Southeast Notes: Jaquez, Herro, Carrington, Cain
The Heat entered the season hoping for a bounce-back performance following last season’s 10th-place finish in the East, but it has been a disappointing year in Miami, where the Heat once again find themselves entering the postseason as the No. 10 seed in the East.
While the team might not have achieved its regular season goals, it was a successful season from an individual perspective for third-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., who is one of the frontrunners for the Sixth Man of the Year award, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
After averaging career-highs in points (15.2), rebounds (5.1), and assists (4.7) per game, Jaquez has the second-best odds to win the award according to BetOnline, Chiang notes, behind only Keldon Johnson of the Spurs.
“I think, obviously, I didn’t want to have the year I had last year. But life happens,” Jaquez said. “The only thing you can do is get back up. I heard a great quote, ‘Failure isn’t falling down, failure is staying down.’ And I think just being able to come back and improve on my game, it would just be a great recognition of the hard work.”
We have more from around the Southeast Division:
- Tyler Herro isn’t shying away from the disappointment of the Heat‘s 2025/26 regular season, but he’s ready to put it behind him and move forward, Chiang writes. “It’s been a long, weird, awkward season,” he said. “Different injuries, in and out. I started the season out, obviously, for kind of like an indefinite time, not really knowing when I was coming back. So it’s just like taking it one step at a time, one day at a time and one game at a time.” One goal is clear for the shooting guard. “I need to get out of the play-in,” he said.
- By suiting up in the Wizards‘ loss to the Cavaliers today, Bub Carrington became the first player since Karl-Anthony Towns to play in 164 straight games over his first two NBA seasons. Towns achieved the feat of not missing a game through the first two years from 2015-2017, and added a third straight year in 2017/18. Carrington played 38 minutes in the last game of the season, scoring 20 points and adding nine assists for Washington on Sunday.
- While the Magic‘s regular season ended in disappointment following a loss to the Celtics’ reserves, fourth-year player Jamal Cain has plenty to be happy about with his performance this year, Jason Beede writes for the Orlando Sentinel. Cain carved out a role for himself and earned his place in the rotation, as Beede details. “All the work that me and my trainer put in is actually coming to fruition,” Cain said. “Also, my teammates believe in me and give me confidence.” Cain’s deal includes a team option for the 2026/27 season.
Central Notes: Rivers, Buzelis, Donovan, Furphy
With Doc Rivers not returning next season as head coach of the Bucks, the team will face some significant questions beyond the status of star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
While there has been speculation that Rivers could move into a front office position with the team, it appears that the idea of taking a step away from the NBA for a while could be attractive to the 64-year-old Hall of Famer, according to Eric Nehm and Sam Amick of The Athletic. Rivers alluded to that possibility after Sunday’s regular season finale when he was asked about his future.
“I can tell you we’re all on the same page,” Rivers said. “We’ve talked about it, and we want it out pretty quick. I just want them to do it, it’s better. But I think you guys pretty much know.”
Rivers is disappointed with how his tenure with the Bucks played out, but said he enjoyed the challenges presented by the team in its various forms during his time in Milwaukee.
“We could have had better health. We could have had all kinds of things,” he said. “I’m not a big guy at looking back. All you can do is look forward. We did a lot of things to improve a lot of the young guys. Unfortunately, that was the road that kind of presented itself for us, and we did that.”
We have more from around the Central Division:
- Matas Buzelis, who missed the Bulls‘ season finale with an ankle injury, is already looking ahead to his offseason work and proving the team that he’s a foundational piece worth building around, Joe Cowley writes for the Chicago Sun-Times. “I know this summer I am going to work my butt off,” Buzelis said. “The whole summer, it’s going to be a hard summer for me. Getting my body stronger and sharpening pretty much everything. But mainly the body part, the shot, the handle, just everything. The main thing will be [adding] the strength.”
- Head coach Billy Donovan wants to sit down with the Bulls to discuss what he considers to be a pivot point in the franchise’s trajectory, Christian Clark writes for The Athletic. “[Team president Michael Reinsdorf] said he wants to build something that’s sustainable,” Donovan said. “I agree with that. It needs to be something that’s going to be long-term.” Donovan has his young star forward’s support. “I want him to stay,” Buzelis said of his coach. “I’m riding with him forever.”
- Second-year Pacers forward Johnny Furphy is now nearly seven weeks removed from ACL surgery and has hit some important milestones recently, according to Scott Agness of the Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link). “Just got off crutches. That was a big milestone for me,” he said. “I’m moving around a lot more now without crutches. So it’s been a big week for me.”
