Clippers Rumors

Thunder’s Sam Presti Named Executive Of The Year

May 6th, 2025 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

Sam Presti, the Thunder‘s executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager, has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year for 2024/25, the league announced today (via Twitter). It’s the first time that Presti, who has run the Thunder’s front office since 2007, has earned the honor.

Presti, who built the Thunder around a young core led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams, made two notable moves last offseason to fortify the roster. He traded Josh Giddey to the Bulls in exchange for defensive standout Alex Caruso and signed big man Isaiah Hartenstein away from the Knicks in free agency.

Despite some injury woes that prevented Hartenstein and Holmgren from suiting up together until after the trade deadline, the Thunder dominated the NBA’s regular season in 2024/25, racking up a league-high 68 wins and recording a net rating of +12.7, one of the best marks in league history.

Oklahoma City ranked third in the NBA in offensive rating (119.2) and led the league in defensive rating (106.6) by a comfortable margin.

The Thunder, viewed as the heavy favorites to come out of the West this spring, remain well positioned to contend for years to come due not only to the talent already under contract but to their collection of future draft picks.

The Executive of the Year award is voted on by fellow team executives rather than by media members.

According to the NBA, Presti received 10 of 30 possible first-place votes and showed up on 22 ballots overall, earning 74 total points. He narrowly beat out Koby Altman of the Cavaliers (six first-place votes; 58 points) and Trajan Langdon of the Pistons (six first-place votes; 52 points), with Rafael Stone of the Rockets (four first-place votes; 38 points) coming in fourth.

A total of 13 executives showed up on at least one ballot, with Lawrence Frank (Clippers), Rob Pelinka (Lakers), Sean Marks (Nets), and Brad Stevens (Celtics) earning the remaining first-place votes. The full results can be viewed here (Twitter link).

Clippers To Continue To Build Around Leonard, Harden

May 5th, 2025 at 9:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank says that retaining James Harden is the front office’s “first priority” this offseason, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

Harden has a $36.3MM option on his contract for next season. He must decide whether to pick it up before the free agent period begins. If he doesn’t, Frank will look to re-sign Harden to a multiyear deal.

“Because James has a player option, it would be irresponsible for me not to have contingency plans with it,” Frank said. “But I’m going in with the intent that if he doesn’t pick up his option, that we’re going to be able to reach an agreement that works well for James and works well for the Clippers.”

Frank lavished praise on Harden despite the veteran guard’s underwhelming playoff performances against Denver. Frank noted that Harden appeared in 79 regular season games, played the fifth-most total minutes in the NBA (2,789), was fifth in the league in assists per game (8.7), while also averaging 22.8 points per game.

“We really asked James to do a lot,” Frank said via Zoom. “And at his age to deliver what he did…[He played in] 79 games, and he does that time and time and time again. We have a deep appreciation for that sort of availability and to be able to deliver and do what he did…We have a great level of appreciation for what James did this year.”

Frank plans to continue to build the team around Kawhi Leonard and Harden. Leonard appeared in 37 regular season games this season after returning from a knee ailment that delayed his season debut until Jan. 4.

“There’s another level for him out there that he’s going to get to next year,” Frank said, per The Associated Press. “I think looking at next year that we can be better with more games from Kawhi.”

Here’s more from Frank’s press conference:

Despite the Game 7 meltdown against the Nuggets, Frank is optimistic the core of the roster can produce better results in the postseason. “It was great that we were healthy for the first time in a long time, but that doesn’t mean you only get one shot at it,” he said. “We’ll keep on taking cracks at it, and at the same time we’ve always been open-minded and learning the errors of our way and finding areas where we can correct and get better.”
Nicolas Batum has a $4.9MM option on his contract and Frank hopes the veteran forward picks it up. “Yes, 1,000 percent, we hope that Nico comes back,” he said.
He admits the team needs some younger bodies. “We’re the oldest team in the league,” he said, per Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. “Always the quandary that we’ve had is you that can have youth, but if the deck is stacked … if you have a bunch of veterans ahead of ’em, when does the youth really ever get in the game?”
While the Clippers generally lack financial flexibility, Frank feels he can round out the roster with some lower-cost options. “We have the non-taxpayer mid-level, which is the same tool that was used to sign Derrick Jones Jr. last summer,” he said. “We also have some trade exceptions and we’ll always be an attractive place at the minimum market based on our history of not just how the guys making the minimum have played, but how we’ve taken care of ’em and rewarded ’em.”

