Familiar Face

There's a chance Joe Smith, who was signed by the Cavaliers last season after he was bought out of his contract by Oklahoma City, could return to Cleveland if he doesn't get a better offer elsewhere.

Chronicle-Telegram

Trading Victor and Cliff Lee?

The Dodgers swiftly and emphatically shot down a published report Sunday that said they were in serious discussions with the Cleveland Indians in a trade that would bring pitcher Cliff Lee and catcher Victor Martinez to the Dodgers while sending James Loney and either Chad Billingsley or Clayton Kershaw and prospects to the Indians. The report surfaced on Foxsports.com, but the Dodgers shot it down immediately. "It's completely false," a Dodgers executive said. (Los Angeles Daily News)


Salty's Thoughts: I'm a big Kershaw fan, but losing V-Mart scares me. We'll see.

LeBron Offered Extension

CLEVELAND -- The Cavaliers have officially offered LeBron James an extension.LeBron has some thinking to do.He could extend his current deal until 2011.The Cavs can also offer LeBron an additional three years at around $65 million.LeBron’s options include signing an extension or wait it out and declare for free agency at the end of the next season.

Copyright 2009 by NewsNet5. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Kimbo back from Limbo?

Kimbo Slice has returned as a mixed martial arts fighter, and the man who once said Slice would "be the first man killed" in an Ultimate Fighting Championship contest is now his employer. UFC President Dana White has made Slice one of 16 competitors in the company's 10th season of its reality television series, "The Ultimate Fighter."

Los Angeles Times

Someone who can beat Brock?

Apparently Vitor Belfort isn't the only Affliction fighter that Dana White feels that he can sign. White noted during last night's UFC 100 post-fight press conference that he wants to finally bring Fedor Emelianenko into the UFC. "Eventually Fedor is going to be here," White noted. "I want Fedor. I want him to come of the UFC." While many feel that Emelianenko is the greatest heavyweight fighter in the world, Dana White went on to note that Brock Lesnar may be worthy of that title.

Great read on Kosar

As Bernie Kosar's life around him crumbles, the former QB's game plan is familiar: Emerge unscathed

Monday, July 13, 2009

By Dan Le Batard, The Miami Herald

MIAMI -- The IRS and the creditors and an angry ex-wife and an avalanche of attorneys are circling the chaos that used to be Bernie Kosar's glamorous life, but that's not the source of his anxiety at the moment.

He is doing a labored lap inside his Weston mansion, the one on the lake near the equestrian playpen for horses, because he wants to be sure there are no teenage boys hiding, attempting to get too close to his three daughters.

He shattered a Kid Rock-autographed guitar the other day while chasing one teenager out of his house because he doesn't mind all of the other boys within the area code thinking the Kosar girls have an unhinged dad.

"There are a million doors in this place," he says. "Too many ways to get in."

So up and down the spiral staircases he goes, a rumpled mess wearing a wrinkled golf shirt, disheveled graying hair, and the scars and weariness from a lifetime's worth of beatings.

He has no shoes on, just white socks with the NFL logo stitched on because he has never really been able to let go of who he used to be.

He is coughing up phlegm from a sickness he is certain arrived with all the recent stress of divorce and debt, and now he doesn't walk so much as wobble his way into one of the closets upstairs, where he happens upon some painful, wonderful memories he keeps sealed in a plastic cup.

His teeth are in there.

Rest of the Article Here.

Salty's Thoughts: This article bummed me out. Hopefully he rebounds. Also, that picture is Kosar and Jim Kelly. Classic. Nice shirt, Jimbo.

Sources: LeBron says he'll stay

The Cleveland Cavaliers got some bad news followed by some potentially terrific news on Sunday. In a last-ditch effort to recruit Trevor Ariza away from the Houston Rockets, LeBron James told Ariza he would remain with the Cavaliers past 2010, according to a person close to Ariza.

Even that wasn't enough to get Ariza, who verbally committed to join the Rockets last Thursday, to change his mind and go to Cleveland.

But the Cavaliers will gladly settle for the consolation prize; if indeed James' statement to Ariza was more than an empty sales pitch.

"Trevor asked LeBron if he would be in Cleveland after next season," the source said. "And LeBron said, 'I'll be there. Of course, I'll be there.'"

James could not be reached for comment on Monday.

James' conversation with Ariza was part of the Cavaliers' attempt to make the free agent swingman the next Hedo Turkoglu, who backed out of his promise last week to join Portland and instead accepted a deal with Toronto.

Cavs general manager Danny Ferry and head coach Mike Brown flew to Los Angeles and met with Ariza on Sunday, according to several sources with knowledge of the situation.

Ariza, who had accepted a five-year, $33.5 million offer from the Rockets last Thursday, also received telephone calls from James and Shaquille O'Neal. When James told Ariza he'd be a Cavalier past next season, Ariza was less than convinced.

"He thought it was just a recruiting tool," the source said. "LeBron definitely said it, but until he signs the contract it doesn't mean much."

The Cavaliers did not ask James or O'Neal to call Ariza, but as he did with Ron Artest, James took it upon himself to reach out. James' future in Cleveland has been an issue with potential signees.

Artest, whom the Cavaliers had interest in before he agreed to terms with the Lakers, was concerned about signing a multiyear deal with Cleveland because of James' ability to leave in 2010. And even O'Neal, who was traded to the Cavs less than two weeks ago, tried to find out about James' long-term plans with the club during trade talks.

Even so, according to sources, a flattered Ariza strongly considered reneging on his agreement with the Rockets and heading for Cleveland, which made him the same offer as Houston last week. In the end, however, he decided to keep his word to the Rockets.

"He's a very loyal person," the source said. "[Rockets coach] Rick Adelman had lunch with him for three straight days last week and that meant a lot to him."

Ariza presumably will sign with the Rockets on Wednesday, the first day free agents are allowed to sign contracts. But until then, other teams can recruit him, and he can change his mind.

Though Ferry and Brown left Los Angeles Sunday night thinking their mission had failed, the Cavaliers spoke with Ariza's representatives one last time Monday afternoon, only to be told that he still planned to be a Rocket.

Sources say several factors led to Ariza's decision. First, his toddler son lives in Los Angeles with his mother and Ariza liked that Houston was a much shorter flight than Cleveland. Second, Adelman promised him the Rockets would feature him offensively while the Cavaliers refused to guarantee him a starting job. Instead, the Cavs told him he'd be given a legitimate chance to compete for the spot against last year's starter, Delonte West.

"He wanted to be sure he'd start," the source said. "That was a big hang-up."

While an about-face is still possible, the Cavaliers, who met with Channing Frye in Cleveland on Monday, aren't holding their breath.

"As far as we're concerned, he's going to Houston," a team executive said. "We've moved on."

The Cavaliers, of course, are hoping James doesn't do the same thing a year from now.

Chris Broussard covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine.