Champion Blackhawks trade Saad in seven-player deal

Brandon Saad, a 22-year-old left wing who helped the Chicago Blackhawks win two of the past three National Hockey League titles, was traded Tuesday to Columbus in a seven-player deal.

The Blackhawks, who defeated Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup Final earlier this month, sent Saad, defenseman Michael Paliotta and forward Alex Broadhurst to the Blue Jackets for forwards Artem Anisimov, Jeremy Morin, Corey Tropp and Marko Dano plus a 2016 NHL Draft fourth-round selection.

"We're very excited to bring Brandon Saad -- a two-time Stanley Cup champion with great size, speed, power and the ability to score goals -- to our organization," Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. "He's a proven winner and exactly the kind of player we want."

Saad had an NHL career-best 23 goals and set up 29 others over 82 games this season, but contributed eight goals in the Blackhawks' playoff title run. He had 52 goals over four seasons with Chicago, which ensured getting a return on the talented playmaker. Saad becomes a restricted free agent if not signed by Wednesday.

Austrian Dano, 20, was a 2013 first-round pick of the Blue Jackets with had eight goals this season. Russia's Anisimov, 27, had seven goals this season while Morin, a 24-year-old American, had been traded by Chicago to Columbus last December for defenseman Tim Erixon.

American Paliotta, 22, made his pro debut with the Blackhawks in April while Broadhurst, 22, spent the season with Chicago's top developmental team.

Gregg Popovich and the Spurs don't want to talk to free agents at midnight

When free agency officially begins at 12:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, many NBA franchises will attempt to contact and meet with as many of their top targets as possible. The idea is simple — the team that gets to a player first has a chance to make a strong first impression and prove it wants that player simply by rushing to get in the door. When adding an All-Star (either proven or budding) is on the table, these franchises usually don't consider restraint to be a virtue.

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich wants you to believe that he and his team are different. While the Spurs have enlisted Tim Duncan and Tony Parker to help in their pitch to unrestricted free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, Popovich says the Spurs won't be contacting the four-time All-Star or any other free agents when the clock strikes midnight (or 11 p.m. in San Antonio). From Buck Harvey for the San Antonio Express-News (via SB Nation):

“I’m not calling anyone at midnight,” he said. “I’ll be in bed. And if that’s the difference in someone coming or not coming, then I don’t want them.”

Let no one claim that this comment is not on brand. The Spurs have cultivated a reputation as a no-nonsense organization focused on wins and little else, often eschewing the trappings of contemporary NBA fame out of the belief that they only serve as distractions. Not going after free agents at the first possible moment fits with that philosophy, because a player who will fit well in the Spurs culture does not require quite so much personal attention.

On the other hand, the Spurs are also a very practical organization, to the point where it's hard to imagine them turning down a first meeting with Aldridge (who's meeting teams in Los Angeles, where it will be 9 p.m. instead of midnight) if he requested they meet with him at that time. The Spurs have rarely opted to chase a high-profile free agent during the Popovich-Duncan era, but when they have they certainly haven't shied away from making a serious, full-fledged case. To put it another way, they're only choosing not to contact Aldridge at the start of free agency because he's slotted them into a meeting time and deemed that such a call isn't necessary. Would a team fighting to stay relevant deep into the future really turn down a midnight meeting with a player they have designated as a priority? There's a difference between holding to the franchise's core values and acting irresponsibly.

Instead of congratulating Popovich on focusing on what really matters (i.e. getting a good night's sleep), we should consider why the Spurs feel like they don't need to make these late-night calls. When they meet with Aldridge, they will do so with three men (Duncan, Parker, and Popovich) with 14 championship rings between them on their side of the table. Few teams go into free agency from such a strong position — contenders are contenders because they already have the star players that teams with cap space covet. If many teams look desperate at the beginning of free agency, it's almost always because they have to compensate for whatever on-court success they lack.

Essentially, the Spurs are lucky enough to have the stability and results that other teams must chase. They're in that spot because of their own excellent management and performance, but it's a position of privilege nonetheless. If things ever go south in San Antonio, it'll be interesting to see if this approach manages to survive.

Security at Women's World Cup not like it was for the men's tournament

For American fans, the Women's World Cup has been a fabulous tournament: hospitable cities, drivable distances from the U.S., mild summer weather, and a string of wins for the U.S. It's easy to notice how comfortable the entire event has been.

But is it too comfortable? Security at the venues has been less stringent than anything fans will encounter at an NFL stadium, and certainly more relaxed than at the men's World Cup or at the Olympics.

"Pretty easy," said John Weaver of West Lafayette, Indiana, who was in Ottawa for the U.S. quarterfinal match against China. "Slipped right through. We didn't have anything checked."

There was a bag check at the Ottawa venue, but fans weren't ushered through metal detectors, and the use of the electronic wand has been intermittent.

"This would be a bad situation for terrorism," Weaver said.

Part of the reason for the less stringent security is the nature of the event. "If you held a men's World Cup in Canada, it would be a lot different," FIFA director of World Cup 2015 security Thomas Gerstenecker told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday. "There would be a lot more federal and provincial participation. Your budget is going to be much more. The participation and role of host country authorities is going to be much more."

Gerstenecker said if this was a men's World Cup, the protocol would be "full mag, full bag," meaning every single fan would be wanded and every single bag would be checked, whereas in the women's event, the wand use is based on an undisclosed random system of choosing who to flag.

"When you go into the men's World Cups, it's another dynamic," he said. "You're going to have a more adult-based audience. With the women's Cup, you're going to get lots of young girls. The whole dynamic is different. And there's a lot less alcohol consumed."

The other factor is that Canada is safer overall than a country like Brazil, for example. But this nation has had security threats as well, including the tragedy of the killing of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo last October as he stood guard by the War Memorial only a few minutes' walk from where the U.S. team stayed last week.

"I'm from Baltimore, and they're stricter there," said Juan Gonzalez, dressed up in U.S.A. gear for the quarterfinal match. "At a Ravens game, you get wanded and frisked."

Neither Gonzalez nor his friend, Anthony Liquori, said they were checked for anything nefarious. Though both said they believe the NFL bag rule has conditioned fans to leave large items at home.

Gerstenecker said even though some fans are not wanded, every security official has the ability to check someone who stands out in a troubling way, like for example a fan who is wearing many layers on a hot day.

"If someone's coming in with T-shirt, shorts and no bag, we use common sense as well," Gerstenecker said.

The benefit is a less stressful setting. The atmosphere at the venues almost seems like pre-9/11, if such a feeling is ever possible anymore. Security has been more of a protocol than an ordeal. And nearly all fans have been seated in plenty of time for kickoff.

"It probably should be tougher," Weaver said of the security in place. "But as a fan, I like it better this way."

Still, the precautions prioritized by venue officials have been a bit curious. Concessionaires insist on twisting off the tops of bottles of soda and water so that fans won't throw them onto the field. Yet the sharp points on the top of team flags that fans bring in have been largely unchecked. Weaver said he saw some fans instructed to take the arrow-shaped ornaments off their flags, while others walked in without any issue.

The vibe will change this week, as the semifinal games will get heightened security and the final will get the highest standards of the tournament – much more akin to an NFL game.

