Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

NBA To Reveal MVP Winner This Evening

May 21st, 2025 at 8:20am CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA has kept the Most Valuable Player award announcement a secret for weeks. The speculation is over — this season’s MVP will be revealed tonight at 7 p.m. ET during the TNT broadcast, the league’s PR department tweets. The announcement will come prior to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, is considered the strong favorite to win the award for the first time. He averaged a career-best 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks in 34.2 minutes per game while appearing in 76 games. This is SGA’s seventh NBA season.

Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the other finalists.

Jokic averaged a triple-double — 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per night — in his 10th season while appearing in 70 games. The Nuggets center has won the award in three of the last four seasons.

Antetokounmpo was named MVP in 2019 and 2020. In his 12th season, the Bucks forward posted averages of 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists in 67 games.

No guard has won the award since 2018, when James Harden claimed the honor while playing for Houston.

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Finch, Thunder, Wolves

May 20th, 2025 at 10:02am CST by Eli Cohen

There’s a chance that Game 7’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder will be the last game together for the Nuggets‘ core four of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr., writes Bennett Durando of the Denver Post. The quartet, which has played together since the Gordon was acquired via trade in 2022, is looking at a financial reality that might prove too onerous for ownership to bear, especially with the team unable to get past the second round since winning the title in 2023.

Asked after Game 7 whether the Nuggets could win a championship as currently constructed, Jokic said, “If we could, we will win it. So I don’t believe in the ‘if, if’ stuff. We had opportunity. We didn’t win it. So I think we can’t.”

The loss comes after the abrupt termination of general manager Calvin Booth and longtime head coach Michael Malone, both of whom were crucial architects of the championship identity, just weeks before the playoffs began. Interim head coach David Adelman ended up coaching nearly as many Game 7s as he did regular season games.

Murray and Gordon both have extensions about to kick in. Murray’s four-year deal is worth nearly $208MM, while Gordon’s is a three-year $109MM extension after he exercised his $22.84MM player option in the 2025/26 season.

While both are trade-eligible, they have been crucial pieces of the Nuggets’ success, with Murray providing scoring and play-making while Gordon has consistently been a big-shot maker and elite defender who has displayed a seamless connection with Jokic as a cutter and screener. That may leave Porter as the best chance the team has to address some of its roster holes while it still can, especially with Christian Braun‘s extension eligibility looming.

We have more from around the Northwest:

Whatever decisions the Nuggets are forced to make due to finances and a lack of repeated Finals runs will be made more difficult by the bonds that have developed over the years. One such relationship is between Porter and Gordon, who have become close friends and support pillars for each other, Marc J. Spears writes for Andscape. Gordon played this season after losing his older brother, Drew, and Porter was someone he could lean on in times of hardship. Gordon and Porter both fought through injuries that limited them in their series against the Thunder, to the point that Porter wondered if he made things worse by being out there. “I probably should’ve just let it heal for a few games and then try to come back,” he said. “That is just not the person I am.”
Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch‘s journey to back-to-back conference finals appearances began with a rejection from a Pennsylvania high school coaching gig, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. At the time, he was coaching basketball in England and desperate for a way home. That journey led him to the Rockets’ G League team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, which eventually led him to Minnesota, where, for the second time in three seasons, Finch had to figure out how to construct an identity around a team with a new All-Star. The results were tumultuous to start the season, with the team booed for a lackluster start amid discourse about whether newly-acquired star Julius Randle should be benched for Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid, but Finch eventually found the right buttons to push for to his new-look team. “The validation I feel is for what we’re doing overall as a program,” he said.
Randle and Gobert struggled to find their footing early on together, but in the second round of the 2025 playoffs, the Timberwolves veterans showcased why they are such dangerous players and silenced criticism about their playoff histories, writes Mark Medina of Athlon Sports. “You’ve gotten a lot of disrespect your whole career,” Gobert said to Randle. “And so have I.” Finch, who was an assistant coach in New Orleans for Randle’s breakout year, says that finding the balance of Randle’s responsibilities was key to unlocking the team: “We, at different times of the season, gave him the message, ‘Hey we need you to score more. Hey, we need you to pass more.’ And sometimes it was the wrong message… So that was a lot of our early season growth with him.“
The Thunder have some fascinating lineup choices to consider as they enter Tuesday’s Game 1 against the Wolves, says SI’s Rylan Stiles. After having gotten past Jokic, the team is likely to be less reliant on the two-big lineups featuring Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein against the athletic Randle and a more traditional center in Rudy Gobert. That, in turn, would allow the Thunder to bring more of their defensive-minded guards or wings into the lineup to try their hand at slowing down Anthony Edwards.

