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NBA Rumors
The daily league-wide NBA rumors page
By InsideHoops.comUpdated Thursday, December 19, 2024 at 12 a.m. ET
The NBA All-Star Game's new format has been greeted with skepticism from some of the league's biggest stars -- most notably Kevin Durant. "I hate it; I absolutely hate it," Durant said Tuesday, minutes after the league announced the changes to its midseason showcase. This season's format is a four-team, three-game, one-night tournament that will feature three teams of eight All-Stars each, with the fourth team being the winner of the Rising Stars challenge for first- and second-year players. The winning team in all games will be the first to score 40 points. - ESPN.com
After finishing his postgame news conference, his NBA Cup MVP award to his left and a smile across his face, Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to soak in the moment. "Oh man, what a feeling," he said. "What a great feeling. I'll see you guys again, I promise." As he walked down the hallway toward the locker room, he continued: "What a great feeling. What a great feeling." The Milwaukee Bucks had just won the 2024 NBA Cup on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena with a dominant 97-81 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder and Antetokounmpo was selected MVP, adding to an already lengthy résumé of accolades, including Finals MVP, two-time league MVP and NBA champion. - ESPN.com
ADDITIONAL RECENT NBA RUMORS
Lakers star forward LeBron James returned to the lineup in Sunday's 116-100 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. James missed L.A.'s past two games because of soreness in his left foot and was away from the team for personal reasons, according to Lakers coach JJ Redick. James finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in 34 minutes. Because of the NBA Cup, the Lakers were able to take a prudent approach with the schedule to allow James time to recover and rest his body. L.A. plays just two games in a 10-day stretch from Dec. 9-18. - ESPN.com
Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault described the first half of Saturday's NBA Cup semifinal between the league's two stingiest defensive teams as "muddled." That's about the most pleasant word that can be used to describe the worst shooting half of the season for both the Thunder and the Houston Rockets. The second half was a different story, as Oklahoma City exploded for 70 points to cruise to a 111-96 victory and earn the right to play the Milwaukee Bucks in Tuesday's title game. But Daigneault pointed to a defensive play as the tone-changing moment. A little more than a minute into the second half, Oklahoma City stopper Luguentz Dort dove for a loose ball to come up with a steal and shoveled a pass to Cason Wallace for a one-man fast break that the guard finished with a lefty slam dunk. - ESPN.com
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and finished an assist shy of a triple-double, but it was his "winning plays" down the stretch that helped will the Milwaukee Bucks to a 110-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday to clinch a spot in the NBA Cup championship game. Antetokounmpo added 14 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 blocks, including a spectacular rejection of an alley-oop dunk from Clint Capela at the rim with 2:35 remaining in the game, preserving what was then a five-point Bucks lead. Antetokounmpo also drew praise from his teammates and coaching staff for diving on a loose ball to secure a steal and prevent the ball from going out of bounds with about 6:30 remaining in the fourth. "Winning plays," Bucks coach Doc Rivers said after the game. "You can't script any of that stuff before the game, but you just got to keep teaching that it just takes what it takes every night." Milwaukee advances to the championship game on Tuesday night, avenging a loss in last season's semifinals in Las Vegas to the Pacers. The Bucks are 11-1 all time in NBA Cup games and will face the winner of Houston/Oklahoma City. - ESPN.com
An already disappointing season for the Philadelphia 76ers took yet another hit Saturday when the team announced that rookie guard Jared McCain -- one of its few bright spots -- will undergo surgery on a lateral meniscus tear and is out indefinitely. McCain, 20, has been arguably the top rookie in this year's class, averaging 15.3 points -- tops among rookies -- while shooting 46% from the field and 38.3% from 3-point range. He also leads all rookies in 3-pointers made (51) and has scored at least 25 points in four games. - ESPN.com
The Golden State Warriors have acquired Brooklyn Nets point guard Dennis Schroder in exchange for De'Anthony Melton, it was announced Sunday. The Warriors are also receiving a 2025 second-round pick (via Miami) from the Nets, while Brooklyn gets Reece Beekman and three second-round picks (2026 and 2028 via Atlanta, 2029 via Golden State) in the deal. Schroder has been one of the best guards in the NBA this year, pushing the Nets into play-in contention in the Eastern Conference early in the season. - ESPN.com
Joel Embiid suffered a sinus fracture in the 76ers' 121-107 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, the latest setback in a season full of them for the All-Star big man. Embiid was battling Indiana's Bennedict Mathurin for a defensive rebound in the closing seconds of the first half when he caught an errant forearm and elbow to the face. He crumpled to the court as play continued up the floor and stayed down near the Philadelphia bench, holding his face. - ESPN.com
Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers sees one drastic difference in Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young this season. "He's earned the trust of his players," Rivers said after the Bucks' practice Friday at T-Mobile Arena in preparation to face the Hawks in the NBA Cup semifinals. "This team likes playing with him. That's obvious. I couldn't say that in the past, but now they love playing with him." Young, 26, is a three-time All-Star who led the Hawks to the 2021 Eastern Conference finals, but he has frequently been criticized for being a poor defender and often portrayed unfavorably as a teammate. - ESPN.com
Justin Ishbia, a Phoenix Suns minority owner and the brother of Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia, is interested in buying the Minnesota Twins, a source with knowledge of the matter told ESPN on Friday. In October, the Pohlad family, which has owned the Twins for four decades, announced its intention to explore selling the team, which would end one of the longest-tenured ownerships in Major League Baseball. The Twins finished 82-80 last season, missing the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. - ESPN.com
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The InsideHoops.com NBA rumors page features the biggest NBA news and rumors stories from around the league. We've updated this page literally almost every day since the 2000-01 season. There is usually one main morning update, and sometimes a second afternoon or evening update. On special occassions, like around the trade deadline, the draft, or the approach and first week or so of free agency, updates are more frequent. Sometimes 5 or 10 times a day. And literally every hour or two on the biggest days of the basketball year. But in general what you should do is bookmark this page and make it a daily read. Because then you'll know everything all the hot stories that matter most.