Doc Rivers has revealed eye-opening, undisclosed details of the Los Angeles Clippers' free-agent meeting at his house with Kawhi Leonard and how the team approached it.

Rivers, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, says the Clippers, knowing the Oklahoma City Thunder "wanted to break their team up," provided Leonard with a list of players to choose from.

And it included Paul George.

"Which was a mistake, but we got lucky," Rivers told the Times. "We shouldn't have had a list, because then he got to choose who he wanted to play with. And the assumption was that we could get them. We didn't know if we could get anybody. We just showed him guys that we thought would match him and when he saw Paul George's name he said, 'I want to play with him.'"

The Thunder had been ousted from the first round of the playoffs for the third straight season. But a year earlier, in July 2018, they had signed George to a four-year, $137 million extension, indicating they were committed to keeping the team's core intact.

"We showed him everybody else and he didn't want to hear it. He just stayed on Paul George," Rivers said of Leonard. "So after the meeting we sat down and I said, 'We got to get Paul George. I don't know how we are going to do it, but we have to do it.' We did know that Oklahoma City wanted to break their team up, so that helped. But we didn't know if we could get him."

River said Leonard, a Southern California native, made firm demands in the meeting, telling him and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer he wanted to see a boost in their efforts in upgrading the team.

"Kawhi said, 'I want to play for you.' And he pointed at me," Rivers told the Times. "He said, 'Mr. Ballmer, I love the things you do and what you stand for, but your team is not good enough, and if you don't change your team, I'm not coming.'"

Ballmer and the Clippers completed the blockbuster trade for George on July 5. The deal included four future unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick and two pick swaps.

Three weeks later, they unveiled impressive, expansive plans for a proposed new home complete with headquarters, a training facility, a sports medicine clinic, community courts, and an area with a giant big screen for fans to watch games outside -- a la Toronto's Jurassic Park -- all located on 26 acres in Inglewood, California. Last week, the Clippers then announced they were investing $100 million in the city of Inglewood in a community benefits plan that was negotiated with city officials as part of their arena development agreement.

"Steve Ballmer was nervous about the picks. I said, 'Steve, you keep saying six picks for Paul George is insane, but you're saying it wrong," Rivers said. "It's not six for Paul; it's six for Paul and Kawhi. So three for each. I would do that.' You have to look at it in those terms."

The NBA power brokers descending on New York this week for the league's Board of Governors meeting have reacted to the league's beefed-up anti-tampering proposal with a mix of skepticism about its potential deterrent effect and concerns of privacy.

In conversations with numerous league officials, team owners, general managers and agents, there's some uncertainty about the means the NBA might use to investigate alleged rules violations. Atop those concerns for team officials are what league sources insist was Commissioner Adam Silver toughest decision in bringing new rules to a vote: An annual, random auditing of five teams' communications with rival front offices and player agents.

Some teams believe that the league is rushing the process of changing the rules.

In reaction to the blatant disregard of free agent tampering rules and an angry owner's meeting in July, NBA owners are faced with a vote on Friday that could reshape -- even if only in mechanics -- how the business of player procurement is done.

The push to strengthen tampering rules -- including a huge increase in the amounts of potential fines -- was born out of a historic free agent period that witnessed several stars change teams in an acrimonious climate. The recruitment of Kawhi Leonard became fraught with charges that his uncle and advisor, Dennis Robertson, requested benefits outside the boundaries of the salary cap, league sources said.

Whatever apprehensions exist in the rank-and-file of the league, the league's owners made it clear at a July Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas and privately with Silver that they wanted change that would help level the playing field.

Approval of the league's anti-tampering proposal requires a "yes" vote from 23 of 30 teams. The league rarely brings such matters to a vote unless it is confident it has requisite support; the failure of the league's initial proposal to tweak the lottery odds in 2014 was a rare public defeat.

Small-market teams, fearing the free agency allure of big-city rivals, may line up to support the league's proposal on Friday - as well as teams embittered by recent free agency defections. Those who vote against the new measures risk the perception that they condone cheating, even if other reasons colored their decision.

Even so, teams and league officials will address questions about privacy and the specifics of enforcement.

Silver appears to have put himself in an enviable political position by thrusting the onus onto owners. Even if he fails, he will still be seen as having tried to clean up tampering.

