On Facebook
On Flipboard
On Twitter
Having partly produced the franchise's first Eastern Conference Finals showing since 2000, the New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns trade may be the gift that keeps on giving.
Per Marc del Rio of Spanish publication Sport, Knicks prospect James Nnaji has expressed interest in coming to America after four seasons in the system of FC Barcelona. The Nigerian-born center was acquired in the famous late offseason deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves that sent Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle up north.
"James Nnaji and his entourage have already let Barça know that the player's will is to leave the Barcelona club," del Rio's translated report reads. "They continue to think that the player's future is in the United States, and that is why they explore all possible options for Nnaji to fulfill his dream."
Nnaji spent last season between Spain (working with CB Girona) and Turkey, averaging 6.1 points and 4.0 rebounds in just over 16 minutes a game.
The 20-year-old Nnaji was originally chosen by the Detroit Pistons with the 31st pick in 2023 before he was dealt to the Charlotte Hornets in a draft night trade. In his lone NBA experience to date, Nnaji averaged over six rebounds a game in six Summer League showings with the Hornets in 2023.
An NBA.com scouting report generated by RotoWire compared Nnaji to current Knick Mitchell Robinson.
"Nnaji is raw. When drafted, he’ll have been playing basketball for only seven years, and his minutes in the EuroLeague were quite limited," the report noted. "But he has the size and instincts that create a quality foundation as a prospect."
With Precious Achiuwa potentially on the move, Nnaji could find a role for himself as, ironically enough, Towns' top spell option. Robinson performed well after a lengthy medical absence but could stand as one of the Knicks' most movable assets after they sent a good bit of their draft capital to Minnesota and Brooklyn in the deals for Towns and Mikal Bridges.
A report from Stefan Bondy of the New York Post confirms that Nnaji will join the Knicks’ Summer League group this July in Las Vegas.
From @jschwartz115
— Stefan Bondy (@SbondyNBA) June 19, 2025
James Nnaji is slated to play in Summer League for the Knicks with eyes on a regular-season roster spot:
“That’s the plan, from both sides. It’s 50-50, it depends how he does.”https://t.co/TF8TZWjtt0
More must-reads:
- Report: Knicks made a signing based on Giannis Antetokounmpo trade belief
- Lakers reportedly monitoring two-time All-Star's availability
- The 'NBA Summer League MVPs' quiz
Breaking News
Trending News
TODAY'S BEST
Surprising update emerges about Jayson Tatum’s recovery
Jayson Tatum may be giving a glimmer of hope right now to the Boston Celtics. The Celtics star Tatum, who is currently recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, was reportedly moving well while working out at Chris Paul’s CP3 Elite Camp in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week (per Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett). Bulpett adds that the possibility of Tatum rejoining the Celtics late in the 2025-26 regular season has not been ruled out at this point. “He was moving really well,” an unnamed NBA scout was quoted as saying about Tatum. “There might have been a slight limp or something, but the surprising thing to me is that he didn’t have a boot for any of it. I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen guys coming back from Achilles’ tears, and he looked way ahead. I was kind of shocked to see how well he was moving.” You can read Bulpett’s full report about the Tatum situation here. The six-time All-Star Tatum suffered an Achilles rupture during the second round of the playoffs against the New York Knicks in mid-May (video here). That means he is still only about two-and-a-half months removed from the injury and subsequent surgery. Achilles tears generally take about nine to 12 months to recover from, which would put Tatum around mid-February of next year at the absolute earliest. But it is certainly encouraging that he is already working out with a boot, and it should also help that Tatum is still only 27 years old as he embarks on his rehab. Of course, Tatum’s return to the floor will also be influenced by how the Celtics perform next season. Boston parted ways with some prominent players this offseason in an apparent effort to punt on the 2025-26 campaign and create financial flexibility. Thus, they obviously won’t push Tatum to an early return if the season is already a lost cause.
Dolphins' Tyreek Hill stirs up drama, calls for teammate to be benched in certain situations
Tyreek Hill was just trying to be a good teammate, but his Miami Dolphins colleague didn't care for the message. On Friday, Hill gave a meaty performance during his media availability, broaching subjects from his mastery of the offense this year to saying he agreed with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that he needed to be a better leader on the Dolphins for the upcoming season. Then he took a shot at running back De'Von Achane. He suggested the Dolphins keep the 5-foot-9, 191-pound back off the field in third-and-short situations. "Take (Achane) out on 3rd-down," Hills told reporters, via the Dolphins. "That's my honest opinion. If it's third-and-short, he's not a power back. I've been telling him that in the locker room... I love De'Von, but If I'm being honest, that's why you got Jaylen Wright, that's why you got Ollie Gordon." Achane responded to Hill giving his opinion to the media. "That's how you feel," Achane wrote with a laughing emoji. Achane rushed for 907 yards and six touchdowns on 203 carries last season. That's an average of 4.5 yards per rush. The Dolphins' backfield as a whole struggled in the run game last season, averaging a pedestrian 105.6 rushing yards per contest. Achane certainly didn't thrive on third-and-short, but Hill's comments feel unnecessary. Last season, Hill caught 81 passes for 959 yards and six touchdowns — his worst production since 2019, when he missed four games due to injury. Is Hill ready to admit that he's washed? Miami's offense was bad, and it didn't help that Tagovailoa missed time due to a concussion. Defenses took advantage of the Dolphins' limited and discombobulated offense last season. Miami's training-camp news conferences are becoming a concern. Hopefully for the team, Achane won't take the slight from Hill too personally.
Five biggest losers from the 2025 MLB trade deadline
The 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline was 6 p.m. ET on Thursday. Some teams managed to get better in either a short-term or long-term outlook. Other teams did not. We've already gone over the five biggest winners, which featured some surprising teams. Here we are focusing on the five teams that were the biggest losers. Minnesota Twins The good news for Twins fans is the team did not trade outfielder Byron Buxton or starting pitcher Joe Ryan. The bad news for Twins fans is the team traded pretty much everybody else. The worst news is the Twins have pretty much sabotaged any goodwill the team had built up in recent years, including their 2023 trip to the American League Division Series. Since then the Twins collapsed late last season, did very little in the offseason and then completely gutted the roster over the past two weeks, including a straight salary-dump trade of Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros, his former team. This is going to be a long, slow climb back to the top. Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates had a chance to have a potentially impactful trade deadline with some intriguing trade chips in what had become a seller's market. They ended up trading closer David Bednar, third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, starting pitcher Bailey Falter and relief pitcher Caleb Ferguson. They held on to pending free agents Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham and Andrew Heaney. What's so baffling about the trades they did make is that they gave up useful, productive players with years of team control still remaining, did not get a single highly-ranked prospect back in return and kept the players that are going to leave for nothing. The only winner here is owner Bob Nutting's bank account for all of the money he saved in the future by dumping Hayes' contract and potential arbitration years from Bednar and Falter. Chicago Cubs After paying a steep price to get outfielder Kyle Tucker in the offseason everybody in Chicago knew the clock was ticking on the Cubs to build a winner around him. He is a free agent after this season and seems determined to hit the open market for the highest bidder. Even though the Cubs have emerged as a contender, it was pretty clear as the season has gone on that they needed at least one more starting pitcher. They did not get one, and instead only added a utility infielder (Willi Castro) and reliever Taylor Rogers. While so many teams around them in the NL managed to get better, it's an underwhelming deadline performance for a team that should be going all in. Atlanta Braves It's not that the Braves did anything poor at the trade deadline that makes them losers. It's that they didn't do ... anything. At least not anything that they needed to do. None of their pending free agents were moved, no significant changes were made to a team going nowhere this season and the only move they did make was a marginal trade involving Rafael Montero. That is extremely underwhelming. Boston Red Sox The Red Sox were rumored to be in the market for a significant starting pitcher, including Minnesota's Joe Ryan. They did not make that sort of splash move, and instead added Steven Matz and Dustin May. For a team trying to hang in the American League playoff race, that is not really exciting. They also paid a steep price to get May, giving up one of the top prospects — outfielder James Tibbs III — they acquired in the Rafael Devers trade to the San Francisco Giants.
Richard Childress makes bizarre claim about Austin Hill, Aric Almirola incident
In the aftermath of Austin Hill and Aric Almirola's incident at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27, team owner Richard Childress has made an odd claim about what led to the crash. Hill was suspended for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway after NASCAR ruled that he intentionally wrecked Almirola in retaliation for previous contact. But Childress doesn't see things the same way, instead claiming that Sheldon Creed, who drove for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series in 2022 and 2023, was involved. In an interview on Kenny Wallace's YouTube channel on Thursday, Childress explained what he saw. "If you look where the No. 00 (Creed) was, he actually caught the No. 21 car (Hill) and hooked him," Childress said. "It was all so close and happened so fast. I think when it went left on him, that's when the No. 00 got into his left-rear quarter panel." Video replay of the incident does not show any contact between the vehicles of Hill and Creed before Hill began to turn left and hit Almirola. Rather, it appears that Hill initially straightened out his No. 21 Chevrolet before deciding to turn left and hook Almirola, wrecking both cars and ultimately leading to his suspension on Tuesday. Hill did hit the right front of Creed's No. 00 Ford, but that contact only occurred after Hill had begun to turn Almirola's No. 19. Dillon will drive the No. 21 RCR Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway on Saturday in place of Hill, who will return at Watkins Glen on Aug. 9.
Customize Your Newsletter
+
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!
PRIVACY POLICY EDITORIAL POLICY CONTACT US
ABOUT YARDBARKER TERMS OF SERVICE
Use of this website (including any and all parts and
components) constitutes your acceptance of these
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
This site is for entertainment purposes only.
There is no gambling offered on this site.
Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.
