Steph Curry was hoping to be drafted by Knicks

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ pursuit of Kevin Durant leading to the trade deadline was serious enough where they began calling rival teams to help facilitate a deal. The Wolves had to get under the NBA’s second apron in order to aggregate contracts to acquire Durant and his $51 million contract.

While Durant is more than a decade older than Anthony Edwards, the Wolves have operated with a sense of urgency in building around him evidenced by their decision to send control of their upcoming drafts to the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gobert in 2022.

But there had been little sense Tim Connelly had interest in a significant in-season deal so soon after trading away Karl-Anthony Towns, but he saw a unique opportunity with the sudden availability of Durant.

Kristaps Porzingis is considering picking up his $36 million player option with the Washington Wizards for the 23-24 season, sources tell Jake Fischer of Sports Betting News.

Porzingis wouldn’t become a free agent until 2024 under that scenario, though he could also sign an extension.

If Porzingis exercises his player option, the Wizards could consider trading him.

Before the Wizards parted ways with Tommy Sheppard, the broad expectation was for Porzingis to become a free agent and then re-sign with the Wizards.

Washington acquired Porzingis from the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the 2022 trade deadline.