Northwest Notes: Edwards, Randle, Jazz Draft, Trail Blazers Workouts
Anthony Edwards scored just 16 points in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday. However, the Timberwolves superstar believes he played the game the way it’s supposed to be played.
“I don’t look at it like I struggled, or (Julius Randle) struggled,” Edwards said. “They just, they had a good game plan, making us get off the ball. Especially for me, man. They were super in the gaps, I made the right play all night.”
Edwards only attempted 13 shots and made just one three-pointer.
“It’s an urge that I want to get the ball in the rim, put it up there,” Edwards said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “But you don’t want to take bad shots and get your team out of rhythm. So I was just playing the game the right way, man.”
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- Randle took just seven shots and made only one. He was disappointed in himself that he wasn’t more assertive, he told Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “I’ve got to figure out a way to get myself in position to be more aggressive, rather than just standing, spectating or trying to crash the glass,” he said. “Or I can just find other little things to do.”
- The Jazz possess the No. 5 and 21 picks in the first round and pair of second-rounders in next month’s draft. Multiple league sources indicated to the Deseret News’ Sarah Todd that the front office is willing to hear offers and make deals on any of those draft picks. However, considering it’s been over a decade since Utah had a top-five selection, Todd believes it’s likely that the Jazz will retain the No. 5 pick.
- Zach Hicks (Penn State), Chris Manon (Vanderbilt), Wade Taylor IV (Texas A&M), Caleb Love (Arizona), Zack Austin (Pittsburgh) and Money Williams (Montana) worked out for the Trail Blazers on Tuesday, Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report tweets. That group is comprised of players trying to earn second-round consideration.
Thunder Notes: Williams, Postseason Experience, Sanders, SGA
Named to the All-NBA Third Team last week, Thunder forward Jalen Williams delivered an offensive gem in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday. He posted a postseason career-high 34 points in the 128-126 victory over the Timberwolves, giving OKC a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Williams went 13-of-24 from the field, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range. He had 13 points and four turnovers when his team got blown out in Game 3.
“I feel like if you’re not really good, you’re probably not going to have any [scrutiny], so just play with it, just keep going,” Williams said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “A lot of people that are talking about me can’t do what I do, and I know that, and I think that gives me a lot of confidence to just go out there and do whatever the team needs.”
We have more on the Thunder:
- Oklahoma City has found different ways to get it done in this postseason, Tony Jones of The Athletic notes. The Thunder have been a great regular-season team for two years but this is the first time they’ve also become a great playoff team, according to Jones. In Game 4, they held off numerous Timberwolves runs. “I thought we did a good job of continuously moving the scoreboard,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “We especially did that late in the game, when there were situations down the stretch where it was a possession game. I thought the guys did a great job, taking it a possession at a time.”
- While they’re five wins away from a championship, the Thunder are also busy preparing for the future. They have scheduled a pre-draft workout with Kobe Sanders, a 6’7” guard, Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated tweets. Sanders averaged 15.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals last season for Nevada. Sanders is ranked No. 69 on ESPN’s big board.
- MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Timberwolves’ Nickeil Alexander-Walker are cousins and best friends. They’re now competing against each other for a trip to the Finals. “For both of us to be where we are is special, and to compete against each other is even more special,” Gilgeous-Alexander told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears within an in-depth feature on their relationship. “But I am trying to take his head off for sure, completely.”
Russell Westbrook Undergoes Hand Surgery
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.
Pacers’ Nesmith Expected To Suit Up For Game 4
Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith will play in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight, according to several media outlets, including Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Nesmith sprained his right ankle during the second half of Game 3 against the Knicks on Sunday. He was listed as questionable on the injury report.
Nesmith has been a huge factor in the postseason. He’s averaging 15.1 points per game while shooting 52.3 percent overall and a whopping 53.5 percent from long range. He’s also averaging 6.2 rebounds per contest.
In Game 1 of the series, Nesmith erupted for 30 points while making all but one of his nine three-point attempts as Indiana staged an unlikely late rally and won in overtime.
Nesmith has also been the primary defender against the Knicks’ top offensive threat, Jalen Brunson.
Knicks Notes: Towns, Robinson, Hartenstein, Wright, Anunoby
Karl-Anthony Towns rescued the Knicks from the abyss with 20 fourth-quarter points against the Pacers. What will the Knicks get from their top big man the remainder of the Eastern Conference Finals?
The Athletic’s Fred Katz explores that subject as the teams head into Game 4 this evening. He speculates that the Pacers, who have mainly used Myles Turner as the primary defender on Towns, might try a smaller defender in that matchup. Katz notes that the Pistons and Celtics used perimeter players to get under Towns’ skin and force him to take some ill-advised shots.
