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Donovan Mitchell and James Harden lead offseason bonding efforts to build Cavaliers’ chemistry.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell and his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates didn’t go their separate ways for four months before reassembling a couple of weeks ago for the start of offseason workouts.

Instead, from the time the Cavaliers were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the New York Knicks until Monday’s media day, which marked the unofficial start of training camp, the group has spent a lot of time around each other.

“I think this is probably the most time I’ve spent with my teammates outside of the actual season in my career,” Mitchell said. “From being in New York at the (US) Open and working out there and then going to James’ (Harden’s) birthday and working out there. And the crazy part is none of us went to Summer League (in Las Vegas).”

James Harden was at the forefront of building the team bonding during the offseason. Harden was a midseason acquisition last year, but really didn’t get to know his teammates off the court until the summer.

“We really didn’t have an opportunity to have that team bond, games in the regular season. And then you’re preparing for the postseason everything is intensified. So this summer was a really good opportunity for us to learn each other,” he said. “Understanding somebody that’s like any job in the world. Now it’s giving them comfortability to come talk to me or me talk to them in ways that we never really had before. I think we’ve built some really good stuff over these last few months.”

Besides the time spent around teammates, both showed their commitment by signing new contracts during the offseason.

Mitchell inked a four-year, $273-million contract extension on the first day of the offseason signing period. The seven-time All-Star had two seasons remaining on his contract and could have waited to re-sign until next summer, when he would be eligible for a five-year supermax deal worth $350 million.

“I could have waited and made it about myself and whatnot, but for me, how can we as a team go out there and find a way to make moves? I’ve said to him (vice president of basketball operations Koby Altman) I want to be here. I’ve said it publicly and I love being here. And I think for me, now it’s about delivering and everything else that comes with it,” Mitchell said.

Harden signed a three-year, $97 million contract last month after declining his player option. He also helped recruit acquiring Peyton Watson in a five-team trade.

“I think it was a no-brainer. He’s young, he’s athletic, he’s gotten a lot better and it just fits what we’re trying to do. He’s been in postseason runs with Denver, so he knows what that looks like,” Harden said of Watson.

Center Thomas Bryant, who also re-signed with the Cavaliers during the offseason, said the biggest group during the offseason is that everyone is speaking the same language when it comes to running plays. That’s something that didn’t happen last season with the midseason trades and also the Cavaliers having 41 different starting lineups during the regular season due to injuries.

“We’re having these now before we even started the new year with the team. I think that’s a great step of growth going forward,” he said.

Mitchell and Harden will need to put together big seasons again if the Cavaliers are going to contend in the Eastern Conference. The 29-year old Mitchell averaged 27.9 points, 5.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds during the regular season, along with 26 points in the playoffs.

The 36-year-old Harden is going into his 18th NBA season. He averaged 10.7 points for the Cavaliers in the regular season, and 19.7 points in the postseason. 

The team bonding will continue over the next week as the Cavaliers hold training camp in Spain. They open the regular season on October 22 at Philadelphia against LeBron James and the 76ers.

“More time together equals more success, in my mind. Number one, it’s just a good group of guys we’ve got here. If you’re willing to sacrifice for each other, that goes such a long way that nothing can make up for,” center Jarrett Allen said.

Chicago Bulls rookie Caleb Wilson aims to exceed expectations as a rookie.

CHICAGO (AP) — A second prominent Caleb could make a splash this season on the sports scene in Chicago.

Rookie Bulls forward Caleb Wilson is facing lofty expectations as the young centerpiece of the rebuilding NBA team, something now-injured quarterback Caleb Williams has been accomplishing with the NFL’s Bears.

And like Williams, whose prolific passing and nimble footwork led the Bears to an unexpected 11-6 record and division title last season, the 20-year-old Wilson seems to have arrived with a bit of a confident edge.

“Well in my opinion, there’s no leadership while blending in, so I’m definitely not going to try to blend in,” Wilson, the No. 4 overall pick in the NBA draft, said Monday at the Bulls’ media day. “I am going to go in there and try to lead by example.

“I feel like as a rookie, people respect actions more than respect voice or words. So I’ll let my actions lead.”

The Bulls are trying to climb from a 31-51 record in 2025-26 when they missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Chicago allowed 121.5 points per game, ranking 28th overall in the NBA.

The 6-foot-10 Wilson was considered possibly the most athletic player in the draft. Known for his finishing ability, the forward averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds in 24 games with North Carolina last season before it was cut short by left hand and right thumb injuries.

Wilson is good to go and has been impressing new first-year executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham and new coach Tiago Splitter with his work ethic and willingness to learn as the team get its formal training underway.