Thunder Notes: SGA, Williams, Caruso, Conference Finals

May 19th, 2025 at 9:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the favorite to win this season’s MVP award, admitted that his stomach was churning prior to the Game 7 showdown with the Nuggets on Sunday afternoon. He sure didn’t play scared, pouring in 35 points as the Thunder rolled into the Western Conference Finals.

“I was nervous, to be honest,” Gilgeous-Alexander told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “Just knowing what was on the line. …To know if you don’t bring your A-game, it could all be over. But I think that nervousness motivated me.”

The Thunder in general showed some nerves in the early going but took control late in the first half.

“I think the nerves were natural,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We actually shot horribly to start the game. But I knew we were getting really good looks, and if we just stuck with it, we would loosen up and the ball would find the basket. I never was worried about this, the way we started. Once I felt the flow of the game and we had the right intentions and the right energy, I knew it would turn around.”

Here’s more on the Thunder:

First-time All-Star Jalen Williams scored 17 of his 24 points in the pivotal second quarter and added seven assists, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman notes. Williams bounced back from a Game 6 dud in which he shot 3-for-16 from the field. “Great force, especially early,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It was definitely a conscious effort by him to use his speed and his power. He was on the gas from the jump (Sunday).”
Williams was fined $25K by the league for wearing clothing with profane language in his post-game media session on Sunday, NBA Communications tweets.
Daigneault used Alex Caruso as the primary defender on Nuggets star Nikola Jokic on Sunday, though Caruso got plenty of help from his teammates. Caruso gave up six inches in height and 100 pounds. The unconventional strategy worked as Jokic only took nine shots and committed five turnovers. “It’s a lot of hard work, obviously,” Caruso told Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “But he’s a difficult matchup because he does so many different things to get others involved and influence the game. Being relentless with my energy, the effort to make it tough on him. The guys around me did a good job of helping and swarming, because I’m not doing that on my own. Understanding the flow of the game, where you could be physical and where you can’t.”
Next up for the Thunder — the Timberwolves, who are making their second straight appearances in the conference finals. The subplot between the teams is the matchup of star guards SGA and Anthony Edwards. “My gut says OKC wins the series,” one scout told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “Their defensive coverages and schemes are so good. (They’re) closing up the paint and rotating out of scheme, then they have the best scorer in the game who has proven to come through when they need it.”
Daigneault believes the team has earned everything it has achieved. “We’re not perfect, but they’re just so easy to bet on. They’re great competitors, “ he said, per Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. “They do things the right way, they’re professional, they’re inside the team. Everybody sacrifices for the team. Not everybody always gets what they deserve, but this team deserves these types of opportunities.”

Jazz Announce Dates For Salt Lake City Summer League

May 19th, 2025 at 1:53pm CST by Rory Maher

The 10th edition of the Salt Lake City Summer League will take place at the University of Utah’s Jon M. Huntsman Center on July 5, 6 and 8, the Jazz announced today in a press release. The Grizzlies, Thunder and Sixers will also participate in the six-game, round-robin event.

“Salt Lake City Summer League has become an annual summer staple in our community since its launch 10 years ago,” said Jonathan Rinehart, president of the Salt Lake City Stars and Salt Lake City Summer League. “While Delta Center undergoes renovations, we’re committed to preserving the tradition of the event and look forward to giving fans a first look at the highly anticipated 2025 draft class.”

The 2025 draft will occur over two days, June 25 and 26. Salt Lake City Summer League could feature several first- and second-round picks, with Philadelphia (Nos. 3 and 35) and Utah (Nos. 5, 21, 43 and 53) currently controlling the earliest selections. Oklahoma City owns Nos. 15, 24 and 44, while Memphis has Nos. 48 and 56.

