Raptors Promote A.J. Lawson To Two-Year Standard Deal
April 12: The Raptors have officially promoted Lawson to their standard roster, the team confirmed today in a press release.
April 11: The Raptors are promoting A.J. Lawson from his two-way contract to a two-year standard deal, agents Todd Ramasar and Mike Simonetta tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
An Ontario native, Lawson signed a two-way contract with Toronto in December after spending training camp this past fall with Dallas. He has made 24 appearances for the Raptors thus far in 2024/25, averaging 8.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .428/.333/.620.
The Raptors waived center Orlando Robinson and sharpshooter Cole Swider on Thursday, creating a pair of openings on their standard roster. They will fill one of those vacancies by converting Lawson from his two-way contract. Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca reported yesterday that promoting Lawson was one option that Toronto was considering.
A 6’6″ wing, Lawson went undrafted in 2021 out of South Carolina. He spent his first professional season in the G League before catching on with Minnesota and then Dallas during the 2022/23 campaign. He spent all of ’23/24 with the Mavs, appearing in 42 games in a limited role off the bench.
Lawson opened ’24/25 suiting up for the G League’s Long Island Nets before signing with the Raptors. He was named to the NBAGL’s Up Next event — essentially its version of the All-Star Game — in late January. In 37 combined games (33.1 MPG) with Long Island and the Raptors 905 this season, the 24-year-old has averaged 20.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1.3 SPG on .440/.361/.726 shooting.
Lawson’s salary for next season will be fully non-guaranteed, according to Murphy (Twitter link).
Anthony Edwards Has 18th Tech Rescinded, Won’t Be Suspended
The NBA has announced that the technical foul assessed to Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards in the second quarter of Friday’s game has been rescinded (Twitter link).
It’s a significant decision, since the technical foul was Edwards’ 18th of the season and would’ve resulted in an automatic one-game suspension for Sunday’s regular season finale if it hadn’t been rescinded, as we explained on Friday night.
An NBA player is suspended for one game when he reaches 16 technical fouls in a regular season and faces additional one-game bans for every two techs he picks up after reaching that threshold. As a result of the NBA’s decision, Edwards’ technical foul count for the season will revert to 17 and he’ll be available to play on Sunday vs. Utah in a game that the Wolves need to win in order to clinch a guaranteed (ie. top-six) playoff spot.
Bill Kennedy, the crew chief of Friday’s officiating crew, said after the game that Edwards received his technical foul for directing profanity toward a referee (Bluesky video link via CJ Folger).
The Timberwolves star told reporters that he asked “where was the f—in’ foul,” according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who notes that both Edwards and head coach Chris Finch said they didn’t feel the comment warranted a tech (Twitter links). Upon review, the league agreed with them.
A player’s technical foul count resets in the postseason, so Edwards won’t be in any immediate danger of another suspension if the Wolves secure a playoff berth. He would have to accrue seven techs in the playoffs to be suspended.
Kings’ Sabonis: ‘I’m Happy I’m In Sacramento’
After leading the NBA in rebounds per game in 2022/23 and ’23/24, Kings center Domantas Sabonis is set to achieve the feat for a third straight season. His 13.9 rebounds per game this year represent a career high.
As Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes, unless Nikola Jokic blows away the NBA’s single-game rebounding record on Sunday, Sabonis will become the seventh player in NBA history to win at least three straight rebound titles, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Dennis Rodman, Moses Malone, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, and Andre Drummond. Outside of Drummond, who is still active, all of those players are Hall of Famers.
“I didn’t know that they’re all there,” Sabonis said of the group. “That’s pretty cool, pretty cool. Pretty exciting, you know. At the same time, I’m just trying to go out there and play and do my job for the team and help whatever I can do to let them win. But obviously, it’s an honor to be mentioned with those guys. I think that’s really cool.”
Sabonis is also vying to be named to an All-NBA team for a third consecutive year. He made the third team in both 2023 and 2024 and said it “would be an honor” to do so again this season.
As Reynolds points out, Sabonis is one of just six players who have a chance to receive a third straight All-NBA nod in 2025 — Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry are the others.
“I never dreamt of being in the top 15 players of a season, let alone my name carrying a legacy, my dad’s name, the number, everything,” said Sabonis, the son of Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis. “It’s just awesome.”
