AMSTERDAM -- So Tottenham continue to be football's nearly men, all the way to the Champions League final in Madrid, after completing the competition's most dramatic fightback in 24 hours.

Liverpool one night, Tottenham the next. The Premier League is the gift that keeps giving in the Champions League, and debate will now rage as to which club mounted the most incredible comeback to reach next month's final in Madrid.

A 4-0 home win against Barcelona to win 4-3 on aggregate takes some beating, but Spurs certainly matched Liverpool's feat for drama by leaving Ajax's brave young team floored with three second-half goals in Amsterdam -- all three from Brazilian forward Lucas Moura -- with the last coming in the dying seconds of stoppage time to secure a 3-2 win on the night.

It reduced Mauricio Pochettino to tears, with the Spurs manager struggling to describe the feeling of guiding the club to their first ever Champions League final.

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"It is difficult with words to describe my emotion," he said. "It is one of the most important nights in my life. Thank you to football. My players are heroes; in the last year I was telling everyone this group are heroes.

"To go to the Champions League final is nothing short of a miracle."

Erik ten Hag's Ajax players were also in tears, but they were devastated, throwing themselves to the floor after Moura netted the winner. Tears flowed on the pitch while beer was thrown in the stands by stunned supporters -- this report has been written on a laptop doused twice by flying Heineken -- who had been seconds away from booking their dream trip to the Spanish capital.

But Spurs have made a habit of nearly going out of the Champions League this season before pulling themselves back from the brink. Four times this term, Pochettino's team have nearly been knocked out of the Champions League. Against PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan and Barcelona in the group stage, they were minutes from elimination until being saved by a late goal on each occasion. And against Manchester City in the quarterfinal second leg last month, Spurs were as good as out, with Pep Guardiola racing down the touchline to celebrate Raheem Sterling's stoppage-time winner, until VAR threw the Londoners an incredible, dramatic lifeline by cancelling it out to send them into the semifinals.

But trailing 2-0 on the night to this vibrant, fearless Ajax, and 3-0 on aggregate, Moura's second-half hat trick sealed a remarkable fightback that earned a victory on the away goals rule. Nearly out? You bet, but this team never knows when it is beaten, and the North London club are now on a collision course with Liverpool, another side who will believe their name is on the trophy, when they meet in Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on June 1.

Spurs arrived in the Dutch capital with a challenge ahead of them, following last week's 1-0 first-leg defeat in London, but it was by no means insurmountable. Yet Pochettino and his players watched the drama unfold at Anfield and defender Danny Rose admitted after this game that Liverpool's win provide crucial inspiration.

"We saw Liverpool last night and it goes to show that it's not over until it's over," Rose said. "And [Pochettino] mentioned Liverpool's display at the hotel before the match."

But Pochettino's words seemed to barely register as Spurs started terribly, falling behind 2-0 inside 36 minutes following Matthijs de Ligt's fourth-minute header and Hakim Ziyech's left-footed strike.

Spurs now had to score three to turn the tie around and they could not turn to the talismanic qualities of leading goal scorer Harry Kane, who was nursing an ankle injury in the stands. Instead, Pochettino threw on striker Fernando Llorente in place of midfielder Victor Wanyama and the Spaniard turned the game, with his physical presence unsettling De Ligt and Daley Blind.

Spurs also had Dele Alli, who rose to the occasion after a disappointing season to drive Spurs on. The England midfielder's break forward was the key to Moura's first goal, on 55 minutes, which gave Tottenham hope. Four minutes later, hope became belief when Moura did it again, scoring after he displayed trickery and coolness amid chaos in the penalty area with a left-footed shot that was placed into the corner of the net.

Ajax, so impressive in beating Real Madrid and Juventus to reach this stage, now looked exactly what they are: a young team lacking nous and experience at the highest level. They took too many risks going forward and played too much football at the back. It was pure football, in the Ajax way, but this was a Champions League semifinal and it was not the time or place for novices.

Yet Spurs saw chances go begging and they struggled to take advantage. Thoughts turned to what Liverpool would do to this Ajax team, and it would not be pretty for the Dutch outfit -- they would be torn apart by a ruthless attacking machine.

