Pacers’ NBAGL Affiliate Rebrands As Noblesville Boom
The Pacers‘ G League affiliate will no longer be known as the Indiana Mad Ants. According to a press release from the team, the NBAGL club has been rebranded as the Noblesville Boom.
The new nickname, per today’s announcement, is a tribute to the phrase “Boom, baby!” made famous by former Pacers coach and commentator Bobby “Slick” Leonard, who passed away in 2021.
The G League team was known from 2007-23 as the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. That nickname was a reference to “Mad” Anthony Wayne, the namesake of Fort Wayne, who was a general in the American Revolutionary War and a U.S. congressman.
The club relocated from Fort Wayne to Indianapolis in 2023 and temporarily kept the Mad Ants nickname, but it was determined that a rebrand was necessary as the team makes the move to Noblesville for the 2025/26 season.
The Boom have revealed their new color scheme and logo on their official website, as well as via a promotional YouTube video. A new court design, mascot, and uniforms will be unveiled in the coming months, ahead of the ’25/26 season.
In the past, the make-up of the G League typically changed a little from year to year as teams relocated or the league introduced expansion franchises. That won’t happen as often going forward now that each NBA team has an affiliate of its own – especially since many of those affiliates are conveniently located near their respective NBA homes – but we could still see rebrands like this one happen every now and then.
Duke’s Kon Knueppel Entering 2025 NBA Draft
Duke wing Kon Knueppel is declaring for the 2025 NBA draft and will go pro, he announced today on social media (Instagram link).
“Forever a Blue Devil,” he wrote in his Instagram post. “Taking the Brotherhood with me to the next chapter.”
Knueppel was a full-time starter as a freshman on a Duke team that made the Final Four this spring. Across 39 games, he averaged 14.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.0 steal in 30.5 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .479/.406/.914.
Although the Blue Devils fell short of the championship game, Knueppel cemented his status as a projected lottery pick with a handful of strong performances in the NCAA Tournament. He scored 20 points vs. Arizona in the Sweet 16 and 21 against Alabama in the Elite Eight. He contributed 16 points and seven rebounds in Duke’s Final Four loss to Houston.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have Knueppel coming off the board at No. 8 in their most recent mock draft, noting that the 19-year-old gave the Blue Devils elite efficiency and spacing as a freshman while also showing more than expected as a play-maker and defender.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report also has Knueppel at No. 8 in his most recent mock draft, while Sam Vecenie of The Athletic places him at No. 6.
Pelicans Hire Joe Dumars As Head Of Basketball Operations
April 16: The Pelicans have officially hired Dumars to lead their front office, announcing in a press release that he has been named their new executive vice president of basketball operations.
“Joe’s achievements as a renowned Hall of Fame player, NBA champion and front office executive are indisputable,” Pelicans governor Gayle Benson said in a statement. “I have a great deal of respect for what Joe has already accomplished as a player and executive, but more importantly I admire his character and leadership. His vast experience and relationships throughout the NBA, along with his strong leadership qualities, will have a tremendous impact on our organization and our goal of winning an NBA championship.
“While at the league, he was involved in every aspect of basketball operations and got unparalleled perspective and knowledge of the most effective personnel, strategy and tactics throughout the league. That will benefit our team immediately as we move forward. I am delighted to welcome Joe, his wife Debbie, and their children Jordan and Aren to the Pelicans.”
In a statement of his own, Dumars said the Pelicans’ roster features “a lot of talent,” adding that he envisions overseeing a “disciplined team that is built on toughness, smart decision-making and a no-excuses mindset.”
April 15: The Pelicans and Joe Dumars are finalizing a deal that will make him the team’s new president of basketball operations, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Charania first reported on Monday that Dumars had emerged as a “serious frontrunner” for the job.
A Hall of Famer as a player, Dumars began his front office career in 2000 as Detroit’s president of basketball operations. He remained in that role until 2014, earning Executive of the Year honors in 2003 and building the Pistons team that won a championship in 2004.
Dumars turned the Pistons into a perennial contender during the first half of his front office tenure in Detroit, making a series of savvy moves to compile a roster led by Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, and Tayshaun Prince. The club advanced to at least the Eastern Conference Finals for six straight years from 2003-08, making two NBA Finals appearances during that time.
