The Kawhi Leonard saga in San Antonio is on the cusp of ending, with the Spurs reaching an agreement in principle on Wednesday to send the 2014 NBA Finals MVP to the Toronto Raptors for All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan.Danny Green also will be going to Toronto as part of the deal, which was confirmed to The Associated Press by two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations. Both spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the trade is not expected to be finalized until NBA officials approve the terms later Wednesday.ESPN, which first reported that the teams agreed to the deal, also said the Spurs were getting Jakob Poeltl and a future first-round draft pick from Toronto.The trade is a huge, and potentially risky, move for both teams.Leonard appeared in only nine games for the Spurs last season, during which the relationship between the All-Star and the team seemed strained and often tinged with frustration over the way he dealt with recovery from a right leg injury. He can be a... [More]

Two people familiar with the situation say San Antonio and Toronto have reached an agreement in principle on a trade that will send Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors and DeMar DeRozan to the Spurs.One of the people says the Spurs also are sending Danny Green to the Raptors as part of the deal. Both people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the deal has not been finalized.ESPN, which first reported that the agreement was struck, also said that the Raptors are sending Jakob Poeltl and a protected future first-round draft pick to San Antonio.It is a huge, and potentially risky, move for both teams.Leonard made clear to the Spurs several weeks ago that he wanted to be traded, and it's long been believed that he wants to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers when he can be a free agent in 2019. DeRozan has led the Raptors in scoring in each of the last five seasons.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

LeBron James is keeping his thoughts to himself.Whatever concerns — or confidence — he might harbor about his Cleveland Cavaliers facing a 2-1 first-round Eastern Conference series hole heading into Game 4 at the Indiana Pacers on Sunday were not going to be made available for public consumption.James decided not to speak to reporters on Saturday.And he did not have a whole lot to say in the immediate aftermath of Game 3, either, when Indiana erased a 17-point deficit and then held on for a 92-90 victory over the Cavs.Not only has the four-time MVP and three-time NBA champ never lost an opening NBA postseason series, going 12-0 in the past, he had never even trailed in the first round until this one, when Cleveland dropped Game 1 at home.Now he is behind again."We've had some good quarters," James said Friday, "and we didn't have some good quarters."Well, that explains a lot.Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue's synopsis?"They won a game we should have won," Lue said. "That's what's disappointing.... [More]

TORONTO (AP) — A "culture reset" carried the Toronto Raptors to the top of the Eastern Conference for the first time this season.Next, the Raptors will try to hit reset on their playoff history with the Washington Wizards.After Cleveland swept the Raptors in the second round last spring, team president Masai Ujiri promised to change the culture surrounding the club.That meant greater emphasis on ball movement and 3-point shooting, something the Raptors were able to execute immediately. Toronto had 67 games with at least 20 assists, up from 34 the previous year, and averaged 33 shots a game from beyond the arc, third most in the NBA."We won 59 games," All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan said. "I think that speaks for itself. We know what works for us, what got us here, and what's going to take us even further."Thanks to the offensive overhaul, this Raptors team is far removed from the one swept in the first round in 2015, a series in which the Wizards won by an average of 14 points."That's old... [More]

They do things differently in Toronto.When it's time for NBA public-address announcers to introduce the starting lineup before games, the Raptors don't wait to hear their names called. The starters simply huddle up for a quick chat while their backups gather a few feet away and use a basketball to play volleyball — bumping and setting it to each other before someone spikes a dunk.They're laughing. They're loose. And they don't mind if few are noticing.These are happy times for the Toronto Raptors, who kept their stars and coach together even after a string of playoff flameouts and are seeing that continuity rewarded. If they win three of their final eight games, they'll break the franchise single-season record of 56 victories. And they're in position to go into the Eastern Conference playoffs as the No. 1 seed for the first time, entering Monday with a 3 ½ game lead over No. 2 Boston."I feel like we have something special that is a well-kept secret," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.Canada's... [More]

The Houston Rockets signed All-Star guard James Harden to a four-year, $118 million contract extension Saturday.The deal assures the Rockets of one additional year of Harden under contract in 2018-19 because of a player option that could return him to free agency in 2019, league sources told The Vertical.Harden's salary for next season will be $26.5 million under the new salary cap and increase incrementally over the course of the deal.Rockets owner Leslie Alexander made the announcement at a news conference Saturday."I'm happy to be here for four more years," Harden said. "This is home for me."The 26-year-old Harden averaged 29 points, 7.5 assists and 6.1 rebounds for the Rockets last season.--New Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade joined New York Knicks star forward Carmelo Anthony in speaking out against recent gun violence that has dominated the news.Both athletes expressed their demands for social change in the wake of police shootings of African-American men and the sniper who killed... [More]

The Toronto Raptors signed first round draft picks Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam to rookie scale contracts Saturday.The two-year deals include team options after the 2017-18 season. Financial terms were not disclosed. Toronto selected Poeltl with the ninth pick and Siakam with the 27th selection in last month's draft.Poeltl, a 7-foot, 248-pound center, played two seasons collegiately at Utah and one season (2013-14) for the Arkadia Traiskirchen Lions in his native Austria. He was last season's Pac-12 Player of the Year, an Associated Press second-team All-America and the recipient of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award for the nation's top center.Poeltl averaged 17.2 points (second in the Pac-12), 9.1 rebounds (fourth) and 1.6 blocks (eighth) in 36 games last season. He ranked first in the Pac-12 and seventh in the nation in field goal percentage (64.6 percent)Siakam, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward, played two seasons at New Mexico State. He averaged 20.3 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 34 games last season. He was the unanimous choice as the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year. He led the nation with 27 double-doubles.