NBA Season 2025-26

[Donoghus]

Fun time to be a Sacramento Kings fan.

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
?
8m
Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis underwent season-ending surgery on Wednesday morning to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee, sources tell ESPN. Sabonis rehabbed the meniscus tear during the season and tried to play through the injury before having surgery now.

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
?
4m
Meanwhile, Kings guard Zach LaVine is currently undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a tendon injury in his hand, sources tell ESPN.

Maybe they will actually get the 1st pick.  They've been stuck in mid-lottery to barely making the playoffs for years.  Haven't hit in the lottery really either.  They could use a legit top end talent.

The truly sad thing is even with the worst record in the league they have only a 40% chance at a top 3 pick.

This team is a perfect example of why the flattened lottery odds suck. The Kings aren't trying to tank, they are just awful. And yet they the most likely outcome for them after a season of pain will be lottery pain.

We shoul go back to the older lottery odds where bad teams actually were more likely to get the top pick.

The Kings could get the #1 pick three years in a row and still screw it up.  It is a terribly run organization.

What's remarkable is that the franchise has been a loser franchise for most of its history and they've only managed to get the #1 pick once since the lottery was instituted and it came in one of the weaker drafts and got them Never Nervous Pervis.

[Roy H.]

Fun time to be a Sacramento Kings fan.

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
?
8m
Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis underwent season-ending surgery on Wednesday morning to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee, sources tell ESPN. Sabonis rehabbed the meniscus tear during the season and tried to play through the injury before having surgery now.

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
?
4m
Meanwhile, Kings guard Zach LaVine is currently undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a tendon injury in his hand, sources tell ESPN.

Maybe they will actually get the 1st pick.  They've been stuck in mid-lottery to barely making the playoffs for years.  Haven't hit in the lottery really either.  They could use a legit top end talent.

The truly sad thing is even with the worst record in the league they have only a 40% chance at a top 3 pick.

This team is a perfect example of why the flattened lottery odds suck. The Kings aren't trying to tank, they are just awful. And yet they the most likely outcome for them after a season of pain will be lottery pain.

We shoul go back to the older lottery odds where bad teams actually were more likely to get the top pick.

The Kings could get the #1 pick three years in a row and still screw it up.  It is a terribly run organization.

What's remarkable is that the franchise has been a loser franchise for most of its history and they've only managed to get the #1 pick once since the lottery was instituted and it came in one of the weaker drafts and got them Never Nervous Pervis.

And the year they got #2, every fan in existence figured they'd take Luka.  They ended up with Bagley.

[Donoghus]

Fun time to be a Sacramento Kings fan.

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
?
8m
Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis underwent season-ending surgery on Wednesday morning to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee, sources tell ESPN. Sabonis rehabbed the meniscus tear during the season and tried to play through the injury before having surgery now.

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
?
4m
Meanwhile, Kings guard Zach LaVine is currently undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a tendon injury in his hand, sources tell ESPN.

Maybe they will actually get the 1st pick.  They've been stuck in mid-lottery to barely making the playoffs for years.  Haven't hit in the lottery really either.  They could use a legit top end talent.

The truly sad thing is even with the worst record in the league they have only a 40% chance at a top 3 pick.

This team is a perfect example of why the flattened lottery odds suck. The Kings aren't trying to tank, they are just awful. And yet they the most likely outcome for them after a season of pain will be lottery pain.

We shoul go back to the older lottery odds where bad teams actually were more likely to get the top pick.

The Kings could get the #1 pick three years in a row and still screw it up.  It is a terribly run organization.

What's remarkable is that the franchise has been a loser franchise for most of its history and they've only managed to get the #1 pick once since the lottery was instituted and it came in one of the weaker drafts and got them Never Nervous Pervis.

And the year they got #2, every fan in existence figured they'd take Luka.  They ended up with Bagley.

GM Vlade.  I'm not sure we'll ever get the real story on that one.

[Vermont Green]

Nice job, Danny! 

Shams Charania: Commissioner Adam Silver informed the league's 30 general managers on Thursday that the NBA plans to make anti-tanking rule changes for next season, sources tell ESPN. Stakeholders have intensified dialogue about combatting tanking.

