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Dyson Daniels Named Most Improved Player

Hawks guard Dyson Daniels is this year’s Most Improved Player, the NBA announced (via Twitter).

Daniels blossomed after coming to Atlanta in an offseason trade. He became a full-time starter for the first time in his third NBA season and posted career highs with 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 76 games with .493/.340/.593 shooting splits.

With 229 steals, Daniels led the league by a wide margin and was named as a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year honors as well as Most Improved.

Daniels captured 44 first-place votes, 36 for second place and four for third to easily win the award with 332 total points. The other finalists were Clippers center Ivica Zubac (23-18-17-186) and Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (15-11-14-122). Nuggets guard Christian Braun (9-15-30-120) and Lakers guard Austin Reaves (8-4-12-39) rounded out the top five.

Also receiving first-place votes were Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, Rockets swingman Amen Thompson, Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, Heat guard Tyler Herro and Bulls guard Josh Giddey.

The Pelicans selected Daniels with the eighth pick in the 2022 draft, but he wasn’t able to fully develop his game in two seasons with New Orleans. That changed after he was sent to Atlanta last July in a trade for Dejounte Murray. As a 6’8″ defensive specialist, Daniels was a perfect fit alongside Trae Young in the Hawks’ backcourt, and playing alongside Young helped him significantly improve his shooting numbers.

Daniels, 22, will be eligible for a rookie-scale extension this summer.

Rockets In Search Of ‘Elite Offensive Engine’

The Rockets will need more from Jalen Green in Game 5 against Golden State if they want to stave off elimination on Wednesday, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. As Iko details, an aggressive Warriors defensive game plan has been a problem for Green, who went off for 38 points in Houston’s Game 2 win but has scored just 24 total points on 10-of-34 shooting in the team’s three losses and wasn’t on the court during crunch time in Game 4.

“It’s his first experience in the playoffs, and teams throw different looks at you,” teammate Fred VanVleet said after the Rockets’ Game 4 loss. “There’s a lot of ups and downs. There’s a lot that you have to deal with, and I’m proud of how far he’s come since I’ve been here as a player. But we need him to be playing at his best and at a high level, and he takes our team to a different gear. So we’ll look at the film and see how we can help him be more effective.”

According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Green’s struggles in his first playoff series have once again highlighted the fact that the 52-win Rockets are missing the “elite offensive engine that all great teams need.” While the roster, built on defense and toughness, feature a handful of solid scorers, it lacks the sort of dynamic offensive player who can be trusted to get a big basket in a half-court situation with the game on the line.

“We know in the playoffs sometimes, it boils down to if you have an unguardable guy in the last five minutes that can close the game,” VanVleet told ESPN. “We got everything else. I don’t think it’s like some savior that’s going to come here and save all our sins, but it’s like, do you have a guy you could throw it to the last five minutes in a playoff series that can win you games when it matters the most? I think that if we had that, I think we would be considered more title favorites.”

As MacMahon outlines, the Rockets are still holding out hope that one of their rising stars can become that sort of player rather than focusing on bringing in someone from outside the organization. “We are not in the business of predetermining ceilings for our players,” general manager Rafael Stone recently told MacMahon.

“We’re all on the same page as far as what we have in our organization and wanting to see it through and seeing what all these young guys can become,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka added. “When you have this many high draft picks, you want to see who becomes what. I understood when I came to take the job that we were going to try to develop these guys and see what we can get to. I think they’ve all shown growth and potential. And the next step is, who can be that consistent leader for us?

“So to try to expedite the process by going out and getting one piece now is kind of doing a disservice to what we all talked about coming into it. That’s our vision, and I think the playoffs this year will give us a good picture of that and put guys in different situations and high-pressure situations to see how they react to it.”

Green is one young player whom the Rockets still believe has untapped potential. He has averaged over 20 points per game through his first four NBA seasons, but he hasn’t always scored those points efficiently or consistently. Still, VanVleet thinks it would be hard for Houston to find another shooting guard with the 23-year-old’s “upside or talent level.”

“I don’t know what Jalen will look like when he’s 26, 27, 28 after playoff series,” VanVleet told ESPN. “And that’s the upside, where it’s like potential can get a little intoxicating. He has the talent. There’s no reason for him not to reach that level. He’s got to go through it; he’s got to fail.”

