Sports
NBA
Magic complete trade with Nets, acquire star Carter
FROM: NBA.COM
Vince Carter is going home to Orlando, and to the Eastern Conference champion Magic.
On a draft day when Cleveland made the biggest splash by trading for the Suns' Shaquille O'Neal, Orlando made a blockbuster move of its own in acquiring the Nets' Carter, an eight-time NBA All Star who grew up in Daytona Beach and lives in Orlando.
New Jersey also dealt forward Ryan Anderson to the Magic, who sent the Nets three players in return: Point guard Rafer Alston, shooting guard Courtney Lee and power forward Tony Battie.
The trade gives the Magic another star in a lineup that already includes Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis. The deal might also convince Hedo Turkoglu, who can opt out of his contract and become a free agent on July 1, to remain with the Magic.
Orlando is hoping Carter, who has averaged 23.5 points over a 10-year pro career, will provide center Dwight Howard with a perimeter scorer who can create his own shot -- something they lacked in losing the NBA finals to the Los Angeles Lakers.
It's also an indication the Magic believe their time is now.
"Vince gives us a veteran, go-to scoring presence, especially at the end of games," Orlando general manager Otis Smith said in a statement. "Our goal remains the same -- to win a championship. Any time you can add an All-Star to help you reach your goals, you have to do it."
Carter found out about the trade at his basketball camp, adding he thought it was a joke at first.
"Every player hopes for an opportunity like this, to just once compete for an NBA championship," Carter said. "This a dream come true for me. Now I have a chance to win a championship."
Click this link for full story:
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/06/25/magic.nets.deal/index.html
Cavaliers land O'Neal in trade with Suns
FROM: NBA.COM/SUNS/
One is the King, a reigning MVP who at age 24 needs only a championship to complete his resume. The other is a larger-than-life personality who may be past the prime of his career but remains an undeniable force and hungers for a fifth NBA title.
LeBron and Shaq. Teammates.
The Cleveland Cavaliers executed a monster trade Thursday to unite the superstars, acquiring Shaquille O'Neal from the Phoenix Suns in hopes he can help LeBron James deliver this seemingly sports-cursed city its first major pro championship in 45 years.
The deal creates a tandem that instantly rivals any in sports today and calls to mind some of the great duos in NBA history: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Cousy and Bill Russell, Shaq himself and Kobe Bryant.
More important, if Cleveland's gamble works and the 37-year-old O'Neal delivers a title, it could keep James around. James is an Akron native, knows Cleveland's pained sports history and has always maintained he wants to stay in his home state, though there is no guarantee he will sign an extension with the Cavs. Cleveland can offer him one as early as this summer.
But that's for another day.
Hours before an NBA draft that figured to be overshadowed by the Shaq-to-the-Cavs move, the reality of James playing with O'Neal, a 15-time All-Star, was just sinking in.
"Shaq is an incredible ballplayer and a four-time NBA champion," James said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. "I have a lot of respect for him and his game. It will be a real honor to play with Shaq as my teammates and I look forward to another great season with the Cavs."
The Cavs sent center Ben Wallace and swingman Sasha Pavlovic to the Suns, along with a second-round pick in the 2010 draft and $500,000 in cash, for O'Neal, the 7-foot-1 center who won three straight titles from 2000 to 2002 with Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. His fourth title came with Dwyane Wade in Miami in 2006.
"I was elated about the trade because I get to play with one of the greatest players to ever play the game in LeBron James," O'Neal said during ESPN's draft telecast. He expects "a lot of fun, a lot of just having a good time and a lot of smiling, and a lot of winning."
The teams first talked about a deal in February but couldn't work out an agreement before the deadline, a missed opportunity that cost the Cavaliers in this year's playoffs when they had no answer inside for Orlando center Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference finals.
Click this link for full story:
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/06/25/shaq.trade.ap/
Major League Baseball
Mature King Felix ready to reign
FROM: ESPN.COM
As Louis the XVI said -- or at least as he said in Mel Brooks' "History of the World: Part I" -- it's good to be the king. Of course, most monarchs break in by gaining valuable experience as a prince first: taxing the citizens, bedding young maidens, slaying dragons, poisoning older siblings, that sort of thing. It's another matter entirely to learn on the job while still a teenager as Felix Hernandez did.
Hernandez reached the majors at age 19 in August 2005 with the "King Felix" nickname firmly in place, having had it bestowed upon him by the popular USSMariner.com blog two years earlier when he was still pitching at the Class A level. "All hail King Felix," the 2003 blog entry read. "Hernandez worked five innings last night against Spokane, allowing just one run on two hits and striking out five. He also walked four, but it's important to remember that he's only 17 and facing much older competition, including some college players. I'm trying not to get too excited about him, but it's difficult not to with the way he's pitched so far."
Hernandez reached the majors just two years later after blazing through the minors, pausing only briefly to pull a sword from a stone at Triple-A Tacoma. He frequently displayed his blue-blooded royalty over the next couple seasons -- a .203 batting average against as a rookie, 12 Opening Day strikeouts, a dazzling one-hitter against the Red Sox and 14 wins in his second full season -- but he also showed the inconsistency of big league commoners who do not reach the majors with official titles. He occasionally let his emotions get the better of him, ran up high pitch counts that limited his innings and was an unimpressive 9-11 last year (albeit with a 3.45 ERA). He was a mere three games above .500 entering this season, which under normal circumstances would barely qualify him as an earl or count.
The king's crown fits much better this season. Entering Saturday's start against the Dodgers, Hernandez is 7-3 with a 2.74 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 101 innings. (The win-loss record would be better if he pitched for a team that wasn't last in the majors in scoring; in his past four no-decisions he's allowed a total of three earned runs.) "He's pitching the way he should," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu says. "He's pitching according to his talent level. ... Maturity is a word that comes to mind."
Click this link for full story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=caple_jim&id=4288037
Young and Talented
FROM: ESPN.COM
Felix Hernandez was only four months past his 19th birthday when he made his major league debut for the Mariners on Aug. 4, 2005. He allowed just two runs in five innings against the White Sox but took the loss. In his second start, he pitched eight shutout innings against the Twins. In his next start, he pitched eight innings against the Royals, allowing one run and striking out 11. In his fourth start, he pitched eight innings against the Twins, giving up two runs and fanning nine.
King Felix had arrived. Not since Dwight Gooden in 1984 had such a dynamic teenage pitcher stoked our baseball jones.
Click this link for full story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?page=felixsidebar/090626
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