Sixers To Keep First-Round Pick Swap With Clippers In 2029
The Philadelphia 76ers will hold onto their first-round pick swap from the Los Angeles Clippers in 2029, sources confirmed to Chris Hine of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
As part of the NBA’s punishment for violating salary cap circumvention rules, the Clippers will forfeit five first-round picks from 2029 through 2033.
The NBA will instead take away the 2029 first-round pick owed by the Pacers from the Ivica Zubac trade.
The Sixers initially received the pick swap from the Clippers as part of the James Harden deal from 2023.
Chris Paul calls last season with Clippers 'one of the most disrespectful things that I've endured'
It seemed like a heartwarming ending. Chris Paul, the man who helped turn around the Clippers’ culture and the transition from Donald Sterling to Steve Ballmer as an owner during the Lob City era, came back to the Clippers for his final season before retiring.
Instead, Paul’s strong leadership style clashed with coach Tyronn Lue and management — CP3 would say he was holding them accountable — and 21 games into the season they sent him away from the team (but still on the roster). Then at the deadline he was traded to Toronto in what was purely a financial move.
“What’s interesting about that whole situation is, it’s probably one of the most disrespectful things that I’ve endured…
“I think just because of the investment we made in the team for as long as we have, and to see the way stuff was handled. What it lets you know is that no matter what you do or what you’ve done, nobody cares.”
Paul played 16 games with the Clippers last season, his final ones in his Hall of Fame career.
In his first stint with the franchise, from 2011-2017, he became a Clippers legend, part of the core of Lob City with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Those seasons saw Paul making three NBA First-Teams, five First-Team All-Defensive teams, and two top-five MVP finishes. For a variety of reasons, those teams never had the playoff runs to match their regular-season success.
Paul was in a limited role with the Clippers last season at age 40, playing 14 minutes a night and averaging 2.9 points per game while shooting 32.1% from the field. However, the Clippers knew what they were getting when they brought him in: A strong leader in the locker room who would call out teammates but also coaches and management. When Los Angeles got off to a 5-16 start, there was a lot of finger-pointing, and things got so bad between Paul and Lue that they were not talking. That led to the Clippers separating him from the team — the news coming down on the road in Atlanta in the middle of the night (news leaked at 2:40 AM Eastern). That was poorly handled and caught the rest of the players off guard.
CP3 talking almost seems like piling on after the week the Clippers had, where the league stripped them of five first-round picks, suspended owner Steve Ballmer for a year, suspended head of basketball operations Lawrence Frank for six months and fined the team $30 million for salary cap circumvention in the Kawhi Leonard case. Although, is it piling on when the Clippers brought all of this on themselves?
Stephon Castle’s rise from intriguing prospect to winner
SAN ANTONIO, TX – JUNE 13: Stephon Castle #5 of the San Antonio Spurs shoots a free throw during the game against the New York Knicks during Game Five of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 13, 2026 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE(Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant /NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
After the big-time star player, what matters most in the modern NBA? Billy Crystal might say that “is a question for the ages,” yet the picture gets clearer when reviewing some of the proven teams or the ones that have ascended at rapid speed.
The San Antonio Spurs’ build fits the latter category because of their talent, plus they’ve had someone committed to doing the hardest jobs: Stephon Castle. Anyone who watched him at UConn in 2023-24 probably knew he was bound to have a great pro career because of his skills and the special something beating in his chest. And they are correct so far.
Castle wasn’t setting the league on fire out of the gate, being an ineffective 3-point shooter and being unsure of when to assert himself offensively at times. Yet his value illuminated like the lights coming out of Marsellus Wallace’s briefcase in Pulp Fiction 10 games into his career when he dropped 10 points in the fourth quarter of a one-point loss at home against the Utah Jazz.
That was his first time scoring in double figures late and it felt like a glimpse of the future. Then within a handful weeks, it felt like he should have been starting despite being green, but the Spurs don’t usually hand things over quickly. On some nights, it may have been difficult to see his full value when he scored in single digits or missed easy ones at the rim, but this is why one must be entrenched in their basketball philosophy.
He came into the league with grown-man strength, so it was easy to tell, even then, that offensive shortcomings would be corrected with added reps and improved mechanics. On top of that, he had Chris Paul’s approval and the future Hall-of-Famer had said they share the same competitive nature. Notably, Castle inherited some of Paul’s best qualities the next year, showing them early as the team waited for De’Aaron Fox to rehab from his hamstring injury.
Part of the reason I thought so highly of Castle as a rookie was that he found a way to make the rest of the Spurs’ season fun by taking on a bigger role after Victor Wembanyama went down with a blood clot. Thank goodness Castle did because there’s only so many years fans can take of not being competitive. His late-season push secured his Rookie of the Year award, too.
At that time, one of the signs that he was improving quickly was that his usage was higher and so was his effective field goal percentage (slightly) than when Wemby was playing. Additionally, lots of unfinished business was left on the table in 2024-25 as they had both assisted each other 60 times. When fans look back on it, they saw the rise of Area 51, which hit the ground running the next season as both players increased their pass frequency to each other. Each of them started scoring more easily with help.
