Darius Acuff Declares For 2026 NBA Draft
Appearing on Wednesday’s episode of NBA Today on ESPN, Arkansas freshman guard Darius Acuff told host Malika Andrews that he has decided to declare for the 2026 NBA draft (Twitter video link).
The announcement comes as no surprise, given that Acuff is widely expected to be a top-10 pick in June. He’s ranked sixth overall on ESPN’s big board and shows up at No. 5 in the latest mock draft from Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report.
A 6’3″ guard, Acuff started all 36 games he played as a freshman in 2025/26 and led the SEC with 23.5 points and 6.4 assists in 35.1 minutes per contest. He also pulled down 3.1 rebounds per game and posted an excellent shooting line of .484/.440/.809.
The 19-year-old’s standout season, which included a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA tournament, earned him several year-end honors, including the SEC Player of the Year award and a consensus first-team All-American nod.
As ESPN’s Jeremy Woo observes, NBA scouts and executives have some concerns about Acuff’s defense, due in part to his size. However, he’s a dynamic offensive player who handles the ball well, creates – and makes – his own shots, and is a savvy finisher and play-maker.
Arkansas head coach John Calipari believes NBA teams are underrating Acuff. He has stated that Acuff is as talented as any freshman guard he has ever coached and told Marc J. Spears of Andscape last month that clubs who pass on the Razorbacks star will “regret it.”
“I said it about Tyrese (Maxey). I’ve said it about a bunch of guys,” Calipari said. “I said it about Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander): ‘You’re going to regret passing on this kid.’ And I know there are other good players, but this kid (Acuff) is unique.”
College underclassmen who want to go pro or simply test the NBA draft waters have until the end of this Friday to file their paperwork. Our early entrant tracker can be found right here.
Wembanyama Exits Game 2 After Suffering Concussion
9:54pm: Wembanyama has a concussion and will undergo further testing on Wednesday, Charania tweets. Wembanyama must now have at least 48 hours of inactivity and recovery, then hit several benchmarks while being symptom-free before he is cleared to play.
8:18pm: Spurs star center Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the remainder of Game 2 of his team’s game against the Trail Blazers on Tuesday after he entered concussion protocol. The team made the announcement during the second quarter, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
Wembanyama was injured when he stumbled while driving toward the basket and banged his chin against the floor (Twitter video link).
The big man had five points, four rebounds, a block and an assist in 12 minutes before suffering the injury. He collected his Defensive Player of the Year award prior to the game but the mood among the team and home crowd changed dramatically after Wembanyama fell in the lane and headed to the locker room.
With Wembanyama now in concussion protocol, the No. 2 seeded Spurs suddenly look much more vulnerable. They won Game 1 111-98 behind his 36-point eruption.
Wembanyama will have to meet certain benchmarks and exhibit that he’s symptom-free before clearing the concussion protocol. Until he can return, Luke Kornet will play a more prominent role and another veteran big man, Kelly Olynyk, could also see his minutes spike.
Kevin Durant Cleared To Play Game 2
Kevin Durant will play in Game 2 of the Rockets’ series against the Lakers on Tuesday night, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.
Houston’s star forward missed Game 1 due to a knee tendon bruise after suffering the injury in practice last week. Rockets coach Ime Udoka said during his pregame press conference that Durant, who tested out the knee during pregame warmups, wouldn’t be on a minutes restriction if he plays.
“The pain tolerance is one thing, but actually moving and feeling comfortable doing all the movements is going to be the biggest thing,” Udoka said after the team’s practice this week.
The Lakers, who are operating without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, collected a 107-98 Game 1 victory as the Rockets struggled offensively without Durant. The 16-time All-Star averaged 26.0 points per game this season in 78 outings this season and has averaged 29.3 PPG in 170 career playoff contests.
He’ll match up against LeBron James for the first time since the 2018 NBA Finals, when Durant played for Golden State and James led Cleveland.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Named Clutch Player Of Year
Thunder guard and reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has added another accolade to his collection, having earned the league’s Clutch Player of the Year Award, according to the NBA league office (Twitter link).
