Every champion feels like a budding dynasty in the moment, yet we’re about to crown our eighth different champion in eight years after the Oklahoma City Thunder dropped Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals at home to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. 

The collective bargaining agreement eventually comes for everyone, and the Thunder are about to experience the same. The 2023 Denver Nuggets lost key reserves Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, and then Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a year later. The 2024 Boston Celtics kept their roster together for another year, but traded away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis while losing Al Horford and Luke Kornet to free agency for the sake of avoiding the second apron.

The 2025 Thunder were as well-positioned to keep their team together as any recent champion has been. That was the benefit of having two All-Stars in Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams on rookie deals. But the bill always comes due. It’s what made this year’s loss to the Spurs so devastating. This was Oklahoma City’s last cheap season.

The Thunder had the NBA‘s 19th-highest payroll in their championship season, according to Spotrac. They ranked 13th this season. But next year? At this moment, the Thunder are set to spend around $28 million more than any other team… without including their draft picks. Things only get harder for the 2027-28 campaign, when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s supermax extension kicks in, along with a possible rookie extension for Cason Wallace.

The Thunder have spent years preparing for this moment. They’re about as well-insulated against the effects of the aprons as any team reasonably could be. But decision time has officially arrived. Oklahoma City is no longer positioned to keep everyone. So let’s look at their finances and attempt to figure out where the cuts are coming.

So… how bad is it?

When you include their two first-round draft picks, No. 12 and No. 17, the Thunder are projected to be $39 million above the second apron for next season. Now, this raises our first substantial question: is the second apron an unofficial hard cap for the Thunder?

It doesn’t have to be. Most of the second apron’s restrictions relate to adding players externally. Well, the Thunder probably don’t think they need to add any big-name players externally. They’ve won 132 regular-season games over the past two years. They have a championship-caliber roster already. 

Going above the second apron freezes draft picks, but draft pick consequences are mostly irrelevant to the Thunder. They’ve accumulated such a draft surplus and have so many paths to adding more picks in the future that frozen picks, or even picks moved to the end of the first round (a consequence for spending three years out of five over the second apron), just won’t hurt them that badly.

Victor Wembanyama’s ‘greatest of all time’ trajectory is officially ahead of schedule after Spurs’ Game 7 win

Sam Quinn

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Nonetheless, I’d expect the Thunder to treat the second apron as a hard cap for this season because of what’s coming a few years down the line. The current collective bargaining agreement has an opt-out clause after the 2028-29 season. The NBA is certainly operating as though a lot is going to change after that, given that it included a 2029 sunset provision in its reformed draft lottery. Next year will be Oklahoma City’s first year of this era paying the luxury tax. You get three tax years before the now extremely punitive repeater tax kicks in. 

So let’s reverse engineer this: you get two second apron seasons before the third pushes a future first-round pick to No. 30, and you get three tax seasons before the fourth introduces the repeater tax. There are three years left before the CBA presumably changes. It would therefore make sense for the Thunder to stay below those thresholds and hope the next CBA changes in ways that are more favorable to them than the last one. That’s probably why they ducked the luxury tax this season. They wanted to delay the repeater clock, and next year, they’ll try to delay the frozen pick clock as well. They’ll have plenty of second apron years to come. Next year doesn’t have to be one of them.

Which players are on the chopping block?

Here’s our second major question: who’s replaceable? There are three very obvious answers here:

• Lu Dort has an $18.2 million team option and is a 3-and-D wing on a roster with an endless supply of 3-and-D wings. He was mostly bad in the Western Conference Finals, and while his on-ball defense remains a strength, his offense has become a real weakness. You could argue that just removing him is a net positive. Wallace and Ajay Mitchell are better than him. They were underutilized on the bench, but Dort’s status as an elder statesman kept him in the starting lineup. If the Thunder can get something for Dort? Great. But there aren’t many teams positioned to take on his contract since he’s making more than the mid-level exception, and Oklahoma City’s preference is probably to keep him away from the Lakers, who would have the cap space to sign him outright if that option is declined. The last thing they’d want would be for Dort to defend Gilgeous-Alexander in a playoff series next year, especially after helping Dallas get Daniel Gafford in 2024 came back to bite them in the playoffs. That means the other cap space teams (Bulls, Nets) and the big trade exception teams (Celtics, Mavericks, Grizzlies) probably get the first crack.
• Jared McCain, making only $4.4 million with two years left on his rookie deal, may well have been acquired specifically to replace Isaiah Joe as the “designated shooter” in their rotation. Joe is set to make $11.3 million next season, but McCain played far more than Joe did in the playoffs. The Thunder wouldn’t have any trouble trading Joe into someone’s mid-level exception. He has a very affordable team option for the 2027-28 season as well.
• Aaron Wiggins is on another team-friendly contract. He’s making $9.2 million and has two more cheap years after that. He’s been buried in Oklahoma City, but he’s certainly a rotation-caliber player and possibly even a starter on another team. He didn’t factor meaningfully into Oklahoma City’s playoff rotation, and besides, the Thunder need to clear someone notable out of their perimeter rotation to accommodate former No. 12 pick Nikola Topić, who missed his rookie season with a torn ACL and most of his sophomore season recovering from testicular cancer. The Thunder need to see what they have with him.

