SPORTS Tuesday, July 9, 2019 East Oregonian B3 Durant officially joins Nets, Russell to Warriors By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LAS VEGAS — The deal bringing Kevin Durant to Brooklyn is official, and he’s changing his number along with his address. The Nets completed a sign- and-trade with the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night, with Brooklyn land- ing Durant and a protected first-round pick in next year’s draft for D’Angelo Russell, Shabazz Napier and Treveon Graham. Durant said last week he would sign a max deal with Brooklyn, which would be $141 million over four years, after three seasons with the Warriors. The rest of the deal was worked out over subsequent days, and the NBA signed off on the terms Sunday. “Along with the rest of the league, our coaching staff has long admired Kevin’s incredible skill, resilience and tenacity,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “He has already established himself as a champion and one of the best players of all-time, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome him into our pro- gram in Brooklyn.” Durant isn’t expected to play at all next season while he recovers from an Achilles injury. When he does return to join a new-look Nets team that added Kyrie Irving as well this summer and offi- cially signed him Sunday, he’ll wear No. 7 — after play- ing in No. 35 throughout his career. Durant released a state- ment saying he wore 35 to honor someone “very near and dear” to him. “But as I start this new chapter in my basketball life, the number I’ll be wearing on my back is the Number 7 next time you see me on the floor,” Durant said. Durant is a perennial AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth Cori “Coco” Gauff returns the ball to Simona Halep in a women’s singles match Monday during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London. AP Photo/Eric Gay Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant is headed to the Brooklyn Nets, who agreed to deals with superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as part of a sensational start to free agency, giving the longtime No. 2 team in New York top bill- ing in the Big Apple. All-Star and two-time NBA champion after winning Finals MVP honors with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018. He’s a four-time scor- ing champion and his 22,940 points ranks third among active players. He missed most of this past season’s play- offs, first with a calf injury and then the Achilles rupture during the NBA Finals — a series Golden State lost to Toronto in six games. “We’re thankful to Kevin for the incredible things he did for our team and fran- chise during his three years with the Warriors,” Golden State general manager Bob Myers said. Russell got a $117 mil- lion, four-year contract from the Warriors. He was an All- Star for the first time last sea- son, averaging 21.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. “We’re excited to add a player of D’Angelo’s ability to our roster,” Myers said. “He’s coming off an All-Star sea- son with the Nets and we feel, at the age of 23, his best bas- ketball is certainly ahead of him in regards to his career trajectory.” Another big free-agent deal got done Sunday when Utah completed the signing of forward Bojan Bogdanovic to a four-year, $73 million contract. “We are very pleased to welcome Bojan and his fam- ily to our organization,” Jazz executive vice president of basketball operations Den- nis Lindsey said. “His abil- ity to play both ends of the floor in addition to his excep- tional shooting will make him an integral contributor to our franchise and our postseason goals.” Former NBA MVP Der- rick Rose also completed his signing with Detroit on Sun- day, wrapping up a $15 mil- lion, two-year deal. Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon ends against former No. 1 WIMBLEDON, England — Out of escapes, out of surprises, Coco Gauff knew her captivating Wimbledon ride at age 15 was nearing its conclusion. The thousands of spec- tators at Court No. 1 on Monday realized it, too, so they made sure to show their appreciation for the youngest qualifier at the All England Club in the professional era and youngest Week 2 partici- pant since 1991. Fans, most of whom probably hadn’t heard of Gauff until last week, rose and roared as she fended off the initial two match points she faced against 2018 French Open cham- pion Simona Halep. It was reminiscent of the way the Gauff began a comeback victory in her previous match. This time, though, MUSIC 55th-ranked Alison Riske, stopped the 15-match win- ning streak of the current No. 1, Ash Barty, eliminat- ing her 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. “Right now, Ash is play- ing well,” Riske said. “I believe that I am, as well.” Tuesday’s other quarter- final on the top half of the women’s draw will be No. 19 Johanna Konta of Brit- ain against Barbora Stry- cova of the Czech Repub- lic. On the bottom half, it’ll be No. 8 Elina Svi- tolina of Ukraine against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, and Halep against Zhang Shuai of China. Halep is the high- est-seeded woman remain- ing, after Barty was joined on the way out Monday by No. 3 Karolina Pliskova, who twice served for the victory in a 4-6, 7-5, 13-11 loss to Muchova, and No. 6 Petra Kvitova, a two-time champion eliminated by Konta 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Gauff could not come through, beaten by the older, more experienced Halep 6-3, 6-3. “It was really surpris- ing, because you don’t really expect this kind of support when you’re in another country, not your home country. I really did feel like I was probably playing in New York. I’m just really happy that peo- ple believe in me,” said Gauff, who beat Venus Williams in the first round for quite a Grand Slam tournament debut. “I wasn’t feeling my best, I wasn’t playing my best,” Gauff said as she wiped away tears at her news conference, where she noted she wasn’t sure why she needed a visit from a doctor in the sec- ond set, “but they were still supporting me, no matter what.” While Gauff couldn’t get past former No. 1 Halep, another American, By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer ▼ PENDLETON® WHISKY ▼ CAMPING ▼ FOOD TRUCKS ▼ WINE ▼ BREW SAT URDAY, JULY 13 PEN DLE TO N ROU ND -UP GROU ND S 1:00 - 4:30 pm BEA T THE RUSH!! 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