Gilgeous-Alexander scored a league-leading 175 points on 51.5% shooting from the field in 125.1 clutch minutes played this season. He also led the league with 52 made field goals in the clutch. He played 52.3 fewer minutes in clutch situations than Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who ranked second in the NBA with 166 total points.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA with 16 go-ahead field goals in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime this season, including a game-winning step-back three-pointer versus Denver on March 9. The Thunder posted a 124.5 offensive rating and 23.8 net rating during clutch time, both second-best in the NBA. Oklahoma City went 24-10 in clutch games this season.
Per the NBA’s “clutch” tracking data, Gilgeous-Alexander’s average of 6.5 points in the clutch is the best in the NBA among those who played more than one clutch game, according to The Athletic’s Joel Lorenzi.
Murray and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards were the other finalists, but Gilgeous-Alexander was the runaway winner, gaining 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes from a media panel. Murray narrowly beat out Edwards for second place — while the Wolves star showed up on more total ballots, Murray held the edge in second-place votes and was the runner-up by a single voting point (117 to 116).
A total of 10 players received votes. The full results can be found here.
This is the fourth season that the league has given out a Clutch Player of the Year award. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson won it last season and finished fifth in this year’s vote.
Blazers’ Dundon Reportedly Unfazed By Criticism Over Spending Cuts
It has been less than a month since Tom Dundon officially took over as the Trail Blazers‘ controlling owner, but several reports in recent weeks have suggested he’s taking a penny-pinching approach to the role.
The Blazers were reportedly the only team not to bring their two-way players on the road for their first-round series; they have begun requiring support staffers to check out of their hotel rooms early in order to avoid incurring late check-out fees; and they reportedly want to pay their next permanent head coach a bargain-basement rate.
Bill Oram of The Oregonian (subscriber link) shares a few more details on the cost-cutting measures happening in Portland, writing that the team reduced the number of people in its traveling party for last week’s play-in game in Phoenix and the first-round series in San Antonio, leaving behind its digital reporter and award-winning team photographer, among others. The Blazers also haven’t sent a scout to the Timberwolves/Nuggets games despite the fact that they would face the winner of that series if they upset San Antonio, Oram adds.
According to Jason Quick of The Athletic, interim head coach Tiago Splitter expressed frustration to a confidant last Tuesday when the team’s masseuse, having had to leave her hotel room to avoid a late check-out fee, had nowhere to provide players with treatment ahead of that night’s play-in game in Phoenix.
As Quick explains, all the changes stem from an edict that Dundon gave to Blazers management when he assumed control of the franchise.
“The directive was, ‘Why are we wasting money? Let’s think about this prudently,'” a team source told Quick. “Essentially he was saying, ‘Let’s make things like (the traveling party) be about who needed to be there, not it-would-be-nice-if-they-come.'”
According to Quick and Oram, the Blazers spent lavishly on various non-essential perks under the former ownership of the late Paul Allen, who was one of the richest men in the world. While it may be true that the organization became a “bloated enterprise” under Allen, it seems as if Dundon is determined to over-correct in the other direction, Oram writes, making the team the NBA’s “most spendthrift organization.”
“I think (Dundon) thinks this is just the beginning,” a team source told The Athletic. “I think he thinks this is just what taking over franchises is, where you have to change things. He said he went through a lot of rough times (with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes) … but ultimately all people care about now is winning. So what I think is accurate is him being cheap as it relates to stuff that in his mind does not impact player performance.”
Both Quick and Oram agree that Dundon has a reputation for cutting costs in other areas so that he can invest more money in players and the on-court product, with Quick suggesting that the new Blazers owner is prepared to go into luxury tax territory next season if it’s necessary to land an impact player.
However, Oram questions whether on-court and off-court spending can really be siloed off from one another, observing that spending reductions in one area will be felt in another, including the locker room. And while he may be more willing to spend on talent, Dundon runs the risk of alienating top players, coaches, and other personnel if he isn’t willing to invest in his team’s infrastructure, one league source points out to Quick.