SLC summer league is a prelude to the primary Las Vegas Summer League, which features all 30 teams and will take place from July 10-20.

Poll: Who Will Win Western Conference Finals?

May 19th, 2025 at 12:00pm CST by Luke Adams

By blowing out Denver on Sunday in the lone Game 7 of the NBA postseason’s second round, Oklahoma City set up a showdown of Northwest rivals in the 2025 Western Conference Finals.

The Timberwolves went just 49-33 during the regular season, which was the 10th-best record in the league and was barely enough to earn a guaranteed playoff spot in the West — Minnesota moved into the conference’s No. 6 seed on the last day of the season. But the Wolves have looked more dangerous in the postseason than their regular season record would suggest, winning 10 of 12 games against star-studded Lakers and Warriors teams in the first two rounds.

Skeptics will argue that the Lakers were still adjusting to a midseason revamping of their roster and that the Warriors would’ve been a far more formidable opponent if Stephen Curry hadn’t strained his hamstring in Game 1 of the second round. Still, the Wolves beat the teams in front of them and looked good doing it — their 114.6 postseason offensive rating ranks fifth among 16 playoff teams, while their 106.8 defensive rating is second-best.

Anthony Edwards has proven to be an effective postseason closer, averaging 26.5 points per game in the first two rounds, while Julius Randle (23.9 PPG, 5.9 APG) has played some of his best basketball of the season in the playoffs.

Rudy Gobert wasn’t part of the Defensive Player of the Year conversation this year, but he has shown against L.A. and Golden State that he still deserves to be considered one of the league’s best rim protectors and defensive anchors. And the Wolves are getting necessary contributions from the rest of their eight-man rotation too, including Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, Donte DiVincenzo, Mike Conley, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

Still, Minnesota will enter the Western Finals as a significant underdog against the 68-14 Thunder. Despite the fact that it took Oklahoma City seven games to finish off Denver in round two, oddsmakers and bettors love the club’s chances of advancing to the NBA Finals — BetOnline.ag currently OKC listed as a -355 favorite.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the way for Oklahoma City and has found his rhythm this spring following an up-and-down start to the postseason. After making just 18-of-68 shots from the field (26.5%) in his first three games against Memphis, Gilgeous-Alexander has put up 30.8 points per contest on 53.1% shooting in his last eight outings.

Jalen Williams (19.6 PPG on .440/.254/.750 shooting) hasn’t been as effective in the playoffs as he was in the regular season, but the Thunder’s depth has more than made up for it. Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Cason Wallace, and Isaiah Joe have all appeared in each of OKC’s 11 playoff contests and are averaging between 5.3 and 15.7 points per game.

The defense that ranked No. 1 in the NBA during the regular season hasn’t let up in the postseason either. The Thunder had the best first-round defensive rating (97.6) out of 16 teams and ranked first among eight clubs in the second round with a 103.9 mark. And even though it took seven games to get past Denver, Oklahoma City had the best second-round net rating (+9.9) of any team, outscoring the Nuggets by 64 points in the series.

Even though the Thunder finished 19 games ahead of the Timberwolves in the regular season standings and will have home-court advantage, this series could be a very competitive one. The two teams split their four regular season matchups this season, with one of those games going into overtime and two more decided by single digits. And the Timberwolves probably hold the slight edge in postseason experience, having been in the Western Finals last spring too.

We want to know what you think. Who will win this series and represent the Western Conference in the 2025 NBA Finals? Are you counting on the Thunder to come through or do you think the Wolves will pull off the upset? How many games do you figure it’ll take?

Vote in our poll and head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Who will win the Western Conference Finals?

Oklahoma City Thunder 56.80% (739 votes)

Minnesota Timberwolves 43.20% (562 votes)

Total Votes: 1,301

Suns Narrow Down Coaching Search To Nine Candidates

May 18th, 2025 at 2:06pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

2:06 pm: Heat assistant Chris Quinn has also moved onto the second stage of Phoenix’s coaching search, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).

