News

10:52 PM ET LOS ANGELES — LeBron James scored 42 points in a successful return to the Drew League while teaming up with DeMar DeRozan for a 104-102 win in L.A.’s famed pro-am basketball league Saturday. Longtime Drew League commissioner Dino Smiley told ESPN he expected Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving to play in the

1:31 AM ET The San Antonio Spurs and forward Keldon Johnson have agreed to a four-year, $80 million extension, his representative Klutch Sports Agency announced Friday night. Johnson, 22, started 74 games for the Spurs in his third season, averaging a career-high 17.1 points while shooting 39.8 percent from 3-point range. Friday’s agreement comes two

10:25 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers star Russell Westbrook and his longtime agent, Thad Foucher of Wasserman, have parted ways, Foucher told ESPN on Friday night. In a statement to ESPN, Foucher, one of the league’s prominent player representatives, cited “irreconcilable differences” and suggested that there was no longer full alignment with Westbrook about whether

12:51 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The G League Ignite said Friday that the team has struck a multiyear deal to relocate to Henderson, Nevada. The Ignite had been training in Walnut Creek, California, since their inception and played home games this past season in Las Vegas, about 15 miles from their new

8:00 AM ET NBA insiders The 2022 Las Vegas summer league has officially been underway for a week, with plenty of highlights. Several members of the 2022 rookie class debuted in the desert, including No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero and No. 3 overall pick Jabari Smith Jr. The top picks have battled it out,

10:00 PM ET Free agent guard Austin Rivers has agreed on a one-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, his agents, Dave Spahn and Aaron Mintz of CAA Sports, told ESPN on Thursday. Rivers joins the Timberwolves after playing 67 games for the Denver Nuggets a season ago. New Minnesota president of basketball operations Tim Connelly

8:31 PM ET The Phoenix Suns matched the Indiana Pacers‘ four-year, $133 million offer sheet for restricted free agent center Deandre Ayton, clearing the way for him to return to the franchise, his agents Bill Duffy and Nima Namakian told ESPN on Thursday night. The Suns had until 11:59 p.m. ET on Saturday to match

5:31 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Alex Rodriguez was standing near his courtside seat, oblivious to a few fans who were snapping a quick photo of him as they walked by. He was watching the Minnesota Timberwolves warm up instead. Rodriguez — currently part of the Timberwolves’ ownership group, with plans in place

10:21 PM ET Denver Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has agreed on a two-year, $30 million extension, his agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, told ESPN on Wednesday night. The deal, which starts with the 2023-24 season, includes a player option, Paul said. Caldwell-Pope had been entering the final year of his contract, which will pay

12:26 AM ET Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton has agreed on a three-year, $28.5 million extension with a player option, his agents, Jeff Schwartz and Jordan Gertler of Excel Basketball, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday. Connaughton’s total deal is now four years and $34 million. He had previously exercised his option to return for

9:09 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — The NBA has completed the process of changing the transition take foul rule, ending years of discussion about what to do with the long-maligned tactic. And, also as expected, the play-in tournament is going to be around for the foreseeable future. The league’s board of governors finalized

5:16 PM ET As Brittney Griner’s wrongful detention in Russia has galvanized the sports world in support of the WNBA star’s return to the United States, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James questioned why Griner would want to return to a country that has taken so much time to aid in a resolution for her.

5:48 PM ET After shutting down inquiries about All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, rival teams say the Utah Jazz are now showing a willingness to listen on possible trade scenarios, sources tell ESPN on Tuesday. The asking price appears to be steep, but in the wake of Utah’s recent Rudy Gobert blockbuster deal to Minnesota, the

7:42 PM ET Jamal CollierESPN CHICAGO — Although Zach LaVine said he went into NBA free agency this summer with an “open mind,” his decision to return to the Chicago Bulls turned out to be an easy one, especially once the team offered him a five-year max contract extension with a player option for the

7:31 PM ET ESPN News Services LAS VEGAS — Paolo Banchero showed the Orlando Magic plenty in his two Summer League contests. And the Magic decided that was enough. The No. 1 pick is getting the rest of summer league off, after averaging 20 points, six assists and five rebounds in his two games in

