Jayson Tatum Undergoes Surgery To Repair Torn Achilles
Celtics star Jayson Tatum has undergone surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
Tatum’s 2024/25 season is over, and given the typical recovery timeline following an Achilles tear, his ’25/26 availability is very much in jeopardy as well. According to the Celtics, no timeline is available for his return yet, but he’s expected to make a full recovery.
This is exactly the diagnosis that Tatum and the Celtics feared when the 27-year-old was carried off the court on Monday after suffering a non-contact right leg injury. After taking an awkward step near the top of the key, Tatum crumpled to the floor and was unable to put any weight on the leg as he was helped off the floor.
It’s a devastating blow in both the short term and the long term for the Celtics, who face a 3-1 deficit in their second-round series against the Knicks and will face a significant uphill climb as they look to make a comeback without their leading scorer.
Tatum, who has earned three consecutive First Team All-NBA nods, will almost certainly make it four in a row this spring after averaging 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game in 72 regular season outings. He had put up 28.1 PPG, 11.5 RPG, and 5.4 RPG through eight playoff contests.
Besides dealing a massive blow to the Celtics’ chances to repeat as NBA champions, Tatum’s injury casts a major cloud over the 2025/26 season.
There had already been speculation about the possibility of Boston making cost-cutting roster moves this offseason after spending the last two seasons operating above the second tax apron. With Tatum unlikely to play much – if at all – next season, shedding salary could become a greater priority for a Celtics team that will be hard-pressed to repeat the success of the past two years without its star forward on the court.
This is the first major injury of Tatum’s NBA career — the 10 games he missed this season represented a career high, as he had never been sidelined for more than eight in any of his previous seven years in the league.
Tatum signed a five-year, super-max contract extension last July that will go into effect beginning in 2025/26. The deal, which runs through at least 2029, with a ’29/30 player option, projects to be worth nearly $314MM.
Mavs Intend To Keep No. 1 Pick, Draft Cooper Flagg
Since the Mavericks‘ unlikely lottery win on Monday night, there has been speculation about the possibility of the front office – which clearly isn’t shy about taking big swings – including the No. 1 overall pick in a trade for a proven superstar such as Giannis Antetokounmpo.
However, that’s not the plan in Dallas, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, who hears from sources that the Mavericks intend to use the pick to draft consensus top prospect Cooper Flagg and won’t entertain the idea of trading it. Marc Stein (Twitter link) has heard the same thing from a source with knowledge of the team’s thinking.
According to MacMahon, Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont considers it a “gift” to get the opportunity to draft a prospect like Flagg. The possibility of re-gifting the Duke star to another team isn’t under consideration, says MacMahon, noting that Dumont has given general manager Nico Harrison leeway to run the front office but still has the final say on all basketball decisions.
As MacMahon points out, the decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers in February resulted in “significant business concerns” for the Mavericks, in addition to creating a murky long-term outlook for a franchise that has traded away control of its own first-round picks from 2027-30. Being able to add Flagg to Dallas’ core would go a long way toward mitigating both of those concerns, MacMahon writes.
[RELATED: Mavs Rejoice After Getting Top Pick]
Flagg will be joining a Mavs roster headlined by Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Dereck Lively, and P.J. Washington.
As fortunate as Dallas is to be in position to bring aboard a talent like Flagg, there’s still plenty of work to be done on the roster this summer. With Irving expected to miss a significant chunk of the season while he recovers from a torn ACL, the team is short on ball-handling and play-making and will be looking to upgrade its backcourt.
2025 NBA Offseason Preview: Phoenix Suns
After winning 49 games and making a first-round playoff exit in 2023/24, the Suns were confident that their second year with the big three of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal would yield better results.
Having not operated with a traditional point guard for much of the 2023/24 season, the Suns added Tyus Jones and Monte Morris in free agency during the summer of 2024 while also replacing head coach Frank Vogel with Mike Budenholzer.
Those changes, combined with a full season from 2024 deadline addition Royce O'Neale and the prospect of better health luck for Booker, Durant, and Beal - who suited up together for just 41 games in '23/24 - were reasons for optimism in Phoenix.
And through nine games, it looked like that optimism was warranted. The Suns raced out to an 8-1 start and sat tied with Oklahoma City atop the Western Conference standings on November 10.
However, things quickly turned south, as newcomers like Jones, Morris, and Budenholzer didn't make the sort of impact the Suns had anticipated, while Durant and Beal once again battled health issues that sidelined them for 20 and 29 games, respectively.
