Doncic cashing in with gigantic new deal

Hornets make it official, choose to retain Albuquerque’s Borrego

DALLAS — Luka Doncic is set to sign a $207 million supermax extension with the Dallas Mavericks, who sent an entourage to the Slovenian star’s home country to finish off the biggest contract in franchise history.

Agent Bill Duffy told ESPN and The Dallas Morning News on Monday that Doncic and the Mavericks had agreed to terms. The team said a virtual news conference was planned for Tuesday.

News of Doncic’s five-year deal, which will kick in for the 202223 season, came as the Mavericks re-signed his most reliable scoring partner in the backcourt, shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr., to a $75 million, four-year contract.

The virtual news conference in Slovenia will include Doncic, owner Mark Cuban and the new general manager-coach combination of Nico Harrison and Jason Kidd.

Dirk Nowitzki, who set an NBA record of 21 seasons with the same franchise while becoming the league’s No. 6 all-time scorer with the Mavericks, also made the trip to Slovenia. The 7-foot German is now a consultant for the team.

The 22-year-old Doncic was an All-Star in his second and third seasons after being named Rookie of the Year in 2018-19.

He’s also been first-team AllNBA twice, which makes Doncic the first player eligible for a supermax extension off his rookie contract.

Doncic will sign the massive deal less than a week after leading Slovenia to its first Olympic berth and a fourth-place finish in Tokyo.

The NBA accomplishments are piling up fast for Doncic as well. Although he couldn’t get the Mavericks past the Los Angeles Clippers in the first playoff round each of the past two seasons, Doncic averaged 33.5 points with five 40-point games.

Hardaway averaged 16.6 points per game in his eighth season. The past two seasons with Dallas have included his best shooting from 3-point range.

The 29-year-old Hardaway came to the Mavericks from New York in a 2019 trade headlined by Kristaps Porzingis, envisioned by Dallas as the European sidekick to Doncic.

While Porzingis became mostly a decoy in the playoff loss to the Clippers with the 7-foot-3 Latvian and Doncic together, Hardaway averaged 17 points per game in the series and shot 40% from 3-point range.

The late-season surge by Hardaway came after he spent most of the season coming off the bench behind Josh Richardson. Their roles reversed, and Richardson faded in the postseason. Harrison’s first move as GM was trading him to Boston.

Hardaway has been traded twice by the Knicks, who drafted him in the first round in 2013. The first deal was with Atlanta before in 2015 he rejoined New York as a free agent two years later. Hardaway’s career scoring average is 13.9 points.

BORREGO EXTENSION: It’s official. The Charlotte Hornets announced Monday that they’ve signed Albuquerque Academy graduate James Borrego to a multiyear contract extension as the Hornets’ head coach. Length and financial terms of the deal were not released.

He had one year remaining on his contract before the extension.

“We’re extremely pleased with the job that coach Borrego and his staff have done in their three years in Charlotte,” general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a news release.

“Coach and his staff have built a strong player development program and it has resulted in the continued improvement of our young players. He has implemented an exciting style that our team likes playing and our Hornets fans enjoy watching.”

Borrego is 95-124 in three seasons with the Hornets, but has given team owner Michael Jordan enough confidence that things are moving in the right direction. The Hornets were 33-39 last year and lost to the Indiana Pacers in the play-in game.

NETS: The Brooklyn Nets have re-signed veteran big man Blake Griffin, who revived his career as part of the supporting cast for Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

Griffin signed as a free agent with Brooklyn on March 8. He averaged 10 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 26 games. He tied for the league lead in charges drawn (22).

Griffin also started all 12 of Brooklyn’s 2021 playoff games, averaging nine points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He made 14 of 36 from 3-point range in the postseason.

A six-time All-Star, Griffin has played for the Los Angeles Clippers and Detroit Pistons. In 668 career games across 11 seasons, the 32-year-old has averaged 20.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

Griffin was selected with the first overall pick in the 2009 draft by the Clippers and sat out the 2009-10 season with a knee injury.