Tuesday with the series tied at two games apiece.
The Spurs are banged up as well, with De’Aaron Fox playing through a right ankle sprain and Dylan Harper battling through right adductor soreness. Neither player is on Tuesday’s injury report even though they’re both less than 100%, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link).
Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla Named 2025/26 Coach Of Year
Joe Mazzulla of the Celtics has been named Coach of the Year, the NBA announced on Tuesday (Twitter link). He earned the Red Auerbach Trophy, named after the Celtics’ coaching legend.
Mazzulla is the first Celtics head coach to win the award since Bill Fitch in 1979/80 and the fourth in franchise history. That group also includes Auerbach (1964/65) and Tom Heinsohn (1972/73). At 37, Mazzulla is the youngest Coach of the Year since Phil Johnson in 1974/75.
Boston was missing star forward Jayson Tatum for most of the season and parted with key contributors like Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet last summer due to a cap crunch. However, Mazzulla led the Celtics to a 56-26 record and the No. 2 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, including a 51-19 mark after a 5-7 start.
Mazzulla received 62 first-place votes, 24 second-place votes and 10 third-place votes, totaling 392 points. Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff finished second in the voting with 312 points (29 first-place votes, 51 second and 14 third). Spurs coach Mitch Johnson finished a distant third with 133 points (9 first, 17 second, 37 third).
A global media panel of 100 voters selected the Coach of the Year. In addition to the three finalists, nine other coaches showed up on at least one ballot, led by Charles Lee of the Hornets (31 points), Jordan Ott of the Suns (11), and Mark Daigneault of the Thunder (10), each of whom received at least one second-place vote.
The full voting results can be found here (Twitter link).
The Celtics issued a statement in which Mazzulla expressed his thanks but indicated he feels it should be a shared award, echoing comments he made earlier in the year.
“Thank you to the Lord for the platform he has given me, and to my wife and family who support me on this journey,” he said. “Thank you to our players who compete and give it everything they have each night. I am grateful for every member of the Celtics organization whose dedication impacts winning every day. This award belongs to our staff, who are there for the guys every day. Their relentless work ethic improves our team daily. This award should be named Staff of the Year.”
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens praised his head coach and staff.
“This is well deserved recognition and a testament to both Joe and his staff,” he said. “With all of our unknowns entering the season, Joe did a fantastic job building and growing a team. He pours everything he has into competing at a high level, while helping players find the best versions of themselves within the framework of a team. On top of all of that, Joe leads with an authentic care for the Celtics and everyone he works with – players, coaches, and staff.”
Pelicans Notes: Williamson, Mosley, Bickerstaff, Assistants
Jamahl Mosley was introduced as the Pelicans’ new head coach during a press conference on Tuesday. One of his priorities is to get the most out of forward Zion Williamson, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. Mosley is convinced Williamson has a lot more to give.
“He hasn’t even scratched the surface of things he can do,” the Pelicans coach said. “I really do believe that. And I think being able to open the floor up more for him, attacking, being able to play him in different positions, because he’s an excellent basketball player with a high IQ for play-making, for making guys around him better, knowing when to make plays and the right passes to make.”
Williamson’s stats this season — 21.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game — were down, but he was able to make 62 appearances. Williamson has played 30 or fewer games in four of his seven seasons due to injuries, including missing the entire 2021/22 campaign.
“I think just opening the floor up a lot more for him to attack the basket, giving space, being able to live at the free throw line consistently,” Mosley said. “Some of the things he’s done here have been obviously spectacular — and so just making sure that we continue that, along with us being healthy.”
Here’s more on the Pelicans:
- Mosley was fired by the Magic after they lost in the first round to the Pistons, who are coached by his close friend J.B. Bickerstaff. The Pistons coach believes Mosley is a good fit for the Pelicans’ roster, he told Rod Walker of NOLA.com in a subscription-required story. “With me having built a relationship with (Pelicans executive VP of basketball operations) Joe Dumars over the years and seeing (general manager) Troy (Weaver) and having an opportunity to coach some of the players Troy drafted here in Detroit, the (Pelicans) organization is headed in the right direction,” Bickerstaff said. “You look at the talent level on that team now. It’s a team that went through similar injuries (to Orlando) last year. They are talented. With Jamahl’s fit there with his personality and ability to coach and organize and build an environment, I feel like that organization has a chance to take a step this year.”
- In another subscriber-only story, Walker interviews some of Mosley’s former college teammates and NBA personnel and comes away with the impression that the Pelicans’ new head coach is a workaholic who strives to excel. One NBA front office executive who wanted to remain anonymous told Walker, “Jamahl did an incredible job of resetting the culture in Orlando by establishing a defensive identity and demanding accountability. Their offensive players bought into defending every night. The Magic went from a bottom-five defense to one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. That type of transformation starts with the coach setting standards and commitment from the players.”
- A quartet of assistants have followed Mosley from the Magic to New Orleans and their roles are defined, Walker tweets. God Shammgod will be involved in player development and in-game game planning/adjustments; Bret Brielmaier will coordinate the offense; Dale Osbourne will coordinate the defense; and Randy Gregory will head up player development.
