Sports Briefs July 20, 2010
Basketball
Nine-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki has signed his new contract with the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavericks announced the signing in a statement issued Monday. No terms of the deal were released.
The 12-year NBA veteran has averaged 22.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, one block and 36.7 minutes in 920 career games. In 97 playoff games, Nowitzki, 32, averages 25.5 points, 11 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1 block per game.
The Wurzburg, Germany, native is the Mavericks' career scoring leader with 21,111 points and tops the Mavs in career rebounding with 7,802.
• The Milwaukee Bucks have signed guard Keyon Dooling and may be in discussions with the Sacramento Kings to obtain forward Jon Brockman.
A source close to the Kings spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade talks had not been completed. The deal would send forward Darnell Jackson and a second-round pick to Sacramento as part of a sign-and-trade arrangement for Brockman, a power forward who started four games and appeared in 52 overall for the Kings last year as a rookie. He averaged 2.8 points and 4.1 rebounds in limited minutes.
Dooling will be the backup point guard behind Brandon Jennings.
• Rich Cho, who spent nine seasons as an assistant general manager with the Oklahoma City Thunder, was introduced as the Portland Blazers' GM. He replaces Kevin Pritchard, who helped usher the team out of the Jail Blazers era several years ago but was ultimately dismissed last month.
Hockey
Ilya Kovalchuk is staying with the New Jersey Devils, agreeing to a staggering 17-year, $102 million deal with the team.
Kovalchuk's agent and the team announced that the high-scoring left wing has agreed to stay with New Jersey.
Kovalchuk had 41 goals and 44 assists last season when he earned $7.5 million. He posted only 10 goals and 17 assists with the Devils.
• The New York Rangers have acquired defenseman Matt McCue from the Anaheim Ducks for forward Tomas Zaborsky.
McCue spent the 2009-10 season with Manitoba of the AHL and Bakersfield of the ECHL. He was originally signed by Anaheim as a free agent on Dec. 30, 2008, and has yet to play in an NHL game.
Zaborsky played in 41 games this season with Assat Pori of the Finnish Elite League, registering nine goals and 17 assists. He was the Rangers' fifth-round pick, No. 137 overall, in the 2006 draft.
• Simon Gagne gladly waived his no-trade clause to leave the only NHL team he ever played for, The Philadelphia Flyers, and join the Tampa Bay Lightning.
New Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman added a big offensive chip to his club by trading for the longtime Philadelphia Flyers forward. Tampa Bay sent defenseman Matt Walker and a fourth-round pick in next year's draft to Philadelphia to get Gagne, who spent 10 seasons with the Flyers.
Cycling
Andy Schleck lost the overall lead in the Tour de France to defending champion Alberto Contador in Bagneres-De-Luchon, France, after suffering a disastrous mechanical problem in a 15th stage won by Thomas Voeckler.
Schleck had accelerated less than 2.5 miles from the top of the big climb of the day, the Port de Bales, but almost immediately lost his chain, forcing him to stop on the side of the road. Contador shot past, gaining valuable time while Schleck got his chain back on.
Contador holds the yellow jersey by 8 seconds from Schleck.
- The Associated Press