In the moments leading up to the U.S. match against China, dozens of fans gathered around the security checkpoint to look up at the mammoth screen and watch the end of the Germany vs. France quarterfinal. Fans walked into the venue and stopped to join the scene. It was a fun setting – the kind of gathering that makes an event enjoyable even before kickoff.

Most in the growing crowd probably didn't give security concerns a second thought. That's either the result of a welcoming and largely peaceful nation, a thoughtful and nonintrusive plan, or a month's worth of good fortune.

It's likely a combination of all three.

Josh Hamilton is back with the Rangers and things could get really interesting

The start-and-stop, up-and-down season of Josh Hamilton starts up again Tuesday night, as he's been activated by the Texas Rangers and will start in left field against the Baltimore Orioles.

Hamilton, 34, was on the disabled list for a month with an injured hamstring, but that hasn't been the biggest issue surrounding the former MVP this season. He admitted a drug relapse to MLB, which resulted in a high-profile non-suspension. The Los Angeles Angels, though, weren't happy about this and shipped Hamilton back to the Texas Rangers.

He looked decent in his return to action in Arlington, but played just seven games before the hamstring issue sidelined him. In the spring, Hamilton underwent shoulder surgery. See what we mean by the start-and-stop thing?

The question now becomes what Hamilton can add to the Rangers, a fascinating fixer-upper of a team that's surpassed all expectations this season. To add Hamilton back to the big-league roster, the Rangers sent prospect Joey Gallo down to Triple-A. He impressed with his power, but his strikeouts (43 in 87 at-bats) and low batting average (.218) proved he could still use some more seasoning.

Hamilton, meanwhile, is a different kind of question mark. He hit .273/.385/.636 in those seven games, which is a very, very small sample, but Hamilton did knock two homers to go with five RBIs. He looked better than most people anticipated, given his performance last season and all the drama that followed.

The Rangers are a team that can use a boost. They're a surprising 39-38, which puts them in third place in the AL West, ahead of the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics. Texas is five games behind the first-place Houston Astros and two games out of the wild card if the playoffs started today. That's not too shabby.

With Prince Fielder back playing like an All-Star, a productive Hamilton could mean they're relevant past the All-Star break. Even if they don't make or challenge for the playoffs, playing meaningful baseball in August would be a win for a team that most people penciled into the cellar.

For Hamilton, there's also a chance at redemption here. While the Rangers have been a fun story, expectations aren't that high in Arlington this year. He needn't carry them into the playoffs or play like an MVP to glean a little bit of success from this season.

If Hamilton can be productive and help the Rangers win, those two things alone will have proven a lot of people wrong.

Luke Ridnour joins Raptors in 4th trade in 6 days, and his saga's not done yet

The NBA's 2015 free agency period hasn't even officially begun yet, but it's hard to imagine a more surprising and bizarre story unfolding than the one in which Luke Ridnour has starred over the past week. After being employed by five teams over the course of a 12-year NBA career, the veteran point guard has now been employed by — or, more accurately, had his rights owned by — five teams in the span of six days.

The latest team to get into the Luke Ridnour business: the Toronto Raptors, who picked him up from the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday in exchange for the rights to Tomislav Zubcic, a 25-year-old big man whom Toronto selected late in the second round of the 2012 NBA draft.

Zubcic has played his whole pro career in Lithuania and Croatia, and is considered "unlikely to ever join the Thunder and may never make his way over to the NBA," according to Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman, who first reported the trade. The Thunder also reportedly sent Toronto some cash in the deal, creating a $2.85 million trade exception that general manager Sam Presti can use in a deal at some point over the next year.

This is the fourth time Ridnour's been traded in less than a week, beginning with his move from the Magic — for whom he made 47 appearances last season, averaging four points and two assists in 14.5 minutes per game — to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for the rights to Latvian forward Janis Timma, a 2013 second-rounder currently playing overseas. Next, the Grizzlies sent the reserve point guard to the Charlotte Hornets — with whom he'd spent the latter part of the 2013-14 season, back when they were called the Bobcats — in a swap for swingman Matt Barnes.

The Hornets promptly flipped Ridnour and a conditional 2016 second-round pick to the Thunder for young wing Jeremy Lamb. And now, after five days of relative calm, Ridnour's on the move again, as our own Kelly Dwyer suggested last week that he would be.

All this movement has led to some jokes:

You may be asking: What's made Ridnour, a 34-year-old caretaker type, such a compulsively movable piece all of a sudden? The answer: his $2.75 million contract for the 2015-16 season is totally unguaranteed, and doesn't become guaranteed until July 11.

That means any team that acquires him can use him as a chip to match up salaries with a prospective trade partner or waive him and instantly create $2.75 million in cap space. It's a no- or low-cost path to free cash, some additional deal-making flexibility and/or an open roster spot to add a new piece or sign a draft pick. According to NBA.com's John Schuhmann, other players with significant nonguaranteed contracts for next season include Denver Nuggets shooting guard Randy Foye, Milwaukee Bucks forward Caron Butler and Cleveland Cavaliers center Brendan Haywood.

Ridnour's weird week calls to mind the NBA-trotting journey of Alonzo Gee, who signed a three-year, $9.75 million contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the fall of 2012, in which the final season was wholly unguaranteed. Once that final year hit, Gee became an NBA pinball, bouncing from Cleveland to Charlotte to New Orleans to Houston to Sacramento in less than three months before eventually convincing the Kings to waive him and let him out of that deal.

Freed from his non-guaranteed pact, Gee inked a one-year, $1.1 million league-minimum deal with the Nuggets ... who then sent him to the Portland Trail Blazers at the trade deadline as ballast in a deal headlined by Arron Afflalo.

“Nobody thinks about this side of the business,” Gee told Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins after the deal. “[...] This feels different. They don’t just want the contract. They want me.”

Gee's now a free agent, free to sign with any suitor he chooses. While Ridnour's reportedly a favorite of Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, who was an assistant coach with the Seattle SuperSonics when Ridnour broke into the league in 2003, he's expected to be waived or traded by Toronto again before the July 11 guarantee date, and could join Gee in unrestricted free agency. After their compressed trips around the NBA world, you'd figure neither would be especially keen on signing any more contracts with unguaranteed final seasons.

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY - JUNE 30TH

1908 - Boston's Cy Young's 2nd no-hitter, beats NY Highlanders, 8-0.

1933 - Card's Dizzy Dean strikes out 17 Cubs to win 8-2.
1934 - NFL's Portsmouth Spartans become Detroit Lions.

1944 - Ron Swoboda, baseball outfielder/sportscaster (NY Yankees, NY Mets) is born.
1948 - Cleveland Indian Bob Lemon no-hits Detroit Tigers, 2-0.

1962 - LA Dodger Sandy Koufax no-hits NY Mets, 5-0.
1965 - NFL grants Atlanta Falcons a franchise.

1966 - Mike Tyson, NY, youngest Heavyweight boxing champ (1986-90) is born.
1967 - Phillies Cookie Rojas pitches, plays 9th position since joining Phils.

1970 - Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium opens, Braves beat Reds 8-2.
1972 - Cincinnati Reds are 11 games back in NL, & go on to win pennant.
1975 - Heavyweight Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Bugner in Malaysia.
1978 - Larry Doby becomes manager of Chicago White Sox.
1982 - NJ NHL franchise officially named Devils by fan balloting,

runner-up names are Blades, Meadowlanders & Americans.

