Warriors Notes: Giannis, 11th Pick, Prospects, Kerr
The Warriors should — and almost certainly will — be among the suitors for Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, but if they’re unable to pull off a deal, it doesn’t mean the pursuit was a failure, argues Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
The possibility of trading for Antetokounmpo now carries much more risk than it would’ve several years ago, when the team first viewed the two-time MVP as its “holy grail,” Poole writes. The Warriors’ best current offer — centered around draft picks but not much in the way of young players — could also theoretically be topped by several rival teams, Poole observes.
Still, Poole thinks it’s the right call to trade for the 31-year-old star, assuming he’s open to the idea and Golden State can convince Milwaukee’s front office to get on board. He just doesn’t view that outcome as likely.
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Assistant general manager Larry Harris expressed optimism before the draft lottery that the Warriors would select a prospect they like if they stayed at the 11th pick, which would up happening, Poole writes in another story. “I’ve heard the noise,” Harris said when asked about the top-four prospects being in their own tier. “Certainly, there’s four players that everybody seems to talk about when I look at all the mock drafts and everything. But the way we look at it is we really believe it’s beyond 11. But up to 11, we feel really, really, really good about whatever player lands in our lap.”
- Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area lists five “very different” prospects the Warriors could target at No. 11, including Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg and his college teammate Aday Mara. Johnson also weighs the pros and cons of each prospect, particularly from Golden State’s perspective.
- Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic isn’t surprised that Steve Kerr signed a two-year deal to stay the Warriors’ head coach and views Kerr as the fitting person to guide the rest of Stephen Curry‘s career. While he acknowledges Kerr will have to evolve his way of thinking in some respects, Thompson also believes Kerr has earned an enormous amount of respect and trust over the course of his long career and is definitely the right coach if the Warriors end up acquiring another star player.
Draft Notes: Top Prospects, Measurements, Ament, Kings
No one from the 2026 class has even been drafted yet, but the top prospects certainly aren’t lacking for confidence, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Expectations are already “sky-high” for the incoming rookies in a class that’s viewed as being exceptionally strong both in terms of top-end talent and depth.
“Since I’m in this draft class, I’m going to say we’re one of the best draft classes,” said AJ Dybantsa, who led Division I men’s college basketball in scoring this past season. “We’ll see how that pans out and how our careers pan out, but if you ask me right now, I think we’re one of the best draft classes.”
In addition to Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson — widely viewed as the top-four prospects — also discussed what they’ll bring to the table to their future NBA teams, according to Michael Wallace of Grind City Media.
“My resume speaks for itself, man,” said Boozer, the NCAA Player of the Year. “So, if a team wants to hang a (championship) banner in the rafters, I’m definitely their guy. All of these guys here, we’ve been playing against each other since eighth grade. People have been talking about how special this class is and we showed it. We’re going to keep showing it at the next level.”
Wilson, who’s recovering from surgery on his right thumb, confirmed he’ll be available to play Summer League in July, Wallace adds.
“Me being at one, two, three or four, I feel great,” said Wilson. “I’m excited to show my talent and skills in these coming months, starting with summer league. Whatever team is there that needs what I bring to the table, they’ll see. I’m going to keep working to be a great player for whichever team selects me.”
We have more notes on the 2026 NBA draft:
- Prospects went through anthropometric measurements at the draft combine on Monday. The official measurements won’t be finalized until Tuesday, notes Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (via Twitter), but some early winners include Michigan’s Aday Mara (7’3″ and 260 pounds with a 7’6″ wingspan and a 9’9″ standing reach, tied with Mark Williams for the second-longest in combine history), Jayden Quaintance and Chris Cenac, while Christian Anderson and Amari Allen were among the measurement losers, according to James Fletcher III and Jamie Shaw of On3.com.
- Tennessee forward Nate Ament was among On3’s other measurement winners, coming in at 6’9.5″ and 211 pounds, with a 6’11.5″ wingspan and a 9’1.5″ standing reach. The standout freshman told Marc J. Spears of Andscape that he was informed by a doctor after undergoing X-rays that he could still grow another two inches (Twitter link).
