Victor Wembanyama Ejected From Game 4 As Wolves Even Series
The Spurs lost Victor Wembanyama to his first career ejection after he received a flagrant foul 2 following an elbow to the neck and jaw of Timberwolves big man Naz Reid, writes Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com. The incident occurred with 8:39 remaining the second quarter of Sunday’s Game 4 in Minnesota (YouTube link), which the Wolves went on to win to even the series at two games apiece.
According to Wright, Wembanyama was initially called for an offensive foul but it was upgraded to a flagrant 2, which comes with an automatic ejection, upon review. The star center seemed confused about the penalty on the broadcast, appearing to ask teammate Harrison Barnes what it meant, Wright notes.
The NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year only had four points and four rebounds in 12 minutes after dominating and joining exclusive company in Game 3 with 39 points (on 13-of-18 shooting), 15 rebounds and five blocks in 37 minutes.
The incident will be reviewed further by the league office to determine if additional punishment may be warranted.
After the five-point loss, Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson defended the 22-year-old big man, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter links). While Johnson didn’t condone the elbow to Reid, he said Wembanyama was defending himself.
“It’s getting to a point that if the people that are in charge of controlling the game and protecting the physicality of the game don’t do that, then at some point he’s going to have to protect himself,” Johnson said. “… He’s going to have to protect himself if they’re not…It’s disgusting….I just think that the amount of physicality that people play with him at some level you have to protect yourself.”
Johnson added that he thought a possible suspension for Wembanyama “would be ridiculous.”
“There was zero intent,” he said (Twitter link via Orsborn).
Full 2026 NBA Draft Order
Now that the NBA’s draft lottery results are in, the full 2026 draft order has been set.
We’ll likely see some of these picks change hands on June 23 or 24, or in the days leading up to the draft — we’ll be sure to update the list below if and when picks are traded.
Here’s the full 2026 NBA draft order:
First round
- Washington Wizards
- Utah Jazz
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Chicago Bulls
- Los Angeles Clippers (from Pacers)
- Brooklyn Nets
- Sacramento Kings
- Atlanta Hawks (from Pelicans)
- Dallas Mavericks
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Golden State Warriors
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers)
- Miami Heat
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls (from Trail Blazers)
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Suns)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Sixers)
- Charlotte Hornets (from Magic)
- Toronto Raptors
- San Antonio Spurs (from Hawks)
- Detroit Pistons (from Timberwolves)
- Philadelphia 76ers (from Rockets)
- Atlanta Hawks (from Cavaliers)
- New York Knicks
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Denver Nuggets
- Boston Celtics
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Pistons)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (from Spurs)
- Dallas Mavericks (from Thunder)
Second round
- New York Knicks (from Wizards)
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Pacers)
- Brooklyn Nets
- Sacramento Kings
- San Antonio Spurs (from Jazz)
- Los Angeles Clippers (from Grizzlies)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Mavericks)
- Chicago Bulls (from Pelicans)
- Houston Rockets (from Bulls)
- Boston Celtics (from Bucks)
- Miami Heat (from Warriors)
- San Antonio Spurs (from Trail Blazers)
- Brooklyn Nets (from Clippers)
- San Antonio Spurs (from Heat)
- Sacramento Kings (from Hornets)
- Orlando Magic
- Phoenix Suns (from Sixers)
- Dallas Mavericks (from Suns)
- Denver Nuggets (from Hawks)
- Toronto Raptors
- Washington Wizards (from Timberwolves)
- Los Angeles Clippers (from Cavaliers)
- Houston Rockets
- Golden State Warriors (from Lakers)
- New York Knicks
- Chicago Bulls (from Nuggets)
- Atlanta Hawks (from Celtics)
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Pistons)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Spurs)
- Washington Wizards (from Thunder)
Wizards Win 2026 NBA Draft Lottery; Jazz, Grizzlies, Bulls In Top Four
The Wizards, who had the worst record in the league during the 2025/26 season, have won the 2026 NBA draft lottery.
Washington entered the lottery tied for the best possible odds (14%) to land the No. 1 overall pick. It was the first time since the current draft lottery format was implemented in 2019 that the league’s worst team claimed the first overall selection.
