Basketball Wiretap

Wizards Reach Deal With Washington D.C. To Stay At Capital One Arena Through 2050

Mar 27, 2024 10:21 PM

Ted Leonsis has reached a deal with Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser to keep the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington DC through at least 2050.

Leonsis signed a letter of intent late Wednesday afternoon formalizing an agreement between his parent company, Monumental Sports and Entertainment, and the city.

The deal comes after attempts to build a new arena in Alexandria, Virginia failed to pass the state's legislature. 

“We made tons of mistakes,” Leonsis said Wednesday night when asked whether Monumental had made errors since the December announcement about Potomac Yard. “But we manage to outcomes, and the outcome is exactly the right one.”

Bowser said: “We are the current home, and the future home, of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards.”

Monumental will receive $500 million in cash from the city to renovate Capital One Arena. 

Leonsis said on Wednesday that he had been surprised by the criticism of moving the Wizards les than four miles from Capital One Arena to Potomac Yard. 

Leonsis said he considers the District, suburban Maryland and suburban Virginia “one community” and noted that the Capitals and Wizards used to play in Landover, Md., at Capital Centre before the teams moved to downtown Washington.

Josh Robbins, David Aldridge, Ben Standig/The Athletic

Tags: Washington Wizards, NBA

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Dealing With Quad Injury

Mar 27, 2024 9:10 AM

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing through a quad injury. Gilgeous-Alexander said he was injured a week ago in a game against the Utah Jazz.

"Yeah, little banged up in my quad. Happened in the Utah game," Gilgeous-Alexander said about the injury when asked about it after the Thunder's victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.

Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daigneault deferred to his star guard, but didn't seem too concerned about the injury.

"He’s banged up, for sure. He’s not 100%. We’re monitoring it, but he’s certainly not a hundred percent. I’ll let him speak on it," Daigneault said about Gilgeous-Alexander.

The Thunder coach later added that the injury was "not to the point of not playing obviously, he was out there tonight." With Oklahoma City in a fight for the top seed in the Western Conference, it's worth watching to see if Gilgeous-Alexander misses any games to let his quad heal.

Ross Lovelace/SI.com

Tags: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder, NBA, NBA Injury

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Donovan Mitchell Targeting Friday Return From Knee Issue, Nasal Fracture

Mar 27, 2024 2:25 PM

Donovan Mitchell is targeting a return to the Cleveland Cavaliers' lineup on Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Mitchell has been out since March 16th due to a knee issue and nasal fracture.

In 49 games this season, Mitchell is averaging 27.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 35.4 minutes. 

Shams Charania/The Athletic

Tags: Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA, NBA Injury

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Mitchell Robinson To Return From Ankle Surgery On Wednesday

Mar 27, 2024 2:35 PM

Mitchell Robinson is set to return from his December 8th ankle surgery when the New York Knicks play the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. 

Robinson is expected to come off the bench as he ramps up with his return.

Adrian Wojnarowski/ESPN

Tags: Mitchell Robinson, New York Knicks, NBA, NBA Injury

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D'Angelo Russell Prefers To Stay With Lakers

Mar 27, 2024 9:58 AM

Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell has a player option for $18.7 million for next season. Russell hasn't decided if he'll pick up his option or opt out, but he does know he would prefer to remain with the Lakers.

"I’d love to be here and continue to give it a run and be where my feet are now," Russell told HoopsHype. "Obviously, I’ve been on the other side of it, and I’ve been through the roller coaster of free agency and having to sit back and wait. I’m looking forward to not having to worry about that. I’ve been blessed enough to put myself in this position with my play. I’m definitely planning on taking advantage of that. When that time comes, I feel that everything will play out how it’s supposed to play out."

The veteran guard also said there's a lot of pressure playing in what is effectively a contract year.

"It’s definitely pressure," Russell said. "It’s something that can eat a lot of people up in the league. A lot of people can be too high at times and too low at times, which causes an emotional roller coaster through the ups and downs of the season. For me, I wanted to control that. I wanted to stay sane and stay even-keeled through the ups and the downs."

Michael Scotto/HoopsHype

Tags: D'Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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Joel Embiid Has 'Very Good Likelihood' Of Returning In Regular Season

Mar 28, 2024 2:37 AM

Joel Embiid is likely to return to the Philadelphia 76ers lineup in the regular season, according to Nick Nurse.

"I think there's a very good likelihood that he will return before the play-in, playoff," said Nurse on Wednesday.

Nurse added that there is still no exact timetable for Embiid's return.

"He's on the court, as you guys know, and we still don't have a timeline for his return," added Nurse.

The Sixers are 10-16 since Embiid's injury and are currently in the play-in tournament.

Tim Bontemps/ESPN

Tags: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia Sixers, NBA, NBA Injury

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Grayson Allen Not Thinking About His Next Contract Yet

Mar 27, 2024 10:07 AM

Grayson Allen is having a career year with the Phoenix Suns. Allen has averaged career-highs in points, rebounds and assists, while leading the NBA in three-point shooting at 47.9% and closing in on a potential 50/40/90 season.