Clippers Notes: Harden, Leonard, Lue, Powell, Batum

May 4th, 2025 at 9:58am CST by Arthur Hill

For years, one of the storylines surrounding the Clippers has been what they might be able to accomplish if their stars were ever healthy for the playoffs, writes Law Murray of The Athletic. It finally happened this season, but L.A. was ousted in the first round for the third straight year after losing Game 7 Saturday night in Denver.

The Clippers are coming off a 50-win season, surprising many observers who expected them to take a step back after losing Paul George in free agency. James Harden proved he’s still among the league’s most durable and versatile guards, playing 79 games and averaging 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists per night. Kawhi Leonard was brought along slowly, but was eventually able to overcome last season’s knee inflammation, putting up 21.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 37 games and playing vintage-level defense.

Although there might be limits to the Clippers’ future with their two best players well into their 30s, coach Tyronn Lue is encouraged by the way the season played out.

“I think James having to carry such a heavy load with Kawhi missing 45 games and just having to carry that load all season long, he did a great job with that,” Lue said. “And I think Kawhi, coming back and having the confidence in his knee that he can play more minutes, he can get through these games. And those two together for a whole season, I think, would be tremendous. So when you have your best player missing (45 games), it’s kind of hard to really jell the way we wanted to. But I thought we did a good job of just sticking with it. And whatever we needed to do to win that night, they did it.”

There’s more on the Clippers:

Harden, who has a $36.4MM player option for next season, is expected to remain with the team and the details of a potential new contract will be worked out this summer, Murray adds. That will ensure stability moving forward, as Leonard just finished the first season of a contract extension that runs through 2026/27, and Ivica Zubac, Norman Powell, Derrick Jones, Kris Dunn and Bogdan Bogdanović are all under contract for next season.
Lue is also expected to be back despite the early exit. He signed an extension last spring that runs through 2029, and Murray states that he still has a strong relationship with owner Steve Ballmer and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank. Law notes that one of Lue’s best decisions from the past year was hiring veteran coach Jeff Van Gundy to run the team’s defense.
Mark Deeks of HoopsHype examines the financial decisions the Clippers will face this summer, including a potential extension for Norman Powell. The 31-year-old guard is coming off the best scoring season of his career, averaging 21.8 PPG in 60 games, and he’s eligible for a three-year extension worth up to about $92MM.
Nicolas Batum, who has a $4.9MM player option for next season, will also be worth monitoring, Bobby Marks of ESPN states in his overview of the Clippers’ offseason (subscription required). Marks notes that the team’s bench will suffer if Batum opts to retire or test free agency.

Nuggets Notes: Adelman, Jokic, Porter, Westbrook, Murray

May 3rd, 2025 at 6:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets interim head coach David Adelman wasn’t happy with the officiating in Thursday’s Game 6 loss to the Clippers, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Adelman told reporters that the referees allowed L.A. to be too physical in defending star center Nikola Jokic, who played nearly 42 minutes but attempted just two free throws.

“Nikola gets fouled a lot,” Adelman said. “I’m not sure what was happening tonight, but for him to shoot two free throws with the amount of contact that was going on out there was absolutely crazy.”

The Clippers packed the lane against Denver in the 111-105 victory, which set up today’s series-deciding Game 7. Jokic shot just 2-of-9 in the second half, and Durando notes that he repeatedly passed up open three-pointers to drive into a crowd of defenders, even after the officials made it clear that he wouldn’t be rewarded with a foul call.

Adelman used his post-game media session to start working the refs for Game 7.

“(The Clippers) put smalls on him. Those smalls were allowed to do whatever they want,” he said. “So I’m really excited for Saturday, that we’re gonna be able to do the same thing with their best players. Because if that’s the physicality we’re allowed to play with, we’ll react to it, and we will go there in Game 7.”

