NFL: Wide receivers A.J. Green, Emmanuel Sanders move on, get paid; Raiders add receiver John Brown.
As the NFL opened its business year Wednesday, A.J. Green and Emmanuel Sanders prospered.
Some teams officially announced deals that consistently leaked during the “legal tampering” period that began Monday, and others stayed pretty silent.
Green joins the Cardinals and ends a decade in Cincinnati, though he has been plagued by injuries recently and sat out 2019. Arizona, which also acquired center Rodney Hudson from the Raiders for a thirdround draft pick, already has a No. 1 receiver in DeAndre Hopkins, and 11time Pro Bowler Larry Fitzgerald has not made a decision on returning for an 18th season. He got a oneyear deal worth $8 million. The Cardinals also added placekicker Matt Prater.
Sanders didn’t make out quite as well as he heads to Buffalo. But the former 49ers receiver gets to join AllPro Stefon
Diggs catching balls from Josh Allen for a team that went to its first AFC title game since the 1993 season before losing at Kansas City.
Sanders also played for Pittsburgh and Denver, where he won a Super Bowl, and spent 2020 with New Orleans. He’ll get about $6 million for 2021.
⏩ Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who loves speedy wideouts, added John Brown, recently cut by Buffalo. Brown could be a deep threat in Las Vegas after Nelson Agholor signed with New England.
Brown, 31 in April, is coming off the secondleastproductive season of his career and was limited to nine games with knee and ankle injuries.
The Raiders also are bringing
back offensive lineman Denzelle Good on a twoyear contract and reserve receiver Zay Jones on a oneyear deal.
⏩ The Chiefs agreed to a $5 million contract for next season with threetime Pro Bowler Kyle Long, who will come out of retirement to help their rebuilt offensive line, a person familiar with the negotiations said.
Kansas City also agreed to oneyear deals to keep running back Darrel Williams, linebacker Ben Niemann and defensive end Taco Charlton, sources said.
⏩ The Panthers shifted their focus to defense, agreeing to terms with linebackers Haason Reddick and Denzel Perryman and defensive end Morgan Fox, said a source.
⏩ Detroit took away one of division rival Green Bay’s offensive players, giving a twoyear contract to running back Jamaal Williams.
⏩ Freeagent quarterback Tyrod Taylor agreed to a oneyear deal with the Texans, a source said.
Trades: The Falcons added a blocking tight end for new head coach Arthur Smith’s offense by acquiring Lee Smith from the Bills in exchange for a seventhround pick in 2022 . ... A person familiar with the decision said that the Rams are finalizing a trade sending defensive tackle Michael Brockers to the Lions. ... The Jaguars traded oftinjured tight end Josh Oliver to the Ravens for a conditional draft pick in 2022.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 10 of his 32 points in overtime to lead the Bucks to a 109105 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia on Wednesday night in a matchup of two of the Eastern Conference’s best teams.
Antetokounmpo finished with 15 rebounds and five assists, ending his streak of tripledoubles at three. The Bucks, who trailed by 19 points early in the second half, pulled 11⁄2 games back of the Eastleading 76ers and Nets.
“They flipped the switch in the second half,” Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers said.
With P.J. Tucker reportedly headed to Milwaukee in a trade with Houston, Donte DiVincenzo scored 20 points and Jrue Holiday added 19 for the Bucks. They have won five in a row.
Milwaukee’s D.J. Augustin and D.J. Wilson, who — according to ESPN — are going to Houston in the trade, did not play. Torrey Craig, reportedly headed to Phoenix in a deal to clear salary space for Tucker, also sat out.
Tobias Harris scored 19 points and Danny Green added 18 for Philadelphia. The 76ers had won six in a row. AllStar Joel Embiid sat for the third straight game with a bruised left knee. Ben Simmons had 13 points and 12 assists.
Kings 121, Wizards 119: De’Aaron Fox scored 28 points and hit a jumper over Bradley Beal with 0.7 of a second left to lift visiting Sacramento over Washington. Russell Westbrook had 26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists — his 11th triple-double of the season — for the Wizards, and Beal scored 29 points.
Nets 125, Pacers 115: James Harden had 40 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds for his 11th triple-double of the season, leading visiting Brooklyn past Indiana. Harden was without fellow All-Stars Kyrie Irving (groin) and Kevin Durant (hamstring) and newcomer Blake Griffin (knee). Malcolm Brogdon led Indiana with 24 points, and Domantas Sabonis had a triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Mavericks 105, Clippers 89: Luka Doncic scored 42 points and host Dallas earned a split of a two-game set against its first-round playoff opponent from last season, beating Los Angeles. The Clippers beat the Mavs in six games last summer in the NBA’s playoff bubble. Paul George had 28 points for the Clippers, and Kawhi Leonard added 20.
Grizzlies 89, Heat 85: Ja Morant dribbled the length of the court for a tie-breaking layup with 1.2 seconds left and host Memphis beat Miami to end a three-game skid. Jimmy Butler was questionable to play after twisting his left ankle late in Tuesday’s loss to Cleveland but led the Heat with 24 points on 10-for-20 shooting. The Heat’s win streak ended at five.
Pistons 116, Raptors 112: Saddiq Bey had 28 points and 12 rebounds and host Detroit overcame Norman Powell’s 43 points to beat Toronto. Bey was 6-for-10 from 3-point range. Chris Boucher added 21 points for the Raptors. They have lost six straight.
Cavaliers 117, Celtics 110: Collin Sexton scored 29 points, Darius Garland added 25 and Cleveland’s young guards made big plays down the stretch to beat visiting Boston. The Cavs ended a four-game losing streak and a nine-game skid against Boston. Cleveland had a lead all night, but the Cavs had to hold off Boston’s secondhalf rally, led by Jayson Tatum (29 points) and Jaylen Brown (28).
Spurs 106, Bulls 99: Jakob Poeltl tied a career high with 20 points and set one with 16 rebounds and San Antonio used a huge fourth quarter to win in Chicago. The Spurs trailed by 23 in the second quarter and were down 58-40 after their lowest-scoring first half of the season. But they dominated Chicago 39-19 in the fourth to grab their second straight win after losing three of four. Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 29 points.
Nuggets 129, Hornets 104: Nikola Jokic had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, Michael Porter Jr. added 28 points and host Denver pulled away in the second half to win for the seventh time in eight games and snap Charlotte’swin streak at four games. Jokic has 10 triple-doubles this season and 51 overall.
Trade: The Heat agreed to send center Meyers Leonard and a second-round pick to the Thunder for forward Trevor Ariza, two people with knowledge of the situation said. Leonard has been away from the Heat for more than a week after a video surfaced of him using an anti-Semitic slur while livestreaming the playing of a video game.