Latest On NBA Europe
Final bids for the NBA’s proposed European league, known as NBA Europe, are due at the end of March. But it certainly sounds like the NBA doesn’t want to be in direct competition with the EuroLeague, whose new CEO, Chus Bueno, previously worked for the NBA.
Bueno spent 12 years with the NBA as vice president of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The veteran executive also held the title of managing director of NBA Spain.
The NBA, FIBA and the EuroLeague are expected to have a meeting in the next few days about a possible joint venture involving NBA Europe that could feature 24 teams, sources tell Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last Wednesday that the ideal outcome would be for the NBA and the EuroLeague to work together, specifically mentioning his relationship with Bueno. Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported on Sunday that Bueno becoming EuroLeague CEO has led to optimism that the leagues might be able to collaborate, and Barkas has heard the same.
“Chus used to be a colleague of mine at the NBA for many years. I think for the better of European basketball, the best outcome would be if we come together with the EuroLeague,” Silver said, per Stefan Acevski of Eurohoops. “And that we came up with a systematic approach to growing the game throughout Europe. And that means complementing the country leagues, working together with the EuroLeague, and with FIBA.”
For his part, Bueno recently suggested the EuroLeague would be open to exploring that scenario, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays.
According to Barkas’ sources, EuroLeague powerhouses Real Madrid and Fenerbahce are “very close” to signing new 10-year licenses, with the timing seeming to mirror the upcoming talks between the NBA, FIBA and the EuroLeague.
There’s a good deal of interest in NBA Europe, Barkas reports, with many of the bidders coming from the United States. However, “nobody is willing to pay a $500M fee to enter the new league,” Barkas writes.
Knicks Clinch Eastern Conference Playoff Spot
The Knicks became the third Eastern Conference team to secure a playoff spot when Philadelphia lost at Miami on Monday, per the NBA (Twitter link).
Detroit, the No. 1 seed, was the first Eastern team to clinch a top-six spot following a March 20 win over Golden State. The Celtics, the No. 2 seed, followed suit by securing their own playoff berth with Sunday’s victory at Charlotte.
Regardless of what happens the rest of the regular season, New York can finish no worse than sixth in the conference. The team is currently 48-27, the third seed in the East.
Boston lost to Atlanta on Monday, so the Knicks are now two games back of the Celtics. New York is 1.5 games ahead of No. 4 Cleveland and will almost certainly finish as a top-four seed.
The Knicks largely ran back the same roster that made the Eastern Conference finals in 2025 for the first time in 25 years. They did fire their head coach though, replacing Tom Thibodeau with Mike Brown.
Owner James Dolan said in early January that the team’s goal for this season was to, at minimum, make the NBA Finals. We’ll see how the Knicks perform the rest of 2025/26, but they’ve secured the first step toward that goal.
Doc Rivers To Be Inducted Into Hall Of Fame
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers will be among the Hall of Fame inductees for the class of 2026, a person familiar with the matter told Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. The full class will be revealed this Saturday, April 4.
Rivers, who was named a North American committee finalist last month, has compiled the sixth-most wins in NBA history across his 27 seasons as a head coach. The 64-year-old holds a career regular season record of 1191-861, for a .580 win-loss percentage.
Rivers’ teams have made the playoffs in 21 of his 27 seasons, including the longtime coach’s lone championship with Boston in 2008. He also led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in 2010, when they lost to the Lakers in seven games.
Aside from those two deep postseason runs, Rivers’ playoff results have been pretty mixed. Despite having a ton of regular season success with the Clippers and Sixers from 2013-23, none of those clubs advanced past the second round.
The only other team Rivers coached that reached a conference final was Boston in 2012. He holds a career playoff record of 104-102 (.504 win percentage).
Milwaukee was eliminated from postseason contention on Saturday for the first time since 2016.
A native of Illinois, Rivers also played 13 years in the league (from 1983-96). He was named an All-Star with Atlanta, with whom he spent his first eight seasons, in 1988.