Castle, particularly, as a rookie was not very efficient when scoring on passes from Wemby because he would rush some shots, boldly try to maneuver through traffic and he hadn’t gotten completely comfortable against faster coverages. None of that is abnormal for a youngster.
Still, I didn’t think he’d be that good the next year and that’s part of what made the 2025-26 season so special. His points-per-game average increased by two, his EFG percentage went up by 4.5 points, and he recorded 80 percent extra assists. One of the ways he was able to raise his deep-shooting percentage was by taking more shots off the catch but it still needs more work.
In the playoffs, he was seen guarding up against Julius Randle in round two as well as being on the perimeter. His versatility makes him a mobile sentry.
The average committed NBA fan is generally sharp. Outside of San Antonio, it’s hard to say how he is viewed by them, but I took the liberty of ranking him. The process included reviewing the rosters of every team and writing down the names of the players I would take before him. Consider how every championship team needs someone like him to defend the other team’s best perimeter player and that there aren’t 20 ballers in the NBA who will do that and score 15 points nightly. Castle is one of those guys, and there were only 25 names before his on the list (see at the bottom).
It matters little that 39 players scored more per game (minimum of 65 games) in 2025-26 and that he’s still a below-average 3-point shooter (33.2). Winning requires having an all-round game and that’s what the Spurs are molding.
My basketball philosophy states that defense and rebounding are the most important ingredients to winning a championship, and that’s why I’d pick Jrue Holiday before Damian Lillard. That’s also the same reason why Castle, who is sort of like an upgraded version of Holiday, is more of a winning player than a lot of popular guys. Keep in mind that he was four points shy of being on second team All-Defense in 2025-26.
Despite his game’s imperfections, he’s not far off from being an All-NBA-level player. When coach Mitch Johnson praised him as a rookie, saying he “embraced everything we’ve thrown at him,” it reminded me of the times fight promoters, proclaimed their prospect would be champion, and I believed them.
Women’s Basketball World Cup: Scores, groups, standings, and more
Paige Bueckers #4 celebrates during the game at the 2026 FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament between USA and Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 12, 2026, at Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot. (Photo by Edgardo Medina/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
The 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup begins on Friday in Berlin, with the United States among the favorites in the 16-team field.
Team USA, coached by Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson, has a roster with a mix of veterans such as Brenna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, and Chelsea Gray, as well as some young stars including Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, and Caitlin Clark.
Two veterans that initially made the roster withdrew for health reasons: Four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and five-time All-Star Kelsey Plum. They were replaced by Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.
Team USA is seeking a fourth straight FIBA World Cup title, and they have won nine of the last 12 FIBA World Cups.
Here are all the teams, the groups, the full schedule, and everything else you need to know.
FIBA World Cup Groups
Here are the four groups for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup. The teams were seeded into the four groups based on the FIBA Women’s World Rankings as of April of this year. Host nation Germany was placed in Pot 1 along with the three highest-ranked teams in the world (United States, France, and Australia), the next four teams were placed in Pot 2, and so on. Teams within each group were then redrawn for scheduling purposes.
As the host nation, Germany was automatically placed into Group A.
Group A
Here are the four teams in Group A, along with their FIBA ranking:
Japan: 10 Spain: 6 Germany: 11 Mali: 18
Group B
Here are the four teams in Group B, along with their FIBA ranking:
Hungary: 19 South Korea: 15 Nigeria: 8 France: 2
Group C
Here are the four teams in Group C, along with their FIBA ranking:
Belgium: 5 Australia: 3 Puerto Rico: 13 Türkiye: 16
Group D
Here are the four teams in Group D, including the United States, along with their FIBA ranking:
United States: 1 Czechia: 17 Italy: 14 China: 4
Knockout stage format
For the knockout stage of the FIBA Women’s World Cup, three teams from each group advance. The top seed from each group receives a bye into the Quarterfinals, while the other eight teams face off in the Qualification round as follows:
Qualification round
Here is the format for the Qualification round.
Group A runner-up vs. Group B third place (Winner plays Group C winner in Quarterfinals)
Group B runner-up vs. Group A third place (Winner plays Group D winner in Quarterfinals)
Group C runner-up vs. Group D third place (Winner plays Group A winner in Quarterfinals)
Group D runner-up vs. Group C third place (Winner plays Group B winner in Quarterfinals)
The first two games are played on September 8, with the second two played on September 9. Quarterfinals take place on September 10.
Schedule and results
Here is the full slate for the FIBA Women’s World Cup, along with how you can watch. All times listed are Eastern.
