And-Ones: D. Jones, Prediction Markets, 65-Game Rule, More
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones is expected to plead guilty to charges related to illegal betting, according to reports from Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic and Michael R. Sisak of The Associated Press.
Jones, one of nearly three-dozen people arrested in connection to a federal investigation into illegal sports gambling, was accused of profiting from a rigged poker game and of providing inside information to sports bettors. Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups was also arrested and charged in the former case, while Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested and charged in the latter.
Jones, one of three defendants named in each of the two indictments, originally pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy in both cases last November. However, he has decided to change his plea. According to Vorkunov, Jones is due to appear in a federal court in Brooklyn on April 28, though Sisak says his change-of-plea hearing is scheduled for May 6.
While Jones never held a formal coaching position with the Lakers, he’s a longtime friend of LeBron James who was often around the team and would occasionally fly with the players to road games. Federal prosecutors have accused Jones of using his access to sell non-public information to gamblers, most notably in relation to a game on February 9, 2023 between the Lakers and Bucks, which James sat out. Jones allegedly sent a text message to an unnamed co-conspirator that read, “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out.”
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The NBA is engaged in talks with Kalshi and Polymarket about a potential prediction-market deal, reports Ben Horney of Front Office Sports. Sources tell Horney that the NBA would like to gain a measure of control over which markets are permitted and wants to ensure there are mechanisms in place to “monitor suspicious trading patterns.” The NHL has already reached deals with Kalshi and Polymarket, while MLB agreed to an exclusive partnership with Polymarket.
- Although Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham were granted award eligibility on Thursday through the appeals process, the National Basketball Players Association would still like to see the 65-game rule eliminated or modified, according to Dan Woike, Sam Amick, and Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. A league source tells The Athletic that the rule was initially proposed by the league and eventually accepted by the players’ union, but the NBPA no longer supports it.
- Eric Nehm and Fred Katz of The Athletic takes a look at the top first-time head coaching candidates from around the NBA, including Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney, Heat assistant Chris Quinn, and Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, among several others.
- The NBA announced this week that it boasted impressive viewership numbers in 2025/26, the first year of its new $76 billion media rights deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBC. As The Associated Press relays, the NBA said the average viewership of games across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock, and NBA TV was up 35% from last season and reached its highest mark in 13 seasons. The league added that 170 million people in the U.S. watched NBA games on those four broadcast platforms this season, the highest total in 24 years and an 86% increase on last season’s total.
Details On NBA’s Playoff Bonus Money For 2025/26
The pool of bonus money for NBA playoff teams this season is worth approximately $36MM, according to Kurt Badenhausen and Lev Akabas of Sportico.
The top six teams in each conference earn bonuses based on their regular season records, while the 16 playoff teams also receive a chunk of money from the playoff pool, increasing the value of their payout with each series win. That bonus money is divvied up among the players on each club’s 15-man roster.
Teams eliminated in the play-in tournament aren’t entitled to any of the playoff bonus money, even if they had the seventh- or eighth-best regular season record in their conference.
The breakdown for 2026’s playoff pool money is as follows (rounded to the nearest thousand), per Sportico:
Regular season achievements:
- Best record in NBA (Thunder): $896K
- No. 1 seeds in each conference (Pistons, Thunder): $784K per team
- No. 2 seeds (Celtics, Spurs): $628K per team
- No. 3 seeds (Knicks, Nuggets): $471K per team
- No. 4 seeds (Cavaliers, Lakers): $384K per team
- No. 5 seeds (Raptors, Rockets): $297K per team
- No. 6 seeds (Hawks, Timberwolves): $210K per team
Postseason achievements:
- Teams participating in first round (all 16 playoff teams — the 12 listed above, plus the Sixers, Trail Blazers, and Friday’s play-in winners): $481K per team
- Teams participating in conference semifinals (eight teams): $586K per team
- Teams participating in conference finals (four teams): $980K per team
- Losing team in NBA Finals: $3,921,000
- Winning team in NBA Finals: $9,078,000
A team that makes a deep playoff run will cash in on more than one of the bonuses listed above.