Spurs are not quite that, and their record in semifinals under Pochettino -- three defeats in four prior to this tie -- highlighted their own shortcomings. And their inability to finish Ajax off almost led to their downfall, with Ziyech hitting the post on 79 minutes. When Jan Vertonghen was denied by the crossbar and a goal-line clearance on 87 minutes, it was surely a sign that Tottenham's game was up.

But they continued to push, and Ajax foolishly chased another goal rather than killing off the game, and it seemed inevitable that Pochettino's team would get one last chance. And so it proved, deep into stoppage time, when Moura punished a Blind slip and latched onto Alli's pass before scoring from 18 yards.

What a night, what a week. And when Spurs meet Liverpool in the final on June 1, more madness surely awaits.

South Africa allrounder Chris Morris will join Hampshire for this year's Vitality Blast.

The 32-year-old Morris was this week called into South Africa's World Cup squad as a replacement for fast bowler Anrich Nortje, who was ruled out of the tournament because of a fractured thumb.

Morris will join Hampshire at the end of his World Cup commitments and will be available for the entire Blast season.

A fierce right-arm seamer and destructive middle-order hitter, Morris has made 63 appearances so far for his national side since his debut in a T20I against New Zealand in 2012. He averages 20.50 with the ball in T20Is with a strike rate of 130.39 with the bat.

Playing domestically for the Titans, Morris has also featured in several franchise competitions around the world, including the IPL and CPL, and he played for Surrey in the 2016 Blast.

"I'm really looking forward to joining Hampshire for the Vitality Blast," Morris said. "It's an exciting tournament and it's an exciting summer coming up - I can't wait to get there and play at the Ageas Bowl and express what I can do."

Hampshire director of cricket, Giles White said: "We were delighted when Chris agreed early on to join us for the season. He's a dynamic batsman in the middle-order and a handful with the ball both up front and at the death, so he's a great fit for us and hopefully he'll make a big difference this summer."

Hampshire begin their quest to reach an eighth T20 finals day in 10 years on July 19 when they host Sussex.

Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer has said the last two overs of their chase in the IPL eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad were "like hell". In that time, Capitals saw a straightforward equation of 12 runs from 12 balls come down to two needed off the last two with three wickets also falling in between.

Capitals were 151 for 5, chasing a target of 163, but lost Sherfane Rutherford, Rishabh Pant and Amit Mishra in the next ten balls, before Keemo Paul pulled Khaleel Ahmed for the winning boundary off the penultimate delivery. Capitals will now meet Chennai Super Kings in the second qualifier to decide who goes through to the final against Mumbai Indians.

"I can't express my emotions," Iyer said at the presentation ceremony, after Capitals had won their first ever IPL playoff or knockout match. "It was such a pressure situation. I was just sitting with my teammates and it felt as if I've been sitting with them for years! Those last two overs it was like hell, to be honest.

"I could see the happiness in everyone's faces, and it was an amazing feeling to see them coming out and expressing themselves. Obviously the joy we're going to share after victory is going to be really good. And yes, hoping for another one against Chennai. We're definitely not going to be intimidated by any team. Looking forward to the next game."

The chase for Capitals was set up by Prithvi Shaw's 56 off 38 at the top of the order, before Rishabh Pant blasted 49 off 21 to take them to the brink of victory. Iyer said he didn't interfere with the instincts of both young batsmen, preferring to let them express themselves.

"I personally feel they are the sort of batsmen you can't [try to] control," Iyer said. "You just have to leave them on their own and not say anything to them. Because if you say anything, it will play in their minds. When you stop a batsman like Rishabh or Prithvi, if you stop their flow, definitely they are not going to perform up to your expectation. Such situations if they go with their flow, they can win you matches, and it was really amazing to see both of them chipping in today and taking our team through."

Pant had blasted Basil Thampi for 22 runs in the 18th over, changing the complexion of the match and ensuring Capitals could get over the line despite their late collapse from 151 for 5 to 161 for 8. Pant himself was out in the 19th over, leaving Capitals five to get from seven balls.

"If you are set inside on a wicket like this you need to finish the match for the team. I took it very close, but in the end I couldn't finish the match. Next time I'll try to finish it for my team," Pant, the Player of the Match, said. "I just try to be positive every time I go in. If your mindset is negative, it's difficult to play your shots. Especially in T20 when you're set, and you need some 40 runs in four overs, you have to have a big over. That's what I did today. I didn't try to hit the ball too hard, I just took my time and in the end, I was just trying to time the ball and it went all my way today."

