On the latest episode of The Lowe Post podcast, ESPN's Zach Lowe talked about teams that could be interested in trading for Donovan Mitchell. If Mitchell declines an extension, the thought is that the Cleveland Cavaliers will look to trade him before free agency in the summer of 2025.

Teams expected to be interested include the usual suspects like the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets. The has been some speculation that the Houston Rockets could also join that group. Lowe added the New Orleans Pelicans as a team to watch, should Mitchell hit the trade market.

New Orleans has hit a bit of a crossroads. Brandon Ingram has one year left on his contract. He's extension-eligible and could be looking for a max deal. The Cavs don't have a player with Ingram's skill/size combo at the forward spot. The Pelicans don't have a scoring guard quite like Mitchell, but do have some forward depth. That could make the two teams natural trade partners.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are facing a summer of uncertainty. Donovan Mitchell is extension-eligible, as is Evan Mobley. Darius Garland may ask for a trade if Mitchell extends. Now, we can add Cleveland potentially looking at breaking up their big men too.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast that the Cavs may look at possible trades for Jarrett Allen. The team's starting center missed the end of Cleveland first-round victory over the Orlando Magic due to an injury with his ribs. Allen then missed the entirety of the Cavs five-game loss to the Boston Celtics in the second round.

Allen averaged 16.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game this season. Those numbers are in range of when Allen was named an All-Star in 2023.

Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis is likely to miss Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Porzingis is rehabbing from a strained right calf.

The Celtics are awaiting the winner of the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers series. The Eastern Conference Finals is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, May 21. Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday, May 23.

Porzingis was injured in Game 4 of the first-round series against the Miami Heat. The Celtics went on to win that series in five games. Then, Boston was without their starting center for the entire five-game victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round.

The Celtics have continued to express optimism that Porzingis would return at some point in the playoffs. Now, it looks like that return may come in the middle of the Eastern Conference Finals.

James Jones believes in the roster he's built for the Phoenix Suns. So much so, that despite facing second apron restrictions, Jones shut down any talk that he'd break up his big three. Jones said there is no scenario in which the Suns would trade Kevin Durant, Devin Booker or Bradley Beal this offseason.

Phoenix has over $194 million in guaranteed salary committed to just seven players for next season. The second apron is projected to be set at $189.5 million. That means the Suns will have several restrictions for filling out the rest of their roster. Phoenix can re-sign their own free agents, sign their own draft picks, sign players to minimum contracts, and make heavily restricted trades.

The Suns are expected to be in a similar situation through next summer, as well. Durant's contract runs out after the 2025-26 season. At that point, Phoenix may see start to see some wiggle room under the tax aprons and maybe even the tax itself.

Mike Budenholzer had his introductory press conference as head coach of the Phoenix Suns on Friday. 

"I'm excited about working with this roster and these players," Budenholzer said. "We have great players. And with great players come great expectations. I think we embrace that."

Budenholzer return to coaching after his dismissal in 2023 by the Milwaukee Bucks.

"This year, for me, was really healthy," Budenholzer said. "I kind of had a list of priorities, diving into my kids and my family, super important. We've been through a lot. So really, the time with my kids was just amazing. My son's a senior in high school -- going to every one of his games -- driving home you're like, 'Wow, I got a gift."

While the Suns are limited on how they can remake their roster, Budenholzer said he'd at least like to add a point guard.

"The conversations have been great and there's no doubt that we need to look at the whole roster and talk about point guard," Budenholzer said. "I'm sure it's a hot-button issue here, whether it's with the media, players or the front office. We need to think about it.

"We need to be able to play without one. We probably need to be able to have one. We need to be versatile -- play different ways."

Budenholzer ultimately talked about coaching the Suns is his dream job.

"The biggest message I want you to hear is that I would coach this team if it was on the moon," Budenholzer said, grinning. "I would coach this team if it was in Alaska. If these players were in Denmark. ... I would go anywhere to coach this team."

The Chicago Bulls are hiring Wes Unseld Jr. as an assistant coach. Unseld will be the top assistant on Billy Donovan's staff in Chicago.

Unseld was the Washington Wizards head coach for the past two-and-a-half years, before he was let go midway through this past season. Prior to that, Unseld was one of Michael Malone's top assistants for six seasons with the Denver Nuggets. Unseld has also worked as an assistant coach for the Wizards, Golden State Warriors and the Orlando Magic.

What happened in one snapshots in the NBA Playoffs on Friday, May 17, 2024.

The Phoenix Suns are expected to hire Matt Tellem for a role in their front office.

Tellem currently serves as vice president of strategy for the Brooklyn Nets.

Tellem is the son of Arn Tellem, who is former agent and current executive with the Detroit Pistons. 

Josh Hart exited the New York Knicks' Game 6 loss against the Indiana Pacers with abdominal soreness. 

Hart was clearly limited by the injury in the game.

The Knicks will host the Pacers in Game 7 on Sunday. 

Warner Bros. Discovery continues to have discussions with the NBA about retaining is media rights deal amid a competing offer from NBC worth $2.5 billion per year. While the NBA could renew with TNT as the incumbent, that is considered unlikely.

The NBA will likely sign papers with NBC and hat would trigger a contractual option for WBD to match. Both the NBA and WBD have reviewed legal language to determine whether a match right is legally in place. The language is believed to be vague where it is unclear if the NBA could walk away. The two sides could be headed toward a lawsuit.

WBD has a market valuation of about $20 billion and an enterprise value of about $60 billion, including $43.2 billion of gross debt, as of the end of the company’s fiscal first quarter. The NBA is more comfortable NBC can pay what would amount to more than double the previous price for the package. WBD had been paying $1.2 billion per year.

The NBA's new media rights deals with ESPN/ABC, Amazon and either NBC or TNT will triple from $24 billion over nine seasons to $76 billion or more over 11 seasons.