LAS VEGAS -- Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard says star players recruiting each other has become a more "powerful" way to join forces than the traditional approach of franchises holding pitch meetings during free agency.

"It's become huge," Lillard said during a news conference to announce his four year, $196 million extension on Saturday. "Because sometimes the coaches and the front offices, they don't have as much power as the players. The players are so friendly now. I think in the past it was like [Michael] Jordan probably didn't go out searching and trying to get guys to come join him. It was like they was competing against each other.

"Now it's, 'Well, they got three stars on their team, so I know this guy and that guy, I'm going to try to get them to come to my team.' So I think you see [recruiting] a lot more now where it's just players recruiting players is more powerful than the pitch meeting with the team. That's just what it is now, so it's a huge part of the game now."

Lillard's comments come in the wake of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George joining forces to play for the LA Clippers, a move that Lillard acknowledged even surprised him on Friday night. Lillard, who has spent his entire career with the Trail Blazers, says he continues to strive to become the greatest player in the history of the organization.

"I think we've built something special," Lillard said. "It's been built genuine and in an environment that we've created. It's something that I've been a part of and something that I want to continue to be a part of. And having my family in Portland, everything is set up. I've kind of gotten comfortable, and it feels like things are the way it needs to be, that it should be. And everybody around me is happy with that, so aside from the personal stuff, even my career, I feel like it's only right that this is where I continue to play."

Argentina star Lionel Messi was sent off in the 37th minute of Saturday's Copa America third-place playoff with Chile after a clash with defender Gary Medel.

- Copa America: All you need to know
- Full Copa America fixtures schedule

The straight red card marked the first time the Barcelona forward has been sent off in a senior game for club or country since his debut with the national team in 2005.

With Argentina up 2-0, Messi put in a hard challenge on Medel who was shepherding the ball out of play. The two players then aggressively bumped chests a number of times before the match referee intervened and immediately flashed reds for both.

Confusion ensued, with players from both teams surrounding the referee. But moments later, Messi and Medel walked off the field.

Sergio Aguero and Paulo Dybala had scored the goals for Argentina.

Hosts Brazil face Peru in the final on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro.

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Zion Williamson, the No. 1 overall pick of the New Orleans Pelicans in this year's draft, will not participate in the remainder of the NBA Summer League after suffering a bruised left knee in his debut, the team said Saturday.

Williamson didn't play in the second half of Friday's game against the New York Knicks in Las Vegas because of a knee-to-knee hit, and Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin said Saturday that he would be shut down.

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry told ESPN's Malika Andrews that they were being extra cautious with Williamson as he works to get into game shape.

Williamson took the floor as a pro for the first time Friday night, scoring 11 points in nine first-half minutes that included some thunderous dunks against the Knicks and fellow former Duke star RJ Barrett.

The game was suspended in the fourth quarter after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit near Ridgecrest, California, around 200 miles from Las Vegas.

Summer League games resumed Saturday after the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavillion were both deemed "safe to open" by structural engineers, the NBA said Saturday.

Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Steven Brault has been placed on the 10-day injured list after leaving Friday's game with a left shoulder strain.

Brault exited the 7-6 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers after walking Orlando Arcia to lead off the fifth inning.

"It was just tight after every inning," Brault said. "And in that fifth inning I wasn't able to get to the point where I needed to be. It was obvious seeing my velocity drop."

Brault, coming off a June in which he posted a 2.52 ERA after injuries forced him to join Pittsburgh's starting rotation full-time, is 3-1 with a 4.15 ERA in 15 appearances (nine starts) this season.

The Pirates made a series of other moves to their pitching staff, placing Trevor Williams on the paternity, optioning right-hander Dovydas Neverauskas to Triple-A Indianapolis and recalling right-handers Dario Agrazal, Montana DuRapau and Luis Escobar from Indianapolis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – The first race of the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Acura weekend featured the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama and it was over nearly as soon as it began.

Roman De Angelis scored his fourth victory of the season on Saturday morning in the No. 79 Mark Motors Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car after a strong start at the drop of the green flag.

The 18-year-old from Belle River, Ontario, started on pole alongside Jeff Kingsley in the No. 16 Policaro Motorsport Porsche, but was unchallenged heading into Turn 1 as Kingsley struggled to get up to speed. De Angelis reveled in the clean air, going on to win by a staggering 14.598 seconds.

