Arkansas Online

NBA free agency

The Los Angeles Lakers kept adding to their free-agent haul Tuesday, agreeing to deals with forward Carmelo Anthony and guard Malik Monk (Bentonville). Anthony and Lakers star LeBron James are longtime friends and have wanted to be teammates, but their career paths have never crossed.

The Los Angeles Lakers kept adding to their free-agent haul Tuesday, agreeing to deals with forward Carmelo Anthony and guard Malik Monk (Bentonville).

Anthony’s agent, Aaron Mintz, confirmed that Anthony will join the Lakers.

Anthony and Lakers star LeBron James are longtime friends and have wanted to be teammates, but their illustrious career paths never crossed.

Now they get their chance after Anthony agreed to a one-year deal with the Lakers. The contract can’t be signed until the NBA’s new business year opens Friday at 2:01 p.m. Central. Until then, teams and players can only agree to terms.

In addition to Anthony and Monk, the Lakers also agreed to deals Tuesday with guards Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn.

Anthony, 37, is an 18-year veteran who averaged 13.4 points and made 40.9% of his three-pointers last season in Portland. The 6-7 Anthony was solid off the bench last season for the Trail Blazers.

Monk — who was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Charlotte Hornets, which made him an unrestricted free agent — also agreed to his deal Tuesday.

He’s a 6-3 guard in his fourth season who has the ability to knock down open shots.

Monk averaged 11.7 points and shot 40.1% from three-point range in 20.9 minutes per game last season in Charlotte. He was drafted 11th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Hornets.

While in high school in Arkansas, Monk was one of the state’s most decorated players at East Poinsett County in Lepanto and at Bentonville. Monk led Bentonville to two consecutive Class 7A state championship games in 2015 and 2016.

In his only season at Kentucky in 2016-17, Monk was the team’s leading scorer, averaging 19.8 ppg while helping lead the Wildcats to the Elite Eight.

The Lakers still have a few more roster spots to fill. The team entered free agency with only James, Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol and Alfonzo McKinnie under contract, and acquired guard Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards in a trade that will be completed Friday.

The Lakers also announced Tuesday that they had signed guards Joel Ayayi and Austin Reaves (Cedar Ridge) to two-way contracts. Ayayi averaged 12 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 32 games with Gonzaga last season, while Reaves averaged 18.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 25 games with Oklahoma.

In other NBA news Tuesday:

■ The Chicago Bulls made another major move, acquiring high-scoring small forward DeMar DeRozan a day after adding point guard Lonzo Ball. The Bulls agreed Tuesday to a three-year, $85 million contract with DeRozan as part of a sign-and-trade with San Antonio, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. It was not clear what the Spurs are getting in return. A fourtime All-Star, DeRozan, who turns 32 on Saturday, has averaged more than 20 points in each of the past eight seasons with Toronto and San Antonio. He scored 21.6 per game last year and shot just under 50%.

■ Stephen Curry, a two-time MVP and three-time champion, has agreed to a four-year, $215 million contract extension to remain with Golden State through 2026, a league source confirmed with Bay Area News Group. The extension makes him the first player in NBA history to sign two contracts worth at least $200 million. Curry, 33, will make $45.8 million for the 2021-22 season and extend his contract for four more years, guaranteeing him $261 million over the next five seasons.

■ Veteran point guard Ricky Rubio was acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Cleveland sent forward Taurean Prince along with a 2022 second-round draft pick and cash to the Timberwolves for Rubio, 30, who has spent 10 years in the NBA. The teams agreed to the deal last week prior to the draft, but had to wait for league approval and because Rubio was in Japan playing for Spain at the Tokyo Games. Rubio averaged 8.6 points and 6.4 assists last season for the Timberwolves.

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2021-08-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

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