BASKETBALL

Adviser sheds more light on Nene's contract

Financial adviser Bret Bearup, who works closely with Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke, has responded to an e- mail and shed light on the six-year, $60 million contract Nuggets forward Nene is expected to sign July 12, according to the Web site www.truehoop.com.

According to the site, Bearup writes a "significant portion" of the money is deferred, and there are further "stretch" provisions that will "lessen the burden" if Nene doesn't reach certain targets for games and minutes played.

It also reports Bearup as writing that 75 percent of the teams in the NBA called the Nuggets with an interest in a sign-and-trade, and that some teams still are calling, even though Nene's deal has been announced.

According to the site, Bearup wrote the big deal was offered right away to the restricted free agent because the Nuggets feared he could sign an offer sheet with Chicago or Atlanta and it would cost them a "larger number," or he could have become an unrestricted free agent next summer and the Nuggets lose him.

The site also reports Bearup as writing that a big man such as Nene being taken off the market "will only serve to stimulate interest in (Ken- yon) Martin in the marketplace. Given the calls the Nuggets have received . . . it already has."

LACROSSE

Grant's hat trick leads Team Mammoth to win

John Grant Jr., who plays professionally for the National Lacrosse League's Rochester Nighthawks, recorded three goals and four assists to lead Team Mammoth to an 18-6 victory Tuesday against Go Fast to win the men's elite crown in the Vail Lacrosse Shootout.

Jeff Zywicki and Geoff Snider, who play for Major League Lacrosse's Denver Outlaws, each scored two goals for Team Mammoth, as did Gavin Prout, a member of the NLL's Colorado Mammoth.

ETC.

Acevedo, Corpas pitch gem in Sky Sox victory

Jose Acevedo and Manuel Corpas combined to pitch a three-hitter, leading the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (36-50) to an 8-1 Pacific Coast League victory Tuesday night against the Salt Lake Bees (50-35) in Salt Lake City.

Catcher Chris Iannetta had a home run and three hits for the Sky Sox, and center fielder Jeff Salazar added three hits.

• Steamboat Springs resident Clint Jones posted jumps of 88.5 meters and 96 meters to win the U.S. Ski Association's Ski Jumping Super Tour event Tuesday in Lake Placid, N.Y.

• Denver Christian High School graduate Chris Randolph has been selected to represent the United States in a dual decathlon meet with Germany on Aug. 5-6 in Manhattan, Kan.

This will be the first senior national team appointment for the Lone Tree resident, and he will be the first Seattle Pacific University athlete to represent the U.S. since Jack Hoyt in 1990.

Randolph, the NCAA Division II champion in the decathlon the past two years, had been named to the Americans' under-23 team for the NACAC Championships in the Dominican Republic. He will miss that meet after suffering a bruised left arch at the U.S. outdoor track championships last month.

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