I did NOT have Orlando knocking out the Pistons on my bingo card.

Cooper Flagg says his welcome to the league moment was game 1 playing Wemby:

"Being matched up with Victor was a different experience. He came out dunking from everywhere on the court, hitting step back 3s. It was definitely one of those moments for sure." https://t.co/3dQaRwpFqp pic.twitter.com/ImVWe6aqkV

— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 27, 2026

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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I did NOT have Orlando knocking out the Pistons on my bingo card.

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If only Detroit knew before the trade deadline that they needed extra scoring and 3 point shooting.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) April 28, 2026

9:30 ET start time sucks on the East Coast.

Executive of the Year voting: pic.twitter.com/K5nTMCZwyi

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 28, 2026

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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9:30 ET start time sucks on the East Coast.

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Ooof yeah I'm there with ya brother

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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9:30 ET start time sucks on the East Coast.

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It's sucks in central time when you keep a pretty good sleep schedule

Pacific time is the absolute best for watching sports

The NBA has disclosed to its 30 GMs a singular new anti-tanking reform that expands the draft lottery to 16 teams, flattens odds, and have a relegation zone where the bottom 3 teams are penalized with fewer lottery balls for the No. 1 pick.

ESPN details: https://t.co/0Zs1OfktfP

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 28, 2026

That 2027 Hawks pick becoming more valuable!

Guitarsoup said:

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The NBA has disclosed to its 30 GMs a singular new anti-tanking reform that expands the draft lottery to 16 teams, flattens odds, and have a relegation zone where the bottom 3 teams are penalized with fewer lottery balls for the No. 1 pick.

ESPN details: https://t.co/0Zs1OfktfP

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 28, 2026

That 2027 Hawks pick becoming more valuable!

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I understand all the outcry over tanking and people wanting teams to be competitive, but this feels like it's going to further punish small market teams that their only real chance of building is through the draft. How does a team like Utah, Milwaukee, Charlotte, hell even San Antonio and Dallas get star players to build around? No big time guys hit the free agent market and players have so much leverage that even a trade to a smaller market is nearly impossible. It's prohibiting teams from picking #1 in back to back years and they're also not allowed to pick top 5 three years in a row. Not all draft classes are created equal and I'm just not a fan of that particular change. I do like the expansion of the lottery to 16 teams.

West Texan said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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The NBA has disclosed to its 30 GMs a singular new anti-tanking reform that expands the draft lottery to 16 teams, flattens odds, and have a relegation zone where the bottom 3 teams are penalized with fewer lottery balls for the No. 1 pick.

ESPN details: https://t.co/0Zs1OfktfP

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 28, 2026

That 2027 Hawks pick becoming more valuable!

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I understand all the outcry over tanking and people wanting teams to be competitive, but this feels like it's going to further punish small market teams that their only real chance of building is through the draft. How does a team like Utah, Milwaukee, Charlotte, hell even San Antonio and Dallas get star players to build around? No big time guys hit the free agent market and players have so much leverage that even a trade to a smaller market is nearly impossible. It's prohibiting teams from picking #1 in back to back years and they're also not allowed to pick top 5 three years in a row. Not all draft classes are created equal and I'm just not a fan of that particular change. I do like the expansion of the lottery to 16 teams.

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Interesting provision: "no team would be able to win three consecutive top-five picks"

Would have prevented:
Spurs (Wemby, Castle, Harper)
Pistons (Cade, Ivey, Ausar, Holland)
Cavs (Mobley, Garland, Okoro)
Rockets (Green, Jabari, Amen, Reed) https://t.co/ugy6idcWZ0

— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) April 28, 2026

Obviously not all of these teams picks worked out as well as ours, but the all built the foundation of their teams with these picks. Of these teams, the rockets are the only team that's ever been able to attract big time talent through free agency/trade.

12 year olds going honking in San Antonio for the spurs😂

We’re so back💀 pic.twitter.com/K1d5jwhtfX

— SpursNationSA (@SpursNation_SA) April 28, 2026

Ok yall dont get mad and ill edit this if yall want...

But Spurs at +550, Wemby also at +550 for finals mvp (fox and castle both at +20000) is very tempting.

I'm glad we got Vic, Castle and Harper before this reform kicks in. Once this run is over we might suck for a very very long time.

Surprising how contested every series has been in Round 1 except the Thunder.

Also surprising this game might actually finish in time to not eat into the Spurs game.

Its doesn't seem that onerous. Picks 1-3 have lower chances, but not zero.

What if one of your top 5 picks is via trade? Does that count for consecutiveness?

How does this affect pick trade values going forward?

If you've traded your pick now you are tanking to lower its value. Not sure it fixes much.

Celtics didn't score for 5 whole minutes of game time in the 4th quarter. That's a crazy dry spell.

Quote:

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Its doesn't seem that onerous. Picks 1-3 have lower chances, but not zero.

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Yeah, it is then 5% instead of 8% for being bottom 3 worst.

I think you could have done a couple of these things without making all the extra rules.

Ag Natural said:

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I think you could have done a couple of these things without making all the extra rules.

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Yeah, I think it is too complicated and I don't really like the play-in teams being added to the lottery.

West Texan said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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The NBA has disclosed to its 30 GMs a singular new anti-tanking reform that expands the draft lottery to 16 teams, flattens odds, and have a relegation zone where the bottom 3 teams are penalized with fewer lottery balls for the No. 1 pick.

ESPN details: https://t.co/0Zs1OfktfP

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 28, 2026

That 2027 Hawks pick becoming more valuable!

---

I understand all the outcry over tanking and people wanting teams to be competitive, but this feels like it's going to further punish small market teams that their only real chance of building is through the draft. How does a team like Utah, Milwaukee, Charlotte, hell even San Antonio and Dallas get star players to build around? No big time guys hit the free agent market and players have so much leverage that even a trade to a smaller market is nearly impossible. It's prohibiting teams from picking #1 in back to back years and they're also not allowed to pick top 5 three years in a row. Not all draft classes are created equal and I'm just not a fan of that particular change. I do like the expansion of the lottery to 16 teams.

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I did a super long post on this on the Mavs thread and while in a vacuum it's good to pick number one as it gives you a chance at the best player in the draft, good players are available all over the draft and via trade.

Last 5 champs, only Boston started two top 5 picks that they drafted themselves.

Denver has a team with zero top 5 picks drafted by them (Aaron Gordon was top 5 drafted by Orlando)

I think this move is great by the league and hopefully we're past the era where teams intentionally tear their teams down to the foundation and play G-League rosters. The cool thing about this solution is that we'll see some 40 win teams get top five picks pretty regularly, so this should incentivize borderline good teams like Portland, Toronto, Orlando to keep grinding with what they have because there is a good chance they'll be able to add top talent in the draft. No reason to destroy your team because you're stuck in the middle.

THIS ANGLE OF KUMINGA’S LOB DUNK IS INSANE. OH MY. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/aA2EtNpBCg

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 29, 2026

Knew he was athletic, but didn't know Kuminga could get up to Carter Bryant levels of height.

Finally a hot start this series.

Step on their throats and end this.

Champagnie!

WEAR THE SHIRT DAVID

The Emirates graphic dancing around the court. Get your **** together ESPN.

BIG BODY

superunknown said:

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BIG BODY

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6'4 Keldon giving Deni the too small. Love it.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Finally a hot start this series.

Step on their throats and end this.

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I'm ready for a curb stomping.