Silver has insisted the league's intent is not to establish a police state. In meetings and direct conversations, the message has been to regulate each other: behave as partners, not pirates. Silver wants the owners accountable for creating a culture of compliance, yes, but the league recognizes its golden era of popularity has come at the cost of a viciously competitive and sophisticated era of free agency.

Some in the league wonder if the proposals would mark any meaningful change.

The reality is, Silver already has enormous authority to investigate allegations of tampering -- including reviewing text messages and other forms of communication -- and snatch draft picks if such an investigation reveals evidence of malfeasance. (That power is outlined in, among other places, Articles 24 and 35a of the NBA's constitution and by-laws, and is worded in similarly expansive and vague language to that used in the proposals at issue this week in New York.)

The $6 million fine for "unauthorized agreements," including side benefits designed to circumvent the salary cap, is already included in the NBA's collective bargaining agreement.

The new set of proposals would require governors and top basketball operations officials to "certify annually" -- i.e., sign documents -- that they did not tamper with free agents ahead of the July 1 start date of free agency or offer any "unauthorized benefits" to free agents. That sounds new and foreboding -- almost like a loyalty oath -- but top officials already sign documents each season vowing to abide by all NBA rules and regulations, sources say.

In substance, the changes really amount to:

• an increase in fines (from a maximum of $5 million for tampering to $10 million) that mostly mirrors the increase in franchise values and player salaries over the last two decades;

• allowing Silver to (in theory) take draft picks as punishment for any "conduct detrimental to the NBA";

• the annual random audits of five teams and a brief mandate that "where cause exists" the league may "undertake more in-depth investigations."

• the requirement that top team officials save communications with agents for one year.

For the most part, the increased fines have not unnerved teams. The sort of tampering at issue -- the kind that leaves angry rivals in its wake -- concerns the league's best players, and most teams will absorb a $10 million fine if it means acquiring one of those players in his prime for several seasons. Rarely is any team going to file an allegation of tampering concerning a role player.

Snatching picks is the punishment teams fear -- the one that hurts. The league already has authority and discretion to do that. Some front office executives believe these proposals would create more compliance had the league included language that the forfeiture of at least one first-round pick was automatic -- not discretionary -- in any case of proven tampering. The NBA did not take that step.

(The league can in theory invalidate contracts, but that creates a hornet's nest of questions -- not the least of which is, "What happens if a contract is invalidated in mid-July and there is no cap room left around the league?")

Perhaps the act of proposing this new set of rules is a signal Silver will be more willing to levy the harshest punishment possible in the event investigators can prove tampering. Even if the letter of the law doesn't change much, the discussion and attention surrounding tampering may cause some minor behavioral changes. If it eliminates the most brazen flaunting of the timing rules -- deals reported prior to the starting gun -- and sends governors fleeing from the very idea of circumventing the cap, the league would likely count just that as a success.

Pre-June 30 discussions between teams and agents would migrate away from text messages and emails if the league gets the right to audit five teams per year at random. That one clause will likely engender a lot of discussion today and Friday, league sources say. Teams are curious: what would an audit entail? How much access would the league get to the cell phones of GMs and governors? What happens if they go looking for tampering and find other information of interest -- intel on players and coaches, financial plans, one off-color joke?

Silver can cull texts and emails and call records, but this isn't in the NSA: The NBA won't be monitoring calls, so communications promise to move exclusively to phone and face-to-face conversations. It would be nearly impossible for any investigator to prove that a phone call between a GM and an agent in mid-May had anything to do with an impending free agent. It could concern another client of that agent already on the GM's team; a prospect in the upcoming draft; or any number of unrelated matters.

"I don't think he should have any right to get into my phone," one GM told ESPN. "I wish my owner would vote no, but I doubt he will. You'll only make yourself a target for investigation if you do."

Some in the league wonder if the proposals would mark any meaningful change. (This could bizarrely engender support: why vote against the league, and risk alienating it, if you think the proposal doesn't matter?)

Some executives and agents are already planning to wean themselves off electronic communication --- including less traceable communications messaging services like WhatsApp and Telegraph. Some front offices scrubbed devices of those communications, too, and insist this now: Only the reckless will get caught, and perhaps that's how the NBA wants it.

"I don't think (Silver) should have any right to get into my phone. I wish my owner would vote no, but I doubt he will. You'll only make yourself a target for investigation if you do." NBA general manager to ESPN

Trust will become paramount, and general managers and agents with history and relationships will rely on those in clandestine talks more than ever.

