Magic’s Jeff Weltman Discusses Sean Sweeney Hire
The Magic‘s recent announcement that they are bringing in Sean Sweeney as their next head coach marks the third coaching hire of president Jeff Weltman‘s nine-year tenure.
This hiring process looked very different from previous ones, due to the fact that Sweeney is currently in the midst of a playoff run as an assistant coach for the Finals-bound Spurs, Jason Beede writes for the Orlando Sentinel.
“I have to say, a huge thanks to the San Antonio organization because they really wanted to let Sean have every opportunity that he could to pursue a job that he really wanted,” Weltman said. “And so, they were really amenable. We had to work on off days and just make it work the best way that we could. It wasn’t optimum but we made it work. They were very cooperative cause they didn’t want to hold Sean back.”
Weltman says that following the initial interview with the 41-year-old coach, the team moved quickly in pursuing next steps to bring him into the fold.
“The first thing that you notice with Sean is he has like a natural intensity about him,” Weltman said. “It’s not something that he has to try to put on or impress you with. It’s just there. He’s very locked in. His focus and his intensity I think underlies a lot of the way he delivers information (and) receives information.”
The Magic rose above the level of a bottom-10 offense for the first time in a decade this season under Jamahl Mosley, but still came in 18th while battling numerous injuries to key players throughout the season. Unfortunately, the defense took a hit, falling to 13th after being top-three two years in a row. Sweeney will be tasked with unlocking a more efficient offense while keeping the defense as strong as it has been in previous years.
Weltman emphasized that while expectations were raised this season, due in part to the offseason blockbuster trade for Desmond Bane, the team is still very young on the whole. They are led by Paolo Banchero (23 years old), Franz Wagner (24), Jalen Suggs (24), and Bane, who represents the aged veteran at 27. They also have Tristan Da Silva (24), Anthony Black (22), and a trio of young, unproven players in Noah Penda (21), Jase Richardson (20), and Jett Howard (22).
Because of that, he is still taking the long view on the team.
While Sweeney may be considered more of a defensive-minded coach, Weltman was clear in his belief that his new hire will be well-rounded and up for the task of streamlining the team’s offense.
“Sean’s been an offensive coach, too, so I don’t know how those tags get slapped on people,” Weltman said. “But a lot of it comes down to basic principles and teaching the game in a way that the players have to adhere to. And I think he’s had success doing that in the places that he’s been. Obviously, he’s never done it from the No. 1 seat. That’ll be a new experience for him. But again, when you put together the ingredients of those things that we talked about, plus his natural intensity, his integrity, his character and his work ethic — he is relentless — those ingredients are kind of what you hope for (that) could lead to being a real special coach.”
Atlantic Notes: Brunson, Celtics, Stevens, Oubre
The legendary status that would come with leading the Knicks to their first championship since 1973 has been a potential selling point for New York’s trade or free agent targets over the years, and Jalen Brunson has a chance to put a bow on a historic run by doing just that.
However, when it comes to Greatest Knick of All Time conversations, Brunson still has more work to do, in the view of franchise legend Walt Frazier.
“I always say it’s Willis (Reed), and Willis said it’s Patrick (Ewing), and Patrick says it’s Patrick,” says Frazier, who is in the conversation for Greatest Knick himself, per Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. “So he would definitely be on Mount Rushmore. We’ll put him up there if he can bring this title.”
Frazier spoke on what it’s like to be one of the few Knicks legends to win a ring and the treatment he gets in New York, where he still works as a broadcaster for MSG.
“I can’t walk the street, it’s like I’m in a parade. Anywhere I go people are like, ‘Oh, there he is, there’s Clyde! There’s Clyde!‘” Frazier said. “So if these guys win another title — man, I can’t spend money now in New York. I’ll never have to spend money again in this city. And that’s what I want to show the players. Hey man, I’ve been doing this for 50 years. Fifty years just for winning two titles! So you guys can have it if you just win one title.”
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The Celtics overachieved this season, winning 56 games and reaching the second round of the playoffs even though they were missing Jayson Tatum for much of the year. Despite their sustained high-quality play, their overreliance on three-pointers has increasingly become an issue over the last two years, according to Jay King of The Athletic. It’s a problem that Brad Stevens is aware of and would like to rectify. “I will say that I look at more each shot individually, and my general feeling watching us play in really each of the last two playoffs — the second round against New York, even against Orlando in the first round — was we had a hard time generating really good looks on that first shot,” Stevens said earlier this spring during his end-of-season presser. “So, we’ve got to figure out a way to do better in that, and I think that one of the things that we’ve got to figure out is how to have more of an impact at the rim. And I think we do need to add to our team to do that.”
