CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Gordon Hayward will miss at least a month after spraining his right foot during the Charlotte Hornets’ win Friday night over the Indiana Pacers. The team said in a statement Saturday that Hayward will be reevaluated in roughly four weeks. He was injured when he stepped on Myles Turner’s foot while driving to the basket in the second quarter and immediately crumpled. The 31-year-old forward is averaging 19.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game in his first season with the Hornets on a $120 million, four-year deal. Charlotte is already without rookie guard LaMelo Ball, out indefinitely with a broken right wrist. This injury is on the opposite side of the gruesome broken left ankle Hayward suffered in his first game with the Boston Celtics in 2017. He was an All-Star in 2016-17 with the Utah Jazz. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Gordon Hayward will miss at least a month after spraining his right foot during the Charlotte Hornets’ win Friday night over the Indiana Pacers. The team said in a statement Saturday that Hayward will be reevaluated in roughly four weeks. He was injured when he stepped on Myles Turner’s foot while driving to the basket in the second quarter and immediately crumpled. The 31-year-old forward is averaging 19.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game in his first season with the Hornets on a $128 million, four-year deal. Charlotte is already without rookie guard LaMelo Ball, out indefinitely with a broken right wrist. This injury is on the opposite side of the gruesome broken left ankle Hayward suffered in his first game with the Boston Celtics in 2017. He was an All-Star in 2016-17 with the Utah Jazz. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The NBA called this season’s trade deadline the busiest in the last 35 years, with 46 players from 23 teams involved in 16 different deals. What’s unclear is how many of those deals will have an impact on this season. Face it: Some will not register much of a blip. Brad Wanamaker getting moved to Charlotte by Golden State for a draft pick that will probably never change hands, that’s not exactly swinging a balance of power. Same goes for the Warriors sending Marquese Chriss to San Antonio, and Toronto trading Matt Thomas to Utah and Terence Davis to Sacramento — getting second-round picks back in both cases. Those Raptors moves were almost certainly made to clear roster spots for a Kyle Lowry trade that never happened. And it says something about the busiest trade deadline in 35 years when the biggest news of the day was a trade that didn’t happen, in Lowry’s case. That said, there were some moves that have potential to affect the postseason races. Here are some of the teams that benefited... [More]

Evan Fournier is being traded by the Orlando Magic to the Boston Celtics for a pair of second-round draft picks, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said Thursday. The Celtics were able to take on Fournier's salary by using part of the trade exception that they created last year in the move that sent Gordon Hayward to Charlotte, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal was still pending NBA approval. Fournier is averaging career highs of 19.7 points and 3.7 assists this season for the Magic, who turned trade-deadline day in the NBA into the start of their rebuild. Orlando also struck a deal earlier Thursday with Chicago to send All-Star forward Nikola Vucevic to the Bulls. Vucevic and Fournier were Orlando's two leading scorers this season. Fournier gives the Celtics added wing depth and another ballhandler. The Celtics started Thursday eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 21-23 record, well below their expectations coming into the season. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — In a time when many veteran NBA players are doing anything they can to join a “super team” in hopes of winning a championship, Gordon Hayward is a bit of an anomaly. Hayward took the road less traveled this offseason when he opted out of his contract with the high-profile Celtics and chose to come to Charlotte to take on a more prominent role and the opportunity to help build a young Hornets team into a playoff contender. So far, so good. The 11-year NBA veteran is averaging a career-high 22.3 points along with 5.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game for the playoff-starved Hornets, who are 13-15 and in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Hayward, an All-Star in 2017, is ninth in All-Star balloting among frontcourt players in the East. “I wanted to go somewhere where I could maximize who I am as a basketball player again,” he said. “Certainly the responsibility here is more, and I'm embracing that.” Hayward said the decision to leave Boston and sign a... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers rookie forward Dylan Windler broke his left hand in the season opener, another unlucky medical setback for the promising player. The team said Thursday that Windler suffered a fourth metacarpal fracture (on his ring finger) when he took a hard fall in the third quarter against the Charlotte Hornets. X-rays after the game were negative, but further tests revealed the fracture. Windler, who missed last season with a lower leg stress fracture he sustained before preseason training camp, will be re-evaluated in a week. The team said only that he will begin a rehab program and did not provide any timeline for his return. It's an unfortunate development for Windler, the former Belmont star taken with the No. 26 pick in 2019. Cleveland has high hopes for the 6-foot-6 shooter and exercised the third-year option on his contract before the opener. Windler was making a strong move to the basket and was in the air when he was hit by Charlotte's Gordon Hayward and crashed in the foul lane. Cavs center Javale McGee covered his head after seeing Windler go down. Windler scored three points in nine minutes before getting hurt. The Cavs held on to beat the Hornets 121-114. They play at Detroit on Saturday before hosting the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers rookie forward Dylan Windler broke his left hand in the season opener, another unlucky medical setback for the promising player. The team said Thursday that Windler suffered a fourth metacarpal fracture (on his ring finger) when he took a hard fall in the third quarter against the Charlotte Hornets. X-rays after the game were negative, but further tests revealed the fracture. Windler, who missed last season with a lower leg stress fracture he sustained before preseason training camp, will be re-evaluated in a week. The team said only that he will begin a rehab program and did not provide any timeline for his return. It's an unfortunate development for Windler, the former Belmont star taken with the No. 26 pick in 2019. Cleveland has high hopes for the 6-foot-6 shooter and exercised the third-year option on his contract before the opener. Windler was making a strong move to the basket and was in the air when he was hit by Charlotte's Gordon Hayward and crashed in the foul lane. Cavs center Javale McGee covered his head after seeing Windler go down. Windler scored three points in nine minutes before getting hurt. The Cavs held on to beat the Hornets 121-114. They play at Detroit on Saturday before hosting the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CLEVELAND (AP) — LaMelo Ball summed up his NBA debut in one word. “Disappointing,” he said. And forgettable. The hyped Hornets rookie guard didn't score in his first game for Charlotte and Cleveland pulled away in the first half and held on for a 121-114 victory Wednesday night in the Cavaliers' first home regular-season game in nearly 300 days. Collin Sexton scored 27 points, Darius Garland added 22 and the Cavs overcame a scorching shooting performance by Charlotte's Terry Rozier, a Cleveland native who finished with a career-high 10 3-pointers and 42 points. Beyond Ball's rough night — he missed all five shots and didn't play in the fourth quarte — Charlotte also suffered a major injury as center Cody Zeller broke his left hand. “Cody is obviously going to miss some time and we need other guys to step up,” Hornets coach James Boorego said. One of those would be Ball, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft who has revived interest and hope in Charlotte. But Ball's first performance... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Collin Sexton scored 27 points, Darius Garland added 22 and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first home game in nearly 300 days, overcoming the hot shooting of Terry Rozier for a 121-114 win Wednesday night over the Charlotte Hornets. Hyped rookie LaMelo Ball didn't score in his NBA debut with Charlotte, and Hornets center Cody Zeller broke his left hand. Rozier made a career-high 10 3-pointers and scored 42 points to lead the Hornets, who made it interesting with a late rally. Upset by their exclusion from the NBA's “bubble” in Orlando, the Cavs made the most of getting back on their home floor for the first time in the regular season since March 8. Andre Drummond added 14 points and 14 rebounds and Larry Nance had 13 and 13 for Cleveland, which played without star forward Kevin Love. He's out with a strained right calf. Gordon Hayward scored 28 points in his first game with the Hornets, who signed him to a 4-year, $120 million deal after he opted out in Boston. Rozier... [More]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Hornets have exercised the third-year contract option on forward PJ Washington and the fourth-year option on forward Miles Bridges. Neither move Wednesday comes as a surprise as both appear to figure into the team’s long-term plans. Washington, a projected starter this season, enters his second NBA season after starting 57 games as a rookie. He averaged 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 30.3 minutes per game and shot 37.4% from beyond the 3-point arc. The 6-foot-7 forward earned All-Rookie second team honors in 2019-20. Bridges is in his third NBA season. The 6-foot-6 Bridges has played in 145 games with 89 starts, and improved his scoring average to 13 points per game last season after averaging 7.5 as a rookie. Bridges, who is expected to come off the bench this season following the addition of Gordon Hayward, scored 20 points and added five rebounds and five assists during the 2020 Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star weekend in Chicago. The Hornets open the season Wednesday night at Cleveland. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Hornets forward Gordon Hayward is listed as day to day after breaking the bone at the base of his right pinky finger. The team says Hayward sustained an avulsion fracture of his fifth metacarpal on the right hand during the team’s preseason game against the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 14. Hayward will miss Thursday’s preseason game at Orlando but the Hornets say he will not need surgery. The team says his return will be based on pain tolerance and comfort level. The Hornets open the regular season Dec. 23 at Cleveland. The 30-year-old Hayward signed a four-year, $120 million deal this the Hornets this offseason following a trade with the Boston Celtics. The 6-foot-7 forward appeared in 641 regular-season games with 479 starts during his 10-year career with the the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics, averaging 15.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Hayward will start at small forward for the Hornets this season.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Hornets owner Michael Jordan and general manager Mitch Kupchak had no intentions of spending money on a big-name free agent this offseason. But things changed quickly when Gordon Hayward opted out of his contract with the Boston Celtics. The prospect of getting a playmaking wing — something Jordan has coveted for years — proved too intriguing to ignore, prompting the Hornets to veer slightly away from their well established plan of developing young players and pursue the 2017 All-Star. “I did not think that we would be in a position to pursue a free agent of Gordon's caliber,” Kupchak said Tuesday on a videoconference call. “... It looked like Gordon would be a free agent next year, which based on how we felt our team was positioned we might have chosen to pursue him next year. But he opted out. When he opted out and we quickly found out we were in the picture, we quickly started the recruiting process." Kupchak said Jordan was “very involved” in that process. The... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics point guard Kemba Walker will be sidelined until at least the first week of January after receiving a stem cell injection in his left knee. Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Tuesday the decision was made after Walker consulted with multiple specialists in early October. Walker was then put on a 12-week strengthening program for the upcoming season. He is expected to resume on-court activities in early December. Walker nearly had his first playoff run with Boston derailed in July when he tweaked the knee during workouts leading up to the resumption of the season in the Florida bubble. It left him limited during the seeding games portion of the schedule. But he was a big part of Boston’s run to the Eastern Conference finals, averaging 19.6 points and 5.1 assists during the postseason. The Celtics lost the series in six games to Miami. Ainge said his concerns about the health of Walker’s knee going forward are low. “I think this year will tell... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics point guard Kemba Walker will be sidelined until at least the first week of January after receiving a stem cell injection in his left knee. Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Tuesday the decision was made after Walker consulted with multiple specialists in early October. Walker was then put on a 12-week strengthening program for the upcoming season. He is expected to resume on-court activities in early December. Walker nearly had his first playoff run with Boston derailed in July when he tweaked the knee during workouts leading up to the resumption of the season in the Florida bubble. It left him limited during the seeding games portion of the schedule. But he was a big part of Boston’s run to the Eastern Conference finals, averaging 19.6 points and 5.1 assists during the postseason. The Celtics lost the series in six games to Miami. Ainge said his concerns about the health of Walker’s knee going forward are low. “I think this year will tell... [More]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Charlotte Hornets have acquired forward Gordon Hayward and unprotected 2023 and 2024 second-round draft picks from the Boston Celtics in exchange for a heavily protected 2022 second-round draft pick as part of a sign-and-trade transaction. The Celtics will only get Charlotte’s draft pick if the Hornets finish in the top five in the league next season, so it’s unlikely they will get anything in the deal other than unloading Hayward’s contract. Hayward previously agreed to a four-year, $120 million deal to join the Hornets. “We are thrilled to welcome Gordon and his family to the Hornets organization and Charlotte,” Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “Gordon is an NBA All-Star, a proven scorer and playmaker and a tough competitor that will fit well into the needs of our team. We believe that his basketball talent, NBA experience and veteran leadership will make a positive impact on our young, talented team as it continues to develop.” The Hornets also waived guard Nicolas Batum and forward Ray Spalding. Hayward, a 10-year NBA veteran, has appeared in 641 regular-season games with 479 starts with the Jazz and Celtics, averaging 15.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 30.8 minutes per game. The 6-foot-7 forward has appeared in 29 postseason games with 16 starts, averaging 15 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 33 minutes per game.