While the Kings’ playoff hopes are still alive, they’ll have to win a pair of play-in games just to earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Given that the team has fallen well short of expectations this season, there’s a chance that Sabonis’ future in Sacramento will become a popular topic of speculation over the summer, Reynolds notes.
A report in March suggested that Sabonis is expected to “seek clarity” on the Kings’ direction this offseason following the in-season trade of his longtime running mate De’Aaron Fox. For his part, the star big man – who has three more years left on his contract – insists he’s just fine where he is and isn’t seeking a change of scenery.
“I’m happy I’m in Sacramento,” Sabonis said, per Reynolds. “My offseason home’s in Napa. I couldn’t be happier here. I love the fans. I love playing for the city. I just wish we could perform better and give them what they deserve.”
What To Watch For On Final Day Of NBA’s Regular Season
All 30 NBA teams have Saturday off and will play their regular season finales on Sunday. Here are a few things worth keeping an eye on during the season’s final weekend:
Playoff berths and seeding
The Eastern Conference postseason seeding has already been set, as we outlined on Friday night. However, the Western Conference playoff picture remains very much in flux.
The Thunder wrapped up the No. 1 seed weeks ago and the Rockets and Lakers have since clinched the second and third seeds, respectively. But at least two teams remain in play for each of the other seven spots in the West, with an incredible five clubs still in the mix for the No. 7 seed.
Here are the current standings from Nos. 4 through 10:
- Denver Nuggets (49-32)
- Los Angeles Clippers (49-32)
- Golden State Warriors (48-33)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (48-33)
- Memphis Grizzlies (47-34)
- Sacramento Kings (39-42)
- Dallas Mavericks (39-42)
And here are the relevant Sunday matchups involving those teams:
- Denver Nuggets at Houston Rockets
- Los Angeles Clippers at Golden State Warriors
- Utah Jazz at Minnesota Timberwolves
- Dallas Mavericks at Memphis Grizzlies
- Phoenix Suns at Sacramento Kings
There are too many possible scenarios to list them all here, but the NBA has published a handy chart (on Twitter) explaining all of the various outcomes. In short, the Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors, and Timberwolves are vying for the final three guaranteed playoff spots and each need a win to clinch their spot in the top six of the West.
The Nuggets would also clinch a playoff spot if the Warriors or Timberwolves lose, while the Clippers can secure their spot if the Nuggets or Timberwolves lose and the Warriors can sew up a playoff berth with a Timberwolves loss. Minnesota must beat Utah in order to finish in the top six. If the Wolves and Nuggets both win, they’ll finish in the top six along with the winner of the Clippers/Warriors game.
The Grizzlies are locked into a play-in spot and will face whichever one of those four teams fails to clinch a playoff berth on Sunday. They still have a chance to host that 7 vs. 8 play-in game if they beat Dallas and Utah upsets Minnesota.
The only outstanding question for the Kings and Mavericks is which team will host their play-in game — Sacramento can lock up home court advantage with a victory over the Suns.
Traded draft picks and lottery odds
While a win on Sunday would guarantee the Kings a home play-in game, it would reduce the odds that they’ll hang onto their top-12 protected first-round pick, which they owe to the Hawks. In order to hang onto that pick, Sacramento must miss the playoffs and then either move into the top four in the draft lottery or pick 11th or 12th, ahead of multiple play-in teams.
That second scenario technically remains in play. For example, let’s say the Kings lose on Sunday and finish the season with a 39-43 record. And let’s say the Mavericks and Hawks each win on Sunday and finish 40-42, while the Bulls win too to end up at 39-43. Finally, let’s say the Heat claim one of the final playoff spots in the East via the play-in tournament.
In that scenario, there would be two lottery teams (either the Magic or Hawks and one Western team) with better records than the Kings, who would be in a coin flip with the Bulls for the No. 11 spot in the draft lottery. That would give the Kings a strong chance of hanging onto their protected first-rounder, but a lot would have to fall into place for that to happen, starting with a loss on Sunday.
There are several more traded first-round picks that have a wide range of outcomes depending on where teams finish in the standings and how the play-in tournament plays out. For example, the Grizzlies owe the Wizards their lottery-protected first-round pick. If Memphis wins its first play-in game, that pick figures to land at 17 or 18. On the other hand, if the Grizzlies lose consecutive play-in games, they’d keep the pick and Washington would instead get a pair of second-rounders.
