NBA news: Coaches fired, Gobert throws punch, Play-In Tournament predictions

NBA news on the last day of the regular season was highlighted by coaching changes and punches thrown. We’re covering it all, along with Play-In Tournament predictions.

The NBA season wrapped on Thursday and our NBA Play-In Tournament matchups are officially set. Today we’re cruising through some predictions for each conference, checking in on the immediate coaching changes (as well as some that could be to come) and unpacking Rudy Gobert’s ill-advised punch thrown at a teammate.

NBA Play-In Tournament Predictions

In the Eastern Conference, we have the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks playing for the No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup with the Boston Celtics. The loser of that game will play the winner of the Toronto Raptors and the Chicago Bulls for the No. 8 seed.

In the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves play for the No. 7 seed, with a first-round matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies as the prize. The loser of that game will play the winner of the New Orleans Pelicans and the Oklahoma City Thunder for the No. 8 seed. Bear in mind that my NBA predictions are generally terrible and not to be trusted — still here’s how I imagine things playing out.

The Heat and Raptors advance in the Eastern Conference: Trae Young shoots the Hawks out of two games and sends Atlanta into the offseason with even bigger questions about how much they want to tie their future to him. The veteran savvy and experience of the Heat and Raptors show through.

The Lakers and Pelicans advance in the Western Conference: The Timberwolves are in a dark place after Rudy Gobert’s meltdown (more on that later) and the Lakers take advantage. The Pelicans ride their depth and versatility into the No. 8 seed.

Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each put up 40+ in a loss: SGA already has a 44-point game against the Pelicans this season, along with a pair of 30+ point games. With a young team and the stakes peaking, the Thunder turn to him and he puts together a sparkling performance that isn’t quite enough. I think Edwards is going to get two opportunities and in at least one of them, he’s going to express his frustration at the chaos around him by exploding in the scoring column.

The Raptors and Heat don’t convince anyone but themselves that a first-round upset is coming: Both teams have talent and veteran experience. But neither team is even close to being in the same league as the Celtics or Bucks. Beating up on the Hawks and Bulls may make the Heat and Raptors feel confident but they’re not selling anyone else.

The “Lakers are back” narrative jumps the shark: LeBron and Anthony Davis look great against the Timberwolves. The bench shows up and we spend four days listening to talking heads wildly lay the groundwork for a championship run that won’t actually materialize.

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Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves throw punches

The biggest story of the last night of the regular season was, unfortunately, hands being thrown. A sideline argument between teammates Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson took a turn when Gobert threw a punch.

Gobert was sent home and, to this point, we haven’t heard anything from the team or the league about possible disciplinary action but it seems likely he’ll be held out of the team’s Play-In matchup against the Lakers. To make matters worse, Jaden McDaniels punched a wall on his way to the locker room and broke his hand, ruling him out for the Play-In Tournament.

FiveThirtyEight’s projection model gives the Lakers a 64 percent chance of beating Minnesota in the first game. Minnesota would likely be favored against the Thunder or Pelicans in the second game, and they have a 5-2 against those two teams this season. But the weight of what Gobert did could change things significantly.

And even if they somehow smooth things over or rally around each other in his absence, the Timberwolves are still staring down a future where they owe four more first-round picks and a pick swap to the Utah Jazz, and have Gobert under contract for three more seasons at over $120 million.

That trade could end up being a historic disaster.

NBA news and content from around the FanSided network

• The WNBA Draft is tonight on ESPN at 7 p.m. Get prepped with our latest two-round mock draft and a look at three sleepers you need to know.
• The Lakers may be pinning a lot of their Play-In hopes on a revenge game for Jarred Vanderbilt.
• Before the season, Max Mortensen offered some statistically inclined predictions for every team in each conference. With the regular season concluded, he’s holding himself accountable and grading his preseason picks for the East and the West.

Ranking the NBA head coaching openings

Somehow Jason Kidd has a vote of confidence for next season but we already have two official head coaching openings. The Houston Rockets announced they were parting ways with Stephen Silas, a completely unsurprising development considering how much they struggled to show any signs of improvement this year. And Pistons head coach Dwane Casey announced he was moving from the bench into a front-office role. It’s possible that once the NBA Play-In Tournament is over, we also see head coach openings for the Raptors and Bulls.

Assuming that all four of those jobs end up opening this season here’s how I’d rank them in terms of their appeal:

4. Chicago Bulls — They still have some cultural cache in spite of the decades of organizational incompetence since Michael Jordan left. But right now they have a roster suited for the treadmill of mediocrity and no obvious means of dramatically improving their personnel. It’s also a job that’s likely going to come with some unreasonable expectations, from fans, media and possibly even the front office.

3. Houston Rockets — They have talent and could land the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft. But they aren’t just a blank slate, their key players have one or two seasons of terrible habits baked in that will need undoing. There is some time to rebuild here but maybe not as much as a team just starting a reset and there is chaos that needs to be quelled before they can move forward.

2. Toronto Raptors — All of the talent is here and if Nick Nurse walks away it may be because the stress of managing these personalities doesn’t feel like it’s worth it. That being said, there is no better head coach opening this year set up for a quick rebound toward playoff competitiveness.

1. Detroit Pistons — There is a depth of young talent here, a good chance at the No. 1 pick and no pervasive bad vibes (at least that we know of). This is the job that offers an opportunity to grow a long-term winner and help mold talent that hasn’t yet figured out how to maximize itself in tandem.

Today’s NBA Trivia

We have only had the NBA Play-In Tournament in its current iteration for the past two seasons. Can you name the three teams that have used the tournament to make the playoffs as a No. 9 seed?

The answer for last Friday’s trivia question: The 2000-01 season was the last time the Los Angeles Lakers led the league in offensive efficiency. They were also a product of their era — averaging 107.0 points per 100 possessions that year, a mark which would have ranked dead last this season by a significant margin.