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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Northwest Notes: SGA, Thunder, Gobert, Thybulle

March 10th, 2025 at 9:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander prevailed over Nikola Jokic in Sunday’s battle of MVP favorites and the Thunder displayed why they’re headed for the No. 1 seed in the West, writes Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. The MVP contest is considered to be a two-man race, and Lorenzi notes that SGA and Jokic were relatively even through three quarters. But Gilgeous-Alexander finished strong, posting nine points in the fourth quarter while making several clutch shots to end up with 40 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

“It’s been very fun,” he said of the season-long competition with Jokic. “Most of the appreciation comes from, honestly, my teammates. No matter how good of a basketball player I am, if we don’t check the win column as much as we do, the conversation wouldn’t be the conversation.” 

It was important for the Thunder to be able to prove themselves in a nationally televised game against one of the NBA’s elite teams. The Nuggets are viewed as legitimate title contender after winning a championship two years ago, while there are still questions about Oklahoma City despite its 53-11 record.

“We have greatness among us,” Alex Caruso said. “When we play at our highest level, we’re a great team. It’s just about doing it consistently, and matching the pedigree play-after-play with some of these top teams. From the beginning of the game today, (Denver) came in like they were playing against the top team in the West. We came in like it was a noon game against the Nuggets on Sunday. …. When we play at an elite level we’re, in my opinion, the best team in the world.” 

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

  • Warriors forward Draymond Green is among those who have expressed doubt about the Thunder as true title contenders, per Zach Kram of ESPN. “There’s a certain seriousness that it takes to win in this league, and there’s a certain fear you have to instill in teams in order to win,” Green said on his podcast earlier this season. “I just don’t know if they’re instilling that fear in teams.” Kram lists 22 reasons why Oklahoma City should have earned the league’s respect by now.
  • Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was able to return Sunday after missing 10 games with a lower back injury. He was a game-time decision and was cleared to play less than an hour before tip-off, according to Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune. “I always try to work on the root of the problem to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Gobert said. “Playing with pain is part of the game. But there is pain that keeps you from moving, or that can get worse. Right now, I feel like I’m strong. I feel balanced.”
  • Trail Blazers swingman Matisse Thybulle is moving closer to making his season debut, tweets Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report. Thybulle will practice with Portland’s G League affiliate this week as part of his reconditioning and could be cleared to play on the upcoming homestand.
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Poll: Who Is The NBA’s 2024/25 MVP?

March 8th, 2025 at 8:14am CST by Earnest Marshall

Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic concluded Friday’s overtime game against the Suns with the league’s first-ever 30/20/20 game, having totaled 31 points, 21 rebounds and 22 assists.

In some ways, the three-time MVP’s history-making stat line is almost unsurprising. Jokic continues to be on the forefront of award discussions while putting up video-game level stat lines every night.

The 30-year-old big man is averaging career highs of 28.9 points and 10.6 assists per game, while his 12.9 rebounds per game would be the second-best mark of his career. He’s doing this on an incredibly efficient .577/.439/.818 shooting split. His 43.9% three-point percentage and 4.4 attempts from deep per game are also both career highs.

And while Jokic’s stats might be unsurprising after three MVPs and six All-NBA appearances, it does not mean they should go overlooked. This kind of production is what fans read about in history books and resembles something of an old Wilt Chamberlain stat line.

Being an MVP isn’t all about individual statistics, however. Being the league’s most valuable player means leading a winning situation and making one’s teammates better. Jokic fulfills this criteria, having helped the Nuggets overcome a relatively shaky start to the season. Denver won nine straight from late January to late February and has emerged victorious in 14 of its last 17 games.

Christian Braun is having a season worthy of the Most Improved Player award and Russell Westbrook is proving to be a nice fit, along with other contributions up and down the lineup from the Nuggets’ starters and role players. Jokic has good players around him, but there’s no doubt he’s helping set them up for success.

Despite Jokic’s historic achievements, he’s still trailing Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in NBA.com’s most recent MVP ladder. Entering Friday, Gilgeous-Alexander appeared to be the runaway favorite for the award.

Gilgeous-Alexander, by the way, is absolutely deserving of the praise. He’s averaging a league-leading and career-high 32.8 points along with 5.1 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. His 1.8 steals per night are second to only Dyson Daniels and he has posted an impressive .526/.378/.898 shooting line.

