Rondo, Borrego Among Frontrunners For Pelicans’ Coaching Job
Rajon Rondo, James Borrego, Darvin Ham and Steve Hetzel have emerged as the four frontrunners for the Pelicans‘ head coaching job, sources close to the search tell Rod Walker of NOLA.com.
According to Walker’s “best guess,” Rondo and Hetzel are “at the top” of the team’s list of candidates.
Within a look at the pros and cons of each candidate, Walker writes that Rondo would bring toughness and leadership to the Pelicans, pointing out that the 40-year-old was a significant voice in the locker room when he played one season in New Orleans back in 2017/18. That was one of only two seasons in which the Pelicans have won a playoff series, Walker notes.
Walker also points out that Rondo is still respected for his time as an elite player, having earned numerous individual accolades and won two championship during his career, which spanned 16 years (from 2006-2022). He would also “fire up” the teams fans.
On the other hand, Rondo has never been a head coach. He has spent the past two seasons in Milwaukee as a coaching associate.
As Walker writes, Hetzel is the other candidate who lacks head coaching experience, and he probably wouldn’t excite the team’s fans since he’s not a household name. But the Nets assistant is “said to be a good motivator,” with a career arc similar to Jordan Ott, who gradually worked his way up the ranks before leading Phoenix to a playoff berth in 2025/26.
Head of basketball operations Joe Dumars has also worked with Hetzel in the past, Walker notes, having spent four years together in Detroit.
Borrego finished out ’25/26 as New Orleans’ interim head coach after Willie Green was fired in the fall. He has the most head coaching experience of the group and the Pelicans showed some positive signs in the second half, per Walker, though they went just 24-46 in Borrego’s 70 games at the helm.
Ham has spent the past couple years as the top assistant with the Bucks. He led the Lakers to a pair of playoff trips in two seasons as the team’s head coach before being fired in 2024. Dumars is familiar with Ham as well, but Walker notes that some people say Ham lost the Lakers’ locker room.
Injury Updates: Ingram, Harris, Huerter, F. Wagner, Isaac
As expected, the Raptors will be down their leading scorer as they try to avoid elimination on Friday, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). After being downgraded to doubtful earlier in the day due to right heel inflammation, All-Star forward Brandon Ingram will be sidelined for the Game 6 home contest vs. Cleveland.
Ingram, who exited Game 5 in the second quarter after aggravating a heel issue that sidelined him for three games during the final few weeks of the regular season, is still experiencing pain in that right heel and wasn’t on the court for the portion of Friday’s shootaround. Toronto will also be without starting guard Immanuel Quickley, who will miss the entire series due to a hamstring strain.
On a more positive note for the Raptors, Scottie Barnes wasn’t on the injury report ahead of tonight’s game after Toronto’s other All-Star took a hit to the thigh in Wednesday’s loss.
“He’s feeling good,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said of Barnes (Twitter link via Lewenberg). “It’s awesome to be young and recover quickly.”
Here are more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Pistons starting forward Tobias Harris (left ankle sprain) will be active for Friday’s Game 6 in Orlando, but reserve wing Kevin Huerter (left adductor strain) is out, tweets Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. As we noted earlier on Friday when both players were questionable, Huerter has played a modest role in the series, but Harris has scored at least 16 points in each of the first five games. Detroit is also facing elimination, currently at a 3-2 deficit in the first-round matchup.
- Magic star Franz Wagner will miss his second straight game on Friday due to a right calf strain, and his return doesn’t sound imminent. Head coach Jamahl Mosley said the German forward wasn’t able to do anything at Friday’s shootaround, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Wagner, who was in a walking boot on Wednesday, suggested ahead of Game 5 that he and the team would take a cautious approach due to the nature of the injury.
- In addition to Wagner, the Magic will be without Jonathan Isaac again on Friday. The veteran big man continues to battle a left knee sprain he suffered on March 12. Mosley said Friday morning that Isaac still hasn’t done contact work, Beede writes. “Just how he responds to each part of treatment,” Mosley said. “Some days it’s feeling a certain way. Some days it might not feel as great. So we’re always going to be cautious and smart about how they respond to each treatment each time they go through it.”