The pitch at the ACA stadium in Visakhapatnam was sticky, with the ball not coming on to the bat and scoring becoming more difficult after the Powerplay. Sunrisers got off to a good start after being put in, with Martin Guptill hitting a 19-ball 36, but Capitals pulled things back.

"The start they got was really good on this track. It was really tough to control Martin Guptill," Iyer said. "The way he carried on with this flow in the Powerplay, I think they got an above-par score. We controlled in between, especially Mishy bhai (Amit Mishra) with that amazing spell, coming up and giving 15-odd runs I guess (1 for 16 in four overs). He was exceptionally good. The other bowlers came and chipped in with good economic bowling. Overall, really happy with the efforts of our bowlers. It was a good wicket to bat against the seamers, but 160 was a good total to defend on this wicket."

It was only four overs, but the evidence was compelling: there is simply no way Jofra Archer can be left out of England's World Cup squad. And realistically, the final word of the preceding sentence should be 'team".

Indeed, so compelling was the evidence that even the last resistance to Archer's inclusion - the England bowlers whose position he threatens - appear to have been won over. Liam Plunkett, who bowled pretty nicely himself, admitted Archer was "a class act" whose inclusion would make England "a better team". At this stage, any other view would be flat-earthist.

Yes, conditions were helpful. Yes, we must be careful before coming to conclusions on limited evidence. But the pace, the control and the skill exhibited by Archer in those first four overs - his average pace was 90.47 mph - rendered further debate about whether he should be included superfluous. The question now is simply who he replaces in that 15-man squad.

If has generally been Archer's pace that has gained most attention in his career to date. And it is quite an asset. The fact that he can generate speeds of 93.2 mph - his highest here - with apparent ease will give England a weapon they have long required on flat pitches and without the benefit of a Dukes ball. The prospect of him in tandem with Mark Wood is mouthwatering.

But his bowling is about far more than pace. Here he showed the skill to move the white ball sharply off the pitch, the control to start his spell with successive maidens and not conceding a run off the bat until his 19th delivery. Three times in the first over, he beat the edge of Iman-ul-Haq's bat with the batsmen pretty much blameless as he was drawn into playing at good length balls on off stump.

Archer's delivery point, close to the stumps, tends to demand a stroke, but Imam was left groping at air as the ball zipped away from him. In his second over the edge off Fakhar Zaman's bat flew to slip so sharply that Joe Root was struck on the chest before he could complete the catch.

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None of England's other seamers gained anything like the same movement or generated anything like the same pace. Nicely enough though Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes and Plunkett bowled, they looked pedestrian by comparison.

Might it have been relevant that Archer was bowling with a different ball to Woakes, his new-ball partner? And from the other end? Possibly. But when Plunkett replaced Archer in the attack, he was unable to replicate the pace or movement, either. He gained a wicket with a cutter on a good length that invited the drive, left the batsman just slightly and took the edge, but there was no comparison. Not since Stuart Broad's early days has an England bowler promised so much. He has to force someone out of the World Cup squad. And he probably has to force someone out of the Ashes squad, too. This was irrefutable.

Quite who will make way in the World Cup squad remains unclear. While Plunkett's career may be in gentle decline, he provided another reminder here that he remains an awkward proposition for batsmen and retains the habit of picking up wickets. Tom Curran and David Willey have fine attributes, too, while Trevor Bayliss has previously stated that he would prefer a third spinner in the squad - the position occupied by Joe Denly at present - instead of "overstocking" with seamers.

It was intriguing to see Joe Root introduced into the attack for the 15th over, though. It was the time when Moeen Ali, who missed this game with a rib injury, might have expected to be introduced and perhaps suggested that England are considering the possibility of using Root as the reserve off-spinner if necessary. He was cut for one boundary when he dropped short but otherwise conceded only singles. The rain denied Denly a chance to show what he can do and prevented England from furthering their knowledge of his value with the ball at this level.

But they have surely seen enough of Archer now. They know he can utilise the new ball; they know - as he showed in Dublin - that he can trouble batsmen in the middle overs and the evidence of his T20 career suggests he should also prove valuable at the death. And, as he has settled into this England environment, so the language has changed from his team-mates. Where once he seemed to be perceived as an outside threat, now he is acknowledged as a special talent within the group.