The full lottery order for the 2026 NBA draft is as follows:
- Washington Wizards
- Utah Jazz
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Chicago Bulls
- Los Angeles Clippers (from Pacers)
- Brooklyn Nets
- Sacramento Kings
- Atlanta Hawks (from Pelicans)
- Dallas Mavericks
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Golden State Warriors
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers)
- Miami Heat
- Charlotte Hornets
The Wizards have won 15, 18, and 17 games in the last three seasons, but didn’t have a clear-cut franchise player to show for it yet. They drafted Alex Sarr second overall in 2024 and slipped to sixth in 2025, opting to select Tre Johnson at that spot. This year, the ping pong balls landed in their favor and have put them in position to draft a long-term centerpiece.
While BYU forward AJ Dybantsa is the favorite to be the top pick, the Wizards figure to seriously consider prospects like Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer, and UNC forward Caleb Wilson before making their selection on June 23.
The lottery results were also great news for the Jazz, who entered the day fourth in the pre-lottery order and moved up to No. 2. Like the Wizards, Utah has been rebuilding for multiple years and had been preparing to take a step forward in 2026/27 even before the lottery outcome was known. While Washington traded for Trae Young and Anthony Davis ahead of this year’s trade deadline, Utah acquired former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. in February.
Now, the Jazz are set to land a potential future All-Star to a roster that already features Jackson, Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, 2025 lottery pick Ace Bailey, and restricted free agent center Walker Kessler.
Notably, both the Wizards and Jazz had technically traded away their 2026 first-rounders, but both picks included top-eight protection, meaning they remained in Washington and Utah, respectively.
The same can’t be said for the Pacers, who traded their 2026 first-round pick with top-four protection to the Clippers in February’s Ivica Zubac blockbuster. After posting the second-worst record in the league this season, Indiana entered the day with a 52.1% chance of retaining that pick. Instead, L.A. won what was essentially a coin flip, with the pick slipping just outside of the top four. It’s a best-case scenario for the Clippers, who get the No. 5 overall selection and will add a young building block from a strong draft class to their core.
[RELATED: Pacers Hopeful Of Retaining Pick But Won’t Regret Zubac Deal]
Assuming neither the Jazz nor the Wizards do anything too surprising with the top two picks, the Grizzlies and Bulls, the day’s other two big winners, should have their choice of the remaining two prospects from a consensus top four of Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer, and Wilson.
Memphis, sixth in the pre-lottery order, had a 27.6% chance of moving into the top three, while Chicago made the biggest move up, from No. 9 to No. 4. The Bulls had just a 20.2% shot at a top-four pick entering the lottery.
The next tier of prospects in the 2026 class is made up of a handful of guards, including Illinois’ Keaton Wagler, Arkansas’ Darius Acuff, and Houston’s Kingston Flemings. Louisville guard Mikel Brown, Tennessee forward Nate Ament, Arizona guard Brayden Burries, Alabama guard Labaron Philon, Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg, and Mexican forward Karim Lopez are among the other players in the mix for teams with top-10 picks.
That group of teams in the top 10 is rounded out by the Nets, Kings, Hawks, Mavericks, and Bucks. Besides Milwaukee, each of those teams fell one or more spots as a result of the lottery outcome. That’s especially disappointing for Brooklyn and Sacramento, two retooling teams whose rosters lack star power.
Atlanta was likely also hoping for a better result, having controlled the more favorable of the Pelicans’ and Bucks’ first-rounders entering the lottery. While the Hawks had a 40.2% chance at a top-four pick, they instead moved down a spot from No. 7 to No. 8, as New Orleans was leapfrogged by Chicago while Milwaukee’s pick remained at No. 10.
That pick was the one the Hawks acquired from the Pelicans at last year’s draft — we now know that the terms of that trade turned out to be Derik Queen for Asa Newell and this year’s eighth overall pick.
After teams eliminated in the play-in tournament won each of the past two draft lotteries – Atlanta in 2024 and Dallas in 2025 – there was no movement among this year’s play-in clubs, with the Warriors remaining at No. 11 and the Heat and Hornets staying at No. 13 and No. 14, respectively. Additionally, the Clippers’ own first-rounder, which was controlled by the Thunder, remained at No. 12 — it’s safe to assume the rest of the NBA breathed a sigh of relief when that envelope was opened and OKC’s logo was revealed.
Although the NBA doesn’t air the actual lottery drawing process during its half-hour broadcast announcing the results, the league has put out a behind-the-scenes video that shows the draw taking place. It can be viewed right here (via Twitter).
Hawks Could Be Among Suitors For Jaylen Brown
The Celtics and Hawks had a “brief conversation” last offseason about Jaylen Brown, according to Chris Mannix of NBC Sports (video link), who expects them to revisit the idea of a trade this summer (hat tip to BasketNews).
