Aaron Gordon might be the gold standard of the "struggling leading man to role player" transformation right now. After never finding his place in Orlando, he has become Mr. Nugget in Denver by giving up the on-ball portion of his offensive game,

However, the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves laid a weird blueprint last season. The Spurs traded their eighth pick to the Wolves for two picks in the very distant future. For a young team already boasting plenty of depth, the trade makes sense.

Sometimes, NBA playoff series bring the best out of role players. It's all matchup-dependent. Against the Nuggets, Williams has been a perfect backup center who ensures the Thunder will have at least one center on the floor at all times while their three-headed monster alternates.

During Game 5 of the second-round NBA playoff series between the Thunder and Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City fans dominated the stands with blue and white shirts to show unity in the crowd.

When the Nuggets lose like this, they marvel at Nikola Jokic, explain they are frustrated and then nothing changes.

The 2025 NBA Playoffs have not been kind of the Nuggets starter. Porter Jr. is averaging a subpar 9.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game for the Nuggets, while shooting 38.8 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from 3-point land.

Underestimate them at your own risk: The Pacers are back in the Eastern Conference finals, finishing off the Cavaliers with a 114-105 Game 5 win. Indiana is the only team to make the conference finals as a No. 4 seed or worse in consecutive years since the 1984 playoffs expansion.