Those are the easy ones. Merely removing those three salaries would leave the Thunder with 14 roster spots filled, with total obligations slightly below the second apron. That doesn’t mean we’re stopping here, though. Oklahoma City is likely to want to find more savings, both for long-term planning and to leave itself a bit of flexibility for moves during the season or to pursue a possible free agent or two. There are three more situations that should be monitored here:

• Isaiah Hartenstein has a $28.5 million team option. The Thunder have Jaylin Williams as a reserve center, and they drafted Thomas Sorber at No. 15 last year to be a long-term front-court project. Nonetheless, Hartenstein is unquestionably irreplaceable in the current construction of the team. The Thunder simply do not get offensive rebounds when he’s not on the floor. He’s among the NBA leaders in screen assists, a critical stat for springing Gilgeous-Alexander as a driver. His physicality was essential against Victor Wembanyama, and his parabolic flip shot is one of the very few shots in basketball that truly vexes Wembanyama as a rim-protector. Nobody else has a shot with such a high arc. Oklahoma City cannot let him go. He’s badly needed for next year’s championship pursuit. So odds are, the Thunder will work with Hartenstein on a long-term extension that will probably lower his salary for next season by a bit, but secure him for multiple seasons.
• Kenrich Williams has a $7.2 million team option. He doesn’t play much. That’s not a matter of quality. He’d play more on most other teams. But in Oklahoma City, he’s a beloved locker room figure. He’s another candidate to have his option declined only to re-sign for multiple years at a slightly lower figure. Locker room figures are eventually going to become an unaffordable luxury here, but for now, they’ll try to keep Williams in the fold.
• In a perfect world, the Thunder would probably prefer not to make both the No. 12 and No. 17 picks. They simply won’t have minutes for multiple rookies, and they’ve already had to purge several players they made meaningful investments in, like Tre Mann and Ousmane Dieng, purely because of a lack of minutes and money to spend on them. The Thunder also quietly don’t have nearly the pick surplus they once did. They have two incoming top-five protected picks coming from Denver, along with first-round swaps with the Clippers in 2027 and the Mavericks in 2028. After that? It’s only their own picks, which will probably be bad. They’d probably love to turn one or both of this year’s picks into selections in the 2029 or 2030 draft. Maintaining liquidity will be important for the Thunder if they ever want to make an aggressive pursuit of a specific draft prospect down the line.

This is likely what’s on the table. I’d imagine Dort, Joe and Wiggins — or at least two of the three — are unlikely to return. Hartenstein should be back on a new deal, and the Thunder probably won’t make both of their first-round picks. But those are the obvious concepts. What if we thought a little bigger…

Could the Thunder take a more extreme step?

Ducking the second apron next season is, as we covered, achievable. It’s off the table entirely for the 2027-28 campaign. At that point, the trio of Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren alone will be making roughly $150 million. Factor in the $21 million going to Alex Caruso, whatever they re-sign Hartenstein for this summer or next and the rookie extension Wallace is going to get (Stephen Noh’s salary model valued Wallace at around $28 million this season, so price an extension accordingly) and those six players alone might get the Thunder to the second apron. And on top of that, Mitchell has a team option for the 2027-28 season that the Thunder might like to use to get him to re-sign at a favorable, long-term number.

At a certain point, this just isn’t tenable. That’s not even an apron matter anymore. Eventually, most owners would just draw a budget when it comes to cash spending. That’s especially true in small-market Oklahoma City. The Thunder have spent far more generously on players than most teams in a market like that would. Again, they’ve spent years preparing for this, but there’s a limit somewhere. At some point, maybe in a year, maybe two, the Thunder are probably going to have to move someone from their core, not just their rotational surplus.

