The NBA will announce the Coach of the Year award winner on Monday evening, the league’s PR department tweets.
(Cavaliers), (Pistons) and (Rockets) are the three finalists. Atkinson, who led Cleveland to the best record in the East, is considered a heavy favorite to win the award.
The Executive of the Year award will be announced on Tuesday and the Social Justice Champion will be revealed on Wednesday.
We have more from around the basketball world:
Following their trade of and their decision to void a deadline deal for , the knew for months that a lack of frontcourt depth was a problem. That issue came to the forefront in Game 5 of their first-round series vs. Minnesota, as and the Timberwolves dominated Los Angeles on the boards and in the paint en route to the victory that ended the Lakers’ season.
On Thursday, in his end-of-season press conference, Lakers president of basketball operations acknowledged that the team has work to do up front this offseason, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Khobi Price of The Orange County Register.
“I think when you make a huge trade at the deadline where you trade your starting center for a point guard, of course that’s going to create significant issues with the roster, and we saw some of those play out,” Pelinka said. “We know this offseason, one of our primary goals is going to be to add size in our frontcourt at the center position. That’s going to be part of the equation. We know we have a lot of work to do on the roster, and it will look different next year, for sure.”
The Lakers thought they had acquired their center of the future on February 6 when they struck a deal to send , , a future first-round pick, and a pick swap to Charlotte in exchange for Williams. Two days later, however, word broke that the Lakers were voiding the deal to concerns about Williams’ physical. Sources tell Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times that Los Angeles’ front office made that decision due to “knee and lower leg concerns.”
While NBA rules prevent Pelinka from discussing Williams specifically, he admitted that the 11th-hour nature of that deal left the Lakers in a tough spot — once the trade deadline had passed, the team only had the ability to void or move forward with the trade, as opposed to potentially renegotiating it or making a move for another center.
“It’s very clear and it was clear then … this roster needs more size and needs a center,” Pelinka said. “That’s a very clear and obvious byproduct of trading potentially the best big in the league to Dallas to get a point guard. Of course, that’s going to open up a huge hole. The trade deadline and the moments up to it don’t allow you the requisite time to explore every single unturned stone to add a big to our roster. We just didn’t have the time after the Luka trade. But now we do.”
New Lakers franchise player thrived in Dallas playing alongside a pair of rim-running lob threats in and . Pelinka confirmed that’s the sort of center L.A. will likely be seeking this summer, though he added that the club is willing to be flexible in the options it considers.
“I think in terms of center traits, it would be great to have a center that was a vertical threat, lob threat, and someone that could protect the interior defensively. I think those would be keys,” he said, according to Woike. “But there’s multiple different types of centers that can be very effective in the league. There’s also spread centers that can protect the rim. We’ll look at those as well. So I wouldn’t want to limit the archetype, but we know we need a big man.”
Given their salary cap situation, the Lakers may have a hard time finding a starting center in free agency, as Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic observe. Barring significant roster changes, the team will likely be limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception, which would almost certainly make it impossible to land a player like . That means L.A. is more likely to return to the trade market in search of an answer in the middle.
of the will likely be one name linked to the Lakers in the coming weeks and months, Woike writes. As Buha and Amick write, center and center are among the other possible trade targets who have been connected to the Lakers in the past year, while , , and are among the veteran options headed for free agency who are unlikely to be as expensive as Turner.
During his final media session of the season, Pelinka made it clear that there are at least three players on the roster whom he has no interest in parting with in any deal for a center.
“The level of confidence in , and Luka Doncic is at an all-time high still,” he said, per McMenamin. “I think those three guys have incredible promise playing together. And we will collectively do a better job to make sure they’re surrounded with the right pieces to have ultimate success.”
James expressed some uncertainty about his future in the wake of Wednesday’s Game 5 loss, but the expectation at this point is that he’ll likely return to the Lakers for at least one more season. Pelinka told reporters on Thursday that he’s well aware LeBron will be monitoring the team’s roster moves as he weighs his own options.
“I think LeBron’s going to have high expectations for the roster,” Pelinka said. “And we’re going to do everything we can to meet those. But I also know that whatever it is, he’s still going to give his 110 percent every night, whether that’s scoring, assisting, defending, rebounding, leading. We know that’s always going to be 100 percent, and that never wavers.”
April 18th, 2025 at 10:05am CST by Arthur Hill
was one of the top names on the trade market last summer before he decided to renegotiate and extend his contract with the . Because he waited until August 7 to finalize the agreement, Markkanen was ineligible to be dealt for the entire season, giving him a brief break from trade speculation.
