LeBron James is not opting into what would have been a $51.4 million contract for this coming season and instead will seek a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, a person with knowledge of the decision said Saturday.

The terms of the new deal could be finalized quickly, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither James nor the Lakers revealed the decision publicly. ESPN, The Athletic and the Los Angeles Times all reported the decision earlier Saturday.

The move is among those coming just ahead of the NBA’s free agency period, which formally opens at 5 p.m. Central on Sunday, though at least $1.2 billion in contracts already have been agreed upon because of new rules that allowed teams to speak with their own players about new deals starting on the day after the NBA Finals.

The Lakers selected Bronny James — LeBron James’ oldest son — on Thursday in the second round of the draft, putting them in position to have the first on-court father-son duo in NBA history. And with a new deal, it’s even possible that LeBron James could sign for a lower number than he could have commanded to give the Lakers additional financial flexibility for other moves.

Ex-Toledo guard Cochran commits to Gophers

The Gophers men’s basketball program picked up a commitment from Toledo transfer guard Tyler Cochran on Saturday.

Cochran, who has one year of eligibility remaining, averaged 14.4 points, a team-high 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.2 turnovers per game last season for the Rockets, who play in the Mid-American Conference. The 6-foot-2 Bolingbrook, Ill., native was the MAC Co-Defensive Player of Year with a league-leading 1.9 steals per game. He averaged 49% from the field, 53% from 2-point range and 35% from the 3-point arc a year ago.

Cochran is on his fourth college program. The grad transfer started out at Northern Illinois for two seasons (2019-21) before going to Ball State for one year (2021-22) and Toledo for the last two seasons (2022-24).

Cochran committed to Oregon State in May but backed off his pledge.

— Andy Greder

Thomas 1st, Richardson 4th in 200 at trials

Sha’Carri Richardson will not race in the 200 meters at the Olympics after finishing fourth at U.S. track trials Saturday in Eugene, Oregon,in a race Gabby Thomas won in 21.81 seconds.

Richardson was in the top three with about 40 meters left but faded down the stretch and finished in 22.16, slower than either of her preliminary rounds. Brittany Brown and NCAA champion McKenzie Long earned the second and third spots.

Richardson will have the 100, where she is the reigning world champion, and a spot on the women’s 4x100 relay team.

Noah Lyles kept his hopes for the sprint double at the Olympics alive, coming from behind to win the 200 meters in 19.53 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year.

Lyles added the 200, the distance at which he is a three-time world champ, to the 100 he won last weekend.

Lyles had to race to the line to pass Kenny Bednarek with about 10 meters left and beat him by .06 seconds. Erriyon Knighton, racing for the first time this year after being cleared after an investigation about eating drug-tainted meat, finished third.

Bardet wins hot Tour de France first stage

Two-time podium finisher Romain Bardet won the opening stage of the Tour de France and claimed the yellow jersey for the first time on Saturday.

Combined with severe heat, one of the most challenging opening legs in recent memory created problems for Mark Cavendish as cycling’s biggest race began in Italy for the first time.

Tadej Pogacar, who is aiming to follow up his Giro d’Italia title with a third Tour trophy, and two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard both finished safely in the main pack, though.

Cavendish vomited twice and dropped far behind on the very first climb, putting at risk his pursuit of breaking a tie with Eddy Merckx for the most career stage wins in the Tour. But he just finished within the time limit. Cavendish and Merckx have 34 wins each.

Aurora closes regular season with 14-0 rout

Minnesota Aurora dominated RKC Third Coast 14-0 in its regular-season finale, a result that extended Aurora’s regular-season streak to 36 games without a defeat.

The 14 goals set a franchise record for a single match. Cat Rapp became the first Aurora player with four goals in a match.

Aurora finishes 10-0-2 in its third season and is 33-0-3 in the regular season over that time. Aurora won the Heartland Division of the USL W League — a pre-professional women’s soccer league — with 32 points, seven more than second-place River Light.

RKC Third Coast finished seventh in the seven-team division with a 2-9-1 record.

Aurora closed the year having outscored its opponents 39-1 in its final six games.

Next up for Aurora is a conference semifinal next weekend with the opponent and date to be announced.

NBA >> Veteran center Kevin Love plans to opt out of the $4 million player option in his contract to become an unrestricted free agent.

TENNIS >> Taylor Fritz of the U.S. became the first three-time men’s champion of the Eastbourne International on Saturday.Fritz beat Australian qualifier Max Purcell 6-4, 6-3 in the final, capturing his eighth career title without dropping a set.

WNBA >> Jackie Young had 26 points and the Las Vegas Aces rallied for their fourth straight victory, beating the Mystics 88-77 in Washington. Aces center A’ja Wilson had 11 points and nine rebounds. It ended a streak of her scoring at least 20 points in every game this season.

— From news services