Townsend’s story is largely centered on former Mavericks head coach Dick Motta, whose family was told on Monday that he won’t be inducted this year. It was the third time the 94-year-old has been a finalist but the first time since 2012, Townsend notes.
Motta, who had two different stints with Dallas, also coached the Bulls, Bullets (now Wizards), Kings and Nuggets. He holds a career regular season mark of 935-1017 (.479) and a playoff record of 57-70 (.444).
As Townsend writes, Motta is 14th on NBA’s all-time win list, and of the coaches in the top 15, only Rivers, Motta and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle aren’t in the Hall of Fame. Obviously that will change for Rivers later this year.
Motto also coached junior high, high school, junior college and major college basketball, according to Townsend, who points out that the Utah native led the Washington Bullets to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 1978 and ’79. The Bullets won the championship in ’78.
Bulls Waive Jaden Ivey
5:03 pm: The Bulls just put out a press release confirming they have waived Ivey for conduct detrimental to the team.
4:30 pm: The Bulls have waived Jaden Ivey, according to the official transaction log at NBA.com (hat tip to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line).
According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), Chicago decided to release Ivey due to his recent “anti-LGBTQ comments amid several rants on religion and other topics.”
Ivey has made a string of recent “inflammatory comments” on Instagram Live over the last week, writes Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic. Monday’s comments about the NBA’s advocacy for the LGBTQ community was reportedly the final straw for the Bulls.
“The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?” Ivey told viewers on Monday morning. “They proclaim Pride Month. And the NBA, they proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month, to celebrate unrighteousness.’ They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness.”
Ivey has also been condemning those he thinks haven’t been “saved,” per Joe Cowley of The Chicago-Sun Times, who first reported that the team was working with the league “on an exit strategy” from the 24-year-old.
Ivey only made four appearances with the Bulls due to a left knee injury the team later called patellofemoral pain syndrome, also known as runner’s knee. He was shut down for the rest of the season last Thursday.
As Cowley notes, the former Purdue star made some unprompted comments that raised eyebrows around the league about two weeks after he was acquired from Detroit ahead of the February trade deadline. Ivey repeatedly referenced his faith at the time and declared that he doesn’t “really trust the NBA setting.”
Asked on February 19 if there were still health-related steps to take before he regains his former athleticism, Ivey replied, “I’m sure people can call it out — I’m not the same player I used to be,” he said. “(The knee soreness is) why. I’m not the J.I. I used to be. The old J.I. is dead. I’m alive in Christ no matter what the basketball setting is.”
According to ESPN, Ivey has talked in the past about battling depression.
The fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft, Ivey was having a career year for the Pistons in 2024/25, averaging 17.6 points and 4.0 assists per game with a .460/.409/.733 shooting line, before he suffered a broken fibula in his left leg that ended his season. His return in the fall was delayed after he underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee.
Ivey lacked his previous explosiveness in 37 games for Detroit and Chicago this season, registering averages of 8.5 PPG and 1.8 APG on .445/.373/.809 shooting in a reduced role (18.1 MPG).
Ivey would have been on track for restricted free agency this summer if he had received a qualifying offer, but that will no longer be the case. He will be unrestricted in a couple days if he clears the waiver wire.
Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokic Collect Player Of Week Honors
Jayson Tatum added another accomplishment to his impressive comeback from an Achilles tear. The Celtics forward has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week, according to the league (Twitter links).
Boston’s star forward averaged 25.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists in three victories during the week of March 23-29. Sunday’s performance in Charlotte was his best game yet this season — he racked up 32 points on 12-of-23 shooting, contributing eight assists and five rebounds without committing a turnover.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic collected the Western Conference Player of the Week award. He had three triple-doubles in four Denver wins last week, registering impressive overall averages of 26.0 points, 17.0 rebounds, and 14.0 assists per contest, with a .563/.438/.773 shooting line.
It’s the third time this season that Jokic has been named the West’s Player of the Week. He also claimed the honor in back-to-back weeks in November.
Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves (Lakers), Darius Garland and Kawhi Leonard (Clippers), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Jamal Murray (Nuggets), Alperen Sengun (Rockets) and Victor Wembanyama (Spurs) were the other Western Conference nominees.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Hawks), Scottie Barnes (Raptors), Jalen Brunson (Knicks), Jalen Duren (Pistons), James Harden (Cavaliers) and Payton Pritchard (Celtics) rounded out the nominees from the East.
Jaden McDaniels Listed As Week-To-Week With Knee Ailment
Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels has been diagnosed with left knee patella tendinopathy and a bone bruise, according to a team press release.
An MRI conducted at Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine determined the extent of his injury. McDaniels will be listed as week-to-week, the release adds.
McDaniels won’t require surgery and the timeline could still position him for a playoff return, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets.
It’s a major development for a team currently tied with the Rockets for fifth place in the Western Conference standings. McDaniels had scored at least 16 points in his last five appearances, most recently on Wednesday. He sat out Saturday’s home loss to Detroit.
Overall, McDaniels has appeared in 71 games, averaging a career-high 14.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks in 31.9 minutes per night. He’s shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 42.1 on three-point tries while also providing his usual strong play on the defensive end.
McDaniels has been one of the league’s most durable players over the past five seasons, never playing in fewer than 70 games. Without him, Minnesota will have to rely more on Terrence Shannon Jr., Ayo Dosunmu and Jaylen Clark at the wing position.
Dosunmu hasn’t played since last Sunday due to a calf injury but is available for tonight’s game against the Mavericks. Star guard Anthony Edwards is listed as questionable due to right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome. He’s been out since March 15
Celtics Clinch Playoff Spot; Warriors, Blazers Locked Into Play-In
The Celtics clinched a playoff spot with their win over the Hornets on Sunday, per the NBA (Twitter link). They became the second Eastern Conference team to do so, behind the Pistons, who officially nabbed a berth over a week ago.
Jayson Tatum had a vintage performance for the short-handed Celtics, scoring 32 points and adding eight assists in 31 minutes.
In the Western Conference, the Warriors and Trail Blazers are officially locked into a play-in spot thanks to the Rockets winning their matchup against the Pelicans on Sunday. This marks the third-straight play-in entry for Golden State, and the fourth in six years, Angelina Martin writes for NBC Sports Bay Area.
“I’m sick of the play-in,” Draymond Green said recently. “It seems like we’re a play-in magnet. It sucks, but it’s great when you want an opportunity to get into the playoffs. And that is the reality for us.”
The Warriors rank 10th in the Western Conference standings but could still move up a spot or two before the regular season wraps up. Entering Sunday’s contest vs. Denver, they were one game behind the No. 9 Blazers and 2.5 games back of the No. 8 Clippers.
The Blazers are 1.5 games behind the Clippers after beating the Wizards on Sunday. If they manage to make it through the play-in, it would be their first playoff appearance since 2021.
The Knicks could have locked in their own playoff spot with a win over the Thunder tonight, but they lost 111-100 and are now just 1.5 games ahead of the Cavaliers as they try to maintain their hold on the No. 3 seed in the East.
Luka Doncic Suspended For One Game After Collecting 16th Technical
5:38 pm: Doncic has officially been suspended for Monday’s game against Washington, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
7:57 am: Lakers guard Luka Doncic is once again facing a one-game suspension for reaching the season technical foul limit and this time he’s unlikely to get a reprieve, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
The Most Valuable Player candidate was whistled for his 16th technical foul in Friday’s 116-99 win over the Nets. It occurred in the third quarter when Doncic and Nets forward Ziaire Williams were assessed double techs following an offensive foul called on Doncic. A video review showed Doncic pushing Williams and Williams retaliating by swiping back at Doncic’s face.
Doncic continued to strengthen his MVP case as the game progressed, as he finished with 41 points.
