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Shams Charania: After consultation with Lakers doctors and his own medical team, Luka Doncic will seek specialized medical treatment in Europe on his Grade 2 left hamstring in an attempt to expedite his return to play, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball tells me and @mcten .
Shams Charania: Statement from Luka Doncic’s agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball: "This season, Luka Dončić has performed at a historic level, leading the league in scoring, carrying the Lakers to third place in the Western Conference and placing himself in the middle of one of the most tightly contested MVP races in memory. To ensure that Luka’s incredible accomplishments this season are rightly honored and he can be considered for the league’s end-of-season awards, we intend to apply for an “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge” to the 65-game rule. Luka missed two games this season for the birth of his second child in Slovenia. His daughter was born on Dec. 4 on another continent, and yet he was back in the United States competing with his team on Dec. 6. Luka has gone to great lengths to show up for his team and this league this season. His record-breaking season deserves to be noted in the history books, despite last night’s unfortunate injury and other extraordinary circumstances. We look forward to working with the NBAPA and the league office to ensure a fair outcome in this matter."
Heading into Monday’s extension deadline, there’s cautious optimism that a deal will get done between the Denver Nuggets and Christian Braun, league sources told HoopsHype. Talks between the Nuggets and Braun’s representative, Bill Duffy of WME Sports, have centered on a five-year deal in the $115-125 million range, league sources told HoopsHype.
Shams Charania: BREAKING: Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA star Luka Doncic has signed a three-year, $165 million maximum contract extension with the franchise, with a player option in 2028, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball told ESPN. This now keeps Doncic out of free agency next summer and committed to the Lakers -- and makes him eligible for a projected five years and $417 million in 2028.
External fretting about Dončić committing his long-term future to the Lakers, meanwhile, has dissipated considerably thanks to the contributions made by the 26-year-old throughout free agency in collaboration with vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka. Contact between Pelinka, Dončić and two pillars of Team Luka — chief brand officer and business manager Lara Beth Seager and longtime agent Bill Duffy — has been constant since a well-chronicled dinner at Craig's in West Hollywood shortly after L.A.'s first-round playoff elimination that The Stein Line first reported on below in early May:
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Shams Charania: Breaking: Oklahoma City Thunder star and NBA champion Chet Holmgren has agreed to a fully guaranteed five-year maximum rookie contract extension that could reach $250 million, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball told ESPN. After missing three months during the season, Holmgren returned in February and came back stronger to help lead OKC and its young core to the NBA title. The Thunder will now move toward locking in All-NBA superstar Jalen Williams, who has momentum in his rookie extension talks.
Jovan Buha: I think there's a new era here, the Bill Duffy era and that's Luka Doncic’s guy and that's how this situation is trending. I want to be careful with what I say about Bron’s relationship with the front office or the organization, but I don't think it's in the best place right now to be completely honest. There's been no official statement about LeBron opting in. There typically is, especially for a player of that magnitude. And then he's had his stuff on social media or whatever he's posted, and there was obviously the statement when he opted in. So I don't think things are in the best place they've ever been. I'll just say that.
Shams Charania: Free agent center Jaxson Hayes has agreed on a one-year deal to return to the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell ESPN. Hayes' agents, Bill Duffy and Marlon Harrison of WME Basketball, finalized a contract with Lakers president Rob Pelinka on Thursday.
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Shams Charania: BREAKING: Deandre Ayton has agreed to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell ESPN. Between Portland and L.A., Ayton will earn $34 million next season. Agents Nima Namakian of Innovate Sports and Bill Duffy of WME Sports reached the deal with Lakers president Rob Pelinka.
WME Basketball, now operating independently of WME Sports but still anchored by veteran agent Bill Duffy, revealed a 2025 draft class Tuesday that includes three projected lottery picks and potentially a pair in the Top 5. Overall, WME Basketball’s entire five-man class could be first-rounders. The top prospects are Rutgers G Dylan Harper (rated No. 2 overall by most scouts), Texas G Tre Johnson (rated No. 5 overall) and Maryland F Derik Queen (No. 11 overall). They are followed by Georgetown F Thomas Sorber and Auburn G Tahaad Pettiford, possible first-round picks who declared for the draft while keeping their collegiate eligibility.
WME Sports will divest its basketball representation business to address a potential conflict of interest following Endeavor’s take-private by Silver Lake, according to sources familiar with WME’s plans. The new agency will retain the WME Basketball name but be owned and operated independently from WME Sports. It will be led by longtime basketball agent Bill Duffy, whose BDA Sports was acquired by WME in 2023.
Windhorst spoke on The Hoope Collective about Doncic warming up an hour before Tuesday night's game whereas he was practicing, Harrison was “sitting very leisurely on the scorer's table.” He would say the two were about 15 or 20 feet apart from one another as the moment was bolstered as Windhorst was watching it with Doncic's agent Bill Duffy who even called it a “special moment.” “Luka comes out to warm up an hour before the game give or take,” Windhorst said. “Nico is sitting very plainly in a sea of blue and gold, in a bright blue suit, sitting very leisurely on the scorer's table when Luka comes out to warm up. They are 15 – 20 feet apart, Luka is shooting 3’s from the wing at one point, maybe 30 feet. I am sitting there watching it with Bill Duffy, who is Luka’s agent. Bill has been around the NBA for 40-plus years and he’s known Luka since Luka was 14 and he is just sort of watching with a smirk on his face. He’s like, ‘I've seen a lot of things in this league and this is a special moment.’”
