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Lakers draft picks Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, with jerseys in hand, are introduced by GM Rob Pelinka, left, and coach JJ Redick, right. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

LeBron James stood off stage, back in the shadows behind the assembled reporters there to see the two newest Lakers, one of whom happens to be his eldest son.

Bronny James, the teams second-round draft pick sat with first-rounder Dalton Knecht to his right and general manager Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick to his left.

Tuesday marked a big day inside the Lakers facility in El Segundo, the organization celebrating its hope for the future while one of the biggest factors in its present watched from the back.

This moment underlined the biggest challenge the Lakers face as they prepare for whats in front of them a moment when they feel more heavily invested in the future out of necessity while still trying to wring out every win now.

On one hand, the focus was on the Lakers, to use Pelinkas words, launching the careers of two of the more discussed NBA draft prospects.

In Knecht, the Lakers capitalized on an unexpected draft slide to take the All-American scorer with the No. 17 pick. And in Bronny James, the Lakers made the most discussed No. 55 pick in league history, fueling days of debate about nepotism and pressure.

Everything has been surreal, Bronny James said. Im trying to take it all in. Im extremely grateful for everything that JJ and Rob have given to me. Ive just been extremely excited to get to work.

Redick was quick to correct his rookie guard.

Rob and I did not give Bronny anything. Bronny has earned this, right?" he said. "Bronny talks about his hard work. Bronny has earned this through hard work. And for us prioritizing player development, we view Bronny as like, case study one, because his base level of feel, athleticism,point-of-attack defender, shooting, passing there's a lot to like about his game. And as we sort of build out our player development program holistically, he's going to have a great opportunity to become an excellent NBA player.

Redick later said the team is close to hiring a director of player development to oversee things such as nutrition, weight training, recovery and mental wellness.

I had a chance to spend a few minutes with Dalton this morning and one of the things we talked about is just being open-minded, having an openness and just letting go of outcomes, Redick said. And the thing that excites me about both these guys is that their basis of basketball is as workers. And that's a great starting point if you want to develop into a great NBA player.

Redick, who said hell be involved heavily in summer league while ceding coaching duties to South Bay Lakers coach Dane Johnson and his staff, said Knecht and James will be a part of the Lakers summer rosters in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Read more: No Klay in L.A.: What is the Lakers' next move?

The Lakers will play their first summer league game Saturday against Sacramento at the California Classic in San Francisco. Last year's first-round pick, guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, will not be on the roster as he continues to recover from the back surgery that ended his first season in the NBA.

While the Lakers try to institute the foundation of the program they're trying to build, Pelinka is seeing the first-hand realities that the NBAs new collective bargaining agreement is putting on some of the leagues highest payrolls.

Going over the second apron, which is a payroll exceeding approximately $189 million, is considered a last resort if its even an option, with executives believing the restrictions on trades, free-agent acquisitions and other consequences to be too severe.

To date, the team has not made any moves in free agency beyond adding Knecht and James in the draft and re-signing guard Max Chrisitie ahead of his restricted free agency. Once LeBron James agrees to the kind of contract he wants with the Lakers, the roster will be at 15 players full capacity.

I think we're gonna always be aggressive to try to make roster upgrades and will be relentless to continue to look at what we can do, Pelinka said. This is the season of being mindful of all the different things we can approach to improve the roster. So we're in the midst of that as we speak. That will continue in the coming days, and it often spills into, you know, Vegas, where all the GMs meet and gather, and other deals get done. But we'll stay aggressive.

Pelinka said that could even mean a bigger deal including the two future first-round picks he has available for trades in 2029 and 2031 though the new restrictions make moves more difficult.

I think if the right deal comes and we have to put in draft picks, we will," Pelinka said. "I think we've talked about it before, we're now in the apron world. We've seen, you know, contending teams or championship-level teams have to lose players. That's a result of the apron world we're living in.

So, does it make trades more challenging? Yes. Does it make good trades impossible? No. So we'll continue to pursue upgrades to our roster.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Hope for the future: Lakers introduce Dalton Knecht and Bronny James - Yahoo Sports

Here are the July rest-of-season rankings. Players are listed based on how I perceive their 5x5 value going forward. In two weeks, Ill present my way-too-early 2025 rankings in this same format.

Listen to the Rotoworld Baseball Show for the latest player news, waiver claims, roster advice and more from our experts all season long. Click here or download it wherever you get your podcasts.

Click to see other ROS rankings: Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C

July

Top 300

Team

2024

May

June

1

Shohei Ohtani

Dodgers

6

3

1

2

Bobby Witt Jr.

