Here are the Montreal Canadiens and NHL news items you may have missed on Thursday.

montreal canadiens news

• With only one goal in eight playoff games, Canadiens sniper Cole Caufield is clearly not satisfied with his offensive output. The 26-year-old American expects much more from himself in the future. [Canadiens]

• Game 1 of the second-round series vs. the Buffalo Sabers was certainly disappointing in terms of the end result, but there were some positives worth discussing in the loss. For example, Caufield and the first line enjoyed their best underlying numbers in 5v5 of the playoffs. [Top 3 Canadiens Positives From Game One]

• File this under ‘predictable’ if you want, but head coach Martin St-Louis is very pleased with the way Nick Suzuki is leading his troops.

Martin St. Louis on Nick Suzuki’s leadership style: “I don’t think I need to compare Suzy to any other captain. To me, everybody leads in their own way. I just know Suzy leads our team. I’m not worried about what other captains are doing, I’m really happy with how she’s done it.…

– Eric Engels (@EricEngels) 7 May 2026

• ICYMI: Suzuki was named a finalist for the Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the forward judged to make the greatest defensive impact. They are considered favorites for the trophy, but more importantly, we have this latest proof that Suzuki has done a great job leading his team by example, both on and off the ice. [Nick Suzuki Selke Bid – Model Of Consistency And Leadership]

• Sabers head coach Lindy Ruff has nothing but respect for Suzuki, even though he doesn’t know the Canadiens captain on a personal level.

Sabers coach Lindy Ruff on Nick Suzuki: pic.twitter.com/W6lLb3nPQo

– Eric Engels (@EricEngels) 7 May 2026

• Another day, another example of Lane Hutson jumping on the ice head first because he’s clearly addicted to all things hockey and probably hates spending any time of his day away from the rink. Classic.

The day after the tough game, Lane Hutson was the first player to take the ice in practice. pic.twitter.com/nEwFnvQs3P

– Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) 7 May 2026

Sportsknot Network

• There is no doubt that the New Jersey Devils should aggressively pursue a top-six winger by dangling the 12th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The NHL’s salary cap will increase by $8.5 million to $104 million this summer. This will open up a lot of room for the 32 NHL GMs to maneuver and make deals. [New Jersey Devils]

• The Washington Capitals had a busy Thursday morning with a few acquisitions. The team signed Theodore Niederbach and Petr Sikora to deals. [Washington Capitals]

• The Anaheim Ducks needed a better effort in Game 2 to get back into their Western Conference second round series against the Vegas Golden Knights. mission accomplished. [Anaheim Ducks]

Mark has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for the Journal Metro, The Athletic, The… More about Mark Dumont

The NBA Board of Governors approved a vote Wednesday to explore the possibility of adding two new expansion franchises specifically in the Las Vegas and Seattle markets, the league announced.

As part of the standard process for exploring expansion, the NBA will evaluate all aspects of each potential market, including hearing proposals from potential ownership groups that want to start an expansion franchise.

As the vote was finalized with NBA governors and stakeholders in New York on Wednesday, Silver addressed the ongoing speculation about what the expansion means for the league as a whole. While Silver was clearly very optimistic about the expansion aspect in his press conference, he also made it clear that nothing is a given when it comes to this topic.

“There’s absolutely a possibility that we may not be able to expand. That’s why we were careful to say ‘explore the process.’ It’s also possible that we may expand into one market and not two. For two, or zero markets,” Silver said.

There is much more to a potential expansion than just the formation of a new franchise, and Silver acknowledged as much in his press conference in New York City on Wednesday afternoon.

In terms of why a level of skepticism still exists for the possibility of a Las Vegas and Seattle expansion, the NBA Commissioner explained that owners would still need to approve the final transaction, and real-world issues that arise could potentially push back the timing of the final expansion.

Silver said, “Why that might not happen, at least standing here today, I don’t see anything in the relatively short-term future of this league that would indicate that there wouldn’t be a lot of interest in those markets and the board would continue to be supportive going forward. I should say, at the right time, it would require three-quarters of the owners supporting it.” “But we will not be moving forward at this step, and in fairness to interested parties, that was one of the reasons we wanted to make this formal announcement, because wherever those prices land, it is a huge undertaking.