Those rumors are likely are start back up, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News, as Utah just turned in the league’s worst record at 17-65. But Markkanen said this week that he wants to remain with the Jazz, even if it means being part of a prolonged rebuilding process.
“I feel like what I did last summer with signing here, that kind of tells you the confidence I have in the organization and the guys we have,” Markkanen told reporters. “I love being in Utah. We’ll see what happens in summer, there’s things that you can’t control, but I love being here and working out with the guys that we have and building this thing.”
Injuries limited Markkanen to 47 games this season, the lowest total of his NBA career, but Todd points out that the number needs to be taken in context. The Jazz were clearly trying to maximize their lottery odds to land a prime spot in the sweepstakes, and they were fined $100K in March for violating the league’s player participation policy.
Markkanen was still productive when he played, averaging 19.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 31.4 minutes per night, although his shooting numbers fell to .423/.346/.876. He hasn’t been on the court since March 17 due to a condition in his left knee, but he expects to be fully recovered in time to represent Finland in the upcoming EuroBasket tournament.
“We have a big summer with the national team, and I’m excited for that,” Markkanen said. “In previous years (playing for the national team) those are the years I’ve always felt the best, physically and mentally, to be honest. Because you’re getting game reps right before the NBA season starts. So that kind of gets me excited for the summer, for being able to play for your country, and then how that’s going to lead up into the NBA season.”
It’s not guaranteed that Markkanen will stay in Utah for his entire contract, which runs through the 2028/29 season, Todd adds. He’ll turn 28 this summer, which puts him slightly off the timeline for a rebuilding franchise, and there are sure to be interested suitors now that he’s able to be traded again. General manager indicated that he might listen to offers, but he doesn’t plan to shop Markkanen around the league.
“We’ll see when opportunities come up to add to the roster, but I see Lauri as a central part of what we’re doing, that’s why we signed him,” Zanik said. “We think he can be a huge piece for us as we join the competitive rings.”
April 17th, 2025 at 1:14pm CST by Rory Maher
In a series of tweets, the NBA has announced the three All-NBA G League teams for the 2024/25 season. Here’s the full list of honorees:
* Denotes two-way contract
^ Denotes standard contract
~ On a standard contract with the
While each player selected has some level of NBA experience, four of them — Flynn, Nowell, Brown and Warren — are currently free agents. Of that group, only Warren didn’t appear in an NBA regular season game during the ’24/25 campaign.
Davison, Tshiebwe and Nowell finished first, second and third in voting (in that order) for this season’s G League Most Valuable Player award, so it’s no surprise that they made the First Team. McClung, who was the league’s 2023/24 MVP, helped Osceola make the NBAGL Finals this spring, with the final spot going to former Pistons guard Flynn, who signed a 10-day contract with Charlotte last month.
Mason Jones recently helped Stockton win its first G League title, earning Finals MVP in the process. He’s joined on the Second Team by NBAGL Most Improved Player Harkless, McGowens, Brown, and Timme.
Former first-round pick Okeke signed a pair of 10-day contracts with Philadelphia before signing with Cleveland ahead of the playoffs. NBA veteran Warren, G League Rookie of the Year Alexander, Heat two-way guard Christopher, and Kings big man Jones round out the Third Team.
Davison and Isaac Jones were promoted from two-way deals to standard contracts at the end of the season. Timme was an NBA free agent before Brooklyn gave him a two-year standard contract in March due to his strong play in the NBAGL.
forward earned a bonus worth $1.4MM on Sunday when Minnesota clinched a playoff spot, reports ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). As Marks explains, the terms of Randle’s contract called for him to earn that extra $1.4MM on top of his base salary if he appeared in 65 games and the Wolves made the playoffs.
That contract incentive had been deemed “unlikely” entering the season and hadn’t counted against Randle’s cap hit — even though the veteran forward made the playoffs last season with New York, he didn’t appear in 65 games and therefore didn’t earn the bonus in ’23/24.
However, Randle had another $1.4MM bonus for making the All-Star team which was considered likely entering this season and counted against the cap because he was an All-Star in 2024. He didn’t earn that bonus this season, so he essentially just swapped one bonus out for a second one worth the same amount, meaning it won’t affect Minnesota’s financial situation this season and won’t change his cap hit for ’25/26.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
After being waived by the Hornets prior to the All-Star break, guard signed a rest-of-season contract with the Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas in February. According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter links), Wong has since agreed to extend his relationship with Zalgiris, though his new deal comes with opt-out potential.
