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Rockets Clinch Playoff Spot, Southwest Division

In blowing out the Jazz, 143-105, on Wednesday, the Rockets earned their 50th win of the 2024/25 season, and locked in a top-six playoff seed in the Western Conference. Houston also secured the Southwest Division crown with the victory.

With no starter playing more than 29 minutes in a dominant win over the rebuilding Jazz, Houston was paced by shooting guard Jalen Green‘s 22 points, captured on 7-of-15 shooting.

All-Star Rockets center Alperen Sengun and reserve forward Jabari Smith Jr. each notched 15-point, 14-rebound double-doubles. Sengun was also one assist shy of a triple-double.

Houston didn’t emerge from the contest totally unscathed, however. Starting wing Dillon Brooks incurred his 16th technical foul of the season for kicking Utah guard Collin Sexton in an inconvenient place, and will net a one-game suspension unless the foul is rescinded.

In their second season under head coach Ime Udoka, the Rockets have returned to the playoffs for the first time in five years. This iteration of the club is quite different from the club’s last playoff team.

Young talents like Sengun, Green, Smith, Tari Eason and Amen Thompson will get their first postseason run, and will be supported in that effort by playoff-seasoned pros like Brooks and Fred VanVleet. Questions linger about whether this relatively inexperienced squad can weather battles with more veteran superstars in the West.

At present, Houston is the No. 2 seed in the West. Only six games separate the Rockets from the West’s No. 8 seed, the 43-32 Clippers. Houston is also just 2.5 games better by record than the 47-29 Nuggets, and three games better than the 45-29 Lakers.

Houston hardly has an easy road for its final six games of the 2024/25 regular season. The Rockets will face off against only postseason-bound West rivals, with two games against the Warriors, two games against the Clippers, and matchups with the Lakers and the top-seeded Thunder left on the docket.

Mavericks’ Dereck Lively To Play For First Time In 36 Games

Mavericks center Dereck Lively II is set to return to action for a Wednesday night tilt against Atlanta, per a team press release (via Twitter).

Lively has missed 36 consecutive contests for the Mavericks. The second-year pro has been on the shelf since January 14 with a right ankle stress fracture.

Dallas head coach Jason Kidd told reporters that the 7’1″ big man will be operating on a 15-minute restriction, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

Ahead of the postseason, several previously ailing Mavericks are healing. Beyond Lively, fellow big men Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford recently returned to the lineup.

Among the Mavs’ core rotation, only nine-time All-Star guard Kyrie Irving — arguably the team’s most important player — is out long-term, as he recuperates from surgery to address an ACL tear. Forward P.J. Washington is also out, for now, due to an undisclosed illness.

Before his injury, the Duke alum had taken over starting duties at the five from Gafford early in the season. It remains to be seen how Kidd will ultimately deploy his big man rotation with Davis, Lively and Gafford all having started at center for the team this year.

In his 32 healthy games for the team, including 25 starts, Lively has averaged 9.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.7 blocks per night.

At present, the Mavericks occupy the No. 9 seed in the competitive Western Conference. They’re just a half-game ahead of the No. 10 Kings and two games up on the No. 11 Suns.

Suns’ Bradley Beal Plans To Return This Weekend

Veteran guard Bradley Beal is planning to be back in the fold for the Suns at some point during the club’s ongoing road trip, reports Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).

The Suns will face the Celtics in Boston on Friday and the Knicks in New York on Sunday before returning to Phoenix.

Beal has been on the shelf with a left hamstring strain for eight games, having last played on March 16 against the Lakers.

The 6’4″ wing has been dogged by health issues for years. He hasn’t appeared in more than 53 games since the 2020/21 season, and hasn’t been available in more than 60 since 2018/19.

This year, Beal has suited up for 48 contests so far, starting 33 of them. At most, he’ll be able to make 54 apperances for the 35-41 Suns.

