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Labaron Philon Withdraws From Draft, Returning To Alabama

May 29th, 2025 at 7:02am CST by Luke Adams

Labaron Philon was among the prospects to withdraw from the NBA draft ahead of Wednesday’s deadline for early entrants to remove their names and retain their NCAA eligibility. The Alabama guard, who will return to the Crimson Tide for the 2025/26 season, announced the news on Instagram.

The 11th-hour reversal comes as a surprise, since Philon stated two weeks ago that he was “all-in on the draft,” with reporting at the time indicating that he had informed Alabama head coach Nate Oats that he wouldn’t be returning to the program.

It’s great news for the Crimson Tide, allowing the program to retain a player who emerged as a starter in his first college season and earned a spot on the SEC’s All-Freshman team. Philon averaged 10.6 points, 3.8 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 24.7 minutes per game across 37 outings (29 starts) in 2024/25, with a shooting line of .452/.315/.767.

Philon was projected to be the No. 33 overall pick in ESPN’s most recent mock draft and was viewed as a borderline first-round pick. Rather than take his chances this spring, he’ll look to boost his draft stock at Alabama in ’25/26 and could declare as an early entrant again next year if his odds of becoming a first-rounder have improved.

Notre Dame big man Kebba Njie was also among the other prospects who withdrew from the draft ahead of Wednesday’s deadline, notes Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Njie will rejoin the Fighting Irish for his senior year after averaging 6.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game as a junior.

We’ve updated our early entrant tracker with all of the latest updates on college players’ draft decisions.

There are a few cases where a player’s intent has not yet been fully confirmed — for example, Montana guard Money Williams announced in late March that he would be returning to the Grizzlies for the 2025/26 season, but he still went through the draft process and there have been no updates since then confirming that he has removed his name from the pool. So until we get official word one way or the other, we’re keeping him in the “testing the waters” section of our tracker rather than assuming he has withdrawn.

The NBA typically provides an update shortly after the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline passes on which players have pulled out of the draft, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for that in the coming days.

The next major draft-related deadline to watch is on June 15, which is the NBA’s own withdrawal deadline. It applies primarily to international prospects who didn’t have to worry about Wednesday’s NCAA cutoff.

Nuggets’ David Adelman Plans Style Changes Next Season

May 28th, 2025 at 9:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

David Adelman talked about changes in philosophy and style of play at an introductory news conference Wednesday to officially make him the Nuggets‘ permanent head coach, writes Pat Graham of The Associated Press.

Adelman held the job on an interim basis after taking over when Michael Malone was fired on April 8 with three games left in the regular season. Adelman led the team to a first-round victory over the Clippers before dropping a seven-game series to the Thunder in the second round.

Players responded positively to the increased input they were able to provide under Adelman, along with the lifting of tensions that occurred with the dismissal of Malone and general manager Calvin Booth.

Looking ahead to next season, Adelman said he wants the team to get in “better shape” and he’s planning to expand the rotation beyond what Malone normally utilized. He’s looking at a slower style of play to maximize the skills of star center Nikola Jokic.

“We have to get back to being an execution-based team,” Adelman said. “If that takes away some of our pace numbers, or whatever the analytics want to say, I think that’s OK if it wins you a game in May, as opposed to playing a game in December. The majority of the time, if you want to win big, you’ve got to play slow. You’ve got to be efficient. You’ve got to be clean. So that will be things we’ll talk about throughout the summer, going to training camp.”

Graham points out that it won’t be easy to add talent to the roster because the Nuggets don’t own any picks in next month’s draft. Any significant trade would likely have to break up the current starting five, so the best avenue toward improvement will be progress from young players Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Jalen Pickett and DaRon Holmes, who missed his entire rookie season after suffering an Achilles tear in a Summer League game.

There’s more from Denver:

Between the reduced pace and Adelman’s desire for “a premium on shot-making,” Russell Westbrook shouldn’t be part of the team next season, contends Troy Renck of The Denver Post. Westbrook holds a $3.47MM player option, and Renck says the best outcome would be for him to decline it and join a team like Brooklyn that’s looking for a big name. Renck suggests using the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign free agent Tyus Jones, who would provide a steadier option as backup point guard.
Team president Josh Kroenke wants a better relationship between his coach and GM this time, so Adelman will have at least a small role in filling that position, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “DA will come into that process at some point. … But I think the input will be relatively minimal, because what I’ll be looking for is cohesion between those two (roles),” Kroenke said. “And I think that once we decide on that, I think I’ll have a lot of comfort on how they work together.” Kroenke added that he has “no news on that front” when asked about hiring an outside firm to identify potential GM candidates. He also praised interim GM Ben Tenzer for the way he’s handled the role since Booth was fired.
Adelman needs to send a strong message to Jamal Murray about coming to camp in shape and being at his best when the season starts, states Sean Keeler of The Denver Post. Murray’s four-year, $207.8MM extension will take effect next season.

