AROUND the NBA:

[dirkfansince1998]

Not even halftime and the Knicks have 26 fastbreak points. 16 2nd chance points. At this point Harden is a walking meme but Mitchell's effort might be even worse.

[dirkfansince1998]

Harden and Mitchell highlights...

https://x.com/bballbreakdown/status/2059067126653300799

https://x.com/BrickCenter_/status/2059076467724779866

https://x.com/MoDakhil_NBA/status/2059068599499964880

https://x.com/MoDakhil_NBA/status/2059069237038395610

[SwisherPrice]

Knicks are really back. It's a game of matchups, I think they can beat the Spurs with the advantage in experience but not OKC

[windjc]

Knicks are really back. It's a game of matchups, I think they can beat the Spurs with the advantage in experience but not OKC

The Knicks are most likely getting swept by either team. Maybe they will last 5 or 6.

[Chicagojk]

Congrats to the Knicks.   I must admit, I wasn't a big fan for most of the year, but they turned it on at the right time and look great.   Everything is working for them now.  They will be an underdog in the finals.  I think they would have a legit chance against a battered spurs.  I think OKC would beat them.

Hot take, I am almost as mad with Cuban over the Jalen fiasco than I am with Nico on the Luka thing.   Jalen is in a much better place now.  King of NYC.   Maybe because I never thought the Luka thing was in the cards, but Jalen was staring at them for two years and mr know it all thought he was smarter than everyone else.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I'm going to go out on a tiny limb here and say that this will be the last time, barring injury, that Cooper won't make an All NBA Team in the next ten years.

He won't get the supermax. He knows his stock took a hit during the playoffs. But he'll get a substantial raise, and Langdon went on the record to say he's going to be part of the team's core going forward. Duren took a major jump from last year to this one, and he's just 22. Unless something drastically changes, I expect them to re-sign him at something much lower, or maybe he walks. There aren't many teams that can offer him a max, however.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Knicks are really back. It's a game of matchups, I think they can beat the Spurs with the advantage in experience but not OKC

The Knicks really had an easier path through the playoffs than the other teams. That Atlanta series was their turning point when they went down 2-1. They rolled past Philly, and now Cleveland. Detroit and Cleveland played in a back-to-back, grueling 7-game series that eventually caught up to them. Not making excuses, but it's reality. Not taking anything away from the NYK's, though. They are on an impressive run. I think they match up better with OKC than SA. SA has great young wing defenders in Castle, Harper, Bryant, Vassell, and Fox on the perimeter, and Wemby on the backend to clean things up in the post.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Congrats to the Knicks.   I must admit, I wasn't a big fan for most of the year, but they turned it on at the right time and look great.   Everything is working for them now.  They will be an underdog in the finals.  I think they would have a legit chance against a battered spurs.  I think OKC would beat them.

Hot take, I am almost as mad with Cuban over the Jalen fiasco than I am with Nico on the Luka thing.   Jalen is in a much better place now.  King of NYC.   Maybe because I never thought the Luka thing was in the cards, but Jalen was staring at them for two years and mr know it all thought he was smarter than everyone else.

OKC is just as battered with JDub and A.J. Mitchell out. OKC has the better depth, but those two are very important for them. I'm really impressed with Mitchell especially.

[Chicagojk]

saw rumors of the Cavs job may be opening.  Pretty crazy from where we were a week ago.  Things change fast.

If it does open, which is the better opening:  Orlando or Cleveland?  Both are expensive rosters.   Cavs currenly better, Orlando is younger.  Orlando is out of most of their picks.

Found this article interesting as well as we have discussed the OKC/SA  monster moving forward.

https://www.theringer.com/2026/05/26/nba...wembanyama

[Winter]

I completely agree with the premise of that article. Someone always thinks that some super-team is going to win everything for a decade... and they never do.

