NBA JERSEYS

Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz agree to 5-year extension worth up to $195M

Utah Jazz All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell has agreed to a five-year designated rookie extension worth up to $195 million, his agents Ty Sullivan and Austin Brown of CAA Sports told ESPN.

Mitchell, 24, rapidly developed into one of the most explosive and popular young players in the NBA, an instantaneous franchise cornerstone for the Jazz organization.

The deal includes a 30% escalator clause that would turn the guaranteed $163 million base into $195 million should Mitchell be voted onto one of the three All-NBA teams, sources said. The deal also includes a player option after the fourth year, sources told ESPN’s Bobby Marks.new nike nfl jerseys cheap

Talks moved quickly on the maximum extension, with Sullivan and Brown finalizing terms on Sunday morning with Jazz president Dennis Lindsey and general manager Justin Zanik, sources said.

Mitchell has career averages of 22.7 points and 4.0 assists in the regular season and has been even better in the playoffs.4

Mitchell has averaged 27.3 points in 23 career playoff games, including 36.3 points in last season’s seven-game, first-round loss to the Denver Nuggets, when he joined Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson as the only players in NBA history to have a pair of 50-plus-point games in a playoff series.

During his Rookie of the Year runner-up campaign, Mitchell became the first rookie since Carmelo Anthony to be the leading scorer for a playoff team with a winning record, averaging 20.5 points per game. His scoring average has increased each season. He averaged 24.0 points per game last season while also setting career bests in assists (4.3 per game), field goal percentage (.449), 3-point percentage (.366) and free throw percentage (.863).

Utah expects to have one of the best teams in the Western Conference this season, a roster that’ll include the return of forward Derrick Favors in free agency and the re-signing of guard Jordan Clarkson.

Mitchell is the second member of the 2017 NBA draft class to commit to a max extension. Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox agreed to a five-year, $163M guaranteed deal that could also escalate to $195 million by reaching the All-NBA escalators.cheap nfl nike jerseys china

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is another young All-Star member of the draft class expected to be offered a designated maximum contract extension.

Source: Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum agree to max rookie extension worth up to $195M

Jayson Tatum has agreed to a five-year extension worth up to $195 million with the Boston Celtics, a source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The full designated rookie max of $163 million could go up to nearly $200 million with All-NBA escalators, sources said.

Tatum’s agent, Jeff Wechsler, and the Celtics finalized details Sunday, the source said.cheap nfl jerseys china nike

Tatum will receive the 30% max that would boost the contract’s value to $195 million only if he makes first-, second- or third-team All-NBA next season, per sources. Tatum was a third-team All-NBA selection this past season. He also will receive a player option in the deal, a sourced told Wojnarowski.3

The No. 3 pick in the 2017 NBA draft, Tatum made his first All-Star team this past season, as he blossomed into the face of the Celtics while leading the franchise to the Eastern Conference finals again.

Tatum, 22, averaged career highs of 23.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals this past season for Boston, and boosted his 3-point attempt rate from 3.9 per game in 2018-19 to 7.1 per game. He scored 39 points while guarding Kawhi Leonard in a win in Boston over the LA Clippers before the All-Star break, then scored 41 points at Staples Center in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers shortly afterward.

“The kid is special,” LeBron James said after that Feb. 23 meeting. “Obviously, that’s a reason he’s a first-time All-Star, and he’s been special all year.”

Boston now has Tatum and fellow wing Jaylen Brown under contract through the 2023-24 season, giving the Celtics one of the best young foundations in the league. The star duo has already made two trips to the Eastern Conference finals together and is looking to get Boston back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010.nfl cheap jerseys nike

Tatum’s extension caps a busy opening 48 hours of free agency for Boston in which the Celtics lost Gordon Hayward to the Charlotte Hornets, traded away Enes Kanter, and signed Tristan Thompson and Jeff Teague as free agents.

Dallas Mavericks star Kristaps Porzingis to miss start of NBA season

Dallas Mavericks star big man Kristaps Porzingis will be sidelined to begin the season as he continues to rehabilitate from surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee, according to Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson.

The Mavs have targeted Jan. 1 as the date that Porzingis would be cleared to begin on-court activity, Nelson told ESPNnfl nike jerseys cheap china

“We’re going to make sure that that’s 100 percent before we put him out there, so that’s going to be into the season before we are able to have him join us,” Nelson said Monday on 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas.4

The 7-foot-3 Porzingis underwent surgery in early October to repair the meniscus injury that caused him to miss the final two games of the Mavs’ first-round playoff series loss to the LA Clippers.

