SHAWANO, Wis. — Just 17 days after getting his first World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series win for his new team at Skyline Motorsports, Shane Clanton has done it again.

Leading all but one lap in the Sundrop Shooutout at Shawano Speedway on Tuesday night, the Zebulon, Ga., native did what he hasn’t done since his last Series win at Ogilvie Raceway – outrun Brandon Sheppard, a 15-time World of Outlaws winner this year.

“It was phenomenal from the word ‘go,’” Clanton said. “We hot lapped well, we qualified well, we heat raced well and then we Feature raced well. To have a night like tonight feels really good.”

Clanton set quick time, setting him up for a win in Drydene Heat Race No. 1 and a third-place redraw. It only took 1.5 laps of the feature to make the move on then-leader Boom Briggs and Chase Junghans for the top spot, as Clanton got a great run out of turn two after sticking to the very bottom line in turn one and launched his car down the backstretch to grab command of the race.

“I was trying to go anywhere I needed to go,” Clanton said. “I passed a couple of cars on the outside, and I thought I could get up there and go, but I was afraid that it might hurt my tires up there. So, I just stayed on the bottom and made it pull hard leaving the corner and it worked out.”

But Clanton’s work was only getting started. Sheppard was a man on a mission to get that 16th win of 2019 and first at the Shawano County Fairgrounds. Passing one car every other lap from his sixth-place starting spot, Sheppard used the high line to advance to the runner-up spot by lap eight.

“That actually wasn’t the plan. My plan was to run just a few laps up top, pass a few cars and get down to the bottom,” he said. “I just felt pretty comfortable up there, and the bottom of the racetrack – everybody was in it.”

The gap Sheppard walked into between he and Clanton at that point was growing, which looked massive on the half-mile of Shawano. Clanton’s lead stretched to nearly three seconds at one point before Sheppard got into clean air.

Sheppard locked onto his target of the black-and-blue No. 25, a half-straightaway ahead, and turned on the Rocket boosters, closing the gap to just over 1.5 seconds by lap 20.

Sheppard continued to hammer the cushion until just after the halfway point, when he suddenly switched to the popular bottom lane through the corners and cut the deficit to just .7 seconds. But the leaders were deep into lapped traffic, and it only took two corners of racing behind a slower car for Sheppard to lose a bit of ground he gained and move back up to the top.

“I just couldn’t really run consistent laps down there because I was so used to running the top and I had my tires hot,” he said. “When I got to second, I figured Shane wasn’t going to slip up out of the bottom, so my only shot to pass him was going to be to ring the top, and that’s what I did.”

Through the final 15 laps of the caution-free event, Clanton made perfect moves in traffic to keep Sheppard at bay, always at least one full second behind. By the time the checkered flag fell over him for the third time this season, his advantage over the Rocket1 Racing car was back to where it was originally – 2.7 seconds.

“It’s a testament to this crew,” Clanton said. “We worked all day today to rebuild this thing from last night.”

Garnering his eighth top-five finish of the season, Clanton is now tied with leading Rookie of the Year contender Ricky Weiss for second in points.

Northern regional veteran Jimmy Mars once again tied his best World of Outlaws finish this season on Tuesday night, grabbing the final podium spot to the inside of Junghans with two laps remaining.

“Chase was still up on the top, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that he was not going to move down and give up on the top,” Mars said. “He stayed up there and I found a little bit more speed on the bottom.”

The finish:

Feature (40 Laps) 1. 25-Shane Clanton [3][$10,000]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard [6][$5,000]; 3. 28m-Jimmy Mars [9][$3,000]; 4. 18-Chase Junghans [2][$2,500]; 5. 15n-Nick Anvelink [15][$2,000]; 6. 97-Cade Dillard [5][$1,700]; 7. 58-A.J. Diemel [12][$1,400]; 8. 7-Ricky Weiss [7][$1,300]; 9. 29-Darrell Lanigan [10][$1,200]; 10. 16-Tyler Bruening [11][$1,100]; 11. B1-Brent Larson [8][$1,050]; 12. 28-Dennis Erb [4][$1,000]; 13. 99B-Boom Briggs [1][$950]; 14. 3-Brett Swedberg [17][$900]; 15. 15-Donny Schatz [13][$850]; 16. 27-Derek Janike [21][$800]; 17. O3-Kyle Raddant [20][$770]; 18. 11-Justin Reed [16][$750]; 19. 10-Paul Parker [18][$730]; 20. 942-Terry Casey [14][$700]; 21. 6-Blake Spencer [19][$700]; 22. 81-Troy Springborn [22][$700]; 23. 33e-Chris Engels [23][] Hard Charger: 15n-Nick Anvelink[+10]

