Magic’s Harris suffers torn meniscus

Orlando Magic guard Gary Harris tore the meniscus in his left knee and will undergo further evaluation to establish a timetable for a return to action, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The 27-year-old appeared in 61 games for the Magic, his highest mark since the 2017-18 season. Harris has suffered various lower-body injuries during his seven seasons in the league, including hurting his hip, foot, and groin.

Orlando acquired the Michigan State product from the Denver Nuggets as part of a trade package for forward Aaron Gordon.

Harris agreed to a two-year, $26-million contract extension with the Magic in the offseason after averaging 11.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and a steal last season.

Pacers GM: We see Haliburton as hopefully ‘the next Reggie Miller’

Tyrese Haliburton hasn’t been with the Indiana Pacers for long, but the club’s front office is optimistic he’ll be the franchise’s next cornerstone player.

“We’re gonna build our team around him,” Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan told Alex Kennedy of Basketball News. “We see him as hopefully being the next Reggie Miller. We had a Reggie Miller mural painted on a building in downtown Indianapolis, and I think our dream is that one day Tyrese will have (his own) up somewhere in downtown Indianapolis.”

Haliburton excelled down the stretch after being acquired from the Sacramento Kings, averaging 17.5 points, 9.6 assists, 4.3 boards, and 1.8 steals over 26 appearances with the Pacers last season.

The Iowa State product’s strong sophomore year came on the heels of a solid debut campaign during which he earned NBA All-Rookie first-team honors.

While Haliburton is still processing the Kings’ shocking decision to trade him, he’s thankful for the opportunity at hand with Indiana.

“If I’m being completely honest, that (trade) is such a blessing for me,” Haliburton said. “It’s so easy now to look at it that way, but it’s a complete blessing for me to be in the situation that I’m in, to have the ability to showcase what I can do and play my natural position. It’s helping me a ton.

“So, you know, it’s love at the end of the day. It is what it is. Just taking a step back and self-reflecting on a lot of different things in life, I think it made me a bigger person and just have more self-awareness.”

Mayweather ‘working on getting’ NBA team

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has his sights set on NBA ownership.

The boxing legend revealed Monday that he’s been “working behind the scenes” on owning an NBA team, according to Sam Gordon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“I’ve been talking to certain individuals for the last six months,” Mayweather said. “That’s something I’ve been working on behind the scenes, but I’ve never came out and publicly talked about that with the media.

“Me and my team have been working behind the scenes with the NBA. I can’t say exactly where, but I’m working on getting a team.”

Mayweather resides in Las Vegas, which has been rumored as a potential city for NBA expansion. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has also expressed interest in owning an NBA team in Sin City.

Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters recently that the NBA isn’t currently discussing expansion but said it’s “invariable at some point the league will expand.”

Warriors top Celtics in Game 6 to capture 4th title in 8 seasons

The Golden State Warriors are on top of the basketball world once again.

Stephen Curry finished with 34 points and seven assists to help the Warriors edge the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden. The win secured Golden State’s fourth title in eight seasons and the team’s first since 2018.

This marks Curry’s fourth championship and first Finals MVP award after averaging 31.2 points, five assists, and two steals in the six-game series. Meanwhile, Steve Kerr won his fourth title as Warriors head coach and his ninth overall after winning five championships during his playing career with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs.

Golden State’s title completes an incredible two-year turnaround for the franchise after finishing the 2019-20 season with the NBA’s worst record, then losing in the Western Conference play-in tournament in 2020-21. The journey has been a particularly personal one for Warriors guard Klay Thompson, who missed two full campaigns because of a torn ACL and torn Achilles before returning in January.

Draymond Green played a tremendous game with 12 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and two blocks while knocking down a pair of 3-pointers in 42 minutes.

Andrew Wiggins was once again brilliant for Golden State with one of his most complete two-way performances in the Finals. The Canadian flirted with a 5×5 game with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals, and three blocks. Wiggins also played a pivotal role in limiting star Jayson Tatum to 13 points on 6-of-18 shooting.

The Warriors dominated to close the first half with a 52-25 run after beginning the game down 14-2. Golden State shot an identical 41.3% on field goals and 3-pointers and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

Warriors reserve Gary Payton II and Hall of Famer Gary Payton became the fifth father-son duo in league history to each win a championship during their playing careers, according to SB Nation.

