Atlanta United have signed Middlesbrough forward Emmanuel Latte Lath, the club announced on Tuesday, in what sources have told ESPN is an MLS-record deal.

Latte Lath, who scored 29 goals in 67 appearances for the English second-tier side in the past two seasons, arrives for a reported $22 million plus add-ons, surpassing what FC Cincinnati acquired Kévin Denkey for ($16.2m) last November.

The Ivory Coast striker becomes Atlanta's second major signing of the winter, after it brought midfielder Miguel Almirón back to the club from Newcastle United.

"We're excited to sign Latte Lath and look forward to welcoming him to the club and the city of Atlanta," sporting director Chris Henderson said.

"He's a forward with excellent pace and good goal-scoring instincts. His ability to stretch the field will add another dimension to our attack.

"At 26 years old, he's entering the prime years of his career and has already shown his goal-scoring ability in multiple leagues in Europe."

Latte Lath signed for Middlesbrough from Serie A side Atalanta in August 2023 and he finished the 2023-24 campaign as the Englush club's top scorer in the Championship, with 16 goals in 30 games.

This season, he again leads the team with 11 goals in the league.

He signs for Atlanta on a contract through the 2028 MLS season with an option for 2029. He will occupy a Designated Player and international roster spot pending the receipt of his international transfer certificate and P-1 visa.

Information from ESPN's Jeff Carlisle was used in this report.

With two days until the NBA's trade deadline (Thursday, 3 p.m. ET), what once appeared to be a quiet week has become one of the loudest in league history.

With Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis being traded for each other in a historic and unprecedented swap, De'Aaron Fox becoming the first star to seek a chance to play with Victor Wembanyama, and Jimmy Butler's situation remaining unresolved in Miami, there could be plenty of fireworks remaining.

Now that the dust has begun to settle on the Lakers-Mavericks blockbuster and the deadline draws closer, here's a look at what we've heard about the completed trades, which stars could be moved next and what we'll be watching as this wild week shakes out.

Jump to a section:
Latest fallout of the Luka-AD deal
How will the Jimmy Butler saga end?
More drama, more megadeals this week?
New stars headed to Warriors, Suns?

Has the league recovered from the shock of this weekend's Luka Doncic trade?

Windhorst: The league is rarely caught off guard by a transaction, but here we are, even after two days to digest the deal. The two takeaways I've heard the most: The Mavs' relationship with Doncic was more fractured than anyone comprehended, and the return from the Lakers was less than anyone expected.

Bontemps: From the moment of the trade late Saturday night, the commentary has been: "Why now?" and "Why this way?" And no one has had a good answer for either question.

Windhorst: Doncic's immense talent is unquestioned, but that his franchise appeared to move so quickly and get relatively little in return has left the league considering both the possibility of future infamy for the Mavs' front office or whether the decision-makers have knowledge that saved the team from a potential $350 million quagmire had it extended him this summer.

Bontemps: After Mavericks GM Nico Harrison said he is looking at a three-to-four-year window for contending with Davis and Kyrie Irving, as opposed to a longer timeline, it would be a significant surprise if Dallas doesn't make further moves to augment its roster before the deadline. The Mavericks need help in the backcourt, where they are woefully thin with just one high-level ball handler in Irving, who is dealing with a bulging disk in his back.

There has been speculation that the collective bargaining agreement played a part in this trade. Is that true?

Bontemps: The CBA's new apron rules have impacted roster building across the league, and that will continue. But this trade was a matter of the Mavericks -- specifically Harrison -- deciding that they would rather have Davis than Doncic, and making that happen.

Windhorst: Without question. A longtime executive recently told me, "With the new rules, we have to understand there are probably only about 10 true max salary players in the league." Whether you accept that premise, Doncic would certainly have been on any short list. Except, it seems, the Mavericks'.

Bontemps: The CBA has undoubtedly impacted the way teams are operating. We've spent all season discussing the group of players -- from Brandon Ingram to Julius Randle to Zach LaVine (although he was finally traded) to others -- who are stuck in a bit of a no-man's-land when it comes to the new rules.

