JJ Redick, James Borrego and Sam Cassell have emerged as the initial leading candidates for the Los Angeles Lakers' head coaching search, sources tell Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic. 

The Lakers are looking for a coach that is equipped to both guide the end of LeBron James' career while also remaining in place with Anthony Davis.

“This should be more of a hire about AD than LeBron,” said one source.

The Lakers want a coach who can command the locker room as well as gameplan and provide a level of organization and structure.

Mike Krzyzewski has become an unofficial resource for the Lakers during this search. 

Other candidates includeKenny Atkinson, David Adelman, Micah Nori and Chris Quinn.

Nikola Topic, a potential top-five pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, suffered a left knee injury on Monday. Topic was injured on a non-contact play after an awkward landing following making a pass. An MRI showed Topic suffered a sprained knee.

Topic is expected to miss the remainder of the ABA Finals due to the injury. Topic is expected to be a full participant in workouts in June, ahead of the draft.

The 6-foot-6 point guard was injured in Game 1 of the Adriatic League finals. Topic had returned to Crvena Zvezda after spending the early part of the season playing for Mega Bemax.

Topic is considered a top-five pick by most draft experts. Some even have him in consideration to go as high as the second pick. The 18-year-old missed four-and-a-half months earlier this season with an injury to same knee he injured on Monday.

Rudy Gobert has been fined $75,000 for making an inappropriate and unprofessional gesture that questions the integrity of the league and its game officials, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.  The fine takes into account Gobert’s history of improper conduct toward game officials.

Gobert’s actions took place during the Timberwolves’ 115-107 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of their conference semifinals playoff series on May 12 at Target Center.

Friday night's Game 3 between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves averaged 5.21 million viewers on ESPN.

The number is up 10% from the Nuggets-Suns matchup last year and is the fourth most-watched game of the playoffs.

The Nuggets have played in four out of the six most-watched games in the playoffs.

Mitchell Robinson underwent surgery on his left ankle on Monday, sources told Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

It is the second surgery on his ankle this season.

Robinson re-injured his ankle in the first-round series against the Sixers.

He will be re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks. 

Rob Pelinka is reportedly looking for the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers to have the characteristic of a "grinder," sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

With the Lakers expected to begin contacting coaching candidates in the coming days, James Borrego and JJ Redick are two prominent candidates for the role. 

The Lakers are also expected to interview Heat assistant Chris Quinn.

The Atlanta Hawks are considered more likely to trade Trae Young than Dejounte Murray this offseason. The Hawks shopped Murray at this season's trade deadline, but decided not to make a deal involving him.

"The Atlanta Hawks are candidates to make a trade this offseason," said Brian Windhorst. "With likely Trae Young. I won't rule out Dejounte Murray, but I think they're keeping Dejounte Murray."

Young is believed to have more trade value across the league than Murray and is also on a far more expensive contract as the Hawks look to decrease salary. 

The Hawks won the lottery on Sunday, which allows them to reset their roster but also automatically increases their salary obligations. 

Bronny James has been medically cleared by the NBA's Fitness to Play Panel. That means James is fully cleared to participate in the 2024 NBA Draft process.

Last summer, James went into cardiac arrest. It was discovered he had a congenital heart defect and he had surgery to repair to it. James then spent several months recovering before making his collegiate debut on December 10.

The 6-foot-4 guard then played 25 games for the Trojans in his freshman season. James averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per game.

After being medically cleared, James is expected to stay in the draft. He has until May 29 to withdraw from the draft and to return to play college basketball.

OG Anunoby has been ruled out of Game 5 with a hamstring strain.

Anunoby suffered the injury in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals and missed Games 3 and 4.

According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, Anunoby is only running in the pool and receiving treatment three times per day currently.

While Tim Connelly is likely the Detroit Pistons' top candidate to run their front office and Jon Horst will not be made available for an interview, a number of other candidates have emerged.

Trajan Langdon, Dennis Lindsey and Marc Eversley are among the potential candidates for the Pistons, sources tell James L. Edwards III and Shams Charania of The Athletic. 

Langdon is currently general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans under David Griffin.

Lindsey is in an advisory role with the Dallas Mavericks. 

Eversley is general manager of the Chicago Bulls under Arturas Karnisovas. Eversley was a candidate for the Pistons in 2020 before they hired Troy Weaver.