The Minnesota Timberwolves are shoring up their roster ahead of the stretch run, converting two-way guard Jaylen Clark to a standard contract while planning to pick up notable free agent guard Bones Hyland.

The Timberwolves have agreed to a fully guaranteed, two-year deal with Clark, the 6-foot-4 swingman who has showcased tremendous energy over the past month, his agent Todd Ramasar of Life Sports Agency told ESPN on Wednesday.

After converting Clark on Thursday, the Timberwolves will sign Hyland, a 2021 first-round pick, to a two-way deal, agent Austin Walton of NEXT Sports told ESPN. The move reunites Hyland with Timberwolves president Tim Connelly, who selected him No. 26 overall in Denver, where he was a two-time Rising Star selection.

Clark fully entered the Timberwolves' rotation on Jan. 29, and he has averaged 6.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 11 February games while shooting 47.4% from the field and 44% from 3-point land. He's scored in double figures in three games, with 17, 14 and 11 points.

Clark has held opponents to 41% shooting as the contesting defender this season, according to ESPN Research, and drew the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander assignment this month, guarding him for 70 matchups.

The Timberwolves' second-round pick in 2023, Clark missed the 2023-24 campaign due to a torn Achilles tendon but has made a tremendous recovery to become a member of the team this season.

Hyland, 24, is in his fourth NBA campaign and has averaged 7.2 points on a career-best 39% from 3-point range in 11.1 minutes a night over 20 games for the LA Clippers this season. He was sent to the Atlanta Hawks as part of the Terance Mann-Bogdan Bogdanovic deal at the trade deadline and was subsequently waived.

According to ESPN Research, Hyland ranks in the top five in steals per 36 minutes this season among players to play 200+ minutes. He has also averaged 17.7 points in three games where he played at least 20 minutes this season.

Hyland spent nearly two years in Denver before joining the Clippers in February 2023.

NICO HARRISON WORE the kind of suit no one could miss. Electric blue is probably the best way to describe it. And for 10 minutes, the Dallas Mavericks general manager stood at midcourt, 15 feet away from the generational superstar he'd traded to the Los Angeles Lakers a little over three weeks ago, and let himself be seen.

If Luka Dončić had anything to say to the executive who had upended his career -- and the NBA -- with one of the most shocking trades in league history, this was the moment.

Thousands of fans and media members were already inside Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night, bearing witness to the scene. The vast majority of them pulled out cellphones to document it. Dončić on the Lakers' side of the court, going through his pregame warmups. Harrison at midcourt, leaning against the scorer's table.

Dončić did not look up or acknowledge Harrison once. Not during warmups. Not during the game, when Harrison sat right behind the Mavericks' bench. And not after the game, when he was asked about it.

"I didn't see him," Dončić said with derision that would've made Don Draper proud.

The most game-changing trade in NBA history was a public and private repudiation of one of the best players in the world -- of his work habits, of the culture he reportedly sets, of his future as a top player in basketball. Those close to him say he has alternated between shock, sadness and anger in the weeks since the trade. Every day that he goes home to the Los Angeles hotel he's living in with his fiancée and young daughter is a reminder of how much his life has been upended.

This trade is a defining moment for everyone involved -- for the Mavericks, for Harrison, for the Lakers -- but especially for Dončić. What happens over the next 26 regular-season games will begin to shape their legacies and the league for the next generation.

"Great ones have been traded," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said before the game. "When you look at others that have been traded, they keep moving on. Yes, you're going to be mad. Everyone's human. ... But you can be traded or you could be cut. How you respond after that is what everybody wants to see, and I truly believe Luka's going to be fine."

Still, even Dončić admitted he has never experienced rejection like this before.

"The closure is going to take a while, I think," Dončić said after the Lakers' 107-99 win. "It's not ideal."

THAT PROCESS HIT its first milestone Tuesday night.

"I'm glad this game is over," Dončić said. "There was a lot of emotions. But we go little by little, and every day is better."

For Dončić, facing the Mavericks was an opportunity to face the people and organization that had spurned him. For the Lakers, it was an opportunity to embrace and support their new star at a difficult moment.

"I think the best teacher in life is experience," LeBron said. "When you first start off you're not great, but that's your aspiration, that's your goal. You want to become great, but you have to go through adverse moments."