“He’s already established that he’s very cheap,” that source said. “And I know he doesn’t love Oregon, and is concerned that it is a state that can’t draw free agents. Well, with all due respect, you’re not helping the cause of drawing free agents when you treat everyone like s–t there.”
Multiple sources who spoke to Quick pushed back on a recent report stating that Dundon only wants to pay his head coach a salary in the $1-1.5MM range, with one team source stating that’s “just not true” and that the new owner is focused on finding the “best person” for the job. Still, it remains to be seen whether the Blazers will be willing to pay the going rate for that “best” candidate.
Oram (Twitter links) hears that the team isn’t solely shopping in the bargain aisle and did want to touch base with Michael Malone but would have been looking to pay him about half of what he eventually got from UNC.
According to Oram, Malone declined to talk to the Blazers because their job isn’t technically even open at this point. Splitter has done an admirable job filling in for Chauncey Billups after Billups’ October arrest, and while a team source insists that Splitter will be the “leading candidate” in the search, Dundon has cast a wide net in searching for potential alternatives, according to Quick, who names Josh Schertz (St. Louis University), Ben McCollum (Iowa), and Tom Thibodeau as coaches the Blazers have reached out to, though he notes that Thibodeau is no longer a candidate.
Those leaks have put Splitter in an awkward position as he attempts to lead the Blazers to their first playoff series victory since 2019.
“The amount of disrespect (toward Splitter) that’s going on is beyond description,” one league source told The Athletic. “It’s like, every day a new name is coming up. It’s the most vicious thing I’ve encountered in 30-plus years.”
“This is what Tom is good at — talking to 100 people and getting data,” a Blazers source said to Quick. “What he is learning quickly is that unlike hockey — where nobody cares — in basketball if you talk to 100 people, 70 will tell people.”
As bad as the PR around Dundon has been so far, several of his longtime associates tell Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) that the public criticism won’t faze him at all. Quick has heard a similar sentiment from his own sources.
“I ought to tell you, I don’t think he gives a rat’s ass what is said about him,” a league source told The Athletic. “Most owners care. They insulate themselves because they care very much about their image and profile. He doesn’t give a f–k. He doesn’t even flinch with this stuff.”
“His heart is in the right place,” a team source insisted to Quick. “He is going to build this thing into a winner, I know it. And I know three years from now, or five years from now, people are going to love it. But over the next 12 months, they are going to hate it.”
Potential Lottery Pick Thomas Haugh Returning To Gators
Junior forward Thomas Haugh was viewed as a potential 2026 lottery pick, but he has decided to put off going pro for another year. He tells Shams Charania, Jeff Borzello, and Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Twitter link) that he’ll return to Florida for his senior year.
A 6’9″ forward, Haugh won a national championship with the Gators as a sophomore in 2025, but primarily came off the bench for that title team. He enjoyed a breakout year in 2025/26, starting all 34 games he played and averaging 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 block in 33.3 minutes per contest.
Haugh was a consensus second-team All-American as a junior and was ranked 13th on ESPN’s big board of 2026 prospects before deciding not to enter the draft. Woo has described him as a tough, high-effort player with good size and an improving outside shot who could’ve been ready to play a rotation role at the NBA level immediately.
Instead, Haugh will use his final year of NCAA eligibility and look to win another championship with the Gators, who appear well positioned to enter next season as the top-ranked team in the country after being upset in the second round of this year’s NCAA tournament. As Charania observes, the senior forward could also be in the mix for 2027 Player of the Year honors if he continues to improve.
“Most guys in my position in the draft, it would be a no-brainer to go to the NBA,” Haugh told ESPN. “It’s not just the NIL. It’s a chance to play with my boys. To play for coach (Todd) Golden. To go to the school I love to play for. It was definitely a tougher decision than last year, but it was best for my career and future.”
While Haugh downplayed the NIL factor, Woo and Borzello indicate that he projects to “easily” earn more with the Gators than he would in the NBA in 2026/27 if he were drafted in the middle of the first round.
