Category: Klutch Sports

Klutch Sports: Ben Simmons and Tyrese Maxey targets in Harden talks

The two Philadelphia 76ers players appear to be the focus of trade talks involving Houston’s James Harden, according to the New York Times.

Two members of the Klutch Sports family appear to be the focus of trade talks involving Houston’s James Harden, talks which appear to be gaining speed towards a potential deal as soon as the end of day Wednesday. Philadelphia 76ers guards Ben Simmons and Tyrese Maxey are central components of what the Houston Rockets are looking for in a Harden trade, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, talks towards a Harden trade were picking up steam over the weekend, even before Harden dropped a bomb following Tuesday’s blowout loss to the Lakers that the Rockets were “not close” to the Lakers and that the situation in Houston “can’t be fixed.”

As a response to Harden’s statements last night, the Rockets reportedly decided that they did not want Harden to be at practice. According to numerous reports, the Brooklyn Nets are the other suitor for Harden’s services. The timing of course seems too good to be true with Kyrie Irving’s recent sabbatical from the Nets. However, it appears that Philadelphia’s offer is much more enticing.

If Simmons and Maxey join the Rockets, they will join John Wall and Ben McLemore as Klutch players on the Houston roster.

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Klutch Sports: Draymond Green to make season debut for Warriors

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green will make his debut against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.

Golden State Warriors big man Draymond Green will make his return to an NBA floor on Friday night when the Golden State Warriors play their home opener against the Portland Trail Blazers. After missing some time in training camp following a positive coronavirus test, Green missed additional time to begin the season with a foot injury. However, that injury has improved enough for him to play.

Green will start for the Warriors, but don’t expect the former Defensive Player of the Year to play major minutes in his first game back. According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, Steve Kerr only intends to play him “short bursts” for around 20 minutes.

The last time most of us saw Green was when he was moonlighting as an analyst with the guys from the NBA on TNT, bringing his high basketball IQ and brilliant trash talking to the set. And Friday will also bring him the opportunity to play again with Steph Curry. Green’s debut will be broadcast nationally on NBA TV at 10:30 p.m. EST.

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Gary Trent Jr. on joining Klutch Sports: ‘It can only elevate me’

Portland Trail Blazers guard Gary Trent Jr. recently signed to Klutch Sports and could sign a contract extension.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Gary Trent Jr. played only six minutes in his previous game before coming off the Blazers bench and scoring 28 points in a come from behind victory against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. Earlier in the summer, after being one of the breakout stars of the NBA bubble, Trent changed agents and joined Klutch Sports. After having his first breakout performance of the young season against fellow Klutch players LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Trent talked about why he joined Klutch.

“To join the Klutch family, it’s really second to none,” Trent said after Portland’s To join and be a part of that, it can only elevate me to be apart of. Rubbing elbows can only help me being part of a family like Klutch.”

Trent Jr. is in his third season and is still eligible to sign a contract extension. If he doesn’t, he will become a restricted free agent and could draw offers from across the league, while the Blazers could hold the rights to match if they extend a small qualifying offer of $2.2 million. 

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Klutch Sports: OG Anunoby agrees to 4-year, $72 million extension with Raptors

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Anunoby agreed to an extension with the Raptors worth over $70 million, including a player option.

OG Anunoby, like the rest of the Toronto Raptors, will be playing the upcoming season in Tampa, Florida. But not every member of his team can say they just signed a massive contract extension. Anunoby, as of Monday evening, can say that as he and his agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports agreed to a 4-year, $72 million contract extension with a player option in the fourth year, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

After having his postseason ruined in 2019 during the Raptors title run, Anunoby was a major factor for the Raptors in 2019-20, especially in the bubble where the Raptors lost in 7 games in perhaps the best series of the NBA bubble against the Boston Celtics. Anunoby himself had the most iconic moment of the series, hitting a buzzer-beating 3-pointer with less than a second left to help Toronto win Game 3 and avoid what could have been a 3-0 deficit.

Last season Anunoby was very efficient on the offensive end, shooting a career-high 39% from the 3-point line He also finished with a career-best 60% true shooting percentage in 69 regular-season games, while posting a TS% of 57.3% in the postseason.

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LeBron James told Rich Paul to get Talen Horton-Tucker out of Simeon High School

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James told reporters that he has long been infatuated with the play of Talen Horton-Tucker.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has an uncommon passion for the game of basketball. Perhaps nothing illustrated that more than when a few summers ago, LeBron James spoke about how being involved with his children’s AAU games and summer tournaments helped bring the passion back. That’s the type of passion that brings one to watch high school basketball games and stumble upon a player they find a connection with. According to LeBron James himself during a recent press conference, a player that sparked that feeling within him over the years is the Laker’s preseason phenom, Talen Horton-Tucker.

James told reporters, according to SB Nation’s Christian Rivas, that he stumbled upon a Simeon High School game a few years ago, the storied Chicago school where Horton-Tucker played, as well as Derrick Rose, Jabari Parker, Nick Anderson, and late Simeon legend Benji Wilson, told Rich Paul that night to put him on the Klutch Sports radar.

“I saw him about three and half, four years ago,” James said of Horton-Tucker. “I was watching a high school basketball game and I happened to catch Simeon playing. And I told our agent at the time — it’s now Talen’s agent, Rich Paul — that he needs to take a look at this kid Talen Horton-Tucker that’s at Simeon. I think the kid is super talented. This was like four years ago.”

