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On this day in 1985, the New York Knicks won the first draft lottery in league history. It netted them Patrick Ewing, arguably the greatest player in franchise history. Conspiracy theories always get thrown out about a bent or frozen — or a bent and frozen — envelope being used to ensure the Knicks got Ewing. I don’t know if I’ll ever believe that, but it’s fun to discuss with friends.
Wemby’s world
Revenge game on tap tonight for Spurs’ star?
As I said when he was first entering the NBA, if you’re the type of fan who’ll get really sick of Victor Wembanyama content, then this newsletter is not the place for you. I still remember the first time I watched him play. The NBA was streaming his French League games on its app, and I tuned in ready to dissect him as a player and find reasons to quell the hype. I was maybe five minutes into the game before realizing, “This kid is going to be the real deal.”
What has followed is an ascension to the top with a mutation of basketball as we used to know it. The 22-year-old Wemby is in just his third season, and yet he’s using those unreasonably long limbs to climb to the mountaintop.
In Sunday’s Game 4 against the Timberwolves, however, Minnesota’s strategy of roughing Wembanyama up and being uber-physical with him finally got under his skin. While being aggressively swarmed by Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid, Wembanyama corralled the ball and threw an elbow right into Reid’s throat. Wemby was assessed a Flagrant 2 and ejected from the game. (He will not face any additional punishment.)
The Spurs still nearly won, but the series is tied 2-2 heading back to San Antonio. All eyes are now on Wemby and how he’ll exact his revenge.
We’ve seen Wemby have some intense focus early in his career, looking to embarrass those he feels competitive ire toward. His incessant need to dominate games involving Chet Holmgren is a good example of that. Have the Wolves and their physical play drawn that same wrath?
- He’s making 62.3 percent of his 2-point shots in the playoffs. It’s 64.7 percent against the Wolves.
- The Spurs are plus-14.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor in this series.
- They’re giving up a paltry 96.0 points per 100 possessions with him in this series.
- For reference, the 2004 champion Pistons gave up 93.9 points per 100.
- His 39 points on 13-of-18 shooting in Game 3, including 16 in the fourth, evoked images of Hakeem Olajuwon torturing post defenders.
Wemby recently said, “I refuse to carry the burden of hiding my emotions” after he celebrated winning his first playoff series against the Trail Blazers. What happens when those emotions are anger, fury, revenge and general diabolical fiendishness for a Wolves team that wanted to show him what playoff basketball is supposed to be? I guess we’ll find out tonight.
Wolves at Spurs, 8 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock)
- Adjustment for the Wolves: Stop the transition game for San Antonio. The Spurs are averaging 21.7 fast-break points in this series. The Wolves have defended well in the half court.
- Adjustment for the Spurs: Trap the ball out of Anthony Edwards’ hands and deny it getting back to him. They must make literally anybody else beat them.
The last 24
⏱️ Decision coming? LeBron James says he doesn’t know what he will do next. Dwyane Wade believes he’ll take some time away before deciding.
2️⃣ Tattoo You. The Knicks’ Miles “Deuce” McBride has ink on his leg that says “Golden Child.” It’s a middle finger to his older brother and offers a glimpse into his competitive spirit, Fred Katz writes.
🏀 Power rankings. After opening weekend, who’s trending up and down in the WNBA?
🔊 “NBA Daily.” Watch and listen to breakdowns of the Cavs-Pistons and Lakers-Thunder games from last night.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Bad trade?
Did Pacers blow it in Zubac deal?
While the Wizards, Jazz, Grizzlies and Bulls were being applauded for their lottery luck on Sunday, there was heavy pointing and laughing at the losers of the lottery. And it wasn’t just directed at the Nets and Kings. The Pacers became the main target of the internet and media shaming for a risk they undertook at the trade deadline:
- They traded Bennedict Mathurin (restricted free agent-to-be), a top-four protected pick in 2026 (otherwise it would be unprotected in 2031), a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 unprotected first to the Clippers.
- In return, they received Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown.
- The Pacers were having such a bad season with injuries as they leaned into tanking that they felt pretty good about their prospects of keeping the pick.
- They had a 52.1 percent chance of landing a top-four selection. But anything in the 5-9 range would go to the Clippers.
When the Clippers ended up with the No. 5 pick, people immediately started questioning what Indiana was thinking back in February. Pacers president Kevin Pritchard explained that on Sunday:
“Everybody says, ‘Why didn’t you protect it a lot deeper?’ Unfortunately, we weren’t able to. That was the vig for us to get Zu.
