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2025 NBA Draft Tiebreaker Results

April 21st, 2025 at 4:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Tiebreakers among teams with identical regular-season records were broken on Monday through random drawings to determine the order for this year’s draft prior to the lottery.

The results are as follows, according to a press release from the league (Twitter link):

  • Phoenix Suns (No. 9) over Portland Trail Blazers (No. 10)
    • The Suns will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Trail Blazers.
    • The Suns’ pick will be sent to the Rockets.
  • Dallas Mavericks (No. 11) over Chicago Bulls (No. 12)
    • The Mavericks will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Bulls.
  • Sacramento Kings (No. 13) over Atlanta Hawks (No. 14)
    • The Kings will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Hawks.
    • The Kings’ pick will be sent to the Hawks if it’s outside of the top 12.
    • The Hawks’ pick will be sent to the Spurs.
  • Memphis Grizzlies (No. 18) over Milwaukee Bucks (No. 19) over Golden State Warriors (No. 20)
    • The Grizzlies’ pick will be sent to the Wizards.
    • The Bucks’ pick will be sent to the Nets.
    • The Warriors’ pick will be sent to the Heat.
  • Los Angeles Lakers (No. 22) over Indiana Pacers (No. 23) over Los Angeles Clippers (No. 24) over Denver Nuggets (No. 25)
    • The Lakers’ pick will be sent to the Hawks.
    • The Clippers’ pick will be sent to the Thunder.
    • The Nuggets’ pick will be sent to the Magic.

While the tiebreaker winner will pick ahead of the loser(s) in the first round, that order will be flipped in the second round.

For instance, the Warriors’ second-round pick (traded to the Grizzlies) will be at No. 48, followed by the Bucks’ pick (traded to Detroit) at No. 49, and the Grizzlies (traded to New York) at No. 50 — that’s the opposite of their order in the first round.

For lottery teams that finished with identical records, the second-round order is still to be determined depending on the lottery results.

For example, if Phoenix’s first-round pick (traded to Houston) stays at No. 9 and the Blazers’ first-rounder stays at No. 10, Portland’s second-round pick (traded to Toronto) would be at No. 39 and Phoenix’s (traded to Washington) would be No. 40. But if the Trail Blazers win the No. 1 overall pick on lottery night, moving ahead of Phoenix in the first round, then the Suns’ second-round pick would be No. 39, while Portland’s would be No. 40.

We’ll publish the full lottery odds and pre-lottery draft order for 2025 later tonight.

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Knicks Notes: Hart, Anunoby, Thompson, Brunson, Towns

April 21st, 2025 at 1:51pm CST by Rory Maher

Josh Hart was largely a non-factor in the first half of Game 1 of the Knicks‘ first-round series vs. Detroit due to early foul trouble, but he played a major role in New York’s second-half comeback, including a 21-0 run that sealed the victory, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Hart went scoreless, missing his two field goal attempts, in seven first-half minutes, but he went 6-of-8 after intermission, finishing with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 30 minutes — the Knicks outscored the Pistons by 20 during his time on the court.

“I think it’s just trying to stay ready,” Hart said Sunday. “I think growing up, I was always taught to play the game until the last whistle. At Villanova, Coach [Jay] Wright really got that instilled in us that you can’t control everything, you’ve gotta let stuff go, but you’ve gotta continue to push, continue to fight until the last whistle. For me, that’s just how I’m wired. You can box me out for 46 minutes, but if it’s not a habit, those last two minutes of a game is where I’m gonna make an impact or get an offensive rebound or get a loose ball or something like that.

“Obviously the foul trouble was frustrating. I was yelling at [head coach Tom Thibodeau] to keep me in but obviously I was doing idiotic fouls. Thibs is always making sure you’re staying ready and locked into the game.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

  • As Chris Herring details for ESPN.com, Hart is one of the top rebounders in NBA history for his size, is known for his tenacity and hustle, is a skilled secondary play-maker, and shot a career-best 61.8% on twos during the 2024/25 season. Still, while Hart’s all-around contributions are undoubtedly valuable, the Knicks’ playoff hopes may hinge on how he fares from behind the arc — rival teams dare him to shoot, and his three-point percentages tend to fluctuate wildly. He has converted 34.2% of his career triples, including 33.3% in ’24/25.
  • If OG Anunoby continues to play like he did in Game 1, the Knicks have a real shot at making a deep playoff run, contends Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post (subscriber link). Anunoby, 27, re-signed with New York in free agency last offseason, inking a massive five-year, $212.5MM contract. The defensive stalwart recorded 23 points, seven rebounds, five steals and two blocks in 44 minutes in the opening contest.
  • Pistons second-year wing Ausar Thompson said “nothing” came to mind when asked to name the most difficult challenge of defending Jalen Brunson, but later said the star guard was good at “selling” fouls, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required). Known for his excellent defense, Thompson committed five fouls in 23 minutes in Game 1.
  • Karl-Anthony Towns could become a franchise legend if the team has an impressive playoff showing, Vaccaro writes in another subscriber-only column. Towns is off to a good start after shining in his Knicks postseason debut, but he will have to continue to thrive on both ends for New York to have a chance at representing the East in the NBA Finals.
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Pistons’ Isaiah Stewart Undergoes Imaging On Leg

April 20th, 2025 at 7:25pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

7:25pm: Stewart is listed as questionable for Game 2 on Monday with right knee inflammation, Steve Popper of Newsday tweets.