However, Dumars made his share of missteps while running the Pistons, most memorably drafting Darko Milicic with the No. 2 overall pick in 2003, right ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade. Detroit had a losing record in each of Dumars’ last six seasons at the helm and wasn’t set up for success following his exit.
Dumars later had a stint in the Kings’ front office, working in a variety of roles in the organization from 2019-22. He joined Sacramento as a special advisor to then-GM Vlade Divac and became the Kings’ interim head of basketball operations when Divac was fired in 2020.
Dumars subsequently transitioned into a chief strategy officer role following the hiring of general manager Monte McNair and held that title for two years before joining the league office as the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations in 2022. He has been in that position under commissioner Adam Silver for the last three seasons.
A Louisiana native who played his college ball at McNeese State, Dumars will be returning home for his new job with the Pelicans. He’ll be replacing former executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin, who was let go by the club on Monday following a disappointing 21-61 season.
New Orleans’ 2024/25 season was decimated by injuries, some of which are expected to carry over to ’25/26, but there’s a solid foundation of talent on the roster for Dumars to work with. Forwards Zion Williamson and Herbert Jones, guard Dejounte Murray, wing Trey Murphy, and center Yves Missi are all locked up for multiple seasons, with CJ McCollum set to enter the final year of his contract.
The Pelicans also control all of their own future first-round picks, along with Indiana’s 2026 first-rounder (top-four protected) and the right to swap picks with Milwaukee in 2026 and 2027 (the Bucks’ 2027 pick is top-four protected). New Orleans’ 2025 first-rounder projects to be in the top half of the lottery.
The future of head coach Willie Green is uncertain — reporting on Monday indicated his status would be decided after a new head of basketball operations is hired, so Dumars will presumably be heavily involved in the decision on whether to retain Green or seek a new coach.
Dumars will be tasked with turning a Pelicans team with just one 50-win season (in 2008) and two playoff series victories (2008 and 2018) since its inception in 2002 into a contender.
Poll: Who Will Win Wednesday’s Play-In Games?
When the 2024/25 season began, the Mavericks were coming off a 50-win year and an appearance in the NBA Finals. The Kings were coming off a 46-win campaign and had added DeMar DeRozan in free agency. Dallas had championship aspirations, while Sacramento felt good about its chances of making it back to the playoffs after being eliminated in the play-in tournament last spring.
But neither team’s season played out as hoped. The Mavericks’ shocking decision to trade Luka Doncic caused a fan revolt, but it was really the team’s health issues that sunk its hopes of contending for a title. Big men Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, and newly acquired Anthony Davis all missed significant time in the second half of the season due to injuries, while a torn ACL ended Kyrie Irving‘s season in early March.
Even without Doncic, a fully healthy version of this Mavericks team could’ve been a force to be reckoned with in the postseason. But losing Irving cost Dallas its top ball-handler and play-maker, forcing the team to lean heavily on guards like Spencer Dinwiddie and Brandon Williams and significantly lowering its ceiling.
While the Irving-less Mavs are unlikely to win a title this year, that doesn’t mean they can’t win a play-in game. They’ll visit Sacramento on Wednesday as the No. 10 seed in the West and will face a No. 9 Kings team whose season didn’t go much better than Dallas’ did.
Acclimating DeRozan didn’t go as smoothly as hoped and the Kings fell well below .500 two months into the season, leading to the ouster of head coach Mike Brown. Interim head coach Doug Christie helped turn things around in the short term, but just a few weeks later, word broke that the team was looking to trade De’Aaron Fox — he was ultimately sent to San Antonio.
While the Kings’ trade of its star point guard wasn’t nearly as controversial as the Mavericks’, it didn’t exactly kick-start a memorable second half. Zach LaVine, the centerpiece of Sacramento’s return in that three-team blockbuster, wasn’t an ideal fit — the team had a -3.8 net rating during his 1,170 minutes on the court, and his 119.9 defensive rating was easily the worst mark among the team’s rotation players.