Porzingis, 25, who is entering the second season of a five-year, $158 maximum contract, missed a season and a half after tearing the ACL in his left knee in February 2018 in what ended up being his final game with the New York Knicks. He was traded to Dallas a year later, and the Mavs, in consultation with Porzingis and his representatives, opted to have him focus on rehab the remainder of that season.

Porzingis averaged 20.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in his first season in Dallas.

Nelson expressed optimism that center/power forward Dwight Powell, a starter before rupturing his right Achilles tendon on Jan. 21, would be available in at least a limited capacity when training camp opens.nfl cheap nike jerseys

“We’re not going to rush, we’re going to do it the right way, but we’re pretty optimistic that he’ll be able to join us out of the gates,” Nelson said of Powell, who averaged 9.4 points and 5.7 rebounds before his injury last season.

While waiting to hear from Minnesota Timberwolves, James Wiseman says playing for Golden State Warriors ‘would be great’

Former Memphis big man James Wiseman said he has not spoken to the Minnesota Timberwolves in advance of Wednesday night’s NBA draft. The acknowledgement is notable because the Timberwolves have the first pick in the draft, and Wiseman is expected to be one of the first players selected.

Wiseman said during a Monday conference call with reporters that the only two teams he has worked out for in person are the Golden State Warriors, who have the No. 2 pick, and the Charlotte Hornets, who have the No. 3 pick.cheap nfl nike jersey

“I haven’t [talked to the Timberwolves],” Wiseman said. “But I’ve been getting a lot of recommendations from them. In terms of talking to them, I haven’t.”

A source previously told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony that Wiseman views situations with the Warriors and Hornets as more favorable to his long-term growth, as opposed to joining a Minnesota team that already has All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns.3

“I would feel good, whatever team that picks me, I’m truly grateful for that,” Wiseman said, when asked about the possibility that the Timberwolves select him even though the two sides haven’t been communicating. “Whatever team that picks me, I’m going to go in there, learn as much as possible, work my tail off, and just want to win.”

Wiseman repeatedly deflected questions when asked about playing for specific teams, but he did admit at the end of his call that he would enjoy playing in the Warriors system if Golden State selects him with the second pick.

The Warriors have been speculated as a possible landing spot for Wiseman in recent weeks given their need for more depth at center around a lineup that already features prior All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.cheap nike nfl jerseys free shipping

“It would be great because they won a lot of championships, so just being in that type of tradition, being in that type of environment would be great for me,” Wiseman said. “It would create an extra push in terms of my maturity as a basketball player, and just learning under Steph and Klay would be a great situation for me to be in. So, I feel that being in that type of situation would be great for me.”

Wiseman played just three games for the Memphis Tigers last season before leaving school amid an eligibility battle with the NCAA. Despite his early exit from school, Wiseman said he still has close relationships with many teammates and coaches in the Memphis program — and he remains confident that his skills will translate to the league when the time comes.

“I feel like any team that needs a center, I can be able to provide,” Wiseman said. “Just run the floor, blocking shots, and really just use my versatility that I’ve been working on … just being able to guard one through five.”

Miami Heat president Pat Riley ready to run it back next season with similar team

Pat Riley is always looking for ways for the Miami Heat to improve. This offseason has him wondering if that might come from within.

The Heat president on Friday said that the top offseason priority for the Eastern Conference champions “is to take care of the players that we have” — such as free-agent-to-be Goran Dragic — while maintaining salary-cap flexibility to add an impact player in a 2021 offseason that could see many stars on the move.

“We have a good idea of what we want to do,” Riley said in his annual end-of-season media availability.

No plan can be considered completely firm yet; the NBA board of governors met Friday, simultaneous to Riley speaking, to discuss ideas about when it might be feasible to start next season. And the financial details for next season remain unclear as well, such as salary-cap changes and luxury-tax numbers. All that will have an obvious impact on every team’s plans, Miami’s included.

But Miami is clear on some matters: The Heat have no intention of letting extension-eligible All-Star center Bam Adebayo leave, and Riley said keeping this past season’s team as close to intact as possible has crossed his mind.cheap nike nfl jerseys china4

Kelly Olynyk has a player option for about $12 million, while Meyers Leonard, Jae Crowder, Solomon Hill and Derrick Jones Jr. are among the Heat’s free agents.

