Al Horford Would Like To Re-Sign With Celtics
As Brian Windorst of ESPN.com writes, the defending-champion Celtics were always going to be faced with difficult financial decisions this offseason no matter how they fared in the playoffs. But if they’re unable to dig themselves out of the 0-2 hole they find themselves in after unexpectedly blowing a pair of 20-point second-half leads, then there will be new questions about the viability of the current roster.
Nearly all of Boston’s core is under contract for multiple seasons beyond 2024/25. Veteran forward/center Al Horford is the team’s biggest free agent, and he will be 39 years old next month.
Horford does not plan to retire after ’24/25 and would like to re-sign with the Celtics, sources tell Windhorst. Whether Boston is amenable to that idea may depend on the type of contract Horford is willing to accept, since the team’s payroll (including luxury tax penalties) is projected to exceed $500MM in ’25/26, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Horford remained productive this season, averaging 9.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 60 games, including 42 starts (27.7 minutes per contest). While Horford was a mid-range maestro early in his career, he has extended his range over the years — 68.1% of his field goal attempts came behind the three-point line this season, and he converted 36.3% of those long-range looks.
According to Windhorst, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and his staff have successfully been able to keep the players’ minds off the impending ownership change. The team also hasn’t discussed potential roster changes with player agents, Windhorst reports, though that obviously doesn’t mean that future moves won’t be in the cards.
Boston will face the Knicks in New York for Saturday’s pivotal Game 3.
Cavs’ Garland, Mobley Discuss Injuries After Game 3 Win
After missing a little more than two weeks due to a left great toe sprain, All-Star point Darius Garland returned to action for the Cavaliers on Friday night in Indiana, playing an important role in a decisive Game 3 victory.
As Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes, Garland was clearly playing through pain and wasn’t at his best, registering 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting, three assists, four turnovers and four fouls in 25 minutes. However, his contributions went beyond the box score, as he handled the Pacers’ full-court defense well and took ball-handling and play-making pressure off Donovan Mitchell and Cleveland’s other guards.
After the game, Garland told Fedor the return timeline for his toe injury is typically closer to four weeks than two, but he was eager to suit up with the Cavs facing an 0-2 deficit.
“I just want to be out there for my guys,” Garland said. “Everybody put their bodies and their injuries on the line. We fought through it. Just going out there to win this series.”
Head coach Kenny Atkinson told Garland not to rush back from the injury, which sidelined him for past the four playoff games leading up to Friday’s contest. But he was thrilled the 25-year-old was able to play, even if it’s not a given he’ll be ready for Sunday’s Game 4.
“(Garland) is just playing through a lot of pain, quite honestly,” Atkinson said. “To get him to play this game, let’s just say there’s a lot that goes into it and he’s kind of taking one for the team here. I think he had to push through a lot. Hopefully, he recovers. Even if we get 15, 20 minutes from him, we need it. We need another ball-handler. He can create separation. He can create advantages, even if it’s not going to be perfect with the way his health is right now.”
The Cavs also had Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley (left ankle sprain) and forward De’Andre Hunter (dislocated right thumb) back for Game 3 after they both missed Game 2. Hunter continues to deal with pain and swelling on his palm, particularly when catching passes, Fedor writes.
As for Mobley, he looked the closest to 100% during the victory, finishing with 18 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks in 35 minutes. That wasn’t the case earlier this week though, as Mobley said he was wearing a walking boot and was unable to put weight on his ankle prior to Game 2, when he was listed as questionable before being ruled out.
“I really wanted to play (Game 2), but definitely couldn’t,” Mobley said, according to Jamal Collier of ESPN. “But after that loss, I wanted to get back as soon as possible and get out there. So I was just basically day to day seeing how it felt, how quickly I heal. Normally heal pretty quick, and from there just played it by ear.”
While the Cavaliers were pleased to win the game, they recognize they still have to dig themselves out of a hole to win the series.
“We haven’t done anything,” Garland said, per Fedor. “We’re still down a game, so we’ve got to come in here Sunday with the same attitude, same mindset, and same physicality that we played with today. Just bring it again on another level.”
Hawks Interested In CAA’s Austin Brown For Front Office Job
Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported on Friday that the Hawks owner Tony Ressler was highly intrigued by the possibility of adding an “established” player agent to run Atlanta’s front office.
With that in mind, CAA’s Austin Brown has emerged as a candidate for a “top executive role” with the Hawks, sources tell Grant Afseth of RG.org.
Brown, the co-head of CAA’s basketball division, is one of the most powerful agents in the NBA. The Evanston, Illinois native played college basketball at DePauw in Indiana before becoming an investment banker with J.P Morgan and then attending law school, he said in an interview in 2022 (YouTube link).