Another example: the Timberwolves owe their first-round pick to the Jazz, with no protections. A win on Sunday for Minnesota would mean that pick lands in the late teens or early 20s. A loss, followed by a pair of losses in the play-in tournament, would make it a lottery pick.
Speaking of the lottery, there’s still some positioning to be finalized there too, starting with whether the Wizards and Jazz, who are tied at 17-64, will finish atop the lottery standings. If both teams win (or if they both lose) on Sunday, a coin flip will decide their order. The team that gets the No. 1 spot will have the same odds at a top-four pick as the No. 2 team, but won’t be able to fall further than fifth overall in the draft. The coin flip loser could fall as far as sixth if several teams leapfrog them into the top four.
Most other guaranteed lottery teams are locked into their respective positions, but the Trail Blazers (35-46) and Suns (36-45) at No. 9 and No. 10 could still end up swapping spots if Portland wins and Phoenix loses on Sunday. In that scenario, a coin flip would decide which team is ninth in the lottery order.
Award races
It may seem safe to assume that no awards will be decided based on what happens on the final day of the season, but you never know.
For instance, if the Nuggets lose on Sunday and end up falling all the way to No. 7 in the Western Conference standings, we can probably just hand the MVP trophy to Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. On the other hand, if Nikola Jokic helps Denver clinch the No. 4 seed with a 50-point triple-double, maybe that will sway some voters who are on the fence.
There are no serious candidates for end-of-season awards who absolutely need to play at least 20 minutes on Sunday in order to meet the NBA’s 65-game criteria. Technically, Raptors forward Scottie Barnes has one game to go to reach 65, but he’s pretty unlikely to warrant any real consideration for awards like All-NBA and All-Defense.
Teams with open roster spots
As we outlined on Thursday, there are still a handful of teams with open spots on their standard 15-man rosters. Those teams are now as follows:
- Boston Celtics
- Golden State Warriors
- Toronto Raptors (2)
The Mavericks (Brandon Williams) and Pelicans (Elfrid Payton) have signed players since Thursday to fill spots on their 15-man rosters, and reports have indicated that the Celtics (JD Davison) and Raptors (A.J. Lawson and Colin Castleton) have lined up deals for their openings too. So the Warriors are really the only team we’re waiting on here.
It’s not unprecedented for a team to leave a roster spot open at the end of the season, but it’s pretty rare — all 30 teams finished the season with full 15-man squads in each of the past three years.
That makes the Warriors a good bet to make a roster move before their final game tips off on Sunday, even if it’s as simple as promoting a two-way player to a standard contract to make him postseason-eligible.
Southeast Notes: Larsson, Mitchell, Risacher, Middleton
The Heat lost rookie guard Pelle Larsson on Wednesday to a sprained ankle he suffered during a weightlifting incident, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. The rookie out of Arizona called the incident a “freak accident.”
“I was lifting and just stepped and got my foot caught in something,” Larsson said. “So I just stepped on a twisted ankle, and it doesn’t feel great.”
Larsson isn’t sure if he’ll be ready for next week’s play-in tournament, according to coach Erik Spoelstra. It’s unfortunate timing, as he had established himself as a strong perimeter defender for Miami and started six games in a row with Andrew Wiggins sidelined, averaging 10.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals in those games, Chiang notes.
“It’s more frustrating than anything, especially when it happens off the court,” Larsson added. “It feels like you don’t have as much control. So it’s frustrating.”
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- After playing 22 minutes in Friday’s matchup against the Pelicans, Heat guard Davion Mitchell crossed the 2,000-minute mark on the season and met the starter criteria. That means his qualifying offer this season will remain at $8,741,210 — it would have dipped to $7,976,830 if he had fallen short of 2,000 minutes.
- Hawks No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher continued his late-season push for Rookie of the Year consideration on Thursday, scoring a career-high 38 points against the Nets. According to the team (Twitter link), Risacher’s 38 points were the most by any rookie in a single game this season.
- Wizards forward Khris Middleton has been out since March 27 and will probably miss the team’s final game of the season on Sunday, according to The Washington Post’s Varun Shankar (Twitter link). In 14 games with the Wizards, all starts, Middleton averaged 10.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per night.