I've had similar conversations in recent days about the long-term outlook for Fox's massive extension coming in San Antonio.

Windhorst: The salary cap has grown very meagerly over the past few years after COVID-19's effects, and the new rules crushing high-spending teams' flexibility has led to perhaps an overcorrection from teams fearing a bad contract. With the new TV money, the cap will increase significantly over the next few years and a new equilibrium will be found.

But now, many league decision-makers are afraid of a mistake that could kneecap their franchise and cost them their job. Then again, trading a possible future first-ballot Hall of Famer before his prime to a team in your conference is hard on job security, too.

Where do things stand with Jimmy Butler?

Windhorst: Butler's obsession with getting to the Phoenix Suns is bizarrely admirable. He has torched his relationship with the Heat and hurt the team's season. He has also blocked trade options that would be good fits, where he could have potentially gotten paid and been on a contender. But he's the rare difference-maker who can tilt the outcome of a playoff series and that comes with a lot of power. Butler is trying to use it.

Bontemps: For all of the bluster from Butler and his camp, this is not a situation where the Heat are unwilling to find a suitor for him. There isn't a lot of interest in acquiring Butler. To your point, the few options he has had outside of Phoenix have been told he isn't interested in being there.

The reason a Butler trade hasn't happened is the same one that has existed since Phoenix's pursuit began: There has not been a suitable home for Bradley Beal, his $50.2 million salary and his no-trade clause. Until that changes, the conversation of Butler to Phoenix is academic.

Windhorst: That hasn't stopped the Suns from trying everything they can to pull off a triple miracle of finding a home for Beal and his unwieldy contract, getting Beal to accept going to that place with his no-trade clause, and getting assets in return that can entice the Heat to send Butler. They have and are trying three/four/five-team deals to make that sea part. Butler is doing his part to buy them time.

With a couple of days left until the deadline, the Suns' dream is alive, but it's going to require a complex alliance. The Heat are very motivated to move Butler and could abandon the Suns option and send him somewhere else. (Golden State remains a possibility if the Heat run out of time and then let the new team deal with the fallout.)

Bontemps: The Heat's position has remained unchanged: They'd like to move on from Butler, but they aren't making a bad deal. If they can't make one that satisfies them, they'll deal with this again in the summer, when Butler will certainly pick up his $52 million player option -- a gigantic expiring contract.

It has been a wild week, and it's only Tuesday. What's next?

Windhorst: Unprecedented ingenuity. I used to say a three-team trade is a no-team trade because I got tired of listening to ridiculous trade constructions that only need "a third team" to make everyone happy. Making three sides happy is 50% harder than making two happy. But with all of the apron rules making trades harder, there's a chance multiteam trades will outnumber old-fashioned two-team trades.

Bontemps: Not only will multiteam trades outnumber old-fashioned ones, virtually all trades are going to become three-or-more-team deals as franchises attempt to avoid the aprons. That brings a lot more possibilities for deals, but it also creates more obstacles.

Windhorst: When trades involve more teams, they also involve more concepts and more brainstorming. This leads to constructs teams never would've come up with in the past. So, I think there will be some giant deals where lots of players/picks/swaps/cash/considerations move around. It will be harder to declare winners and losers, but there will be some sneaky maneuvers to study.

Bontemps: Perhaps the least discussed part of the Doncic trade is that it opened an unexpected timeline of events for how this week will play out. Dallas and Los Angeles, for example, have wildly unbalanced rosters and almost certainly will be attempting more moves this week. That will cause conversations that wouldn't have happened. We're not done seeing the impact of the deal.

Which teams are you watching the closest between now and 3 p.m. ET on Thursday?

Bontemps: The Suns. Butler might wind up in Phoenix, and the months-long pursuit of him by owner Mat Ishbia -- coupled with Butler's focus on getting there -- will have paid off. If not, things could get more interesting.

Phoenix has already made a pretty controversial trade, breaking up its 2031 first-round pick -- Utah Jazz general manager Justin Zanik correctly labeled it the most attractive trade asset on the market -- into three far less valuable ones to make more moves.

