DALLAS (AP) — JJ Redick made his Dallas debut Monday night after being sidelined by a sore right heel since being acquired from New Orleans at the trade deadline. The veteran shooting guard returned against one of his former teams and former coaches in the Philadelphia 76ers and Doc Rivers, who had Redick for four of his seven seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavericks added Redick just before the deadline March 25, looking for a boost at the 3-point line as they try to climb into the top six in the Western Conference and avoid the play-in round for the playoffs. Redick entered late in the first quarter and missed two shots from inside the arc before hitting his first attempt from 3. He finished with four points, going 1 of 7 from the field and 1 of 3 from deep in Philadelphia's 113-95 victory. The 36-year-old Redick's last game for the Pelicans was March 3, when he scored 22 points despite going 1 of 5 from long range in a 128-124 loss to Chicago. The Mavericks also got Nicolo Melli in the deal, with Wesley Iwundu, James Johnson and a 2021 second-round pick going to New Orleans. Redick has averaged 12.9 points on 42% 3-point shooting over 15 seasons. He led the NBA at 48% shooting from long range in one of his seasons with the Clippers. This season Redick is averaging 8.7 points while shooting a career-low 36% from 3. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

DALLAS (AP) — JJ Redick made his Dallas debut Monday night after being sidelined by a sore right heel since being acquired from New Orleans at the trade deadline. The veteran shooting guard's return comes against one of his former teams and former coaches in the Philadelphia 76ers and Doc Rivers, who had Redick for four of his seven seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavericks added Redick just before the deadline March 25, looking for a boost at the 3-point line as they try to climb into the top six in the Western Conference and avoid the play-in round for the playoffs. Redick entered late in the first quarter and missed two shots from inside the arc before hitting his first attempt from 3. The 36-year-old Redick's last game for the Pelicans was March 3, when he scored 22 points despite going 1 of 5 from long range in a 128-124 loss to Chicago. The Mavericks also got Nicolo Melli in the deal, with Wesley Iwundu, James Johnson and a 2021 second-round pick going to New Orleans. Redick has averaged 12.9 points on 42% 3-point shooting over 15 seasons. He led the NBA at 48% shooting from long range in one of his seasons with the Clippers. This season Redick is averaging 8.7 points while shooting a career-low 36% from 3. More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

DALLAS (AP) — JJ Redick is set for his Dallas debut after being sidelined by a sore right heel since being acquired from New Orleans at the trade deadline. The veteran shooting guard's return comes Monday night against one of his former teams and former coaches in the Philadelphia 76ers and Doc Rivers, who had Redick for four of his seven seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavericks added Redick just before the deadline March 25, looking for a boost at the 3-point line as they try to climb into the top six in the Western Conference and avoid the play-in round for the playoffs. The 36-year-old Redick's last game for the Pelicans was March 3, when he scored 22 points despite going 1 of 5 from long range in a 128-124 loss to Chicago. The Mavericks also got Nicolo Melli in the deal, with Wesley Iwundu, James Johnson and a 2021 second-round pick going to New Orleans. Redick has averaged 12.9 points on 42% 3-point shooting over 15 seasons. He led the NBA at 48% shooting from long range in one of his seasons with the Clippers. This season Redick is averaging 8.7 points while shooting a career-low 36% from 3. More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

JJ Redick doesn't have an ideal number of games in mind to get ready for the playoffs with the Dallas Mavericks, who were thinking postseason when they acquired the shooting guard with an expiring contract. “The ideal number is the most amount of games possible,” said Redick, who is recovering from a right heel injury that required an injection and last played March 3. “I’m a rhythm player and so I want to be in a good rhythm going into the playoffs.” The Mavericks made a deal just before the trading deadline March 25, getting Redick and Nicolo Melli from New Orleans for James Johnson, Wes Iwundu, a 2021 second-round draft pick and cash. Redick met his new teammates at practice in New York on Thursday, a day before the Mavericks play the Knicks on their season-long five-game road trip. Redick has joined the team presumably for good this season, but hasn't started practicing. There's no timetable for his Dallas debut. “My understanding is that things are going in a very good direction,”... [More]

Kyle Lowry wound up staying with Toronto after all. Victor Oladipo is finally in Miami, a destination he's eyed in the past. And Rajon Rondo is headed back to Los Angeles, though not with the team he helped win the NBA title last season. The trade deadline has come and gone. And now, playoff pushes can really begin. Miami, Denver, the Clippers, Portland, Dallas, Boston and Atlanta were likely among the teams feeling convinced that they improved on deadline day after a flurry of moves Thursday, though the best player — at least this season — might have been landed by the Chicago Bulls. They got All-Star forward Nikola Vucevic from Orlando, a move that ushered in the start of a big-time rebuild by the Magic. “Anytime you trade a player like Nikola, it is a tough decision to make," Magic President Jeff Weltman said. Vucevic is the only player from this season's All-Star Game to be traded at the deadline. It was a steep price; Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu went to the Bulls for Otto Porter, Wendell... [More]

