Magic Notes: Offseason Plan, Banchero, F. Wagner, Bitadze
After finishing with a losing record for four straight seasons, the Magic went 47-35 and made the playoffs a year ago, eventually losing a tight seven-game series against Cleveland.
Entering 2024/25, Orlando added veteran wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency, but long-term injuries to key players — including Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Moritz Wagner and Jalen Suggs — played a significant role in the team’s middling 41-41 record. The Magic advanced as the No. 7 seed via the play-in tournament, but once again lost in the first round, this time in five games to the defending champion Celtics.
As Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel writes, the Magic finished with the second-best defensive rating in the NBA during the regular season, but had the fourth-worst offense, including the worst three-point percentage. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman says Orlando is ready to transition to a “win-now” phase entering ’25/26.
“What we need is proven shot-making, proven offensive play, someone that’s going to come in and help augment our weakness,” Weltman said. “Clearly, we need to get better offensively. Clearly, we need to shoot the ball better. Those are the goals and that’s the lens we need to look at as we enter the offseason.
“I don’t think anything’s off the table. Veteran help, proven offensive help is what we’re going to be looking for.”
Most of the Magic’s roster is under contract for next season, Beede observes, and the team won’t have the cap room necessary to be a major player in what’s viewed as a relatively weak free-agent class. That means the front office will have to make trades to add the types of players it’s looking for, which Weltman acknowledged.
“Most of our roster upgrades are going to have to come more through swapping than just adding,” Weltman said. “The reason we’ve been a good team the last couple of years — and I do believe we are a good team — is because we’ve got an elite defensive backbone.
“And as we look to improve our offense, we have to be very cognizant of not unraveling the DNA of our team. That’s what we have to balance this summer.”
Here’s more on the Magic:
- In addition to his end-of-season media session, Weltman also discussed the Magic’s season, the inactive trade deadline, and the team’s offseason plan on Mike Bianchi’s “Open Mike” radio show.
- Following the first-round elimination, Banchero reflected on how his season played out, according to Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. “Kind of how I evaluated the team’s season, it was a little disappointing for me and my season,” Banchero said. “Just going down with the injury and then coming back and having to work my way into shape and battle through those times. But I was happy with how I was able to kind of respond and finish strong. I didn’t let some of those early tough times discourage me. I kept going and, like the team, I wanted to finish strong, and do whatever I could to help us get to the postseason. We were able to do that.”
- Banchero, a former No. 1 overall pick and All-Star, will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. He made it clear he’s ready to sign a long-term deal with Orlando, Beede adds in the same story. “I love it here,” Banchero said about Orlando. “… It’s a place that I love spending time, my family loves spending time here, and I couldn’t be more happy to be a part of the Orlando Magic. I look forward to spending a lot more years here.”
- While Franz Wagner isn’t sure whether or not he’ll suit up for Germany at this summer’s EuroBasket, center Goga Bitadze says he’s definitely going to represent his home country of Georgia at the tournament, per Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. “I take that very seriously,” Bitadze said. “I’m going to prepare for that and got to stay in shape all summer. Hopefully, we win a lot of games with the national team.”
Southeast Notes: Herro, Burks, Hawks, Suggs
Heat guard Tyler Herro had an impressive regular season, making his first All-Star appearance and winning the three-point contest. He posted career highs in several statistical categories, including points (23.9) and assists (5.5) per game, while making a career-best 77 appearances. The 25-year-old also struggled in the final two games of Miami’s first-round series with Cleveland, though the Heat were clearly overmatched against the top-seeded Cavs.
Herro, who is under contract through 2026/27, will be eligible for a three-year extension in October. Asked about the possibility of signing that extension, Herro made it clear that he wants to stay with the Heat, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
“Not the biggest deal, but I would love to be here,” Herro said. “The front office, the organization, the city, everyone knows how much I love Miami. I’ve been here since I was 18, 19. I’ve got two kids here.