Based on his production through four seasons, 22-year-old center Alperen Sengun has earned comparisons to Nikola Jokic or – more realistically – Domantas Sabonis, as MacMahon notes. Rockets front office staffers have also mulled the idea of whether 22-year-old Amen Thompson, who is considered untouchable in trades, could eventually run the offense as a Russell Westbrook-type point guard, according to MacMahon.

“He’s already become a really good NBA player,” Stone said of Thompson. “He should be much, much better than this year next year, and that should go on for the foreseeable future. Great kid, works really hard, is really smart. Everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s done. He’s done it quickly and at times shockingly easily.”

Meanwhile, even though 2024’s third overall pick Reed Sheppard didn’t play much as a rookie, there are some people within the organization who believe he has the most offensive upside of any of the Rockets’ youngsters and has the potential to become a star, per MacMahon.

“I think Reed’s just a really, really talented player,” Stone said. “Very few people shoot as well as him. Very few people pass as well as him, and more even than pass, see the offense so clearly and so easily. That’s not really a skill that is taught, not at the level he can do it. We think that he has a chance to be really special.”

Because they want to see what their current young core becomes, the Rockets have held off on entering the fray for any of the stars who have become available on the trade market in the past year. But as MacMahon points out, turning to the trade market would be a solid Plan B for a Houston team that could put together a very appealing package for any star using some combinations of its draft assets and young players.

Patrick Fertitta, who is the son of team owner Tilman Fertitta and works with the Rockets’ basketball operations department, told MacMahon there’s “no question in my mind” that there are players on the current roster capable of becoming the best player on a championship team. “With that being said,” he added, “any time a guy at that level becomes available, it would be remiss not to do your due diligence.”

While Stone, Udoka, and the Fertittas are committed to letting the Rockets’ young core continue to grow together, there’s an expectation that the front office will at least have internal discussions this offseason about pursuing a star via trade, according to MacMahon, who observes that Kevin Durant, Zion Williamson, and perhaps even Giannis Antetokounmpo are among the impact players who could become available this summer.

Will the results of this first-round playoff series significantly impact the Rockets’ thinking as the front office weighs roster changes in the coming months?

“Probably a little bit but not a lot,” Stone told Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required) earlier this month. “I’m definitely a believer in getting a lot of information and the playoffs will tell us a little bit about our team, but 82 games tell you a lot. … Every big intense game tells us a little bit more than just an average game, but it’s still just a game or series, and definitely not the case where you want to let a small sample size overwhelm a big one.”

Patrick Fertitta agreed that it wouldn’t be in the team’s best interests to weigh the postseason too heavily.

“This league and this business is a very emotional one,” he told ESPN. “There’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, and it’s important that you don’t make wholesale changes, or even changes on the margins, based on emotion. … Even though it can be exciting to feel like you are as close as you may be, it’s important to move with the same level of patience that got us to where we are and to make sure that we’re always making decisions based on not just today but the future.”

Lillard To Rivers: I’m Not Going Out This Way

Damian Lillard vows that his career didn’t end on Sunday night, when he fell to the court due to a non-contact injury that was diagnosed as a left Achilles tear.

While the Bucks guard and nine-time All-Star could end up missing all of next season, he has no plans to call it quits. Lillard expressed his feelings to head coach Doc Rivers on Tuesday, as Michael Marot of The Associated Press reports.

“He said two things, which I love,” Rivers said. “The first one, he just said, ‘I can’t believe I’m here.’ Then the second one is ‘I’m not going out this way.’ I can guarantee you he won’t, and that’s what I meant about his resolve.”

Milwaukee’s season ended in stunning fashion on Tuesday night, as the team squandered a seven-point lead late in overtime and lost to Indiana, 119-118, giving the Pacers a 4-1 series win. Another early postseason flame-out, coupled with Lillard’s injury, figures to lead to endless speculation about Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s future this offseason.

Lillard, who turns 35 in July, can’t control that. He’s instead focused on his lengthy rehab process.

“It’s amazing,” Rivers said. “He’s already talking about his return and being better and being ready. We had a long talk about that today as well.”