"With him in your squad, you're going to be a better team," Plunkett said afterwards. "He's obviously a class act. He showed that today. He's bowled really nicely with pace and smashed good areas. It looks easy for him. He ambles in, bowls 93 mph and makes it look effortless. It's something you don't see day in, day out."

While Plunkett is clearly one of those whose position is threatened by Archer, he accepts that the arrival of such a talent - and such competition for places - is good for England.

"Whoever performs best should be in the squad," he said. "And if it wasn't Jofra it would be someone else - maybe Jake Ball - knocking on the door. There will always be someone there. And if they come in and bowl well, they deserve to be there.

"It's going to be disappointing for someone, but it's elite sport. We are playing cricket for England, not park cricket. We are here to do a job and we all want to win. The best squad will get picked."

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the team is "off and running" in contract talks with quarterback Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, and Jones also mentioned the desire to sign Ezekiel Elliott to an extension.

The talks have been mostly preliminary so far without much back and forth, but the Cowboys have made it known that they want to keep all three for the long term.

Jones said he will have a word of caution for Prescott, Cooper and Elliott, just as he did for DeMarcus Lawrence before the two-time Pro Bowl defensive end signed a five-year, $105 million deal last month.

"As I told DeMarcus Lawrence, and I'll tell all three of these guys: I'd love for you to max out and give you exactly what you want, because y'all have worked hard and you deserve to have a big contract. But if we want to put together the type of team we want to have with the Cowboys ..." Jones said Wednesday at the team's annual sponsor's golf tournament at Cowboys Golf Club.

"That's not their job. It's not their job to manage the cap; I understand that. But it is my job and [owner Jerry Jones'] job, so they will understand why we're negotiating hard to make the very best deal we can. Because the money, if we can talk them into not maxing out -- doing well, but not maxed -- then that allows us to have other good football players around them."

Prescott and Cooper are in the final year of their contracts. Prescott, a fourth-round pick in 2016, is set to make a little more than $2 million in 2019. Cooper is set to make $13.9 million on the fifth-year option of his deal.

Contract extensions for both players figure to be at or near the top of the players at their position, with Prescott looking at roughly $30 million per season and Cooper anywhere from $16 million to $18 million.

Two weeks ago, the Cowboys picked up the 2020 option on Elliott's contract at $9.09 million.

"Zeke, as we all know, he's such an important player to this organization," Stephen Jones said. "He's a guy that we want to have here long term. The only reason you say, 'Well, maybe he's not at the front, front [of the list],' is because he's got this year, then he's got another year at his tender.

"These things can take time. But Zeke's every bit as important, and then you start going down the line, whether it's a Byron Jones, a La'el Collins, and these guys coming up, Jaylon Smith. I mean these are all players that we'll need to address at some point in time, and they're all players that we've drafted, that we've developed, that we think are the right kind of guys that play our defense, play our offense the way we want to play. Certainly guys we want to keep. It's a great problem to have because we do have good young football players, but it's also a challenge."

Jones hopes the players can see the bigger picture of what it means to play for the Cowboys now and for their futures, alluding to ex-players who have moved into television careers -- Troy Aikman, Tony Romo, Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Daryl Johnston and Darren Woodson.

"You look at the TV booths, and you look at what these players do off the field," Jones said. "If we can put Super Bowl rings on these guys, then they'll be legends around this area for many, many, many years to come. What they give up a little bit in their contract, they should be able to invest in being a Cowboy and making our teams better.

"Now, we've got to go get the job done as an organization, which means winning Super Bowls and doing great things on the field."

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will pay for the funeral expenses of Jaylon McKenzie, a promising eighth-grade football player who was killed by a stray bullet as he left a party near St. Louis on Saturday night.

Elliott, who grew up in St. Louis, reached out to the family shortly after the tragedy. The Cowboys confirmed Elliott's gesture, but the running back wanted to keep the matter between him and McKenzie's family.

"Zeke is really a special guy," coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday at the team's sponsors' golf tournament at Cowboys Golf Club. "He's a great football player obviously, but he's a really good person and that doesn't surprise me one bit.

"He's just very generous. He's got a great spirit about him. We see that every day as players and coaches. Anybody that's been around him knows that, and it doesn't surprise me one bit that he would get involved there. He's someone that a lot of people look up to, a lot of people certainly in St. Louis and Missouri, Ohio State, all across the country. If you're a fan of football, you know Zeke Elliott, and anybody who's been around him on a daily basis knows what kind of person he is."