Royals

4

2

2

3

Aaron Judge

Yankees

8

12

4

4

Gunnar Henderson

Orioles

34

9

7

5

Juan Soto

Yankees

13

11

5

6

Kyle Tucker

Astros

9

8

3

7

Elly De La Cruz

Reds

20

6

8

8

Jose Ramirez

Guardians

25

23

12

9

Yordan Alvarez

Astros

12

13

13

10

Freddie Freeman

Dodgers

10

10

10

11

Julio Rodriguez

Mariners

3

5

9

12

Austin Riley

Braves

11

15

16

13

CJ Abrams

Nationals

33

19

22

14

Bryce Harper

Phillies

21

21

14

15

Corbin Burnes

Orioles

32

31

20

16

Continued here:

Fantasy Baseball: Updated top 300 overall rest-of-season rankings - Yahoo Sports

In one respect, Klay Thompsons departure from the Golden State Warriors now that the legendary shooter has agreed in principle to join Dallas on a three-year, $50 million deal with the Mavericks, league sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports began last offseason, when the Warriors and Thompson could not agree on a contract extension. Golden State offered Thompson a two-year deal, sources said, in the ballpark of $50 million of total value that was roughly half of the four-year, $100 million commitment the Warriors handed Draymond Green in free agency.

That difference in valuations for the second and third members of a storied trio who supported Stephen Curry to four championships from 2015-22 started shifting both franchise and player down the path that ended with Thompson exiting stage left. This past year of streaky shooting certainly was an added factor in this breakup. Flashing forward, if Thompson had returned to Golden State, the Warriors planned to bring Thompson off the bench behind sophomore guard Brandin Podziemski, sources said, after Golden State started its prized rookie for a good stretch during the second half of last season.

Thompsons decision will have ripple effects across the league, where much of the mid-level market is full of wings who were waiting for Paul George, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Thompson to slide off the board before determining their own landing spots. The Lakers, sources said, still hold an affinity for veteran scorer DeMar DeRozan after Los Angeles finished as the runner-up for Thompson. The Lakers were aware that, thanks to the $16 million traded player exception Dallas created by moving Tim Hardaway Jr. to Detroit, this three-year, $50 million mark for Thompson was what they had to compete against.

The biggest domino from Thompsons outcome, however, could very well be the future of All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen. Golden State has tried to maximize its optionality this summer by chasing the biggest fish who are feasibly available for the taking. First, the Warriors moved back Chris Pauls guarantee date to try and find a trade of his $30 million expiring salary. The Warriors tried to negotiate a trade for Paul George with the Clippers, sources said, before the All-Star wing opted out of his contract to test free agency and ultimately join Philadelphia. Golden State now remains one of the few teams most connected to a pursuit of acquiring Markkanen from Utah, according to league personnel.

The Jazz are indeed welcoming calls on Markkanen, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Perhaps Utah will ultimately exact a similar offseason to that of Brooklyn, where the Nets once envisioned adding star-level talent alongside Mikal Bridges before determining their best course of action was to enter a rebuild thanks to a massive haul from New York. The Jazz, as previously reported at Yahoo Sports, were looking into trading for Bridges, held conversations with Atlanta about both Dejounte Murray and Trae Young, sources said, and were working to assemble a group around Markkanen that could have possibly drawn Georges eye.

This latest round of Markkanen trade conversations could very well just be the Jazz trying to gather information from interested teams, or an effort to solicit some kind of exorbitant offer akin to the five first-round picks, plus an additional unprotected pick swap from the Knicks for Bridges. The Jazz have so far indicated to various parties around the NBA they would still like to renegotiate and extend Markkanen when the two sides become eligible to do so in August, sources said, and that listening to offers for Markkanen is just part of doing good business.

That good business, though, leaves the door open just like Brooklyn did for Bridges to waltz across the East River. In addition to Golden State, Sacramento and San Antonio have been the two other teams characterized by league figures with knowledge of the situation as strong possible suitors for Markkanen at this point. For the Kings to land Markkanen, NBA personnel believe the Jazz would require Sacramento to part with Keegan Murray, and that might leave other trade options like Brandon Ingram as a more palatable outcome for the Kings. Minnesota has shown interest in Markkanen as well, sources said. Philadelphia never appeared to place real attention on Markkanen throughout the Sixers long approach of finding a third star to slot between Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

With Thompson decided, the Warriors moved quickly to sign DeAnthony Melton to the full mid-level exception, league sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports. That deal will be for one-year at the $12.8 million salary slot Golden State opened after Thompsons large cap hold slid off their books and the Warriors waived Paul.

For Dallas, if Thompson can stabilize his outside shooting and stay on the floor as he approaches his 35th birthday with a long history of significant injuries, this move marks another inventive victory for Nico Harrisons Mavericks front office. From acquiring Kyrie Irving at a relative discount at the 2023 trade deadline, to this deadlines double dip of Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington that helped net a run to the NBA Finals, to Dallas minimum-contract signing of Derrick Jones Jr. that surely aided that trip to the championship round, Harrison has proven his mettle. And even though a change of representation from Jones complicated his free agency, the Mavericks swiftly signed one of their top replacement targets in former Pelicans wing Naji Marshall.

So for the Mavericks, who once appeared closing in on a revamped wing group that featured Jones Jr. and Caldwell-Pope via trade, before KCP opted for free agency Dallas was able to turn Tim Hardaway Jr. and Josh Green into Thompson and Quentin Grimes, while landing Marshall on a three-year, $27 million deal as well.

How the Lakers recover from losing Thompson will be a fascinating subplot in its own right. While LeBron James has indicated a willingness to take less salary, sources said, in order to help Los Angeles add more talent to a roster that fell in the first round of the playoffs, time seems to be running out for how long James is willing to wait before securing his next deal. For the Lakers to bring on DeRozan, Los Angeles may have to work with a third team to offload some salary, such as DAngelo Russell or Gabe Vincent, sources said. The Nets have been open to welcoming Russell back to Barclays Center since this past trade deadline, sources said.

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NBA free agency 2024: The market impact of Klay Thompson's move to Dallas - Yahoo Sports

Utah State is moving to fire coach Blake Anderson.

The school announced Tuesday afternoon that Anderson had been placed on administrative leave with intent to terminate.

In its statement, Utah State said that Anderson had violated his employment agreement in the spring of 2023 and that the coach has 14 days to respond.

This decision comes after a thorough external review of alleged noncompliance with university policies that implement Title IX, which require full and timely reporting of disclosures of sexual misconduct including domestic violence and prohibit employees from investigating disclosures of sexual misconduct themselves.

Associate Vice President & Deputy Athletic Director of External Affairs Jerry Bovee and Utah State Football Director of Player Development & Community Austin Albrecht have also been dismissed for violations of university policies related to the reporting of sexual and domestic ciolence and failures of professional responsibilities.

Consistent with Utahs public records laws and USU policies, the university is not able to release any additional information until all opportunities to respond and/or appeal have expired, which is a minimum of 14 days.

Bovee was the school's interim athletic director in 2023.

The news of Anderson's potential departure was first reported by ESPN Tuesday morning. Utah State has named defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling the team's interim head coach.

Anderson was set to enter his fourth season as the Aggies coach after leaving Arkansas State. Utah State was 11-3 in his first season in 2021. He apologized in December of that year after he was caught on a recording telling his players that it had never been a more glamorous time to be a victim of sexual assault. The apology came in the wake of a Title IX lawsuit against the school that alleged it protected football players from sexual assault complaints.

Utah State has gone 6-7 in each of the past two seasons. Utah State lost the First Responder Bowl at the end of the 2022 season to finish below .500 and lost the Potato Bowl a season ago for its seventh defeat of the season.

Anderson got his first head coaching job at the top level of college football at ASU in 2014. The Red Wolves had winning seasons in each of his first six seasons before a 4-7 record in the COVID-impacted 2020 season. Anderson, who had been mentioned as a candidate for Power Five head coaching jobs later in his time at ASU, left Jonesboro after that season to replace Gary Andersen at Utah State.

Dreiling is entering his first season at Utah State after he was the defensive coordinator at New Mexico State the past two seasons. New Mexico State went 10-5 in 2023 and made the Conference USA title game.

If Anderson does not return to the team, Utah State players would have 30 days to enter the transfer portal because of a coaching change. However, the late timing of Andersons reported departure would make it tough for players to find new schools given that fall practices are about to begin and teams rosters are basically set for the 2024 season.

A coaching change at Utah State would also mark the second straight season a school has dismissed a coach in July for disciplinary reasons. A year ago, Northwestern fired coach Pat Fitzgerald amid the fallout from a hazing scandal. The school promoted David Braun a defensive coordinator who was entering his first year at the school to replace Fitzgerald for the season and Braun was subsequently named the teams permanent coach.

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Utah State places football coach Blake Anderson on administrative leave with 'intent to terminate' - Yahoo Sports

Rookie stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will pair up in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game as members of Team WNBA taking on Team USA, the league announced Tuesday. Clark finished first in the fan voting portion that counts 25% toward the final roster and Reese finished fifth.

Clark (Fever), Aliyah Boston (Fever), Dearica Hamby (Sparks) and Arike Ogunbowale (Wings) were automatically named All-Stars as players who finished in the top 10 of overall All-Star voting and who were not already on the active Team USA 5-on-5 roster. Reese is one of eight players who were named to Team WNBA after the coaches' vote factored into the decision.

The rest of the roster consists of DeWanna Bonner (Sun), Allisha Gray (Dream), Brionna Jones (Sun), Jonquel Jones (Liberty), Kayla McBride (Lynx), Kelsey Mitchell (Fever) and Nneka Ogwumike (Storm).

The All-Star Game format is Team WNBA vs. Team USA as a lead-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics and will take place at Footprint Center in Phoenix on Saturday, July 20 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). The skills challenge and 3-point contest will take place Friday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN).

