Washington Wizards news: According to reports, LeBron James is willing to take a significant pay cut in his new deal in order to help the Los Angeles Lakers sign another key player for the upcoming season. Reports also indicate that Jonas Valanciunas was one of the three players who James would be willing to sacrifice good money for.
Well, the Lakers will now have to focus on the two other players on the list now that the Wizards have reportedly secured the services of Valanciunas on a massive new deal.
Washington Wizards Signing Jonas Valanciunas
Valanciunas, who averaged 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds with the New Orleans Pelicans last season, was a wanted man in free agency. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, however, it’s the Wizards who have won the sweepstakes:
“Free agent center Jonas Valanciunas has agreed on a three-year, $30 million deal with the Washington Wizards, sources tell ESPN,” Woj reported on X, formerly Twitter.
The Wizards just scooped up highly touted big man Alex Sarr second overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, and Valanciunas could aid the 19-year-old in his transition in the league. Washington also added former Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon recently, and Valanciunas is another veteran presence that will be pivotal in the development of the Wizards’ young core.
As for the Lakers, Valanciunas is the second player who has been crossed off their three-man wish list after James Harden agreed to an extension with the Los Angeles Clippers. This leaves Klay Thompson as their last option — at least among this aforementioned trifecta — as they look to make use of the cap room that will potentially be cleared up by LeBron’s pay cut.
This article first appeared on Hardwood Heroics and was syndicated with permission.
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NBA
Klay Thompson reportedly open to giving two teams a huge discount
Klay Thompson might be insulted by the contract extension offers he received from the Golden State Warriors, but that does not mean he is looking to squeeze every penny out of his upcoming free agency. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports wrote on Sunday that there is a belief around the NBA that Thompson would be willing to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers or Los Angeles Clippers for the mid-level exception, which is $12.9M this offseason. The Warriors offered Thompson a two-year, $50M extension at the start of last season.
The situation between Thompson and the Warriors has reportedly gotten so bad that it seems like Thompson is determined to start fresh elsewhere. If he is willing to take less than half from another team than what Golden State offered, that is a good indicator of where things stand between Thompson and his current team. Thompson’s father Mychal played for the Lakers during their Showtime era and is the team’s radio color commentator. If Thompson is fed up with the Warriors, he might also be drawn to the idea of signing with one of their rivals. The Dallas Mavericks are also interested in signing
Thompson, and they might be willing to outspend other teams. Fischer and others have reported that Dallas looks like one of the strongest suitors for the 34-year-old sharpshooter. LeBron James, who is also a free agent, is said to be willing to give the Lakers a discount if it helps sign another impact player. James likely views Thompson as a player who could make a big difference. There are at least two other playoff teams that might be planning to pursue Thompson when free agency begins on Sunday evening, so it appears his market is plenty robust.
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MLB
Giants designate pitcher for assignment after Dodgers debacle
The Giants announced that right-hander Spencer Howard has been designated for assignment. Fellow righty Landen Roupp was called up from Triple-A Sacramento in the corresponding move. Howard signed a minor league deal with San Francisco last September, and he made it to the big league roster a month ago when his contract was selected to The Show. Working as a starter, reliever, opener and bulk pitcher behind an opener, Howard was holding his own until a rocky outing against the Dodgers Saturday, when he was tagged for six earned runs over 2 2/3 innings.
The tough night boosted Howard’s ERA to 5.63 over 24 innings and prompted the Giants to remove Howard from the roster in order to bring a fresher arm in Roupp back to the majors. Howard is out of minor league options, so the Giants had to designate him in order to attempt to send Howard down to Triple-A. The DFA is the latest twist in the career of the former top-100 prospect, who was a second-round pick for the Phillies in the 2017 draft.
Howard was once seen as a future star during his time in Philadelphia’s farm system, but the Phils sent him to the Rangers as part of a six-player trade at the 2021 deadline and the righty has yet to find any form against major league batters. Howard has a 6.93 ERA over 139 career innings with the Phillies, Rangers and Giants and the transition to relief pitching from starting work hasn’t seen much of an improvement in his results. Given his past prospect pedigree, another team might put in a waiver claim to see for themselves if any late bloomer potential is there for Howard as he approaches his 28th birthday.
