The NBA Playoffs are in full swing with a mountain of compelling story lines — 76ers vs. Celtics Game 7, can the Rockets become the first team to come from 0-3 down to win a series — but if you think that slows the NBA rumor mill, well, welcome back from living in a cave the last decade.
Here are some of the latest rumors flying around the league.
At last February’s trade deadline, the Washington Wizards made a couple of bold moves to put former All-Stars around their young core, trading for Trae Young and Anthony Davis. With them (and another high draft pick), one could see a path to respectability for the Wizards, who have not made the playoffs the past five years (and only once in the last eight).
However, Davis may not be around for the long haul, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes.
Haynes is saying that Davis likely wants to compete at a higher level than the Wizards are expected to next season. Maybe. However, trading him is something else entirely. Davis is a Wizard because the Dallas Mavericks didn’t want to pay him — Davis is owed $58.5 million next season with a player option for the following year, and he’s looking for an extension. That’s a lot of money for a player with a lengthy injury history, with that, the trade market for AD is not exactly going to be robust. Despite the fact that when he has been on the court in recent years, he’s looked like the All-NBA version of himself.
Lakers reportedly expected to keep Kennard
Luke Kennard is a free agent this summer. After coming to the Lakers via a trade with Atlanta, he averaged 9 points a game and shot 44.8% from 3-point range — he is the second-best shooter in the league right now. In the playoffs, forced into an expanded role due to the injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, he has averaged 14.4 points and 3 assists a game (although his numbers dropped way off in that series as the Rockets started to focus on him, then Reaves returned, he had just one point in Game 5).
Around the league, it’s expected that the Lakers will keep Kennard, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.
“It is increasingly anticipated leaguewide that the Lakers will want to retain the recently acquired Luke Kennard after his strong first-round series against Houston.”
I’m less sure about that. It’s certainly possible, but the buzz around the Lakers is that they will only be able to keep one of Kennard or Rui Hachimura, who are both free agents. While there are variables around how this plays out — Does LeBron James return and at what price tag? Is new owner Mark Walter more open to paying the tax? — if the choice is Kennard or Hachimura, look for the Lakers to lean Hachimura, who is a better defender and more versatile because of his size.
Devin Brooks helped change the culture in Phoenix. He had a career year and was one of the key reasons the Suns made the playoffs instead of landing in the lottery, where most of us projected them to be before the season.
Brooks has one more year on his contract at $21 million, but expect the sides to reach an extension this offseason, something Fischer talked about at The Stein Line.
“The Suns, I’m told, indeed want to secure a long-term stay for Brooks after his role in establishing them as the West’s foremost regular season surprise team, but sources say that Phoenix is also mindful of the fact that an extension would kick in for Brooks’ age-32 season since there is currently only one season left on his contract in 2026-27 at $21 million. The max extension that Brooks can command is a four-year deal in the $125 million range but the expectation is that a new deal will not reach that upper threshold.”
Expect it to get done.
While we’re talking Suns, you can end the Devin Booker trade rumors now.
Peyton Watson emerged as a key part of the Denver Nuggets’ rotation this season. Part of the reason the Nuggets are off to Cancun (or Serbia to watch horse races) is because Watson could not play in the postseason due to a hamstring injury. Watson averaged 14.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, shot 41.1% from 3-point range and played quality defense on the wing this season.
Watson is a restricted free agent this summer and Denver is expected to retain him, but the Lakers, Bulls and Nets are looking at him and considering trying to poach him, Fischer reports at the Stein Line.
Why Watson might be available is that bringing him back — re-signed or matching an offer — sends the Nuggets well above the second tax apron, and this is a team where ownership is allergic to the tax. A team with cap space — the Lakers, Nets and Bulls all have that — could come in with a big offer and dare the Nuggets to match.
CJ McCollum boosted his stock in Atlanta, averaging 18.7 points per game and shooting 35.7% from beyond the arc in the regular season, then in the playoffs became the tough shot-maker the Hawks needed, averaging 22.2 points per game, including some clutch buckets.
McCollum also is a free agent. It’s unclear whether the Hawks will bring him back, despite how good he was for them. If they end up with the No. 7 or No. 8 pick in the draft (there is a 55.4% chance they do, this is the Pelican’s pick that they traded to move up and get Derik Queen), then do they want to pay the veteran guard, too? Here is what John Hollinger wrote at The Athletic.
I canvassed a few execs on his likely value during my recent travels, and most seemed to think one or two years at slightly above the midlevel exception was a fair ballpark (i.e., two years and $35 million to $40 million). However, with tanking now verboten [pending the NBA’s new rules], a one-year balloon deal from a struggling cap-room team like the Chicago Bulls or Brooklyn Nets can’t be ruled out.
McCollum showed this season he still has value in the league, and the veteran is going to help some team out next season. The question is, which one?
Bulls front office
It’s sounding more and more like Minnesota’s No. 2 man, general manager Matt Lloyd, will get the job, listening to league buzz out of Chicago. However, Michael Scotto at Hoopshype writes that “Atlanta Hawks Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations Bryson Graham, and Detroit Pistons Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations Dennis Lindsey have garnered palpable buzz within league circles.”
Scotto also adds this interesting note: “If the Bulls hire Lloyd as an executive, Timberwolves lead assistant coach Micah Nori would be a strong candidate for Chicago’s head coaching vacancy, league sources told HoopsHype.”
One other thing about the Minnesota front office: While Dallas might like to chase the Timberwolves’ head of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, Minnesota is not expected to give Dallas permission to talk to him, Marc Stein reports at The Stein Line.
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