Mannix adds that initial talks between the teams were only exploratory because Atlanta was “leery” about taking on Brown’s $53.1MM salary and wasn’t “really in a position to go all in” with a developing roster. He states that Boston wasn’t “looking to give Jaylen Brown away” so there wasn’t much common ground to work out a deal.
Brown wound up posting the best statistical season of his career as the team’s primary scoring threat while Jayson Tatum was recovering from an Achilles tear. However, the season ended in disappointment with a first-round playoff loss to Philadelphia, so Mannix believes the Celtics could consider moving on from Brown’s pricey deal, which still has three years remaining at more than $183MM.
A late-season surge propelled the Hawks to the No. 6 seed, so they could be more open to taking on salary this offseason in hopes of becoming a serious contender in 2026/27.
In addition to the Hawks, Mannix states that several other clubs could make a run at Brown if he becomes available. He mentions the Heat, Rockets and Warriors as teams that are expected to pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo and suggests they could turn their attention to Brown if they fail to land the Bucks star.
As Mannix notes, it has been a tumultuous week for Brown since the Celtics were eliminated last Saturday. He blasted series officials on his Twitch stream, claiming they had “an agenda” against him that resulted in an unusually high number of offensive fouls, and singled out Sixers star Joel Embiid for flopping. His remarks on the referees resulted in a $50K fine from the league.
There was also a backlash from Boston fans after Brown called this his “favorite season” even with the early playoff exit. NBC’s Tracy McGrady, who has served as Brown’s mentor, claimed that he has “frustration” with the Celtics behind the scenes, leading president of basketball operations Brad Stevens to tell reporters at his end-of-season press conference on Wednesday that Brown hasn’t expressed any unhappiness to him.
Brown tried to diffuse the situation later in the week by reaffirming his commitment to the organization and stating that he would like to finish his career in Boston. He also denied any friction with Stevens, saying they have a “great relationship.”
While Brown is an all-NBA talent and won’t turn 30 until October, his contract could make some teams think twice about making a deal. He’ll earn $57MM next season, $61MM in 2027/28 and nearly $65MM in 2028/29 before becoming a free agent that summer.
Brandon Ingram Undergoes Right Heel Surgery
Raptors forward Brandon Ingram has undergone surgery to address ongoing pain in his right heel, the team announced today in a press release. Dr. Martin O’Malley, who performed the procedure in New York, removed a heel spur during the surgery.
According to the Raptors, Ingram is expected to make a full recovery and to be ready for the start of training camp in September.
That right heel was an issue for Ingram late in the season. He missed three regular season games in late March and early April due to what the club referred to as heel inflammation, then aggravated the injury in the playoffs. The All-Star forward had to sit out Games 6 and 7 of Toronto’s first-round series vs. Cleveland as a result of the injury, with head coach Darko Rajakovic telling reporters after the Raptors were eliminated that Ingram was visiting a specialist to determine a treatment plan.
Although Ingram’s season ended on a sour note, it was a successful bounce-back year overall for the 28-year-old. After being limited to just 18 games in 2024/25 due to an ankle injury, he made 77 appearances (all starts) in ’25/26, which was his highest single-season total since his rookie year in ’16/17. He led the Raptors with 21.5 points per game on .477/.382/.820 shooting while also contributing 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per contest.
As Josh Lewenberg of TSN.com notes (via Twitter), while Ingram figures to require a few weeks of rest and light rehab before he can ramp up his training, he should still get close to a full offseason of work in. That’s important, Lewenberg explains, since Rajakovic has spoken about a desire for Ingram to prioritize skill development this summer
Mavericks Hire Mike Schmitz As General Manager
Trail Blazers assistant general manager Mike Schmitz has left Portland for Dallas, according to the Mavericks, who announced today in a press release that they’ve hired Schmitz as their general manager under new president Masai Ujiri.
After working for ESPN as one of the network’s top draft analysts for five years beginning in 2017, Schmitz was hired by the Trail Blazers in 2022 to work under GM Joe Cronin. According to the Mavs, he was involved in player evaluation, scouting, roster strategy, and organizational planning during his time in Portland.
In Dallas, Schmitz will report to Ujiri and will “oversee the day-to-day management and strategic alignment” of the team’s basketball operations department.
