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Despite solid play on his rookie deal, Tari Eason did not get a rookie extension from the Houston Rockets.

Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, Eason and the Rockets “could not bridge gaps on multiple fronts” before Monday’s deadline, and he’ll now be a restricted free agent after the 2025-26 campaign.

Eason, the 17th overall pick out of LSU in 2022, had a solid start to his NBA career, putting up 9.3 points and six boards off the bench as a rookie. His progress was delayed in his second campaign as he was limited to just 22 games because of issues surrounding a stress reaction in his left leg.

After the injury-marred season, Eason had a career year in 2024-25, posting 12 points and 6.4 rebounds while playing around 25 minutes per game off the bench. He also showed flashes of his defensive potential as he averaged 1.7 steals and nearly a block per game.

Eason had some injury issues in his third campaign, missing 25 games because of various ailments, but it was clearly a year of progress.

Though he didn’t get a rookie extension, the Rockets seem prepared to keep Eason around in restricted free agency. The Athletic’s Kelly Iko reported in June that Houston was “comfortable matching any offer that would come” for Eason.

The Rockets also showed their affinity for Eason when they refused to include him in their trade for Kevin Durant. While Eason’s role might decrease a bit with the addition of Durant, he’ll likely still be a key piece in the rotation.

With 2025-26 now officially a contract year for Eason, he’ll look to make the most of the season as he tries to earn a lucrative deal next offseason.

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The Denver Nuggets rewarded one of their talented young players after his continued improvement last year.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Nuggets signed swingman Christian Braun to a five-year contract extension worth $125 million on Monday. He was originally set to make $4.9 million during the 2025-26 season, which was been the final year on his rookie deal.

NBA insider Jake Fischer previously reported that “the low end” of the range Braun was seeking in his new contract was estimated to be around $25 million per year, so the youngster got his wish.

The No. 21 pick in the 2022 draft, Braun made a jump in his third year with averages of 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals across 79 games with 77 starts. He had averaged 7.3 points during his sophomore season, making him one of two players to increase his scoring average by more than eight points alongside Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. He was also incredibly efficient, shooting 58.0 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from three-point range.

During the postseason, Braun ranked fourth on the Nuggets with 12.6 points per game while adding 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals. Denver fell in the Western Conference Semifinals after pushing the eventual NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games.

The Nuggets added depth around star center Nikola Jokic and point guard Jamal Murray this offseason, but extending Braun makes it clear that he’s also a big part of their future. While they acquired swingman Cameron Johnson from the Brooklyn Nets, they didn’t make a pick in the 2025 draft, making Braun’s presence even more important for their young core.

If Braun continues his upward trajectory, he could be in for a bigger role this season as Denver tries to return to title contention.

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The Portland Trail Blazers have committed to one of their young pieces for the long term.

Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Blazers signed Shaedon Sharpe to a four-year, $90 million extension. Sharpe’s rookie deal was set to expire after the 2025-26 campaign.

The deal comes after Portland signed Toumani Camara to a four-year, $82 million deal on Sunday.

The extension for Sharpe comes after the best season of the 22-year-old’s career. The former seventh overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft put up 18.5 points per game, which was the second-most on the team behind Anfernee Simons, who is now with the Boston Celtics.

Sharpe has established himself as a capable scorer, and being just 22 means he still has plenty of room to develop his game further.

The Blazers have been in rebuilding mode for the last four seasons, but are starting to put together a strong young core with some valuable veterans also in the fold. Portland’s presumed starting lineup will feature Sharpe, Camara, Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan, all of whom are 25 years old or younger. Jrue Holiday, who joined the Blazers in the Simons trade, will likely be the starter at point guard.

Portland also has Scoot Henderson, who is looking to put together a breakout year this season, though he will be out to start the season because of a torn left hamstring.

The Blazers weren’t too limited financially, as they had $7.9 million in first apron space and $19.8 million in second apron space before the two deals on Sunday. Now, they’ve secured two vital pieces to their rebuild in Sharpe and Camara, and they’ll look to get closer to being a championship-caliber team in 2025-26.