“Normally, it’s not just a single owner. It’s a group that requires financing, arena planning, etc. So, where the uncertainty for me lies in the issues outside the league. There is huge instability in the world at the moment, and we may ultimately conclude for reasons completely out of our control that it is not the right time to expand. That is something we should postpone and revisit at a later time.

“That’s really our warning.”

A potential final vote for expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle will be held later this year, which would officially take the league from 30 to 32 teams. In doing so, a team from the Western Conference would move into the Eastern Conference to balance the league at 16 teams on the opposite end.

It is expected that either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Memphis Grizzlies will move east, with the Timberwolves seen as the likely favorite in this scenario.

As the formal expansion process officially begins, further updates on NBA expansion will be provided by Silver and the league office at a later date.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the growing criticism of the league’s 65-game rule following Cade Cunningham’s recent injury, as the debate rages about postseason award eligibility.

Speaking Wednesday, Silver responded to concerns raised by the National Basketball Players Association after Cunningham’s situation sparked a renewed investigation into the policy. This rule, implemented to ensure that players meet minimum participation thresholds for major awards, has faced backlash for potentially disqualifying standout seasons marred by injury.

ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel shared Silver’s comments on X, formerly known as Twitter:

“I’m not willing to say it’s not working. It’s working… I’m not willing to say because there’s a sense of injustice to a player, that the rule doesn’t work.”

The NBPA issued a statement Tuesday criticizing the rule in light of Cunningham’s case:

“Cade Cunningham’s potential ineligibility for postseason awards after a career-defining season is a clear indictment of the 65-game rule and is another example of why it should be eliminated or reformed to make exceptions for significant injuries. Since its implementation, many deserving players have been unfairly disqualified from season-ending honors by this arbitrary and overly harsh quota.”

Cade Cunningham’s award eligibility in jeopardy after injury

Cunningham, 24, has been in the midst of a breakout fifth season with the Detroit Pistons, averaging 24.5 points, a career-high 9.9 assists, 5.6 rebounds and a career-best 1.5 steals per game. He is shooting 46.1% from the field and 34.6% from three-point range in 61 games, logging 34.4 minutes per contest.

His production has played a central role in leading Detroit to the top of the Eastern Conference standings. The Pistons have a record of 52–19 and currently sit as the No. 1 seed as the regular season enters its final stretch.

However, Cunningham’s award eligibility is now in question after he suffered a collapsed lung last Wednesday. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, he is expected to miss an “extended amount of time”, leaving it uncertain whether he will reach the 65-game limit.

The situation has intensified league-wide discussion about balancing player health with awards criteria, as the NBA and NBPA continue to evaluate the long-term effects of the rule.

In a widely expected move, NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that the league is taking steps toward expansion with teams potentially coming to Seattle and Las Vegas. Assuming everything happens, this will lead to an imbalance of teams in the Western Conference. But Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green believes he has the answer.

During a recent episode of ‘The Draymond Green Show,’ Green argued that not only should the Memphis Grizzlies be moved to the Eastern Conference, but they should be completely uprooted and moved to Nashville as a home city.

“Obviously the first consideration is what happens with the conference, the conferences. You have two Western Conference teams coming in, Vegas has to be in the Western Conference, Seattle has to be in the Western Conference,” Green said. “Minnesota should be an Eastern Conference team. No losses, no fouls. Memphis, which should probably be in Nashville, should be an Eastern Conference team.

“Adam, let them just do us all a favor, and move the team to Nashville. No losses, no fouls, transfer fees, it’s a swap. Give up that area, you don’t have to pay a transfer fee. … I think it’s actually a lot easier to rearrange the conferences. But you ask yourself, or do you get rid of the conferences.”

While the Grizzlies moving to Memphis is an entirely different story, only one team would need to move to the Eastern Conference, given that Seattle and Las Vegas are both in the West. After this, there will be a total of 16 teams in each conference. Memphis is slightly further east than the Minnesota Timberwolves, and a potential move to Nashville would make them even further east than some of the teams already in the Eastern Conference.

The New Orleans Pelicans could also be a candidate to move to the Eastern Conference following NBA expansion.

New York – It’s been one battle after another for the Golden State Warriors right now.

The understaffed Warriors, missing more than $190 million in salary due to eight players out due to injury, lost 110-107 to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The loss marked their fifth consecutive loss, their longest of the season, dropping them to 32–35 on the season.