5:03 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The NBA board of governors is expected on Tuesday to approve the play-in tournament as a regular part of future league seasons, sources told ESPN. The NBA had been voting on the play-in’s inclusion on a year-to-year basis for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons, but the support exists ahead

8:00 AM ET NBA insiders The first weekend of Las Vegas Summer League is in the books, and the NBA hasn’t disappointed. Paolo Banchero and Jabari Smith Jr. kicked things off with a highly anticipated meeting between the lottery draft picks. No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren carried his momentum from Utah into Saturday’s 90-88

11:27 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN LAS VEGAS — As Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga started to attack the hoop, he hooked the ball over his head to find a cutting James Wiseman. In one motion, Wiseman caught the ball in mid-air and threw down a dunk. It was the first possession of the Warriors’

5:39 PM ET After clearing waivers, free-agent forward Danilo Gallinari has agreed to a two-year, $13.3 million deal with the Boston Celtics, his agent, Michael Tellem of Excel Sports, told ESPN on Sunday. Gallinari’s deal includes a player option on the second year and will be fully guaranteed, Tellem told ESPN. Gallinari, who’ll join an

11:02 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Damian Lillard has made it clear over the years that he wants to stay with the Portland Trail Blazers throughout his career and will live with it if the organization can’t win a title during his playing career. Lillard, speaking Saturday at a news conference announcing his two-year extension

LAS VEGAS — Set to play alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George next season, John Wall said he is delighted to be joining a loaded LA Clippers team that won’t need him to be “Batman every night for us to win.” In his first comments since officially signing a two-year, $13.2 million deal with LA,

4:50 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Shaedon Sharpe‘s first summer league with the Portland Trail Blazers is over. The No. 7 pick in last month’s NBA draft has been shut down for the remainder of Portland’s stay in Las Vegas because of a small labral tear in his left shoulder. An MRI performed

8:00 AM ET NBA 2K23 Summer League kicked off Thursday night with a matchup between Orlando’s Paolo Banchero and Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr., the No. 1 and No. 3 picks, respectively, in last month’s NBA draft. The Magic won 91-77 in the first meeting between two of the NBA’s most anticipated rookies, with Banchero notching

5:55 PM ET Associated Press WASHINGTON — Bradley Beal and the Wizards renewed their commitment to each other when he agreed to a five-year deal worth up to $251 million to stay in Washington. Whether that commitment will make the next five years any more successful than the past 10 is the big question. “I

5:32 PM ET Star point guard Damian Lillard has agreed to a two-year, $122 million contract extension with the Portland Trail Blazers that will tie him to the franchise through the 2026-27 season, sources told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears and ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Lillard is expected to sign his deal Saturday in Las Vegas, a

5:55 PM ET Aron Baynes, who suffered a spinal cord injury after a freak fall while playing for the Australian national team in the Tokyo Olympics last summer, has resumed his career and will be working out for NBA teams Friday in Las Vegas. Baynes was in hospitals in Tokyo and Brisbane for nearly two

1:44 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAS VEGAS — Before his lone season at Duke, Paolo Banchero tattooed a message to himself on his left forearm: “No pressure.” Naturally, the No. 1 pick in last month’s NBA draft said that while he was excited for his first game in an NBA uniform Thursday night, in a

12:57 PM ET Memphis Grizzlies guard John Konchar — once armed with a single scholarship offer and ultimately undrafted out of Purdue-Fort Wayne — has agreed to a three-year, $19 million contract extension, his agent, George Langberg, told ESPN on Thursday. The extension takes Konchar, who has two seasons left on his contract, through the

7:42 PM ET ESPN News Services Rudy Gobert reads Twitter comments, so he’s aware that Minnesota fans didn’t like him very much during his first nine NBA seasons. And he also heard Timberwolves coach Chris Finch complain regularly about the way he sets screens. Those perspectives are probably going to change. “Now we’re on the

6:57 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN NEW ORLEANS — What a difference a year makes. Last year on July 6, his 21st birthday, Zion Williamson found out he had suffered a broken right foot, an injury that ended up costing him the 2021-22 season. This year on July 6, his 22nd birthday, the New Orleans Pelicans‘