BECHTELSVILLE, Pa. — Chris Windom earned his second NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series victory of the season in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Midget Week opener at Grandview Speedway.

He fought Clauson/Marshall Racing teammate Tyler Courtney for the win on the final lap, losing the lead via a Courtney slider in turn one, then outracing him into turn three to retake the position before sealing the deal to win in the series’ first visit to the third-mile dirt oval in three decades.

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“Honestly, it took me a little while this year,” Windom admitted. “I raced midgets quite a bit in 2011 and 2012, but I felt like I never really ran a lot. Being off six years, these things have changed quite a bit.  Most of these guys have gotten to do it two or three years straight.  It took me a little bit to get back into the rhythm of it. CMR and (crew chief Tyler Ransbottom) and everybody gives us cars to go out and compete first and second with.  You know you have a car to win, so you’ve got to go figure out how to do it.”

Windom was slotted into the pole position for the start of the 30-lapper after originally scheduled pole starter Zeb Wise had to go to a backup car after his engine expired at the finish of his heat race. Wise’s misfortune moved him to the tail of the field and fortuitously gave Windom the pole.

Windom slid past outside front row starter Kevin Thomas Jr. into turn one on the opening lap, with Thomas maintaining a one to two car length distance behind Windom’s rear bumper for most of the first third of the race.

Windom utilized the higher line between turns one and two but found comfort on the bottom of turns three and four until the ninth lap when he was forced into taking the high road around the lappers hugging the bottom rail.

As Thomas attempted to close on Windom a couple car lengths back, the bottom was no longer an option as a stack of traffic hung to the low side in the ensuing laps.  As it turned out, it forced Windom out of the comfort zone and into the track position it turns out he needed to occupy.

“Before I caught lapped traffic, I felt like the bottom was starting to get slower,” Windom recalled. “I was actually kind of glad to see lapped traffic because it forced me to go up there and then it just felt like I was gaining more and more momentum, so that’s where I stayed. I felt like the only way anyone was going to get us running there was on a caution and a slide job.”

With 12 laps remaining, 11th running Karsyn Elledge spun to a stop between turns three and four, putting a lid on the traffic game for the leaders and bringing a resumption of the battle up front which encapsulated the top-five under a blanket just prior to the yellow.

The see-saw battle between Thomas and Courtney picked up the lap 19 restart where Courtney slid by Thomas into turn one.  Thomas countered underneath to retake the runner-up spot in turn three.

On lap 25, Courtney returned the favor, sliding by Thomas again in turn one. Thomas tapped Courtney on the rear bumper as the pair exited turn two, with Courtney securing the position.

Zeb Wise and Steve Buckwalter got together in turn one while racing for 12th, sending Buckwalter flipping.

A wild scramble for second on back behind Windom allowed Windom to distance himself from the pack following the restart, building a 1.2 second lead prior to the stoppage with three to go due to a spin by USAC East Coast Sprint Car champ and 16th running Steven Drevicki between turns one and two.

Courtney was now right Windom’s tail tank once again for the three-lap sprint to the finish. Though he didn’t initially attempt a slider, Courtney began the stint with a decent restart, staying within a couple car lengths of Windom throughout the first lap.  A lap later, Windom escaped Courtney, who now appeared to not be close enough to make another last-ditch run at Windom as the leaders passed under the white flag.

Further back in the pack, eighth-running Jason McDougal spun sideways to a stop in turn four to bring a halt to the event, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.

When leading in this situation, a driver is fully aware that they are ripe for the picking and a slide job is most likely going to be delivered. Windom was cognizant of that fact and had readied himself for Courtney.

