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2024 NBA free agency: Report: Sixers among four teams that will have discussions with Warriors’ Klay Thompson nba,free,agency,report,sixers,among,four,teams,that,will,have,discussions,with,warriors,klay,thompson,liberty,ballers,front-page,nba-free-agency,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news

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The first domino to fall once 2024 NBA free agency officially opened was that the Golden State Warriors and Klay Thompson will be going their separate ways.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the two sides will be working towards a sign-and-trade.

Minutes later, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski named the Sixers as one of four teams that are planning on having discussions with Thompson to facilitate that trade.

Given who’s reporting this, it’s certainly notable that the Sixers were one of the team’s mentioned to be interested in Thompson’s services. At the same time, with Paul George’s decision reportedly set to dictate the market, and the Sixers still being strong suitors, it’s hard to see Philadelphia making this trade before George has made a decision.

But the Sixers’ having nearly $60 million available in cap space will likely have them named in just about every high stakes negotiation until they begin to spend some of that money.

If the plan is to sign George and also work out a sign-and-trade for Thompson, it could take some serious cap gymnastics from Daryl Morey. Still, adding a shooter like Thompson — along with a shooter like George — to complement Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey is intriguing.

Swiatek seals place among greats with ‘surreal’ 4th French Open

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Poland’s Iga Swiatek celebrates her victory over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini after their women’s singles final match on Court Philippe-Chatrier on day fourteen of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2024. (Photo by Emmanuel Dunand / AFP)

Iga Swiatek secured her place among tennis greats on Saturday as she joined an exclusive club of four-time women’s French Open champions with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Jasmine Paolini.

The 23-year-old from Poland became only the fourth woman to win four Roland Garros singles titles in the Open era, joining Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Justine Henin.

She is also the first player to claim three successive women’s titles in Paris since Henin in 2007. Monica Seles was the first to do so, triumphing from 1990-92.

READ: Iga Swiatek cruises to third straight French Open title

“I’m really proud of myself, because the expectations obviously have been pretty high from the outside. Pressure, as well,” said Swiatek.

“I’m a perfectionist, so there is always pressure behind me. But I think I’m fine with handling my own pressure.

“It’s when the pressure from the outside hits me, then it’s a little bit worse. But I managed it really well at this tournament.”

Swiatek’s latest coronation came as no surprise, but her run to the title was not without its hiccups — and tears.

She saved a match point against Naomi Osaka in the second round, later weeping in the gym as her emotions took over.

READ: Iga Swiatek beats Coco Gauff to reach French Open final

“I honestly thought that I’m going to be out of the tournament,” Swiatek recalled after her third-round win.

“Even though I felt something on court, it kind of hit me after. I was happy that I won, but I still felt like I was really on the edge. So, yeah, I just cried.”

From that point, nobody could get close to Swiatek, who conceded a mere 11 games from the fourth round onwards — the joint-fewest en route to winning a women’s major in the Open era.

Rare treble

The world number one also completed a Madrid-Rome-Roland Garros treble. The only other woman in history to do it in the same season is Serena Williams.

“This tournament has been pretty surreal with its beginning and with second round, and then I was able to get my game better and better every match,” said Swiatek.

Ominously for her rivals, the escape act against Osaka has filled the Pole with even greater resolve.

“For sure it gives me the feeling that I should always believe in myself, that I can find my tennis even if I’m in big trouble, you know and with this tennis, fight back,” said Swiatek. “It gives me confidence.”

At 23, she has won the same number of French Open titles as Rafael Nadal, the record 14-time men’s champion, had at the same age.

With the exception of her 2022 US Open victory, Swiatek’s success in Paris far exceeds her results at the other Grand Slams.

But as a former Wimbledon junior champion and a winner of six WTA 1000 hard-court events, it is surely only a matter of time until Swiatek hits upon the right formula to translate her clay form into more major titles on other surfaces.

It was after Nadal’s fourth Roland Garros that the Spaniard went on to lift his maiden Wimbledon trophy.