- Head coach Doug Christie said finding a point guard was a top offseason priority for the Kings and they should be able to nab one after coming away with the seventh overall pick, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee, who takes a look at five prospects the team might consider, including Darius Acuff, Keaton Wagler and Kingston Flemings.
- Brian Windhorst of ESPN shares his observations from inside Sunday’s draft lottery drawing room.
Spurs’ De’Aaron Fox (Ankle) Questionable For Game 5
Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox has been listed as questionable for Tuesday’s Game 5 against the Wolves, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic
Fox’s injury designation has actually changed over the past few hours. He was initially listed as having left ankle soreness, but San Antonio’s injury report now say it’s soreness in his right ankle.
After signing a four-year max extension last August, Fox appeared in 72 regular season games (31.0 minutes per contest) in his first full season as a Spur, averaging 18.6 points, 6.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals on .486/.332/.760 shooting. The 28-year-old was named to his second All-Star game earlier this year.
Fox has struggled so far in the second-round series with Minnesota, averaging 16.8 PPG, 4.0 APG, 2.5 RPG and 1.8 SPG on .379/.222/.722 shooting through four contests (32.8 MPG). The Western Conference semifinal matchup is currently tied at two games apiece.
If Fox is unable to suit up for the pivotal Game 5, No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper is the most obvious candidate for more ball-handling, play-making and scoring opportunities.
Eastern Notes: Nets, Marks, Jenkins, Heat, Magic
Sunday’s draft lottery was disastrous for the Nets, who fell from third in the pre-lottery order — tied with three other teams for the best chance at landing No. 1 — to sixth overall. Several reporters described owner Joe Tsai, Brooklyn’s drawing room representative, as appearing “despondent” after the drawing occurred.
According to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscriber link), the onus is on general manager Sean Marks to figure out a way to make the best of the situation after Brooklyn dropped in last year’s lottery as well, falling from sixth to eighth and selecting Egor Demin.
Two league sources told Lewis the Nets will look to move up from sixth, but it remains to be seen how that will play out. Rival executives believe the Clippers could be open to moving down from No. 5, Lewis adds.
While Marks said the Nets would be “opportunistic” and “look at everything” regarding the possibility of moving up, he wasn’t sure that landing at sixth would necessarily make the team more aggressive on the trade market.
“Hard to tell. It’s all about how these guys develop,” Marks said, per Lewis. “I don’t think you want to make rash decisions before you’ve seen how they look. We all know there’s a group in this draft that could be game-changers; but I said could be because you never know. You get whether it’s six months from now or two years from now and there’s always surprises.
“So every draft there’s a guy who people didn’t quite expect to be [that good] if you do the redraft. So for us, it’ll be still about having patience. But at the end of the day, we’ve got optionality. We’ve maintained flexibility, we’ve got the cap space and assets. So the word would be opportunistic.”
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Taylor Jenkins received a six-year contract when he was hired to be the head coach of the Bucks, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports within his story about Milwaukee seeking trade offers for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Jenkins was considered the top coaching candidate on the market, Charania writes.
- The Heat stayed at No. 13 in the draft lottery, which was their most likely outcome. If they keep the pick instead of trading it, who will they select? Three of the four mock drafts that were updated on Sunday had Miami selecting Alabama guard Labaron Philon, with Arizona guard Brayden Burries, Mexican forward Karim Lopez, Michigan big men Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson, Washington center Hannes Steinbach, and Houston big man Chris Cenac among the other prospects projected to go in that range, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
- Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said last week that the team would evaluate “everything” that led to a disappointing season, including injuries being a factor in the team’s first-round loss to Detroit, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. “We look at everything,” Weltman said. “There’s nothing from scouting to analytics to performance to medical that we don’t turn over every rock over the summer. We’ll have deep-dive evaluations on everything.”
Sixers Notes: Edgecombe, Maxey, Offseason
The Sixers‘ season ended in disappointing fashion on Sunday, as the team was thoroughly outplayed — and swept — by New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. If there’s a reason to believe in the 76ers’ future, it’s largely due to the impressive play of rookie VJ Edgecombe, writes Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports.
