Chauncey Billups arrested in federal betting probe

• Billups was charged with participating in a scheme to rig card games across the country that were backed by La Cosa Nostra Crime families, per the AP.

The latest: Billups, now the Portland Trail Blazers' head coach, has been placed on leave from the team.

State of play: The arrests stem from two separate but related investigations into illegal sports betting and rigged poker games.

The intrigue: Former Piston Malik Beasley was the subject of a federal sports gambling investigation that was revealed over the summer. He was not arrested yesterday.

• His lawyer Steve Haney was emphatic that yesterday's arrests had nothing to do with "any alleged or accused cooperation."
• "Malik has not and will not cooperate with any pending federal investigations," Haney told the Detroit News.