“This is really home for me. I love being here. Basketball is why I’m here at the end of the day. I want to win and I know how badly this organization and city want to win. We will see what happens. If it doesn’t get done in October, then we can get it done next summer. It will just be a little bit higher of a price.”
Here’s more from the Southeast:
- While a few Heat veterans declined to speak to the media, guard Alec Burks would like to return to Miami, according to Jackson. “Hopefully I can come back,” said Burks, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer after signing a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum in 2024.
- In a subscriber-only story for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Lauren Williams takes a look at which Hawks players are likely to return in ’25/26 and which players could be on different rosters next season. Unsurprisingly, young core players like Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher fall into the former group, while impending free agents such as Caris LeVert and Clint Capela are in the latter.
- At his end-of-season media availability on Thursday, Magic guard Jalen Suggs said undergoing season-ending knee surgery won’t change the physical way he defends opponents heading into ’25/26. “I ain’t changing a damn thing,” Suggs told Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link). “I ain’t going to lie. I ain’t changing nothing. That’s what all this (rehab) work is for.” Suggs, who made the All-Defensive Second Team last season, was limited to 35 games in ’24/25 due to injuries.
Suns Promote Brian Gregory To General Manager
2:49 pm: In addition to officially promoting Gregory and moving Jones to an advisory role, the Suns have also named Oronde Taliaferro as assistant GM and announced that CIO Paul Rivers will now have basketball operations responsibilities, confirming the changes in a press release (Twitter link via Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports).
“Brian has been a valuable member of our front office, playing an integral role in drafting and developing our young players,” said Ishbia. “I am excited for him to step into the role of general manager. He is a brilliant basketball mind, and he will transform and elevate our team.”
2:37 pm: The Suns are making a major change to their front office, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who reports that vice president of player programming Brian Gregory will become the team’s new head of basketball operations, with an official title of general manager.
Sources tell Charania that former NBA veteran James Jones, who has been the Suns’ GM since 2019, will become a senior advisor in Phoenix.
Gregory, 58, played four years of college basketball in the late 1980s before transitioning to coaching. He had two different stints as an assistant at Michigan State — the second overlapped with Suns owner Mat Ishbia‘s time with the Spartans, Charania notes.
After 13 years as an NCAA assistant, Gregory landed his first head coaching job with Dayton back in 2003, remaining with the Flyers until 2011, when he was hired away by Georgia Tech. He stayed with the Yellow Jackets until 2016, when he was let go, serving as a special a consultant to Michigan State’s Tom Izzo during the ’16/17 campaign. Gregory was head coach of South Florida from 2017-23.
It’s a rapid rise for the longtime coach, who was hired by the Suns last June. Gregory has been credited for drafting Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro in 2024, according to Charania, and has been in charge of college scouting and the pre-draft process this year, per Jake Fischer (Twitter link).
According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), Josh Bartelstein will remain in his role as CEO. Gregory will report directly to Ishbia, Gambadoro adds.
Marc Stein first reported that Gregory could be in line for a promotion.
Despite having the NBA’s highest payroll, the Suns are coming off a disastrous season, finishing with a 36-46 record and not even making the play-in tournament. That led to the firing of head coach Mike Budenholzer, who had four years left on his contract.
Rockets Notes: Thompson, Brooks, Curry, VanVleet, Green
Second-year swingman Amen Thompson was excellent in helping the Rockets stave off elimination on Wednesday, filling the stat sheet with 25 points, six rebounds, three assists, five steals and three blocks. Houston outscored Golden State by 32 points during Thompson’s 35 minutes. The 22-year-old became the first player since Charles Barkley in 1993 to record 25 points, five steals, and three blocks in a playoff game, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com.
In addition to his highly efficient offensive performance — he was 8-of-12 from the field and 8-of-9 from the foul line — Thompson slowed down Stephen Curry, limiting the two-time MVP to 13 points (on 4-of-12 shooting) and seven assists in 25 minutes.
“He took it personal, and that’s what we need from him every single night,” Dillon Brooks said. “As a defender, you have to take the matchup personal. He was reading Steph, reading a lot of the guys, staying in front, being disciplined on the defensive end without reaching.
