7:55 PM ET ESPN News Services Fred VanVleet said Sunday there is nothing more that the Toronto Raptors can do to convince Kawhi Leonard to re-sign with the team, but he and several teammates expressed their hopes that the NBA Finals MVP decides to return. Leonard, who led the Raptors to a six-game NBA Finals
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5:28 PM ET Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse confirmed Sunday that he plans to coach the Canadian national team, starting with the World Cup this summer. At Toronto’s first media availability since winning the NBA Finals, Nurse told reporters, “I’m getting ready to take another situation soon because I think it’s going to make me
12:58 PM ET HOUSTON ROCKETS CEO Tad Brown and general manager Daryl Morey flanked owner Tilman Fertitta in a hastily arranged news conference on the afternoon of May 30. Coach Mike D’Antoni was missing, more than 1,000 miles away at his offseason home in West Virginia — yet still much closer than the Rockets and
9:35 AM ET Tonya MalinowskiE:60 Close Tonya Malinowski is an Emmy- and Edward R. Murrow-award-winning associate producer for ESPN. She is based in Charlotte, N.C., and can be reached at Tonya.Malinowski@espn.com. ISAIAH AUSTIN THOUGHT he was arriving at a surprise party. It was June 21, 2014 — five days before the NBA draft. Everyone believed
11:54 PM ET Last summer, the San Antonio Spurs thought they had the Los Angeles Lakers right where they wanted them. L.A. had the inside track to sign LeBron James as a free agent on July 1. But the belief around the league was that James wouldn’t come to the Lakers by himself and spend
11:57 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Not long after learning his son Lonzo Ball will be part of a blockbuster trade for Anthony Davis, LaVar Ball made his thoughts clear on what he felt the Los Angeles Lakers had just agreed to do. “I guarantee: Like I say again, it will be the worst move
10:08 PM ET LOS ANGELES — If Thursday’s NBA draft truly has a steep drop-off in talent beyond the presumed top two picks in Duke’s Zion Williamson and Murray State’s Ja Morant, somebody forgot to tell Vanderbilt’s Darius Garland. The 6-foot-2 guard, who left school after playing just five games his freshman season because of
9:31 PM ET NBA Insiders What are the league-wide implications from the Anthony Davis trade? The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a deal to acquire the All-Star big from the New Orleans Pelicans for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks. Davis is now paired with LeBron James in a wide-open
10:25 PM ET Count Las Vegas oddsmakers among those who were not caught off guard by the Los Angeles Lakers‘ blockbuster trade for superstar Anthony Davis. In anticipation of a potential trade for Davis, the Lakers were installed as the favorites to win next year’s championship at multiple sportsbooks, shortly after the Toronto Raptors finished
8:10 PM ET Social media erupted Saturday night after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that the New Orleans Pelicans had agreed to trade Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks. That a trade was coming was no surprise, but the magnitude of the