All players on Team USA automatically earned 2024 WNBA All-Star honors upon their selection by USA Basketball last month. The team consists of Napheesa Collier (Lynx), Kahleah Copper (Mercury), Chelsea Gray (Aces), Brittney Griner (Mercury), Sabrina Ionescu (Liberty), Jewell Loyd (Storm), Kelsey Plum (Aces), Breanna Stewart (Liberty), Diana Taurasi (Mercury), Alyssa Thomas (Sun), Aja Wilson (Aces) and Jackie Young (Aces).

The 3x3 team members, which includes Hamby, are not automatic All-Stars and do not compete for Team USA in the All-Star Game.

The initial selection of All-Stars was decided by a combination of fans (50%), current WNBA players who submit ballots (25%) and a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters (25%). Voters' ballots consisted of six frontcourt players and two backcourt players. Team USA players could receive votes.

The top 10 vote earners automatically received All-Star nods and those not on Team USA were assigned to Team WNBA. Clark (700,735) and Boston (618,680) finished first and second, respectively, in fan voting followed by Wilson (607,300), Stewart (424,135) and Reese (381,518). Wilson and Stewart won the vote last year.

The WNBA did not release the overall top-10 rankings, nor the fan, player and media top-10s as it has in the past. It only released the 10 players unranked and in alphabetical order. Collier, Copper, Ionescu, Stewart, Wilson and Young all finished in the top 10, but are already playing for Team USA. Boston, Clark, Hamby and Ogunbowale rounded out the bunch and were named to Team WNBA.

The names of the next 36 highest vote-getters (composed of at least nine guards and 15 frontcourt players) were provided to the 12 WNBA coaches to fill the remaining spots on the 12-player roster. Coaches could not vote for their own players, nor could they vote for Team USA players as they were already assigned to an All-Star team.

It is the first time the game will feature two rookies since 2014, when Chiney Ogwumike, the No. 1 overall pick, and Shoni Schimmel, the No. 8 pick, each made the game. Schimmel was named a starter, making it three consecutive seasons of a rookie being named a starter (Maya Moore in 2011, Griner and Elena Delle Donne in 2012). She won MVP honors.

Taurasi will make her 11th All-Star appearance and teammate Griner will make her 10th as they go for a record eighth consecutive gold medal with Team USA. Griner returned to the All-Star Game last summer after receiving an honorary nod in 2022 while detained in Russia.

Taurasi and Sue Bird are the only players with at least 11 All-Star nods and Griner became the fourth with at least 10. The center is tied with Tamika Catchings for third-most all time.

Ionescu, Plum and Young are each making their third All-Star appearances. They are three of 11 former No. 1 picks playing in the summer's marquee game.

Ogwumike is the veteran for Team WNBA playing in her ninth All-Star Game. Bonner is in her sixth game. Boston and Mitchell are each playing in their second after their first nods in 2023. It is the second time in Fever franchise history that three players are named All-Stars in a single season (2007, with Catchings, Tammy Sutton-Brown and Anna DeForge).

Team USA has a combined 67 All-Star appearances and 98 years of WNBA experience. Team WNBA has 42 All-Star appearances combined and 78 seasons of WNBA experience.

Historically, the WNBA skipped All-Star Games during Olympic years because of the month-long break. But in 2021, the league introduced the Team USA vs. Team WNBA format as an official All-Star Game. It had been held as a separate exhibition in the past. Ogunbowale led all scorers with 26 points to push Team WNBA over Team USA in a 2021 upset. It is the 20th WNBA All-Star game in the leagues 28-year history.

Fan voting broke records in line with upward trends in viewership and attendance. Wilson (217,773) and Clark (216,427) led the ballots after one week of fan voting, each with double the votes Wilson won with in 2023 (95,860) over the two-week span. Clark received seven times the vote this year.

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Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese named first-time All-Stars on Team WNBA vs. Team USA - Yahoo Sports

James Wood doesnt think hes shy.

Still, the No. 2 overall prospect in baseball, a baseballing unicorn who made his MLB debut on Monday for the Washington Nationals, acknowledges that he comes across as quiet.

I just dont really say a lot, the 6-foot-7 outfielder told Yahoo Sports during a recent conversation before he was called up. Im just pretty chill.

Thats Wood, as a person, in a nutshell: relaxed, low-key, stress-free. The ultimate chiller. Words crawl out of the 21-year-old with a Gen-Z disaffection that, to a cynical ear, might sound like disinterest. But dont mistake the easygoing nature for that of a sloth or a laggard. Wood cares. He grinds, and he listens. He is reserved but incredibly attentive. Coaches and teammates gush about his character and his work ethic while making borderline irresponsible claims about the brightness of his future.

And why wouldnt they?

Wood, drafted 62nd overall in 2021 by San Diego and traded to Washington one year later, has done nothing but drop jaws and turn heads during his relatively short time as a professional. In a remarkably short three years, the D.C.-area kid has gone from developmental pipe dream to franchise-altering force. In 52 games this season at Triple-A before his call-up, Wood posted a ludicrous 1.058 OPS with 10 home runs and almost as many walks as strikeouts. All that despite his being 5 1/2 years younger than the average Triple-A player.