McKenzie's mother, Sukeena Gunner, said her son was trying to leave a party in Venice, Illinois, when a fight broke out. According to Illinois State Police, McKenzie was struck by a stray bullet and died at a local hospital. A 15-year-old girl was also hit and remains in critical condition.

McKenzie, who was already receiving college scholarship offers as an eighth-grader, had been selected to compete in the All-American All-Star Game in Canton, Ohio, during the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction weekend.

A federal jury in New York on Wednesday convicted aspiring agent Christian Dawkins and former Adidas consultant Merl Code for their roles in bribing basketball assistant coaches to influence their players to sign with Dawkins' new sports management company and certain financial advisers once they turned pro.

A jury deliberated for parts of three days before convicting Code and Dawkins. Dawkins was found guilty of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery, and Code was convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery. Dawkins had been facing six total charges and Code four.

"[While the convictions of Dawkins and Code] mark the culmination of the criminal charges announced by this Office in September 2017," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement Wednesday, "they should also make clear to those who might be tempted to engage in the sort of misconduct these prosecutions have only begun to expose: that bribery is a crime, one this Office is prepared to charge criminally and prosecute to the full extent on the law."

U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos will sentence Code and Dawkins at a later date.

Dawkins and Code had been accused of facilitating bribes of thousands of dollars to three former assistant coaches: Tony Bland of USC, Emanuel "Book" Richardson of Arizona and Lamont Evans of South Carolina and Oklahoma State.

Steve Haney, Dawkins' attorney, said his client was found guilty of conspiring to bribe and bribing Evans. The jury found him not guilty of bribery charges related to Bland and Richardson.

"We felt the jury spoke," Haney said. "The jury believed the universities were not deprived of their honest services. They essentially believed the universities were not victims. It would have been nice to walk out of there not guilty on everything, but that was unrealistic given the amount of evidence. We had a fair trial."

Each of the former assistant coaches pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit bribery. They are scheduled for sentencing later this month.

Leaving court, Dawkins said he could have chosen to cooperate with prosecutors and identified coaches he knew were willing to funnel money to top athletes.

"I could have," he said. "Anybody who's paying players to me is a good guy. I think the whole case is B.S., so I wouldn't have cooperated."

Haney spoke with pride of Dawkins.

"He could have brought the whole world of college athletics to its knees and he chose not to," the lawyer said. "He was asked repeatedly by the government to cooperate. He said, 'I'm not going to give you the names of 15 to 20 coaches.' Today he leaves this courthouse winning four of six [counts]."

Outside the Manhattan federal court, Code said: "There was no evidence at any point in the trial that I bribed anybody."

Attorneys for Code and Dawkins had argued during a two-week trial that their clients set up meetings with coaches only at the request of an undercover FBI agent, who was posing as an investor into Dawkins' fledgling company.

On the wiretapped recordings played during the trial, Dawkins is heard telling Jeff D'Angelo, the pseudonym for the undercover FBI agent, that he didn't think paying assistant coaches was a good way to build their business.

"It's not the end-all, be-all, in my opinion," Dawkins said on one recording.

"By the time those kids get to college, the deals are usually already done," Dawkins said during defense questioning. "There's no need to pay a college coach because those players are coming to college with agents. The idea that it's an amateur world is not real."

Dawkins testified that he didn't think college coaches had much influence over players, but D'Angelo pushed the issue.

"But here's the model," D'Angelo said on one recording. "Like ... I'm funding you, your side of the business, and I'm staying out of your way. And you're gonna do that."

"Just to pay guys just for the sake of paying the guy, because he's at a school, that doesn't make sense," Dawkins testified. "[D'Angelo] is basically saying, 'You're going to introduce me to coaches that I can pay or I'm not going to fund you.'"

The government played multiple wiretapped recordings of Dawkins discussing money with coaches and showed undercover surveillance video from a meeting in Las Vegas between Dawkins, D'Angelo, fellow undercover agent Jill Bailey (also a pseudonym) and a parade of assistant coaches. The video showed Dawkins giving envelopes of cash to multiple college basketball assistant coaches during that meeting.