Most damning of all was the fact that Phoenix's so-called "big three" wasn't even effective when healthy -- in the 667 minutes that Booker, Durant, and Beal shared the court, the team was outscored by 4.1 points per 100 possessions.
The Suns finished the season with a 36-46 record, earning the ignominious honor of becoming the only NBA team that didn't clinch a top-six playoff spot, didn't claim at least a play-in berth, and didn't control a lottery pick -- each of the league's other 29 clubs fell into at least one of those categories. To make matters worse, the Suns finished the season with the NBA's highest payroll and don't control any of their own draft picks through 2031.
Put simply, running it back wasn't an option in Phoenix this offseason. The team has already fired Budenholzer and made front office changes, promoting vice president of player programming Brian Gregory to general manager while former GM James Jones transitioned into a senior advisor position. Next up? Making major changes to this underachieving roster.
The Suns' Offseason Plan
Draft Lottery Notes: Spurs, Sixers, Mavs, Nets, Hornets, More
In the wake of last night’s eventful NBA draft lottery, a series of draft experts – including ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports, and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic – have updated their 2025 mocks.
A common theme has emerged in those mock drafts, with ESPN’s duo, O’Connor, and Vecenie questioning the fit of certain players who are expected to come off the board right after Cooper Flagg at No. 1. Rutgers’ Dylan Harper, for instance, has long been viewed as the consensus No. 2 in this year’s draft pool, but he’s not exactly a clean fit for the Spurs next to guards Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox.
The Sixers, meanwhile, could add a one-and-done prospect like Harper’s former Rutgers teammate Ace Bailey, but the 18-year-old guard/forward – considered by many pundits to be the third-best player in this year’s draft – is viewed as more of a long-term project who may not fit into Philadelphia’s win-now plans.
In other words, John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, the unexpected results of Monday’s lottery have opened the door for some tantalizing offseason trade possibilities. With the Mavericks, San Antonio, and Philadelphia all closer to contention than is typical for teams at the top of the draft, could Dallas or the Spurs consider using their pick in a package for a superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo? Could the 76ers trade down, or perhaps even swing for a star themselves by attaching Paul George to the No. 3 pick and a couple future first-rounders?
As Hollinger notes, there’s some intrigue further down the lottery as well, where teams like the Pelicans and Rockets don’t necessarily need to add rookies to their roster and might consider shopping their picks at No. 7 and 10, respectively. Hollinger also suggests that the Trail Blazers could look into putting the No. 11 pick in a package to improve the trade value of a veteran like Jerami Grant or Deandre Ayton.
Here’s more on the heels of Monday’s shocking draft lottery:
- Rival teams view the Nets as a team to monitor for a possible trade up in the draft, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). As Fischer explains, the Nets have three additional first-round picks this year (at No. 19, 26, and 27) on top of their lottery pick at No. 8 and have an excess of future first-rounders as well. They also lack a blue-chip prospect to build around.
- Several of the media members who were in the lottery drawing room on Monday, including Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News, Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer, and Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link), have published stories from behind the scenes. As Boone writes, although Charlotte dropped one spot from their pre-lottery rank, Hornets governor Rick Schnall was relieved his team will be picking in the top four. “We are obviously disappointed we didn’t get the No. 1, but it could be a lot worse,” Schnall said. “I thought (for a minute) we were going to be seventh. But we are going to get a good player.”
- Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, who was also in attendance for the drawing, responds to conspiracy theories about the lottery being rigged by explaining why he believes that’s very unlikely.
- With many fans displeased about the outcome of Monday’s lottery and questioning whether the event is above board, Michael McCann of Sportico digs into why a lottery determines the NBA’s draft order at all, exploring other ways the league could distribute talent and explaining why those alternatives wouldn’t necessarily be any better.
- A series of ESPN’s NBA reporters takes a look at the biggest question facing each of the 13 teams in the lottery after Monday’s results.
Vince Carter Joins NBC Sports As Studio Analyst
Longtime NBA star Vince Carter has been hired by NBC Sports and will join the network as a studio analyst on NBC and Peacock this fall, according to an official announcement.
Carter, who set a league record by spending 22 seasons in the NBA, was an eight-time All-Star, a Rookie of the Year, a dunk contest champion, and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. Since his retirement as a player in 2020, he has spent time working as an analyst for both ESPN and Turner Sports.
According to NBC’s announcement, the plan is to have Carter be part of NBC’s studio show for one or more nights per week. He’s expected to work frequently alongside fellow Hall-of-Famer Carmelo Anthony.