As we wrote Thursday, Gilgeous-Alexander’s efficiency is off the charts. His true-shooting and usage percentages are career highs, and he ranks first in the league among guards in the former category.

The Canadian superstar finished second in MVP voting last year and may very well come away with the award this year. He has become the NBA’s surest bet to score 50 points on a given night, having done so four times in the last seven weeks after having previously never accomplished the feat in his career.

Like Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander accomplishes the two-pronged test of winning games and helping his teammates. The Thunder own the league’s second-best record at 52-11, sitting atop the Western Conference. Oklahoma City has only dropped two games since the start of February, winning 15 of its previous 17.

What’s more, the Thunder are doing this in the face of multiple injuries to key players. Marquee free agent addition Isaiah Hartenstein missed over 20 games due to injury this season while star second-year center Chet Holmgren has been limited to just 18 appearances. Lockdown defender Alex Caruso, acquired via trade, has also missed over 20 games.

There’s no doubt multiple Thunder players like Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins, to name a few, deserve individual praise. But Gilgeous-Alexander’s presence and elite offensive production are certainly helping bring out the best in those players as well.

Beyond the two hottest names in Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander, it’s easy to forget other players are worthy of being thrown into the conversation as well. Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s 30.8 points and 12.1 rebounds per game should not be overlooked. Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns and Evan Mobley are also putting up tremendous numbers on contending teams. But all signs point to Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander being the top two in voting.

As NBA.com’s Shaun Powell writes, the Nuggets and Thunder play each other for the final two times this regular season on Sunday afternoon and Monday evening in back-to-back games. The results of those two contests could help sway voters in one direction or another. Premier matchups between the league’s best tend to go the most-noticed among fans, so it will be interesting to see if Jokic continues to close the perceived gap in the race. For what it’s worth, Basketball Reference’s 2024/25 NBA MVP tracker gives Jokic a 65.1% chance to win the award.

Regardless of what happens, it will be interesting to see if the clash between Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander ends up as close as Jokic’s first MVP win over Joel Embiid in ’21/22, the tightest race in recent memory. Both Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander are worthy of the honor and are putting up generational-type seasons.

That leads us to today’s question: Who should win the ’24/25 MVP award? Head to the comments to share your pick between Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander or to let us know if you believe another player should come away with the award.

Who Should Be The 2024/25 MVP?
Nikola Jokic 65.08% (1,122 votes)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 28.31% (488 votes)
Other (Leave a comment) 6.61% (114 votes)
Total Votes: 1,724
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Northwest Notes: SGA, Filipowski, McDaniels, Henderson, Billups

March 6th, 2025 at 8:14pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is fresh off his fourth 50-point game in the past seven weeks and currently appears to be the favorite for the league’s Most Valuable Player award. As Fred Katz of The Athletic writes, an unmatched motor and a strong summertime workout routine helped Gilgeous-Alexander take what used to be an unconventional route to superstardom (none of the top three presumed MVP vote-earners were top-10 picks).

“He’s ahead of his time,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Intuitively, he’s where the scientific research is, which is you wanna be making decisions. You want randomness in your workouts. You want variability. You want interweaving in the workout. He kinda does that naturally.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is breaking through the trend of high-usage players seeing efficiency taper off. His 64.5% true shooting percentage and 34.6% usage percentage are both career highs and lead most guards in the league.

“It’s like LeBron [James] in his prime, Giannis [Antetokounmpo], the speed of [Ja] Morant, the speed and power of [Russell] Westbrook; he’s a great athlete, but he’s not an overpowering athlete, where those guys are,” Daigneault said. “And yet, he gets to the same places on the floor as they do. And to me, that says it all about the skill.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

