Watch the NBA Draft on Sky Sports, from 1am overnight on Thursday night – live on Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Arena
Wednesday 22 June 2022 00:52, UK
A parade in San Francisco to celebrate champions Golden State Warriors on Monday signified the curtain coming down on a wonderful NBA season.
The NBA draft is a few days away, with presumed top-three picks Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero set to take their first steps towards realising their enormous potential. Free agency starts in less than two weeks.
The 2021-22 NBA season is over and the 2022-23 NBA season seems like it's, in many way, already here.
The Warriors are back at the NBA summit. Their win over the Boston Celtics in this season's NBA Finals capped the league's 75th-anniversary celebration and ushered in an offseason that will, as always, start with tons of attention on player movement – or, in some cases, players not moving.
Two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic is eligible to receive a $260 million supermax extension from the Denver Nuggets; it's basically a sure thing that it'll be offered and accepted. Phoenix's Devin Booker and Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns are in line for $210 million extensions, neither of which will be surprises either.
Then there's the class of younger players in line to secure their first post-rookie-contract paydays: Memphis' Ja Morant, Miami's Tyler Herro, New York's RJ Barrett and Cleveland's Darius Garland are just some of the names in that group. So, too, is New Orleans' Zion Williamson, which will be an interesting case since he has been healthy enough to play in only 85 games over his first three pro seasons and is constantly questioned about his conditioning.
The run-up to free agency got a lot more interesting this week with the news that talks between Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets have reached an impasse, with a number of teams monitoring the situation very closely. He still has a player option he can exercise but is expected to test the market as an unrestricted free agent.
Zach LaVine, who is expected to remain with the Chicago Bulls, headlines the class of unrestricted free agents. James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal all have player options for next season, all of them worth between $34 million and $43 million.
And then there's LeBron James, about to enter his 20th season – likely the one where he'll catch Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and become the NBA's all-time scoring leader – and soon to be eligible for a two-year extension with the Los Angeles Lakers that'll be worth nearly $100 million for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
"When we get to that point, we'll see," James said when the Lakers' season ended.
That point isn't here yet. But it's coming.
There are three players who are the clear frontrunners for the No 1 pick in Thursday night's NBA Draft: Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren, Auburn's Jabari Smith and Duke's Paolo Banchero.
Holmgren was wrapping up a multiday visit on Friday with the Orlando Magic, who hold the No 1 pick. The visit is understood to have included meetings, interviews and a dinner with team officials.
Smith, meanwhile, worked out for the Magic last week. Banchero expects to meet with the Magic in the coming days.
Smith also met this week with Oklahoma City, spending parts of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with the team that holds the No 2 pick in Thursday's draft. He worked out for the Thunder as well, and isn't planning any other sessions – meaning he won't train for Houston, which holds the No 3 selection.
Smith said he enjoyed the Thunder workout, but made no secret of his wish to be the top pick.
He said: "It would mean a lot to me. A lot of great players have gone No 1. It would mean the world to me."
There is also discussion of some of the top picks being traded, so it could be one of the most exciting drafts for a long time – and you can watch it live on Sky Sports from 12.30am overnight on Thursday night.
According to the American bookmaker FanDuel Sportsbook, the Warriors are the favourites to win the 2023 title – just ahead of the Celtics.
Brooklyn is the third choice in odds posted immediately after Game 6 of this year's finals ended, followed by Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Clippers – who get Kawhi Leonard back next season. Phoenix, Miami, Philadelphia, Memphis and Dallas round out the top 10 in the odds posted by FanDuel.
Of course, take any prediction right now with a pinch of salt.
When last season ended Brooklyn was the runaway favourite to win the 2022 NBA title. The Nets didn't win a playoff game, getting swept by the Celtics in Round 1.
The second choice by bookmakers after last season was the Los Angeles Lakers. They didn't even make the playoffs and struggled by almost all possible measures.
For the record, the Warriors had top-five odds of winning this year's title by most oddsmakers when last season ended at around 12-1. The Celtics were in the middle of the pack, at around 40-1.
All 30 teams will be in Las Vegas from July 7-17 for the NBA Summer League, which – before the pandemic slowed momentum – was routinely drawing big crowds, and the belief is it'll get back to that again this summer.
Younger players from all of the teams' rosters, including all of the picks from this year's NBA Draft, will be in action for the first time, offering a snapshot of what they can offer to their teams in the coming year.
There are two other smaller events, hosted by the Warriors and the Utah Jazz, before the Vegas league.
Farewell, take foul.
It's expected that at league meetings in Las Vegas next month that owners will approve a new way of adjudicating the oft-maligned "transition take foul" and bring stiffer penalties to such plays starting next season.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month that he's confident the change will be made. It's a topic that the NBA and its competition committee have been studying for several seasons.
The way such fouls have been officiated in the G League since 2018 is this: When a defender commits a take foul, which is one where no play on the ball is made but doesn't rise to the level of a clear path foul, the fouled team retains possession and gets one free throw before play resumes. The clear path foul results in two shots and the ball.
The only teams without head coaches right now are the Utah Jazz and Charlotte Hornets.
It comes after Kenny Atkinson decided to renege on a reported agreement with the Hornets to become their new head coach, instead choosing to stay as an assistant at the Golden State Warriors. A four-year-deal was reported as having been agreed but after further conversations with the organisation, Atkinson decided to stay put.
The Jazz meanwhile, are possibly still reeling after Quin Snyder chose to end his eight-year tenure with the franchise. Utah has asked permission to interview several assistants from around the league but there is no appointment yet imminent.
The Houston guard didn't play this season while the Rockets tried to find a trade partner. It's entirely possible that the same sentence could be used at this time next year.
Wall was selected for the NBA All-Star Game in five consecutive seasons from 2014 through 2018. Since the last of those selections four-and-half seasons ago, he has played in exactly 82 games – the equivalent of one NBA season – while making $150 million in salary.
Wall has accepted his huge $47.4 million option for next season, accepting that no team would have given him remotely close to that after his injury situations – most notably heel surgery that was followed by Achilles surgery – in recent years.
Now it's reported his agent Rich Paul and the Rockets are working to find a resolution to the situation moving forward.
The live basketball continues with WNBA action on Sky Sports this week, subscribe to watch the live games.
