NOTEWORTHY
Durant traded to Suns
IN THE WORLD OF SPORTS
The Phoenix Suns pulled a midnight blockbuster on Wednesday, acquiring 13-time all-star Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets, according to multiple reports.
The outlets, citing unnamed sources, said the Suns added Durant to a starting lineup that already includes an all-star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker, along with center Deandre Ayton.
Phoenix sent Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and additional draft compensation to the Nets.
The Suns also receive forward T.J. Warren in the deal.
Crowder, a former standout at Marquette, was then traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a deal made Thursday.
The 34-year-old Durant is still playing at an elite level, averaging nearly 30 points per game this season. Durant and the Suns were linked to trade rumors over the past summer, but nothing materialized until Wednesday.
Phoenix has never won an NBA championship. The Suns made the Finals two seasons ago, but lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. They also played in the Finals in 1976 and 1993.
NBA
In a three-team trade late Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers reached a deal to trade guard Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz and acquire guard D’Angelo Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal that also includes Utah sending guard Mike Conley to Minnesota.
The Lakers also got Malik Beasley and Vanderbilt from Utah.
Minnesota also will receive Nickeil AlexanderWalker and picks, and the Jazz will get former Marquetete guard Juan Toscano-Anderson and a first-round draft pick from the Lakers.
The Lakers continued to retool their roster Thursrday when they acquired center Mo Bamba from the Orlando Magic for veteran Patrick Beverley and a second-round pick, a person familiar with the deal told USA TODAY Sports.
The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly until the trade is official.
In other deals ahead of the NBA trade dealine on Thursday:
● The Atlanta Hawks reached a deal to trade Justin Holiday and former Wisconsin Badgers star Frank Kaminsky to Houston for Garrison Matthews and Bruno Fernando, a person familiar with the move told USA TODAY Sports.
The Hawks also acquired former Detroit small forward Saddiq Bey as part of a three-team trade with Golden State. The Hawks sent five secondround draft picks to the Warriors in the trade.
● Shortly after picking up forward Kevin Knox from the Pistons in a four-team deal that sent James Wiseman to Detroit, the Golden State Warriors sent Knox and the five second-round picks to the Portland Trail Blazers for guard Gary Payton II, according to ESPN.
Celtics’ Brown suffers facial injury: Boston Celtics all-star Jaylen Brown has a broken bone in his face, the team confirmed on Thursday.
The Celtics said Brown will miss Friday night’s game against Charlotte but provided no further details.
Brown left Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia after colliding with Jayson Tatum when they were both going for an offensive rebound.
Brown appeared to take Tatum’s elbow in the left side of his head.
Jarred
MLB
Yu Darvish has agreed to a new contract with the San Diego Padres that guarantees the 36-yearold ace an additional $90 million and will keep him with the club through the 2028 season, a person with direct knowledge of the deal said Thursday.
Darvish helped the Padres reach the NL Championship Series last season, which was one of the best in his 11-year big league career. He finished the year 16-8 with a 3.10 ERA and 197 strikeouts. He was 2-1 in the postseason.
SKIING
Canadian skier James Crawford edged Aleksander Aamodt Kilde by one-hundredth of a second to win the gold medal in the men’s super-G at the world championships on Thursday in Courchevel, France.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting anything today,” Crawford said. “It was consistency from top to bottom. I pushed out of the gate with a very clear mindset on where I wanted to be, what I wanted to ski.”
Alexis Pinturault finished 0.26 seconds behind to take bronze, two days after the Frenchman won the combined race at the worlds in his hometown.