Latest news with #MarvinBagleyIII
New York Times
13-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The Sacramento Kings' hard luck continues in NBA Draft Lottery
The NBA Draft Lottery is filled with a collection of what-ifs for the Sacramento Kings. As for luck in the lottery, it's been rare. The Kings have been in the lottery every year except one since 2007 and have only moved up from their position twice — in 2018 and 2022. Keegan Murray was the fourth pick in 2022. He hasn't become the star the team and fans hoped he'd be, but he's at least a rotation player in the NBA. Advertisement Don't even mention 2018 in Sacramento. The Kings drafted Marvin Bagley III second ahead of Luka Dončić, who was selected third by the Atlanta Hawks and then traded to the Dallas Mavericks. It was a move that kept Sacramento mired in losing. What happened on Monday was like a cruel prank played on the franchise. The odds were against the Kings having a pick in the lottery this year. They needed to be in the top 12 to keep their pick, or it would go to the Atlanta Hawks from their summer 2022 deal that landed Kevin Huerter, who slumped after a good first season and was traded to thee Chicago Bulls this past February. Sacramento had only a 3.8 percent chance of moving into the top four and a 0.8 percent chance of picking first during Monday's lottery. Neither happened. Dallas, which finished 10th place in the Western Conference and a game behind the Kings in the standings, won the lottery. Dallas, which blew out the Kings in Sacramento in a Play-In Tournament game, had a 1.8 percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick. The Mavericks are now in position to add Cooper Flagg to a team that already has Anthony Davis and will have Kyrie Irving returning from an ACL injury at some point next season. Making it worse, one of the only lottery picks the Kings have gotten right in nearly 20 years — De'Aaron Fox — was traded to San Antonio in February. The Spurs, who did not give up this year's draft pick in the deal, just saw their team get better. Fox already is teammates with the last two Rookie of the Year award recipients, Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, and he soon will be joined by the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft. We all knew that the Sacramento Kings probably wouldn't have a draft pick when we woke up this morning. This is arguably worst case scenario for the Kings. The team who they traded De'Aaron Fox to has the 2nd pick, and the Dallas Mavericks get the top pick with 1 less win. — Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) May 12, 2025 That doesn't even include Sacramento's 2020 lottery pick, Tyrese Haliburton, being on the verge of reaching the Eastern Conference finals again with the Indiana Pacers. Even Davion Mitchell, a 2021 Kings lottery pick, helped the Miami Heat make the playoffs. A little bit of luck would have gone a long way in Sacramento, which didn't bank on being in this position a couple of years ago. The Kings were the darlings of the NBA in 2023 after ending a 16-year playoff drought and finishing third in the Western Conference before losing in the first round to the Golden State Warriors in seven games. Advertisement Monte McNair, the 2023 NBA Executive of the Year, and Mike Brown, the 2023 Coach of the Year, are both gone. New general manager Scott Perry and coach Doug Christie are in their place after Christie had the interim tag removed following this season. Kings fans are a resilient bunch. They've stuck by the team during multiple relocation scares and an impressive list of future Hall of Famers passed on in the lottery. It started in 2009 with Tyreke Evans over Stephen Curry. Evans won Rookie of the Year, but he never became a star. Sacramento passed on Klay Thompson and Kawhi Leonard in 2011 for Jimmer Fredette. The Kings passed on Damian Lillard in 2012 in favor of Thomas Robinson. They drafted Ben McLemore in 2013 only to see Giannis Antetokounmpo selected eight picks later. Devin Booker would have made sense in 2015, but the Kings drafted a center, Willie Cauley-Stein, to go with their All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins. And they failed to build around Cousins, eventually trading him in 2017 after making him the fifth pick in 2010. Haliburton became an All-Star with the Pacers, but that seemed fine given the Kings got an All-Star in Domantas Sabonis in a 2022 trade. Sabonis is still with the Kings, but Sacramento is in transition — again. Christie is beloved in Sacramento. He was part of the city's best basketball with coach Rick Adelman, leading the program to multiple winning records as a player and within a game of the NBA Finals in 2002. But it's harder to lean on nostalgia as nights like Monday have piled up for nearly two decades. It was another evening of bad luck, which has become the norm for Sacramento in the lottery.
New York Times
13-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
A tiebreaker cost the Bulls a shot at Cooper Flagg. What's next for Chicago?