“I could not be more excited and appreciative to have the opportunity to be a part of the historic return of the NBA to NBC and now Peacock,” Carter said in a statement. “I am truly looking forward to joining Melo in the studio and the rest of the broadcast team overall, as we embark on bringing NBA fans best-in-class coverage of the league they love.”
NBC Sports, which is regaining broadcast rights to NBA games for the 2025/26 season, is slowly filling out its game and studio broadcast teams. In addition to hiring Carter and Anthony in studio analyst roles, NBC has brought on Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle as its top play-by-play announcers, Jamal Crawford and Reggie Miller as game analysts, and Michael Jordan as a special contributor.
Trail Blazers Announce Plans To Sell Franchise
The Trail Blazers have begun the process of selling the franchise, the team announced today (via Twitter).
According to the club’s statement, the estate of late Blazers owner Paul Allen has chosen the investment bank Allen & Co. and the law firm Hogan Lovells to lead the sale process, which is expected to continue into the 2025/26 season.
Allen passed away on October 15, 2018, resulting in control of the franchise being transferred to his sister Jody Allen, the trustee and executor of his estate. The plan following Paul Allen’s death was for ownership of the Blazers to eventually change hands as part of an estate sale.
Jody Allen stated in 2022 that there was “no preordained timeline” for the Blazers to be sold, noting that “estates of this size and complexity can take 10 to 20 years to wind down.” Nearly three years later, the sale process has finally gotten underway.
When Sportico published its most recent NBA franchise valuations in late 2024, the Blazers were estimated to be worth $3.6 billion, ranking 23rd among the league’s 30 teams. The Celtics have since reached a tentative sale agreement for a record valuation of $6.1 billion, which may help bump the Blazers’ eventual price tag beyond that $3.6 billion projection.
Nike co-founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers minority owner Alan Smolinisky made offers for the franchise in the past, but were turned down by Jody Allen in 2022 and again in 2023.
According to the Blazers, all estate proceeds as a result of the sale will be directed toward philanthropy, per Paul Allen’s wishes.
The news doesn’t affect the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, who are also controlled by Allen’s estate and aren’t up for sale at this time.
Full 2025 NBA Draft Order
Now that the NBA’s draft lottery results are in, the full 2025 draft order has been set.
We’ll likely see some of these picks change hands on June 25 or 26, or in the days leading up to the draft — we’ll be sure to update the list below if and when picks are traded.
Here’s the full 2025 NBA draft order:
First round
- Dallas Mavericks
- San Antonio Spurs
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Charlotte Hornets
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Brooklyn Nets
- Toronto Raptors
- Phoenix Suns (via Rockets)
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Chicago Bulls
- Atlanta Hawks (from Kings)
- San Antonio Spurs (from Hawks)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Heat)
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Magic)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Pistons)
- Washington Wizards (from Grizzlies)
- Brooklyn Nets (from Bucks)
- Miami Heat (from Warriors)
- Utah Jazz (from Timberwolves)
- Brooklyn Nets (from Lakers via Hawks)
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Pacers)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers)
- Orlando Magic (from Nuggets)
- Brooklyn Nets (from Knicks)
- Brooklyn Nets (from Rockets)
- Boston Celtics
- Phoenix Suns (from Cavaliers)
- Los Angeles Clippers (from Thunder)
Second round
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Jazz)
- Boston Celtics (from Wizards)
- Charlotte Hornets
- Charlotte Hornets (from Pelicans)
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Brooklyn Nets
- Detroit Pistons (from Raptors)
- Indiana Pacers (from Spurs)
- Toronto Raptors (from Trail Blazers)
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Suns via Wizards)
- Golden State Warriors (from Heat)
- Sacramento Kings (from Bulls)
- Utah Jazz (from Mavericks)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Hawks)
- Chicago Bulls (from Kings)
- Orlando Magic
- Milwaukee Bucks (from Pistons)
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Warriors)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (from Bucks)
- New York Knicks (from Grizzlies)
- Los Angeles Clippers (from Timberwolves)
- Phoenix Suns (from Nuggets)
- Utah Jazz (from Clippers)
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Lakers
New York Knicks- Note: The Knicks forfeited this second-round pick due to free agency gun-jumping.
