Magic Fined $25K For Injury Reporting Violation
The Magic have been fined $25K for a violation of the NBA’s injury reporting rules, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
The violation occurred on Monday as a result of Orlando initially listing guard Anthony Black as “out” due to a left lateral abdominal strain that had sidelined him for the previous 16 games.
The Magic, who played a back-to-back set on Sunday and Monday, put out their first injury report for Monday’s game at 12:45 pm. Black’s designation was changed from out to questionable in the 2:30 pm injury report, then he was upgraded again to probable at 3:15 pm before being listed as available at 5:00 pm.
Presumably, Orlando could’ve avoided a fine if Black was originally designated as doubtful to play rather than out. The NBA said in its press release that the team “failed to accurately disclose” his game availability status.
Draft Notes: Graves, Burries, Mara, Harris, Able, More
Santa Clara freshman forward Allen Graves is declaring for the 2026 NBA draft, he announced this week on social media (Twitter link).
Graves only started four of 35 games during his first college season, but he was a valuable reserve for the Broncos, averaging 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.8 assists in 22.6 minutes per contest. The 19-year-old also had a solid shooting line of .512/.413/.750 and won a pair of awards, having been named the WCC’s Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year.
Graves comes in at No. 32 overall in the newly updated big board from Jeremy Woo of ESPN, making him a candidate to be a first-round pick this spring if he has a strong pre-draft process.
Here’s more on the 2026 draft:
- Woo’s new top-100 list features BYU forward AJ Dybantsa taking over the No. 1 spot, with Illinois guard Keaton Wagler moving into the top five in place of Houston’s Kingston Flemings, who slips to No. 7. The biggest risers near the top of Woo’s board are Arizona’s Brayden Burries, who jumped from No. 17 to No. 10, and Michigan’s Aday Mara, who is up to No. 14 after previously ranking 32nd.
- Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has published an updated version of his mock draft, which features Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. coming off the board fifth overall and UConn’s Braylon Mullins moving up to No. 9.
- Wake Forest guard Juke Harris is entering the transfer portal while testing the draft waters, he confirmed on Instagram. Harris had a breakout year for the Demon Deacons as a sophomore in 2025/26, increasing his scoring average to 21.4 points per game and earning Most Improved Player honors in the ACC. He’s currently ranked 39th on ESPN’s big board.
- North Carolina State guard Matt Able, who averaged 8.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 1.2 APG as a reserve across 34 appearances as a freshman, has entered the transfer portal while also putting his name in the NBA draft pool, tweets Jeff Borzello of ESPN. Able is the No. 60 prospect on ESPN’s board.
- The following prospects are also entering the 2026 draft (players marked with an asterisk are entering the transfer portal too):
- Dai Dai Ames, G, California (junior) (Twitter link via Joe Tipton of On3) *
- Rowan Brumbaugh, G, Tulane (junior) (Twitter link via Tipton) *
- Dennis Parker, G, Radford (junior) (Twitter link via Travis Branham of 247 Sports) *
- Bryson Tucker, F, Washington (sophomore) (Twitter link)
- LeJuan Watts, F, Texas Tech (junior) (Twitter link via Borzello) *
Houston’s Chris Cenac Entering 2026 NBA Draft
Houston freshman big man Chris Cenac Jr. has decided to enter the 2026 NBA draft, he confirmed today on Instagram. Although Cenac has the option of testing the draft waters while maintaining his NCAA eligibility, his announcement doesn’t say anything about taking that route, so it sounds like he’s committed to going pro.
Cenac had an impressive 2025/26 season for the Cougars, starting 36 of 37 games and averaging 9.5 points and 7.9 rebounds in 24.8 minutes per contest. The 6’11” forward/center also flashed the ability to stretch the floor, knocking down 30-of-90 three-point attempts (33.3%), and averaged a double-double (10.0 PPG, 12.3 RPG) in three NCAA tournament games.
According to Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 (Twitter link), Cenac is viewed by many NBA executives as a probable top-20 pick in the 2026 draft.
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo has the 19-year-old ranked 18th overall in his latest big board update, writing that Cenac took some important steps forward as a freshman and has intriguing tools, but “remains a ways from being ready to add value in an NBA game.” Still, he did a good job handling physicality during his first college season and looks like one of the top bigs in this year’s draft class, Woo adds.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has Cenac coming off the board at No. 25 in his latest mock, suggesting that his draft slot may ultimately come down to a team’s belief in his potential as a shooter.
Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 4/9/2026
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included the Bulls' search for a new front office, Giannis Antetokounmpo's future, coaching changes for the summer, players who may retire after the playoffs and more!
What To Watch For In Season’s Final Days
The NBA’s 2025/26 regular season will wrap up on Sunday, which means we now have just four days remaining. Here are a few things worth keeping an eye on during those four days:
Playoff berths and seeding
Of the NBA’s 12 automatic playoff berths – the top six seeds in each conference – 10 have been claimed, including all six in the Western Conference. But in addition to those last couple top-six spots in the East, there are still plenty of seeding questions to be answered in the season’s final days.
Eastern Conference:
The Pistons have comfortably secured the No. 1 seed, but no other team in the East is locked in a specific seed (Twitter link via NBA).
The Celtics, who will play in New York on Thursday, need a single win or a single Knicks loss in the final three games of the season in order to claim the No. 2 seed. Assuming Boston finishes second overall, the Knicks will still need to hold off the Cavaliers for the No. 3 seed — they have a half-game lead and the tiebreaker edge over Cleveland.
The fifth through 10th seeds in the East are still a mess, with at least three teams in play for each of those slots. Here are the standings in that section of the conference entering Thursday:
- Atlanta Hawks (45-35)
- Toronto Raptors (44-35)
- Orlando Magic (44-36)
- Philadelphia 76ers (43-36)
- Charlotte Hornets (43-37)
- Miami Heat (41-38)
The No. 10 Heat, who still have to play three games, starting with one in Toronto on Thursday, will have a hard time moving up the standings, as will the No. 9 Hornets, whose final two contests are against Detroit and New York.
The Hawks, meanwhile, just need one more win to clinch a guaranteed playoff spot, but neither of their remaining games – vs. Cleveland on Friday and at Miami on Sunday – can be viewed as an easy win. It’ll be interesting to see how this race plays out in the coming days and which tiebreakers wind up being most relevant.
Western Conference:
Things are less chaotic in the West, where the Thunder (No. 1), Spurs (No. 2), Timberwolves (No. 6), Suns (No. 7), and Warriors (No. 10) are all locked into specific seeds. But the race for the third and fourth spots in the standings is an interesting one.
Currently, the Nuggets (52-28) are in the driver’s seat for No. 3, but they’ll wrap up their regular season schedule by hosting Oklahoma City on Friday and visiting San Antonio on Sunday. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Thunder sit some regulars on Friday, or at least play them fewer minutes — they have nothing left to play for until the postseason begins, and they’d probably prefer to keep the Nuggets in that No. 3 seed, on the opposite side of the playoff bracket.
The Lakers (50-29) and Rockets (50-29) are right behind Denver, and both teams have relatively favorable schedules to close out the year. Los Angeles will play in Golden State on Thursday before hosting the Suns on Friday and the Jazz on Sunday. Houston faces the Sixers on Thursday, then the Grizzlies on both Friday and Sunday, all at home. Given their injury woes, the Lakers appear most at risk of slipping to No. 5.
Further down the Western Conference standings, the Trail Blazers (40-40) are right on the 41-39 Clippers‘ heels for the No. 8 seed. Portland will need a victory over L.A. on Friday in order to gain control in that race — if they win on Friday, the Blazers would simply need to beat Sacramento on Sunday to line up a matchup with the Suns in the play-in tournament. Whichever team finishes at No. 9 would get a home play-in game, but would have to win a second one on the road to make the playoffs.
Traded draft picks and lottery odds
It’s probably safe to assume that the Jazz, who will send their 2026 first-round pick to the Thunder if it’s not in the top eight, will be looking to extend their 10-game losing streak to 12 to close out the season. But even if they win a game and finish with the NBA’s fifth-worst record (or finish tied for the fourth-worst record and lose a coin flip), the odds of their pick landing outside the top eight would be minuscule (0.6%).
One more loss would lock the Pacers into a bottom-three finish, guaranteeing them the best possible lottery odds, including a 52.1% shot at a top-four pick. That’s important because their first-rounder will be sent to the Clippers if it lands outside the top four.
Interestingly, the Clippers are probably rooting for Indiana to lose out to finish the year — if the Pacers were to finish with the NBA’s worst record instead of the league’s second- or third-worst mark, that pick would have the exact same odds of falling outside the top four and being sent to L.A. (47.9%) but could fall no further than No. 5 rather than slipping to No. 6 or No. 7.