Lillard’s injury occurred in his third game back from a blood clot in his right calf, which sidelined him for more than a month. He’s due to make an estimated $54.1MM next season and holds an option projected at $58.5MM for the 2026/27 season.

Spurs’ Stephon Castle Wins Rookie Of Year Award

Stephon Castle won a national championship with the University of Connecticut in his lone college season. The 20-year-old guard has now earned a major individual accolade – the NBA’s Rookie of the Year Award, , the league announced in a press release.

Castle is the second consecutive San Antonio player to earn Rookie of the Year recognition. Victor Wembanyama captured the award last spring.

Castle appeared in all but one of the Spurs‘ games this season after being selected with the No. 4 overall pick last June. He averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 0.9 steals in 26.7 minutes per game. Castle, who started 47 games, shot 42.8% from the field.

Castle became a consistent offensive force as the season progressed and reached the 20-point mark 26 times. His post-All-Star averages were 17.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 5.0 APG in 30 games.

That was enough for him take down the top prize by a landslide over the two other finalists.

Top pick Zaccharie Risacher appeared in 75 games, including 73 starts, for the Hawks. The 6’8″ forward finished the season with averages of 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, shooting 45.8% from the field overall and 35.5% from long range. Risacher scored 30 or more points in four games.

Jaylen Wells proved to be a diamond in the rough for the Grizzlies. The 39th overall pick started 74 of the 79 games in which he played. Wells wasn’t a big part of Memphis’ offense but still averaged 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per night while taking on challenging defensive assignments.

Castle received 92 of a possible 100 votes from a global media panel and accumulated 482 points, according to the league (Twitter link). Risacher had five first-place votes and 245 points, while Wells received three first-place votes and 123 points.

Alex Sarr, Zach Edey, Kel’el Ware, Matas Buzelis, and Jared McCain also received votes. The required 65-game minimum doesn’t apply to Rookie of the Year voting, which is why a player like McCain, who suffered a season-ending injury after just 23 outings, was eligible.

Castle’s scoring average is the second lowest among ROY winners in the last 22 seasons. Only Malcolm Brogdon (2017) had a lower average (10.2 PPG) during that span.

Steve Nash, Stan Van Gundy To Join Amazon’s NBA Coverage

Amazon Prime Video is hiring Steve Nash and Stan Van Gundy as part of NBA coverage team for the 2025/26 season, according to reports.

Longtime NBA insider Marc Stein has the scoop on Nash, writing (via Substack) that the two-time MVP will be part of Amazon’s NBA studio and game coverage. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that Van Gundy will be joining Amazon as a game analyst.

Nash, a former NBA point guard and head coach, only recently forayed into the media space, joining LeBron James as a co-host on the recently relaunched Mind The Game podcast. Van Gundy, on the other hand, is a veteran broadcaster, having spent time with both ESPN and TNT as an NBA analyst. The former head coach of the Heat, Magic, Pistons, and Pelicans will be making the move to Amazon with TNT set to lose its broadcasting rights at the end of this season.

Amazon previously reached deals with former NBA stars Blake Griffin and Dirk Nowitzki, who will be part of the streamer’s studio show hosted by Taylor Rooks, so it will be a reunion for former Mavericks teammates – and close friends – Nash and Nowitzki.

Ian Eagle is set to be Prime Video’s top play-by-play announcer, though it remains unclear whether Van Gundy will join Eagle on that No. 1 team, Marchand writes.

According to Marchand, Amazon has also shown interest in ESPN’s Richard Jefferson as an analyst, and has spoken to TNT’s Kevin Harlan and Timberwolves broadcaster Michael Grady about possible play-by-play roles. Dwyane Wade is among Prime Video’s other candidates for potential color commentator positions, Marchand adds.

Amazon is one of three broadcasting partners – along with Disney (ESPN/ABC) and NBC –  that are part of the NBA’s new media rights agreement, which will go into effect for the ’25/26 season.

Kings, Head Coach Doug Christie Finalizing Multiyear Deal

The Kings will remove the interim tag from Doug Christie and make him their permanent head coach, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that the two sides are finalizing the details of a multiyear contract.