Given the way the seasons have played out in Dallas and Sacramento, both teams have the profile of a one-and-done play-in team, but someone has to win on Wednesday and earn the right to face Memphis on Friday for the No. 8 seed in the West. For what it’s worth, oddsmakers favor the home team — the Kings are 4.5-point favorites, per BetOnline.ag.
Over in the East, a familiar matchup is on tap for Wednesday evening. If there’s such a thing as a play-in rivalry, Bulls vs. Heat qualifies. Miami defeated Chicago in the win-or-go-home play-in game for the No. 8 seed in 2023 and again in 2024. The two teams will square off in a single-elimination matchup for a third straight year, though this time it’s just for the right to stay alive and face Atlanta for the No. 8 seed on Friday.
Like Dallas and Sacramento, both the Bulls and Heat traded away star players this season, though those situations played out in very different ways.
LaVine, who had been on the trade block for multiple seasons, was a model citizen in Chicago and was enjoying a nice individual bounce-back season, though it wasn’t translating to team success — at the time he was dealt to Sacramento, the Bulls were just 21-29. And in the immediate wake of the trade, things didn’t improve — Chicago lost six of its next seven games to fall to 22-35 and appeared ticketed for the lottery.
Unexpectedly, though, the team suddenly began showing signs of life, led by breakout star Coby White and buoyed by trade-deadline additions like Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, and Zach Collins. From March 6 onward, the Bulls improbably won 15 of their last 20 games and ranked in the top 10 in the NBA in both offense and defense.
The Heat’s season followed almost the opposite trajectory. Their star, Jimmy Butler, was disruptive and did all he could to publicize the fact that he had no interest in continuing his career in Miami, earning multiple team-imposed suspensions leading up to the trade deadline. But the team held its own amid the drama and was actually above .500 (25-24) on the day Butler was sent to Golden State.
Even though Butler hadn’t actually been playing much for the Heat for weeks, his departure kicked off an ugly downturn for the club, which wrapped up its season by going just 12-21 after the trade deadline. That stretch was salvaged to some extent by a six-game winning streak in late March and early April, but was otherwise pretty brutal — no playoff or play-in team had a worst post-deadline record than Miami, and a handful of lottery teams (Phoenix, Portland, and Toronto) were better.
Despite those late-season results, the Bulls are favored by just one point over Miami on Wednesday, according to BetOnline, with oddsmakers perhaps respecting the Heat’s wins over Chicago in each of the past two play-in tournaments.
We want to know what you think. Are you taking the favorites and picking the Kings and Bulls on Wednesday, or do you expect to see at least one upset in the No. 9 vs. 10 games? Which teams will keep their seasons alive and which ones are headed home?
Vote in our poll and head to the comment section below to share your thoughts and predictions.
Which teams will win Wednesday's play-in games?
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Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls 42% (245)
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Sacramento Kings and Miami Heat 25% (144)
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Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls 21% (120)
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Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat 13% (73)
Total votes: 582
Suns Rumors: Budenholzer, Beal, Booker, Durant, Coaching Candidates
Detailing some of the issues that led to Mike Budenholzer‘s ouster in Phoenix, NBA insider Chris Haynes (YouTube link) reports that Budenholzer told Bradley Beal earlier in the season that he wanted him to play more like Jrue Holiday.
That was “not well-received” by the three-time All-Star, Haynes says, and Phoenix-based insider John Gambadoro confirms as much. According to Gambadoro (Twitter link), Beal responded by telling Budenholzer, “Don’t ever disrespect me like that. Don’t ever tell me to play like another player.”
Communication with his players was a recurring issue for Budenholzer in Phoenix, per Haynes, who says the veteran head coach also butted heads with Jusuf Nurkic by criticizing his screening ability and telling him he’s a “bad teammate.” Haynes previously reported that Budenholzer told Devin Booker to “tone it down vocally” during games and film sessions, which ESPN’s Brian Windhorst confirms.
Booker began speaking to reporters more late in the season about the importance of his “voice,” which was intentional, sources tell ESPN. As Windhorst explains, Booker appeared to be sending a message to a coach on his way out and making it clear he’ll have more say going forward.