Caruso and Hartenstein, as the oldest of those core players, are the easy targets. They’re both still essential, and were probably the second- and third-most valuable players on the team in the Western Conference Finals. Sustainability is great, but Gilgeous-Alexander, 27, is in his prime right now. The Thunder aren’t going to take a step back lightly, and besides, those are the players that would return the least if traded. If the Thunder want to really replenish their draft stock, they have to consider more extreme alternatives.

There’s been plenty of speculation about the Thunder making a big move up this year’s draft board, with Duke’s Cameron Boozer (No. 3 on CBS Sports’ Big Board) most frequently cited as the target. They’re not getting him with a godfather pick offer. The Wizards, Jazz and Grizzlies, picking in the top three, all have pick surpluses as it is. They don’t need six first-round picks in the future. They need a franchise player, and they’re probably not going to trade out of the top of this loaded draft without getting one. The Bulls are more of a blank slate at No. 4, but Boozer will likely be gone by then, and even if he weren’t, it’s just hard to imagine Chicago giving up on a pick like that when so little else on their roster is settled.

Realistically, if the Thunder are going to get into that range of the draft, they’re going to have to dangle either Holmgren or Williams. That’s it. If they want a young star, they have to give up a young star, and even then, it’s no certainty. Williams played through a wrist injury last postseason and was ultimately felled by a hamstring injury this season. Holmgren has plenty of injury issues of his own, and his stagnation as a scorer might have cost the Thunder this year’s championship. They are both enormously valuable players. They’re both probably looking less valuable than they did a year ago.

Holmgren is probably less replaceable. He’s maybe the second-best defender in the NBA, and even if he’s not quite the shooter his reputation suggests, having anyone that big that can even kind of shoot poses real problems for opposing defenses. The Thunder saw what they looked like without Williams for most of this season. They could have won this Spurs series without him had Mitchell been healthy. If some team views Williams as its franchise player and is willing to compensate the Thunder accordingly, well, they almost have to listen. The chance to duck out of that max contract for an asset haul could make the entire rest of the team financially viable, or even open up bigger moves in other areas.

The Wallace and Mitchell situations are reminiscent of the James Harden dilemma that general manager Sam Presti botched 14 years ago. Mitchell very nearly led the Thunder in scoring in the Lakers series. Wallace didn’t post big offensive numbers, but he had five 20-point games in February while the Thunder were missing several key players due to injury. On top of that, he’s obviously among the NBA’s very best defensive playmakers. It’s unlikely that either ever comes close to the MVP ceiling Harden hit in Houston, but these are both young players capable of more than they get to do in Oklahoma City. 

That doesn’t mean they necessarily want to leave. It does mean other teams would probably be eager to throw picks Oklahoma City’s way for the right to explore that untapped potential. They could both net multiple first-round picks through trade, or perhaps one fairly high one in this draft, if the Thunder feel any need to pursue someone outside of the established top four of Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Caleb Wilson.

Inertia is a powerful force in roster-building. Teams tend not to address issues until they have to. The likeliest outcome for the Thunder is some combination of moves from the last section. Anyone covered in this space is more in the “only if someone blows us away” realm of moves. The Thunder came one game away from beating the Spurs and returning to the Finals while shorthanded and still probably view themselves at least as next year’s co-favorite. There probably won’t be any crazy risks here. 

But a financial cliff is coming, and the Harden trade all those years ago suggests Presti is at least considering it. Nobody but Gilgeous-Alexander has proven himself completely indispensable for the long haul. If anyone else had, well, the Thunder would probably be headed to the NBA Finals right now.

NEW DELHI: After a disappointing IPL 2026 campaign, Cameron Green’s struggles with the bat continued as the Australian all-rounder was dismissed for a duck in the opening ODI of the three-match series against Pakistan.

Green was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a record-breaking Rs 25.20 crore at the IPL 2026 auction, making him the most expensive overseas player in IPL history. However, the hefty price tag failed to translate into the kind of performances KKR would have hoped for.

The lean run continued in Rawalpindi, where Pakistan’s teenage debutant Arafat Minhas produced a dream start to his ODI career. Minhas, who finished with a five-wicket haul on debut, dismissed Green without troubling the scorers.

The young spinner delivered a slightly short ball on leg stump that turned sharply away. Green remained rooted deep in his crease and failed to pick the turn. The ball beat his bat and crashed into the top of the off stump, ending his stay at the crease instantly.