Brandin Podziemski Has Wrist Debridement Surgery

May 28th, 2025 at 8:44pm CST by Arthur Hill

Brandin Podziemski underwent left wrist debridement surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles, the Warriors announced (via Twitter). He’s expected to make a full recovery and be ready when training camp opens this fall.

There had been no indication that Podziemski was dealing with a wrist injury before Wednesday night’s announcement. He appeared in all 12 of Golden State’s playoff contests and led the team with 28 points in the Game 5 loss to Minnesota two weeks ago.

The second-year guard struggled with his shot during the postseason, which could have been a result of the wrist ailment. After connecting at 44.5% from the field and 37.2% from beyond the arc during the regular season, those numbers dropped to 36.4% and 32.8% in the playoffs.

According to the San Jose Mercury News (subscription required), the University of California San Francisco’s Department of Surgery states that the debridement procedure “involves thoroughly cleaning the wound and removing all hyperkeratotic (thickened skin or callus), infected, and nonviable (necrotic or dead) tissue, foreign debris, and residual material from dressings.”

Podziemski quickly made an impact with the Warriors after being selected out of Santa Clara with the 19th pick in the 2023 draft. He immediately earned a spot in coach Steve Kerr‘s rotation and finished fifth in the 2024 Rookie of the Year race.

He turned 22 in February and appears to be a long-term fixture for a Golden State team that needs more production from its younger players to ease the burden on Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler.

Offseason Zion Williamson Trade Considered ‘Very Unlikely’

May 28th, 2025 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

It’s “very unlikely” that the Pelicans will trade forward Zion Williamson before the 2025/26 season tips off, reports William Guillory of The Athletic.

It was another injury-shortened season in 2024/25 for Williamson, who was limited to 30 or fewer games for the fourth time in his six years in the NBA. His injury woes, along with a disappointing season for the Pelicans as a whole and a front office overhaul that saw Joe Dumars hired as the team’s new head of basketball operations, have led to speculation that the former No. 1 overall pick could be on the trade block this summer.

However, Guillory says there has been communication between Dumars and Williamson’s camp on “several occasions” since the former Pistons executive replaced David Griffin in New Orleans last month. According to Guillory, both sides are feeling good about where the relationship stands ahead of next season.

Echoing prior reporting from Marc Stein, Guillory also confirms that the Pelicans’ decision to make Williamson their on-stage representative at this month’s draft lottery was “very intentional,” as was Zion’s decision to be there. Stein previously noted that Williamson’s presence at the lottery on behalf of the organization was a strong signal that he’ll remain a franchise centerpiece in New Orleans.

Although Williamson has been limited to 214 total regular season games across six NBA seasons and has never suited up in the playoffs, he has been terrific when he has been available, with career averages of 24.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 31.4 minutes per contest.

As Guillory notes, after missing a chunk of the season due to hamstring issues, the former Duke star looked to be in the best shape of his career and was playing some of his best basketball during the second half of the season. That stretch served as a reminder that the Pelicans can get more from a healthy Williamson on the court than they could realistically hope to get in exchange for him on the trade market.

Still, while he views a Williamson trade as a long shot to happen this summer, Guillory cautions that the new front office is unlikely to be as patient as the previous regime was with the 24-year-old if he continues to have issues related to his health, conditioning, and/or work ethic.

Williamson is owed approximately $126.5MM across the next three seasons.

Pelicans Hire Troy Weaver As Senior VP Of Basketball Operations

May 28th, 2025 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

May 28: The Pelicans have formally confirmed the addition of Weaver to their front office, announcing that he’s the team’s new senior VP of basketball operations.

New Orleans also announced Jason Hervey as the team’s director of player personnel and Davis Smith as basketball operations manager. The club’s deal with Hervey was previously reported by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

April 23: The Pelicans are hiring former Pistons general manager Troy Weaver, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, who reports (via Twitter) that Weaver will be named the senior vice president in New Orleans’ basketball operations department under new executive VP Joe Dumars.

In a full story on ESPN.com, Spears says Weaver will also hold the title of Pelicans general manager.

Weaver spent more than a decade in the Thunder’s front office before being hired by the Pistons as their general manager in 2020. He oversaw the rebuilding project in Detroit for four years, but was removed from his position last spring after the team posted a franchise-worst 14-68 record in 2023/24.

As poor as the Pistons’ record was during Weaver’s tenure, he perhaps deserves partial credit for the team’s renaissance this season, which was led by a handful of his draft picks, including star point guard Cade Cunningham, center Jalen Duren, and swingman Ausar Thompson.

Following his exit from Detroit, Weaver joined the Wizards last summer as a senior advisor. He’ll be leaving that role to join the Pelicans’ front office, says Spears.