But despite the loss, coach Steve Kerr was proud of his players for the way they defeated players including Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis.

“Couldn’t ask for anything more,” Kerr said. “It’s so much fun to coach these guys. They’re playing so hard together. I just want them to be rewarded for their efforts. And we’ve lost some of them, but we’ll keep fighting [and] Keep
To get better.”

Leading by 21 points at one point, the Warriors took the lead against the Knicks early in the game with Brandin Podziemski and Quinton Post leading the way. Podziemski finished with a team-high 25 points with six assists, while Post collected 22 points on 9 of 16 from the field.

But once New York gave up its complacency, it began imposing its will on the Warriors. They forced the Warriors into nine turnovers in the second quarter, reducing the lead to nine at halftime. And in the third quarter, they bullied the Dubs on the boards, outscoring them 15-to-1 in that period.

Still, Golden State held on until the final minutes, thanks to Gui Santos scoring 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. But with a chance to take the lead with 23.7 seconds remaining, Podziemski hit a 26-foot triple over Jalen Brunson that went in and the Warriors could not recover from there.

Steve Kerr supports Brandin Podziemski’s shot

Podziemski’s missed 3-pointer in transition will be remembered as a big ‘what if’ turning point for the Warriors in crunch time. But whether it was an ill-advised shot or not, in Kerr’s mind, he thought it was a good one to take.

“Felt great,” Kerr said after the game. “I didn’t want to call timeout. I wanted to play in the flow. He had Brunson. He looked like he was going to attack. Brunson backed off. I like that. Take the three, go for the throat.”

Despite this, the Warriors find themselves at their lowest point of the season. Five consecutive losses, barely hanging on to the ninth seed, slipping even further behind the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers, Curry still a long way from a comeback – it feels like it’s do-or-die time for Golden State right now.

But Kerr said that although he is being “beaten” right now, he could not be more proud of the effort he has shown recently.

“I’m just overwhelmed by these people,” Kerr said. “Just their effort, their intensity, their engagement. It’s really beautiful to see. And like I said, we’ll be rewarded for it. We’ll stick with it and keep getting better, and we’ll start winning some of these and getting some guys healthy.”

If the warriors have made any contribution in these defeats, it is their efforts. Effort, hustle, patience and fight. There’s a level of buy-in to this team that you don’t see on most losing teams. So the schedule remains the same for Golden State.

“We have to keep batting,” Santos said after the game. “We just have to keep trying to win games when we don’t have other players, because we know when they come back, we’ll be good.”

LOS ANGELES – Nearly a month after the NBA issued a $100,000 fine to the Indiana Pacers for resting key players in a regular season game, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle offered a vote of confidence on how the NBA will address tanking.

“I have full confidence in Adam Silver,” Carlisle said of the NBA commissioner before Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. “This guy has the secret to being the ultimate leader. He’s really like that. There are really smart people around him. They consider everything very carefully. They never react. They always think things through.”

Carlisle’s positive feelings about the NBA hardly match the way he expressed his feelings about the league last month.

The NBA fined the Pacers on February 3 after they fouled Pascal Siakam, Benedict Mathurin and Aaron Nesmith in a double-digit loss to the Utah Jazz. The Pacers acknowledged they sat Siakam and Mathurin for rest, but they listed Nesmith with a left hand strain. Despite this, the NBA concluded that the Pacers violated the league’s “player participation policy” and all three players could play at least limited minutes. Carlisle also told 107.5 The Fan that the NBA refused to talk to the Pacers’ doctors about Nesmith’s injury. The NBA later invoked Carlisle’s memory. “Wrong.”

Carlisle doesn’t have a direct impact on how the NBA addresses tanking. Last year, Carlisle resigned as president of the National Basketball Coaches Association in favor of Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff. Carlisle also no longer serves on the NBA’s Competition Committee, which proposes rule changes on an annual basis. But with the Pacers (15–47) having the Eastern Conference’s worst record, Carlisle unsurprisingly raised questions about tanking.

“My opinion doesn’t matter. There will be changes based on what I understand from Adam,” Carlisle said. “And they will be carefully considered.”

It remains to be seen how the NBA will consider the policies. The league office has held preliminary conference calls with the respective front offices of the 30 teams. During NBA All-Star weekend, Silver said he would consider punishing teams with the loss of draft picks. When the NBA has held meetings in the past about lottery reform, no one has proposed eliminating the draft. But that idea has not been completely rejected.