Green’s IPL campaign was also underwhelming. Representing KKR, he scored 322 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 145.70. Despite a few useful contributions, he was unable to consistently justify the record fee.

Green remains the most expensive overseas player in IPL history, while Rishabh Pant holds the record for the most expensive player overall after being bought by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 27 crore at the IPL 2025 auction.

Representational image from IPL 2026© AFP

Police are preparing for one of their largest operations of the year so far as Arsenal fans from across the world descend on north London to see their team’s victory parade.

The Gunners will be celebrating after securing their first Premier League title in 22 years, but will also be recovering from their loss to Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday’s Champions League final.

Behind the scenes, officers and emergency services have been working together for months in preparation for the festivities, with the club expecting a “huge” turnout of fans.

More than 500 officers will be deployed across the mammoth operation in Islington on Sunday, with specialist search and drone teams also out in force.

The event is also expected to cause significant delays on public transport as several Tube stations and major roads are closed throughout the day.

The Metropolitan Police said they expect the vast majority of attendees to behave “safely and responsibly,” but warned they “will not tolerate” anti-social behaviour, violence or any type of criminality.

What do we know about the police operation?

The Metropolitan Police has said Sunday’s parade is expected to be one of the largest policing operations so far this year. Around 500 officers will be working across the event, including specialist drone and search teams.

The force said it is difficult to estimate numbers, but Arsenal Football Club said it is anticipating a “huge turnout”.

Commander Stuart Bell, leading the Met’s public order operation this weekend, said: “The parade is an opportunity for Arsenal supporters to celebrate, and we want everyone attending to enjoy the day safely.

“There will be a police presence along the route throughout the event, supporting event organisers and stewarding operations. Officers will respond to incidents where necessary.

“We expect the vast majority of those attending on Sunday to do so safely and responsibly.

“However, anti-social behaviour, violence or any other type of criminality will not be tolerated. Officers will take action against anyone attempting to cause disruption or harm.”

What time is the parade and where does it go?

The parade will kick off at 2pm on Sunday, but fans are expected to be arriving throughout the morning.

It will start on Holloway Road from Drayton Park, before continuing east along Seven Sisters Road and down to Blackstock Road, Mount Grove Road and Green Lanes.

It will then continue south along Petherton Road, Beresford Road, Newington Green Road and Essex Road. It will then turn north at Angel underground station and onto Upper Street.

Finally, the bus will head towards Highbury and Islington Station and back onto Holloway Road.

The Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park and the surrounding roads will be closed throughout the parade and will not be accessible to the public.

Which Tube stations and roads will be closed?

A number of nearby Tube and train stations will be closed or operating on a reduced service on the day.

Highbury & Islington: Victoria line services will not stop at the station. London Overground services will operate exit only. The station will not be step-free on the day.

Holloway Road: will be closed.

Canonbury: will operate exit only.

Finsbury Park: will be the nearest station operating both entry and exit and is recommended for supporters requiring step-free access. Queues are expected, particularly after the parade.

London Overground: Services across the area are expected to be extremely busy. Highbury & Islington and Canonbury stations will not be available after the parade due to crowd management measures.

Caledonian Road: May operate exit only or trains may not stop if it becomes overcrowded.

Drayton Park and Essex Road stations will be closed on the day of the parade. There will be no Thameslink services to or from Finsbury Park through central London to Farringdon and Blackfriars due to planned engineering works.

All roads along the parade route, including side roads leading to the route, will be subject to temporary closures and parking suspensions.

You can find a full list of road closures on the Islington Council website.

Jones’ next taste of boxing will come on 13 June when she takes on Argentine influencer Federikita on another Misfits bill that also includes Tommy Fury and strongman Eddie Hall.

Jones – who took gold at the 2019 Taekwondo World Championships to add to her Olympic titles – has previously spoken of a desire to reach the top in her new sport.

But she says she also wants to enjoy the new experiences rather than get burdened by the pressures that she found after success in her previous sporting life.

“Since the day I won my first Olympics, I’ve had pressure on me and it’s never been the same since,” she says. “You’re never that young, underdog kid again.

“I did think that switching sports meant I got to start again, but you realise you’ll always be an Olympic champion with those pressures on you.

“The mistakes I made in taekwondo I felt it was everyone else putting pressure on, but really it was me doing it to myself.”

She says she now realises all that matters is what she does and where she wants to take it.

“I have to pull myself back sometimes because although I am one-tracked minded, and all-in to boxing now and wanting to be the best, I came into this wanting a new challenge and wanting to enjoy it and to see where it goes,” she adds.