Friday, September 4
Australia 70, Puerto Rico 54 Japan 102, Mali 97 South Korea 99, Nigeria 81 United States 94, China 61 Belgium 89, Türkiye 75 Spain 83, Germany 53 Czechia vs. Italy, 2:15 p.m., HBO Max Hungary vs. France, 3:00 p.m., truTV
Saturday, September 5
Mali 83, Spain 73 Hungary 71, Nigeria 67 Germany 74, Japan 58 France 95, South Korea 69
Sunday, September 6
Australia 87, Türkiye 71 China 74, Czechia 70 Belgium 76, Puerto Rico 64 Italy vs. United States, 2:45 p.m., TNT
Monday, September 7
Puerto Rico vs. Türkiye, 5:30 a.m., HBO Max Belgium vs. Australia, 5:30 a.m., HBO Max Hungary vs. South Korea, 8:30 a.m., HBO Max Nigeria vs. France, 8:30 a.m., truTV Japan vs. Spain, 11:50 a.m., truTV Germany vs. Mali, 11:50 a.m., HBO Max Italy vs. China, 2:45 p.m., HBO Max United States vs. Czechia, 2:45 p.m., TNT/truTV
FIBA Women’s World Cup standings
Here are the current standings in each group for the FIBA Women’s World Cup. The top three teams advance to the knockout round as outlined above. Teams receive two points for a win, one point for a loss, one point for a loss by “default” — where a team has fewer than two players ready to play — and no points for a loss by forfeit. For determining the standings within the group, teams are classified first by points, then by tiebreakers in the following order:
Inglewood, CA – March 09: LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) dribbles against New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) during the second half of an NBA basketball game at Intuit Dome on Monday, March 9, 2026 in Inglewood, CA. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
So… the Clippers, huh.
BREAKING: The NBA has ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers in for salary cap circumvention investigations on Kawhi Leonard after yearlong probe — stripping the franchise of 5 first-round picks, issuing a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence… pic.twitter.com/JCV5bI88BE
The year-long probe surrounding alleged salary cap manipulation ended on Wednesday and handed down one of the biggest punishments in professional sports history, suspending multiple key officials, fining the organization $30 million, and taking five first-round picks. It’s not entirely unprecedented (see: Joe Smith), but it’s pretty damn startling.
While there are many things to take away from this ruling (particularly with how Kawhi seems to have completely gotten away with this), the biggest thing might just be how unimaginably bad the Kawhi Leonard era went in LA.
To get Leonard to sign with them in 2019, the Clippers had to trade for Paul George, a trade that has gone down as one of the worst in league history due to the sheer magnitude of picks traded and how it kickstarted the Thunder’s contention window by giving them Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
In seven years, it was disappointment after disappointment, with the highlight being a trip to the 2021 Western Conference Finals that ended in a blowout defeat at home in Game 6. George left and was replaced by James Harden; Harden left, and Leonard is choosing to return to Toronto after burning this franchise to the ground behind him.
In total, with Leonard (likely) going to the Raptors at some point, this is what the Clippers gave up for his services, both to convince him to sign and convince him to stay:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Danilo Gallinari
2021 MIA 1st (#18 – Tre Mann)
2022 LAC 1st (#12 – Jalen Williams)
2023 1st Pick Swap (not conveyed)
2024 LAC 1st (#26 – Dillon Jones)
2025 MIA 1st (Lottery Protected, became Thomas Sorber)
2025 1st Pick Swap (Conveyed, Nique Clifford)
2026 LAC 1st (#12 – Aday Mara)
2029 IND 1st (voided by NBA)
2030 LAC 1st (voided by NBA)
2031 LAC 1st (voided by NBA)
2032 LAC 1st (voided by NBA)
2033 LAC 1st (voided by NBA)
Good grief.
This is, hands down, the worst trade in NBA history. It destroyed an entire franchise’s future 10-15 years for three playoff series victories in seven years. At least Billy King only messed up the Nets for five years.
It does get you thinking, though. How bad has it gotten for the Knicks? We can recall some pretty nasty trades from recent or even less recent history, but just how close do they get to the utter franchise-alteringly bad level as the Paul George trade?
Gene Shue To Detroit Fort Wayne (April 1956)
Knicks Receive: Ron Sobie Pistons Receive: Gene Shue
We’re starting old school, back when the Pistons were still based in Fort Wayne. Before researching this, I had no clue who these guys were and would be very surprised if we had anyone in our community who’s been around long enough to remember watching them play (prove me wrong if so!)
Shue, the No. 3 overall pick in 1954, was sold to the Knicks just six games into his rookie year, but was nothing more than a regular role player in his near-two years in New York, averaging 9.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 1955-56.
Very shortly after the season, the 6’2” guard was dealt on draft night to Fort Wayne for Ron Sobie, the No. 7 overall pick. Sobie didn’t do much in four years, playing 191 total games and averaging 8.5 points and 4.1 rebounds before being sold to Minneapolis in December 1959, where he’d play just one more game ever.
As for Shue? He grew into his own as the Pistons moved to Detroit, being named to his first All-Star team in 1958 before getting down-ballot MVP votes over the next several seasons. He eventually grew into a 23-PPG scorer and made First-Team All-NBA in 1960. Five All-Star teams, two top-10 MVP finishes, and two All-NBA selections in six years in Detroit.
The Knicks would actually get a chance to rectify their mistake with Shue, re-acquiring him for Darrall Imhoff before the 1962-63 season, but he started to regress in his age-31 season, and he was out of basketball by the end of 1964.