Built like an Olympic volleyball player with track-star footspeed and light-tower power, there arent many baseball players like Wood. He is now one of only three MLB hitters, alongside Aaron Judge and Oneil Cruz, who stand 6-foot-7 or taller. Nobody in the minor leagues who played or coached with or against him forgets watching him run, let alone take batting practice.

He's a giant, you know, Jake Lowery, the manager of the Low-A Fredericksburg Nats, told Yahoo Sports. I always talk about him being like a gazelle in the outfield. It doesn't look like he's running fast, but you look at his sprint-speed numbers, and you're like, Jesus Christ, this guy is really good.

During his debut Monday, Wood showcased all the tools that make him a tantalizing prospect. In his first at-bat, he laced an opposite-field single 106.7 mph through the left side.

Later in the game, he posted a sprint speed of 30.4 feet per second, tied for the second-fastest in MLB this season.

This is, quite simply, a generational talent.

Which, to be clear, is different than being a generational player. As is the case for any prospect, there are landmines and pitfalls ahead. The annals of MLB are littered with shoulda-beens. Wood will struggle and adjust and struggle again. His ability to continually adapt and grow at the major-league level will dictate how his career unfolds. He knows all of this and is as prepared as anybody.

But for the Nationals, a club that has wallowed in the muck since its triumphant World Series title in 2019, Woods debut represented the start of an exhilarating new chapter.

In July 2022, the Nats smashed the reset button. Less than three years after the red-and-blue confetti fell at Minute Maid Park, the organization faced a hauntingly hazy future. The veteran stars of 2019 had departed in free agency or rusted with age. The farm system, depleted by years of win-now trades and poor development, couldnt keep the window of contention propped open.

And so, GM Mike Rizzo and his front office determined that the only reasonable path forward was to trade away Juan Soto, already one of the games best players at 23 years old. In return for what should have been their forever player, the Nationals received from the Padres a cornucopia of prospects: Wood, pitcher MacKenzie Gore, shortstop CJ Abrams, outfielder Robert Hassell III and pitcher Jarlin Susana.

Wood, then a 19-year-old playing for San Diegos Low-A team in Lake Elsinore, California, remembers the trade vividly. He was on a coach bus somewhere in the southern hills of San Bernardino County, 30 minutes into a six-hour road trip. All season, Soto trade rumors had consumed the sport, but Wood wasnt expecting to be traded until that morning, when he woke up with a feeling. He was scrolling through Twitter when he saw the news and found out he was headed home to D.C.

But first he had to wait out the drive. The trade wasnt yet finalized, and the team wasnt going to turn the bus around.

Upon arrival in Visalia, Wood took an Uber to Fresno, flew to San Diego, Ubered back to Lake Elsinore, packed up his things, drove to San Diego and then flew to join the Low-A Nationals affiliate on the road in Kinston, North Carolina. The entire experience was a whirlwind, but Wood, per usual, was unfazed.

Looking back, he laughs at that absurd day of travel. I just kinda had to wear it, he said with his typical nonchalance.

He homered two days later, in his first game as a Nats minor leaguer.

He came into the office, and obviously he had no Nationals apparel and stuff, Lowery remembered. And you know, we're on the road. So we're outfitting him with whatever stuff we have: a couple of shirts, some shorts. Its mostly too big or too small. And he's just like, Bro, I'll take whatever.

Thats how Wood has always been: amenable, low-maintenance, exceedingly kind. Its an approach fostered, in part, by his upbringing. His two older sisters, Sydney and Kayla, were both highly competitive basketball players. Sydney was the team captain and an All-Big Ten honorable mention at Northwestern. James dad, Kenny Wood, was a legendary high school hooper on Long Island who went on to become a school Hall of Famer at Richmond University. His mom, Paula, works in the global health space and has dedicated much of her professional life to the eradication of dangerous diseases across the world.

Its not the type of environment that produces a bum.

Accordingly, James showed himself early on to be a particularly gifted athlete. Around fourth grade, he made the decision to prioritize baseball over basketball for a hilarious, simple, very on-brand reason.

I was better at basketball, he recalled, but baseball was more fun.

As James continued growing, so did his talent. He matriculated to St. John's College High School, traditionally the top baseball program in D.C. But things didnt really pop off until 2020, after his junior season was canceled by the pandemic. He put on 30 pounds that year, spending the months after lockdown eating like a bear and working out at a church near his house with friends.

It was also around that time, in July 2020, that Wood unleashed what is still the most awe-inspiring home run of his career.

Youve probably seen the video, he said with a laugh when asked about it.

Playing for an area travel team named the Dirtbags during a high-profile tournament in Georgia called WWBA, the 17-year-old Wood took a pitch by his eyeballs and clobbered it into the distance. His teammate Derek Bender, now an All-Conference player at Coastal Carolina, was in the on-deck circle and was left mouth agape, completely dumbfounded.