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How badly did Kevin Durant want to be back in Texas — the state where he played his college ball — and to be on a team with a legit title chance in the next couple of years? Hereâ€s the answer:

Durant took about $30 million less than his max in agreeing to a two-year, $90 million contract extension with the Houston Rockets, a deal first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN. The second year of that extension is a player option. Durant is in the final year of his current contract at $54.7 million and now is locked in with the Rockets for two years beyond that — and is taking a nearly $10 million a year drop from that salary to be part of a contender in Houston.

It was expected that Durant would get less than the max from Houston, but the expectation this summer was that he still wanted a nine-figure contract extension. This came in a little below that number, but it gives the Rockets flexibility in roster building over the next couple of years, such as signing Tari Eason to an extension but staying below the second tax apron.

Durant had Houston on his list of preferred destinations where he wanted to be traded out of Phoenix last summer, and he is a hand-in-glove fit for the teamâ€s needs — shooting and half-court offensive creation. The Rockets had an elite defense and a wealth of high-level young players and athletes — Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun are at the top of that list — but their offense in the halfcourt became stagnant and ineffective (22nd in the league in halfcourt offense via Cleaning the Glass). Durant singlehandedly changes that and brings shooting to the table.

Durant is hopeful he can retire in Houston, he told Chris Mannix of SI.com.

“Iâ€m looking to be here as long as I can, play my last years of my career. Thatâ€s the intent. I know, I said that about Phoenix, too, but thatâ€s the intent. I would love to do that. I mean, Iâ€m 37 years old and Iâ€m going on 19 years in the league. I want to be solidified in a spot and build with a team with a group of guys thatâ€s going to be around for a while. So hopefully this is it.â€

Last season, in a rough season for the Suns, Durant, 37, still averaged 26.6 points, six rebounds, and 4.2 assists a game while shooting 43% from 3-point range. He is still one of the best pure bucket getters in the game and exactly what the Rockets need.

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Newcastle United have agreed a move for a hugely promising teenager, as manager Eddie Howe adds exciting talent to his squad.

The Magpies infamously lost Alexander Isak over the summer but managed to improve the depth available, bringing in the likes of Anthony Elanga, Aaron Ramsdale, Jacob Ramsey and two strikers in the form of Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa.

With Howe looking to compete on four fronts this season, there is clearly a focus on raising the floor of the Toon squad – and now the club have agreed a deal for another wonderkid.

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Newcastle have had a keen focus on bringing through younger talents since the club’s takeover in 2021 – such as Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall – but unfortunately, many of the youngsters either signed or promoted from the academy haven’t been given integrated at St. James’ Park.

Yankuba Minteh was sold to Brighton & Hove Albion and Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest, as the Magpies looked to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), with Eddie Howe even admitting his regret in having to let the latter leave.

Elliot Anderson was regrettably sold (Image credit: Getty Images)

According to Keith Downie of Sky Sports, Newcastle have now agreed to pay £350,000 for Josh Kenchington of Barnsley in a massive statement for the club.

At just 15 years old, 2010-born Kenchington is a two-footed centre-back who already stands at over 6ft tall, and having come through at Oakwell, there are obvious comparisons with John Stones.

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Downie claims in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that Newcastle beat the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to the signing of the wonderkid, who will move to the northeast and complete his education in Newcastle upon completion of the transfer.

FourFourTwo understands that Kenchington is not in immediate contention for a first-team position, with the club looking to develop him before pushing him into senior football.

Newcastle have agreed to pay £350,000 plus significant bonuses for wonder-kid Josh Kenchington. #NUFC second bid to Barnsley was accepted, after a £275,000 first offer was turned down. Compared to John Stones, Kenchington was playing under 18 football aged just 14.… pic.twitter.com/uQqro1mDMHOctober 17, 2025

The teenager has already played in age groups above his own, however, and represented England’s youth sides.

