NBA Notes: Kyrie Irving says trade request was about his potential

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BOSTON -- Kyrie Irving didn't try to hide his giddiness Friday when he was introduced as the newest addition of a Boston Celtics franchise he grew up watching.

"It's about to be crazy, G," Irving said in the ear of fellow new Celtics teammate Gordon Hayward as they sat on the dais two days after Boston's blockbuster trade with the Cavaliers was completed.

Boston sent Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and two draft picks to Cleveland for Irving. Hayward signed as a free agent in July.

Hayward and Irving smiled and bantered like old friends as they posed for pictures holding their new Celtics jerseys.

But not lost on Irving is that he's joining one of the league's most-storied teams because of his trade request from the team that drafted him and made him an NBA champion.

Irving acknowledged he wanted to leave the Cavaliers and his partnership the past three seasons with LeBron James. But he said the decision was about maximizing his own potential and not because of any specific issue with the Cavs or any individual (see full story).

Pelicans: Team gets Majok draft rights as part of trade
METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Pelicans say they will receive the draft rights to overseas professional Ater Majok as part of a trade that is sending veteran small forward Quincy Pondexter, a second-round draft choice and cash to the Chicago Bulls.

The portion of the trade sending Pondexter and a second-round draft choice to Chicago was agreed upon Thursday and confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the move who spoke on condition of anonymity because it hadn't been announced.

Friday afternoon's announcement details that New Orleans is receiving in return.

The 6-foot-10 Majok is Sudanese by birth and grew up in Australia. The 30-year-old most recently played for Homenetmen Beirut of the Lebanese Basketball League.

For the Pelicans, trading Pondexter increases salary cap flexibility for a club that could use another small forward following Solomon Hill's offseason hamstring tear.

Rockets: Convicted killer of Paul’s grandfather parole-eligible
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- A North Carolina man convicted in the death of NBA star Chris Paul's grandfather has become eligible for parole after a judge's ruling.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports Forsyth County Superior Court Judge David Hall granted a motion Thursday to resentence 29-year-old Rayshawn Denard Banner to life with the possibility of parole. That means he will be eligible for parole in 12 years.

Prosecutors opposed the resentencing.

Banner was 16 when a jury convicted him in 2004 of first-degree murder in the November 2002 death of Paul's grandfather, 61-year-old Nathaniel Jones. Banner was sentenced to life without parole, as was his brother.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that judges cannot give mandatory life sentences to juveniles. In 2016, the court decided that ruling would be applied retroactively.

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