There’s more from Denver:

Jokic believes credit for his poor shooting night should go to Clippers center Ivica Zubac, who blocked three shots in Game 6, Durando adds. “He was making me kind of question my shots,” Jokic said. “He was always there. He was really good defensively. … He was moving his feet really good.”
It’s better for the Nuggets if Adelman feels confident closing today’s game with Michael Porter Jr. instead of Russell Westbrook, Durando states in a separate story. Porter has been up and down throughout the series, with Durando pointing out that he was plus-34 in Game 5 and minus-24 in Game 6. Durando adds that Westbrook has been outstanding overall, but he has a history of making crucial mistakes, including a missed layup late in Thursday’s game.
Denver didn’t react well when Clippers coach Tyronn Lue replaced Kris Dunn with Nicolas Batum for the start of the second half Thursday, per Tony Jones of The Athletic. Jamal Murray admits that having an extra shooter on the court disrupted the Nuggets’ defense. “I thought we were unorganized,” he said. “I think that’s the best way to put it. It was frustrating. Some of the turnovers were bad and they hurt us tonight. But I thought they played with a lot more desperation than we did. They came out and played with their backs against the wall. I thought the game came down to a lot of those 50-50 possessions. On Saturday, those are the possessions that we are going to have to take away.”

Pacific Notes: Triano, Kings, Christie, Clippers, Redick

May 3rd, 2025 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Jay Triano, who had been the Kings‘ lead assistant this season, won’t be returning to Doug Christie‘s staff for 2025/26, sources tell Anthony Slater and Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Triano, who has been a Kings assistant since 2022, previously served as a head coach in Toronto (2008-11) and Phoenix (2017-18) and had stints as an assistant with the Raptors (2002-08), Trail Blazers (2012-16), Suns (2016-17), and Hornets (2018-22) before arriving in Sacramento. He was promoted to associate head coach in 2024 following the departure of Jordi Fernandez and still had time left on his contract after this season, reports Amick.

As Slater and Amick note (via Twitter), Triano’s exit comes as part of an overhaul of Christie’s coaching staff, with Jawad Williams, Riccardo Fois, Robbie Lemons, and Sam Logwood also on the way out.

One assistant coach who will remain under Christie is Leandro Barbosa, Slater adds. A former NBA guard, Barbosa has been with the Kings since 2022 after previously serving as a player development coach in Golden State.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Reintroducing Christie as the Kings‘ permanent head coach during a media session on Friday, new general manager Scott Perry said he was impressed from afar this season by the way Christie handled his “baptism by fire” and connected with his players after replacing Mike Brown in December, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. “Look, I’m a former coach, and I’m the first to tell him or anybody else, it’s not an easy job,” Perry said. “It’s the most second-guessed job in the world probably, but he is made of the type of internal fortitude necessary to navigate those waters.”
Hampered for years by untimely injuries to key players, the Clippers have shown in the first-round series vs. Denver that they’re a formidable opponent when their stars – in this case, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden – are healthy, writes Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. While Leonard has been the team’s top offensive postseason weapon, scoring at least 20 points in each of the first six games of the series, the Clippers may need Harden to come up as big as he did in Game 6 (28 points, eight assists) to win on Saturday and advance to round two, says Law Murray of The Athletic.
With J.J. Redick‘s inaugural season as a head coach in the books, Jovan Buha of The Athletic evaluates the job the first-time coach did for the Lakers and notes that Redick is bullish about his potential to continue improving. “I know I will get better,” he said this week. “I don’t necessarily take any satisfaction from how the year went. That’s not to say I’m not proud of what the group was able to do, and how we were able to figure out things on the fly and put ourselves in a position to have home court in the first round. But there’s always ways to get better. And I can get a lot better.”

Poll: Who Will Win Nuggets/Clippers Game 7?

May 2nd, 2025 at 11:36pm CST by Luke Adams

As a result of the Rockets’ win over the Warriors on Friday night, we have two Game 7 matchups on tap for this weekend. Golden State will head to Houston as the Western Conference’s No. 2 and No. 7 seeds battle it out on Sunday for the right to face the Timberwolves in conference semifinals.

But before we get that last showdown between the Rockets and Warriors, we’ll get another Western Conference Game 7, with the Nuggets hosting the Clippers on Saturday for the right to face the Thunder in round two.

