LaMarcus Aldridge will make a dramatic comeback to the NBA after doctors cleared him to rejoin the Brooklyn Nets, it was revealed on Friday.
Seven-time All-Star Aldridge announced his immediate retirement in April after experiencing a major health scare.
Aldridge revealed that he played against the Los Angeles Lakers while dealing with an irregular heartbeat – an issue that became worse following the 126-101 defeat for the Nets.
Now he is reported to have agreed a one-year deal worth $2.6million, with the 36-year-old eager to get back into action.
In a statement to ESPN, Aldridge said: "I retired in April based on what I believed was the wisest precautionary decision for my personal health at the time, but further testing and evaluation by several top physicians has convinced the doctors, myself and the Nets that I'm fully cleared and able to return to the rigours of the NBA.
"I loved my brief time with Brooklyn and am excited to rejoin the team in pursuit of a championship."
There was no immediate comment from the Nets, who earlier in the day requested waivers on forward Alize Johnson.
The about-turn in Aldridge's plans was not quite as surprising as his initial announcement that his career was over, with recent reports having suggested it was in the offing.
Aldridge only joined the Nets at the end of March as a free agent, averaging 12.8 points in five games after agreeing a contract buyout with the San Antonio Spurs.
He said at the time of his retirement that, despite doctors dealing effectively with his immediate health concern, the aftermath of the Lakers game "was still one of the scariest things I've experienced".
He added, back in April: "For 15 years, I've put basketball first, and now it is time to put my health and family first."
Aldridge, drafted second in the 2006 draft by the Chicago Bulls, was swiftly traded to the Portland Trail Blazers and had nine seasons in Oregon before moving on to San Antonio.
He has career per-game averages of 19.4 points and 8.2 rebounds, with a game high of 56 points, hitting 352 double-doubles.
He stands 49 points short of reaching 20,000, an early target for when he gets back on the court.
The Brooklyn Nets have added another All-Star to the mix, agreeing to a deal with veteran forward Paul Millsap.
Millsap's agent DeAngelo Simmons confirmed the move to The Athletic and other outlets, and the player posted an image of himself in a Brooklyn uniform on his Instagram page on Thursday.
The 36-year-old Millsap is entering his 16th NBA season, spending the first seven years of his career with the Utah Jazz before four seasons each with the Atlanta Hawks and the Denver Nuggets.
His best years came in Atlanta, where he made the All-Star team all four seasons.
Millsap's playing time steadily diminished in Denver last season as he lost his starting job and ended up averaging just 20.8 minutes and 9.0 points per game – his lowest since his second year in the league.
At this stage of his career, Millsap will be a complementary player on a loaded Brooklyn team that also features Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Blake Griffin.
He effectively steps into the role vacated by fellow veteran Jeff Green, who averaged 11 points in 27 minutes for Brooklyn last season before signing a two-year deal with the Nuggets last month.
Joining the star-studded Nets squad gives Millsap a strong chance to make the NBA Finals for the first time in his career. He has been on teams that reached the conference finals three times, but his team never won more than one game in any of those series.
Potentially finishing his career with a contender was a priority for Millsap, as The Athletic reports he also considered the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls.
Rajon Rondo said "wisdom" is key to winning an NBA championship after he joined a growing list of veterans on the Los Angeles Lakers' roster.
Rondo is back with the Lakers after spending last season split between the Atlanta Hawks and city rivals the Los Angeles Clippers.
A championship winner with the Lakers in 2019-20, Rondo was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies by the Clippers at the end of the 2020-21 campaign before agreeing a contract buyout and clearing waivers.
With Rondo (35) back at the Staples Center alongside Carmelo Anthony (37), LeBron James (36), Marc Gasol (36), Trevor Ariza (36) and Dwight Howard (35), the Lakers have the oldest team in the NBA this season.
The Lakers also boast former MVP Russell Westbrook (32) following his arrival from the Washington Wizards.
Amid criticism over the age of the team, Rondo told reporters on Tuesday: "Wisdom is definitely key to winning a championship.
"We have a lot of that, obviously, with the age and experience on the court. I'm most excited about not being the oldest guy on the team anymore.
"I'm actually about [fifth oldest] now, so that's a big step for me going from two months ago I was the oldest guy on the team and now I'm one of the young guys."
After ending their 10-year title drought in 2020, the Lakers struggled last season as James and Anthony Davis endured injury problems.