If Ishbia's plans for Butler fall through, would he stand with this roster? That seems highly unlikely.

Windhorst: The Warriors. They have vacillated between looking for a superstar to declaring they don't want to do anything for months. Their on-court play has seen similar inconsistencies. But they just can't help themselves. They love making big deals and they want to squeeze every drop out of the glorious Curry era.

They're going to do something, and they want it to be big. Last year, they investigated getting LeBron James at the deadline. This year, sources say, they've investigated whether they can get Kevin Durant back and have conducted talks for Butler. Whatever happens, at least the Warriors are always entertaining.

Bontemps: It will be interesting to see how top teams such as the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets supplement their rosters for the stretch run.

With the NBA in its longest stretch of parity, and the defending champion Celtics in a two-month period of middling play, it will be fascinating to see if any of these contenders sense an opportunity to strike before Thursday's deadline.

NEW YORK -- The Hall of Fame voter who declined to select Ichiro Suzuki remains a mystery.

All 321 voters who allowed their ballots to be made public Tuesday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America selected the Japanese star. Suzuki appeared on 393 of 394 ballots when voting was announced on Jan. 21.

"There's one writer that I wasn't able to get a vote from," he said through an interpreter later that week. "I would like to invite him over to my house, and we'll have a drink together, and we'll have a good chat."

The Hall's rules allow each voter the choice whether to make a ballot public. The BBWAA voted 80-19 at its December 2016 meeting to propose making all ballots public, but the Hall of Fame's board of directors decided to leave the decision up to each voter.

Mariano Rivera remains the only player to get 100% of the vote from the BBWAA, appearing on all 425 ballots in 2019. Derek Jeter was chosen on 395 of 396 in 2020.

Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected by the BBWAA this year and will be inducted into the Hall at Cooperstown on July 27 along with Dave Parker and Dick Allen, voted in by the classic era committee in December.

Suzuki was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle (2001-12, 2018-19), the New York Yankees (2012-14) and Miami (2015-17).

He is perhaps the best contact hitter ever, with 1,278 hits in Nippon Professional Baseball and 3,089 in MLB, including a season-record 262 in 2004. His combined total of 4,367 exceeds Pete Rose's MLB record of 4,256.

Bath have signed scrum-half Bernard van der Linde for the start of next season on a deal until the summer of 2027.

The 24-year-old will join from South African side Bulls where he has been part of the club set up for the past six years.

He featured for the United Rugby Championship side - who are third in the league so far this season - in the Champions Cup last month.

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan said Van der Linde had "huge potential".

"I saw him play as a junior and he impressed me then, both on and off the field," he said.

"On the field he is a running nine and loves the physical part of the game. Off the field he is diligent and loves the game of rugby."

The scrum-half is the second signing for Bath in two days after hooker Dan Frost was confirmed to move to the club this summer from Exeter Chiefs.

Ireland scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park says there is "no reason" Scotland cannot beat Simon Easterby's side in their Six Nations meeting on Sunday (15:00 GMT).

Both sides won their opening fixtures last weekend. Ireland overturned a half-time deficit to beat England in Dublin, while Scotland survived an Italian fightback in Edinburgh.

Gregor Townsend's side have not beaten Ireland since 2017, a 10-game run that includes seven Six Nations games, two World Cup pool meetings and an Autumn Nations Cup clash.

"They're a classy side," said Gibson-Park.

"They're playing good footy, and they're stacked full of really good individuals, so it will be a tough challenge. I know it's been a long time since they won [against Ireland] but there's no reason they can't."

Victory for Ireland would equal the longest run of wins in this fixture, set by Scotland between 1882 and '93, but Gibson-Park does not feel the hosts will be more motivated than any other opposition.

"I think that's the case for a lot of teams now," he said when asked whether Scotland's desperation for victory would be a factor in the game.

"We've kind of been near enough to the top of the rankings now for a while and, like, I know myself that if I'm coming up against a quality side you want to put your best performance out there. Next week will be no different I think."