“Mike is one of the most respected evaluators and basketball minds in the NBA,” Ujiri said in a statement. “He brings intelligence, discipline, humility and a relentless work ethic to everything he does. Just as importantly, he understands how to build an aligned, collaborative culture across every part of a basketball organization. We are building something special in Dallas, and Mike will be a major part of that vision.”
Schmitz has also been an assistant coach for the Ugandan national team since 2018 and was a video coordinator for the Bakersfield Jam in the G League in 2012/13 before he began doing scouting work for DraftExpress.
The Trail Blazers drafted Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan, and Yang Hansen, among others, during Schmitz’s tenure with the team. Schmitz and fellow assistant GM Sergi Oliva were suspended for two weeks without pay last month after the NBA determined that the Blazers had illegally contacted Yang in 2023, well before he was draft-eligible.
2026 NBA Draft Lottery Primer
The 2026 NBA draft lottery will take place on Sunday afternoon prior to Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Knicks and Sixers. The half-hour event will be broadcast on ABC beginning at 2:00 pm Central time.
Unlike last year, when Cooper Flagg was considered the crown jewel in the draft class, the No. 1 overall pick this year isn’t a foregone conclusion. But that’s a reflection of the strength and depth of the 2026 class, since there’s no shortage of legitimate candidates for that top spot.
While BYU forward AJ Dybantsa is atop most draft boards, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke big man Cameron Boozer, and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson are all considered high-level prospects who could have real cases to be drafted first overall.
In other words, it’s not necessarily “No. 1 or bust” this year. Any team that secures a top-four pick on May 10 should leave the lottery pretty happy.
Here’s what you need to know heading into Sunday’s lottery:
Pre-Lottery Draft Order
The top 14 picks in the 2026 NBA draft would look like this if Sunday’s lottery results don’t change the order:
- Washington Wizards
- Indiana Pacers
- Note: The Clippers will receive this pick if it falls out of the top four (47.9%).
- Brooklyn Nets
- Utah Jazz
- Sacramento Kings
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Atlanta Hawks (from Pelicans)
- Note: The Hawks will receive the most favorable of this pick and the Bucks’ pick.
- Dallas Mavericks
- Chicago Bulls
- Milwaukee Bucks
- The Bucks will receive the least favorable of this pick and the Pelicans’ pick.
- Golden State Warriors
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers)
- Miami Heat
- Charlotte Hornets
For the full pre-lottery draft order, click here.
Draft Lottery Odds
The Wizards, Pacers, and Nets have the best odds to land the No. 1 pick. Each of those three teams has a 14.0% chance to pick first overall.
From there, the Jazz (11.5%) and Kings (11.5%) have the next-best odds to receive the first overall selection, followed by the Hawks (9.8%), Grizzlies (9.0%), and Mavericks (6.7%).
When the NBA introduced its new lottery format in 2019, the selling point was that the new system flattened the odds, making it less likely that the league’s very worst teams would claim a top pick.
Before the NBA tweaked the lottery rules, there was a 60.5% chance that one of the league’s bottom three teams would secure the No. 1 pick and only a 27.6% chance that a team in the 5-14 range of the lottery standings would do so. Now, those odds are 42.0% and 45.5%, respectively.
Those flattened odds have made a significant impact in the past couple years. In 2024, the Hawks moved up from 10th in the pre-lottery order to grab the No. 1 pick, while the Mavericks one-upped them in 2025 by claiming the top pick from the No. 11 slot. We’ll see if that trend continues with another long-shot team winning the first overall selection in 2026.
For full details on the current lottery format, click here.
Trades Affecting The Draft Lottery
The Pacers traded their 2026 first-round pick to the Clippers, but will keep that selection if it lands within the top four. There’s a 52.1% chance that will happen and a 47.9% chance it will slip to No. 5 or No. 6 and be sent to Los Angeles. If Indiana retains its first-rounder this year, the club would instead owe its 2031 first-round pick (unprotected) to the Clippers.
The Hawks will exit the lottery with the most favorable pick between the Pelicans and Bucks first-rounders, while the Bucks will control the least favorable of the two.
That means the Hawks have a 40.2% chance of securing a top-four pick, including a 9.8% chance at No. 1 overall, while Milwaukee has just a 3.0% shot at a top-four pick and can’t draft higher than second overall. Atlanta also has a 90.1% chance to draft in the top eight, whereas the Bucks’ odds to draft at No. 10 or lower are 86.9%.
