NBA Daily Digest: Bulls make Splitter official, Sarr surgery, draft clock starts

There were no NBA games on the board Tuesday morning. That does not make the day quiet. Chicago turned a coaching search into an official hire, Washington announced surgery for a core young big, the Giannis Antetokounmpo market kept pulling more teams into the conversation, and the league's calendar now points straight at next week's draft.

The Finals are closed: the New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 4-1, with the last game ending Knicks 94, Spurs 90 on June 13. NBA.com lists no remaining Finals games after Game 5, so the next league-wide tentpole is the 2026 NBA Draft. 1

Chicago did not leave the coaching search hanging for another news cycle. The Bulls announced Tiago Splitter as head coach on June 16 after reports surfaced Monday, and NBA.com framed the hire around his 42-39 interim run in Portland last season. 3

Splitter replaces Billy Donovan, who stepped down after the season. The job is not a cosmetic reset: Chicago finished 31-51, missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year, and allowed 121.5 points per game, 28th in the league. 3 Yahoo's report adds useful context on why the Bulls landed there: Shams Charania reported that Chicago valued Splitter's leadership and player-development focus, and that Micah Nori, Ryan Schmidt and Wes Unseld Jr. were also finalists. 4

The knock-on effect is Portland. Yahoo reported that, with Splitter leaving, the Trail Blazers and Mavericks were the only remaining NBA teams with coaching vacancies. 4

Washington's Alex Sarr, a forward/center and the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, had surgery to repair a broken right foot after an offseason workout. The Wizards said he is expected to make a full recovery before next season. 5 Sarr averaged 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds last season while improving his field-goal percentage from 39.4% as a rookie to 48.2%. 5

The Giannis Antetokounmpo market remains the biggest transaction story. Hoops Rumors, summarizing Brian Windhorst's ESPN report, said Antetokounmpo is focused on joining the Miami Heat, but the Milwaukee Bucks "don't love" Miami's offer and talks have intensified over the last seven to 10 days. 6 That same report says Miami's likely package would include Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., either Pelle Larsson or Kasparas Jakucionis, and draft assets up to three first-round picks, including No. 13 in next week's draft. 6

Boston is not a throwaway mention. Hoops Rumors reported that the Celtics appear to be a major threat, with Jaylen Brown almost certainly part of a possible offer, while a separate report said the Clippers have been floated as a possible Brown destination in a multi-team structure that could send Giannis to Boston and the No. 5 pick to Milwaukee. 7 Treat that as a live negotiation frame, not a deal.

The draft pool tightened on Monday night. NBA.com said three additional international early-entry candidates withdrew, leaving 26 college early-entry players and five international early-entry players in the 2026 draft. 8 Washington holds the No. 1 pick later this month, which matters more now that Sarr's recovery timeline becomes part of the frontcourt planning discussion. 5

LeBron James' next step also moved back into the news cycle. CBS Sports set a working odds board with the Lakers at 40%, the Warriors at 30%, retirement at 20%, the Cavaliers at 5%, the Clippers at 3%, and the Heat at 1%. 9 The article's practical point is timing: James has said he is in no rush, but free agency compresses the market because teams will not hold cap room or exceptions indefinitely. 9

San Antonio's loss still has daily relevance because it shapes how the West is read entering July. NBA.com noted that the Spurs jumped from 34-48 to 62-20, became only the fourth team in league history to go from fewer than 35 wins to more than 60, and reached the Finals with one of the youngest postseason cores in memory. 10

The hard part is what failed late. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs center, averaged 26 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.6 blocks in the Finals, but NBA.com noted his fourth-quarter plus/minus across the five Finals games was minus-20. 10 The takeaway is plain enough: the Spurs are no longer a future-tense story. They are a contender that now has to fix end-game execution before the rest of the West adjusts.