Photo: Robert Bukaty-AP Are we witnessing the G.O.A.T. offseason? At this point, the offseason might be more entertaining the actual NBA season. Every summer brings its share of blockbuster trades and signings, but this year feels different. It's as though all bets are off. Every team is trying to find a different concoction that works. Superstars are changing addresses, contenders are aggressively loading up and teams with no regard for symmetry, and once considered untoucha

Photo: Deron Ronald-Getty Another day, another draft retrospective. We now have three years of retrospective on the 2023 NBA Draft, giving us enough time to move beyond projections, scouting reports and begin evaluating whether or not each lottery pick has lived up to the hype. This class entered the league with enormous expectations, headlined by Victor Wembanyama, quite possibly the most anticipate prospects in basketball history. Behind him came an wide array of future sta

Photo: Ben Martens-AP If there was one word to describe the 2026 NBA Draft, it would be unpredictable. From the opening selections to the final picks of the night, consensus rankings were thrown out the window as teams reached for prospects they believed in, passed on "highly regarded talent" and made decisions that immediately divided fans and analysts. Some players were picked up much earlier than expected, and others had a fall few could have predicted. As we know: polariz

by Zak Drapeau and Joel Piton Sportz Nation - 6/23/2026 Washington Wizards AJ Dybantsa, SF, BYU Photo: Craig Strobeck/ImagnImages Age: 19 Height: 6'9" Pro Comp: Tracy McGrady Dybantsa is the slam dunk #1 pick in this draft even if Peterson's fit on the Wizards is actually a bit better. Dybantsa has huge potential as a scorer with his frame and athleticism and a silky shooting stroke to match. Dybantsa isn't quite the caliber of #1 pick that we saw last year with Cooper Flagg

by Joel Piton Sportz Nation - 6/19/2026 Photo: Jesse Cumberland-Getty Come one, come all, to our next installment of 2026 NBA Mock Drafts. With draft night rapidly approaching and all 30 teams preparing to make the most important selections of the year, it’s time to take another look at how the first round could end up. From bona fide NCAA superstars at the top to potential steals waiting later in the night, here are the 30 prospects we expect to hear called—and where we beli

by Joel Piton Sportz Nation - 6/16/2026 Photo: Jared Slizewski-Getty With the NBA Finals officially wrapped, the league has wasted no time turning the page toward the future. The offseason is here, and with it comes one of the most unpredictable stretches on the basketball calendar: free agency. Every summer brings the same questions. Who is staying home? Who is chasing a bigger role? Who is ready to join a contender? And which team is willing to hand over the contract that c

Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant-Getty The New York Knicks are one win away from history. After taking a commanding 3-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, New York enters Game 5 with a chance to do what no Knicks team has done since 1973: bring a championship back to Madison Square Garden. For a franchise that has spent decades chasing ghosts, enduring several season tanks and patiently waiting for the right group to finally break through, this team now stands on th

by Zak Drapeau, Matt Hylen, Joel Piton and Will Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 6/10/2026 Photo Credits to ESPN Illustrations Zak Drapeau - So if you've seen my World Cup Group Stage Predictions article, you know I am extremely high on a few teams. Those teams include France, England, Spain, Portugal, and Japan. I believe they'll all walk out of the Group Stages as their group's winner and move on to the knockout stage, where the real fun begins. The 2026 edition of the World Cup kn

Sportz Nation - 6/9/2026 Photo: James Bernard-Getty The NBA Finals are officially here. Legacies are about to get stamped, and some of the league's brightest stars are ready to either make history or fold underneath the brightest lights. With the Knicks and Spurs giving us a Finals matchup that has everyone talking, it only feels right to look back at the players who owned this stage before them. Since 2000, we’ve seen everything. Stars carrying franchises on their backs. Und

by Zak Drapeau and Joel Piton Photo Credits to Nathaniel Butler via Getty Images Knicks The Knicks haven’t been to the NBA Finals since 1999, so they want to maximize this opportunity. They showed some weakness against the Hawks in the first round, but since then, New York has been on a historic tear, looking like one of the strongest Eastern Conference squads we’ve seen in recent memory while riding an 11-0 win streak and sweeping through two straight rounds. The Spurs may e