Long-suffering Chicago Bulls fans might have felt a gnawing feeling during the NBA Draft Lottery. While conspiracy theorists were busy concocting arguments for why the Dallas Mavericks, with only a 1.8 percent chance, landed the No. 1 pick and the opportunity to draft star Cooper Flagg, a different cloud hung over Chicago. Advertisement The Mavericks won the lottery Monday night only after winning the draft-order tiebreaker over the Bulls last month. A random drawing, performed by NBA president of league operations Byron Spruell at the league office in Secaucus, N.J., gave Dallas 0.1 percent chance more than Chicago to land the winning ping-pong ball numbers. That minuscule percentage made all the difference between the Bulls welcoming a generational talent and scouring the back end of the lottery for good value. The Bulls own the 12th selection in the draft, remaining in their most likely landing spot. Chicago had only an 8 percent chance of moving into the top four selections. After finishing with an identical 39-43 regular-season record, Dallas had just an 8.5 percent chance of cracking the top four. It's the second time in seven years that a draft-order tiebreaker has delivered horrendous luck to the Bulls. In 2018, the Bulls won the draft-order tiebreaker over the Sacramento Kings. It put Chicago in the sixth position and Sacramento in seventh, but the Kings moved up to the No. 2 pick during that year's lottery. Kings fans still can't believe they took Marvin Bagley III over Luka Dončić, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Trae Young. Meanwhile, the Bulls drafted Wendell Carter Jr. with the seventh selection. The Bulls also won draft-order tiebreakers from 2021 to 2023. They drafted Dalen Terry 18th in 2022, but their first-round selections in 2021 and 2023 conveyed to the Orlando Magic as compensation for the Nikola Vučević trade. 'I have full confidence in our staff regardless of where we're picking,' Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas said at his season-ending news conference. 'I think we can always find value.' This year's Bulls first-round draft pick took a pit stop with the San Antonio Spurs. Chicago traded the pick as part of a package to acquire DeMar DeRozan in 2021. The Bulls then recouped the pick in this year's three-team trade that sent Zach LaVine to the Kings and De'Aaron Fox to the Spurs. Advertisement Now, the Bulls are banking on adding another quality player to a core that consists of Coby White, Josh Giddey, Ayo Dosunmu, Lonzo Ball, Matas Buzelis, Patrick Williams and Vučević. It's a suddenly revamped roster that sorely needs a star after the Bulls traded DeRozan to the Kings last summer. But with minimal draft capital and salary-cap space and few trade chips, the Bulls are emphasizing internal development. They still believe they can develop a star from within. 'We're always going to be looking at how to improve this roster by adding a high-caliber player,' Karnišovas said. 'At the same time, I would not put any limitations on this roster or on the way Coby's been playing or the way Josh has been playing. Those players have a chance of playing at a very high level.' White, 25, emerged as the team's leading scorer this season following LaVine's in-season trade. White averaged a career-high 20.4 points. Giddey averaged 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists in 19 games after the All-Star break. 'There's a lot to like about this young roster,' Karnišovas said. 'They showed it the second half of the season. We're going to try to add pieces and get better for next year.' Buzelis, the 11th pick in last year's draft, represents the value Chicago looks to find with the 12th pick. Buzelis got better as the season went on and averaged 13 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 27 games after the All-Star break. 'Watching what Matas has done and his progression through the year, that gives you hope,' Karnišovas said. Vučević is a candidate to be traded this summer, which could prompt the Bulls to search for size in the draft. Big men who project to be available at No. 12 include 7-foot-2 Khaman Maluach out of Duke, 6-10 Thomas Sorber out of Georgetown and 7-foot Danny Wolf out of Michigan. Advertisement The Bulls also need an influx of defenders, regardless of position. Dosunmu and Ball are their most reliable defenders, while Williams is the team's best option against big wing scorers. 'Obviously this group knows that expectations are going to be higher next year,' Karnišovas said, 'and I think they're going to be ready for it.' (Photo of Matas Buzelis: Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images)
New York Times
20-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NBA playoffs results and takeaways: Thunder stifle Grizzlies in 51-point rout