“I’ve not set any sights that far.”

More information, advice and help on ADHD is available on BBC Action Line.

Under orders from Gian Piero Gasperini, Roma is working to renew the contracts of its players whose contracts are expiring.

Stephan El Shaarawy has chosen to embark on a new adventure, and no news has emerged regarding Lorenzo Pellegrini’s contract extension.

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However, barring any surprises, Zeki Celik and Paulo Dybala will remain in the capital.

With the Argentine, there are still a few details to iron out, but an agreement is expected to be reached for a fee close to €2.5 million.

Meanwhile, for the Turk, there’s a gap of about half a million between supply and demand. Work is underway to secure a deal.

Celik currently earns two million net, and his goal, according to Il Corriere della Sera, is to reach three million.

In fact, the player’s entourage never offered the Giallorossi the four million they thought would have led the club to close the deal.

The Turk can leverage two factors: first, due to his versatility, he is a loyal supporter of Gasp, and the request for a contract extension comes from the coach himself.

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Furthermore, the 1997-born full-back still benefits from the growth decree. The full-back has long since given Gasp his word, who will wait for a move from Roma: the player rejected an offer from Galatasaray.

Amanda Serrano equalled the record for the most knockouts in women’s boxing history with a second-round stoppage of Cheyenne Hanson in Texas to retain her WBA and WBO featherweight titles.

The American dominated the encounter and, having pinned Germany’s Hanson, 28, in the corner, unloaded a flurry of unanswered punches that lead to the fight being waved off in El Paso, Texas.

The 37-year-old, who now has 32 wins by knockout, was the first fighter to stop Hanson inside the distance.

In the co-main event, former UFC star Holly Holm was again narrowly defeated by Stephanie Han to miss out on claiming the WBA lightweight title.

One judge scored it even at 95-95, but the other two saw it 96-94 for the undefeated champion.

Prior to the fight, Holm said she wanted to make a statement and then challenge Taylor in Ireland, but instead it was Han who called for that fight.

“The next fight I want, and I know every fighter wants it, is Katie Taylor,” Han said ringside.

On the undercard, Desley Robinson retained her IBF and WBO middleweight titles by winning a wide unanimous decision against Mary Spencer, while Mexican Lourdes Juarez retained her WBC light-flyweight title with a split decision against Yokasta Valle.

Elsewhere, O’Shaquie Foster impressed to beat Raymond Ford by a majority decision to retain his WBC super-featherweight title at the Fertitta Center, Houston.

Dillian Whyte has predicted a possible clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma, based purely on the Ukrainian’s performance against Rico Verhoeven.

Usyk was introduced to a surprisingly challenging assignment last Saturday, but ultimately retained his WBC, IBF and WBA world titles against the Dutch kickboxer.

There were times, however, when Verhoeven was making it too close for comfort, with one judge even scoring it 96-94 in his favour, while the other two had it 95-95 after 10 rounds.

In the end, it was a whipping uppercut that sent him to the canvas in round 11, and despite getting back to his feet, the 37-year-old was controversially waved off by referee Mark Lyson at the sound of the bell.

Usyk, meanwhile, was perhaps guilty of overlooking his opponent, whose only previous professional boxing match had come via a second-round finish over an 0-5 heavyweight in 2014.

At the same time, though, the 39-year-old’s post-fight admission – that his daughter had messaged him from a bomb shelter in Ukraine – could also explain why he underperformed.

Whatever the case, heavyweight veteran Whyte has told IFL TV that he believes Itauma would defeat Usyk, given where they are at this stage in their respective careers.

“[Based] on that performance last weekend, yeah, [Itauma would beat Usyk].”

Whyte felt the full force of an Itauma stoppage in August, not even making it through the opening round.

Since then, Itauma has defeated Jermaine Franklin, courtesy of a fifth-round finish in March, and placed himself as the No.1 contender with both the WBO and WBA.

The Minnesota Vikings are concluding their first week of organized team activities as we approach June in the NFL calendar. Training camp is just around the corner — less than two months away — and the rumor mill is already heating up.

This week’s headlines include an intriguing theory about Deebo Samuel, fresh trade discussions regarding Anthony Richardson, and a potential quarterback shift for the Vikings in preparation for the 2027 NFL Draft.

Welcome to the Purple Rumor Mill for May 31st — this is the second edition of the weekend.

Vikings WR and QB Rumors, Some beyond the Summer

Rumor: Deebo Samuel remains a free-agent fit for the Vikings, according to Bleacher Report.