1985 - Michael Phelps, American swimmer (16 Olympic medals),

born in Baltimore, Maryland is born.

1988 - Chicago agrees to build a new stadium so White Sox won't move to FL
1992 - First pay bathrooms in US Open: 25 cents (NYC).
1995 - Indians' Eddie Murray, is 20th to reach 3,000 hits.
2002 - FIFA 17th World Cup: Brazil beats Germany 2-0 in Yokohama.

Phil Mickelson tied to money laundering and gambling ring, per reports

Phil Mickelson wired millions of dollars to a middleman, who then laundered that money as part of "an illegal gambling operation which accepted and placed bets on sporting events," according to a report from ESPN's Outside the Lines.According to the report, Mickelson transferred the money to 56-year-old Greg Silveira of La Quinta, Calif., who has pleaded guilty to three federal counts of money laundering as part of a plea deal. Silveira pled guilty to laundering $2.75 million that he says belonged to Mickelson, according to the report.The plea deal centers around three wire transfers from March 2010 to February 2013 connected to Silveira. In 2010, Silveira first accepted a $2.75 million wire transfer into a Wells Fargo Bank account from a "gambling client," identified in the report as Mickelson. That money was then transferred in two installments – first $2.475 million, then $275,000 – into another of Silveira's bank accounts. Finally, Silveira transferred $2.475 million into another account he controlled with JP Morgan Chase Bank. Those transfers constitute money laundering.

Silveira will be sentenced on Oct. 5 and could face up to 60 years in prison, though a much shorter sentence is expected.
Federal prosecutors, Silveira's lawyer, Mickelson and his attorneys, as well the PGA Tour all declined to comment on the case.

Mickelson is golf's highest paid player, taking in an estimated $51 million in 2014 from both on-course prize money and endorsements with companies including Callaway Golf, Barclays, KPMG, Exxon Mobil, Rolex and Amgen. He is known to routinely play in big-money side games on the PGA Tour. He is also remembered for his piece of a preseason bet on the Baltimore Ravens as a 22-to-1 shot to win the Super Bowl before the 2000 season. They won their first Super Bowl that year in a 34-7 romp of the New York Giants.

In 2014, Mickelson's name surfaced in a federal investigation related to two instances of potential insider trading involving billionaire investor Carl Icahn and legendary sports gambler Billy Walters. Mickelson was cleared in one of those cases, but it's unclear if the second investigation is still ongoing.

Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan to retire after next season

Bo Ryan has been the fire-breathing face of Wisconsin basketball for 14 seasons, pushing the Badgers to never-before-seen heights.

After 14 NCAA tournament appearances, seven Sweet 16s, four Big Ten titles, two Final Fours and a berth in last year's national championship game, the hard-charging 67-year-old Ryan has only one more season left in him.

Ryan surprised the college basketball world Monday when he announced that he plans to retire after next season as he looks to pass the torch after molding the Badgers into a national power. And were it not for some cajoling from Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, Ryan said he would have called it a career in April after the Badgers lost to Duke in the national title game.

''I've always been told that is not a decision to be made right after a season is completed,'' Ryan said in a statement issued by the school. ''Barry thankfully encouraged me to take some time to think about it and I have done that.''

Ryan said it is his hope that longtime Badgers assistant Greg Gard is chosen to succeed him. The associate head coach has been on Ryan's staff dating to 1993, when the two were at Division III Wisconsin-Platteville.

Whoever gets the job has some awfully big shoes to fill. The silver-haired Ryan has become synonymous with the Badger program, stomping up and down the sideline, barking at referees and pushing Wisconsin to national power status with a brand of basketball that was often much more physical than flashy.

Ryan is 357-125 (.741) as coach of the Badgers and has taken the program to the NCAA tournament in every one of his seasons on the bench.

The Badgers reached a crest over the last two seasons, topping last year's Final Four run by beating undefeated Kentucky in the national semifinals this season before losing to Duke. The Badgers have won four Big Ten titles and never finished lower than tied for fourth in the conference during his tenure.

Before Ryan took the Wisconsin job, he spent 15 years at Platteville and two seasons at Milwaukee. His career record is 740-228.

''I am looking forward to another year with our program, including our players, my terrific assistant coaches, our office staff and everyone who supports Wisconsin basketball here in Madison, around the state and across the country,'' Ryan said.

Ryan took over the program in 2001, one year after Dick Bennett led the team to the Final Four. Bennett retired two games into the 2000-01 season, and Ryan wasn't the splashiest of hires when he was pulled up from Milwaukee.

But he injected the program with a working-class attitude instilled in him while he grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, and honed as he climbed the coaching ladder for three decades before Alvarez gave him his big break.

''He is very tough-minded,'' Gard said before the Badgers played Kentucky in the 2014 national semifinals. ''And I think that whole thing in terms of street toughness, the understanding that there's an appreciation for what you have. The willingness to never quit, never give up. He came from a family that had limited resources financially, so you have an appreciation for what it takes; what hard work really is.''

The approach fit perfectly in the rugged Big Ten, where basketball games often turn to wrestling matches in the paint. Ryan rarely competed against the likes of Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina for the highest-profile recruits, those who would often be on campus for a year or two before bolting to the NBA.

Instead, Ryan built his program around the meat-and-potatoes kids who showed up with chips on their shoulders for being overlooked by the glitzier schools. Kids who would spend four years working and molding themselves into better players and adopting Ryan's brass-knuckle intensity.

Without the top-flight athletes to run teams out of the Kohl Center, Ryan's famed swing offense was built on bleeding the shot clock down the last few seconds, slowing the game down and reducing the number of possessions in a game to balance the scales. The philosophy often kept scores painfully low, and the Badgers are one of the teams most often cited when observers bemoan the lack of offense in the modern college game.

But over the last two years, the Badgers played with an unmatched offensive efficiency that helped push them to those Final Fours. Frank Kaminsky, who was named national player of the year for 2014-15, and Sam Dekker were both drafted in the first round last week, and the team that took down mighty Kentucky was a model for ball movement and team play.

''I've never seen a bunch of guys - I've coached a long time - and that's probably as far as guys (have come) together,'' Ryan said after they lost to Duke. ''I mean look at our offensive efficiency, that says a lot about a group of people who are willing to share the ball.''

Maybe that's why Ryan thought so hard about stepping away. But with players like Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig returning, Ryan will take one last victory lap.

Dwyane Wade opts out of contract, will enter free agency

Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade has elected to decline the $16.1 million player option he holds for the 2015-16 season and enter the market this July as an unrestricted free agent, according to ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne.

Wade, 33, will be able to negotiate with any suitor he chooses when free agency kicks off at 12 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 1. He has spent his entire 12-year career in Miami, winning three NBA titles, making eight All-NBA teams and earning 11 All-Star nods since the Heat selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. He ranks first in Heat franchise history in games, minutes, points, assists and steals.

On one hand, Wade's decision to opt out might come as a bit more of a surprise than those of his former Heat teammate, LeBron James, and James' current Cleveland Cavaliers teammate, Kevin Love, considering he said back in April — after the Heat wrapped up an injury-plagued 37-45 season, missing the playoff for the first time since 2008 — that he would not exercise his opt-out clause. In recent weeks, though, Wade's been making noise about a willingness to pursue free agency in the interest of getting made whole after years of taking lower salaries for the good of the team.

