News

7:15 AM ET Tuesday’s Las Vegas Summer League championship game (9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN App) will feature the Boston Celtics and the Sacramento Kings — both undefeated coming into the finale. Boston’s run has been fueled by a pair of second-year players in Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith, a backcourt duo that has shined

7:59 PM ET Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has agreed to a four-year, $77 million contract extension, sources told ESPN. The extension — which begins with the 2022-23 season — is the maximum allowable off Smart’s $14.3 million salary for 2021-22. The deal does not include a player option. Smart has developed into one of

8:28 PM ET The LA Clippers are trading Patrick Beverley, Rajon Rondo and Daniel Oturu to the Memphis Grizzlies for guard Eric Bledsoe, sources told ESPN on Sunday. The deal saves the Clippers $30 million in luxury tax and creates an $8.3 million traded-player exception that they will have a year to use. Bledsoe, 31,

10:11 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — Udonis Haslem is officially back with the Miami Heat. Haslem signed another contract — the 10th of his career — with the Heat on Sunday, assuring that he will return for a 19th season with Miami. It is a one-year deal worth about $2.8 million. The 41-year-old would

9:03 AM ET Thanasis Antetokounmpo has re-signed with the Milwaukee Bucks, the team announced on Friday. The length of the deal is two years, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Antetokounmpo, the older brother of two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, played in 57 games during the Bucks’ championship season, averaging 2.9 points and 2.2

9:41 PM ET Orlando Magic rookie Jalen Suggs, the No. 5 pick in last month’s NBA draft, has a left thumb sprain and will be sidelined for the remainder of NBA summer league as a precaution. Suggs suffered the injury in the first half of Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics. The team said an

8:00 AM ET NBA Insiders Which rookies and veterans have surprised the most after one week of summer league basketball? Who have been the biggest disappointments? Jalen Green and Jalen Suggs have had stellar performances in their summer league debuts, but are they worthy of being named the MVP of Vegas? Players like Payton Pritchard

7:30 AM ET ON JULY 18, 2002, Kobe Bryant approached Rucker Park, the streetball institution in Harlem. He wore a powder blue sleeveless shirt and dark shades; an oversized key-pendant swung from his chain with each step. Onlookers sprinted toward the park’s metal fencing, meant to separate superstars from the streets, to catch a glimpse.

6:29 PM ET Kawhi Leonard will remain with the LA Clippers long term after re-signing with the team Thursday, the team announced. Terms of the deal weren’t revealed by the Clippers, but a source confirmed with ESPN that Leonard signed a four-year, $176.3 million max deal that includes a player option in the fourth year.

1:38 AM ET ESPN News Services In a featured showdown between the No. 1 and No. 2 draft picks, it was Jalen Green who received more offensive help from his teammates in the Houston Rockets‘ 111-91 win over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Green — the

6:31 PM ET The Brooklyn Nets are hiring former Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford as a coaching consultant, sources told ESPN. In his consulting role, Clifford — who was the most sought-after assistant in the marketplace — will be with the team periodically throughout the 2021-2022 season. Clifford has history with Nets

6:43 PM ET Former NBA standout JR Smith has enrolled at North Carolina A&T and intends to join the historically black university’s men’s golf team if he gets cleared by the NCAA, the university confirmed on Wednesday. North Carolina A&T athletics spokesman Brian Holloway told ESPN that Smith is officially enrolled in the school and

1:20 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Becky Hammon can’t wait for the time when it’s normal for women to interview for head-coaching positions in the NBA and their gender isn’t the story. “It’s huge and important. It’s something that can’t be [checking] the box,” the Spurs assistant told The Associated Press. “You have

10:24 PM ET While Russell Westbrook spent the first decade of his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, maturing from first-round pick to All-Star to league MVP, the thought of returning to Los Angeles someday to play for his hometown Lakers seemed further and further from reality. “Being from L.A., you always wish that you

7:12 PM ET Free-agent point guard Dennis Schroder is headed to the Boston Celtics, he announced Tuesday on his Instagram account. The deal is for one year and will be for the $5.9 million exception, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Schroder, 27, turned down the maximum extension the Los Angeles Lakers were eligible to offer

11:01 AM ET Early Tuesday morning, members of the Dallas Mavericks met with star guard Luka Doncic in a Slovenian hotel to officially put pen to paper on a five-year, $207 million contract extension. And hours later they were on a stage to announce it, with Doncic saying he “never had a doubt” about signing

9:23 PM ET It didn’t take any intricate pitch for LeBron James to convince his friend of more than 20 years, Carmelo Anthony, to join him on the Los Angeles Lakers. No digging into the minutia about playing time or role. No selling the off-court opportunities that L.A. provides. Just a friend telling another friend

5:47 PM ET Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic has agreed to sign a landmark five-year, $207 million supermax rookie extension, his agent Bill Duffy of BDA Sports told ESPN on Monday. Doncic, one of the most accomplished players in NBA history at 22 years old and rapidly evolving into the future face of the league,

10:33 PM ET James Jackson Free-agent guard Isaiah Thomas remains an impressive shot-maker despite being four years removed from his All-NBA days. The two-time All-Star scored 81 points in the Crawsover Pro-Am in Seattle on Sunday. His point total, of course, matches the second-highest single-game mark in NBA history set by the late, great Kobe

2:12 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAS VEGAS — The NBA announced Sunday afternoon that the summer league game between the Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers has been postponed because of health and safety protocols. Because the Wizards had several players in contact tracing, they didn’t have enough players available to play Sunday night against Indiana

5:54 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAS VEGAS — The NBA announced Sunday afternoon ahead of the start of its annual Summer League here that it will begin enforcing the rule changes enacted this offseason to curb players attempting to use non-basketball moves to draw fouls. In a series of tweets from its NBA Official account