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Rockets)
- Orlando Magic (from Celtics)
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Phoenix Suns (from Thunder via Rockets)
Mavericks Win 2025 NBA Draft Lottery; Spurs, Sixers, Hornets In Top 4
The Mavericks have won the 2025 NBA draft lottery, jumping all the way from No. 11 in the lottery standings to No. 1 in the draft.
Dallas had just a 1.8% chance of claiming this year’s top pick. Those are the longest odds for any team that has won the lottery since the NBA revamped the format prior to the 2019 draft.
The Mavs’ unlikely lottery victory puts them in position to select consensus top prospect Cooper Flagg, the Duke star who led the Blue Devils to the Final Four as a freshman and was named the ACC Player of the Year, as well as the Naismith College Player of the Year.
The full lottery order for the 2025 draft is as follows:
- Dallas Mavericks
- San Antonio Spurs
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Charlotte Hornets
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Brooklyn Nets
- Toronto Raptors
- Houston Rockets (from Suns)
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Chicago Bulls
- Atlanta Hawks (from Kings)
- San Antonio Spurs (from Hawks)
It’s an incredible turn of events in Dallas, where general manager Nico Harrison and his front office have been hammered by fans and pundits alike for the last three-plus months for their decision to trade franchise player Luka Doncic to the Lakers at February’s deadline. Now the Mavs are poised to add another cornerstone and a potential All-Star in Flagg, who will join Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving on the new-look roster.
As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets, this is the first time in 17 lottery appearances that the Mavs ended up with a better pick than their odds dictated.
The lottery results feature plenty of fascinating stories beyond Dallas’ win, starting with the Spurs‘ pick moving up from No. 8 in the pre-lottery order to No. 2 in the draft. Dylan Harper of Rutgers is widely viewed as the second-best prospect in this year’s class behind Flagg and will be the frontrunner to join an up-and-coming San Antonio roster that already features Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, and Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle.
When it was revealed on ESPN’s broadcast that the Mavericks and Spurs had moved into the top four, it momentarily looked as if the Sixers would lose their top-six protected pick, which appeared poised to slide to No. 7 and be sent to the Thunder. However, Philadelphia was among the lucky clubs to move up, claiming the No. 3 pick and hanging onto the selection for at least one more year. The 76ers will now owe their 2026 first-rounder, with top-four protection, to Oklahoma City.
The Hornets, who entered the lottery as one of three teams tied for the best odds at the first overall pick (14%), moved down one spot from No. 3 to No. 4. The Jazz and Wizards, who posted the NBA’s two worst records during the regular season, were even less fortunate, falling four spots each and coming in at No. 5 and No. 6.
That’s a worst-case scenario for those two clubs, who came into the night hoping to add a centerpiece like Flagg or Harper for their rebuild and instead dropped as far as they could have. There was a 47.9% chance Utah would end up at No. 5, but just a 20% chance Washington would slide all the way to No. 6.
The Pelicans were among the night’s biggest losers as well, slipping from No. 4 in the pre-lottery order to No. 7 when three teams leapfrogged them. The Nets and Raptors each dropped two spots to No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, while the Rockets (No. 10, via the Suns) and Trail Blazers (No. 11) slid one spot.
Although the Bulls didn’t move from their pre-lottery slot of No. 12, they had one of the biggest heartbreaks of the night — they finished with the same regular season record as the Mavericks and lost a coin flip last month for the No. 11 spot in the lottery. If they had won that tiebreaker, it would be the Bulls, not the Mavs, whose ping-pong ball combination was drawn for the top pick on Monday.
The lack of movement at the very back of the lottery means the Kings‘ pick, which came in at No. 13, will be sent to the Hawks, as expected. That selection – from the 2022 Kevin Huerter trade – was top-12 protected, so Sacramento only would have kept it if it had jumped into the top four.
The Spurs’ second pick of the lottery, courtesy of the Hawks, didn’t move from No. 14.
The NBA has posted a 13-minute video of the lottery drawing on social media.
Spurs, Rockets In Best Position To Pursue Giannis?
Giannis Antetokounmpo has yet to make any decisions about his future with the Bucks, as Shams Charania of ESPN reported today and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) confirms. But with Charania suggesting that Antetokounmpo is becoming more “open-minded” about considering opportunities outside of Milwaukee and executives converging on Chicago this week for the NBA draft combine, speculation about the two-time MVP’s future with the Bucks is running rampant.
Stein, Grant Afseth of RG.org, and Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Twitter video link) are among the reporters who have pointed to the Spurs and Rockets as the two top teams to watch as potential Antetokounmpo suitors in the event he requests a trade.