  • Jazz rookie big man Kyle Filipowski is coming off two of the best games of his career, scoring 25 points on Monday and going for 23 and 13 rebounds on Wednesday. Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune explores whether Filipowski is better suited to be playing the four or the five for the Jazz moving forward. Larsen opines that, while Filipowski isn’t the strongest interior defender, he’s probably best suited for the center position. “The responsibility between a four and a three on offense sometimes [doesn’t differ] very much,” head coach Will Hardy said. “The responsibilities between four and five are very different, and so Flip has had to deal with a lot of change throughout the season … He deserves a lot of credit, because that’s a hard thing. We have a lot of guys who are trying to learn their responsibilities at one position, and Flip’s doing it at two.”
  • Jaden McDaniels offensive emergence is key to the Timberwolves‘ playoff push, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. In his last 12 games, McDaniels has averaged 19.2 points and 3.0 assists per game — in his first 52 games, he put up just 11.0 PPG and 1.7 APG. The forward’s three-point volume has also gone up — he launched a season-high nine outside attempts on Wednesday. He’s also on a different level now as a rebounder than he ever has been. “He can do a lot of different things, and he works his butt off,” teammate Julius Randle said. “We need him to play with that confidence because it gives us a whole different level as a team.”
  • Scoot Henderson is continuing to emerge as a more consistent player, but Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link) doesn’t see the former No. 3 overall pick returning to the starting lineup soon. Because the Trail Blazers are still in contention for a play-in spot, a shake-up might not make sense at this juncture. If Portland is eliminated, the club may switch things up.
  • In the same article, Highkin explores the Trail Blazers‘ three options with Chauncey Billups this summer. Billups has shown he’s grown as a coach with Portland’s turnaround, Highkin writes, so they could either pick up the fifth-year option he has for next season, sign him to an extension, or mutually allow him to look for other opportunities.
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Northwest Notes: Jazz, Thunder, Reath, Blazers

March 4th, 2025 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Although the Jazz were missing several regulars and only lost by seven points, head coach Will Hardy wasn’t happy with what he saw from his team on Sunday at home vs. New Orleans. As Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (subscription required) relays, Hardy had plenty to say after a 128-121 loss in which Utah gave up 76 points in the paint.

“Everybody wants to play more, and then you get a chance to do it, and you go out there and you don’t execute, that’s frustrating,” Hardy said. “… The frustrating part is that there’s so much opportunity on our team right now, and all of these young players are getting an opportunity to show us who they are, what they are, and that opportunity needs to be met with the desperation that it deserves.”

None of the 10 Jazz players who saw minutes on Sunday are older than 26 years old, while their oldest starter in the game was 24-year-old KJ Martin, so an already young team was even younger in that game vs. the Pelicans.

“No one cares what your résumé was before you got here,” Hardy continued. “I don’t care how many points you scored in high school. I don’t care what you were ranked coming out of high school. It doesn’t matter where you played in college. Doesn’t matter how many wins you got in college. It doesn’t matter how many points you scored in college. Your Instagram followers mean nothing to me. This is a job … this is a profession, and it needs to be treated as such.”

Utah had Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton back in its starting five on Monday against Detroit after they missed Sunday’s game, but the club didn’t fare any better on the second end of a back-to-back set, falling by 28 points at home to the Pistons.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • The Thunder‘s top two scorers were firing on all cylinders in the team’s past two games, as Jalen Williams poured in a career-high 41 points in Sunday’s win over San Antonio (story via Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander racked up 51 in Monday’s win over Houston for his fourth 50-point game since January 22 (story via ESPN.com). “Whether it’s 50, whether it’s 27, whether it’s 17 — as long as we win, I have fun with it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on Monday. “… Like, you don’t play the game to score a bunch of points. You don’t play the game to get a bunch of rebounds or assists or steals. … You don’t play for anything besides to win, and that’s what it’s all about.”
  • As the fourth center on the Trail Blazers‘ depth chart behind Deandre Ayton, Robert Williams, and lottery pick Donovan Clingan, Duop Reath hasn’t gotten a chance to play much this season. But he has taken advantage of a chance to play rotation minutes in Portland’s past two games, scoring 20 points in a total of 41 minutes on Sunday and Monday with Ayton and Williams out, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. “(Reath) was playing great,” Anfernee Simons said after Monday’s win. “Obviously, having not been playing, staying ready at all times, being professional and coming in doing his job when his numbers is called. We all know what Duop is capable of. Each and every time we know we’re going to get the best out of him.”
  • In a mailbag, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link) considers why the Trail Blazers haven’t “embraced the tank” this season, explores whether it makes sense for Portland to pursue win-now moves this summer, and acknowledges that it may difficult for the team to find a good deal for Jerami Grant on the trade market this offseason.
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Northwest Notes: Watson, SGA, R. Williams, Timberwolves

February 28th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets forward Peyton Watson, who has been sidelined since January 31 due to a sprained right knee, was ruled out for at least four weeks when the injury was first diagnosed. His absence is expected to extend a little beyond that initial timeline, head coach Michael Malone said on Thursday.