For Harrison and Kidd, whom Dončić also pointedly did not acknowledge or embrace, it was a moment to stand behind the decision and take whatever scorn or response Dončić had for them.

On this night, Dončić chose to ignore them and anyone else who could be regarded as culpable for trading him. He would let his play speak for him: a 19-point, 15-rebound, 12-assist triple-double, his first as a Laker.

"I'm just glad it's over, honestly," Dončić said. "It was just so weird, the moments. Felt like I didn't know what I was doing."

Kyrie Irving has stayed in touch with Dončić since the trade, checking on his emotional state more than anything. He feels protective of Dončić.

"I don't think he expected the change, and I think that's probably what leads to him feeling his emotions even more so in a deeper way," Irving said. "Rejection, I think that's a strong word ... but sometimes it can feel like that.

"You got to go through your process of grieving. Grieving ... is not a word we use in NBA circles -- it's like, 'Just be tough, bro.' Everybody expects you to turn over the next page and get over it. The reality is, man, we're human too."

Eventually, Dončić will either move forward -- or he won't. Those close to him are working to help him do so sooner rather than later.

HOURS BEFORE TIPOFF Tuesday night, Nike posted an ad in which a purple Regera changes its No. 77 license plates from Texas to California plates. The soundtrack is George Strait's hit "All My Ex's Live In Texas." The tagline is "Full Tank, No Mercy." Nike also used Tuesday's stage to roll out a new ad campaign for the release of his Luka 4s.

Before the game, that purple Regera pulled up outside of Crypto.com Arena to complete the spectacle.

This kind of rollout would only happen in Los Angeles, and after the trade, the stage was set for a massive Hollywood debut.

Dončić has already begun to signal he will eventually embrace all that comes along with the stage in the NBA's glamour market. First, by donating $500,000 for wildfire recovery in Los Angeles. Then, Tuesday, by buying up a parking lot across the arena and offering free parking for fans on a first-come, first-served basis.

These are early, positive signs that Dončić's future is in Los Angeles, even though he has the ability to become a free agent in 2026 and is no longer eligible to sign the massive five-year, $345 million supermax contract he could have received in Dallas. The Lakers can offer him a four-year, $229 million extension this summer, or, like other teams, a five-year, $296 million contract next summer.

Yes, the franchise will have to surround him with talent, a task the Mavericks struggled for five years to achieve and one that will only get harder when James eventually retires. And yes, the quickness with which he and James build their partnership on and off the court matters.

Every game is a microcosm of the pressure and challenge of integrating two such similar players, and the unique type of basketball brilliance this partnership can create. There are times when James and Dončić seem to be taking turns initiating the offense, much like James' early days with Dwyane Wade in Miami. Then there are times when they look like they've been playing a two-man game for a decade.

There are stretches, like the fourth quarter of a loss to Charlotte last week, when Dončić looked like a defensive liability and out of shape -- confirmation of the criticisms the NBA world heard after the trade. And then there have been games, such as Sunday's win over the Denver Nuggets, when Dončić has looked like the best player in the world, one who can conjure magic on the court and lift a franchise to a championship.

Former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who sat courtside in a pair of Luka 1 shoes to Tuesday's game, took in the absurdity of the moment.

Each time Dončić touched the ball, Cuban made a show of booing him. At one point, Dončić turned to Cuban, smiled and said, "Shut up, Mark."

But when asked by ESPN's Tim MacMahon what it was like to root against Dončić, Cuban said, "I hated it."

PHOENIX -- Milwaukee Brewers pitcher J.B. Bukauskas is expected to miss the entire season because of lat surgery, the latest injury-related setback for a former first-round draft pick.

The 28-year-old Bukauskas missed most of the 2024 season with a lat injury as well. The right-hander went 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA in six relief appearances with Milwaukee and had a 0-0 record with a 1.80 ERA in six outings with Triple-A Nashville.

Bukauskas is 2-2 with a 5.04 ERA in 33 career appearances, all in relief. The Houston Astros selected him out of North Carolina with the 15th overall pick in the 2017 draft.

Houston Astros star Jose Altuve will make his spring training debut Friday -- and he'll do it in left field, manager Joe Espada told reporters Wednesday.

Following the offseason trade of All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs, the Astros have an opening in left field -- and Altuve, a career second baseman, has said he will play anywhere on the field that he's needed.

