Sports briefs
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Cavaliers owner believes Donovan Mitchell
will sign extension
DETROIT | Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert believes All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell will sign a long-term contract to chase an NBA championship with Cleveland.
“We’ve been talking to him, sure, for the last couple of years about extending this contract,” Gilbert said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. “We think he will extend. I think if you listen to him talk, he loves the city.
“He loves the situation in Cleveland because our players are very young and we’re just kind of putting the core together that he’s clearly the biggest part of.”
Mitchell signed a five-year, $163 million contract in 2020 with Utah and is under contract through the 2026 season. Based on the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, Mitchell is eligible to sign a four-year extension worth up to roughly $200 million this summer.
Cleveland acquired him in a blockbuster trade shortly before the 2022-23 season. The team viewed him as perhaps the final piece to contend for an NBA championship by leading young stars Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
The 27-year-old Mitchell is averaging a team-high 27.4 points along with 6.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds while also leading Cavs off the court. However, he has been limited to 49 games due to injuries and hasn’t played since March 16.
Mitchell missed his sixth straight game Wednesday night, a disappointing loss to lowly Charlotte, dropping the Cavs to 11-13 without him. He may return this week. The Cavs host Philadelphia on Friday.
Mitchell has often stated he likes playing in Cleveland and sees potential in a team with flaws but plenty of promise.
Cleveland returned to the playoffs a year ago, but the Cavs were eliminated in the first round by the New York Knicks in five games. Adding to the defeat is that it came against the team Mitchell grew up rooting for and with whom he’s been long linked.
Of course, the Cavs have gone down this path before with LeBron James, who left as a free agent in 2010 before returning after four seasons in Miami to lead Cleveland to the 2016 title — the first major championship for a Cleveland team since 1964.
Despite a rash of injuries to key players, the Cavs (44-29) have managed to stay among the East’s top teams. But a recent slide has put them fourth in the standings and they’re currently fourth, just 3 1/2 games out of a play-in spot with a rough schedule ahead.
Gilbert has been pleased with the team overall and praised coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who has been publicly criticized.
“We really compete with pretty much anybody in the East,” Gilbert said, sitting in Gilly’s Clubhouse and Rooftop in downtown Detroit, a venture inspired by his late son, Nick Gilbert.
“Boston has taken a huge lead, best team in the league. But if you look at the second, third, fourth seed and look at us, we can compete with anybody and we’ve proven that during the season.”
Gilbert, who built much of his fortune through Detroit-based Rocket Mortgage, acquired the Cavaliers from Gordon Gund in 2005 for a reported $375 million. Nearly three years ago, he bought Gund’s remaining 15% minority share in the franchise.
The 62-year-old Gilbert had a stroke in 2019.
Rays’ Wander Franco placed on administrative leave through June 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Tampa Bay All-Star shortstop Wander Franco was placed on administrative leave through June 1 under an agreement between Major League Baseball and the players’ association while the investigation continues into an alleged relationship with a minor.
Administrative leave is not disciplinary under the sport’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy, and a player continues to be paid. Franco, who has a $2 million salary this year, has remained in his native Dominican Republic while authorities there investigate and he did not report to spring training.
The Rays opened the season Thursday against Toronto, forcing MLB and the union to make a decision on Franco’s roster status.
“I don’t have any comment. … I’m really focused on the guys that are here,” manager Kevin Cash said before Thursday’s game at Tropicana Field.
Franco has not played since Aug. 12. He was placed on the restricted list for a week on Aug. 14 while MLB launched an investigation following social media posts suggesting Franco was in a relationship with a minor. The Associated Press has not been able to verify the reported posts.
Franco was moved to administrative leave on Aug. 22 and remained there through the end of the season. There is no leave during the offseason.
MLB is likely to wait until the Dominican investigation is concluded before deciding whether there will be any discipline.
Originally accused of commercial and sexual exploitation and money laundering — charges that carry up to 30 years, 10 years and 20 years of prison, respectively — Franco stands accused instead of sexual and psychological abuse, according to a judge’s resolution that the AP obtained in January.
Franco had not been formally accused, but if found guilty on the new charge, he could face two to five years in prison.
Franco, who turned 23 on March 1, was in the midst of his third major league season when his career was halted and was hitting .281 with 17 homers, 58 RBIs and 30 stolen bases in 40 attempts over 112 games.
