Announcements » "The tight end has always been part of the passing

MINNEAPOLIS - The Houston Rockets made a move to bolster their depth on the perimeter on Friday, obtaining veteran swing man Corey Brewer from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a three-team trade that also included the Philadelphia 76ers.The Rockets sent shooting guard Troy Daniels, cash considerations and a pair of future second-round selections to Minnesota: a protected pick in 2015 originally belonging to Sacramento (acquired by Houston in September) and a protected pick in 2016. The Timberwolves sent centre Ronny Turiaf to the 76ers, who dealt guard Alexey Shved to the Rockets. Houston also sent to Philadelphia its own 2015 second-round draft pick and the rights to centre Serhiy Lishchuk, a Ukraine native currently playing in Spain.The trade gave the Rockets another proven veteran defender in Brewer to compete in the demanding Western Conference, where they were in fourth place at 19-6 after Thursdays games. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has been in pursuit of help for weeks, knowing that Golden State, Memphis, San Antonio and the Clippers all could have superior depth to his roster.Houston lost out to rival Dallas in the bidding for point guard Rajon Rondo on Thursday, so Morey immediately set his sights on Brewer, who scored 51 points in a game against them last year. That scoring explosion was an anomaly, but Brewer is a hard-working veteran who should fit in well with teammates James Harden and Dwight Howard. Brewer is one of the NBAs best at stealing the ball, and his ability to sprint out for easy transition baskets ought to allow him to make an easy transition to Houston.Rockets coach Kevin McHale knows Brewer well. McHale was the general manager in Minnesota when the Wolves chose him seventh overall in 2007.Brewer left and won a championship with the Mavericks before blossoming as an energy guy off the bench with the Denver Nuggets.He returned to Minnesota last year and was serving as a valuable mentor to youngsters Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad and Anthony Bennett. On a team beset by injuries, Brewer was even filling in at backup point guard for long stretches.But with Mo Williams back playing after missing time with a back injury and Ricky Rubio possibly returning before January, the Wolves started to entertain offers for Brewer as they forged ahead with a full-on youth movement.Injuries to Rubio, Nikola Pekovic, Kevin Martin and Williams have short-circuited any hopes the Wolves had of being a surprise team in the first season after trading Kevin Love to Cleveland. They were 5-19 heading into Fridays game at Boston, the worst record in the West, so they flipped a valuable asset in Brewer, who has a player option on his contract next season for more than $5 million for a young shooter in Daniels and some future draft picks.The move will allow them to get an even longer look at Muhammad, who has been their best player this season but has been stuck in a logjam on the wing partially because of Brewers presence.Daniels played less than 7 minutes per game for the Rockets this season, but his ability to shoot the 3-pointer will be a welcome addition to the Wolves, who are among the leagues worst 3-point shooting teams.It also could signal the first of many moves as president and coach Flip Saunders embraces a youth movement he initially hoped to avoid. Saunders added Williams and veteran power forward Thaddeus Young in the off-season in hopes of surrounding a young core of Wiggins, Rubio and LaVine with experienced support.But Rubio has been out since Nov. 7 with a sprained ankle, Martin is out until well into January with a broken wrist and Pekovic continues to be bothered by soreness in his right foot.Turiaf recently underwent season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his right hip. Cheap Ray Ban Wholesale . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. Ray Ban Wholesale . Among the teams moves was trading one of the teams two third round picks, no. 83 overall, to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brandon Bollig, a six-foot-two, 223-pound left-winger who had seven goals, seven assists, and 92 penalty minutes in 82 games last season. http://www.raybanwholesale.com/. And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. Getting Creative The Pittsburgh Penguins will try their best to acquire Ryan Kesler from the Vancouver Canucks before the Trade Deadline. Ray Ban Sale Online . Span, Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche had two hits apiece as Washington won the final two games of the series. The Nationals improved to 3-7 against Atlanta. They increased their division lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games. Ray Ban Outlet Stores . Just as the meeting was beginning, Major League Baseball unveiled Rule 7.13, an experimental rule for the 2014 season aimed at eliminating what the league calls “egregious” runner/catcher collisions at home plate. METAIRIE, La. -- The NFL Players Association confirmed Wednesday that it filed a grievance on behalf of Jimmy Graham concerning the Saints tight ends franchise tag designation. At issue is whether the NFL was correct to apply the tight end tag to Graham or whether Graham should have received the more lucrative wide receiver tag, a difference of $5 million. The NFLs current collective bargaining agreement states that a player should be tagged according to the position at which he lined up most often. Graham and his agent, Jimmy Sexton, are contending that the frequency with which Graham lined up split out from the line merits the $12.3 million receivers franchise tag, not the $7 million tight end tag. No date for a grievance hearing has been set, but the filing alone could provide Graham with a measure of additional leverage as he seeks to have his franchise tag designation removed in favour of a long-term extension. July 15 is the final day a team can sign 2014 franchise players to long-term extensions. Grahams agent, Jimmy Sexton, did not return a message seeking comment on the matter. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said Wednesday there had been no progress to report on negotiations with Graham. The Saints have asserted that lining up split from the line is a significant part of every tight ends job descripttion.dddddddddddd When asked in January whether the Saints viewed Graham as a tight end under the leagues CBA, Loomis responded: "Isnt that what we drafted him as? Isnt that what he made the Pro Bowl as? Thats what we see him as -- a tight end. "The tight end has always been part of the passing game," Loomis continued. "Hes part of the running game. So hes part of both. So are receivers. So are running backs." According to an analysis by ESPN Stats and Information, Graham lined up split out from the line on 67 per cent of his snaps -- 45 per cent of the time in the slot and 22 per cent out wide. Unless the Saints and Graham pre-emptively agree on a long-term deal, an arbitrator may have to decide whether those numbers alone, under the language of the CBA, would require the league to apply the receiver designation to Graham. If so, it likely would set a precedent for negotiations involving other tight ends who figure prominently in their teams passing games, and could substantially lower the franchise tag number for tight ends who more often line up next to offensive tackles. It could also affect other positions in which players have varying roles, most notably some outside linebackers in a 3-4 defensive scheme, who could argue their right to receive the higher defensive end tag. ' ' '