“He’s on top of his game in a midget right now and he’s a really aggressive driver, so I wasn’t just expecting him to sit back and run second on a restart,” Windom said. “I knew whatever line I went to, he was going to the opposite.”

Courtney remained a car length back on the first lap following the restart, shadowing Windom and anticipating when he, himself, would shoot his shot while a hard-charging Kyle Larson raced side-by-side with Tanner Carrick for third midway down the back straight.

Courtney took his shot in turn one on the final lap and Windom already had the next half a lap planned out before Courtney even made his move.

“I felt like, at some point, it had to be coming,” Windom expected. “I was trying to get as good of a restart as I could, but when guys running second get two and three opportunities at you in the last three laps, they’re going to figure out something normally. He was able to get in front of me there and I knew my only option was to cross him over and beat him to turn three.  So, that was my plan when I saw him come across my front end there. I knew I had to cross him over and just hope we got to turns three and four smoothly.”

Windom did just that, after turning his car down at the exit of two to sneak back under Courtney, drive past him on the back straight and clear him high into turn three.  Courtney ducked low off turn four underneath Windom, but it wasn’t enough as Windom closed out the victory by a car length over Courtney, Carrick, Tanner Thorson (from 15th) and Chad Boat.

To see full results, turn to the next page.

Barcelona had classified the sale of Philippe Coutinho as a priority this summer but sources at the Catalan club have told ESPN FC there's "concern" about the fact they have still not received a single offer for the Brazilian.

With just eight days to go until the transfer window closes in England, Barca are now worried that there will be no bids from Premier League clubs for Coutinho.

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Barca paid an initial fee of €120 million to sign Coutinho from Liverpool 18 months ago, with up to €40m more due in possible add-ons. Sources have told ESPN FC it is going to "take a lot" to find someone willing to pay that much for him now, despite the fact the Spanish champions would be prepared to sell for around €105m.

Chelsea saw him as a possible replacement for Eden Hazard, who left for Real Madrid. Intermediaries sounded out the situation at the start of the summer but a transfer ban ended the Blues' interest. Various reports suggested Liverpool were keen on re-signing him, too. However, that was never an option, as Jurgen Klopp explained in an exclusive interview with ESPN FC this month.

"In general, Coutinho helps each team in the world, still -- 100 percent," the Liverpool coach said. "It's not about that. I like Phil, I think he's a fantastic footballer and all that stuff, but it would be a big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big-money signing and it's not our year for that.

"It's just not possible. As I said, having him would make each team better -- us included -- but I really hope that he finds his luck at Barcelona."

Barca also hoped interest may develop from Manchester United as Paul Pogba looked for a move away from Old Trafford. But with just over a week left before the transfer window shuts in England, the France midfielder remains at Old Trafford and no one from United has called Barca to express an interest in Coutinho.

Without any offers from England, the other option Barca have been hanging on is Paris Saint-Germain. The French transfer window remains open until Sept. 2, and sources told ESPN FC earlier this summer that Coutinho could be included as a makeweight in a possible deal for Neymar.

However, sources at the Catalan club have said doing a deal for Neymar is looking "very difficult" but they would still be open to selling Coutinho to PSG if they get near the €105m asking price.

Barca, therefore, are increasingly concerned that they will not bring in as much money as they were hoping for this summer. Their model has become more reliant on player sales in recent years and, as revealed by ESPN FC, they had hoped to bring in €150m for Coutinho, Rafinha and Malcom before the end of August.

Boca Juniors have rejected a $16million bid from LA Galaxy for Cristian Pavon, sources have told ESPN Argentina.

Sources have told ESPN Argentina's Diego Monroig the Major League Soccer side submitted an offer for the forward over the weekend but Boca believed it to be "insufficient."

Pavon, 23, has been left out of the Boca squad to face Athletico Paranaense in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday amid links with a move away.

It is understood that Boca value the forward at $24m and sources have told ESPN Argentina negotiations between the two clubs have now ended.

Sources have said Galaxy have turned their attention to Independiente forward Martin Benitez as an alternative option.

Pavon was part of the Argentina squad in the 2018 World Cup in Russia and scored four goals in 19 appearances for Boca last season.