Allen's done all of this in a contract year. He's aware he'll soon be eligible to sign an extension with the Suns, but Allen isn't focused on his next deal at the moment.

"I haven’t been thinking about it or playing for the contract or anything, but I feel really blessed to be in a position where I’m on a team I fit perfectly on in an important year for me career wise," Allen said. "Very blessed to be playing this well and given the opportunity I’ve been given to help the team out as much as I have."

When pressed on what he could sign for, Allen reiterated that signing an extension or new deal isn't top of mind for him now.

"I try not to think about it too much," said Allen about his specific contract numbers. "One, because it’s not a done deal until it’s signed. You don’t want to count it, start counting stuff too early before it happens. Another part of is it’s March and we’ve got 11, 10 games left. We’re getting at a time where you don’t want to have stuff like that on your mind cause it’s an individual goal for me and right now, it’s the Suns and team stuff. I don’t want to think about that kind of stuff too much."

Duane Rankin/AZ Central

Tags: Grayson Allen, Phoenix Suns, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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John Calipari To Return To Kentucky For 16th Season

Mar 27, 2024 1:20 AM

John Calipari will return as the head coach of Kentucky for his 16th season, confirmed athletic director Mitch Barnhart.

"As we normally do at the end of every season, Coach Calipari and I have had conversations about the direction of our men’s basketball program and I can confirm that he will return for his 16th season as our head coach," wrote Barnhart on X.

The Wildcats lost in the first round of the NCAA men's tournament to Oakland last week.

Calipari won a national title with the school in 2012.

Kentucky will have three players in ESPN's top 25 prospects coming in next season. 

 

Myron Medcalf/ESPN

Tags: NCAA

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Iowa-West Virginia Women's Basketball Tournament Second-Round Game Averages 4.9M Viewers

Mar 27, 2024 1:06 AM

The second-round matchup between Iowa and West Virginia in the NCAA women's basketball tournament averaged 4.9 million viewers with a 2.7 rating on ESPN.

The number represents the largest audience ever for a NCAA women's tournament game prior to the Final Four.

The game peaked with 6.4 million viewers.

Iowa won the matchup 64-54, with Caitlin Clark finishing with 32 points.

Iowa's first-round game averaged 3.23 million viewers on ABC.

Jon Lewis/Sports Media Watch

Tags: NCAA Tournament, NCAA

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Brandon Clarke Could Return From Achilles On Wednesday

Mar 26, 2024 10:14 PM

Brandon Clarke has been upgraded to questionable for Wednesday's game when the Memphis Grizzlies host the Los Angeles Lakers.

Clarke hasn't played since suffering a torn Achilles in March 2023.

Clarke was averaging 12.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 58 games before his injury last season. 

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: Brandon Clarke, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA, NBA Injury

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Jimmer Fredette To Represent USA Basketball In 3x3 Competition For Paris Olympics

Brian Windhorst/ESPN

LeBron James To Return On Wednesday At Grizzlies

Chris Haynes/Bleacher Report

Trae Young Making Progress On Recovery Of Torn Ligament In Finger

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Timberwolves Signing TJ Warren For Remainder Of Season

Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski/The Athletic

Ty Lue On Clippers Identity Right Now: I Think We're Soft

Ohm Youngmisuk/ESPN

Domantas Sabonis Sets Post-Merger Consecutive Double-Double Record

RealGM Staff Report

Nets Turned Down Trade Offer Of Jalen Green, First-Round Picks For Mikal Bridges

Run It Back/FanDuel TV

LeBron James Out Tuesday Versus Bucks Due To Ankle Soreness

Dave McMenamin/ESPN

Mitchell Robinson 'Moving Quite Well', Expected To Return Before OG Anunoby, Julius Randle

Tim Bontemps/ESPN

Vanderbilt Hires Mark Byington As Head Coach

Jeff Borzello, Pete Thamel/ESPN

NBA Investigating Gambling Irregularities Involving Jontay Porter

ESPN

Mamadi Diakite Signs With Knicks For Remainder Of Season

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DaQuan Jeffries Signs With Knicks For Remainder Of Season

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Derrick White, Anthony Davis Named NBA's Players Of Week 22

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Victor Wembanyama Ruled Out For Monday's Game With Sprained Left Ankle

ESPN

Stanford Hires Kyle Smith As New Head Coach

espn.com

NCAA Tournament: Players In NBA Of The Sweet 16 Schools

RealGM Staff Report

Dunc'd On: 7 in 63 (Western Conference 3.25.24)

RealGM Staff Report

Shaedon Sharpe Nearing Return, Assigned To G League

Sean Highkin/Rose Garden Report

Rudy Gobert Meets 65-Game Requirement For Postseason Awards

Bobby Marks/ESPN