Back in the summer of 2010, Wade agreed to take less than a maximum salary to afford Heat owner Micky Arison and president Pat Riley the flexibility to fit free agents James and Chris Bosh in under the salary cap, paving the way for a "Big Three" era that resulted in four straight Eastern Conference championships and the second and third NBA titles of Wade's Hall of Fame career. Last summer, Wade joined Bosh and Udonis Haslem in exercising the early termination options in their deals to create enough flexibility to allow Riley to try to keep James and retool the roster after Miami's NBA Finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

When James headed back to Ohio and Arison gave Bosh a full five-year maximum contract, Wade had brief dalliances with prospective suitors like his hometown Chicago Bulls before agreeing to terms on a two-year deal that paid him about $11 million less than the one out of which he'd opted, allowing Riley to rebound by signing small forward Luol Deng, bringing in forwards Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger, and bringing back Haslem, reserve center Chris "Birdman" Anderson and point guard Mario Chalmers.

Initial reports pegged Wade's asking price this time around at an average annual value of $20 million over the next three years. The Heat, for their part, were reportedly thinking something more like $10 million, as Riley looks to maintain whatever flexibility in pursuit of yet another star-laden reload that could vault Miami back to the top of the East. More recent updates suggest Wade's brought his number down a few ticks, and is now looking for at least $16 million per year over the next three seasons.

That split — plus might-mean-nothing-might-mean-something stuff like Wade talking about his time in Miami in the past tense while working as a commentator for ABC during the Finals and his dad wearing Cavaliers gear around — have led to speculation that Wade might seriously consider alternate options should the Heat come in with what he deems an unacceptably low offer this summer. What's "unacceptably low" for a player of Wade's accomplishments, stature, current effectiveness, age and injury history, though, is something of a tough figure to nail down.

Wade was inarguably productive when he was on the court, averaging 21.5 points, 4.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 31.8 minutes per game last season. His Player Efficiency Rating of 21.44 ranked behind only MVP runner-up James Harden of the Houston Rockets among shooting guards. It's the "when he was on the court" part that's the problem, though.

Wade has missed 78 games over the past four seasons — 20 last year, 28 in 2013-14, 13 in 2012-13, 17 in 2011-12 — as he's battled a variety of knee and hamstring problems. During his season-wrapping press conference, Riley spoke openly about the need for Wade to "change the narrative himself about his body and about his injuries and about his missing games," and as much as he loves Wade — and as much as Wade has meant to the franchise — you'd have to imagine he's not particularly thrilled by the prospect of paying a premium for the through-age-36 seasons of a non-outside-shooting shooting guard with nearly 35,000 NBA minutes worth of wear on his surgically repaired wheels.

It might make Riley uncomfortable, but it might also be unavoidable from a roster-construction standpoint.

With Bosh expected to come back fully healthy after his season-ending scare with blood clots on his lung, revelation center Hassan Whiteside in line for a larger role in his first full season with the team, trade-deadline acquisition Goran Dragic expected to receive a five-year maximum contract offer from the Heat when free agency opens, Deng deciding Monday to stay in Miami by exercising his $10.1 million player option and Miami perhaps getting the steal of last Thursday's draft when Duke's Justise Winslow fell in their laps at No. 10, the Heat look to be both loaded up for a run at the top of the East and left without significant financial wiggle room to replace Wade's production at the two guard if he leaves.

The question, then, is whether Riley can strike the right balance between showing Wade he's respected and revered, and getting him to agree to a figure that wouldn't trigger exceptionally insane luxury tax payments — and allow Miami to retain enough financial flexibility to take a run at future potential A-list free-agents like Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis — in the years to come.

“Everybody in this organization over the years has had to sacrifice,” Riley recently said, according to Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald. “The one player that’s had to sacrifice for the sake of winning has been [Wade]. This is now getting down to business. We respect him. We want him back. We want him here for the rest of his career. And we’re going to try to do everything to make that happen.”

Knicks emerging as frontrunners to sign Arron Afflalo

The New York Knicks are emerging as the frontrunners to sign free-agent guard Arron Afflalo, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

For months, the Knicks and rival executives have believed that New York is the likely destination for Detroit fre- agent forward Greg Monroe, and now it appears that Afflalo is the most likey target to potentially join him with Carmelo Anthony in New York, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

With Monroe expecting to command a maximum contract on the market, Afflalo could earn a deal in the neighborhood of three years, $36 million-$38 million, league sources said.

The Knicks have the salary-cap space to sign both, pairing them with All-Star Carmelo Anthony in the starting lineup.

Afflalo finished the past season in Portland, where he had been traded at the February deadline from Denver. Afflalo averaged 13.3 points on the season. Across his seven seasons, including stops in Detroit, Denver, Orlando and Portland, he has averaged 11 points a game.

Hockey Hall of Fame 2015: Lidstrom, Fedorov, Pronger, Housley, Ruggiero

The Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee announced its Class of 2015 on Monday: Detroit Red Wings legends Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov; former Buffalo Sabres great Phil Housley; current Arizona Coyote Chris Pronger; former Hockey Hall of Fame chairman Bill Hay and Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, Jr. in the Builder category; and U.S. Olympic great Angela Ruggiero in the women’s player category.

Hall of Fame forwards and defensemen will have played a minimum of 800 NHL regular season games or recorded a minimum of 300 goals, 400 assists or 700 points.

It’s an incredible class of NHL stars.

The word “legend” gets tossed around a little too much in sports, but it’s hardly ever more applicable than in discussing defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom.

He won seven Norris Trophies in his 20-season career. He won four Stanley Cups. He won the Conn Smythe. He won Olympic gold in 2006. He has 1,142 points in 1,564 games, including 878 assists, fifth highest for a defenseman in NHL history. His postseason performances were epic, including a plus-61 all-time in the playoffs, an NHL record.

Stylistically, he was a player many young defensemen tried to emulate: Smart as well with the puck and perhaps even smarter with his body positioning. He showed you could be a dominant defenseman without throwing your body around, which isn’t always an easy thing to prove when you’re a European in the NHL.

He was nicknamed “The Perfect Human,” and that might have been an understatement.

Fedorov was, like Pavel Bure, an absolutely show-stopper of an offensive player at center and wing. Blazing fast, a brilliant shot and the kind of moves that had kids emulating him in the street. But he was the total package: Before Pavel Datsyuk became the go-to name for dominant defensive forwards for the Red Wings, it was Fedorov that collected Selke Trophies in 1994 and 1996.

Fedorov won the Hart Trophy in 1994 for a 120-point season that saw him score 56 goals. He captured three Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, and scored 176 points in 183 playoff games. He played 1,248 games and had a points-per-game average of 0.945, which is better than Mike Modano (.917) and Mike Gartner (.932).

Pronger is considered one of the most physically dominating defensemen in NHL history, or at least one of the most physically intimidating given his nearly dozen career suspensions.

He played with an edge, and crossed the line more than a few times, but he also had 698 points in 1,167 games, the Hart Trophy and Norris Trophy in 2000 and a Stanley Cup championship in 2007. He could have even earned a pair of Conn Smythe Trophies in losing efforts in 2006 with the Edmonton Oilers and 2010 with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Of course, Pronger’s case is a unique one: He’s still being paid on an NHL contract despite having no hope of playing again after suffering a concussion in Oct. 2011 when a stick struck him in the head. Pronger’s cap space was traded to the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.