1:17 pm: The Suns appear to be narrowing down their search for their fourth head coach in as many seasons.

According to veteran NBA insider Chris Haynes (YouTube video link), new Phoenix general manager Brian Gregory has selected eight candidates to advance to the second round of the process. Previous reporting indicated that the Suns had initial conversations with between 15 and 20 candidates.

As Haynes details, that eight-man group consists of Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, Suns assistant David Fizdale, Pelicans assistant James Borrego, Cavaliers assistants Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott, Nets assistant Steve Hetzel, Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, and Thunder assistant Dave Bliss.

Among these eight finalists, only Fizdale and Borrego have prior head coaching experience on their resumes.

As Haynes notes, Fizdale previously turned down a head coaching offer from former Suns owner, Robert Sarver, instead accepting an ill-fated gig as the head coach of the Knicks, which lasted just over a year. All told, Fizdale has a cumulative 71-134 regular season record during his stints with the Grizzlies and Knicks. He led Memphis to one playoff berth during his debut season as the team’s head coach.

Borrego was the interim head coach in Orlando for the end of the 2014/15 season, and served as the head coach with Charlotte from 2018-22. He boasts a 148-183 overall regular season record and has yet to lead a team to the playoffs.

Reports earlier this spring indicated that Phoenix would likely be targeting a younger head coach following brief stints with Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer at the helm. As Haynes observes, this group of names is consistent with that aim — 51-year-old Nori and 50-year-old Fizdale are the oldest of the eight candidates, most of whom are in their 30s and early 40s.

The Suns brass is hoping their next coach can “build a program from scratch,” according to Haynes, who says the team is emphasizing discipline, accountability, and a philosophical alignment with majority owner Mat Ishbia and the front office. Phoenix is also prioritizing coaching candidates with defensive backgrounds.

A coach who can effectively work with star players is another important consideration, even if the Suns ultimately move on from Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and/or even Devin Booker in the near future. According to Haynes, the head coaching decision may have an impact on how the team moves forward with its stars, since it’s possible Budenholzer’s replacement will have a preexisting relationship with one or more of those players or will hit it off quickly with them.

The expectation is that the Suns will eventually reduce their coaching candidate pool from eight candidates to three finalists, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Aaron Gordon Will Be Game-Time Decision For Game 7

May 17th, 2025 at 1:47pm CST by Eli Cohen

May 17: Gordon will officially be listed as questionable for Game 7, Nuggets sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic. The 29-year-old forward will continue to receive treatment leading up to the game in an effort to suit up, Jones adds.

Nuggets head coach David Adelman told reporters on Saturday that Gordon participated in the team’s walk-through and is expected to be a game-time decision on Sunday, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link).

“He fully was part of it,” Adelman said. “The game plan. Both sides of the ball. So if Aaron can play, he will play.”

May 16: Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania. This leaves his availability for Sunday’s Game 7 against the Thunder up in the air.

Gordon has been a crucial piece of the Nuggets’ playoff run, hitting clutch shots in multiple games and playing excellent, versatile defense throughout the postseason. In this series, he is averaging 14.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 45.2% from three.

With Michael Porter Jr. already struggling with a shoulder injury and Jamal Murray needing an IV to replenish his fluids going into Game 6, the Nuggets have dealt with plenty of health-related adversity throughout this series, but if Gordon is unable to suit up, it will be their biggest challenge yet.

Julian Strawther had a big Game 6 for Denver but is undersized to step into a forward role. Peyton Watson has struggled to contribute offensively, but his length and athleticism has provided some good moments on defense. If Gordon is limited, Watson may be called upon to step into a bigger role.

Poll: Who Will Win Thunder/Nuggets Game 7?

May 16th, 2025 at 9:11pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Thunder and Nuggets have played a dramatic, hard-fought series, with neither team able to take a commanding lead. After winning Games 4 and 5, Oklahoma City looked poised to put the series away, but Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Denver’s role players responded in Game 6, forcing a decisive Game 7, which will be played on Sunday at Oklahoma City.

