Hours after winning the top pick at the 2013 NBA Draft Lottery, the Cleveland Cavaliers have decided they will keep any and all options open when it comes to trades.
According to a tweet from ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the Cavaliers will use their two first round picks and salary cap space to investigate any deals that may be sent their way. Kyrie Irving isn't going anywhere at the point, but any other spot on the roster could stand to be improved.
Given Anderson Varejao's injury concerns, the frontcourt could use some bolstering in the offseason. Nerlens Noel is projected to be best prospect available in the draft, though, and would provide Cleveland with a defensive presence around the rim that is rare in today's game. For that reason alone, it seems unlikely a trade for the No. 1 pick is made.
One thing that could keep Cleveland from taking Noel with the top pick would be the health of his surgically-repaired knee. The Kentucky forward tore his ACL in February and is not expected to be back until December, although he has not had any hiccups while rehabbing.
There is also the chance the Cavaliers fall in love with another prospect. Someone like Otto Porter of Georgetown or Victor Oladipo would appear to be terrific fits on the wing, especially given their ability to dig in defensively. Neither have the upside of Noel, though, and could likely be had with a later pick in the 2-5 range.
With more than a month remaining before draft night, expect to hear the Cavaliers mentioned in more trade rumors. Just don't expect the No. 1 pick to be dealt anytime soon.
Build a new stadium, host the Super Bowl to show it off.
The NFL rewarded the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday with hosting rights for the 2016 championship game, slotting the 50th Super Bowl in the 49ers' high-tech Santa Clara stadium scheduled to open next year.
The league also voted at its spring meetings to give the 2017 game to Houston, which last hosted the big game in 2004.
"After losing a Super Bowl, it feels really good to win a Super Bowl," said 49ers CEO Jed York, whose team lost to Baltimore in the NFL title game in February. "We are so excited to be able to put on the 'Golden Super Bowl' in the Golden State."
The back-to-back, first-ballot votes also sent a message to South Florida that it needs to settle its squabble over renovations at the Miami Dolphins' stadium before it will get a chance to host its 11th Super Bowl.
"I can tell you that I think the stadium is a very import part of any of these proposals. The condition of the stadium is a factor," commissioner Roger Goodell said. "I think it's the stadium, at the end of the day. Their proposal was really quite exciting. I think owners would like to be in Miami. But it's competitive right now."
The NFL and NFL Players Association are on the verge of pushing back the draft to May and moving up the start of the league year to before the Indianapolis scouting combine, according to league and union sources.
The change of the draft to May would be effective in 2014, according to a source.
As for the draft, the NFLPA is close to signing off on allowing the NFL to move the draft to May from April for at least the next three years, according to sources. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell can set the date of the draft without the NFLPA's approval, although he would prefer to have the union's blessing to maintain league harmony.
The start of the new league year is now expected to be moved to before the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis rather than after it, per league sources. The NFLPA wanted to give free agents a chance to find new teams sooner.
The new league year would start before the combine in 2015 and 2016, a source said.
The NFL originally proposed a league year that would have started later in the calendar year and the NFLPA rejected that idea, believing it to be unfair to its players.
This year's scouting combine took place from Feb. 20-26. The 2013 league year began on March 12.
Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia are set to face off during the 2013 U.S. Open, but the Spanish pro golfer took the rivalry to a new extreme when he made a racially offensive comment towards Tiger at an awards dinner.
During the European Tour’s awards dinner on May 21, Sergio made a racist comment when someone asked him jokingly if he was going to have his rival Tiger over for dinner during the U.S. Open.
“We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken,” he said.
The racially-charged comment shocked attendees and the public after The Guardian published the remark, especially since Tiger’s dad is African American.
After he made the statement, the Spanish golfer released a statement in which he apologized for the comments.
“I apologise for any offence that may have been caused by my comment on stage during The European Tour Players’ Awards dinner. I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner,” Sergio said in a statement.
David Beckham is retiring from soccer, ending a career in which he became a global superstar who transcended the sport.
The 38-year-old Beckham, who recently won a league title in a fourth country with Paris Saint-Germain, said Thursday he will retire after the season.
"I'm thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level," the former England captain said in a statement.
Beckham, whose forays into fashion and marriage to a pop-star wife have made him a riveting international celebrity, has two more matches left at PSG. He has been giving his salary to a children's charity.
He started his career with Manchester United and also played for Real Madrid and the Los Angeles Galaxy, winning titles with all those clubs.
