Month: July 2021

We are rapidly approaching the start of the 2021-22 NBA year with the Finals winding down and the Draft and free agency just weeks away. The Draft draws the most focus at the moment, in part because this is one of the more highly-anticipated draft classes in some time and teams will feel there’s an opportunity to bolster depth and add a rotation piece for the future no matter where they are picking in the first round.

Free agency arrives shortly after the Draft, however, and the decision on who to pick or what trades to potentially make always have to be done with what the plan is for free agency in mind. For some teams, that means going hunting for big name stars, while others will be working more on the margins, but front offices always have to keep the full picture in focus. For a number of teams, this summer will bring some key decisions on players from the 2017 NBA Draft who are hitting free agency for the first time as restricted free agents.

The restricted designation means their current teams have final say in whether they match an offer sheet or let them walk, and some decisions will be more difficult than others. Here, we’ll look at the 10 restricted free agents that figure to be the most interesting this summer, with some being locks to return (with the only question being at what price), while others could be pried away by other suitors if they’re willing to bid high enough.

John Collins, Atlanta Hawks

Given the Hawks’ run to the conference finals and the significant role Collins played for Atlanta in that stretch, it would seem an easy decision for the Hawks to simply bring him back. However, extension negotiations made it clear the difference in where the team thinks Collins’ value lies and what Collins himself is looking for. Ownership has said they want Collins back but at the right price, and if there is a team out there with lots of cap space — like the Spurs — who is willing to pay Collins’ max (~4 years, $120 million) it might be enough to make the Hawks balk.

I think Atlanta almost has to match on Collins even if that happens, because letting him walk doesn’t open up any real cap room to replace him and they simply can’t rely on Danilo Gallinari as the full-time guy at the four. Atlanta is worried about having to pay all of their young guys and knows they’ll have to make some hard choices, but given Collins is the one young guy who doesn’t play a position that’s redundant with any of their other youngsters, I don’t think he’s the one they can walk away from.

Bruce Brown, Brooklyn Nets

The Nets have to bring Bruce Brown back, this postseason showed his immense value to the team, but the question is whether a team wants to make the Nets pay significantly for that opportunity. There will be plenty of teams that look at Brown as a versatile defensive connector that could unlock a lot of things for them, and while the Nets likely weren’t expecting to have to break the bank on Brown prior to this season, he’s likely going to require a hefty tax bill to keep. That shouldn’t make for any real hard decisions in Brooklyn, particularly given how hard it’s going to be for them to build depth with outside signings, but I can guarantee you some other teams will want to make the Nets pay a little extra to keep their superteam intact.

Devonte’ Graham, Charlotte Hornets

This is, I think, where things get interesting. Graham is clearly the third guard in Charlotte now behind Terry Rozier and LaMelo Ball, and that might be a perfectly good role for him. After showing out in 2019-20, however, he saw a significant reduction in his role as a creator this season and if he feels that’s what he should be, then it wouldn’t be a surprise if he has interest in moving on. The Hornets would surely love to keep him because that trio is an excellent backcourt rotation, but they also seem likely to be more willing to walk away if the asking price gets too high because they have bigger needs to address elsewhere. With reports Graham could be in for a hefty payday, Charlotte might find itself with a very difficult decision.

Lauri Markkanen, Chicago Bulls

Markkanen is maybe the most available RFA of the bigger names on the market this summer, as he simply has never found a consistent role in Chicago. It seems best for all parties to move on, but it remains to be seen what the actual market for Markkanen’s services are. The Finnish big man certainly brings offensive upside, particularly as a shooter, but he leaves plenty to be desired on the defensive end. Still, that shooting ability figures to intrigue someone and it’d be fairly shocking if the Bulls chose to match any kind of substantial offer sheet if it came.

Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs swooped in on the James Harden trade and came away with a gem in Allen, but now they have to pay up. Allen’s going to have plenty of teams interested in him and while the Cavs have no reason not to match most any offer, what he gets from Cleveland is going to set the bar for the upcoming run of extensions needed for their cavalcade of recent high draft picks — which is the biggest reason most expect Collin Sexton to be on the move this summer.

