MIAMI (AP) — Add Norman Powell to the list of this past season's All-Stars who are changing addresses this summer in NBA free agency.
Powell has agreed to a two-year deal that could be worth up to $45 million with the Chicago Bulls, a person with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday. Powell also had received some interest from the Detroit Pistons, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract cannot be finalized until July 6 at the earliest.
ESPN and Chicago Sports Network were among those who first reported the agreement between Powell and the Bulls, who will hold a team option for 2027-28. Powell spent this past season in Miami, where he became an All-Star for the first time and averaged 21.7 points in 58 games with the Heat.
Miami will have a very different look this coming season, after the acquisition of Giannis Antetokounmpo in a trade that sent Tyler Herro and others to Milwaukee. Powell will be joining his fifth team, after past stints with Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers, Toronto and the Heat.
Powell is among five — and there likely will be more — All-Star selections from 2026 alone to be on the move this offseason.
He joins Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee to Miami), Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Ingram (the headliners of a trade that brings Leonard back to Toronto and sends Ingram to the Los Angeles Clippers), and LeBron James (who is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers for a yet-to-be-decided team).
Of the 62 players with at least one All-Star selection in the last five years, just over half — 32 of them — have changed teams at least once in that span.
Nikola Vucevic is headed back to the Orlando Magic, agreeing on a one-year deal for just under $4 million, a person with knowledge of those talks confirmed.
Vucevic is second all-time on the Magic list in rebounds, third in points and fourth in games played. The 35-year-old center has been in the league for 15 seasons, nine of those with Orlando — and now joins a young core led by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
Orlando needed another post option after losing Moritz Wagner in free agency to Brooklyn — and Vucevic, who still has a home in central Florida, was the natural fit.
Moritz Wagner, the brother of Franz Wagner, is signing a two-year deal with the Nets.
Vucevic averaged 15.1 points this past season for Chicago and Boston.
Marcus Smart, the NBA's defensive player of the year in 2022, is about to join his fourth team in a span of 17 months after agreeing with the Houston Rockets on a two-year deal worth about $12.7 million, a person with knowledge of those talks told the AP.
Smart was with Memphis as recently as February 2025, then was sent to Washington to complete that season and spent this past season with the Lakers.
He averaged 9.3 points and started 54 games for the Lakers in 2025-26.
Forward John Collins is changing teams again, after agreeing to a three-year contract with the Pistons, a person with knowledge of those negotiations told the AP.
ESPN reported the deal is worth $51 million.
The Pistons will be Collins' third team in as many seasons. He started his career in Atlanta, then spent two seasons in Utah (until 2024-25) and played for the Clippers last season.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
FILE - Houston Rockets guard Josh Okogie, left, controls the ball against Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart, right, during the second half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series, April 26, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren, File)
FILE - Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) drives to the basket against Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)
FILE - LA Clippers forward John Collins, right, shoots as Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos defends during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game April 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
BOSTON (AP) — Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras was tossed for a second straight game on Tuesday after throwing his helmet toward Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli during a heated exchange that ended with the benches clearing and multiple ejections.
Cavalli struck out Contreras looking on a full-count pitch in the top of the fourth of what eventually became an 8-1 victory by the Nationals. The 27-year-old right-hander then shouted at Contreras as Contreras made his way back to the Boston dugout.
Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said he heard Cavalli yell “Sit down, boy” after fanning Contreras.
Asked what his specific words to Contreras were, Cavalli told reporters, “I don’t know. I just lose my head in it. I’m competitive. I just told him to sit down.”
The term “boy” has a racist history in the U.S. Contreras, who is Venezuelan, demurred when asked if he felt there was a racial component to Cavalli's word choice.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Contreras said, later adding he plans to "let MLB handle that.”
Contreras, who hit a three-run homer off Washington's Miles Mikolas on Monday and celebrated with a massive bat flip that he later apologized fo r, then approached Cavalli on the mound. The two jawed at each other as both dugouts emptied.
“He struck me on a good pitch, I was walking back to the dugout, and then he did what did, and the rest was history,” Contreras told reporters afterward, later adding, "He was like, instigating, and I snapped.”
Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez tried to hold Contreras back, but Contreras broke loose long enough to leap and throw his batting helmet in Cavalli's direction.
Things settled down quickly after that, though the brief dustup ended with Contreras, Boston interim manager Chad Tracy, Boston outfielder Nate Eaton and Mikolas being ejected.
Cavalli pointed to an incident at the end of the top of the first when Contreras nearly ran into the pitcher as both exited the field as the spark that set things in motion.
“He's just been doing stuff," Cavalli said of Contreras. “In the first inning, he just runs past me and brushes me. It's just something you don't do in baseball. I think he knows that. I didn't say anything. I just looked at him. And a few words were said after the strikeout. It's part of the game. And he's going to let everybody run out there and try and do whatever he does, throw a helmet and get himself tossed.”
Cavalli stayed in the game and allowed one run on one hit with 13 strikeouts over seven innings in what became an 8-1 romp.
“After everything that happened, the people that they chose that were going to leave the game, I just felt like the other pitcher should have been one of them too,” Tracy said. "That was my biggest complaint.”
The early exit was the second in as many nights for Contreras, the first time that's happened to a Red Sox player in the club's 126-year history. The 34-year-old Venezuela native — who acknowledged he is having a difficult time while his native country tries to recover from a pair of devastating earthquakes last week — was ejected in the second inning on Monday for mimicking an appeal call after striking out on a checked swing.
“I feel like everything is against me right now,” Contreras said. "I got ejected last night from nothing. I got ejected today even though I was walking back to the dugout.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Boston Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy, left, argues with umpire Vic Carapazza following a bench clearing altercation during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Washington Nationals' Cade Cavalli, front right, is held back as tempers flare during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox's Willson Contreras (40) is held back as tempers flare during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Washington Nationals' Andrés Chaparro, center, is held back as tempers flare during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