Doc Rivers Will Not Return As Bucks’ Coach
Doc Rivers will not be the Bucks‘ head coach next season, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link), who reports that Rivers is departing his role.
Echoing prior reporting, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype says the expectation around the league is that Rivers could join the Bucks’ front office in a role that has yet to be determined.
Following a three-year stint in Philadelphia from 2020-23, Rivers was hired by the Bucks during the 2023/24 season to replace Adrian Griffin. He compiled a 97-103 record (.487) across two-and-a-half seasons in Milwaukee, leading the team to two playoff appearances. The club went 3-8 in the postseason under Rivers and didn’t get out of the first round.
While ill-timed injuries to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard played a role in the Bucks’ lack of playoff success in 2024 and 2025, the team was never close to making the postseason this year. Milwaukee finished the season with a 32-50 record, its worst mark since the 2013/14 season.
A longtime coach who won a title in Boston and had a winning record on the sidelines for the Magic, Clippers, and Sixers, Rivers compiled a 2,059-1,195 regular season mark (.580) over the course of 27 seasons as an NBA head coach. He will be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame later this year as a member of the class of 2026.
As Charania notes (via Twitter), Rivers had one more year remaining on his contract, so Milwaukee will be on the hook for his 2026/27 salary. The Bucks will now embark upon a search for his replacement, with former Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins expected to be a prominent target.
Raptors Clinch Final Guaranteed Playoff Spot In East
The Raptors have clinched a playoff spot in the East after beating the Nets 136-101. This will be Toronto’s first playoff appearance in four years.
Scottie Barnes closed out his season with an 18-point triple-double, while RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram contributed 26 and 25 points, respectively.
“It’s a big relief,” Barnes said about reaching the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet (Twitter link).
It wasn’t all good news for Toronto though. Immanuel Quickley left the game after just 17 minutes with right hamstring tightness, according to TSN’s Josh Lewenberg (Twitter link). Quickley has been battling plantar fasciitis in recent weeks, but avoiding the play-in will allow the point guard more time to get healthy before the Raptors’ first-round matchup.
Because they won on Sunday and the Hawks dropped their regular season finale to Miami, the Raptors will enter the postseason as the East’s No. 5 seed, with Atlanta slipping to No. 6.
The Sixers and Magic were also in the hunt for a top-six spot in the East entering Sunday, and while Toronto’s victory kept both teams in play-in territory, the 76ers finished their season with a win over Milwaukee to claim the No. 7 seed. Despite facing a Celtics team sitting their entire starting lineup, Orlando lost on Sunday to slip to No. 8 and will visit Philadelphia in the play-in tournament, with the No. 9 Hornets hosting the No. 10 Heat.
Injury Notes: Wembanyama, Leonard, Curry, James, Highsmith
Two days after meetingng the 65-game criteria, Victor Wembanyama is out for the Spurs‘ season finale against the Nuggets on Sunday.
“He’s doing well but just a little sore and felt it was the appropriate decision,” said head coach Mitch Johnson, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
Wembanyama is dealing with a sore rib cage following a collision with the Sixers’ Paul George on Wednesday.
“I think he’s the strongest, the best in shape he’s been since I’ve been around,” Johnson said. “But, yeah, I think he’s fought through some games just in terms of, not injury, I’m talking about just physicality, the toll of a really competitive high-level game.”
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will suit up tonight, per The Athletic’s Jared Weiss (via Twitter), as he needs to play at least in 15 minutes in order to reach the 65-game threshold and become award-eligible.
We have more injury news from around the NBA:
- Kawhi Leonard has been ruled out for the Clippers as they face off against the Warriors in their season finale. Head coach Ty Lue said of his star forward that he “has been dealing with some things with his wrist and ankle the last couple weeks,” per Mark Medina of Essentially Sports (via Twitter). Leonard recently hit the 65-game mark, making him eligible for end-of-season awards.
- Stephen Curry will start for the Warriors against the Clippers on Sunday, and head coach Steve Kerr hopes to get him up to around 30 minutes played, ESPN’s Anthony Slater reports (Twitter link). Curry has played between 25 and 27 minutes in each of his three games since returning from his extended absence due to a knee injury.