The NBA had considered rules that mandated team executives immediately report player agents who approach them for conversations about pending free agents before June 30, but changed course, league sources told ESPN. In conversations with league executives, the NBA realized that pressure on teams would complicate and compromise relationships with agents.

Front office executives insist that there's no motivation for them to turn in high-profile agents whom they do volumes of business, even if they know of a deal done prior to free agency. For starters, it could destroy a relationship with someone who controls significant NBA talent - and risk putting your own team under scrutiny for its machinations.

Teams and agents both have an incentive to know the lay of the land before free agency starts. As one prominent agent told ESPN: "There's a big difference between having conversations about how a team wants to build its roster, what it prioritizes in free agency and whether they have interest in your player --- or having a deal done on June 20," one prominent agent tells ESPN. "Both sides are in the information gathering business; that's the nature of the job."

Teams with a better grasp of that information at the draft have an important tactical advantage in making trades. That is one reason several teams have suggested starting free agency before the draft -- and officially allowing teams to begin negotiating with free agents after the end of the NBA Finals.

The Houston Rockets last year presented a revised calendar with free agency before the draft, but only ten teams supported it when the NBA polled teams in July, sources have told ESPN.com. (Several teams responded in that polling that they did not care either way, and proponents of the change are hopeful the discussion will continue, sources say.)

Most teams and agents discuss business before the Finals now, and will still do so even if these proposals pass. The league justifiably has qualms about such discussions occurring as the free-agent-to-be in question competes in a high-stakes playoff series -- especially if the chatter filters down to the player -- but squashing it is unrealistic.

The same is true for player-to-player recruitment. The league has never policed that. The new proposals would include a renewed prohibition of one player inducing another player under contract to request a trade, but enforcement would be difficult. In the future, the NBA wants to pursue cases if it can be proven that a player's acting on the behest of his organization to interfere with a player on roster elsewhere, league sources said.

The NBA is not going to find a perfect workable solution. Friday's vote will not end the discussion about what the league's free agency landscape and calendar should look like. But it is a starting point, and the results may hint at what comes next.

CLEVELAND -- Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez took batting practice Thursday for the first time since breaking his right hand last month and is hoping to return before the end of the regular season.

Ramirez had surgery for a broken hamate bone Aug. 26, and the expected recovery window had him slated for game action in early October. The last day of the regular season is Sept. 29.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona said there's no new timeline for Ramirez's return, but it was encouraging that Ramirez felt good after swinging from both sides of the plate.

Ramirez is batting .254 with 20 home runs and 75 RBIs despite a sluggish start. He hit .325 with 15 homers, 47 RBIs and a 1.045 OPS in the 53 games before the surgery.

The club is already without second baseman Jason Kipnis for the rest of the season, also because of a broken right hamate bone.

Cleveland is four games behind first-place Minnesota in the AL Central and a half-game behind Tampa Bay for the second AL wild card. The Indians trail Oakland by 2.5 games for the top wild card.

NEW YORK -- Yankees reliever Dellin Betances has been told surgery is not recommended for the partially torn Achilles tendon that ended his season after eight pitches.

Betances received a second opinion from Dr. Martin O'Malley of the Hospital for Special Surgery, who concurred with Dr. Justin Greisberg of New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

"He'll be in a walking boot for another four weeks, and then they'll kind of re-evaluate where he is, but the belief is that he will not need surgery," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday. "I guess that could possibly change, but they feel pretty confident that this is something that will not need surgery."

Betances hurt his left foot when he hopped on the mound Sunday at Toronto after striking out Brandon Drury, his second and final batter.

Betances appeared to think it was the third out of the inning and landed awkwardly on the artificial turf at Rogers Centre . His foot was sore when he arrived at Yankee Stadium before Tuesday's game .

A four-time All-Star, Betances is a 31-year-old right-hander eligible for free agency after the World Series. Boone spoke with New York on the brink of clinching the AL East title.

Betances was diagnosed with an impingement in his pitching shoulder after his fourth spring training appearance on March 17. His rehabilitation stopped when the team said June 11 that he had strained his right latissimus dorsi muscle, and Betances did not start a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment until September.