In his available contests, the 31-year-old is averaging 17.3 PPG, 3.6 APG, 3.4 RPG and 1.0 SPG. He’s also posting an efficient shooting line of .505/.395/.813, but his defensive issues have resulted in him being occasionally benched by first-year head coach Mike Budenholzer.

Chemistry issues between Beal and All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have made winning a tough prospect this year in Phoenix. As of this writing, the club occupies the Western Conference’s No. 11 seed and is 1.5 games behind the No. 10-seeded Sacramento for the conference’s final play-in tournament slot.

Joel Embiid To Undergo Arthroscopic Surgery On Knee

Sixers center Joel Embiid will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee next week, a team official tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The 76ers ruled out Embiid for the rest of the season on February 28 after he continued to be affected by ongoing left knee issues. He and the team have been consulting with medical specialists and weighing treatment options in the weeks since then and have decided to go the surgical route.

According to Charania (Twitter link), Embiid will be reevaluated six weeks after the procedure and is expected to make a full recovery. The knee in question is the same one the former MVP underwent surgery on in February 2024 after he sustained a lateral meniscus injury.

Embiid was able to return last April and played all six games of the Sixers’ first-round playoff series vs. New York in the spring before suiting up for Team USA at the Paris Olympics over the summer. However, he continued to deal with swelling in the knee in the fall, which delayed his season debut until November 12.

He never looked fully healthy after that, making just 19 appearances this season and averaging 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 30.2 minutes per game. While those numbers would be impressive for most players, the scoring and rebounding rates were well below Embiid’s career averages, as were his 44.4% field goal percentage and 29.9% mark on three-pointers.

Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) reported in February that Embiid had met with more than 10 doctors over the course of the season in an attempt to figure out the best way to reduce – or, ideally, eliminate – the discomfort and swelling in that troublesome left knee.

Embiid told Lisa Salters of ABC/ESPN earlier in February that he may require offseason surgery, which reportedly took Sixers staffers by surprise, since the team had still been hoping at that point that non-surgical treatment and maintenance could help the big man regain his All-NBA form.

Getting Embiid fully healthy again is the Sixers’ number one priority, since the franchise has invested heavily in his long-term future. He is owed $179MM in guaranteed money over the next three seasons, with a $69MM player option for the 2028/29 season.

Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears Entering 2025 NBA Draft

Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears has decided to go pro following his freshman year, announcing today on ESPN’s The Paul Finebaum Show that he’ll enter the 2025 NBA draft and forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility, as Jonathan Givony of ESPN relays.

Fears, who ranks No. 7 on ESPN’s list of this year’s top 100 prospects, averaged 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.6 steals in 30.2 minutes per game in 2024/25, earning a spot on the SEC’s All-Freshman team and helping the Sooners claim a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

According to Givony, Fears’ combination of “size, speed, pace, shot-creation, shot-making and scoring instincts” makes him one of the top backcourt prospects in this year’s draft. He’s also one of the youngest players in the 2025 draft class — he won’t turn 19 until October.

Givony has expressed some reservations about Fears’ defense, which needs improvement. And it’s worth noting that the 18-year-old sometimes struggled with his shot as a freshman, making just 28.4% of 3.9 three-point attempts per game.

However, Fears’ stock remains high enough that he doesn’t feel the need to test the draft waters and leave the door open for a second college season.

Pelicans Sign Elfrid Payton To Second 10-Day Contract

April 2: Payton has officially signed his second 10-day contract with the Pelicans, the team announced today in a press release.


March 31: Elfrid Payton will get a second 10-day deal with the Pelicans, agent Darrell Comer of CSE tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The 31-year-old point guard appeared in four games for New Orleans during his first 10-day contract, which expired on Sunday. He moved into a regular rotation role off the bench and handed out 14, 10, and six assists in his last three outings.

Payton also spent time with the Pelicans in November and December on a non-guaranteed contract, and he signed a pair of 10-day deals with Charlotte in February. In 17 total games this season, he’s averaging 3.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 20.4 minutes per night with .348/.352/.333 shooting numbers.