But when Carlisle served on the NBA’s competition committee under both former NBA commissioner David Stern and Silver, Carlisle said, “at that particular time, it was determined that a lottery was the best way to move forward.” Since its inception in 1985, the draft lottery has featured lottery odds based on the severity of a team’s record. While that setup doesn’t guarantee a struggling team the top pick, losing teams have a better chance of landing the top draft pick.

The Pacers are in trouble after All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder (49-15) last year. The Utah Jazz have focused on developing players and maximizing lottery odds after trading All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in separate deals during the 2022 offseason. The NBA also fined the Jazz $500,000 for fouling current veterans Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen for the entire fourth quarter against the Orlando Magic (February 7) and Miami Heat (February 9). The Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets have also suffered losing records, but the NBA has not penalized them for the way they managed their rosters.

Despite this, Carlisle strongly disputed that the current system indirectly harms coaches who are managing rosters built to lose.

“It doesn’t hurt Mark Daigneault,” Carlisle said of the former Oklahoma City Thunder coach.

That’s because the Thunder won last year’s NBA title partly by rebuilding through the draft. After trading Paul George to the Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the 2019 offseason, the Thunder have missed the NBA playoffs to finish bottom of the Western Conference for three consecutive seasons (14th in 2021, 14th in 2021).^th 10 in 2022^th In 2023]. During that time, the Thunder have made key first-round draft picks, most notably in 2022. [Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams]. The Detroit Pistons (45-16) ended a six-year playoff drought last season after securing top talent through the draft in 2021 (Cade Cunningham) and 2023 (Aussie Thompson).

“You have the two best teams in the league – one in the East and one in the West who have built their teams almost the same way,” Carlisle said. “I think Daigneault is a great example. He was a G League coach. But he built a relationship in that organization and a partnership. If he built those relationships and you become a real partner, the wins and losses, that’s just my opinion, the win and lose element of it, won’t be that kind of a factor.”

What factors will be included in the NBA’s plans to reform the lottery?

“All of those things will be carefully considered,” Carlisle said. “My job right now is not to think about what changes need to be made. My job is to manage the health of our team, the play of our team and the competitive spirit of our team.”

This was a big topic of conversation. I was on the competition committee at the end of David Stern’s tenure as commissioner and Adam wanted to have me at the beginning of his tenure. It was a hearty topic of conversation. At that particular time through all of this, it was determined that the lottery was the best way to move forward.

Mark Medina is an NBA contributor for SportsNut. follow him x, blue sky, Instagram, Facebook And threads.

NBA Insider for Sportsknot. Former NBA writer for NBA.com and USA TODAY, Warriors writer for The Mercury News, Lakers… More about Mark Medina

NBA 总裁亚当·萧华和联盟办公室正在为 2026-27 赛季制定新的反坦克规则。除了在二月份全明星周末后就这个问题联系了联盟所有 30 名总经理之外，萧华还谈到了整个联盟陷入困境的想法以及他计划在周五采取什么措施。

据 The Athletic 的迈克·沃尔库诺夫 (Mike Vorkunov) 和贾里德·韦斯 (Jared Weiss) 报道，周五上午，西尔弗在波士顿举行的麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院体育分析会议上表示：“我们将在明年做出重大改变。” “一方面，你可以将选秀与球队的记录完全分开……这将对系统产生重大冲击。不能完全预测我们的发展方向，但我是一个渐进主义者。”

在与联盟理事会、竞赛委员会和总经理的对话中，萧华和 NBA 已经开始讨论一些结束糟糕表现的概念。

对话中讨论的一些变化包括修改选秀权保护的运作方式、在赛季的特定日期冻结乐透赔率、消除球队连续几年获得前四顺位选秀权的可能性、根据两年窗口分配乐透赔率、压平所有球队的赔率等。

萧华周五在波士顿提出并讨论的这个新概念肯定会是一个“实质性的改变”，因为首轮选秀权将不再由所有 30 支球队的最终排名决定。从本质上讲，这将使坦克变得无关紧要，因为试图通过输掉比赛来获得更好的选秀权将不再相关。

目前还不清楚联盟的反坦克规则到底会发生什么变化。萧华只是简单地介绍了正在讨论的一些话题以及 2026-27 赛季之前可能出现的争论。

亚当·萧华 (Adam Silver)，NBA 已对坦克施以处罚

虽然联盟继续评估困境和需要做出的改变，萧华确实认识到那些正在重建的组织和那些已经在本赛季认输的组织之间存在着差异。

NBA不想惩罚那些在赛季后期让年轻球员上场的球队，而是阻止球队为了输球而关闭多名球员。

正是因为这个原因，印第安纳步行者队和犹他爵士队都受到了巨额罚款。

步行者队因不让独立医生认为健康的球员缺席而被罚款 10 万美元，而爵士队却因“有损联盟的行为”而被处以 50 万美元的罚款。

犹他州队在2月7日和2月9日分别对阵奥兰多魔术队和迈阿密热火队的比赛中，在第四节之前将劳里·马尔卡宁和小贾伦·杰克逊等明星球员从比赛中除名，并且在比赛的最后12分钟，两名球员都没有重返比赛。

经审查，NBA表示两名球员都能够继续比赛，但爵士队决定将他们撤下而不让他们回归，联盟认为爵士队是故意输球。最终，爵士队在领先7分进入第四节后以120-117输给魔术队，但爵士队在第四节没有马尔卡宁和杰克逊上场的情况下以115-111击败热火队。

周五，西尔弗承认，他更担心今年坦克的道德转变，据韦斯称，由于他所说的今年六月有希望的选秀的“完美风暴”，以及接下来几年天赋较差的选秀。

“某些行为受到了去污名化，我认为这是一个更广泛的社会问题。我认为在社会的其他方面，护栏已经有点脱落了。”

在一年一度的全明星周末新闻发布会上，萧华表示，2025-26 NBA 赛季的低迷状况比近期记忆中的“更糟糕”，联盟将考虑“一切可能的补救措施”来解决当前选秀和乐透制度中存在的问题。

因此，在2026-27赛季7月正式开始之前，萧华和NBA将在未来几个月花费大量时间实施新的改变。

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league office are in the process of developing new anti-tanking rules for the 2026-27 season. In addition to contacting all 30 general managers in the league about the issue after the All-Star break in February, Silver talked about the idea of ​​tanking throughout the league and what he plans to do about it on Friday.

“We’re going to make substantial changes for next year,” Silver said at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston on Friday morning, per Mike Vorkunov and Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “On the one hand, you could completely separate the draft from teams’ records… That would be a huge shock to the system. We can’t completely predict where we’re going to go, but I’m an incrementalist.”

In conversations with the Board of Governors, Competition Committee and league general managers, Silver and the NBA have begun discussing several concepts to end tanking.

Some of the changes discussed in talks include modifying the way pick protection works, freezing lottery odds on a specific date in the season, eliminating the possibility of teams receiving the top four picks in consecutive years, allocating lottery odds based on a two-year window, leveling the odds for all teams, etc.

This new concept, proposed and discussed by Silver in Boston on Friday, would certainly be a “substantial change,” as first-round draft picks would no longer be determined by where all 30 teams finish in the final standings. Essentially, this will make tanking irrelevant as trying to lose games to get a better draft pick will no longer be relevant.

At this time, it’s unclear what exactly the league’s anti-tanking rules will change. Silver was simply giving a glimpse of what some of the topics being discussed are and what scrimmages may be on the horizon ahead of the 2026-27 season.

Adam Silver, the NBA is already punishing tanking

While the league continues to evaluate the tanking scenario and changes that need to be made, Silver acknowledged there is a difference between organizations that are rebuilding and those that have already lost a season.

The NBA does not want to punish teams for playing their young players late in the season, but rather wants to prevent teams from signing out too many players with the intention of losing.

The Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz both received heavy fines for the same reason.

While the Pacers were fined $100,000 for violating the player participation policy by excluding players deemed healthy by an independent physician, the Jazz were fined $500,000 for “conduct detrimental to the league.”

Utah removed star talents such as Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. from their games against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat on February 7 and February 9, respectively, before the fourth quarter, and neither player returned for the final 12 minutes of the game.

Upon review, the NBA stated that both players were able to continue playing, but the Jazz decided not to reinstate them, leading the league to believe that the Jazz were intentionally trying to lose. Ultimately, the Jazz lost to the Magic 120–117 after blowing a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Utah actually defeated the Heat 115–111 without Markkanen and Jackson playing in the fourth.