Photo: Isaiah White-Getty The NBA Draft is usually viewed as the finish line for college basketball, and for most players, getting called as soon as possible is the ultimate dream. For others, that dream can wait until they're ready, and we've witnessed a handful of legit talent withdraw from the 2026 NBA draft in favor of the campus grounds. Some of these players were already on NBA radars. Some had first-round buzz. Some could have stayed in the draft and taken their chance

Photo: Sarah Stier-Getty The Western Conference Finals are heating up. After four games, the Thunder and Spurs are deadlocked at 2-2, and now the series shifts back to Oklahoma City for a Game 5 that could change everything. For OKC, home court has been a fortress all season long. The Thunder have only suffered one home loss in the playoffs so far, and interestingly enough, that loss came at the hands of these very Spurs in a double-overtime thriller. In other words, San Anto

Photo: Lucas Boland-ImagnImages The playoffs are halfway through, and it's getting intense. As we know, every championship team needs star power, but even the greatest superstars can't do it alone. Behind every deep playoff run are the players who defend the toughest matchups, crash the glass, move the ball, take charges, and keep possessions alive when the game gets ugly. These aren't the names that light up the box score, but their impact is undeniable. The best role player

Photo: Nate Billings/AP Every MVP award takes us back to an era. Since 2000, we’ve seen legends rise in little time, dynasties cemented, archetypes we never dreamed of and stars rewriting the history books. From Allen Iverson dragging Philly to the top, to Derrick Rose becoming the youngest MVP ever, to Steph Curry changing basketball forever, to Nikola Jokic turning the center position into a cheat code, every MVP left a different impression. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sec

Photo: Kristen Lee/AP The Boston Celtics achieved what many thought was impossible. After Jayson Tatum went down at Madison Square Garden in 2025, this season was supposed to be a survival year at best—a fluke season where Boston tried to resemble its two years, accepted the limitations of life without its star, and waited patiently for Tatum’s recovery. Instead, they won 56 games, had the best record in the Eastern Conference at one point, and watched Tatum make an early ret

Photo: Braden Daley/AP After months of projections, debates, scouting reports, tank-watch drama and suspense, the order is set. The 2026 NBA Draft picture is no longer a guessing game, at least not when it comes to where each team will be picking. Now comes the fun part: figuring out which young star fits best with the franchises hoping to change their future overnight. With the lottery teams locked into place and the No. 1 pick officially belonging to Washington, the clock t

Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award celebrates a unique kind of star—usually a guy who's underrated but changes the course of games without hearing their name in the starting lineup. Some award winners were instant offense, and others became foundational pieces on championship contenders, proving that impact isn’t limited to the staring lineup. But not every Sixth Man carried the same impact. Some winners put up buckets on average teams, while other

Photo: Michael Hickey/GettyImages The NBA Draft Lottery is one of the strangest nights on the league calendar. No games are played, no shots are taken, and yet, the bounce of a few ping-pong balls can alter the future of an entire franchise. That date is soon approaching, and it will determine picks in a class loaded with insane talent. The Wizards, Pacers and Nets own the top odds, but as history has shown, lottery night rarely goes exactly as expected. For every team involv

The NBA Draft is right around the corner, and following another MVP performance from Nikola Jokic, you have to wonder how important it really is to chase high picks when player development, smart scouting, and the right system can turn overlooked talent into the best player in the world. Jokic has set the blueprint for what a second rounder can do, but just how many great talents slid through the cracks on draft night because teams slept on them? Since 1947, every draft class

Photo Credit: Reed Smith/USAToday The 2016 NBA Draft feels close enough to remember clearly, yet just far enough away to judge honestly. The class was led by young prospects with tremendous upside, from franchise saviors to reliable role players. Now, with ten years of NBA evidence in the books, the picture looks very different. Some players became All-Stars, some exceeded every projection, and others notably never quite became what fans hoped they would be. Now we have years