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NBA Rumors
The daily league-wide NBA rumors page
By InsideHoops.comTODAY'S NBA RUMORS
Updated Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at 2:45 a.m. ETGolden State Warriors swingman Klay Thompson is making "good progress" in his rehabilitation from a right Achilles injury and will participate in "controlled drills" during training camp, but his return within the season will be made at a later date, the team announced Monday. Thompson, who tore his left ACL during Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, and then tore his Achilles last November while rehabbing, said last season that he was confident that he would return to play at a high level. He was also unclear exactly when he would return in the upcoming season. - ESPN.com
The Lakers announced a new jersey sponsor on Monday evening: Bibigo, a Korean food brand. The logo patch that will rest on the left shoulder of every Lakers jersey next season is one of the collaborations between the franchise and the company in a multi-year marketing deal that will also include community events. Bibigo replaces the team’s last jersey sponsor, Wish, and is the Lakers’ first major international marketing partner. - OC Register
NBA RUMORS FROM SUNDAY
Steve Ballmer said he surveyed everyone he could think of about the Clippers’ new arena plans, Kawhi Leonard included. The team’s owner asked his star for his reaction to the innovative scoreboard they’re planning to install in the Intuit Dome, which is slated to open in 2024. That scoreboard is, to borrow Ballmer’s description: “A two-sided, oval-shaped halo scoreboard – first in basketball! – that will circle the top of the bowl, gleaming with 44,000 square feet of LED lights!” That’s an acre, if you’re keeping score at home. - OC RegisterLeonard’s opinion remains mighty relevant after the five-time All-Star from Moreno Valley re-signed with the Clippers on a $176.3 million deal that will run through 2025 – and the opening of the Intuit Dome. His co-star Paul George also is on a contract that runs through 2024-25 after signing a four-year, $190 million extension before the start of last season. Securing the services of both of those players is a big deal, Ballmer said Thursday in a conversation with Clippers beat writers at the “Experience Center,” an entire floor in the team’s current office building in downtown L.A. that’s dedicated to modeling various parts of the Intuit Dome – such as the Halo Board. - OC Register
The Timberwolves tied up one of their last official bits of business before training camp starts later this month in officially signing Argentinian guard Leandro Bolmaro. Bolmaro was the 23rd overall pick in the 2020 draft and will be on a rookie scale deal with team options after the first two years. - Star Tribune
Any NBA team in need of a 7-time All-Star, look no further ... 'cause Joe Johnson tells TMZ Sports he's not ready to retire anytime soon -- and he wants to compete!! 40-year-old Johnson hasn't played in the Association since 2018, but there's no question the guy can still hoop -- he reportedly just won his second BIG3 MVP in 2021 after scoring 182 points in the regular season. Given all his recent success in the 3-on-3 league, we had to ask if his focus is solely on Ice Cube's org. ... or if he's still got gas left in the tank to ball out in the NBA -- and he's clearly not thinking about riding off into the sunset just yet. - TMZ.com
Ex-NBA star Tyson Chandler and his wife, Kimberly Chandler, are going their separate ways ... TMZ Sports has learned Kimberly filed for divorce this week. Kimberly, according to court documents, cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split. The two had been married for 16 years and separated in August. - TMZ.com
NBA RUMORS FROM SATURDAY
LA Clippers chairman Steve Ballmer initially was content to play at Staples Center -- in the same building as the Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings -- when he bought the franchise for $2 billion in 2014. But within a year, Ballmer said he realized the Clippers needed to build their own arena if they wanted to build their own "identity." "We needed to say, 'We're our own guys. We don't play in the same place as the other guys. We're going to have our own identity,'" Ballmer told ESPN in a wide-ranging interview in advance of Friday's groundbreaking for the Clippers' new arena in Inglewood. - ESPN.comIn a hot real estate market countrywide, Orlando, Florida, home prices continue to surge. That is unless, apparently, the home was customized for a 7-foot-1 Hall of Fame center, 15-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat -- Shaquille O'Neal, whose Orlando-area mansion was originally listed at $28 million. O'Neal's mansion has 12 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms and a 17-car garage. There is also a wine room, a vast theater room, an NBA-certified indoor basketball court and an aquarium room. A resort-style swimming pool is outside, and the mansion sits on 3.94 acres of land. - ESPN.com
Portland Trail Blazers guard and hip-hop artist Damian Lillard, who performs as Dame D.O.L.L.A., released the new music video for his song "Him Duncan'' on Friday. The title of this song is a play on NBA legend Tim Duncan's name but isn't the only reference Lillard uses. In the video, Lillard pays homage to various celebrities both in sports and pop culture. - ESPN.com
NBA RUMORS FROM THURSDAY
Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has agreed to a four-year, $92 million contract extension, his agent, Calvin Andrews of Klutch Sports, confirmed to the Undefeated's Marc J. Spears on Tuesday. The deal, which was first reported by The Athletic, includes a player option for the fourth year in 2025-26, his agent told ESPN. It includes $88 million in base salary and $4 million in incentives, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks. - ESPN.comThe Houston Rockets and John Wall have agreed to work together in an attempt to find a trade destination for the veteran point guard, as the franchise is committed to moving forward with Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green as its starting backcourt, sources told ESPN. The commitment to the 20-year-old Porter and 18-year-old Green leaves Wall, a five-time All-Star who was traded to Houston in the Russell Westbrook deal last year, without a starting role. Wall, 31, is not expected to play for Houston, as team management and Wall mutually decided that a bench role for him wouldn't be beneficial to either party, sources said. - ESPN.com