- LeBron James will play for the Lakers on Sunday against the Jazz, Dave McMenamin of ESPN notes (via Twitter), adding that, according to coach JJ Redick, no Laker is expected to play more than low-30s in terms of minutes, including Marcus Smart, who will be on a minutes restriction. Redick wants to try to “control what they can control” by going for the win against Utah, McMenamin writes (Twitter link).
- Haywood Highsmith will play for the Suns tonight after being out since March 17 with right knee injury management, Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic notes (Twitter link). “I think that’s what he was shooting for this whole time, just to get back and be available, credit to him,” said head coach Jordan Ott. “He’s had a season where he’s been off the court a ton, and when he’s been on the court for us he’s been super helpful. So excited to see him go back out there and be available.“
Knicks Notes: Anunoby, Brown, Injury Report, First Round
The Knicks got a scare during Friday night’s victory over the Raptors as starting forward OG Anunoby missed the second half of the game with an ankle injury, seemingly suffered when he tripped on the foot of Scottie Barnes early in the second quarter, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.
While Anunoby sat out Sunday’s game against the Hornets, there was reason for optimism, as Bondy reports (via Twitter) that, according to the coaching staff, the 6’8″ wing is considered day-to-day, and the team doesn’t seem overly concerned about the injury.
Anunoby averaged 16.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game this season and is expected to be in the running to make the second All-Defensive team of his career.
We have more from the Knicks:
- After securing the third seed in the East, the Knicks opted to rest most of their rotation for the season finale against the Hornets, per Bondy (Twitter link). In addition to Anunoby, the Knicks sat Mitchell Robinson, Jalen Brunson, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Mikal Bridges started, in order to keep his games-played streak alive, but was pulled just 23 seconds into the game as Jordan Clarkson took his spot.
- Head coach Mike Brown has done a good job carrying over what worked for the Knicks last season while adding lineup flexibility and amplifying the voices of the assistant coaches, Steve Popper writes for Newsday. When asked about his performance relative to the expectations he set for himself coming in, Brown says he hasn’t gotten a chance to think about it much. “The things that you set as your standard are the things that I brought to the table for the standard in terms of sacrificing, being connected, everybody having a competitive spirit and everybody having true belief of each other in the process,” he said. “While I’m trying to hold people accountable, people are holding me accountable, too. All those things are the things you hope for. I didn’t put a number on how many wins or anything like that.”
- The most likely playoff outcome for the Knicks is playing the Raptors in the first round, though the Hawks remain a strong possibility and the Magic are technically still in play. New York should feel comfortable scouting Toronto, Bondy writes, given the team’s familiarity with a division rival that features several former Knicks. Bondy breaks down the three playoff possibilities in anticipation of Sunday’s slate of games, which will determine the first-round matchup once and for all.
Patrick Dumont Discusses State Of Mavericks
Patrick Dumont has experienced the extreme highs and lows of NBA ownership in his 27 months as governor of the Mavericks, from a trip to the NBA Finals to the drama surrounding former president Nico Harrison after his controversial decision to trade Luka Doncic.
As Brad Townsend writes for the Dallas Morning News in an exclusive sit-down with the team owner, Dumont recognizes that until he puts together a competitive, high-level team again, everything he does will be looked at through the lens of the Doncic trade.
“I believe in our accountability,” Dumont said. “We have to work hard to make things right.”
Lucking into budding star Cooper Flagg in last year’s draft lottery helps, but as Dallas wraps up its worst season since 2017/18, the real work is only just beginning. That process will start with the search for a new president of basketball operations.
“Monday morning, we’re going to get active, and we’re going to talk to a lot of people,” Dumont says. “And we’re going to do our best to make sure that we find the best possible candidate to lead our basketball organization… Our goal is to have someone on board by the middle of May.”
It has previously been rumored that Dumont wants to go big-game hunting in his search, with names like Brad Stevens and Sam Presti coming up, but as heads of successful teams, those two seem unlikely to be attainable.
“We’ll do the work,” he said. “We’ll figure out who’s a great leader. Who can build a great culture. Who has a track record. Who knows how to work with young players and develop them, which is crucial, because if you look at our team right now, we’re going to have a pool of great young talent, led by Cooper Flagg.”
Dumont also spoke about former majority owner Mark Cuban, who made news recently when he expressed regret for selling the team to the new owners, as well as when he addressed rumors of his involvement with an investor group trying to buy the team away from the Adelson-Dumont family.
