NBA

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

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

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‘

8:00 AM ET IT WAS AUG. 11, 2021, and inside the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, what appeared to be an ordinary NBA summer league game between the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies was anything but. This was sudden death, after the NBA had seven years prior changed the rules for summer league games that

11:42 PM ET ESPN News Services SALT LAKE CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren shined in his professional debut, scoring 23 points and setting a Summer League record for blocks and 3s in a game. The No. 2 pick in the draft also had seven rebounds, four assists and six blocks in 24

4:16 PM ET Brady HendersonESPN SEATTLE — Jody Allen, the de facto owner of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, said in a statement Tuesday that the teams are not currently for sale but eventually will be. Allen’s statement comes on the heels of last month’s report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that

10:16 AM ET After missing most of the past two seasons with a stress fracture in his left foot, free agent forward T.J. Warren has agreed to a one-year contract with the Brooklyn Nets, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. Warren played four games in 2020-21, and missed the entirety of the 2021 season with consecutive

9:39 PM ET Associated Press HAVANA — There were some cheers for “The Star-Spangled Banner” before USA Basketball’s game in Cuba on Independence Day. And then the Americans celebrated the holiday with a big win. Xavier Munford scored 24 points and the U.S. defeated Cuba 87-64 on Monday night to close the first round of

3:44 PM ET The Chicago Bulls have agreed to a one-year contract with veteran point guard Goran Dragic, sources confirmed to ESPN on Sunday. The Brooklyn Nets won the Dragic sweepstakes last season, beating out the Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks to sign the guard after his contract

3:04 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Free-agent center Kevon Looney has agreed to stay with the Golden State Warriors on a three-year, $25.5 million deal, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday. Looney, 27, is coming off a breakout year with the 2022 NBA champion Warriors, who drafted him in the first round

1:55 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Boston Celtics landed a playmaking point guard, acquiring Malcolm Brogdon in a trade with the Indiana Pacers on Friday, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Pacers are getting a 2023 first-round pick and five players from the Celtics in return, including center Daniel Theis and 2021 first-round pick Aaron

10:26 AM ET ESPN.com Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print The NBA trade deadline saw a bombshell deal between the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons and James Harden. But trades had been on hiatus since then. Four months later, big deals are back on the menu in the NBA draft and

4:53 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson has agreed on a five-year, $193 million designated maximum rookie extension that could earn him as much as $231 million, CAA Sports’ co-head of Basketball Austin Brown told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. If Williamson makes the All-NBA team, wins MVP or Defensive Player of the

12:35 PM ET Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard Darius Garland has agreed to a five-year, $193 million designated maximum rookie contract extension that could be worth as much as $231 million, his agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, told ESPN on Saturday. Garland’s deal is the richest in Cavaliers history and comes after a breakout third

2:17 PM ET Associated Press DETROIT — The Pistons have signed former Syracuse guard Buddy Boeheim to a two-way contract, the team announced Saturday Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Boeheim led the ACC in scoring during the 2021-22 season, averaging 19.2 points, and ranked second in the conference in 3-pointers made per game

8:23 PM ET Free-agent center Jalen Smith has agreed to a two-year, $9.6 million deal to return to the Indiana Pacers, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday. A former top-10 pick in the 2020 NBA draft by the Suns, Smith’s career in Phoenix ended after just one full season as he was traded to