Newcastle travel to Brighton this afternoon as Premier League action returns.

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Milwaukee Bucks guard AJ Green has agreed to a four-year, $45 million fully guaranteed contract extension with the franchise, agent Matt Bollero of ProMondo Sports told ESPN on Thursday.

Green represents a tremendous success story for the Bucks as an Iowa native who went from undrafted in 2022 to landing a two-way contract, then a standard deal and now a lucrative long-term pact.

Green is now under contract through the 2029-30 season in Milwaukee as the Bucks keep him from entering free agency next summer – a critical commitment given that the 26-year-old has emerged as the full-time starter for Doc Rivers entering the new campaign.

Green scored 541 points last season after scoring just 406 points in his first two NBA seasons, for an average of 7.4 per game. He is one of the elite shooters in the league as a career 42% 3-point shooter and has shot at least 40% on 3-pointers in all three seasons of his NBA career.

Green has only started eight regular-season games in his career, but during the first round of the playoffs in April, Rivers inserted Green into the starting lineup for a must-win Game 5 and Green responded with 19 points and played 46 minutes. His playoff production increased to 11.0 points while shooting 51% from 3 during a strong postseason, which he has followed up with a spot in the starting lineup for all four of the Bucks’ preseason games this month.

Green’s 42.7% 3-point mark last season was the sixth-best among players to attempt at least 300 3-pointers, according to ESPN Research, and he shot 44.9% on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, which was fifth-best among players with at least 250 attempts.

ESPN’s Jamal Collier contributed to this report.

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The Vegas Golden Knights announced Thursday they agreed to a contract with goaltender Carter Hart, who was one of the five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team who were found not guilty in July of sexually assaulting a woman in 2018.

Vegas released a statement along with its announcement:

“Following the reinstatement decision agreed on by the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association, goaltender Carter Hart will be joining the Vegas Golden Knights organization. The Golden Knights are aligned with the process and assessment the NHL and NHLPA made in their decision. We remain committed to the core values that have defined our organization from its inception and expect that our players will continue to meet these standards moving forward.”

Hart, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, Dillon Dubé and Michael McLeod were all found not guilty in a verdict in which Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said prosecutors were unable to meet the burden of proof of the allegations.

The Associated Press noted police initially closed their investigation without charges in 2019 but reopened it after the complainant sued Hockey Canada in 2022. Hockey Canada ended up settling the lawsuit.

The players were then charged in 2024. Four of them were on NHL rosters at the time, while Formenton was playing for HC Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland’s National League. The players took a “leave of absence” following the charges and were then not tendered qualifying offers after the 2023-24 campaign.

Last month, the NHL announced the players were eligible to sign contracts starting Oct. 15 and can play in games starting Dec. 1.

“The events that transpired after the 2018 Hockey Canada Foundation Gala in London, Ontario, prior to these players’ arrival in the NHL, were deeply troubling and unacceptable,” the league said in its statement. “The League expects everyone connected with the game to conduct themselves with the highest level of moral integrity. And, in this case, while found not to have been criminal, the conduct of the players involved certainly did not meet that standard.”

According to the statement, the NHL also opened its own third-party investigation in 2022 but paused it in 2024 when criminal charges were filed.Â

“In relying on both our own investigation, and the conclusions reached by Justice Carroccia in her opinion, and the players’ acquittal, the League has determined that the conduct at issue falls woefully short of the standards and values that the League and its Member Clubs expect and demand,” it said.

The NHL explained it evaluated the entire situation, the acquittal in court and the reality the players have been away from the game for 20 months and came up with the timeline it did since being eligible to play in games starting in December would mean approximately two years out of the league.

Hart previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2018-19 through 2023-24 and appeared in 227 games with 218 starts. He has a career save percentage of .906 and a goals against average of 2.94.