These three were considered locks. Housley was not. But the defenseman had a lot of momentum heading into the committee vote.

He is third in all-time career points by an American born player with 1,232 behind Brett Hull and Mike Modano, having played 1,495 games in the NHL. He’s considered one of the best offensive defensemen to have ever played the game, spending 21 seasons in the League, most of them with the Buffalo Sabres.

But a lack of awards and a Stanley Cup ring are significant drawbacks, as were knocks about his all-around game. But it’s hard to argue that after Lidstrom and Pronger, he wasn’t the next most-deserving defenseman.

Sitting on the outside looking in, again: Eric Lindros, Mark Recchi, Dave Andreychuk and Jeremy Roenick.

As for Ruggiero, she won a gold and two silvers for the U.S. women’s hockey team at the Olympics, as well as four world championships. She’s one of the most inspiring figures in the history of women’s hockey in the U.S., whose 13-year playing career served as motivation for subsequent generations of players.

On Jan, 28, 2005, she also became the first woman skater to actively play in a pro hockey league during the regular season, suiting up for the Tulsa Oilers in the Central Hockey League.

In the Builder Category, Bill Hay and Peter Karmanos Jr. were elected.

The first NCAA graduate to play in the National Hockey League, Bill Hay’s contributions to hockey span from grassroots to the professional level. His distinguished hockey resume includes contributions made while serving as President and Chief Operating Officer of Hockey Canada, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Calgary Flames, and most recently as Chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Peter Karmanos Jr. has helped enable the success of dozens of American hockey teams and thousands of players. The Detroit native captured a Stanley Cup as Chief Executive Officer, Owner and Governor of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.

He's also the reason the Whalers left Hartford. Hopefully the play "Brass Bonanza" during his induction.

5 Royals lead in All-Star voting, balloting ends Thursday

Toronto third baseman Josh Donaldson and Seattle designated hitter Nelson Cruz have moved ahead in fan voting for starting spots in the All-Star Game, leaving five Kansas City Royals still in the lead.

Major League Baseball released the results Monday, and voting continues through Thursday night. MLB said more than 500 million votes had been cast.

The starters will be announced Sunday, with the pitchers, reserves and candidates for the final spot to be presented Monday. The game is July 14 in Cincinnati.

Royals outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon, catcher Salvador Perez, shortstop Alcides Escobar and second baseman Omar Infante hold leads. Infante is about 230,000 votes ahead of Houston's Jose Altuve.

Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera and Angels outfielder Mike Trout also led in the American League.

Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas and DH Kendrys Morales led last week, but were overtaken by Donaldson and Cruz. Donaldson has drawn over 11.7 million votes, already a record for any player in any season.

The National League leaders are: St. Louis third baseman Matt Carpenter, shortstop Jhonny Peralta and outfielder Matt Holliday, Miami outfielder Giancarlo Stanton and second baseman Dee Gordon, Washington outfielder Bryce Harper, San Francisco catcher Buster Posey and Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.

Stanton has a broken hand is out four to six weeks. Nori Aoki of the Giants is fourth in the NL outfield voting, followed by Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen.

Harper is the top vote-getter in the NL with over 11.3 million.

Dutch FA terminates Hiddink's contract as coach

The Dutch football federation terminated the contract of national team coach Guus Hiddink on Monday, ending his second stint in charge after just one disappointing season.

The KNVB said that Hiddink's contract will now end on Wednesday. It had been set to last through next year's European Championship.

Hiddink took over after Louis van Gaal led the Netherlands to third place at last year's World Cup, but the Netherlands have had a poor qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 so far. It sits third in Group A, behind leader Iceland and the Czech Republic.

''It's a shame that it went this way,'' Hiddink said in a statement released by the KNVB. ''It was an honor to coach the Netherlands team again and I wish my successor, the staff and the squad every success on their way to the European Championship in France.''

KNVB director Bert van Oostveen said he regretted the move.

''Sadly, the results of Guus' work were not immediately visible to everybody,'' he said.

Hiddink's assistant, Danny Blind, was set to replace him after Euro 2016, but was not immediately named to take over Monday. Instead, the KNVB said it was considering how to fill the vacancy left by Hiddink's early exit.

Hiddink, who led the Netherlands to the semifinals of the World Cup in France in 1998 in his first stint as national coach, never managed to build on the success of Van Gaal's World Cup campaign and left the job with a record of five losses, four victories and a draw.

Monday's announcement marked one of the lowest points in the 68-year-old Hiddink's storied international coaching career. After taking the Netherlands to the semifinals in France, he repeated the feat with unfancied South Korea in 2002 when the country co-hosted the tournament with Japan.

Hiddink is still revered in South Korea, where statues of him were built after the 2002 World Cup and where he was named an honorary citizen of the capital, Seoul.

He continued his run of international successes by leading Australia in 2006 to only its second qualification for the World Cup. Australia lost in the round of 16 to Italy, which went on to win the tournament.

He also guided Russia to the European Championship semifinal in 2008, coached Turkey's national team and won the European Cup with PSV Eindhoven in 1988.

But he seemed to have lost the knack of getting the best out of teams in his second term at the helm of his home country's national team.

His last match was a 2-0 victory over Latvia this month that came days after the United States rallied to beat the Dutch 4-3 in a friendly in Amsterdam.

That result again exposed frailties in the Dutch defense that Hiddink, unlike his predecessor Van Gaal, failed to successfully patch up.

Oduya is already pondering offers, won’t wait for Chicago

Johnny Oduya isn’t going to wait for the Chicago Blackhawks to sort out their cap issues, instead electing to hit free agency without hesitation, according to ESPN Chicago.

That same report indicates that Oduya, 33, has already received inquiries from “several” teams.

A couple days ago, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman indeed indicated that it might take some time for Chicago to figure out what they can do (and what free agents like Oduya and Brad Richards want), as CSNChicago.com noted.

“They need to decide where they’re going to go dollar-wise, and we need to figure out what we can possibly offer,” Bowman said.

This might be frustrating for Blackhawks fans, especially in the case of Oduya, who obviously served a big purpose in Chicago’s Stanley Cup run (which required grinding work by its top-four defense). At the same time, it’s clear that the Blackhawks are already in a significant cap crunch thanks in part to raises for Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, so challenges are ahead.

One can imagine Oduya’s agent merely filling his “resume” with photos of the defenseman raising the Stanley Cup, but his value extends beyond that.

Oduya didn’t generate a ton of points (10 during the regular season), yet his time on ice numbers will be a significant selling point, as he saw his ice time jump to 24:45 minutes per postseason contest. You can read more about his situation here, but simply enough, there aren’t many experienced (and still fairly young) blueliners on the market who are on par with him.

All things considered, Oduya is almost certainly out of Chicago’s price range, and it doesn’t sound like either side is really denying that.

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY - JUNE 29TH

1897 - Chicago beats Louisville 36-7 (baseball).
1933 - Primo Carnera KOs Jack Sharkey in 6 for Heavyweight boxing title.

1936 - Harmon Killebrew, baseball player (Minnesota Twins) is born.

1949 - Dan Dierdorf, NFLer, sportscaster (Monday Night Football) is born.

1956 - Charles Dumas makes 1st High Jump over 7' (2.13 m)-LA, Calif.