While Shue never won Detroit a championship, he would’ve been a tremendous help to a Knicks team that went through its first Dark Ages prior to the 70s revival. In the six years with Shue in Detroit, the Knicks had one losing season and won sub-30 games in three of those seasons.
Choosing $4.8 Million Over Julius Erving (1976)
This is, unequivocally, the worst decision in franchise history. All of these other moves were trades that went wrong, but in the spirit of bad decisions, we’re going to cover this as well.
When the Nets were among the teams chosen to join the NBA after the ABA merger in 1976, the Knicks demanded that they pay a fee of $4.8 million (over 10 years) for encroaching on their territorial rights, a request that was sustained by the NBA alongside their $3.2 million fee for joining the league. In total, the Nets had to come up with $8 million just to exist.
The Knicks would get their money, alongside eventually suing the Nets and forcing them to move from Long Island to New Jersey, but made an unforgivable, disgusting error in the process.
Dr. J made $350,000 during this time, but wanted a renegotiation. As such, the Nets were willing to offload his salary and offered him to the Knicks, then owned by the Graham Paige Corporation and ran by Eddie Donovan in the front office.
The Knicks said no. They chose a few million, which was a lot at the time to be fair, over a future Hall of Famer.
Philadelphia purchased Erving for $3 million, and the rest is history. The Knicks let a rival get the best incoming ABA talent available and watched him lead the Sixers to a championship in 1983 while spending over a decade as a top-five player in the game.
Oh yeah, not to mention that the Knicks were mostly irrelevant during his time in the league and got swept twice by the Sixers in 1978 and 1983. Imagine if the Knicks could’ve gone from Clyde and Willis Reed to Dr. J. Ugh.
Maurice Lucas to the Suns (July 1982)
Knicks Receive: Truck Robinson Suns Receive: Maurice Lucas
In the time between the Knicks’ eras of relevance in the 70s and 90s, it wasn’t anything too bad in the 80s, just inconsistency as they waited for the next big thing in Patrick Ewing to get them back into contention.
They seemed to stumble upon something huge in the summer of 1981, when the New Jersey Nets sent them a 28-year-old Maurice Lucas as a form of compensation for signing Ray Williams in free agency. Think of it as a precursor to a sign-and-trade. Nonetheless, the team got a former All-Star and All-Defense power forward still in his athletic prime.
In his one year in New York, Lucas averaged 15.8 points and 11.3 rebounds while shooting 50.3% from the field. It was his best overall season since he was in Portland, but the Knicks never saw him a long-term option, shipping him to Phoenix for Truck Robinson one year later.
The deal made sense at the time, as Robinson was even more productive than Lucas the season prior, but he hit hard regression in his age-31 season in 1982-83 and only lasted two seasons in New York, flaming out by age 33. He would hear it from the fans, being nicknamed “Dump Truck” for his startling fall-off.
Meanwhile, Lucas made his fifth All-Star team in his first year in Phoenix as part of a second prime that slowly dissipated a few years later. While Lucas would only have 2-3 years of All-Star level talent post-trade, it was a helluva lot better than Robinson.
They could’ve used that force at PF, you know. Bernard King and Bill Cartwright carried the Knicks to consecutive playoff appearances in 1983 and 1984, with the latter team being a game away from the Eastern Conference Finals. Just imagine how it would go if Lucas were there instead of Robinson.
Then again, if not for the dismantling of that team following the 1983-84 season, Ewing might not have ever been a Knick. Food for thought.
Rod Strickland To San Antonio (February 1990)
Knicks Receive: Maurice Cheeks Spurs Receive: Rod Strickland
The Knicks had their reasons for making this trade, it just aged badly.
Strickland was a solid backup point guard in his first year and a half in the league, but was blocked by Mark Jackson. The Knicks, who had risen to become a perennial playoff team in the late 80s, were thinking about getting to the next level, so they traded a young guard who was blocked for a 33-year-old veteran who could fit the role better as one of the league’s best defensive guards.
Cheeks, an NBA champion in Philly in 1983 and again as an assistant on this year’s staff, played a total of 107 games as a Knick, averaging eight points and five assists while adequately raising his game in the postseason. He was shipped out prior to 1991-92 for a pick that became Charlie Ward before retiring a year later. The player they got was fine, but they definitely could’ve used Strickland.
Jackson had a ceiling as a Knick, one that he reached quite early and led to his departure after 1991-92. Strickland, meanwhile, would become a great starting guard in San Antonio and Portland, eventually averaging 19 points and nine assists in his prime during the mid-to-late 90s.
I wonder if an offensively challenged Knicks team, one that relied on gritty defense without a true point guard and having to rely on John Starks (more of a 2-guard) to provide playmaking. Imagine if Strickland was the point guard instead of Doc Rivers in 1994.
The Eddy Curry Fiasco (October 2005)
Knicks Receive: Eddy Curry, Antonio Davis Bulls Receive: Jermaine Jackson, Mike Sweetney, Tim Thomas, 2006 NYK 1st, 2007 Pick Swap, 2007 NYK 2nd, 2009 NYK 2nd
Isiah Thomas is damn lucky I’m only including one of his trades.