That was where the legend of James Wood came alive. He didnt get out that whole tournament, Bender said. The kid is 6-foot-7, string bean at that point. Hes up there, no [batting gloves], hands are by his damn waist. And he never really swung at pitches up or in thats really why I made that face.

Bender was not the first person to make that face in response to something James Wood has done on a baseball field. And he will most certainly not be the last. Nationals fans, coaches, players and brass hope that the foreseeable future is filled with such moments of inspired awe.

Wood carries the dreams of an organization on his very broad shoulders. For many, that expectation would be a burden.

But he is unperturbed. When asked how his relaxed and reserved vibe compares to some of the games flashier personalities, Wood simply shrugged.

Baseball is fun. Thats kinda it. I just like playing.

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For Nationals rookie James Wood, the task ahead is tall, but he's not stressed - Yahoo Sports

Andy Murray arrives at the practise courts on day two of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London. (Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images)

Andy Murray has withdrawn from singles competition at Wimbledon and said he will still compete in the tournament, but only in doubles with his brother, Jamie.

The 37-year-old had a cyst removed from his spine on June 22 and does not feel fully recovered enough to take part in the singles bracket. Murray has stated that he plans to retire following this month's Paris Olympics, so this will be his final time at Wimbledon.

Murray, who will be replaced by Belgium's David Goffin, was set to face Tomas Machac of Czechia at Centre Court on Tuesday in the first round.

"Unfortunately, despite working incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, Andy has taken the very difficult decision not to play the singles this year," Murray's team said in a statement. "As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but has confirmed that he will be playing in the doubles with Jamie and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time."

Andy Murray, a two-time Wimbledon winner to go along with his 2012 U.S. Open title, discovered the cyst after this year's French Open. Over time, it had grown and affected his coordination and caused pains in his back and right leg. The pain caused him to withdraw from the grass-court tournament at Queens Club in London on June 19. The cyst was removed three days later.

On Sunday, Murray spoke of his dream farewell to the All-England Club.

Im hoping for, when it comes to the end, maybe a bit of closure. I just want the opportunity to play one more time out there, hopefully on Centre Court, and ... feel that buzz, Murray said. Last year, I wasnt planning on it being my last year on the tour. I wanted to come back and play again. Whereas this year, I have no plans to do that. Its coming to the end of my career.

Murray is still eyeing both the singles and doubles competition at this summer's Olympics. He won gold medals at the 2012 Games in London, as well as Rio 2016. He will be monitoring his health between the time he's done at Wimbledon and when it's time to prepare for Paris as he plans to say goodbye.

"I can't say for sure that if I wasn't able to play at Wimbledon, and I didn't recover in time to play at the Olympics that I wouldn't consider trying to play another tournament somewhere," Murray said Sunday. "But if I'm able to play at Wimbledon and if I'm able to play at the Olympics, that's most likely going to be it, yeah."

Jamie Murray, 38, is a two-time Grand Slam doubles winner. In 2016, he won both the Australian and U.S. Opens with playing partner Bruno Soares.

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Wimbledon: Andy Murray withdraws from singles; will play doubles with brother - Yahoo Sports

Cristiano Ronaldo told Portugal TV's RTP that Euro 2024 will be his last European Championship.

"Without a doubt it's the last Euro [for me], of course it is," Ronaldo said following Portugal's Round of 16 win over Slovenia on Monday.

"But I'm not emotional about that. I'm moved by everything that football entails, by the enthusiasm I have for the game, the enthusiasm I see in the fans, having my family here, people's passion. ... It's not about leaving the world of football. What else is there for me to do or win?"

Ronaldo, 39, is currently playing in his record sixth European Championship and has scored more goals (14) than any other men's player in the history of the tournament. Portugal, which won Euro 2016, faces France next on Friday with a semifinal berth on the line.

It was at Euro 2004, hosted by Portugal, that Ronaldo made his debut in the competition. He scored twice in the tournament, including the opening goal against the Netherlands in the semifinal before losing to Greece in the final.

Through four games at Euro 2024, Ronaldo, the all-time men's leading scorer with 130 goals, has yet to score after recording at least one goal in each of his previous five times in the competition.

During Monday's win over Slovenia, Ronaldo had his 114th-minute penalty shot stopped by goalkeeper Jan Oblak. After he was shown in tears during the break between the first and second extra time periods, he converted his penalty attempt during the shootout to help Portugal advance.

"Obviously it's frustrating when we can't score, but it's football," Ronaldo said afterward. "In the end, the result was positive was the most important thing.

"I lose twice this year on penalties [to Al Ain in a penalty shootout in the Asian Champions League quarterfinals and to Al Hilal in the King Cup of Champions final], and now I won. I think football sometimes has to be fair, and it was fair because I think Portugal deserved to win."