“The expectations are probably pretty high because Caleb is pretty outspoken,” Graham said. “But internally we know that it’s a season of growth and development. We have to be OK with giving him grace throughout this year, because he’s going to have some ups and down.

“It’s exciting because Caleb has all the potential in the world and we just, kind of like, have to water that seed correctly. You know, in that time, it will sprout into something really beautiful.”

Wilson has been working on strength and conditioning to navigate NBA play. He and Splitter have yet to talk about a specific role, with both saying that will evolve. Wilson says he thinks Splitter, a 41-year-old from Brazil who played seven seasons in the NBA, will “allow him to go out there and play” and be direct if he need to make changes.

Wilson said he’s fluid about what he wants to accomplish as a rookie.

“I’m more of a process guy than an outcome guy,” he said. “That’s how I’ve been … just as of late because, you know, you can’t control the outcome of things if you don’t focus on the process.”

The Bulls are below the NBA’s salary cap and have room for additions. They signed 11-year veteran guard Norman Powell, an All-Star last season with Miami, to a two-year free-agent deal. Chicago also traded for 27-year-old center Nic Claxton and guard Buddy Hield, who is 33.

Graham said he could add more, depending on how much framework youngsters like Wilson, 22-year-old forward Matas Buzelis, No. 15 2026 draft pick Dailyn Swain and No. 12 2025 pick Noa Essengue need to experience success — and win a little now — as the Bulls build a foundation for long-term success.

“I think we accomplished some and we’re still in the game for others,” Graham said. “As you’re developing, you know, now I think it’s better to develop with a more competent roster.”

Point guard Josh Giddey, who directed an up-tempo game when healthy last season, said he’s not sure if he qualifies as a veteran since he’s still only 23, albeit entering his sixth season. Giddey set career highs last year with averages of 17 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists in 54 games.

Giddey, who is fully recovered following right ankle surgery, also has been impressed by Wilson.

“It’s obviously a different kind of level when you play against real NBA talent in the regular season,” Giddey said. “But one thing he doesn’t lack is confidence.”

Now an NBA veteran, Julius Randle channels the lessons he learned as a rookie from Kobe Bryant to pass on.

NEW YORK (AP) — Julius Randle was instrumental in the revival of the New York Knicks before he was traded to Minnesota and helped the Timberwolves reach the Western Conference Finals.

Back in New York after being traded to the Brooklyn Nets, Randle quickly realized he was surrounded by young players who could benefit from his experience. It made him think back to his early NBA days with the Los Angeles Lakers as a teammate of Kobe Bryant.

“An example for me when I was that age earlier in my career, I had the best example you could have in Kobe,” Randle said Monday. “And I feel like those lessons and just that example that he set for me, that’s carried me throughout my career to where I can be here in Year 13 and I am still trying to improve every single day, get better every single day.”

Randle, 31, was acquired from the Timberwolves in a four-team trade that involved Charlotte sending LaMelo Ball to Minnesota. He raved about the Nets’ young nucleus, including 6-foot-8 guard Egor Dëmin, who is entering his second season, and guard Mikel Brown Jr., who was taken with the No. 6 pick in this year’s draft.

The Nets had an NBA-record five first-round picks in the 2025 Draft and went 20-62 last season. They have lost at least 50 games in each of their last three seasons.

But the Knicks had been terrible before Randle guided them to the 2021 NBA Playoffs after a seven-year drought. Getting the Nets to the postseason would require helping the young players grow up quickly, and the power forward noticed during a team-bonding summer golf outing in Dallas, his hometown, they needed to learn a thing or two.

“Well, they’re kids, first and foremost,” Randle said. “I learned that really, really fast on the golf course and third hole in they were trying to take their shirts off and it’s just like they didn’t understand golf etiquette.

“Mikel broke a club, a driver on one of the holes. I learned really fast that I am dealing with kids. They’re so eager to learn and get better. They’re obviously extremely talented.”

Brown said Randle’s story wasn’t true but Dëmin admitted they “broke a couple of clubs.”

Randle has already seen in pickup games how much they know on the court. He has been impressed with the way Brown, who played at Louisville, can “make every single read” in the pick-and-roll.

He is high on Dëmin’s athleticism and shooting efficiency, seeing how playing in Spain at a young age helped him transition his game to the NBA after one year at BYU.

Like other young players Randle has come across since Bryant’s death in 2020, both have asked about the two years he spent alongside the Hall of Famer after arriving in Los Angeles at 19 as the No. 7 pick in the 2014 draft.

“It’s the biggest blessing being around him and being able to carry those lessons into my daily life,” Randle said. “It’s become part of who I am, become part of my fabric and I try to carry. I get those questions all the time and when you’re around somebody that great and they teach you all that he’s taught me, the biggest thing I can do is pass it along.”