IN BRIEF

BASKETBALL

Expert: Donaghy was compulsive gambler

Disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy was a compulsive gambler whose road to professional and personal ruin began on the golf course, where he bet up to $500 a hole, according to an evaluation filed on the eve of his sentencing.

"In short, he could not stop himself from gambling," wrote Stephen Block, a New York-based gambling treatment counselor.

Donaghy, 41, faces up to 33 months in prison at his sentencing today in federal court in Brooklyn after pleading guilty last year to taking thousands of dollars in payoffs from a professional gambler for inside betting tips. The evaluation was filed by his defense attorney, John Lauro, in a bid for leniency.

"In my professional opinion, Mr. Donaghy would never have committed these offenses if he was not a pathological gambler," Block concluded.

Also: Kwame Brown and the Detroit Pistons agreed to terms on a deal potentially worth $8 million over two seasons, team president of basketball operations Joe Dumars told The Associated Press.

Brown, the No. 1 pick overall in 2001, will make $4 million next season. If Brown exercises an option for the 2009-10 season, he will play in Detroit for another $4 million. If Brown doesn't take the option, he becomes a free agent again next summer and the Pistons won't owe him anything.

He has averaged just 7.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game over his career that started with Washington and continued with the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis.

Brown scored 4.8 points a game with the Lakers and Grizzlies last season. He was traded to Memphis in February as part of the Pau Gasol deal.

Sasha Vujacic signed a three-year, $15 million contract to return to the Lakers, three days after coming to terms with the team.

The 24-year-old Vujacic averaged a career-high 8.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 72 games this past season, and 8.1 points 2.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists while playing in all 21 playoff games.

The Golden State Warriors re-signed center Andris Biedrins to a six-year contract worth more than $62 million.

Biedrins averaged career highs of 10.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game with the Warriors last season.

The Los Angeles Clippers continued their offseason makeover, signing veteran swingman Ricky Davis to a multiyear contract.

Davis, an unrestricted free agent, averaged 13.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists while playing in all 82 games for the Miami Heat last season.

The Minnesota Timberwolves and restricted free-agent forward Ryan Gomes have agreed in principle on a five-year contract.

Gomes was one of five players acquired by the Wolves last summer in the big trade with Boston for Kevin Garnett. Gomes played in all 82 games, 74 as a starter, and averaged a career-best 12.6 points and 5.8 rebounds.

The Denver Nuggets acquired forward Renaldo Balkman from the New York Knicks in exchange for guard Taurean Green, forward Bobby Jones and a second-round draft pick in 2010.

Balkman averaged 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 65 games for the Knicks last season.

Green averaged 1.1 points in nine appearances with Denver last season. Jones averaged 3.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in two stints with the Nuggets last season.

Guard Royal Ivey signed a multiyear contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Ivey has averaged 4.0 points, 1.5 assists, 1.3 rebounds and 14.3 minutes in 263 games over four seasons in the NBA, three of them with the Atlanta Hawks.

The Toronto Raptors signed free-agent guard Will Solomon.

Solomon played the past two seasons in Istanbul, Turkey, for Fenerbahce Ulker.

Former Indiana guard Jordan Crawford accepted a scholarship from Xavier.

Crawford played in 30 games for the Hoosiers last season as a freshman, including eight starts. He averaged 9.7 points and 2.3 assists.

MISCELLANEOUS

Stewart fined $10,000 for misbehavior at race

Tony Stewart was fined $10,000 for what the U.S. Auto Club deemed unsportsmanlike conduct during a midget race last week at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.

Tony Stewart Racing also was placed on probation for the remainder of the USAC season.

Stewart reportedly knocked a radio headset off the head of one USAC official and shoved another following a ruling Thursday involving Stewart's car, driven by Tracy Hines.

Hines scraped the wall and pitted for a tire change, but his car was not deemed ready to re-enter the race in time to rejoin the field for the restart.

Stewart apologized and also volunteered to pay for new radios and uniforms for USAC officials.

Also: The Indy Racing League won't be coming back to Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway after efforts to negotiate an agreement for a 2009 race failed.

The IndyCar Series had raced at the superspeedway the past eight years, including July 12 when Scott Dixon won a rain-shortened race.

The Edmonton Sun reported that Toronto would replace Nashville in an 18-race schedule in 2009.

Greg Norman turned down an invitation to play in the PGA Championship, deciding to stick to a previous commitment instead of competing for the fourth straight week.

The PGA of America offered Norman an exemption after he had the 54-hole lead in the British Open and finished third. Norman tied for fifth last week at the Senior British Open, and will play this week in the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado.

The PGA Championship is scheduled for Aug. 7-10 at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Township, Mich.

British golfer Chris Wood turned professional, just over a week after finishing as the highest-placed amateur at the British Open.

The 20-year-old Wood tied for fifth with Jim Furyk at Royal Birkdale, seven shots behind winner Padraig Harrington.

Shadow Creek Golf Course is one of 24 courses to receive a five-star rating in the 2008-09 edition of Golf Digest's "Best Places to Play."

This year's edition rated nearly 6,000 courses in North America and the Caribbean. The courses were evaluated by approximately 20,000 Golf Digest readers on a five-point scale, with a five-star rating signifying that a course offers "golf at its absolute best."

The original decision on the James Toney-Hasim Rahman fight on July 16 in Temecula, Calif., has been changed from a technical knockout to a no decision, the California State Athletic Commission announced.

Toney stopped Rahman in the third round of their rematch of former heavyweight champions, after Rahman told the ringside doctor that he couldn't continue because of a cut over his left eye.

The original decision was a TKO win for Toney. Rahman later appealed, and after a review, the commission said it was changing the TKO to a no decision.

Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Florida Panthers, one day before the sides were scheduled to go to salary arbitration.

Bouwmeester will make between $4 million and $5 million next season, nearly doubling his salary, but the sides couldn't agree on a long-term deal.

Former Eldorado High School wrestling coach Jimmy May, who won 12 Class 4A state titles and coached 63 state champions, has been named coach of the start-up wrestling program at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan.

UNLV football will hold its annual "Let's Get Physical" clinic for women on Aug. 23 in the Club Level at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Rebels coach Mike Sanford and wife Melinda, and various UNLV assistant coaches, will help educate women on the sport in a coffee social setting.

Cost is $30 in advance, or $40 at the door.

To register, call 895-3400.