The agent for center Willie Cauley-Stein has encouraged the Sacramento Kings to allow his client to become an unrestricted free agent.

"I'm hopeful they will not even give Willie his qualifying offer," Roger Montgomery of Roc Nation Sports told the Sacramento Bee.

A former Kentucky star, Cauley-Stein has played all four of his NBA seasons in Sacramento since it took him sixth overall in the 2015 draft. With his rookie contract expiring this month, he would become a restricted free agent -- giving Sacramento the ability to match offers from other teams -- if the Kings first extend a $6,265,631 million qualifying offer by June 30.

"I really think Willie needs a fresh start," Montgomery told the Bee. "Based on how things have gone for him there in Sacramento, I just think it's time for Willie to move on and we'd really like him to move on."

Cauley-Stein, 25, holds career per-game averages of 10.1 points on 53.4 percent shooting to go with 6.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks. He excels running the floor for a Kings team that likes to play at pace, giving Sacramento an athletic 7-foot center who can take some of the focus away from defenses, can pass the ball and can finish at the rim.

But consistency has been a trouble spot for Cauley-Stein. He started this past season by averaging 17.4 points in October, but his numbers dipped after that, including two months (February and April) in which he failed to average double figures in scoring.

The Kings issued a brief statement to the Sacramento Bee, saying, "Willie is a great player who has shown he can fit our style of play."

But Montgomery said the pieces were not fitting together for his client and cited turnover in both the Kings' roster and coaching staff. The Kings hired Luke Walton as head coach in April to replace Dave Joerger.

"We haven't felt that he's been able to get what has been necessary for him to be able to lead the franchise the way he wants to," Montgomery said. "We are very, very thankful for the opportunity that was presented to him, but we just think it's not working. It's not going to work. It's just time for a fresh start. We need a fresh start and maybe the Kings do, too."

The Minnesota Twins have agreed to a minor league deal with right-handed reliever Cody Allen.

Allen was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels one day after he gave up four runs over 2/3 of an inning in a 9-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on June 14.

Allen had a 6.26 ERA over 23 innings in 25 appearances with the Angels and lost his closer role in his first season with the club.

Allen came to Los Angeles in free agency on a one-year, $8.5 million deal. He spent the previous seven seasons with the Cleveland Indians.

The 30-year-old righty had a run of five straight seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA before last year, when he had a 4.70 ERA for the Indians.

ST. LOUIS -- One of the amazing things about the return of Albert Pujols to St. Louis this weekend isn't about him at all. Before Friday, Redbird Nation had never gotten a first-hand look at the game's greatest player: Pujols' Angels teammate Mike Trout. Yet Trout's St. Lou debut barely caused a ripple in the flood of Albert love the past couple of days. You know it's a big deal when no one is paying attention to Mike Trout.

Maybe there is a good reason for that. St. Louis fans may never have seen Trout in person before, but they've certainly heard of his exploits and seen his unmatched career-to-date numbers. In fact, Trout may remind them of a certain former Cardinal, the one drawing more adulation along the banks of the Mississippi than Mark Twain.

Consider this an exercise in "you better appreciate what you got before it's gone." If Pujols were the same age as Trout right now, and you had to pick one or the other, whom would you take? It's Trout, right? You're probably on the money, but it's not as much of an open-and-shut case as you might think. To weight it objectively, you have to do your best to wipe away the Angels version of Pujols that we've seen the past few years from your consciousness. Try, if you can, to zero in on Pujols, circa 2007, when -- like Trout is now -- he was 27 years old.

First, consider this. Yes, Trout is considered baseball's best player right now by mass acclamation and he has held that unofficial title for several years. Earlier this year, I looked at the "best in the game" issue objectively, awarding the title to the top-ranked player by five-year win shares totals. The idea is that you don't lose your title because of an off-year, or a career season by someone else. It takes prolonged excellence to be considered baseball's king, and using rolling averages is a good way to model that effect.

By that method, Trout has been baseball's best player at the conclusion of each of the past five seasons, from 2014 to 2018. He leads the majors in most bottom-line value metrics so far in 2019, so it seems all but certain he'll retain his crown through this season.

There was a bit of anarchy at the top in the three seasons before Trout's ascension, with Andrew McCutchen, Robinson Cano and Miguel Cabrera each stealing the belt for a brief spell. Before that, Pujols was the titleholder, leading the way after each season from 2004 to 2010. In terms of king-fish status, Trout still has a couple more years to match the length of Pujols' reign.

As mentioned, Pujols' age-27 season was 2007, so when he was done with that campaign, he had been the game's top player for four years, and he had three more to go. We know that Trout will almost certainly still be considered the top player after this season. And it seems unfathomable that he'll relinquish the title any time soon. But you never know, right? Still, you would take your chances with a guy like that.

That's where Pujols was in terms of acclaim when he was Trout's age. He had been the game's best player for years and his performance record was virtually spotless. He was good at everything -- hitting for average and power, with discipline and in situations. He was the best in the game defensively at first base and was a tremendous baserunner. And he was right in the middle of his prime, one that seemed as if it would never end. Every great season looked a lot like the previous one. Kind of like with Trout.

Let's consider value metrics. Trout is at 69.4 WAR but has a little over half this season to go. Let's go with his having 75 WAR by the end of 2019. Pujols was at 54.9 WAR through his age-27 season. This is the essence of why you'd go with Trout. He had more than a season's head start on Pujols because he broke in at 19, and that narrows the gap because -- remember -- we're trying to figure out whom we'd take going forward. Still, while both players stood alone as MLB's top performer at age 27, there are degrees to greatness, and Trout has been a greater shade of great than Pujols was at the same age. You can quibble about a handful of WAR, but you can't really quibble about a 20-win gap in value.

The more traditional stats are not so clear-cut, especially since some might want to dismiss the positional adjustments in WAR and some of the park effects when arguing this choice. (They'd be mostly wrong to do so, but these measurements are kind of touchy with some fans because of the abstract nature of contextualization.)

Pujols was hitting .332/.420/.620 through his age-27 season. Trout is at .307/.420/.578. Pujols had 282 homers; Trout has 262 and will likely end up around 282 by the end of the season. Pujols had 861 RBIs; Trout has 704 and even with another half season of RBIs will be at a major deficit. Trout already has more runs and stolen bases at 27 than Pujols, even with rest of 2019 remaining. Still, anyone arguing for Pujols on the basis of traditional measures might be hard-pressed to take his future greatness over Trout's.

There is one final factor in this: durability. Trout has been mostly healthy this season, but he missed 71 games combined in 2017 and 2018. He's a rambunctious player, running into outfield walls, diving into bases with unthinking abandon, and even seems to have an unusual ability to foul balls off himself. If these things worry you in regard to Trout's future, and you have age-27 Pujols as a standby option, is the choice really as easy as all that?

Actually, yes. Pujols is among the greatest of the great, but nevertheless, if you were to put Hall of Famers into tiers, he'd probably be on the second tier. And that's pretty damned good. But Trout appears to be headed to the pantheon -- the Mays-Ruth-Aaron-Bonds-Mantle-Wagner class living somewhere on the upstate New York version of Mount Olympus.

Yet, maybe we thought Pujols could have eventually resided there as well. We can slot his career more accurately because we've seen how it has turned out. He proved to be human, not the machine to which he was initially likened for his consistency. With Trout, we can continue to dream of heights never before scaled.

And that's the moral of all this. Appreciate Pujols for what he was and what he is. But don't put off admiring what Mike Trout has done so far in his career and continues to do. The best, even the best of the best, don't stay the best forever. It doesn't matter whether or not you'd take the 27-year-old Pujols or the 27-year-old Trout. You can't go wrong with either, and whomever you end up with, soak up every magic moment while you can.

Andy Murray says he "didn't expect to be playing in the Queen's final" on his return to tennis, five months after career-saving hip surgery.

Murray, 32, and Feliciano Lopez, 37, beat John Peers and Henri Kontinen 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 10-7 in the semi-final.

The pair have dropped one set and beaten top seeds Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal en route to the final.

"I didn't have high expectations at all," said two-time Wimbledon singles champion Murray.

"I had a tough, tough draw, playing the top seeds in the first match and I've never played with Feli [Lopez] before.

"I think things have probably got a little bit better maybe with each match as well."

In Sunday's final, Murray and Lopez will play Britain's Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram after they claimed a shock victory over fourth-seeded US brothers Bob and Mike Bryan.

Spaniard Lopez will take on 34-year-old Frenchman Gilles Simon in the singles final at 13:30 BST before returning to the court for the doubles final.

'Zero pain in my hip'

Before his surgery in January, Murray limped and grimaced between points and his suffering culminated in a tearful news conference at the Australian Open, when he revealed retirement plans.

But the Scot, who has won the singles title at Queen's five times, has looked sharp on court all week and his body language reveals how much he is enjoying playing again.

Murray said there was "no pain at all" in his hip after the semi-final, although he admitted he was feeling the effects of the three matches he has played.

"My back's a bit stiff," he said. "You're sort of getting down low for a lot of balls and you're always kind of in a crouched-over position in doubles a bit more than when you're in singles.

"I'm not used to that as much, so my back has been a little bit stiff after some of the matches. My arm is a little bit tired from serving and stuff. But my hip's been brilliant so far. I don't feel anything at all. It's amazing."

'I wanted to play every tournament with one partner'

Murray won his last doubles title with brother Jamie in Tokyo eight years ago, but has not announced any plans to team back up with his sibling.

Instead, the former world number one will play with Brazilian Marcelo Melo at Eastbourne next week before partnering France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the men's doubles at Wimbledon.

"I ideally would have liked to have played with the same partner every single week," Murray said.

"I have got three brilliant partners, so hopefully we can do OK. But I have to do a few things differently each week."

The Scot's mixed doubles partner is yet to be decided for his return to Grand Slam tennis at the All England Club in July.

After revealing in his BBC Sport column that French Open champion Ashleigh Barty had turned him down, many players took to Twitter to offer to play with Murray.

But the three-time Grand Slam winner said he had not spoken to anyone personally about it yet.

"My coach had a few messages from players," he explained. "A few people have said stuff online, but I haven't actually spoken to anyone since."

Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber fell to a shock defeat as Belinda Bencic reached the Mallorca Open final.

Germany's Kerber, 31, was the top seed left in the event and took control early on, winning the opening set.

But she won only three of 13 break points and world number 13 Bencic reached the final of the grass court event with a 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 win.

Bencic, 22, will now play 20-year-old American Sofia Kenin after she saw off Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova.

Kenin won her first WTA title at the Hobart International in January and the world-number-30 upset an Sevastova - who is ranked 18 places higher - in a 6-4 4-6 6-2 win.

After Sunday's final, the focus turns to the Nature Valley International tournament in Eastbourne before Kerber defends her Wimbledon title when the championships begin on 1 July.

Kerber has endured a difficult 2019, losing to the unheralded Danielle Collins at the Australian Open in January.

She was also beaten in her only final of the year by Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu at Indian Wells and suffered a first-round exit against Anastasia Potapova at the French Open.

Andy Murray reached the doubles final at Queen's as the Briton's dream return to tennis continued five months after career-saving hip surgery.

He and Feliciano Lopez beat third seeds John Peers and Henri Kontinen 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 10-7.

It was a third match of the day for Lopez, who reached the singles final before heading straight out to resume their suspended doubles quarter-final.

They play Britain's Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram in Sunday's final.

After completing a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) win over Britons Dan Evans and Ken Skupski in a quarter-final that had been suspended on Friday for bad light, they stayed on court to play the semi-final.

"I'm very happy to be in the final," Murray said.

"It was a good match. It was an unbelievable effort from Feliciano. He's played a lot of tennis in the last couple of games. He's not young any more!"

Lopez, 37, takes on 34-year-old Gilles Simon in Sunday's singles final (13:30 BST) before returning to the court for the doubles final with Murray.

More Murray magic

In his three matches at his first tournament since having his hip resurfaced in January, Murray has looked sharp.

Gone is the limp and the grimace that accompanied his obvious discomfort at times pre-surgery.

Instead a relaxed and smiling Murray has returned - and while it is clear he is enjoying simply being back on court, it is also clear that his competitive desire is as great as ever.

A fist pump and roar greeted the ace that sealed the opening set, while in the sixth game of the second set, where he and Lopez were 15-40 down at 1-4, he unleashed a fantastic forehand return that was key to them eventually holding serve.

They broke in the following game and took it into a tie-break, where they were just edged out.

With questions over when fatigue might creep in for Lopez - and when a lack of match fitness might begin to show for Murray against two doubles specialists - they drew enough strength to push themselves over the finishing line, sealing victory when the Spaniard's serve was not returned.

Murray, who has won the singles title at Queen's five times, will now have the chance to add the doubles crown - five months after a tearful news conference in Australia where he was revealing his retirement plans.

Murray, whose last doubles title was eight years ago in Tokyo alongside brother Jamie, is playing at Eastbourne next week, where he is swapping Lopez for Brazilian partner Marcelo Melo.

The former world number one and three-time Grand Slam singles champion is then scheduled to partner France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the doubles at Wimbledon next month.

But the Scot's mixed doubles partner is yet to be decided for his return to Grand Slam tennis at the All England Club.

Salisbury & Ram upset Bryan brothers

While all the attention has been on Murray's return, compatriot Joe Salisbury has flown under the radar and into the final.

The 27-year-old and American Ram claimed a shock 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (10-8) victory against fourth-seeded American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan in their semi-final.

Bob Bryan, who has won 16 men's doubles Grand Slams, returned to tennis at the beginning of this year after having the same hip surgery as Murray in 2018.

Salisbury has three doubles titles to his name, winning the most recent one with Ram in Dubai in March.

The pair also reached the Brisbane International final in January.

They are doubles specialists but since Murray and Lopez knocked out top seeds Robert Farah and Juan Sebastien Cabal in the opening round here, that is unlikely to bother the Scot and the Spaniard.

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

There were understandable signs of fatigue in Lopez after his three-set singles semi-final win, but with Murray alongside - bursting with energy and intent - he was able to rouse himself to win a third match of the day.

It was a chilly evening and Lopez had eaten very little for several hours. The pair lost their way at times in the second set, but were not to be denied in the match tie-break.

What a week this has been for Murray, who on Sunday has the chance to win his first doubles title for eight years.

And what a week for Lopez: a 37-year-old wildcard, with a chance on Sunday to do the double.

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne has revealed he "would have had to" decline a place in Scotland's Rugby World Cup training squad, because of the damage it would have done to his club career.

The scrum-half, 25, narrowly missed out on selection for Gregor Townsend's pre-tournament squad.

Hidalgo-Clyne had fallen out of favour at Scarlets and being in training with Scotland over summer would have severely hampered his chances of finding a new club.

"I said to Gregor, from my experiences from the 2015 World Cup, if I'd got picked as fourth-choice scrum-half, I would have had to say no," he told BBC Scotland.

"It would have meant I'd have been at Scarlets for another year, not knowing where I would have been in the pecking order, and I probably wouldn't have made the final squad for the World Cup."

'Look at how my season was after that'

It jars to hear a player talk, even hypothetically, of turning down the chance to book a ticket to rugby's greatest show. But this was the choice that would have faced Hidalgo-Clyne: spend summer in the national camps, and more than likely go back to being Scarlets bench fodder come September, or forego a World Cup shot in favour of nailing down his future.

Shattering Scotland's established first-choice trio of Greig Laidlaw, Ali Price and George Horne would have been fiendishly difficult.

Instead, Hidalgo-Clyne has won a short-term deal at Racing 92, one of Europe's richest and most glamorous clubs, providing the Parisians with cover during the World Cup period.

"As much as I would have loved to be in training [with Scotland], a World Cup cover contract where I can get some game time for a top-quality side would actually be more beneficial for my rugby than training, being fourth-choice and potentially being back in Wales," he says.

"Even if I was third choice, I would have really had to consider because you're not guaranteed game time. I went to the World Cup as third choice in 2015 and played 11 minutes. Look at how my season was after that.

"Unless I was guaranteed to be playing and I felt like I was going to be playing, not from what I would have been told, that's just a decision I would have had to make.

"If I hadn't gone to the 2015 World Cup, I maybe would have looked at it differently, but my previous experience and the detrimental effect the World Cup had on the following season, that's probably the decision I would have had to make, unfortunately."

'You have a bad game and get hammered for it'

Four years ago, Hidalgo-Clyne came searing on to the scene at Edinburgh, an exhilarating attacking nine and a cute goal-kicker. He was named Pro12 young player of the season and won the first clutch of his dozen caps.

That breakthrough campaign propelled him into Vern Cotter's squad for the 2015 World Cup, but as third-choice behind Laidlaw and Henry Pyrgos, his only outing came off the bench in a pool shellacking by South Africa with many frontline players rested.

"I was away for four-and-a-bit months, plus pre-season, and played 11 minutes of rugby," Hidalgo-Clyne, who spent the final two months of the season on loan at Harlequins, says.

"You come back and you're expected to do everything. I wasn't so much a young kid any more because I'd been to a World Cup, more pressure came on, you have a bad game and you get hammered for it, and I very much went into my shell back then when I got feedback.