The Pelicans (26-54), Mavericks (25-55), and Grizzlies (25-55) are one group of teams worth keeping an eye on for lottery finishes. The worst team in that group could have top-four odds as high as 37.2%, while the best team could have odds as low as 26.2%. Of course, it’s worth noting that the Hawks control the most favorable of New Orleans’ and Milwaukee’s first-rounders.
Speaking of the Bucks (31-49), they’re neck-and-neck with the Bulls (30-49) for lottery positioning, with the worst of those two teams getting the ninth-best lottery odds. It’s safe to assume plenty of fans in Chicago will be rooting hard against their team on Thursday vs. Washington and Sunday vs. Dallas.
Award races and the 65-game rule
While it’s rare for an award race to be decided by what happens in the final two or three games in the regular season, there aren’t many slam dunks this year, so it’s entirely possible that a voter could be swayed by a couple more big performances from a certain player in the season’s final days.
Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg vs. Hornets sharpshooter Kon Knueppel for Rookie of the Year is one race that’s going down to the wire. There also doesn’t appear to be an overwhelming consensus for Sixth Man of the Year or Most Improved Player, among other awards.
Defensive Player of the Year is one award that looks like a lock, but frontrunner Victor Wembanyama will have to play at least 20 minutes in one of San Antonio’s final two games of the season in order to meet the 65-game minimum to qualify. The Spurs big man sat out on Wednesday due to a rib contusion, but the team is reportedly optimistic about his chances to return on Friday.
The 65-game rule figures to have a significant impact on voters’ decisions this spring, especially when it comes to All-NBA spots. Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Lakers guard Luka Doncic, and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards likely would’ve been All-NBA shoo-ins, but they’ll each fall short of the 65-game requirement. It sounds as if the agents for Cunningham and Doncic may both apply for “extraordinary circumstances” exceptions, but the CBA language defining that term is so vague that it’s hard to say whether or not they’ll be successful.
Suns guard Devin Booker is among the other stars who will fall just shy of the 65-game requirement — he could end up playing in 66 contests, but because he logged fewer than 10 minutes in two of them, those two won’t count toward the minimum.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will each have to play at least 15 minutes in one of their respective teams’ final two games in order to hit the 65-game threshold.
Potential roster moves
There are still a handful of teams with an open spot on their standard 15-man rosters, as our tracker shows. Those teams are as follows:
- Boston Celtics
- Chicago Bulls
- Utah Jazz
- Note: The Jazz technically have a full 15-man roster on Friday, but will open up a spot on Saturday following the expiration of Kennedy Chandler‘s 10-day contract.
It’s not unprecedented for a team to leave a roster spot open at the end of the season, but it’s somewhat rare — all 30 teams finished the season with full 15-man squads in each of the past three years.
Each of the three clubs listed above are good bets to make a roster move before their final games tip off on Sunday, even if it’s as simple as promoting a two-way player to a standard contract to make him postseason-eligible.
Of course, even teams with full 15-man standard rosters aren’t necessarily locked into their current groups. The Heat, for instance, are still considered likely to waive Terry Rozier at some point today or Friday in favor of a newcomer (or, more likely, a promoted two-way player).
Thursday would typically be the last day for a team to waive a player on an expiring contract, since he must clear waivers before each team plays its last regular season game. However, because a player clears waivers at 5:00 pm Eastern and none of Sunday’s games start before 6:00 pm ET, a player on an expiring contract – such as Rozier – could still be waived on Friday this season, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).
Coach and front office changes
While most head coaching and general manager changes are made after a team’s season ends, it’s certainly not unprecedented for it to happen during the final couple weeks of the regular season. The Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth during the last week of the 2024/25 season, while the Grizzlies dismissed coach Taylor Jenkins at the end of March 2025. Earlier this week, the Bulls parted ways with top executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley.
Most action on this front likely won’t happen until at least next week, but I also won’t be shocked if news of a change breaks on or before Sunday night.