2:59pm: After exiting in the fourth quarter of an eventual Game 1 defeat to New York, Pistons forward/center Isaiah Stewart had imaging conducted on his right leg, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).

As Begley notes, Stewart had been struggling through the injury for much of the matinee contest.

The 6’8″ big man, one of Detroit’s toughest frontcourt bench options, adjusted to a reduced role under new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff this season.

Stewart had been a consistent starter throughout each of his last three seasons with lottery-bound Detroit squads. This year, en route to the team’s first playoff appearance since 2019, the Washington alum averaged 6.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.4 BPG a night.

In his first playoff game ever, the aforementioned 123-112 New York win in Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Stewart registered two points, five rebounds, two blocks, and one assist across 19 minutes of action. While those numbers don’t jump off the page, he was the only Piston who had a positive plus/minus rating (+8).

The second matchup, slated for Monday, will be another road tilt for Stewart and the Pistons.

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NBA Announces Finalists For 2024/25 Awards

April 20th, 2025 at 6:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic are the three finalists for the league’s Most Valuable Player award this season, the league announced on Sunday (Twitter link).

While all three players put up monster numbers, Gilgeous-Alexander is generally considered the favorite to win the award due in large part to the Thunder’s team success this season. Oklahoma City won a league-high 68 regular season games, compared to 50 for Jokic’s Nuggets and 48 for Antetokounmpo’s Bucks.

The finalists for each award represent the top three vote-getters. The winners will be announced at a later date.

Here’s a rundown of the finalists for the major NBA awards voted on by media members:

Coach of the Year

  • Kenny Atkinson (Cavaliers)
  • J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons)
  • Ime Udoka (Rockets)

Rookie of the Year

Sixth Man of the Year

Defensive Player of the Year

Most Improved Player

Clutch Player of the Year

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Central Notes: Mitchell, Kuzma, Harris, White

April 20th, 2025 at 5:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Eastern Conference’s top seed begins its first-round series tonight, and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell knows that in order to be looked upon as a one of the game’s biggest stars, he has to deliver in the playoffs, he tells Marc Spears of Andscape.

“It’s right there. The biggest thing that holds me back is winning. Talent-wise, I don’t think it’s even a discussion,” he said. “It’s more like, ‘Can I win at the highest level?’ That’s been the question for most of my career. So, for me, that’s why you can’t squander these opportunities because that’s what puts you there.

“I said it [last] summer on the Melo [Carmelo Anthony] podcast, ‘I can use it as fuel, but I can’t get mad.’ I’ve been to the conference finals. I can use it as fuel, but then you got to go out there and produce a win. To shut them [critics] up, you got to go out there and win. So that’s the main goal, and I will do it by any means necessary. It doesn’t mean I have to go out and score 40 points every night. I’ve got to make the guys around me better.”

We have more from the Central Division:

  • Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma was a no-show in Game 1 of the team’s series against the Pacers. He had no points, rebounds or assists in 22 minutes. Kuzma banged his thumb in the first quarter but wouldn’t make excuses. “Just understanding what I need to do, can’t wait for the ball, can’t wait for things to happen, kind of just gotta go get it, just find myself and get into actions on my own,” he said, per the Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak. “Rebound — definitely a stinker for sure. It’s a long series, it’s seven games and I’m excited to play because I understand a little bit of what I need to do to attack the next game.”
  • The Pistons gave up 21 unanswered points in the second half of their Game 1 loss to the Knicks. Forward Tobias Harris said the team needs to move on from that disappointment with Game 2 approaching on Monday night, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press writes. “It’s a series,” Harris said. “You can’t get too high, can’t get too low. Each team will make an adjustment, but overall it’s about mentally just staying locked into the moment and being ready for the next game, no matter what. I think for us, obviously for this group, guys having first time playoff experience it’s just understanding it stinks to lose but it’s about how you come back the next night.”
  • Bulls guard Coby White is entering the last year of his deal and will make $12.9MM next season. He’s eligible for an extension but would be foolish to sign one, according to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley. If he pursued an extension, White would be limited to a 40% raise on his current contract. He could potentially make a lot more by waiting until free agency next summer.
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Kenny Atkinson Wins Coaches Association Award

April 19th, 2025 at 11:27am CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has won the Michael H. Goldberg award for the 2024/25 season, earning Coach of the Year from the National Basketball Coaches Association, according to a press release.