We have more on the Knicks:
- Mitchell Robinson was inserted into the starting lineup in Game 3. Despite his free throw issues, Robinson has been a major factor in the postseason after missing a good chunk of the regular season while recovering from ankle surgery. “He’s been very, very impactful for them since he’s been back,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, per Chris Herring of ESPN. “He gives them a lot of versatility, and his ability to switch onto smaller players is special for a guy his size. He’s a major factor, and a guy we’ve been talking about a lot.”
- Isaiah Hartenstein believes his departure in free agency to the Thunder last season actually benefited the Knicks and Timberwolves as well. “It’s funny when you see all three teams, I think for everyone it was a win-win,” Hartenstein told SNY’s Ian Begley. Hartenstein’s departure and Robinson’s injury convinced the Knicks to roll the dice and trade for Towns. Julius Randle has been inconsistent in the conference finals but excelled during the first two rounds of the playoffs for Minnesota.
- Coach Tom Thibodeau made a bold substitution in Game 3, deploying little-used guard Delon Wright for his first rotation minutes of the postseason. Though he only had one basket and one assist, Wright played a pivotal defensive role as the Knicks whittled a 13-point deficit down to three before being subbed out. “Just a true professional,” forward Mikal Bridges said, per Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. “Works hard every single day and got his name called and he’s ready for the moment.”
- Normally reticent, OG Anunoby displayed his passion and even did a little trash talking in Game 3. They’ll need more fire from Anunoby the remainder of the series, Schwartz opines in a separate story.
2025 NBA Offseason Preview: Dallas Mavericks
For basketball fans outside of Dallas, it has become easy to forget that the Mavericks were the Western Conference's representative in the NBA Finals less than one year ago. It feels like another lifetime ago, given everything that has gone down in Dallas not just since last June, but in the past four months alone.
In an alternate universe, the Mavericks had a solid but unspectacular 2024/25 season en route to another playoff appearance. In that universe, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving led Dallas to a first-round victory - or at least a competitive first-round series - but couldn't get the team back to the Finals. In that universe, the Mavs own, say, the No. 20 pick in the NBA draft and we'd be talking now about whether they might include that pick in a trade package to acquire another veteran player who could solidify their place as a legitimate contender as they prepare to put a super-max offer on the table for Doncic.
That's not the universe we live in though. In this one, Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison shocked the basketball world - all of the sports world, really - by trading Doncic to the Lakers in February without any advance warning, giving up the chance to lock up a perennial First-Team All-NBA player for the long term.
Harrison's thinking in that trade, which sent Anthony Davis and Max Christie to Dallas, was that it would make the Mavericks better equipped for title contention in the short term, even if it might shrink their championship window in the long run. So it was a serious problem when Dallas' rotation was decimated by injuries shortly after they acquired Davis.
You could make a case that the Mavericks' string of major injuries was simply bad luck, and there's certainly some truth to that. But Davis has admitted he probably came back too early from the adductor injury he was recovering from at the time of the trade. His eagerness to quell the fan unrest in the days following the Doncic trade likely factored into the decision to rush his Mavs debut. And even though Irving's ACL tear was more about taking one wrong step than persistent overuse, his spike in usage rate without Doncic likely increased his injury risk.
This isn't to say that the Doncic trade can be blamed for everything that went wrong in Dallas for the rest of the season, but it did seem to create a domino effect that saw things go from bad to worse for the Mavs down the stretch, scuttling any hopes they had of repeating their NBA Finals appearance -- which is why it was such an incredible boon for the organization to win the draft lottery earlier this month.
There will be Mavs fans who never forgive the organization for the decision to trade Doncic, but short of winning a championship, getting the opportunity to replace him with an elite 18-year-old prospect like Cooper Flagg is the best-case scenario the club could have hoped for after pulling the trigger on that controversial deal nearly four months ago.
Suddenly, a team that looked in danger of becoming too old and injury-prone to vie for a title has a reason for long-term optimism again. Now, it's up to Harrison to do what he can to earn back at least some level of trust from Mavs fans who felt burned by him in February. With the right moves this summer, the idea of Dallas reemerging as an NBA Finals threat next season doesn't feel quite so far-fetched.
The Mavericks' Offseason Plan
While the majority of the Mavericks who suffered second-half injuries were able to return before the end of the season and should be just fine this fall, Irving is the glaring exception. His recovery from ACL surgery is expected to extend well into 2025/26, which creates two significant issues for the Mavs -- they need to determine how to handle his contract situation this summer while also adding a player capable of filling in at the point during Kyrie's lengthy recovery process.
Shams: LeBron James Likely To Opt In For 2025/26
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.
[RELATED: LeBron James Says MCL Sprain Is ‘Getting Better’]
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
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.
Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 5/27/2025
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included a potential new center for the Hawks, next season's MVP race, the Bulls' chances to move up in the draft, speculation on the future for LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and more! Use the link below to read the transcript.
Yaxel Lendeborg Withdrawing From Draft, Transferring To Michigan
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.”