LeBron James won’t add to his NBA points record on Thursday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers ruled out the recently crowned scoring king for the game against the visiting Milwaukee Bucks with left ankle soreness.

The team is scheduled to honor James in a pregame ceremony at Crypto.com Arena.

James matched his age with 38 points in Tuesday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder to move past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points) for the No. 1 spot on the career scoring list. James has 38,390 points.

The 19-time All-Star is averaging 30.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists in 44 games this season.

–Field Level Media

The New Orleans Pelicans acquired Josh Richardson from the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Devonte’ Graham and four second-round picks, ESPN and The Athletic reported Thursday.

Richardson, 29, is averaging 11.5 points and 3.3 assists in 42 games (six starts) for the Spurs this season.

The Pelicans save $12.1 million against the cap for the 2023-24 season by unloading Graham.

Graham, 27, is averaging 5.3 points in 53 games off the bench this season with the Pelicans.

The Spurs picked up seven draft picks in two trade-deadline deals Thursday. They got a protected first-round pick and two second-round picks from Toronto earlier Thursday in the trade that sent Jakob Poeltl to Toronto.

Also Thursday, the Spurs waived Dewayne Dedmon after the veteran center was acquired from the Miami Heat on Tuesday for cash considerations, The Athletic reported.

–Field Level Media

The Minnesota Timberwolves made it official Thursday, announcing they acquired Mike Conley Jr. and Nickeil Alexander-Walker from Utah in the three-team trade that sent D’Angelo Russell to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Wolves also acquired Utah’s 2025 and 2026 second-round picks as well as a 2024 second-round pick from the Lakers in the deal.

In a corresponding move, the Timberwolves waived guard Bryn Forbes.

Russell, 26, was in his fourth season in Minnesota. The 2018-19 All-Star is averaging 17.9 points and 6.2 assists per game in 54 starts this season. His points production has decreased every season in Minnesota since averaging 21.7 for the Timberwolves in 12 games in 2019-20. He is a career 17.7-point scorer for four teams.

The Lakers also received Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt from Utah.

The Jazz got Russell Westbrook, a top-four-protected 2027 first-round pick plus Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones from Los Angeles.

Conley, 35, is in his 16th NBA season and fourth in Utah. He’s averaging 10.7 points and 7.7 assists per game in 43 games (42 starts) this season. He spent his first 12 seasons in Memphis and averages 14.7 points per game for his career.

Alexander-Walker, 24, gave the Jazz 6.3 points and 2.1 assists per contest in 36 games (three starts) this season. For his career, he has averages of 8.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 194 games (38 starts).

Forbes, 29, was averaging 3.6 points per game in 25 appearances off the bench this season, his first in Minnesota. He was playing 10.7 minutes per game.

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Clippers acquired big man Mason Plumlee from Charlotte in exchange for shooting guard Reggie Jackson, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The Hornets also get a 2028 second-round pick, per the reports.

Plumlee, 32, is averaging 12.2 points and 9.7 rebounds in 56 starts for the Hornets this season, his second in Charlotte. The Clippers will be his sixth team since being selected No. 22 overall in the 2013 draft by Brooklyn.

The Clippers were in the market for a backup to center Ivica Zubac.

Jackson, 32, is averaging 10.9 points in 52 games (38 starts) for the Clippers this season. The Clippers beefed up their backcourt by trading for guards Eric Gordon and Bones Hyland on Thursday, the NBA’s trade deadline.

Jackson averages 12.9 points per game for his career since being selected No. 24 overall in the 2011 draft by Oklahoma City.

Both players are in the final years of their contracts.

–Field Level Media

Six months after he left the Golden State Warriors and signed a multi-year free-agent deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, guard Gary Payton II will return to the Bay Area.

Payton was dealt just before Thursday’s trade deadline, ESPN reported, with the Blazers receiving five second-round draft picks in return. The deal also reportedly included the Detroit Pistons, who will send forward Kevin Knox to the Trail Blazers.

Payton, 30, played just 15 games with the Trail Blazers after having offseason surgery to repair a core muscle. He scored 4.1 points with 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 17.0 minutes per game.

In Game 2 of last season’s Western Conference semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies, Payton came away with a fractured left elbow as well as muscle and ligament damage. He was expected to be out for a month but returned to play five games in the NBA Finals and helped the Warriors to the title.

The Warriors have struggled to defend their title this season and are 28-27 while in ninth place in the Western Conference. The Blazers enter play Thursday a game worse in 10th place, although both teams currently qualify for the postseason play-in tournament.

On Wednesday, the Blazers earned a 125-122 victory against the Warriors, with Payton starting for Portland and scoring nine points in 22 minutes.

Payton has averaged 5.1 points 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 157 career games (40 starts) with the Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers, Warriors and Blazers.

Knox, 23, has averaged 5.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in 42 games (one start) with the Pistons this season. He has averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 254 career games (62 starts) over five seasons with the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks and Pistons.

Also Thursday, the Warriors reportedly received five second-round picks from the Hawks in exchange for forward Saddiq Bey, acquired earlier from the Pistons for center James Wiseman.

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Clippers shipped out John Wall and Luke Kennard in exchange for fellow guard Eric Gordon as part of a three-team trade, ESPN and The Athletic reported Thursday.

Wall goes to the Rockets while Kennard goes to the Memphis Grizzlies, per the reports.

The Rockets also get guard Danny Green, while the Clippers received three second-round draft picks from the Grizzlies, per the reports.

The Rockets plan to waive Wall.

Houston also gets the rights to swap the Milwaukee Bucks’ pick with Clippers this year, ESPN reported. As of Thursday, that’s worth a trade up of 10 spots in the 2023 draft.

Gordon, 34, returns to Los Angeles after being selected No. 7 overall in the 2008 draft and playing his first three seasons with the Clippers. He’s averaging 13.1 points per game in 47 starts for the Rockets this season. He was in his seventh season in Houston.

Kennard, 26, is averaging 7.8 points per game for the Clippers in 35 games (11 starts). The 6-foot-5 shooting guard is shooting 44.7 percent from behind the 3-point line this season. He was in his third season with the Clippers after being selected No. 12 overall in the 2017 draft by Detroit.

Wall, 32, a former No. 1 overall pick, is averaging 11.4 points per game in 34 games (three starts) in his first season in Los Angeles. He sat out all of 2021-22 and played in 40 games for Houston in 2020-21, though it doesn’t appear he’ll don a Rockets uniform again.

Green, 35, just returned to action after recovering from an ACL injury. Green tore multiple ligaments in his knee during the Eastern Conference semifinals, when Green played for the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s averaging 3.0 points in 14.3 minutes per game in three games back.

Green won NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs (2014), Toronto Raptors (2019) and Los Angeles Lakers (2020).

–Field Level Media