This award, introduced in 2017 and named after longtime NBCA executive director Michael H. Goldberg, is voted on by the NBA’s 30 head coaches, none of whom can vote for himself.

It isn’t the NBA’s official Coach of the Year award, which is voted on by media members and is represented by the Red Auerbach Trophy. The winner of that award will be announced later this spring.

J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons), Mark Daigneault (Thunder), Ime Udoka (Rockets), and – interestingly – Michael Malone (Nuggets) also received votes from their fellow coaches for this year’s NBCA award. Malone was let go by Denver earlier this month.

Atkinson was hired by the Cavaliers last June and was tasked with turning the team into a legitimate title contender following a 48-win season and a second-round playoff exit. Despite the fact that Cleveland’s roster didn’t undergo any major changes last summer, the team had one of the best years in franchise history, racking up 64 wins and holding the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference for nearly the entire season.

After the Cavs placed 16th in the NBA with a 114.7 offensive rating in 2023/24, Atkinson helped turn the unit into the league’s top-ranked offense in ’24/25 — Cleveland’s 121.0 offensive rating led the league by a comfortable margin. The club also ranked eighth in defensive rating (111.8) and third in overall net rating (+9.2).

The NBCA Coach of the Year award has frequently been a bellwether for the NBA’s Coach of the Year honor, which bodes well for Atkinson. In six of the eight years since the award’s inception, the winner has gone on to be named the NBA’s Coach of the Year, including in 2024 when Daigneault won both awards.

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Central Notes: Jerome, Mitchell, Mathurin, Pistons

April 17th, 2025 at 7:01pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Two major injuries hindered important moments in Ty Jerome‘s career. A hip surgery prevented him from playing his senior year in high school, and he was limited to just 15 minutes with Cleveland last season before suffering a season-ending ankle injury.

As Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes, Jerome had previously parlayed an impressive Warriors season in 2022/23 into a multiyear deal with the Cavaliers. But Jerome was playing on a two-way contract in Golden State, meaning he was still getting his footing in the league at the time of last season’s injury.

“I was in a very dark place,” Jerome said. “I felt disconnected from the group. I felt alone. I was just kind of here by myself, going into the facility solely to rehab, and then back home to sit on the couch with no plan for how to get better and no real timeline for a return. I’m a hooper. It’s my only hobby. When I’m playing basketball, when I’m able to shoot and work out, I’m just a happier, healthier person.”

Jerome emerged from the situation as one of the Cavaliers’ most pivotal players. He’s averaging 12.5 points per game while shooting 51.6% from the floor and 43.9% from three this season. He went from not being considered as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate at the start of the season to emerging as a potential finalist for the award.

We have more from the Central Division:

  • Donovan Mitchell‘s scoring output has dipped this season, but his self-sacrifice this season made the Cavaliers contenders, Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes. “Unselfish MVP, that’s what I call it,” teammate Darius Garland said. Vardon notes that Mitchell’s minutes and shot volume are down as part of a designed and agreed-to plan that allowed Garland and other teammates to step up this season.
  • Bennedict Mathurin wasn’t able to play in the Pacers‘ run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season as he recovered from surgery on a torn labrum. As Dustin Dopirak of IndyStar writes, Mathurin remembers watching that run from the sidelines and is eager to help push the Pacers there again and beyond. “It’s huge,” teammate Aaron Nesmith said of having Mathurin back. “I’m excited to see him. He lives for moments like this. He’s a big-time shot taker, big-time shot-maker. He lives for big moments. His presence on the court, his presence at the end of games, throughout the course of the series will be huge for us.”
  • Ahead of their first-round playoff series, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post analyzes how the Pistons and Knicks helped build each other’s rosters through a series of trades and free agents swapping places. The Pistons acquired the draft rights to Jalen Duren from New York in a 2022 deal that sent the Knicks one of the first-rounders they later traded for Mikal Bridges. Meanwhile, after acquiring Quentin Grimes from the Knicks at the 2024 trade deadline, the Pistons flipped him to Dallas last offseason in a deal for Tim Hardaway Jr., who started 77 games this season.
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G League’s All-Defensive, All-Rookie Teams Unveiled

April 17th, 2025 at 2:43pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has officially announced (via Twitter) the G League’s All-Defensive Team for the 2024/25 season. Here’s the full five-player list:

All-NBA G League Defensive Team

The top rookies of the NBAGL season were also unveiled on Thursday (Twitter link). They are as follows:

All-NBA G League Rookie Team

Key, who was recently promoted to a standard contract with Golden State, was named the NBAGL’s Defensive Player of the Year, while Alexander won Rookie of the Year. Badji, who recently signed with a Spanish club, and Nogues, who has declared for the 2025 NBA draft, finished second and third in DPOY voting, respectively. Jones Garcia was the runner-up for ROY, with Young finishing third.

