MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have finalized the acquisition of six players for roster depth and reserve roles, including a sign-and-trade deal with Portland for forward Jake Layman.The Timberwolves then completed a trade with Golden State as part of the deal that sent D'Angelo Russell from Brooklyn to the Warriors, bringing guard Shabazz Napier and forward Treveon Graham to Minnesota for the rights to Israeli forward Lior Eliyahu. The Wolves also announced Monday the signing of free agent forward Noah Vonleh and rookie guard Jarrett Culver and the claiming of guard Tyrone Wallace off waivers from the Los Angeles Clippers.Most of the deals were agreed to last week before the NBA's free agency moratorium was lifted. Culver, the No. 6 overall pick from Texas Tech, was acquired from Phoenix in the draft-day deal that sent No. 11 pick Cameron Johnson and forward Dario Saric to the Suns.Vonleh signed a one-year, $2 million contract. Layman, who was acquired for the rights to Montenegrin forward Bojan Dubljevic, received a three-year, $11.5 million deal.___More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — For the Brooklyn Nets, familiarity breeds continuity.They hope that will lead to a few more wins.Growth was the overarching theme during media day at the Nets' practice facility Monday. Entering its third season under general manager Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn has won 48 of 164 games. In the first season under the new regime, the Nets won 20 games. Last year, that number increased to 28.So the goal for this season is progression."Knowing how the rebuild process goes, we're going to have to slowly get back," Jarrett Allen said. "It's just small steps we're taking."Ten of the 19 players the Nets have on their preseason roster have five or fewer years of NBA experience, including five rookies.But there are questions about how long and how many of the Nets' young pieces will remain in Brooklyn. The Nets will have plenty of money for free agency next summer, but they may not want to wait if they could trade for Minnesota's Jimmy Butler or another All-Star player.Spencer... [More]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Trail Blazers head into fall camp still stinging from last season's first-round playoff sweep by New Orleans.The trick now is not to overcorrect."You run the risk of overreacting to defeats, and maybe being blinded by victories," coach Terry Stotts said. "I think it's important that we learn from it, I don't want our team to forget about it. I don't want our team to forget about the feeling we had, not just after the series was over, but what we had to live through over the summer, and keep that edge. Hopefully, we use it as a learning experience."Portland returns the nucleus — Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic — of a team that went 49-33 last season. Apart from the early postseason exit, it was mostly considered a success.Boosted by a 13-game winning streak that started with a victory over the Golden State Warriors just before the All-Star break, the Blazers secured the third seed in the Western Conference. They clinched the Northwest Division title... [More]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A smile crossed CJ McCollum's face in the fourth quarter as he sat on the bench and the hometown crowd chanted "We Want CJ!"McCollum had already collected a milestone 50 points in the game against the Chicago Bulls. The crowd wanted more.For McCollum, 50 points was enough.The Blazers guard's final tally in the 124-108 victory over the Bulls on Wednesday night was a career high. So were his 18 field goals.McCollum also became just the second NBA player in history to score 50 or more points in less than 30 minutes , joining Golden State's Klay Thompson. Overall, he's the sixth player to hit the milestone this season.He acknowledged afterward that reaching the 50-point plateau was special. And indeed when he left the Moda Center, he had the game ball tucked under his arm."A lot of the elite players score 50 points, that's just the way it is," McCollum said. "It shows you are a really unique scorer and have a lot of abilities."McCollum sat in the fourth quarter for obvious... [More]

The Orlando Magic exercised their third-year team options on forward Aaron Gordon, guard Shabazz Napier and guard Elfrid Payton, while also exercising their fourth-year team option on guard Victor Oladipo.Gordon was a first-round pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and averaged 5.2 points and 3.6 in 47 games as a rookie, including eight starts. Napier was a first-round pick by Charlotte last year and traded to Miami, where he averaged 5.1 points and 2.5 assists in 51 games as a rookie. He was traded to Orlando for a second-round pick and cash considerations in July.Payton played in all 82 games as a rookie, averaging 8.9 points and a team-high 6.5 assists while starting 63 games. Selected 10th overall by Philadelphia last year, he was acquired by the Magic in June 2014 for the draft rights to Dario Saric, a future first-round pick and a future second-round pick.

Napier scored 13 points (4-5 FG, 3-3 3Pt, 2-2 FT) and contributed three rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 20 minutes of action during Thursday's preseason loss to the Pacers.

The 20 minutes Napier received represented his highest total of the preseason, but it was undoubtedly a byproduct of C.J. Watson getting the night off for rest purposes. Watson remains Napier's chief competition for the backup point-guard role behind Elfrid Payton, and at this point, it seems likely that coach Scott Skiles will defer to the steady veteran for those duties. Napier brings more upside to the table due to his scoring abilities, but Watson's greater experience running NBA offense and willingness to distribute the ball may be qualities Skiles prefers in a backup point guard on a young team.

Napier was traded to the Magic on Sunday, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo reports.

For Miami, this deal was essentially just a salary dump, as they must have not seen Napier as a key piece of the rotation for the upcoming season and gave him up for a protected future second-round pick. He averaged 5.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 51 games for the Heat in his rookie season. But, for the Magic, this gives them some more depth at the point guard position behind Elfrid Peyton. They did acquire C.J. Watson this offseason to serve in the backup role, but given his struggles with injuries for the past two seasons, it was probably a good move for Orlando to add some insurance to the position. Napier hasn't yet had a real good opportunity to show what he can do at the NBA level, and it looks like he'll be in a similar situation this year unless there are injuries or he can outplay Watson for the backup spot.

Napier (hernia) averaged 17.0 points, 0.8 three-pointers, 4.5 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.8 steals in 23 minutes per game through four games of summer league action for the Heat.

Even with a good a summer league performance it might be hard for Napier to see more than the 20 minutes per game he played last year. The acquisitions of Justise Winslow, Gerald Green, and Josh Richardson, along with the re-signing of Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade have created a deep backcourt. With all of these players competing for minutes in the rotation, Napier's value could remain limited next season. Napier underwent surgery for a sports hernia in early April, but after playing 23 minutes per game in the summer league, he appears on track to be 100 percent by training camp.

Napier (hernia) will play in Wednesday's summer league game for the Heat, Ira Winderman of South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

Napier comes into summer league hoping to recover from a sports hernia that required surgery earlier in the offseason. He noted that the final stages of his recovery are mental, so his minutes during the summer festivities should be very beneficial for the regular season ahead.

Napier (hernia) is expected to play in summer league for the Heat, Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post reports.

Napier is still recovering from a sports hernia, but he'll travel with the team to summer league and is expected to be on the court, though probably not right away.

Napier (hernia) said he expects to play for the Heat's summer league team, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

Napier underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia at the beginning of April, and he said Wednesday that he's 85 percent recovered and hopes to be ready to play in summer league for the second straight year. "My plan is to play summer league," Napier said. "But right now it's getting through this, the mental stages, and making sure I'm healthy." Miami will field teams in both the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues, and it's unclear if Napier plans to compete in both tournaments, or just one.

Napier played in 51 games for the Heat in his rookie season before undergoing surgery for a sports hernia in early April that ended his season. When given the opportunity, Napier showed he could be a pretty solid floor general and finished his first year in the NBA with averages of 5.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists over 20 minutes per game.

Coming into the season, it was not expected that Napier would get much time on the court, seeing as though he was drafted by a team that already had Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole to run the point. Despite this, there were times when Napier did get good minutes on the floor, and in the games where he did play 30-plus minutes, he averaged 13.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists, including his season-best game of 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists against the Knicks in February. Unfortunately for Napier, that was his last real opportunity to be productive on the court, as after that game, Goran Dragic took over the starting point guard position after being traded from the Suns, and Napier ultimately went down with the hernia. Assuming Miami re-signs Dragic, it looks to be a similar situation next year for Napier, as he will go into the season as the third-string point guard once again behind Dragic and Chalmers. It appears that the best-case scenario for Napier next year will be to outplay Chalmers when he has the opportunity to do so and take over as the team's backup point guard.

Napier underwent sugery for a sports hernia Wednesday and will miss the rest of the season, NBA.com reports.

The Heat kept news of the issue under wraps and listed Napier as "out" due to a hip injury earlier Wednesday. Napier will conclude his rookie season with averages of 5.1 points, 2.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 51 games (10 starts). The first-round pick was somewhat of a disappointment, but he'll spend the summer working with the team and should be ready well before Summer League kicks off in July.

Napier (hip) will not travel with the team for Thursday's game in Cleveland, Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

Napier, who has played only once in the last 10 games, will hang back in Miami while the team heads North. While the Heat have not officially ruled him out beyond Thursday, it seems highly unlikely he joins the team in Detroit for Saturday's game or Indiana for Sunday's matchup.

Napier (hip) won't take the court Tuesday against the Spurs, the Miami Herald reports.

Napier has made one nine-minute appearance in the last 10 games but will log yet another absence Tuesday. Consider him questionable for Thursday's outing at Cleveland, while Goran Dragic heads the offense once again.

Updating a previous report, Napier will not play Sunday against the Pistons, Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald reports

Napier was doubtful heading into the game, so this updated report makes more sense as Napier likely was still feeling too much discomfort in warm-ups to play. Expected his extra minutes to go to Mario Chalmers on Sunday.

Napier (hip) will play Sunday against Detroit, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

Napier has been receiving limited playing time recently when he is able to get on the court, so fantasy owners should probably avoid him Sunday since he seems far from 100 percent.

Napier (hip) is doubtful for Sunday's game against Detroit, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel reports.

Napier has appeared in one game over the Heat's last five, posting two points and three assists in nine minutes against Boston on Wednesday. The Heat could be very depleted in the back court Sunday if Dwayne Wade (knee) is also unable to go.

Napier will start Saturday versus the Kings.

Because Goran Dragic is sidelined due to a bruised tailbone, Napier will get the nod at the point. In nine nods this season, Napier has averaged 6.2 points (on 34 percent shooting), 4.8 assists, 2.7 rebounds, one steal, and 0.9 three-pointers in 24 minutes.

Napier returned to the bench Friday. He scored 18 points (6-11 FG, 4-5 3Pt, 2-2 FT) and added seven rebounds, six assists, and one steal in 34 minutes against the Knicks.

Napier moved to the bench to make way for Dwayne Wade's (hamstring) return to action. Despite coming off the bench, Napier led the Heat in scoring, and played more minutes than everyone except for Mario Chalmers. Goran Dragic's arrival will hurt Napier's value, but the rookie is showing flashes highlighting his long-term potential.