On Friday, Silver acknowledged that he’s more concerned about the moral changes in tanking this year due to what he called the “perfect storm” of a promising draft this June, which will be followed by less-talented draftees over the next few years, according to Weiss.

“There’s been a stigma around certain behaviors, and I think that’s a broader societal issue. I think in other aspects of society, the guardrails have come down a little bit.”

During his annual All-Star Weekend press conference, Silver said that tanking during the 2025–26 NBA season is “worse” than ever in recent memory and that the league will consider “every possible measure” to fix the problems that exist within the current draft and lottery system.

As a result, Silver and the NBA will spend much of the next few months implementing the new changes before the 2026-27 season officially begins in July.

It’s hard to maintain the “element of surprise” after enduring a tough 82-game season. At a certain point, opponents know what to expect and how to counter different parts of the team’s plan. While the rest of the NBA should be aware of the many ways the New York Knicks’ offense can thrive, there may be one asset that can confuse teams going forward.

All-Star Jalen Brunson scored just 16 points while shooting 5 of 18 from the field and 2 of 5 from distance in a 103-100 loss to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Despite these modest numbers, the Villanova product was able to impact the game with his passing. He collected 15 assists on the night, and showed another way he can lead the attack.

Brunson’s status as a leading scorer will be as important as ever, but his ability to facilitate and set up teammates can turn lackluster nights into serviceable nights, and potentially make elite evenings part of a story that ends with a parade.

Knicks head coach Mike Brown told reporters after the game, “Good basketball game. I thought our guys, they could have turned it around at any time.” “We were down by double digits. I liked our competitive spirit.”

Jalen Brunson’s identity focuses on scoring

Must be stated clearly. The Knicks are at their best when Brunson is one of the team’s leading scorers. In 58 games this season, Brunson is averaging 26.5 points while shooting nearly 47 percent from the field and nearly 38 percent from distance.

Brunson can usually score with ease from all three levels, but he struggled to do so against the Thunder. They scored only two points in the first half and only three points in the last quarter. One of the guard’s key misses occurred late in the fourth quarter when he missed a three-pointer that would have tied the contest.

“I feel like I missed a lot of shots that I would normally take,” Brunson told Jared Schwartz of the New York Post.

If the 29-year-old had put more points on the board when making key passes, it’s possible the Knicks would have defeated Oklahoma City and re-established their identity as an NBA Finals contender.

Jalen Brunson’s demise could help Knicks win ugly games

Any team worth its salt would love to be firing on all cylinders every night, but playoff basketball often demands that teams find different ways to win when things don’t go according to plan.

If Brunson were to experience a poor shooting night during the tournament, his passing could be a skill that could allow the Knicks to steal a game they might otherwise lose. Teammates like OG Anunoby, Landry Shamet, Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns can score in a variety of ways. Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander highlighted the Knicks’ overall firepower after running away from Madison Square Garden with a win.

“Good team. Obviously, a good attack, then they also have really good defenders, so they’re well balanced,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after the contest. “They’re obviously on top of the East for a reason. They’re a good team, a playoff team. Really good roster.”

Even if Brunson stumbles, others could pick up the slack and take advantage of the New Jersey native’s demise. While this isn’t the ideal path to victory for New York, it does provide another reason to be optimistic about a team whose results have been shaky for much of the campaign.

There is no way around it. This is the worst possible time for the Chicago Bulls. On Thursday, they finished February without a win, losing to the Portland Trail Blazers 121–112.

The Bulls’ losing streak stands at 11, and they are five games shy of the franchise record of 16 set in 2001.

On Friday, former Bulls player turned analyst Stacey King made a bold request to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on his Gimme the Hot Sauce podcast. He is asking the Bulls to acquire the No. 1 draft pick before the lottery.

“It’s time to make Chicago basketball relevant again,” he said.

Stacey urges Adam Silver to bless the Chicago Bulls with the #1 pick in the draft😉⬆️

“It’s time to make Chicago basketball relevant again”

🎙️:https://t.co/LPxfvRzPIG pic.twitter.com/0Oxik6VAi6

– Gimme the Hot Sauce Podcast (@gimmehotsauce21) 27 February 2026

Chicago is now 24-36 after the loss to the Trail Blazers. On Sunday, they’ll kick off March by taking on the Milwaukee Bucks at home. Then, next Tuesday they will play at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Recently, there has been speculation that Chicago is focusing on sports in order to be in a position to secure higher draft picks. However, Matas Buzelis completely rejected those claims and said that the Bulls are playing to win.

Recently, the NBA has been taking steps to combat tanking. Chicago is adjusting to a new roster dynamic after making seven trades that sent out Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Nikola Vucevic and Kevin Huerter.

King is best known for playing for Chicago during the teams first three-peat from 1991 to 1993. Overall, he played in Chicago from 1989 to 1994.

Since 2007, he has become a popular analyst for the franchise. He is currently working for Chicago Sports Network. Additionally, King is the co-host of the popular Gimme the Hot Sauce podcast.

The topic of NBA teams tanking has been a constant topic of discussion for the past few weeks, but it was uncertain whether the league would do anything about it. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, it looks like NBA commissioner Adam Silver has stepped in, and he plans to set some new rules for next season regarding anti-tanking.

“Commissioner Adam Silver informed the league’s 30 general managers on Thursday that the NBA is planning to make changes to the anti-tanking rule for next season, sources told ESPN. Stakeholders have stepped up conversations about how to deal with tanking,” Charania, formerly of the X, wrote on Twitter.

During the meeting, several topics were discussed on ways to curb tanking, including first-round picks being protected only in the top-4 or top-14+, lottery chances being frozen at the trade deadline or at a later date, a team no longer being allowed to pick a top-4 pick in consecutive years and/or after consecutive bottom-3 finishes, teams not being able to pick a top-4 the following year after making the conference finals, two years The lottery has been expanded to include all play-in teams, and the odds have been leveled for everyone. All Lottery Teams.

Over the past few weeks, teams like the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers were fined. The Jazz were fined after sitting Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen in the fourth quarter of two games, and the Pacers were fined after sitting Pascal Siakam in their game against the Utah Jazz after the league learned he could play.

Benedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell were also fit to play in the game but sat out.

There have been other situations throughout the league where some people suspected some type of tanking was taking place. Anthony Davis will likely miss the remainder of the season for the Washington Wizards, and Trae Young will likely be on that list.

Meanwhile, for the Sacramento Kings, both Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis have been shut down for the remainder of the season.

小邁克爾波特 (Michael Porter Jr.) 擔心他的 NBA 職業生涯在開始之前就已經結束了。由於背傷缺席了整個新秀賽季，這位當時的丹佛金塊隊前鋒在 2019 年休賽期的 NBA 球員峰會上犯了一個他認為致命的錯誤。

波特在一次會議期間不小心在他的 Snapchat 故事中發布了 NBA 總裁亞當蕭華的電話號碼。聯盟並沒有善待他的愚蠢錯誤。

「老實說，我以為我要退出 NBA，」波特在《老人與三人組》播客上說道。 「他們把我拉進辦公室，問我，『你洩漏了亞當·西爾弗的電話號碼？』我說，『什麼？ 「我檢查了我的 Snapchat 故事，發現它有 500 張螢幕截圖。我當時想，「哦，天啊。 「所以我想我會被踢出聯盟。所以我想，『拜託，我會上台道歉。』所以他們讓我走到所有這些人面前，天哪，那確實是我一生中最尷尬的時刻。”

「我以為我要被踢出NBA了！」— MPJ 談到他在 Snapchat 上洩露 Adam Silver 的電話號碼並不得不道歉 💀 pic.twitter.com/rVgTivjm7T

— TheOldManAndTheThree (@OldManAndThree) 2026 年 2 月 5 日

值得慶幸的是，波特的道歉就足夠了，聯盟沒有驅逐他。

籃網隊前鋒小邁克爾·波特在經歷了職業生涯早期的多次恐慌後取得了成功

儘管困難重重，這位 27 歲的球員還是開創了非常成功的 NBA 職業生涯。由於背部受傷需要手術，波特在選秀中落到第14順位，在金塊選中他後，波特又接受了兩次手術。然而，他近年來恢復了健康，在過去四個賽季的大部分時間裡都保持著可用狀態和效率。

波特在金塊隊 2023 年奪冠期間發揮了關鍵作用。在為球隊效力的最後三個賽季中，他參加了 246 場常規賽中的 220 場比賽，場均得到 17.4 分，投籃命中率為 0.492/0.401/0.795。