Suns’ Ishbia, Gregory Discuss 2025/26, Offseason, More
The Suns have made major changes each of the past three offseasons under owner Mat Ishbia. However, unlike last year, when Ishbia’s buzzword was “alignment,” he was preaching “continuity” at Thursday’s end-of-season media availability, writes Doug Haller of The Athletic.
Phoenix exceeded external expectations in 2025/26, winning 45 games and making the playoffs one year after finishing 36-46 with the most expensive roster in the league. The Suns were only projected to win 31.5 games entering the season, and they were swept in the first round by Oklahoma City, Ishbia viewed ’25/26 as a building block for the future.
“Can we win more games?” he said. “Can we win a playoff series? That’s what we’re going to focus on. … I like the culture that we’ve built. We’re not going to do anything silly to mess that up.”
Player development was another talking point for both Ishbia and general manager Brian Gregory, who replaced James Jones last year, Haller notes.
“We have a young, ascending team,” Ishbia said. “Where in years past we had players that were maybe on the decline, we have players that are getting better, and they’re going to continue to get better.”
“This is an ongoing process for sure,” Gregory said (subscriber-only story via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). “Mat talked about it. Our continuity, our development, our internal development is so critical for us right now and that’s just the players and we’re going to demand the best out of them.”
Here’s more from Ishbia and Gregory:
- According to Haller, Gregory is confident Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green will look better together in ’26/27 after injuries limited their opportunities to share the court this season. “One hundred percent,” the GM said. “You’re talking about three guys who are driven to become better, to do what is asked of them and help the team be successful to win. When you have that baseline, it puts you in a pretty effective spot to move forward.”
- Gregory spoke in general terms about the team’s approach to the offseason, according to Rankin. “Where are the gaps we need to fill?” Gregory said. “You can’t fill them all to the top, but what are the critical ones that we have control over? Does that mean tighten up systems, schemes, or whatever the case might be? Was there one thing that led to the other that if you eliminate the first, now you can get better at the second? All those things are done at this time and if it has to be a personnel issue, then we’ll have to address it at that time, but a lot of times, you see dramatic improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 simply because of the understanding and the ability to execute automatically where it comes who we are every single day.”
- Gregory mentioned the Suns plan to have their players back in the gym in a couple weeks rather than taking extended time off, Rankin writes. Gregory also praised the roster for buying into the team’s identity of “grit, toughness and unselfishness” while stressing that maintaining that culture is an ongoing process.
- Ishbia, who lauded head coach Jordan Ott‘s work ethic, stressed the team isn’t satisfied despite the positive steps that were taken this season. “I’m really proud of where we are and hopefully you realize that although I’m proud of where we are, we have a long way to go to where we’re going,” Ishbia said, per Rankin. “I’ve got the right people and the right vision and the right organization here with me and we’re going to do it together.”
- In case you missed it, we passed along several more items of interest from Phoenix in the past few days. You can find those stories here and here.
Rockets Notes: Smith, Sheppard, Young Core, Durant
Fourth-year forward Jabari Smith Jr. raised some eyebrows when he said the Rockets were “obviously the better team” ahead of Wednesday’s Game 5 against the Lakers, but he backed up the statement by helping his team stave off elimination again, per Matt Young of The Houston Chronicle.
“It’s just a mindset to have,” said Smith, who had a team-high 22 points, seven rebounds and two blocks while playing solid defense. “I don’t care who we play, I don’t care what team I’m on. When we were winning 22 games (in his rookie season), I would probably have said we were the better team every night. I mean, people are gonna take it how they want to take it, but I don’t care. Whoever I’m with on the court. I’m gonna think that my team is better than the other team.”
The Rockets lost the first three games of the series, blowing a lead late in Game 3. But they now have a chance to even the series at three games apiece on Friday when they return to Houston.