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward opted out of the final year of a contract that would have paid him $34.1 million, making him a free agent, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision has not been publicly announced. Hayward could still re-sign with the team, either to remain in Boston or be part of a sign-and-trade deal that would open up more potential destinations. The Celtics did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Brad Stevens, who also coached Hayward in college at Butler, recruited Hayward to Boston in 2017 and the team signed him to a four-year, $128 million deal that made him the biggest free agent signing in franchise history. But Hayward snapped his leg in the first quarter of his first game, missing all of the 2017-18 season. He averaged 26 minutes and 11.5 points the next year — far below his numbers in Utah -- and began to return to his previous form in the bubble this... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum emerged as a bona fide star, Jaylen Brown showed he can be a consistent presence in the lineup and Kemba Walker helped the Celtics put the failed Kyrie Irving experiment behind them. But following their Eastern Conference finals loss to Miami, it’s clear there is still work to do in Boston after the Celtics squandered their best opportunity yet under coach Brad Stevens to make it to the NBA Finals. Stevens said he heads into the offseason lamenting only the outcome and not the effort by his players during the abnormal season. “My regret is not what we put in. My regret is not how we prepared or worked or how hard our guys worked or how committed they were to playing and staying together,” he said. “You look back at those first couple of games (against Miami) and it put us in a tough spot. I just think that ultimately we had our chances and we didn’t take advantage of it enough.” The Celtics returned from the COVID-19-caused hiatus and emerged as one of the hottest... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Celtics forward Gordon Hayward and wife Robyn are parents for a fourth time. Robyn Hayward announced the birth of the couple's first son — Gordon Theodore Hayward — on Wednesday, a couple hours before the Celtics would face the Miami Heat in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. Hayward had originally planned to leave the bubble for the birth, but remained with the Celtics. He got some unplanned time off earlier in Boston's postseason run because of a sprained ankle, and spent some of that with his wife and daughters before returning to the NBA campus. “I think his ankle’s fine right now," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Wednesday after the birth was announced. “I don’t think he’s thought about it all afternoon obviously. ... Very, very happy to hear the news." Robyn Hayward said the baby — who was already wearing Celtics apparel Wednesday with his father's name and number on the back — will go by Theo, despite his father's preference that he go by GT. “Our little man is finally here!" she wrote. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Jae Crowder will tell anybody who asks that the Miami Heat are extremely well-prepared for whatever comes their way in the Eastern Conference finals. He can say the same about the Boston Celtics, too. Crowder and fellow Heat teammate Kelly Olynyk are both in the East title series for the second time. Their first time was in 2017 — when they were Boston teammates under coach Brad Stevens. And it isn’t hard for Crowder to see the similarities between Stevens and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “Oh, the No. 1 thing that sticks out to me is the attention to detail,” Crowder said. “Both coaches have preached that and pushed that with their teams, respectively. You need that at this level. You need that at this time of the year, because both teams really know exactly what they’re trying to get to. It’s just about the level of detail that you’re doing it and how much you’re imposing your will.” The Celtics lost that 2017 series to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and neither Olynyk... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Meyers Leonard was bent forward at the waist, standing a few feet away from Miami coach Erik Spoelstra on the Heat sideline, screaming with every bit of the volume that his deep and booming voice can generate. This is his role right now for the Heat. His only role. Leonard is in a tough spot these days; a full-time starter during the regular season, he is now out of the rotation as the Heat have made their run to the Eastern Conference finals. It is a bitter pill for him to swallow — yet to his credit, he hasn’t acted the least bit bitter about his current reality. “My team knows this, and our coaching staff knows this,” Leonard told The Associated Press. “I would do anything to be out there. And I’d be lying if I said that I’m not competitive as hell. I wish I was impacting the game on the floor. I’m not, but as a person and as a player, I want what’s best for everybody.” So for now, the 7-foot, 260-pound, chiseled center is the tallest, strongest and best-paid... [More]