1958 - FIFA 6th World Cup: Brazil beats Sweden 5-2 in Stockholm.
1961 - Willie Mays is 4th major leaguer with 3 or more HRs twice in a season.

1969 - On Billy Williams Day in Chicago, the Cubs outfielder passes

Stan Musial's NL record for consecutive games played (896).

1984 - Pete Rose plays in record 3,309th game, surpassing Carl Yastrzemski.
1986 - FIFA World Cup: Argentina beats West Germany 3-2

in football's 13th World Cup in Mexico City.

1986 - Boston Red Sox trade for Tom Seaver.
1990 - NY Mets tie their team career high 11 game win streak.
1990 - A's Dave Stewart no-hits Blue Jays & Dodger's Fernando Valenzuela

no-hits St Louis 6-0, 1st time no-hitters in both leagues.

1995 - George Foreman loses IBF boxing title for refusing to re-fight Axel Schulz.
1995 - Memphis Mad Dogs 1st CFL game (vs Calgary Stampeders).

2006 - Randy Walker, Northwestern Wildcats football coach (b. 1954)

who was only 52, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack.

LeBron James opts out of final year of contract, will enter free agency

One year after returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers in one of the biggest free-agent signings in recent NBA history, four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James has elected to decline the $20.6 million player option he holds for the 2015-16 season and re-enter unrestricted free agency this July, according to an ESPN report.

This was a widely anticipated move, one that many have seen as a simple matter of course ever since James and his representatives negotiated an opt-out clause into the two-year, $42.2 million contract he accepted to rejoin the Cavaliers after spending four seasons with the Miami Heat. Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said during his season-ending news conference that he expected both James and power forward Kevin Love to exercise their rights to tear up the final years of their deals and enter the free-agent market. Love did so earlier this week.

For one thing, with the salary cap projected to rise to $67.1 million for the 2015-16 season, the starting maximum salary next season for a player with as much service time as 12-year veteran James slots in just under $22.1 million. Opting out and signing a new deal, then, allows James to pick up an extra $1.5 million or so for nothing, and would give him a higher starting salary off of which to base the year-over-year raises he'd receive if he were to sign a multi-year deal.

LeBron is not making decisions solely over that comparatively small sum, though; rather, he's making them based on the flexibility that opting out affords.

If James goes for a carbon copy of the deal he signed last summer — a two-year pact with the first year fully guaranteed and a player option for the second — he opens up the option of re-entering free agency again in the summer of 2016. That's when the influx of new money from the NBA's massive new nine-year, $24 billion broadcast rights deal will inflate the salary cap to a projected $89 million. The first year of a maximum-salary contract is based on a set percentage of the cap rather than a straight dollar amount, meaning that as the salary cap rises, so does the value of the max; in this case, the spike would bump LeBron's first-year max up to an estimated $29.3 million.

If he wants to keep the good times rolling with one-and-one contracts, James could then opt to once again hit the market in 2017, when the cap is expected to hit an unprecedented $108 million, which would push James' '17-'18 max salary up to a whopping $35.5 million. That would be the highest single-season player salary in NBA history, topping Michael Jordan's $33 million deal to play for the Chicago Bulls during the 1997-98 season. And so on, and so on.

Going year-to-year also allows James to avoid being locked into a long-term deal as the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association ready for their next round of collective bargaining negotiations. Either side can opt out of the existing CBA, signed prior to the 2011-12 season after a lockout that resulted in a substantial lowering in the share of basketball-related income that players receive each year, following the '16-'17 season.

The players union — now led by no-joke-at-all trial lawyer Michele Roberts — is widely expected to exercise that right, opening up negotiations on a slew of financial and system-based issues that could drastically change the nature of the way players' contracts work. Nobody knows quite yet what a brave new-CBA world might look like, but with uncertainty on the horizon, ensuring flexibility seems a prudent approach, which surely hasn't escaped the notice of James ... who, by the way, recently ascended to the No. 2 slot in the union's player hierarchy.

Beyond the dollars and cents, though, James' preference for shorter-term deals that afford him maximum decision-making flexibility each summer puts constant pressure on GM Griffin and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert to do everything in their power to keep the team competitive. As I wrote last summer, "What stronger motivator could there be for a front office to make win-now moves than the specter of LeBron deciding to leave again?"

James seems intent on exercising that influence come this summer, according to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group:

The contract situations of Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and to a certain degree Brendan Haywood are expected to be resolved before the Cleveland Cavaliers re-sign the world's most dominant player.

James will take a wait-and-see approach while the Cavaliers tend to their housekeeping matters, league sources told Northeast Ohio Media Group.

The four-time MVP has a player option deadline of Monday, and he will decline to pick up that deal for next season.

The belief is James wants to observe how management goes about retaining and accumulating assets keep the organization in win-now mode and improve the roster.

The chance of James bolting the city of Cleveland for a second time is slim, but his approach will allow him to assess the Cavaliers' moves before re-signing. It also applies pressure on the organization to do whatever is necessary to strengthen the team.

The organization will accept the consequences of working under that pressure because it's worth it to continue employing The King.

In what was by his all-time-great standards something of a down year, James ranked third in the NBA in points per game, seventh in assists per game, sixth in assist percentage, 18th in steals per game and sixth in Player Efficiency Rating. With him on the court during the regular season, the Cavaliers outscored their opponents by nearly 10 points per 100 possessions, an elite number that would've been the second-best full-season "net rating" in the league, behind only the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. With him off the court, the Cavs were outscored by nearly seven points-per-100, which would have been the fifth-worst mark in the league, ahead of only the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers — the teams with the four worst records in the NBA last season.

James' remarkable return to Ohio resulted in 53 wins, the Cavaliers' highest total since the 2009-10 season, his final season before leaving for Miami, and nearly as many as they'd won in the previous two seasons combined. He capped the campaign by leading Cleveland to the NBA Finals and absolutely carrying a decimated squad — no Anderson Varejao, no Kevin Love and, after Game 1, no Kyrie Irving — to a 2-1 lead over Golden State through sheer force of will.

He'd eventually tire and slow just enough for the deeper and substantially more talented Warriors to overwhelm the Cavaliers, winning three straight games to earn their first championship in 40 years, but James' performance led many to argue that he deserved Finals MVP honors, even in defeat, a la Jerry West in 1969. Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala took home the trophy, but it's LeBron's work that left the most indelible mark in our collective memory.

James said after the Game 6 defeat that he hadn't started thinking about next season, but he did briefly cast his gaze forward in responding to a question about whether he felt the incredible workload he'd taken on during the playoffs, and the toll it had taken on his body, was worth it if it didn't result in a title (emphasis mine):

Well, of course you question it, especially when you get to this point. I always look at it would I rather not make the playoffs or lose in The Finals? I don't know. I don't know. I've missed the playoffs twice. I lost in The Finals four times. I'm almost starting to be like I'd rather not even make the playoffs than to lose in The Finals. It would hurt a lot easier if I just didn't make the playoffs and I didn't have a shot at it.

But then I lock back in and I start thinking about how fun it is to compete during the playoffs and the first round, the second round, and Eastern Conference Finals. If I'm lucky enough to get here again, it will be fun to do it.

But put my body through a lot, you know, but it's the price for your body feeling this way for winning. Did I win? I didn't win a championship, but I've done a lot of good things in this first year back, and hopefully I can continue it.

