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Celtics sign guard Payton Pritchard to contract extension

The Boston Celtics have signed guard Payton Pritchard to a contract extension.

Pritchard’s deal is reportedly a 4-year, $30 million extension.

“In addition to his great skill, Payton brings toughness, resiliency, and diligence that collectively elevate the room,” said Brad Stevens, Celtics President of Basketball Operations. “We are excited that he chose to extend with the Celtics and look forward to what’s ahead.”

Pritchard has played in 185 games (nine starts) for the Celtics, averaging 15.7 minutes per game, 6.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists. He has a career field goal percentage of 43.0 percent and a three-point percentage of 40.0 percent. In each of his three seasons with the team, the West Linn, Oregon native has helped the Celtics get to the playoffs.

When Pritchard recorded a triple-double with at least 30 points against Atlanta on April 9 of last year, he became the ninth player in the team’s history to do so. He finished with a career-high 30 points (10-21 FG, 9-16 3FG), 14 rebounds, and 11 assists. Pritchard is one of only two NBA players, along with James Harden, to have made at least nine three-pointers while also tallying a triple-double.

Pritchard played four years of collegiate basketball at the University of Oregon before being selected by the Boston Celtics with the 26th overall choice in the 2020 NBA Draft. He was named the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year, making him the first player in Oregon history and the second in Pac-12 history to receive the honor.

Trail Blazers exercise 2024-25 contract option on Shaedon Sharpe

The Portland Trail Blazers have exercised the 2024-25 team option on the Rookie Scale contract of guard Shaedon Sharpe.

The Blazers selected Sharpe with the seventh overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. During his rookie season, Sharpe averaged 9.9 points (47.2% FG, 36.0% 3-PT, 71.4% FT), 3.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.5 steals in 22.2 minutes per game in 80 games (15 starts).

Trail Blazers sign George Conditt, waive Malachi Smith and Antoine Davis

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed center George Conditt.

And in two subsequent moves, the Trail Blazers requested waivers on guards Malachi Smith and Antoine Davis.

Conditt, who stands 6 feet 11 and weighs 234 pounds, spent the 2022–23 season playing for Promitheas Patras of the Greek Basket League as well as Gigantes de Carolina of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional league in Puerto Rico.

Conditt, a Chicago native, played four years of college basketball at Iowa State, where he averaged 9.8 points (56.4% FG, 64.1% FT), 3.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 14.5 minutes per game over 117 games (36 starts).

Hawks sign Brandon Randolph

The Atlanta Hawks have signed guard Brandon Randolph.

Over the course of his three-year NBA G League career, Randolph has played in 61 games (29 starts), donning the uniforms of the Austin Spurs (2022-23) and Wisconsin Herd (2019–20, 2021-23). In 18.7 minutes per game, he averages 11.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists (.497 FG%,.343 3FG%, and.747 FT%). Randolph recorded 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.0 steal in 27.7 minutes in 43 games (28 starts) in the 2022–23 season (.505 FG%,.351 3FG%,.788 FT%).

Summer League 2023 viewers saw the Yonkers, New York native play in five games (two starts) with the Dallas Mavericks, recording 8.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 17.6 minutes of action.

Randolph, a 6-6 guard, spent two collegiate seasons at Arizona, appearing in 63 games (35 starts), scoring 8.2 points, and grabbing 2.1 rebounds in 20.4 minutes.

Raptors forward Precious Achiuwa injured

The Toronto Raptors revealed on Friday that forward Precious Achiuwa will miss the team’s open practice after suffering a left groin strain during a training camp exercise.

Achiuwa won’t suit up for the team’s preseason opener against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday in Vancouver.

When the team gets back to Toronto, he’ll get another evaluation, and his health will be updated as needed.

Magic exercise contract options on Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner

Per President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman, the Orlando Magic have exercised their third-year club option on Paolo Banchero, as well as their fourth-year team options on guard Jalen Suggs and forward Franz Wagner.