Euro 2028, when Ronaldo will be 43 years old, will be co-hosted by England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

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Cristiano Ronaldo says he is playing in his last European Championship - Yahoo Sports

Inter worried as Buchanan taken away by ambulance after Canada injury

Inter are on tenterhooks after reports Canada international Tajon Buchanan was taken away by ambulance following a serious injury in training.

The 25-year-old is currently participating in the Copa America with his country and was expected to start the next match.

Instead, he could be out for a significant amount of time, as during training ground drills today he suffered a serious injury to the lower leg following a coming together.

It was so bad that he had to be stretchered off and taken by ambulance to a local hospital in Dallas for an MRI scan.

According to TSN Sports, the mood in the Canada camp was sombre following the devastating setback.

Canada defender Alistair Johnston even told TSN the injury could be heard as soon as it happened, which might suggest a fracture.

Initial reports suggest if the fracture needs surgery, hell be out for four to six months.

Buchanan only joined Inter in January from Club Brugge at a cost of 7m and made history as the first ever Canadian to score in Serie A.

If the right-back is out for a long time, then Inter might have to seek a replacement on the transfer market, which was not part of their budget or strategy.

He was brought in effectively to replace Juan Cuadrado, who has now left as a free agent.

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Inter worried as Buchanan taken away by ambulance after Canada injury - Yahoo Sports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. The fallout began with a shake of Gregg Berhalters head, and thousands of boos, and dozens of bereft stares. Nobody knows how it will end, but it began here Monday night with U.S. soccer fans winding down Arrowhead Stadium ramps and chanting: Fire Gregg! Fire Gregg!

It continued an hour later with downcast players trudging through a post-match interview zone. All who stopped to talk with journalists were asked some version of the same question: Do they still have faith in Berhalter? Should he continue as their head coach?

Ahh that is quite a blunt question, defender Antonee Robinson said. Obviously that decision doesn't fall to me and the boys. He understood, though, why it was being asked because I think the minimum expectation for us was that we get out of the group, and we didn't.

Instead, they crashed at the 2024 Copa Amrica, a tournament that once packed so much promise, but now might cost Berhalter his job.

In January 2023, when it was first announced, the Americans looked like potential third-favorites, behind only Argentina and Brazil. They had recovered from a modern-era nadir. They had ushered in an unprecedented wave of talent. They had gone to Qatar, leaned into their youth, reached the Round of 16, and left believing they could be giants eventually.

The U.S. mens national team, at the time, was rising.

And U.S. Soccer officials attributed portions of its growth to the man steering the ascent, Berhalter.

So, now, they surely must hold Berhalter accountable for the programs stagnation.

They U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker, president Cindy Parlow Cone and CEO JT Batson watched here at Arrowhead as the USMNT lost 1-0 to Uruguay and slumped out of the Copa Amrica. They watched the latest in a growing line of disappointing games that have led a majority of pundits and fans to conclude that Berhalter must be fired.

He was rehired last June to sustain the programs ascent, and to guide it toward the 2026 World Cup. A year later, it has flatlined.

The players, on paper, are better than ever; the team is not, and has shown little to no evidence of second-cycle progress.

Since Berhalter returned last fall, it lost to Germany and nearly to Jamaica; it got humiliated by Colombia and punked by Panama. It beat the worst Mexico team in decades, sure, and stood up to Brazil; but it stumbled through and out of its 2026 dress rehearsal, the 2024 Copa.

In the aftermath, Berhalter said, were bitterly disappointed with the results." He added multiple times that we'll do a review, and figure out what went wrong, why it went wrong.

But will he even be given a chance to partake in that review?

That's not up to me, Berhalter said.

It is up to Crocker, the Welshman who chose Berhalter, and who now must acknowledge that his first big bet at U.S. Soccer was a losing one.

It wasnt, to be clear, a foolish bet. In the spring of 2023, Berhalter was a safe and relatively sensible pick to (re)take charge of the team. There were reasonable and perhaps now vindicated doubts about his ability to drive the USMNT into another gear, to a new level. But there were equally reasonable beliefs that he could that the culture hed created was strong; that hed developed a really young, dynamic, front-footed team, as Crocker said; and that he deserved a chance to shape the next stage of development.

So Crocker gave Berhalter that chance.

Thus far, Berhalter hasnt taken it.

And the belief is no longer reasonable. Even if the stagnation isnt entirely Berhalters fault, it now seems clear that replacing him would raise the USMNTs ceiling in 2026.

And even if replacing him comes with risk, the bigger risk is in not chasing upside, and continuing on this now-flat trajectory.

Whether Crocker agrees is another story. Most of his work in his first year on the job has been private and somewhat secretive. He was not made available for interviews ahead of or during the Copa Amrica. He has never explicitly and publicly defined his expectations for Berhalter and the USMNT.

In the aftermath of Mondays loss, a U.S. Soccer spokesman distributed a statement attributed to Crocker. It read: Our tournament performance fell short of our expectations. We must do better. We will be conducting a comprehensive review of our performance in Copa America and how best to improve the team and results as we look towards the 2026 World Cup.