這位身高 6 英尺 10 的神槍手在被交易到布魯克林籃網隊後，打出了本賽季最令人印象深刻的一個賽季。

波特場均貢獻 25.0 分、7.2 個籃板和 3.2 次助攻，投籃命中率為 0.474/0.385/0.853。他是場均得分超過 25 分、真實命中率達到 60 或更高的 15其他球員之一，其他球員包括尼古拉·約基奇、謝伊·吉爾吉斯-亞歷山大、揚尼斯·阿德托昆博、史蒂芬·庫裡、安東尼·愛德華茲、盧卡·東契奇、凱文·杜蘭特、多諾萬·米切爾、科懷·倫納德、詹姆斯·哈登、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·恩比德、勞瑞·阿里爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·恩比德、勞裡·馬裡爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·丹尼恩比德、勞裡·馬裡爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·丹尼恩比德、勞裡·馬裡爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·丹尼恩比德、勞裡·馬裡爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·丹尼恩比德、勞裡·馬裡爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·丹尼恩比德、勞裡·馬裡爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·丹尼恩比德、勞裡·馬裡爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·丹尼恩比德、勞裡·馬裡爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·恩比德、勞裡·阿里爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·恩比德、勞瑞·阿里爾、賈馬爾·穆雷、喬爾·恩比德、勞瑞·阿里爾、李里夫和里達。

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been a topic of discussion in the NBA for the past few weeks due to the possibility that he could be traded. Once reports surfaced that he was staying put, Antetokounmpo expressed his joy on social media and said he did not want to be traded. After that, Antetokounmpo shared with the world that he had invested in Kalashi, a site that allows people to buy and trade predictions.

This raised eyebrows, especially since the NBA has come down hard on players who place bets.

During All-Star Weekend, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talked about Antetokounmpo’s involvement in the foul and basically said it was no big deal.

“As far as I know, it’s a modest investment, much smaller than 1%,” Silver said. “It does not violate the rules that govern how we bargain collectively with the players’ union. Obviously, it’s an issue I’m paying a lot of attention to. It’s rapidly evolving. We’re currently looking at prediction markets essentially the same way we’re looking at sports betting.”

Adam Silver discusses Giannis’ investment and the state of sports betting in the NBA with Kalshi. pic.twitter.com/chX3NPjsro

– Sportico (@Sportico) 14 February 2026

If Silver and the NBA prediction markets are looking alike, there should be cause for concern that Antetokounmpo is invested in Kalushi, regardless of how much he has invested in the company.

Although Kalshi is not considered a betting site, as more people start using it, it could become a much bigger site than expected. With a name like Antetokounmpo co-signing, there’s no question that sports fans will start using this platform, and that’s all it will take to promote it.

This might be a good time for the NBA to step up, but so far it doesn’t look like they’re planning on doing anything. Due to this, other players can also invest in the company, and then you will face a big problem.

One of the biggest talking points in the NBA in recent weeks has been the league’s rampant tanking issue, with teams like the Utah Jazz routinely benching starters to increase their lottery odds. The NBA has tried to address this issue in recent seasons by reducing lottery odds and implementing fines, but clearly, more work needs to be done to meet fan expectations.

Recently, NBA insider Joe Warden of The Athletic reported on a proposed idea that would see the league eliminate the draft altogether and essentially make incoming rookies free agents.

“There were several meetings this week among league officials to discuss tanking measures, and about 10 solutions were discussed, not one of which included the complete elimination of the rookie draft,” Vardon reported.

However, this does not mean that it will not be possible to move forward if things continue in this direction.

“…If (Adam) Silver and his advisors decide the only way to stop tanking…is to stop the draft altogether and turn rookies into free agents, the same league official said it would be seriously considered.”

Meanwhile, NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the league’s tanking issue during his media availability at All-Star weekend in Los Angeles.

He said, “I think talking to GMs and coaches around the league shows that perhaps our records show even more parity. And that goes back to the incentive issue. … It’s a little confusing.”

It is unlikely that any solution exists that will be able to completely satisfy all parties involved, but there is clearly an issue when teams are routinely pulling their starters from games in a blatant attempt to make up for losing.

It remains to be seen how the NBA will address this issue in future seasons.