The Lakers finished with a 42-30 win-loss record and stumbled into the play-in tournament before losing to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs.
Rondo added: "I'm looking forward to it, looking forward to the naysayers saying our age being a problem, but you don't have longevity in this league without discipline.
"We have guys that have the mileage, but there's a reason they're still playing in this league at this level for so many years. So I'm not worried about anything or the spectators saying age makes a difference.
"I think the mind is going to be a big key in why we win this year."
Danny Green believes the Philadelphia 76ers without Ben Simmons might cause defensive issues amid uncertainty over his future with the NBA franchise.
Simmons' future in Philadelphia is up in the air after struggling in the 76ers' shock Eastern Conference semi-final exit at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA playoffs.
The three-time All-Star – an elite defender whose shooting problems were laid bare during the postseason – has been at the centre of trade rumours involving the Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Portland are a team of particular interest, given reports the 76ers are eyeing their All-Star Damian Lillard.
Green, who signed a new deal to return to Philadelphia for the 2021-22 season, was asked what a Simmons-less 76ers would look like.
"That's going to be tough to say man because we don't know what we're going to get back for him," Green told Howard Beck on the Crossover podcast.
"We may get a point guard, we may get wings. That may change a lot: I might be playing with a different type of point guard, I might be playing with different types of wings, I might be coming off the bench. I don't know who we’re going to get."
Former number one draft pick Simmons had no fourth-quarter field-goal attempts in his last four games of the playoffs last season. He is the only NBA player in the last 20 seasons to have four consecutive postseason games with no field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter during a season in which he was an All-Star.
After four seasons in the league, there has been no improvement from the 24-year-old Simmons in one fundamental area – shooting.
An elite defender and creator, debate around Simmons centres on his offence or lack thereof, with the 76ers handicapped by his unwillingness to shoot.
Simmons' field-goal percentage has regressed, dropping from 58.0 in 2019-20 to 55.7 this season – he only managed worse in his 2017-18 rookie campaign (54.5).
He averaged just 10.1 field-goal attempts in 2020-21 – a career low, which dropped to 7.9 in the playoffs. It is the same story with his scoring as it dropped to a career worst 14.3 points per game and 11.9 in the postseason – both career lows.
Then there is Simmons and free throws. He was exposed by rival teams as they regularly sent him to the line, with the Melbourne-born guard making just 25 of 73 shots in the 2020-21 playoffs. His 34.2 free-throw percentage is the lowest ever in a single postseason.
Despite those liabilities, Green said losing Simmons would force some adjustments.
"And also defensively, I probably become the primary defender," he said. "Not saying it's an issue or a problem for me, but we have one less wing defender with him.
"Now it's me and Matisse [Thybulle]. Not saying that the other guys don't play defence, but you talk about our main defenders. That was a big part of that and a big part of our defence. … Ben, you know, was DPOY [Defensive Player of the Year] for us this year. …
"We thought Ben was able to guard one through five and set the tone for us. If he's gone, that changes a lot not just offensively but defensively as well for me."
The New Orleans Saints do not know where they will open the NFL regular season, but they are doing all they can to stay focused after Hurricane Ida ravaged the city on Sunday.
Ida made landfall on the Louisiana coast as a powerful Category 4 storm, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region.
The entire city of New Orleans lost power on Sunday but Gayle Benson, who owns the Saints and the NBA's Pelicans, said in a statement Monday that her teams' facilities suffered only superficial damage.
The Saints relocated operations to the Dallas area over the weekend at the invitation of the Cowboys, and head coach Sean Payton said they will remain there at least through Wednesday.
They are scheduled to host the Green Bay Packers in the regular-season opener on September 12, but Payton told reporters all options are on the table if playing at home is not feasible.
"Obviously we’ll have a plan B," he said. "And, you know, there are a lot of other things probably from a priority standpoint that are more important for our city.
"But that all being said, we fully anticipate starting the regular season with Green Bay and then the question would be where that game's at."
Speaking to reporters before practice on Monday, Payton noted his team's concern over their homes and belongings left behind.
"Left behind are obviously apartments, condominiums, homes. Those are all physical things. Nonetheless, they're still home for so many people," Payton said. "I think to some degree that going out and being able to practice today is going to be good for everyone, because from afar, there’s only so much you can do."
The Saints cancelled their final pre-season game, which was to be played at the Superdome against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday.
