Sources: Deng agrees to 1-year deal with Wolves

Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul is closing in on a return to the court. Paul won’t play in the team’s first game back from the All-Star break, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Paul is “close”.

The veteran guard has missed Golden State’s last 18 games after suffering a fracture in his left hand. Paul is now back to 5-on-5 work, but the Warriors staff wants to make sure his conditioning is where it needs to be before he returns.

The Ringer has hired Zach Lowe, who was laid off by ESPN last September shortly before the start of the 24-25 NBA season. Lowe had been with ESPN for 12 years as he had joined Grantland following his stint at Sports Illustrated.

Bill Simmons, who recently signed an extension with The Ringer’s parent company Spotify, made the announcement on his own podcast. Simmons and Lowe worked together at Grantland and the pair have appeared on each other’s podcasts several times over the past decade.

Lowe will begin podcasting for The Ringer with this week ahead of the start of the 2025 NBA playoffs.

Lowe was reportedly making more than $1 million per year on his contract with ESPN.

The Ringer has also hired former ESPN talent over the past few months such as Todd McShay, Kirk Goldsberry and David Jacoby.