As NBA trade possibilities expand beginning Dec. 15, the Cleveland Cavaliers are expressing a willingness to listen to trade offers for All-Star forward Kevin Love, league sources told ESPN.

Cleveland is open to the idea of moving Love before the Feb. 7 trade deadline should the Cavaliers find a requisite package of young assets and/or future draft picks, league sources said.

Love is an intriguing target for franchises in both conferences, especially in a season in which so many teams believe a key addition could catapult them into championship contention.

Dec. 15 represents the date that players who signed free-agent contracts in the offseason are eligible to be moved -- a figure that's roughly 40 percent of the league.

Love, 31, has three years and $90 million left on his contract.

The Cavaliers are pursuing a full rebuild, gathering young players and draft picks. The Cavaliers plan has been to let coach John Beilein develop a younger roster. The Cavaliers have a roster thick with expiring veteran contracts, including Tristan Thompson, Brandon Knight, Jordan Clarkson, John Henson and Matthew Dellavedova.

U.S. Soccer's projected 2020 deficit is set to grow $5.5 million due mostly to expenditures of $9m on legal fees devoted to various lawsuits.

The federation had already projected a loss for the upcoming year, but legals costs -- including those due to the equal pay lawsuit filed by the U.S. women's team -- are the primary reason for the increase.

Speaking at the USSF Board of Directors meeting, USSF CFO Pinky Raina presented reports on the federation's financial state. Entering the 2019 fiscal year, thanks in part to the financial success of the U.S.-hosted Copa America Centenario in 2016, the USSF had a cash surplus of about $160 million.

At that point that the USSF made the decision to engage in deficit spending and invest those funds in a bid to grow the sport. The spending was projected to reduce the surplus to $50 million by the end of the 2023 fiscal year. The reserve is now projected to be depleted even further.

Raina and USSF president Carlos Cordeiro both cited that an increase in litigation has having added to the deficits. In addition to the equal pay lawsuit, the USSF is currently involved in litigation involving a similar lawsuit filed by former U.S. women's international Hope Solo, an anti-trust suit involving NASL and an anti-trust lawsuit from sports promoter Relevent Sports, among others.

"When we were projecting back in [2017], we had deficits of about $20 million each year," said Cordeiro in a subsequent roundtable with reporters. "So the concept of deficits isn't new isn't new. We've always had planned deficits, but deficits to grow our investments in our programs.

"What's happened in the last few months and will accelerate into next year is that we have these unforeseen legal expenses that are now basically coming to bear. And they are they are the reason principally -- not exclusively -- for why our deficits are bigger than what we had planned in 2017 and 2018."

The budgeted operational deficit for the 2020 fiscal year, which ends in March, was $14.8m, but now, due in part to the $9 million in legal fees, the projected operational deficit for that period is $20.3m.

Cordeiro said that the federation has insurance to defray some of the legal costs of the lawsuits, but that the insurance on one of the cases was "running out."

He declined to specify which of the cases was running out of insurance money, though it is believed to be the NASL anti-trust case, which was first filed back in September of 2017. It was confirmed that the $9m expense also represents those legal fees not covered by the insurance.

Fielding at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium can be tricky in the evening because of the floodlights, which are lower than at most other grounds. In the IPL, this venue, home of Sunrisers Hyderabad, has seen a catch conversion rate of only 70%.

India's fielders also found it difficult in the T20I series opener against West Indies on Friday, dropping at least five chances. After misjudging one at short fine leg and not even getting a hand to the ball, Washington Sundar dropped Shimron Hetmyer on 54, having sprinted to his right from long-on. Then, Rohit Sharma dropped Kieron Pollard off successive balls at the long-on boundary before he redeemed himself in the next over by catching Hetmyer off Yuzvendra Chahal for 56 at deep backward square leg.

In the final over of West Indies' innings, Virat Kohli spilled Jason Holder at long-off and ended up deflecting the ball to the boundary. Holder made an unbeaten 24 off nine balls to push West Indies past 200.

West Indies had their issues on the field too. Hetmyer, at deep midwicket, briefly fumbled when Rohit hit left-arm fingerspinner Khary Pierre towards him, but just about got his body behind the ball in time and clung onto the catch.

When asked if the lapses in the field were down to one side of this ground being much longer than the other, or because of the awkward floodlights, KL Rahul, who has been part of the Sunrisers team previously, pointed to the latter.

"I don't think it's the dimensions - the bigger side or the smaller side - it's just that the lights are pretty low and sometimes you lose the ball under the lights," Rahul said. "And that's what happened a couple of times and I mean we've played here before; we've played here for years. We know what to expect and yeah as a team we don't complain about things like this."

Although India didn't train under lights ahead of the first T20I, Rahul said his side was prepared for the challenge posed by the floodlights.

"We tried to practise that even when we came here a couple of days ago," he said. "We know we didn't practice under lights but we know the lights are low and we tried to get our fielding practice done and try to give our best and sometimes you still lose the ball. That's how it is."

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Thunder suspended forward Deonte Burton one game for conduct detrimental to the team, the team said Friday.

Burton was involved in a locker room altercation with a teammate following the Thunder's loss to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, league sources told ESPN.

Thunder coach Billy Donovan did not want to elaborate on the situation surrounding Burton's suspension.

"I think it's pretty clear, one-game suspension and we'll all move on," Donovan said. "He'll serve that, and we'll move on from there."

Burton will serve his suspension Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Donovan did acknowledge there is some frustration for players because of the Thunder's 8-12 record, but he called it a healthy frustration that shows that they care.

The Thunder will be fairly shorthanded against the Wolves, also missing guard Terrance Ferguson (hip soreness), Hamidou Diallo (elbow strain) and Andre Roberson (return from injury management).

Burton, 25, is averaging 2.8 points and 1.8 in 12 games this season.

CHICAGO -- Referee Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling made NBA history Friday night when she became the first mother to officiate a league game.

Holtkamp-Sterling worked the Bulls-Warriors game in Chicago.

The game was the first for Holtkamp-Sterling since she gave birth to daughter, Stoan, earlier this year. She missed last season with a knee injury that required surgery, and the start of her 2019-20 season was delayed by abdominal surgery.

Her husband, Jonathan Sterling, worked the Los Angeles Clippers-Bucks game in Milwaukee on Friday night. The couple met at a college basketball referees event before they became the first married couple to officiate in league history.

"That's amazing," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "They probably have a good nanny, I'm guessing. That cannot be easy raising a child with two NBA refs as parents. It's a pretty incredible story. I'm happy for Lauren that she's back on the court."

In 2014, Holtkamp-Sterling became the third full-time female referee in league history.

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Gulf South race fans are used to seeing Wisconsin’s Derek Kraus unload at the Snowball Derby with his family’s black and orange No. 9 car, but that wasn’t the case this year.

Instead, Kraus has become somewhat of a “hired gun” for the 52nd running of the historic super late model event, driving this week for Donnie Wilson as he pursues his first Derby victory.

The reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (rebranded as ARCA Menards Series West for 2020) champion has struggled to find speed and luck at Five Flags Speedway in the past, but is hoping this weekend will be different.

“It’s been fun so far. We learned a lot Thursday during practice,” Kraus told SPEED SPORT. “We struggled in the first two, but I feel like we found a pretty good baseline to start on tomorrow. We ended up 12th or 13th in the last practice then, but the most important thing is qualifying on Friday night.

“We’re going to have to try to make (the) top 30, and hopefully we get in the top 30 and start with good track position for Sunday.”

Kraus’ deal to drive for Wilson wasn’t something that was planned out weeks or months in advance, but rather came together when one of the Stratford, Wis., young gun’s normal crew members couldn’t make the trip south for Snowball Derby week.

“It really didn’t start long ago; it was very recent. We decided to go this route because one of the main guys that works on our race cars back at home, he works at UPS and this was one of their busiest times of the year. So he had to be at home working and couldn’t get off. And we felt that if he couldn’t go, we couldn’t find the right amount of people to come down here and be competitive.