- Like the offensive approach, the Celtics‘ roster doesn’t need an overhaul, but it could use some tweaks around the margins, Chris Forsberg writes for NBC Sports Boston. One key will be identifying the young players who need more developmental reps. Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and Ron Harper Jr. all had stretches of strong play this season and could be due for a bump in playing time. Forsberg also looks at Robert Williams III as a potential free agent option and Wendell Carter Jr. (Magic) and Isaiah Stewart (Pistons) as possible trade targets.
- Kelly Oubre Jr. has had a productive three seasons in Philadelphia, having proven to be a durable and energetic wing. His shooting has been inconsistent though, and the Sixers will need the 2025/26 version of Oubre, who shot 36.0% from three, if they bring him back next season, Adam Aaronson writes for the Philly Voice. There’s also the question of whether the veteran forward is looking for a long-term deal or a high annual average deal. The Sixers’ roster is already expensive, so there could be a sweet spot in which Oubre earns a lesser average annual salart over a longer period, Aaronson notes. Still, it’s unclear if Philadelphia’s new leadership would want to add more long-term money for another 30-plus-year-old player.
Pacific Notes: Lakers, Warriors, Curry, Kings
The Lakers enter the offseason with Luka Doncic under contract, as well as a whole lot of questions outside of the Slovenian star.
One of the key inflection points is what comes next for LeBron James. He could re-sign with the team, leave in free agency, or retire. If he does re-sign with the Lakers, how much does he command on his next contract?
Whether there is a right price to be found between the team and the 41-year-old star, who projects to be the third option offensively, is a topic of debate in the recent Los Angeles Times roundtable, with columnist Bill Plaschke believing that the two sides will be at odds in terms of what they’d want in a potential deal, though others disagree.
The panel found consensus in the desire to bring back free agent Austin Reaves and in the need to upgrade the center spot, regardless of whether or not Deandre Ayton picks up his $8.1MM player option for next season.
We have more news and notes from the Pacific Division:
- The Warriors hosted six players in pre-draft workouts on Tuesday, the team announced (via Twitter): Donovan Atwell (Texas Tech), Quadir Copeland (NC State), Josh Dix (Creighton), RJ Godfrey (Clemson), Ugonna Onyenso (Virginia), and Oziyah Sellers (St. John’s). Golden State has the 11th and 54th overall picks in the 2026 draft. Onyenso is the highest-rated player on this list, coming in at 43 on Jeremy Woo’s big board for ESPN due to his impressive shot-blocking ability.
- Stephen Curry‘s new deal with the Chinese shoe company Li-Ning is worth over $400MM over 10 years, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (via Twitter), who notes that the Warriors‘ star had other companies making competitive offers. Charania previously reported that the deal would allow Curry to sign other athletes to his brand and expand beyond sneakers (Twitter link).
- While the Spurs and Knicks prepare to face off in the Finals, the Kings are stuck with reminders of where they’ve been and where they’re going. The year after Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers to the Finals, the Kings now prepare to watch the coach they fired, Mike Brown, face off against the other point guard they traded, De’Aaron Fox, while they’re stuck trying to navigate the same type of dysfunction that defined the franchise for 20 years, writes Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee (subscriber link).
Knicks Notes: Anunoby, Game Plan, Clarkson, Robinson
OG Anunoby missed the first NBA Finals run of his career when the Raptors won the title in 2019, as he was sidelined for the playoffs due to an emergency appendectomy. But this upcoming series is exactly why the Knicks traded two homegrown fan favorites for him in 2023, Peter Sblendorio writes for the New York Daily News.
Anunoby has been one of the most impactful players in the 2026 playoffs. While a hamstring injury in the second round represented a temporary setback, it only cost him two games. In the other 12, he has averaged 19.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while hitting 48.3% of his three-pointers in addition to making high-level defensive contributions.
He is also coming off being named to the second All-Defense team of his career, but he has yet to face a matchup like the one the Spurs will present. He says he’s ready for the task, though.
“I was younger back then, so I didn’t realize how hard it is to get back,” Anunoby said of the Toronto run. “Getting back is amazing. It takes a lot, and I’m really excited.”