The MLS side have failed to make any signings in the transfer window and forward Giovani dos Santos left to sign for Club America this summer.

Mumbai Indians, the IPL 2019 champions, have added West Indies batsman Sherfane Rutherford to their squad, after trading legspinner Mayank Markande to Delhi Capitals.

Rutherford is known for his big-hitting abilities. Playing for Guyana Amazon Warriors in his debut season of the Caribbean Premier League last year, Rutherford made a mark against Trinbago Knight Riders, smashing a 13-ball 45 with six sixes and a four, in a match-winning partnership with Shimron Hetmyer. His overall run tally in CPL 2018 was 171 runs at a strike rate of 142.5 and he earned a call-up to West Indies' T20I side on the India tour, going on to make his international debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka in December.

Capitals bought Rutherford for INR 2 crore from a base price of INR 40 lakh in the December 2018 auction, and one of the most impactful performances from the 20-year-old came against Royal Challengers Bangalore, when he scored a 13-ball 28 and took the wicket of AB de Villiers with his medium pace.

Markande played only three matches for Mumbai in IPL 2019, after a solid debut season last year where he finished as the team's third-highest wicket-taker, with 15 dismissals in 14 matches. He now joins Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane and Rahul Tewatia to form a legspinning quartet for Capitals to choose from.

From Mumbai's point of view, young legspinner Rahul Chahar had a breakthrough season in 2019, picking up 13 wickets in 13 games with an economy rate of 6.55, and Markande ended up picking just one wicket and going for plenty - 59 runs in six overs, perhaps making the second leggie surplus to their requirements.

Since their dominant innings win there in the 2001 Ashes, Australia have been abject at Edgbaston, while it has quickly turned into England's best venue.

A boisterous, partisan crowd, helpful conditions for their seamers with the red ball, and assistance for spinners with the white have combined to create a lethal cocktail for touring teams, and after a pair of vital wins there in the World Cup, they will hope that high spills over into Thursday's Test.

Australia haven't tasted victory at Edgbaston in any format since 2001, when current head coach Justin Langer was running the drinks, and Marnus Labuschagne had just celebrated his seventh birthday.

While plenty of Australia's squad have experience playing at the ground in county cricket, their record is still disastrous: between them, their 17 squad members have played 52 games in all formats at Edgbaston, and have registered just five wins.

For England, meanwhile, Birmingham has proved a happy home. After the Walkabout win in the 2013 Champions Trophy, they lost three and suffered a no-result in their next four fixtures there, but ever since it has been something of a paradise for them.

Starting with an Eoin Morgan-inspired win in an end-of-season T20I in 2014, they have won 11 on the bounce at Edgbaston - and are unbeaten in Tests there since 2008.

England's seamers have been relentless at Edgbaston across their Test careers. James Anderson has taken more wickets at only two venues - Lord's and Old Trafford - while in 14 innings there Stuart Broad has only twice failed to take a wicket.

Chris Woakes has only played one Test in Birmingham, against Pakistan in 2016, but it is his home ground in county cricket, and he has 177 wickets at 24.03 there in all first-class cricket.

Ben Stokes snared a vital 4 for 40 at the ground against India last summer - which included the prized wicket of Virat Kohli - and in the same game Sam Curran took four first-innings wickets and won the match award for his game-changing 63.

It has been a less productive venue for Moeen Ali with the ball, with his offspin leaking runs, though he has three fifties in four innings there with the bat.

After the retirement of Alastair Cook, who made 869 runs at 57.93, England batsmen's records at Edgbaston look less imposing.

Joe Root has enjoyed himself there, with an imposing 136 against the West Indies in 2017, and Moeen has made his usual lower-order contributions, but for the rest of the likely batting line-up it has been a different story.

Ben Stokes' highest score in four innings in Birmingham is 21, while Jos Buttler eked out a 38-ball 9 in the 2015 Ashes, before adding 0 and 1 against India last summer.

Tellingly, three of England's top four have never played a Test at the ground, though Jason Roy has a 95-ball 112* there alongside his two World Cup fifties, and Rory Burns averages 38.25 in first-class games at the venue.