“[I need] to be a leader and use my voice more,” Booker said last week. Asked if he was referring to speaking to teammates, coaches, or management, the star guard added, “Everybody.”
Here’s more out of Phoenix:
- The Suns have privately acknowledged they made a mistake by not involving Kevin Durant and his manager/agent Rich Kleiman when they explored trade possibilities involving Durant prior to February’s deadline, Windhorst writes. The front office wanted to keep discussions closed like Dallas did with Luka Doncic, Windhorst explains, but word leaked after the Suns had to talk to possible third-team facilitators. All parties will be involved in that process during the offseason, with Kleiman planning to travel to Phoenix this week to have discussions with the Suns, sources tell ESPN.
- While it may be a challenge for the Suns to find an appealing trade with a team willing to extend Durant, it’s possible there will be potential suitors who are OK with taking on the risk of acquiring the star forward as a one-year rental, says Windhorst. “Durant is a top-three name in this league,” a high-ranking NBA official told ESPN. “I can see a team who’d love to have him for a season just to sell tickets.”
- Booker will be eligible this season for a two-year, maximum-salary extension and the expectation is that the Suns will put that offer on the table, sources tell ESPN. Windhorst refers to that potential deal – which would lock up Booker through 2029/30 – as being worth $149.8MM, but that’s just a projection for now, based on the cap increasing by the maximum 10% in each of the next four seasons.
- After letting go of former head coach Monty Williams, Suns owner Mat Ishbia was “very focused” on hiring a replacement with a championship on his résumé, which was a major factor in the team choosing Frank Vogel in 2023 and Budenholzer in 2024, Windhorst writes. This time around, the team may prioritize a candidate who is better suited to build relationships with players, according to Windhorst, who hears from sources that Ishbia will be paying former Suns coaches about $18MM next season.
- According to Haynes (YouTube link), the Suns are expected to “look into and evaluate” the following head coaching candidates as they decide who they want to try to interview: former Kings coach Mike Brown, current Pelicans coach Willie Green, Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Cavaliers assistant Johnnie Bryant, Mavericks assistants Sean Sweeney and Jared Dudley, Rockets assistant Royal Ivey, their own assistant David Fizdale, and former Suns assistant (and current BYU head coach) Kevin Young. That may not be a comprehensive list of candidates for the job.
- In a pair of stories for GoPHNX.com, Gerald Bourguet takes a closer look at why Budenholzer was fired and lists 10 potential candidates to replace him.
Mavs’ Harrison: ‘No Regrets’ About Trading Luka Doncic
Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and CEO Rick Welts held a closed-door, hour-long session with a select group of Dallas-based media on Tuesday ahead of the team’s play-in matchup with Sacramento on Wednesday. Predictably, much of the discussion during Harrison’s first media session in over two months centered around the team’s shocking decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers in February, as well as the aftermath of that deal.
“There’s no regrets on the trade,” Harrison said, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “Part of my job is to do the best thing for the Mavericks, not only today, but also in the future, and some of the decisions I’m going to make are going to be unpopular. That’s my job, and I have to stand by it.”
The Mavericks, who were 26-23 when word of the trade broke, envisioned Anthony Davis – the centerpiece of the return – anchoring a championship-level defense. However, several key Mavs players, including Davis, suffered significant injuries not long after the move was completed, derailing the team’s season and leading to a 39-43 finish.
Dallas still has a chance to make the playoffs as the bottom seed in the play-in tournament, but the way the regular season ended has made it impossible for many Mavs fans to move past the front office’s decision to trade its franchise player. Harrison, who has been the subject of “fire Nico” chants in Dallas over the past two-plus months, said on Tuesday that he’d hoped the “vitriol would’ve subsided” by now with a stronger finish.
“That’s a championship-caliber team, and you guys were able to see it for two-and-a-half quarters,” Harrison said, per MacMahon. “Unfortunately, it’s a small sample size, but that is fairly a dominant defensive team. And as you look for us going forward, our philosophy is going to change. We’re a team that’s built on defense, we’re built on versatility and depth. I think that’s important going forward and that’s going to be the blueprint to our success.”