For example, if the Thunder win the championship, their payout from the playoff pool would be worth more than $12.8MM in total — that amount would include their bonuses for posting the NBA’s best record, claiming the West’s No. 1 seed, making the first round, making the conference semifinals, making the conference finals, and winning the NBA Finals.
The total amount of the playoff bonus pool, which is based on a formula connected to basketball-related income (BRI), is up 3% from last season, according to Badenhausen and Akabas.
NBA, NBPA Deem Luka Doncic, Cade Cunningham Award-Eligible
Neither Lakers guard Luka Doncic nor Pistons guard Cade Cunningham met the 65-game criteria required for award eligibility in 2025/26, but the NBA and NBPA have ruled that both players will be on voters’ ballots this spring, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link), who reports that the league and players’ union granted the “extraordinary circumstances” exceptions requested by both players. The NBA and NBPA officially confirmed the decision in a joint statement (Twitter link).
The 65-game rule requires players to log at least 20 minutes in 63 games and at least 15 minutes in two others in order to qualify for most end-of-season awards, including Most Valuable Player and All-NBA.
Doncic played 62 games of 20-plus minutes and two more of 15-plus minutes in 2025/26. While he sat out a series of games for health reasons and was suspended for one contest after accumulating 16 technical fouls, he also missed two games in December in order to travel to Slovenia for the birth of his child.
As for Cunningham, he played at least 20 minutes in 60 of Detroit’s first 67 games, but he exited the team’s 68th game early due to an injury and was later diagnosed with a collapsed lung. He was able to return and suit up for the final three games of the season, but finished the season with 64 appearances, including one of just five minutes.
The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement allows players to appeal for award eligibility if they feel they would’ve met the 65-game criteria if not for “extraordinary circumstances” and states that those requests can be granted if an expert jointly designated by the NBA and NBPA determines it would be “unjust to exclude the player from eligibility” for awards. However, the CBA doesn’t define what constitutes an extraordinary circumstance, so it was unclear whether Doncic or Cunningham would be successful.
By contrast, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards also applied for an extraordinary circumstances exception after finishing the season with 60 appearances of at least 20 minutes and a 61st in which he played three minutes, but his application was denied by an independent arbitrator. As a result, Edwards won’t be award-eligible this spring.
Doncic and Cunningham presumably had stronger cases than Edwards in part because they got closer to the 65-game threshold, while the Timberwolves guard fell several games short and dealt with relatively “normal” injuries by NBA standards. Still, Cunningham is hardly the first NBA player to deal with a collapsed lung, and missing time for the birth of a child is pretty typical, so the league’s definition of “extraordinary” seems a little arbitrary.
Regardless, now that qualify for award consideration, Doncic and Cunningham are well-positioned to earn All-NBA nods, and it’s safe to assume they’ll show up on plenty of MVP ballots as well.
While earning an All-NBA spot won’t have any financial ramifications for Doncic, it would be more meaningful from a contract perspective for Cunningham — assuming he’s named to an All-NBA team in 2026, he’ll have to do so just once more in either 2027 or 2028 in order to sign a super-max contract extension (worth up to 35% of the cap instead of 30%) with the Pistons in 2028.
Edwards would have been eligible to sign a super-max deal of his own with the Timberwolves in 2027 if he had made an All-NBA team this season. Instead, he’ll have to achieve the feat next year in order to meet the performance criteria.
Mavs Notes: Kidd, Front Office, Bilsborough, Flagg
The situation that Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd finds himself in isn’t all that different from Billy Donovan‘s in Chicago. It was a disappointing season in Dallas and the team is embarking on a search for a permanent head of basketball operations, but all indications are that the team wants Kidd to remain part of the organization.