The Clippers‘ first-round pick will be sent to the Thunder, no matter where it lands. That pick has a 7.1% chance of moving into the top four, with 1.5% odds of becoming the first overall pick. It’s safe to assume the NBA’s other 29 teams will be rooting hard against either of those outcomes.
Draft Lottery Representatives
The representatives for each of this year’s lottery teams are as follows, according to a pair of announcements from the NBA:
- Washington Wizards
- On stage: John Wall (former Wizards player)
- Drawing room: Michael Winger (president)
- On stage: John Wall (former Wizards player)
- Indiana Pacers
- On stage: T.J. McConnell
- Drawing room: Ted Wu (executive VP of basketball operations / assistant GM)
- Brooklyn Nets
- On stage: Vince Carter (former Nets player)
- Drawing room: Joe Tsai (governor)
- Utah Jazz
- On stage: Keyonte George
- Drawing room: Austin Ainge (president of basketball operations)
- Sacramento Kings
- On stage: Scott Perry (general manager)
- Drawing room: John Kehriotis (minority owner)
- Memphis Grizzlies
- On stage: Tayshaun Prince (VP of player affairs)
- Drawing room: Zach Kleiman (president of basketball operations / GM)
- Atlanta Hawks
- On stage: Onsi Saleh (general manager)
- Drawing room: Daniel Starkman (VP of player personnel)
- Dallas Mavericks
- On stage: Rolando Blackman (former Mavericks player)
- Drawing room: Matt Riccardi (assistant GM)
- On stage: Rolando Blackman (former Mavericks player)
- Chicago Bulls
- On stage: Toni Kukoc (special advisor to the president and CEO)
- Drawing room: Chigozie Umeadi (executive director of basketball operations)
- Milwaukee Bucks
- On stage: Mallory Edens (ownership representative)
- Drawing room: Dave Dean (VP of basketball operations)
- Golden State Warriors
- On stage: Larry Harris (assistant GM / director of player personnel)
- Drawing room: Raymond Ridder (senior VP of communications)
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- On stage: Nick Collison (special assistant to the general manager)
- Drawing room: Sam Presti (executive VP of basketball operations / GM)
- Miami Heat
- On stage: Alonzo Mourning (VP of player programs)
- Drawing room: Adam Simon (assistant GM)
- Charlotte Hornets
- On stage: Kon Knueppel
- Drawing room: Jake Stone (assistant to the president of basketball operations)
Clippers executive director of basketball operations Rishabh Desai will also be present in the drawing room, but L.A. won’t have a representative on stage, since the team’s pick is headed to Oklahoma City regardless of where it lands (though the Clippers could end up with Indiana’s selection).
Notably, the Mavericks‘ duo of Blackman and Riccardi is the same pair that was in attendance a year ago when Dallas won the lottery and the right to draft Flagg. The Mavs, of course, are hoping that Blackman and Riccardi bring the same sort of luck they did in 2025.
A total of 16 media members will also be present in the drawing room, per the NBA. That group is made up of a combination of national reporters, like Jake Fischer and Brian Windhorst, and local beat writers, including Dustin Dopirak and Jim Owczarksi. It can be viewed here.
Redick, Lakers Gripe About Officiating After Game 2 Loss
After the Lakers lost Game 2 to the Thunder on Thursday by a score of 125-107, Austin Reaves and several of his teammates spoke to the game’s referees on the court before heading to the locker room, seemingly expressing their frustration with how the game was called (Twitter video link). As Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, head coach JJ Redick voiced those frustrations during his post-game press conference.
“I sarcastically said the other day, (the Thunder are) the most disruptive team without fouling,” Redick said. “I mean, they have a few guys that foul on every possession. … They’re hard enough to play. They’re hard enough to play, you’ve got to be able to just call them if they foul, and they do foul.”
Through two games, the free throw disparity between the two teams isn’t significant — the Thunder have gone to the line 38 times, while the Lakers have attempted 34 free throws. However, Los Angeles’ leading scorer and play-maker LeBron James only has five of those free throw attempts, prompting Redick to specifically address the way the four-time MVP is being officiated.
“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen,” Redick said. “I mean, I’ve been with him two years now. The smaller guys, because they can be theatric, they typically draw more fouls, and the bigger players that are built like LeBron, it’s hard for them. He gets clobbered. He got clobbered again tonight a bunch.
“And that’s not like a new thing. That’s not specific to this crew or this series. He gets fouled a lot and it doesn’t (get called). The guy gets hit on the head more than any player I’ve seen on drives, and it rarely gets called.”