We have more from the Knicks:
- Many have noted how important Anunoby will be when it comes to guarding Victor Wembanyama, but they’ll also need to figure out how to attack the Defensive Player of the Year on the other end. “The Spurs are going to try to keep Wembanyama out of pick-and-rolls,” a Western Conference coach told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “They’re going to try to keep him as the lowest man on the weak side so that he can always be at the rim. The Knicks will try to fight that and counter that. And because they have so many people who can help Brunson as a screener, they need to involve Wembanyama. Get him out of the basket area and get him into the play.” Another coach notes the importance of Jalen Brunson attacking in transition and getting into looks before Wembanyama can get set on defense. On defense, the team will have to trust its own strengths, Sblendorio writes. “I don’t know if you can really prepare for [everything Wembanyama does], because there’s not a situation that’s similar,” Josh Hart said. “For us, I think if we focus on ourselves and focus on the habits that we’re building, we’ll put ourselves in good situations to be successful.”
- Jordan Clarkson is a San Antonio native who grew up watching the Tim Duncan-led Spurs win championships. He’s looking forward to coming back home and preventing the Wembanyama-led Spurs from doing the same, writes Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “Definitely feels amazing, kind of unreal, honestly, just growing up in this city, having a teammate (second-year forward Kevin McCullar Jr.) that went to the same high school as me,” Clarkson said. “Playing the state championship games, just a lot of growth fan here as a kid. So this definitely feels great and seeing my family members, them being able to come to a finals game. It’s just amazing.”
- In case you missed it, Mitchell Robinson has been designated as questionable for Wednesday’s Game 1 after going through practice on Tuesday. He remains a game-time decision. His presence, or lack thereof, will be a key aspect of the Knicks’ approach to the series, both on defense and on the offensive glass.
2026 NBA Offseason Preview: Chicago Bulls
The Bulls had a relatively quiet summer in 2025, drafting a high-risk, high-reward prospect in Noa Essengue with the 12th overall pick and trading Lonzo Ball to the Cavaliers in a straight-up swap for Isaac Okoro. The rest of the roster remained largely unchanged from the group that finished 2024/25 on a surprising 15-5 run after a 24-38 start.
The previous iteration of the team never looked the same after Ball's knee injury interrupted -- and ultimately derailed -- the first-place start to the 2021/22 campaign. But that didn't stop the Arturas Karnisovas-led front office regime from running back the other four starters (DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso and Nikola Vucevic) for multiple seasons, despite consistently mediocre results.
The Bulls parted ways with DeRozan and Caruso in the 2024 offseason, then sent LaVine to the Kings in a three-team deal that also involved the Spurs in February 2025. The roster deconstruction took a minor detour last offseason, but continued in earnest again ahead of the '25/26 deadline.
After winning 40, 39 and 39 games in the previous three seasons, the Bulls were essentially on an identical trajectory to open '25/26, having gone 24-27 leading into the February 5 deadline. Karnisovas and top lieutenant Marc Eversley decided to lean into a more comprehensive roster tear-down at that point, trading away four impending free agents in Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter in four separate deals and making three other moves to net a total of nine second-round picks.
The returns from those deals were criticized by fans, who were hoping to see the team cash in, at least in some cases, earlier on their most valuable trade chips. White and Dosunmu had been with the Bulls their entire careers, but rather than trade them when they had a year or more left on their contracts, the team waited until they were essentially rental players for the final few months of the season.
While the aggregate returns from all the trades the past couple years was indeed underwhelming, Karnisovas and Eversley at least deserve credit for both creating and maintaining the financial flexibility that could result in the Bulls having $56MM in cap room this summer.
Of course, part of the reason that number is so high is because the Huerter trade with Detroit brought back guard Jaden Ivey. It initially looked like the former No. 5 overall pick might be part of the club's plans going forward, but he was waived on March 31 after he made a series of inflammatory comments on Instagram Live streams; the Bulls cited conduct detrimental to the team in their brief press release announcing the move.
Besides reportedly creating friction in the locker room, Ivey was dealing with a knee issue that limited him during his brief stint with Chicago. The saga created questions about whether the front office had done enough homework prior to acquiring Ivey, and it was said to be one of the final straws for ownership -- Karnisovas and Eversley were dismissed on April 6, a week before the regular season ended.
The Bulls' front office had been criticized for years for their fixation on the old core, and there was reportedly a "growing disconnect" between management and several other parts of the organization, not just ownership. Karnisovas and Eversley had been in charge for six years and it took nearly that entire tenure to fully lean into a rebuild. Chicago went just 7-24 after its 24-27 start, finishing '25/26 with a 31-51 record.
