That means the free agent market is shrinking every day. General managers looking to fill out their rosters need to move quickly. NBA FREE AGENCY 2019: Follow SN’s live rumors tracker Which free agents are still on the board? Here’s a breakdown of the top players at each position searching for landing spots. NBA free agency: Available point guards NBA free agency: Available shooting guards NBA free agency: Available forwards NBA free agency: Available centers

Washington general manager Tommy Sheppard told ESPN the team will offer Beal a max contract worth $111 million for three years on Friday. “At the very first moment allowed, we are going to offer Brad the full max extension,” Sheppard said Monday. Sheppard added that they are willing to work with Beal and offer him a one- or two-year max deal, as well. Beal has until Oct. 26 to sign the contract, which Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, said is needed so Beal has time to weigh his options....

Rondo is likely to decline his player option and become an unrestricted free agent, but the Lakers are interested in bringing him back as they attempt to defend their championship. They can expect competition from other suitors, including the rival Clippers, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times. MORE: Will LeBron James take break if NBA season starts in December? This news comes amid speculation that Clippers star Kawhi Leonard wants the team to make an upgrade at point guard....

In the NBA, each overtime period is five minutes long and begins with a jump ball at mid-court. In some games, the score is settled after one overtime period, but in others, it may take multiple overtimes, each of which begins with another jump ball and adds five more minutes to the clock. There is no limit to how many overtimes there can be in an NBA game. MORE: Full list of the most valuable teams in the NBA...

The league and the National Basketball Players Association announced the agreement Wednesday night. The Vertical, citing unnamed sources, reported the news minutes earlier. MORE: 12 biggest early-season surprises, disappointments Terms of the deal, which is pending ratification by both sides, have not been disclosed. The parties were working against a Thursday deadline for either side to reopen the current collective bargaining agreement. The NBA announced Wednesday that the deadline has been pushed back to Jan....

As of Thursday morning, with Dwight Howard’s status listed as questionable, Golden State is again a 10.5-point favorite with a total of 220. Check The Linemakers on Sporting News’ odds page for current spreads and totals. AccuScore Best Bet: With an average score after AccuScore ran its 10,000-plus simulations of Warriors 115-Rockets 100, there’s a 59 percent chance the total combined score in Game 2 stays UNDER 220. The OVER is now 3-7 in the last 10 matchups between these teams....

But that was then, and this is now. So far, 10 players have scored 50 points or more in a single game this season, and a handful have accomplished it multiple times. Washington’s Bradley Beal became the 10th player to make this year’s list when he scored 53 in a loss to Chicago on Sunday. Then on Monday, Beal dropped 55 in a 137-134 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks....

Team USA knocked off Serbia, 96-66, on Sunday afternoon to complete what was a harrowing trek through the Olympic abyss, an 8-0 record marked with near-misses that could have gone horribly wrong if not for clutch plays and superior depth. In the final, the U.S. gained control of the game in the second quarter, going into halftime with a 52-29 lead, and rolled through the final 20 minutes with ease....

Making his Clippers debut against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, Wall was back like he never left, knocking down his first shot after he checked into the game midway through the first quarter. Wall was aggressive attacking the basket and looking for his own shot, giving the Clippers’ offense a new dimension as he pushed the pace and found open shooters in transition. He finished with a team-high 15 points on 7-of-15 shooting, adding four rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 25 minutes on court....

One contest removed from his Game 2 performance of 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, George has played through the first half without scoring a single point. MORE: Incredible LeBron James drawing | GM says Vogel is safe | East conference in photos George is 0-of-2 from the field in 13 minutes and couldn't muster a first-half point for the first time since March 5 against the Charlotte Bobcats....

During Game 1 of the first round playoff matchup between the two teams, the Rockets Twitter account took a light-hearted jab at Portland's Robin Lopez. MORE: Playoff schedule | Toronto, New York newspapers trade barbs It's funny because it's true. Robin Lopez has an identical hairdo as iconic Simpsons villain "Sideshow Bob." The Portland Trail Blazers got the last laugh, defeating the Rockets 122-120 in overtime. But the Portland Police Department wanted in on the fun too, and took a jab at the Rockets after the game....

“These teams REALLY don’t like each other.” “An old-fashioned slobberknocker.” All of these cliches could be used to describe a chippy Game 3 of the Raptors-Wizards NBA playoff series. Hostilities started less than three minutes into the first quarter Friday when the Wizards’ Markieff Morris hit the Raptors’ OG Anunoby with a shoulder and the rookie responded with a hard shove. Both players received a technical foul, and Anunoby was also given a common foul for pulling Morris to the floor....

Milwaukee got down by as many as 12 points in the first half and 10 in the third quarter, but thanks to 29 points from Lopez, including 13 in the fourth, the Bucks were able to outscore Toronto 32-17 in the final frame to earn the win. The 29 points for Lopez is a career high in the playoffs, surpassing the 28 he scored with the Nets in 2013. He also added 11 rebounds and four blocked shots....

MORE: NBA Finals photos | Andre Iguodala won’t be forgotten The league determined his altercation with James resulted in a Flagrant Foul 1 and because it’s his fourth flagrant foul point of the postseason, he will have to sit out Game 5 Monday night in Oakland. If the league ruled he committed a Flagrant 2, he would have been suspended for the next two games. Golden State won Friday, 108-97, to go up 3-1 in the series....

Silver was speaking at an event organized by Time magazine in New York on Thursday when he discussed the ongoing situation between China and the league. “We made clear that we were being asked to fire him, by the Chinese government, by the parties we dealt with, government and business,” Silver said (via The Washington Post). “We said there’s no chance that’s happening. There’s no chance we’ll even discipline him....

The Central illustrates the importance of timing and structural constraints when it comes to free agency. The NBA champion Cavaliers are capped out for completely logical reasons while the Pistons utilized their last bit of flexibility before giving Andre Drummond his deserved max contract. Milwaukee could have retained a small pool of money for 2017 by waiting to extend Giannis Antetokounmpo, but they made the right decision taking the plunge now, especially since he gave them a discount....

After receiving their 2021 championship rings, the Bucks kicked off their pursuit of back-to-back titles by defeating the Nets on Tuesday night. Two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with a team-high 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to the delight of the Fiserv Forum crowd. TOP 75 PEAKS IN NBA HISTORY: 75-51 | 50-26 | 25-11 | 10-1 Over in Los Angeles, the Warriors took down a new-look Lakers team, as six different Golden State players hit double-figures in the scoring department....

The event has given rise to some of the NBA’s smallest players, including in 1986, when 5-7 Spud Webb defeated his Hawks teammate and defending champion Dominique Wilkins. Webb remains the shortest player to win the win the event, but 5-9 Nate Robinson has the most contest titles (three) from his dominant run last decade. MORE: Watch the all-time best Slam Dunk Contest throwdowns Here’s a look at the scoring format and participants for 2019 as well as the full list of previous winners throughout history....

“It really is the same thing, teams call about him but the Celtics want him and he wants to be the leader of that team,” one source said. “It has always been his intention to establish himself in that role, to be part of the rebuilding and to stay in Boston for a long time. Nothing has changed.” MORE: Top trade deadline topics | PHOTOS: Rare shots of Bill Russell | LINEMAKERS: Championship odds...