Swiatek, who said before the tournament it was “too early” to consider herself the ‘Queen of Clay’, again was reluctant to draw comparisons with her idol Nadal.

Swiatek has yet to make it past the quarter-finals of the main draw at Wimbledon, and is not setting any specific goals.

“I don’t expect a lot. The balls are different. Overall tennis is different on grass. I’ll just see and I’ll work hard to play better there,” she said.

Mavs plan to get Celtics to fight among themselves

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Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, fornt, and Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving vie for the ball during the first half of Game 1 of basketball’s NBA Finals, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

BOSTON — Jason Kidd couldn’t figure out how to stop the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Now he’s hoping they will get in their own way.

The Mavericks coach seemed eager to sow dissension in the Boston locker room on Saturday when he singled out Jaylen Brown as the Celtics’ best player — words transparently designed to irk Jayson Tatum, an actual NBA first-teamer who was sixth in the voting for the league’s MVP.

Asked during his off-day media availability about a game-plan to defend Brown, Kidd said, “Well, Jaylen’s their best player …” prompting reporters to perk up and wonder: Did he really say that? (It was the final question of his news conference, so there was no follow-up.)

Tatum said it won’t work.

READ: NBA Finals: Attitude, not environment, key for Mavericks in NBA Finals fightback

“We understand that people try to drive a wedge between us. I guess it’s a smart thing to do — or try to do,” Tatum said. “We’ve been in this position for many years, of guys trying to divide us and say that one of us should be traded, or one is better than the other. So it’s not our first time at the rodeo.”

On that, Brown agreed completely.

“We’ve been just extremely focused on what our roles and our jobs are. We have all had to sacrifice,” he said. “Right now, at this point, it’s whatever it takes to win. And we can’t let any outside interpretations try to get in between us.”

Drafted third overall in back-to-back years, Brown and Tatum have emerged as one of the NBA’s best duos, combining to lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals five times in their seven seasons together. But even with the success — 64 wins this year, the league’s No. 1 overall seed, and a second trip to the NBA Finals — they have had to combat speculation that there wasn’t room in the locker room for both of them.

Although Tatum’s career numbers have been better, Brown is the highest-paid player in the league — a quirk of timing and age that gave him the first shot at a supermax contract extension that will earn him more than $300 million over five years. Brown also outplayed Tatum in the 2022 NBA Finals, was the MVP of this year’s conference finals and outscored Tatum 22-16 in the Game 1 victory over Dallas on Thursday night.

That may explain why Kidd said on Saturday — twice — that Brown was Boston’s main threat.

READ: NBA Finals: Celtics’ formula leaves Mavericks searching for solution

“Jaylen’s their best player,” the Mavericks coach said. “He did everything, and that’s what your best player does. Just understanding how to play both sides — defense and offense at a high rate — he’s been doing that the whole playoffs.”

But no one else seems to think so.

Tatum averaged 27 points, eight rebounds and five assists this season, and Brown averaged 23, 5.5 and 3.6. And even with Brown outscoring him in Game 1, Tatum’s numbers are also better in the playoffs so far. (And besides: The real star of the opener was Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis.)

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said he’s not worried about internal rivalries getting in his team’s way, as long as his players “focus on the truth.”

“What goes on in our locker room, how we communicate with each other, how we build relationships with each other and how we treat each other on and off the floor, that’s the most important thing,” he said.

The Mavericks have their own Big Two, with five-time All-NBA first-team guard Luka Doncic teaming up with Kyrie Irving to form an All-Star backcourt. Irving, who teamed with LeBron James to win the 2016 NBA championship in Cleveland even as they struggled to co-exist, said he tries not to pay attention to talk pitting him against his teammate.

“I’m just here to play basketball,” Irving said. “You’ve got to be selfless in your approach. Obviously, you’re not going to get it right all the time, but as a teammate, you just want to push those other things to the side that don’t really matter or get you better as a team. So we just leave it to everybody else to argue whose team it is and who has the most responsibility. It’s all our jobs to be prepared.”