Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it every weekday morning.

⚾️ Phils make a change: The Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson after a 9-19 start, tied with the Mets for the worst in baseball. Bench coach Don Mattingly will take over as interim manager alongside his son, Preston, who is the team's GM. Former Red Sox skipper Alex Cora was reportedly offered the position but declined.

🏈 Steelers tag Rodgers: Aaron Rodgers still hasn't decided whether he's playing in the NFL this fall, but if he does it will likely be with Pittsburgh after the Steelers placed the right-of-first-refusal tender on him, a rare tag that allows them to match any offer he receives this offseason.

🏀 Jones pleads guilty: Damon Jones became the first defendant to plead guilty after the FBI's gambling probe that led to more than 30 arrests. The former NBA player and assistant coach admitted to selling insider information to sports bettors and participating in a poker scheme backed by the Mafia.

⚽️ PSG 5, Bayern 4: PSG and Bayern Munich's highly-anticipated Champions League semifinal clash did not disappoint, as the reigning champs outlasted the German giants in a nine-goal slugfest ahead of next week's second leg in Munich.

🏀 Exec of the Year: Celtics president Brad Stevens has been named the NBA's Executive of the Year after Boston earned the No. 2 seed despite missing Jayson Tatum for most of the season. Stevens also won the award in 2024, making him the 12th executive with multiple wins.

After the most tanking-filled season in NBA history, the league seems to have settled on a plan to fight the scourge of racing to the bottom of the standings.

The "3-2-1" lottery: The crux of the proposal is to expand the draft lottery from 14 to 16 teams and give each team either one, two or three ping-pong balls, significantly flattening the odds of landing the No. 1 pick and penalizing the teams with the worst records.

8.1% chance at the top pick: The teams with the 4th through 10th worst records (those who missed the play-in) would each get three ping-pong balls, giving them an 8.1% chance of winning the lottery. That's down from a maximum of 14% in the current system.

5.4% chance: The teams with the three worst records, as well as all four teams who play in the 9 vs. 10 play-in games, would get two ping-pong balls for a 5.4% chance.

2.7% chance: The two losing teams in each 7 vs. 8 play-in game would get just one ping-pong ball for a 2.7% chance. The winners of the 7-8 play-in would not be in the lottery.

The relegation zone: Reiterating the middle bullet above, this system implements what the league is calling "draft relegation," wherein the bottom three teams do not have the best odds of landing the top pick.

That should incentivize non-playoff teams to stay competitive late in the season, and would make the NBA the first of North America's "Big Four" leagues to officially penalize its worst teams in the standings.

Other safeguards in the proposal include forbidding teams from winning the lottery in back-to-back seasons or winning a top-five pick in three consecutive seasons.

Of note: That latter provision would have impacted a number of current playoff rosters, most notably in San Antonio where the Spurs would not have been able to draft all three of Victor Wembanyama (No. 1 in 2023), Stephon Castle (No. 4 in 2024) and Dylan Harper (No. 2 in 2025).

Looking ahead: This framework reportedly has support from a majority of teams, though minor modifications could be made before an owners vote on May 28. If approved, it would take effect starting with the 2027 NBA Draft.

San Antonio, Texas — The Spurs dominated early and held on late for a 114-95 series-clinching victory over the Trail Blazers, sending San Antonio to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

What's next: Awaiting the Spurs in the conference semifinals are either the Timberwolves (up 3-2) or Nuggets, two teams who held rare winning records over San Antonio this season. Denver went 3-1 against them; Minnesota went 2-1.

Boston, Massachusetts — Joel Embiid (33 pts), Tyrese Maxey (25-10-5) and the 76ers kept their season alive with a 113-97 comeback win over the Celtics to send the series back to Philadelphia down 3-2.

Meanwhile, in New York: The Knicks bludgeoned the Hawks, 126-97, to take a 3-2 lead behind 39 points from Jalen Brunson and double-doubles from Karl-Anthony Towns (16-14) and OG Anunoby (17-10).