“He knows the game,” governor Patrick Dumont said when asked by Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required) to evaluate Kidd’s performance in 2025/26. “And he’s had great coaching success, and this was a tough year. I look back to last season, the injury that Kyrie (Irving) had, some of the other injuries we had, and how hard the guys played for Coach. This year, same thing. We played a lot of close games that could have gone either way. The team continued to battle through adversity and through a lot of injuries. And look, that’s really a testament to Coach Kidd and the rest of the coaching staff.”
As Townsend observes, there have been rumblings over the course of the season about Kidd possibility transitioning into a front office role in Dallas, but those whispers have mostly died down as of late. A report two weeks ago suggested that Kidd is more likely to remain in his current position than to become a basketball operations executive. Either scenario seems more likely than the Hall-of-Famer being let go, given how highly regarded he is by Mavs ownership.
“He’s an important voice in our organization,” Dumont said. “I really value his insights and his knowledge of the game. I know the rest of our team does as well. He’s just been unbelievably committed to our franchise, both as a player and as a coach over these many years.”
We have more on the Mavericks:
- In a story examining potential candidates for the Mavericks’ top front office job, Christian Clark of The Athletic shares some interesting tidbits, citing multiple league sources who told him that Mark Cuban‘s support for Dennis Lindsey could negatively impact Lindsey’s chances of being rehired by Dallas. Clark also confirms that the Mavs have legitimate interest in Tim Connelly, though he may not be inclined to leave his job with the Timberwolves, and reports that Dumont believes the current front office – led by co-interim GMs Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi – did well in February’s Anthony Davis trade.
- The Mavs are making changes in their health and performance department for a fourth straight year, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, who says the team has dismissed director of health and performance Johann Bilsborough. MacMahon reported last spring that there was tension between Bilsborough and former athletic performance director Keith Belton, who was fired by the team during the 2025 offseason. The expectation, per MacMahon, is that the new head of basketball operations will hire Bilsborough’s replacement.
- After repeatedly making Cooper Flagg‘s case for Rookie of the Year in recent weeks, Kidd suggested at the end of the season that the 19-year-old forward wasn’t just the NBA’s best rookie in 2025/26 — he proved he’s already among the league’s very best players. “We’ve seen a historic rookie season,” Kidd said, according to Clark. “We have the best fans. But we also have one of the best players — present at the age of 19, and the future.”
- Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com looks at why there’s confidence among Mavs players and coaches that the team’s 26-56 season was a blip on the radar and that better things are ahead for the franchise, starting in 2026/27.
LeBron James, Brandon Ingram Named Players Of Week
Lakers forward LeBron James and Raptors forward Brandon Ingram have been named Players of the Week for the week of April 6-12, according to the league (Twitter links).
The Western Conference winner, James averaged 24.0 points, 9.7 assists and 6.0 rebounds per contest as the Lakers won three straight contests to close the season and clinch home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs despite playing without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. LeBron had back-to-back double-doubles on Thursday and Friday, putting up 26 points and 11 assists in Golden State and then 28 points and 12 assists vs. Phoenix.
Ingram averaged 25.5 points per game on 57.8 percent shooting from the field across four games as the Raptors went 3-1 to wrap up their season and clinched the No. 5 seed in the East. The veteran forward poured in a season-high 38 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists in Thursday’s victory over Miami.
It’s the first Player of the Week award of the season for either James or Ingram, though it’s the 70th time LeBron has won it over the course of his 23-year NBA career. Ingram has now earned the honor five times.
Deni Avdija (Trail Blazers), Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson (Rockets), and Terrence Shannon Jr. (Timberwolves) were the other nominees from the Western Conference, while Paolo Banchero (Magic), Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks) and Jalen Duren (Pistons) were also nominated in the East.
Pistons Notes: 60-Win Season, Playoffs, Pick Swap, Smith
The Pistons secured the third 60-win season in franchise history by defeating the lottery-bound Pacers on Sunday. They’ll now await their first-round opponent in a series that begins on Sunday night.