“And we really think Zu is a great fit for us. And at the end of the day this is what is really important. I felt like that championship team, we needed to fill that starting center. That was priority one, because they earned the right to try to get a championship. That was not doable with protecting this to eight or nine or wherever.”
I like this a lot more than his apology on social media for the disappointment. It reminded me of when the Knicks basically apologized for signing Julius Randle instead of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in 2019.
Zubac is a lot better than Myles Turner, the Pacers’ big man when they nearly won the 2025 championship. He’s better defensively, and he’s an excellent, consistent pick-and-roll big man. If Tyrese Haliburton is back healthy and playing like the superstar he became, then this Pacers squad will be ready to contend again. We also have to see what Mathurin’s contract is going to look like after this summer.
As of right now, Sam Vecenie has Illinois’ Keaton Wagler mocked to the Clippers at No. 5. So we’re looking at Mathurin, Wagler, a future second and a future first for Zubac. Wagler is a good prospect at guard, but not a definite star in the making. The Pacers are still in good shape, but they won’t be able to prove it until next spring.
About last night
Cavs tie up Pistons; Lakers swept away
Let’s review last night’s Game 4s …
Cavaliers 112, Pistons 103: Series tied 2-2
Two absurd things happened in the second half of Game 4 to allow Cleveland to tie this Eastern Conference semifinal series. First, the Cavs went on a 25-0 run to end the first half and well into the second half. It was 56-50 with 31 seconds left in the second quarter. With 6:13 left in the third quarter, the Cavs were up 75-56. That was fueled by Donovan Mitchell’s second-half explosion, which was the second thing.
Mitchell had four points at halftime. He finished with 43, tying Sleepy Floyd’s playoff record of 39 points in a half. Mitchell had the chance to set the record with 40, but missed a free throw in the final minute. The Cavs made things far closer than they needed to be, but they continued their Jekyll and Hyde home-and-away splits in the postseason.
Cleveland is now 6-0 at home in the playoffs and 0-5 on the road. This does not bode well for a team that doesn’t have home-court advantage in this series. I wrote last week about how unserious this team is, and I still very much believe that — unless it can find a way to win in Detroit.
Meanwhile, Cade Cunningham had 19 points on 16 shots and five more turnovers. Jalen Duren’s horrific playoff play continues, as he is seemingly daring the Pistons not to give him a max deal this summer in restricted free agency.
Thunder 115, Lakers 110: Thunder 🧹 the Lakers 4-0
The Lakers put up their best fight of the series, but they couldn’t match the Thunder’s execution in the fourth quarter. L.A. held a five-point lead in the final quarter before Oklahoma City started chipping away and pulling ahead. And the last few minutes of the game gave us a beautiful back-and-forth of great basketball. In the end, the Lakers just couldn’t make enough shots.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finally had a monster game with 35 points and eight assists. Ajay Mitchell continued his rise with 28 points. It was enough to overcome 27 points from Austin Reaves, 25 from Rui Hachimura and 24 points with 12 rebounds from LeBron in possibly his last game as a Laker, or period.
The Thunder now await the winner of Spurs-Wolves in the Western Conference finals.
Let’s say goodbye to the Lakers.
Was this the expected outcome? Yes. Without Luka Dončić in this series, the sweep was always the expected outcome. Even the most diehard Lakers fans couldn’t have imagined much more than this. The big win was handling the Rockets the way they did in the first round. That was never going to continue here.
Who are the Lakers’ big free agents? James, Reaves ($14.9m player option), Hachimura, Luke Kennard, Maxi Kleber, Deandre Ayton ($8.1m player option), Marcus Smart ($5.3m player option), Jaxson Hayes
What’s the draft situation? They have the 25th pick in the first round. Their second-round pick (54th) is headed to Golden State.
What’s the pressing need for L.A.? Build the roster around Luka. Does that involve another year of LeBron? Is it smart to give Reaves a contract averaging $35 million to $40 million? Does the scoring by him and Luka outweigh the lack of perimeter defense? If you keep LeBron on a discount for a year, do you have the flexibility to add important role players to build a true contender? This is the summer they were waiting for to transform the roster.
Of course, this assumes LeBron doesn’t retire after an NBA record 23 seasons.
The Athletic’s Dan Woike and Sam Amick did a deep dive into the Lakers’ season and what comes next.
