BOSTON - The Boston Celtics traded point guard Rajon Rondo to Dallas on Thursday night, cutting ties with the last remnant of their last NBA championship while giving Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks a chance at another title. The Celtics will send Rondo and forward Dwight Powell to Dallas for Jameer Nelson, Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, two draft picks and a $12.9 million trade exception. Welcome to Rajon Rondo the newest member of the Dallas Mavericks, team owner Mark Cuban wrote on the social media application Cyber Dust shortly before the official announcement. Cuban also thanked the three departing players, calling them Amazing players and better people. Boston got a first-round pick in next years draft and a second-rounder in 2016. The Celtics have eight first-round picks in the next four years, picking them up in trades for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and even coach Doc Rivers as they shed the pieces of the New Big Three that earned the franchise its unprecedented 17th NBA title in 2008. We would not have won Banner 17 without Rajon and will always consider him one of our most valuable Celtics, the teams owners said in a joint statement. We will always cherish the time he was here. The Mavericks get a pass-first point guard — a four-time all-star — to team with Nowitzki, Monta Ellis, Chandler Parsons and Tyson Chandler in what they hope will make them a contender again. Dallas is 19-8 this season but in third place in the Southwest Division and sixth in the Western Conference. The Mavericks, who won their only NBA title in 2011, have not won a playoff series since. The deal has been years in the making, with the Celtics shopping Rondo every time a coach grows tired of his moods or his contract expectations grow too large for their budget. But every previous time Boston management decided that the offers werent enough. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge found a partner in Dallas, which is coached by his former Boston teammate Rick Carlisle. Rondo, 28, joined the rebuilding Celtics as the 21st overall pick out of Kentucky in 2006 and became the point guard for an NBA champion in his second year when Boston acquired Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett the next summer. They helped the Celtics reach the NBA finals again two years later. With the once-proud franchise mired in what now looks to be an extended rebuilding process, though, Rondo became more valuable as a trading chip. Due to be a free agent at the end of the season, he was reportedly expecting a contract at or near the NBA maximum. Rondo has averaged 11 points, 8.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds over his career. He missed the second half of the 2012-13 season and the first half of last season to have reconstructive knee surgery, and then reportedly fell in the shower in Las Vegas on the eve of training camp and missed all of the preseason. In 22 games this season for Boston, Rondo had an NBA-best 10.8 assists per game and also averaged 8.3 points and 7.5 rebounds. Nelson, who signed a two-year, $5.5 million deal last summer after 10 seasons in Orlando, was starting at point guard for Dallas, averaging 7.3 points and 4.1 assists while shooting 37 per cent from the field. Wright has played about 19 minutes a game, averaging 8.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. Crowder has averaged 3.6 points per game for Dallas. Powell has totalled nine points and nine minutes in five games for Boston this season as the Celtics (9-14) opened their second season under new coach Brad Stevens. ___ AP Basketball Writer Jon Krawczynski and AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins contributed to this report. Nacer Chadli Jersey . -- Canadas Justin Shin shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday on PGA Wests Nicklaus Tournament Course to take the first-round lead in the Web. Yannick Carrasco Belgium Jersey . Lawrie was hit on the hand by Cincinnati pitcher Johnny Cueto in the second inning of Sundays 4-3 loss to the Reds. http://www.soccerbelgiumteamonline.com/Toby-Alderweireld-UEFA-European-Belgium-Jersey/ . With the Pirates in the thick of the race in the NL Central, the timing couldnt be better. Liriano struck out a season-high 11 in seven innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season and Pittsburgh beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Tuesday night. Adnan Januzaj Belgium Jersey . That was OK with him. He was just happy his team came away with two points. Letestu redirected Jack Johnsons shot from the point with 2:38 left, lifting the Blue Jackets past the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Monday night. Koen Casteels Jersey . The two-time former Formula One champion downplayed his third-place finish three weeks ago in China and said progress is going slow for Ferrari as it tries to make up ground on Mercedes.