Biggest story of the week

NBA — New York Goes Up 2-0
After two thrilling games of the NBA Finals, the Knicks take a 2-0 lead after beating San Antonio 105-95 in Game 1 and 105-104 in Game 2. As the series shifts back to New York, the only question that comes to mind is, are the Spurs cooked?

CBB — Kentucky Lands the Nation’s Best Shooter
Well it didn’t take long for the No. 1 player in the portal to make his decision after returning to college. Milan Momcilovic (best 3PT shooter in the country) has decided to join Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats. The SEC is once again loaded.

In today’s issue:

👀 The Read — OKC’s Big Decision

🔥 Clutch or Cap — Are the Spurs Cooked?

🍿 Games of the Week — Spurs vs. Knicks (+ the pick)

OKC’s Big Decision

Knicks
The hottest team in basketball hasn't lost in over a month, and they just became the third team ever to steal Games 1 and 2 of the Finals on the road—joining the '93 Bulls and '95 Rockets, who both finished the job. That's 13 straight playoff wins, 11 by double digits, and 8 straight road wins. All while suffocating a Spurs offense, holding them under 100 points in Game 1 for the first time all postseason.

But the story is the defense and the supporting cast—Brunson's being contained and it doesn't matter, because Karl-Anthony Towns is the X-factor we called in our last prediction post, following his Game 1 with 21 and 13 on 8-of-12 in Game 2. Josh Hart's been everywhere (just don't ask him to score), OG's been a two-way gem, and Mikal Bridges has reportedly put Fox and Castle on lockdown when matched up against them (h/t Evan Sidery). Two wins from the first New York title since 1973—and right now, it’s looking like the Knicks could be bringing out the brooms.

OKC
With all the chatter surrounding the Thunder post their defeat to the Spurs, I'd say people are reaching a bit—they went 7 games without two of their most important players. Now yes, if anyone takes obvious blame, it's Chet: 17 & 9 in the regular season, then just 10 a game in the playoffs is inexcusable for a max, All-NBA guy. But I'm not trading Chet—there aren't enough bigs alive who can match Wemby, and he's still the closest thing they've got.

The issue is the cap: OKC is $59M over the tax and above both aprons, the only team projected with three $40M players (Shai, JDub, Chet), so somebody's leaving. Two things have to happen this summer—Chet has to take a leap, and a key piece (most likely Dort or Hartenstein) gets moved, with their No. 12 and 17 picks as chips to package and move up.

Nuggets
Denver's first-round collapse in summary—the best shooting team in the NBA goes ice cold. They hit 32% on wide-open threes against Minnesota, which would've been dead last in the league by a mile; Murray fell from 47% to 27.8%, Jokic from 48% to 27%, Cam Johnson from 48% to 28%. Now they're in a difficult situation. Denver is sitting $2.5M under the second apron with re-signing Watson the priority, which means a starter has to go.

Cam Johnson is the odd man out, the obvious salary chip on a $23M expiring deal. He performed rather well in the playoffs, especially during the closing games, so his value is intriguing to a handful of teams. And somebody fix the medical staff—between Watson, Gordon, and half the rotation, this team's got a full-blown hamstring epidemic.

St. John’s
The Johnnies were the biggest riser in the portal rankings, and it's easy to see why—Pitino pulled a top-5 transfer class headlined by Baylor's Tounde Yessoufou, a 6-5 wing who dropped 17.8 PPG as a freshman before pulling out of the draft. Pair him with returning guard Ian Jackson, Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman, and British point guard Quinn Ellis, and that's a solid five with real scoring potential and a true PG they didn't have last year.

They lost their top three from a Sweet 16 team (Ejiofor, Hopkins, Sellers) and the bench looks thin, so it's all banking on transfers gelling. Ruben Prey is the X-factor, the 6-11 junior who went 4-for-4 from three and dropped 12 on Duke in March. If Ellis can run the show and Jackson, Freeman, and Prey take their leaps, this starting five is up there with the best—so yeah, it's a gamble, but leave it to the Godfather to roll the dice.

UConn
Dan Hurley's roster looks loaded on paper, but it took a real hit when Solo Ball—a 12.8 PPG starter and one of their top three scorers—needed wrist surgery and will miss the entire season on a medical redshirt. That puts the keys in Braylon Mullins' hands, the sophomore sharpshooter who hit one of the greatest shots in college basketball history against Duke and is ready to be the guy. The backcourt's in good shape with lockdown defender Silas Demary Jr. next to him, but the supporting cast is the question—they lost Ball, Karaban, and Reed Jr., so the transfers have to hit.

Duke wing Nik Khamenia and Seton Hall center Najai Hines bring defense and size, but both need to prove they can fill the scoring those guys left behind, not to mention the bench is all freshmen. ESPN has the Huskies top-5, but for me they're a wait-and-see—I've got Tennessee and even St. John's ahead of them until the new pieces show it on the floor.

Michigan State
ESPN has the Spartans at No. 8, but to me they feel a bit overrated this year. They lost their entire starting frontcourt in Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper—20+ points a night gone—which is a real chunk of production to replace. The huge win was keeping Jeremy Fears, a returning All-American who led the nation in assists at 9.4 a game; if he takes another leap in year four, he can be the best point guard in the country.