“He’s still got some hurdles to clear,” Malone said on Thursday, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required). “Heading in the right direction. … I don’t know, maybe another seven to 10 days, kind of see what happens after this road trip, when we get back after the Boston game (on Sunday). Kind of reassess everything. But he’s definitely making progress, and hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later.”

According to Durando, Watson played 3-on-3 with teammates this week, but continued to wear a brace on his right leg during that session.

Watson has further solidified his place in the rotation in his third year with the Nuggets after averaging 18.6 minutes per game across 80 appearances in 2023/24. Through 48 games this season, he has averaged 8.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 24.1 minutes per night, with a .471/.340/.752 shooting line.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • Asked about his decision to part ways with his agents before becoming eligible for a super-max extension this summer, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said it wasn’t just about avoiding agent fees on his upcoming mega-deal, per Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman (Twitter link). “It wasn’t entirely that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think, for myself, I wanna be a well-rounded human being. Not just a basketball player — a business man, a father, a husband. I want to check all the boxes. I think it would be a good experience for me to learn and get better in another area of life.”
  • Trail Blazers big man Robert Williams, who is dealing with a left knee sprain, will remain inactive for the rest of the team’s road trip, which runs through next Friday in Oklahoma City, reports Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Williams has been out since February 20 and hasn’t played in two consecutive games in over a month.
  • Anthony Edwards‘ one-game suspension, which he served on Friday, will cost him $242,393, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That’s 1/174th of Edwards’ $42,176,400 salary for the season. The Timberwolves will receive a tax variance credit of $121,196, Marks adds, which projects to reduce their end-of-season tax bill by about $515K.
  • Speaking to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker discussed the process of establishing himself as a reliable rotation player in Minnesota and brushed off a question about his upcoming unrestricted free agency. “Truthfully, the preparation is to let the time come when it comes and not get ahead of yourself,” Alexander-Walker said. “It’s something for me to learn now. The season’s not done. I’m still trying to win a championship. This organization has given me so much. So I want to continue to pour into the opportunity that I have and see what I can do with it.”
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Parts With Agents, Will Rep Himself

February 19th, 2025 at 7:50am CST by Luke Adams

Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has parted ways with his agents at Wasserman and will represent himself as he prepares to become extension-eligible this offseason, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter video link).

Gilgeous-Alexander had been represented by Thad Foucher and Joe Smith, per RealGM.

Having made All-NBA teams in both 2023 and 2024, Gilgeous-Alexander has met the performance criteria for a super-max contract and will become eligible to sign that extension with the Thunder this July.

The 2024 MVP runner-up still has two years left on his current deal and can’t exceed six years in total, so the maximum value of his extension would be a projected $293.4MM over four years, beginning in 2027/28.

That projection is based on the cap increasing by the maximum allowable 10% for each of the next three seasons, so it’s possible the final figure will come in a little lower — the deal would start at 35% of the ’27/28 cap and would include 8% raises.

Unlike with Luka Doncic in Dallas, there has been no indication that the Thunder aren’t prepared to put that full super-max offer on the table for Gilgeous-Alexander this summer, which means the negotiation should be fairly straightforward.

While he’ll serve as his own agent as he negotiates that contract with the Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander will continue to be represented by Simon Gebrelul of Isla Management for marketing and off-court ventures, according to Haynes.

Gilgeous-Alexander is currently the betting favorite to be named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this season. The 26-year-old guard is averaging a league-leading 32.5 points per game on .523/.359/.897 shooting while also contributing 6.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.0 block per night for the 44-10 Thunder.

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International Players Express Support For U.S. Vs. The World All-Star Format

February 17th, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

As the NBA searches for ways to revive interest in its All-Star Game, one concept that gets frequent mention is a U.S. vs. the World format. Several international players expressed their support for that idea after Sunday’s mini-tournament, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

“I would love to. My opinion is that it’s more purposeful,” said Victor Wembanyama, who figures to be a regular at the All-Star Game for the next decade or so. “There’s more pride in it. More stakes.”