Southeast Notes: Hornets, Risacher, Larsson, Magic
Hornets president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson, who was hired in March 2024, saw his team win just 19 games during his first full season on the job, but he remained confident in the work the front office was doing and isn’t shocked that Charlotte has taken a significant step forward in 2025/26, he told Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
“The thing that excites me the most or brings me the most joy is that we implemented the process when I first got here in multiple different facets of the organization, and we’ve been able to stick to those processes,” Peterson said. “That doesn’t mean that the result is always what we want it to be. But I sleep well knowing that we had a process going into the draft, and trade deadline and free agency, and we were able to execute what we wanted to execute.
“So, I’m not necessarily surprised that the team looks better this year. Not surprised because the process started when I first got here, but even this past summer. I’ve never been a part of a team where the entire team was here this summer working. And that was on their own.”
Currently the No. 9 seed, the Hornets still aren’t assured a playoff spot – or even a home play-in game – in a surprisingly competitive Eastern Conference. But after an 11-23 start, they’ve gone 32-14 since January 3, with young players like Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Moussa Diabate, Sion James, and Ryan Kalkbrenner emerging as key contributors. Will that internal improvement give Peterson the confidence to go out and seek another roster upgrade on the trade market this summer?
“I think there’s a lot of variables that go into that,” he told Boone. “I think sometimes people think trades are easy. They’re not. You’re dealing with another team, they have to want your player or want to trade that player that you may want. Salary’s got a match. There’s just a ton of variables at stake. So, it just kind of depends on which team you’re dealing with or what not, what the market is.
“I certainly don’t want to be in the business of overpaying for a player at this point. There could be a point where you have to do that. It’s not an exact science. You’re certainly going to get something wrong. But you’ve got to be pretty sure, the confidence interval has to be high if you’re going to put all your chips in and go get a player.”
We have more from around the Southeast:
- After playing a career-low seven minutes on Monday, Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher received the first DNP-CD of his NBA career on Wednesday in Cleveland, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. The former No. 1 overall pick was a starter through the first half of the season, but has seen his playing time dip to 22.5 minutes per game through 65 total outings. Risacher, who was replaced in the rotation by Corey Kispert on Wednesday, has averaged 9.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per night, with a .457/.373/.636 shooting line.
- It has been a disappointing regular season for the Heat, who are trending toward a 10th-place finish that will require them to win two road games in the play-in tournament to make the playoffs. But the development of Pelle Larsson has been a bright spot, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, who notes that the second-year forward has become one of the club’s most reliable, consistent players. “Being an enhancer in every lineup, that’s just a credit to the way he plays,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He does all the effort things, he does all the intangibles, he does all the little things. That, of course, will work with any lineup. Every lineup needs energy, effort, and he provides that.”
- Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley is believed to be on the hot seat as the offseason nears, but center Goga Bitadze expressed appreciation on Wednesday for the job the coaching staff has done over the course of a challenging year, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel relays (Twitter video link). “(The) coaches (have) done a great job staying positive,” Bitadze said. “You can’t get down on yourself and bring that negative energy, but they haven’t done that at all. You know, Mose has been nothing but positive all season.”
Thunder Secure West’s No. 1 Seed For Third Straight Season
The Spurs have been on an absolute heater since the start of February, winning 29 of 32 games during that stretch, but it won’t be enough to catch the Thunder in the regular season standings.
On Wednesday, shortly after San Antonio won its 61st game of the season, Oklahoma City picked up its 64th victory, beating the Clippers in L.A. by a score of 128-110. With only two games left in the regular season, the Thunder now can’t be caught for the No. 1 seed and will finish atop the Western Conference for a third straight year. They’ve also secured the NBA’s best record, which means they’ll have home court advantage in all of their playoff series this spring, including – potentially – the Finals.
The Thunder have won 19 of their past 20 games and have become just the third team in NBA history to compile at least 64 wins in back-to-back seasons, notes Brandon Rahbar of Daily Thunder (Twitter link). The only other two franchises to achieve that feat were the Bulls, who did it from 1995-97, and the Warriors, who won at least 67 games in three straight seasons from 2014-17.
“It’s impressive,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of the team’s regular season success, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “Obviously, none of it means anything if you don’t win in the end, and you know that. But teams that win in the end have some of the same characteristics and traits and check off the same boxes. So checking off those boxes is kind of just like knowing we’re headed in the right direction. Obviously, we’re far from the finish line of where we want to go, but like I said, it lets us know we’re heading right there.”
With the Thunder now locked into the No. 1 seed and the Spurs having clinched No. 2, they’ll face the two teams that come out of the play-in tournament in the first round of the playoffs.
