Agent: Mavericks Plan to Deal Daniels for Croshere

The Dallas Mavericks, looking for a solid backup to forward Dirk Nowitzki, plan to trade Marquis Daniels to the Indiana Pacers for Austin Croshere.

Daniels’ agent, Glenn Schwartzman, said Thursday that the deal cannot become official until Wednesday, when teams can complete trades and sign free agents.

Croshere was entering the final year of a five-year contract that pays him nearly $7 million a year. He spent nine seasons with the Pacers, the longest of any current player, and averaged 7.5 points and 4.3 rebounds a game.

Daniels averaged 9.3 points in three seasons with the Mavericks. He can play both guard spots and small forward but had trouble getting playing time after Avery Johnson became coach.

Daniels, who signed a six-year, $38-million contract with the Mavericks in 2004, averaged a career-best 10.2 points this season in 29 starts.

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Adam Morrison, the No. 3 overall pick in last month’s NBA draft, signed with the Charlotte Bobcats.

Morrison, a 6-foot-8, 205-pound forward from Gonzaga, will be paid about $3 million in the first year of the deal and nearly $3.25 million in the second year under terms of the NBA’s rookie pay scale.

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The Boston Celtics exercised the options on newly acquired point guard Sebastian Telfair, forward Al Jefferson and guards Delonte West and Gerald Green, meaning they will remain under contract through the 2007-08 season.

JURISPRUDENCE

Armstrong to Drop Defamation Lawsuits

Lance Armstrong dropped defamation lawsuits in Paris after winning three legal battles elsewhere over doping accusations.

Donald Manasse and Christian Charriere-Bournazel, Armstrong’s lawyers in France, said the seven-time Tour de France champion had instructed them to “dismiss all pending actions.”

That means a trial set to start in October against the authors of the book “LA Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong” will not proceed.

The book accused Armstrong of using banned substances, a claim he has always denied.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NCAA Selects USC as Tournament Site

The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee has selected the first- and second-round and regional sites for the 2009 tournament.

Cities chosen to play host to first- and second-round games include Los Angeles (USC’s Galen Events Center); Albuquerque; Baton Rouge, La.; College Park, Md.; Columbus, Ohio; Duluth, Ga.; Lubbock, Texas; and Piscataway, N.J.

The regional sites are Berkeley, Oklahoma City, Raleigh, N.C., and Trenton, N.J. St. Louis will play host to the Final Four.

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Kyle Austin, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward who recently graduated from Pasadena High, has signed with USC. He was a first-team All-Southern Section Division I-A selection as a senior.

HORSE RACING

Barbaro’s Cast Is Changed Again

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro’s cast was changed for the second time in three days on Wednesday after veterinary surgeon Dean Richardson noted a slightly elevated temperature and decided the colt seemed uncomfortable in the new cast.

Doctors also are treating Barbaro for a small infection in the sole of his uninjured left hind foot, and have replaced his protective shoe.

Richardson said despite the precautions, Barbaro’s bones are healing well after the colt suffered career-ending injuries at the start of the Preakness.

-- Robyn Norwood

MISCELLANY

NCAA Reports Drop in Positive Steroid Tests

The number of U.S. college athletes testing positive for steroids dropped 47% from 2000 to 2005, the NCAA said.

The figures were released in a report by the NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, whose most recent survey included results of more than 10,000 athletes who were tested during the 2004-05 year-round program and more than 1,500 tested during postseason competition.

In the year-round program, the NCAA found 92 positive tests for steroids in 1999-2000, compared with 49 in 2004-05. Last year’s figure was a slight increase from 46 in 2003-04, but it nevertheless reflected a lower percentage of positives because of a larger number of athletes tested.

In the postseason, two tested positive for steroids in 2004-05, down from an all-time high of eight in 1996-97. There were no positives in postseason tests in 2003-04.

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Mark Johnson, who scored two goals for the U.S. in the “Miracle on Ice” victory at the 1980 Olympics, was hired as coach of the women’s national hockey team.

He replaces Ben Smith, who left after the U.S. women finished third at the Turin Olympics, USA Hockey said.

Johnson coached the Wisconsin women’s team to its first NCAA championship last season. He will coach the team in the world championships next April in Canada.

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The Kings have invited 30 players, including 2005 first-round draft pick Anze Kopitar and 2006 first-rounders Jonathan Bernier and Trevor Lewis, to participate in their annual development camp next Monday through Friday at their training facility in El Segundo.

Also expected to participate are 2003 first-round pick Brian Boyle and forward Patrick O’Sullivan, acquired in the Pavol Demitra trade.

The first four sessions are scheduled to start at 7:45 a.m. and run though 1:45 p.m., with Friday’s finale scheduled for 7:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. All on-ice workouts will be open to the public at no charge.

-- Helene Elliott

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Marat Safin, 2004 champion Tommy Haas, Radek Stepanek, Dominik Hrbaty and Paradorn Srichaphan are among the recent entries in the Countrywide Classic, July 24-30, at UCLA’s L.A. Tennis Center.

-- Lisa Dillman