As Afseth writes, Brown’s client list includes Hawks guards Trae Young and Caris LeVert. He also represents Donovan Mitchell, Jaren Jackson Jr., OG Anunoby, and Myles Turner in addition to several other noteworthy current and former players, per RealGM.
Brown’s name has popped up in the past when teams have made front office changes — he was previously linked to the Knicks and Bulls back in 2020. Fischer also reported a couple years ago that Brown remained an agent to keep an eye on for future front office openings.
The Hawks are looking for a new president of basketball operations after firing former general manager Landry Fields. Assistant GM Onsi Saleh was promoted to interim GM and is currently running Atlanta’s day-to-day basketball operations, but is expected to work under the new hire.
Heat’s Pat Riley Discusses Butler, Roster, Tax, Herro, More
At his end-of-season press conference on Friday, longtime president Pat Riley admitted the falling out with Jimmy Butler affected the Heat‘s season in a major way, per Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
“There’s no doubt what happened with Jimmy had a tremendous impact on our team,” Riley said. “The buck stops with me. I’ll take that hit if you want it. What happened in the regular season, I don’t want to discuss.”
That doesn’t mean Riley regrets his comments about Butler last offseason — he made a number of pointed remarks during that spring media session, including telling reporters that the star forward wouldn’t get the extension he was looking for due to concerns about his availability.
“I’m not going to apologize for saying no on the contract extension,” Riley said on Friday. “We didn’t have to I don’t think I should… It’s over. It’s done. I wish him well. Good luck to him. And I hope in his heart somewhere he wishes us well too.”
As for the underwhelming return package the Heat received in return for trading Butler to Golden State, Riley said the team was somewhat hamstrung by the situation.
“We were pretty much locked in with one team (Phoenix), the team of his choice. It didn’t happen there. We took the deal we felt was best for us now and also in the future. We have young players. We have medium age players in their prime. Our draft picks are in better order than what they were. We have a lot of flexibility. That’s where the blueprint is going to come from this summer.”
Here’s more from Riley’s presser, with quotes courtesy of The Herald, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, and Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel:
- While Riley isn’t sure that the Heat need to make major roster changes this offseason, he acknowledged there’s “no doubt” that changes of some sort will be necessary and said the team “probably won’t run it back.” Still, he doesn’t think the ugly losses to Cleveland in the postseason reflect Miami’s true talent level and suggested he’ll try to avoid tanking at all costs. “(That playoff series) might have put the final nail in thinking we got to tear everything apart and rebuild. We’ve never done that,” Riley said. “Thirteen times, we’ve always found a way to rebuild (into) a team that was respected, that was a contender.”
- Riley admitted that the Heat, who have been in the luxury tax for each of the past two seasons, would like to stop surpassing that threshold every year, especially with harsher repeater penalties about to take effect. “We have to make an adjustment,” he said. “It gets punitive financially. It’s not a priority, but it is in order to manage the financial part of the team. We will try to get out and then back in and reset it.”
- Riley isn’t permitted to talk about players on other rosters, and reporters didn’t ask him specifically about Kevin Durant, but the Heat president faced questions about whether the team needs to acquire an “alpha” and whether he’d be willing to trade for an “aging” star. Riley didn’t rule out either scenario. “For us, if that player is the right name and the contract is the right length, I still think an aging player can play,” Riley said. Regarding the idea of adding an alpha, he stated: “If that talent can help and he’s humble, that’s fine. If it translates to winning, that’s all that counts.”
- According to Riley, the Heat are “moving forward” with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Regarding a possible extension for Herro, Riley said the front office wants the veteran guard to remain in Miami for the rest of his career and indicated that a new deal this summer is a possibility, but not a given. “We’ve already talked about it. I’ve talked about it with Tyler. You’ll see what happens as we plan,” Riley said “… Definitely Tyler is deserving of the thought of an extension. But are we going to do it? We haven’t committed to it. But we’re going to discuss it. I’ve already talked to him about it. He’s cool (with whatever happens).”
- Asked about critics of “Heat culture” and whether that reputation has taken a hit in the last year or two, Riley pushed back, referring to that criticism as a “narrative” created by people who aren’t familiar with the organization. “I’m proud of the culture and what we’ve created,” Riley said. “For people who don’t really know, but it’s fashionable to comment on it and criticize it, the hell with them. We have a great culture that hasn’t been crushed. Just because there were some issues this year that were not culture-oriented, they were player-oriented — talking about the Butler situation — our culture is the same.”
Luke Adams contributed to this story.
Cavs’ Mobley, Garland, Hunter Available On Friday
5:59 pm: All three injured Cavaliers will be active for Friday’s Game 3, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Head coach Kenny Atkinson said during his pregame media session that there wouldn’t be a set minutes limit for Garland, Mobley, or Hunter, but that the team would make that decision over the course of the night based on “feel” and “communication” (Twitter link via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star).