The battle of the MVP candidates has been all anyone could have hoped for through six games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 28.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game, while Jokic has responded with 29.8 PPG and 14.7 RPG.

Both teams have five players averaging at least 10 points per night, with Denver’s Murray (22.0 PPG) the lone player outside of the top two stars to crack the 20 PPG threshold. While the Thunder have gotten well-rounded contributions, Jalen Williams has struggled as the team’s second option, averaging 16.5 PPG on 33.7% from the field.

Even more concerning for the Thunder are the shooting woes of its top three players. None of Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, or Chet Holmgren are hitting over 27% from three, though their offense has been bolstered by Alex Caruso knocking down 43.8% of his threes in addition to his typical disruptive defense.

One of the most important factors coming into the game will be the health of Denver’s do-it-all forward Aaron Gordon. Gordon was in and out of the final two minutes of Game 6 after injuring his hamstring trying to save a ball tipped away by Holmgren, an injury that has been diagnosed as a left hamstring strain, leaving his status very much in doubt.

Losing Gordon would be a massive blow to the Nuggets’ chances. In addition to his always-excellent defense, the veteran forward has come up clutch all series. He hit the game-winning shot in Game 1 and had multiple clutch baskets in Game 3, including a three-pointer to send the game to overtime with 28 seconds left in regulation and a mid-range jumper with a minute left in overtime to push the lead to nine points.

Depth has generally favored Oklahoma City, which has gotten positive minutes from Caruso, Cason Wallace, Jaylin Williams, and Aaron Wiggins. However, the Nuggets have found some answers in Christian Braun and, in Game 6, Julian Strawther, whose 15 second-half points were critical to earning the Nuggets some much-needed momentum.

The two teams have managed to play to their strengths for the most part, with the Thunder forcing a 14.3% turnover rate from the Nuggets while Denver maintains a 4% edge in offensive rebounding rate.

The Thunder are the second-youngest team in the league and occasionally that lack of experience has reared its head, with the most glaring example being in Game 1, when they intentionally fouled the Nuggets while up three with Jokic on the bench and no timeouts to get him back in the game. The Nuggets, on the other hand, have the most Game 7 experience over the last 10 years of any team outside of the Celtics.

The Thunder finished 18 games ahead of Denver in the regular season standings and the oddsmakers favor them trying to win at home. According to BetOnline.ag, the Thunder are currently 8.5-point favorites.

We want to know what you think. Will the Thunder be able to hold off the former champion Nuggets, or will Denver’s experience prove too much for the Thunder to overcome?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to make your predictions and share your thoughts!

Who will win Sunday's Game 7?

Oklahoma City Thunder 56.99% (546 votes)

Denver Nuggets 43.01% (412 votes)

Total Votes: 958

2025 NBA Draft Picks By Team

May 16th, 2025 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets and Jazz were among the teams who left Monday’s draft lottery disappointed, as Brooklyn slipped two spots to No. 8 while Utah, the NBA’s worst team during the 2024/25 season, ended up at No. 6.

Still, while they won’t be picking as high in the lottery as they might like, the Nets and Jazz will enter this year’s draft armed with plenty of ammunition. Brooklyn controls a league-high five 2025 draft picks, including four first-rounders and an early second-rounder. Utah, meanwhile, is one of just two teams (along with the Magic) controlling four picks in this year’s draft, including a pair of first-rounders.

Four other clubs – the Spurs, Hornets, Wizards, and Thunder – own three picks apiece, so those seven teams combine to control 25 of the 59 selections in the 2025 draft.

In addition to those teams with three or more picks, 12 more clubs own a pair of 2025 draft selections, while another 10 control one apiece. That latter group includes the Mavericks, whose No. 1 overall pick is their only selection in this year’s draft.

