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Former NBA Guard Kendrick Nunn Named EuroLeague MVP

April 21st, 2025 at 7:14am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran guard Kendrick Nunn, who played in the NBA from 2019-23, has been named the EuroLeague’s Most Valuable Player for the 2024/25 season, the league announced today in a press release.

Nunn, a member of Panathinaikos in Greece, beat out former EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov for the honor after averaging a league-leading 21.1 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.6 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per game with a shooting line of .503/.426/.856 across 33 outings.

Nunn led Panathinaikos to a 22-12 record and a No. 3 finish in the 18-team league.

The EuroLeague’s Most Valuable Player award is voted on by head coaches (35%), team captains (35%), media members (20%), and fans (10%). Vezenkov was the runner-up in the voting after returning to Europe last year to join Olympiacos following an NBA stint, while TJ Shorts of Paris Basketball finished third.

Nunn is the third American player to earn MVP honors in the history of the EuroLeague, joining Anthony Parker (2005 and 2006) and Mike James (2024).

Nunn, who appeared in 193 regular season games for the Heat, Lakers, and Wizards, recently signed a three-year contract extension with Panathinaikos that will make him the EuroLeague’s highest-paid player. That deal reportedly doesn’t include NBA out clauses, so the 29-year-old will remain overseas for the foreseeable future.

Panathinaikos will square off against Anadolu Efes in the first round of the EuroLeague playoffs, beginning on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the Final Four.

Potential Top-Five Pick Edgecombe Declares For Draft

April 20th, 2025 at 6:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Baylor freshman V.J. Edgecombe, a potential top-five selection, has declared his intentions to enter the draft, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets.

Edgecombe is ranked as the No. 4 prospect on ESPN’s Best Available list, behind only Duke’s Cooper Flagg and the Rutgers duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie has Edgecombe going off the board with the No. 3 pick ahead of Bailey in his latest mock draft.

Edgecombe plays with a high motor and defends, which makes the 6’5” wing a safe pick despite his roller-coaster offensive season, Vecenie writes. NBA executives are mixed on his on-ball upside, Vecenie adds, with some comparing him to Victor Oladipo, whereas others see him more as a standout 3-and-D player with tremendous athleticism.

Edgecombe averaged 15.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game in his lone season with the Bears. A native of the Bahamas, Edgecombe shot 43.6% from the field and 34% from distance. He averaged 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in two NCAA Tournament games and had a season-high 30 points against Kansas State in January.

NBA Announces Finalists For 2024/25 Awards

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

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

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

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

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

Coach of the Year

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

Rookie of the Year

Stephon Castle (Spurs)
Zaccharie Risacher (Hawks)
Jaylen Wells (Grizzlies)

Sixth Man of the Year

Malik Beasley (Pistons)
Ty Jerome (Cavaliers)
Payton Pritchard (Celtics)

Defensive Player of the Year

Dyson Daniels (Hawks)
Draymond Green (Warriors)
Evan Mobley (Cavaliers)

Most Improved Player

Cade Cunningham (Pistons)
Dyson Daniels (Hawks)
Ivica Zubac (Clippers)

Clutch Player of the Year

Jalen Brunson (Knicks)
Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)

Kings’ DeMar DeRozan Involved In Fight At Restaurant

April 19th, 2025 at 9:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kings forward DeMar DeRozan is the subject of an “ongoing and active investigation” following an incident Friday night, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.

A 28-second video posted to TMZ shows DeRozan involved in a confrontation with another man at the Yume Sushi restaurant in Calabasas, California. DeRozan can be seen reaching for the other man’s legs while he’s on the floor, according to Anderson, while a woman yells to DeRozan to “let him go.” When the man gets to his feet, he tells DeRozan, “I’m a big fan” and says “give me my phone.” They are eventually broken up by other restaurant patrons.

A witness tells TMZ that the skirmish began when the man “shoved a phone with a bright light in DeMar’s face.” The witness adds that DeRozan knocked the phone away and claims the unidentified man suffered injuries in the fight that resulted in him leaving the restaurant in an ambulance.

Law enforcement authorities weren’t able to verify the witness’s version of events, according to Anderson, and the Kings didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

DeRozan just completed his first season with Sacramento after being acquired from Chicago in a sign-and-trade last summer. The team saw its season end Wednesday night with a home loss to Dallas in the play-in tournament.

Kenny Atkinson Wins Coaches Association Award

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Damian Lillard Discusses ‘Scary’ Blood Clot Diagnosis

April 19th, 2025 at 10:57am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters on Friday for the first time since being diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his right calf last month, Bucks guard Damian Lillard admitted that learning he had a blood clot was “a little bit scary,” as Eric Nehm and Zach Powell of The Athletic write.

