Houston works on Dallas deal
Rockets said to be trading Wood
A person with direct knowledge of the agreement said the Houston Rockets are trading center Christian Wood, their leading scorer and rebounder this season, to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for four players and a draft pick.
Boban Marjanovic, Trey Burke, Sterling Brown and Marquese Chriss are going to the Rockets, who will also receive the No. 26 pick this year, according to a source.
It is a major move for the Mavericks, after Wood averaged 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. He was one of nine players to average at least 17 points and 10 rebounds, joining Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, two-time MVP Nikola Jokic of Denver, Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis, New Orleans’ Jonas Valanciunas, Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic and Phoenix’s Deandre Ayton.
Wood is entering the final season of a three-year, $41 million contract. He revealed to reporters in Houston last week that he had preliminary talks with the Rockets on an extension, though it isn’t known if one side balked or if it simply became clear that he wasn’t in the team’s long-term plans.
Tennis
Seventh-seeded Coco Gauff got off to a winning start with a 6-2, 7-6 (2) firstround victory against fellow American Ann Li at the Berlin Open. Gauff hit five aces and converted five of her 10 break point opportunities. She next faces 20-year-old Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu for a place in the quarterfinals. Karolina Pliskova edged Bianca Andreescu, 64, 2-6, 7-6 (7), to reach her second quarterfinal of the year.
• Former Wimbledon runner-up Marin Cilic kept his focus to beat Alexander Bublik, 7-6 (6), 7-5, and advance to the quarterfinals of the Queen’s Club in London. Tommy Paul upset sixthseeded Denis Shapovalov, 6 -4, 2-6, 6-4, in a first-round match at the grass-court tournament, and Botic van de Zandschulp reached the quarterfinals by beating Grigor Dimitrov, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Baseball
Second baseman Scotty Dubrule hit a grand slam in the third Inning and catcher Alex Alvarez and left fielder Jared Mang also homered as the Washington Wild Things (17-3) had their offense wake up in the 11-3 win against the host Joliet Slammers (16-3). Dubrule had six RBIs on the night.
Soccer
As FIFA prepares to announce the 2026 World Cup sites on Thursday — and make high-profile cuts — seventeen stadiums in 16 areas remain in contention to be among 10-12 selected from the U.S. for the tournament, which will be co-hosted with Mexico and Canada. The U.S. will host 60 of the 80 games under FIFA’s plan, including all from the quarterfinals on, and there was little doubt over the venues for 10 games each in the other nations.
• Charles Gil scored for New England in the 22nd minute and Robin Jansson tied it for Orlando City at 35’ as the two teams tied, 1-1, in MLS action.
Olympics
Nordic combined, which uniquely tests skiers on jawdropping jumps and heartpounding trails, has been a part of the Winter Olympics since 1924. It is the only Olympic sport without women and the International Olympic Committee is due to make a decision later this month about whether to allow women to compete in Nordic combined at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Games. There is the possibility, however, that Nordic combined is dropped entirely from the Olympics.
Boxing
After a court ruled that his election opponent was wrongly barred, International Boxing Association president Umar Kremlev said he wants a new contest.