“We need that Amen every single game because we’re going to go against guys like Steph again. That same mentality, that tenacity that he was playing with gives us a lot of energy, gives us a lot of extra possessions, and it makes their best player timid and think. That’s what we need: their best players to think, think, think the game instead of playing in the flow.”
Here’s more on the Rockets, who are now down 3-2 in their first-round series vs. Golden State:
- Brooks also had a strong performance in Game 5, scoring an efficient 24 points and holding Jimmy Butler to just eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. After the game, he spoke to Kelly Iko of The Athletic about how playing against the Warriors multiple times over the years has helped him learn to maintain his composure. “My energy, my enthusiasm, my passion for the game can override and f–k up a game,” Brooks told The Athletic. “I learned that from years of playing in the playoffs and understanding where things went wrong. To win against these guys, you have to be composed at all times. The way they play is very helter-skelter. They’re going to make you play with passion — with Draymond (Green) and Steph (Curry) on that team. Me learning and playing against these guys a lot in my career, being composed is the way to go.”
- Asked during his post-game press conference, whether he has been targeting Curry’s injured right thumb, Brooks didn’t deny it, Ron Kroichick writes for The Houston Chronicle. “I’m playing the game,” Brooks said. “Shoot, if you’re going to come play the game injured, whatever you’ve got, it’s all about the game. If I had an injured ankle, I would attack that ankle every single time. So whatever they’re saying on the broadcast, they can keep saying it.”
- After struggling with his shot for the first three games of the series, veteran guard Fred VanVleet has caught fire over the past two, including scoring a game-high 26 points on Wednesday, notes Matt Young of The Houston Chronicle. For his part, VanVleet says he’s willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win. “I’m here to share and lead and quarterback and put guys in positions, but I still have to play at a high level if we’re going to be a good team,” said VanVleet. “I’ve been able to get back to that over the last couple of games. There’s so much going on and so much is new to this team and we’re playing so many young guys, this is their first experience. Their heads get to spinning a little bit at times. Just trying to calm them down and get them into good spots. If we play our brand of basketball at a high level, I feel good about us against anybody.”
- Jalen Green bumped knees in the first quarter of Game 5, but he says he “should be good” to go for Friday’s Game 6, according to Reid Laymance of The Houston Chronicle.
Celtics’ Jrue Holiday Wins 2024/25 Sportsmanship Award
Celtics guard Jrue Holiday has won the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award for the 2024/25 season, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter links). It’s the second time the 34-year-old has claimed the award, having previously won it with Milwaukee back in ’20/21.
The Sportsmanship Award has been presented annually since ’95/96 and “honors a player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court.”
Each of the league’s 30 teams nominated one of its players for the award, then a panel of league executives narrows that group to six finalists (one from each division) and current players voted for the winner.
As the full voting results show, Holiday received the most first-place votes and most total points. Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen finished in second place, followed closely by Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith, and Magic forward Franz Wagner rounded out the top six (in that order).
The trophy for the Sportsmanship Award is named after Joe Dumars, the Hall-of-Fame guard who won the inaugural award back in ’95/96. Dumars was recently named the Pelicans’ head of basketball operations after working for the NBA for the past few years.
Holiday has earned numerous team and individual accolades throughout his career. The combo guard has won two NBA championships, two Olympic gold medals with Team USA, is a two-time All-Star, and has earned six All-Defensive nods. He has also been named Teammate of the Year three times. Now he has added a second Sportsmanship Award to his impressive trophy case.
Grizzlies’ Kleiman: We Should Have Picked Up LaRavia’s Option
Before the 2024/25 season began last fall, the Grizzlies declined to exercise their fourth-year team option on forward Jake LaRavia. That 2025/26 option was worth $5,163,127.
Because his option was declined, LaRavia is now on track for unrestricted free agency in 2025 instead of restricted free agency in 2026. It also made his free agency more complicated than it is for most players — the team he ended the season with cannot offer him a starting salary that exceeds the declined option.
