Wizards trade Howard to Grizzlies for Miles
LAS VEGAS — Dwight Howard was preparing for a Saturday morning flight to Las Vegas to meet up with his team — the Washington Wizards. By Friday night, he no longer had a team to call his own.
Washington agreed to trade Howard to Memphis for veteran sharpshooter C.J. Miles, according to several people with knowledge of the transaction.
Where, and when, Howard plays again is in question since the Grizzlies are expected to waive Howard and save about $3.1 million in payroll. Howard was due to make $5.6 million next season.
Miles, 32, averaged 6.4 points last season, splitting his time with Toronto and Memphis. The Raptors moved him to Memphis in February as part of the Marc Gasol trade.
For Howard, 33, the trade to his fifth team in less than five years marks another detour in a career that once looked like it could be among the most dominant in the league. Howard has played in eight All-Star Games. He averaged 12.8 points and 9.2 rebounds in his brief stint as a Wizard.
Around this time last year, Washington signed Howard to a two-year contract with a player option for the 2019-20 season. However, Howard came to training camp with a back injury that endured for weeks.
After surgery to repair a herniated disk in November, Howard returned to the Wizards in late February to work with the team’s player development staff after spending the first three months of his recovery in his hometown of Atlanta. Less than a month later, Howard tweaked his hamstring during one of the drills and did not return to the court again.
Howard, who played three seasons (2013-16) with the Rockets, has averaged 17.4 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 15 NBA seasons.
GOLF DeChambeau has 3M Open lead
Bryson DeChambeau dominated the second round of the 3M Open, racking up nine birdies to shoot a 9-under-par 62 and take a two-stroke lead halfway through the firsttime PGA Tour event at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minn.
DeChambeau, who entered the week eighth in the world rankings, hit greens in regulation on 17 of 18 holes. He sank four putts from 20-plus feet.
Adam Hadwin followed up his opening-round 64 with a 66 and is in second place at 12-under 130. In other news:
• Sung Hyun Park made nine birdies in an 11-hole stretch on her way to a 10-under 62 and a one-shot lead over Monday qualifier Yealimi Noh in the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic at Oneida, Wis. Park was at 17-under 127. Noh, who chose to turn pro instead of going to UCLA, has made one bogey in 36 holes and finished off her round with a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth for a 65.
SOCCER Courage blitz takes out Dash
Kristen Hamilton scored four goals, including three in the first half, to lead the North Carolina Courage to a 5-2 victory over the Dash in National Women’s Soccer League play at Cary, N.C.
Hamilton scored her goals in the fifth, 18th, 54th and 71st minutes. Lynn Williams scored North Carolina’s other goal in the 31st minute to give the Courage (5-2-4, 19 points) a 3-2 halftime lead.
Kristie Mewis scored for the Dash (3-4-4, 12 points) in the 24th, and Kyah Simon closed out the scoring with a goal in the 43rd minute.
MOTOR SPORTS Logano earns pole on points
Joey Logano will start Saturday night’s NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series race on the pole after qualifying was canceled at Daytona International Speedway.
The session was called after lightning was detected near the 2½-mile track, shutting down car inspections and other track activities. Even though the inclement weather passed, the delay was long enough that there wasn’t enough time to squeeze in Cup qualifying before secondtier Xfinity Series events.
Logano leads the Cup series in owner points, so the Team Penske driver was awarded the top starting spot.
In other news:
• Ross Chastain led a sweep for Kaulig Racing in the rain-delayed Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Matt Kaulig entered the event determined to field enough Chevrolets to give his team a chance to win. It included a last-minute entry for current NBC analyst AJ Allmendinger, and Allmendinger pulled out of line on the final lap to nab third place and complete the Kaulig sweep. Justin Haley was second.
TRACK AND FIELD American Lyles runs 200 in 19.50
Noah Lyles of the United States raced to the fourth-fastest 200-meters time in history, clocking 19.50 seconds at the Athletissima Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Lyles even ran into a slight headwind on a warm evening, going 0.08 seconds faster than Usain Bolt’s Lausanne track record set seven years ago.
Only Michael Johnson among American sprinters, who won the 1996 Atlanta Olympics title in 19.32, has run the 200 faster than the 21-year-old Floridian.
Bolt’s world record of 19.19 was set at the 2009 world championships in Berlin. Yohan Blake, his Jamaica teammate, ran 19.26 at Brussels in 2011.
PRO FOOTBALL Bruschi suffers second stroke
Former New England Patriots linebacker and ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi is recovering in an Attlesboro, Mass., hospital after suffering a second stroke.
Bruschi’s family said in a statement that the 46-yearold suffered the stroke Thursday, immediately recognizing the warning signs of arm weakness, face drooping and speech difficulties, and was “recovering well.”
Bruschi had a stroke in February 2005 just days after New England won the Super Bowl and learned he had a congenital heart defect that produced a hole in his heart. He had surgery to repair the hole and retired. But he sat out less than a year before returning for the seventh game of the 2005 season. He played three more seasons with the Patriots and announced his retirement just before the start of the 2009 season. Since then, he has worked at ESPN.
PRO BASEBALL Bats come alive in Skeeters’ win
Zach Borenstein had a two-run homer and four RBIs, and Jason Martinson homered and drove in three runs to power Sugar Land to a 10-5 Atlantic League victory over New Britain at New Britain, Conn.
Dallas Beeler (6-3) allowed seven hits and one earned run in six innings.