Orlando originally selected Banchero (6’10”, 250, 11/12/02) in the first round (first overall) of the 2022 NBA Draft. During his rookie season with the Magic last year, he participated in 72 games and made 72 starts while averaging a team-best 20.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, and 3.7 apg in 33.7 minutes per game. Banchero was selected unanimously for the 2022–23 NBA All–Rookie First Team and was named the 2022–23 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year.

Orlando originally selected Suggs (6’5″, 212, 6/3/01) in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2021 NBA Draft. All with Orlando, he has appeared in 101 regular-season NBA games (64 starts), averaging 10.8 points per game, 3.6 assists per game, 3.3 rebounds per game, and 1.25 steals per game in 25.3 minutes per game.

Orlando originally selected Wagner (6’10”, 230, 8/27/01) in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2021 NBA Draft. He has played and started in 159 regular-season NBA games in his career, all with Orlando, averaging 16.9 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, and 3.2 assists per game in 31.7 minutes per game while shooting.850 (460-541) from the charity stripe. Wagner was selected for the NBA All-Rookie First Team for 2021–22.

Contracts for all three players extend through the 2024–25 season.

Rockets sign Reggie Bullock

The Houston Rockets have signed free agent Reggie Bullock, a former 25th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Bullock has a career record of 7.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 512 games with 294 starts.

He has averaged 2.1 3-pointers made on 38.8% shooting over the past six seasons.

Bullock spent two seasons with Dallas before being acquired by San Antonio in a three-team trade with Boston.

He started every game for the Mavericks during their run to the Western Conference Finals in 2021-22, averaging 10.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.9 3FGM on 39.7% shooting.

Donovan Mitchell holding off on signing contract extension with Cavs

Per Cleveland.com:

The deadline is still weeks away. But the decision has already been made.

Cavs star guard Donovan Mitchell, the perennial MVP candidate whose arrival heightened the organization’s expectations last summer, will not sign a contract extension before the season opener on Oct. 25 — and he has let the front office know that.

“I still have the opportunity to sign an extension next summer,” Mitchell said during the team’s annual media day on Monday afternoon. “My primary focus is this. Just trying to go out there and trying to be the best team we can be and bring a championship to the city and go from there. We added new additions. We obviously had a season that you could kind of rate went really well until it went really poorly. So, for us, that’s where all of our heads are at. That’s where my head is at.”

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Spurs announce basketball operations staff additions and promotions

The San Antonio Spurs have announced additions and promotions within the team’s basketball operations staff.

The Spurs have added Kaleb Thornhill as VP of player development and organizational growth and Jimmy Baron joins as the team’s shooting development coach, while Josh Brannon has been promoted to player development from the Spurs video room. San Antonio has also promoted Kenny Trevino to head video coordinator, as well as Jon Harris and Ryan Oliver to assistant video coordinators.

In the Spurs medical and performance group, the team has added Guy Nicolette, MD as director of sports medicine, Beth Morford as soft tissue specialist and Guillaume Alquier as athletic performance coach.

Thornhill will lead the Spurs player development efforts as VP of player development and organizational growth. Prior to joining the Silver and Black, he established Pro Athlete Community (PAC) with the mission to help current and former NFL players sharpen their business acumen, develop life skills, foster a sense of community, all while providing them with invaluable mentorship. Thornhill got his start in the NFL with the Detroit Lions front office before spending more than 12 years as director of player engagement for the Miami Dolphins, where he created the NFL’s first Business Combine. This off-field experience for current and former players made the Dolphins the only NFL team to implement an executive education certificate program for current players. From Lansing, Michigan, Thornhill holds a bachelor’s in human resources and master’s in kinesiology from Michigan State University, an MBA from Nova Southeastern University and completed the Athlete Development Certification Program at Wharton Business School.

