NBA Player News

Horford will be back in the lineup after sitting out the second night of a back-to-back on Friday. That will push Blake Griffin back to a role off the bench as the Celtics look to lock up a top two seed in the East.

No surprises here, as Middleton will get fully compensated for the final year of the three-year, $93 million deal he signed with Milwaukee in 2023. Given his recent injury history and declining play, Middleton’s next contract will surely be far less than what he makes this season. He will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026.

As feared, Haliburton’s injury is severe, and it will likely cost him all of next season. It’s a brutal development for the emerging superstar, especially after the magical playoff run he led. In Hali’s absence, T.J. McConnell could see a big uptick in playing time and usage, while Ben Sheppard could see more time off the bench, and Andrew Nembhard could take on more responsibility as a facilitator.

It wasn’t always pretty, but SGA — who was named NBA Finals MVP afterwards — got the job done on Sunday night as the Thunder pulled away from Indiana in the second half to secure the franchise’s first title since moving to Oklahoma City. Gilgeous-Alexander shot a putrid 8-of-27 from the field and 2-of-12 from beyond the arc, but he got to the line 12 times and sank 11 free throws to buoy his scoring numbers. The 12 assists tie his season-high in that category, and his all-around contributions were spectacular, despite the inefficient shooting. Gilgeous-Alexander’s 2024-25 season will go down as one of the best individual seasons for a guard in NBA history, as he won the scoring title, regular season MVP and Finals MVP. The Thunder are early favorites to win the 2025-26 title, and Gilgeous-Alexander has the second-shortest odds to win a second straight MVP, behind only Nikola Jokic.

Mathurin led Indiana in scoring and led all players in rebounds, though his minus-14 in the box score represented the lowest plus-minus of the game. Mathurin’s playoff run was a rollercoaster of ups and downs in minutes and scoring. His highs were high, and his lows were low, and Mathurin scored at least 20 points in four of the final 10 games of the postseason. The third-year man out of Arizona averaged career highs in points (16.1), rebounds (5.3), field goal percentage (45.8) and free throw percentage (83.1) in 2024-25, and he’ll look to improve on those numbers in his fourth season.

Like his superstar teammate, Williams was far from efficient as he and Shai Gilgeous Alexander combined for 49 points on 15-of-47 shots. Despite the poor shooting, Williams made a positive impact on the contest. He finished with the highest plus-minus in the game at plus-13 after recording a minus-40 in Game 6. Williams broke out in the regular season and broke out in an even bigger way in the Finals, as he scored 40 points in Game 5 and cemented himself as one of the best secondary options in the Association. The future looks bright for Williams and SGA.

Holmgren struggled offensively in this series, but he came through for his team in the title-clinching win. The big man knocked down 6-of-8 shots, hit five of his eight attempts from the charity stripe and made some monster plays on defense. So long as he can stay healthy, he should once again offer an early-round ceiling to fantasy managers thanks to his ability to hit triples and block shots.

Siakam had a tremendous playoff run and was arguably the team’s best player in the Finals, but he couldn’t get much going in Game 7. He signed a four-year deal with the Pacers last summer, so he’ll be back with Tyrese Haliburton for at least the next three seasons as Indiana tries to prove that their Cinderella run was more than just lightning in a bottle. If Haliburton misses a large portion of next season, Siakam’s usage could grow and he could be more valuable in fantasy basketball than he was in 2024-25.

Tyrese Haliburton went down just seven minutes into the game, and McConnell stepped up in a big way. He did his best to carry the listless Pacers offense, and at one point in the third quarter, he scored 12 straight points for his team. Despite being the spark that kept Indiana competitive midway through the third, McConnell wasn’t on the court to start the fourth and logged only 28 minutes. McConnell cemented his name as a legend in Indiana with gritty performance after gritty performance across seven games. Depending on the severity of Haliburton’s Achilles injury, McConnell could be forced to step into a larger role next season. He’s shown that he’s capable of good fantasy lines with increased playing time.

All the chips are on the table in a winner-take-all Game 7, and Tyrese Haliburton gets hurt. After a rough series and an even worse Game 6, it was Turner’s time to shine, right? When his team needed him the most, Turner attempted just four shots, hit 1-of-3 triples and 1-of-4 free throws, committed three fouls and finished with no defensive stats. This was a series to forget for the longest-tenured Pacer, and he couldn’t have picked a worse time to have such a dreadful performance.

Haliburton slipped on the court and appeared to sustain a serious injury to his lower right leg. He went down immediately and began banging the court in anguish. It was a near carbon copy of the Achilles injury suffered earlier this postseason by Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum. The 25-year-old point guard was unable to put any weight on his leg while being helped to the locker room and we don’t need official confirmation to know that his night is over. Haliburton was off to his best first quarter of the Finals, nailing three of four triples in just seven minutes. In his stead, expect big minutes from T.J. McConnell and additional playing time for the likes of Ben Sheppard and Obi Toppin. In the longterm, if the injury is indeed an Achilles, Hali could be forced to miss most, if not all, of next season.