Nine-time All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo was even more enthusiastic about the idea in his post-game press conference.

“I would love that. Oh, I would love that,” he said. “I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format. I would love that. For sure, I’d take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete.”

As Reynolds points out, the NHL has been able to generate enormous passion by scrapping its traditional All-Star format and replacing it with the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament. Saturday’s showdown between the U.S. and Canada in Montreal stoked an intense national rivalry and featured three fights in the first nine seconds of the game.

According to Reynolds, some NBA officials are watching the NHL’s success and considering how it could be adapted to basketball. There aren’t enough All-Star players from specific nations to divide them into four teams, but a matchup of American and international stars could create a fresh look for the annual showcase.

“Sometimes things just get old and kind of need a facelift,” Draymond Green said. “I know they’ve done different things to try to get it going. I think what’ll be interesting to see is how this 4 Nations thing turns out in hockey. If that turns out great, might have to peek an eye.”

Reynolds notes that this year’s rosters already feature six international All-Stars, with Wembanyama and Antetokounmpo joined by Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Pascal Siakam and Alperen Sengun. Luka Doncic would likely be there if not for the injuries have plagued him this season, and Reynolds points to Karl-Anthony Towns, who plays for the Dominican Republic in international competitions, as another addition.

However, filling out the World roster could mean adding a few players who aren’t as deserving of All-Star status. It would also take away four spots from American players, who make up roughly 70% of the NBA, which is why there’s reluctance to try it out.

“Not to say we couldn’t figure out a way around this, but to the extent we want to have a fair process for picking All-Stars, if you’re picking half the players from a 30% pool and the other half from a 70% pool, it might not be fair to the players,” commissioner Adam Silver said recently. “So, that’s one thing we’re looking at.”

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Northwest Notes: SGA, Markkanen, Timberwolves, Shannon

February 14th, 2025 at 11:19pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Thunder superstar point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as a perpetual MVP candidate. Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman wonders if the three-time All-Star can turn into the NBA’s next generational standout on his own terms.

Gilgeous-Alexander has prioritized an exhaustive workout regimen over building out a particularly robust off-court sponsorship portfolio.

“I just live my life,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I come to work every day. I hoop. I interact with my fans. I love my family, call my friends. I do everything normal people do. I’m nobody special. I’m just like the rest of y’all, for y’all wondering what I’m like.”

The 6’6″ guard has led Oklahoma City to a 44-10 record, tied with Cleveland for the best in the league. Eight games clear of the No. 2-seeded Grizzlies, the Thunder appear poised to secure the No. 1 seed in the West for the second consecutive season.

As the team’s leader, Gilgeous-Alexander has been a huge part of that success. Across 53 games this season, the Kentucky alum is averaging 32.5 points, 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds per night.

“Being the face of the league would be special,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s, again, something I can’t control, but it’s something that would be amazing. At the end of it, I can just try to be the best basketball player I can be, the best person I could be, the best role model I could be for all the kids growing up trying to play basketball.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

  • Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen has had a down season for Utah, itself en route to its third straight lottery during his tenure with the team. To hear him explain his statistical dip, Markkanen is thinking about the 13-42 Jazz’s future, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. The Arizona alum is adjusting his shot profile to be ready for more competitive games. “We’ve been working on, like, not getting just wide-open catch shoots all the time,” Markkanen said. “I’m trying to shoot more contested threes. Lightly contested, from behind dribble handoffs, and when they’re lazy switching. Stuff that I haven’t really shot before.” Larsen observes that the numbers bear this out, as Markkanen is attempting one fewer open three-pointer per game this season. Across 41 bouts, the 27-year-old is averaging 19.6 points per game on .432/.353/.869 shooting splits. Markkanen just inked a lucrative four-year contract extension last summer.
  • After Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore won a Timberwolves ownership arbitration ruling Monday against Glen Taylor, Chris Hine and Jeff Day of The Minnesota Star Tribune take stock of what’s next for Minnesota’s evolving ownership situation.
  • Timberwolves rookie wing Terrence Shannon Jr. has recently emerged alongside lottery pick Rob Dillingham as a useful bench cog for the West playoff hopefuls, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Shannon’s aggressive post play has impressed head coach Chris Finch, although consistent minutes have been tough to come by. “He loves finishing with reckless abandon, and we need that,” Finch said. “It’s a part of the reason we identified him in the draft. We had other guys that maybe were younger guys, but we wanted somebody who was a little bit more physically and mentally ready to play right away.”
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And-Ones: Shaq, TNT, MVP Race, All-Star Game, 2025 Draft

February 14th, 2025 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal has reached an agreement on a new long-term deal with TNT Sports that will be worth in excess of $15MM per year, reports Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports.