New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German was placed on administrative leave Thursday under the joint MLB-MLBPA domestic violence policy following an incident that the league learned about Tuesday morning, sources told ESPN.

Despite the lack of a police report detailing the incident, MLB and the union agreed the allegations against German warranted placing him on seven-day leave amid an investigation, according to sources.

The investigation is expected to be fast-tracked, and German could face discipline from MLB -- including a potential suspension -- before the Yankees host Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Oct. 4, sources told ESPN.

"We fully support all measures being undertaken by the Commissioner's Office pursuant to the Policy on Domestic Violence," the Yankees said in a statement. "We support this policy which reinforces that domestic violence has no place in our society and cannot be tolerated.

"We have followed the lead of Major League Baseball and will continue to provide our complete cooperation throughout the investigative process."

MLB and the Yankees said they would have no further comment until an investigation has been completed. Under the joint domestic violence policy, a player can be put on administrative leave for up to seven days, barring a mutually agreed-upon extension between the league and union.

German, 27, pitched Wednesday for the Yankees. He is 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA and 153 strikeouts for the AL East leaders this season. The emergence of the right-hander, who has been by far the Yankees' most reliable starter, has helped mitigate the struggles of veterans in the rotation.

Manager Aaron Boone recently said he expected German to be a big part of the team's postseason plans, but Boone said Thursday the team needs to prepare for the postseason like German won't be available.

"This is something that, baseball aside, this is a bigger issue, obviously," Boone said. "When you hear the words domestic violence, it's one of those things that stops you in your tracks. I give Major League Baseball and the players' association credit for doing their part in, several years ago, trying to be ahead of this and putting disciplinary action in place, hopefully being part of the solution to what is a problem in our society."

Luis Severino returned to the rotation Tuesday, making his 2019 debut. However, the team lost reliever Dellin Betances for the remainder of the season after he tore his Achilles tendon in his left foot on Sunday.

The Yankees called up right-hander Michael King to take German's spot on the active roster.

ESPN's Marly Rivera contributed to this report.

ATLANTA -- Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves has become only the third player in baseball history to hit 40 homers in a season while 21 years old or younger.

The other two were Eddie Mathews and Mel Ott, who are both in the Hall of Fame.

Acuna, 21, launched a two-run shot Thursday in the third inning, a towering 432-foot drive into the second level at SunTrust Park off Philadelphia's Aaron Nola.

With eight games left in the regular season, Acuna also has a shot at becoming just the fifth player in baseball history to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season. He has 37 stolen bases.

Mathews hit 47 homers as a 21-year-old for the Milwaukee Braves in 1953. Ott was 20 when he hit 42 homers for the New York Giants in 1929.

It doesn't get much better for baseball fans than the St. Louis Cardinals vs. the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field with a division title and a playoff berth on the line. That's what we've got for the next four days, with three more matchups between the storied rivals -- and even potentially higher stakes -- next weekend at St. Louis.

The Cardinals come in with a slight lead in the National League Central, and the safety net of the wild card for the division runner-up potentially has a hole in it, as the Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers are bunched with the Cubs and Cards in the standings, as well. One of those four teams will be left out of the postseason altogether, and of course the division winner has a big leg up on the wild-card teams.

With that backdrop, ESPN baseball reporters Jesse Rogers and Bradford Doolittle look at how both teams got here, break down the four-game series in Chicago and assess the long-term impact the next 10 days could have on the iconic franchises.

Jesse Rogers: It's really been a strange year for both the Cards and the Cubs. Followers of the NL Central should recognize how the teams have switched roles this season. It wasn't long ago that St. Louis had trouble running the bases, playing defense and holding late leads, but the Cards have been excellent in all three categories in 2019. Not so for the Cubs, who lead the league in outs made on the basepaths, have committed the second-most errors in the NL and have converted only 58% of their save chances. The Cards have committed the fewest errors and are first in save percentage, so the question for Brad is, why haven't they pulled away?

Bradford Doolittle: In a nutshell, the Cardinals have done the little things very well under Mike Shildt but have been inconsistent with the big things. All of those categories you've mentioned have been great for St. Louis, as well as hitting with men on base and keeping at-bats alive with foul balls. But the Cardinals are league average in batting, on-base and slugging, which has led to inconsistencies. When the Cardinals score, they are tough to beat. The Cubs seem like the polar opposite: They have struggled with fundamentals, at times, but also have shown the ability to bludgeon teams. So, Jesse, if the Cubs had played more sound baseball this season, what would the standings look like in the NL Central?