8:28 am: The Cavaliers played without three of their best players in Tuesday’s Game 2, in which Cleveland blew a seven-point lead with under a minute remaining to fall in a 0-2 hole in its second-round series vs. Indiana. Darius Garland has missed the past four games with a left great toe sprain, while both Evan Mobley (left ankle sprain) and De’Andre Hunter (dislocated/sprained right thumb) were injured in the fourth quarter of Game 1.
All three of the injured Cavaliers are officially listed as questionable for Friday’s Game 3 in Indianapolis, just like they were for Game 2 prior to being ruled out. However, two league sources tell Joe Vardon of The Athletic that the Cavs are optimistic the trio will attempt to suit up tonight.
“They participated in the walk-through and we’re hoping for the best,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said Thursday. “I think it’s frustrating for all of us, right? It’s no indictment on anybody, it’s just, injuries are a tough thing and you don’t really know unless you experience it yourself.”
As Vardon observes, even if the three players are able to play, it remains to be seen how effective they’ll be. A source tells Vardon that the swelling on Hunter’s thumb has decreased, but Mobley and Garland appeared to be hobbled during Thursday’s walk-through.
Sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that Garland continues to deal with pain and swelling in his toe, which he aggravated in the team’s first-round series against Miami. The injury has made it “incredibly difficult” for the All-Star point guard to make any “sharp movements,” Fedor writes.
“He desperately wants to get on the court,” Atkinson said of Garland. “It’s just kind of in these situations I just kind of, I step back. I support him 100%, whichever way it goes. I think he’s probably like, ‘I’ve got to get to a certain point where I can compete at a high-intensity playoff level.’ That type of intensity is tough to simulate. I guess at some point hopefully he will get out there and try it. But obviously couldn’t run or anything.”
Draft Notes: Lottery Teams, Mock Draft, S. Johnson
Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN break down each lottery team’s outlook ahead of the 2025 NBA draft lottery, which will take place on Monday. They also list which player each team is most likely to select assuming the pre-lottery draft order remains unchanged.
While Duke forward Cooper Flagg and Rutgers guard Dylan Harper are widely expected to come off the board first and second overall, respectively, there could be some surprises starting at No. 3. Rutgers wing Ace Bailey and Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe are ranked third and fourth, respectively, on ESPN’s big board and Givony and Woo believe they should be selected (in some order) with the following two picks.
However, Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears and Texas guard Tre Johnson could also be in consideration starting at No. 3, according to Givony, who reports that NBA teams are bullish on both players’ long-term potential, though they’re also somewhat polarizing. Fears is ranked fifth on ESPN’s board, while Johnson is sixth.
Here are a couple more notes related to the 2025 NBA draft:
- Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report recently published his last pre-lottery mock draft. There’s a good deal of overlap between ESPN’s most likely picks and Wasserman’s, including the Raptors selecting Duke center Khaman Maluach at No. 7. There are also some noteworthy differences. For instance, Wasserman seems a little lower on Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis (No. 14 to San Antonio vs. No. 8 in ESPN’s story) and quite a bit higher on Georgia forward/center Asa Newell (No. 10 to Houston vs. outside the lottery on ESPN).
- UConn forward Samson Johnson impressed at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament last month and has upcoming pre-draft workouts with the Jazz, Lakers, Bucks and Wizards, sources tell Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). A 6’10” big man, Johnson averaged 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks as a senior this past season for the Huskies (19.4 minutes per game). Johnson is not ranked on ESPN’s big board.
Ben Tenzer Could Be Promoted To Nuggets’ Full-Time GM
Vice president of basketball operations Ben Tenzer has been involved with the Nuggets in some capacity since 2005. He has steadily worked his way up the basketball operations hierarchy since he was formally hired by the organization in 2013, having been named interim general manager in mid-April after the firing of Calvin Booth.
The Nuggets will reportedly conduct a full-fledged search for Booth’s replacement once their season ends. Timberwolves GM Matt Lloyd has been linked to the Nuggets, as has Tim Connelly, who ran Denver’s front office before being hired away by Minnesota.
In addition to external candidates, the Nuggets are also expected to consider lifting Tenzer’s interim tag and promoting him to be the new full-time GM, league sources tell Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
Tenzer isn’t the only key member of the Nuggets operating on an interim basis — the same is true of head coach David Adelman, a longtime assistant. The 43-year-old guided Denver to a 3-0 record to wrap up the regular season and clinch a top-four seed in the West, followed by first-round victory over the Clippers, which went the full seven games.
The Nuggets are currently 1-1 in their semifinal series against the top-seeded Thunder ahead of Friday’s Game 3 in Denver.