Kyle Lowry wound up staying with Toronto after all. Victor Oladipo is finally in Miami, a destination he's eyed in the past. And Rajon Rondo is headed back to Los Angeles, though not with the team he helped win the NBA title last season. The trade deadline has come and gone. And now, playoff pushes can really begin. Miami, Denver, the Clippers, Portland, Dallas, Boston and Atlanta were likely among the teams feeling convinced that they improved on deadline day after a flurry of moves Thursday, though the best player — at least this season — might have been landed by the Chicago Bulls. They got All-Star forward Nikola Vucevic from Orlando, a move that ushered in the start of a big-time rebuild by the Magic. “Anytime you trade a player like Nikola, it is a tough decision to make," Magic President Jeff Weltman said. The Magic traded three of their four leading scorers; in addition to the Vucevic move, Evan Fournier was sent to Boston and Aaron Gordon is headed to Denver. Acquiring Gordon was... [More]

Kyle Lowry stayed with the Toronto Raptors, and the Miami Heat got Victor Oladipo instead. And on a trade deadline day where moves were getting made right up until the last possible moment, the Denver Nuggets took a big swing at getting better for a playoff run while the Orlando Magic began a rebuild. Lowry — considered perhaps the biggest prize who was on the market — did not get traded, the Raptors apparently unable to find enough assets to their liking. Miami was one of the biggest pursuers for Lowry, who they may still target as a free agent later this year, and wound up adding Oladipo from the Houston Rockets. That move didn’t cost Miami much: Kelly Olynyk was on an expiring deal, and Avery Bradley has barely played for the Heat this season because of COVID-19 and then a calf injury. The deal also included a pick swap in 2022, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal needed league approval. Oladipo has wanted to be in... [More]

Kyle Lowry stayed with the Toronto Raptors, and the Miami Heat got Victor Oladipo instead. And on a trade deadline day where moves were getting made right up until the last possible moment, the Denver Nuggets took a big swing at getting better for a playoff run while the Orlando Magic began a rebuild. Lowry — perhaps the biggest prize on the market — did not get traded, the Raptors apparently unable to find enough assets to their liking. Miami was one of the biggest pursuers for Lowry, who they may still target as a free agent later this year, wound up adding Oladipo from the Houston Rockets. It didn’t cost Miami much: Kelly Olynyk was on an expiring deal, and Avery Bradley has barely played for the Heat this season because of COVID-19 and then a calf injury. The deal also included pick swap in 2022, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal needed league approval. Oladipo has wanted to be in Miami for some time, and the Rockets... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks have acquired veteran shooting guard JJ Redick and Italian forward Nicolo Melli from New Orleans in a trade Thursday that sent power forward James Johnson, small forward Wesley Iwundu and a second-round draft choice to the Pelicans, a person familiar with the deal said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not been announced. The move gives the playoff-contending Mavericks veteran depth and a player in Redick who has been an elite 3-point shooter for most of his career. The 36-year-old Redick, now in his 15th season, is a 41.5% career 3-point shooter but has played only intermittently for New Orleans this season. He has appeared in 31 of the Pelicans' 43 games, averaging 8.7 points in a little less than 19 minutes per game. Melli, 30, is in his second NBA season and has played in 22 games, averaging two points and 2.6 rebounds in 11 minutes per game. Johnson, 34, is a 12th-year veteran who has averaged 5.7 points and three rebounds in 29 games this season, while the 26-year-old Iwundu has averaged 2.1 points in 23 games. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Luka Doncic's first experience with the playoffs ended with questions about whether Marcus Morris of the Los Angeles Clippers was intentionally trying to hurt the young Dallas sensation in a first-round series won by LA. The Mavericks might have hinted at what they thought through trades and draft picks during this abbreviated offseason. Dallas acquired James Johnson and his black belt in karate from Oklahoma City in a three-team trade after using the club's first-round draft choice at No. 18 overall on Josh Green, who was a strong defender in his only season at Arizona. The Mavericks also sent their best 3-pointer shooter in Seth Curry to Philadelphia for Josh Richardson, described by coach Rick Carlisle as an “edgy guy who is a terrific defender.” “I don’t really take well to my brothers being messed with, but I’m not an instigator in situations so I’m not going to be out there just trying to get in people’s faces and do a lot of extra stuff,” Richardson said on the opening day of training... [More]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Call it Midsummer Madness.The NBA Summer League tournament is shaping up to be the most unpredictable bet in Las Vegas. The 30th and final seed advanced Thursday along with a No. 26 and a No. 27, after the Nos. 24, 25 and 29 seeds all won a day earlier.The 30 teams in the Summer League all played three preliminary round games and then were seeded for the tournament. It didn't take long to determine those seedings were meaningless.That was especially the case when the 30th-seeded Philadelphia 76ers won for the first time in Las Vegas by knocking off Deandre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns, who had won their first three games to earn the No. 3 seed.The top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers were able to avoid the chaos. The defending Summer League champions defeated their Staples Center rivals, the 17th-seeded Clippers, in their opener.Teams that lost Thursday play a consolation game Friday before the winning games return to action.Thursday's results:76ERS 88, SUNS 86Isaiah Miles scored... [More]

The Orlando Magic have signed second-round draft pick Wesley Iwundu, the team announced Tuesday.The 6-foot-7 Iwundu, who was the 33rd overall selection in the 2017 NBA Draft, averaged 13.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists at Kansas State last season.He was selected to the All-Big 12 third team by the coaches in both his junior and senior seasons.