After missing the playoffs in 2023, the Dallas Mavericks reshaped their roster and are one win away from returning to the Western Conference Finals. There were fears that Luka Doncic could request a trade as early as the 2024 offseason if significant improvement didn't occur and those concerns now appear to be put to rest.

Dallas remade their roster over the past 15 months with trades for Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, while also drafting Dereck Lively II and signing Derrick Jones Jr.

"This team is special," Doncic said. "We've only been together for what, five months, and I'm having a lot of fun with this team."

Doncic will be eligible to sign a supermax extension with the Mavericks during the 2025 offseason.

While rival teams are monitoring the potential availability of Donovan Mitchell via trade this offseason, The Athletic reports "there is a growing sentiment around the league" that the Cleveland Cavaliers will sign him to an extension this offseason.

“Donovan is playing for his legacy as a winner; that’s all he wants to do,” one teammate said earlier in the season.

Mitchell is eligible for a four-year extension this offseason worth as much as $208.5 million. Mitchell can become a free agent in 2025 if he doesn't sign an extension. The Cavaliers acquired Mitchell from the Utah Jazz before the 22-23 season where they sent out Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and significant future draft capital. 

The Cavaliers could look different around Mitchell with a potential dismissal of J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach and trade of Darius Garland.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to take multiple days to make a final decision, but the job of J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach is in "serious jeopardy," sources tell The Athletic.

Bickerstaff has been head coach for five-and-a-half years after replacing John Beilein in 2020.

Bickerstaff guided the Cavaliers to a first round series win over the Orlando Magic in seven games before they lost to the Boston Celtics in five games.

Donovan Mitchell reportedly does not have great confidence in Bickerstaff and is not alone in that assessment. Multiple players have questioned the strategies, game management and practice habits of Bickerstaff.

“No one has told me I’m not (the coach), so I’ll keep showing up until they tell me not to,” Bickerstaff said when asked about his job status after Wednesday’s loss.

He added: “We’ve continued to build this thing the right way. Every single year we’ve improved, continued to get better. Play-In, playoffs.”

DeMar DeRozan's three-year contract with the Chicago Bulls is coming to an end. But DeRozan would like to extend that partnership, either via an extension or a new contract as a free agent.

"It's definitely somewhere I'd like to return to," DeRozan told Lou Williams about re-signing with the Bulls. "I think more so than anybody. When the job ain't done with me, Lou, no matter how tough the situation may look, I'm one of those guys that tries to stick it through and try to make something out of nothing."

DeRozan praised both the city and the Bulls organization.

"The city is great, I love the city. The organization been great, so it's definitely a place I'd love to return to and take care of unfinished business," DeRozan said.

Tyrese Maxey has been awarded the Joe Dumars Trophy as the winner of the 2023-24 NBA Sportsmanship Award. Maxey becomes the second player in franchise history to receive the honor, joining Eric Snow in 1999-00.

The annual award is designed to honor a player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court. Each NBA team nominated one of its players for the NBA Sportsmanship Award. From the list of 30 team nominees, a panel of league executives selected one finalist from each of the NBA’s six divisions, and current NBA players selected the winner.

Maxey concluded his fourth NBA campaign in 2023-24 as a top-11 scorer in the league, averaging career highs in points (25.9), assists (6.2), and steals (1.0). He was selected as a first-time NBA All-Star on Feb. 1 and later became the second player in franchise history to be named the league’s Most Improved Player (Dana Barros in 1994-95).
 
Maxey averaged just 1.7 turnovers this season, joining Dallas’ Kyrie Irving (also 2023-24) as the only two players in league history to average at least 25.0 points and 5.0 assists with fewer than 2.0 turnovers for a full campaign.

The Cleveland Cavaliers could break up their backcourt duo this offseason regardless of what Donovan Mitchell decides to do on the four-year, $208.5 million extension they offer him. 

The combination of Mitchell and Darius Garland hasn't succeeded as well as the Cavaliers expected and may have to choose between the two.

Sources tell The Athletic that Garland's agent, Rich Paul, will have a conversation with the Cavaliers about a potential trade if Mitchell decides to sign an extension.

The Cavaliers drafted Garland in 2019 and he became an All-Star in 2022 a few months before they acquired Mitchell. 

The San Antonio Spurs have expressed little interest in trading for Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks, sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo.

The Spurs would be a logical trade partner for the Hawks considering their need for a point guard and their possession of multiple first round picks from Atlanta. 

Multiple figures with knowledge of the situation say any plans from the Spurs to acquire Young are "vastly overstated."

While Young is a very talented offensive player, he has obvious flaws, particularly on defense. Victor Wembanyama, however, could theoretically cover for Young's limitations on defense.

Members of the Cleveland Cavaliers were frustrated by the way Jarrett Allen handled his rib injury, sources told The Athletic.

Allen was elbowed by Franz Wagner in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Magic. The move "pierced" a rib on Allen's right side.

Allen was listed as questionable for every Cavs game after the initial injury, though he was not close to playing.

There was frustration among people in the team that Allen refused an injection to numb the pain and play. 

Evan Mobley's representation cautioned the Cleveland Cavaliers from selecting him with the third pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, sources told The Athletic. Mobley is represented by Thaddeus Foucher and Joe Smith of Wasserman.

Mobley's representation were attempting to get him to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder reportedly made several offers to the Cavs for the third pick. 

With Mobley available for an extension this summer, the two sides now have a healthy relationship.

Caitlin Clark's WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night averaged 2.13 million viewers across ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

That number makes it the most-watched WNBA game since 2001.

The game ranked third for most-watched sporting events on Tuesday, with the Pacers-Knicks leading the way with 4.88 million viewers.

The Mercury-Aces nightcap averaged 464,000 viewers.