The review, of course, will be much deeper than anything that anyone outside U.S. Soccer could undertake. It will delve into metrics and human elements. And it could yield a kinder view of Berhalter than the one currently held by most fans. Crocker could, for example, explain away the Copa Amrica flop as a fluke primarily triggered by Tim Weahs red card, by misfortune, and by underperforming players.

Some players might even agree. I don't think this tournament really had anything to do with the staff or the tactics or the way we play, Gio Reyna said Monday. I think it was more individual mistakes.

Individual mistakes that become chronic and contagious, of course, could be signs that a coach has lost his players; that his voice has worn thin.

Berhalter, when asked whether he was still the right voice for this group of players, responded with a single word: Yes.

Crocker could come to a different conclusion.

Or he could stand by his initial conclusion last year: that Berhalters human-centered leadership skills are a strength. That players like him and fight for him. Hes a coach that players would run through a brick wall for, Weston McKennie said Monday. Players listen to him.

Crocker could also consider complicating factors. He might have to consider money. Firing Berhalter would presumably cost the federation some, depending on the terms of Berhalters contract, which runs through 2026. And hiring a replacement would probably cost more. Berhalter makes roughly $1.6 million per year, according to sources briefed on his current deal. A foreign coach of the stature that many fans crave Jrgen Klopp? Pep Guardiola? would likely command a significantly higher salary.

Its also unclear who, exactly, would want the job, or whom Crocker might pursue as a replacement. The only other known, legitimate and interested candidate during last years search, Jesse Marsch, now coaches Canada. Its unclear how truly global that search was, or how global a second one could be.

There is also no guarantee that a replacement would be better than Berhalter. Change can be disruptive. Disrupted chemistry can quickly spiral.

But the overriding thought, now, is that, intangibles aside, the USMNTs performances simply havent been good enough. Berhalter and his team have still not beaten a top-20 Elo foe. They rarely play far above and beyond their 50th percentile.

If we continue to develop in the way that we have, Berhalter said last June, and if this group continues to go where we think they can go, the sky's the limit but they havent developed, and the sky seems distant.

Their attack, especially, has gone stale, and the staleness is apparently not for a lack of effort or talent. So is it structure? Is the problem Berhalters system?

Reyna, when asked those questions Monday, smiled and shook his head. I don't really know at this point, he said. These are tough questions to answer. I think just overall, staff, players, we all just gotta grow from this, get better.

There is another line of thinking that the expectation of a continued ascent is unfair; that many of the players had already entered their primes in 2022; and that simply listing off the clubs they play for oversells how good they actually are.

Its a thought worth entertaining. And it is indeed unfair to expect the USMNT to rise from 2022 to 2026 as much as it did from 2018 to 2022. Development is never linear.

But it was absolutely fair to expect the trend line to remain a positive one, even if the rate of progress slowed.

This is absolutely the USMNTs most talented roster ever, even if it is not quite as good as club names suggest.

Several of the supposed stars are indeed supplementary role players at their clubs. But Pulisic just had the best season of his career at AC Milan. Weston McKennie just had the most productive year of his career at Juventus. Chris Richards established himself in the Premier League at Crystal Palace. Robinson was better than ever at Fulham. Folarin Balogun has been a major upgrade at striker. Reyna is finally healthy and brimming with potential. With players like Johnny Cardoso and Haji Wright hitting strides, depth has filled in.

Their collective progress in red, white and blue, however, hasnt matched their individual progress. Have they improved at all as a team since Qatar?

It's not for me to say, Pulisic said Monday. I'm doing my best, always, to improve myself. Everyone on the team is. Yeah, we didn't get the results we wanted in this tournament, and that hurts, but that doesn't mean that we're a bad team or we haven't improved.

Berhalter argued that they have. He cited their defensive solidity and their Expected Goal margins. I pressed him, though, on whether he wouldve expected more improvement in the final third, and he more or less dodged the question. That is where this USMNT has fallen furthest away from its talent level. Perhaps they dont have enough alphas; perhaps they havent jelled. But a big chunk of responsibility for that shortcoming, surely, has to lie with Berhalter.

Many will still back him as a mentor and perhaps even a friend. But, speaking Monday, they seemed more equivocal or non-committal than they had been last spring, when many endorsed him to reclaim the job.

We quite vocally said that we enjoyed having Gregg as our manager, Robinson said. The way that his [first] tenure kinda came to an end was due to circumstances that wasn't necessarily to do with the way the team was performing. Now, obviously, it's a little bit easier to evaluate how we've done as a team under him, and the last couple of years since the World Cup. So, yeah, that doesn't really fall to me.

Pulisic, the captain and Berhalters most influential endorser last spring, said: I mean, look, we have a good relationship with him. And, whatever the next step looks like, that's not my job to decide.

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USMNT's Copa Amrica flop should cost Gregg Berhalter his job. Will it? - Yahoo Sports