James' decision to opt out puts the onus on Gilbert, Griffin and company to make whatever moves are necessary — and to shell out as much money of Gilbert's money as it takes — to put the Cavaliers back in position to compete for the Larry O'Brien Trophy again next season. It seems unthinkable that he'd leave Cleveland just one year after his dramatic return; then again, coming off four straight Finals trips and two championships, it seemed unthinkable to many that he'd leave Miami when he exercised his early termination option last summer.

Realities and fortunes can change quickly in the NBA. That's why, even though they've been expecting this day to come, you can bet the Cavaliers' decision-makers are feeling a little hot under the collar as they set about the business of re-upping all the King's men to make sure that Quicken Loans Arena remains his home court.

Can Los Angeles' temporary stadium options support an NFL team?

Until it happens, I'll continue to believe that every move the NFL makes in Los Angeles, in terms of bringing a team there, is a bluff.

The NFL hasn't had a team in Los Angeles since 1994, and it's not because it doesn't have the money to make it happen. It decided somewhere along the line that not having a team in L.A. was better for business than having a team there. But let's humor the league for a moment, and look at the latest report of the NFL issuing proposal requests for temporary venues while a stadium in the Los Angeles area is built. There have been proposals for stadiums in Carson, perhaps for the Raiders or Chargers, or a stadium in Inglewood for the Rams.

The Los Angeles Times reported first about the temporary requests to various venues and said it was with the intent of securing a home for a team in 2016. NFL.com also reported on the requests, and said that the Los Angeles Coliseum and Rose Bowl got requests, and the league had looked at Dodger Stadium, Angel Stadium and the StubHub Center in Carson.

The idea of the NFL playing in Dodger Stadium is the most interesting of the lot. There would be some appeal in seeing football at the historic baseball venue. But Dodger Stadium isn't structured to be good for football, and neither is Angel Stadium (which wasn't a good venue for Los Angeles Rams games back when, and that was before a remodel to make it a baseball-only stadium). StubHub Center is a nice looking place, but it says it fits 27,000 for football. That won't work.

So realistically, we'd be down to the Rose Bowl and the Coliseum, which have been the common options through the years when the NFL is threatening a Los Angeles move to extort some city for tax money for a new stadium. The Rose Bowl is probably the best option. Residents in Pasadena have opposed an NFL team using it, but local politicians have pushed through measures to allow the Rose Bowl to host an NFL team on a temporary basis. CBS reported last year that the Rose Bowl could not be a host to two teams, if more than one end up moving to Los Angeles (again, I'll believe one when I see it). But it's a beautiful venue, and while it's not the most modern stadium around, it would be usable on a temporary basis.

The Coliseum hosts USC, and was the old home of the Raiders, but one has to imagine no NFL team is excited about the idea of making the old stadium home. It is a historic place, opened in 1923, but it doesn't fit the NFL's blueprint of a modern palace.

The Rose Bowl or Coliseum would just be temporary homes, and each would probably be functional while a super-stadium is built. For any NFL team moving to Los Angeles, it wouldn't be an ideal transition, but there's no ideal option until something permanent is finished.

Kobe Bryant on Larry Nance Jr.'s 2012 tweet: 'It's water under the bridge'

Kobe Bryant joined ESPN’s Jemele Hill on Saturday night for a wide-ranging one-on-one interview as part of the BET Experience, including addressing a tweet that was directed toward Bryant by new Lakers rookie Larry Nance Jr. in 2012 in reference to his sexual-assault case.

"It's water under the bridge, man," Bryant told Hill.

Nance Jr. called Bryant a rapist in a tweet that was quickly deleted by the Wyoming forward shortly after his name was selected in the 2015 NBA draft with the 27th overall pick.

Nance Jr. reached out to his new teammate on Friday and showed respect to the All-Star guard that's set to embark on his 20th season. It appears he caught Bryant on a good day.

"I looked at it, and it was like, 'This is when you know it's about time to hang these things up, when your teammate writes you, Hi, Mr. Bryant.'"

As for Bryant's immediate future, the 36-year-old didn’t give the audience a definite answer, simply saying that he’ll “assess” accordingly.

Sixers did not disclose Jrue Holiday injury to Pelicans, fined $3 million by NBA

On draft night two years ago, the Philadephia 76ers traded Jrue Holiday to the New Orleans Pelicans for Nerlens Noel. In those two years, Holiday has been healthy enough to play in 74 games, missing 41 games his first year after the trade due to a stress fracture in his right leg that required surgery.

The NBA says that the Sixers knew about a stress fracture in Holiday’s leg but didn’t disclose it — and they fined the Sixers for it, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer.

The 76ers were ordered to pay the New Orleans Pelicans $3 million by the NBA last season for not fully disclosing Jrue Holiday’s injury history before he was traded two years ago, according to two sources….

The sources said Holiday played with stress fractures in his lower right leg during his final season with the Sixers. However, the sources said, those injures weren’t fully disclosed to the Pelicans.

The Sixers, of course, deny this. Also, the Pelicans gave Holiday a physical before the trade went through.

However, the NBA felt strongly enough about it after looking at the evidence to fine Philadephia for its actions.

Interestingly, the Sixers are trying to get the league to look closely at what the Lakers knew before trading Andrew Bynum to them back in 2012, according to the same report. Bynum never played a minute for the Sixers.

Cheyenne Woods: I'm my own person

Cheyenne Woods is, indeed, Tiger Woods' niece. But at 24 and trying to make it in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour, the Wake Forest product wants to make waves with her first name, not just her surname.

"Yes, my last name is Woods — but you can call me Cheyenne," Woods wrote in an essay for The Players’ Tribune.

Woods writes about how she is asked about her 14-time-major-winning uncle on a daily basis and that the routine has gotten more than old.

“He’s one of the most famous human beings on the planet and we share a last name as well as a profession,” . “But let me clear something up once and for all: I love my uncle, and I treasure the advice he gives me when we speak every few months, but I am not Tiger Woods.”

She doesn't keep tabs on Woods. Her life isn't focused on his struggles. She has a life and career of her own. Woods has made five cuts in 11 LPGA events this season, with a T-24 finish at the JTBC Founders Cup coming as her best finish of the year.

Woods also shares how she has been dealing with the somewhat inevitable comparisons to Uncle Tiger since she was 9 or 10 years old. When she was that age, it was a cool thing as Woods was at his peak. Who wouldn't want to be Tiger's niece when he was playing the best golf perhaps ever seen?

However, that comparison was never apt, and Cheyenne wants the chance to walk her own path without the weight of expectation that she's the next Tiger.

She's not, and that's totally fine.

MLB announces new Home Run Derby format with brackets, timed rounds

For the second straight season Major League Baseball has announced significant changes to its Home Run Derby format.

According to a press release on Sunday afternoon, the league will be shifting to a bracketed, single-elimination tournament format, which means they'll lower the number of participants from ten to eight. Each round will now be timed as well, with each batter having a baseline of five minutes per round.

The eight-player contest will be conducted as a single-elimination tournament in which the loser of each bracket is immediately eliminated. Brackets in the first round will be seeded based on 2015 home run totals through July 7th, with ties broken by awarding the higher seed to the batter with more home runs hit since June 15th. If a tie remains, a coin flip will determine the higher seed. In each matchup, the higher seed will hit second.