Baron will serve as the Spurs shooting development coach after working as head skills coach at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida from 2020-23. Prior to joining IMG, he spent 10 years running basketball camps and training athletes, while also assisting with a 2016 regional USA Basketball Youth Development Clinic. Baron brings 11 years of professional playing experience, having played in Turkey, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Lithuania and Russia, winning a EuroCup Championship in 2013 with Lokomotiv Kuban (Russia). Before heading overseas, the Rhode Island native spent four seasons playing for his father Jim Baron at the University of Rhode Island where Jimmy set and currently holds the Atlantic 10 record for three-pointers made (361).

Brannon is entering his fifth season with Spurs, moving to player development after spending last season as San Antonio’s head video coordinator. He spent 2021-22 in the video department as the assistant video coordinator and two seasons as a quality assurance assistant from 2019-21. Brannon coached at Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie Village, Kansas from 2016-18. The Houston native played at Southwestern Community College and Panola Junior College before spending his final three seasons at Rockhurst University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business communication in 2016. Brannon also worked in basketball camps for the Spurs Sports Academy since 2010, serving as a camp director from 2016 until he joined the coaching staff in 2019.

Trevino will serve as the Spurs head video coordinator after spending last season as the assistant video coordinator. Prior to joining San Antonio, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Austin Spurs after serving as a coaching assistant with Austin in 2019-20. Trevino joined the Spurs organization as a team attendant for San Antonio in 2012, later becoming an assistant equipment manager for the team during the 2016-17 season. The Laredo, Texas, native graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2016.

Harris becomes an assistant video coordinator for San Antonio in his second season with the organization. Prior to joining the Spurs as a video assistant in 2022, he served as a graduate assistant with the Florida State University men’s basketball program, while obtaining a master’s degree in coaching. Following three seasons at Miami University of Ohio and one season at Cleveland State, Harris played internationally for seven years in Argentina, Germany, China and Canada. Originally from Twinsburg, Ohio, he also worked as a camp counselor and coordinator for the Cleveland Cavaliers Youth Academy from 2016-2020.

Oliver begins his second season with the Spurs as an assistant video coordinator after spending last season as a video assistant. Prior to joining the Silver and Black, he served as the director of basketball operations at UC Davis from 2020-2022 following coaching stints at Clark University (MA), Northfield Mount Hermon (MA), and Glendale College (CA). In addition to his time on the sideline, the Inglewood native played professionally for two seasons in Ireland. Oliver earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Missouri in 2019 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Siena College, where he played four seasons from 2012-2016.

Nicolette becomes director of sport medicine for the Spurs as an associate clinical professor at UT Health San Antonio, bringing more than 20 years of sports medicine experience to the team. Prior to joining the Spurs, he served as executive director of University Health and a team physician at University of California-Berkeley and spent 16-plus years as a team physician and director of the sports medicine fellowship program at the University of Florida. Nicolette returns to the Alamo City after attending University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio for medical school, while also receiving medical and sports medicine training at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

Alquier joins the Spurs medical team as an athletic performance coach after spending the 2022-23 season as a strength and conditioning coach for Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 in the LNB ProA French League. Prior to Mets 92, he spent five years (2017-2022) as strength and conditioning coach for Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez also in the LNB ProA French League and has previous experience working with the Pau Orthez youth academy as well as a third division rugby team. In 2015, Alquier graduated from the University of Pau in France with a master’s degree in performance.

Morford joins San Antonio as the team’s soft tissue specialist, entering her 20th year as a high-performance sports massage therapist. Throughout her career, Morford has worked with top-10 Division I swimming and basketball programs, including University of Kansas Men’s Basketball where she was a part of the 2018 Final Four and 2022 National Championship teams. In addition to her collegiate background, she spent seven years traveling with USA Swimming and was invited by the United States Olympic Committee to be part of Team USA’s sports medical staff at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Originally from Lawrence, Kansas, the former Jayhawk attended the University of Kansas prior to obtaining her soft tissue certification.