Still available for any team to sign, BR’s Alex Kay wrote about Samuel this week, “The Washington Commanders moved on from Deebo Samuel after a single season, but the 30-year-old wideout should still have something left to offer another team as he gears up for his third NFL act. Samuel can be a dangerous playmaker when he possesses the football.”

“He’s amassed 800 or more yards from scrimmage and scored at least four touchdowns in all six of his healthy seasons — only missing those marks during an injury-shortened 2020 sophomore effort — and averages nearly 11 yards per touch on his career.”

Samuel seemed like a smart Vikings option prior to the Jauan Jennings addition. Then, when Jennings entered the mix, fans assumed he alone was enough to complete the WR room.

Kay continued, “While Samuel wasn’t a great fit in Washington and was limited by the lack of talent under center following Jayden Daniels‘ injury woes, he still managed to score six touchdowns on just 89 touches in 2025. He was a YAC machine — nearly two-thirds of his receiving yardage came after the catch — and he can be relied on to churn respectable gains if he gets the ball in space at his next stop.”

“Any team seeking a versatile weapon who can line up at multiple offensive positions, as well as contribute on special teams, should have interest in Samuel. Potential Landing Spots: Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots.”

It would be pretty wild if the Vikings signed Samuel after Jennings, but it evidently cannot be ruled out.

Rumor: The Vikings could trade for Anthony Richardson.

Analyzing trade scenarios for the league’s most tradeable players, ESPN’s Seth Walder landed on the Vikings as Richardson’s next employer.

He wrote, “Seth Walder’s offer: Colts get: 2027 fifth-round pick. Vikings get: Richardson. Why this deal makes sense: Richardson can come to the Kevin O’Connell school of quarterbacks and learn behind another mobile QB in Kyler Murray, who is on just a one-year contract with Minnesota.”

“Richardson’s deal expires in 2027, too, but his acquisition would give the Vikings more options going forward. Maybe Murray works out great and becomes the long-term starter in Minnesota. Or maybe Murray heads elsewhere and the Vikings see enough growth from Richardson to keep him around.”

The Colts drafted Richardson in 2023, and credible intel claimed Minnesota would’ve been interested had he tumbled down the draftboard.

Walder added, “In this scenario, the Vikings could keep both Richardson and J.J. McCarthy (though that’s a pretty risky backup room) or deal the latter in another trade. For Indianapolis, it can land a little draft capital now in exchange for a third-string quarterback.”

Stephen Holder from the same network added, “The win-win here is Walder’s offer from the Vikings. First, it gives the Colts a fifth-rounder without a pick swap like Solak’s offer from Detroit. And Minnesota’s fifth-rounder will likely come earlier than Green Bay’s fifth-rounder, giving this deal the edge over Fowler’s pitch.”

Like the Samuel theory, this one is a long shot: Minnesota already has Murray, McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer at quarterback.

Rumor: Minnesota is a dark-horse franchise to draft a Round 1 quarterback next April.

ESPN’s Jordan Reid browsed the whole 2027 quarterback class and opined at the article’s conclusion, “What is a sleeper team to watch at quarterback? Minnesota Vikings. They are in the middle of a QB competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy for the starting job, with Carson Wentz behind them as the QB3.”

“If Murray and McCarthy don’t drastically improve from what they put on tape last season, Minnesota could be looking for its next franchise signal-caller as soon as the 2027 draft.”

If the Vikings are forced to use a 1st-Round pick on a quarterback next April, it will feel like the franchise is starting all over again.

Here’s to hoping Murray or McCarthy pan out.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker

The NBA rarely produces playoff series like the 2026 Western Conference Finals. The bout between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder was the first series to feature two teams that won 62 or more games since the 1998 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz. We haven’t seen a series hyped to quite the extent that this one was since, at least, the 2018 Western Conference Finals between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors.

Well, the series — thanks to an unforgettable opener and dramatic closer — lived up to that hype. Game 1 was one of the greatest playoff games in NBA history, and the series went the full seven. In the end, the Spurs were crowned Western Conference champions with a 111-103 victory in Saturday’s Game 7. They will face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals starting on Wednesday.

That’s four days away, and given both the stakes of this matchup and the quality of basketball that was played, we’re not ready to turn the page quite yet. So with this momentous series now in the books, let’s name some winners and losers for perhaps the most anticipated playoff series of the decade.