As agent explains to Scotto, Wong’s new three-year contract includes outs for the NBA, EuroLeague, and China. Specifically, it features an opportunity for the 24-year-old to opt out during the summer of 2025 for a two-way contract offer from an NBA team, and Wong is indeed expected to generate two-way interest, Scotto reports.
The 55th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Wong spent his rookie year on a two-way deal with the Pacers, then appeared in 20 games off the bench for Charlotte this season. He averaged 6.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 13.3 minutes per night as a Hornet, with a shooting line of .390/.394/.735.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
rookie guard recently surpassed Hall of Fame former Utah guard ‘s longstanding rookie-season assists record for the franchise of 415, writes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Stockton had held the record for 40 years.
Selected with the No. 29 overall pick out of USC, Collier has carved out a solid bench role for himself on the rebuilding Jazz. Across 70 contests, including 45 starts, the 6’3″ pro is averaging 8.5 points, 6.2 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in 25.8 minutes per game. Stockton averaged just 18 MPG during his first pro season, Larsen notes.
Collier has now recorded 434 assists as a rookie. The rookie-season assists record is 868 dimes, courtesy of then-New York guard . The 16-62 Jazz have four games left on their 2024/25 regular season slate for Collier to keep adding to his franchise-record sum.
Larsen observes that Collier may finish among the top 40 rookies in first-year assists when all is said and done, a promising indicator of his potential long-term upside.
Stockton still leads the NBA, by a significant margin, with 15,806 career regular season assists. His 10.5 APG represents the second-highest average rate of dimes per game, behind only Los Angeles Hall of Fame guard ‘s 11.2 APG.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
Guard , who is on a two-way contract with the , has been named the NBA G League’s Most Improved Player for the 2024/25 season, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
Harkless earned the award for his time with the San Diego Clippers and Salt Lake City Stars. He’s the first player from the Stars to win NBAGL MIP, according to the press release.
After averaging 11.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steal in 20 regular season games (22.7 MPG) for San Diego in 2023/24, the 25-year-old improved his counting stats across the board in ’24/25, averaging 26.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.4 APG and 1.3 SPG in 19 regular season appearances, 17 of which came for Salt Lake City (31.4 MPG). He has posted a .447/.419/.745 shooting line during the G League’s regular season.
Harkless, who went undrafted out of UNLV in 2023, was named to the NBAGL’s Up Next event — essentially the G League’s All-Star game — earlier this season. He also had a stint in the Canadian Elite Basketball League with the Saskatchewan Rattlers this past spring.
Known for his defense, Harkless has played 10 games for Utah in what is technically his rookie NBA season. The combo guard has averaged 3.2 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 1.0 SPG in 13.8 MPG during those appearances.
and of the finished second and third in voting for the award, respectively. Both players have been standouts for Brooklyn’s affiliate in Long Island.
The issued a series of health updates on Wednesday, ruling out one player for the rest of the 2024/25 season and two others for at least the next week.
According to a press release from the team, rookie forward Cody Williams tested positive for mononucleosis on April 1 and will be sidelined for the remainder of the season. The plan is to reevaluate Williams three weeks before he begins his offseason conditioning work, the Jazz say.
Williams, 20, was the 10th overall pick in last year’s draft, but has struggled to make an impact at the NBA level in his first professional season. In 50 games (21 starts), he averaged just 4.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per night, with a dismal shooting line of .323/.259/.725.
Meanwhile, big man John Collins, who has been on the shelf since March 12, was reevaluated for his left ankle sprain after getting through his initial stages of rehab. He’ll start ramping up his on-court basketball progression and will be reevaluated in another week, per the Jazz.
Another injured forward, Lauri Markkanen, returned to Salt Lake City on Monday to undergo an MRI on his left knee. According to the club, that MRI revealed patellofemoral chondrosis with associated subchondral edema, but no other structural damage. Markkanen, out since March 17, will complete an off-court rehab program and will be reevaluated in seven-to-10 days.
While Utah hasn’t formally ruled out Collins or Markkanen for the rest of 2024/25, it would be a surprise if either player returns to the court during the final days of the season. The 16-60 Jazz are in full-on tanking mode at this point — they’ve lost 16 of their last 17 games and are prioritizing securing the top spot in this year’s draft lottery order.
Kyle Filipowski, Brice Sensabaugh, and Oscar Tshiebwe are among the youngsters who figure to play increased roles for the Jazz down the stretch with Williams, Collins, and Markkanen unavailable.
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.
