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As they prepare to make their pitch to Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been making calls around the league looking to clear a massive amount of salary-cap space in a move rival executives believe is an effort to go after free agent Al Horford in addition to Durant, multiple sources told ESPN.Horford played for Thunder coach Billy Donovan at Florida, where they teamed up to win two national titles, and they remain close. The Thunder have an opening at power forward after trading Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic last week.Over the past several days, the Thunder have sought out teams with open salary-cap space to possibly absorb Enes Kanter and Kyle Singler, sources said. The Thunder have other methods of opening cap space, including waiving Anthony Morrow, whose contract isnt guaranteed until July 15.Numerous teams are believed to have interest in Horford, who is regarded as one of the top free agents on the market. That includes the Atlanta Hawks, where Horford has played his entire nine-year career and made four All-Star teams.Horford averaged 15.2 points and 7.3 rebounds and played all 82 games for the Hawks last season.After trading Jeff Teague last week, the Hawks have opened enough cap space to re-sign Horford and free-agent wing Kent Bazemore and potentially add another free agent. They have scheduled a meeting with Atlanta native Dwight Howard, ESPN reported Wednesday.In conversations with rival teams, the Thunder have indicated they will know which route they are taking early in July, sources said. Durant is scheduled to meet with five teams over the first three days of free agency after meeting with the Thunder on Thursday.Toby Alderweireld Belgium Jersey . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Thibaut Courtois Belgium Jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. http://www.belgiumsoccerpro.com/Axel-Witsel-Belgium-Jersey/ . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Marouane Fellaini Belgium Jersey .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Thibaut Courtois Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again.Aston Villa are close to announcing Roberto Di Matteo as their new manager with Steve Clarke his assistant, according to Sky sources.The clubs new owner Dr Tony Xia is understood to have been impressed with Di Matteos CV and his plans for the Villa squad, but despite reports circulating that the deal was done, Sky Sports News HQ reporter Pete Colley says nothing is signed yet.They are negotiating, he said. Roberto Di Matteo is trying to bring in an assistant in Steve Clarke. The negotiations are going well and should be wrapped up on Friday morning. Who is Tony Xia? All you need to know about Villas new owner We are expecting a statement at some point on Friday. We are also expecting Di Matteo to arrive at Villa on Friday, but I am hearing that there will be no parading of the new manager. They want to get this over the line, so that he can get down to work and try to get Aston Villa back into the Premier League.The former Chelsea boss, who stepped down at Schalke a year ago after a seven-month spell at the German club, is understood to have been at the top of Villas wish-list ever since the takeover, with new owner Dr Tony Jiantong Xia looking to make a marqueee appointment to replace Remi Garde.dddddddddddd Di Matteos CV has impressed Villas new owner Di Matteo led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2012, stepping up from his role as assistant to Andre Villas-Boas, only to leave six months later following a 3-0 Champions League defeat by Juventus.Burnley boss Sean Dyche and David Moyes have also been linked with the Villa Park vacancy. Damien Comolli was initially touted as a possible technical director but the former director of football at Liverpool is not aware of any interest and has had no contact with the Chinese consortium. Get Sky Sports Alerts Keep up to date during the close season. Your teams breaking news - direct to your mobileAlso See:Taylor: Player retention keyVilla can be worlds most famousXia promises millions for VillaXia confident over league test ' ' '