Haugh’s frontcourt teammate Alex Condon previously announced that he’ll be returning to the Gators as well. Another member of 2025’s championship team, center Rueben Chinyelu, announced on Monday (via Instagram) that he’ll enter the 2026 NBA draft but will leave the door open to the possibility of playing one more college season by maintaining his NCAA eligibility.
Billy Donovan Won’t Return As Bulls’ Head Coach
Billy Donovan is parting ways with the Bulls after spending the past six seasons as their head coach, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. The team has put out a press release officially confirming the split.
It’s the second major organizational change of the spring for the Bulls, who fired executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley earlier this month. Following that front office shake-up, president and CEO Michael Reinsdorf expressed in strong terms that the team wanted to retain Donovan, but the veteran coach had an option on his contract and has decided to go in another direction.
As Charania details, Donovan discussed the situation at length with team ownership during the past week but ultimately determined that a “clean break” was the right outcome for both sides. Donovan confirmed as much in a formal statement relayed by the Bulls.
“After a series of thoughtful and extensive discussions with ownership regarding the future of the organization, I have decided to step away as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls to allow the search process to unfold,” Donovan said. “I believe it is in the best interest of the Bulls to allow the new leader to build out the staff as they see fit.”
Reinsdorf and his father, Bulls controlling owner Jerry Reinsdorf, issued statements of their own within the team’s press release, expressing gratitude to Donovan for the work he has done with the franchise over the past six years.
The Bulls only made the playoffs once in those six seasons and didn’t advance beyond the first round during that brief postseason run. In total, Donovan compiled a 226-256 (.469) regular season record across six years, winning either 39 or 40 games and appearing in the play-in tournament for three straight seasons from 2022-25.
Chicago’s 31-51 record this season was the worst mark the team posted during Donovan’s tenure, and the team’s mini-fire sale at the deadline created the impression that the organization is more seriously committed to retooling its roster after spending several seasons mired in mediocrity. There had been doubt about whether Donovan, a Hall-of-Famer who will turn 61 next month, would want to stick it out with the Bulls through a rebuild.
While Donovan won’t be back on Chicago’s bench next season, he’s not prepared to retire. Sources tell Charania that Donovan intends to continue his coaching career and will be a “viable target” for NBA teams in the market for a new coach. Donovan drew interest from both NBA teams – including the Knicks a year ago – and college programs – most recently, UNC – while he was under contract with the Bulls.
The Bulls are one of three teams now looking to hire a new permanent head coach, joining the Bucks and the Pelicans. They’re also one of two clubs seeking a new head of basketball operations, along with the Mavericks.
In all likelihood, the Bulls will focus on completing their front office search first, since that would allow their new top basketball operations executive to have a hand in picking Donovan’s replacement.
Kevin Durant Considered Questionable For Game 2
Kevin Durant missed the first game of the Rockets‘ series vs. the Lakers – a 107-98 loss – due to a knee injury. He is listed as questionable for Game 2 on Tuesday after going through a portion of the team’s practice on Monday, per The Athletic’s Will Guillory (Twitter link).
ESPN’s Shams Charania provided more clarity on the injury during an appearance on NBA Today.
“My understanding is Kevin Durant is dealing with a deep bruise in his right patellar tendon that he suffered last Wednesday during a practice drill when he was chasing after a loose ball and collided that knee with a teammate, and that has since caused swelling (and) pain. It has impacted his range of motion in the leg as well,” Charania said (Twitter video link). “For Kevin Durant to miss a playoff game, that speaks to the severity of the injury in and of itself.”
When asked what he’s looking to see from his star player ahead of Game 2, head coach Ime Udoka said it comes down to one thing.
“I would say mobility probably,” he said, per Will Guillory (via Twitter). “The pain tolerance is one thing, but actually moving and feeling comfortable doing all the movements is going to be the biggest thing.”
The Rockets struggled to string together offense without Durant, shooting 37.6% from the field and missing eight of their 25 free throws.