Phoenix’s win over Dallas on Wednesday ensured that the Suns will enter the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed, meaning they’ll host the No. 7/8 game and would get a second home game against the No. 9/10 winner if they lose that first contest. The Warriors are locked into the No. 10 seed in the West and will have to win two road games to make the playoffs, while the Clippers and Trail Blazers continue to jockey for No. 8.
The Timberwolves‘ loss to Orlando on Wednesday also guaranteed that Minnesota will finish sixth in the Western Conference standings. The Nuggets are in the driver’s seat for No. 3, with a two-game lead over the Rockets and Lakers.
Over in the East, the Hawks could’ve clinched a playoff berth with a win in Cleveland on Wednesday, but their fourth-quarter comeback attempt came up short. Atlanta still currently holds the No. 5 seed in the East with two games left to play, but the Raptors, Magic, and Sixers – in that order – are all within 1.5 games, and the Hawks will face the Cavaliers again on Friday.
And-Ones: Perimeter Defenders, Malone, Cooper, Vezenkov
The NBA’s All-Defensive teams tend to be loaded with big men, so Fred Katz of The Athletic put together a hypothetical All-Perimeter Defense team for the 2025/26 season.
Featured among Katz’s first-teamers is Knicks‘ OG Anunoby. Katz points to a game against Denver in which Anunoby guarded Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Cameron Johnson, and Bruce Brown, managing all of those assignments effectively. Anunoby is a key part of why the Knicks are a top-10 defense this season despite having a roster built around Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Also on Katz’s All-Perimeter Defensive first team are Derrick White (Celtics), Scottie Barnes (Raptors), Ausar Thompson (Pistons), and Cason Wallace (Thunder). Thompson’s brother, Amen Thompson of the Rockets, headlines Katz’s second team.
We have more notes from around the world of basketball:
- Michael Malone made news recently when he was named head coach for the University of North Carolina. The former Nuggets head coach had been in the NBA from 2003-25 in various capacities, but will now embrace the challenge of college basketball. Details of Malone’s contract have now been reported, as Brian Murphy of WRAL News in North Carolina writes that he is set to earn $50MM over six years (Twitter link).
- Lakers legend Michael Cooper will be the next head coach at Cal State LA, according to the City News Service at the Los Angeles Daily News. The 70-year-old Hall of Famer spent three seasons as a Lakers assistant coach from 1994-96 before moving to the WNBA, where he served first as a Los Angeles Sparks assistant and then as a head coach, leading them to two championships and being named Coach of the Year in 2000. He was the interim head coach of the Nuggets for 14 games in the 2004/05 season. “I’ve always said it takes five Ds to win a championship: determination, dedication, desire, discipline and decision-making,” Cooper said. “I’ve incorporated those principles into my coaching philosophy, and they will be pillars of what we do here at Cal State LA.”
- Former Kings forward Sasha Vezenkov struggled during the 2023/24 season, his lone year in the NBA. Vezenkov’s agent, Nikos Lotsos, says the 6’9″ shooter made the move stateside because of external pressure, not internal drive, which was one reason why he had an underwhelming year. However, Lotsos also says that Vezenkov never felt that he had the support of then-head coach Mike Brown. “Everyone else wanted him except for Brown,” Lotsos said, according to Stavros Barbarousis and George Adamopoulos of Eurohoops. The agent believes that the lack of faith from the coaching staff is part of why Vezenkov was unable to carve out a consistent role with the team.
Injury Notes: Wembanyama, Cunningham, Curry, Tatum
Victor Wembanyama‘s status for the Spurs‘ penultimate game of the season remains up in the air as he works his way back from a rib injury, Tom Orsborn writes for the San Antonio-Express News.
The MVP candidate was ruled out for Wednesday’s game against the Blazers, but the team is confident that Wembanyama will play at least 20 minutes in one of their two remaining games so that he will be eligible for end-of-season awards. He is considered the strong favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year.
“He’s improved quite a bit, so I don’t think it’s a long-term concern, but we’ll obviously be very cautious in the situation and circumstances we’re under,” coach Mitch Johnson said.
With the star big man’s health the priority heading into the playoffs, it’s unclear if Johnson would simply play him the minimum required minutes to hit his eligibility or if he would receive a normal workload.