Winner: Victor Wembanyama

This isn’t supposed to happen. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the championship in his second season, but he had a full college career. Magic Johnson did it as a rookie… but on Abdul-Jabbar’s team. It took LeBron James four years to make the Finals and four more to make it back after he got swept.

But Wembanyama is headed to the Finals in just his third NBA season. In getting there, he took down the two-time reigning NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. More than that, he essentially neutralized his competition. Gilgeous-Alexander got to the basket at only slightly better than half of the rate he did so in the regular season. That forced him to live off of tough, contested mid-range jumpers. He made plenty of them in his 35-point Game 7, but not nearly enough in the rest of the series to move on.

Wembanyama is in rarified air now. He’s claimed the mantle of “best player in the NBA” at such a young age and with so much room left to grow that, if he remains healthy, it’s a title he might hold for another decade or more. His Spurs are favored in the NBA Finals, he plays for a young and asset-rich team, and he’ll have a chance to hold his coronation at Madison Square Garden, the world’s most famous arena. 

Now seems like the perfect moment to truly begin his campaign to unseat James and Michael Jordan as the greatest players of all time. He has a long way to go, but he’s hitting the checkpoints he needs to earlier than either of them did.

Victor Wembanyama’s ‘greatest of all time’ trajectory is officially ahead of schedule after Spurs’ Game 7 win

Sam Quinn

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Loser: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Look, we can be reasonable here. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was at an enormous disadvantage in this series when Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell got hurt. He was the last high-level shot-creator standing for the Thunder, and Wembanyama taking away the rim as he did forced him into a very uncomfortable position. The series boiled down to him making tough shots off the dribble. He didn’t make enough of them for six games.

But here’s the thing about being a two-time MVP: you’re sometimes expected to do unreasonable things. Gilgeous-Alexander has spent the year getting compared to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Well, players of that caliber have won through adversity. Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t. He won a championship last season that may well have boiled down to injuries suffered by the Nuggets and Pacers before and during their matchups. He has the best roster in the NBA surrounding him, and that probably contributes to why casual fans don’t regard him as highly as his numbers suggest they should.

And the agonizing thing here is that he did those unreasonable things in Game 7. He was genuinely spectacular. It’s hard to ask for much more than 35 points and nine assists on 12-of-21 shooting when you’re getting doubled as frequently as he was. This could have been the game that changed the way he was perceived forever, yet most of his teammates didn’t join him. There’s not much anyone can do when three of their fellow starters score 14 combined points.

It’s not as though his career or prime are over. The Thunder will be back in the mix next year and beyond, and Wembanyama’s ascent means that they’ll probably be underdogs. But this was a chance for Gilgeous-Alexander to shed some labels, to win a championship that frankly would have been more meaningful than the one he already had and legitimately launched him into those exclusive clubs occupied by the other multiple-time MVP winners. As good as he was in Game 7, he just wasn’t at this level for most of the series, and it’s hard not to be somewhat disappointed by that. He may one day push his way through those doors, but he missed a chance to barge into the Pantheon with a victory in Game 7.

Winner: De’Aaron Fox

This series almost went very, very badly for De’Aaron Fox. He missed the first two games with a high ankle sprain, and Dylan Harper laid out the case that he should be the starting point guard next year with a huge Game 1. Fox returned for Game 3, but wasn’t especially effective. The Thunder barely guarded him from deep, and his struggles culminated with a 5-of-24 shooting stretch in Games 5 and 6. With a max contract kicking in this offseason and Harper potentially rendering him obsolete, Game 7 was undoubtedly the biggest game of Fox’s career.

The numbers weren’t gaudy, but every single one of them counted. It’d be hard to score 15 bigger points than Fox did against the Thunder on Saturday. Seemingly every one of them came to slow a Thunder run or accentuate one of San Antonio’s. His 3s started going in. And the one thing he’s done well really all series? He basically never turns the ball over. One of the stories of the games Fox missed early on were the 20 turnovers Stephon Castle committed. Oklahoma City lives off of the transition opportunities those live-ball turnovers create, but putting Fox back in the mix helped minimize them.

All of the long-term questions here still linger. Harper probably does have to be the long-term starter. Fox probably is overpaid. It might not be possible to play the three-man combination of Fox, Harper and Castle together too much because of their shooting deficiencies. But the trade for Fox and the contract that followed justified itself in Game 7. He was the difference between the Spurs reaching the NBA Finals and going home. They can address everything else later. For now, they are four wins away from a championship because he is on their team.