“It was pretty difficult to be honest with you,” said De Angelis, who will start from the No. 1 spot for Race 2 on Sunday morning. “We struggled a bit with rear grip. We had a shock go bad yesterday in qualifying and to replace that overnight, you never really know how these shocks are going to break in or how they’re going to act. So yeah, the left rear was a bit sketchy in all the right-handers, so I just kind of had to adapt to the way the car was.

“It was definitely not an easy one for us but once again I can’t thank Mark Motors enough. We’re pulling away in these points and we just need to keep doing that.”

While initially dropping to third place at the start, Kingsley bounced back to regain the runner-up position ahead of Patrick Dussault in the No. 77 Lauzon Autosport Porsche. This is the first podium for Kingsley since winning the first race of the season, also at CTMP as part of the annual Victoria Day SpeedFest held in May. This is Dussault’s third podium of the year.

Meanwhile in the Platinum Masters class, it was an exciting race for winner Marco Cirone in the No. 88 Porsche for Mark Motors Racing. After starting seventh on the grid, Cirone moved up to fourth place and was eagerly looking to steal the final overall podium spot from Dussault in the final minutes. Coming onto the frontstretch, however, Cirone got loose as he peeked inside Dussault’s Porsche and spun.

Fortunately for Cirone, the battle for third was well ahead of the rest of the field, so he was able to recover and continue on for the Platinum Masters victory and overall fourth-place finish.

“I’m very happy with the Masters win, but to be quite honest in my heart I had that third place, man,” said Cirone. “I was going for it so hard and perhaps that was the problem, that at the end there I wanted it so bad that I tried too hard and I lost control unfortunately.

“But still a great drive by Patrick and Jeff Kingsley and super congratulations to my partner, Roman. I just want to thank the Mark Motors team, Liza and Michael (Mrak), for being here and supporting us. Thank you to IMSA and a special thank you to (Porsche factory driver) Kevin (Estre), the new Porsche Cars Canada coach. He really helped me out and is a wonderful person.”

Earning the Yokohama Tire Hard Charger Award for gaining the most positions in the 45-minute race was Michael Levitas in the No. 37 TPC Racing Porsche. Levitas – who won the most recent Platinum Masters race at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal last month – moved up from 13th to ninth and finished just off the Masters podium, with a fourth-place finish in class.

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans class is often considered the most competitive form of GT racing in the world and every so often something extraordinary happens that reaffirms that claim.

Such was the case Saturday’s qualifying at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park when the entire GTLM field – eight drivers representing four different manufacturers – at one point held the provisional pole during the final five minutes of the 15-minute session.

The driver who topped the leaderboard when it mattered most was the No. 24 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE of Jesse Krohn. He lapped the 2.459-mile circuit in one minute, 13.086 seconds (121.123 mph) to score his first WeatherTech Championship pole, leading a front row sweep for BMW in the GTLM class for Sunday’s Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Acura.

RELATED: Braun Repeats As Canadian IMSA Pole Winner

The lap was a track record for the GTLM class, besting Nick Tandy’s pole-winning time from last year of 1:13.517.

“Finally, I’ve waited for this for a long time,” said Krohn, who will team with co-driver John Edwards on Sunday. “We went for the good ol’ one-lap banger. We put it all on one lap. We know it’s going to be critical on tires here to win the race. The more you can save in qualifying the better you can have for the race. Definitely a great job from the guys giving me the car I have today. The lap was good, really good, to be honest. I don’t think there was any more I could have given.

“It’s going to be an absolute dog fight as always. It’s really tight, and there is no room for mistakes. We almost had a clean weekend at Watkins (Glen), but one little error really puts you back in this class. So all we need to do is have a clean one, no little mistakes on track or in the pits. And really just do a flawless fast race.”

Joining Krohn on the front row is teammate Tom Blomqvist, who qualified second in the No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 with a lap of 1:13.548. Ryan Briscoe qualified third in the No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT, followed by the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR of Patrick Pilet and No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR of Laurens Vanthoor.

In GT Daytona, Turner Motorsport and Robby Foley gave BMW a sweep of the GT division poles at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Qualifying the No. 96 BMW M6 GT3, Foley earned his first career Motul Pole Award by posting the fastest lap of the session in the GTD class at one minute, 16.172 seconds (116.215 mph). Sunday’s Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix Presented by Acura will be his 11th WeatherTech Championship start.

