
Report: Celtics acquiring Jrue Holiday from Trail Blazers
The draft picks include a 2024 first-rounder from the Golden State Warriors and a 2029 unprotected first-rounder from Boston.
The new deal comes in the wake of Portland acquiring Holiday as part of its three-team deal to trade Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
Holiday, 33, is a two-time All-Star who helped lead the Bucks to their second ever NBA championship in 2021 following his acquisition from the New Orleans Pelicans. Over 14 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, Pelicans and Bucks, he has averaged 16.4 points and 6.5 assists.
He averaged 19.3 points, 7.4 assists and a career-best 5.1 rebounds in 67 games (65 starts) last season with the Bucks.
The veteran guard has a $36.8 million cap hit in the final guaranteed season of a four-year, $134,997,333 contract with a player option for 2024-25. ESPN reports that Boston would like to extend his deal.
Williams, 25, has spent his entire career in Boston since being selected by the Celtics in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft.
He averaged 8.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks during his fifth season in 2022-23. For his career, Williams averages 7.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks over 209 games (97 starts).
Brogdon, 30, played in 67 games as a reserve guard in 2022-23, averaging 14.9 points, 3.7 assists and 4.2 rebounds. He had zero starts after previously starting 258 games over six seasons with Milwaukee (2016-19) and the Indiana Pacers (2019-22).

Reports: Warriors F Draymond Green (ankle) out 4-to-6 weeks
Green was injured earlier this week during a pickup game at Chase Center in San Francisco.
The timetable makes it a strong probability that Green won't be available when the Warriors open the regular season on Oct. 24 against the visiting Phoenix Suns.
Golden State opens the preseason on Oct. 7 against the Los Angeles Lakers. Training camp begins Tuesday and Green is expected to discuss his injury with reporters a day prior.
Green signed a four-year, $100 million deal with the Warriors in the offseason.
Green 33, averaged 8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 73 games last season. He shot a career-best 52.7 percent from the field.
Green has career averages of 8.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks in 758 games (608 starts) with Golden State since being a second-round pick (35th overall) out of Michigan State in the 2012 draft.

NBA suspends free agent Joshua Primo 4 games
The San Antonio Spurs terminated Primo's contract on Oct. 31 after the team's former sports psychologist alleged the guard/small forward exposed himself to her multiple times. She then sued the Spurs and Primo, and the complaint was settled out of court.
"Primo maintains that his conduct was not intentional, and the league did not find evidence that he engaged in any sexual or other misconduct apart from these brief exposures," the NBA said in a statement. "Nevertheless, this behavior does not conform to league standards and warrants discipline."
Primo, 20, would serve the suspension should he sign with another NBA team.
Shortly after his release from the Spurs, Primo expressed that he was struggling with his mental health.
"I know that you all are surprised by today's announcement," Primo said at the time in a statement to ESPN. "I've been seeking help to deal with previous trauma I suffered and will now take this time to focus on my mental health treatment more fully. I hope to be able to discuss these issues in the future so I can help others who have suffered in a similar way. I appreciate privacy at this time."
Primo, a guard, averaged 5.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 54 career games (16 starts) after being selected by the Spurs with the 12th overall selection in the 2021 NBA draft out of Alabama.

Kyrie Irving: Mavericks return was âNo. 1 on my listâ
Irving was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Mavericks last season on an expiring contract. He chose to re-sign with the Mavs on a three-year contract worth up to $126 million.
"It wasn't too difficult of a process," Irving said in his first comments to reporters this offseason. "Had Dallas as No. 1 on my list. Obviously I looked elsewhere -- salary cap opportunities, where I could fit in with other guys around the league -- but there just wasn't much space. And me being 31 now, I had to have a different vantage point, and I felt like I could not just settle here but be happy to come back here and be welcomed back with a warm embrace."
Irving played 20 games for Dallas last season and averaged 27.0 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game. But the Mavericks went just 5-11 when Irving and Doncic both played, and their pursuit of a playoff berth collapsed.
Irving said his family was supportive of staying in Texas in the long-term.
"I mean, even when I got traded here midseason, a lot of my family was excited and they were just looking forward to me having a peace of mind just on the court and off the court," Irving said. "I had already dealt with enough last season or the past two seasons, so they knew that I just wanted a lot of that off my back and off my shoulders of feeling like I had to be Superman or I had to be perfect. I just wanted to be myself. And then going on the last few years, just figuring myself out. So I think this is the best place to do it and continue to mature and grow as a man."
Irving played in 60 games for Brooklyn and Dallas in 2022-23 and 29 games for the Nets in 2021-22, as he protested the NBA's COVID-19 vaccination regulations at the time.
Some of the money in Irving's new contract is incentive-based: $1 million each season if he plays at least 65 games, and another $1 million per season if the Mavericks win 50 or more games and Irving plays at least 58 games. The final season of his contract also includes a player option.
"I wanted everything that was structured in my contract incentive-wise to be based on production and that was wins and how many games I'm playing," Irving said. "I hear all the noise. So I just wanted to make sure that I had some friendly terms, but also some realistic expectations for myself going into the season, looking to just play as many games as possible."
Doncic, who spoke with the media Wednesday, is relishing having a full training camp with his superstar teammate.
"He came in the middle of the season last year, and we didn't have much time," Doncic said. "We went straight to playing games. It takes time to do chemistry, especially on the court, so we didn't have the whole training camp and then, I mean, the preseason. too. So I think it's going to be way better."
For his part, Irving believed he and Doncic were "being too passive" with each other.
"We're both killers on the court, everybody knows it. We want to win. So we just have to continue to have that consistent mentality together and lead the team as best we can alongside other guys that have experience in this league or young guys that we have to coach even more. So it's all been a learning experience. It was so quick last year and it was so much pressure on us to win now, win big, and âIt's Luka and Kyrie, why can't you guys win games?' So we were answering a lot of questions that, honestly, I don't think we were ready for."

Report: San Francisco to host 2025 NBA All-Star Game
The Athletic reported Thursday that the NBA is close to selecting the home of the Golden State Warriors.
The 2024 All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 18 in Indianapolis.
The 18,000-seat Chase Center opened in 2019, replacing Oakland's Oracle Arena as home of the Warriors.
The Bay Area last hosted the NBA's midseason showcase in 2000. Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs and Shaquille O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers were named the game's Most Valuable Players.

Clippers open camp with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George healthy
Leonard (knee) was knocked out of the playoff series with the Phoenix Suns with an injury and George missed the postseason and final month of the regular season with hyperextended knee.
Clippers vice president Lawrence Frank said Wednesday the franchise is discussing new contracts with both players, labeling them as motivated entering the 2023-24 season.
"We all have something to prove. We're all disappointed with how last season ended," Frank said.
When the season begins, the Clippers are one of the teams fans will be watching to gauge the impact of the new rest restriction rules rolled out by the league and applicable to the All-Star tandem.
"When our guys are healthy, they play. And that's the bottom line," Frank said, adding that "there's a difference between being injured and the 'load management.' When they're healthy, they play. When they're unhealthy, then they don't."
Leonard is planning to "attack everything," Frank said, and is driven to get back to where he was when another knee injury sent him to the sideline against the Suns.
"It's such a shame that he got injured at the worst possible time. His last 35 games, he was on an unbelievable tear," Frank said.
The Clippers got 56 games out of George and 52 from Leonard during the 2022-23 regular season. George missed the final nine games of the season and the full series against Phoenix and Leonard was absent for the final three games of the series after tearing the meniscus in his right knee.
Leonard, who missed all of the 2021-22 season after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn right ACL, has not played more than 57 games in a season since coming to Los Angeles in 2019.
George's 56 games last season were a personal best in his four years with the team.

Bucks favored to win title after deal for Damian Lillard
The Bucks, who had been third or fourth among teams with the best chance to win the 2023-24 championship, moved to the top of the list at most sportsbooks.
BetMGM, which had the Bucks tied for third at +650 with the Suns prior to the trade, moved Milwaukee to +400 Wednesday afternoon. The defending champion Denver Nuggets are now second at +475 with the Boston Celtics third at +500.
Phoenix, at +650 before the trade, remained at that number when the new odds were released. Following the Suns were the Lakers (+1200) and the Golden State Warriors (+1400).
DraftKings moved the Bucks from +850 to +400 favorites with the Nuggets (+475), Celtics (+500) and Suns (+650) next. Later Wednesday afternoon, the Bucks moved to +390 at DraftKings.
At PointsBet, the Bucks are at the top with +400 odds. The Suns remained at +700 while Portland moved from +15000 to +20000.
The Miami Heat, who had been strongly in contention to acquire Lillard, fell from +1000 to +3000 at BetMGM and +2800 at DraftKings.
In the trade, according to multiple reports, Milwaukee acquired Lillard while the Suns received Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson.
The Blazers receive Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, rookie Toumani Camara, the Bucks' 2029 unprotected first-round draft choice along with unprotected Milwaukee swap rights in 2028 and 2030. The Blazers are expected to trade Holiday.

Reports: Bucks acquiring Damian Lillard in 3-team trade
The Trail Blazers picked up guard Jrue Holiday, center Deandre Ayton, forward Toumani Camara, Milwaukee's unprotected first-round pick in 2029 and swapped rights with the Bucks in 2028 and 2030.
The Phoenix Suns, in turn, will acquire center Jusuf Nurkic, guard Grayson Allen, small forward Nassir Little and guard Keon Johnson.
Lillard, 33, has played his entire 11-year career with Portland, which selected him with the sixth overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft.
He averaged a franchise-record 32.2 points per game in 2022-23, the third-highest clip in the league, but Portland finished 33-49 and missed the playoffs for the second straight season.
Named one of the NBA's 75 greatest players of all-time in 2021, Lillard won Rookie of the Year honors in 2012-13 and has made All-NBA teams seven times. He is Portland's career leader in points (19,376) and 3-point field goals (2,387).

Agent: Warriors signing veteran F Rudy Gay
Sam Permut of Roc Nation Sports confirmed with ESPN on Wednesday that Gay will compete for the Warriors' open roster spot in training camp.
Gay, 37, has played for five teams across 17 NBA seasons, the past two with the Utah Jazz.
He owns career averages of 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in 1,120 games (779 starts) with the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs and Jazz.

Report: Celtics signing free agent F Lamar Stevens
Stevens, 26, started 25 of his 62 games with Cleveland last season, averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds.
Undrafted out of Penn State in 2020, he appeared in 165 games (38 starts) over three seasons with the Cavaliers. He was part of a three-team trade with the Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat on July 6, and was waived by the Spurs on July 17.
Known for his defensive skills, Stevens can help offset the loss of Marcus Smart in a June trade to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Report: Pacers willing to discuss trading G Buddy Hield
Hield, 30, is in the final year of contract worth $19.2 million and is open to a trade, though no deal is imminent, according to the report.
He started 73 of 80 games last season for the Pacers, averaging 16.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals. He shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range (288 of 677) and has made more shots from distance (1,381) in the last five seasons than any player in the NBA.
Potentially one of the top free agents after next season, the 6-foot-4 Hield had signed a four-year, $94 million extension when he was with the Sacramento Kings in 2019, according to reports.
The Kings traded Hield, Tyrese Haliburton and Tristan Thompson to the Indiana Pacers on Feb. 8, 2022 for Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, Domantas Sabonis and a 2023 second-round draft pick which became forward Jordan Walsh of Arkansas.
Hield was the sixth pick of the 2016 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans out of Oklahoma. He was dealt to the Kings in February 2017. For his career, Hield averages 16.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.9 steals in 548 games (369 starts).

Report: Kelly Oubre Jr. expected to sign with 76ers
Oubre played the last two seasons with the Charlotte Hornets and averaged a career-high 20.3 points in 48 games (40 starts) during the 2022-23 campaign. The 27-year-old missed significant time last season after having surgery to fix a torn ligament in his hand.
Oubre is entering his ninth NBA season and could play a pivotal role with the 76ers, who are dealing with James Harden's public demands to be traded. The club has said it has ended trade discussions for Harden, who vowed he will never play for 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey again.
In 527 career games (202 starts), Oubre, who was selected 15th overall in the 2015 draft by the Atlanta Hawks, has averaged 12.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist with the Washington Wizards (2015-16 to 2018-19), Phoenix Suns (2018-19 to 2019-20), Golden State Warriors (2020-21) and Hornets.

Mavericks re-sign F Markieff Morris
Morris, 34, was acquired by the Mavericks as part of the deal in February that also sent star Kyrie Irving to Dallas from the Brooklyn Nets. Irving signed a three-year, $120 million contract with the Mavericks in the summer.
Morris averaged just 4.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in eight games (one start) last season with Dallas. He contributed 3.6 points and 1.7 boards in 27 games (one start) in 2022-23 with the Nets.
A member of the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in 2019-20, Morris holds career averages of 10.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists over 750 career games (378 starts) with eight teams.
Morris was a first-round pick (13th overall) in the 2011 draft by the Phoenix Suns.

Cavaliers president Koby Altman arrested on impaired driving charge
Altman was offered a breath test and refused, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol report, which noted he was "respectful and cooperative with troopers."
"We are aware of an incident involving Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman," the team said in a statement. "We are currently gathering more information and have no further comment at this time."
Altman, who turned 41 on Saturday, originally joined the Cavaliers as pro personnel manager in 2012 and became director of pro player personnel in 2013. He rose to assistant general manager, then GM in 2017 and his current position in January 2022, when he signed a contract extension through the 2027-28 season.
The Cavaliers won the franchise's first title in 2016.

Knicks sign G Ryan Arcidiacono
The Knicks brought back the 29-year-old after he played a combined 21 games for the franchise at the end of the 2021-22 campaign and the start of 2022-23.
New York traded Arcidiacono to the Portland Trail Blazers in February in the deal that sent Josh Hart to the Knicks.
With the Knicks, Arcidiacono joins former Villanova teammates Hart, Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo. The foursome won a national title together in 2016.
In parts of six NBA seasons with the Chicago Bulls (2017-21), Knicks and Blazers, Arcidiacono has averaged 4.4 points, 2.0 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per game across 237 games (40 starts).

Report: C Dwight Howard, 37, to meet with Warriors
The 37-year-old free agent center did not play in the NBA last season, competing professionally in Taiwan instead.
The Warriors reportedly have been exploring the addition of a veteran big man for the 2023-24 campaign.
Howard is a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year who led the league in rebounding five times and blocks two times earlier in his 18-year career. He won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019-20.
Howard has career averages of 15.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 1,242 games (1,078 starts) with the Orlando Magic (2004-12), Lakers (2012-13, 2019-20 and 2021-22), Houston Rockets (2013-16), Atlanta Hawks (2016-17), Charlotte Hornets (2017-18), Washington Wizards (2018-19) and Philadelphia 76ers (2020-21).
He ranks 11th all-time in rebounds (14,627) and 15th in blocked shots (2,228).

Wizards re-sign F Taj Gibson to one-year deal
Agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports confirmed the 38-year-old free agent's plans with ESPN on Friday.
Gibson averaged 3.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 9.8 minutes in 49 games (two starts) with the Wizards in 2022-23.
In 14 seasons with five teams, he has career averages of 8.7 points and 5.9 rebounds in 945 games (449 starts).
The 6-foot-9 Gibson entered the NBA as a first-round draft pick (26th overall) by the Chicago Bulls in 2009.

Lakers F Jarred Vanderbilt gets 4-year, $48M extension
The deal is fully guaranteed and includes a player option in the fourth year, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul and agent Erika Ruiz told multiple media outlets.
Vanderbilt, 24, had been set to become an unrestricted free agent following the 2023-24 campaign.
He averaged 7.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals in 26 games (24 starts) with the Lakers last season after being acquired from the Utah Jazz in a three-team trade on Feb. 9.
A second-round pick in 2018, Vanderbilt has career averages of 6.2 points and 6.6 rebounds in 244 games (162 starts) with the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Jazz and Lakers.

Former NBA player Brandon Hunter dies at 42
His mother-in-law, Carolyn Cliett, said he collapsed while doing hot yoga in Orlando, but no cause of death was announced.
"It was hot yoga, and he did it regularly," she told NBC News. "He was in good shape as far as we know. We're just shocked."
Hunter, a 6-foot-7 forward, was a four-year starter at Ohio University from 1999-2000 to 2002-03. He averaged 16.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 119 games for the Bobcats. Hunter put up 21.5 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game as a senior.
The Celtics selected him in the second round of the 2003 draft (56th overall). Hunter played in 36 games (12 starts) for Boston in 2003-04, producing 3.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest.
He played 31 games, all off the bench, the following season for the Magic, averaging 3.1 points and 2.2 rebounds.
Former Ohio basketball coach Tim O'Shea posted on Facebook of Hunter, "He was the best player I ever had the good Fortune of coaching -- he excelled at Ohio University, and then went on to play in the NBA for Boston and Orlando, then successfully in Europe, before transitioning to a successful career as a sports agent. We stayed in touch over the years, and I was incredibly proud of the husband, father, and citizen he became.. please keep his family in your prayers."

76ers sign journeyman Danny Green
Terms of the deal were not announced by the club.
The upcoming season will mark Green's second stint with the club; he spent two seasons with the 76ers from 2020-22.
Green played in 11 games with Memphis and Cleveland last season.
Green averages 8.7 points in 830 career games (709 starts) with six teams, including the San Antonio Spurs from 2010-18. He is one of four players in league history to win NBA titles with three different franchises, joining Robert Horry, LeBron James and John Salley.