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Memo Gidley and Matteo Malucelli were admitted to a Daytona Beach hospital Saturday night for further testing following a two-car accident right before the three-hour mark of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. IMSA officials said both drivers were awake and communicating, but gave no other information about their conditions. Gidley was driving for the pole-winning GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing team. He had to be cut out of the No. 99 Corvette, which crumpled like an accordion when he plowed into the back of Malucellis Ferrari. The cars were heading into the kink in the infield portion of the track facing directly into the sun. Malucellis car had apparently lost power -- his team said he radioed he was pulling out of the way -- as the cars headed into a high-speed turn. At the same time, Gidley tried to lap a slower car. He pulled out to the left and tried to duck under the lapped car, apparently didnt see Malucelli off the pace, and drove directly into the Ferrari at nearly full speed. The race was red-flagged as emergency workers tended to both drivers. They were placed onto stretchers, loaded into ambulances and taken to Halifax Health Medical Center, located roughly a mile outside the race track. "This stuff, it happens, its racing. But you never expect it to be your car, your team," said Gidley teammate Darren Law. Olivier Beretta, Malucellis teammate on the Risi Competizione team, saw a replay of the accident and wondered if the glare played a role in the wreck. "Its difficult to say because its the sun going down, and in this corner you dont see very well," Beretta said. "I dont know. I honestly dont know. The most important thing right now is Matteo, the rest I dont care. Its just Matteo and the other driver." Many drivers inquired about Gidleys condition. Christian Fittipaldi passed by the accident scene before the race was stopped and was concerned for Gidleys well-being. "At that point, conditions were really hard. The sun was setting. There were two points on the track where you couldnt see anything," Fittipaldi said. "One was at start-finish and the other point was coming out of Turn 3 and coming out of the kink. I imagined there was a slow car ahead of him and he couldnt see." The clock ticked off roughly 90 minutes under combined red and yellow flag following the accident before racing resumed. The sun had gone down and the drivers had turned on their headlights by the time the field went green again.dddddddddddd The bizarre accident was yet another disappointment for the GAINSCO team, which was the surprising pole winner Thursday despite limited preseason testing and a thin budget that has the organization planning to run only five of the 13 events in the in the inaugural United SportsCar Championship season. The odds were stacked against the GAINSCO team winning the race -- since 1994 only three pole winners have reached Victory Lane in the twice-around-the-clock endurance event -- but a strong showing would have sufficed. Although the team won the pole in 2007 and finished second in 2008, it has finished no better than seventh since and had DNFs in 2010 and was 89 laps off the pace in 2012. When racing did resume, the event got its feel good moment when Wayne Taylor came out of retirement to briefly get behind the wheel of the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette. The 58-year-old last raced in 2010, in this event, but was talked into driving one stint as an opportunity to join the lineup with sons with Ricky and Jordan. The opportunity came about when Ricky rejoined the team that won the Grand-AM driver championship last season with Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli. Wayne Taylor, despite his vocal reluctance to do much in the car, seemed to be on pace as he battled Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan. "My Dad just held Tony Kanaan off for two laps. I have a very cool Dad!" Jordan Taylor posted on Twitter. The plan had been for Ricky Taylor, who started the race, to turn the car over to his father. But the driver change came as the sun was setting, and the team decided at the last minute to instead have Angelelli drive second. "When I got out of the car, there was a big glare and he has had trouble with his eyes and his old age," Ricky Taylor said, laughing slightly. "We would like to put him in in the nighttime, and preferably under yellow, because hes also a little on the shorter side. He has a big insert in his seat and we have to get him snug in there tight. We have to loosen our belts up a lot." His sons said their father has been protesting competing in the event, but they believe hes secretly enjoying himself. "After the race he will look back on it and be very happy that we made it happen and that we got through it," Ricky Taylor said. "He is hating it. He doesnt enjoy driving anymore. He always wants to get out of the car. But every time he is finished driving, hes happy." ' ' '