4:57 PM ET Associated Press BOLOGNA, Italy — Marco Belinelli is going back to Italy, announcing Thursday that he has signed a three-year contract to play for Virtus Bologna. The 34-year-old guard spent 13 seasons in the NBA, playing for nine different teams — Golden State, Toronto, New Orleans, Chicago, Charlotte, Sacramento, Atlanta, Philadelphia and,
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5:58 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Fresh off winning his first NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard said Wednesday that he’s willing to do whatever he’s asked to do in order to win another with his new team, the Philadelphia 76ers. “Winning the championship was everything, and it made me realize I could
5:56 PM ET Free-agent center Hassan Whiteside has agreed to a one-year deal with the Sacramento Kings, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Whiteside, while averaging 30.0 minutes, led the NBA with 2.9 blocks per game and finished third with 13.5 rebounds last season while with the Portland Trail Blazers. His 25.07 PER was eighth best
5:26 PM ET ESPN News Services Golden State Warriors star guard Klay Thompson underwent surgery on Wednesday and is expected to make a full recovery from a season-ending tear to his right Achilles tendon, a source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Dr. Richard Ferkel, a noted specialist on ankle injuries, performed the surgery in Los Angeles
1:31 PM ET ESPN News Services Indianapolis will host the NBA All-Star Weekend in 2024, the league said Wednesday, formally rescheduling the plans for that city to be the site of the league’s midseason showcase this season. Cleveland will host in 2022 and Salt Lake City will do so in 2023, both of those sites
2:20 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — Bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat are working on a contract extension, the team said Tuesday. Once the deal is finalized it will likely guarantee Adebayo at least $168 million over the next six seasons and perhaps as much as $200 million in that span. Adebayo will make
9:10 PM ET The Sacramento Kings have declined to match the Atlanta Hawks’ four-year, $72 million offer sheet for restricted free-agent guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Hawks signed Bogdanovic to the offer sheet Sunday, according to sources. Bogdanovic is a versatile offensive wing built for the modern NBA — a volume
1:53 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Now that Fred VanVleet is officially back with the Toronto Raptors, he is excited about the fact that the team finds itself in a familiar position: being doubted and overlooked. “I’m excited about what we’ve got,” VanVleet said Tuesday morning during a virtual news conference commemorating his new four-year, $85
11:14 PM ET New Golden State Warriors swingman Kelly Oubre, Jr. had a parting shot for Phoenix Suns owner Robert Saver on the day he was officially introduced as a member of his third team in just over a week. Oubre, who was acquired by the Warriors in a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder
5:51 PM ET DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to a one-year deal with the Houston Rockets, a source told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. A two-time All-NBA center and four-time All-Star, Cousins has only played in 78 regular season games over the last three seasons due to a myriad of leg injuries. Cousins most recently tore his ACL
12:52 PM ET Markieff Morris has tweeted that he is returning to the Los Angeles Lakers. “Run it back! #Lakeshow,” he tweeted Monday. Run it back! #Lakeshow — Keef Morris (@Keefmorris) November 23, 2020 Morris, 31, gave the Lakers a solid stretch 4 to space the floor and complement superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
8:01 PM ET The Los Angeles Lakers are finalizing a two-year deal with center Marc Gasol, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe. L.A. is trading center JaVale McGee and a future second-round pick to the Cavaliers to help make room for Gasol, a source told Wojnarowski. Cleveland is sending Jordan Bell and Alfonzo
5:01 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Jayson Tatum has agreed to a five-year extension worth up to $195 million with the Boston Celtics, a source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The full designated rookie max of $163 million could go up to nearly $200 million with All-NBA escalators, sources said. Tatum’s agent Jeff Wechsler and the Celtics
12:22 PM ET All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell has agreed to a five-year, $195 million designated rookie max extension, his agents Ty Sullivan and Austin Brown of CAA Sports told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Mitchell, 24, who Utah acquired with the 13th overall pick after trading up in the 2017 draft, quickly established himself as a cornerstone
11:39 PM ET Free agent Serge Ibaka plans to sign a two-year, $19 million deal with the LA Clippers, a source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Ibaka’s career renaissance as a small-ball center for the Toronto Raptors continued into last season. The 31-year-old averaged a career-high 15.4 points per game and 8.2 rebounds, the second most