This was really bad. Eddy Curry was a fine player for the Bulls, one who was worth a decent salary and averaged 16 points and five rebounds at the end of his rookie contract. Putting aside the fact that he was seven-foot and grabbed way less rebounds than an average center, it’s a fine guy to trade for.
But that much? In a sign-and-trade? And you give him $60 million over six years to make the 23-year-old the sixth-highest-paid center in basketball? After seeing the Bulls drag their feet on an extension because of an irregular heartbeat? Seriously?
The players they gave up weren’t a big deal. Jermaine Jackson never played for the Bulls. Mike Sweetney replaced Curry as the starting center and was much worse before being out of the league by 2008. Tim Thomas played just three games as a Bull before being cut.
It’s the picks. It’s the hubris of believing the team was an Eddy Curry away from turning things around.
When Leon Rose traded a mountain of picks for Mikal Bridges, he understood that it might not result in a championship and assumed risk down the road, but also knew it wouldn’t immediately blow up due to the team having a very high floor as constructed. Worst-case scenario, the Nets get good picks in 2029 and 2031, not 2025 or 2027.
Isiah was not as wise.
The Knicks won just 33 games the year before. They added Curry, Jerome James, Nate Robinson, and rookies Channing Frye and David Lee, and hired the man who won a title with a Pistons team that was better than the sum of its parts two years prior. They made a gamble that it would all work.
It didn’t. At all. They won just 23 games despite James Dolan paying luxury tax. They had the second-worst record in basketball, and they’d get nothing for it. The Bulls got the No. 2 pick in the draft and had future All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge fall into their lap. Now, they messed that up by sending him to Portland for Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa, but the point remains.
The following year, the Knicks won just 33 games after Isiah took over as head coach. The Bulls won a bunch more, exercising the swap and taking the No. 9 pick, which became future Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah.
The two top picks traded for Curry became two of the best big men of their generation. The second picks didn’t result in much, but the Bulls traded the 2007 2nd for Thabo Sefolosha and the 2009 2nd in a weird future swap with Portland, but the damage remains.
As for Curry on the Knicks, he had a great 2006-07, averaging 19.5 points and seven rebounds. After that, with four years left on his contract, he played a total of 69 more games as a Knick as he battled injuries, his weight, and a bad work ethic. Complete, franchise-altering disaster.
Tracy McGrady Becomes a Knick (February 2010)
Knicks Receive: Tracy McGrady, Sergio Rodriguez Rockets Receive: Jordan Hill, Jared Jeffries, Hilton Armstrong, Kevin Martin, 2011 Pick Swap, 2012 NYK 1st Kings Receive: Joey Dorsey, Carl Landry, Larry Hughes
This trade wasn’t catastrophic by any means, but it’s inclusion is meant to represent all the times over the years that management traded draft picks for absolutely no reason, headlined by its most baffling.
A first-round pick, a swap, the guy you picked in the lottery literally eight months ago, and Jared Jeffries… for a 31-year-old rental who’s past his prime. It embodies the incompetence of the Knicks back then.
Jordan Hill wasn’t good, but they picked him between Steph Curry and DeMar DeRozan in June 2009. It’s ridiculous to give up on this guy that quickly, and it says a lot about the front office’s drafting ability and thought process. Jeffries and Hughes were okay role players. None of these guys would come back to bite you.
But like the Curry trade, it’s the damn picks. The 2011 swap didn’t convey because, unlike Isiah, Donnie Walsh actually added good players in between to ensure no collapse, as Amar’e Stoudemire lifted the Knicks to the postseason in 2011 (disregard that Houston had a better record and the West being a gauntlet was the only reason the swap didn’t convey). The 2012 pick landed at No. 16, but the 2012 draft was hilariously shallow, so Royce White doesn’t come back to bite him.
As for McGrady and Rodriguez? Neither of them played for the Knicks past April 2010. McGrady, particularly, played abysmally in 24 starts down the stretch and had to settle for a veteran minimum with the Pistons that summer. For a team that, at the time of the trade, was well below .500, it’s completely inconceivable.
Well, I guess it was meant to open up cap space for LeBron and company that offseason, and while Amar’e was a solid consolation prize (for a minute), the franchise’s incompetence at that point made it rather foolish to think the best player in the world was dying to come there. Good thing we didn’t do this again nine years later!
Acquiring Carmelo Anthony (February 2011)
Knicks Receive: Carmelo Anthony, Renaldo Balkman, Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Shelden Williams, Corey Brewer Nuggets Receive: Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, Kosta Koufos, 2014 NYK 1st, 2016 Pick Swap, 2012 GSW 2nd, 2013 NYK 2nd Timberwolves Receive: Eddy Curry, Anthony Randolph, 2015 DEN 2nd
Here’s a bold one, and no, I’m not saying this as someone who doesn’t like Melo. He was my favorite Knick when I first got into this team and I’ll always have a soft spot for him. The trade itself is relatively fine; the problem lies with the circumstances surrounding it.
