Fantasy Basketball Exit Interviews: What’s next for the 4 play-in teams that missed the postseason?

Last week, we went team-by-team through every squad that didn’t sniff the postseason. Now, we move up the ladder to the teams that failed to make the playoffs following the play-in tournament games. The Heat, Hornets, Clippers and Warriors. Here’s how they finished and what’s ahead.

A trend of mediocrity landed the Heat in a play-in game for the fourth consecutive season. They suffered a gut-wrenching loss to the Charlotte Hornets in the 9-10 game, losing 127-126 in overtime.

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The high point of the season was Bam Adebayo scoring 83 points in a single game. Most fantasy points in a game this year, too.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. became one of the best reserves in the league after averaging 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists on 50.7% shooting. He’s rightfully in the conversation for Sixth Man of the Year honors.

The backcourt of Tyler Herro and Norman Powell combined to miss 73 games. Powell received his first All-Star nod after playing well in Herro’s absence early on.

Kel’el Ware didn’t break out the way I expected and was far too inconsistent to trust in 12-team leagues.

Pelle Larsson and Davion Mitchell were streamable pickups periodically through the year, with no other players getting much run from a fantasy standpoint.

Watch: Norman Powell is an unrestricted free agent. Herro is owed $33 million in the final year of his contract. Expect the Heat to be aggressive in the trade market to get what they can for Herro and do their best to upgrade the roster to appease Adebayo.

Los Angeles Clippers (42-40)

The Clippers turned their season around after trading James Harden and Ivica Zubac, finishing 42-40 as the 9-seed before falling to the Golden State Warriors 126-121 in the play-in. They led by 13 in the fourth quarter before Stephen Curry took over, finishing with 35 points and burying a dagger 3 with 50 seconds left, as only Steph does.

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The real story was Kawhi Leonard, who turned in one of the most reliable campaigns of his career. Top five in 9-category leagues, top 10 in both High Score and points formats. He was healthy and efficient despite his increased shot volume. Certainly worthy of…

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Author : Dan Titus

Publish date : 2026-04-21 14:24:00

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