Basketball Wiretap

The Milwaukee Bucks are expected to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo before the NBA Draft on June 23, according to Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

The team is operating as if it will receive an extra first-round pick in addition to the current No. 10 pick. 

The Bucks also prefer waiting until after the NBA Finals to trade Antetokounmpo as they want to see if the Knicks blow a 2-0 Finals lead and re-enter trade discussions.

The Heat are said to be on top of Antetokounmpo's list of destinations, though the Celtics are also in play.

The Bucks are looking to include the Blazers in any multi-team deal to reacquire draft capital from the Damian Lillard trade before the 2023-24 season. 

LeBron James prefers to return to the Los Angeles Lakers next season, according to Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

The Warriors also remain interested in adding James to their core of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler. The team could offer the possibility of James commuting from Los Angeles to some degree. 

Both destinations would almost certainly require James to take a pay cut from his $52.6 million deal from last season.

The Cavs are unlikely to be in play for James due to financial constraints and the requirement of James moving out of Los Angeles.

James averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists last year. 

The Charlotte Hornets are looking to add size to their frontcourt. That's led them to have trade talks with the Sacramento Kings centered around big man Domantas Sabonis.

The Hornets have a large amount of expiring salary that they could send to the Kings in a potential trade. However, Sacramento is reportedly looking to add one of Charlottes first-round picks in the 2026 NBA Draft. The Hornets hold the Nos. 14 and 18 picks in the draft and aren't looking to move either pick in a deal for Sabonis.

This could be a situation where the two teams reengage after the draft. Sabonis has been termed as the most likely to move of Sacramento's veterans. The Kings have received interest in the 30-year-old big man dating back to last season's trade deadline. Sabonis is owed $45.5 million for the 2026-27 season, followed by $48.6 million in 2027-28.

Portland Trail Blazers acting coach Tiago Splitter, Atlanta Hawks assistant Ryan Schmidt, and Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori are among the finalists for the Chicago Bulls head coach position, sources told Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

Candidates are meeting the Bulls for in-person interviews this week.

Current Bulls assistant Wes Unseld Jr. is also a finalist, with Unseld possibly remaining on the staff should they hire an outside candidate.

Nori and Splitter are also finalists for the Blazers head coach job. 

The Charlotte Hornets are expected to make Miles Bridges available in trade discussions, sources told Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

The team discussed deals for Bridges at the trade deadline, though there could be a wider market now as Bridges is entering the final year of his deal worth $22.8 million.

The 28-year-old averaged 17.1 points and 5.8 rebounds last season. 

Victor Wembanyama will not receive a flagrant foul for shoving Jalen Brunson in Game 3 of the San Antonio Spurs' win over the New York Knicks.

Wembanyama will remain at two flagrant foul points, with an automatic suspension coming at the four point mark.

No foul was called on the play, which occurred at the 4:44 mark in the first quarter.

NBA senior vice president of referee development and training Monty McCutchen admitted that a foul should have been called on Wembanyama.

Stephon Castle steered himself to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2024 NBA Draft, deliberately sending signals to the Houston Rockets that he preferred to not be drafted by the team despite strong interest from coach Ime Udoka.

Castle, the 2025 Rookie of the Year, declined private workouts with teams he viewed as poor fits, Houston among them. Udoka, a former Spurs assistant, was a noted admirer of the UConn product. But with veteran Fred VanVleet at point guard and Jalen Green at shooting guard, Castle and his camp guided the Rockets toward other options. Houston took Reed Sheppard out of Kentucky at No. 3.

Zaccharie Risacher went to Atlanta at No. 1 and Alex Sarr to Washington at No. 2 before San Antonio selected Castle fourth overall.

"I think being (in San Antonio) was always number one on my list," said Castle. "Internally, I always felt like I was the best player in that draft. (But) I didn't know what could happen. My agent always told me, like, anything can happen in a draft. Like, you could not work out for a team, not have talked to a team, and they can still take you.

"So, I mean, I wasn't really planning on playing in Houston. I didn't really know how any of that worked. I was kind of hoping I could slide my way to San Antonio. It kind of worked out for me."

Castle projects as a future All-NBA player and would almost certainly go first in a redraft of 2024.

Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs averaged 16.43 million viewers on ABC.

It is the largest audience for a Game 2 of the NBA Finals since the Cavs-Warriors in 2018.

The Knicks' win peaked at 19.42 million viewers.

It was also the third largest NBA audience since 2019, behind Wednesday's Game 1 and last year's Game 7.

The NBA sent out the first round of invites to the 2026 NBA Draft green room. There weren't any real surprises on the 14-player list, which is the first of likely two or three waves of invites.

The players invited were:

• Darius Acuff Jr.
• Nate Ament
• Christian Anderson Jr.
• Cameron Boozer
• Mikel Brown Jr.
• Brayden Burries
• A.J. Dybantsa
• Kingston Flemings
• Karim Lopez
• Aday Mara
• Darryn Peterson
• Labaron Philon Jr.
• Keaton Wagler
• Caleb Wilson

The NBA reaches out to team to determine a composite list of the 20-25 players who are most likely to be drafted in the first round. Expect there to be at least one more wave of invites, if not two, to add played to the green room.

The first round of the 2026 NBA Draft will take place on Tuesday, June 23. The second round will take place on the next night on June 24.

The Milwaukee Bucks are expected to resolve the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo by the draft, but they could be waiting on a possible trade until after the Finals in case the New York Knicks decide to reenter trade conversations. The Knicks and Bucks held brief trade talks last offseason when Antetokounmpo signaled a preference to be traded to New York. The conversations at that point never progressed to the point of seriousness.

The Knicks were considered fully out of the trade talks when going up 2-0 behind strong play of Karl-Anthony Towns, but it is unpredictable how they might react to the disappointment if they do not win the championship this season.

The Miami Heat are currently considered the favorites to acquire Antetokounmpo, but their offer is beatable by several potential bidders that have so far been on the sidelines.

When the Knicks and Bucks held talks, Mikal Bridges was one of the potential trade pieces that was ineligible to be included due to a recently signed contract extension. 

The Knicks can trade up to two first round picks and three swaps on draft night.

Antetokounmpo can become a free agent in 2027 and possesses the capacity to influence his next destination should he decide to apply that leverage.