Joe Denly, meanwhile, made 86 in a Championship match at Edgbaston in 2006 - as an opener, no less - but his subsequent 11 innings there have brought only 143 runs.

England captain Joe Root will believe Australia have ceased to be the mouthy, win-at-all-cost combination he had encountered two years ago only when the behaviour of Tim Paine's men stands up under the extreme pressure of an Ashes series.

Numerous members of England's squad were left bruised if not outright scarred by their experiences on that tour, bullied by Australia's pacemen and batsmen and also subjected to plenty of hostile and at times outright abusive language. The subsequent Newlands scandal and its fallout pushed Australia in a fresh direction, ruling out premeditated abuse, but it was evident during their Southampton internal trial match that there would still be plenty of chatter on the field.

In the lead up to the first Ashes Test, Root admitted he was yet to be convinced that the new, more respectful Australian approach would stand up when they were in the crucible of an Ashes series in England - where they have not won since 2001.

"Not sure, to be perfectly honest. We'll have to wait, obviously we'll find out," he said. "Some of the comments that have crept out over the last couple of weeks makes me suggest that maybe not. But we'll see. Certainly would be different [if quieter].

"I can't control how other people are going to react within the ground, and how the crowd go about that" Root on the possibility of fans heckling Smith, Warner and Bancroft

"I'm sure it'll come up in the preview to the game with the match referees and stuff. We've got a way of playing our cricket and we don't want to get involved in anything that's unnecessary, or - we just want to play good cricket. We want it to be entertaining; we want the crowds to enjoy themselves at every ground. But we want it to be done in the right way."

At the World Cup, England, the eventual champions, faced Australia twice. In the group-stage game, Root scored 8 in a 64-run defeat at Lord's, while in the semi-final at Edgbaston, he hit an unbeaten 46-ball 49 in just over an hour to guide England to an eight-wicket win.

"The first game I wasn't out there long enough to find out. The second game… by that time we were in a very commanding position," Root said. "So it's very different - and it was hard to hear anything above the noise at this ground. It was an incredible atmosphere, for the English anyway. Yeah, we'll see."

The comments that Root referred to included Josh Hazlewood's suggestion that Jason Roy would struggle as a Test match opener, while the inclusion of the highly talkative Matthew Wade should also mean things are seldom quiet when he is in the field.

"I saw a few comments, yeah," Root said of Hazlewood. "You expect those ahead of a big series. So, anyway, it's always tasty when people have a bit to say. I think with selection, he [Roy] is there to go and play in his own manner at the top of the order. He's a very talented player, he can take a game away from a number of sides.

"People have opinions he might be better suited to No. 4. I think it's really exciting having him at the top of the order and he deserves the opportunity to go out there first up and have a good crack at the top, and hopefully apply some pressure back onto Australia."

As for the reception expected for Australia's players from the Edgbaston crowd, particularly Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, Root said he was expecting the noise to play a significant part in the series. "I'm certainly not going to be stood there booing, that's for sure," Root said. "It must've been a really tough time for the three of those guys.

"I can't control how other people are going to react within the ground, and how the crowd go about that. I think the [World Cup] one-dayers gave a small idea of what it probably will be like for them. But we're not going to get involved in that as a team, we want to play good cricket, and make it a really memorable series. It's been a great summer for us so far, and it's an opportunity now, five more Test matches to build on that and hopefully make it a very special year to remember."

Michael Thomas has reached agreement with the New Orleans Saints on a $100 million extension that includes $61 million guaranteed and makes him the NFL's highest-paid wide receiver, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Wednesday.

Thomas had been set to make $1.148 million this season in the final year of his rookie contract. He did not report for the start of Saints training camp as he sought a new deal.

The Saints have never paid a skill-position player more than $10 million per year, which was the size of tight end Jimmy Graham's extension before he was traded away in 2015. But Thomas, who was drafted in the second round out of Ohio State in 2016, has played a bigger role in New Orleans' offense than any skill-position player to come before him in the Payton-Drew Brees era.

