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According to ESPN, which cited unidentified league sources, the 76ers offered the All-Star guard a five-year maximum extension worth $170 million. The report noted the Sixers and agent Rich Paul are expected to work through the details toward an eventual agreement. News of the deal comes after NBC Sports reported the Sixers offered Butler a five-year max contract worth $190 million before he turned it down to instead take a four-year deal worth $141 million from the Heat....

Last season, the Cavaliers, Grizzlies, Suns, Raptors and Timberwolves all outperformed their preseason Vegas win totals by double-digits. I’ve got three teams pegged as my most likely outliers for this year. Here’s the case for why the 76ers, Hawks and Pelicans could break out. NBA PLAYER RANKINGS:PG | SG | SF | PF | C | Bench | Top 30 The 76ers are better than ever in the East I believe in the Sixers, and I believe that James Harden can find a way back into the top-15 discussion of the NBA....

The champion Warriors and runner-up Cavs will be featured on national television a league-leading 25 times apiece next season. The league announced its schedule Wednesday evening. MORE: Projecting the Rookie of the Year race | Ranking the new uniforms Following close behind will be the high-flying Clippers and star-studded Thunder, who have 24 national appearances each. The Bulls (23) and Spurs (21) are behind them while the Lakers will have just two fewer national television appearances (19) than they did wins in 2015 (21)....

All 30 NBA teams, plus the Chinese and Croatian national teams, will take part in the 2019 NBA Summer League, which involves each team playing four tournament-style games before the postseason begins. The Trail Blazers took down the Lakers last season to win the championship, with Lakers guard Josh Hart winning league MVP. This year, top rookies like Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett will be among those competing in the NBA Summer League, which is the first chance for them to showcase their skills....

Reports of the deal surfaced overnight. The Warriors would send Thompson to the Lakers for the seventh overall pick in June 26’s NBA Draft, according to the Los Angeles Times. That, the Times reports, could put the Warriors in position to acquire Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves. MORE: SN’s latest mock draft | Cavs-Sixers swap? | Love trade rumors and more If Love is on his way to Golden State, Warriors GM Bob Myers isn’t telling....

The Grizzlies acquired the 15-year wing from the Warriors in a trade this offseason and might not move him if they can’t get a future first-round pick out of his many suitors, according to a report from The New York Times. This is certainly ambitious for Memphis considering 35-year-old Iguodala’s mileage. He’s battled with lower leg injuries in recent years and averaged just 5.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists with Golden State in 2018-19....

A lot of big names have been circulating, and we’ve gotten to the part of the season when even the players can’t ignore the potential deals. (Looking at you, Carmelo Anthony.) TRADE RUMORS: These 12 big men could be on the block These things are fluid, so keep in mind nothing is final until the call to the league office is made and the physicals are passed. With that said, here’s all the trade talk you may have missed from Feb....

Unlike last season, an Anthony Davis-level star is not available to loom over trade conversations. This Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline is more likely to bring moves involving role players rather than the blockbusters that basketball fans have grown accustomed to seeing. TRADE RUMORS: Which players could Lakers target? We shouldn’t rule out the possibility of more “Woj Bombs,” though. It only takes one call from a general manager to get the trade train in motion....

That streak has rescued what was shaping up to be a season of misery that stretched back to the stunning departure of star Dwyane Wade last summer, followed by the preseason shoulder injury to forward Justise Winslow and a depressingly lifeless 11-30 start. TRADE RUMORS: These 12 big men could be on the block “We are a completely different team than last time we played against those guys when we lost,” point guard Goran Dragic told reporters....

The Raptors are interested in bringing the Canadian forward back across the border, according to a report from Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amico. The Cavaliers are mired in a four-game losing streak and sit in 13th place in the Eastern Conference with a 5-15 record, and if the season continues along the same path, the team could be a seller ahead of the upcoming trade deadline. “On the trade front, the Cavs have not taken part in any serious discussions,” Amico wrote....

