r/DetroitPistons

Shams Charania:

Just in: Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has sustained a bone bruise and hyperextension in his left knee and is expected to miss multiple weeks, sources tell ESPN. Results showed Edwards avoided any ligament damage, but he will now miss time.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/48ae8d6c475bc

[Charania] Free agent guard Lindy Waters III has agreed to a one-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs, agents Shy Saee and Winston Nelson of Klutch Sports tell ESPN. Waters has shot 37% from 3 in his first four NBA seasons in Oklahoma City, Golden State and Detroit.

Source: https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/63532e7a5aa19

>Watson will sign a new four-year, $88 million deal to join the Cavaliers, plus a player option and a trade kicker

Source - https://bsky.app/profile/shamsbot.bsky.social/post/3mthwywwuec2b

Not mentioned in the previous thread's title but Shames mentioned the deal structure. The total amounts to $22 AAV. Makes the return seem all the more pathetic that Denver wouldn't simply match that offer or make a similar one and simply dump Zeke Nnaji at the deadline to ease the tax bill.

They can't even use the trade exception this should open up because they're still in the 2nd apron.

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/49639157/nba-la-clippers-aspiration-investigation-steve-ballmer-kawhi-leonard

The NBA has found no evidence showing LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money through team sponsors to pay Kawhi Leonard in order to circumvent the salary cap, according to three people with knowledge of discussions between the two sides in recent days.

Instead, the NBA is focused on whether the team's introduction of Leonard to team sponsors constitutes a violation of the league's rules prohibiting salary cap circumvention, two of the sources said. The league is examining whether the Clippers are guilty of "failure to supervise" employees, though it's unclear what specific rule the team would have violated or what the penalties would be, two of the sources said.

…

Two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said Leonard has maintained to the NBPA, league and Wachtell Lipton that he had no involvement in salary cap circumvention, and so far conversations around potential consequences have centered on him paying restitution for potential improper benefits from the Clippers, such as travel and lodging, for his representative and uncle Dennis Robertson.

If the case goes to arbitration, the arbitrator could compel document production, witness testimony and order discovery. After a hearing, the arbitrator's ruling would be subject to an appeals panel made up of three people jointly appointed by the NBA and NBPA. The appeal panel decision is binding. Only after that process could Silver be authorized to issue any potential punishment.

I'm told Lakers star Luka Dončić this week opened a dialogue with the team's new lead ownership duo of Bob Iger and Josh Kushner and plans to meet with them at the first opportunity.

Dončić, of course, is spending the entire offseason in his native Slovenia to be close to his two daughters and will be hosting 16 of his teammates in Ljubljana starting Thursday. The only player on the Lakers' roster who won't be there is freshly drafted Cam Carr, who is required to attend a league-mandated rookie orientation that clashes with the Ljubljana trip that Dončić organized.

A stat that provides yet another notch of amplification on what a wild week it was at what is typically regarded as a quiet time of year in the NBA: The Lakers' sale means Dončić is about to play for his fifth and sixth owners just since November 2023: Mark Cuban and Patrick Dumont in Dallas; Jeanie Buss, Mark Walter, Iger and Kushner in Dallas.

https://marcstein.substack.com/p/more-late-night-nba-intel?r=1m9zg&utm\_medium=ios