The Pelicans will have a full 15-man roster again once the contract becomes official. Payton will earn a $171,756 salary on his new deal, just as he did on his other 10-day contracts. New Orleans will incur a cap charge of $119,972.

The Pelicans don’t play again until Wednesday, so it’s possible that Payton’s contract won’t be finalized until then. If that happens, he would be eligible to appear in six games before it expires at the end of the day on April 11. If the team wants to keep him on the roster for its April 13 finale, he’ll have to be signed to a standard deal.

Carmelo Anthony To Be Inducted Into Hall Of Fame

Former NBA star Carmelo Anthony has been notified that he has been elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and will be part of the 2025 class, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Anthony was among 17 Hall of Fame finalists who were announced in February. While the new Hall of Famers from that group  won’t be formally revealed until this Saturday (April 5) at the NCAA Final Four, Charania’s report indicates Anthony will be among them.

The third overall pick in the 2003 draft, Anthony appeared in 1,260 regular season NBA games across 19 seasons in the league, averaging 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per contest, with a shooting line of .447/.355/.814. He spent his first six-and-a-half professional seasons with Denver before being traded to New York, where he played from 2010-17.

After playing his prime years with the Nuggets and Knicks, Anthony spent time with the Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers, and Lakers from 2017-22 before calling it a career. The 6’7″ forward was named an All-Star 10 times over the course of his career and earned six All-NBA nods (two Second Team and four Third Team).

Anthony also led the league in scoring in 2012/13, ranks 12th on the all-time points list, and was one of 75 players named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team.

In addition to his strong NBA résumé, Anthony made an impact in NCAA and international competition. He won a national championship during his first and only college season with Syracuse in 2002/03 and brought home three Olympic medals for Team USA. Anthony was widely lauded for how he adjusted to the FIBA game and was a valuable contributor to the U.S. teams that won gold in Beijing (2008), London (2012), and Rio (2016).

Anthony, who announced his retirement in 2023, is one of many former NBA players who have taken to podcasting and currently puts out weekly episodes of his 7PM in Brooklyn podcast.

Anthony said in the latest episode of 7PM in Brooklyn that he has interest in joining an NBA ownership group, specifically naming the Wizards as a team he’d like to get involved with (Twitter video link).

“Former player. I understand players. I understand personnel, I understand being fatigued,” Anthony said as part of a longer explanation for why he thinks he’d make a good team owner (hat tip to Paul Kasabian of Bleacher Report). “I understand how to build teams, but I also understand what I don’t understand. I know what I don’t know. You also have to put people in those positions. President, GM, you put all the basketball acumen in those positions, and then you cover that with business model.”

Celtics’ JD Davison Named G League MVP

Celtics two-way player JD Davison has been named the G League’s Most Valuable Player of the 2024/25 season, according to an official announcement from the NBA (Twitter link).

A 2022 second-round pick, Davison has played sparingly at the NBA level in his first three professional seasons and logged just 51 minutes in 12 total appearances for the Celtics in ’24/25. He spent most of his time with the Maine Celtics, appearing in a total of 45 Tip-Off Tournament and regular season games for Boston’s NBAGL affiliate.

Across those 45 outings, Davison averaged 25.6 points, 7.7 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 34.6 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .482/.332/.762. Maine went just 8-8 in the Tip-Off Tournament, but the 6’1″ guard led the team to a 21-13 record and a No. 3 playoff seed in the G League’s regular season.

Salt Lake City Stars big man Oscar Tshiebwe – who is on a two-way contract with the Jazz – and Capital City Go-Go guard Jaylen Nowell finished second and third, respectively, behind Davison for the G League MVP award, which is voted on by the league’s head coaches and general managers.

Tshiebwe, known as an elite rebounder, averaged a record-setting 18.3 RPG in 42 games for Salt Lake City while also contributing 16.1 PPG, 2.8 APG, 1.8 SPG, and 1.1 BPG. The Stars, like the Celtics, finished the regular season with a 21-13 record.