Altuve, who turns 35 in May, has played 1,766 games at second base and two at shortstop, never manning the outfield during his 14 seasons in the majors. A nine-time All-Star and former American League MVP, he won the Gold Glove at second base in 2015.

Altuve's defensive stats at second base have slipped in recent seasons, however. In the past three seasons, he has registered a minus-15 defensive runs saved and two campaigns of minus-13.

The seven-time Silver Slugger hasn't dropped off offensively, though. The three-time AL batting champion has averages of .300, .311 and .295 during that span.

Espada told reporters Tuesday that Altuve is doing well in his transition to left field.

"He's actually been pretty good out there," Espada said. "One thing, it's practice and we can control the environment and the volume, but once the game starts he'll be tested and we'll get a better read of where he's at. Right now, the attitude is exactly what we're expecting and the work has been pretty good."

Mauricio Dubon currently sits atop the depth chart at second base, but he is being challenged by Brendan Rodgers and Luis Guillorme.

The Astros will face the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

Britain's Cameron Norrie has been beaten by teenage American qualifier Learner Tien in the opening round of the Mexican Open in Acapulco.

Norrie, who is now 74th in the world, was beaten 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 by the 19-year-old, who is ranked nine places below him.

The Briton had won the only previous meeting between the pair, in Hong Kong earlier this year.

Tien led 4-1 in the opener before Norrie recovered and served for the set at 5-4. But he was broken and Tien went on to take the subsequent tie-break and control the match after that.

Second seed Casper Ruud advanced to round two by beating France's Arthur Rinderknech 6-4 6-3 while American pair Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton, the third and fifth seeds respectively, also went through.

Petra Kvitova's return from maternity leave after a 17-month absence ended in defeat as Britain's Jodie Burrage battled back to win in three sets at the ATX Open.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova, 34, was contesting her first WTA match since 2 October 2023, at the China Open in Beijing.

The Czech made a positive start and won the opening set but the 25-year-old Burrage outlasted her opponent to win 3-6 6-4 6-4.

Burrage, ranked 189 in the world, will play Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round.

Kvitova, who gave birth to her son, Petr, last July, did not know whether she would return to tennis before her break.

She has said she was partly inspired to return after seeing fellow players such as Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka and Belinda Bencic do so after giving birth.

Back on the court, Kvitova raced into a four-game lead with an early double break of serve in Austin.

Burrage, who reached the second round at the Australian Open in January, threatened a fightback as she reduced the deficit to 5-3, only for Kvitova to break again and seal the opening set.

Former world number two Kvitova, who turns 35 in March, twice broke back as Burrage applied pressure in the second set, but the Englishwoman struck again in the ninth game before holding serve to love to force a decider.

Both players were unable to seize break point opportunities at the start of the third set.

But the decisive moment arrived when Burrage saw off four break points to hold for 4-4, before breaking Kvitova in the following game and serving out the contest.

Fellow Briton Fran Jones reached the second round of the Merida Open in Mexico.

Qualifier Jones, ranked 136 in the world, led 6-4 3-0 before opponent Mayar Sherif, of Egypt, was forced to retire.

What Simmons can recall, however, is the moment that ultimately ended his career.

He tracked a Leinster pass that sailed over his head and as he shaped up to try to stop his man, the fend-off from the visitors' Ireland winger James Lowe went horribly wrong for the scrambling Tiger, who described the incident as "a freak accident".

"His finger went up into my eye and did a fair bit of damage," Simmons recalls.

"Initially everything, the whole vision in my right eye, just went black. I didn't know if my eye was closed or open.

"There was blood pouring our of my eye, which is never a good sign."

He was rushed to hospital, but it was not for another two weeks that he underwent surgery as the initially swelling masked the severity of the injury.

"I had tried to train in that time, which was not the best idea, but we didn't know at the time," he said.

"Then I had an appointment in February and they said 'you need to go into emergency surgery right now'. That was pretty scary because it it went from thinking it was not too bad to thinking this is very serious."

Simmons said the surgery to reattach his retina was deemed a success, although damage to his pupil could not be fixed.

Months of inactivity followed as his eye was given time to heal.

It was not until he returned to the pitch to train that "different symptoms" became apparent and that he had to consider what impact resurrecting his career could have on his sight.