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 34 points on 12-of-23 shooting in the loss. The Celtics committed 22 turnovers, which marked a new high for the team this series. This marked the Celtics’ first three-game losing streak since December 2021.

Hawks promote Landry Fields to GM

The Atlanta Hawks are promoting Landry Fields to general manager, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The former second-round pick has served as the Hawks’ assistant general manager since October 2020.

Fields split his five-year playing career between the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors. He made the NBA All-Rookie first team during the 2010-11 campaign.

Fields began his front office career with the San Antonio Spurs. He retired in September 2016 to become a college scout for the Spurs. Three years later, Fields took on the general manager position of their G League affiliate.

Nuggets acquire No. 30 pick in NBA draft for Green

The Denver Nuggets are trading veteran big man JaMychal Green and a protected 2027 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the No. 30 pick in the upcoming NBA draft and two future second-round picks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Nuggets would then have two first-round picks, Nos. 21 and 30.

Green is reportedly expected to exercise his $8.2-million player option for the 2022-23 season. The Thunder have $31.6 million in cap space.

Oklahoma City is expected to send the Nuggets second-round picks in 2023 and 2024 in the deal, according to Wojnarowski. The Thunder will still have two first-round lottery selections with picks No. 2 and No. 12, plus a second-round pick at No. 34.

The trade would give the Nuggets the financial flexibility to use a $6.4-million tax mid-level exception or an $8.2-million trade exception. The deal shaves $20 million off Denver’s salary and luxury-tax obligations, Wojnarowski reports.

The Nuggets went 48-34 in the regular season, good for sixth in the Western Conference. The team was missing Jamal Murray for the entire campaign with an ACL injury and Michael Porter was out for all but nine games with a back injury.

Franchise cornerstone Nikola Jokic won his second consecutive MVP award, but the team lost its first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors in five games.

Green averaged 7.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 125 games over two seasons for the Nuggets.

Jenkins agrees to multi-year extension with Grizzlies

Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins has agreed to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Monday, courtesy of NBA.com’s Mark Medina.

“Taylor has done an outstanding job leading our team, and this extension is well-deserved,” Grizzlies executive vice president and GM Zach Kleiman said in a statement. “The year-over-year progress under Taylor speaks for itself, but his growth-oriented, selfless, and competitive approach has been a driving force in the establishment of a sustainable culture.

“We have full confidence that Taylor will steer us to Memphis’ first championship.”

Jenkins finished second in Coach of the Year voting and led the Grizzlies to the second-best record in the Association during the regular season at 56-26. Memphis led the league in several statistical categories under Jenkins, including rebounds (49.2 per game), steals (9.8), blocks (6.5), second-chance points (18.7), and fast-break points (17.7). They became the first team in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding, steals, and blocks in a regular season.

Jenkins owns a career regular-season record of 128-99 (.564 winning percentage). Before his time in Memphis, Jenkins was an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks for five seasons and an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2018-19 campaign.

Warriors beat Celtics in pivotal Game 5 to take 3-2 Finals lead

After coughing up a 16-point lead, the Golden State Warriors recovered with a dominant fourth quarter to knock off the Boston Celtics 104-94 in Game 5 for a 3-2 NBA Finals lead.

The Warriors can clinch their fourth championship in the last eight seasons Thursday in Boston.

The win marked the first time Stephen Curry failed to hit a shot from beyond the arc in his playoff career, going 0-for-9. Andrew Wiggins took the leading role, putting up a team-high 26 points and 13 rebounds.

“(Wiggins is) definitely enjoying the playoffs,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said postgame. “He loves the challenge, he loves the competition.”

Kerr added: “He’s found such a crucial role on our team, and I think that empowers him.”

This marks two consecutive strong performances for Wiggins after the Canadian finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds in Golden State’s Game 4 win. It’s only the second time in Wiggins’ career that he’s registered back-to-back double-doubles, according to SB Nation.

“It’s something I’ve dreamt about for sure. Being in the league, this is the ultimate stage; it doesn’t get bigger than this,” Wiggins said postgame about making the most of his first Finals appearance. “I was out there just being aggressive. It was a good game.”

Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum led the way for Boston with 27 points but contributed four of the team’s 18 turnovers in the loss.

“Playing in the crowd too much is causing a lot of these turnovers,” Celtics head coach Ime Udoka said. “When we’re at our best, it’s simple ball movement.”

The Celtics began the game ice cold, missing their first 12 3-point attempts. However, after trailing 51-39 at halftime, Boston made eight straight threes to take a five-point lead near the end of the third quarter.

Golden State gained momentum when reserve guard Jordan Poole banked in a buzzer-beating three at the end of the third to give the team a one-point lead going into the fourth, an advantage the Warriors never relinquished.

“I always want those,” Poole said. “My teammates look for me on those. The sliders kind of go up when the clock goes down.”

The Celtics’ loss marked the first time they’ve suffered consecutive defeats this postseason. They’d previously been 8-0 after a loss.

Curry drops 43, Warriors even up Finals with Game 4 win over Celtics

The Golden State Warriors are heading back to the Bay with home-court advantage again.

Despite playing through a foot issue, Stephen Curry poured in a game-high 43 points as the Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics 107-97 at TD Garden to take Game 4 and tie the Finals at two games apiece.

Golden State’s Klay Thompson contributed 18 points on 4-of-10 shooting from deep. Andrew Wiggins grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to go along with 17 points.

“Been here six times, you got a lot of experience in terms of staying composed, confident, what you can do, the endurance to be able to fight through the foot and just play my game for how many minutes I’m out there,” Curry told ESPN’s Lisa Salters in regards to the injury he suffered in Game 3.

“I’m just thankful for everybody on our team because we brought a lot of toughness tonight and physicality to get off to a better start, which allowed us to stay in the game and then go win it at the end.”

Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 23 points while adding 11 rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and one steal. Jaylen Brown recorded 21 points and six rebounds.

Curry scored 14 points in the third quarter alone and finished the night shooting 14-of-26 from the floor, including 7-of-14 on threes. He also registered 10 rebounds and four assists. Golden State outscored Boston 30-24 in the third frame after trailing 54-49 at the half.

“Just stunning,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said postgame about Curry’s performance, courtesy of NBC Sports. “The physicality out there is pretty dramatic. Boston’s got, obviously, (the) best defense in the league. Huge and powerful at every position.

“For Steph to take that kind of pressure all game long and then still be able to defend at the other end when they’re coming at him … I think this is the strongest physically he’s ever been in his career, and it’s allowing him to do what he’s doing.”

Thompson believes Curry’s effort may have been his greatest on the Finals stage to date.

“I think probably number one,” Thompson said of where he’d rank Curry’s Game 4 outing among his Finals performances. “I mean this was nearly a must-win game and to go out there and shoot as efficiently as he did, oh and grab 10 rebounds. … I mean his conditioning is second to none in this league.”

Warriors forward Draymond Green scored just two points for the second consecutive game. However, the veteran filled the stat sheet elsewhere with nine rebounds, eight assists, and four steals. Kerr pulled Green from the floor with 7:32 left in the fourth, but he returned with 3:41 remaining as part of an offense-defense tandem with Jordan Poole.

Both teams return to Golden State for Game 5 Monday. One team will have the opportunity to clinch the title back in Boston for Thursday’s Game 6.

LeBron wants to own an NBA team in Las Vegas

LeBron James wants to see his dreams of owning an NBA franchise realized in Las Vegas.

Speaking on an upcoming episode of HBO’s “The Shop,” the Los Angeles Lakers star opened up about his desires for the next chapter of his career once his playing days conclude.

“Yeah, I wanna buy a team, for sure. … I want a team in Vegas,” James said.

Speaking It Into Existence! https://t.co/ARRiTp43cx

— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 9, 2022

The NBA currently has no concrete expansion plans in place. Commissioner Adam Silver recently denied a rumor that the 30-team league was considering Las Vegas and Seattle as candidates to host expansion franchises as soon as 2024.

James, who recently became the league’s first active player with an estimated net worth of $1 billion, previously opened up about his goal of owning an NBA franchise last season.