Multiple sources with knowledge of Thursday's GM meeting as well as a late January Competition Committee meeting told ESPN that the following concepts have been discussed to curb tanking: First-round picks can be protected only top-4 or top-14+. Lottery odds freeze at the trade deadline or a later date. No longer allowing a team to pick top 4 in consecutive years and/or after consecutive bottom-3 finishes. Teams can't pick top-4 the year after making conference finals. Lottery odds allocated based on two-year records. Lottery extended to include all play-in teams. Flatten odds for all lottery teams.

This seems overly complicated to me, but overall a step in the right direction.  In my mind, the most flagrant tanking occurs when teams are trying to keep protected picks.  They have addressed this, sort of.  The two year record thing does not seem sustainable and I am not sure about punishing teams that are bad for a few seasons in a row; teams that may not even be tanking.  It could be bad management, bad luck with injuries, and other things not tanking.  Those bad teams are just going to have a harder time getting good.

For a team like UTA, that decides to shutdown Jackson so he can have surgery, is that really tanking?  Is it better for the league if they keep playing him and the injury becomes career threatening?  There is definitely tanking going on every season, but there is also just a some bad teams being bad, or teams making decisions on injuries that are simply in the best interest of the team (like old guys not playing back to back).  It is not always easy to differentiate.

[Moranis]

Fun time to be a Sacramento Kings fan.

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
?
8m
Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis underwent season-ending surgery on Wednesday morning to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee, sources tell ESPN. Sabonis rehabbed the meniscus tear during the season and tried to play through the injury before having surgery now.

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
?
4m
Meanwhile, Kings guard Zach LaVine is currently undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a tendon injury in his hand, sources tell ESPN.

Maybe they will actually get the 1st pick.  They've been stuck in mid-lottery to barely making the playoffs for years.  Haven't hit in the lottery really either.  They could use a legit top end talent.

The truly sad thing is even with the worst record in the league they have only a 40% chance at a top 3 pick.

This team is a perfect example of why the flattened lottery odds suck. The Kings aren't trying to tank, they are just awful. And yet they the most likely outcome for them after a season of pain will be lottery pain.

We shoul go back to the older lottery odds where bad teams actually were more likely to get the top pick.

The Kings could get the #1 pick three years in a row and still screw it up.  It is a terribly run organization.

other than Bagley, they actually haven't drafted that poorly, they just have had bad spots in draft. 

[Phantom255x]

KAT is a big reason why I think the Knicks may not make the Finals this year. Sure, he can put up numbers, but he's also just a soft player defensively and can be bullied easily. Detroit has done that to him this season, and even today without Duren + Stewart are doing the same.

Just a shame the C's didn't exploit that better in the playoffs last year. The stats may have looked good on the box score, but it wasn't like KAT dominated us, I just thought the C's let him off the hook on the defensive end and didn't attack him even in a few games he got in foul trouble early.

KAT was 21/11/4, shooting 50% from the field, and was a 0 in the +-, and he didn't guard Cunningham who had an "awful" 42 point, 13 assist, 8 rebound game.  Brunson may have scored 33, but he was -9 because he couldn't do anything against Cade who just abused him all game long.  Paul Reed had a nice game, but he was also +14, which means he did a lot of damage against Robinson (you know the Knicks center that was -15 for the game).

Idk, I feel like KAT tends to put up empty stats a lot and even the NY media online doesn't seem fond of KAT. Cade went off for sure, but KAT should be dominating those matchups especially with Duren + Stewart out. And I still maintain last year in the playoff series, the C's let KAT off the hook. He was in foul trouble some of those games and they didn't hunt him on defense, just kept chucking 3s. Brunson's defense isn't good but he's still a superstar who can elevate come playoff time. I don't think KAT can for a deep run. Maybe the Porzingis injury and Horford's age hurt us last spring more than I thought in the frontcourt.

[Moranis]

KAT is a big reason why I think the Knicks may not make the Finals this year. Sure, he can put up numbers, but he's also just a soft player defensively and can be bullied easily. Detroit has done that to him this season, and even today without Duren + Stewart are doing the same.

Just a shame the C's didn't exploit that better in the playoffs last year. The stats may have looked good on the box score, but it wasn't like KAT dominated us, I just thought the C's let him off the hook on the defensive end and didn't attack him even in a few games he got in foul trouble early.

