And just like that, it's next season in the NBA.
The New York Knicks will be feted with a championship parade through the streets of Manhattan on Thursday after a postseason in which they successfully rallied from six double-digit deficits to win games in the playoffs, including all four of their victories in the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
It continued the unprecedented run of NBA parity, with eight different franchises winning championships
in the last eight seasons — Toronto in 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, Milwaukee in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Denver in 2023, Boston in 2024, Oklahoma City last year and now New York.
“To me, it just really speaks to the state of NBA basketball and the state of the future of the game," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "And now with this draft class coming in this year — again, not just the first pick, but a draft that’s considered the deepest in many years — there's so much talent everywhere. ... So, it’s a really bright future ahead for the league.”
It is, but every team is now chasing the Knicks. They had all the answers.
For 29 other franchises, at least on some levels, there seems to only be questions.
— Will Milwaukee really trade Giannis Antetokounmpo after 13 seasons, 10 All-Star selections, two Most Valuable Player awards and an NBA championship in 2021?
— Will LeBron James come back to the NBA for a 24th season? If so, will it be with the Los Angeles Lakers for a ninth year or will he look for a presumably final chapter elsewhere?
— What will Washington do with the No. 1 pick in the draft later this month?
— And who will coach in Chicago, Dallas and Portland?
Those are just some of the major issues facing teams around the league as summer gets underway. It's going to be hard for the Knicks to repeat, because it's hard for any team to repeat — as the Thunder found out this season.
“The history of the NBA is littered with teams that were not able to find ultimate success again,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. "I think there have only been three teams that have repeated since we’ve been in Oklahoma City, and the reasons for that are many, probably too many to list. But the fact is that it helps illustrate how rare and how special it is when you do have a chance to win at the highest level in this league or in professional sports in general.
"However, NBA history is also built on the backs of those teams that saw their losses as a continued quest for improvement and progress. Most importantly, they saw it as what competition boils down to, what it’s all about at any level of sports."
Antetokounmpo, the biggest star in Milwaukee, will be eligible this fall for an extension that could be worth up to $275 million.
But the Bucks don't have a roster that's a championship contender. If they trade Antetokounmpo, they can essentially start over with what would be a slew of players and draft picks. If they keep him, there's no guarantee he'll be happy — because it seems like he's primarily interested now in trying to win more titles.
“I just think before the draft is a natural time, right, because if Giannis does play somewhere else we're going to get a lot of assets. ... You've got to get it right,” Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam said in May, when the team introduced new coach Taylor Jenkins — who was told that Antetokounmpo may or may not be with the franchise when next season starts.
The draft is next week. And logic would suggest that the Bucks — if they are going to trade Antetokounmpo — may do so at least a few days before the draft, so they have some specific idea of who to target with the capital that they'll get as part of whatever deal might go down.
Miami has been mentioned in the Giannis sweepstakes for months, and the Heat are involved in talks with the Bucks again.
James has never gone into a summer with this much freedom.
He could stay with the Lakers. He could pick another spot. He could retire. He could demand a max salary. He could take less money to help a team out. Or he could just continue posting videos of chip-ins on Instagram; yes, James has the golf bug.
“When the time comes, you guys will know what I decide to do,” James said when the Lakers were eliminated this spring by Oklahoma City in a 4-0 sweep.
The Lakers have a lot of other decisions, including how to handle an extension for Austin Reaves. But getting some sense from James about his plans will surely go a long way toward having other moves fall into place.
Victor Wembanyama is eligible for a four-year extension that would top $250 million, and there's obviously no reason San Antonio wouldn't want to commit to keep the game's most fascinating player around. The extension would start in 2027-28.
There are some other roster spots to address, but the starters are under contract.
It will be interesting to watch how free agents view San Antonio as a destination, especially since the Spurs will go into next season as one of the favorites — if not the biggest one — for the 2027 NBA title.
“Competitiveness, that’s what makes you better,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “That’s what pushes you to continue to improve in the dark, long hours when nobody is around. We improved a whole lot this year. We have ... more motivation to continue to get better.”
— The NBA still hasn't revealed what, if anything, will come from an investigation by outside counsel into whether a $28 million endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard and a California-based sustainability services company allowed the Los Angeles Clippers to circumvent league salary cap rules.
— Portland hasn't said who will coach next season, with interim coach Tiago Splitter still in the mix. Chicago and Dallas still have openings. It would seem advantageous to have coaches in place by the draft.
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