We have more injury notes from around the league:
- Cade Cunningham returned from the collapsed lung that kept him out for 11 games on Wednesday, contributing 13 points and 10 assists in nearly 26 minutes as the Pistons beat the Bucks. After the game, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said that Cunningham’s playing time for the rest of the season will depend on how he feels, according to The Athletic’s Hunter Patterson (via Twitter). It’s unclear whether he will suit up for their game against the Hornets on Thursday. For his part, Cunningham said that this was a new experience for him that he’s still figuring out how to deal with, per Patterson (Twitter video link). “It was different than any injury I’ve ever had as far as how it progressed initially,” Cunningham said. “From whenever I got hit to how I felt immediately to how I started to feel as time went on. Thanks to all the staff and medical that was around and helped.”
- While Stephen Curry was supposed to be on a minutes restriction in his Monday night return from a prolonged absence due to a knee injury, he exceeded the expected playing time, scoring 29 points in 26 minutes. With the Warriors playing three times in the final four days of the regular season, Curry will likely sit out either Thursday or Friday, ESPN’s Anthony Slater reports (Twitter video link). Slater speculates that Curry will miss Friday’s matchup with the Kings as he looks to get back to as close to 100% as possible before the Warriors try to win two play-in games to advance to the playoffs.
- Jayson Tatum will return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since rupturing his Achilles there in last year’s playoffs, and once again it will be in a crucial game for the Knicks, Jared Schwartz writes for the New York Post. A Celtics win will seal their hold on the second seed, while the Knicks are fighting off the Cavaliers, who are looking to seize the third seed. Tatum admitted that the experience will likely bring up some complicated feelings. “I’m not, like, thrilled to go back and play there,” he said. “Last time I played there, obviously, it was a traumatic experience for me. Obviously, I knew at some point I would have to get over that hurdle and play there again. So, it’s going to have to be this Thursday. But it’s not like I’m thrilled about it. But it’s part of it.”
Atlantic Notes: Rajakovic, Smith, McBride, Lidell
This season will mark the first time Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic has a chance to compete for a playoff spot, and he deserves credit for helping the team get to this point, Michael Grange writes for Sportsnet.
Toronto won 30 games last season and had the NBA’s 25th-best defense, Grange notes, while they’re up to 44 wins and rank sixth defensively this season, with three games still to go. The team currently sits in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, with a one-game lead on the Sixers and Magic, and a 1.5-game lead over the Hornets entering Wednesday’s slate of games.
“This is what you sign up for,” Rajakovic said. “It’s very, very exciting … the path that we had the past two years and this in my third year of coaching here to be in a position to plan, to fight for something, to fight for the playoffs, to fight for seeding, it’s all very, very meaningful.”
While the on-court numbers and results have been moving in the right direction, backup big Sandro Mamukelashvili also vouched for his head coach’s ability to connect with the team on a personal level.
“You go through things mentally, physically … (and) his office is always open, so it’s easy to step in there,” Mamukelashvili said. “A lot of head coaches are a little bit unapproachable, so just having the freedom to step in there and tell him what I feel and what I think I can do, where do I see myself, where does he see me? … I think that helps you through the long run.”
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Malachi Smith‘s work for the Nets recently paid off as he was rewarded with a two-year deal. Now, after a start-and-stop beginning of his NBA career, partially as a result of injuries, he’s ready to take the next step, CJ Holmes writes for the New York Daily News. “I just always was like, I know I can do this,” Smith said. “I just have to be healthy to play.“
- E.J. Liddell had a career night on Tuesday, scoring 21 points in his second start of the season to power the Nets past the Bucks. While that marked a milestone for the 25-year-old forward, it also represented a minor blow to Brooklyn’s lottery position, as it moved the Jazz and Kings both a half-game away from seizing the third-worst record, and with it, the last available 14% chance at landing the top pick, Holmes writes. The Nets have three games left in the season, including a matchup with the 18-61 Pacers, while the Kings have just two games left against teams looking to improve their postseason standing in the Blazers and Warriors.
- Knicks guard Miles McBride had a scare in his return from a lengthy absence due to core muscle surgery when he tweaked the injury in his first game back, Kristian Winfield writes for the New York Daily News. However, he said he had been warned this kind of reaggravation could happen. “It’s really just a part of the recovery process,” he said. “Basically everything was tightened, and now I’m back to moving around, so it’s just part of it.” New York’s key reserve guard is taking a patient approach to his ramp-up, knowing that the process of making sure he’s at his best for the playoffs will be slower than he’d like.