“From there, we found Donnie Wilson; we felt that he’s a really good guy and he has a really good team,” Kraus added. “He’s got a really good team surrounding me. They’ve set out to rock and we’re ready to go.”

Though one might think that being “just a driver” would be an advantage to Kraus instead of also working on his own equipment, the teenager doesn’t view it that way and said the pressure of the Snowball Derby “is still very much there.”

“Man, it’s the same Snowball Derby,” Kraus noted. “It’s the same top 30 (rule) as we’ve had to deal with for a while. You still have to get locked in. It’s like the only thing different is that I have a Lefthander (Chassis) back home and this is a Rowdy (Manufacturing) car, but so far it has been going really well.

“Hopefully I have a good qualifying answer. We need one after the last few years.”

While Kraus has focused solidly on his race pace during practice sessions to this point, he said he still doesn’t know what kind of speed he’ll have for the Derby itself.

No one really will, he noted, prior to Sunday afternoon.

“I don’t really think you know (if you can win) in this race until you’re 50 or 100 laps into it,” he said. “We have to finish this thing to have a shot. You have to first finish to finish first; at least that’s what they all say.

“We know we’ve got to have a good, good, good qualifying effort to get good track position. If we can do that, you’ll see us in the mix when we get to the big show.”

BIXBY, Okla. – After a year of opening eyes in the dirt racing world with his family-owned team, Cannon McIntosh will embark on the biggest opportunity of his young career in a month’s time.

McIntosh, who will turn 17 prior to the New Year, has landed a ride with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports for the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, set for Jan. 13-18 inside the River Spirit Expo Center.

The KKM deal for the Oklahoma teenager comes on the heels of an impressive runner-up finish during the Turkey Night Grand Prix on Nov. 28, where McIntosh battled tooth-and-nail with Kyle Larson in the latter stages of the event.

Though he ultimately came home second due to a part failure that hampered his speed in the final laps, McIntosh feels that his Turkey Night effort was the final spark that helped his Chili Bowl deal come to fruition.

“My dad actually talked to Keith at Jacksonville a couple months ago, because he was frustrated with the position we were in at the time. We just weren’t running well,” McIntosh recalled. “He was trying to get me in one of his cars and see what it would take; it just didn’t really work out the way we wanted it to. So I thought that door closed when we weren’t talking about it anymore, honestly.

“But we just kept racing and then Turkey Night, I think, is what opened a few eyes and a few doors. Two days ago, Keith (Kunz, team co-owner) called my dad … and I don’t know exactly what was said, but he asked if I was able to run for him at Chili Bowl,” McIntosh added. “My dad and I agreed that it’d be a good opportunity, because it’s not like we don’t have good stuff – we do, and I feel we proved that last year – but Keith has so many laps around that track and so much experience there, not to mention all the people in his pit, that it’s a no-brainer when it comes down to it.

“It’s a good to get opportunities to be a player for him in the race and hope it gives us a shot at winning the Chili Bowl this year.”

Kunz was quick to add that McIntosh is a driver whose speed has kept him on the KKM radar for much of the season.

“This is something that’s been in the works for a couple of months,” Kunz explained. “We’ve been kind of keeping an eye on him all year long; he’s been one that we’ve noticed. I’ll be one of the first to say that he should have a lot more wins than what he actually does this year in the midget, whether they were mechanical or he was caught up in stuff (while) leading races, so the results don’t reflect what he’s shown us this season.

“Before we ever went out West, this was on our radar. We all talked a little bit. And of course, after his performance out there, we were excited to get this deal done and add Cannon to our lineup.”

McIntosh performed strong in his Chili Bowl debut last season, with a top-five finish on his preliminary night before his Saturday hopes were scuttled in the B-main, finishing one spot shy of rookie-of-the-race honors.

That type of performance is something that gives McIntosh confidence going into his sophomore Chili Bowl attempt, a belief that he can replicate and improve on the speed he’s already shown in Tulsa.

