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Cavs acquire Ellis and Schroder
The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired guards Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder from Sacramento in a three-team deal that sends forward De'Andre Hunter to the Kings.
A person familiar with the trade said Saturday night that the Chicago Bulls will get forward Dario Saric from Sacramento along with two second-round picks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the teams hadn't announced the trade.
ESPN first reported the deal.
The trade helps Cleveland save salary and money in the luxury tax and gives it more depth with both Ellis and Schroder. The Cavs are currently in fifth place in the Eastern Conference after winning seven of the last nine games.
Ellis is in the final year of a three-year $5.1 million and gives Cleveland a good defender and 3-point shooter. Ellis' playing time had diminished this season with the Kings but is a 41.6% shooter from 3-point range in his career. He is averaging 5.6 points in 17.6 minutes per game.
The 32-year-old Schroder signed a three-year, $44.4 million contract this summer. He is averaging 12.8 points and 5.3 assists per game this season.
Sacramento currently has the worst record in the NBA at 12-38 and is looking to rebuild in the first year under general manager Scott Perry.
The 28-year-old Hunter was the fourth overall pick in 2019 and has spent his career in Atlanta and Cleveland. He is averaging 14 points per game for the Cavs this season and has been in double-digits in all eight of his seasons in the NBA. Hunter has two remaining years left on his contract worth about $48 million.
Saric has played in only five games this season.
NASCAR's Clash postponed to Wednesday
WINSTON, SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- A bomb cyclone over North Carolina forced NASCAR to push its preseason exhibition to Wednesday night because the snow-covered roads are too dangerous for teams and fans to get to historic Bowman-Gray Stadium.
The Clash had been scheduled to run Sunday night and has now been postponed twice, with a schedule adjustment, because of the intense snowfall that blanketed the area. NASCAR first condensed the race into a one-day, Sunday-only show, then pushed the race to Monday.
NASCAR said Sunday it was moving it to Wednesday evening "due to the impacts of historic winter weather across the North Carolina region."
The race is now scheduled to run one week before qualifying for the Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway, where The Clash was held from 1979 through 2022.
The Clash went to a temporary track inside the Los Angeles Memorial Stadium for three seasons, then moved to its grassroots anchor at Bowman Gray last year.
Its first year was a success but the second running has been interrupted by the bomb cyclone, known to meteorologists as an intense, rapidly strengthening weather system. It contributed to nearly a foot of snow in and around Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city and home base for the majority of the NASCAR teams.
The snowfall represented a top-five snow event all time in Charlotte, said Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with weather prediction center in College Park, Maryland.
ESPN to purchase NFL Network
ESPN's purchase of NFL Network and other league digital assets has been finalized after government regulators approved the transaction.
The league and ESPN officially announced the closing of the deal Saturday night after the Justice Department and other non-US antitrust authorities completed their reviews.
ESPN acquired NFL Network, NFL Fantasy and the rights to distribute the RedZone channel to cable and satellite operators and the league will get a 10% equity stake in ESPN.
"With the closing, we will begin integrating NFL employees into ESPN in the months ahead," ESPN and the NFL said in a joint statement. "As we look to the future, NFL fans can look forward to expanded NFL programming, greater access to NFL Network, innovative Fantasy experiences and unparalleled coverage of America's most popular sport."
The approval by government regulators was first reported by The Athletic.
Viewers are not expected to notice changes on NFL Network until April, when those employed by NFL Media become part of ESPN.
NFL Network -- which has nearly 50 million subscribers -- will be included in ESPN's direct-to-consumer product, which launched last August, shortly after the deal was first announced.
The NFL RedZone channel will be distributed by ESPN to cable and satellite operators. However, the NFL will continue to own, operate and produce the channel as well as retain the rights to distribute the channel digitally. ESPN would also get rights to the RedZone brand, meaning RedZone channels for college football and basketball or other sports could be coming in the future.
NFL Fantasy Football will merge with ESPN Fantasy Football, giving ESPN the official fantasy football game of the league.
NFL Network will still air seven games per season. Four of ESPN's games, including some that are in overlapping windows on Monday nights, will move to NFL Network. ESPN will license three additional games that will be carried on NFL Network.