Franco agreed to a $182 million, 11-year contract in November 2021.
He earned $706,761 last year in addition to his salary as part of MLB’s pre-arbitration bonus pool, a fund agreed to by the league and players’ association as part of their 2022 labor contract. The bonus pool was created to reward young players, most who earn at or just above the minimum major league salary based on how long they’ve been in the big leagues.
The Rays obtained infielder Jose Caballero from Seattle in a trade this offseason and are giving him an opportunity to be the regular shortstop . The 27-year-old played 104 games for the Mariners in 2023, hitting .221 with four homers and 26 RBIs. He was in Tampa Bay’s opening day lineup, batting eighth.
Bills sign Austin Johnson and DeShawn Williams
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. | The Buffalo Bills replenished their depleted defensive line needs by signing tackles Austin Johnson and DeShawn Williams to one-year contracts on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Johnson has eight seasons of NFL experience, including the past two with the Los Angeles Chargers where he started all 17 games last season. He’s listed at 6-foot-4 and 314 pounds and was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the second round of the 2016 draft.
Overall, Johnson has two forced fumbles, eight sacks and 17 tackles for a loss in 116 games, including 55 starts, which included a two-year stint with the New York Giants.
The 31-year-old Williams spent last season getting 10 starts in 16 games with Carolina in an NFL career that’s taken a circuitous route since being signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2015.
After appearing in four games with the Bengals in 2016, Williams spent the next three years as a practice squad player with Denver, Miami and Indianapolis — plus a failed bid to play in the CFL once its 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic — before resuming his NFL career with the Broncos in 2020. Overall, he has nine sacks, 11 tackles for losses and an interception in 66 games, including 44 starts.
The two begin shoring up a defensive front that lost regulars Linval Joseph, Tim Settle and Poona Ford to free agency, and with Jordan Phillips contemplating retirement.
Both are expected to fill backup roles behind Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones, who is being reunited with Johnson after the two played at Penn State.
Speaking at the NFL owners meetings this week, general manager Brandon Beane re-emphasized the priority he places on his offensive and defensive fronts even it means cutting into the team’s limited salary cap space.
“We’re going to always look there. And if we’re going to stretch ourselves financially, that’s the spot I’m always going to do it,” Beane said. “I’m not going to ever hold back if it’s something that I think can get us over the top.”
Hornets shut down LaMelo Ball for the remainder of the season
CHARLOTTE, N.C. | The Charlotte Hornets are shutting down guard LaMelo Ball for the season.
Ball has not played since Jan. 27 for the Hornets (18-54), who’ve been eliminated from postseason competition. Charlotte has missed the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest drought in the NBA.
The 22-year-old Ball, who signed a five-year max contract extension in July, has had repeated problems with ankle injuries since coming into the league and has played in just 58 games over the last two seasons.
Ball had been playing well before going out, averaging a career-high 23.9 points per game this season. Ball was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 and an All-Star the following season.
Caitlin Clark invited
to play with U.S.
national team during training camp
Caitlin Clark has been invited to participate in the USA Basketball national team training camp during the Final Four in Cleveland, contingent on Iowa’s season being over.
The NCAA’s Division I all-time scoring leader has earned three gold medals with USA Basketball junior teams, most recently as a member of the 2021 under-19 squad.
Clark, the likely No. 1 draft pick in the WNBA Draft on April 15 by the Indiana Fever, has been a ratings boon for college basketball. Nearly 5 million people watched the Hawkeyes second-round game against West Virginia on Saturday.
Five-time Olympic champion Diana Taurasi is one of nine former Olympians who will participate in the camp training camp from April 3-5. The others are Ariel Atkins, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young.
Former WNBA Rookie of the Year winners Aliyah Boston and Rhyne Howard also will participate, along with Sabrina Ionescu and Shakira Austin.
The U.S. went 3-0 last month in a FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgium. The Americans beat the host nation 81-79 on a last-second shot by Stewart. They went on to beat Nigeria and Senegal.
The Americans have won the gold in every Olympics since the 1996 Atlanta Games. They will face Belgium again in pool play at the Olympics. The Americans also will play Japan in a rematch from the gold-medal game of the Tokyo Olympics, as well as Germany.
The U.S. is expected to name its roster later this spring.
—From AP reports