Although TNT Sports will no longer have the right to broadcast NBA games after the 2024/25 season, the show’s popular Inside the NBA studio show will remain on the air, with the company licensing it to ESPN beginning this fall. O’Neal’s agreement with TNT ensures that he’ll still be part of the show’s panel going forward.

O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith have each reportedly talked to new NBA media rights partners NBC and Amazon, who will begin broadcasting games next season. However, Barkley and O’Neal have deals in place to remain with TNT and the expectation is that Smith will sign a new multiyear contract with the network too, according to McCarthy. As for host Ernie Johnson, he’s considered a “TNT lifer,” McCarthy writes.

We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic earned the top two spots on 99 of 100 ballots submitted by media members to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link) in his latest Most Valuable Player straw poll. Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo claimed a single second-place vote, with Jokic coming in third on that voter’s ballot. However, it’s clearly a two-player MVP race between Gilgeous-Alexander, who received 70 first-place votes and 910 total points, and Jokic, who got 30 and 788, respectively.
  • The NBA and NBPA will speak to this year’s All-Stars this weekend to stress the importance of competing hard in Sunday’s All-Star event for the sake of both fans and the business, league sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter video link). The All-Star game has been a low-intensity affair for years, but the league is hopeful that a new mini-tournament format featuring three shorter games will help address that issue.
  • The 2025 NBA draft class continues to look stronger, according to Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN, who write in an Insider-only story that NBA executives are enthusiastic about the overall depth in the class, not just the potential difference-makers at the top of their boards. The international class also may be better than initially believed, with as many as nine possible first-round picks in that group, Givony and Woo say. The ESPN duo has updated its full mock draft, from Duke freshman Cooper Flagg at No. 1 to South East Melbourne forward Malique Lewis at No. 59.
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NBA Announces 2025 All-Star Game Rosters

February 6th, 2025 at 6:33pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The 24 players selected for the 2025 All-Star Game were drafted on a Thursday pre-game TNT show by coaches Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, and later announced by the NBA (Twitter link).

The players were previously sorted into groups of starters and reserves, but that had no bearing on their team placement for the new mini-tournament in this year’s game.

Below are each team’s selections, sorted in order of pick:

Team Shaq

O’Neal had the first overall pick in the televised draft, selecting James, who holds the record for most All-Star appearances in a career. For the most part, O’Neal opted for the “old guard” of the NBA, so to speak. His team has a whopping 87 All-Star appearances (including this year) among its eight players.

The roster also unites a handful of players. Durant spent this week in trade rumors, with reports indicating he didn’t want to be traded to Curry’s Warriors. The two players were teammates for three seasons. This also will mark the first time James and Davis will play together since the blockbuster move that brought Doncic to L.A. Additionally, Curry, James, Durant, Tatum and Davis all played together on the 2024 U.S. men’s Olympic Team.

Team Kenny

In contrast to O’Neal’s roster, Smith opted for some of the younger stars across the league. Smith’s team has a combined 13 All-Star nods to their name — Williams, Mobley, Cunningham and Herro are all first-timers. Smith united a pair of Cavaliers, with Mobley and Garland joining forces.

Team Chuck

Barkley went for a mix of experience in his group. He secured the top three expected players in the MVP race this season between Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander. He also landed Wembanyama with the 12th overall pick. Barkley’s group has a combined 35 All-Star honors, with Sengun and Wembanyama as first-time All-Stars and Antetkounmpo (nine) and Jokic (seven) leading the way.

A fourth team coached by Candace Parker will play in the tournament. She’ll be coaching whichever team wins this year’s Rising Stars Challenge — those rosters were announced earlier this week. Two teams will meet in a semifinal (game one) while the other two also play each other (game two). The winning team from each game moves on to the final round.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

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