Grizzlies trade three players to Cavaliers in cost-cutting move

The Memphis Grizzlies traded Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby and a future first-round draft pick Tuesday to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Jon Leuer.

The trade is the first big move by the Grizzlies’ new ownership and clears about $6 million in salary in getting Memphis under the luxury tax threshold this season. The Grizzlies rank fourth in the Western Conference and are 6-4 over their last 10 games after the NBA’s best start this season.

The deal gives the lottery-bound Cavs another first-round pick to improve a team entering Tuesday night’s home game against Boston with a 10-32 record — second-worst in the Eastern Conference. Speights also will help replace center Anderson Varejao, who will miss the remainder of the season after developing a blood clot in his right lung.

Varejao remains hospitalized at The Cleveland Clinic.

The ownership group led by Robert Pera took over the Grizzlies on Nov. 5, and they had been scheduled to pay about $4 million in luxury tax this season with a payroll more than $74 million. This should help Memphis keep its starters Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Tony Allen together the rest of this season for another postseason run.

“It’s a trade that had to be made from a business decision, so we have a chance to keep our core together and we move forward,” Memphis Coach Lionel Hollins said. “Hate to lose Mo and Wayne or Josh, but it’s part of the business of basketball and you have to do things. You have to make some tough decisions, and tough decisions were made and we live with them and move forward.”

Etc.

A young man who testified at a child sex abuse trial last summer that former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky tickled and grabbed him in a campus shower in 1998 sued him, his charity and the university.

The man, previously described as Victim 6 in court papers, filed the federal lawsuit in Philadelphia as John Doe 6, claiming that Sandusky’s behavior was “ratified” by The Second Mile charity and Penn State and that the organizations acted with reckless indifference to his rights. He is seeking at least $75,000 in damages.

Sandusky, a former assistant to longtime Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, was convicted of sexually abusing Victim 6 and nine other boys. He is serving a sentence of 30 to 60 years in prison but maintains his innocence.

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Daytona International Speedway could be getting a face lift.

The speedway unveiled artist renderings that show what a proposed redevelopment of the historic 53-year-old Florida racetrack would look like. The plan calls for five new modern entrances, a second pedestrian bridge for easier access to the track and an expanded grandstand area with thousands of new seats. The project, if approved, would also have upgraded concession areas, ticket gates and more common areas to view the race from different vantage points.

Speedway President Joie Chitwood said the cost of the project hasn’t been determined.

There have already been meetings with the city of Daytona Beach and Volusia County on zoning rules. Along with the approval from the board, several local and state permits would still need to be obtained before construction can begin.

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Reliever Jason Motte and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a $12-million, two-year contract, avoiding salary arbitration. The 30-year-old right-hander had a career-high 42 saves in 49 chances last year, when he was 4-5 with a 2.75 earned-run average. He made $2 million.

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The Cincinnati Reds will play host to the 2015 All-Star game at Great American Ball Park, the city’s first since 1988, a person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press.

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Outfielder Delmon Young signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies for $750,000. Young, 27, batted .267 with 27 doubles, 18 home runs and 74 runs batted in for the Detroit Tigers last season. He hit .313 with three homers and a team-high nine RBIs during 13 playoff games and was the most valuable player of the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees.

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UCLA will add women’s sand volleyball in the spring, with former Bruins men’s volleyball standout Stein Metzger serving as coach.

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Police say former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Elijah Dukes has been arrested on a warrant related to previous drug charges.

Tampa, Fla., police say the 28-year-old Dukes was arrested Monday night. He’s also been charged with an additional count of driving with a suspended license.

Records show Dukes had failed to appear in court for charges related to a February 2012 arrest.

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Defender Ali Krieger is returning to the U.S. women’s soccer team for the first time since tearing knee ligaments a year ago. Krieger was among 29 players selected when Tom Sermanni announced his first roster since taking over as coach following Pia Sundhage’s resignation.

The Americans will be preparing for exhibitions against Sermanni’s native Scotland on Feb. 9 in Jacksonville, Fla., and four days later in Nashville, Tenn.

Krieger tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in her right knee during an Olympic qualifier against the Dominican Republic on Jan. 19 last year.

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Deena Kastor, the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist in the women’s marathon as well as the U.S. record holder in the event, will highlight the field for the 2013 LA Marathon on March 17. Kastor, who grew up in Agoura Hills, is training at altitude in Mammoth. Kastor, 30, also won the 2005 Chicago Marathon.

— Diane Pucin

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The Confederation of African Football fined Ethiopia’s soccer federation $10,000 after the team’s fans hurled vuvuzelas and water bottles onto the pitch Monday during a 1-1 draw with Zambia at the African Cup of Nations.

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The Mountain West will add a football championship game next season when it expands to the requisite dozen schools, which will be split into two divisions. The league is adding Utah State and San Jose State next season.