“We know what our priorities are,” Riley said. “It is to take care of the players that we have, that we have to make decisions on almost immediately. We know Bam has a decision to make and we do with him. We know the guys that have sacrificed for us that we really like, our free agents, especially Goran.”

The Heat might have ended up as the surprise of the league this season, with All-NBA player Jimmy Butler’s arrival leading a turnaround that saw Miami go from missing the 2019 NBA playoffs to winding up in this season’s finals as a No. 5 seed. Riley raved about what Butler has brought to the Heat, and also lauded coach Erik Spoelstra for doing what he called a masterful job this season.

“Spo was the coach of the year, for me,” Riley said.

The Heat have long been expected to be a major player in the 2021 free-agent season, when names such as two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and many others could potentially choose to hit the market.cheap nfl nike jerseys china

What they do in this offseason will obviously affect their spending power next year.

“I just think we need to remain fluid,” Riley said. “Once we get all the numbers and we get everything down, we get the schedule, we know when the dates are, and what the rules are in everything, once we get all of that, we’re going to remain fluid. And whatever presents itself to us, we’ll look at it.”

Milwaukee Bucks’ George Hill supports local organization urging early voting

Milwaukee Bucks guard George Hill said the importance of Wisconsin in the upcoming election caused him to fly back here this weekend to assist in a local voting drive.

Hill, who lives in San Antonio, worked alongside about 50 volunteers from the Milwaukee-based organization Common Ground, walking through local neighborhoods Saturday to encourage people to vote early.

“This [state] could make or break the election,” Hill said. “To spend a couple of dollars to get on a flight to come back here, to get out and knock on doors and go around this city, to show them that I care for them just as much as they care for themselves, and show them that we need them, we need them, we need their voices, we need their communities to be better and things like that, it’s all worth it at the end of the day.”nfl jerseys cheap nike

Hill wore a shirt with the message “VOTE” and a Bucks logo plus a mask with the message “Votes Count In the 414” as he walked through several blocks in various neighborhoods with a group that included Bucks senior vice president Alex Lasry. Milwaukee’s area code is 414.3

They occasionally would greet residents at their homes or stop people walking or driving by them. Hill would ask whether they had voted and would remind them of the importance of voting.

“I’m not here to say vote for one side or the other,” Hill said. “But I’m here to say use your voice and vote. Our ancestors, our fathers and things like that fought for this right. You should take advantage of it and get out and vote and use it.”

Hill made this visit nearly two months after he and his Bucks teammates opted against playing a first-round playoff game with the Orlando Magic to protest the shooting by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, of Jacob Blake, a Black man. The Bucks’ decision led to an NBA-wide postponement of playoff games.

Now that the season is complete and Hill is out of the playoff bubble at Walt Disney World, he has continued doing community outreach through youth-mentorship programs at his home in Texas, as well as his work Saturday in Milwaukee.

Earlier this month, Hill was one of five NBA players to receive the NBA Community Cares Assist Award, along with the Sacramento Kings’ Harrison Barnes, the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chris Paul and the Dallas Mavericks’ Dwight Powell.

“You always try to figure out different ways you can strike change and be accounted for,” Hill said. “When I first got to the NBA, Coach Pop (Gregg Popovich) told me one thing that always stuck with me, is: How do you put your whole fingerprints on the world and leave your mark?cheap nfl nike jerseys china

“Sometimes you have to stand up for what’s right, and sometimes that may be ruffling feathers and may be frowned upon by everyone else, but at the end of the day, in your heart, knowing you’re on the right side of history and knowing that you did the right thing, good or bad, you have to live with that.”

Hill and Common Ground were walking through Milwaukee neighborhoods encouraging voting on the same day President Donald Trump was scheduled to visit the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, an indication of Wisconsin’s importance in the upcoming election.

Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler says he didn’t hold up his end of bargain after Game 6 loss, vows ‘we’ll be back’

Miami Heat All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler raised his game to a superstar level during the postseason, but the veteran is leaving the bubble with a sour taste in his mouth following Sunday’s 106-93 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals because of a promise he felt he didn’t deliver on to team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra.