KAT was 21/11/4, shooting 50% from the field, and was a 0 in the +-, and he didn't guard Cunningham who had an "awful" 42 point, 13 assist, 8 rebound game.  Brunson may have scored 33, but he was -9 because he couldn't do anything against Cade who just abused him all game long.  Paul Reed had a nice game, but he was also +14, which means he did a lot of damage against Robinson (you know the Knicks center that was -15 for the game).

Idk, I feel like KAT tends to put up empty stats a lot and even the NY media online doesn't seem fond of KAT. Cade went off for sure, but KAT should be dominating those matchups especially with Duren + Stewart out. And I still maintain last year in the playoff series, the C's let KAT off the hook. He was in foul trouble some of those games and they didn't hunt him on defense, just kept chucking 3s. Brunson's defense isn't good but he's still a superstar who can elevate come playoff time. I don't think KAT can for a deep run. Maybe the Porzingis injury and Horford's age hurt us last spring more than I thought in the frontcourt.

and yet kn the game last night, the Knicks were even in KAT's 31 minutes and got outscored by 15 in the 17 minutes he was on the bench. That is more pronounced than the season overall, but even then the Knicks are a fair amount better with KAT in the game than with him out.  Only McBride has a better on/off differential than KAT

[Who]

KAT is a big reason why I think the Knicks may not make the Finals this year. Sure, he can put up numbers, but he's also just a soft player defensively and can be bullied easily. Detroit has done that to him this season, and even today without Duren + Stewart are doing the same.

Just a shame the C's didn't exploit that better in the playoffs last year. The stats may have looked good on the box score, but it wasn't like KAT dominated us, I just thought the C's let him off the hook on the defensive end and didn't attack him even in a few games he got in foul trouble early.

KAT was 21/11/4, shooting 50% from the field, and was a 0 in the +-, and he didn't guard Cunningham who had an "awful" 42 point, 13 assist, 8 rebound game.  Brunson may have scored 33, but he was -9 because he couldn't do anything against Cade who just abused him all game long.  Paul Reed had a nice game, but he was also +14, which means he did a lot of damage against Robinson (you know the Knicks center that was -15 for the game).

Idk, I feel like KAT tends to put up empty stats a lot and even the NY media online doesn't seem fond of KAT. Cade went off for sure, but KAT should be dominating those matchups especially with Duren + Stewart out. And I still maintain last year in the playoff series, the C's let KAT off the hook. He was in foul trouble some of those games and they didn't hunt him on defense, just kept chucking 3s. Brunson's defense isn't good but he's still a superstar who can elevate come playoff time. I don't think KAT can for a deep run. Maybe the Porzingis injury and Horford's age hurt us last spring more than I thought in the frontcourt.

KAT is an odd player.

He can dominate at times but not (1) on command (2) consistently (3) when you think he should. It doesn't seem to happen when he has a huge matchup advantage that he just goes out there and takes care of business.

It is more about him just getting hot and having a hot shooting night. That is when he is dominant.

He still cannot impact the game defensively enough. Nor do you see him being a game-changing rebounder all that often despite his large rebound numbers. His dominance is almost entirely down to his offense which is largely down to whether he is having a hot shooting night or not.

He is not smart enough is seeking out his best scoring opportunities. At adjusting to what the defense is giving him. To what opportunities weak defenders are giving him. To getting those easy high percentage baskets. Instead relying on long distance jump shots and being inconsistent as a scoring threat as a result.

[Phantom255x]

KAT is a big reason why I think the Knicks may not make the Finals this year. Sure, he can put up numbers, but he's also just a soft player defensively and can be bullied easily. Detroit has done that to him this season, and even today without Duren + Stewart are doing the same.

Just a shame the C's didn't exploit that better in the playoffs last year. The stats may have looked good on the box score, but it wasn't like KAT dominated us, I just thought the C's let him off the hook on the defensive end and didn't attack him even in a few games he got in foul trouble early.

KAT was 21/11/4, shooting 50% from the field, and was a 0 in the +-, and he didn't guard Cunningham who had an "awful" 42 point, 13 assist, 8 rebound game.  Brunson may have scored 33, but he was -9 because he couldn't do anything against Cade who just abused him all game long.  Paul Reed had a nice game, but he was also +14, which means he did a lot of damage against Robinson (you know the Knicks center that was -15 for the game).