With those factors in mind, the Grizzlies wound up trading LaRavia to Sacramento ahead of February’s deadline, even though he was having his most productive campaign as a pro.
At his end-of-season press conference on Sunday, executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman admitted he made a “mistake” by turning down that option, tweets Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
“I think we should’ve picked up Jake LaRavia’s team option,” Kleiman said. “The mistake was there. … I think Jake could’ve helped us down the stretch.”
According to Cole (Twitter link), Kleiman explained that he thought Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson would be able to replace LaRavia in the rotation. Both players dealt with injuries in the first few months of the season and returned to action before the deadline.
“I probably overweighted just how much of a burden they would have been able to put on in a playoff push,” Kleiman said.
Memphis was eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday after being swept in its first-round series with Oklahoma City.
Duke’s Khaman Maluach Declares For NBA Draft
Duke freshman Khaman Maluach declared for the 2025 NBA draft prior to Saturday’s early entrant deadline, the school announced (via Twitter).
A 7’2″ center from South Sudan, Maluach averaged 8.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 21.2 minutes per game while shooting 71.2% from the field and 76.6% from the line across 39 appearances for the Blue Devils in 2024/25. He is a projected lottery pick, coming in at No. 8 on ESPN’s latest big board (subscriber link).
Maluach won’t turn 19 years old until September, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony notes, making him one of the youngest players in the class. Maluach has a strong motor, is quite mobile for his size, and is viewed as having a great deal of long-term upside, according to Givony.
Pistons Notes: Schröder, Beasley, Stewart, Ivey, Game 3
Veteran guard Dennis Schröder struggled with his shot after the Pistons traded for him in February, averaging 10.8 points on .378/.302/.833 shooting in 28 regular season games (25.2 minutes per contest).
However, as Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press writes, the 31-year-old has played a critical role for the Pistons in the playoffs, making timely shots and serving as a secondary ball-handler alongside All-Star Cade Cunningham. Through three playoff games (28.3 MPG), Schröder is averaging 15.3 points, 2.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds on .556/.615/.800 shooting.
“He’s played in so many big games, and when you go back and watch his history, he’s clutch in big games,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after Game 2, when Schröder made the winning basket, securing Detroit’s first playoff victory in 17 years. “We talked about it early on when he got here, he’s just fearless. There’s no moment, there’s no crowd, there’s no noise that’s too big or that’s gonna rattle him. Works his tail off on his game, but a lot of people in that situation don’t have the courage and he’s got the courage to take big shots.”
Schröder will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, Sankofa notes.
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- While Schröder has caught fire in the playoffs, the opposite has been true for Malik Beasley, another impending free agent. After averaging 16.3 points and converting 41.6% of his three-point tries in the regular season, the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up has posted 13.7 PPG while shooting 30.0% from long distance thus far in Detroit’s first-round series vs. New York. “I think he’s getting his looks. They just haven’t fallen for him … we know he’s capable of making those shots,” Bickerstaff said of Beasley (Twitter link via Sankofa).
- Big man Isaiah Stewart battled through a right knee injury in Game 1 and missed the second and third games of the series. He’ll also be sidelined for Sunday’s Game 4 due to ongoing right knee inflammation, as Hunter Patterson of The Athletic relays (via Twitter).
- Although the Pistons technically didn’t rule out Jaden Ivey for the remainder of the postseason when they provided an update on his status last night, Bickerstaff sounded skeptical about the third-year guard’s chances of playing again in ’24/25, per Patterson (Twitter video link). “Our aim will always be to protect our guys,” Bickerstaff said. “This would just be a very difficult situation for a guy to come back into after dealing with the injury. … The more he progresses, we’ll take a look.” Ivey is recovering from a broken fibula in his left leg.