There’s no extra weight on his shoulders, though. That’s not how McIntosh looks at this deal.

“I’m excited about the opportunity that’s ahead,” McIntosh noted. “But at the same time, I don’t want to go in there with any more pressure than I would have before. I mean, yeah, I’m running for Keith Kunz and I need to show everything that I would have to show anywhere else, but there’s no added pressure. It’s the same race. It’s just someone else’s car.

“I’m showing up with the same goal to make the feature and have a shot at winning the thing as I would if it was the No. 08 car we were bringing out there,” he continued. “All pressure does is get in your head and it’s not anything you want there. The last thing you want is to overthink a chance like this one.”

From his days running micros in the Tulsa Shootout, now to the biggest driving opportunity of his young career, McIntosh has experienced nearly every emotion imaginable at the River Spirit Expo Center.

He’ll have a new memory, and potentially all-new emotions, to go through in a month’s time.

“I’ve made a lot of laps in a micro in Tulsa, but not many in a midget, even though we learned a lot last year at that track,” McIntosh said. “I think there’s a little bit of confidence going in already. You just have to clear your mind and go and race it just like any other race.

“This will be fun. I can’t wait to get there and see what it feels like to be in the KKM pit area.”

NASSAU, Bahamas – Upon walking into the scoring tent Friday at the Hero World Challenge, Patrick Reed was greeted with some unfortunate news: he was being penalized two shots for improving his line of play, and there was video evidence to support the ruling.

The penalty occurred on the par-5 11th hole during Reed’s third round at Albany Golf Course. He was leading the tournament at 12 under and preparing to play his third shot from a buried lie in the waste area when cameras showed him twice brushing back sand from directly behind the ball with his club after address.

After the round, Reed was found to have violated Rule 8.1a(4), which prohibits players from removing or pressing down sand or loose soil in order to improve the conditions affecting the stroke.

“You could see, the club did get behind the ball closer and then when he took it away, you could see the path of the sand come away in two different occasions,” said Slugger White, PGA Tour’s vice president of rules and competitions. “He did it the first time and he put the club down again and he did it another time, but that’s irrelevant. It doesn’t make any difference.”

Reed’s two-shot penalty turned his bogey on the hole into a triple bogey, and instead of shooting even-par 72 and entering Sunday’s final round a shot off the lead, Reed was credited with a third-round 74 and will start the final round at 10 under, three shots behind leader Gary Woodland.

“I accept that,” said Reed after a nearly-five-minute discussion with rules officials. “It wasn't because of any intent. I felt like I was far enough away, but because of what we saw…”

Reed tried to explain that his ball was sitting in a “pretty good footprint” and on both occasions his clubface was about 4 inches away from the ball when he pulled it back and brushed away “a little sand.” But he added that the only camera angle came from behind the ball, and from his perspective, he was not improving his lie.

“I was far enough away from the golf ball because when I take my practice swings anyways, I don't ever put the club directly behind the ball because I'm always scared of the ball moving,” Reed said. “I'm always going to give myself some room, especially on practice swings. After seeing that camera angle, because it brushed the sand, it's a penalty. … It is a big part, intent, but at the same time, when you only have one camera angle, that's all you can go off of.”

White said Reed was a “gentleman” when informed of the infraction, but added that intent wouldn’t have mattered in this situation.

“That’s not in the mix,” White said.

Despite the costly penalty, Reed, who will tee off at 10:43 a.m. ET Saturday alongside Jon Rahm in the third-to-last pairing, was prepared to quickly move on.

“At the end of the day, you've got to let things kind of roll off your shoulders, and also at the same time I still have a whole other round to play tomorrow,” Reed said. “If I stew over something that I felt like I didn't intentionally do – at the end of the day, it's my word versus their word, and they weren't standing there, they had a camera angle, so because of that, you know, you don't really have a choice – but at the end of the day, I mean, after seeing it, after seeing the club go back and brush some sand, I mean, they thought that that's a breach and in the Rules of Golf if you improve your lie. … At the end of the day, you have to just accept it and move on.”