blockbuster trade

Deandre Ayton spent the last two years fading away from the national spotlight on a team that was closer to getting the first overall pick than getting to the first round of the playoffs. On Monday, the 7-foot center stood in front of flashing lights, answered questions in a packed news conference and glanced up at a shiny line of 17 championship trophies.

Ayton, whose inconsistent career hit a new low in Portland, where he was bought out of his contract and criticized for a poor work ethic, smiled at what he called “the biggest stage.” The former No. 1 overall pick is ready to launch his revenge tour with the Lakers.

“It’s the biggest opportunity, I can say, of my career,” Ayton said Monday at Lakers media day. “Some people say it’s my last leg, some people say it’s my last chance. Well, it’s the opportunity I can say I’m truly not going to take for granted.”

Marcus Smart knows the feeling. The 2022 defensive player of the year is coming off a contract buyout in Washington. After nine years and three all-defensive team honors with the Boston Celtics, Smart has played in just 54 games over two injury-plagued years with Memphis and Washington. The 31-year-old recognizes some may have forgotten the “Celtics’ Marcus Smart” — the player who guarded all five positions, knocked down timely threes and brought contagious, tone-setting toughness.

The Lakers still remember.

“I know what he brings to the game,” LeBron James said. “I know that team is first, second, third, fourth, fifth, when it comes to Marcus Smart.”

Despite his resume and standing in the league, Smart doesn’t expect automatic entry to the Lakers’ starting lineup.

“Whether I start or come off the bench,” Smart said, “my presence will be made.”

Lakers guard Marcus Smart takes part in media day at UCLA Health Training Center on Monday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Smart’s defensive prowess could be a significant boost to a starting group that figures to include James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Rui Hachimura, who started in 57 of his 59 regular-season appearances last season, is in the final year of his contract after averaging 13.1 points and five rebounds per game last season.

Facing the possibility of coming off the bench ahead of a contract year, Hachimura said he would defer to coaches to decide what was best. Coach JJ Redick said the team has seven or eight starting-caliber players, and the starting lineup doesn’t weigh heavily on his mind entering his second season at the helm.

But Ayton’s starting position feels solidified.

The center was the Lakers’ most significant offseason addition after the blockbuster trade that brought Doncic to L.A. also left the team without a starting center. Jaxson Hayes, who was thrust into the starting role out of necessity but fell out of the rotation during the playoffs, will be a valuable one-two punch with Ayton at center, James said. Forward Maxi Kleber, who played only five minutes after joining the team during the midseason trade with Dallas, said he is fully healthy after a lengthy foot injury.

Kleber, 33, knows firsthand the impact Doncic can have on a post player’s career. Kleber has played with Doncic since the Slovenian superstar was drafted in 2018 and marveled at Doncic’s ability to get easy shots for his teammates. Lob chances will start falling from the sky like never before for Ayton.

After practicing together in the offseason, Kleber commended Ayton for getting stronger and adding to his physical presence on the court. Redick has challenged the entire roster to arrive in “championship shape.”

Ayton didn’t need the additional motivation.

“You guys have an Angry Ayton,” the 27-year-old said, “where I’ve been disrespected most of my career and just been doubted. And I’m here where all [that is] behind me and I can add all that fuel into winning and playing alongside Luka.”

Doncic, out for his own redemption after last year’s trade and conversations about his weight and work ethic, was eager to begin his first training camp with the Lakers. Coming off a quarterfinals appearance at EuroBasket with the Slovenian national team, Doncic said he felt stronger and quicker on the court after his offseason physical transformation. One of the league’s pick-and-roll savants, Doncic should help Ayton rediscover the dominance he flashed while helping the Phoenix Suns reach the NBA Finals in 2021 and post a franchise-record 64 wins in 2022.

Finally back in the NBA spotlight with a new team, Ayton relishes the chance to chase more meaningful records.

“You can feel the pressure through the door,” Ayton said. “This team wants to win a championship.”

Micah Parsons is headed to the Green Bay Packers after a blockbuster trade on Thursday, leaving the Dallas Cowboys following a lengthy contract dispute.

The two-time All-Pro edge rusher confirmed the deal in a text to The Associated Press. The Packers also announced the deal.

A person with knowledge of the details said Parsons and the Packers have agreed on a record-setting $188 million, four-year contract that includes $136 million guaranteed. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade hasn’t been announced.