Melo was due to be an unrestricted free agent that summer. The Knicks had plenty of space to give him the new max contract he desired from Denver. Instead of waiting until the summer to pair him with Amar’e in a move many believed was obvious, a paranoid Donnie Walsh was terrified of the crosstown Nets getting him instead, with the whole “Jay-Z as part-owner” schtick. Melo was not choosing the damn Nets, but the Knicks weren’t taking that risk.
It was a huge, 13-player trade, one that also involved dumping Curry’s contract to Minnesota. Let’s break down the guys that came with Melo, who’s story in New York is well known already:
Renaldo Balkman, who was drafted by the Knicks and traded to Denver in July 2008, played just 17 games after this trade in the next two seasons.
34-year-old Chauncey Billups actually played very well in 21 starts down the stretch as an expiring contract, which convinced the Clippers he still had it (he played just 42 games in the next two seasons).
Anthony Carter played 19 games as a Knick before signing with the Raptors that offseason. He played his last game in 2011-12.
Shelden Williams played 17 games (started six) down the stretch. The big man ended his career with New Jersey the following season, playing just 58 more games.
Corey Brewer spent six days on the roster before being waived. He won a ring in Dallas that year, and his best years were ahead of him. Whoops.
As for what they gave up? Felton would eventually return a few years later, but the other three had solid NBA careers where they made a lot of money (looking at you, Mozgov). Gallinari’s marksmanship and Chandler’s solid play as a bench wing could’ve been useful off the bench during the Knickstape era, but they were just so horrified of Jay-Z.
The real kicker is the picks, again. Not that they were too damaging, just how funny it wound up being:
2012 GSW 2nd: Landed No. 38, turned into Quincy Miller. Unrelated, Khris Middleton went one pick later. Good job, Nuggies.
2013 GSW 2nd: Landed No. 51 and was traded to Orlando in the complicated Dwight Howard trade. Became Romero Osby, who never played in the NBA. Did I mention they got these two seconds for trading away David Lee?
2014 NYK 1st: Landed No. 12 after a shockingly bad 2013-14 season, but was also sent to Orlando in Dwight trade. Became Dario Saric, who was then sent to Philly
Then there’s the 2016 pick swap. Both Denver and New York stunk in 2015-16, but the Knicks did lose one more game, landing them the No. 7 pick, which would then go to Denver. That became All-Star guard Jamal Murray.
I got good news and bad news from here.
Good news: by virtue of the swap, the Knicks landed the No. 9 pick in the draft, so the swap wasn’t that bad!
Bad news: because of the next trade, they didn’t make that selection.
The Andrea Bargnani Trade (July 2013)
Knicks Receive: Andrea Bargnani Bulls Receive: Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, Quentin Richardson, 2016 Swap Worst w/DEN, 2014 OKC 2nd, 2017 NYK 2nd
Where do I even begin?
Vibes were high in the Summer of ‘13. After all, the Knicks had gotten to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. Sure, it was a disappointing exit at the hands of the Pacers, but they felt as if their core still had some mileage in it with Melo, Amar’e, Tyson Chandler, Mike Woodson, and friends.
Let’s add another chef to the mix. Enter Bargnani, a failure of a No. 1 pick who enjoyed some solid seasons as Chris Bosh’s second fiddle before becoming a 20-PPG scorer in 2010-11. The two seasons before the trade, he was limited to 65 games, while his stretch-four abilities waned and his three-point shooting regressed sharply. An elbow injury suffered the year before the trade seemed not to dissuade management.
The players they gave up were more sentimental than skilled. Camby was a remnant of the transition from Ewing to Houston/Sprewell, having rejoined the Knicks that past season for the final 24 games of his career at age-38. Richardson was effectively the same, having played one game in 2012-13 in his second stint as a Knick after a nice, four-year run in the 2000s before retiring. Discount Double Check was a fan-favorite sniper, but one that was moved on from at the right time as his minutes and production completely cratered post-trade.
Once again, it’s the picks.
The OKC 2nd landed at No. 59 and was worthless. The 2017 pick landed at No. 36, which was eventually sent to Philly and became Jordan Bolden. Good thing this wasn’t a 2018 pick, phew. The real problem was a swap
The Knicks elected to make a rare move, trading the back end of a pick swap they had already traded. Essentially, Toronto got the worst of their picks and Denver’s picks. The odds of that being in the lottery were slim, but it handed Jakob Poeltl, a solid NBA big man for the last decade, right to them at No. 9.
As for Bargnani’s Knicks career, he sucked. He was the poster child of the team’s failure to maximize the rest of Melo’s prime, as Amar’e regressed hard, Chandler was traded, and this guy made eight figures to make boneheaded decision after boneheaded decision while battling injury. He played just 71 games as a Knick, made $23 million, and was dumped out the door after 2014-15. What a waste.