“Mark is really passionate about the Mavericks, and I think that’s great,” Dumont said. “I think he’s really, really frustrated about the year that the team has had. And I understand that frustration. I consider Mark a friend. And look, I always appreciate his thoughts… But one thing I do want to say, in terms of ownership, I think we’ve been really clear: We’re not moving the team to another city. The team is not for sale. We’re going to continue to invest in this franchise. We’re going to build a new home for the team, and hopefully in the long term we’ll be able to celebrate that success for many years.”
Regarding that last point, one issue hanging over Dumont is the decision on where to locate the new arena. He and the team are weighing several locations, including the site that is currently Dallas’ City Hall. The Mavs governor says he envisions it as something beyond just a simple arena, as well as a place that can help give back to the city.
“I think it’s great for the city of Dallas to have a sports and entertainment center where there’s activations, not only when we have our home games, but all throughout the year,” Dumont says. “And I also think it creates a better experience for our fans to be able to have things to do before and after the game, where they can meet family and friends.”
He declined to specify whether most of the money to build such a complex would come from the team or the city, but he noted that some level of private funding would be involved in the project.
And-Ones: Perimeter Defenders, Malone, Cooper, Vezenkov
The NBA’s All-Defensive teams tend to be loaded with big men, so Fred Katz of The Athletic put together a hypothetical All-Perimeter Defense team for the 2025/26 season.
Featured among Katz’s first-teamers is Knicks‘ OG Anunoby. Katz points to a game against Denver in which Anunoby guarded Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Cameron Johnson, and Bruce Brown, managing all of those assignments effectively. Anunoby is a key part of why the Knicks are a top-10 defense this season despite having a roster built around Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Also on Katz’s All-Perimeter Defensive first team are Derrick White (Celtics), Scottie Barnes (Raptors), Ausar Thompson (Pistons), and Cason Wallace (Thunder). Thompson’s brother, Amen Thompson of the Rockets, headlines Katz’s second team.
We have more notes from around the world of basketball:
- Michael Malone made news recently when he was named head coach for the University of North Carolina. The former Nuggets head coach had been in the NBA from 2003-25 in various capacities, but will now embrace the challenge of college basketball. Details of Malone’s contract have now been reported, as Brian Murphy of WRAL News in North Carolina writes that he is set to earn $50MM over six years (Twitter link).
- Lakers legend Michael Cooper will be the next head coach at Cal State LA, according to the City News Service at the Los Angeles Daily News. The 70-year-old Hall of Famer spent three seasons as a Lakers assistant coach from 1994-96 before moving to the WNBA, where he served first as a Los Angeles Sparks assistant and then as a head coach, leading them to two championships and being named Coach of the Year in 2000. He was the interim head coach of the Nuggets for 14 games in the 2004/05 season. “I’ve always said it takes five Ds to win a championship: determination, dedication, desire, discipline and decision-making,” Cooper said. “I’ve incorporated those principles into my coaching philosophy, and they will be pillars of what we do here at Cal State LA.”
- Former Kings forward Sasha Vezenkov struggled during the 2023/24 season, his lone year in the NBA. Vezenkov’s agent, Nikos Lotsos, says the 6’9″ shooter made the move stateside because of external pressure, not internal drive, which was one reason why he had an underwhelming year. However, Lotsos also says that Vezenkov never felt that he had the support of then-head coach Mike Brown. “Everyone else wanted him except for Brown,” Lotsos said, according to Stavros Barbarousis and George Adamopoulos of Eurohoops. The agent believes that the lack of faith from the coaching staff is part of why Vezenkov was unable to carve out a consistent role with the team.
Injury Notes: Wembanyama, Cunningham, Curry, Tatum
Victor Wembanyama‘s status for the Spurs‘ penultimate game of the season remains up in the air as he works his way back from a rib injury, Tom Orsborn writes for the San Antonio-Express News.
The MVP candidate was ruled out for Wednesday’s game against the Blazers, but the team is confident that Wembanyama will play at least 20 minutes in one of their two remaining games so that he will be eligible for end-of-season awards. He is considered the strong favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year.
“He’s improved quite a bit, so I don’t think it’s a long-term concern, but we’ll obviously be very cautious in the situation and circumstances we’re under,” coach Mitch Johnson said.
With the star big man’s health the priority heading into the playoffs, it’s unclear if Johnson would simply play him the minimum required minutes to hit his eligibility or if he would receive a normal workload.
