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Deandre Ayton will join LeBron, Luka and the Lakers after Portland buyout, AP sources say

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Two people with knowledge of the deal tell The Associated Press that center Deandre Ayton has agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent. The people spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the deal could not yet be announced between the Lakers and Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft — two spots ahead of Luka Doncic. After the Portland Trail Blazers bought out Ayton’s contract last weekend, he has agreed to join Doncic and LeBron James on a deal for the upcoming season with a player option for 2026-27.

Knicks offer coaching job to Mike Brown and are working on a deal, AP source says

NEW YORK (AP) — A person with knowledge of the details says the New York Knicks have offered their coaching job to Mike Brown and are working to finalize a deal with the two-time NBA Coach of the Year. Brown would replace Tom Thibodeau, who was fired last month despite leading the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years. He had his second interview with the Knicks on Tuesday before the job was offered, the person told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because details of the search were to remain private.

Clayton Kershaw eyes 3,000th strikeout milestone in front of home fans at Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw is set to make history for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night. The 37-year-old pitcher needs just three strikeouts against the Chicago White Sox to reach 3,000 for his career, becoming the 20th pitcher in MLB history to achieve the milestone. Kershaw has spent all 18 seasons with the Dodgers and remains a key player despite injuries and age. The three-time Cy Young winner has helped stabilize the Dodgers’ pitching staff this season. His family, including his wife Ellen and their children, will be present at Dodger Stadium for the milestone moment.

Wimbledon: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is the last top-five women’s seed left. Carlos Alcaraz wins

LONDON (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka has come back after being two points from dropping the opening set of her second-round Wimbledon match three times. Eventually, the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka asserted herself for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Marie Bouzkova on Wednesday to avoid the sort of surprise that has sent a group of seeded players home. Four of the top 10 women’s seeds failed to make it out of the first round: No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 5 Zheng Qinwen and No. 9 Paula Badosa. In all, a record-tying 23 seeded players — 10 women, 13 men — were gone by the end of Day 2.

Raducanu shows glimpses of best form in beating former Wimbledon champion Vondrousova

LONDON (AP) — Emma Raducanu played some of her best tennis since her U.S. Open title run in 2021 by sweeping aside former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3 and reach the third round. She may have to up her level even further in the next match, though: the British home favorite will be up against No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Raducanu says “there’s no pressure” on her when she plays Sabalenka.

PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup bonus goes from a lump sum to one winner to 3 payoffs

The PGA Tour is changing how it pays $100 million in bonus money for the FedEx Cup. Instead of the FedEx Cup champion getting a $25 million bonus at the end of the Tour Championship, there will be payouts at two other points along the way. The top player going into the postseason gets a $10 million bonus. The No. 1 seed after the second event at the BMW Championship will get $5 million. And the winner of the Tour Championship gets $10 million. If the No. 1 seed stays on top throughout the postseason, he still gets $25 million.

Maxwell Hairston, the Bills’ 1st-round pick, is accused of sexual assault

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Bills first-round draft pick Maxwell Hairston faces a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault in 2021. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Kentucky and alleges Hairston entered a woman’s dorm room uninvited and assaulted her while he was on the Kentucky football team. The Bills declined to comment but referred to earlier remarks by general manager Brandon Beane, who said the team had investigated the allegations and found no substance to them. Hairston was drafted 30th overall in April. He is competing for a starting cornerback position. The Bills resume training camp later this month.

Malik Beasley should be in high demand after a career season. Off-court issues are changing that

Malik Beasley should be riding high right now, after a season where he became just the fifth player in NBA history to make at least 300 shots from 3-point range in a single season. Instead, his future seems very uncertain. He’s a free agent and facing some serious off-court issues — including being part of an investigation surrounding what’s believed to be unusual betting patterns on games and now some unrelated legal matters involving his personal finances. Beasley has not been charged with any crime.

NBA adjusts Gregg Popovich’s career record, crediting Mitch Johnson with 77 Spurs games from ’24-25

The NBA has adjusted all-time wins leader Gregg Popovich’s career record with the San Antonio Spurs, removing the 77 games that he missed last season and crediting those wins and losses to new Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. Popovich’s final record has been reset to 1,390-824. Popovich had a stroke in November and Johnson coached the final 77 games of this past season, going 32-45. The NBA and the Spurs agreed that it made sense to remove those games from Popovich’s record and credit them to Johnson.

Gulutzan says the Stars were right not keeping him as coach 12 years ago, and now bringing him back

DALLAS (AP) — Glen Gulutzan believes the Dallas Stars have twice made the right decision about his coaching career. First by not keeping him as their head coach 12 years ago and now bringing him back in that same role. The Stars reintroduced Gulutzan as their coach Wednesday. Gulutzan and the franchise are both in much different places than back then. He was introduced by general manager Jim Nill, who was new to the job in 2013 when he decided against retaining Gulutzan, who had been the Stars head coach for two seasons in his first NHL job.