Wall is due $91.7 million over the next two seasons, including a player option for $47.4 million in 2022-23, a contract that makes attempting to trade him extremely difficult. Sources said the Rockets do not want to give up first-round draft compensation in a Wall trade and would not have interest in discussing a buyout until possibly after free agency next summer. - ESPN.com
The Milwaukee Bucks have named Lisa Byington as the team's new television play-by-play announcer on Bally Sports Wisconsin, making her the first woman to handle full-time TV play-by-play duties for a major men's professional sports team. Byington replaces longtime Bucks announcer Jim Paschke, who retired following the 2020-21 season after serving as the team's television play-by-play announcer for the previous 35 years. Bucks and Fiserv Forum president Peter Feigin announced Byington's hiring Wednesday. - ESPN.com
Dennis Schroder made headlines when he signed with the Boston Celtics recently, but it wasn't about the money he gained. It was more about the money he lost. Last season, the guard turned down a four-year, $84 million contract extension from the Los Angeles Lakers in order to become an unrestricted free agent and pursue a bigger deal. In a free-agency class that included Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, Schroder's woes were a well-documented storyline this offseason. - ESPN.com
NBA RUMORS FROM WEDNESDAY
NBA players will not be mandated to get vaccinated against COVID-19, league sources tell ESPN. The NBA and NBPA continue to negotiate aspects of COVID-related protocols and procedures for the upcoming 2021-22 campaign, but the NBPA has refused to budge on its demand that players not be required to take the vaccine, sources say, and any proposal that mandates vaccination remains a "non-starter." - ESPN.comThe NBA G League announced its first Latin American expansion team, the Mexico City Capitanes, will debut this November amid a format change to the competition's schedule. Because of concerns stemming from international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Capitanes will play home games in Fort Worth, Texas during the Showcase Cup, before hosting regular-season games in other G League cities across the United States. Last season, the NBA's Toronto Raptors experienced a similar fate, forgoing home games in Canada for a temporary stay in Tampa, Florida. - ESPN.com
NBA RUMORS FROM TUESDAY
Former NBA All-Star and Slam Dunk Contest champion Cedric Ceballos tweeted Monday that he'd been moved out of isolation and was "COVID-19 free" but was still in the intensive care unit and dealing with several things relating to the virus. Thanking those wishing him well in recent days, Ceballos said that while he is out of isolation, he still is unable to "breathe, walk or function" on his own yet. - ESPN.comWith less than three weeks before FTX Arena will host the Miami Heat’s first preseason games, the team remains with a mask mandate in effect. A Heat spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that the splash page on the ticket website reflects the current policy, the same that was in place at the end of last season. - Sun Sentinel
The Santa Cruz Warriors, the NBA G League affiliate of the Golden State Warriors, announced Friday that David Fatoki has been named general manager and Seth Cooper will serve as head coach for the 2021-22 season. Additional basketball operations staff roles, including the assistant coaching staff and training staff, will be announced at a later date. - San Jose Mercury News
NBA RUMORS FROM MONDAY
Restricted free-agent forward Jarred Vanderbilt has agreed to stay with the Minnesota Timberwolves on a new three-year, $13.8 million contract, his agent, Kevin Bradbury of Rep1 Sports, told ESPN on Friday. Vanderbilt, 22, played his first injury-free season since his junior year of high school for Minnesota last season. - ESPN.comTrae Young was back in Madison Square Garden, but New York Knicks fans everywhere can take a breath because he wasn't there to take a bow on the court. The Atlanta Hawks star showed up to the Garden as a special guest for Friday's WWE "SmackDown" episode. - ESPN.com
The Los Angeles Lakers agreed to trade Marc Gasol, a 2024 second-round pick and cash to the Memphis Grizzlies, who plan to work on waiver and release to allow Gasol to remain in Spain with his family, sources told ESPN. The Lakers will save approximately $10 million in salary and luxury tax and acquire the draft rights to Memphis' Wang Zhelin. The Lakers have 13 guaranteed contracts prior to the start of training camp this month. - ESPN.com
When DeAndre Jordan signed with the Nets in 2019, he came as part of a package deal with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, as the two megastars both agreed to less-than-max contracts to preserve cap space so that Brooklyn could add the former All-Star center. Two years into the four-year, $40 million deal he signed in Brooklyn, Jordan was traded to the Detroit Pistons and summarily waived, paving the way for him to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. As Jordan left one star-studded roster for another, the big man deadpanned that his relationship with the Nets' dynamic duo soured on his way out the door. "We're definitely not friends anymore, so ..." Jordan said jokingly with a hearty laugh during his introductory video news conference Thursday. -ESPN.com
Indiana Pacers guard Edmond Sumner tore his left Achilles tendon during an offseason workout on Thursday and will be out indefinitely, the team announced. - ESPN.com
The Cavaliers signed point guard Kevin Pangos to a two-year deal, his agency announced Wednesday on Twitter. - ESPN.com
A group of former New Orleans Pelicans players is making donations to the communities in the areas of Southeast Louisiana affected by Hurricane Ida last month, with Jrue and Lauren Holiday leading the charge. The Holidays, Langston Galloway, Jahlil Okafor and Frank Jackson have committed to sending four truckloads of supplies to the region. The supplies include 200 generators, 200 gas cans and gift cards for gasoline and stores. The supplies are scheduled to be delivered as early as this weekend. - ESPN.com
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