The ESPN analyst quickly found himself in hot water with a tweet from his verified account that claimed Udoka was “the first head coach of color” for the franchise. Here is the since-deleted tweet: Of course, Udoka is not the first head coach of color for the Celtics. In fact, the Celtics were the first NBA franchise to hire a non-white coach when they named Bill Russell a player-coach on April 16, 1966....

The superstar duo stuffed the stat sheet once again Sunday in a 103-96 win over the Spurs (4-2) as the Lakers (5-1) won their fifth straight. James posted his second straight triple-double — 21 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds — and Davis chipped in 25 points and 11 boards. Meanwhile, the Rockets’ duo of James Harden and Russell Westbrook is still searching for the right chemistry. Heat forward Duncan Robinson scored 23 Sunday to lead six players in double figures as Miami routed Houston, 129-100....

Thornton was riding his moped on a sidewalk when he struck a pedestrian, Jimmie Woodard, causing lacerations to his lip that required stitches, per the News Observer. The N.C. State back was arrested and charged with failure to stop and render aid and failure to provide information. Both charges are misdemeanors. MORE: Which teams survive October? | SN Week 5 ACC Power Rankings He also was charged with operating a motor vehicle on a sidewalk and for operating an unregistered motor vehicle....

NCAA SCORES: Live updates, highlights NCAA bracket predictions Upset alerts East Region: No. 12 UNC Wilmington over No. 5 Virginia. In addition to the very cool nickname of “Seahawks” – how many Wildcats do we need, people? – Wilmington has a terrific offense with four double-figure scorers led by guard C.J. Bryce and 3-point rifleman Denzel Ingram, who is top-20 in the nation in 3-pointers made. They’ve never seen anything like the Virginia defense, but they’re good enough to make this happen....

Former North Carolina women’s basketball player Rashanda McCants and former football player Devon Ramsay sued the university and the NCAA in January claiming the school offered its athletes fake classes. The complaint was filed in North Carolina state court and accused the NCAA of negligence. The report claims the NCAA knew of other instances of academic fraud for the past century and refused to monitor those situations. MORE: New postseason uniforms | Comparing schools with academic fraud cases | How Vegas would seed the tourney...

Mississippi is accused on 28 NCAA violations in three sports. The football program was hit with 13 charges, many of them focused on former offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil, who was of drafted in the first round by the Dolphins. The Yahoo report said investigators visited Auburn, Mississippi State and possibly another SEC school to talk with players recruited by Ole Miss, meaning the probe has widened beyond Tunsil’s involvement....

The issue in the NCAA infractions case against Kansas is whether KU itself is involved in those violations. The NCAA stated in the enforcement division’s 92-page reply to Kansas regarding the facts of its case that the alleged infractions were “egregious, severe and are the kind that significantly undermine and threaten the NCAA Collegiate Model.” The NCAA is asserting that Gassnola, three other adidas representatives and the company itself are, in the vernacular of NCAA jurisprudence, representatives of KU’s athletic interests....

Jordan Sibert led the Flyers squad with18 points and Kendall Pollard added a season-high 12, but Dayton showed early its made it this far from a team effort, not individual stars. Of the 15 field goals made by the Flyers in the first half, 13 came on assists. PHOTOS: Sweet 16’s sweet images No. 11 Dayton (26-10) continued its underdog run and this one wasn't particularly close. The 6-foot-4 Sibert was spectacular, slashing to the basket and draining 3-pointers, to help the Flyers lead for almost the entire night....

First, though, they will return to their adopted home, Kentucky, as even bigger heroes. Because although it is North Texas that will stage the Final Four next weekend, it is the “Commonwealth” that adores basketball — Kentucky basketball, of course — like no other place. PHOTOS: Best shots from the Elite Eight | Updated bracket Aaron Harrison made the game-winning 3-pointer — his fourth of the game, all in the second half, accounting for every last one of his 12 points — with 2....

Members of the selection committee currently compiling the bracket for the event should appreciate all the Wildcats have done to save them time and agony and reward them with a No. 2 seed that is the least strong among those teams. MORE: Field of 68 | What’s next for Terps? | Notre Dame topples Duke But that’s a topic for another day: say, last Monday. The committee’s concern now is figuring out which other teams should join the Wildcats as No....