Loser: Chet Holmgren

Most of the time, the Thunder are perfectly happy to have a passive Chet Holmgren on offense. He’s among the NBA’s best defenders and his presence usually spaces the floor. When you have the best roster in the NBA, you can get away without much more out of him.

Well, the Thunder couldn’t get away with less in this series. Without Williams and Mitchell, they needed some measure of shot-creation out of Holmgren. He didn’t offer much of it. Like Gilgeous-Alexander, he was limited at the basket by Wembanyama’s presence. But he just doesn’t have a quick enough trigger to really scare the Spurs from deep, either. After launching four 3s in Game 1, he took only seven in the next six games. He was, by and large, invisible offensively for large stretches of this series.

This culminated with one of the worst Game 7s you’ll ever see. Holmgren played 33 minutes and attempted two shots. Two. For reference, do you remember the infamous Ben Simmons Game 7 against the Hawks in which he passed up an open dunk? He took four shots in that game. Holmgren had as many turnovers as he had field goal attempts. He couldn’t hold onto passes or rebounds. He was a mess.

Years ago, Holmgren vs. Wembanyama was treated as one of the great impending rivalries in basketball. There’s not a rivalry right now. Wembanyama is the best player in the world. Holmgren is an enormously valuable overall player who shares a similar physical profile but couldn’t adjust to the adverse circumstances this series presented. Like Gilgeous-Alexander, he’ll probably have more chances with a healthier overall roster, but we got a glimpse of what Holmgren looks like on something resembling a normal playoff-caliber team in this series, and what we saw was pretty underwhelming.

Loser: Lu Dort

We have to discuss another OKC starter in a negative light. It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that Lu Dort might’ve been playing for his job in this series. The Thunder are far above the second apron for next season, and Dort’s $18.2 million team option is one of their easiest paths to saving money. The Thunder have one of the deepest group of 3-and-D wings in the entire NBA. Even at his best, he might have been a luxury here.

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Well, he wasn’t at his best in this series. His offense has always been up and down, but it became a real problem against the Spurs. He shot just 20% on 3s, and in the first six games of the series, Oklahoma City’s offense was more than eight points per 100 possessions worse with him on the floor. Part of the reason the Spurs kept jumping out to those huge first-quarter leads was the Thunder’s continued insistence on starting Dort. It was as if the game started for Oklahoma City four or five minutes into the first quarter when the team finally pulled him out.

Dort has specific functions in Oklahoma City. He’s great on the ball. He’s burlier than Cason Wallace and therefore better suited to taking on certain matchups. But Wallace and Alex Caruso are both better players than he is, and the continued decision to start Dort over Wallace was one of the reasons the Thunder lost this series. If they have to choose between the three of them as financial fits moving forward, Dort is the odd man out. 

Winner: New York Knicks

Look, the Knicks were going to be underdogs against either of these teams (they are +172 underdogs against the Spurs on FanDuel). There’s an argument to be made that they would have preferred the Thunder purely because of the injuries they’ve endured. But the Knicks haven’t beaten the Thunder since November of 2022. Conveniently enough, they faced off in early March under eerily similar circumstances as they may have in the Finals: no Mitchell Robinson for the Knicks, no Jalen Williams or Ajay Mitchell for the Thunder. Oklahoma City won the game at Madison Square Garden. Jalen Brunson shot 5 of 18.

The Knicks faced the Spurs three times this season and beat them twice, including in the NBA Cup final. Now, Wembanyama didn’t play his typical minutes load in that game, but it’s worth noting here that across those three games, the Knicks won the Wembanyama minutes by 16 total points.

Potentially missing Robinson or having a limited version of him stings against a star opposing center, but OG Anunoby is about as well-equipped to guard San Antonio’s martian as anyone in the NBA. Oklahoma City’s deep group of perimeter defenders likely would’ve been harder for Brunson to deal with than just Stephon Castle. The Spurs have more slightly weak links for him to seek out. Avoiding Isaiah Hartenstein‘s screens will probably help the typically contact-averse Mikal Bridges defensively. The Thunder have been there before. The Spurs haven’t. 

On balance, San Antonio is just a slightly more favorable matchup for New York. Really, though, New York’s victory came before the game even began. This is now the third consecutive series in which they will face an opponent coming off of a seven-game series… and the second in which they were coming off of a sweep. Their rest advantage cannot be overstated. The longer the Finals go, the better for them. If they pull off the Finals upset, they’ll be sure to send the Thunder a card for pushing the Spurs this hard.