Nowell isn’t currently on an NBA roster, but he earned call-ups with New Orleans and Washington over the course of the season. The veteran guard spent most of the year with the Wizards‘ G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, for whom he averaged 24.7 PPG, 5.4 APG, 4.3 RPG, and 1.1 SPG with an impressive .526/.479/.901 shooting line. The Go-Go posted a 20-14 regular season mark.

Glen Taylor To Cede Control Of Timberwolves To Lore, Rodriguez

Longtime Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has decided not to appeal an arbitration ruling in favor of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez and will sell his controlling interest in the franchise to the minority stakeholders, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.

When Lore and Rodriguez reached an agreement in the spring of 2021 to buy the Timberwolves from Taylor, the succession plan called for the new owners to initially come aboard as minority stakeholders with a 20% share of the franchise.

The duo then had until the end of 2022 to exercise an option to purchase approximately another 20% and had until the end of 2023 to exercise their option for an additional 40% stake, bringing their total share to 80% in 2024 — that plan would have made them the controlling owners a year ago.

However, the process hit a snag in March 2024 when Taylor announced he would be retaining control of the Timberwolves, citing a breach of contract and a failure to meet a payment deadline. Lore and Rodriguez disputed that characterization, stating that they had the funds necessary to become majority owners but were awaiting NBA approval and should have been entitled to an extension.

After mediation failed to resolve the dispute between the two sides, it advanced to an arbitration hearing. A three-person arbitration panel voted in favor of Lore and Rodriguez in February, and Taylor has been weighing his options since then.

Rather than continuing his fight to retain the franchise, Taylor has agreed to sell 100% ownership to the Lore/Rodriguez group at the $1.5 billion valuation that was initially agreed upon in 2021, according to Charania, who says that decision was made after the two sides held discussions over the past six weeks.

The franchise’s value has increased substantially since that deal was made (as of December, Sportico pegged it at $3.29 billion), which was believed to be a major factor in Taylor’s efforts to try to halt the sale. Still, Taylor will ultimately come out way ahead in the transaction after having reportedly paid in the neighborhood of $88-94MM to buy the Timberwolves in 1994.

There are still some final hurdles to clear before the ownership transfer is officially finalized. Most notably, the NBA’s Board of Governors will need to approve the new ownership group, which includes other investors – such as Michael Bloomberg – in addition to Lore and Rodriguez. However, there’s no reason to believe that the league will stand in the way of the sale.

Once the transfer is complete, Lore is reportedly expected to serve as the Timberwolves’ primary governor. One February report suggested that former Minnesota star Kevin Garnett – who had a long-standing feud with Taylor – will likely be hired to a position in the team’s front office when Lore and Rodriguez officially take over.

Pacers Officially Clinch Playoff Spot

The Pacers clinched a playoff spot without taking the court on Tuesday. Indiana (44-31), which holds the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference standings, was assured of making the playoffs when Portland knocked off the seventh-place Hawks (36-39), 127-113.

Indiana has done plenty on its own to secure its postseason berth with the end of the regular season approaching. The Pacers have won nine of their last 12 games, including a 111-109 victory over Sacramento on Monday. They erased a 16-point, second-half deficit to pull out that home victory.

The Pacers will have home court advantage in the first round if they retain the fourth spot. The Pistons are two games behind them with the Bucks, who defeated the Suns on Tuesday, three games back. Indiana trails the third-place Knicks by 3.5 games.

Indiana reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season with virtually the same roster it has this year. The Pacers defeated the Bucks in the first round and the Knicks in the conference semifinals before getting swept by Boston.

The Pacers were the league’s highest-scoring team last season (123.0 PPG). They are seventh in the category this season (117.1) but still have plenty of weapons — seven players are averaging double figures led by Pascal Siakam (20.1 PPG).

Indiana’s playoff success will hinge on whether the club can get more stops against the league’s elite. The Pacers are in the bottom 10 in defensive field goal percentage (47.5%).