- Both the Pistons and Knicks were frustrated by the officiating following a controversial ending to Game 3, writes Chris Herring of ESPN. Detroit was livid that Jalen Brunson wasn’t called for a backcourt violation in the closing seconds, though the NBA supported that non-call, notes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. The Knicks, meanwhile, were angered that Detroit got possession of the ball after Brunson intentionally missed a free throw with 0.5 seconds left.
- Despite finding themselves in a 1-2 hole, the Pistons remained positive after the Game 3 loss, as Patterson writes for The Athletic. “We won’t be deflated,” Bickerstaff said when asked about the mood in the Pistons locker room. “Our guys are too committed to one another. We’re not results-driven. We’ll show up Sunday and we’re going to lay it on the line. We’re going to fight like hell and see what happens.”
Carter Bryant Among Draft’s Final Early Entrants
The deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2025 NBA draft was last night at 10:59 pm CT. Arizona freshman Carter Bryant was among the players who declared for the draft before the deadline passed, a source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).
It’s unclear whether or not the 19-year-old intends to stay in the draft, but Bryant is ranked No. 20 on ESPN’s latest big board (Insider link), making him a projected first-round pick.
A 6’8″ combo forward, Bryant averaged 6.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.0 block in 37 appearances for the Wildcats in 2024/25 (19.3 minutes per game). He posted a shooting slash line of .460/.371/.695.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Woo, Bryant is a plus athlete with a strong frame, and has shown flashes of versatility on both ends of the court. While Bryant is viewed as being somewhat raw right now, his upside is considerable and he has a chance to move up draft boards over the next couple months.
Here are a few more players who entered the draft before yesterday’s deadline:
- Guard Joson Sanon, who spent his freshman season at Arizona State but has committed to transfer to St. John’s, is testing the draft waters, per Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Sanon will be looking for feedback from NBA teams, but he is expected to eventually withdraw from the draft and suit up for the Red Storm in ’25/26, according to Adam Zagoria of NJ Advance Media.
- Sophomore forward Devon Pryor will also be testing the draft waters, reports Jon Chepkevich of Draft Express (via Twitter). Pyror spent ’24/25 in a limited role with Texas, but he has committed to transfer to Oregon for his junior season.
- Bassala Bagayoko, a 6’10” center from Mali, submitted the paperwork necessary to enter the draft, according to Chepkevich (Twitter link). Bagayako has played for Spanish club Bilbao this season, Chepkevich notes.
Celtics’ Brown, Tatum Available For Game 3; Holiday Out
5:20 pm: After being upgraded from doubtful to questionable about an hour ago, Tatum will make his return on Friday for Game 3, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Brown will also be available, but Holiday has been ruled out.
2:24 pm: The Celtics could be shorthanded for Friday’s Game 3 in Orlando. In their initial injury report on Thursday, the team listed Jrue Holiday as questionable with a right hamstring strain and Jayson Tatum as doubtful with a right distal radius bone bruise, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
On Friday, reigning Finals MVP Jaylen Brown was also added to the injury report, having been listed as questionable due to a right knee posterior impingement (Twitter link via Weiss). Brown has been managing the knee injury for several weeks.
Tatum was sidelined for Boston’s Game 2 victory after injuring his right wrist in Game 1. It seems likely that he will miss Friday’s contest as well.
It remains to be seen if Holiday and Brown will be forced to miss tonight’s game, but it’s certainly not ideal for the Celtics that both players are battling injuries.
Brown is coming off an excellent Game 2 performance, finishing with 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Boston currently holds a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.
A fourth Celtics starter, Kristaps Porzingis, sustained a cut which required five stitches Wednesday after being inadvertently elbowed by Goga Bitadze, per Baxton Holmes of ESPN. However, Porzingis was able to return to the game and downplayed the gash after the victory.
“Honestly, how can I not come [back] out?” Porzingis said. “Like, ‘Oh, I have five stitches, I can’t play anymore.’ My legs work, everything works, so of course I’m going to be out there. And you know me. I like these moments. Coming back out again, getting a little love from the crowd. It just happens within the game and this is not going to stop me. So I’m going to keep going.”