RAPIDS TRADE AZIRA TO IMPACT FOR PICK
Rapids midfielder Micheal Azira was traded Wednesday to the Montreal Impact in exchange for a fourthround pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft. Azira signed with the Rapids via the waiver draft Dec. 9, 2015.
“We want to thank Micheal for his time at the club,” said Rapids executive vice president and general manager Padraig Smith. “I know our fans will always be appreciative of his pivotal role in the club’s 2016 playoff run, and we wish him nothing but success in this next stage of his career.”
Azira appeared in 66 matches for the Rapids the past three seasons.
Harris returns to Mavericks.
DALLAS» Devin Harris is returning to the Dallas Mavericks after signing a $2.4 million free-agent contract.
Dallas originally acquired Harris from Washington, along with Jerry Stackhouse and Christian Laettner, in a draft-day trade for Antawn Jamison in June 2004. Harris first returned to Dallas as a free agent before the 201314 season, and stayed until the Mavericks traded him to the Nuggets last February as part of a three-team deal at the trade deadline.
In 27 games for the Nuggets last season, Harris averaged 8.2 points and 2.5 assists per game
Source: Okafor to Pelicans.
ORLEANS» A source says freeagent NEW center Jahlil Okafor has agreed to a two-year contract with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Philadelphia made 6-foot-11 Okafor the third overall pick out of Duke in the 2015 draft. But Okafor’s production fell considerably last season from the nearly 15 points and six rebounds he averaged through his first two seasons with the 76ers.
CU, CSU ranked in preseason volleyball poll.
The Colorado Buffaloes are ranked No. 15 and the Colorado State Rams No. 25 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll.
Stanford was picked No. 1, just ahead of defending national champion Nebraska. Seven Pac-12 teams are among the top 19.
CU hosts CSU, the only Mountain West school in the top 25, on Sept. 15.
Djokovic advances in Rogers Cup.
TORONTO» Four-time champion Novak Djokovic and top-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced to the third round of the rainy Rogers Cup.
Djokovic, coming off his fourth Wimbledon title, beat Canadian wild card Peter Polansky 6-3, 6-4.
Nadal, playing for the first time since a five-set loss to Djokovic in the Wimbledon semifinals, topped France’s Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-3 at night after a series of rain delays.
Peng banned for six months.
LONDON» Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai was banned for six months for breaching the sport’s anti-corruption program by attempting to change her doubles partner through coercion after the sign-in deadline at last year’s Wimbledon.
The Tennis Integrity Unit announced the sanction, with three months of her ban suspended. Peng was also handed a $10,000 fine, with $5,000 suspended.
The TIU said Peng “used coercion and offered the possibility of financial reward in return for her main draw partner agreeing to withdraw from the ladies doubles event at Wimbledon 2017.”
Golfer Lyle dies at 36.
Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle has died after a long struggle with cancer. He was 36.
Lyle, who won twice on the Nationwide Tour in 2008, was first diagnosed with leukemia as a teenager and suffered recurrences of the disease in 2012 and 2017.
He returned to the U.S. PGA Tour in 2013 after apparently having beaten cancer for a second time.
But the illness returned and Lyle last week announced his decision to forgo further treatment and enter palliative care.