"From the surgery, just the way the new structure of my eye was and how the muscles behind my eyes were damaged, meant my eyes were slightly off," Simmons said. "And they were only off when I was looking up and to the side; my normal vision was quite fine so I hadn't really noticed it in the stand-down period.

"But when suddenly chucked into training you have got all sorts of stuff going on and I'm getting dizzy and light headed. My double vision was really bad.

"That, combined with the ruptured pupil, which means a lot more light goes into that eye, catching high balls under floodlight or under the sun suddenly became a lot harder."

Simmons said that he, with the support coaches and staff at Leicester, "threw the kitchen sink" at trying to adapt his game to cope with the changes.

All the while, he was trying to push for a comeback despite "the fear and risk of reinjury".

"In my mind I always wanted to play again," he said.

"Once you have detached your retina once, you are a lot more likely to do it again. And doing it again for me meant I would lose all vision in that eye, which at 26 years old would not have been ideal.

"From surgery, really, I woke up a worse rugby player, which was even more frustrating for me than the risks of it was."

Gloucester have agreed to sign former London Irish back Ben Loader this summer.

The 26-year-old, who can play at wing or full-back, will move from South African side Stormers in time for the start of next season.

Loader moved to the United Rugby Championship club after Irish folded in the summer of 2023 and has made 21 appearances for the Cape Town-based side.

The former England youth player played 75 times for London Irish over six years, having come up through the club's academy.

"Ben was another player at Irish that was thriving there when they ran into their difficulties," Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington told the club website.

"He's moved away to a new country and team and used it as an experience to learn and grow and that's been impressive.

"He's everything you want from a back three player, fast, powerful, agile and his ability to play wing and full-back will be really handy throughout a long season."

Gloucester have not disclosed the length of deal Loader has signed at Kingsholm.

Ireland full-back Jamie Osborne says the team face big challenges in their final two Six Nations games against France and Italy.

Osborne scored Ireland's second try on Saturday as they defeated Wales 27-18 to secure a 14th Triple Crown.

That victory made it three wins from three matches for the leaders as they chase a record third successive Six Nations title, and a potential Grand Slam.

France, who hammered Italy on Sunday, are up next in Dublin on 8 March before Ireland finish away against the Italians a week later.

"They're going to be two incredibly tough games," said the Leinster back.

"We'll take a week's break and concentrate on France, but it will be incredibly tough. We're not going to focus on that [breaking records], we'll focus on the France game first."

Ireland's Garry Ringrose was shown a 20-minute red card in the first half in Cardiff and visitors fought back from 18-10 down to earn victory.

"It shows how much belief we have as a team. We made a few errors in the first half and let Wales back into the game," added Osborne.

"We were down at the break, but there was no real panic in the dressing room, everyone just thought to go back to basics, clean up accuracy and errors and we did that thankfully.

"Most of the team are very experienced and there have been a number of games where they have had to overcome a bit of adversity, and it shows we have what it takes to overcome those kinds of things."

Baxter said it was "50-50" whether or not the injury required surgery and added it was a difficult first test case for the new agreement.

As part of England getting control of the country's best 25 players, the RFU agreed a deal to up their funding to the 10 Premiership clubs.

"He had two scans and an operation was decided upon initially 10 days post the injury, which would make him fit now," he added.

"I think that's the frustration - I think everyone can understand the various bits and pieces which led to some of the delays and that ended up being the rehab decision being the more sensible one.

"Ultimately now it doesn't look like the sensible one because the shoulder clearly needed an operation."

But Baxter said Feyi-Waboso still had a chance of being a "wildcard" to make the British and Irish Lions squad this summer.

The medical student burst onto the scene at the beginning of last season and opted to play for England rather than his native Wales.

He won his first cap in last year's Six Nations and has gone on to play eight times, scoring five tries including in each of England's two summer Tests in New Zealand.

"There often seems to be in a Lions year someone that comes in a little bit out of nowhere, they've either been injured or not quite broken through," said Baxter, who saw Jack Nowell make the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand.

"He's going to be there or thereabouts with a shot of getting in there at some stage, but all we can do is work hard with him now.

"He'll be very focused on giving himself the best opportunity - bigger picture and longer term he's probably having the right treatment now that will look after him for a longer period of time rather than potentially leaving him with a grumbling shoulder that can last two or three years."