The first-round series between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the West has been a back-and-forth affair. After narrowly squeaking past the Clippers in overtime in Game 1, the Nuggets dropped two games in a row, losing Game 3 by 34 points in Los Angeles. The Clippers looked like the heavy favorites at that point, but Denver bounced back with two consecutive wins to reclaim a 3-2 lead before L.A. evened things up with a 111-105 home win on Thursday.

Nikola Jokic has been his usual dominant self for the Nuggets, averaging a triple-double through the team’s first six playoff games and making 50.9% of his shots, including 44.8% of his three-pointers. Jamal Murray has been reliable too, contributing 24.0 points and 6.5 assists with a .482/.432/.938 shooting line.

But Denver lacks depth and its supporting cast has been hit and miss. Starting forward Michael Porter Jr. has been held to seven points or fewer in three separate games, while Christian Braun – a Most Improved Player candidate who averaged 15.4 PPG with a .397 3PT% during the regular season – has seen his postseason marks drop to 11.2 PPG with a .250 3PT%.

While Russell Westbrook has given the Nuggets some good minutes off the bench, they haven’t gotten much from their other reserves — in Denver’s three losses, the non-Westbrook bench players scored a total of 15 points in 95 combined minutes.

The Clippers, meanwhile, have gotten a big boost from a healthy Kawhi Leonard, who has frequently showed the form that helped him earn Finals MVP awards earlier in his career with the Spurs and Raptors. Leonard has averaged 25.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game on .545/.394/.741 shooting.

Los Angeles’ other star, James Harden, has been less consistent. After a 32-point outing in Game 1, he averaged 16.0 points per game on 41.2% shooting through the next four contests before bouncing back with a 28-point showing in Game 6.

The Clippers have gotten what they’ve needed from center Ivica Zubac and swingman Norman Powell, but have had to experiment to find other effective combinations and lineups to complement their top four players. As we detailed earlier on Friday, head coach Tyronn Lue played starting guard Kris Dunn for just 10 minutes and gave Ben Simmons his first DNP-CD of the series in Game 6 in order to improving the club’s offensive spacing.

The change was an effective one — veteran forward Nicolas Batum played a series-high 34 minutes and the Clippers were a +11 when he was on the court. Veteran wings Derrick Jones and Bogdan Bogdanovic also give the team good minutes off the bench.

The oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag currently list the Nuggets as 1.5-point favorites for Saturday’s deciding game, but that’s likely more about the home-court factor than a belief that Denver is the legitimately better team. The Nuggets have a strong track record in the mile-high elevation at Ball Arena, while the Clippers had a 20-21 regular season road record and have lost two of three games in Denver this series.

We want to know what you think. Are you picking the Nuggets or the Clippers to win on Saturday and advance to round two? Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section to share your predictions and thoughts!

Clippers Notes: Batum, Dunn, Harden, Zubac

May 2nd, 2025 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Tyronn Lue made a timely lineup change Thursday night to help the Clippers survive in their first-round series with Denver, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. To start the second half, Lue decided to replace defensive specialist Kris Dunn with veteran forward Nicolas Batum. Shelburne observes that Dunn has become a liability for L.A.’s offense, as the Nuggets were daring him to shoot and frequently leaving him to send a second defender at James Harden. Batum provides more of a scoring threat, and he’s versatile enough to guard anyone from Jamal Murray to Nikola Jokic.

“When we went small with that shooting lineup, we were able to break the game open a little bit,” Lue said. “That gave James and Kawhi (Leonard) more spacing and they were able to attack more.”

The move invigorated the Clippers, who scored 32 points in the third quarter on their way to extending the series to a seventh game. Shelburne notes that they made all six shots they attempted off Batum’s passes in the second half.

After the game, Lue gave recognition to Dunn and Ben Simmons, neither of whom played after halftime, for being good teammates and understanding the strategy.

“It’s about being a team and whatever it takes to win and those guys totally understood,” Lue said. “Even though they’ve been great for us all year long. So I just wanted to say thank you to them.”

There’s more on the Clippers:

Harden barely came off the court Thursday night as he logged 47 minutes in the victory. He yawned twice during his post-game press conference, Shelburne adds, but he recognizes the need for such a heavy workload and he’s willing to do it again in Game 7. “I’m tired,” Harden admitted. “Got to. Have to. Whatever the team needs. If it’s 47, 48, overtime, whatever. I’m going to do it.”
Harden has a chance to alter his negative playoff reputation by leading the Clippers to a win on Saturday, states Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times. Harden has a long history of postseason disappointments, but he delivered 28 points, six rebounds and eight assists in Thursday’s elimination game. Leonard expressed confidence in his teammate, telling reporters, “He’s been here before. Guys have games where they don’t play well during the season. It’s just another game, so I knew he was gonna be able to come back, or he was going to be aggressive and try to get to his spots.”
Ivica Zubac and Batum teamed up to give Jokic his most frustrating night of the series, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. The Nuggets star didn’t score during an 11-minute stretch in the third quarter, and he shot 2-of-9 from the field in the second half. “Zu was a monster on the defensive end tonight, getting closer to Joker, not giving as much space,” Lue said. “Man, with Joker, it’s just hard. If you double-team him, he’s going to pick your apart with his passing. If you stay at home, he’s going to score.”

Pacific Notes: Suns Coaching Search, Gregory, Lue

May 1st, 2025 at 9:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Suns are currently looking for their fourth head coach in as many seasons.

Phoenix announced Thursday that it has elevated incumbent front office executive Brian Gregory to its team general manager role, while shifting former GM James Jones into an advisory capacity. According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix (Twitter link), Gregory will start contacting agents of potential head coaching candidates immediately, with 14 or 15 potential targets expected to be on that list.

Gambadoro confirms, as has been previously reported, that the Suns are considered likely to hire a first-time NBA head coach this time around, following three straight disappointing seasons with very experienced coaches. Gambadoro tweets that Phoenix is expected to make its decision within the next two or three weeks. The Suns plan to cull down their initial candidate list to two or three finalists over a few rounds of conversations.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

As Phoenix’s new top decision maker, Brian Gregory has an interesting summer ahead of him. PHNX Sports’ Gerald Bourguet offers up a fresh primer on Gregory’s history and how he and new assistant GM Oronde Taliaferro will impact the Suns’ future. Bourguet notes that, though Gregory has significant experience as a coach, his front office experience is significantly more limited.
After considering making a change to his starting lineup for a must-win Game 6, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters that he will keep his preferred first five intact after all, per Mark Medina of Sportskeeda (via Twitter). L.A. currently trails Denver 3-2 in the series.
In case you missed it, Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic recently reflected on their first time suiting up against one another in a playoff series this spring.

Northwest Notes: Porter, Westbrook, Nuggets, Wolves, Thunder

May 1st, 2025 at 8:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Nuggets starting forward Michael Porter Jr. and sixth man guard Russell Westbrook have both been removed from the club’s injury report ahead of a critical Game 6 encounter with the Clippers on Thursday night, the team announced (Twitter link).

Westbrook, 36, missed most of Game 3 and all of Game 4 due to a foot injury, while Porter sprained his left shoulder in Game 2, and has been playing through the ailment. L.A., meanwhile is fully healthy.

In the four games he has played, Westbrook has averaged 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.8 steals per night off the bench against his former team.

Porter has struggled with consistency in this series, even prior to the shoulder injury. The 26-year-old is averaging 11.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 1.0 APG through his first five outings.

Thanks in large part to terrific play from three-time MVP center Nikola Jokic, guard Jamal Murray — and solid contributions from forward Aaron Gordon and wing Christian Braun — Denver currently boasts a 3-2 advantage over L.A.