Russell toured with the Lions in South Africa four years ago and, after missing out on the matchday squads for the first two Tests, he was thrust into the decider with Dan Biggar injured in the first 10 minutes.

Russell mixed his game-breaking moments with shrewd game management on that occasion, even if he could not avert a 19-16 defeat that sent the series south.

He is still the leading contender to steer the tourists' ship this time around, but Saturday's show did not strengthen his grip on the shirt.

There was the obvious mistake: throwing a brain-fade pass straight into Ignacio Brex's hands cost his team seven points.

But there were other slips, with an offload into touch, a failure to put Stafford McDowall into a gaping hole just before Darge's try and two, admittedly tricky, conversions missed.

"I don't think any fly-half really lit it up this weekend, but Russell has a lot in the bank and I think he will start at 10 in the summer," said Warburton who, like Barclay, preferred an Irish option at fly-half on the basis of this weekend's performances.

Forwards

Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Ted Hill (Bath Rugby), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Curtis Langdon (Northampton Saints), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby), Tom Willis (Saracens).

Backs

Oscar Beard (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers).

Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman was suspended 10 games by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Monday "for using his forearm to violently slam the head of Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stützle into the ice" during Saturday's matchup.

Players who are suspended at least six games are eligible to appeal to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and can file a second appeal to a neutral arbitrator. Hartman has 48 hours to appeal.

With 16 seconds left in the second period and Ottawa leading 3-0, Hartman and Stützle took a faceoff.

Hartman locked up Stützle's stick with his leg, placed his right forearm on the back of Stützle's neck and drove the Ottawa player's head into the ice. Stützle's helmet came off on impact, and he skated to the Senators' bench with a cut bleeding over his left eye.

Hartman was given a match penalty. Stützle returned in the third period and assisted on two Ottawa goals as the Senators prevailed 6-0 at home.

In the NHL's video, posted on social media announcing the discipline and describing the sequence, it said, "It is important to note that this is not a hockey play. ... With Stützle bent low, and focused on winning the draw, Hartman chooses to take advantage of a vulnerable player in an unacceptable fashion."

Stützle played in the Senators' 5-2 win at the Nashville Predators on Monday night. In 21:30 of ice time, he had an assist and three shots on net.

David Alaba has suffered a thigh injury, Real Madrid said on Tuesday, in the latest worry for the team's defence ahead of a crucial run of games including the Madrid derby and a Champions League playoff with Manchester City.

The centre-back had only just returned to fitness following a long-term absence with an ACL injury suffered in December 2023, featuring as a substitute in Madrid's LaLiga games with Las Palmas and Real Valladolid last month.

The news follows fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger's hamstring injury -- picked up on Saturday -- and with Éder Militão also out long-term with an ACL injury, that leaves midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni and youngster Raúl Asencio as coach Carlo Ancelotti's remaining options in central defence.

"Following tests carried out on our player David Alaba by Real Madrid's medical services, he has been diagnosed with an adductor muscle injury in his left leg," the club said in a brief statement.

Madrid visit Leganés in a Copa del Rey quarterfinal on Wednesday, before hosting Atletico Madrid in Saturday's derby in LaLiga. They then travel to City in their knockout phase playoff first leg on Feb. 11, and visit Osasuna in LaLiga, before City visit the Bernabéu on Feb. 19.

The LaLiga and European champions went into this season with just three senior, first-choice centre-backs -- Rudiger, Militao and Alaba -- following the departure of Nacho Fernandez last summer.

Alaba has only been available for selection since last month, while Militao was injured in November and is not expected to return this season.

In their absence, Ancelotti has often picked Tchouameni at centre-back, while Asencio, 21, has made 10 appearances in LaLiga and four in the Champions League.

Club captain and right-back Dani Carvajal is another key defender who is unavailable until this summer, also with a serious knee injury.

Madrid opted not to sign a defender in the January transfer window, after an early approach for Trent Alexander-Arnold was rejected by Liverpool.