Last season, Thomas set franchise records with 125 catches and 1,405 yards while catching nine touchdown passes. His catch rate of 84.5% in 2018 was the highest of any NFL receiver since at least 2001, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Thomas' 321 career catches are the most in NFL history by a receiver in his first three seasons.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- For the past five years, the Golden State Warriors have lived by one mantra: "Strength in Numbers." Yes, they had more talent at the top than any other team in the NBA, but at critical moments throughout their five consecutive trips to the NBA Finals, they knew they could count on their deep, veteran-laden bench to support their superstars.

But the Warriors underwent a dramatic transformation this summer. Gone were not only All-NBA-level starters Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins, but also key reserves Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. The Warriors' newfound underdog status meant they were no longer a destination for veterans willing to take a pay cut to chase a near-guaranteed ring. That meant replacing their vaunted depth with rookies and young, unproven players, leaving them with a new mantra: "Faith in Youngsters."

"We went from one of the oldest teams in the league to one of the youngest," Warriors assistant general manager Kirk Lacob said. "All of a sudden you look at it and Steph [Curry] is the oldest player on the whole team. Klay [Thompson] and Draymond [Green] are the elder statesmen. I think Alfonzo McKinnie (26) may be our fourth-oldest player by age. He's only had a couple years of NBA experience."

McKinnie is actually the fifth-oldest Warrior, behind Golden State's star trio and the recently added Alec Burks, but Lacob isn't overselling the shift in the Warriors' roster structure. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Warriors' average age in the 2018-19 season was 28.4, ranking third oldest in the NBA. Now they have the eighth-youngest roster.

The change in experience was borne out of necessity. Because Durant's decision to go to the Brooklyn Nets led to the sign-and-trade deal for 23-year-old Nets guard D'Angelo Russell, Lacob, GM Bob Myers and the rest of the Warriors' front office had to clear out Iguodala and Livingston, veteran stalwarts on all five Finals teams, to get under the CBA-mandated hard cap for teams who execute sign-and-trade deals.

Once the dust settled, the Warriors' roster looked like a shell of its once veteran-influenced self. The group has eight new players, including three rookies in Jordan Poole, Eric Paschall and Alen Smailagic who will be fighting for playing time in training camp. You have to go back to 2013-14, the last season before Steve Kerr arrived as Warriors coach, to find a Golden State roster with three rookies on it.

During their championship run, the Warriors clearly did not prioritize any kind of youth movement. From 2013 to 2018, Golden State made a total of three picks in the NBA draft: Kevon Looney in 2015, Damian Jones in 2016 and Jacob Evans in 2018. They also purchased the second-round picks used to acquire Patrick McCaw and Jordan Bell. However, only Looney and Evans are still on the team.

"The draft is tricky because it's not just about how talented the player is -- it's about where are they going, what life cycle is that team on," Lacob said.

Lacob cited Bell and McCaw in particular as players who excelled in limited roles as rookies but struggled in their second seasons when they failed to receive an expanded role. When a team's goal is winning titles, there's little margin for the kinds of errors that young players make.

"I had a conversation with Draymond about this right after our season. He said, 'I would not be the player I was today if I had come onto this Warriors team three years ago,'" Lacob said. "He's like 'When I got here, we were a completely different team. I was given a chance, and I failed a lot.' And he's like, 'I sucked my first year. My second year I was OK. My third year I got an opportunity. That's hard for young guys who aren't being given that opportunity because we got guys who have been here a long time and have established roles. There's just no opportunity for growth.'"

To Green's point, Evans, who was selected with the 28th overall pick a year ago, played in only 30 games as a rookie, and a total of 18 minutes in the Warriors' postseason run. And while they don't expect him to immediately step in this season and replace the production of the since departed backup point guard Livingston, they do believe he can eventually develop in that kind of role.

"Before, we wouldn't put a player into a new role, like a Jacob Evans," Lacob said. "Maybe he becomes a point guard, maybe he doesn't, but the ability to go every single day and work on that and then [have] the freedom to try that in a game gives you a chance to grow."

"There just wasn't time, and for a lot of those players it didn't make sense," Lacob added. "Now we have an opportunity. ... It's really about spreading these guys' wings and letting them fly a little bit and not being as worried about the day-to-day results. You kind of got to fail to succeed in the NBA. Trial by fire. And we finally have a chance to do that."

