The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to hire Luke Walton as an assistant coach under JB Bickerstaff.

Walton spent the past five seasons as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings. The Kings parted ways with Walton during the 21-22 season.

Walton spent the final two seasons of his playing career with the Cavaliers. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder targeted Evan Mobley in last year's draft, but were unsuccessful in trading up from No. 6.

"Last year they tried to move up, tried to get up to three for Evan Mobley," said Adrian Wojnarowski. "I think if the Thunder had the No. 1 pick last year, they would have taken Mobley. He was there at three, but they could not pry him out of Cleveland.

"I think Oklahoma City has learned and most teams have learned, like, every year they're going to say... there will be teams at one, two and three, and I'll say because teams will tell me, 'Hey, we're going to see what the pick is worth in the marketplace. We're going to listen. We're going to see how people value it.'

"But it's rare when somebody trades out of there. For all the picks the Thunder have... Koby Altman knew what he had [in Mobley]. I don't think Sam Presti could have offered him enough to get him out."

This year, the Thunder secured the No. 2 pick in the draft and will have the opportunity to choose between who is remaining between Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero.

The Orlando Magic have won the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery for the fourth time in franchise history. 

Some combination of Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero are expected to be the top-3 selections in the draft. ESPN's Jonathan Givony projects Smith going No. 1 to the Magic, followed by Holmgren to the Thunder, Banchero to the Rockets, Shaedon Sharpe to the Kings, and Keegan Murray to the Pistons. 

1. Magic

2. Thunder

3. Rockets

4. Kings

5. Pistons

6. Pacers

7. Blazers

8. Pelicans (via LAL)

9. Spurs

10. Wizards

11. Knicks

12. Thunder (via LAC)

13. Hornets

14. Cavaliers

Kyrie Irving has appeared on multiple shows and podcasts this summer to speak about his life and NBA playing career. Irving has been refreshingly candid about his decision making through his career, including taking ownership of things he's been reluctant to address in the past.

While appearing on the show "I Am Athlete", Irving spoke about how his lack of a mature mindset kept the Cleveland Cavaliers from having more success.

“If I was in the same maturity line and understanding of who I am, and I look back, we definitely, definitely would’ve won more championships, because there would’ve been a better man-to-man understanding about what I’m going through. I didn’t know how to share my emotions,” Irving said. “I didn’t know how to do that. So instead of sharing, I isolated myself."

Irving also said he regrets not talking to then teammate LeBron James before making his decision to ask out of Cleveland.

“We didn’t talk during that time,” Irving admitted. “When I look back on what I was going through at that time, I wish I did, because it would’ve been a good understanding of what the future will hold for both of us, and we know how much power we both had together. Me and him in the league together running Cleveland, and then being able to put a better team together every single year would’ve definitely been worth it.” 

Rajon Rondo allegedly threatened his former partner and the mother of his children with a gun at her house last week. The woman filed for an emergency protective order against Rondo on Friday in Louisville, Kentucky, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN.

NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN's Malika Andrews that the league is aware of what allegedly happened and is "in the process of gathering more information." Messages left by ESPN to Rondo's representatives weren't immediately returned.

She alleged that Rondo and a child were playing video games on Wednesday when she asked the child to separate laundry. Rondo reacted angrily, according to the woman, ripping the game console out of the wall and smashing several items in the house, leaving the boy and another child there upset.

The woman alleges that Rondo said to her "you're dead" before leaving the house, only to return shortly thereafter, this time with a gun and demanding to see one of the children. The woman said she grew scared of the situation, so brought him downstairs, and Rondo pulled him outside, allegedly while still holding the gun, while he yelled at him. He then demanded to see the other child, too, and she also came outside, as Rondo yelled at both of them for being afraid of him, the woman alleged.

NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN's Malika Andrews that the league is aware of what allegedly happened and is "in the process of gathering more information." Messages left by ESPN to Rondo's representatives weren't immediately returned.

Kevin Love recently opened up about his career and working on his mental health in a lengthy interview with Bleacher Report. One topic of discussion was Love's experience with Team USA last year.

Love said that after starting practices with Team USA, he realized he wasn't physically ready to play the way the team wanted to play. Love said in early practices, he figured out he wouldn't be able to help the team, because he was still recovering from a calf injury.

But Love didn't like the messaging that he quit on Team USA.

“People that I’ve had relationships with throughout USA Basketball for that long, threw me under the bus. And I didn’t like that,” Love said. “I felt that I did the right thing by coming to the landing spot and landing point that I eventually got to. I just thought it was very unfair and coming from this elite fraternity that we have in our 450 players. You would think, like, you take care of each other."

On a recent episode of The ETCs, Kyrie Irving opened up about his basketball career. That including a lengthy discussion on his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers and playing with LeBron James.

When asked about James saying he was hurt by Irving mentioning him taking the last shot in a game, Irving said there was no disrespect meant.

"Shout out to LeBron," Kyrie said. "I would never slight him. I respect the hell out of him, and we've been through our own battles as teammates, as competitors together. That's like water under the bridge."

Irving also showed love for his first NBA home too.

"Shout out to Cleveland on just the historical run," Irving said about the 2016 title run. "Our fan base was through the roof in terms of how we collectively galvanized each other, and they gave us energy, man."