Federal prosecutor Robert Boone explained during the government's final rebuttal that Dawkins' disagreement with D'Angelo's plan to bribe coaches did not indicate that Dawkins and Code had no interest in bribing coaches, but rather that Dawkins wanted to do it a different way.

"He wanted to pay college coaches. He just wanted to be smart about it," Boone told the jury.

It's the second time Code and Dawkins have been convicted in a federal criminal trial in Manhattan on charges related to alleged corruption in college basketball.

In October, a jury convicted Code, Dawkins and former Adidas executive James Gatto on conspiracy and fraud charges for their roles in a pay-for-play scheme to steer top recruits to Adidas-sponsored schools, including Kansas, Louisville and NC State.

U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan sentenced Gatto to nine months in federal prison; Code and Dawkins were each sentenced to six months.

Former NBA referee Rashan Michel, the lone remaining defendant in the third federal criminal trial involving alleged college basketball corruption, accepted a plea deal with prosecutors Tuesday on a charge of bribery conspiracy. He faces a maximum prison term of five years, but the plea agreement Michel signed with prosecutors recommends a sentence of 12-18 months in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18.

Former Auburn assistant Chuck Person pleaded guilty in March to accepting about $91,500 in bribes to influence his players to sign with certain financial advisers once they turned pro. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9 and faces up to two and a half years in prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MILWAUKEE -- Malcolm Brogdon is expected to play in Game 5 between the Celtics and Bucks, coach Mike Budenholzer announced at shootaround Wednesday morning.

Brogdon, who has been sidelined since March 15 with a plantar fascia tear, will come off the bench for Milwaukee and be on a minutes restriction.

"He's such a pro," Budenholzer said. "He loves playing. He's very, very excited to be playing."

Milwaukee leads the series 3-1 and is looking to eliminate the Celtics on Wednesday night.

The Bucks have relied on their bench heavily in Games 3 and 4 against the Celtics. In Game 3, backups Pat Connaughton and George Hill gave Milwaukee an offensive boost. In Game 4, when Eric Bledsoe, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton were all sitting with foul trouble, the bench built a third-quarter lead. The Bucks never trailed after the third.

The Bucks hope that Brogdon -- who was a starter during the regular season -- can add even more punch to that second unit.

"He gives us an extra spark," Middleton said. "Someone that we missed for a long time. Just to have him available is huge for us -- another quality piece we can bring to our depth."

Brogdon traveled with the team to Boston for Games 3 and 4, worked out with the training staff and played 5-on-5.

During the regular season, Brogdon averaged 15.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. The Bucks expect him to return to his starting role should they advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

Negotiations between the Los Angeles Lakers and Tyronn Lue have reached an impasse without an agreement to make him the franchise's next head coach, league sources told ESPN.

Lue and his representatives turned down the Lakers' offer Tuesday, league sources said. The Lakers then on Wednesday offered Lue a deal in the range of three years and $18 million after which Lue's side pulled out of negotiations.

According to the sources, Lue's camp was seeking a five-year deal with a salary commensurate with a championship resume.

Beyond an inability to agree on contractual terms, the Lakers had proposed several scenarios involving their preferred candidates for assistant coaches, including Jason Kidd, sources said.

The Cleveland Cavaliers still owe Lue $10-plus million on his contract payout, and accepting a less-than-market-value deal from the Lakers could ultimately cost him money.

Several days of discussions culminated Wednesday without an agreement that will reunite Lue and LeBron James, a partnership that delivered Cleveland the NBA championship in 2016.

Lue was a preferred choice of James, but his championship history as a Lakers player -- coupled with his successful run as Cavaliers coach -- also played a strong role in the Lakers offering him the job.

General manager Rob Pelinka and front-office advisor Kurt Rambis had interviewed Kidd for the head-coaching job, and became convinced that he should be a key member of a Lue coaching staff, league sources said. They believed Kidd could be impactful with point guard Lonzo Ball, and were impressed with the Milwaukee Bucks' player development during his tenure there. It isn't believed that Lue had objections to Kidd joining his staff, but the two had not discussed the possibility directly, league sources said.

Lue's candidacy moved to the forefront once Sixers assistant Monty Williams accepted the Phoenix Suns' head-coaching job Friday. The coaching search began after the Lakers and coach Luke Walton parted ways April 12.