Rogers: It's a good point. If the Cubs were just middle of the pack -- not even top five or top 10 -- in some of these categories, they would be in first place with a decent lead, I imagine. It's one of my critiques of Joe Maddon this year, just as it was for former Cards manager Mike Matheny. Fundamentals can be traced back to the manager: It might not be his fault, but it's happening on his watch. Anyway, the one thing the Cubs have going for them is they're a team that in the past has performed at a high level in all these areas, so there still is an expectation that trait will come out in the final games of the season and then in October. I wonder if Cards fans have become jaded. Do they think the opposite, that it could all go south? Or are they convinced they have the best team in the division?

Doolittle: I get a sense that until the Cardinals clinch, there is a sense of impending doom with their fans. For one thing, while the announced attendance totals have remained strong, there have been a ton of no-shows in St. Louis, including during a very attractive series against the Nationals with high stakes. I get that it's during the week and school is back in session, but aren't these the "best fans in baseball?" A lot of people I talk to seem raw that the team didn't trade for another starter at the deadline, even though their rotation has been lights-out ever since. Then again, when the video board showed Cincinnati's Aristides Aquino going deep against the Cubs, everyone went nuts. They want to believe, but they aren't all the way there yet. If the Cards flop against the Cubs, it could get a little ugly in St. Louis. What do you think: Joe Maddon, your 2020 Cardinals manager? Seriously, which of these teams is at more of a crossroads?

Rogers: It's a good question, but it would be hard not to answer the Cubs. A real potential to break up their core, let alone letting go of their World Series-winning manager, screams "crossroads." But at least it's not a rebuild for either team. Which brings us to these seven meetings over the next 10 days. I'm going to take the easy way out and say the team currently in front -- St. Louis -- is going to hang on. The one caveat is the extra game played at Wrigley Field. The Cubs' road record this season tells us they need to win three of four in Chicago to give themselves a good chance next week -- though they might be able to pencil in three wins in Pittsburgh in between. There's a better chance of that happening than the Cards sweeping Arizona, so there are a lot of layers to this. If the Cards are the favorite because they're in front, it's a 60-40 thing, at best.

Doolittle: In theory, the Cardinals match up well with Chicago because they've gotten pretty stingy with giving up homers, which obviously are the engine that drives the Cubs' offense. St. Louis has a better bullpen too, one of the best in baseball over the second half. If St. Louis can earn a split, I think they'd take that, and they have Jack Flaherty -- baseball's hottest pitcher -- on the hill in Thursday's series opener. If the Redbirds take that one, that ratchets up the pressure on Chicago. The weather could be a factor too: If the wind is blowing in and helps keep the scores low, that also helps the Cardinals. How much do you think the running game could play into any tight matchups here? It's not quite Whiteyball, circa 1985, but St. Louis leads the majors in thefts.

Rogers: Normally, I'd say "eh" to a base-stealing question, but then again, that's another smaller part of the game in which the Cubs have had issues. Their catchers lead MLB in errors, and the team ranks 26th in caught stealing percentage. Those free bases matter in tight games. We'll assume there will be some close ones over the next seven meetings, so yes, it's a concern. And playing without Anthony Rizzo is a huge loss on defense. There are so many big and little things he does well, starting with the bunt defense he got hurt on, and Rizzo's absence is bound to show up at some point over the next four days. Here is the bottom line for the Cubs: They need to hit to cover a bunch of warts. Nico Hoerner has to keep hitting. Jason Heyward has to keep hitting. And Kyle Schwarber really needs to keep hitting. They all do. As much as the starting pitching should be a strength and lead the way, the Cubs have to cross their fingers and hope for a lot of offense, because the rotation has been middling, at best.

Doolittle: The Cardinals need to keep the games close early and turn this into a battle of bullpens, which St. Louis should win. Their rotation can go toe-to-toe with Chicago's, even though the names might not be as recognizable. Flaherty is throwing better than anybody on either team. If Cardinals hitters can stay disciplined, drive up pitch counts and continue to make the most of their offensive opportunities, they'll be in good shape. But St. Louis has vacillated too often between scoring seven or eight runs and then just a couple. They need to even that out and get into that Chicago bullpen.