CP3, Kawhi, Kemba, oh my: NBA (news) never sleeps

If the NBA were my internet, I would have unplugged and attempted to reboot the router days ago.

In a four-game sweep against the Denver Nuggets, 36-year-old Paul averaged 25.5 points on 61.8% shooting, 58.3% from 3, 100% from the free throw line, plus a 41-to-5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

In the first round, Leonard became the first player since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000 to both score 200 points and shoot 60% or better in a single series.

Here for a good time, not a long time? After one season at the helm in New Orleans, Stan Van Gundy is out as the head coach of the Pelicans.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the fifth time in the past 30 seasons that multiple teams have changed coaches who were with the franchise for just one season.

The Washington Wizards announced that they will not extend the contract of coach Scott Brooks, which expired after their first-round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Just last month, Brooks led the Wizards to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons despite a 34-38 season.

It’s the end of an era for the Dallas Mavericks as the team announced longtime president of basketball operations and general manager Donnie Nelson is out after 24 seasons with the franchise.

According to sources, Nelson’s departure comes after internal friction due to the increasing decision-making influence of Mavericks director of quantitative research and development Haralabos Voulgaris.

Ball averaged 15.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game for Charlotte this season, shooting 35.2% from 3-point range and was an immediate factor in the Hornets playing winning basketball in a way uncommon to rookies.

Although, if you paid attention to the way 22-year-old superstar Luka Doncic interacted with Carlisle this season — making animated gestures on the court when he disagreed with a decision or yelling at Carlisle in front of assistant coaches and teammates — perhaps this bit of NBA news wasn’t so surprising.

Carlisle, who had a 555-478 record during his 13 seasons in Dallas, setting a franchise record for wins, had been the NBA’s third-longest-tenured head coach behind only San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich and Miami’s Erik Spoelstra.

It was fun while it lasted? On Friday morning, Brad Stevens made his presence felt in his new role as president of basketball operations by shipping Kemba Walker out of Boston after two seasons and ruining all of my “Cardiac Kemba is back in New England where he belongs” UConn-centric beliefs.

While it’s unusual for a move of this significance to be made before next week’s NBA combine, the trade accomplished key objectives for both teams: The Celtics get significant financial flexibility as Stevens tries to retool the roster around its young core of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown .

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