The new CBA is changing the way teams build their rosters. Here’s what league insiders are saying about the NBA’s march toward parity.
Author: Michael
Look around the NBA, and there’s any number of highly consequential players who could shift the balance of the league this coming year with their performance and change of scenery.
Future Hall of Famer Chris Paul plays for Golden State now and might even end up coming off the bench for the first time in his career. Bruce Brown took an enormous deal to leave the defending-champion Nuggets for the Pacers. One-time Finals hero Fred VanVleet also took lots of money, leaving a middling situation in Toronto for the Rockets, who want to be taken seriously this season.
Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama has had his game dissected by just about everyone across the NBA, as fans and teams look to get a better understanding of the league’s “next big thing.”
Not everyone appears to be buying into the hype surrounding the 19-year-old Frenchman, however.
Former NBA player Olden Polynice made an appearance on Fox Sports’ “The Odd Couple,” during which he revealed his shockingly low expectations for Wembanyama’s NBA career.
In what is arguably the biggest transfer saga of the last decade, Kylian Mbappé finds himself at the center of this summer’s transfer rumors. But while a Paris Saint-Germain exit looks to be in the cards, the destination is keeping everyone in suspense.
Meanwhile, several Premier League clubs are committing to a reboot while Man City and Manchester United sit back and methodically approach a small list of top targets.
Here’s the latest news during the summer transfer window.
The Browns will be worth watching in Deshaun Watson’s second season with the team. I saw GM Andrew Berry’s comments from the Greenbriar over the weekend, as Cleveland’s staff and players reported to West Virginia to kick off the remote portion of their training camp. And this one jumped out at me: “This is going to be a big year for him professionally and personally.”
I’d say the same goes for the guys who traded for Watson 16 months ago.
Brazil scored the best goal of the Women’s World Cup.
Soccer is a beautiful game. The spacing, the movements and the passing leading up to a goal can be some of the most exciting moments that a sports fan gets to see.
With the Women’s World Cup underway, we already have a contender for the best goal of the World Cup, coming from the Brazil side. In their 4-0 victory over Panama, the Brazil women put together a goal that is even more incredible when you get to see it.
BRAZILIAN SOCCER AT ITS FINEST
Bia Zaneratto makes it three for Brazil pic.twitter.
Mmmm hamburger so good. Hamburger so good.
It’s unclear what the price will be for a James Harden trade this offseason, but a James Harden promo has a going rate of four hamburgers.
James Harden really posted a promotion in exchange for 4 Hamburgers.. pic.twitter.com/znNewLPf6d
— CBain☀️ (@cbain100) July 23, 2023
Legendary Houston rapper Bun B was at the club over the weekend promoting his restaurant Trill Burgers, when none other than Harden stepped into frame a grabbed a stack.
I absolutely get this in my soul.
For the first time in 18 months, Odell Beckham Jr. is set to play professional football as the Ravens open training camp this week. The veteran wide receiver tore his ACL during the Super Bowl in 2022, and he missed all of last season recovering from the injury.
Following a long and winding free agency saga, Beckham said he is thrilled to finally return to the field.
“I’m excited. I’m excited. It’s been a long time having to sit out and watch other people and not get to play,” Beckham said, via the Ravens team website. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.
First, it was Lionel Messi joining the MLS, and now it’s a reported record-breaking offer for French soccer star Kylian Mbappé that’s set the sports world on fire. According to Front Office Sports, Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal has made a world-record offer to acquire the 24-year-old star from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.
Per the report, the package is worth a total of $1.
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Josh Harris has long eyed NFL ownership. It’s obviously a big part of why he followed the path Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Panthers owner David Tepper blazed, in buying a minority share of the Steelers in 2020 before becoming a controlling owner elsewhere. So it’d be pretty hard to characterize his swing-and-miss on the Broncos in ’22 as a win.
But a year later, it sure feels that way for the 58-year-old titan of private equity.