BIG thank you to the best community ever on all their support for yesterday’s sold out drop! We couldn't be more grateful. More is on the way, so stay tuned. 👀

Alright, let's get into it. The best two words in sports…

…GAME SEVEN!!!

🎉 Happy birthday Austin Reaves, Markelle Fultz, Kasparas Jakučionis, and NBA legends Richie Guerin (94!) and Carmelo Anthony! 🎉

With their backs against the wall, Victor Wembanyama (28 PTS, 10 REB, 5 BLK/STL) and the Spurs gave OKC no room to breathe last night, leaving the Alamo with a wire-to-wire victory. 

After a first-half SAS three-point barrage that saw Wemby drop 22 of his 28 PTS, OKC still kept it within seven. The third quarter was a completely different story. The Spurs came out guns-blazing, ripping off a soul-crushing 20-0 run (the largest OKC has given up this post-season).

Stephon Castle (17 PTS, 5 REB, 9 AST) and Dylan Harper (18 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 22 MIN) continue to be a driving force for the Spurs, making the future of this team very scary to think about. But why look at the future when the Finals are just a win in sight?

While the Thunder ramped up their rim-pressure on Wemby, the shots just did not fall. This marks OKC’s second game this series (and this post-season) failing to crack 100 points. SGA particularly struggled in this one, with each shot looking more difficult than the last. J-Dub, still recovering from his second hamstring injury this season, returned last night, but was a -18 while only playing 10 minutes. 

OKC reset the tone at home in Game 5 after a blowout Game 4 loss. They’ll hope to repeat that tomorrow in Game 7.

Now, all we can do is wait for another instant classic to come across our screens.

Who steps up? Who will be our Game 7 Heroes? Will Wemby lead the Spurs to their first NBA Finals since 2014? Or will the reigning champs continue their quest to go back-to-back? These two juggernauts have one final battle left.

This is basketball at its finest, Enjoyers! Let’s soak it in. 

The NBA just announced a new lottery system set to take effect next year. The new system has come in response to some anti-tanking stances brought forth by the league. Here are all the major changes you need to know. ⬇️

🎰 16 teams - the largest lottery pool ever

The lottery will expand to include the two teams who lose in the 7-8 play-in game, creating the largest lottery in league history, giving over half of the league a chance at the #1 pick.

3️⃣ - 2️⃣ - 1️⃣ lottery format + the “Relegation Zone”

The draft will have flattened odds. This means each team’s chances at moving up in the draft are based on how many lottery balls they receive.

The bottom three teams will enter a “relegation zone” where they receive one less lottery ball than the other non-playoff teams.

2 lottery balls - relegation zone (bottom three teams in the standings)
3 lottery balls - the remaining non-playoff teams who missed the play-in
2 lottery balls - the nine and ten-seed play-in teams
1 lottery ball - the loser of the seven- vs eight-seed play-in matchup

Lottery for all 16 lottery selections, not just the top 4.

The lottery selection will determine the order for all sixteen picks. This means that the team with the fifth-best odds could fall to pick #16, or the sixteenth-best odds could jump up to pick #5.

However, teams in the “relegation zone” can only fall as low as the 12th pick. All other teams can fall as low as 16th.

Back-to-back top picks are axed.

Lastly, the new lottery system places restrictions on having consecutive top picks.

While we haven’t seen back-to-back lottery wins since Cleveland winning in 2013 (Anthony Bennett) and 2014 (Andrew Wiggins), the latter point is a little more common. In the last 5 years we’ve seen it three times with:

Sorry Memphis 😬

Grizzlies fans may have gotten a raw deal. Memphis owns the best of Utah, Minnesota, or Cleveland’s first round pick in 2027. Since Utah can’t receive a top-five pick three years in a row, Memphis can’t capitalize on a top 5 pick if Utah has another rough year. Other teams may find themselves in similar situations as we await the outcome of a bevy of trades involving future first-round picks.

The new lottery system passed with a vote of 29-1 (with Memphis as the lone vote against). These rules will be in effect next season and the league will vote again on this issue in 2030.

So what does this mean?

The NBA was very clear with its anti-tanking stance throughout the season. Even as far as sending out six-figure fines to the Jazz and Pacers. This move seems to be their next step in ensuring we have competitive games year-round.

Many also see this as just shifting tanking strategies to solely avoid the “relegation zone,” and further punishing teams that do not have the resources in place to build a competitive roster.

We’ll have to see how this plays out, but we can guarantee the new lottery system will turn the draft lottery into must-see television.

With the news of Joe Mazzulla winning Coach of the Year, this wraps up the 2025-26 Awards Season, here’s a list of all of this year’s winners.

And we out! Thanks for spending your Friday with us. We’ll catch up on Monday. In the meantime, make sure to check in on your close friends (even the strong ones)!

Brian Shkabari