The NBA has entered a period where big stars are less likely to become free agents and will instead change teams via trades, which Adrian Wojnarowski compared to the transfer portal.

"There's fewer and fewer high level players who have gone into free agency the last few years and who are going to be going into free agency," said Adrian Wojnarowski on SportsCenter on the eve of the 2023 free agency period. "I think the belief around the league is you sign the extension where you are and fix the destination later. You give up money by going into free agency. You take less money by not re-upping where you are.

"It's essentially an NBA version of the transfer portal. 'When I decide I'm done, you are going to trade me.'

"For teams who are going to lose a star, it beats what happened to Oklahoma City with Kevin Durant where they didn't get anything for him. You do get a chance to get young players and draft picks.

"I think you'll continue to see free agency periods that lack star power, but the deals are going to be in the trades because more and more star players, when it's not going well, they're going to look to move on and we're in more of a trade mode."

RealGM wrote an article in 2021 about how the era of a "tentpole free agent" dominating an offseason period such as LeBron James in 2014, Kevin Durant in 2016 or Kawhi Leonard in 2019 was likely over due to the way superstar players have been incentivized by the changes to the extension process. 

The Golden State Warriors traded Jordan Poole on the afternoon of the draft, which not only saves them money and eliminates an interpersonal distraction with Draymond Green, but it also may benefit their offense.

Poole is a talented shot creator, but his fit within Steve Kerr's offense was sometimes awkward. 

"I had one Warriors' source tell me they don't just play chaos ball, they sort of play cadence ball," said Kirk Goldsberry on the Zach Lowe Podcast. "It looks chaotic, but there's a cadence. There's a heartbeat to that jazzy sort of motion that they have.

"Chris Paul is smart enough to slide in there.

"One of my Warriors' friends told me that at times Jordan Poole was just off-rhythm with what they were trying to do. He was taking one or two too many dribbles. He wasn't in the right place. Players were frustrated. You have to be a high IQ, sort of selfless basketball player to fit in to what Steve Kerr has engineered there."

The Toronto Raptors hired Pat Delany and Jama Mahlalela as assistants on Darko Rajakovic's staff on Thursday. 

Delany was previously with the Wizards, with Mahlalela an assistant with the Warriors. 

The New Orleans Pelicans parted ways with assistant coach Teresa Weatherspoon on Thursday, sources told Andrew Lopez of ESPN.

Weatherspoon, who worked closely with Zion Williamson, was initially hired to the Pelicans staff in 2019.

The Pelicans, who hired James Borrego as associate head coach this offseason, retained Jarron Collins as an assistant.

The team is also looking to restructure its player care and development team. 

Monty Williams' wife was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly before the Detroit Pistons initially reached out about the team's open head coach role, revealed Williams at his introductory press conference.

“I had a situation, personally, in my family that needed attention. I talked to my wife today about whether or not we should talk about that publicly, but that was a huge part of my decision-making. The patience that Troy and Mr. Gores (Pistons owner Tom Gores) had with me as we navigated that told me a lot," said Williams on Tuesday.

Williams was given access to a health and welfare fund to help with medical expenses not covered by insurance. 

Williams also has access to a private jet to travel to Phoenix, where his wife's doctor resides.

Williams signed a six-year, $72 million deal with the Pistons. 

Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets averaged 13.08 million viewers on ABC, representing the highest viewership in four years.

The NBA Finals averaged 11.64 million viewers on ABC, a slight decrease from last year.

The playoffs averaged 5.47 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, and TNT, making it the most-watched playoffs in five years. 

Chad Forcier is expected to join Will Hardy's staff with the Utah Jazz, according to Marc Stein of Substack.

Forcier was most recently an assistant under Mike Budenholzer with the Bucks. 

The Milwaukee Bucks are adding Nate Mitchell and DJ Bakker to the coaching staff, confirmed Eric Nehm of The Athletic.

Adrian Griffin is also retaining Josh Oppenheimer and Vin Baker for his staff.

Terry Stotts was hired on Griffin's staff last week. 

Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets averaged 11.24 million viewers with a 6.0 rating on ABC.

The game, which is the least watched of the series thus far, peaked with 12.39 million viewers.

This year's Game 3 was down just 2% in viewership from last year's Celtics-Warriors series. No game in the series has had more than a 3% decline from last year's Finals.  

The Boston Celtics hired Sam Cassell as an assistant coach on Joe Mazzulla's staff, sources told Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Cassell has been the lead assistant for the Sixers for the past three seasons.

Three Celtics assistants from last season were expected to join Ime Udoka in Houston.