Formerly an assistant coach under Mike Brown, Christie was elevated to head coach in December following Brown’s dismissal and led Sacramento to a 27-24 record following a 13-18 start.

As Charania notes, the Kings went 13-10 in clutch-time games under Christie after posting a 6-13 mark in those contests under Brown early in the season.

A former NBA shooting guard, Christie spent five of his 15 seasons as a player in Sacramento and was employed as a color commentator for Kings games before being hired by the franchise as an assistant during the 2021 offseason.

Christie, who initially served under Luke Walton, remained in his role as an assistant when the club parted ways with Walton and promoted Alvin Gentry to replace him during the 2021/22 season, and again when the Kings hired Brown in 2022.

This is Christie’s first stint as an NBA head coach, though he had previously gained a little experience in that role as a Kings assistant — he coached the team in December 2021 when Gentry missed time due to COVID-19 and later coached Sacramento’s Summer League team in July 2024.

After winning 20 of their first 31 games under Christie, the Kings lost 13 of their last 20 and were eliminated in the play-in tournament by a depleted Mavericks team, costing them a shot at a playoff berth.

That underwhelming finish to the season led to some speculation that the team might launch a full-fledged coaching search, but team owner Vivek Ranadive is said to be a fan of Christie, and reporting in the wake of Scott Perry‘s hiring as Sacramento’s new general manager indicated that the interim coach was well-positioned to hang onto the job.

According to Charania, Christie is expected to revamp his coaching staff this offseason after having inherited Brown’s assistants in the winter.

NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2025 Draft

The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2025 NBA draft, announcing in a press release (Twitter link) that 106 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 73 are from colleges, 30 had been playing for teams internationally, and three were playing non-college ball stateside (in the G League).

While that early entrant total exceeds the number of players who will be selected in this year’s draft (59), it’s down significantly from the figures we’ve seen in recent years. A record 353 early entrants initially declared for the draft in 2021, but that number dropped to 283 in 2022, 242 in 2023, and 201 a year ago.

The NCAA’s NIL policy, which allows college athletes to be paid based on their name, image, and likeness, has been a major factor in that downward trend — fewer prospects feel the need to go pro as soon as possible when they’re earning big money at the college level.

The huge dip this year can also be attributed in large part to the fact that most college seniors are now automatically draft-eligible. In recent years, most fourth-year seniors faced an “early entrant” decision because they were granted an extra year of NCAA eligibility due to COVID-19 and didn’t have the 2020/21 season count toward their typical limit.

This year’s total of 106 early entrants figures to decline significantly by May 28 and again by June 15, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. The leftover early entrants will join the college seniors with no remaining eligibility and other automatically eligible players in this year’s draft pool.

Our tracker of early entrants for the 2025 draft is fully up to date and can be found right here.

Here are the changes we made to our tracker today:


Newly added players

College players:

These players either didn’t publicly announce that they were entering the draft or we simply missed it when they did.

International players:

These players weren’t previously mentioned on our list of international early entrants. The country listed here indicates where they last played, not necessarily where they were born.


Players removed

Despite reports or announcements that the players below would declare for the draft, they didn’t show up on the NBA’s official list.

That could mean a number of things — they may have decided against entering the draft; they may have entered the draft, then withdrawn; they may have had no NCAA eligibility remaining, making them automatically draft-eligible; they may have incorrectly filed their paperwork; or the NBA may have accidentally omitted some names.

Because they’re absent from the NBA’s official list, we’ve removed the following names from our own early entrant list.

Note: Some of these players may also be transferring to new schools.

According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link), two-time national champion Alex Karaban of UConn also initially filed paperwork to test the draft waters, but withdrew from the pool before the NBA put out today’s early entrant list. He’ll return to the Huskies for his senior season.

NBA Mulling International Format For All-Star Game

The NBA is mulling an “international competition” for the annual All-Star Game, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon reports.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver and president of league operations Byron Spruell said discussions were being held with new broadcast partner NBC regarding an original format for the All-Star Game. Next season’s game will be held at the Clippers’ Intuit Dome on Feb. 15, 2026. The Intuit Dome will also be the home base for the basketball events in the 2028 Summer Olympics.

The league has been inspired by the NHL, which held a wildly successful four-team international tournament in place of its All-Star Game. The NBA is considering a U.S. vs. the rest of the world matchup.

