NBA Player News

Friday’s win over the Pelicans secured the No. 2 seed for the Celtics, giving them nothing to play for in Sunday’s regular-season finale. Brown and Tatum not playing frees up playing time for Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, Hugo González and recent signing Dalano Banton.

Irving has not appeared in a game since suffering a torn left ACL in March 2025. While there was some optimism last summer that the point guard was ahead of schedule, he did not play at all during the 2025-26 campaign. Based on Irving’s words during a recent livestream, he’s on track to be good to go for the start of the 2026-27 season. “I am definitely close to being over at 100% in terms of my ACL recovery,” Irving said on Friday. “It’s been a while now…I’m so grateful that I’ve had the time to heal and just experiment with my body more on the court and off the court in the weight room & just pushing myself to the limit.” With Cooper Flagg coming off a Rookie of the Year season and the Mavericks adding another lottery pick to the mix this summer, it will be interesting to see where Irving fits in the rebuild under new lead executive Masai Ujiri. A healthy Irving can provide top-25 fantasy value, but his playing time could be limited early on for injury management reasons.

Duren was named to the All-NBA third-team last week, making him eligible for a max contract worth up to $287 million over five years. Amick, who appeared on the Run It Back show Friday, said he has a hard time seeing the Pistons offering that much, which potentially could leave the organization and the player far apart in negotiations initially. With only a handful of teams with cap space this offseason, Duren, a restricted free agent, may still get his best offer from the Pistons, even if it isn’t a max deal.

Saturday’s series finale will be the fourth consecutive game that Mitchell has missed since straining his right calf during Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. Jalen Williams (hamstring) is also out for Game 7, which means the Thunder will once again lean heavily on Jared McCain. Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe also have added importance due to the absences.

After missing Games 3, 4 and 5 of the Western Conference Finals, J-Dub made his return to action in Thursday’s Game 6. The forward came off the bench and looked like a shell of himself in the 10 minutes that he played. With Ajay Mitchell (calf) also out, Jared McCain will remain in the starting lineup. After scoring 20 points in Game 5, McCain was limited to 13 in Game 6.

Robinson will be available to face either the Spurs or Thunder, and he’ll play with a brace on his hand. New York relies on Robinson for his rebounding and elite defense, so this is certainly a welcomed update for Knicks fans.

Fox missed the first two games of the series with an ankle injury and hasn’t looked 100 percent since returning. While he’s played through injury, his point totals and field goal percentages have declined in all four games he’s played in this series. Fox had 15 points in Game 3, 12 in Game 4, nine in Game 5 and five in Game 6. He’ll likely need to break this trend and score more than five points in Game 7 on Saturday if the Spurs are going to advance to the NBA Finals.

Williams had a rough go of it in his first action since Game 2 of this series. The 25-year-old small forward had one point in 10 minutes and was -18. Williams was clearly playing at less than 100 percent and giving the Thunder what he could. Coach Mark Daigneault said after the game that the Thunder will see how Williams feels about playing Game 7.

Harper’s 18 points in 22 minutes off the bench were absolutely crucial for the Spurs in Game 6. The 20-year-old guard scored more points than any individual player on the Thunder. Harper continues to impress with his play in the playoffs as he’s played beyond his years. Saturday’s Game 7 on the road will surely be his most difficult test yet.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s 15 points were his lowest total all season long and his -28 was his worst since last year’s conference finals. He was 6-of-18 and missed all five of his three-point attempts. Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t able to bounce back in the second half as the Thunder lost the third quarter 32-13. He’ll need to bounce back in Game 7 on Saturday if the Thunder are going to repeat as Western Conference Champions.

Wembanyama said in his postgame interview that the Spurs haven’t done anything yet. He means that the Spurs haven’t won the series yet, but San Antonio played a nearly flawless Game 6 just to stay alive in this series. The Spurs led wire-to-wire and dominated from the outset, winning the first quarter 35-22. Coming out of halftime, they outscored the Thunder 32-13 in the third quarter. Wembanyama’s 28 points were a game-high. He and the Spurs will play in the NBA’s 160th Game 7 on Saturday.