Austin Ainge
The Jazz hired Austin Ainge – Celtics assistant general manager/son of current Jazz lead executive Danny Ainge – as president of basketball operations.
It sounds like Austin will succeed his father – whose title is CEO – in running basketball operations, but the Jazz press release is mum on Danny's role. In fact, the announcement mentions Danny only once, in a quote attributed to Jazz owner Ryan Smith noting Austin's ability to work with Danny, general manager Justin Zanik and coach Will Hardy. But the nepotism angle is impossible to ignore – especially after the debacle of Jerry Colangelo hiring his son, Bryan Colangelo, to run the 76ers.
Austin was a longtime executive in Boston under his father and continued there after Danny departed. Austin's reputation had reached the point it wouldn't have been surprising for him to get hired as lead executive by a team not run by his father.
But he is joining the team run by his father… with all the complications that entails.
Paul George
In 2017, Paul George ended an era in Indiana by telling the Pacers he'd leave in free agency the next summer. They traded him to Oklahoma City for Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo then later flipped Sabonis for Tyrese Haliburton.
In 2019, George asked the Thunder to send him to L.A. so he could pair with Kawhi Leonard. Oklahoma City traded George for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and many picks, one of which became Jalen Williams.
My favorite part of the 2025 NBA Finals: Both teams built Finals teams by trading Paul George.
The 76ers can't squander this opportunity.
Trade
The 2025 NBA champion will be just the third in the last several decades with its best player acquired by trade.
Not counting trades agreed upon before the player got drafted or sign-and-trades, the only champions since the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers or 1983 76ers with Moses Malone (depending when you believe Magic Johnson surpassed Abdul-Jabbar as the Lakers' best player):
2019 Raptors: Kawhi Leonard
2008 Celtics: Kevin Garnett
Either the Thunder with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Pacers with Tyrese Haliburton will join the list.
Luxury tax
Ten teams are paying the luxury tax this season – most in 15 years. None will win the championship.
The 2025 champion will be the first not to pay the tax since the 2020 Lakers.
The NBA first assessed the tax in 2003 and has every year since, besides 2005. (Under a previous system, the tax was triggered only when league-wide salaries reached a certain level.) The only champions below the luxury-tax line:
2020 Lakers
2017 Warriors
2015 Warriors
2014 Spurs
2006 Heat
Indiana Pacers
Indiana had the same odds as the Pelicans!
If they win the title, the Pacers will have the lowest preseason odds on record by a champion, overtaking the 2015 Warriors (2.8%).
Lowest preseason title odds by NBA Finals teams since 1985 (orange: lost Finals, blue: won Finals, yellow: 2025 Pacers), via Sports Odds History:
Thunder-Pacers
The Cavaliers were favored in the second round – 82% implied odds. Indiana pulled the upset.
The Knicks were favored in the Eastern Conference finals – 59% implied odds. Indiana pulled the upset.
The Thunder are favored in the NBA Finals – 84% implied odds. Can Indiana pull another upset?
It'd be historic.
The favorite won 16-of-17 Finals with implied odds at least 71%. The only exception: Pistons over Lakers in 2004, when Los Angeles also held 84% implied odds.
The only team favored so heavily since was the 2018 Warriors over the Cavaliers – 88% implied odds. Golden State of course swept Cleveland.
Biggest NBA Finals favorites on record (since 1969 with the exception of 1971, 1974 and 1983), via Sports Odds History. Favorites winning are orange, underdog winning blue and this year yellow:
Oklahoma City-Indianapolis
The 2025 NBA Finals might not be close.
But they will be close.
Oklahoma City and Indianapolis are separated by just 688 miles, making this the closest Finals by proximity since the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Baltimore Bullets in 1971 (642 miles apart).
The last closer Finals before that was all the way back in 1956, when the Philadelphia Warriors beat the Fort Wayne Pistons (529 miles apart). Fort Wayne – which you can find in Indiana by going east from this year's Eastern Conference champion – won the West.
The nearest Finals matchup all-time? In the 1948 BAA Finals, the Baltimore Bullets defeated the Philadelphia Warriors (89 miles apart). If you're curious, Baltimore was in the West.
Saying something about these markets, as close as Oklahoma City and Indianapolis are, there's no direct commercial flight between the cities.
ECF MVP
I firmly disagree with Danny: I have no desire to give a team's best overall player deference for Finals or conference-finals MVP. To me, it's about the series and only the series. In fact, I began naming series MVPs myself because I thought it was a shame Richard Hamilton – the Pistons' third- or fourth-best player – was so great in the 2004 Eastern Conference finals against the Pacers but received no formal recognition for leading his team to victory on such a large stage.
But I also agree with Danny (and Nate): Tyrese Haliburton deserved Eastern Conference finals MVP.
Pascal Siakam, the actual Eastern Conference finals MVP by 5-4 vote, was more consistently excellent. But a series MVP shouldn't just be about who produced the most in total. In the small sample of a best-of-seven series, different moments carry different weights. Haliburton's overtime-forcing, high-bouncing buzzer-beater in Game 1 and masterful performance in Game 4 were absolutely crucial to the Pacers advancing.
If you were curious, voters who chose...
Siakam:
Tim Bontemps of ESPN
Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star
Katie George of ESPN
Fred Katz of The Athletic
Steve Popper of Newsday
Haliburton:
Steve Aschburner of NBA.com
Jamal Collier of ESPN
Reggie Miller of TNT
Joe Vardon of The Athletic
Pacers-Knicks
To put a bow on the Eastern Conference finals…
Possessions following turnovers: Pacers +79
All other possessions: Knicks +68
New York Knicks
Watch Nate and Danny preview the Knicks' offseason and scout Kon Knueppel:
-Dan Feldman