NBA commissioner Silver extended through 2024

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has received a five-year contract extension, a reward for accomplishments that include rapid growth in the value of franchises and attendance records around the league being set annually.

Board of Governors Chairman Larry Tanenbaum of the Toronto Raptors announced the deal, one that keeps Silver under contract through the 2024 NBA Finals. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Silver, 56, led a very smooth series of negotiations with the NBA players union on the way to a new collective bargaining agreement in 2016 one where salaries around the league soared thanks to a $24.1 billion, nine-year television and media rights deal that he helped strike with Disney and Turner Sports two years earlier.

Franchise values of the 30 NBA clubs have risen fivefold, from an estimated $12 billion when Silver took over to $60 billion now. This was also the fourth consecutive season where the league set an all-time attendance record, with 22.1 million fans attending games in 2017-18.

This season also marked the launch of the first eSports league the NBA 2K League, which Silver has raved about.

“From the NBA’s standpoint, this is our fourth league,” he said earlier this year. “Of course we have the NBA, the WNBA and the G League, and now this is the fourth league in our family, and that’s exactly as we’re treating it: one more professional league.”

Silver has been with the NBA since 1992, and became deputy commissioner under David Stern in 2005. When Stern retired on Feb. 1, 2014 after holding the office for 30 years, Silver took over as the fifth commissioner in NBA history.

NHL

SABRES MAKE MOVES»

Sabres general manager Jason Botterill is drawing from his championship past in Pittsburgh to provide a boost in Buffalo.

The Sabres improved their top-six forward ranks by acquiring Conor Sheary and defenseman Matt Hunwick in a trade with Pittsburgh on Wednesday. The Penguins obtained a conditional 2019 fourth-round pick that could improve to a third-rounder in move that frees up $5.5 million of space under their salary cap before the NHL’s free-agency period opens Sunday.

Sheary was the key to the deal for Botterill. He’s the former Penguins assistant GM who watched the undrafted player develop in making the jump from signing a minor-league tryout contract to winning two Stanley Cup titles playing alongside Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby.

“When people were saying he couldn’t do it, he found a way,” said Botterill, who had a hand in signing Sheary in 2014. “That sort of determination and compete and work ethic something we’re looking to bring to our group.”

Sheary is a dependable two-way forward who will be given an opportunity to play wing on one of Buffalo’s top lines centered by Jack Eichel or Ryan O’Reilly. Botterill valued Sheary’s playoff experience and ability to perform against other teams’ top defenders.

After scoring 23 goals and 53 points in 61 games in 2016-17, Sheary’s production dropped last year, when he finished with 18 goals and 30 points in 79 games.