“This is what my team needed me to do, the organization asked of me,” Butler said. “I told them that I would win them one and I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain, so that means I got to do it next year. I told Coach Pat, I told Coach Spo I’m here to win one. I didn’t do my job, so moving forward, I got to hold up my end of the bargain.”nike nfl jerseys cheap china

Despite his assessment, Butler’s teammates and coaches know there wasn’t much else Butler could have accomplished. He led the fifth-seeded Heat to within two games of an NBA championship, putting together one of the most unexpected runs to the Finals in recent memory. In 20 postseason games, Butler averaged 22.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists, including a triple-double in Games 3 and 5 of the Finals.4

“Jimmy has a superstar competitive spirit to him,” Spoelstra said. “If you try to evaluate him or put him in a conventional box of how you view a modern-day basketball player, you’re totally missing the boat on JB. He is a winner, he is a leader, he is a motivator, a mentor and just a supreme competitor. And when you get to this level, I think so many people forget about that, the competition and what you can bring out of an entire franchise when you’re wired to that level of fierce competitiveness.”

Butler’s confidence and work ethic lifted the organization over the past three months, bringing a new level of praise to the culture that Riley created over two decades ago when he arrived in Miami. The passion and mental toughness Butler and his teammates showed throughout their time in the bubble left an emotional Spoelstra wiping away tears to start his postgame news conference Sunday night.nfl cheap jerseys nike

After congratulating the Lakers organization on its championship and thanking the NBA for putting the bubble together, Spoelstra thanked the Heat families for supporting the group and then spoke passionately about his team.

“This locker room, regardless of whatever happens in the future, we’re going to remember this year, this season, this experience and that locker room brotherhood for the rest of our lives,” Spoelstra said. “You’re in this business to be able to be around people like this. And I can go on and on. But the guys that competed and played in this series, we had several guys that were not even close to being 100 percent. Probably shouldn’t have been playing, but that’s how this group was. They wanted to do it for each other. And I just, I’m really bummed that we couldn’t find a way to get over the hump and finish the season with a win.”

The only solace for Spoelstra and the Heat is that they feel confident that Butler will eventually be able to lead the group to the top in the future. Butler has forever changed the narrative that followed him throughout his career regarding whether he could be the face of a championship-caliber team and fit in well within the context of the locker room. The professional marriage Butler formed with the Heat — after agreeing to terms last summer and having the organization complete a sign-and-trade deal with the Philadelphia 76ers to land him — paid immediate dividends for both player and team. Butler appreciated the work ethic that the young Heat players showed and the Heat loved how hard Butler played on a nightly basis.

Los Angeles Lakers betting favorites to win next season’s NBA championship

The Los Angeles Lakers went from missing the playoffs in 2019 to winning it all this season, and oddsmakers have installed them as the team to beat again in 2021.

The Lakers, who finished off the Miami Heat on Sunday to win the franchise’s 17th NBA championship, are listed at the favorites at +375 to win next season’s title at William Hill U.S. sportsbooks. The LA Clippers are next at +400, followed by the Milwaukee Bucks at +550 and Golden State Warriors at +800.

After missing last season’s playoffs, the Lakers could be found at around 20-1 at some sportsbooks entering the summer. But their odds improved rapidly with the addition of forward Anthony Davis to go along with LeBron James. By time the season tipped off, the Lakers were the consensus favorites, and bettors were on board.

At William Hill U.S. sportsbooks, more bets were placed and more money wagered on the Lakers to win the NBA championship than any other team.cheap nfl nike jerseys china

“Hats off to the bettors on this one, they bet [the Lakers] from the beginning,” said Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading for William Hill U.S. “They identified them, thought [Davis] would be the missing piece and it looks like they were right.”

The Lakers were favored in each of their 21 games in the playoffs.3

“We had some really big decisions on them through the entire playoffs,” Bogdanovich added.

While this offseason is unique, due to the shift in the schedule caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it’s not expected to feature as much star-power relocating as last summer did when Davis went to the Lakers, Kawhi Leonard bolted Toronto to join the Clippers and Kevin Durant left Golden State for the Brooklyn Nets.cheap nike nfl jersey

Durant missed all of the 2019-20 season because of an Achilles injury but is expected back next season to team with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. The Nets are 10-1 to win next year’s championship, followed by the Boston Celtics at 12-1.

Golden State guard Klay Thompson is also expected to return from injury after missing all of last season, which has boosted the Warriors into the top tier of oddsboards.