With his son Bronny being a high-level high school recruit, LeBron’s knowledge of the players coming up into the NBA will only grow, which will absolutely benefit both the Lakers and Klutch Sports.

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John Wall goes to Houston in exchange for Russell Westbrook

Washington Wizards star John Wall will team up with the best scorer in the Western Conference, Houston’s James Harden.

Houston Rockets boss Rafael Stone is making sure he puts down every possible weight to keep James Harden in H-Town and in the process he has brought home one of the NBA’s most feared open-court forces when he’s healthy, John Wall, to aide in keeping Harden in Houston.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Wall and a first-round pick will go to the Rockets in exchange for the 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook. Wall hasn’t played in the NBA in over two seasons and while he is the fastest player in the league while he is able to let the horses ride, he still has some of the best vision the game has ever seen, especially when combined with his vision at a fast speed.

While many were waiting for John Wall to rejoin Bradley Beal, Wall joining Harden as his latest co-star may be the best chance the Rockets have of keeping an agitating yet important force in the backcourt next to the indomitable beard.

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Dwight Howard: Ben Simmons-LeBron James comparisons are ‘very real’

Former Lakers center and new Philadelphia 76ers center Dwight Howard believes comparisons between Ben Simmons and LeBron James are apt.

Pretty much ever since Ben Simmons burst onto the basketball scene as a youngster, comparisons to LeBron James were always the easiest thing. A big point guard who moves faster in the open court than anyone else and possesses an incredible vision and passing ability made it very easy to compare Simmons to James. But just because it’s easy doesn’t make it wrong. And while Simmons has had his own struggles, mostly due to injury over the past few years, his newest teammate believes the comparison is just.

New 76ers center and former Lakers center Dwight Howard was asked about the Simmons-James comparisons, which he believes are very apt, according to Ky Carlin of the SixersWire.

“It’s a very real comparison, and I’ve been seeing this for a couple years,” said Howard on Wednesday. “Ben Simmons is a young LeBron who’s developing an overall game. I love the way he plays, I love how unselfish he is, and how mean he can be to other teams and that’s important. When you have your point guard coming down, dunking on people, flexing, getting big rebounds, talking trash, doing all those things, it drives you to want to be better.”

…

“Watching him over the years, I see it,” Howard added. “He has an opportunity to be one of the greatest to ever play the game, and I’m glad I have the opportunity to actually give him some things that can help him along the way.”

Simmons and the Sixers have some increased expectations after hiring new head coach Doc Rivers, as well as some of the other moves made by new President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey.

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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope re-signs with Lakers and LeBron is hyped

The Los Angeles Lakers brought back one of the key players from their 2020 NBA Championship run, re-signing KCP.

There have been plenty of departures in the past week for the Los Angeles Lakers but they are making sure to keep one of the key pieces from their 2020 NBA Championship run, agreeing to a 3-year deal to return with the Lakers, worth $40 million, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

Caldwell-Pope has a partial guarantee for the third year and the Lakers now have their starting shooting guard for the entirety of the playoffs back in the fold, alongside other backcourt mates Dennis Schröder and Wesley Matthews. The Lakers also bolstered their frontcourt earlier in free agency with the acquisition of fellow Klutch Sports player Montrezl Harrell.

Among the many happy parties is LeBron James, who tweeted his happiness for Caldwell-Pope on Saturday night shortly after news broke of the deal.

Caldwell-Pope averaged 10.7 points per game in the playoffs, shooting 37.8% from the 3-point line on nearly 6 attempts per game. With his consistency throughout the postseason, Caldwell-Pope was arguably the third or fourth-best player on the Lakers during their playoff run. And now they have him back, with an even better squad.

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Anthony Davis commitment to Lakers not expected until next week

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis is in no rush to make a decision about his contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been busy in the marketplace adding to their team ahead of their title defense. But the biggest piece on the chessboard for the Lakers, who is a very likely bet to return to the Purple and Gold, is still weighing his options when it comes to the kind of contract he wants to sign to stay in L.A.

According to the latest report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Davis is not in any rush to sign a deal with the Lakers and he will likely wait through Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday before making any moves towards a deal.

There’s a variety of deals that Davis can sign and it appears unlikely at this point that Davis would do a deal longer than two years. Davis just finished his 8th season of NBA service and he can score an even bigger max deal after 10 years of service. LeBron James’ contract runs through the 2022-23 season, which is something for Davis to consider as well when it comes to renegotiating with the Lakers.

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Klutch Sports Draft news: Tyrese Maxey goes No. 21 to Philadelphia 76ers

Maxey averaged 14 points, four rebounds, and over three assists per game in 31 games last season for Kentucky.

Klutch Sports Group had a pretty great night 2020 NBA Draft Wednesday as they had the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft and another player go in the first round 20 picks later on Wednesday night.

Kentucky’s Tyrese Maxey was selected with the No. 21 pick in the 2020 draft. Georgia’s Anthony Edwards was selected No. 1 overall to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Maxey averaged 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists per game while he shot 42.7% from the field, 29.2% from the 3-point line but a promising 83.3% from the free-throw line.

Maxey is a combo guard who can defend and play both guard positions in the offense but will be going to a Sixers team that can use his skills immediately. Maxey was an odds-on favorite to go in the top-ten of Wednesday’s draft but he fell and the 76ers were the beneficiaries of an unlikely drop down the draft board.

While Maxey was projected to go much higher, he likely ended up in an even better basketball situation than a projection could have put him in.

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