SB Nation Reacts: Mazzulla’s seat is, well, lukewarm
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 02: Head coach Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics looks on during the fourth quarter of a game against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game Seven of the First Round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at TD Garden on May 02, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) | Getty Images
A second round exit to the Knicks after a devastating injury to Jayson Tatum? We can stomach that.
A subsequent first round exit against another hated rival? It hurts to lose to the 76ers, but a rough shooting streak and losing Tatum for Game 7 adds a little context to another disappointing playoffs.
Now, heading into Year 5 after a Coach of the Year campaign, the Celtics are arguably better with Tatum replacing Jaylen Brown as the #1 option and veterans Paul George, Mitchell Robinson, and Mike Conley Jr. rounding out the young roster.
However, the East has retooled, too. Brown is now with last year’s ousters — along with LeBron James — and New York is defending the title. Can Boston eclipse the 56 wins they posted last year and more importantly, go deeper in the playoffs? Where we are in April, May, and June might determine just how hot Mazzulla’s seat is.
I’m still not totally over the Eastern Conference Finals collapse from 2023, so I’d really like to see the Mazzulla Celtics overachieve in the playoffs at some point. In ’24, they did what they were supposed to do with a fair amount of matchup luck. (Which isn’t nothing, obviously, when it brings a banner. But there’s an argument any competent coach could have done it.) The other three years, they got upset and embarrassed.
Mazzulla has a strong track record in the regular season. But if you can’t get it done in the playoffs, that can actually hurt you by weakening your draft position to no avail. I think he’s got it in him to have a great coaching career, but he’s got to show the playoff performances were a fluke, ideally this year, or it will be time to try something else.
Our friends at FanDuel are bullish on Boston and still have the Celtics (+1400) with the fifth highest odds to win a championship behind the Thunder (+230), Spurs (+280), Knicks (+1000), and Sixers (+1000).
Second bidder steps up for Seattle expansion team, wants to build new arena outside city
It was already public knowledge that there was one bidder for an NBA expansion team in Seattle: One Roof Sports and Entertainment, the majority owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, led by Samantha Holloway.
BlackSun Private Equity, a New York-based firm that in August submitted a bid to bring the NBA back to Seattle, is working with the Tulalip Tribes to build the arena on tribal-owned land if it secures the franchise.
Those new arena plans would be in Marysville, Washington, which is about 35 miles from Seattle. The plans are not just to build an arena but also an “entertainment district” on the tribal lands. The challenge would be making the commute relatively easy and convincing people in Seattle proper to make the trip out to Marysville.
Both potential ownership groups have been eager to say they want to bring a team to stay in the Seattle area, after the previous SuperSonics were bought and moved to Oklahoma City in 2008.
The NBA is moving forward with bids for both the Seattle and Las Vegas expansion franchises, with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver saying he hopes to see a decision made by the end of the year. While the two Seattle groups have made preliminary bids, the groups vying for the Las Vegas franchise face a second deadline for a more detailed bid in mid-September. Reporting suggests the NBA wants to move forward with the Vegas bid first, which is expected to be the larger one, then choose the Seattle team second.
The NBA is reportedly looking for bids of at least $7 billion for the teams, ideally more for the Las Vegas franchise. If that money is not there, it’s possible the expansion process is put on hold. Again.
Mark Walter has no interest in selling the Los Angeles Sparks, sources told Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times.
Federal authorities are currently investigating whether loans from Walter’s insurance companies to other businesses in his portfolio were properly disclosed.
Nearly a year ago, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank sat before a host of reporters in Inglewood, California, attempting to get ahead of incoming questions about Kawhi Leonard. The team’s offseason had seen several names come through the door — Chris Paul, Bradley Beal, Brook Lopez and John Collins — but the inescapable elephant in the room hung over like a dark cloud.
“I’m not naive,” Frank said, repeatedly adjusting and removing his glasses. “I know there are a lot of questions about our organization. I wish I could answer them all, but out of respect to the NBA’s investigation, I can’t. What I can do is answer what I’m able to share. We’re glad there’s an investigation and we welcome it. The assumptions that have been made are disappointing. We’re eager for the truth to come out.”
Quite a bit has changed in the 11 months and change since Frank’s last public appearance. Gone is Paul, unceremoniously shoved out the front door by an organization with a checkered past. Collins is gone too, for basketball reasons, but reasons nonetheless. Leonard, who expects a pending trade to the Toronto Raptors to be completed, will soon follow suit. And Frank, now suspended by the NBA without pay for six months as part of the league’s historic punishment handed out to the Clippers for cap circumvention regarding Leonard, is barred from the building.
A long season awaits Darius Garland, Ty Lue and the Clippers. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
Katelyn Mulcahy via Getty Images
What’s left is an awkward-fitting roster that technically should be operating in two timelines, now trapped in a vortex. A team slowly stripped of its talent, stripped of its identity and, now, its dignity, feebly held together by head coach Tyronn Lue and associate head coach Jeff Van Gundy.
In just a few weeks, Lue will sit at that same podium he graced last year when the running themes were about growth, excitement and opportunity. Now the focus will be about survival and patience. He’ll be peppered with inquiries about the state of what’s left of a basketball team and how to properly chart a course of action.
