Noel officially signs Mavs’ $4.1M offer
Nerlens Noel officially has signed his $4.1 million qualifying offer from the Dallas Mavericks.
The team announced the signing yesterday of the 6-foot-11 center from Everett, who had been a restricted free agent and now will be unable to sign a long-term deal until after the upcoming season.
Noel had hoped to get a max deal this offseason from the Mavericks, who would have matched an offer sheet from another team. The 23-year-old center averaged 8.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 22 games with Dallas after being obtained from Philadelphia in a trade deadline deal last February . . . .
The Cleveland Cavaliers have scrapped plans for a $140 million renovation of Quicken Loans Arena. The team had hoped to upgrade the 22-year-old downtown facility with more dining spaces and a glass exterior. However, following opposition from community groups opposed to tax money being used, the NBA franchise has backed away from the project.
Colleges: BYU-LSU moved from Houston
The BYU-LSU game will be played Saturday night at the Superdome in New Orleans after massive flooding in Houston from Hurricane Harvey forced it to be relocated from NRG Stadium in Houston. The game is still scheduled to kick off at 9:30 p.m . . . .
Former Michigan State men’s basketball coach George Melvin “Jud” Heathcote died in Spokane, Wash., at the age of 90. Heathcote’s 19 seasons with the Spartans were highlighted by a 1979 NCAA championship along with star player Magic Johnson . . . .
Louisville junior wide receiver and special teams captain Devante Peete will miss the college football season with a torn right ACL . . . .
Syracuse’s Taurean Thompson, who had a solid freshman men’s basketball season for the Orange, is taking a leave of absence from the university. The 6-foot-9 forward played in all 34 games for the Orange, starting 21 times. He averaged 9.2 points.
Misc.: CFL team changes plan on Briles
Less than 11 hours after the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL announced the hiring of former Baylor coach Art Briles as an assistant coach, the league and the team backtracked in the face of public pressure and said he will not be joining the Tiger-Cats after all . . . .
Russian winger Danis Zaripov has been cleared to pursue an NHL contract after being banned by the Kontinental Hockey League and International Ice Hockey Federation for doping . . . .
New York Rangers Hall of Famer Jean Ratelle, who also played six seasons for the Bruins, will finally get his No.19 raised to the rafters at Madison Square Garden . ...
The Philadelphia Flyers will retire Eric Lindros’ No. 88 this coming season . . . .
Borussia Dortmund has signed Ukraine forward Andrey Yarmolenko from Dynamo Kiev following the departure of Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona . . . .
Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya has retired at the age of 19 following a battle with anorexia. Lipnitskaya won gold in the team event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi when she was 15 . . . .
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong is joining USA Cycling as an endurance performance director. She will work with athletes preparing for world championships and other elite events.