[RELATED: Rockets Don’t Plan To Pursue Kevin Durant, Devin Booker]
As Windhorst explains, those teams are obvious fits because they have the ability to offer quality young players along with draft picks that aren’t their own in a package for Giannis.
Since the Bucks don’t control their own first-round picks for the coming years, they may not be inclined to launch a full-fledged rebuild if they trade Antetokounmpo. They also might not highly value draft picks coming directly from the team acquiring the star forward, since the picks from a Giannis-led team likely wouldn’t land high in the first round.
Windhorst, Stein, and Afseth also identify the Pelicans as a team to watch as a possible facilitator in any Antetokounmpo deal. If the Bucks do want to hit the reset button, reacquiring their own draft picks could be an important part of their plan, and New Orleans controls those picks in the short term. The Pelicans have the ability to swap picks with Milwaukee in both 2026 and 2027 (top-four protected).
Here’s more on a superstar who has suddenly become a popular subject of trade speculation:
- The Nets have long been known to covet Antetokounmpo and are ready to pounce if he becomes available, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. While Brooklyn’s cap flexibility collection of future draft assets could make the club an intriguing suitor, Windhorst notes that the Nets don’t have as much young talent as some of the other teams that would likely be part of the bidding.
- Do the Heat have the assets necessary to get involved in the potential Antetokounmpo sweepstakes? Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald explores that question, concluding that there are several other teams who could outbid Miami. The Heat would probably only have a legitimate chance at the Bucks star if he were to exert leverage by putting them atop his wish list, Chiang adds.
- Afseth cites the Hawks as a possible dark-horse Antetokounmpo suitor, noting that Giannis’ agent – Alex Saratsis of Octagon – is among the player representatives Atlanta is believed to be evaluating as a possible candidate to lead the team’s front office. Head coach Quin Snyder, who has a role in personnel decisions, is also represented by Octagon, Afseth observes.
- In his look at potential trade packages for Antetokounmpo, ESPN’s Bobby Marks identifies the Rockets and Spurs as the best overall fits, the Nets and Jazz as the teams best positioned to put together offers heavy on draft picks, and Pistons, Grizzlies, Thunder, Pelicans, Magic, and Sixers as possible wild cards.
- Eric Nehm of The Athletic considers how the Bucks might be able to sell Antetokounmpo on the idea of remaining in Milwaukee by treating 2025/26 as a “gap year” and building a younger, more flexible roster around him in the long term.
2025 NBA Draft Lottery Primer
The 2025 NBA draft lottery will take place on Monday evening prior to Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Knicks and Celtics. The half-hour event will be broadcast on ESPN beginning at 6:00 pm Central time.
While last year’s draft class had no clear-cut frontrunner to be the first player off the board heading into lottery night, there’s a consensus No. 1 pick in this year’s class: Duke forward Cooper Flagg. As Chris Mannix of SI.com tweets, it’s safe to assume whichever team lands the first overall pick in Monday’s lottery will be keeping it and drafting Flagg rather than entertaining trade proposals.
“If we don’t get him, I just hope he winds up in the (other) conference,” one lottery team executive told Mannix.
While Dylan Harper of Rutgers is considered a strong consolation prize at No. 2, the presence of a surefire No. 1 choice at the top of the draft will make the results of the 2025 lottery especially meaningful, with teams holding out hope that their logo will be on the final card revealed by the NBA on Monday evening.
Here’s what you need to know heading into Monday’s lottery:
Pre-Lottery Draft Order:
The top 14 picks in the 2025 NBA draft would look like this if tonight’s lottery results don’t change the order:
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
- Charlotte Hornets
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Note: The Thunder will receive this pick if it falls out of the top six (36.0%).
- Brooklyn Nets
- Toronto Raptors
- San Antonio Spurs
- Houston Rockets (from Suns)
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Dallas Mavericks
- Chicago Bulls
- Atlanta Hawks (from Kings)
- Note: The Kings will retain this pick if it moves into the top four (3.8%).
- San Antonio Spurs (from Hawks)
For the full pre-lottery draft order, click here.
Draft Lottery Odds:
The Jazz, Wizards, and Hornets have the best odds to land the No. 1 pick. Each of those three teams has a 14.0% chance to pick first overall.
From there, the Pelicans (12.5%), Sixers (10.5%), Nets (9.0%), Raptors (7.5%), and Spurs (6.7% across two picks) have the next-best odds to receive the first overall selection.