As McMenamin observes, James appeared to express his displeasure with a number of calls over the course of the game, but he declined to speak about the officiating after the game. Reaves was more willing to discuss the subject, explaining that he took particular exception to a moment when crew chief John Goble “yelled in my face” as the Lakers guard was attempting to get in position for a jump ball (Twitter video link).
“At the end of the day, we’re grown men. And I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that,” Reaves said. “I told him that. I wasn’t disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would have got a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn’t get a tech is because he knew he was in the wrong. So, yeah, I just felt disrespected.”
Regardless of whether or not the Lakers have legitimate gripes about the officiating, neither of the first two games in the series has been close, with the Thunder winning each one by 18 points. A more favorable whistle wouldn’t solve Los Angeles’ real problems in the matchup, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic. Redick acknowledged as much during his post-game remarks.
“We didn’t lose because of the refs,” the Lakers’ coach said, per Law Murray of The Athletic. “That’s never the case. You don’t lose because of the officials. You lose because the other team outplayed you. They obviously outplayed us. … So we just got to be better, and we’ll look at how we can be better at both ends.”
Former NBA Forward P.J. Tucker Announces Retirement
Longtime NBA forward P.J. Tucker has retired as a player, he announced on social media (Instagram link).
After three college seasons at Texas, Tucker was selected 35th overall in the 2006 NBA draft. He spent his rookie season in Toronto, the team that drafted him, but only played 83 total minutes over 17 games with the Raptors before he was cut in March of 2007.
Tucker played five years overseas prior to rejoining the NBA with the Suns in 2012/13. The 6’5″ combo forward spent four-plus seasons with Phoenix before to being sent back to Toronto ahead of the 2017 trade deadline. He signed with the Rockets that year in free agency, and proceeded to spend parts of four seasons with Houston, which sent him to Milwaukee ahead of the 2021 deadline.
Tucker helped the Bucks win their first championship in 50 years in 2020/21. He spent the following three seasons with the Heat, Sixers and Clippers, and was under contract but away from Los Angeles for most of 2024/25 until he was traded to Utah and then Toronto last February.
After being waived by the Raptors at the end of February 2025, Tucker signed with the Knicks. The North Carolina native barely played for New York, which advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years. The Knicks declined their team option on Tucker last summer, and he has been a free agent ever since.
Tucker, who turned 41 years old two days ago, holds career averages of 6.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 28.2 minutes per game across 886 regular season appearances, 667 of which were starts. His career shooting slash line was .425/.366/.750.
The 14-year veteran was mostly known for being a solid defender who could guard multiple positions. Tucker was strong, tough and made lots of winning effort plays that don’t necessarily show up on a stat sheet.
Hornets Sign Charles Lee To Multiyear Extension
The Hornets have signed head coach Charles Lee to a multiyear contract extension, the team announced today in a press release.
Lee, who took over for Steve Clifford in 2024, won just 19 games in his first year on the job as the rebuilding Hornets battled the injury bug. However, he guided the team to a 25-win improvement in 2025/26. Although Charlotte ultimately fell one win short of the playoffs, the club’s 44-38 record was its best regular season mark since 2015/16.
“Charles has done an outstanding job establishing a foundation for who we want to be as a team,” president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson said in a statement. “From day one, Charles and his staff have prioritized player development, creating an environment where each of our players are committed to getting better and continue to improve. He has built a team-first culture rooted in accountability, hard work and professionalism. I’m excited to keep working closely with Charles as we continue to build the Hornets for long-term success.”
The Hornets actually got off to a poor start again in ’25/26, opening the regular season by losing 14 of their first 18 games and compiling an 11-23 record heading into a January 3 game in Chicago. From that point on though, Charlotte was one of the NBA’s best teams, finishing the season on a 33-15 run and ranking first in the NBA in offensive rating (120.6), fourth in defensive rating (109.9), and first in net rating (+10.7) during that stretch.
After winning the 9/10 play-in game over the Heat, the Hornets lost their second play-in game to the Magic, but their second half performance still provided plenty of optimism for the team’s future.
We don’t know the exact terms of Lee’s new contract, but when he was hired in 2024, reports indicated he signed a four-year contract. Presumably, he still had two years left on that deal, though it’s possible the final year was an option. Even if his new deal replaced that last season and only tacked on one additional year beyond that, that means he’ll be under contract through at least 2029 — and it’s entirely possible his new deal goes beyond that.