Smith only averaged 20.4 minutes per game in last year’s playoffs, Young notes, but he’s at 42.0 MPG through five games in 2026. The former third overall pick has averaged 19.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG and 1.2 SPG in the series, which he’s hoping to extend further on Friday night.
“You can’t just say it and then come out and tuck your tail,” Smith said of his comment. “You’ve got to get out there fighting and do the things that it takes to win. So, I’m gonna stand on that statement, and we’ve just got to keep proving it.”
We have more from Houston:
- Late-game miscues from Smith and Reed Sheppard contributed to the Rockets’ Game 3 collapse, but Sheppard was more composed with the Lakers attempting another comeback on Wednesday, as Varun Shankar writes for The Houston Chronicle. The second-year guard made some key plays down the stretch, scoring four straight points after the Lakers went on a 11-1 run to get the game within three (Twitter video link). “We didn’t want to let that happen again,” said Sheppard, who played through a cold.
- No matter what happens the rest of the series, young players like Smith, Sheppard, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Tari Eason have shown significant growth over the past two games, according to William Guillory of The Athletic. The Rockets have held L.A. below 100 points each of the past two contests. “Big-time performances by everybody across the board,” head coach Ime Udoka said Wednesday. “You start this really young lineup, and they are somewhat battle-tested now. (We needed to) show growth in certain moments and progress in certain moments. Obviously, in a game situation when you turn the ball over twice and foul a shooter (in Game 3’s collapse), you want to show growth, and I think we did that tonight.”
- ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Thursday morning that Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) will remain sidelined for Game 6. The team hasn’t formally ruled him out yet, but he’s listed as doubtful, Guillory tweets, which suggests he’s unlikely to play.
Blazers GM Cronin On Coaching Search, Dundon, More
Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin conducted an end-of-season press conference on Thursday, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Portland, which was making its first playoff appearance since 2021, was eliminated by San Antonio on Tuesday.
Cronin confirmed the Blazers are conducting a search for a new head coach, stating that interim coach Tiago Splitter is a candidate to be promoted to the position full time.
“But we’re also looking around at other candidates,” Cronin said. “We decided early on we were going to cast a wide net and get to know a lot of different coaches and analyze and evaluate them in relation to Tiago. And timeline-wise, we don’t have a timeline pinned down. We just want to keep meeting people, keep talking to people and having a really thorough process.”
As for the rumors of new owner Tom Dundon being unwilling to fork over top dollar for a head coach, Cronin said that wasn’t necessarily the case.
“A lot of the reports on budget out there were a little misleading,” Cronin said. “I have talked to Tom a lot about this. We’re going to pay the coach based on some sort of level of shared risk. If it’s a first-time coach who comes with a lot of risk and doesn’t have a market that we have to necessarily compete in, it’ll be one number. If the coach we’re talking to is a 15-year vet and a future Hall of Famer, it’s going to be a completely different number. And Tom isn’t going to flinch at either of those scenarios. We’re going to be very open-minded to what types of people we interview and would potentially bring in. And I’m not concerned about the number at all.”
Here are few more highlights from Cronin’s presser, largely courtesy of Freeman.
On Dundon’s offseason directive:
“Growth. He wants to see us continue to get better on and off the court. Tom and I spent a lot of time … he’s so competitive and so diligent and so engaged with this team already. He studied us deeply and intensely, watches every game. We talk pretty much after every game. So he got a really good feel for us. Even before he took over, he was watching all the time. And I think he was really encouraged with what he saw. He saw continued growth. He saw a talent base that is very promising, (he) understands the assets that we have moving forward with all these picks that we have.
“He challenges us every day to go gain an advantage, go find the right player at the right price point to keep improving our roster. But also, internally improving our processes and how we’re looking at things, whether it’s from a coaching standpoint, our style of play and our player development techniques, to health and performance or scouting. It’s just overall getting better and better and fine-tuning all these areas that are needed in order for a team like ours to thrive.”
