As conversations around the Sixers continue to swirl—with league MVP Joel Embiid recently saying he’d want to win a title in Philadelphia “or anywhere else” and executive Daryl Morey explaining he’d work to fulfill James Harden’s trade request to go elsewhere if he can get a sensible return for him—one factor looms heavily in the background for this coming season: Tyrese Maxey.
The fourth-year guard, who turns 23 years old in November, will almost certainly need to be sensational this coming season in order for the Sixers to make a run at the title.
Author: Michael
Hey everyone, as we still come down from our Djokovic-Alcaraz high, here’s a Wimbledon final-wrap mailbag and lookahead:
• Here’s a reup on the 50 Parting Shots column
• Here’s a long Q&A we did with Juan Carlos Ferrero
• Come for Northwestern, stay for the Carlos/Chris/Martina chatter …
• A favorite moment of the tournament? Watch this
• Who’s in the market for a summer tennis read? Here comes Maddie Blais with a biography of Alice Marble
• Tennis treasure Colette Lewis has your Wimbledon juniors wrap.
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Between the Women’s World Cup and the British Open, tomorrow is a fun day for fans of early-morning sports.
In today’s SI:AM:
🌍 The USWNT’s new crop of challengers
⏰ Abolish the play clock?
😡 Josh Donaldson’s terrible luck
If you’re reading this on SI.com, you can sign up to get this free newsletter in your inbox each weekday at SI.com/newsletters.
Runs galore across MLB
Last night was a historic one in MLB, with the most high-scoring games since Grover Cleveland was president.
Offense was on the menu in Major League Baseball on Tuesday night as 12 teams combined for a feat not seen around the league in 129 years.
For the first time since 1894, 12 different teams scored double-digit runs on the same day. The league-wide offensive outburst ties for the second-most teams to score more than 10 runs in a single day after 13 clubs achieved the mark on July 4, 1894.
The Mountain West Conference has informed San Diego State it is a member in good standing, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger was the first to report the news.
In June, the school informed the conference that it intended to leave, but just two weeks later, it changed course and stated it wanted to stay put. The school will soon receive the $6.6 million the league was withholding now that the fractured relationship has been repaired.
SDSU was briefly connected to the Pac-12 and Big 12 as possible landing spots.
Arizona State head baseball coach Willie Bloomquist is not thrilled about the way in which his star shortstop transferred out of the Sun Devils program. And that’s putting it nicely.
Bloomquist had some harsh words for Luke Hill, who committed to play for Ole Miss on Monday. Players departing a program during the offseason has become a normality in the transfer portal era, but the 45-year-old skipper’s reaction was not.
Willie Bloomquist didn’t hold back on Luke Hill.
Senator Chuck Schumer is trying to force the government to release information related to UFOs.
There has never been more interest in UFOs than there is right now. Whistleblower David Grusch sent things through the roof when he claimed the government had concealed secret UFO programs that included the possession of crashed crafts and possibly the bodies of dead pilots.
Now, the Senator from New York has offered an amendment to the NDAA that would essentially mandate government agencies hand over whatever UFO information they might have.
The running back position has received a lot of attention this week, as studs like Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs failed to come to terms on contract extensions with their respective teams over their salaries. One runner who did get paid in the offseason is Miles Sanders, who inked a four-year, $25.4 million contract with the Panthers. He’ll make just over $6 million a year, on average.
Sanders, who’s entering his age-26 season, is coming off a “successful” campaign in which he finished 15th in fantasy points at his position.
The Steelers and linebacker Alex Highsmith have agreed to a five-year extension that will keep the standout pass-rusher in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future, the team announced Wednesday.
Highsmith had just one year remaining on his rookie deal and was due to make $2.743 million in 2023. Under the terms of his new extension, the 25-year-old will receive $68 million over the next four years, putting him in line to earn $70.743 million across the next five seasons, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Highsmith’s new money makes him the 10th-highest paid pass rusher in the league.