And-Ones: OKC/Spurs Impact, Anderson, Joerger, More
The Thunder and Spurs have built talented young rosters that look capable of contending for championships for the next five or 10 years, but rival teams won’t be content to take a step back and wait their turn until those potential dynasties in Oklahoma City and San Antonio eventually crumble, writes Howard Beck of The Ringer.
“The notion that everyone is just gonna accept it is insane,” an executive from an Eastern Conference playoff team told Beck. “Everybody that are in these jobs are competitive. They’re not just gonna accept it. A team like San Antonio, who have gotten lucky to get generational talent multiple times (in the lottery), people take that s–t personally, and they have a drive to beat those guys. They’re not gonna sit back and take a beating for the next 10 years.”
As Beck writes, teams around the NBA figure to seek “advantages in the margins” as they considers ways to match up with and beat these two Western Conference powerhouses. Wild-card factors like injuries could also affect the ability of OKC and San Antonio to make deep playoff runs in certain years. Plus, there’s no guarantee that either team will be able to maintain the star power and depth of their respective rosters as their key players get more expensive and they have to navigate punitive apron-related restrictions.
“People are gonna figure it out, how to beat them,” that same exec told Beck. “With the rules the way they are, San Antonio may not be able to keep all those guys. So a window opens up again. You have to be prepared for when that window is there.”
We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson will be keeping name in the 2026 NBA draft pool, agent Aaron Mintz tells Jeff Borzello of ESPN. Anderson, a projected top-20 pick, was always expected to forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility and go pro, but now it’s confirmed. “This is a dream I’ve worked toward my entire life, and the fact that it’s now a real opportunity is something I don’t take for granted,” said Anderson, who ranks 16th on ESPN’s board. “I’m incredibly grateful for the chance to compete at the highest level in the world, and I’m ready to make the most of it.”
- Former NBA head coach Dave Joerger has interviewed with Melbourne United for their head coaching vacancy, reports Pete Hooley for NBL.com.au. Joerger compiled a 245-247 record in six seasons coaching Memphis and Sacramento and has spent the past two years as a Bucks assistant. As Hooley notes, he has a strong relationship with veteran forward Joe Ingles, who is joining Melbourne United for the 2026/27 season.
- ESPN’s Zach Kram, Ben Golliver, and Andre Snellings propose six hypothetical offseason trades that could shake up the league, including one that sends Ja Morant to Minnesota and one sending Kyrie Irving to Detroit. Evaluating the trade concepts, Bobby Marks is most intrigued by one that sends Daniel Gafford from Dallas to the Lakers, reuniting him with former pick-and-roll partner Luka Doncic.
- In a story open to non-subscribers, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron hands out his front office awards for the 2025/26 season. Gozlan lauds the Celtics for the best salary cap management and the Thunder for maintaining the most efficient payroll, while dubbing the Hawks‘ deal with Nickeil Alexander-Walker the best value signing.
Cavaliers To Retain Head Coach Kenny Atkinson
Kenny Atkinson will remain in his role as the Cavaliers‘ head coach entering the 2026/27 season, reports Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
After the Cavs were outscored by 77 points over the course of a four-game sweep at the hands of the Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals, there had been speculation that the team might consider a head coaching change. But that won’t be the case, according to Vardon, who hears from sources that no major changes involving either the coaching staff or the front office are expected in Cleveland this offseason.
Atkinson, hired in 2024 to replace J.B. Bickerstaff, has led the Cavs to an outstanding 116-48 (.707) regular season record over the past two seasons and earned Coach of the Year honors for the 2024/25 season.
However, the team hasn’t had the sort of playoff success it hoped for during that time. Cleveland was eliminated in the second round as the East’s No. 1 seed last spring and narrowly eked by the Raptors and Pistons with Game 7 victories this spring before being dominated by New York.
Atkinson faced some criticism during the Knicks series for his game management during a fourth-quarter collapse in Game 1, when he declined to use his timeouts or change his defensive game plan as Jalen Brunson repeatedly beat James Harden on defense and the Knicks erased a 22-point deficit. He also raised eyebrows between Games 3 and 4 by claiming that his team had “analytically” earned two of three expected wins to that point in the series.
Still, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has maintained his support of Atkinson, who has three years left on his contract, Vardon reported earlier today. ESPN’s Shams Charania and Jamal Collier convey a similar sentiment, indicating that Atkinson remains highly regarded by key officials within the organization.
Star guards Donovan Mitchell and Harden also voiced their support for Atkinson in the wake of Monday’s Game 4 loss. All indications are that the veteran coach has strong relationships with both players.
Gilbert put out a statement on Monday night praising the Cavs for taking a step forward this season but adding that they’re “nowhere near where we need to be.” Those remarks suggest that major changes could be coming this offseason — since those changes apparently won’t impact the front office and coaching staff, it’s safe to assume this roster won’t look the same in October as it did in the conference finals.
“I have confidence — confidence in myself, first of all, confidence in the group,” Atkinson said on Monday when he was asked about his job security. “The roster talk, that’s for down the line. Our front office has done a phenomenal job giving us a great roster. Obviously, there’ll be decisions to be made like every summer, but I think we’re doing pretty well with those decisions since I’ve been here. Just keep trusting. Trusting our process. Trust our collaboration.”