1:38 PM ET Free agent Gordon Hayward is signing a four-year, $120 million deal with the Charlotte Hornets, agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday. Hayward became a free agent Thursday after declining his $34.2 million player option with the Boston Celtics for next season. He battled injury throughout his
12:56 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Fred VanVleet has agreed to a four-year, $85 million deal to re-sign with the Toronto Raptors, agent Brian Jungreis of Parlay Sports & Entertainment told The Athletic. The deal includes a player option for the final season of the contract, a source confirmed to ESPN. VanVleet’s journey to stardom was
9:56 PM ET The LA Clippers are losing a key contributor, as Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell agreed to sign a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, agent Rich Paul of KlutchSports tells ESPN. The 6-foot-7 power forward is coming off his best season as a pro and will leave
8:05 PM ET Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox has agreed to a max extension with the team, his agent, Chris Gaston, told ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The deal is for at least $163 million and five years, Gaston said. Fox could earn more if the cap increases above $112 million or he is named to an
11:23 AM ET While All-NBA forward Anthony Davis is on course to eventually agree on a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, no formal commitment is expected to come in the immediate days following the start of free agency Friday, sources told ESPN. Klutch Sports CEO and Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, will be in
5:54 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Gordon Hayward opted out of his $34.2 million contract with the Boston Celtics for the 2020-21 season Thursday afternoon, making him an unrestricted free agent beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, league sources tell ESPN. Hayward, who averaged 17.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 52 games for the Celtics
7:00 AM ET The Ball Family Draft Night Extravaganza (heavy on the extra) began hours before the first pick, at a check-in table in the driveway of the family home in Chino Hills, California. Temperatures are taken, hand sanitizer is offered, waivers are signed, pens are separated in containers marked CLEAN and USED, and each
11:51 AM ET Miami Heat center Kelly Olynyk has exercised his $13.6 million player option for the 2020-21 season, a source tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Olynyk, 29, averaged 8.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 69 games for the Heat last season, his third with the team. He averaged 7.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and
7:45 PM ET Sacramento Kings forward Bogdan Bogdanovic plans to enter restricted free agency on Friday at 6 p.m. ET, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Kings and Milwaukee Bucks had hoped to bring Bogdanovic the framework of a sign-and-trade deal to negotiate a Bodanovic contract with Milwaukee on Friday, but he will move into
8:13 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Five months later than it was originally scheduled, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Anthony Edwards with the first pick of the 2020 NBA draft Wednesday night. Edwards, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound guard from Atlanta who spent his lone collegiate season at Georgia, joins a young Timberwolves core led by star center Karl-Anthony
10:59 AM ET The odds to be the No. 1 overall pick in Wednesday’s NBA draft have moved significantly in recent weeks, with Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball taking turns as the betting favorite at sportsbooks. As of Wednesday morning, just hours before the draft, Edwards was the favorite at -130 to go No. 1
5:11 PM ET The Boston Celtics and forward Gordon Hayward have agreed to push the deadline for his $34 million player option for the 2020-21 season back from its original deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday to 3 p.m. Thursday, league sources told ESPN. By extending the deadline for another two days, both sides get a
7:41 PM ET The Houston Rockets feel no pressure to trade James Harden or Russell Westbrook regardless of the superstars’ strong desire for fresh starts with different franchises and are “willing to get uncomfortable” as training camp opens and the season begins, sources told ESPN. The Rockets front office, led by recently promoted general manager
8:34 PM ET After turning down the chance to become the first $50 million a year player in league history, Houston Rockets guard All-NBA guard James Harden has made it clear to ownership that he’s singularly focused on a trade to the Brooklyn Nets, sources tell ESPN. As Harden’s conversations with the Nets stars Kevin
11:53 PM ET The Milwaukee Bucks promised reigning back-to-back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo a reshaped roster to try to transform regular-season success into a championship push. In the span of hours as Monday night bled into Tuesday morning, the Bucks reached agreements on acquiring two significant players, New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday and Sacramento Kings