LAKERS SIGN CENTER DEANDRE AYTON
The Los Angeles Lakers and free agent Deandre Ayton agreed to terms Wednesday afternoon, shortly after the center cleared waivers and became an unrestricted free agent, according to multiple media reports.
Ayton made headlines in recent days after he and his most recent team, the Portland Trail Blazers, mutually agreed to forgo the final year of his contract and negotiate a buyout, allowing him to reach free agency.
Between money owed to him by Portland and his new deal with Los Angeles, Ayton is set to earn $34 million this season, per reporting from ESPN.
Despite being a seven-year pro with 398 NBA games on his resume, Ayton is still just 26. His birthday is July 23.
A former No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns, Ayton has averaged 16.4 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game in 398 career games (391 starts). New Lakers teammate Luka Doncic was the No. 3 choice in that same draft.
He was a part of the 2018-19 All Rookie first team, though arguably his greatest achievement as a professional was being part of the Suns team that lost in a memorable series with Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals in 2021.
Portland acquired him as part of a three-team trade with Milwaukee and Phoenix that sent All-Star guard Damian Lillard from the Trail Blazers to the Bucks on Sept. 27, 2023.
KNICKS OFFER COACHING JOB TO MIKE BROWN AND ARE WORKING ON A DEAL, AP SOURCE SAYS
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks have offered their coaching job to Mike Brown and are working to finalize a deal with the two-time NBA Coach of the Year, a person with knowledge of the details said Wednesday.
Brown would replace Tom Thibodeau, who was fired last month despite leading the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years.
Brown had his second interview with the Knicks on Tuesday before the job was offered, the person told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the search were to remain private.
The plan to hire Brown was first reported by ESPN.
Brown earned his second award as the NBA’s top coach after leading Sacramento to the playoffs in 2022-23 — ending what was the league’s longest postseason drought with its first appearance since 2006 — but the Kings fired him nearly halfway through last season.
He would take over a Knicks team that believes it can contend for the NBA title and made it clear that was the only goal when it made the surprising decision to fire Thibodeau, who like Brown is a two-time winner of the NBA’s Coach of the Year award.
The Knicks quickly identified Brown as a candidate they wanted to speak with, while also discussing the job with former Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins and current assistants James Borrego of New Orleans and Micah Nori of Minnesota before offering the position to Brown.
Brown was honored with his first coaching award when he coached the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team he led to the NBA Finals in 2007 during his first stint with the organization. He also coached the Los Angeles Lakers and is 454-304 in his career.
Brown also won four championships as an assistant coach, three with the Golden State Warriors and one under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio.
His coaching staff will be discussed in the coming days, the person told AP.
Thibodeau led the Knicks to their only sustained success of the 2000s, with four playoff appearances in his five seasons. They reached at least the East semifinals each of the last three seasons and reached 50 wins in both of the last two.
REPORT: LAKERS, CELTICS, WARRIORS AMONG TEAMS INTERESTED IN LILLARD
Damian Lillard is drawing significant interest with the Milwaukee Bucks set to waive him.
The Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Golden State Warriors are among the many teams that would like to make a deal with the veteran guard sooner rather than later, sources told Eric Nehm, Sam Amick, and Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
Lillard could sign with a team and rehab his torn Achilles under the club’s supervision or sit out the 2025-26 season and re-evaluate his future afterward. The 34-year-old suffered the injury during the Bucks’ first-round playoff series.
Milwaukee reportedly decided to waive and stretch Lillard on Tuesday. He’s apparently “elated” because it allows him to join a contender without putting significant weight on the financial element of his decision. There’s almost $113 million left on his contract, so he’ll count for about $22.5 million against the Bucks’ cap for the next five years – the biggest contract that’s ever been stretched.
The Bucks acquired Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers in a blockbuster three-team trade ahead of the 2023-24 season. A nine-time All-Star who entered the league as the sixth overall pick in 2012, he averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists in 58 games for Milwaukee during the 2024-25 season.
NBA ADJUSTS GREGG POPOVICH’S CAREER RECORD, CREDITING MITCH JOHNSON WITH 77 SPURS GAMES FROM ’24-25
The NBA has adjusted all-time wins leader Gregg Popovich’s career record as coach of the San Antonio Spurs, removing the 77 games that he missed last season and crediting those wins and losses to new Spurs coach Mitch Johnson.
Popovich’s final record has been reset to 1,390-824, which is where it was entering a game on Nov. 2. That was the day that Popovich had a stroke at the team’s arena in San Antonio and Johnson, one of his assistant coaches, took over as acting coach.
Popovich missed the remainder of the season and Johnson coached the final 77 games, going 32-45. The NBA and the Spurs agreed that it made sense to remove those games from Popovich’s record and credit them to Johnson, who was named head coach when Popovich announced his retirement earlier this year.
“While my love and passion for the game remain, I’ve decided it’s time to step away as head coach,” Popovich said when revealing that decision. He remains in place as Spurs president and is still around the franchise as much as he can.
It is not unprecedented for the NBA to adjust win-loss totals. The NBA made a similar decision regarding the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1979-80 season; Jack McKinney was head coach and was seriously injured in a bicycle accident in November, which led to Paul Westhead taking over on an interim basis. Westhead was eventually hired as head coach; the NBA credits McKinney with a 10-4 record that year and Westhead with going 50-18.
The revised numbers do little to affect the NBA record books. Popovich remains the winningest coach in league history, 53 wins ahead of Don Nelson’s 1,335 victories. Popovich’s winning percentage goes up slightly from .621 to .628, which — among coaches with 400 games — is seventh in NBA history behind Phil Jackson, Billy Cunningham, K.C. Jones, Red Auerbach, Steve Kerr and Pat Riley.