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Report: Minnesota Vikings Plan to Sign Familiar Running Back
The Minnesota Vikings are less than a month away from converging on Eagan, MN for training camp and the group gathering at TCO Performance Center will look a lot different than it has for the past couple of seasons. Kirk Cousins is out, Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy are in. But that’s only the start of the changes. The Vikings have fresh faces all over their roster. Some positions look upgraded, others have more question marks than in previous years. One group that has gotten a clear improvement at the top of the depth chart is running back.
Aaron Jones is 10x the running back Alexander Mattison can even dream of being and Vikings fans who weren’t paying attention, while Jones was across the border playing for Green Bay, will see the very drastic difference in short order. Report: Minnesota Vikings plan to sign running back Cam Akers (pending physical) Meanwhile, the most promising backfield talent on roster in 2023, Ty Chandler, will be returning in 2024. And according to Charley Walters (Pioneer Press), so will Cam Akers, who Minnesota traded for in the middle of last season.
That’s as long as Akers, who ruptured his achilles tendon on November 5 (one week after Kirk Cousins suffered the same injury), can pass an upcoming physical. If running back Cam Akers, recovering from Achilles surgery last November, passes an upcoming physical, look for the free agent to re-sign with the Vikings. Charley Walters – Pioneer Press In 2023, Akers ran for a total of just 167 yards.
He started week one for the LA Rams, where he received 22 carries… but ran for just 29 yards (and 1 TD). In week two, the Rams made Cam inactive, before trading him to the MN Vikings between weeks two and three. For five games, Akers was arguably the Minnesota Vikings’ most complete running back. It was noticeable immediately how much better of a ball-carrier he was than Alexander Mattison. He had more quickness, speed and read what was in front of him better. And while he wasn’t quite as explosive as Ty Chandler… at least you could trust him to know and execute his blocking assignments.
Before his injury in week 9, Cam Akers amassed 138 yards on 38 carries, adding 70 yards on 11 receptions, too. The imminent signing (pending physical) of Akers tells me that the Minnesota Vikings aren’t ready to hand Chandler the RB2 job, nor are they willing to rely on him as the primary option out of the backfield, should Aaron Jones run into injury issues.
It’s certainly worth noting that Cam Akers just turned 25 years old eight days ago, so he isn’t some long-in-the tooth veteran that’s in his declining years. Even for a running back, 25 isn’t old. If the Vikings can get him in on the cheap, it makes all the sense in the world to bring more talent into that room. Once complete (pending physical), you could certainly argue that, by replacing Mattison with Jones and bringing everyone else back, running back is the Vikings’ most improved position entering training camp.
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NBA
Report: LeBron James Willing To Take Pay Cut If Lakers Can Get James Harden, Klay…
According to NBA insider Dave McMenamin of ESPN, LeBron James is willing to take a pay cut on his next contract if the Los Angeles Lakers can get James Harden, Klay Thompson or Jonas Valanciunas. LeBron, 39, has declined his 2024-25 player option with the Lakers worth $51.4 million. He will re-sign with LA and is open to taking a discount if the franchise can get an impact player.
“The type of player that James would be willing to make a financial sacrifice for would be an established veteran playmaker like James Harden or Klay Thompson, or an established big man to play alongside Anthony Davis — like Jonas Valančiūnas, sources told ESPN,” McMenamin wrote. Harden, Thompson and Valanciunas are unrestricted free agents. Harden played for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2023-24, Thompson played for the Golden State Warriors and Valanciunas played for the New Orleans Pelicans. Thompson won’t return to the Warriors and Valanciunas won’t return to the Pelicans. The Clippers, meanwhile, would like to keep Harden.
LeBron averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks for the Lakers in 2023-24 in 71 games while shooting 54.0% from the field, 41.0% from 3 and 75.0% from the free-throw line. A 20-time All-Star, LeBron joined the Lakers in 2018. He helped the franchise win the 2020 championship at the Walt Disney World bubble. LeBron is a four-time MVP, a four-time Finals MVP and a four-time champion.
He’s arguably the best player in NBA history. A future first-ballot Hall of Famer, LeBron has career averages of 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Lakers. LeBron is the only player in NBA history to rank top five all-time in points and assists, the only player to win three Finals MVPs with three different teams, the only player with 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 career assists and the only player to score 40,000 points.