As MacMahon writes, Harrison repeated the mantra “defense wins championships” many times on Tuesday, echoing the statement he made to ESPN 15 minutes after the trade agreement between the Mavericks and Lakers was first reported on February 1.
“Our philosophy, like I said, going forward is defense wins championships and we’re built on defense. And this trade cements us for that,” Harrison said.
Asked why he didn’t feel that the Doncic-led core that made the NBA Finals last season was championship-caliber, the Mavs GM replied, “I’ll say this again: Defense wins championships.”
Here’s more from Harrison, via MacMahon:
- Referring to the Mavs’ fan base as “passionate,” Harrison noted that he also faced plenty of criticism for previous deals for Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford, all of whom helped the team make the Finals a year ago. “To be honest with you, every trade I’ve made since I’ve been here has not been regarded as a good trade, and so sometimes it takes time,” Harrison said. “When I traded for Kyrie, it was met with a lot of skepticism and it was graded as a terrible trade and you didn’t see it right away, but eventually everyone agreed that that was a great trade. When I traded for [Gafford] and [Washington] again, it was like, ‘Oh, he gave up way too much. These guys aren’t going to help us.’ Now that trade, you saw the evidence a lot sooner. So I think a lot of times trades take a little bit of time.”
- Minority stakeholder Mark Cuban, the Mavericks’ former majority owner, said in March that if the front office was committed to trading Doncic, he would’ve liked to see the team “get a better deal.” Asked on Tuesday about those comments, Harrison replied, “We targeted AD with our philosophy of defense wins championships. We wanted a two-way player to lead our team and that was Anthony Davis. And so everybody’s going to have their critics and I’m not sure what Mark said, but that’s a better question left for him. But we got what we wanted.”
- Harrison has spoken about his belief that the Mavericks have a three- or four-year window to contend for a title. Asked if he envisions himself still being in his current role for the rest of that time frame (and beyond), he said, “I have three years left of my contract. I see myself finishing it out.”
Nets Notes: Offseason, Johnson, Claxton, Draft
After spending the 2024/25 season retooling their roster, are the Nets ready to jump-start their rebuild by attempting to acquire a star-caliber player this summer? Speaking to reporters in an end-of-season session, general manager Sean Marks didn’t rule out the possibility, but explained that if the team targets a maximum-salary player, he would have to fit a specific criteria.
“If you’re going after max-level talent, they have [to] automatically and absolutely change the trajectory of your team,” Marks said, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “This can’t be like ‘Let’s go get this [guy] and lock ourselves into being a six or seven seed.’ When we go all in, you’re going in to compete at the highest level and contend.”
As Lewis notes, players like Trae Young, LaMelo Ball, Ja Morant, and Domantas Sabonis have been the subject of some trade speculation, but Giannis Antetokounmpo has long been labeled the Nets’ “Plan A,” and the Bucks superstar fits Marks’ description of what an ideal target would look like better than any of those other players.
Of course, the odds are probably against Antetokounmpo – or an equivalent talent – becoming available this summer, which means the Nets may end up building their roster more patiently. Brooklyn will enter the offseason with multiple first-round picks, including a lottery selection, and the most cap room of any NBA team.
“We need to be opportunistic,” Marks said. “In this market we’re always going to have various different free agents and opportunities thrown at us, just simply being in a top-five market in the league; that’s going to happen. We don’t want to get sped up. We’ve talked multiple times about being systematic and strategic in how we build here. We know we have 15 first-round picks in the next six, seven years.
“So, there’s a lot of draft assets at stake. There’s a lot of cap room at stake. And how we use that, it’s probably too early to determine. But there’s a variety of different pathways we can go, and it’s just about being opportunistic as to how we build and when we go all in again, so to speak. And that could be going all in with whether it’s free agents or trades, but it also could be go all in with systematically growing some homegrown talent. We’ve done that in the past and grown some guys here, developed guys here, as well as attracted top-tier talent from elsewhere.”
Here’s more on the Nets:
- The last time Brooklyn operated under the cap was in 2019 when they landed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency. Marks believes the salary-cap and player-movement landscapes have changed in such a way during the last six years that repeating that sort of offseason is unlikely for any team, let alone the Nets. “I do think it’s important to have guys under contract that you control the contracts. You drafted them, you developed them, and they got to their second contract under your watch,” he said, according to Lewis. “It’s difficult when you’re trying to acquire max-level talent on max contracts. Those days are probably gone, of going and getting two or three max free agents. Those are gonna be more difficult to do.”
- Viewed as one of the Nets’ prime trade chips leading up to February’s deadline, Cameron Johnson ultimately stayed put. In his exit interview, the veteran forward told reporters, including Lewis, that he “definitely” plans to ask Marks about his future in Brooklyn. “I’d definitely like to know everything that’s going on,” Johnson said. “And I understand that I’m not going to be let in on every decision or have a say in every decision, but I would like to know going forward.”
- For his part, Marks said he can envision Johnson being a long-term building block for the Nets: “There was no shortage of teams calling on him. He’s a good player, and they value him, but so do we. I can’t think of a pathway or a team or an organization that Cam doesn’t fit in. There’s so many ways you can build this with Cam Johnson.”
- Nets center Nic Claxton admitted that he was nagged by back issues all season, but he doesn’t expect to go under the knife to address the issue, per Lewis. “I still need to get right. It’s still bothering me, honestly. But we got the whole offseason. I was still able to play 70 games, so that’s a blessing,” Claxton said. “I have time to lock in on it this summer. I’m going to get it right. I’ve got a plan. No surgeries or anything though.”
- The Nets, who entered the season with the lowest over/under projection of any NBA team, comfortably exceeded that projection by winning more games than expected and reducing their lottery odds in the process. So it was only fitting, Lewis writes for the Post, that the Nets lost on Sunday to the Knicks when a win would’ve improved their draft position, since Brooklyn controls New York’s first-round pick. As a result of the Knicks’ victory, that pick will be No. 26 overall — it could’ve moved as high as No. 22 if Brooklyn had won.
Revisiting 2024/25 NBA Over/Under Predictions
Before the 2024/25 NBA season got underway, we polled Hoops Rumors readers on the win totals for each of the league’s 30 teams, using over/unders from major betting sites. From the Celtics (58.5 wins) to the Nets (19.5 wins), our readers made their picks for whether each team’s win total would land over or under the projected figures.
This is the eighth year we’ve run these polls. After finishing a little below .500 in each of the first three seasons, our voters broke through in 2020/21 with a 17-13 record and went 16-14 in each of the next three seasons. Did that winning streak extend to five straight years in ’24/25? Let’s check in on the results and find out…
Eastern Conference
Boston Celtics (Over 58.5 wins): ✅ (61-21)- New York Knicks (Over 53.5 wins): ❌ (51-31)
- Philadelphia 76ers (Under 52.5 wins): ✅ (24-58)
- Toronto Raptors (Under 30.5 wins): ✅ (30-52)
- Brooklyn Nets (Over 19.5 wins): ✅ (26-56)
- Milwaukee Bucks (Over 50.5 wins): ❌ (48-34)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (Under 48.5 wins): ❌ (64-18)
- Indiana Pacers (Over 47.5 wins): ✅ (50-32)
- Chicago Bulls (Under 28.5 wins): ❌ (39-43)
- Detroit Pistons (Over 24.5 wins): ✅ (44-38)
- Orlando Magic (Over 47.5 wins): ❌ (41-41)
- Miami Heat (Under 44.5 wins): ✅ (37-45)
- Atlanta Hawks (Under 35.5 wins): ❌ (40-42)
- Charlotte Hornets (Under 29.5 wins): ✅ (19-63)
- Washington Wizards (Under 20.5 wins): ✅ (18-64)
Eastern Conference record: 9-6
It was another impressive season in the Eastern Conference for our voters, who were just three Knicks wins away from going five-for-five in the Atlantic Division.
There were a couple of big misses elsewhere — the Cavaliers surpassed their over/under of 48.5 wins in February, for instance. But for the most part, the results here were very strong.