“I think I’ve had a couple of surgeries in my career. I’ve had things I’ve had to deal with, you know, with an ankle or a knee, Achilles, calf, whatever it might be,” Lillard said. “But those are all things that you go to rehab, you deal with it like that, like an athlete would. I’m thinking that’s what I was going into, and then you see a blood clot. Obviously, that’s a thing that can affect your life.”

According to Lillard, he experienced pain in his calf that he initially believed was a strain, but the leg was “swollen” and “super tight” in a way that wasn’t consistent with the typical symptoms of a strain, prompting him to tell the team about it.

Because the Bucks and the star point guard acted quickly, doctors caught and diagnosed the blood clot early, reducing the odds of it developing into a significant issue. But Lillard – who had a cousin deal with a similar health issue in 2021 – recognizes that it could have turned into something more serious.

“Honestly, when I say I was scared, I was really nervous about it, based off of a past experience,” Lillard said. “So I wasn’t really thinking about, ‘Oh, I need to get back out there for the playoffs.’ I was just like each time I went back to the hospital, I wanted to hear that it’s gone or it’s smaller or it’s in the same spot, so that was more of my focus.”

Repeated blood clots forced former NBA star Chris Bosh to end his career early, and even a single instance of a blood clot often sidelines a player for the rest of the season. Most recently, the Spurs ruled out Victor Wembanyama for the remainder of 2024/25 just days after the All-Star game due to a blood clot in his right shoulder. Pistons wing Ausar Thompson, diagnosed with a blood clot last March, missed the end of the ’23/24 season and didn’t make his ’24/25 debut until November.

However, reporting at the time of Lillard’s diagnosis indicated there was optimism about his chances to make it back this season. He won’t play on Saturday in Game 1 of the Bucks’ first-round series vs. Indiana, but Shams Charania of ESPN stated this week that Lillard has been cleared of his deep vein thrombosis and is no longer taking blood-thinning medication.

Lillard has returned to practice and is ramping up toward a potential return. He’s not sure yet when exactly that might happen, though Charania reported on ESPN’s NBA Countdown on Saturday that the 34-year-old is expected to be back in Game 2 on Tuesday or Game 3 next Friday (Twitter video link).

“The moment that I feel good about it. I’m not going to be waiting and all of that,” Lillard said, per Nehm and Powell. “The moment that I feel I can go, I’m gonna go. So I mean, that’s what I can tell you.”

Grizzlies Claim West’s Final Playoff Spot

April 18th, 2025 at 11:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies locked up the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a convincing win over the Mavericks on Friday night in Memphis.

The Grizzlies scored the first seven points of the game and built a double-digit lead within the first five minutes. They never trailed en route to a 120-106 victory, locking up the No. 8 seed in the West and lining up a first-round series with the top-seeded Thunder.

Jaren Jackson Jr. (24 points, seven rebounds), Ja Morant (22 points, nine assists, seven rebounds), and Desmond Bane (22 points, nine assists) led the way for the Grizzlies, overcoming a 40-point performance by Dallas big man Anthony Davis.

While the Heat became the first No. 10 seed to win back-to-back play-in games earlier in the night, the No. 10 Mavericks couldn’t repeat that feat, bringing a tumultuous season in Dallas to a close. The Western play-in tournament played out largely as expected, with the No. 7 Warriors and No. 8 Grizzlies entering the playoffs with the same seeds they held at the end of the regular season.

Memphis’ win was crucial for the Wizards, who will now receive the Grizzlies’ first-round pick — it will be either No. 18, 19, or 20, depending on the results of a Monday tiebreaker. If the Grizzlies had lost on Friday, Washington would have instead received a pair of future second-round picks, since that first-rounder was top-14 protected.

The Mavericks will now be a lottery team and will end up either 11th or 12th in the pre-lottery draft order, depending on the results of a tiebreaker with Chicago.

While the Grizzlies will be significant underdogs against the 68-win Thunder in round one, it’s worth noting that Memphis was the second seed in the West for weeks at a time during the season, including as late as February 28. If the Grizzlies, who went 35-16 prior to the trade deadline, can recapture that form, they have a chance to make it a competitive series.

Heat Become First No. 10 Seed To Win Two Play-In Games

April 18th, 2025 at 9:04pm CST by Luke Adams

For a third straight year, the Heat have earned the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot via the play-in tournament.

This time around, Miami made history by becoming the first No. 10 seed to make it through the play-in tournament since the event’s inception in 2021. After defeating the No. 9 Bulls in Chicago on Wednesday, the Heat registered their second consecutive road play-in win in Atlanta on Friday against the No. 8 Hawks.

The Heat led for most of the night until the Hawks made a fourth-quarter comeback and forced overtime. Trade-deadline acquisition and free-agent-to-be Davion Mitchell helped Miami secure the 123-114 win by knocking down a trio of three-pointers in the extra frame.

Tyler Herro (30 points), Bam Adebayo (17 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks), and Andrew Wiggins (20 points, eight rebounds, eight assists) also played key roles in the victory.