NFL rules mandate teams give players this weekend off from practice, and Payton indicated he did not expect the Saints to be back at their home facility when work resumes next Monday.
Benson said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has accepted the Saints' offer to use their facilities and will stage assistance efforts out of the NFL and NBA teams' practice facility in suburban Metairie.
Benson also said she will donate $1million to a relief fund that will help the region recover from the storm.
"Our team is safe and focussed on preparing for, and winning, the first regular game against the Green Bay Packers," Benson said. "We look forward to returning to New Orleans to continue those preparations as soon as our government leaders say it is safe to do so.
"Fortunately, the Caesars Superdome received only minor damage and will be prepared to host games as soon as the city's infrastructure will allow."
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard said he still wants to win an NBA championship with the franchise amid ongoing speculation over his future.
Lillard's future has dominated headlines following Portland's first-round playoff exit last season, the six-time All-Star continuing to be the subject of trade rumours involving the Philadelphia 76ers.
There has also been talk about the New York Knicks, but despite his frustration after another early postseason elimination in 2020-21, Lillard remains determined to deliver a title to Portland.
"We lose to Denver, they were you know unhealthy," Lillard told Complex News' Pierce Simpson. "I'm frustrated with the loss against Denver, so like we gotta do better.
"I've always said I want to play in Portland, I want to win in Portland, and I still feel that way. So if I'm saying we gotta do better, we gotta give ourselves a real chance, we can't get out the first round as we are, then we gotta get better.
"Not from a standpoint of threatening you all. It was like, if it comes down to me having to move on and do something different like then maybe that's what I have to do.
"But it was like, I haven't made that decision you know what I'm saying? But the fact remains that I would like to win a championship in Portland."
Lillard has been named an All-Star six times in his career and has helped the Blazers reach the playoffs in each of the past eight seasons.
It is his clutch shooting that has consistently kept Portland in the mix and, since he entered the league in 2012, only Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry (2,460) and James Harden of the Brooklyn Nets (2,125) have made more three-pointers than Lillard's 2,051.
Portland reached the Western Conference Finals in 2019 but were swept by Curry and the Warriors.
However, this season's exit at the hands of the Denver Nuggets in six games was their fourth first-round elimination in five seasons and led to the Blazers parting ways with head coach Terry Stotts. Chauncey Billups is the man now tasked with leading them to a first NBA Finals since 1992 and a first championship since 1977.
"You get to a position where it's like, 'Do I defend myself or do I just say nothing'. For me, when I'm just hearing stuff that's not the facts, I'm going to say I didn't say that," Lillard told The Athletic as he addressed the trade speculation.
"Some things I've just got to let it be said. I know what the truth is. I know where I stand. It's not my duty to make the public know … it's not my job to make them aware of what that is.
"It definitely has been different. I feel like I've handled it like I've handled everything. I just let it happen. I let people talk and I just stay true to who I am and I stand on that.
"If I say something, I stand on what I said. It is what it is, at this point."
Mike Budenholzer has signed a new multi-year contract extension to remain head coach of 2021 NBA champions the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks announced the deal on Tuesday, with ESPN reporting Budenholzer has committed to a new three-year extension.
The 52-year-old joined the Bucks in 2018 from the Atlanta Hawks and guided the franchise to their first NBA title in 50 years in his third season in charge.
"Bud is a great coach and a fantastic partner to work with every day as we build a team that consistently competes for championships," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said.
"We’re extremely grateful for the leadership Bud provides and we look forward to building on the success we’ve had over the last three years and congratulate Bud on this well-deserved extension."
Under Budenholzer's guidance, the Bucks have topped the NBA in scoring in each of the past three seasons, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee averaged a league-high 120.1 points per game, which is also a franchise-best, in the 2020-21 season.
"The appreciation I have for being a part of the Bucks organization is hard to express," Budenholzer said.
"The players make the success happen on and off the court. We have the best players and to them I am grateful. They’ve grown and we’ve grown together during the last three seasons.
"We’ve had success along the way, finishing with an NBA Championship this season!
"We all can’t wait to get back to work and face the great challenge of competing again for an NBA Championship... Let’s keep getting better and building great teams and doing great work on and off the court."
Budenholzer won the NBA Coach of the Year in his first season at Bucks in 2018-19, before being one of three finalists for the award in 2019-20. He also won the award in 2015 at the Hawks.
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