Latest On Hawks’ Search For Top Basketball Executive
Hawks owner Tony Ressler has shown a “significant interest” in pursuing player agents to run Atlanta’s front office, league sources tell Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
According to Stein and Fischer, Ressler has pursued former Warriors executive Bob Myers — also a former agent — to lead the Hawks’ basketball operations department, but those overtures have been unsuccessful. Stein and Fischer hear that Myers, who is now a consultant for the NFL’s Washington Commanders and an ESPN analyst, will be highly selective if he ever takes another front office job.
Stein and Fischer previously reported that Elton Brand, Calvin Booth and Monte McNair have interviewed for the Hawks’ vacancy, though Sixers GM Brand recently withdrew from consideration. In their latest report, The Stein Line duo add a new name to the list of interviewees: Danny Ferry.
Ferry, who has been a Spurs consultant since 2020, was previously the general manager of the Cavaliers from 2005-10. He also ran the Hawks’ front office from 2012-14.
Ferry was at the center of a controversy in Atlanta after making racially insensitive remarks while reading a scouting report on Luol Deng during an organizational conference call. That incident ultimately led to Ferry stepping down as the Hawks’ general manager in 2015. The 58-year-old former NBA player was hired by the Pelicans as a special advisor in 2016 and briefly served as New Orleans’ interim GM in 2019.
The Hawks are seeking a president of basketball operations to oversee the front office, with Onsi Saleh — who was promoted to interim GM after Landry Fields was fired — working under the new hire.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, Magic senior advisor John Hammond, NBA G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim and former Hawks wing Travis Hansen are among the other names that have been linked to Atlanta’s vacancy. Multiple reports have indicated that Connelly is expected to sign a new deal with Minnesota.
Joshua Kushner Purchases Minority Stake In Heat
Billionaire tech investor Joshua Kushner, the founder and managing partner of Thrive Capital, has purchased a minority stake in the Heat, the team confirmed today (Twitter links via Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald).
Puck News, which first reported the transaction, said Kushner will control less 5% of the Heat. Those shares will not come from majority owner Micky Arison, per the team.
According to Thomas Barrabi of The New York Post, Kushner actually purchased his stake in the Heat last year. He was previously a minority shareholder in the Grizzlies, but he sold that stake to become part-owner of Miami.
As both Jackson and Barrabi observe, Kushner owns a home in Miami with his wife Karlie Kloss. He’s the brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who served as an adviser to Trump during his first term.
Pacers Notes: Haliburton, Celebration, Turner, Depth
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton expected to be fined for his celebration after making a game-winning three-pointer on Tuesday in Cleveland (YouTube link), but instead he received a warning from the NBA, reports Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
“I’ve been waiting for that. I’ve been waiting for that, man,” Haliburton said after Game 2, when asked about the celebration and if he expected to hear from the league. “It was just right in the moment. It was right in the moment. Yeah, man, I’ve been waiting for that. I’ll take that fine, gladly.”
As Reynold notes, Haliburton anticipated a fine because the celebration he used has resulted in several financial penalties in the past for what the league has referred to as an “obscene gesture.”
Here’s more on the Pacers, who hold a 2-0 lead on the top-seeded Cavaliers heading into Friday’s Game 3:
- Haliburton has been bothered by a sore left wrist recently, which is why he wore wore a wrap during Game 2 and at Thursday’s practice. However, he said he’ll be ready for tonight’s home game, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “I’m fine,” Haliburton said. “I’ll be fine for the game. I’m all good.”
- In an interview with Mark Medina of RG.org, Haliburton’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, pushed back on the idea that his client is overrated — the 25-year-old point guard was voted the NBA’s most overrated player by an anonymous poll of 90 players last month. “We clearly know that Tyrese is not overrated,” Hanlen said. “He’s the best passer and play-maker in the NBA. He’s one of the best guards in the NBA. And he impacts winning at a high level. There is proof of that. He led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals last year. This year, they already have won a series and they’re up 2-0. One of the big things that we talk about with all my athletes is, ‘It doesn’t really matter what is said. It matters what is done.’ The proof is in the results. We always talk about results being the only thing that matters. He’s got a ton of great results. We don’t really care about an anonymous poll where no one has laid their opinions out on the line.”
- Center Myles Turner is in his 10th season with Indiana and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. In an interesting article for the Players’ Tribune, Turner wrote about his NBA journey, including being involved in trade rumors for several years, and his relationships with head coach Rick Carlisle and Haliburton, among other topics.
- While most NBA teams shorten their rotations in the playoffs, the opposite has been true of the Pacers, who have extended their rotation to 11 players instead of their typical 10, Dopirak writes for The Indianapolis Star. Indiana’s depth and up-tempo playing style has worn down its opponents late in games, leading to a couple of dramatic comebacks. “It’s playing to exhaustion,” backup guard T.J. McConnell said. “That tires other guys out. Our depth, if all of us are able to do that, it’s hard to play against us for 48 minutes. We press all year to get ready for a series like this in the playoffs. We just gotta continue to play extremely hard on both ends of the floor.”