In the offseason, Dallas traded for:
- Marcus Sasser
- Santi Aldama
- Zacharrie Risacher
- Tarik Biberovic
The cost was AJ Johnson, Khris Middleton, a top-20 protected first (via GOS) and 2 seconds.
BREAKING: The Oklahoma City Thunder trading All-Defensive wing Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that sends three second-round picks to OKC, former No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher to the Dallas Mavericks and Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta, sources tell ESPN.
In Texas they told me to stop at Buc-ee's for gas.
I have been to shrines. I have stood in temples that took two hundred years to build.
I was not prepared for the gas station.
There were one hundred and twenty fuel pumps.
I counted them because I did not believe them.
A man beside me was filling a truck the size of my first apartment, and he was not filling it because it was empty.
He was filling it because he was here, and here is where a man fills things.
Inside was a hall so vast I lost the horizon.
A wall of jerky. A wall of fudge I did not know the country produced.
A brisket sandwich handed to me by a man in a beaver costume.
And I want to be clear, the beaver is not a mascot.
The beaver is a saint.
The people speak of him the way my grandmother spoke of the mountain behind her house.
And the bathrooms.
I had been warned about the bathrooms and I had dismissed the warning as the pride of a loud people.
I was wrong to dismiss it.
The bathrooms are famous across the whole state and they have earned it.
I have slept in worse hotels. I nearly bowed upon entering.
A janitor was polishing the floor with the devotion of a man tending a garden he loved, and when I thanked him he said "welcome in," which I have since learned is what Texas says instead of hello, and also instead of I am glad you exist.
I went in for gas. I was inside for ninety minutes.
I came out with fudge, a shirt printed with a joke I do not fully understand, forty dollars of jerky, and a feeling I can only describe as having been to church.
I did not need any of it.
I needed all of it.
I have walked through the great cathedrals of the old world. I lit no candle there.
I lit no candle at Buc-ee's either.
But I did fill the truck.
And I understand now that in Texas, this is the same thing.
Developing: The Los Angeles Clippers-Toronto Raptors trade centered on Kawhi Leonard will not be complete until the NBA investigation into the Clippers is over. Statement from the Clippers to ESPN:
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For the past 10 months, our organization has fully cooperated with an NBA investigation, participating in dozens of interviews, providing tens of thousands of documents, and facilitating access to our staff. While the process has been challenging, we have remained committed to transparency.
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On June 30, we reached an agreement in principle to trade Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors. We have since been informed that the trade can only be finalized if the Raptors' ownershipย group assumes the risk of penalties related to Kawhiโs contract that could theoretically result from the ongoing investigation.ย ย The investigation is ongoing, and we expect the trade to be finalized following its conclusion.
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At the heart of this investigation are Joe Sanberg and Aspiration. We did not funnel money to Kawhi Leonard through Aspiration. Like many sophisticated investors, financial institutions, and business partners, we were victims of a fraud initiated by Sanberg, who has been convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison. ย
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We recognize the uncertainty this has created and the impact it has had on our team, our fans, the Raptors organization, their fans, and the players whose futures remain affected while this process continues.
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We remain confident that, when the facts are evaluated fairly and thoroughly, the NBA will confirm exactly what we have said from the beginning: We have not done what we are accused of doing.
Just in: Free agent Khris Middleton has agreed on a three-year, $17.6 million deal with the Washington Wizards via sign-and-trade, agent Mike Lindeman of Excel Sports Management tells ESPN. The 14-year veteran returns to D.C. where he spent parts of last two seasons as a leader with championship presence.
Just in: The Los Angeles Lakers are trading Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards for Jaden Hardy and two Wizards second-round picks in 2031 and 2032, sources tell ESPN.
The Memphis Grizzlies are trading Santi Aldama to the Dallas Mavericks for AJ Johnson, a protected 2030 Warriors first-round pick and two future second-round picks, sources tell ESPN.
The Memphis Grizzlies are trading Santi Aldama to the Dallas Mavericks for AJ Johnson, a protected 2030 Warriors first-round pick and two future second-round picks, sources tell ESPN.