On how the team can improve this offseason:
“From a skill set perspective, I think, the Spurs series showed us that — really, the whole season — we just don’t shoot the ball well enough. Shooting is something we knew we were somewhat deficient in and something that we tried to address a little bit at the trade deadline with (the) Vit Krejci (trade), something that (Damian Lillard) will definitely help with. But it’s still a need moving forward. We played a lot of possessions in the mud where it was a crowd of paint for our attackers, specifically Deni (Avdija), Jrue (Holiday), Scoot (Henderson). They just didn’t have a lot of room to operate. And teams guarded us a certain way, knowing that we were really good at the rim and not great on the perimeter. And I think offensively, that just created issues for us throughout the season, highlighted by high turnover rate and percentages. So that’s one thing.
“We also still need to keep improving our talent base. A lot of that will come internally. I mentioned Dame already. Of course, that’s a big talent boost. But, individually, our guys got to keep getting better. We have a lot of young guys who have a lot of growth in them still, so they’ve got to take another step. But, also, we need to look externally for additions that could continue to boost our talent. This league, this Western Conference, it’s tough. We’ve got to keep getting better and keep stacking these players to be able to compete with these guys.”
On whether the Trail Blazers will make a big splash on the trade market or make moves around the edges:
“We’re open-minded to both. Big splash is definitely something that’s intriguing to us, but only at the right price point. We’re not going to completely sacrifice our future for a short-term swing. But at the same time, we plan to be very active and aggressive and explore all opportunities out there. If none of those opportunities present themselves, we’ll be content doing some smaller things, confident that our talent base is strong and that the addition of Dame, the internal development, fine-tuning some of these skill set deficiencies we have, we can take a nice step whether we make a big splash or not.”
On the decision to keep the two-way players in Portland at the start of the series instead of traveling to San Antonio (Twitter link via Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report):
“That one’s on me. I heard we were going to have some traveling party reductions and I assumed it would include them and didn’t double-check. That’s on me for not communicating it.”
Mitchell Robinson, Dyson Daniels Ejected Thursday
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson and Hawks guard Dyson Daniels were ejected from Thursday’s Game 6 matchup between the two teams, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.
The two players got tangled up during a free throw attempt by OG Anunoby with 4:39 left in the second quarter (YouTube link). There was some pushing back and forth, with several Knicks staffers — including head coach Mike Brown — attempting to restrain Robinson near the sideline.
After the scuffle cleared, the officials conducted a review, which led to both players receiving technical fouls and ejections.
New York was up a stunning 50 points at the time, dominating Atlanta in every facet of the game. The Knicks’ 47-point halftime lead was the largest in NBA playoff history, per ESPN’s research (Twitter link).
As Katz observes, Daniels and Robinson had been going at each other throughout the series. Robinson received an unsportsmanlike technical in Game 2, when he committed a moving screen on Daniels and then walked over the Australian guard, who was knocked to the ground (YouTube link).
While I’d be surprised if Robinson receives a suspension for Thursday’s incident, his status is at least worth monitoring for Game 1 of New York’s next playoff series. The Knicks will face the winner of Boston vs. Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Wolves’ Dosunmu, Anderson Out For Thursday’s Game 6
The Timberwolves will be even more shorthanded on Thursday, as Ayo Dosunmu (right calf soreness) won’t be able to suit up, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Head coach Chris Finch previously said Dosunmu was a game-time decision. He was officially listed as questionable.
It’s a tough blow for Minnesota, as Dosunmu has become critically important due to the injury absences of Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles rupture) and Anthony Edwards (hyperextended left knee and bone bruise). DiVincenzo will be out several months, while Edwards is expected to miss multiple weeks.
Dosunmu has had a huge series against the Nuggets, leading the Wolves in scoring at 21.8 points per game, with a scorching hot shooting line of .609/.545/.950. The impending free agent guard is also averaging 4.0 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 32.4 minutes per night through five games.
Veteran forward Kyle Anderson, who’s battling an illness, was also downgraded to out, per the team (Twitter link). The 32-year-old only played 20 total minutes in the first four games of the series, but he had six assists, four points and three rebounds in 15 minutes in Game 5.