Although both Dumars and Weaver are former heads of basketball operations in Detroit, their stints with the club didn’t overlap at all. Dumars led the Pistons’ front office from 2010-14, departing the organization while Weaver was still in Oklahoma City.

Suns Pare Down List Of Coaching Candidates To Five

May 28th, 2025 at 7:00am CST by Dana Gauruder

May 28: In addition to confirming Quinn, Bryant, Ott, and Sweeney as finalists, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) reports that Bliss is moving to the next round of interviews as well.

Gambadoro confirms that the Suns are advancing five candidates to the final round of the search process, with Bliss still in the mix (Twitter links).

May 27: The Suns have whittled their list of candidates for their head coaching job.

According to Phoenix radio reporter John Gambadoro (Twitter link), there are four finalists for the position, with Heat assistant Chris Quinn and Cavaliers assistants Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott among that group.

The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin, citing multiple league sources, also hears that Quinn and Ott are among the likely finalists along with Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, with Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori also a possibility.

Sweeney is headed to Phoenix for an in-person interview on Wednesday, Gambadoro confirms (via Twitter).

The Suns are looking to replace Mike Budenholzer, who only lasted one disappointing season on the job. Budenholzer was hired after Frank Vogel, another coach with a championship on his resume, was let go after one season.

The Suns are the only team in search of a head coach. Gambadoro reported on Sunday that Phoenix’s brass had already conducted second interviews with nine candidates for the position, mainly via Zoom. Suns assistant David Fizdale, Pelicans assistant James Borrego, Nets assistant Steve Hetzel and Thunder assistant Dave Bliss were the other reported candidates.

Russell Westbrook Undergoes Hand Surgery

May 27th, 2025 at 5:45pm CST by Luke Adams

5:45 pm: Westbrook’s right hand surgery was to repair multiple ligament tears, according to the Nuggets, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post tweets. He underwent the procedure today, as expected.

11:37 am: Veteran guard Russell Westbrook is undergoing surgery on his right hand on Tuesday morning, he announced today in the latest installment of his personal newsletter (hat tip to Law Murray of The Athletic).

According to Westbrook, the procedure will repair two breaks in the hand that occurred during the season. The 36-year-old doesn’t provide information on any sort of formal recovery timeline, but says he’s optimistic about being back to 100% “soon.”

Hand injuries are nothing new for Westbrook, who had surgery to repair a fracture in his right hand in 2014 and underwent procedures on his left hand in 2019 and 2024 to address ligament damage and a fracture, respectively.

Westbrook played a major role in 2024/25 for the Nuggets after signing a two-year, minimum-salary contract that features a second-year player option. He averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 27.9 minutes per game across 75 appearances (36 starts), with a shooting line of .449/.323/.661.

The Nuggets had a better net rating with Westbrook off the court (+8.6) than on it (-0.6), but he received positive reviews in Denver due to the energy and leadership he provided off the bench, as well as his performance filling in for injured starters (including Aaron Gordon) over the course of the season.

Westbrook will have to make a decision in the coming weeks on his $3.47MM player option in the coming weeks. His projected minimum for 2025/26 as a free agent is $3.63MM, so even if he wants to return to Denver and is willing to settle for another minimum-salary deal, it might make sense for him to opt out in order to sign a new contract.

Shams: LeBron James Likely To Opt In For 2025/26

May 27th, 2025 at 2:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday about LeBron James‘ future, ESPN’s Shams Charania said the Lakers star appears likely to exercise his $52.6MM player option for the 2025/26 season (YouTube link).

“I’m told he’s likely to opt in. … That’s likely, that’s the plan,” Charania said. “But his option date is June 29, so he still has about a month to figure it out. There’s going to be some hard conversations that are going to happen between him (and) the Lakers, seeing what this team looks like. Because whether he plays one more season or a few more seasons, he wants to be in a competitive environment.

“… He’s probably going to opt in because the option is so big. And then that gives you flexibility to figure out, do you extend off that number or…if this is the last hurrah, essentially.”

When the Lakers’ season came to an end a few weeks ago, James expressed uncertainty about his NBA future and didn’t confirm that he’d return to Los Angeles in 2025/26 or even continue his playing career at all.

However, it has always seemed highly unlikely that James would announce his retirement this summer, and there has been no indication in recent years that he has any interest in leaving L.A., despite some up-and-down seasons during his time with the Lakers. With Luka Doncic now in the picture, there’s a newfound reason for optimism for the franchise, seemingly reducing the odds of a LeBron exit.

Given that context, Charania’s report makes sense, though it’s worth noting that if he opts in, James would be earning less than his maximum salary (projected to be $54.1MM) and wouldn’t have the ability to sign an extension before that contract expires next summer. So even if he wants to just commit for one more season with the Lakers and then leave his options open in 2026, he could still end up turning down his player option in order to sign a new one-year contract.

Assuming James returns for the ’25/26 season, it would be his 23rd year in the NBA, which would be a new league record. LeBron’s 22 seasons in the NBA puts him in a tie with Vince Carter for the current mark.

Florida’s Alex Condon Among Latest To Withdraw From Draft

May 27th, 2025 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Florida big man Alex Condon is removing his name from the 2025 NBA draft pool and returning to the Gators for his junior year, he informs Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Condon was a member of the team that won a national championship last month and will be looking to pull off the feat again next season.

[RELATED: 2025 NBA Draft Early Entrants List]

“It’s a really good situation waiting for me there,” Condon said. “A great coach with Todd Golden. Teammates I won a national championship with. I have great chemistry with those boys. We have a good transfer class coming in. I expect guys to make a leap. My big man coach Carlin Hartman is returning, so I will keep developing my game with him.”

A 6’11” forward/center from Australia, Condon was elevated to Florida’s starting lineup as a sophomore in 2024/25 after coming off the bench as a freshman. In his second college season, he averaged 10.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 24.9 minutes per contest in 37 games (35 starts), earning third-team All-SEC honors.

Condon conducted private workouts for eight NBA teams during the pre-draft process, he told Givony. The big man was the No. 31 prospect in the last update of ESPN’s big board, though in today’s news story, Givony refers to him as ESPN’s No. 38 player. Either way, Condon was far from a lock to be a first-round pick, which factored into his decision to return to school.

Condon is one of several draft prospects reported in recent hours to be withdrawing from the NBA draft. Here are a few others:

After testing the draft waters following his freshman season, guard Joson Sanon is headed back to school, reports Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Sanon, who averaged 11.9 points per game on .422/.369/.714 shooting for Arizona State in 2024/25, is transferring to St. John’s for his sophomore year.
Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton has officially withdrawn from the draft and is rejoining the Buckeyes for one more season, a source tells Rothstein (Twitter link). As a junior in 2024/25, Thornton put up 17.2 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game in 32 outings (all starts), earning a spot on the All-Big Ten second team.
Forward Devon Pryor, who is transferring from Texas to Oregon for his junior year, is opting out of the draft, per Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Pryor didn’t see much action for the Longhorns last season, averaging just 12.1 minutes per game in 23 appearances.
Elijah Fisher, a 6’6″ wing, has withdrawn from the draft and will join his fourth school in four years, according to Chepkevich (Twitter link). After spending one season apiece with Texas Tech, DePaul, and Pacific, Fisher has committed to Seton Hall for the 2025/26 campaign.
Chris Howell is exiting the draft and transferring from UC San Diego to New Mexico, reports Chepkevich (Twitter link). As a junior last season, the 6’6″ guard averaged 5.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.2 steals per game in 35 starts for the Tritons.
Guard Dominick Harris, who has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining, will pull out of the draft and transfer from UCLA to Loyola Chicago, tweets Chepkevich. Harris has also played for Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount since beginning his college career in 2020.

Yaxel Lendeborg Withdrawing From Draft, Transferring To Michigan

May 27th, 2025 at 10:26am CST by Luke Adams

Yaxel Lendeborg, projected to be a first-round pick next month, is withdrawing from the 2025 NBA draft and transferring from UAB to Michigan, he tells Jonathan Givony and Shams Charania of ESPN.

“While it’s been and still is a dream of mine to play in the NBA, I feel the development and growth as a player and a person I will gain at the University of Michigan will be very beneficial,” Lendeborg explained to ESPN.

There will be no shortage of college early entrants pulling out of the NBA draft ahead of the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline on Wednesday, but Lendeborg will almost certainly be one of the highest-rated prospects to forgo the professional route. He had been listed as the No. 26 overall prospect on ESPN’s 2025 big board and was also the 26th player selected in the site’s most recent mock draft.

[RELATED: 2025 NBA Draft Early Entrants List]

A 6’9″ forward, Lendeborg made the All-AAC first team in 2024 and 2025 and was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in both seasons as well. As a senior this past season, he averaged 17.7 points, a conference-leading 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks, and 1.7 steals in 33.6 minutes per game across 37 outings (all starts). He posted a strong shooting line of .522/.357/.757.

According to Givony, Lendeborg joined elite company by registering at least 600 points, 400 rebounds, and 150 assists a single season in 2024/25 — Larry Bird is the only other player in Division I history to accomplish that feat.

Lendeborg has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining before becoming automatically draft-eligible in 2026. He told ESPN that he got excited about the idea of joining the Wolverines after seeing how they deployed big man Danny Wolf as a ball-handler and facilitator.

“It’s amazing what Dusty May did with Danny Wolf,” Lendeborg said. “I would watch his games this season and say, ‘Man, I wish that was me.’ I’m trying to bring the same type of versatility he brought to Michigan.”