The NFL has taken back the rights to four international games, which it is expected to put up for bid. The league has discussed each of its 32 teams playing at least one international game per season if the schedule expands to 18 regular-season games.
The league will continue to own and operate NFL Films, NFL+, NFL.com, the official websites of the 32 teams, the NFL Podcast Network and the NFL FAST Channel (a free ad-supported streaming channel).
With the sale, ESPN is 72% owned by ABC Inc. -- an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company -- 18% Hearst and 10% NFL.
LeBron's All-Star streak goes to 22 years
LeBron James is an All-Star again, extending his record streak of selections.
James was a pick for the 22nd consecutive year, one of 14 players who were announced Sunday as reserves for the Feb. 15 midseason showcase that'll take place at the Los Angeles Clippers' arena in Inglewood, California.
James is the All-Star record holder in a number of categories. He also has the most All-Star game appearances (20) and the most points (434) in those contests.
The Los Angeles Lakers star was not chosen as a starter this season in the process that includes voting from fans, media and other players. NBA coaches choose the reserves and, if necessary, Commissioner Adam Silver will select any additional players necessary for the All-Star rosters should someone need to be replaced because of injury.
James did not play in last season's All-Star event because of injury.
The reserves from the Eastern Conference: Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell, New York's Karl-Anthony Towns, Indiana's Pascal Siakam, Toronto's Scottie Barnes, Detroit's Jalen Duren, Miami's Norman Powell and Atlanta's Jalen Johnson.
"I believe that he deserves it and I think probably one of the best compliments you can give him is the fact that he starred in all of his roles that he's had in his career, and he just continues to get better," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Powell. "He's having his best years now after the age of 30."
And from the Western Conference, along with James: Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, Denver's Jamal Murray, Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren, Houston's Kevin Durant, Phoenix's Devin Booker and Portland's Deni Avdija.
Murray -- finally -- got the nod, after years of All-Star snubs.
"Multiple 50-point games, multiple 50-point games in the playoffs, let's see, triple-double in the finals, NBA champion, most wins in the West over the last 10 years, he's the point guard of that team … in my mind, all those things make sense, except for the one that was missing," Nuggets coach David Adelman said.
The other first-selections were Duren, Powell, Johnson, Holmgren and Avdija.
"Proud of him. I know he cares about this team," Trail Blazers coach Tiago Splitter said of Avdija. "When you see a person like that succeeding, it's truly special."
This season's All-Star Game has a tournament format -- U.S. vs. The World, with three teams of at least eight players going head to head in 12-minute games. Each team is guaranteed two games in the round-robin event, with the best two meeting again in a championship game.
Starters previously announced
The players chosen last month as starters: Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston's Jaylen Brown, Detroit's Cade Cunningham, Philadelphia's Tyrese Maxey, New York's Jalen Brunson, Golden State's Stephen Curry, the Lakers' Luka Doncic, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver's Nikola Jokic and San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama.
Antetokounmpo will miss a few weeks with a calf injury, so it would seem unlikely that he plays. Silver would pick a replacement for Antetokounmpo if he pulls out.
Brown, Cunningham, Maxey, Brunson and Curry would be part of the two U.S. teams. Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and Wembanyama would play for the World team.
The "starter" designation is a bit of a misnomer, since there will be at least 15 players who start for the three teams. By NBA rule, 10 players are chosen as official starters and the 14 others will be listed as reserves.
Coaches
Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff will coach one of the All-Star teams. Either Adelman or San Antonio's Mitch Johnson will coach another -- that will be decided by results of games on Sunday -- and the NBA has not revealed how the coach of the third team will be decided.
Bickerstaff earned his nod because the Pistons lead the Eastern Conference. Johnson or Adelman will go by having the best record in the Western Conference among eligible coaches; Oklahoma City's Mark Daigneault coaches the team with the West's best record, but he cannot coach the All-Star Game this year because he coached at the event last season.
Multiple picks
Detroit, New York, the Lakers, Oklahoma City and Denver are the teams with two All-Star selections.
Bickerstaff thought the East-leading Pistons were rightly rewarded.
"Any time a team is sitting first in a conference anywhere, multiple guys should get the nod," he said last month. "Because if winning is the ultimate goal … nobody's done it at a higher level."
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AP Sports Writer Anne M. Peterson in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA