The GLOBE & MAIL's Cathal Kelly reports the NBA "offered to drop" the $25,000 tampering fine it recently levied against the Raptors if the team "agreed to strip Drake of his title" of global brand ambassador. Thunder F Kevin Durant earlier this summer attended a Drake concert in Toronto, during which the rapper called on the crowd to show Durant "what would happen if he came to play in Toronto." Kelly writes the Raptors have "been in the crosshairs" of the NBA since President of Basketball Operations & GM Masai Ujiri's "profane outburst against Brooklyn during the playoffs." Kelly: "That small tempest fed off a general, leaguewide discomfort with Drake's role and influence" (GLOBE & MAIL, 8/13).
ISLAND OF ADVENTURE: SI.com's Allan Muir wrote Islanders fans should not expect "another sale announcement any time soon" after Owner Charles Wang reportedly backed out of a $420M deal to sell the team to Andrew Barroway. Muir: "You have to think that if Wang actually had a buyer on the line who is willing to pay more than half a billion dollars for the club, he would have quietly and very happily sent Barroway a check for $10 million ... and written if off as the cost of doing big business" (SI.com, 8/12). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Richard Sandomir reports Barroway has an "obvious problem" in his lawsuit against Wang for backing out of the sale: Wang "never signed a contract that required him to sell the team to Barroway." The suit claims the two sides only "shook hands" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/13).
MEET THE NEW BOSS: In San Diego, Dennis Lin reported new Padres Exec VP & GM A.J. Preller on Monday met with the coaching staff and then for 10 minutes "with the entire team." Preller said of the meeting, "It was more just an introduction and getting a sense of my personality and what the role of the general manager is in relation to the players and the coaching staff." Lin noted longer "sit-downs are in order over the final two months of the season" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/12).
