Rumors

By Monday, Macdonald was back to the grind. Hockey, baseball, arena league football, surfing, volleyball — name it and Bill Macdonald called it. That night, a West Coast Conference basketball game between Portland and San Diego needed a broadcaster and Macdonald showed up at the Jenny Craig Pavilion — the “Slim Gym” — armed with stats about Portland’s Pooh Jeter and USD’s Ross DeRogatis. He’d spoken to the Sports Information Directors. He called the game that night, packed up and moved on to whatever pregame show or gymnastics meet was next. The Lakers gig, he thought, was a one-off. Twenty years later, before a Lakers game against the Trail Blazers in Portland, Macdonald started telling that story and Lantz cut him off. “When you walked in,” Lantz said with a grin, “they said, ‘Didn’t you do Kobe’s 81-point game last night?’”

New York Times

Jake Fischer: The San Diego Clippers are trading a 2027 first-round G League pick to Austin in order to acquire Cam Reddish from the Spurs, sources say, and bring the former lottery pick to Los Angeles’ affiliate club.

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For years, Jimmy Butler has been one of the San Diego Wave’s most visible fans. Now, he’s a part-owner. Butler has joined the club’s ownership as an investor, the Wave announced Monday morning. The six-time NBA All-Star now with the Golden State Warriors is a Poway resident and longtime soccer fan. He was on hand Saturday, when the Wave set a franchise record for goals in a 6-1 win over the Chicago Stars at Snapdragon Stadium.

San Diego Union-Tribune

“Soccer has been a passion of mine for a long time, and being part of the game in a meaningful way has always been a dream,” Butler said. “San Diego has become a city close to my heart, and I’m proud to invest in a club that is pushing boundaries, building something lasting, and setting a new standard for what women’s sports can be both on and off the pitch.”

San Diego Union-Tribune

Jon Krawczynski: Tom Thibodeau visited Wolves camp for 2nd time this fall. First time was in San Diego. Finch: "He loves basketball and he’s going on his little circuit going around the country and had him in our meeting today, picking his brain about a bunch of stuff. Really enjoy his company."

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Alessandro Luigi Maggi: 🚨 Virtus Bologna is close to sign Kai Jones, I am told. The Bahamian big man played 12 NBA games with the Mavs and 28 with the Clippers last season. In the G League, he averaged 12.5 points and 7.3 rebounds in 15 games with San Diego.

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The LA Clippers have signed wing Patrick Baldwin Jr. and guard TyTy Washington Jr. to training camp contract. Both Baldwin and Washington will go to camp with LA, then will likely join the San Diego Clippers of the G League. Baldwin played for both the Clippers and Washington Wizards last season. In 23 G League games, the 6-foot-9 wing averaged 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Washington spent last season on a two-way contract with the Phoenix Suns. The 6-foot-3 point guard averaged 21.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 7.0 assists in 32 G League games.

RealGM

Vinny Benedetto: The Nuggets just announced they will play a preseason game against the Timberwolves in San Diego on Oct. 4. Nuggets held training camp in San Diego in 2022 and 2023.

bsky.app

A fellow former two-way contract player, Izaiah Brockington wowed the crowd with his athleticism, drive-and-kick game, and shooting ability. The 6-foot-4 guard spent multiple seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans and their G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron, before he was dealt to the San Diego Clippers. Brockington finished a strong season in the G League and suited up for the Vancouver Bandits of the Canadian Elite Basketball League to follow.

Responsible Gaming

Michael Scotto: The Golden State Warriors are converting Braxton Key to a standard NBA contract, sources told @hoopshype . Key averaged 16.5 points on 50.6% from the field, 8.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks in the G League for the San Diego Clippers and Santa Cruz Warriors.

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On February 17th, the San Diego Clippers acquired forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. from the player pool.

San Diego Clippers

The Clippers played several games in the 1990s in Anaheim, hosting the Lakers three times (a win in 1997, and losses in 1998 and 1999). But rather than relocate to Orange County, the Clippers agreed to join the Lakers and the Los Angeles Kings at STAPLES Center in time for the 1999-2000 season. The arrangement made the Clippers a third tenant (after the Lakers and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings), with the Lakers getting preferential dates and game times compared to the Clippers on an annual basis. The Lakers went on to win a championship in the first year at STAPLES Center, and six titles total while sharing an arena with the Clippers. “It is, in a way, a historic meeting,” longtime retired Clippers broadcaster Ralph Lawler texted to The Athletic. “The Lakers have always had all the key cards in the deck. First it was LA over San Diego, and then the Forum over the L.A. Sports Arena, then the feeling they were ‘letting’ the Clippers be a third-ranking tenant in ‘their’ Staples Center home for 25 years.”

New York Times

Adam Zagoria: The Nets announced they will hold training camp Oct. 1-4 in Brooklyn and then Oct. 5-7 at UC-San Diego before playing the Clippers Oct. 8

Twitter

Chris Haynes: Sources: Former NBA head coach Earl Watson is joining the University of San Diego coaching staff where he will reunite with head coach Steve Lavin who coached him at UCLA.

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