“It’s a sign of the work that’s been done by everybody who’s a part of this,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “Front office, coaching staff, players, medical staff — everybody that’s touched these guys and helped them with that consistency, with that effort. It’s a group thing. Everybody who’s been part of it should be celebrated for it. But again, our work’s not done. That’s the mentality that we have, but there is an appreciation and respect for all of the work that everybody’s put in to help us get here.”
Veteran forward Tobias Harris, a free agent after the season, has been impressed by his teammates’ even keel approach.
“I think we’ve done a great job of handling success this season,” Harris said. “Just being able to weather the storm, really lock in with one another, communicate and just pull for one another in whatever we’re doing. We had guys, including myself, in and out of the lineup with injuries earlier in the year. Everybody just stepped up and has been super supportive of the next guy getting ready. The guy who is up takes on the challenge of being their best. We’ve had great moments from different guys excelling, playing and showing who they are in this league. Some amazing stories have come about from our group. So we just embrace all of it.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- On the heels of the worst season in franchise history in 2023/24, Detroit lost in the first round to the Knicks last spring. While ’24/25 was considered a success based on their 30-win jump during the regular season, the Pistons certainly won’t just be happy to make the postseason this time around. They’re coming in as the No. 1 seed in the East with their sights set on the Finals. “Playoffs, man. We’re excited about it. Playoffs are on the mind,” Cade Cunningham said, per Patterson. “It’s been a great regular season. Now it’s time for the real fun.”
- The three-team trade that sent Jaden Ivey to the Bulls produced additional dividends for the franchise, Christian Romo of the Detroit Free Press notes. Not only did the Pistons acquire another key reserve in Kevin Huerter, they also wound up with a higher first-round pick this season. As part of the deal, Detroit received a pick swap from the Timberwolves that was top-19 protected, so the team will now have the No. 21 overall pick while Minnesota moves down to the No. 28 slot.
- Big man Tolu Smith received a promotion last week, getting his two-way deal converted to a standard contract. Bickerstaff told Coty Davis of the Detroit News that Smith earned his way onto the 15-man roster. “He’s competed at a high level when given an opportunity, but he’s continued to work and work and work and improve and get better and establish an NBA skill set in a way that he can impact the game,” Bickerstaff said. “There have been stretches this year where we’ve had him on the floor, whether it’s here or Motor City, where he’s just been dominant. His ability to rebound the basketball, protect the paint, and finish around the rim. He just adds a different dynamic. He can move his feet; he’s physical. He fits right in with the identity of this team and the rest of our big guys.”
Numerous Teams Considering Coaching Changes
The NBA’s coaching carousel has already started spinning with Doc Rivers‘ decision to step down from the Bucks, and Michael Scotto of HoopsHype suggests it could be an active offseason throughout the league on that front.
Milwaukee has a potential replacement on hand in lead assistant Darvin Ham, but sources tell Scotto the Pelicans could also have interest in Ham if they decide not to retain interim head coach James Borrego, echoing recent reporting from Jake Fischer.
Former Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins may be the top name on the market and is expected to draw interest from the Bucks, Scotto confirms. Jenkins previously served as an assistant under Mike Budenholzer in Milwaukee.
Scotto states that Borrego could also emerge as a candidate for the Bucks if New Orleans decides to move on, noting that he interviewed with the organization before it hired Adrian Griffin in 2023.
Scotto shares more coaching and front office rumors from around the NBA:
- The Bulls are hoping to hold onto coach Billy Donovan after upending their front office last week. Scotto believes Donovan may have some interest in taking over the Magic if they decide to fire Jamahl Mosley, pointing out that Orlando hired Donovan in 2007 before he changed his mind a few days later and decided to remain at Florida. Scotto cites Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd as a potential front office addition in Chicago, noting that Lloyd began his career with the Bulls. He also points to CAA’s Austin Brown as a possibility if the organization wants to make a run at one of the top agents in the business.