Also (and I'm hesitant to say this), Wemby's body just doesn't look like the body that can withstand regular seasons, playoffs, and championships year-after-year. Here is a list of past NBA players over 7'2"

Manute Bol: 7'7"
Gheorghe Mureșan: 7'7"
Yao Ming: 7'6"
Shawn Bradley: 7'6"
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 7'2"
Kristaps Porziņģis: 7'2"

Abdul Jabbar really stands out here. On the other hand, I think Wemby has had specific training none of those players has had. He may be able to handle having the legs of a giraffe But history hasn't been kind to the very tallest of players.

[Winter]

deleted

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I completely agree with the premise of that article. Someone always thinks that some super-team is going to win everything for a decade... and they never do.

Also (and I'm hesitant to say this), Wemby's body just doesn't look like the body that can withstand regular seasons, playoffs, and championships year-after-year. Here is a list of past NBA players over 7'2"

Manute Bol: 7'7"
Gheorghe Mureșan: 7'7"
Yao Ming: 7'6"
Shawn Bradley: 7'6"
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 7'2"
Kristaps Porziņģis: 7'2"

Abdul Jabbar really stands out here. On the other hand, I think Wemby has had specific training none of those players has had. He may be able to handle having the legs of a giraffe But history hasn't been kind to the very tallest of players.

You forgot Rik Smits (7'4). His career was cut short because of lower extremity injuries (feet and knees). He did play 12 seasons, however, all with the Pacers.

[Chicagojk]

It is interesting.   SA is younger.   Both have draft equity, but OKC has it out the kazoo.   

The scary thing about OKC is their ability to find trade assets and later draft picks and be really productive and fill a need.    This is the secret sauce.

SA is obviously well positioned and have made some good moves recently, but as someone said in the article they got lucky three times in the lottery.  The Castle draft was a really good move.  The other two Nico could have made.   Some of their moves pre-Wemby and a little after were really questionable.

[OBX Maverick]

..And Wemby relies on his agility and dexterity even more than any of those guys listed above. A true unicorn. His body and the potential for a lower extremity injury, in a game which predicates itself on jumping, sprinting, and making sharp cuts, are the only things that can stop him from being one of the best ever

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Knicks are really back. It's a game of matchups, I think they can beat the Spurs with the advantage in experience but not OKC

What's the old saying, "The NBA is better off when the Knicks are good."  Because NY is the largest media market in the country which draws significantly higher viewership and an electric atmosphere at MSG.

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

Presti's time frame to do things in June is just as big as that for every other team. And it's not small.

He has until June 30, as his deadline, not just the draft. And, like the TDL, he has a significant amount of time to negotiate deals prior to the deadline. In fact, if he is wanting to trade players, he can already be exploring and negotiating what he might be able to get for them, should they want to move them.

To give a comparative time frame, where he sits right now is about the same as where he sits on Jan 1 each January, in relation to doing trades by the TDL. Time/opportunity is NOT an obstacle.

If you think teams don't make different decisions based on success and failure, then I don't know what else to tell you. 

Teams that have long been out and know their flaws have been talking for over a month. But Presti isn't going to line up deals until he sees exactly how his team is positioned. If OKC kicks ass the rest of the way, he may be more apt to simply run it back than if his team loses by 30 in Game 5 and 6.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2543...r-or-spurs

Insiders' thoughts on the Knicks chances vs. the Spurs or Thunder.

[Hooper21]

saw rumors of the Cavs job may be opening.  Pretty crazy from where we were a week ago.  Things change fast.

If it does open, which is the better opening:  Orlando or Cleveland?  Both are expensive rosters.   Cavs currenly better, Orlando is younger.  Orlando is out of most of their picks.

Found this article interesting as well as we have discussed the OKC/SA  monster moving forward.

https://www.theringer.com/2026/05/26/nba...wembanyama

Wemby reminds me a lot of Ralph Sampson - athletic and skilled - moreso than anyone but Porzingis.  Kareem famously did martial arts, so that could have been to his advantage.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Wemby reminds me a lot of Ralph Sampson - athletic and skilled - moreso than anyone but Porzingis.  Kareem famously did martial arts, so that could have been to his advantage.

He trained with Bruce Lee no less...

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

[Vardon] The Cavaliers plan to retain coach Kenny Atkinson even after the team was swept Monday night by the New York Knicks, two league sources told The Athletic.