Western Conference
Oklahoma City Thunder (Over 56.5 wins): ✅ (68-14)- Minnesota Timberwolves (Over 52.5 wins): ❌ (49-33)
- Denver Nuggets (Over 51.5 wins): ❌ (50-32)
- Utah Jazz (Under 29.5 wins): ✅ (17-65)
- Portland Trail Blazers (Under 22.5 wins): ❌ (36-46)
- Phoenix Suns (Over 50.5 wins): ❌ (36-46)
- Sacramento Kings (Over 47.5 wins): ❌ (40-42)
- Golden State Warriors (Under 44.5 wins): ❌ (48-33)
- Los Angeles Lakers (Under 43.5 wins): ❌ (50-32)
- Los Angeles Clippers (Under 39.5 wins): ❌ (50-32)
- Dallas Mavericks (Over 49.5 wins): ❌ (39-43)
- Memphis Grizzlies (Under 47.5 wins): ❌ (48-33)
- New Orleans Pelicans (Under 46.5 wins): ✅ (21-61)
- Houston Rockets (Under 43.5 wins): ❌ (52-30)
- San Antonio Spurs (Under 36.5 wins): ✅ (34-48)
Western Conference record: 4-11
Yikes. There was no shortage of surprises in the Western Conference this season, starting with the 2024 NBA Finalists in Dallas finishing below .500 and a 49-win Suns team sliding by 13 games in 2024/25. There were some tough-luck misses here too, with the Nuggets falling short of their over/under mark by just two wins and the Grizzlies surpassing theirs by a single victory.
But these results tell us that the Pacific Division, in particular, was tough to get a feel for entering the season. The final standings in the Pacific were almost the exact opposite of what oddsmakers were projecting coming into the fall, with our voters betting wrong on all five teams.
Overall record: 13-17
Well, it was a good run. After four straight years above .500, our voters finally posted a losing record for the first time since 2019/20. A 13-17 mark is nothing to be ashamed of — no one beats the house forever, and the fact that so many teams were so hard to pin down this season reflects the fact that it was a fun, unpredictable year.
Looking back at the preseason projections, along with your predictions, which team surprised or disappointed you the most? Jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Collin Murray-Boyles Entering 2025 NBA Draft
South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles will enter his name in the 2025 NBA draft pool. He informed ESPN’s Jonathan Givony of his decision in addition to announcing it on Instagram.
Although Murray-Boyles has the option of maintaining his NCAA eligibility and withdrawing later in the spring, both his Instagram statement and his comments to Givony suggest he intends to go pro.
“This is exactly how I thought my college career would turn out,” Murray-Boyles said. “South Carolina had a vision for me to lead the team. They gave me freedom to express myself.”
After establishing himself as a potential first-round pick with a strong freshman season, Murray-Boyles took another step forward as a sophomore in 2024/25, averaging 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks in 30.6 minutes per game across 32 outings. The 6’8″ forward made 58.6% of his shots from the floor and 70.7% from the free throw line.
Murray-Boyles was the No. 10 pick in ESPN’s latest mock draft. As Givony writes, he’s considered one of the most “physical and intelligent” defenders in the draft class and also served as an offensive focal point for the Gamecocks, giving him the opportunity to show off his play-making skills and feel for the game.
The 19-year-old has earned comparisons to Warriors forward Draymond Green as a result of his “versatility, competitiveness, and aggressiveness,” according to Givony.
“When people that know basketball watch me play, it’s the smaller things that standout,” Murray-Boyles told ESPN. “I’m not one to get oohs and aahs, but know what it takes to win games and impact a team positively. I hang my hat on how hard I play and my unselfishness. I love to play defense.”
Poll: Who Will Win Tuesday’s Play-In Games?
The Grizzlies were tied for second place in the West as recently as March 14, while the Warriors held a top-five spot in the conference for the entire first week of April. However, neither Memphis nor Golden State was able to lock up a guaranteed playoff spot in the final days of the regular season.
The two teams will face one another on Tuesday in the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game for the Western Conference, with the winner earning the right to enter the playoffs as the seventh seed and match up with Houston in round one.
Although the Warriors and Grizzlies finished the season with matching 48-34 records, the two clubs were headed in opposite directions down the stretch.