- Jenkins and Tom Thibodeau could also be options for the Magic if they make a coaching move, according to Scotto. Borrego, a former assistant in Orlando, may emerge as another possibility. Sources tell Scotto that Michael Malone had been considered throughout the league as a potential candidate for the Magic before he accepted a job with North Carolina.
- The Pelicans will consider keeping Borrego, but sources tell Scotto that Ham and Kevin Ollie will also be in the mix, while Mosley has “several admirers” in New Orleans and could be among the leading candidates for the position if he becomes available. Scotto also points out that Ham worked with Pelicans executive vice president of basketball 0perations Joe Dumars for two years in Detroit, while Ollie interviewed for the head coaching job when New Orleans general manager Troy Weaver was running the Pistons.
- Steve Kerr and the Warriors will discuss their future this summer, Scotto hears. Stephen Curry remains a huge advocate for Kerr and wants them to finish their careers together, but Kerr is the league’s highest-paid coach and there are concerns about burn-out after a difficult season.
- Interim head coach Tiago Splitter will be a candidate to remain with the Trail Blazers after leading the team to the eighth seed in the West, but several top assistant coaches throughout the league and some college coaches will also be considered, sources tell Scotto.
- Wizards coach Brian Keefe still has strong support from his front office, but Scotto’s sources say his future is “undecided” as the organization hopes to transform into a playoff contender next season.
- The Hawks‘ late-season surge could result in an extension for coach Quin Snyder, according to Scotto.
The Players Who Could Be Financially Impacted By The 65-Game Rule
Earning a spot on an All-NBA team is the simplest way for a player to become eligible for a Designated Veteran or Rose Rule contract, allowing them to earn a higher maximum salary than they'd typically qualify for (35% instead of 30% for veterans, or 30% instead of 25% for players coming off rookie contracts). But that doesn't mean that there are financial benefits for every player who receives All-NBA recognition.
In order to become "super-max" eligible, a player must meet a set of specific criteria related not just to his on-court achievements but to his total NBA years of service, his contract situation, and how he joined his current team.
For instance, Luka Doncic would have been super-max eligible last summer as a member of the Mavericks, but the trade that sent him to the Lakers took that option off the table, since a player who changes teams via trade during his second contract isn't permitted to sign a Designated Veteran deal. With a super-max deal no longer in play, Doncic signed a standard max-salary extension (starting at 30% of the cap) with his new team last summer.
So, while Doncic's bid to be granted an "extraordinary circumstances" exception to circumvent the 65-game rule and gain All-NBA (and MVP) eligibility this spring could have a real impact on his career résumé, there are no financial implications hinging on that ruling.
For other players who narrowly met the 65-game criteria or will fall just short of it, there are more significant financial consequences to take into account. In the space below, we're taking a closer look at the All-NBA caliber players whose future earnings figure to be impacted the most by whether or not they got to 65 games this season.
Projected NBA Taxpayers For 2025/26
As we outlined in February, a total of 14 teams projected to be taxpayers prior to an eventful trade deadline week, with the 16 non-taxpayers on track to receive about $13.8MM apiece in tax distribution money at that point.
However, the Celtics, Nuggets, Suns, Mavericks, Sixers, Magic, and Raptors all ducked below the luxury tax line with their pre-deadline transactions, while a few other teams remained in the tax but took steps to significantly reduce their end-of-season bills.
As a result, seven NBA teams project to finish over the luxury tax line in 2025/26, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
Here are those seven clubs, along with their projected tax penalties:
- Cleveland Cavaliers ($68.7MM)
- Golden State Warriors ($67.9MM) *
- New York Knicks ($44.4MM)
- Los Angeles Lakers ($22.2MM) *
- Houston Rockets ($7.2MM)
- Los Angeles Clippers ($6.7MM) *
- Minnesota Timberwolves ($6MM)
Total: $223.1MM
Note: Teams marked with an asterisk are paying repeater tax rates.