“Playing against the Celtics to now against New York, it was tricky. I was guarded differently,” Edgecombe said on Sunday. “I’m gonna take some time, look back at it after a couple of weeks or so.
“I refuse for, coming into next year, a team won’t ever leave me open. Even during the regular season, I was shooting the ball pretty well, and the playoffs come, and it’s just a different vibe, you know? Intensity’s higher, closeouts are a lot quicker, but I’m going to go in, and I’m gonna work. I’m gonna work. I’m gonna work. I’m going to do whatever I got to do to get better, make life easier for [Tyrese Maxey] and the rest of my teammates, take some of the pressure off some of the load offensively off of them.”
In addition to offensive improvements, the 6’4″ guard hopes to continue honing his craft on the defensive end as well, per Neubeck.
“Defensively, I’m gonna keep getting better, keep learning. For the rest of my career, I want to go out and say I can go guard whoever I have to go guard,” Edgecombe said. “I’m just excited to see how this offseason is gonna look for me, and next year I’m coming back better, stronger, faster, more athletic, whatever I gotta do.”
Here’s more from Philadelphia:
- Maxey had an excellent season for the Sixers and will almost certainly earn his first All-NBA berth in 2025/26, but he struggled with double-teams and traps in the second-round matchup vs. the Knicks, according to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Maxey is hoping he’ll be able to play off the ball more often in 2026/27 as Edgecombe works on initiating the offense. “When you’re in front of the defense all the time,” Maxey said. “ … it gives [the opponent] opportunities that have the entire team kind of load up. And I feel like that’s one thing that really good players and great players can do. They can be on the ball [and] make plays on the ball, but they can also play off the ball and contribute that way, use their gravity that way.”
- Although The Athletic reported on Monday that president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and head coach Nick Nurse could be dismissed, Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice doesn’t expect that to happen after the 3-1 first-round comeback against Boston. Still, he acknowledges the possibility can’t be ruled out after the 76ers were swept in the second round. Aaronson also provides an overview of the team’s offseason, noting that Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andre Drummond are the 76ers’ primary free agents.
- ESPN’s Bobby Marks previews the Sixers’ offseason, writing that they’ll likely be over the first tax apron if they re-sign Grimes and Oubre. Gauging the trade market for Joel Embiid and Paul George to build around Maxey and Edgecombe would be an ideal outcome for Philadelphia, but Marks views that scenario as unlikely given how much money those two aging stars are owed.
Pistons’ LeVert Available, Huerter Out For Game 4
6:35 pm: LeVert has been upgraded to available but Huerter has been ruled out again, according to Patterson (Twitter link).
2:54 pm: The Pistons have two reserves listed as questionable for Monday’s pivotal Game 4 against the Cavaliers. Caris LeVert is dealing with a right heel contusion and Kevin Huerter is on the injury report due to a left adductor strain, according to Coty Davis of the Detroit News.
LeVert’s minutes have fluctuated quite a bit during the postseason. He’s played as much as 25 minutes but also logged a DNP-CD in Game 7 against Orlando in the opening round. He has played an average of 13 minutes against Cleveland in the first three games of the second-round series and recorded six points and four steals in 17 minutes in Game 3.
Huerter played steady minutes as a reserve in March and April during the regular season. He came off the bench in the first four games against Orlando but was injured after a three-minute stint in Game 4.
Both players were present for the morning shootaround on Monday, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic tweets.
Draft Notes: Dybantsa, Peterson, Top Picks, Lottery, More
While the Wizards will perform their “due dilligence and bring in as many of the top potential prospects” as they can after landing the first overall pick in the draft lottery, David Aldridge of The Athletic says he’ll “eat his hat” if they don’t end up selecting BYU forward AJ Dybantsa.
According to Aldridge, the Wizards have long had their eyes on the 2026 draft and view Dybantsa as a player “who could become their version of Anthony Edwards or Cade Cunningham or Cooper Flagg.” Washington has gotten very lucky since the team embarked on its full-fledged rebuild, Aldridge notes, landing the second, sixth and first picks the last three years.