“[Williams] was yelling in my face — three times,” Doncic said of the altercation. “I just wanted to get out of there. It’s a double tech, of course. What can I say? I didn’t even talk. I just wanted to get out of there. And they said I pushed, my push was ‘exaggerated,’ which [it] was obviously not. And I don’t know what else to tell you.”
The technicals have piled up due to Doncic’s penchant for complaining about calls and getting into scraps with opponents. Coach JJ Redick said the Lakers would appeal the latest one.
If the league denies the appeal, Doncic would miss Monday’s game against the rebuilding Wizards. That shouldn’t prevent the Lakers from collecting another victory. The Lakers beat the Wizards by 31 points when they played them on Jan. 30, McMenamin notes.
A one-game ban would cost Doncic $317K. He’s making $46MM.
The Lakers won an appeal of Doncic’s previous technical, which he picked up against Orlando last Saturday. That allowed Doncic to play against the Pistons the next game, though Detroit came away with a 113-110 win. That was one of just two losses by the Lakers over their last 16 contests.
Doncic is averaging 33.7 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game through 62 outings in his first full season as a Laker.
UNC’s Caleb Wilson Declares For 2026 NBA Draft
UNC star Caleb Wilson has declared for the 2026 NBA draft, he announced on Instagram (hat tip to Lindsey Schnell of The Athletic).
Wilson, a 6’10” forward/center, is widely projected to be a top-five pick in the upcoming draft, which will occur in June.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Wilson appeared in 24 games as a freshman for the Tar Heels, averaging 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks in 31.3 minutes per contest while shooting 57.8% from the field and 71.3% from the free throw line. He earned numerous accolades for his efforts, including a spot on the AP All-America Second Team.
While Wilson had a stellar season with North Carolina, he missed the team’s final 10 games due to injuries. He fractured his left hand last month and had been sidelined since February 10 — he had hoped to return at some point in March before he sustained a broken right thumb, which required surgery.
The Tar Heels went 19-5 with Wilson in the lineup in 2025/26, but just 5-5 without him, ending the season on a three-game losing streak, including a first-round loss in the NCAA tournament.
Many mock drafts and big boards have Wilson at No. 4 overall in what’s viewed as an exceptionally strong class. He’s reportedly expected to be cleared for basketball activities during the pre-draft process.
Stephen Curry (Knee) To Be Reevaluated Next Week
7:50 pm: Head coach Steve Kerr acknowledged that time is running out for Curry to return this season, per Slater (Twitter link).
“We’re not bringing him back (only) for the play-in game,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “He’d need to play some games. We need to give him a runway if this is going to work. And we are running out of games.”
Moses Moody also underwent surgery on Friday to repair his torn patellar tendon, tweets Nick Friedell of The Athletic.
6:54 pm: Warriors guard Stephen Curry will be reevaluated sometime next week as he continues to deal with a right knee injury, according to Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link).
Golden State hosts Washington on Friday and plays at Denver on Sunday, and Curry will miss both of those contests. He has been out since January 30 due to patellofemoral pain syndrome, colloquially known as runner’s knee.
While Curry, who turned 38 years old this month, “continues to make good progress,” he still hasn’t participated in a 5-on-5 scrimmage yet, the team announced in a press release (via Twitter). That’s supposed to happen in the “coming days,” per the Warriors.
Even though he’s been out for two months — he’ll be up to 25 consecutive absences after Sunday — Curry hasn’t given up hope on potentially returning this season, sources tell ESPN (Twitter link).
Following Sunday’s contest in Denver, Golden State returns home for a five-game stretch against four playoff teams. The Warriors’ final two games will be on the road (at Sacramento on April 10 and at LAC on April 12).
The Warriors also announced injury updates on Al Horford (right soleus strain), Seth Curry (left adductor strain) and Quinten Post (right foot soreness). Horford has begun light on-court workouts but is out at least one more week, while Seth Curry and Post are considered day-to-day.
Horford and the younger Curry brother have both missed the past seven games due to their respective injuries, while second-year big man Post has been out for the past two contests.