The Timberwolves will have to lean heavily on Bones Hyland, Mike Conley and Terrence Shannon Jr. in Game 6 with their top three guards out. Minnesota, currently holding a 3-2 lead in the first-round matchup, will be attempting to close out the series at home tonight.
Hornets Notes: White, Diabate, Offseason, Draft
Hornets head of basketball operations Jeff Peterson reiterated a couple weeks ago that the team is interested in re-signing Coby White. The 26-old guard says the feeling is mutual, telling Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer that the Hornets’ employees “create a fun environment,” which he values. White also likes the on-court fit.
“I think just the basketball, how they play, how they compete, what they’re building is something I can look forward to being a part of,” White said. “They say I can be a part of the culture that they’re building. And they obviously play a style that kind of benefits me. People could tell that by the end of the season, how I was playing. It was probably one of my most efficient stretches I had in terms of minutes and what I was doing in those minutes.
“So, yeah, I think everything just aligns right. And like I said from the jump when I first got here, something just felt right. And I think it was all part of God’s plan for me to be here.”
White, a North Caroline native, said he loves being part of the Hornets, who haven’t made the playoffs in 10 years, the longest active drought in the NBA. Still, the team certainly appears to be on the upswing after a 33-15 run to end the regular season.
Here’s more on the Hornets:
- One significant factor in the team’s success over that prolonged stretch was the play Moussa Diabate, an undersized center who won the league’s Hustle Award on Thursday. The French big man tells Boone he’s thrilled to claim the award, but believes it’s “only the beginning” of what he’s capable of. “It’s great,” Diabate told The Charlotte Observer. “It shows that I’ve been putting a lot of work in and just playing hard. That’s what it comes down to. I think it’s really a definition of who’s playing hard. The ones that maybe don’t get the proper recognition, but are still out there doing the work or are very impactful without showing as much on the stat sheet.”
- Yossi Gozlan of the Third Apron (Substack link) previews the Hornets’ offseason, pointing out that the team has two first-round picks in the 2026 draft and a surplus of future first- and second-rounders going forward. Re-signing White would have Charlotte operating as an over-the-cap team this summer, according to Gozlan, who also projects Brandon Miller to sign a highly lucrative rookie scale extension, which would kick in during the 2027/28 campaign.
- In case you missed it, the Hornets’ two first-round picks are currently at Nos. 14 and 18 in the pre-lottery order. Charlotte has a 0.5% chance of moving up from No. 14 to No. 1 at the draft lottery, which takes place May 10.
Magic’s Franz Wagner (Calf) To Remain Out For Game 6
Magic forward Franz Wagner will remain out for Friday’s Game 6, tweets Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. The 24-year-old German strained his right calf during Monday’s Game 4, which gave the No. 8 Magic a 3-1 lead in their first-round matchup against the top-seeded Pistons, and was sidelined for Wednesday’s Game 5 loss in Detroit.
Through four playoff games this spring, Wagner averaged 16.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.8 steals in 30.5 minutes per night, with a .439/.333/.933 shooting line. He was also Orlando’s primary defender on Cade Cunningham, who erupted for 45 points on Wednesday to help Detroit stave off elimination, observes Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
Cunningham, who set the Pistons’ single-game playoff record for points, had only recorded 17 points on 6-of-24 shooting (plus six turnovers) when he was being defended by Wagner, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.
Still, as Robbins writes, the Magic’s problems on Wednesday were largely self-inflected, as they gave up 16 offensive rebounds and made just 16 of their 30 free throws in the seven-point loss. Paolo Banchero (45 points on 17-of-31 shooting, nine rebounds, seven assists in 41 minutes) had “one of the best games of his life,” but even he struggled at the line (5-of-12), according to Robbins.
“They played really hard, but that’s how they always play,” Banchero said of the Pistons. “In front of their home crowd, they brought their energy, they attacked the boards, gave themselves second-chance points. Yeah, we didn’t expect them to lay down, and they didn’t lay down, and we gave ourselves a chance. But they did just a little more on some of the little things.”