During each of the three rounds, each batter will have five minutes to hit as many home runs as possible, and any swings that do not result in a home run will not be counted. Timers will count down from five minutes beginning with the release of the first pitch, and any home run hit after the timer reaches one minute remaining will stop the timer immediately when the ball lands in home run territory. The timer will not start again until the batter hits a ball that does not land in home run territory, or swings and misses at a pitch.

It's also noted that batters may be awarded bonus time during their turn based on the length of their home runs hit. For example, if a batter hits a home run equals or exceeds 475 feet, 30 seconds of bonus time will be added to the round.

It's definitely different. The timing element has the potential to be quite confusing though, which could do more harm than good. The idea, clearly, is to keep the first round from dragging on and on and on, as it always seemingly does. Simply eliminating two participants will help combat that, but we'll have to see how much impact the timed rounds have.

On the other side, the bracket format throughout should add some drama and make it a little more fun for fans. Like the NCAA Tournament, everyone will have their own opinions on how it will all play out.

The 2015 Gillette Home Run Derby be held on Monday, July 13th at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, and broadcast live by ESPN and MLB.com beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Kyle Busch wins at Sonoma; the race to the top 30 is on

Kyle Busch has his win for Chase qualification. Now he needs to get into the top 30 in points.

Busch held off his brother Kurt for the win Sunday at Sonoma, his second-career win at the California road course.

Kyle restarted seventh when the race went back to green with eight laps to go because of Casey Mears' broken axle. More importantly, Busch was the second driver with fresh tires. Clint Bowyer was the only driver who pitted under the caution flag that started ahead of Busch.

Busch got past Bowyer three turns after the restart when Bowyer made contact with Busch's teammate, Matt Kenseth. Busch then went on a tear, passing drivers one-by-one until he got to leader Jimmie Johnson, who he dispatched with ease with six laps to go.

Kurt Busch got past Bowyer with a few laps to go but could get close enough to his brother's back bumper to make a challenge for the lead. It's the first time the two have finished 1-2 in a Sprint Cup Series race.

Kyle Busch missed the first 11 races of the season after he crashed in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona. After trying to work his way to the front with teammate Erik Jones, Busch's car spun and went sliding into the Daytona infield. His hit into a bare concrete wall broke his right leg and left foot. When he returned, NASCAR waived the requirement that he had to attempt every Sprint Cup Series race to make the Chase.

However, he still had plenty of work to do. Drivers with a win are virtually guaranteed a berth in NASCAR's playoffs; assuming those drivers are in the top 30 in points. By missing 11 races, Kyle Busch had an uphill climb to get into the top 30.

And the hlll had gotten steeper since his return. In his first four races back, Kyle finished 36th and 43rd in two of them. To get to the Chase based off the points pace of 30th-place Justin Allgaier, he had to average an 11th-place finish over the final 11 races of the regular season.

Oh, and get a win too. He now has that. But the points are still not in his favor. Cole Whitt is now in 30th with 261 points. Busch has 125 points. He needs to make up 136 points over the next 10 races.

Can he do it? It's a tall task. His race to the top 30 is now a big storyline for a series that's been deprived of them so far in 2015.

With the way Busch drove at Sonoma, we know better than to count him out of making the Chase. But one bad finish could ruin those Chase hopes. The next race on the Sprint Cup schedule? Yup, Daytona. A place where every driver knows just how quickly good runs can become bad finishes.

Andrew McCutchen on latest HBP: 'Maybe I need to dropkick a pitcher'

To say Andrew McCutchen is growing tired of wearing fastballs in his rib cage and on his left elbow would be an understatement. During Saturday's 8-4 win against the Braves, the Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder was hit by a pitch for the eighth time this season and the 27th time over the past three seasons.

Braves pitcher Julio Teheran struck McCutchen in the left elbow with a fastball on a 1–1 count in the first inning, which forced McCutchen from the game. He quickly underwent X-rays, which came back negative for a fracture. Mentally, though, the latest incident definitely took a toll and had McCutchen wondering what he could do to better protect himself moving forward.

Via the Associated Press:

"Maybe I need to dropkick a pitcher,'' McCutchen said after Saturday's game. ''Maybe that will scare them into not throwing at me."

He was joking, we think, but the next pitcher who beans him might want to consider that comment.

It's an angry clubhouse, and we're guessing the basis for it all really came last August when McCutchen was drilled in the ribs by Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Randall Delgado. The pitch was clearly in retaliation for the broken hand All-Star Paul Goldschmidt suffered earlier in the series on a HBP, and it ended up costing McCutchen two weeks with a broken rib.

From a more realistic perspective, McCutchen did indicate that adding an elbow pad to protect his lead arm might be a start.

The problem there, of course, is getting familiar with it and comfortable at the plate after years of swinging without a pad. It may sound like a good plan, but will it be more of a distraction than a help?

At this point, the Pirates probably just want to see him stay healthy. If that means sacrificing some comfort, so be it.

Needless to say, it'll be interesting to see how this story develops.

Bob Costas to apologize to Pedro Strop for insensitive commentary

In one of the most unexpected and undeniably awkward stories of the season, broadcasting legend Bob Costas found himself in hot water Friday night after going off on a bizarre and insensitive diatribe about Chicago Cubs reliever Pedro Strop.

Costas was on the call for MLB Network's broadcast of the Cubs-Cardinals game in St. Louis. Strop, who serves as Chicago's eighth-inning reliever, was called upon for his duties but had a rough night, allowing a game-tying homer to Greg Garcia and an additional two baserunners before getting the hook.

As Strop left the mound with the game hanging in the balance, he pointed skyward, which is a gesture many pitchers make while taking their leave. But Costas wasn't having it this time.

Take a listen.

 

For those not in a position to listen, here's a transcript of Costas' comments.

“Motte is on his way in, Strop is on his way out, pointing toward the heavens. We can only ask, or wonder that he is asking some departed relative for forgiveness for this atrocious performance.”

Where did that even come from?

Costas attempted to explain on Saturday, while also admitting that he owes Strop an apology.

From The New York Daily News:

“The tone of it was not what I intended. I intended it as a kind of sarcastic comment about this overall thing where everybody seems to be pointing toward the heavens for every accomplishment, large and small, or even for no accomplishment at all,” Costas said. “I inadvertently appeared harsh toward Strop. That wasn’t my intention. And so I owe him an apology. And I will apologize to him (Sunday).”

The tone and delivery were definitely harsh, but it's difficult to imagine that message not coming across as harsh or insensitive or just plain unnecessary. Yeah, we get what intentions were, but that's one of those prepared bits that's best left on paper.

As for Costas' decision to apologize, he said that came after the game after he'd gone back and listened to his commentary, and is no way a response to the internet's "faux outrage."

“We can be disingenuous about it if we want, if it’s suits our purposes, but we all know this: We live in an age of faux outrage, of disproportionate outrage. Everything is shocking, over the top. 'He savaged Pedro Strop' — I mean, come on, come on. Let’s get a handle on this,” Costas said. “I could have done better and I will apologize. But…that’s just Internet stuff. I’m going to take care of it the same way I would have taken care of it if it was 1986. And that’s going to be that."

Previous commitments prevented Costas from meeting Strop on Saturday. They plan to meet on Sunday before the Cubs leave St. Louis.

It's the right thing to do, but man, what a bizarre set of circumstances.