Vegas is off to a 2-0-2 start to the 2025-26 season and next plays against the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

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Jason Kidd is an in-demand coach. In the past two years, when the Lakers and Knicks had job openings, they asked for permission to talk to Kidd, but were shot down.

Now the Mavericks have locked Kidd up with a multi-year contract extension, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

This is on top of the extension Kidd received last season, and he reportedly had two years total left on his deal. This likely keeps Kidd under contract through the first few years of the Cooper Flagg era in Dallas.

In four seasons as the Dallas head coach, Kidd has won 55% of his regular-season games and led the team to the playoffs twice, including an NBA Finals run in 2024. Heâ€s a coach players want to play for, which is part of the reason both the Lakers and Knicks checked on his availability, but there is no way the Mavericks were letting him walk out the door.

This season, Kidd coaches an interesting Dallas team with a huge and active starting front line of Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II (with P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford off the bench) — this is a long and athletic roster with quality rim protectors. However, with Kyrie Irving out for the first part of the season (there is no timeline for his return from a torn ACL), Kidd will need to rely on Dâ€Angelo Russell and Klay Thompson in the backcourt, which is not a great defensive unit.

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After denying the New York Knicks’ request to interview head coach Jason Kidd earlier this offseason, the Dallas Mavericks made a further commitment to him on Xday.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Mavs rewarded Kidd with a multi-year contract on Tuesday.

The team also had signed him to a multi-year contract extension in May 2024.

Kidd was rumored to have mutual interest in the head coaching opening with the Knicks following the surprising firing of Tom Thibodeau, but the Mavs wasted little time in shutting down New York’s attempt to poach the 52-year-old.

Dallas originally hired Kidd prior to the 2021-22 season, bringing him back to the franchise that drafted him No. 2 overall in 1994 and with which he won an NBA championship in 2011. In four years at the helm, the former point guard has guided the Mavs to two playoff appearances with a run to the Western Conference Finals in 2022 and a trip to the NBA Finals in 2024.

Kidd was tasked with an unimaginable set of circumstances during the 2024-25 season, as Dallas general manager Nico Harrison made the shocking decision to trade star guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. The move kicked off a series of unfortunate events for the Mavs, as multiple key players missed extended time with injuries, including a six-week absence for star forward Anthony Davis and a season-ending torn ACL for star guard Kyrie Irving.

After all the chaos, Dallas finished the year with a 39-43 record and lost in the final play-in tournament game. Despite the disappointing ending to the season, the Mavs’ luck quickly turned around when they landed the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft lottery. The team used the selection on Duke star and National Player of the Year Cooper Flagg, providing optimism that the future is bright in Dallas.

Kidd will now turn the page as the Mavs enter a new era with Flagg and Davis leading the way, as Tuesday’s deal cements him as the man to try to lead the franchise back to the title picture.

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Star defenceman Lane Hutson and the Canadiens agreed to an eight-year, $70.8-million contract extension on Monday.

The extension, which begins next season, will pay Hutson an average annual salary of $8.85 million. It will run through the end of the 2033-34 season.

Hutson, 21, is the reigning Calder Trophy winner as the NHL’s top rookie after a historic season in which he had six goals and 60 assists, becoming the first Canadiens player to win it since Ken Dryden in 1971-72.

He became just the fourth defenceman in the NHLâ€s modern era to lead rookies in scoring, joining Bobby Orr, Brian Leetch and Quinn Hughes.Â

His 60 assists were tied for the most by a rookie defenceman in NHL history, and no rookie, regardless of position, has had more helpers for the Habs in a single year.

With the move to extend Hutson, the Canadiens have locked up the majority of their core for the long term, with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Noah Dobson and Kaiden Guhle all under contract until at least through the 2029-30 season.

Hutsonâ€s deal was a pressing matter for Montreal, as he was set to become a restricted free agent after the 2025-26 season.

Hutson was drafted in 2022 by the Canadiens in the second round, 62nd overall, out of the U.S. National Development Team. He went on to play two years of collegiate hockey at Boston University.

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