Charania adds that Houston is optimistic that Kevin Durant will be available, but his status will be determined by how the leg responds between now and tip-off on Tuesday at 10:30 pm ET.
Victor Wembanyama Named Defensive Player Of The Year
Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama has been named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2025/26 season, the league announced on Monday (Twitter link). He’s the youngest player in league history to win the award, tweets Shams Charania of ESPN, and is the first player to win it in a unanimous vote, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
Wembanyama, who received all 100 first-place votes, led the NBA in total blocked shots (197) and blocks per game (3.1) by a significant margin and ranked second in defensive rebounds per game (11.5) despite playing just 29.2 minutes per night. His 28.5% defensive rebounding percentage was the highest mark in the league among qualified players.
The Spurs star also limited opponents to a 42.0% field goal percentage and anchored the NBA’s third-best defense. San Antonio allowed 103.6 points per 100 possessions when Wembanyama was on the court and gave up 113.7 points per 100 possessions when he sat.
Wembanyama was the favorite to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2024/25, but a blood clot prematurely ended his season in February, preventing him playing in the 65 games necessary to qualify for consideration. He missed some time this year due to health issues, but met the 65-game criteria during the final week of the regular season.
Thunder big man Chet Holmgren, who previously finished second in Rookie of the Year voting to Wembanyama in 2023/24, once again finished as the runner-up to his conference rival for a major award — he earned the second-most votes for Defensive Player of the Year, including 76 second-place votes and 11 for third place. Holmgren ranked second in the NBA in blocks per game (1.9) and was the primary interior presence on a Thunder team that had the league’s No. 1 defensive rating (106.5).
Pistons wing Ausar Thompson was the top Defensive Player of the Year vote-getter among perimeter players, coming in third behind Wembanyama and Holmgren with nine second-place votes and 33 third-place votes. Thompson ranked first in the NBA in steals per game (2.0) despite playing fewer minutes per contest (26.0) than the seven players who ranked right behind him in that category. Detroit was sandwiched between OKC and San Antonio with the league’s second-best defensive rating (108.9).
A total of 13 players showed up on at least one Defensive Player of the Year ballot, with Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and Raptors forward Scottie Barnes rounding out the top five, in that order.
Celtics guard Derrick White, Thunder guard Cason Wallace, Rockets guard Amen Thompson, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, and Knicks forward OG Anunoby each received multiple votes, while Pistons center Jalen Duren, Warriors forward Draymond Green, and Heat big man Bam Adebayo showed up on one ballot apiece.
The full results can be viewed here (via Twitter).
While Defensive Player of the Year honors can, in some cases, ensure that a player qualifies for a higher maximum salary on his next contract, that won’t be the case for Wembanyama despite the fact that he’ll likely sign a maximum-salary rookie extension with the Spurs during the coming offseason. The Rose Rule criteria will require him to win MVP or DPOY or simply earn an All-NBA spot in 2026/27 in order to qualify for a contract that starts at 30% of the ’27/28 cap (instead of 25%).
Bucks Met With Taylor Jenkins About Coaching Job
The Bucks have met with former Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins as they ramp up their search for a new head coach following the departure of Doc Rivers, according to Eric Nehm and Sam Amick of The Athletic.
Jenkins has been considered one of the top targets for Milwaukee since news broke that Rivers would not be returning to the sidelines next season. Jenkins amassed a 250-214 record during his time in Memphis, making the playoffs in four of his six years at the helm. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach for the Bucks after spending five seasons as an assistant in Atlanta.
Amick and Nehm say that no specific contract details were discussed; rather, the meeting’s purpose was to outline the vision for the team’s future. Jenkins is expected to meet with Bucks leadership again in the near future to continue discussing the job.
The Athletic’s duo adds that Jenkins is seen as one of the top candidates on the market this summer, so it’s possible he’ll be patient and explore other options before committing to a team.
One team listed as a potential suitor for his services is the Magic, who have been rumored to be considering parting ways with head coach Jamahl Mosley. However, having advanced through the play-in tournament and won Game 1 in Detroit, Mosley is making his case to hang onto his job.