Parsons becomes the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

“I never wanted this chapter to end, but not everything was in my control,” Parsons wrote in a statement he posted on X. “My heart has always been here, and still is. Through it all, I never made any demands. I never asked for anything more than fairness. I only asked that the person I trust to negotiate my contract be part of the process.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones declined to discuss Parsons’ deal with agent David Mulugheta. Instead, Jones spoke directly to Parsons and insisted they had agreed on the parameters of a new contract.

The Cowboys are receiving two first-round picks and veteran defensive tackle Kenny Clark for Parsons, a person with knowledge of the details told the AP. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the teams haven’t released the terms.

The 26-year-old Parsons has 52½ sacks, recording at least 12 in each of his four seasons while making the Pro Bowl each year.

Parsons provides a huge boost for a franchise that has reached the playoffs five of the past six years but hasn’t made it to the NFL championship game since Aaron Rodgers led them to their fourth Super Bowl title 15 years ago.

Parsons bolsters a defense that was inconsistent at getting to opposing quarterbacks last season, when the Packers went 11-7 and lost to Philadelphia in the NFC wild-card round. The Packers had 45 sacks last season to tie for eighth place in the NFL, but more than half of those sacks came in just four games.

In seven of their 17 games, the Packers had no more than one sack.

Green Bay ranked 16th in pressure rate, which calculates the number of hurries, knockdowns and sacks for each team divided by an opponent’s drop-back attempts.

Now, the Packers add one of the game’s elite pass rushers while the Cowboys lose their best player because of a power struggle with Jones.

Even with Parsons, who missed four games because of injury last season, Dallas finished 28th in defense and the team went 7-10. The Cowboys have a healthy Dak Prescott returning but this is a devastating blow for the defense.

The Packers haven’t had anyone get 12 sacks in a season since Za’Darius Smith had 12½ in 2020.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst spoke Wednesday about the philosophy of taking a “big swing” to land a superstar.

“I think every opportunity that’s out there to help your football team, we’ve always taken a look at try to see how it affects us right now, how does it affect us in the future and make the best decision we can,” Gutekunst said. “Sometimes we’ve been right, sometimes we’re wrong. Sometimes we’ve taken risks that really worked out for us. Sometimes it didn’t.

“Sometimes we didn’t take risks, and we look back and wish we would have and sometimes, you know, as (former general manager) Ted (Thompson) used to say, you know, God helps those that can’t help themselves a little bit sometimes. So sometimes the best deals you make are the ones you don’t, you know. And so you just kind of, I think you weigh everything, and you weigh what is in the moment and what is in the future as well.”

The Packers, who once signed Reggie White in free agency, just took their biggest swing in decades. White helped a Green Bay team led by Brett Favre win a Super Bowl and reach another on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday in a blockbuster deal.

Devers’ agent, Nelson Montes de Oca, confirmed that the slugger had been traded to San Francisco. ESPN reported that the package of players going back to the Red Sox includes starter Jordan Hicks and left-hander Kyle Harrison.

Devers, 28, is one of baseball’s most feared hitters. He is batting .272 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs in 73 games after he connected for a solo drive in Boston’s 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday.

Devers, a three-time All-Star, agreed to a $313.5 million, 10-year contract in January 2023, but his relationship with the Red Sox began to deteriorate when the team signed third baseman Alex Bregman during spring training.

Devers insisted he was the team’s third baseman before switching to designated hitter. When Triston Casas was sidelined by a season-ending knee injury, the Red Sox approached Devers about filling in at first base. He declined, and suggested the front office “should do their jobs” and look for another player.

A day after Devers’ comments to the media about playing first, Red Sox owner John Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora.

Bregman has been out since May 23 with strained right quadriceps, similar to his left quad strain that cost him 58 games for the Houston Astros in 2021.

The Red Sox improved to 37-36 with their three-game sweep against New York. But they are fourth in the AL East, trailing the division-leading Yankees by 6½ games.

Devers first signed with Boston as an international free agent in August 2013. He was 20 when he made his major league debut with the Red Sox on July 25, 2017.

He helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series and led the team in RBIs for five consecutive seasons from 2020-24. He has finished in the top 20 in voting for AL MVP five times.

Devers is not the first Red Sox All-Star to be traded away: The team sent Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2020 season — just a year after he won the AL MVP award and led Boston to a franchise-record 108 wins and its fourth World Series title since 2004.