The Clippers have reportedly dumped coach Vinny Del Negro. (Harry How/Getty Images)

The Clippers reportedly parted ways with coach Vinny Del Negro on Tuesday.

Yahoo! Sports reports that Del Negro, whose contract is set to expire, will not return in 2013-14 following the winningest season in Clippers history because franchise point guard Chris Paul “wanted a different coach.”

The Los Angeles Times also confirmed that Del Negro is out.

L.A. claimed its first ever division title after winning 56 games this season, the most in a franchise history that dates back to 1970-71. However, the Clippers were eliminated by the Grizzlies in six games in their first-round Western Conference playoff series. That result represented a step back from their Western Conference semifinals appearance in 2012.

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Kevin Durant has played in Oklahoma City for five years. (Layne Murdoch/Getty Images)

Thunder All-Star forward Kevin Durant donated $1 million Tuesday to the American Red Cross through his family foundation to assist with disaster relief efforts in the wake of a tornado that swept through Oklahoma on Monday, killing at least 24 people and injuring hundreds of others.

“The Red Cross relies on its donors to perform its mission in relieving human suffering following disasters,” Janienne Bella, Red Cross’s regional CEO said in a statement. “Mr. Durant’s gift and support to Oklahoma comes at a time of great need and we’re forever thankful for his generosity.”

Later Tuesday, the Thunder organization also pledged a $1 million donation.

“Our hearts go out to all those affected by the devastation that has occurred within our community this week,” Thunder chairman Clay Bennett said in a statement. “We are focusing Thunder resources to help where we can in the relief efforts and to support the organizations that are on the ground assisting those affected by this week’s storms. Even with so much loss, the strength and resiliency of this community have once again been on display, and we will continue to work together as our community and state recover from this disaster.”

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association also pledged $1 million on Tuesday.

Durant tweeted a message of support to storm victims on Monday.

“Praying for the victims of the Tornadoes in OKC these last few days,” he wrote. “Everybody stay safe!”

Thunder center Kendrick Perkins sent Durant a message of thanks for the donation on Tuesday.

“Love it bro,” he wrote. “That’s how you keep it real. That’s a good thing bro. One million dollars is a blessing for the community.”

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The Magic and Bobcats finished with the two worst regular-season records. (Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)

As a prelude to Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday, the NBA will hold the draft lottery (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) — that fateful unveiling of the league’s formal drafting order, as decided randomly by a flurry of bouncing ping pong balls. Teams that have endured months of hard losses for the sake of improving their odds at the No. 1 pick will see those efforts either validated or negated by cold probabilities.

It’s worth noting that even the team with the worst record has but a 25 percent chance of scoring the top pick. All 14 teams in the lottery have some chance — however remote — of selecting first in the draft.

Draft-lottery odds | MANNIX: Draft combine winners/losers | No. 1 picks in lottery era

What might each team look for in a potential pick? Below is a catalogue of the needs of every lottery team, listed in order from worst regular-season record record to best — or, correspondingly, from the highest lottery odds to the lowest.

Orlando Magic
Odds of landing No. 1 pick: 25 percent
Biggest needs: Foundation-level talent at every position

Orlando enters the lottery with the best chance of nabbing the top pick. Nikola Vucevic, Andrew Nicholson, Tobias Harris and Maurice Harkless give general manager Rob Hennigan some interesting components as he goes about a patient rebuild, but none among them is so promising as to be above replacement. If the odds strike in Orlando’s favor, the Magic will survey the field and take the best prospect available — likely Kentucky big man Nerlens Noel — without much concern for how he’ll fit with a core that’s very much under construction. The Magic could also use a point guard or a solid wing type.

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Blazers guard Damian Lillard won the 2013 Rookie of the Year. (Sam Forencich/Getty Images)

Two brothers are alleging that associates of Damian Lillard beat them up early Saturday morning in a dispute over a photograph.

KGW.com reports that the two men, who have been identified as Jermaine and Phil Ulinwa, claim that the 2013 Rookie of the Year took exception to having his photograph taken and that served as the trigger point of a fight.

One brother told KGW the beating happened as a result of a picture that he snapped with his cell phone after he spotted the basketball star walking toward a parking lot with several other people.

“And his entourage just turned around too and they’re like ‘Did you just take a picture of Damian Lillard?’ And I was like … ‘Yeah, I did.’ And so I saw that he was clearly upset, they were upset and I was like, ‘Can I apologize to him? Like I’ll go up right now and apologize to him,’” the brother said.

Within minutes, he says the discussion became an all-out fight which did not involve Lillard but did involve others that the brothers believe were part of Lillard’s group. When the second brother stepped in to help his brother, he says he was punched and kicked repeatedly, enough to break his nose and require stitches in his lip.

A Portland Police spokesman has confirmed that the incident is being investigated but stated Monday that the Blazers guard is not a suspect and that it has not yet been determined whether the suspects “are or are not” associated with Lillard, according to The Oregonian.

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The Knicks were eliminated from the postseason by the Pacers. (David E. Klutho/SI)

Here’s a look at what’s in store for the Knicks this offseason after their second-round loss to the Pacers.

• What’s the biggest priority for New York this offseason?

Building out a more dynamic offense while improving the team’s capacity for stout defensive stretches.

The likelihood of making these Knicks into a top-10 defense is small at this stage, as even a peak-form Tyson Chandler won’t be able to compensate for the liabilities across the rotation. More plausible is a Knicks team that could score more readily while managing modest defensive improvement — reasonable gains for this bunch, albeit ones that would still leave this core of players well short of the championship standard.

Outlines: Bucks | Lakers | Nuggets | Nets | Clippers | Rockets | Celtics | Hawks | Bulls | Thunder | Warriors

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