LDN - Sports

National Basketball Association roundup

[June 29, 2017] June 28 (The Sports Xchange) - The Houston Rockets acquired All-Star guard Chris Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers in a blockbuster eight-player trade on Wednesday.

Paul, 32, will join James Harden in the backcourt with the Rockets, who sent Sam Dekker, Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, DeAndre Liggins, Darrun Hilliard, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Wiltjer, a top-three protected 2018 first-round pick and $661,000 to the Clippers.

"Any day you can acquire a Hall of Fame-level player is a good day for the franchise," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said.

"It's a weapons race in the NBA, and you're either in the weapons race or on the sidelines. We felt with Harden in his prime, Chris Paul in his prime, this gives us a real shot to chase the juggernaut teams that are out there and puts us right there with them."

ESPN reported Paul's strained relationship with management and head coach Doc Rivers, who also serves as president and personnel boss, led to the split.

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The Rockets made some other moves Wednesday.

The Pistons traded guard/forward Darrun Hilliard to the Rockets in exchange for cash considerations. Hilliard then became part of the deal for Paul.

The Hawks traded forward Ryan Kelly to Houston, also in exchange for cash considerations.

The 76ers acquired a 2018 second-round pick and cash considerations from Houston, which obtained the player contract of forward Shawn Long in return.

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The New York Knicks parted ways with team president Phil Jackson after three disappointing seasons.

Knicks owner James Dolan had been weighing Jackson's future role running the franchise despite the two years and $24 million-plus left on his contract, league sources told The Vertical.

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Dolan and the 71-year-old Jackson talked about the possibility of a parting on Tuesday with free agency beginning on Saturday, according to the report.

Dolan's decision was accelerated this week when the franchise decided it would not buy out star forward Carmelo Anthony, sources told ESPN. Jackson previously said he felt it was best for Anthony and the organization to part ways.

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The Toronto Raptors promoted Bobby Webster to general manager.

In addition, the organization promoted Dan Tolzman to assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel, and Keith Boyarsky to vice president of basketball strategy and research.

Masai Ujiri will continue to oversee basketball operations as team president.

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Golden State Warriors star forward Kevin Durant plans to wait until later this summer before re-signing with the NBA champions.

The NBA Finals MVP decided last week to decline his $27.7 million player option for 2017-18 to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 before re-upping with the Warriors. He reportedly notified Golden State of that decision this week.

The 28-year-old Durant, a 10-year NBA veteran, wants the team to complete the bulk of its summer business before re-signing, ESPN's Marc Stein reported Wednesday. ))

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