Before Lue's dismissal six games into the 2018-19 season, he had led the Cavaliers to three consecutive NBA Finals appearances. He had a 128-83 record in three-plus seasons in Cleveland.

As a player, Lue was part of Lakers championships in 2000 and 2001.

The Lakers also conducted head-coaching interviews with Kidd and Miami assistant Juwan Howard.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It's the question that has lingered over the Golden State Warriors all season, the one that clouds their future as they play for a third consecutive NBA title: Where will Kevin Durant be playing next season?

The two-time reigning Finals MVP who joined the Warriors following their defeat in the 2016 NBA Finals is expected to be the most sought-after free agent this summer. Durant has faced questions and speculation about his future home all season, as he has declined to commit to staying with the Warriors while also not saying that he's committed to finding a new home either.

So while that question will go unanswered, there's another question looming for the Warriors that far fewer people are asking.

Where will Klay Thompson be playing next season?

Like Durant, Thompson will become a free agent in July. Like Durant, Thompson will get a max contract. And like Durant, Thompson will be pitched on the appeal of being a first option, to break out of Stephen Curry's shadow, and to prove himself up to a new challenge.

So why aren't the Warriors sweating Thompson's future like they are with Durant?

"The media, I think, give him a little bit of a break as far as over-speculating and throwing him into the fire because he hasn't really fueled it -- at all," said Warriors center Andrew Bogut, who has been Thompson's teammate for five seasons over his two stints with the Warriors. "You've never heard him say anything bad about wanting to leave here or going to another team or being the No. 1 option. You've never even heard that off the record. Some players say the right thing publicly but have different feelings [in private]. He completely wants to be here and he gets it that this is a very rare situation."

Thompson was drafted by the Warriors with the 11th overall pick in 2011. He played all 66 games as a rookie, starting 29, but Golden State went just 23-43 in the lockout-shortened season, with Curry missing more than half of it due to ankle injuries. But a season later, Curry and Thompson started 78 games together, beginning one of the NBA's great partnerships, one that Thompson shows no signs of wanting to break up.

Thompson has been open about the fact he wants to stay with the Warriors for years to come. However, league sources told ESPN's Zach Lowe earlier this season that Thompson has no plans to take a discount, despite the massive sneaker endorsement deal he signed with Anta. Thompson could sign a five-year, $188 million deal this summer -- and if he makes an All-NBA team, he'd be eligible for a supermax deal that would pay him $221 million.

Chatter surrounding the All-Star swingman's future has played out largely under the radar -- exactly the way he wants it. When asked recently why it has meant so much to produce and stay with the Warriors in the future, Thompson gave the type of simple and understated response that has defined his tenure in the Bay.

"I think it's just the only thing I've known professionally," Thompson told ESPN. "I saw the dark days and now I've seen the glory days. And it's cool to see the process. You appreciate the work it takes to get there. It's simple. I just appreciate how long it took to get to the mountaintop, the work it did, and just seeing how -- empower people in the community and really build this fan base to something special."

Thompson spends most of his nights prior to games at Oracle Arena sitting in front of his locker reading a newspaper. Most nights after games he pleads with Warriors public relations czar Raymond Ridder to not make him go up to the podium and go through the process of speaking to reporters. It's not that Thompson doesn't have anything to say -- he has become arguably the best quote on a team full of future Hall of Famers when he's actually engaged -- but the 29-year-old has no desire to be in the spotlight.

"It's super rare," Draymond Green told ESPN. "Especially in the day and age of social media. In this league, so many dudes just want attention. It's kind of sickening. Just want attention. Don't even do much for it but just want attention. It's rare to have a guy that don't want any. ... It's a new age with dudes. Klay just happen to not be one of them."

As much as the Warriors love Thompson for his laid-back attitude -- exemplified by his off-day dip in the Pacific Ocean before their Game 4 win over the Clippers during the Western Conference first-round series -- they also recognize how important he is to their success on the court.

Over the past three seasons, Thompson has been seen as the Warriors' third, and sometimes fourth, option on a team with two former MVPs in Durant and Curry and a nightly triple-double threat in Green. In that span, Golden State is 107-25 when Thompson scores at least 20 points. That .811 win percentage is nearly 70 points higher than the team's overall success rate in the regular season. The win percentage when Thompson makes at least five 3-pointers (as he has done 47 times in that span), is even higher: .915. By comparison, the Warriors have won 83 percent of their games in which Curry has made five or more 3-pointers over the past three seasons.

