After the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets in Game 5, LeBron James was asked to consider whether he may have played his final game with the franchise.

"I'm not going to answer that," replied James.

James has until June 29 to either opt into the final year of his contract with the Lakers for $51.4 million or become an unrestricted free agent.

The Lakers will try to retain James and are prepared to even offer him a three-year, $164 million deal.

James was also asked how he will approach his decision about playing next season.

"I don't have an answer ... to be honest. I haven't given it much thought," said James.

The Charlotte Hornets have hired Patrick Harrel as Vice President of Basketball Insights & Analysis.

Harrel joins the Hornets from the NBA league office's data science department where he led game scheduling optimization.

This offseason, the Hornets hired Jeff Peterson to run their front office.

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch will have surgery for a ruptured right patellar tendon on Wednesday. Finch was injured near the end of the Timberwolves Game 4 victory over the Phoenix Suns. Minnesota guard Mike Conley collided with Finch on a play near the sideline.

Finch's status to be on the bench for Game 1 of the Wolves second round series against the Denver Nuggets is unknown. Finch may have to coach the game from the locker room, sending his plans to the assistants on the bench. Minnesota is expecting their coach to be able to travel to Denver for Game 1, barring any unexpected complications.

Finch led the Timberwolves to the second-most wins they've had in regular season franchise history. Minnesota's sweep of the Suns was only the second time in which the team has won a first round series.

The Los Angeles Lakers are "very open" to adding Bronny James to their roster next season and could potentially draft him.

Bronny James is evaluating his options after his freshman season at USC, which includes declaring for the draft or transferring to another school. Bronny was a projected lottery pick in the 2024 NBA draft before his cardiac arrest and disappointing freshman season with USC. Bronny was moved by ESPN from the lottery in 2024 to the second round in 2025 in their mock drafts.

LeBron James is expected to be a free agent this offseason and has spoken about his desire to play on the same team as Bronny in the NBA.

Darvin Ham's future as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers is in "serious peril," according to Shams Charania, Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Some close to the organization have indicated that Ham's return next season is highly unlikely.

The Lakers plan to reassess the season over the next couple of days before reaching a decision.

Ham made several decisions throughout the season that caused doubt within the Lakers. For example, Ham benching Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell during a losing streak after the In-Season Tournament did not sit well with players nor the organization.

There was a sense that Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish were allowed to play through their mistakes, unlike Reaves, Russell, and Rui Hachimura.

Many within the Lakers felt that Ham rarely blamed his own schemes, game plans, or rotations.

Ham signed a four-year contract with the Lakers in 2022.

Kevin Durant can extend his contract with the Phoenix Suns this offseason beginning on July 8th.

Durant can add one more season at just under $60 million for the 26-27 season when he will be 38. Durant will turn 36 at the start of training camp in September. 

The decision made by Durant and the Suns on an extension will be monitored across the league as a signal of how both sides view the pairing long-term.

Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal will combine to make approximately $150 million for the 24-25 season.

In the postgame media session after the Minnesota Timberwolves swept the Phoenix Suns, Wolves franchise star Karl-Anthony Towns had high praise for Anthony Edwards.

"He’s the face of the league. I’ve been saying that. He hates when I say it, but it’s true," Towns on Edwards' place in the NBA.

Minnesota's young star also drew high praise from Suns forward Kevin Durant.

 Edwards scored 40 points in helping the Timberwolves to close out the Suns in four games. He shot 13-of-20 from the floor, including 7-of-13 from behind the arc. Edwards added nine rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal to his big scoring line.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic won't use a right knee injury as an excuse for his struggles in the first-round playoff series against the LA Clippers. But Doncic is clearly playing through it, and he feels as if that's putting a lot on Kyrie Irving's shoulders.

"I just got to help him more," Doncic said of Irving. "I feel like I'm letting him down, so I got to be there. I got to help him more. He's given everything that he has, and he's been amazing for us the whole series."

Doncic injured his right knee in the first quarter of Game 3. It's impacted his ability to create separation from the Clippers defenders. But the Mavs star expects himself to be better, despite the injury.

"It's hurting obviously, but it shouldn't be an excuse, man," said Doncic on playing 45 minutes in Game 4. "Just came out and a little sloppy, so I got to be way better than that."

The Clippers won Game 4 to even the series at 2-2. Game 5 is in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Joel Embiid was mostly upset at how his team played down the stretch of the Philadelphia 76ers Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks. That lost left the Sixers on the verge of elimination, as the Knicks lead the series 3-1.

However, Embiid was also upset at the number of New York fans in the building for Games 3 and 4 of the series in Philadelphia. At various points through both games, it sounded as if the crowd was at least 50-50. Embiid called that "disappointing".

"I love our fans. Think it's unfortunate and I'm not calling them out, but it is disappointing. Obviously, you got a lot of Knicks fans and they're down the road and I've never seen it," Embiid said. "And I've been here for 10 years. Yeah, it kind of pisses me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town. They've always shown up and I don't think that should happen. Yeah. It's not okay."

Game 5 shifts back to New York on Tuesday, with the Knicks having a chance to close out the series in front of their home fans.

Kevin Durant reportedly never felt comfortable playing alongside Devin Booker and Bradley Beal in the Phoenix Suns' offense, sources told Shams Charania and Doug Haller of The Athletic.

Durant had "persistent issues" with being relegated to the corner with the offense built around pick-and-rolls instead of his strengths.

Teammates and those close to the organization felt like Durant should have voiced his concerns more directly with Frank Vogel.

Kevin Young, now at BYU, was responsible for the Suns' offense. Players questioned the coaching staff's ability to maximize a lineup of Durant, Beal, and Booker.

The Suns are reportedly taking a "hard look" at making full changes to the coaching staff this summer.