Oklahoma City had the best record in the NBA this season, and the Thunder showed why in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against Memphis on Sunday. The Thunder opened the second quarter with a 19-2 run, turning a solid lead into a runaway. By the end of the half, OKC's edge had ballooned to 68-36, and by the end of the third it was 112-63 — and it was only that close because Marvin Bagley III drilled a half-court buzzer-beater. The final period was garbage time, with the Thunder cruising to a 131-80 victory. It was the largest margin of victory in a Game 1 in NBA playoff history, and the fifth-largest margin in any playoff game. Perhaps most impressive about the Thunder's dominance was the relative lack of impact by OKC star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had a season-low 15 points on 4-for-13 shooting. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points per game in the regular season. In other action Sunday, the Magic visit the Celtics (live now on ABC), the Cavaliers play host to the Heat (7 p.m. ET on TNT), and the Rockets take on the Warriors (9:30 p.m. ET on TNT). Advertisement If there were any questions whether Oklahoma City's dominant regular season would translate to the postseason, the Thunder delivered a near-historic performance in Game 1, putting the league on notice of exactly how loaded and lethal they could be in these playoffs. Oklahoma City led by as many as 56 points, nearly setting an NBA record for the largest margin of victory in a playoff game. The Denver Nuggets in 2009 and the Minneapolis Lakers in 1956 each won playoff games by 58 points. The Thunder's +12.9 point differential in the regular season set an NBA record. The Thunder led by 32 points at halftime, holding the Grizzlies to 33% shooting at that juncture, and just 34% for the game. Six Thunder players scored in double digits, led by Aaron Wiggins' 21 points off the bench. Oklahoma City shot 50% and outscored the Grizzlies 27-5 in fast-break points. The Thunder forced Grizzlies star Ja Morant into being a passer and perimeter shooter, holding him to 17 points on 6-for-17 shooting and 1-for-6 on 3-pointers. Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. was held to four points and three rebounds on 2-for-13 shooting. — Darnell Mayberry There are a variety of words one can use to describe the Grizzlies' performance in Game 1 of their first-round series against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. Ugly. Embarrassing. Uninspired. Nauseating. Regardless of how you choose to describe it, it'll go down as one of the most lopsided playoff losses in NBA history. There is no doubt that the Grizzlies were put in an awful position having to play the best team in the league just 36 hours after making it out of the Play-In Tournament, all while star point guard Morant is still recovering from a severe right ankle sprain he suffered early in the week. Advertisement While that might be true, this was still an inexcusable lack of effort and focus from a Memphis team that at one point earlier this season looked like a potential threat to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference. Coming out of this one, there aren't any positive takeaways. There aren't any silver linings. The only solace Memphis can take as it leaves Paycom Center is that this will only count as one loss and it will have a chance to respond with a better effort in Game 2 on Tuesday night. The biggest test coming away from a game like this is if the Grizzlies can muster enough belief in themselves to keep fighting the rest of this series or if it only took one game for the Thunder to snatch away their confidence. The next 48 hours will be one of the most difficult challenges Morant, Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane have experienced during their time in a Grizzlies uniform. — Will Guillory (Photo of Cason Wallace and Isaiah Hartenstein (55): Alonzo Adams / Imagn Images)
CBS News
13-04-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Grizzlies dominate Mavericks 132-97 in regular-season finale
Lamar Stevens scored a career-high 31 points, Marvin Bagley III had 25 points and 11 rebounds and the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Dallas Mavericks 132-97 on Sunday in the team's regular-season finale. Both the Grizzles and Mavericks will play in the Western Conference play-in tournament. So, with both teams' positions pretty well set — Memphis at No. 8 and Dallas at No. 10 — many of the starters sat out with soreness, injury recovery or rest. That left Sunday's game as a contest between bench players. Cam Spencer scored 23 points and Jay Huff had 22 for Memphis. Daniel Gafford led the Mavericks with 20 points and seven rebounds. Jaden Hardy scored 17 points and Max Christie finished with 14 points. Memphis increased the lead to 23 points in the second quarter, but Dallas scored the final 10 points of the half to cut the Mavericks' deficit to 67-54. Gafford scored 18 points, missing on one of his eight shots. Mavericks: Dallas struggled down the stretch, losing four of its last five. Grizzlies: With major players such as Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane taking the game off, Memphis gave its reserves extended playing time. Diminutive Memphis backup guard Yuki Kawamura had a pair of spectacular assists in the second quarter. He grabbed a turnover by Dallas and flipped it overhead to a streaking Bagley for a dunk. A couple of minutes later, with Memphis on the break, he dropped a bounce pass between his legs to a trailing Spencer for a 3-pointer. Memphis outscored Dallas 65-43 after halftime to break the game open. Dallas is the No. 10 seed and will play at No. 9 Sacramento on Wednesday night. The winner will then have to beat the loser of the Golden State-Memphis game to face top-seeded Oklahoma City in the first round. The No. 8 Grizzlies will be on the road Tuesday night to face the No. 7 Warriors.
