A deal that has 15-time All-Star forward Kevin Garnett headed back to his original team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, headlined a late flurry of moves ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline on Thursday.
The deal, which sends Thaddeus Young to the Brooklyn Nets, was agreed to by both teams, but had to wait for Garnett to drop his no-trade clause, according to multiple reports.
Garnett, who won an NBA title in 2008 with Boston, will lend a veteran presence to a young team in Minnesota, where the 20-year veteran broke into the league as the fifth overall pick of the 1995 draft.
A trio of three-team deals were also made as contenders fine-tuned their rosters ahead of the playoffs, while other teams dealt with an eye to the long-term future, according to the NBA Web site, as many late deals had not yet been confirmed by the clubs.
The Miami Heat acquired prized Suns guard Goran Dragic in a three-way trade with the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix, who pocketed a pair of first-round draft picks in the process.
Point guard Dragic, who was traded along with his brother Zoran, was averaging 16.2 points, 4.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 52 games this season in the last year of his contract.
In another three-way swap, Phoenix acquired guard Brandon Knight from the Milwaukee Bucks, who received guard Michael-Carter Williams from the Philadelphia 76ers, as well as centerforward Miles Plumlee and guard Tyler Ennis from the Suns.
Meanwhile, the Sixers received a protected first-round pick from the Suns via the Los Angeles Lakers.
Another deadline deal sent Thunder guard Reggie Jackson to Detroit, four players to Oklahoma City, including center Enes Kanter from Utah and guard D.J. Augustin from the Pistons, and Kendrick Perkins and a first-round draft pick to Utah.
The Celtics obtained guard Isaiah Thomas from Phoenix for Marcus Thornton and a draft pick, while Boston also dealt Tayshaun Prince to Detroit for Luigi Datome and Jonas Jerebko.
New York and Houston swapped international players as the Knicks traded veteran Italian guard Pablo Prigioni to the Rockets for young Russian guard Alexey Shved and a pair of second-round picks.
In another swap of guards, the Washington Wizards acquired Ramon Sessions from Sacramento in exchange for Andre Miller.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB