Page 25 - Florida Sentinel 7-5-19

Sports
Rays Owner Committed
Jimmy Butler Rumors:
To Making Split-Season
Star Declined $190M
Montreal Deal Happen
76ers Max Contract
Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg, along with team executives held a press conference Tuesday after- noon to address a potential plan to split home games with the city of Montreal in the future.
Sternberg did confirm the Rays want to go forward with this plan. He told our John Sabol he would like to have the Tampa Bay-Mon- treal deal done ideally by 2024.
The news broke last week when the team received per- mission from Major League Baseball's executive council to explore a plan in which they would play early-season home games in the Tampa Bay area and the remainder of the year in Montreal.
Under that plan, both the Tampa Bay area and Mon- treal would get new stadiums, with earlier games in Florida and later games in Montreal.
Sternberg claims this would be a permanent plan and not a staged exit. He says he rejected the idea of mov- ing the team to Montreal years ago and rejects it today.
He also claims the idea is not taking a page out of a playbook to gain leverage. Sternberg says instead it is a generational commitment to both communities.
Hewentontosayhehas no interest in selling the team. He also told us he does- n't know what would happen if this Montreal-Tampa Bay plan doesn't work out.
"As far as getting it done
Before Heat Trade
here, we never say never, but after all we've been through and what we've learned over the last few years, it's highly unlikely," Sternberg said of a new stadium deal only in Tampa.
One reporter asked what Sterberg thought about the fans in the Tampa Bay area who would want the team all to their own. "All to their own just isn't gonna be an option going forward," Sternberg replied.
“I don't see it happening in St. Petersburg and would be hard-pressed to see it work- ing in Tampa as well given what I know," Sternberg said.
The Rays owner did say he would be committed to play- ing in St. Pete until the Trop- icana Field lease ends at the end of the 2027 season.
St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman was not a fan of the proposal, saying "sharing the team with Montreal is not an option. "
“Ultimately such a decision isuptome.AndIhavenoin- tention of bringing this idea
to our city council to con- sider,” he added.
"I want to be crystal clear. The Rays cannot explore playing any major league baseball games in Montreal, or any anywhere else for that matter, prior to 2028 without reaching a formal memoran- dum of understanding with the city of St. Petersburg," Kriseman said.
On Thursday, Kriseman released a statement saying the City of St. Petersburg will not participate in the funding of a new stadium for a part- time team. Kriseman said in part, "If Mr. Sternberg wishes to formally explore this concept with me and his desire to privately and fully fund a new stadium in the City of St. Petersburg, I am willing to listen."
On Thursday, Rays princi- pal owner Stu Sternberg released this statement:
"My priority remains the same, I am committed to keeping baseball in Tampa Bay for generations to come. I believe this concept is worthy of serious exploration."
The Philadelphia 76ers weren't able to re-sign Jimmy Butler in free agency, but it wasn't because they didn't try to.
According to Tom Haberstroh of NBC Sports, the 76ers offered Butler a five-year, $190 million max contract, but he turned it down in order to take a four- year, $141 million deal from the Miami Heat.
Philadelphia received Josh Richardson as part of the sign-and-trade that sent Butler to Miami.
The Sixers also agreed to re-sign Tobias Harris to a five-year, $180 million deal before adding veteran Al Horford on a four-year deal worth up to $109 million, via NBA.com.
JIMMY BUTLER
ford and Richardson with
Joel Embiid and Ben Sim- mons should allow the Six- ers to once again be a top contender in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, Butler gets a chance at a fresh start and the opportunity to be the go- to option on his team.
Pairing Harris, Hor-
Kawhi Leonard
Reportedly Told
Magic Johnson His
Demands For The Lakers
Kawhi Leonard has yet to make a decision regarding where he is going to play next season, although that hasn't stopped him from talking to prospective teams and laying out his demands. Kawhi is planning on taking meetings with the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, and the Toronto Raptors.
According to Broderick Turner of the L.A. Times, Kawhi and his uncle, Uncle Dennis, have already been speaking to Lakers legend Magic Johnson about the possibility of joining the pur- ple and gold. It is important to note here that Johnson no longer works for the team.
As you can imagine, Leonard has some demands for the franchise and many of them have to do with his en- tourage.
As Turner told Spectrum Sportsnet, Leonard would like to be able to bring his own staff, including trainers with him.
“LeBron James was able to bring on his own trainer,
KAWHI LEONARD
his own medical people. (Kawhi) wants to know if he can do that as well," Turner explained. "LeBron James brought on some people that weren’t with the Lakers, and he wants to know ‘can I bring with a couple of my guys?’ ... And as far as I know, the Lak- ers would be willing to do that, because you do those things for superstar players.”
These demands make sense considering Kawhi had problems with the San Antonio Spurs medical staff during the 2017-2018 season. These well-documented is- sues led to his trade to the Raptors.
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