That record resulted in the Bulls finishing with the ninth-best pre-lottery odds and a 20.2% chance of moving into the top four. After losing a pre-lottery tiebreaker in 2025 to the Mavericks, who surprisingly moved up to No. 1 while the Bulls ended up at No. 12, Chicago was one of the big winners of this year's lottery, moving up to No. 4 in what's widely viewed as a very strong draft. That's particularly true of the consensus top four, which features AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson.
In addition to their own first-rounder, the Bulls also control the 15th pick and a pair of second-rounders (Nos. 38 and 56). Their four selections are tied for the most in the NBA as they enter the first offseason under new head of basketball operations Bryson Graham, a former Pelicans and Hawks executive who was hired to replace Karnisovas.
The Bulls' Offseason Plans
The Bulls have three primary objectives this offseason: Hiring a new head coach to replace Billy Donovan, who opted out of the final year of his contract; drafting the right players (particularly the two first-round picks) to add to their young core; and deciding what to do with their expected cap room.
There's also the lingering question of whether the new front office views all of Giddey, Essengue, and Buzelis as part of the team's core, since Graham and company weren't involved in acquiring those players and presumably have no attachment to them.
Latest On Mitchell Robinson
5:30 pm: Robinson has officially been listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game due to a fractured right fifth metacarpal in his right hand.
3:06 pm: After reporting last Friday that Mitchell Robinson “fully plans” to play in Game 1 of the NBA Finals this Wednesday despite undergoing surgery to repair a fractured right pinky finger, Shams Charania of ESPN said during an afternoon appearance on NBA Today (Twitter video link) that those plans haven’t changed.
According to Charania, Robinson remains “resolute” on suiting up for Game 1, though he still needs to get clearance from the Knicks’ medical staff in order to play.
Robinson didn’t speak to reporters during the Knicks’ media day session on Tuesday, but he wasn’t wearing any protection on his right hand when he showed up to the arena, notes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link). Once he got on the practice court, the veteran center was wearing a wrap on the injured hand, though he was still able to handle the ball, make passes, and get some shots up (Twitter video links).
The Knicks will have to submit their injury report for Game 1 by this evening, and head coach Mike Brown told reporters prior to today’s practice he’s not sure how the big man will be listed on that report, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Brown did say Robinson has only done individual work during practices and hasn’t taken any contact since sustaining the injury.
It remains a mystery how Robinson broke the bone in the first place. Brown told the media a few days ago that it didn’t happen during a game or practice, with Charania adding on NBA Today this afternoon that Robinson suffered the injury at his own home.
Knicks’ James Dolan Talks Brown, Towns, Bridges, Rose
Knicks owner James Dolan doesn’t speak to reporters often, so he’ll generate headlines by simply giving an interview about his NBA team, no matter what he says. But his remarks about the Knicks in January were hardly by the numbers. Publicly discussing the team with a media member for the first time in nearly three years, Dolan said the Knicks should win this year’s title and that making the NBA Finals was something “we’ve absolutely got to do.”
Sitting down for another rare interview ahead of the Finals, Dolan explained to Steve Serby of The New York Post why he essentially gave the club a Finals-or-bust mandate over four months ago.
“That’s why I don’t do a lot of interviews — I’m usually very frank,” the Knicks’ owner said with a smile. “I did not go into the interview thinking, ‘Oh I’m gonna say this.’ But it was on my mind, and I knew that the rest of the organization knew it too — we all knew it.
“We knew it from the moment that we said goodbye to (Tom Thibodeau) and we hired Mike (Brown), that we were gonna be in a hot spot because we just made the conference finals. We didn’t win, but you don’t make a change unless you’re expecting to do better. We didn’t change ’cause we wanted it to be worse! To me, it was a little obvious, so I just said it because it was obvious.”
While the Knicks didn’t make any major roster changes last summer ahead of the 2025/26 season, they did make a coaching change, as Dolan notes, controversially firing Thibodeau on the heels of the club’s deepest playoff run in a quarter-century.
New York was linked to several other coaching candidates before hiring Brown, which made it seem as if he wasn’t the team’s first – or second – choice. However, Dolan told Serby that president of basketball operations Leon Rose was convinced Brown was the right man for the job.