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

The two best Serbian players currently in the NBA, All-Star Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and reserve Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, are playing each other for the first in the postseason during this Denver-L.A. series. Although they’re friendly now, that wasn’t always the case, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post details. “We played in preparation games twice, and we played in-season twice. I didn’t like him,” Bogdanovic said with a laugh. “Because he was goofy, and he wasn’t hitting shots. He was just passing. … He could have scored one-on-one and everything. He was toying with (the game). That’s a good word. He was like toying, joking with it.”
Oft-maligned Timberwolves frontcourt stars Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle were singled out by head coach Chris Finch for their contributions in the team’s first-round series win over the Lakers. Finch asserted that Gobert, who finished with a 27-point, 24-rebound double-double in Game 5, deserves more credit for his talent, according to Kris Rhim of ESPN. “Rudy’s a winner at the highest level,” the Wolves’ coach said. “You can not like who he is, how he does it, what he looks like, et cetera. When you have this guy on your team, you understand what a professional and a winner is.” Finch also believes that Randle has been given a bad rap relative to his ability. “I’d also just like to say that Julius Randle was absolutely huge in this series,” he said of the forward (Twitter video link via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype). “Another guy who’s had a lot of unfair criticism in his career. We don’t win this series without Julius.”
Thanks to a brisk four-game sweep of Memphis in the first round, the West’s top-seeded Thunder will enjoy an eight- or nine-day break before their second-round series begins and they plan to make the most of the time off, observes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “We always say, ‘The times in between the games are the days that you have to win in the playoffs,’” All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of the extensive layoff. Oklahoma City will face the winner of the ongoing matchup between the Nuggets and Clippers in the semis. “It’s good, obviously, physically, to rejuvenate,” head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Guys, I’m sure, are dealing with things here and there to get healthy, and it allows ample prep time. I thought we handled it really well, coming out of the regular season, getting ourselves ready to play at the start of (the Memphis) series. We’re going to need to replicate that this week as we wait for that other series to finish.”

Pacific Notes: Curry, Warriors, Suns, Harden

May 1st, 2025 at 9:12am CST by Luke Adams

Warriors star Stephen Curry, who injured his right thumb in January and re-injured it late in the regular season, has had that thumb wrapped during games and has been icing it after games, but he said following Wednesday’s loss to Houston that it’s not affecting how he plays, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

As Youngmisuk details, after a Golden State broadcaster suggested that Rockets defenders appear to be targeting Curry’s thumb when he shoots, Warriors players and head coach Steve Kerr were asked whether that’s something they’ve noticed. Kerr didn’t dispute that it’s happening, but pointed out that it’s not against the NBA’s rules.

“The rule is once the shot has been released, you’re allowed to hit a guy’s arm,” Kerr said. “And so what’s happened in the league this year is, players always are, they’re going to outsmart the rules. They know what they’re doing. So players all over the league are just taking shots at guys’ shooting hands after the release because they know it’s not going to be a foul. And I’m very confident that next year the league will fix it because it’s only a matter of time before somebody breaks a thumb or breaks a hand or whatever. But these are the rules.

“I do believe they’re allowed to call a flagrant if they want. The refs can call flagrant if a guy winds up and takes a shot. But no, it’s been happening across the league all year long. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, but we have to take it through the league process to get that changed. … I know we got 30 coaches who all think it’s just idiotic that we allow this, so we’ll have to take it through the competition committee, all that stuff this summer and eventually we’ll get it fixed.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Trailing by 27 points at halftime on Wednesday, Kerr and forward Draymond Green decided during the break that the Warriors shouldn’t chase a comeback for more than about five minutes in the second half if they weren’t making up any ground, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. With 5:50 left in the third quarter and Houston still up by 29, Kerr pulled all of his starters and didn’t use them for the rest of the night. “I wasn’t going to chase this game with Game 6 coming up in 48 hours,” Kerr said. “Unless we made a huge run, we kind of had an idea that we’d pull the plug.” Golden State’s reserves eventually cut the deficit to 13 points with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Kerr opted against bringing back his first-stringers at that point. “When you make a move like that, the starters on the bench, you can’t go back to them,” he explained. “It’s not the right thing to do.”
The Suns are expected to announce changes to their front office either by the end of this week or early next week at the latest, says John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). It’s unclear exactly what those changes might look like, but NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link) hears that one option in play is promoting VP of player programming Brian Gregory to a more prominent position. Suns owner Mat Ishbia is a fan of Gregory, who has a “significant voice” in the team’s draft strategy, Stein adds.
With their season on the brink entering a do-or-die Game 6 vs. Denver, the Clippers will need more from their stars to force a Game 7, writes Law Murray of The Athletic. Thursday’s game will be an especially big one for James Harden, who has been held to 13.0 points per game on .400/.250/.643 shooting in the Clippers’ past two losses and hasn’t spoken to the media after either game, Murray notes. Harden could become a free agent this summer if he declines a $36.3MM player option.

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