Idk, I feel like KAT tends to put up empty stats a lot and even the NY media online doesn't seem fond of KAT. Cade went off for sure, but KAT should be dominating those matchups especially with Duren + Stewart out. And I still maintain last year in the playoff series, the C's let KAT off the hook. He was in foul trouble some of those games and they didn't hunt him on defense, just kept chucking 3s. Brunson's defense isn't good but he's still a superstar who can elevate come playoff time. I don't think KAT can for a deep run. Maybe the Porzingis injury and Horford's age hurt us last spring more than I thought in the frontcourt.

KAT is an odd player.

He can dominate at times but not (1) on command (2) consistently (3) when you think he should. It doesn't seem to happen when he has a huge matchup advantage that he just goes out there and takes care of business.

It is more about him just getting hot and having a hot shooting night. That is when he is dominant.

He still cannot impact the game defensively enough. Nor do you see him being a game-changing rebounder all that often despite his large rebound numbers. His dominance is almost entirely down to his offense which is largely down to whether he is having a hot shooting night or not.

He is smart enough is seeking out his best scoring opportunities. At adjusting to what the defense is giving him. To what opportunities weak defenders are giving him. To getting those easy high percentage baskets. Instead relying on long distance jump shots and being inconsistent as a scoring threat as a result.

Yeah I'm not saying he's a bum, I just think he could be the weak link on this Knicks team in the playoffs, especially against these good teams with size and grit like Detroit. Obviously if he plays well and goes off in a series, he can take over and I'll admit I was wrong. Speaking of last year, I just wish the C's were more physical with him on both ends and exploited that. Brunson and the others will get theirs and have their own skillsets, but KAT is a bit unique in that he can kill you, or you can actually exploit him and take advantage.

[Phantom255x]

NBC flexed another game. March 10, Hawks-Mavericks is now Celtics-Spurs

Lol they seem to be flexing every Dallas game with Boston in March 

[Celtics2021]

NBC flexed another game. March 10, Hawks-Mavericks is now Celtics-Spurs

Lol they seem to be flexing every Dallas game with Boston in March 

Bet they will keep the Dallas-Boston game on March 6th on ESPN tho.

[Birdman]

What team gotta finish with worst record?? I?m thinking Kings

[keevsnick]

NBC flexed another game. March 10, Hawks-Mavericks is now Celtics-Spurs

Lol they seem to be flexing every Dallas game with Boston in March 

Not surprising. Dallas has lost 9 straight and is going into a hard tank, a Spurs/Celtics game is infinitely more intriguing then Dallas vs Hawks.

[Goldstar88]

Nice job, Danny! 

Shams Charania: Commissioner Adam Silver informed the league's 30 general managers on Thursday that the NBA plans to make anti-tanking rule changes for next season, sources tell ESPN. Stakeholders have intensified dialogue about combatting tanking.

Multiple sources with knowledge of Thursday's GM meeting as well as a late January Competition Committee meeting told ESPN that the following concepts have been discussed to curb tanking: First-round picks can be protected only top-4 or top-14+. Lottery odds freeze at the trade deadline or a later date. No longer allowing a team to pick top 4 in consecutive years and/or after consecutive bottom-3 finishes. Teams can't pick top-4 the year after making conference finals. Lottery odds allocated based on two-year records. Lottery extended to include all play-in teams. Flatten odds for all lottery teams.

This seems overly complicated to me, but overall a step in the right direction.  In my mind, the most flagrant tanking occurs when teams are trying to keep protected picks.  They have addressed this, sort of.  The two year record thing does not seem sustainable and I am not sure about punishing teams that are bad for a few seasons in a row; teams that may not even be tanking.  It could be bad management, bad luck with injuries, and other things not tanking.  Those bad teams are just going to have a harder time getting good.

For a team like UTA, that decides to shutdown Jackson so he can have surgery, is that really tanking?  Is it better for the league if they keep playing him and the injury becomes career threatening?  There is definitely tanking going on every season, but there is also just a some bad teams being bad, or teams making decisions on injuries that are simply in the best interest of the team (like old guys not playing back to back).  It is not always easy to differentiate.

Last year, Utah was resting their starters against bad teams and then playing them against good teams. This year they were resting starters for the 2nd half of games. They did this against Orlando after being up close to 20 pts at halftime. Orlando ended up winning the game. That is blatant tanking.