Anthony Edwards Has 18th Tech Rescinded, Won’t Be Suspended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that the technical foul assessed to Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards in the second quarter of Friday’s game has been rescinded (Twitter link).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season and would’ve resulted in an automatic one-game suspension for Sunday’s regular season finale if it hadn’t been rescinded, as we explained on Friday night.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.
2025 NBA Draft Dates, Deadlines To Watch
We’re still nearly two-and-a-half months away from the 2025 NBA draft, but before we get to June 25, there are several other important dates and deadlines on the calendar. Here are some of those dates and deadlines worth keeping an eye on:
April 26 (11:59 pm ET): Deadline for early entrants to declare for the draft
College and international players who aren’t automatically draft-eligible this year have until the end of the day on April 26 to submit their names into the 2025 NBA draft pool. Those early entrants can withdraw their names later if they decide they’re not quite ready to go pro, though if college players want to maintain their NCAA eligibility, they can’t hire an agent who’s not certified by the NCAA.
Once the early entrant list is officially set, NBA teams can begin conducting or attending workouts for those players.
May 9-11: NBA G League Combine
The NBA has experimented in recent years with the format of this event, which was previously known as the G League Elite Camp. It was revamped in 2019 and consisted that year of 40 veteran G League invitees participating in the first half of the event, followed by 40 top draft-eligible players (who weren’t invited to the actual combine) taking part in the second half.
However, after being canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, the Elite Camp only featured 40 draft-eligible prospects, without the G League players, when it returned in 2021. That format has carried over to subsequent years, with the league inviting between 44 and 50 prospects who didn’t make the initial list of invitees for the NBA’s actual draft combine.
While the event has been rebranded again this year as the G League Combine, there’s no indication at this point that the format will change as well. Assuming it remains the same, several standouts from the G League combine will likely be invited to remain in Chicago for the full-fledged combine that follows.
May 12: NBA draft lottery
The 2025 draft lottery will be the seventh one employing the format that was introduced in 2019. With the lottery odds flattened out, the NBA’s worst team has a 14% shot at the No. 1 overall pick, as opposed to the 25% chance it had prior to ’19.
Although the current system reduced the odds of the league’s very worst teams claiming the picks at the top of the draft, we had gone a few years without any major surprises. That changed in 2024, when the Hawks jumped up from 10th in the lottery standings to nab the No. 1 overall pick, which they used on Zaccharie Risacher.
If we get another surprise in this year’s lottery, it figures to be even more meaningful than it was for Atlanta in 2024, since Duke star Cooper Flagg is considered one of the top prospects of the past decade and is viewed as a lock to be 2025’s No. 1 overall pick. That wasn’t the case for Risacher a year ago, when the race for the top pick was more wide open.
May 11-18: NBA draft combine
This week-long event, which takes place annually in Chicago, allows NBA teams to get a first-hand look at many of the year’s top draft-eligible players.
The combine is often particularly important for early entrants who have yet to decide whether or not to stay in the draft. The feedback they get at the combine could go a long way toward dictating whether they keep their names in the draft or return to school for another year.
In the past, the draft lottery has taken place after the conclusion of the combine. The NBA flipped the two events on its calendar last year and is sticking with that schedule in 2025. The May 12 lottery results figure to have an impact on which teams focus on which lottery-caliber players in Chicago.
May 28 (11:59 pm ET): NCAA early entrant withdrawal deadline
College underclassmen – and seniors who are eligible to play for more one season – who want to retain their NCAA eligibility will have to withdraw their names from the draft pool by May 28. NBA rules call for a later withdrawal deadline, but the NCAA has its own set of rules that say the deadline is 10 days after the combine ends.
An early entrant could technically wait until after May 28 to withdraw from the draft and could still retain his NBA draft eligibility for a future year. However, he would forfeit his amateur status in that scenario, making him ineligible to return to his NCAA squad. College players who want to play overseas for a year or two before entering the NBA draft could take this route.
June 15 (5:00 pm ET): NBA early entrant withdrawal deadline
This is the NBA’s final deadline for early entrants to withdraw their names from the draft pool and retain their draft eligibility for a future year.
By this point, we generally know whether or not a college player decided to keep his name in the draft, but this is an important deadline for international players, who aren’t subject to the same restrictions as college players. We’ll likely hear about several international early entrants withdrawing from the draft during the days leading up to June 15.
June 25 and 26: NBA draft days
The most exciting few weeks of the NBA offseason unofficially get underway on draft day, which is often when several of the first major trades of the summer are completed and when we get a sense of which direction certain teams are heading.
In 2024, for the first time, “draft day” actually referred to two days, as the NBA and NBPA agreed to make the draft a multi-day event, with the first round occurring on a Wednesday and the second round taking place on a Thursday. The league is sticking with that format this year, with round one scheduled for Wednesday, June 25 and round two to follow on Thursday, June 26.
The change drew mixed reviews from fans a year ago.
The NBA’s thinking in splitting the draft into two days was that it would benefit teams, who get to regroup halfway through the draft to reset their boards and have more time to consider possible trades; the league’s broadcast partners, who will be able to devote more attention to second-round picks that are often made when the television broadcast is in the midst of an ad break; and fans, who won’t have to stay up so late into the night to see the end of the second round.
In 2024, the first day of the draft began at 8:00 pm Eastern on Wednesday, with day two starting at 4:00 pm ET on Thursday. A U.S. presidential debate took place on the evening of day two last year, so it remains to be seen if the NBA will stick with that afternoon start time for the second round or if it will also get the prime-time treatment in 2025.
The hours and days after the second round ends will be hugely important for many of this year’s draft-eligible prospects — a ton of players who aren’t selected with one of the 59 picks in the draft will reach agreements shortly thereafter to play for an NBA team’s Summer League squad, to attend training camp with a club, or to sign a two-way contract.