NBA Player News

As has been the case many times this season, Ball recorded a solid assist number but struggled with inefficiency. Five turnovers compounded the impact of Ball’s poor shooting, and he’s been responsible for four or more in four of his last six appearances. Over the past two weeks, he has been a top-50 player in eight-cat formats. While that isn’t “bad” value, fantasy managers likely had to invest a much higher pick on Ball than he has returned. The Hornets play three games during Week 21, starting with the Magic on Tuesday.

While Finch, Houston’s Ime Udoka and Dallas’s Jason Kidd have all been mentioned as people of interest regarding the Knicks’ head coaching vacancy, all are expected to stay put in their current roles. Tuesday night, Charania reported that formal requests to speak with Finch and Udoka were denied by their respective franchises. As for Kidd, The Athletic reported that Dallas expects him to stay, with the head coach possibly looking for a contract extension with the Mavericks.

Since firing Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks have reportedly been interested in speaking with three sitting head coaches regarding their opening: Udoka, Minnesota’s Chris Finch and Dallas’s Jason Kidd. While New York reportedly has not formally requested permission to speak with Kidd, they did take that step with Udoka and Finch. According to Charania, Houston and Minnesota denied those requests. In Udoka’s case, he isn’t believed to have much interest in leaving the Rockets, who earned the two-seed in the West this season and have a young, developing roster to work with.

While Kidd has been connected with the Knicks’ head coaching vacancy, there has yet to be a request for permission to speak with him. And, based on recent reports, the Mavericks do not appear to be worried about possibly losing their coach this summer. According to The Athletic, the belief is that Kidd is looking to parlay the Knicks’ interest into a contract extension with the Mavericks. Given his connection to Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, and Dallas having the first overall pick in this month’s draft, Kidd staying in his current role would not be surprising.

Edey reinjured the left ankle that he sprained during the regular season, resulting in the center undergoing surgery to stabilize the area. The Grizzlies announced on Tuesday that the procedure was successful, and he will be re-evaluated in four months. With Edey not expected to be ready for the start of the 2025-26 season, Memphis can either slide Brandon Clarke into the starting lineup or move Jaren Jackson Jr. to the five as part of a smaller quintet. Edey’s surgery may also impact Memphis’s approach to Santi Aldama, who will be a restricted free agent next month.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said ahead of Sunday’s Game 2 that Walker was “not close” to returning, so Tuesday’s update is unsurprising. Obi Toppin has been Pascal Siakam’s primary backup throughout the season, but was ineffective in 19 minutes in Indiana’s Game 2 defeat. He’ll hold onto the role, also seeing a little time at the center position when the Pacers decide to go small.

Haliburton was seen limping after Game 2, but he downplayed the severity of it. “I’m fine,” Haliburton said. “Really just a lower leg thing. I’ll leave it at that. I feel fine, and I’ll be ready to go for Game 3.” After being the hero in Game 1, Haliburton was solid in Game 2, but it wasn’t enough for the Pacers to steal Game 2 on the road. Still, the series is tied 1-1, and the Pacers have homecourt advantage for the rest of the series. We’ll see if Haliburton has more magic up his sleeve on Wednesday.

The expectation that Durant will be moved this offseason has been around since the trade deadline. Reports from then indicated that Durant didn’t want to be traded in the middle of the season again, but they did shop him. The draft starts on June 25, and trade negotiations should heat up around then. There are multiple teams that would be interested in parting with assets to bring Durant in to help elevate their team to contention. Regardless of where he ends up, Durant will continue to be one of the best players in the league, and he should have the ball in his hands as much as he wants it.

Windhorst said this during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, and he also said that trade discussions haven’t happened. Reports from shortly after the Bucks lost to the Pacers in the first round indicated that Giannis would be “open-minded” about playing somewhere other than Milwaukee. That has led to plenty of rumors and mock trades over the past month, but there appears to be a scenario where Giannis remains with the Bucks and runs things back. They don’t have many pieces to build a contender around him, especially after Damian Lillard tore his Achilles during the playoffs. Still, this doesn’t mean there won’t be a trade. The offseason hasn’t even started yet. A lot could change over the next few weeks between the draft and the start of free agency.

Garland picked up the injury on March 23 against the Jazz and played through it before ultimately missing time. He missed four of the Cavs’ final seven games of the regular season and Games 1 and 2 of the first-round playoff series with Indiana, re-aggravating the injury in the process. If Ty Jerome re-signs with Cleveland this offseason, he’s the guy most likely to replace Garland in the starting five. Donovan Mitchell’s usage rate spiked when Garland sat and he’d appear to be in line for some big fantasy lines early in the season while Garland is sidelined.

Caruso has been Oklahoma City’s most productive reserve in the NBA Finals, which makes some sense due to him being the lone player on the roster with a championship ring. After recording 11 points and a complete stat line in Game 1, Caruso was more lethal as a scorer in Game 2. A double-digit score in three of his last four appearances, the 20 points are the most Caruso has tallied in a game since Game 1 of the Thunder’s second-round series against Denver. Given the matchup, he should continue to hit the high-20s in minutes, which raises Caruso’s ceiling on both ends of the floor. Game 3 is on Wednesday in Indianapolis.