New York Notes: Russell, Young Nets, Bridges, Anunoby, Knicks
After expressing multiple times in March that he’d like to remain in Brooklyn beyond this season, Nets guard D’Angelo Russell reiterated that desire in an exclusive interview with Erik Slater of ClutchPoints.com.
“A lot of teams are rebuilding, but to be here and see this team rebuilding with the pieces that they have, I think the league will be on notice. They were on notice this year,” Russell said. “This group had a lot of good wins before I got here, and then when I got here, we beat a lot of good teams as well. I think just what the future holds with this group [is why I want to be back]. Obviously, what (head coach) Jordi (Fernandez) and (general manager) Sean (Marks) are creating, I’m familiar with it. Being somewhere familiar is something I’m definitely prioritizing.”
In 29 games with the Nets this season, Russell is averaging 12.9 points and 5.6 assists per contest. Even though his numbers have dipped since last season, he’s excited by the idea of serving as a mentor for the young Nets.
We have more from New York:
- With several new faces expected to join the team in this year’s draft (Brooklyn holds four first-round picks), the Nets‘ young players know they’re auditioning for roles moving forward, the New York Post’s Brian Lewis writes. “We’re not just out there playing,” big man Drew Timme said. “A lot of us are interviewing for our jobs.” Timme, Jalen Wilson, Keon Johnson, Tyrese Martin and Maxwell Lewis all have team options for next season, while other young players like Cam Thomas, Ziaire Williams, Trendon Watford, Day’Ron Sharpe and Reece Beekman all are slated to reach free agency.
- The Knicks went 1-11 combined in games against the Cavaliers, Celtics and Pistons this season and heading into a first-round matchup with Detroit, New York will need its wings to step up defensively and bear the responsibility of guarding Cade Cunningham, SNY’s Ian Begley writes. Specifically, the Knicks will be relying in the series on two players on whom they spent significant trade capital: Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby.
- New York’s 1-11 record against those three teams this season was clinched when the Knicks blew a 23-point lead against the Cavs on Friday. Ahead of the playoffs, the Knicks are seeking urgency, Chris Herring of ESPN writes. “We’ve got to get it fixed, and we’ve got to get it fixed fast,” coach Tom Thibodeau said after Friday’s loss. “[We need to fix] everything. We’ve got to play for 48 minutes on both sides of the ball.“
Nuggets Notes: Malone, Booth, Jokic
Nuggets coaches and staffers felt compelled to choose sides amid in-season conflicts between Michael Malone and Calvin Booth, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Ramona Shelburne and previous reports. With the focus shifting away from maximizing Nikola Jokic‘s stellar season, team president Josh Kroenke made the shocking decision to part ways with both head coach and general manager.
“Everybody in the organization was miserable,” a team source said to ESPN. “That’s what Josh felt. It’s a bad vibe. You can’t operate like that. He felt that if he removed those two people, everybody could just focus on doing their job. Change needed to happen.”
Once the team started losing, it made it difficult for the relationships in the organization to remain intact, MacMahon and Shelburne write. As previously relayed, Malone and Booth’s views on the roster were different, with the former preferring to have maintained veterans from the championship-winning team like Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Booth, meanwhile, planned to develop young players like Jalen Pickett and Christian Braun around Jokic.
“If you’re one of Calvin’s guys, Malone doesn’t want to play you,” a team source said to ESPN.
As for Jokic’s future, he has given no indication he wants to be anywhere other than Denver. Before the season, he expressed a belief in what the Nuggets had. Everything Denver will do moving forward, per ESPN, is centered around Jokic and even a slight hesitation to sign an extension this offseason would be difficult for the organization.
“I think people in general, they always want more and more and more, but they don’t know what they have,” Jokic told ESPN. “I’m really happy we have one title — a lot of very good players don’t win.”
We have more from the Nuggets:
- The Nuggets offered Booth a contract extension during the 2024 offseason, MacMahon and Shelburne confirm. When he didn’t accept, the two sides played out the season to this point.
- Malone and Booth seldom engaged with each other outside of meetings with Kroenke, according to The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando. Kroenke ultimately didn’t want to play intermediary or pick a side.