Cunningham and Banchero became just the second pair of players in NBA history to score 45 points while dueling against each other in the playoffs, per Youngmisuk, joining Donovan Mitchell (51) and Jamal Murray (50) in 2020.
“That’s what’s up,” Cunningham said. “I’m sure it was a great game. Hope the fans enjoy it, but it was a great win for us.
“… Not everybody is blessed with those types of opportunities to have pressure and things on the line like that. A lot of times I feel undeserving of how great of moments I get to be a part of. Just try to make the most of it.”
The Magic will be looking to bounce back and wrap up the first-round upset on Friday in a matchup of two teams with very similar strengths (physicality, defense) and weaknesses (shooting), Robbins notes. The Orlando has gone 8-1 at home in the playoffs under head coach Jamahl Mosley, but the team will be missing Wagner, one of its best players.
“We’re going to be in front of our home crowd on Friday, so it’s our turn to protect home,” Banchero said. “We’ve done a great job at that. Obviously, they’re going to be desperate. We’re going to be desperate. So it’s going to be another war. We’ve just got to be ready for it.”
Eastern Notes: Embiid, Grimes, Schröder, Cavaliers
Less than three weeks after an emergency appendectomy, Joel Embiid was the best player on the court as the Sixers staved off elimination in Tuesday’s Game 5 victory at Boston, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic.
“I was proud of him tonight,” said Tyrese Maxey, who finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. “To see him go out there under those circumstances and play like that — he was dominant, especially in the second half. He did a great job of inserting himself into the game. He carried us tonight.”
The seven-time All-Star started the game slowly, only converting one of his first seven field goal attempts. However, he made 11 of his next 16 attempts, finishing 12-of-23, and went 9-of-10 from the foul line for a total of 33 points. Embiid also contributed eight assists and four rebounds, but most importantly he was a mismatch down low and the Celtics had no answers to stop him, Jones writes.
“I don’t want to go home,” Embiid said. “That’s one of the reasons I’m glad we won tonight. Because I didn’t want to go home and look back this summer and wonder what could have happened if I were healthy. I’ve dealt with a lot of stuff in my career. I want to give this all that I can.
“We were better defensively tonight than we had been. It’s a little easier when you’re making shots. When I started the game, me taking jumpers wasn’t working. I had to adjust. I wanted to impose myself and get into the paint a little bit more. When I’m playing one-on-one, I feel good about my chances of scoring on anyone in this league.”
As Embiid alluded to, Philadelphia held Boston to just 97 points on Tuesday after the Celtics blitzed the 76ers 128-97 in Game 4.
The 32-year-old center is probable to suit up for Thursday’s Game 6 in Philadelphia, per Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Boston’s bench had outplayed Philadelphia’s reserves through the first four games of their first-round series, but Sixers guard Quentin Grimes helped flipped that script in Game 5, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The impending free agent scored a highly efficient 18 points in 24 minutes while playing strong perimeter defense, Mizell notes. “Obviously, he gave us a great lift on both ends,” head coach Nick Nurse said of Grimes on Wednesday. “ … I’m glad he kind of looked more like himself.“
- Veteran point guard Dennis Schröder didn’t play much in the first four games of the Cavaliers‘ matchup with Toronto, averaging just 11.3 MPG, but he spoke up at halftime of Game 5 after Cleveland gave up 74 points in the first half and then played the entire fourth quarter to help lead the team to a comeback victory, as Jamal Collier of ESPN details. The 32-year-old German urged his teammates to bring more energy and assertiveness and to play through big men Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, according to Collier. Schröder had 19 points in 21 minutes, including 11 in the final period as the Cavs outscored the Raptors 25-17.
- While the Cavaliers showed some promising signs in Tuesday’s win, particularly in the fourth quarter, the fact that they’ve struggled for most of the the past three games may not bode well for the rest of the playoffs, argues Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. According to Lloyd, the Cavs will have to do more than eke out a home win against a banged-up Raptors team to prove their mettle, which has been repeatedly questioned the last few years following early postseason exits.