While the projected tax payments are quite similar to the ones from a couple months ago, the total is up slightly overall. That’s because the Warriors, Rockets and Timberwolves signed players to fill out the back ends of their rosters. The Lakers will undoubtedly finalize their roster today — they have one standard opening ahead of Sunday’s deadline.
Based on the current figures from Marks, each non-taxpayer is projected to receive a payout of about $4.9MM. That figure is determined by cutting the total league-wide tax penalties in half, then dividing them evenly among the non-taxpaying teams (in this case, 23 clubs). The projected payout was at $4.8MM in February.
In 2024/25, 10 taxpayers paid a total of $461.2MM in penalties and the 20 non-taxpayers reportedly received $11.5MM apiece. This season’s projected distribution payment of $4.9MM is the lowest figure since 2020/21, according to Marks.
It’s worth noting that the tax penalties could still change again before the 2025/26 league year ends. According to Marks (Twitter links), 36 players had a total of 133 different incentives in their contracts entering the fall, and 15 of those bonuses are still up in the air entering the final day of the regular season. Some of those bonus situations may not be resolved until the playoffs end.
The Warriors, Lakers, and Clippers would all be subject to repeater penalties in 2026/27 if they’re taxpayers again next season. Additionally, the Bucks, Celtics, Suns, and Nuggets would pay repeater rates if they’re in the tax in ’26/27, since all four clubs were in the tax for three straight years from 2023-25. They’ll each need to spend one more season as a non-taxpayer in order to reset the repeater clock.
Nuggets Control Playoff Seeding Heading Into Sunday
At this point in the season, tanking isn’t reserved just for the NBA’s worst teams, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. The Nuggets hosted the Thunder on Friday in a matchup of Western Conference powers, but most of the stars were in street clothes. Oklahoma City, which has already clinched the league’s best record, rested nine rotation players in an effort to boost Denver’s chances at holding onto the No. 3 spot and avoiding a playoff matchup until the conference finals.
Nuggets coach David Adelman responded by giving the night off to his entire starting lineup: Nikola Jokic (right wrist injury management). Jamal Murray (right shoulder impingement), Aaron Gordon (right hamstring injury management), Cameron Johnson (right ankle injury management) and Christian Braun (left ankle injury management and a right hip flexor strain). Adelman defended the move in a pregame session with the media.
“What’s on the injury report is what they’re out with,” he said. “They’re dealing with a lot more than that physically, not to mention some of the soft tissue stuff. Scary kinds of injuries. … ‘Hey, we’re the three seed, but we don’t have three starters — it doesn’t sound like a great solution.”
The shorthanded Nuggets wound up with a 20-point victory that clinched home court advantage in the first round and will face a similar situation on Sunday at San Antonio. Denver is a game ahead of the Lakers for the No. 3 seed, but Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker and is playing a Utah team that could use another loss to maximize its lottery odds.
The Nuggets can clinch third place and a first-round matchup with the No. 6 Timberwolves by beating the Spurs. If they’d rather face the No. 5 Rockets, they’ll need to lose tomorrow and hope for a Lakers win.
Murray, Gordon, Johnson and Braun have been declared out, along with Tim Hardaway Jr.. Spencer Jones and Peyton Watson. Jokic, who needs to play at least 15 minutes to qualify for postseason awards, is listed as questionable.
Durando adds that the Nuggets have engaged in internal discussions about the best playoff path, looking beyond the first round to a potential second-round meeting with the Thunder or Spurs. With no obvious answer, Adelman decided to prioritize making sure his players are as healthy as possible when the playoffs start next weekend.
“Us and Minnesota, it’s been a crazy back-and-forth over the years,” he said on Friday. “They swept us last year, but then we beat them three out of four this year. We always know it’s competitive with them. They’ve given us issues. We’ve given them issues. And then obviously Houston, I mean, they’re playing so well right now. … So there’s no good opponent in my opinion. I think you just have to play it out with decisions that are best for your team, and we feel like tonight, this is the best decision.”