"This is where I think coaches sometimes get it really wrong. You need to know your players, and if you go into your shell, you're not going to play well the next week. I'm a big believer of everyone being confident and learning from your mistakes, but of feedback being constructive, not sometimes being hammered on you."

'I essentially didn't want to be there'

Although loath to criticise any of his former coaches, Hidalgo-Clyne believes rugby must do more to support players' mental wellbeing.

"You've got to want to go out on a wet rainy day and realise you've got a pretty good job," he says. "I remember parts of my career I was nervous to be playing or even training because I essentially didn't want to be there - I wasn't enjoying things.

"You have the opportunity to approach people that will help you, but a lot of players aren't just going to open up and trust a random person the club have provided them with.

"The top sides have got a very good balance, where it's not a business mindset, it's an environment where everyone is close to each other. Some clubs have absolutely nailed that and some haven't quite got there yet."

ATTICA, Ohio – The 31st annual Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic Presented by Racing Optics has welcomed JEGS High Performance as a marketing partner.

JEGS High Performance will sponsor the Last Chance Showdown.

The 31st Annual Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic Presented by Racing Optics will hit the track at Attica Raceway Park on Tuesday, July 16, headlined by the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

The Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic returned to Attica Raceway Park in 2016 following a 10-year run at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio. The event originated at Attica in 1989.

The JEGS High Performance Last Chance Showdown is exactly what the name implies – the last chance for the night’s competitors to race their way into the $10,000-to-win A-main.

“We want to welcome JEGS into our family of marketing partners. It’s great to see such an iconic speed shop getting more involved in oval track racing. JEGS sells a lot of Weld Racing wheels and we are working together to let the oval track racer’s know that JEGS is the place to go when they need wheels,” said Brad Doty, co-promoter of the event.

“JEGS will celebrate our 60th anniversary next year and we are excited to be involved in this special event. Bringing awareness of the JEGS brand and our partners like Weld Racing to the racers and the fans will be a lot of fun at Attica. JEGS has plenty of items that racers and fans alike use, whether it’s on or off the track. We look forward to having the iconic yellow and black colors of JEGS.com involved,” said JEGS Director of Media & Motorsports Scott Woodruff

SONOMA, Calif. – Kyle Larson continues to be the man to beat when it comes to qualifying at Sonoma Raceway.

Larson earned his third-straight pole at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday afternoon, leading a Chevrolet sweep of the front row for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 out of the Chip Ganassi Racing stable, Larson’s best lap of 1:34.784 bested the fast lap by fellow Chevrolet driver William Byron by .043 of a second.

Larson was fastest in both rounds of qualifying at Sonoma, which for the first time since 1997 will feature the full 2.52-mile circuit instead of the abbreviated 1.99-mile circuit.

“We get the pole and struggle in the race, so I hope its not the same for tomorrow,” said Larson, who has failed to finish inside the top-10 the last two years at Sonoma Raceway despite qualifying on the pole both times. “Cool to get a third pole here in a row here at my home track. Thanks to Credit One Bank, all my guys for preparing another fast race car.

“We’ll see if we can try and do a little better tomorrow than we typically do in the races.”

Chase Elliott, who earned his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory last year on the road course at Watkins Glen Int’l, qualified fourth. Daniel Suarez will start fifth in his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

Toyota/Save Mart 350 Starting Lineup:

1. Kyle Larson
2. William Byron
3. Joey Logano
4. Chase Elliott
5. Daniel Suarez
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Kyle Busch
8. Martin Truex Jr.
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Chris Buescher
11. Jimmie Johnson
12. Alex Bowman
13. Michael McDowell
14. Clint Bowyer
15. Aric Almirola
16. Kurt Busch
17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18. David Ragan
19. Matt DiBenedetto
20. Ryan Preece
21. Ryan Newman
22. Brad Keselowski
23. Kevin Harvick
24. Paul Menard
25. Daniel Hemric
26. Austin Dillon
27. Corey LaJoie
28. Matt Tifft
29. Parker Kligerman
30. Bubba Wallace
31. Ty Dillon
32. Erik Jones
33. Justin Haley
34. Cody Ware
35. Landon Cassill
36. J.J. Yeley
37. Kyle Weatherman (To Be Replaced by Ross Chastain)
38. Reed Sorenson