Izzo reloaded with athletic returners (Coen Carr, Kur Teng, Jordan Scott) and landed 7-foot-2 Charlotte transfer Anton Bonke—10.6 and 8.3 a game—to hold down the paint. The starting five is solid and the defense will be there like always, but Michigan State's Achilles heel never changes: they can't shoot a lick, and until they prove otherwise, it's the same old story.

The Debates Driving Basketball

I’m as shocked as most of you to see the Spurs down 0-2. The problem is it’s the way they’re down 0-2, shooting too many threes, sloppy turnovers, and too many defensive lapses. It seems the Spurs cared more about beating OKC than they do the Knicks. Unlike OKC, NY has so many scoring options that going to 7 games against the Thunder might have taken a major toll on the Spurs.

But they’re not playing as bad as 0-2 looks—in Game 2 they outshot the Knicks, held Brunson to 7-for-25, and still lost by one after a critical Wemby turnover, so this series should be 1-1. One obvious problem is the bench: New York got 13 from Shamet, 7 from Alvarado, and even 6 from Deuce McBride (you can still hear the Deuce chants in Frost Bank Center), while San Antonio got nothing besides Dylan Harper. And the Sixth Man of the Year, Keldon Johnson, has put up 6 points across two Finals games—at the moment they need him most.

So are they cooked? Not yet—but they’re on the verge, and if you boil it down, this is young legs making young mistakes after a war with OKC, while a rested Knicks team lets their experience take control. Game 3 will determine if San Antonio can shake back and extend this series or if the NBA should start printing blue and orange confetti.

🔥 Clutch or Cap 🧢?
🗳 Vote on Instagram/TikTok: @hoopvalor
🔁 Share yours for a mention

Mark Pope deserves an apology for the whiff allegations. After missing on a few targets, he landed the biggest splash in the portal—Milan Momcilovic, the No. 1 transfer and the best shooter in college basketball, who led the nation at 48.7% from three on 7.5 attempts a game. The cruel irony? This is the same guy whose Iowa State team smoked Kentucky 82-63 in March—now he's a Wildcat. He's surrounded by returning All-SEC Freshman center Malachi Moreno, a 7-foot, 250-pound traditional back-to-the-basket big who led the team in blocks and boards and came back after testing the draft.

The backcourt is transfer-heavy and intriguing: Zoom Diallo (15 PPG at Washington) is a true floor general at 4.5 APG, even if the jumper's shaky, and Furman's Alex Wilkins put up 17.8 PPG on 46% shooting—though mid-major scoring doesn't always survive the jump to the SEC. They also bring back Kam Williams, who flashed real shooting (he dropped 8 threes in a game and shot 95% from the line), and the bench is stocked with experienced portal guys like JMU's Justin McBride hitting 40% from deep.

ESPN has them at 17, but people are going to sleep on this team. If Pope puts these pieces together, this is a squad that surprises people—because you don't sleep on the best shooter alive playing for a coach with everything to prove.

🔥 Clutch or Cap 🧢?
🗳 Vote on Instagram/TikTok: @hoopvalor
🔁 Share yours for a mention

Everyone Needs a Josh Hart

JOSH HART
2nd player ever with 15 REB, 6 AST, 4 STL in a Finals game
(joining only Larry Bird)

DYLAN HARPER
Youngest player in NBA history to score double-digits in a Finals game
(16 in Game 1—passed David Robinson's rookie playoff total)

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
Game 3 tracking as the most expensive NBA game ever—get-in near $10K
(resale listings hit $96K—the Knicks tax is real)

BIG EAST STARTING FIVE
Brunson, Bridges, Hart (all Villanova), Castle (UConn), Champagnie (St. John's)
(50% of Finals starters repping the Big East)

20 SCHOOLS DEEP
20 different colleges repping the 2026 Finals

MILAN MOMCILOVIC
His ~$6M NIL deal is top-4 in college basketball

The Biggest Headlines in Basketball

🏆 Game 7 Breaks Records. Spurs-Thunder Game 7 became the most-viewed NBA game ever on social media, surpassing 2 billion views.

💰 Curry Lands $400M Deal. Stephen Curry signed a reported 10-year, $400M+ endorsement deal with Li-Ning.

🚨 Clippers Investigation Deepens. Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in prison for a $248 million fraud scheme while the company remains tied to the NBA's Clippers probe.

🎮 Wemby Gets the Cover. Victor Wembanyama is set to headline NBA 2K27.

💸 Rozier Forfeits Salary. Terry Rozier must give up most of his $26.6 million salary following an arbitrator's ruling tied to the gambling investigation.

🏢 76ers Restructure Front Office. Philadelphia promoted former NBA All-Star Jameer Nelson to Executive VP of Basketball Operations, making him the franchise's No. 2 basketball executive.

The Matchups That Matter

Storyline: The Finals shift to New York with the Knicks holding a 2-0 lead after stealing both games in San Antonio. The Spurs have competed possession-for-possession, but late-game execution has been the difference. Down 0-2, Game 3 is effectively a must-win if San Antonio wants to keep the series alive.

Numbers to Know:

Matchup: New York's complete two-way dominance vs. San Antonio's youth, led by Wemby.

🎯 Hoopvalor Pick: Spurs ML (+110) Game 3

Moments, Memes, and Culture

As a guy whose favorite city happens to be New York, I gotta say, what a time to be a New Yorker:

That’s Volume 21.
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Catch you courtside. 🏀
— Hoopvalor