NBA NEWS

NBA Notes: Harden signs record $228m extension

The Sports Xchange

July 08, 2017 at 4:27 pm.

May 1, 2017; San Antonio, TX, USA; Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden (13) shoots the ball as San Antonio Spurs power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) defends during the first half in game one of the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at AT&T Center. Photo Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

May 1, 2017; San Antonio, TX, USA; Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden (13) shoots the ball as San Antonio Spurs power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) defends during the first half in game one of the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at AT&T Center. Photo Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

James Harden and the Houston Rockets agreed on a four-year contract extension that is the richest in NBA history.

The contract is a super-maximum extension that will guarantee Harden $228 million through the 2022-23 season, league sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst on Saturday.

“Houston is home for me,” Harden said in a statement released by the Rockets. “(Owner Leslie Alexander) has shown he is fully committed to winning and my teammates and I are going to keep putting in the work to get better and compete for the title.”

Harden, runner-up for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award last season, has two years and $59 million left on his current contract. The four-year extension carries a value of $169 million.

Harden is coming off a career-best season in which he averaged 29.1 points, a league-best 11.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game.

–The New York Knicks officially signed restricted free agent guard Tim Hardaway Jr. after the Atlanta Hawks decided not to match the Knicks’ offer sheet.

The decision allows the 25-year-old Hardaway to return to New York on a four-year, $71 million deal, league sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Hawks had 48 hours to match the offer, but they delivered official notification to the NBA and Knicks before the deadline of 11 p.m. ET on Saturday.

The Knicks drafted Hardaway with the 24th overall pick in 2013. The shooting guard played his first two seasons with the Knicks before being traded on draft day in 2015 to Atlanta.

During the 2016-17 season, the 6-foot-5, 205-pound Hardaway recorded career-highs in scoring (14.5 points per game), assists (2.3), rebounds (2.8), minutes played (27.3), field-goal percentage (45.5), 3-pointers made (149) and attempted (417) and free throws made (164) and attempted (214).

–Forward Brandon Ingram of the Los Angeles Lakers will miss the rest of the Las Vegas Summer League after his right calf cramped up during a game on Friday night, the team announced.

Ingram, who scored 26 points in the game, fell to the floor while clutching his right leg after missing a potential game-winning shot in a 96-93 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

“It was just a cramp,” Ingram said after the game. “I was ready to get back to play but looked back over to the sidelines and saw Magic (Johnson).”

Johnson, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, shot Ingram a look and the 20-year-old remained on the bench. The Lakers said Ingram, the second overall pick in the 2016 draft, probably will remain with the team and practice when he is able.

–Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid was fined $10,000 for “using inappropriate language on social media,” the league announced.

Embiid unleashed an obscenity aimed at LaVar Ball, the father of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, in an Instagram Live video earlier this week. The 23-year-old Embiid was heard to say, “(Expletive) LaVar Ball.”

The elder Ball was quick with a response to TMZ Sports.

“He’s got three words. His vocabulary is limited,” Ball said. “You gotta use cuss words when you don’t have no intellect. He’s not intelligent at all. He shouldn’t worry about me, he should be worried about playing.”

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