“We knew we had a good coach in Thibs. We weren’t just going for a change, right? There was something we wanted, and we laid it out, really on paper, what we were looking for in a coach,” Dolan said. “I would say the number one quality was collaborative, that was a big piece … somebody who strategically could avail himself of all the minds around him and put it together, particularly at game time, between halves, that was a big thing. And we were looking for flexibility.
“So we laid out all these sort of characteristics that we were looking for, and then I set Leon loose. And he interviewed a lot of different guys, and he came back with Mike, and I’m like, ‘OK.’ Leon did all the work. I just blessed it.”
Here are a few more highlights from Dolan’s interview with Serby:
On the Knicks’ decision to trade for Karl-Anthony Towns ahead of the 2024/25 season:
“First off, we had Isaiah (Hartenstein) before KAT, and we lost Isaiah because the rules did not allow us to hang onto him. By the CBA, etc., we were only allowed to offer him X amount of money. Other teams were allowed to offer him more. Probably should try and correct that in the next CBA with KAT. Our first preference would have been to keep going with Isaiah.
“So once we lost Isaiah, we knew we needed a big man, we needed a center, a focal point there. I knew KAT from before, I actually know him for about four or five years. I knew that he liked New York, he wanted to come. I was thrilled because to have an option like KAT was heaven-sent.”
On how difficult it was to give up five first-round picks in the trade for Mikal Bridges:
“It took a little thought (smile). Look, that’s the NBA. The idea was that Mikal was a building block for the team we wanted, which is the team we have on the floor now. We didn’t think we’d be in a lottery — we don’t expect to be in a lottery for quite some time. So, (the picks) weren’t quite as valuable … and Mikal is another player who I think we’re starting to understand just how impactful he could be.”
On hiring Rose to run the front office in 2020:
“I obviously have been doing this for a while before Leon showed up, and it was much more about just getting convinced that no matter if you get the most brilliant strategist in the world, you have to have talent in order to win. And so I thought about the guy who would be best in bringing talent to New York, and Leon’s name was at the very top of the list.
“The way he deals with the whole organization is different. He almost has an agent’s mentality about it. He’s very collaborative. He’s very big on creating a feeling of family inside of the team. It starts with him and (William Wesley) who do that. When he took the job, I think he thought long and hard about how he wanted to do it. I think this is how he wanted to do it.”
NBA Finals Notes: Brown, Court Design, Refs, More
Knicks head coach Mike Brown has won four NBA championships as an assistant coach, including one in San Antonio (2003) and three in Golden State (2017, 2018, and 2022). But Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who had Brown on his staff for six seasons before he left for Sacramento, would be very happy to see his former assistant earn his first title as a head coach.
“I’d be thrilled for him,” Kerr told Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. “He’s a great friend, he was a wonderful assistant coach and helped us win multiple titles here. I’d love to see him win one. The problem for me is I’d also love to see the Spurs win another one because I’ve got a lot of friends there, too. I’ve got people on both sides of this one. But it would mean an awful lot to see Mike win one, for sure.”
Kerr described Brown as “much more organized and detailed than I am” and lauded him for his consistently positive attitude. He also pointed out that Brown’s lengthy NBA résumé and wide range of experiences during his time as a coach made him an ideal fit for a coaching job that came with a Finals-or-bust mandate in year one.
“I think anybody who understands the value of experience takes from that experience and applies it to the next position, and that’s what he’s done, ” Kerr said. “… He was clearly the right guy for the job, for that reason. He’s handled everything well. It hasn’t always been smooth, but they’re there. And he helped guide them there. And it’s been fun to watch.”
Here’s more on the NBA Finals, which will top off this Wednesday in San Antonio:
- The NBA formally confirmed on Sunday (via Twitter) that the image of the Larry O’Brien trophy and the script logo for “The Finals” will be returning to the Knicks’ and Spurs’ courts for this year’s NBA Finals. Fans have griped on social media in recent years about the absence of both iconic images, which were mainstays in the past, arguing that the biggest games of the year felt like regular season matchups without them.
- The 12 officials assigned to the Knicks/Spurs series include Tony Brothers and Marc Davis, who are each working the Finals for a 15th time, and Scott Foster, who is working his 19th Finals, the league announced today in a press release. Other Finals veterans who will be on the job for the series include James Capers (14th) and Zach Zarba (13th), while Curtis Blair is the lone first-timer in the group.