We have more injury notes from around the league:
- Cade Cunningham returned from the collapsed lung that kept him out for 11 games on Wednesday, contributing 13 points and 10 assists in nearly 26 minutes as the Pistons beat the Bucks. After the game, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said that Cunningham’s playing time for the rest of the season will depend on how he feels, according to The Athletic’s Hunter Patterson (via Twitter). It’s unclear whether he will suit up for their game against the Hornets on Thursday. For his part, Cunningham said that this was a new experience for him that he’s still figuring out how to deal with, per Patterson (Twitter video link). “It was different than any injury I’ve ever had as far as how it progressed initially,” Cunningham said. “From whenever I got hit to how I felt immediately to how I started to feel as time went on. Thanks to all the staff and medical that was around and helped.”
- While Stephen Curry was supposed to be on a minutes restriction in his Monday night return from a prolonged absence due to a knee injury, he exceeded the expected playing time, scoring 29 points in 26 minutes. With the Warriors playing three times in the final four days of the regular season, Curry will likely sit out either Thursday or Friday, ESPN’s Anthony Slater reports (Twitter video link). Slater speculates that Curry will miss Friday’s matchup with the Kings as he looks to get back to as close to 100% as possible before the Warriors try to win two play-in games to advance to the playoffs.
- Jayson Tatum will return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since rupturing his Achilles there in last year’s playoffs, and once again it will be in a crucial game for the Knicks, Jared Schwartz writes for the New York Post. A Celtics win will seal their hold on the second seed, while the Knicks are fighting off the Cavaliers, who are looking to seize the third seed. Tatum admitted that the experience will likely bring up some complicated feelings. “I’m not, like, thrilled to go back and play there,” he said. “Last time I played there, obviously, it was a traumatic experience for me. Obviously, I knew at some point I would have to get over that hurdle and play there again. So, it’s going to have to be this Thursday. But it’s not like I’m thrilled about it. But it’s part of it.”
Atlantic Notes: Rajakovic, Smith, McBride, Lidell
This season will mark the first time Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic has a chance to compete for a playoff spot, and he deserves credit for helping the team get to this point, Michael Grange writes for Sportsnet.
Toronto won 30 games last season and had the NBA’s 25th-best defense, Grange notes, while they’re up to 44 wins and rank sixth defensively this season, with three games still to go. The team currently sits in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, with a one-game lead on the Sixers and Magic, and a 1.5-game lead over the Hornets entering Wednesday’s slate of games.
“This is what you sign up for,” Rajakovic said. “It’s very, very exciting … the path that we had the past two years and this in my third year of coaching here to be in a position to plan, to fight for something, to fight for the playoffs, to fight for seeding, it’s all very, very meaningful.”
While the on-court numbers and results have been moving in the right direction, backup big Sandro Mamukelashvili also vouched for his head coach’s ability to connect with the team on a personal level.
“You go through things mentally, physically … (and) his office is always open, so it’s easy to step in there,” Mamukelashvili said. “A lot of head coaches are a little bit unapproachable, so just having the freedom to step in there and tell him what I feel and what I think I can do, where do I see myself, where does he see me? … I think that helps you through the long run.”
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Malachi Smith‘s work for the Nets recently paid off as he was rewarded with a two-year deal. Now, after a start-and-stop beginning of his NBA career, partially as a result of injuries, he’s ready to take the next step, CJ Holmes writes for the New York Daily News. “I just always was like, I know I can do this,” Smith said. “I just have to be healthy to play.“
- E.J. Liddell had a career night on Tuesday, scoring 21 points in his second start of the season to power the Nets past the Bucks. While that marked a milestone for the 25-year-old forward, it also represented a minor blow to Brooklyn’s lottery position, as it moved the Jazz and Kings both a half-game away from seizing the third-worst record, and with it, the last available 14% chance at landing the top pick, Holmes writes. The Nets have three games left in the season, including a matchup with the 18-61 Pacers, while the Kings have just two games left against teams looking to improve their postseason standing in the Blazers and Warriors.
- Knicks guard Miles McBride had a scare in his return from a lengthy absence due to core muscle surgery when he tweaked the injury in his first game back, Kristian Winfield writes for the New York Daily News. However, he said he had been warned this kind of reaggravation could happen. “It’s really just a part of the recovery process,” he said. “Basically everything was tightened, and now I’m back to moving around, so it’s just part of it.” New York’s key reserve guard is taking a patient approach to his ramp-up, knowing that the process of making sure he’s at his best for the playoffs will be slower than he’d like.