That leaves just a single NBA team without a draft pick this year: the Nuggets. Denver traded its 2025 first-rounder to Orlando back in 2021 as part of a package for Aaron Gordon in a deal that has worked out exceedingly well for the 2023 champions and sent out its 2025 second-rounder last offseason in a Reggie Jackson salary-dump. The Nuggets could still trade into this draft, but for now they’re the only team on track to sit it out.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2025 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 59 selections by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

Brooklyn Nets (5): 8, 19, 26, 27, 36
Utah Jazz (4): 5, 21, 43, 53
Orlando Magic (4): 16, 25, 46, 57
San Antonio Spurs (3): 2, 14, 38
Charlotte Hornets (3): 4, 33, 34
Washington Wizards (3): 6, 18, 40
Oklahoma City Thunder (3): 15, 24, 44

Teams with two picks:

Philadelphia 76ers: 3, 35
Toronto Raptors: 9, 39
Houston Rockets: 10, 59
Chicago Bulls: 12, 45
Atlanta Hawks: 13, 22
Minnesota Timberwolves: 17, 31
Indiana Pacers: 23, 54
Boston Celtics: 28, 32
Phoenix Suns: 29, 52
Los Angeles Clippers: 30, 51
Memphis Grizzlies: 48, 56
Cleveland Cavaliers: 49, 58

Teams with one pick:

Dallas Mavericks: 1
New Orleans Pelicans: 7
Portland Trail Blazers: 11
Miami Heat: 20
Detroit Pistons: 37
Golden State Warriors: 41
Sacramento Kings: 42
Milwaukee Bucks: 47
New York Knicks: 50
Los Angeles Lakers: 55

Teams with no picks:

Denver Nuggets

Northwest Notes: Wolves, Dort, Blazers, Jazz, Uzan

May 15th, 2025 at 10:54am CST by Luke Adams

After being eliminated in the Western Conference Finals in the spring of 2024, Anthony Edwards vowed the Timberwolves would be “back next year,” writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

That looked like a long shot for much of the season as Minnesota spent most of 2024/25 hovering around the seventh or eighth spot in the West. But the Wolves moved up to sixth on the last day of the regular season, dispatched the Lakers in round one, and – with Wednesday’s win over Golden State – made good on Edwards’ declaration, as well as responding to a challenge issued by head coach Chris Finch.

“The challenge we laid down to our guys from day one was quite simple,” Finch said after the Wolves’ Game 5 victory, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “It was one question: ‘Were you a Western Conference Finals team, or were you a team that just happened to make the Western Conference Finals?’ And there’s only one way to prove that: Go out and do it again. And that was our mission all year.”

While the Wolves have achieved one of their goals, they’re still two series wins away from their ultimate objective, which is why Edwards told reporters on Wednesday that there’s “no satisfaction” in the locker room yet, according to McMenamin. Minnesota would enter the 2025 Western Finals as a significant underdog if the 68-win Thunder get past Denver in the other conference semifinal, but the Wolves players say they’re not fazed by that.

“Our mentality going in was nobody expected us to beat the Lakers, no one expected us to beat the Warriors,” Donte DiVincenzo said. “So our expectation going in was just stick together and we know that no one is going to pick us, and we’re fine with that.”

We have more from around the Northwest:

After not playing in the fourth quarter of the Thunder‘s Game 4 win and scoring just three points in the first three quarters of Game 5, veteran wing Luguentz Dort keyed Oklahoma City’s Tuesday comeback with a trio of consecutive three-pointers in the fourth quarter, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Head coach Mark Daigneault had reaffirmed his faith in Dort after Game 4, referring to him as “the last guy I’m worried about,” and wasn’t surprised by his Game 5 heroics. “I don’t bet against Lu,” Daigneault said. “It’s that simple.”
It’s business as usual for the Trail Blazers‘ front office with the franchise up for sale, reports Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. A source tells Fentress that general manager Joe Cronin is operating with no additional restrictions during the sale process. As Fentress writes, while it’s not uncommon for a new ownership group to make managerial and coaching changes, both Cronin and head coach Chauncey Billups recently signed contract extensions, so they at least have some financial security going forward.
Milos Uzan worked out for the Jazz last week and said he got some “pretty good feedback” from the team, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, who notes that Carlos Boozer – rumored to be joining Utah as a scout – referred to Uzan as “one of the better players in the workout.” The Houston guard is the 41st overall prospect on ESPN’s big board, while the Jazz control three picks (Nos. 21, 43, and 53) in addition to their lottery selection.