“I think (president) Michael (Winger) and I, when we had the vision a few years ago, we wanted to give ourselves as many cracks at the apple as possible,” general manager Will Dawkins said. “Year 2, we felt fortunate that we were able to stay where we were at. We were supposed to pick two, and we picked two.
“Last year, we were right at two and fell back to six. Disappointing, because you always want to be able to have the power of choice. And that’s what we have this year, which is why we’re really, really excited.”
The Wizards have been “the NBA’s most woebegone franchise” for generations, according to Aldridge, but were certainly in a celebratory mood on Sunday.
Here’s more on next month’s 2026 NBA draft
- Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68 (Twitter link) asked 15 NBA executives which player they’d select No. 1 overall, with 12 selecting Dybantsa and three choosing Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, who was once considered the top prospect in the class before injuries and cramping issues derailed his freshman season.
- Dybantsa, Peterson and Cameron Boozer are among the five top prospects who made their case to go No. 1 overall at Sunday’s lottery, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Dybantsa said he’s been striving to the first player selected since he started playing the sport. “If I go there, it will be a great opportunity. They have a great young core,” Dybantsa said of Washington.
- For his part, Peterson offered the following comments to Andscape: “I feel the basketball part will take care of itself. I know what everybody can do, but I feel like I can come in and be the best teammate I can be, give great effort every day, and be on time. We all can hoop. It’s going to be the stuff off the court. … I am a point guard. I’m the best when I have the ball in my hands. Off the court, I’m going to be the best pro.”
- The Nets, who fell from No. 3 to No. 6, and the Kings, who lost a tiebreaker against Utah to determine the fourth-best pre-lottery odds, were two of the primary draft lottery losers, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. Sacramento fell from No. 5 to No. 7, while the Jazz moved up from No. 4 to No. 2. Hollinger also wonders if Darius Garland may be on the trade block again in the near future after the Clippers landed the fifth overall pick, since most prospects projected in that range are point guards.
- ESPN insiders react to the draft lottery results and ask questions about each team in the lottery.
Lakers Notes: 3-0 Deficit, Hachimura, Reaves, Caruso, Ayton
The Lakers are facing playoff elimination on Monday after dropping the first three games of their second-round series against the defending champion Thunder. Head coach JJ Redick shared his message to his players after Sunday’s practice, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.
“Our first slide that we put up in training camp was [to] win the day,” Redick said. “Today was a quick offensive review and then just going over some stuff defensively. Got to win today and we got to win tomorrow. We know what we’re facing being down 3-0. So it’s just more of a mindset check than anything else.”
No playoff team has blown a 3-0 series lead, with those clubs holding a 161-0 series mark in those situations, Turner notes.
Forward Rui Hachimura, who has been on a “heater,” as Redick put it, is averaging 18.3 points while shooting 57.1% from long distance against Oklahoma City. He said the Lakers can’t afford to make mistakes or to have a drop in energy, particularly in the third quarter.
“I feel like every game we’re getting closer,” said Hachimura, an impending free agent. “Especially last night … apparently we had the best offensive game of the series, even the playoffs. I think we had really good looks, great looks. But I think defensively we, especially in the third quarter, we kind of slowed down. I don’t know [if] we got burned out or we got tired, whatever.
“So, I think our focus is like how we play in the first half we have to do in the whole game. … That’s going to be our goal.”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Hachimura talked about how the Lakers have focused so much of their defensive attention on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has struggled in the series by his lofty standards, but have gotten torched by several other Thunder players, per Khobi Price of The California Post (Twitter video links). The 28-year-old Japanese forward also discussed what Los Angeles could learn from Oklahoma City, Price adds. “Everybody knows their roles,” Hachimura said. “Whatever they give them, the coaches, the team, giving them the roles, they understand it. They for sure have no complaints, they embrace their roles…basketball is a team sport. Everybody [has] a role. I can see that everybody knows that, what they’re supposed to do or not. So I think that’s where the difference is.”
- The Lakers initially thought Austin Reaves wouldn’t return from his strained oblique until the conference finals, but the 27-year-old guard spent extended time in a giant hyperbaric chamber at the UCLA medical center and made it back for Game 5 of the first round, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN details. “I left my house every day around 7:30 in the morning to get treatment and didn’t come home until about 8 at night,” Reaves told ESPN. “I was going crazy trying to get back. … I was in that hyperbaric chamber all the time.”