That is the Thompson who has largely been absent from the Warriors' playoff series against the Rockets, and the one they'll need to reemerge as the series shifts back to Oakland tied 2-2. Thompson has averaged just 15.4 PPG during the first four games of this series, and is shooting just 39 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc.

Still, Thompson remains the only Warrior to have played in each of the team's playoff games during this run, starting all 112 of them, since 2013. Only LeBron James has appeared in more playoff games in that time.

His recent slump has given light to the fact that as a free-agent target, Thompson is perceived to be a level below Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving this summer. He also brings with him less mystery, at least according to the ESPN Forecast panel. When polled earlier this season about where this year's top free agents will land this summer, 91.7 percent of the experts projected Thompson's return to the Warriors. By comparison, none of the other top targets -- Durant, Leonard, Irving and Anthony Davis -- were given better than a 53 percent shot of returning to their current teams.

Part of the reason for that confidence in Thompson remaining a Warrior is his ability to fit in with the group as it changes around him. Only he, Curry, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston have been with the Warriors for each of the past five seasons. Livingston has a team option for next season, and Iguodala can become a free agent in 2020, so locking up Thompson to a long-term deal this summer would go a long way toward providing organizational stability.

"I think Klay sort of ties it all together in a lot of ways," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. "There's not one person in this organization who would ever question Klay's agenda or motives. He's just Klay. He just wants to win; he wants to shoot, he wants to play. So that kind of personality is important when you have a lot of emotional swings within a season. Because you need people like Klay who are just easy-going and fun to be around. No B.S."

Even if Warriors owner Joe Lacob wanted to right now, he couldn't come out and say "We plan to offer Klay a max contract"; that's against league protocol. But the reason both the Warriors and Thompson have been so confident about getting an extension done is the respect built up between the two parties over close to a decade. The simple fact is that the Warriors love Thompson and Thompson loves being a Warrior.

Players, coaches, executives all appreciate him for who he is. In the star-studded world of this iteration of the Warriors' dynasty, Thompson's ability to adapt to any situation sets him apart. Especially considering that after all the success Thompson has earned during the Warriors' run, he has the ammunition to fire back on all the critics who doubted his game. Instead, the people who stood in his corner are able to have the last laugh.

Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson was ridiculed six years ago for saying that Thompson and Curry were the "greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the game." Six years later, Jackson looks like a prophet and takes "great pride" in his belief in Thompson's maturation.

"I know the work ethic," Jackson said. "I know where he comes from, and he still doesn't get the credit he deserves. Incredible basketball player. I was just actually talking to Kerr about it -- zero maintenance. And I'm just as proud [about] the person he is."

When Kerr arrived on the scene in 2014, reports indicated that the Warriors were in discussions to send Thompson to Minnesota as part of a deal to acquire Kevin Love. Some experts at the time suggested it was the only way to put the franchise over the top. However, the Warriors chose to keep their backcourt intact, thanks in part to then-consultant Jerry West, who strongly discouraged the trade. Ultimately, the Warriors, led by West and Kerr, came around to the belief that Thompson could be a cornerstone for the future, a decision that continues to pay dividends every day.

"I wouldn't use the term validation," Kerr said when asked about that decision five years ago. "I know when I got here and hired my coaching staff and we watched tape it was pretty easy to see: 'This guy's an amazing two-way player.' ... So when we got here it was like, 'This is a no-brainer.' It wasn't a no-brainer to people who had been here because they had seen the flaws with the team and they were trying to take the next step. But ultimately Bob [Myers] came to the same conclusion that we did, which was it's tough to trade a two-way guy. The playoffs are all about two-way [players].

"He's been amazing, an integral part of three championships," Kerr continued. "And just a rock, an absolute rock as a foundational piece for our franchise."

West is now with the LA Clippers, one of the teams that would potentially like to pry Thompson away from Golden State this summer. Not only does the team have the cap space necessary to do so, but Thompson was born in Los Angeles, where his father won multiple championships with the Lakers in the 1980s. However, despite the lack of chatter around him this season, the Warriors aren't about to let Thompson go without a fight.

"I know that everybody -- coaches, management, ownership -- everybody wants Klay back," Kerr said. "I think the feeling is just, Klay wants to be here, we want Klay."