12:07 PM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN Rival executives lobbing calls to Minnesota’s front office on the possibility of trading for four-time All-Star forward Jimmy Butler are getting their inquiries rebuffed, league sources told ESPN. In the aftermath of Butler’s trade request this week, Minnesota executives are telling teams that Butler’s an elite player and that the
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When he entered the NBA with more hype than any rookie in league history, LeBron James also had the NBA’s biggest rookie sneaker deal in hand. Before he was even drafted, he signed a seven-year, $90 million deal that guaranteed him a signature shoe every season of his career. Can’t get enough kicks coverage? SneakerCenter
10:30 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN When the very first Air Jordan sneaker debuted over three decades ago, the black and red color scheme alone was the daring innovation amid a sea of plain white sneakers. This year, Nike’s longtime subsidiary is launching an even further boundary pushing design, with the introduction of the first-ever laceless
8:51 PM ET Our annual NBArank forecast of the 100 best players this season is in the books as LeBron James takes the throne for the eighth straight season. Let’s examine a few other trends we’re seeing as we wrap up the countdown for 2018-19. The King: Eight years of NBArank reign After Klay Thompson
Sep 20, 2018 For the eighth season in a row, ESPN.com is ranking the top players in the NBA. Who will be the best player this season? To get the final prediction, we asked our expert panel to vote on pairs of players. NBArank is a prediction for the coming season. Dozens of panelists from
1:33 PM ET CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers formally introduced Elton Brand on Thursday as their new general manager, the culmination of a months-long process to identify and install a new senior basketball executive. Sitting alongside Brand at the dais, Philadelphia controlling owner Joshua Harris cited his new general manager’s work ethic, intelligence and
2:59 AM ET Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star shooting guard Jimmy Butler formally requested a trade Wednesday — and that set off a series of events that eventually involved former NBA player Stephen Jackson, Minnesota small forward Andrew Wiggins and Andrew’s brother Nick Wiggins. Butler and Andrew Wiggins have been teammates for only one season, as Minnesota
10:14 PM ET ESPN News Services Three NBA stars who grew up in North Carolina — Golden State‘s Stephen Curry, Houston‘s Chris Paul and Washington‘s John Wall — have teamed to support Hurricane Florence reliefs effort with a fundraising website. Paul, a native of Winston-Salem who attended Wake Forest, donated $25,000 to get the donations
1:09 PM ET The New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday waived Emeka Okafor, who made a comeback with the team last season after being out of the NBA for the previous four seasons. Okafor, 35, averaged 4.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1 block in 26 games with New Orleans last season. A herniated disk in his
9:40 PM ET Lonzo Ball will not participate in full-contact practice when the Los Angeles Lakers open training camp next week, head coach Luke Walton said. Ball, a second-year point guard, had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in mid-July. The Lakers said after the surgery that Ball would be fully recovered by camp, but