The Detroit Pistons and Kemba Walker are finalising a contract buyout that will allow the four-time All-Star to enter free agency, ESPN reported on Thursday.
The move was expected after the rebuilding Pistons acquired Walker from the New York Knicks last week as part of a three-team trade that also netted Detroit rookie big man Jalen Duran, the 13th overall pick of this year’s draft.
Walker was due to earn nearly $9.2million in the final season of a two-year, $18m contract the New York City native signed with the Knicks last summer.
It is the second straight year Walker has had his contract bought out after being traded. The 32-year-old point guard was dealt from Boston to Oklahoma City in June 2021, with Walker later agreeing to relinquish $20m of the nearly $74m he was owed on his former deal to become a free agent.
Walker played in only 37 games during his lone season with the Knicks and averaged a career-low 11.4 points per game while shooting just 40.3 per cent from the field.
He fell out of coach Tom Thibodeau’s rotation in November and did not play at all after the All-Star break due to chronic knee problems that had hampered him in previous years as well.
The former University of Connecticut standout has not appeared in more than 56 games in any of the past three seasons, though he was an All-Star as recently as 2019-20 when he averaged 20.4 points and 4.8 assists per game in his first of two seasons with the Celtics.
New York and Detroit have been active trade partners this offseason, with the Knicks also sending veterans Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel to the Pistons in a separate deal.
The move cleared nearly $20m of cap space for the Knicks, who are expected to make a strong push for Dallas Mavericks point guard Jalen Brunson in free agency.
New NBL season to feature 10 teams, to be launched on Wednesday
The National Basketball League (NBL) is set to make its long-awaited return from a two-year break, with one of the main features of the upcoming season being a partnership between Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA) and the Ministry of National Security, to use the sport as a way of influencing troubled communities and schools, to reduce violence.
Some 10 teams led by defending champions St George’s Slayers are down to contest the season and players and coaches have expressed their delight about the return of the country’s top league on the basketball calendar, following the COVID-induced break.
This season will be launched on Wednesday May 31, at the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) starting at 2:00 pm.
The league is expected to be played over four months and will showcase some of the best local-based talent and aspiring national payers, who will parade their skills in the presence of national coaches. An all-star NBL team will also be selected mid-season to play against the visiting University of Missouri NCAA team, during the summer.
Games will be played primarily at the National Stadium Courts, while select games will be hosted in Montego Bay and other approved venues. Teams will vie for cash prizes and other incentives provided by sponsors and partners.
Confirmed teams are, St Georges Slayers (Defending Champions), UWI Runnin rebels, Rae Town Raptors, Urban Knights, Upper Room Eagles, Tivoli Wizards, Falmouth Saints, Central Celtics, Spanish Town Spartans and Portmore Flames
76ers reportedly hire former Raptors coach Nick Nurse
Nick Nurse has found a new coaching job.
The Philadelphia 76ers agreed to hire former Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse on Monday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Nurse led the Raptors to the franchise’s only title in 2019, but was fired on April 21, nine days after losing 109-105 to the Chicago Bulls in their play-in game.
He replaces Doc Rivers, who was fired after three seasons at the helm in Philadelphia on May 16, two days after the Sixers’ Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics to blow a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Nurse coached the Raptors for five seasons, amassing a 227-163 record for a .582 winning percentage – the best in franchise history.
He led Toronto to a pair of Atlantic Division titles, however, the team finished last this season with a 41-41 record to miss the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons.
Led by 2022-23 MVP Joel Embiid, the 76ers finished second in the Atlantic this season and third in the East but bowed out in the conference semis for the third year in a row.
This year’s ouster was the second time Philadelphia was eliminated with a Game 7 loss, in addition to 2021, when the top-seeded 76ers lost to the Hawks.
The loss marked Rivers’ 10th such defeat in a winner-take-all playoff game.
Tatum on White's buzzer-beater: 'That s*** was crazy!'
Boston Celtics hero Derrick White said "It just had to be won" after his buzzer-beating tip-in forced the Eastern Conference finals to Game 7, as Jayson Tatum added: "That s*** was crazy!"
From 3-0 down against the Miami Heat, the Celtics have fought back to 3-3 in the series, and are now just one win away from making history.
White grabbed and then sank the rebound from Marcus Smart's failed three-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining to seal a 104-103 victory in Miami on Saturday.
The Celtics are now on the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, needing a win at home in Game 7 on Monday to become the first team to win a series after losing the first three games.
Boston are only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series to force a deciding game.
Reflecting on the game-winning moment, Tatum told reporters: "I'm still, like, in disbelief. That s*** was crazy.
"That felt like the longest 10 seconds ever waiting for confirmation if he made it or not."
White told TNT: "It had to be won. Whatever it takes, our backs against our wall, it just had to be won.
"We're a resilient group. We pick each other up, we bond for each other.
"The job isn't done yet, we've got a tough one Game 7, we've got to find a way to get one more win."
White had tears sparkling in his eyes, but explained: "I'm just happy. So far, so good."
It is just the second time in league history that a player has hit a buzzer-beater when his team was down and facing elimination, after Michael Jordan's legendary "The Shot", way back in 1989.
"Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man," team-mate Jaylen Brown added. "An incredible play."
The Heat can only lick their wounds as they head to Boston for Monday's winner-takes-all matchup.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said: "It's a seven-game series. There's nothing better than Game 7s.
"I don't know how we're going to get this done, but we're going to go out there and get it done, and that's what the next 48 hours is about.
"There's been nothing easy about this season for our group, and so we just have to do it the hard way."
Jimmy Butler did his best for Miami, with 24 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
"We've got to go on the road and do something special, but we've got a special group," Butler said.
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