"If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over one hundred times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy. I'm fortunate to have realized those dreams," Beckham said.
On the international stage, Beckham made 115 appearances for England's national team — a record for a player other than a goalkeeper.
The Boston Bruins turned back Toronto's comeback with a rally of their own.
Trailing by three goals in the third period and still by two with less than 90 seconds left in their season, the Bruins scored twice in a span of 31 seconds to tie it and then eliminated the Maple Leafs on Patrice Bergeron's goal at 6:05 of overtime to win 5-4 in Game 7 on Monday night.
"It was one of the crazy ones I've been part of," said Bergeron, who assisted on Milan Lucic's goal with 1:22 in regulation and scored to tie it with 51 seconds left in the third. "We found a way, not necessarily the way we would have liked to play the whole game."
Tuukka Rask stopped 24 shots for Boston, which led the best-of-seven series 3-1 before the Maple Leafs won two in a row to force a seventh game.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Bruins are the first team in NHL history to win a Game 7 after trailing by three goals in the third period.
The Bruins will play the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Bruins will host Games 1 and 2 on Thursday and Sunday before traveling to New York for Games 3 and 4 on May 21 and 23. The Original Six rivals have not met in the playoffs since 1973. New York won that series in five games.
But even the guys who are covered, like Birdman and J.R. Smith were once a clean slate.
Some of the most tatted-up NBA players looked like completely different people early in their careers.
This time there was no final drama to clutch their guts, no walk offs to break their hearts.
Just a final indignation at the hands of the Giants, the Dodgers falling, 4-3, Sunday to be swept out of San Francisco.
Matt Cain, looking remarkably mortal against the rest of the National League, held what passes as an offense these days for the Dodgers, to one run in his 7 1/3 innings to earn his first victory of the year. The Giants won all three games of the series by a single run.
In five starts against every team that is not the Dodgers this season, Cain owns a 7.85 ERA. In two games against the Dodgers, it’s 0.67.
The evening’s story was fairly familiar. Mark Ellis (quad) missed his eighth consecutive game, though he has yet to be placed on the disabled list. Adrian Gonzalez was scratched from the lineup for the third consecutive game, though he did drive in the Dodgers' first two runs with a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning.
Too often when the Dodgers did produce baserunners, as is their habit, they stranded them. They were 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base.
Left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, who had 12 strikeouts in his last outing, wasn’t dominant for the Dodgers, though neither was he exactly a mess.
But he could not get the awkward Hunter Pence out when he needed to, Pence driving in all four of the Giants’ runs.
The Giants scored once in the first on a Pence groundout, once in the third on a Pence double and twice in the fifth on another Pence double.
Ryu fell to 3-2 with the loss, both defeats coming against the Giants. Sunday he went six innings, allowing the four runs on eight hits and two walks. He struck out two.
In his 7 1/3 innings, Cain (1-2) held the Dodgers to a run on five hits and three walks, with four strikeouts. He would have held them scoreless if he’d received better support from the bullpen.
Cain left with one out and a runner on in the eighth. But after left-hander Javier Lopez struck out Andre Ethier, right-hander George Kontos gave up a single to A.J. Ellis and walked – who else? – Juan Uribe to load the bases.
The Giants brought in Jeremy Affeldt to face Gonzalez, but he bounced a two-run single up the middle. After Dee Gordon beat out an infield hit to pull the Dodgers within 4-3, Jean Machi got Jerry Hairston Jr. to bounce out and leave the rally a run short.
Sergio Romo held the Dodgers scoreless in the ninth to pick up his 12th save.
As he lifted the weight above his chest, the former starting quarterback thought he felt his right shoulder pop. The weight crashed down violently on his upper body, and his spotter quickly pulled the bar off.
Remarkably, Nunes gathered himself enough to sit up. He looked down and, for a moment, figured he'd be fine — until he saw a growing gap between his right chest muscle and the bone in his right shoulder.
"It was pretty gnarly," Nunes said.
The incident completely tore off his right chest muscle in February, sidelined him for all of spring practices and led to his decision to officially retire from football Monday, ending a collegiate career filled with dramatic highs and devastating setbacks.
"It's kind of a tough way to go out," Nunes said, disclosing details of his injury for the first time in a phone interview with the AP. "Definitely faced a lot of adversity, both with health and football. Obstacles are a part of life and definitely meant to be overcome."