The 2025-26 NBA regular season is coming to a close and the playoff picture is starting to solidify, but buzz around the draft and offseason is already humming.
For the 10 teams already eliminated from playoff contention, the focus has turned to the May 10 NBA draft lottery order and how it impacts their franchises.
The 2026 draft (June 25 and 26) is widely viewed as deep and talented; several of the top players are expected to be future stars in the league, which has resulted in some of the most overt tanking efforts in years.
Elsewhere, the Golden State Warriors expect Stephen Curry to return Sunday against the Houston Rockets after missing 27 games with a right knee injury; the Los Angeles Lakers announced Friday that superstar Luka Doncic will miss the rest of the regular season with a hamstring injury; and the Kawhi Leonard-Aspiration investigation continues on with no end in sight. Commissioner Adam Silver did not address the investigation at last week's board of governors meeting.
Here's what our insiders are hearing from their sources across the league.
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April 3
Luka Doncic out for the rest of the regular season
Lakers star Luka Doncic is out indefinitely with a Grade 2 right hamstring injury, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin. Doncic will miss the rest of the regular season, and his availability for the playoffs is uncertain.
In the 20 minutes after the news broke, the Lakers' title chances dropped from 30-1 to 100-1, per DraftKings Sportsbook.
Doncic, who has played in 64 games and ranked fourth in ESPN's latest MVP straw poll, will apply for what's called an "extraordinary circumstances challenge" to the 65-game rule for award consideration, per his agent, Bill Duffy.
Statement from Luka Doncic's agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball: "This season, Luka Dončić has performed at a historic level, leading the league in scoring, carrying the Lakers to third place in the Western Conference and placing himself in the middle of one of the most tightly... https://t.co/bKVOmzheDE
Per ESPN's Bobby Marks, Doncic can apply the exception for the two games he missed in December for the birth of his daughter. The application must be made no earlier than 12 p.m. ET on the last day of the regular season and no later than 11:59 p.m. on the day after the last day of the regular season.