“Looking to do something new and different yet again, but excited about the possibility,” Spruell said.

The NBA has been groping for ways to regain interest in the All-Star Game, which in recent years has essentially turned into a defensively-absent dunk contest. If the NBA goes in this direction, it will be the third format in three years.

This February, the NBA experimented with a four-team tournament with three squads of All-Stars and a fourth of “rising stars.” However, the tournament was a flop, lacking suspense and drawing poor TV ratings.

Approximately 25 percent of current NBA players were born outside of the U.S., including many of its top stars.

Pelicans Announce Surgeries For Kelly Olynyk, Brandon Boston

A pair of Pelicans players have undergone surgical procedures, according to the team, which put out a press release on Monday to provide updates on center Kelly Olynyk and wing Brandon Boston Jr.

Olynyk underwent a “minimally invasive” surgery on his left heel, along with an ultrasound-guided tendon debridement, on Friday at the Fortius Clinic in London, England. The veteran big man had missed the final three games of New Orleans’ season due to what the team referred to at the time as left Achilles tendonosis, so it sounds like the procedure was meant to address that injury.

Boston, meanwhile, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle on Friday in Los Angeles. The 23-year-old swingman didn’t play after February 8 due to what the team diagnosed as a stress reaction in his left ankle.

Both players are expected to have a recovery timeline of approximately three to four months, according to the Pelicans. That projection suggests that Olynyk and Boston should be ready to go when training camp gets underway in the fall, though that’s not necessarily a lock — their recoveries will be worth monitoring closely this offseason.

Olynyk, acquired from Toronto in February’s Brandon Ingram trade, emerged as a starter for the Pelicans down the stretch, averaging 10.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 25.5 minutes per game across 20 outings (all starts) with New Orleans. He posted a shooting line of .500/.389/.754 and made a strong case to be part of next season’s roster. The 34-year-old is owed approximately $13.4MM in the final year of his deal in ’25/26.

Boston spent training camp last fall with San Antonio and was claimed off waivers at the start of the season by the Pelicans, who converted him a to a two-way deal. The former Clipper earned a rotation spot and, eventually, a promotion from his two-way deal to the standard roster. In 42 games (10 starts), he averaged 10.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.3 steals in 23.6 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .436/.350/.788.

The Pelicans hold a $2.35MM team option on Boston for next season. His ankle procedure makes it less likely that option will be picked up, though that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t eventually return to the team on a new deal.

Former Knicks Guard Dick Barnett Dies At 88

Dick Barnett, a former NBA guard who won a pair of championships with the Knicks, has died at age 88, writes Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press.

The Knicks, who announced Barnett’s death on Sunday, didn’t provide any additional details, but said in a statement they were “terribly saddened” to learn of his passing (Twitter link).

“Throughout his illustrious career, Dick Barnett embodied everything it meant to be a New York Knick, both on and off the court,” the team stated. “He left a positive impact on everyone he encountered and this organization is incredibly fortunate to have him be such an integral part of its history.

“His jersey will forever hang in the rafters of Madison Square Garden, and his play throughout his career will forever be a part of Knicks fans memories.”

A star at Tennessee A&I College (now Tennessee State University), Barnett won three NAIA titles from 1957-59 and was selected fourth overall in the 1959 NBA draft by the Syracuse Nationals (the future Philadelphia 76ers). He spent two years in Syracuse, then a single season with the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League before joining the Lakers in 1962 and eventually the Knicks in 1965.

Barnett’s most memorable NBA seasons came in New York, where he averaged a career-high 23.1 points per game in 1965/66, made an All-Star team in ’67/68, and won championships with the Knicks in 1970 and 1973.

Barnett appeared in a total of 971 NBA regular season games from 1959-73, averaging 15.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 29.8 minutes per contest. He ranks ninth on the Knicks’ all-time scoring list with 9,442 points, putting him right between former teammates Earl Monroe and Bill Bradley. He had his No. 12 jersey retired by the organization in 1990.

Barnett was enshrined twice to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, first as a member of that three-time champion Tennessee A&I College team in 2019, then as a player in 2024.

Our condolences go out to Barnett’s family and friends.