Hours after finalizing a trade for Jimmy Butler on February 6, Golden State fell to 25-26 on the season and held the No. 10 seed in the West only by a tiebreaker. But the Warriors won Butler’s debut two days later and never fell below .500 again, finishing the season on a 23-8 run. During that stretch, Golden State had the NBA’s third-best winning percentage (.742), eight-best offensive rating (118.2) and top defensive rating (109.0).
The Warriors aren’t entering the postseason as one of the title favorites, having stumbled a little as of late — they would have clinched a playoff berth already if they hadn’t lost three of their last five games, including a disappointing defeat to the lottery-bound Spurs last Wednesday. But they’ve certainly looked better than the Grizzlies, whose season has been trending downward in recent months.
On the day of the trade deadline, the Grizzlies had a 35-16 record. But two days later, on the same day the Warriors won Butler’s debut, Memphis lost to Oklahoma City to kick off an uninspiring stretch that saw the team finish the season by going just 13-18. Lottery teams like Portland and Toronto had better records during that stretch than the Grizzlies, who ranked in the bottom half of the league in both offensive rating (115.6) and defensive rating (116.0) from Feb. 8 onward.
Oh, and Memphis also made a head coaching change during that time, replacing Taylor Jenkins with assistant Tuomas Iisalo on March 28. The Grizzlies have a 4-5 record since that change.
The Grizzlies have plenty of talent on their roster and Warriors stars Stephen Curry (thumb) and Butler (thigh) are dealing with nagging ailments, so the result of Tuesday’s Western Conference play-in game is hardly a foregone conclusion. Still, after accounting for the Warriors’ 3-1 record vs. Memphis this season and the fact that they’ll be hosting Tuesday’s play-in game in San Francisco, it’s not hard to understand why Golden State is considered a good bet to advance — BetOnline.ag has the Warriors listed as seven-point favorites.
Over in the East, it’s a battle of the year’s top Southeast teams on Tuesday, as the No. 7 Magic (41-41) host the No. 8 Hawks (40-42). The winner will claim the seventh seed and face Boston in the first round of the playoffs.
It has been an odd season in Orlando, where the Magic looked like one of the conference’s top teams in early going despite losing Paolo Banchero and then Franz Wagner to oblique tears that sidelined them for extended periods. But the Magic’s injury issues – which also ended Jalen Suggs‘ and Moritz Wagner‘s seasons early – eventually caught up with them, resulting in a 12-26 midseason swoon from December to March that cost the team a chance at a top-six seed.
Orlando finished the year strong, winning nine of its last 12 games, and performed very well defensively on the season as a whole, registering the league’s second-best defensive rating (109.1). But even with Banchero and Wagner on the court, the Magic struggled to score — their 108.9 offensive rating ranked 27th in the NBA, ahead of only Brooklyn, Charlotte, and Washington.
The Hawks, meanwhile, appeared to be in trouble when rising star forward Jalen Johnson went down in January with a season-ending shoulder injury. They were 22-22 as of Johnson’s last game and promptly fell several games below .500 without him before trading away second-leading scorer De’Andre Hunter at the trade deadline shortly thereafter.
But instead of continuing to slide down the standings and ending up in the lottery, Atlanta got a second wind, led by Trae Young, Onyeka Okongwu, Dyson Daniels, and Zaccharie Risacher, along with deadline additions like Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, and Terance Mann.
As good as Daniels has been defensively this season, the Hawks’ overall team defense has lagged behind — it was their offense that propelled them to a spot in the No. 7 vs. 8 play-in game. From March 6 onward, Atlanta went 12-8 and posted the second-best offensive rating in the Eastern Conference (120.4).
Tuesday’s matchup, in which the Magic are listed as five-point favorites, per BetOnline, could come down to how much headway the Hawks’ offensive weapons can make against one of the NBA’s best defensive units in Orlando.
We want to know what you think. Which two teams will claim playoff spots on Tuesday and which ones will have to try again on Friday to punch their tickets into round one?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts and predictions.
Which teams will win Tuesday's play-in games?
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Golden State Warriors and Orlando Magic 50% (375)
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Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks 26% (190)
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Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic 16% (116)
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Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks 9% (64)
Total votes: 745