As our tracker shows, Alexander, Jenkins, Young and Dennis are on two-way contracts with their respective NBA clubs.

Journeyman center Brown also earned a spot on the All-NBA G League Second Team, while Alexander made the Third Team.

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Central Notes: Bulls Play-In, Vucevic, Pistons, Haliburton

April 16th, 2025 at 10:54am CST by Dana Gauruder

Tempo will be a key in the Bulls’ play-in game against the Heat tonight, Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune writes. Chicago will want to speed up the game, while the Heat would prefer a half-court battle.

“Our identity is up and down — and it’s not a secret,” guard Josh Giddey said. “Everyone knows the way we play.”

Coby White says the Bulls need to match the Heat’s physicality. Chicago lost to Miami in the play-in round in each of the last two seasons.

“I feel like Miami — the last two years we played them in the play-in — they physically dominated us,” White said.

We have more from the Central Division:

  • Bulls center Nikola Vucevic remains one of the league’s most consistent players, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic writes. Vucevic averaged a double-double this season. “It’s the hardest thing in this league,” he said. “There’s so many games. There’s a lot of ups and downs. You win, you lose. You have good games, bad games. But you just have to learn to deal with it and move on. I just try to bring it every night and do what I do and not get out of that. I’ve had better years and worse years, but I don’t think there’s been a huge difference in the way I’ve played and my numbers. So, I take a lot of pride in it. I try to bring it every night.”
  • Coach J.B. Bickerstaff has a warning for the younger players on the Pistons — you’re about to step into a new dimension. They’re about to get a taste of postseason basketball, a totally different experience from regular season action. “It’s a completely different basketball game,” he said, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “And until you’re in it, it’s hard to understand it. We’ve been through this before. At some point in time, we were all kids and didn’t listen to our parents, either, and didn’t figure it out until we experienced it on our own. That’s what the playoffs are. We can tell guys what to expect, but until we experience it you don’t understand just how different it is from an intensity standpoint, from the execution of schemes, the importance of possession-by-possession basketball.”
  • The Pacers enter the playoffs as the No. 4 seed with a home-court advantage over Milwaukee in the first round. They made a surprise run to the conference finals last season. Expectations are different this time around, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star writes. “I think even last year we were just satisfied with being in the playoffs,” guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “Everything from there was kinda playing with house money to be honest with you. This year I think we have real expectations to do something special as a group and when I say something special, I mean a championship. That’s definitely an expectation we’ve had since the start of the year. That doesn’t change.”
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Central Notes: Giddey, Ball, Jones, Buzelis, Pistons, Sims

April 15th, 2025 at 8:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bulls guard Josh Giddey is dealing with a muscle issue on the side of his hand but he’s expected to suit up for the play-in game against Miami on Wednesday, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network reports.

“It’s just about managing the pain,” Giddey said, adding that the injury will be addressed in the offseason (Twitter links).

Giddey can’t imagine watching Wednesday’s game in street clothes.

“I’m good to go,” he said, per Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune. “Play-in game, must-win game, there’s not way I’m going to sit out.”

Lonzo Ball (wrist) and Tre Jones (foot) won’t play.

We have more from the Central Division:

  • Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis plans to play for the Lithuanian national team, but he’s unsure about representing his country this offseason. “I’m not sure that I will come this summer. We have problems with the coaches,” he told Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net, referring to controversial comments by an assistant coach of the senior national team, Tomas Pacesas. “I have to talk to Jonas [Valanciunas], Domantas [Sabonis] and see what they will do.” Lithuania will participate in the EuroBasket tournament this summer. Sabonis is expected to sit out for personal reasons, while Valanciunas is expected to play.
  • The Pistons apparently don’t want Little Caesars Arena to have a large continent of Knicks fans during the first round of the playoffs, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post writes. Potential ticket buyers for upcoming playoff games in Detroit must produce a credit card with a mailing address “located in Michigan and in certain parts of Ohio, Indiana and Ontario, Canada,” according to Ticketmaster. However, a Pistons spokesman told Bondy that the restrictions are intended to target ticket brokers and reduce fraud.
  • Bucks coach Doc Rivers is “pretty sure” reserve big man Jericho Sims will be available for their opening-round series against Indiana. Sims participated in a majority of Tuesday’s practice, Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets. He hasn’t played since March 16 due to a thumb injury.
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