To help do that, Kerr has reshuffled his coaching staff, elevating Chris DeMarco into the lead player development position. Joining him will be Aaron Miles, who served as the head coach of the Warriors G League team in Santa Cruz. There, he worked closely with Smailagic, who played in the G League as an 18-year-old before being drafted in the second round in June.

"For Steve, it will be a lot of teaching," Myers said. "Before, he had a lot of guys that had operated in his system. But it will be teaching, and I think he'll embrace that too and a lot of learning, a lot of youth. We're going to have more highs and lows probably as far as winning and losing than we've had before. But he seems to be invigorated."

Myers is hopeful Kerr's upcoming term on the USA basketball staff alongside his longtime friend and confidante Gregg Popovich will not only give the Warriors coach a renewed sense of energy but an opportunity to learn from Popovich. The two future Hall of Fame coaches will be able to share their wisdom during this summer's World Cup in China and next summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo, and as the Warriors continue a collective metamorphosis, the group is hopeful that Kerr will find a way to emulate the model that has made the Spurs so successful.

"One thing Popovich is so great at is, he's been so successful at changing his style," Myers said. "You've seen the Spurs evolve and play a certain way and then shift with their personnel."

The Spurs have been held up throughout the league as the prime example of what the Warriors are trying to do: develop and integrate new, young players while maintaining a proven level of success. One of the reasons for San Antonio's sustained success is that the team has consistently and repeatedly drafted well at the back end of the first and second rounds. Dejounte Murray, taken with the 29th pick in 2016, is already an all-defensive team selection, and when he missed last season because of an injury, he was ably replaced by Derrick White, the 29th pick in 2017.

Meanwhile, Damian Jones, who was taken one pick after Murray in 2016, played in only 49 games in three seasons in Oakland, and was traded to the Atlanta Hawks earlier this month.

"We have immense respect for what the Spurs have done and have been able to outlast everyone and be great for 20 years, and so there's certainly very strong elements," Lacob said. "I think their player-development pipeline is incredible. You look at all the young players and a lot of them [are] later draft picks, which are, percentage-wise, statistically hard to hit on. They do a really good job of allowing people to become NBA players and that is extremely valuable."

The Warriors did hit on Looney, the No. 30 pick in the 2015 draft. His role has increased each season he has been in the league -- going from 4.2 minutes per game in five games as a rookie to 18.5 minutes in 80 games last season -- and during the flurry of moves the team made after Durant's departure, they prioritized re-signing him to a three-year, $15 million deal. The team is hopeful it can find similar success with its trio of rookies this season.

Myers set the tone for the three players at their introductory news conference last month, telling them they "haven't done anything yet." But he also reminded them that if they put in the work, they can be successful.

For Poole, who played against Looney in high school in the Milwaukee area, it was a reminder of the type of team he's joining.

"It's a really good culture," Poole said. "Eric came from Villanova, I came from Michigan, so we're really familiar with good culture. I was going through a couple emails and it's 'family, family, family.' Of course, talent is going to take you a long way on the court, but being able to have the chemistry on and off the court with so many great guys ... it's amazing."

The good news for the Warriors is that they still have Curry, Thompson and Green to be the focal points of that culture (although Thompson probably will be out most of next season as he heals from an ACL injury). The trio of players takes a great deal of pride in what they have accomplished together, but the organization knows that it's time for each of the three to take on more leadership responsibility this season.

"It's funny that they're the elder statesmen," Lacob said. "They've been the center of attention for five years on the court, but we've had these great, great vets that helped them grow as people and as players in Shaun [Livingston] and Andre [Iguodala] and David West and Zaza [Pachulia], all these sorts of guys over the years. And they're gone, but this is an opportunity for those guys to step into that role.

"Because at some point in five years or six years they're going to be potentially Shaun and Andre. Maybe there's a new slew of young guys that are playing 36 minutes and these guys are being more careful about their minutes and saving themselves up a little bit and having this old, sage advice -- but it's a great opportunity for those guys. You really don't know what a person's going to end up like until you put them through something like this, so we're going to learn a lot about everybody."