- On the court, Jokic is putting the finishing touches on an MVP-caliber season. On Friday, he became the third player in league history to officially average a triple-double for an entire season, Arnie Melendrez Stapleton of The Associated Press notes. The only other players to ever do so are Oscar Robertson and Jokic’s teammate Russell Westbrook. Entering the final game of the year, Jokic is averaging 29.8 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.3 assists per contest. Even if he doesn’t register a single assist, the Nuggets star will finish the season at 10.1 APG.
Postseason Seeding Set For Eastern Conference
Wins by the Orlando, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Chicago on Friday night have locked in the playoff seeds for all six Eastern Conference playoff teams, along with the four play-in clubs.
Here’s how the top 10 teams in the East will finish the regular season, as the NBA confirms (via Twitter):
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Boston Celtics
- New York Knicks
- Indiana Pacers
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Detroit Pistons
- Orlando Magic
- Atlanta Hawks
- Chicago Bulls
- Miami Heat
The play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference will feature the Magic hosting the Hawks on Tuesday and the Bulls hosting the Heat on Wednesday. The Orlando/Atlanta winner will claim the No. 7 spot in the playoffs and face the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The loser of that game will host the Chicago/Miami winner on Friday for the No. 8 spot and the right to face the Cavaliers in round one.
The Knicks will match up with the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs, while the Pacers and Bucks will meet in round one for a second consecutive year, with Indiana claiming home court advantage this time around.
We got a little more clarity on the Western Conference playoff picture by the end of Friday night, with the Lakers clinching the No. 3 seed by beating Houston and the Grizzlies now locked into the play-in tournament as a result of their loss to Denver. However, there are still several playoff berths and seeds up in the air, with the Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors, and Timberwolves vying for the final three spots in the West’s top six.
Kyle O’Quinn Announces Retirement, Takes Job At Norfolk State
Former NBA center Kyle O’Quinn has announced his retirement as a player, breaking the news this week to Tina Cervasio of FOX 5 NY (Instagram video link).
As Cervasio relays – and as the school confirms (via Twitter) – O’Quinn has accepted a position at Norfolk State University and will serve as the executive director of athletic advancement for his alma mater.
The 49th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, O’Quinn made 472 regular season appearances from 2012-20 for the Magic, Knicks, Pacers, and Sixers.
The 35-year-old served primarily as a backup center, starting just 65 contests and playing 14.2 minutes per night over the course of his eight-year NBA career. He averaged 5.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 block per game.
Although O’Quinn hasn’t been on an NBA roster since 2020, he remained active overseas in recent years. From 2021-23, he had stints with teams in Turkey, France, Japan, and China.
O’Quinn was a standout at Norfolk State from 2008-12, earning Defensive Player of the Year honors in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference twice and claiming the MEAC Player of the Year award in 2012. He ranked first in the conference in rebounds and blocks per game as both a junior and a senior and led No. 15 Norfolk State to a first-round upset of No. 2 Missouri in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. His No. 10 jersey was retired by the Spartans in 2019.
Anthony Edwards Facing Another One-Game Suspension After 18th Tech
[UPDATE: The NBA has rescinded Edwards’ technical foul. The full story on the decision can be found here.]
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards was assessed with a technical foul during the second quarter of Friday’s game vs. Brooklyn. It’s his 18th tech of the season, which means he’ll be suspended for Minnesota’s regular season finale unless the NBA decides to rescind it, as Chris Hine of The Star Tribune tweets.
An NBA player is suspended for one game when he reaches 16 technical fouls in a season and faces additional one-game bans for every two techs he picks up after reaching that threshold.
Edwards was previously suspended for the Timberwolves’ February 28th game in Utah after being assessed his 16th tech on Feb. 27.
While Edwards has been able to mostly avoid additional technical fouls in March and April, his 18th comes at an inopportune time, with Minnesota looking to clinch a spot in the playoffs. The team is wrapping up its schedule by facing a pair of lottery-bound teams – the Nets tonight and the Jazz on Sunday – but that doesn’t mean it won’t miss Edwards. The Wolves lost that Feb. 28 game vs. Utah without their leading scorer.
A player’s technical foul count resets in the postseason, so Edwards won’t be in any immediate danger of another suspension if the Wolves secure a playoff berth.