NEWS » Beltre, Nelson Cruz and Dellin Betances will play for

PORTLAND, Ore. -- CJ McCollum agreed to a four-year, $106 million contract extension with the Portland Trail Blazers, a person familiar with the deal said.The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal hadnt been announced. It was first reported by Yahoo Sports.McCollum was voted the NBAs Most Improved Player after averaging 20.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists during the regular season. He raised his scoring average by more than 14 points over the previous season.As the 10th overall draft pick in 2013, McCollum bided his time on the bench his first two seasons. The 24-year-old guard became a starter in the backcourt with Damian Lillard last season after four of the teams starters left in the offseason.With one of the youngest rosters in the league (24.6 years), the Blazers were considered a team that was rebuilding. But they overachieved to earn the fifth seed in the West and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. McCollum averaged 20.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the postseason.His 14-point improvement was the most since Tony Campbell improved from an average of 6.2 points to 23.2 points with Minnesota from the 1988-89 to 1989-90 seasons.McCollum also finished the regular season with 197 3-pointers to rank ninth in the league and fourth most for the Blazers in one season. He scored in double figures in 79 games.McCollums extension comes in a busy offseason for the Blazers. This month they re-signed restricted free agents Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard.Portland also signed free-agent forward Festus Ezeli and acquired guard Shabazz Napier in a trade with the Orlando Magic for cash. Portland also signed forward Jake Layman, acquired in a draft-day trade, as well as free-agent wing Evan Turner.In another move Monday, Portland signed free-agent guard Tim Quarterman. Undrafted out of LSU, Quarterman averaged 11.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists as a junior for the Tigers last season.---AP Basketball Writer Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report. Cheap Chargers Jerseys . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. Wholesale Chargers Jerseys China . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. http://www.cheapchargersjerseysauthentic.com/ .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. OXON HILL, Md. -- Chris Archer was so excited to pitch for the United States at the World Baseball Classic that he offered to recruit more players to join him.Its OK, general manager Joe Torre said, thats under control.In addition to Archer, the Tampa Bay Rays ace right-hander, the U.S. will have NL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals, 2012 NL MVP Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants and 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Thats a star-studded start to the roster as the U.S. seeks to put more value in the tournament that it hasnt yet won.As everybody knows our country probably hasnt taken it quite as seriously as some of the other countries in the past, manager Jim Leyland said Monday. We are trying to change that mentality.Getting Scherzer, Posey, McCutchen, Archer, Toronto Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman, Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado and Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones to sign up sends that message. Torre said Miami Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich, Cleveland Indians reliever Andrew Miller and Kansas City Royals starter Danny Duffy committed to play and that he hasnt yet spoken to two-time AL MVP Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels.Any player who hasnt committed to us, the only reason thats been the case is because of conditioning or injury or stuff like that, Torre said. Every single one of these guys that Ive talked to and reached out to, because I text and a lot with them, the reception has been very possitive.dddddddddddd.Major League Baseball on Monday announced the initial list of 30 players set for the tournament, which takes place in March. Among them are 24 All-Stars.Manny Machado, Robinson Cano, Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz and Dellin Betances will play for the defending champion Dominican Republic. Felix Hernandez will pitch for Venezuela, which will also have Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Gonzalez on its roster.Each team must submit its final roster by Feb. 6. Torre and the U.S. staff will continue to seek players out before that deadline, but hes thrilled at the excitement of players like Archer, who Leyland described as all fired up to play.Hes over the moon with it, Archer said. When I first talked to him, first contacted him, he was giving me suggestions on who he could call. I said, `Just cool down. Weve got to do this thing with the Players Association. I dont want you to be calling your neighbors in here about this.While some stars like Bryce Harper have reportedly recused themselves from consideration, Leyland said it was important to focus on those who did decide to leave spring training to participate.Were certainly not throwing anybody under the bus that decided not to play, Leyland said. Thats not fair. They all have good reasons, and we honor and respect that. Were going to move on to the players that did decide to play with no animosity towards anybody that did not decide to play. ' ' '