- Even if the Lakers had been healthy, their star-driven approach has revealed an “uncomfortable lesson,” Shelburne writes, as the Thunder are the superior team not just because of their top-end talent but because of their depth and continuity. Former Laker and current Thunder guard Alex Caruso says it’s a joy being on such a connected team. “It feels great to be a part of,” Caruso said. “You do it the right way and then you have people that you enjoy being around every day, and it makes it really simple.”
- Starting center Deandre Ayton had a couple defensive miscues in the third quarter of Game 3, when the Thunder broke the game open. Redick was asked about the plays on Sunday, as Price relays (Twitter video link). “I’ve been around DA for a season now. I know how special he is for our group to succeed,” Redick said. “And I told him this morning, I said to him in the Houston series at one point he was the big part of the reason we were winning the series. He was a big part of the reason we won the series. I believe in him and he’s going to help us win tomorrow.”
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 5/11/2026
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 3:15 pm Central time (4:15 pm Eastern).
Central Notes: Bulls, Pacers, Harden, Atkinson
The Bulls enjoyed some lottery luck on Sunday, jumping from the No. 9 slot to No. 4. Their new head of basketball operations, Bryson Graham, couldn’t contain his enthusiasm about the team’s good fortune, according to The Athletic’s Jon Greenberg.
“It’s exciting, man,” he said. “I can’t believe it. I just got the job and I got the fourth pick. It’s crazy, man!”
However, Graham also knows that getting that No. 4 pick, potentially either Caleb Wilson or Cameron Boozer, won’t turn the franchise into an instant contender.
“Let’s not sit here and say because we have the fourth pick and all of a sudden this franchise is back, you know what I mean?” Graham said. “But this is just a good opportunity to add high-level talent to our group and build this, and like I keep saying, layer it appropriately. So it’s exciting, man.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- On the flip side, the Pacers not only didn’t get a top four pick, they had to convey the No. 5 pick to the Clippers, courtesy of the Ivica Zubac trade. President of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard issued an apology to the team’s fans over the loss of the pick. He provided more insight to the media why he didn’t get greater protections on the pick. “Everybody says, ‘Why didn’t you protect it a lot deeper?'” Pritchard said, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to. That was the vig for us to get Zu. You look at a lot of these big trades that are out there. You see four and five and six (first-round picks) and (first-round pick) swaps around a star with potential. We think Zu is a great fit for us. At the end of the day, this is what is really important. I felt like, for a championship team, we needed a starting center. That was priority one. They’ve earned the right to try to get a championship. That was not doable protecting this to eight or nine or 10 or wherever.” Pritchard added the Clippers would not budge from their demand that the pick only have top-four protection. “It was negotiated,” hehard said. “And we fought like heck. They’re very good negotiators. We would not have gotten Zu if we didn’t protect it to four. That’s just it.”
- Prior to the lottery, Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said that regardless of what happened in the ltotery he would be seeking help on the free agent and trade markets, Tony East of Forbes.com writes. “I think one thing this season revealed for us is the need for some scoring off our bench… Probably from the wing position,” he said. “Losing (Bennedict Mathurin), you lose some of that. But I think this team, we have some depth. We still have some holes to fill,” Buchanan said. An upgrade at backup center could also be on his agenda.
- James Harden made several clutch baskets to lift the Cavaliers to a Game 3 victory over Detroit on Saturday. According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, coach Kenny Atkinson gave Harden a de facto pep talk during a phone conversation after Game 2. “It started (Friday). I just doubled down with him in our conversation. I told him, ‘You’re our guy.’ In between games, I think that’s when you really coach,” Atkinson said. “I think that’s where you make your money in this league. You have to have those conversations. Pick guys up when it’s not going perfect. Reaffirm your belief in them. Just double down on the trust you have in them. I was just like, ‘Man, we are good, you are good, you are making the right plays, you are doing the right things, you are helping us, you have done everything we have asked in terms of buying in.’ I told him, ‘Just keep playing to win. I trust you implicitly.’”