- Brian Mahoney and Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press explore the paths that the Knicks and Spurs took to get to the NBA Finals, while Zach Kram of ESPN considers the storylines and matchups that will decide the series. Meanwhile, ESPN’s NBA insiders, Jared Weiss and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, and Dan Devine of Yahoo Sports shared their previews of the Finals.
- A number of current, future, and former NBA players have been added to the list of media members covering the NBA Finals. According to Danielle Lerner of USA Today, former Knicks guard Jeremy Lin will join ESPN’s coverage as an analyst and is set to appear on NBA Today and SportsCenter, among other programs. Meanwhile, the league announced its player correspondents for each of the first five games, including top prospects Caleb Wilson (Game 1) and AJ Dybantsa (Game 4), as well as rookie standouts Derik Queen (Game 2), Jeremiah Fears (Game 3), and Kon Knueppel (Game 5).
- Who will win the Finals? Vote in our poll here.
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.
Poll: Who Will Win 2026 NBA Finals?
The Spurs and Knicks will meet in the 2026 NBA Finals in a matchup that represents a rematch of the 1999 Finals — and of this season’s NBA Cup championship. While that NBA Cup game, which took place less than six months ago, can tell us more than the ’99 series about how the next four to seven games might play out, Knicks head coach Mike Brown isn’t sure how instructive his team’s win in that December showdown will be.
“We’re the same but different team, and same with them,” Brown said on Sunday, per Ben Dickson of Newsday. “We played different guys during that Cup run. They played different guys during that Cup run. You can tell that they’ve matured as a group. You can tell we’ve matured as a group.”
Victor Wembanyama, who had recently returned from a calf strain, came off the bench and played just 25 minutes in the NBA Cup final, whereas he averaged nearly 38 minutes per game in the Western Conference finals against the Thunder. The Spurs had a +14.8 net rating in those seven contests vs. Oklahoma City when Wembanyama was on the court, and he’ll be the biggest puzzle for the Knicks to solve in the Finals.
As one Western Conference executive who spoke to Tim Bontemps of ESPN points out, the Knicks may be a little better equipped than the Thunder to solve the Spurs’ defense, since they’re a stronger outside shooting team and rely less on driving to the basket. In particular, Karl-Anthony Towns‘ ability to hit three-pointers could be a key for a New York team looking to space the floor and move Wembanyama away from the rim.
“I think having (Towns) out there spacing will help,” a Western Conference scout told Bontemps. “He’s a good enough shooter to be respected.”
Still, the Knicks will have some matchup issues to figure out on the other end of the court, as Bontemps details. While there’s an expectation that OG Anunoby will get the primary defensive assignment on Wembanyama, with Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart available to help out, it’s unclear which players Towns and Jalen Brunson will defend.
The Spurs’ primary options alongside Wemby, including De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagnie, and Devin Vassell, are capable ball-handlers and shooters, so hiding weaker defenders won’t be easy for the Knicks, who were able to put Brunson on Dean Wade during the Eastern Conference finals.
“How will they handle cross matches here? Brunson is great, but Castle and Harper are much bigger and stronger than him,” one Western Conference assistant coach said to Bontemps. “They’re not easy matchups for (Brunson) to contain.”
“I don’t know where you put Towns,” an Eastern Conference scout told ESPN. “Maybe on Castle? But he’s on a heater, and you can’t assume he’s going to miss at this point. And I really don’t know how they hide Jalen.”
As John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, the Knicks have been on a historic tear in the playoffs, setting a record for the biggest margin of victory over their past 11 games after falling behind 2-1 in the first round against Atlanta.
Still, it’s not as if the Spurs are scuffling entering the Finals. After finishing the regular season on a 30-4 run, they went 8-3 against Portland and Minnesota and then knocked off a Thunder team that was widely expected to repeat as champions. According to Hollinger, San Antonio has won 39 of its last 44 games in which Wembanyama has played at least 20 minutes.
Mitchell Robinson‘s finger injury will be an X-factor to watch over the course of the series. Reporting after he underwent surgery last week indicated that he planned to play in Game 1, but it remains to be seen whether or not that will be possible.
The Spurs are considered by oddmakers to be the solid favorites to win the series (their moneyline is generally in the range of -185 to -205), but Hollinger believes those odds are overstating the likelihood that San Antonio wins the series. While his pick is Spurs in seven, he says he wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Knicks pull it out.
We want to know what you think. Do you expect the Knicks to win their first NBA championship since 1973, or will Wembanyama and the young Spurs break through for a title in their first playoff appearance?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your predictions!