When the NBA introduced its new lottery format in 2019, the selling point was that the new system flattened the odds, making it less likely that the league’s very worst teams would claim a top pick.
Before the NBA tweaked the lottery rules, there was a 60.5% chance that one of the league’s bottom three teams would secure the No. 1 pick and only a 27.6% chance that a team in the 5-14 range of the lottery standings would do so. Now, those odds are 42.0% and 45.5%, respectively.
Despite the flattened odds, there were few major lottery-night surprises in the years leading up to 2024. The Pelicans moved up from No. 7 in the lottery standings in 2019 to claim the first overall pick, which they used on Zion Williamson, but in each of the next four years, a team in the top three of the lottery standings won the No. 1 pick.
That streak ended a year ago, however, when the Hawks moved up from the No. 10 spot in the lottery standings to claim the No. 1 overall pick, which eventually became Zaccharie Risacher. Perhaps we’ll get another major surprise in this year’s event.
For this year’s full draft lottery odds for all 14 spots, click here.
For full details on the current lottery format, click here.
Trades Affecting The Draft Lottery:
The Sixers traded their 2025 first-round pick to the Thunder, but will keep that selection if it lands within the top six. There’s a 63.9% chance that will happen and a 36.1% chance it will slip to No. 7 or below and be sent to Oklahoma City. If Philadelphia retains its first-rounder this year, the club would instead owe its 2026 first-round pick (top-four protected) to the Thunder.
The Rockets have acquired the Suns‘ unprotected first-round pick, which will likely land at either No. 9 (50.7%) or No. 10 (28.3%), but has a 17.3% chance to move into the top four.
The Kings will owe the Hawks their first-round pick if it lands outside of the top 12, which is highly likely. There’s a 92.9% chance that pick will be at No. 13 and a 3.3% chance of it moving down to No. 14. By comparison, there’s only a 3.8% chance that it will move into the top four, allowing Sacramento to keep it.
Finally, the Hawks‘ first-round pick, which projects to be No. 14, will be sent to the Spurs. There’s a 96.6% chance it will be the 14th overall pick, but with a 3.4% chance it will turn into a top-four pick, San Antonio has a shot at moving up in the lottery with two separate first-rounders.
Draft Lottery Representatives:
The representatives for each of this year’s lottery teams are as follows, according to a pair of announcements from the NBA:
- Utah Jazz
- On stage: Ashley Smith (team co-owner)
- Drawing room: Justin Zanik (general manager)
- On stage: Ashley Smith (team co-owner)
- Washington Wizards
- On stage: Bub Carrington
- Drawing room: Will Dawkins (general manager)
- Charlotte Hornets
- On stage: Charles Lee (head coach)
- Drawing room: Rick Schnall (co-chairman and governor)
New Orleans Pelicans
- On stage: Zion Williamson
- Drawing room: Joe Dumars (executive VP of basketball operations)
- Philadelphia 76ers
- On stage: Jared McCain
- Drawing room: Ned Cohen (assistant GM)
- Brooklyn Nets
- On stage: Jordi Fernandez (head coach)
- Drawing room: Makar Gevorkian (VP of basketball operations alignment and strategic planning)
- Toronto Raptors
- On stage: Masai Ujiri (vice chairman and president)
- Drawing room: Bobby Webster (general manager)
- San Antonio Spurs
- On stage: Mitch Johnson (head coach)
- Drawing room: Brian Wright (general manager)
- On stage: Mitch Johnson (head coach)
- Houston Rockets
- On stage: Hakeem Olajuwon (former Rockets player)
- Drawing room: Sam Strantz (senior team counsel)
- Portland Trail Blazers
- On stage: Toumani Camara
- Drawing room: Andrae Patterson (assistant GM)
- On stage: Toumani Camara
- Dallas Mavericks
- On stage: Rolando Blackman (team ambassador)
- Drawing room: Matt Riccardi (assistant GM)
- Chicago Bulls
- On stage: Matas Buzelis
- Drawing room: Faizan Hasnany (manager of basketball strategy and analytics)
- On stage: Matas Buzelis
- Sacramento Kings
- On stage: Keon Ellis
- Drawing room: Alvin Gentry (VP of basketball engagement)
Although they’ll receive the Kings’ first-round pick if it lands outside the top 12, the Hawks won’t have any representatives on hand because they don’t have a path to a top-four pick.
The Thunder, who will receive the Sixers’ pick if it’s outside of the top six, won’t have an on-stage representative for the same reason. However, executive VP and GM Sam Presti will be in the drawing room.