As a result of the win, the Heat have a first-round series on tap with the No. 1 Cavaliers. As the NBA announced this week (via Twitter), that series will get underway in Cleveland on Sunday evening. The Hawks’ season is over.

Friday’s game also had major draft-related implications. Because they made the playoffs, the Heat will no longer control their first-round pick, which will land at No. 15 overall and will be sent to the Thunder. Miami will still receive Golden State’s first-round pick, which will end up at No. 18, 19, or 20, depending on the outcome of a random tiebreaker on Monday.

If they’d missed the playoffs, the Heat would’ve hung onto their own 2025 pick and would’ve owed their unprotected 2026 first-rounder to Oklahoma City and their unprotected 2028 first-rounder to Charlotte. Instead, the Heat will keep their 2026 pick and will owe their lottery-protected 2027 first-rounder to the Hornets. That pick would become unprotected in 2028 if it lands in the top 14 in 2027.

The Spurs, meanwhile, control the Hawks’ first-round pick, which will now be No. 12, 13, or 14 in the lottery standings, depending on the outcome of Friday’s Grizzlies/Mavericks game and a Monday tiebreaker between Atlanta and Sacramento, both of whom finished with 40-42 regular season records.

If Dallas beats Memphis on Friday, that Hawks/Kings tiebreaker would be incredibly meaningful, since it would determine the 12th and 13th spots in the lottery — Sacramento owes its first-round pick to Atlanta if it lands outside the top 12, so the odds of the Kings keeping that pick would increase significantly if they move up to No. 12 in the lottery standings.

If the Grizzlies beat Dallas on Friday, that tiebreaker between Atlanta and Sacramento would be for the 13th and 14th spots in the lottery standings, putting the Hawks in position to claim the Kings’ pick regardless of the tiebreaker outcome (unless it jumps into the top four on lottery night).

Ja Morant Available For Friday’s Play-In Game

April 18th, 2025 at 8:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies will have their star point guard available on Friday vs. Dallas as they look to clinch the eighth and final playoff seed in the West. After testing out his injured ankle during pregame warmups, Ja Morant will be in Memphis’ starting lineup, tweets Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Morant turned his right ankle in the third quarter of Tuesday’s loss to Golden State when he came down on Buddy Hield‘s foot. Although he looked hobbled for the rest of the night, the 25-year-old was able to finish the game and vowed to suit up on Friday.

However, after being diagnosed with a right ankle sprain, Morant didn’t practice on Thursday and was listed as questionable for Friday’s do-or-die game, with Grizzlies interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo referring to him as a game-time decision, per Cole.

Shams Charania of ESPN said during an appearance on NBA Today (Twitter video link) that Morant underwent an MRI on the injury, and while it showed no structural damage, the sprain is considered “severe.” According to Charania, the Grizzlies guard received an injection on Thursday to address swelling and pain in the ankle and got another injection on Friday (Twitter link).

After missing most of the 2023/24 season with a shoulder injury, Morant was limited to 50 appearances in ’24/25, having dealt with a series of injuries, including some recurring issues in his surgically repaired shoulder. He was still effective when he did suit up, averaging 23.2 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.1 rebounds in 30.4 minutes per contest.

As expected, both Anthony Davis (adductor strain) and Brandon Williams (oblique strain) will be available on Friday for the Mavericks, according to the team (Twitter link). Both players had been listed as probable.

The winner of Friday’s Southwest Division showdown will face Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs, while the losing team will end up in the draft lottery.

Lakers Extend, Promote Rob Pelinka

April 18th, 2025 at 3:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers have announced an extension and promotion for Rob Pelinka, who is now the team’s president of basketball operations as well as general manager, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

“For eight seasons, I have relied on Rob’s vision and leadership to do what’s best for the Lakers organization,” team governor Jeanie Buss said. “I value his partnership and professionalism and believe in his ability to deliver championship-caliber basketball for Los Angeles and Lakers fans everywhere.”

The Lakers hired Pelinka as general manager in 2017 and gave him the title of vice president of basketball operations in 2020.

He has delivered one championship during his tenure and may have the team in position to win more after acquiring Luka Doncic from Dallas in the season’s biggest deal. The addition of Doncic sparked L.A. to a 50-32 record and the third seed in the Western Conference.

Pelinka was also responsible for bringing LeBron James to Los Angeles during the summer of 2018. That gave the Lakers a star to build around after Kobe Bryant‘s retirement two years earlier and has made them a perennial playoff team.

In addition, Pelinka engineered a blockbuster deal in 2019 that brought Anthony Davis to the Lakers. Although Davis was later sent to Dallas in exchange for Doncic, the move showed that Pelinka wasn’t afraid to gamble to add star power to his team.

Pelinka, 55, won an NCAA title as a player with Michigan in 1989. He served as an agent, representing several prominent NBA stars, before getting hired by the Lakers.