DeAndre Ayton is expected to sign a four-year, $133 million offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers today, the largest offer sheet in NBA history by a considerable margin.
The Suns will have two days to match it, or they will lose him for nothing. If they do match Ayton’s offer, they can’t trade him anywhere until January 15, and can’t trade him to the Pacers for a year. And Ayton will have trade veto power for a year.
The Suns matched the offer sheet almost immediately. Ayton will remain in Phoenix.
Makes things a little awk-weird between the Pacers and Myles Turner now, doesn’t it?
James Harden has agreed to a two-year contract extension to remain with the Philadelphia 76ers. He’ll make $33 million next year and has a player option for $35.6 million for 2023-24. If he declines that option, he can become a free agent or sign another extension.
Despite making the All-Star team and winning the NBA championship, Andrew Wiggins says he regrets getting the coof shot.
Why? He was able to play, instead of missing a bunch of home games. He made the All-Star team, won the NBA title, and didn’t get sick. Suck it up, buttercup.
He doesn’t like “putting all that stuff in his body.” Or in other words, he’s an idiot.
Good basketball player though 
. And I understand otherwise he’s quite Canadian in a generally low-key, pleasant way.
I assume he’d prefer to get covid, then. That shit’s much, much worse than any vaccination side effects.
But let’s not hijack this into another covid thread.
There are sources reporting that the Boston Celtics are willing to trade Jaylen Brown to acquire Kevin Durant. I think at Durant’s age, that might actually be considered a step backward. (Brown is 25, with two years left on his deal, and Durant is 33, with four years.) Miami, Phoenix, and Toronto also have interest.
So, I’m a hypocrite, apparently.
I see how long it’s been since Ben Simmons played, mostly because of mental health reasons, and most of the time I sneer and think to myself, “Suck it up and get back on the court and start earning your money.”
And I’ve been on Social Security disability since 2014 because of mental health problems.
So, to myself:
“Screw you, creep-o!”
“…Yeah, who the hell am I to give advice, creep-o?”
An interesting opinion piece touches on several NBA subjects, including where Durant, Westbrook, Mitchell, Irving, et cetera are likely to end up:
Orlando’s first-overall draft pick, Paolo Banchero, had an aiding DWI charge against him dropped:
Sources have told ESPN that the NBA is opening a tampering investigation into the Philadelphia 76ers’ free agent class of James Harden, P.J. Tucker, and Danuel House.
They feel it’s possible that Harden’s decision to decline his player option and take a pay cut on his new two-year deal was centered around a handshake agreement on his next deal, which would be against the rules of the collective bargaining agreement.
The possible consequences of the Sixers being found guilty of tampering include suspending team executives, forfeiture of draft picks, and as an outside possibility, even the voiding of said contracts.
Here is a sneak peek of the 2022-23 City Connect jerseys and other uniform changes for NBA teams for this coming year. The page will be updated as new uniforms are released.
ESPN is now also saying that the NBA will be looking into the New York Knicks’ acquisition of Jalen Brunson, which happened the same night that free agency kicked off. If they’re found to have made contact with him or his agent prior to 6 p.m. on June 30, they’re guilty of tampering.
Brunson signed with New York for four years and $104 million.
The Athletic is reporting that Kevin Durant has given Nets owner Joe Tsai an ultimatum-- either trade him or get rid of Nets general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash. Here’s a link to someone reporting about The Athletic report (the original Athletic report is probably paywalled).
ESPN Insider has an article predicting the win-loss records of all 15 teams in the Eastern Conference.
And siiiiigh… it has the Pacers dead-last in the conference at 23-59.
And although the Pacers are fresh off one of their worst seasons since the early '80s, the bottom might not have completely fallen out in Indiana. They traded guard Malcolm Brogdon in the offseason and appear to be shifting toward a full rebuild, which means more players could be on the way with the Pacers in full asset collection mode.
The NBA scored extraordinarily high on the Racial and Gender Report Card released yesterday.
Didn’t he just sign an extension last year? They should tell him to pound sand.
Well, I’ve heard that because of the ridiculously high asking price the Nets want for Kevin Durant, combined with his age and the fact that he does have wanderlust, going from Oklahoma City to Golden State to Brooklyn relatively quickly and now wanting to leave Brooklyn, most of the NBA is telling the Nets to go spit. They’re not interested in solving the Nets’ problems for them.
The Celtics are one of the few teams that are interested, but they already came within two wins of a championship last year, so Durant wouldn’t especially make them too much better.
I am going to be in Florida in November, I am assuming that tickets to the Orlando Magic are easy enough to buy for early season games, is that correct? Don’t have exact dates yet but I’m thinking roughly November 1-15 for a trip to Tampa and Orlando.
Early season for the NBA can often mean good seats at a discount, but I don’t know as far as the Magic goes.
The NBA and its players association have announced that Bill Russell’s #6 jersey will be retired leaguewide for all its teams following the death of the 11-time champion and civil rights icon last month.
Everyone who currently wears #6 will be allowed to continue wearing it until they presumably change teams or retire.
Bill Russell’s jersey is the first NBA jersey to earn such a distinction. Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s #42 for all teams, and the National Hockey League retired Wayne Gretzky’s #99 league-wide.