Right now, the actual basketball seems to be the only thing Lue and the organization can control.
But what does that look like?
The Clippers were fortunate to get 65 games out of Leonard last season, unquestionably the biggest reason why the team was able to eclipse 42 wins and somehow end the year with a positive net rating, even if barely. His expected departure from the starting lineup, replaced with the incoming Brandon Ingram — a below-average defender who seemed disinterested in that side of the ball as a Raptor — understandably shifts Los Angeles into a net negative, at least from a projection standpoint.
(Consider me in the minority with this, but if you squint hard enough, you can see why the Clippers, who were a middle-of-the-pack rim protection group last season, wanted Rui Hachimura to skip across town. Hachimura’s strong postseason showing, finishing in the 71st percentile in rim contest rate and 82nd in rim points saved and with a shockingly low 9% foul rate on contests, potentially pairs well with an aging, slower Lopez. It also certainly helps that both frontcourt players remain strong floor spacers, offering value at both ends of the floor.)
Without Leonard as a safety net, the bulk of the half-court creation should fall on Darius Garland’s shoulders. He’s had somewhat of an early orientation after being traded to L.A. in February, but even in his limited minutes it was evident just how needed he was (and why things with Paul went south quickly). With Garland on the floor, the Clippers outscored opponents by a tidy 11-points-per-100 possessions, good for the 94th percentile, according to Cleaning the Glass. He simply seemed more at ease under Lue — perhaps because he was no longer under the shadow of Donovan Mitchell and his lion’s share of touches. Garland was allowed to actually orchestrate an offense. The team’s effective field goal percentage shot up over 5% in Garland’s minutes (99th percentile when he was on the floor, for what it’s worth), not to mention his own self-creation improved.
Garland’s presence should juice the team’s sharpshooters, like Max Strus (who was part of the multi-team trade that sent Peyton Watson to Cleveland), and could even help a struggling spacer in Gradey Dick (who would be part of the Leonard deal) return to normalcy. The one-time All-Star loves spamming ball screens, scurrying around in the gaps and whipping out looks to the perimeter, a big reason why the Clippers’ half-court efficiency was nearly eight points better with Garland on the floor. Los Angeles finished 23rd in 3-point attempts last season — expect that to increase.
Most of the attention (at least from an outside standpoint) will fall on Ingram, the biggest non-Leonard name in the deal. While he’s nowhere near his predecessor’s level, there’s enough to work with offensively. We’re still talking about a jumbo wing with playmaking chops (96th percentile or better assist rate in six of his last seven seasons), 3-point shooting on good volume (38% on around five attempts per) and three-level scoring. His subpar postseason showing isn’t as egregious now on a team with no expectations for the time being.
At some point, the Clippers’ flexibility restraints will come into play. Being stripped of five first-round picks between 2029 and 2033 hampers their ability to rebuild or even retool, and there’s a very slim window of growth. I’d temper expectations for rookie guard Keaton Wagler, as well, even as a top-10 pick who showed flashes during summer league.
This is basketball purgatory for the foreseeable future — especially in a vicious Western Conference — which leaves the Clippers projected to win anywhere from 35 to 39 games. That’s unfortunate if you’re a diehard fan, but considering the severity of the sanctions placed against the franchise this week, things could be much, much worse.
Tyrese Haliburton throwing out first pitch at Wrigley Field before Brewers-Cubs game as a 'free agent' baseball fan
Tyrese Haliburton is one highly paid professional athlete who has turned down the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Indiana Pacers star had been invited by both the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs to throw out a ceremonial first pitch this season and the Wisconsin native opted to accept the pregame honor from the team closer to his Midwestern roots.
Haliburton, a two-time NBA All-Star, will throw out the first pitch before Thursday’s NL Central matchup at Wrigley Field between the Milwaukee Brewers and Cubs.
There’s a bit more backstory to Haliburton throwing out the first pitch in a game involving the Brewers. Haliburton was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The Brewers were his hometown MLB team. Yet he accepted an invitation to throw out the first pitch for Milwaukee’s division rival, separated by 90 miles on Interstate 94.
“I’m not really welcome in Wisconsin as much these days,” Haliburton said on “The Pat McAfee Show” on April 30, 2025.
Haliburton claims that the Brewers rescinded an invitation to throw out the first pitch at American Family Field last year after he hit the game-winning shot in overtime to eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks from the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs.
After the Brewers apparently rescinded their invitation, Haliburton trolled the team by wearing Cubs and Dodgers jerseys on the sideline during Pacers games last season. He says he’s “a free agent” in terms of fan allegiances.
“I was a Brewers fan and then I was supposed to throw the first pitch last summer, and they X’ed that after the playoff series,” he told McAfee. “So I said, ‘You know what? I’m no longer a Brewers fan.'”
After Thursday’s first pitch, Haliburton will presumably get back to preparing for the 2026-27 NBA season. In the lead-up to the Pacers advancing to the NBA Finals, he averaged 18.6 points and 9.2 assists while shooting 39% on 562 3-point attempts.