“It was a great car,” said Foley, who will co-drive with Bill Auberlen. “We’ve been working through a lot of changes in the practice sessions and for qualifying we just tried to put a perfect lap together. I think I left maybe a little bit on the table, but I got most of it and it was good enough for pole. The track changed a little bit there from morning to afternoon. I think we gained some temp, so it was a little bit different and I was able to put together a decent enough lap and put it on pole.”

His pole kicked off what would be a sweep of the GT pole positions for Sunday’s Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix, as Jesse Krohn in the No. 24 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE topped the charts in the following GTLM qualifying session.

“It’s one of my favorite tracks,” said Foley of CTMP. “It’s super high commitment. You’re on edge the entire lap. Especially for qualifying when you have a little more on the tire, just being new, low fuel, you’re just trying to maximize and do everything for that last little bit, and it’s a big lap. I had to dig deep for that one. I was P2 for a while, about two-tenths off, I had to kind of put it all together there at the end. So it’s definitely gratifying to get a pole here, it takes everything.”

Looking to defend their CTMP victory from 2018, Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen will start the No. 33 Riley Motorsports-Team AMG from outside the front row after Keating posted a qualifying time just .081 seconds off of Foley’s.

A pair of Acura NSX GT3s from Meyer Shank Racing will make up the second starting row. Last week’s winners from the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Trent Hindman and Mario Farnbacher in the No. 86 Acura, will start third alongside the No. 57 Acura for Heinricher Racing with Katherine Legge and Bia Figueiredo in fourth.

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – He did it again.

One year after taking the overall pole position for the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Acura for the first time with a track record lap, Colin Braun broke his own track record to win another Motul Pole Award in qualifying for Sunday’s two-hour and 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race.

Braun posted a best time of one minute, 5.452 seconds (135.250 mph) in the No. 54 CORE autosport Nissan DPi, exceeding his 2018 record lap of 1:06.375. It was his 18th career top-level IMSA pole and his fourth at CTMP (he also had Prototype Challenge class poles in 2012 and 2016).

RELATED: BMW Sweeps Canadian GT Poles

He and co-driver Jon Bennett also are the race’s defending winners and already have four previous wins at CTMP with PC class wins in 2013, 2015 and 2016 to go with the overall and Prototype class victory last year. They’ll go for five on Sunday.

“I’m excited to be on pole here, at a track that I love, and Jon Bennett loves,” said Braun, who scored the first pole for a Nissan DPi since Pipo Derani did it in qualifying for the 2018 Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. “I think no matter what car we’re in we always have good confidence here. This is a track we run well at, so that tends to make us feel like we’re going to be fast here.

“You unload and you are fast, and that’s a sort of self-fulfilling cycle. We just feel really good about always coming up here. I’m happy to be on the pole, tomorrow is a long race and a different mindset, and it takes of lot of things to win. Honestly, we didn’t even do a mock qualifying run. We just worked on our race car in all three practices, and got Jon in the car, and just stuck to our plan. I feel good about what we have for a race car for sure.”

Bennett will share the front row with Helio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi. Castroneves logged a best qualifying lap of 1:05.526 (135.097 mph) in the car he shares with co-driver Ricky Taylor.

After scoring a breakthrough victory last Sunday in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Jonathan Bomarito and co-driver Harry Tincknell will go for their second straight win from third on the grid in the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P DPi. Bomarito qualified the car at 1:05.780 (134.575 mph).

WeatherTech Championship DPi points leaders Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron will look to extend what is currently a scant, one-point lead over No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R co-drivers Felipe Nasr and Derani. Montoya has a slight advantage on the starting grid after putting the No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 fourth with a lap of 1:05.872 (134.387 mph).

Nasr will start sixth behind fifth-place qualifier Tristan Nunez in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P. Nunez clocked a best lap of 1:05.913 (134.304 mph) and will co-drive with Oliver Jarvis on Sunday; Nasr’s best lap was a 1:06.080 (133.964 mph).

In the LMP2 class, Kyle Masson collected his second WeatherTech Championship Motul Pole Award. Masson’s best lap was a 1:08.211 (129.779 mph) in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA.

“Qualifying went really well,” Masson said. “It’s awesome to be back here this year and to have the weekend start out extremely successfully compared to the way it turned out last year. It was a big disappointment last year with the turn one incident in practice one. So, to make it through qualifying and to actually get the pole, it’s a big morale boost for the team going into tomorrow.

“This track is very fast. We had a great car coming into the weekend and the Performance Tech crew just dialed it in. We’re right where we need to be for the race.”