All articles tagged with #second round
The piece reviews the 2026 Draft’s second round, noting San Antonio’s picks Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Tennessee) and Maliq Brown (Duke) amid heavy trade activity, explains the new 3-2-1 drafting framework and two-way contracts, and provides colorful, pick-by-pick comparisons and Spurs-fit notes.
NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin grades each team’s 2026 second-round picks, using a gentler curve than the first round and prioritizing upside and development. Highlights include Houston’s Bruce Thornton (31) as an A behind VanVleet, Memphis’ Richie Saunders (32) as a high-upside rotation option, Atlanta’s Henri Veesaar (52) as an A+ 7-foot floor-spacer, and Spurs’ Ja’Kobe Gillespie (42) as an elite shot-maker. Grades span from A to C, with notes on fit, two-way potential, and how these picks could mature into longer-term contributors for their teams.
Chicago, after a flurry of pre-draft moves that included Caleb Wilson at No. 4 and Dailyn Swain at No. 15, plus a three-team deal that shipped Mouhamadou Gueye and Nicolas Claxton, heads into the second round with picks 38 and 56. The piece spotlights five sleepers—Maliq Brown (Duke), Baba Miller (Cincinnati), Richie Saunders (BYU), Izaiyah Nelson (South Florida), and Dillon Mitchell (St. John’s)—as fits for Chicago’s defensive, athletic profile with upside, even as other late-round names were also considered.
Adam Finkelstein’s CBS Sports 2026 Round 2 mock draft projects the final 30 picks (31–60) after a first round where top prospects slid into the second. It provides 30 projections by pick, team, and basic stats, with early highlights including Henri Veesaar to the Knicks (31), Meleek Thomas to the Grizzlies (32), Isaiah Evans to the Timberwolves (33), and Baba Miller to the Cavaliers (34), illustrating teams’ pursuit of role players and upside in the late first/early second round.
Minnesota moved down from 28 to 33 in a trade for Julius Randle, gaining cap space to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu and pursue future moves. The 33rd pick, as a second‑round selection, typically carries a cheaper, more flexible contract under the rookie wage scale than the 28th pick, making it potentially more valuable and easier to use in deals. Prospects around 33 are expected to be similar in quality to those at 28, but with the benefit of lower cap impact, enabling the Wolves to draft well on a team‑friendly deal or even package the pick to move up in the first round, though they’ll contend with an agent‑driven second‑round market.
NBC Sports delivers a complete, updated two-round list for the 2026 NBA Draft in Brooklyn, led by AJ Dybantsa at No. 1, with top prospects and several trades shaping the rest of the night.
The NBA approved a controversial lottery reform that bars teams from getting top-5 picks in three straight years and won’t grandfather traded picks, while also flipping the first-round order to determine the second-round picks (the No.1 pick would land No.16 in the second round, No.2 would be No.15, etc.). The change aims to balance luck and deter tanking and passed 29-1 with Memphis as the lone dissenter; it’s a three-year trial through 2030. Notably, Memphis’ 2027 pick, owned via Utah, is now top-5 protected because of Jazz top-5 finishes in 2025–26, affecting the Grizzlies’ potential asset.
The NBA approved a new draft lottery format that flattens odds, adds a bottom-three relegation zone, and broadens penalties for egregious tanking, while tightening the top-five restriction to traded picks and reversing the second-round order to offset luck. League officials say the changes aim to remove incentives to lose and centralize penalties; Memphis (Grizzlies) voted against, though they could still benefit in certain outcomes.
Victor Wembanyama poured in 39 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks to lead San Antonio past Minnesota 115-108 and grab a 2-1 edge in the second-round NBA playoffs. Anthony Edwards posted 32 points and 14 rebounds for the Wolves, who kept it close with a late push, but Wembanyama sealed the win with clutch late baskets. Minnesota will host Game 4, with the series then returning to San Antonio for Game 5.
The NHL released the complete 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round schedule, matching Buffalo (A1) against Montreal/Tampa Bay, and Carolina (M1) against Philadelphia (M3) in the East, with Colorado (C1) vs Minnesota (C3) and Vegas (P1) vs Anaheim (P3) in the West. The Round kicks off tonight at 8 p.m. ET with Flyers–Hurricanes in Raleigh; several dates are listed as TBD. Games will air on a mix of ABC, ESPN, TNT, truTV, HBO Max, SN, CBC, TVAS, and other networks.)
The Sixers advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals to face the Knicks in a fast-paced second-round schedule: Game 1 is Monday, May 4 at 8 p.m. at MSG (NBC/Peacock); Game 2 is May 6 at 7 p.m. on ESPN; Game 3 is May 8 at 7 p.m. on Prime Video; Game 4 is May 10 at 3:30 p.m. on ABC; with Games 5 (May 12), 6 (May 14), and a potential Game 7 (May 17) if needed, TV assignments will be determined once games are guaranteed; Embiid’s knee health is a concern after the G7 collision.
The Anaheim Ducks (No. 3 seed) face the Vegas Golden Knights (No. 1 seed) in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round, kicking off May 4 in Vegas in a 2-2-1-1-1 format. Anaheim swept Vegas in the regular season for the first time and this marks their first playoff meeting. All games will stream on Ducks Stream; tickets for potential home games are on AnaheimDucks.com, with the schedule tentatively spanning May 4, 6, 8, 10 and possible May 12, 14, 16 if needed.
Vegas Golden Knights announce limited public on-sale for the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs (vs. Anaheim Ducks), with single-game tickets going on sale May 2 at 2 p.m. PT; a Round 2 Strip option offers all-four-home-games access at a discount, refunds will be issued for unused games, and additional ticketing options include season-ticket memberships, event suites, and group tickets, with dates/times for the series to be announced later.
The Flyers will kick off the Eastern Conference second-round series against the Hurricanes on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, with Games 1–2 in Raleigh’s Lenovo Center before Games 3–4 move to Philadelphia. Philadelphia defeated the Penguins in six to reach this round, while Carolina swept Ottawa as the East’s top seed; in the regular season, Carolina won three of the four meetings with the Flyers.
The NHL announced that the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round series between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Carolina Hurricanes will begin May 2 in Raleigh. Game 1 is set for 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast exclusively on ABC in the U.S.; in Canada, the game will air on Sportsnet and TVA Sports. The complete second-round schedule will be announced when available.