While the Lakers were among the favorites all season, their Finals opponent, the Miami Heat, were not. Miami entered the season a 100-1 to win the title. The Heat are 15-1 to win next year’s title.

Doc Rivers says 76ers’ talent reason he took coaching job

When Doc Rivers and the LA Clippers parted ways after seven years together last week, Rivers was expecting to take a break from coaching after spending 16 consecutive seasons patrolling NBA sidelines.

But then, within a few hours of that news becoming public, he’d received a call from the Philadelphia 76ers. After a whirlwind courtship, Rivers was introduced as the team’s new head coach Monday afternoon, citing it as too good of an opportunity to pass up.cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale

“I love coaching. I absolutely love it,” Rivers said on a video conference call with reporters from the practice court inside the team’s Camden, New Jersey, practice facility. “But I was not going to just coach anybody, I can tell you that. I was ready to take a break … it just depended on the team that was available, and if that team in my opinion was ready to win.”

Rivers said that three teams reached out to his agent, Lonnie Cooper, within hours of the news coming out about his dismissal from the Clippers after their flameout in the Western Conference semifinals. They lost to the Denver Nuggets after taking a 3-1 lead in the series and holding double-digit leads in Games 5, 6 and 7.3

But he said he met with the Sixers first, and that it quickly became clear to him that the team’s talent, led by All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, made this a job he simply had to take.

“When [general manager Elton Brand] called, it was an easy ‘Get on the plane and take a look’ for me,” Rivers said. “You look at these players, these young players, and their potential … the fact that they’ve had so much success in so many ways at the ages they are already, and where I think they can go, for me it’s a job you just couldn’t turn down.cheap nfl jerseys china nike

“That’s why I’m here. Just really excited about it.”

The Sixers, like the Clippers, failed to live up to lofty expectations this season. Philadelphia’s roster was deemed championship-caliber entering the season, but the pieces never quite fit together the way the team hoped. The Sixers ultimately wound up being swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics after Ben Simmons was lost for the season because of knee surgery. Longtime coach Brett Brown was fired the next day.

Still, Philadelphia has a roster full of talent, led by the Simmons-Embiid pairing, a tandem that Rivers immediately identified as worthy of making him choose to forgo a break from coaching and instead dive right back in again.

“They’ve won 65% of the games they’ve played,” Rivers said, referring to Simmons and Embiid, “so it clearly works when they play together. … this team is loaded with talent. We just have to figure out how to make it work the best.”

Los Angeles Lakers switch to ‘Black Mamba’ uniforms for potential title-clinching Game 5

The Los Angeles Lakers will try to win their 17th NBA championship in Black Mamba fashion.

The Lakers will wear their “Black Mamba” uniforms, which are styled in honor of the late Kobe Bryant, in Game 5 on Friday.

They were slated to wear the black alternative uniforms in Games 2 and 7 of the NBA Finals, a team source confirmed to ESPN. But on Friday, the Lakers can clinch the title, as they lead the Miami Heat 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale

“It means something,” LeBron James said Thursday. “Something more than just a uniform. It represents an individual who gave the franchise 20 years of his blood, sweat and tears and his dedication to his craft, both on and off the floor, to make that franchise be proud of him, and hopefully vice versa.”4

Lakers coach Frank Vogel, Anthony Davis and James have spoken often about trying to channel Bryant’s legendary “Mamba mentality” and relentless desire to win. This Lakers team dedicated the rest of the season to Bryant — who played all 20 seasons of his career in the purple and gold — following his death.china nike nfl jerseys cheap

Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash outside Los Angeles in January.

James and Davis got tattoos in honor of Bryant. The team chants “1-2-3 Mamba!” when breaking huddles.

“If we come out and do what we’re supposed to do, then we can remain undefeated [in the alternate jersey this postseason],” Davis said Thursday. “We just think that for all the things that happened this season, with our team specifically and our organization, that to be able to close it out in the Black Mamba uniforms will just make it all worth it. Obviously his legacy in the NBA and then just with the organization, period, is something special.

“For us to [potentially] close it out in his honor is something that we look forward to, something that — an insane amount of pressure for sure, but we don’t want to lose, we don’t want to let him down.”

Davis hit a game-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer against the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals and said the Black Mamba uniforms worn by the Lakers for that contest provided inspiration.