Talen Horton-Tucker, Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers love THT, so much so that they reportedly weren’t willing to part with him in Kyle Lowry trade talks, but now comes the opportunity for teams (like with Bruce Brown in Brooklyn) to lob big offer sheets at Horton-Tucker in order to see if the Lakers blink or are willing to pay a hefty tax price to retain their most intriguing young player. We’ll see if any team wants to put the pressure on L.A. with a big offer sheet, and we’ll also learn quickly just how much they value the young wing.

Duncan Robinson, Miami Heat

Everyone loves shooters, but where the market lands on Robinson is going to be very telling about how the league views the value of even an elite, mostly one-dimensional shooter. Robinson is as good a shooter as there is in the NBA who goes beyond static catch-and-shoots to hit shots at an exceptional rate on the move off handoffs and pindowns. That versatility in being able to get his shot off is important and makes him valuable, but less so than a player who can also create for himself off the bounce or who brings defensive upside as well. The Heat should be willing to match most anything for Robinson, but what makes him intriguing from a league-wide perspective is what it might tell us about how the NBA views that archetype of player in this moment.

Lonzo Ball, New Orleans Pelicans

Probably the RFA that has the most overlap between “most available” and “most coveted,” Ball is going to have plenty of suitors and seems unlikely to be brought back by the Pelicans so long as there is a fairly substantial offer made — especially after rumors emerged New Orleans will pursue Kyle Lowry. There will be at least one team that believes their situation can be the one to fully tap into Lonzo’s potential, building on the continued strides he’s made as a shooter in New Orleans and put him in a competent defensive scheme that can keep him engaged constantly in a way he’s not yet shown. Lonzo remains a tantalizing talent even if his unique combination of strengths and weaknesses don’t necessarily fit easily into player archetypes we are used to. Teams like the Bulls, Knicks, and others who are both in need of a lead guard and want to compete with a younger team figure to be heavily in the mix for Ball, and contenders with guard needs also surely to at least check in on him.

Josh Hart, New Orleans Pelicans

Hart has made clear that New Orleans is not where he wants to be any longer, and where the market shakes out for him is going to be interesting. He profiles as a solid rotation wing, capable of defending multiple positions while being a good rebounder. What will make or break Hart going forward is his jump shot, as his rookie year he was a near 40 percent shooter from three but has never come close to replicating that in the three seasons since. If he can find that shooting form again in a place that’s a better fit, then he could be a Donte DiVincenzo-like asset to a contender at a good value this offseason.

Zach Collins, Portland Trail Blazers

Collins has suffered another setback on the injury front, fracturing his foot once again and it’s possible that the cash-strapped Blazers don’t even extend him the qualifying offer as they need every available roster spot to try and make Damian Lillard happy. As such, Collins is a buy-low candidate for a team that has the time to be patient with him and hope that his injury history can be put in the past by getting him to a new situation. A team like the Hornets could look to give him a smaller, two-year deal to give him a place to rehab his way back from the foot injury and hope that it pays off with a healthy second year where he’s suddenly a bargain.

Danny Brown is a unique, head-turning rapper. He seems to have a keen eye for other idiosyncratic artists as well: Bruiser Wolf, an artist on Brown’s Bruiser Brigade Records label, has drawn critical praise for standing out on his new album, Dope Game Stupid. As Wolf makes his ascent, a new Magnum Scenes video (presented by Uproxx in partnership with Magnum) looks at where Wolf has been and where he’s going.

The Detroit rapper was once known as Big Wolf, but he says he tweaked his name to show his appreciation for his label and his fellow artists on it: “I used to be Big Wolf. Changed it when I got with the Bruiser Brigade. All fire MC’s, fire producers. […] To let them know that this forever, I put ‘Bruiser’ in front of my name, like a badge of honor for me, to express my loyalty.”

Between footage of Wolf showing off his home and life, his Bruiser Brigade compatriots share praise for his unique style. “He’s a poet and a comedian at the same time,” ZelooperZ noted. J.U.S. also declared, “I ain’t heard nobody rap like that in so long.” Meanwhile, Brown praised his “very distinctive voice that’s going to separate him from the pack.”

Elsewhere in the video, Wolf and his peers tell the story of his career so far, and it’s full of terrific anecdotes, including some avian coincidences that tie in to the distinctive Dope Game Stupid cover art. Check out the full video above.

As female rappers continue to gain in popularity, more of them have spoken out about the unfair perceptions facing women in hip-hop. Cardi B recently addressed the double standard that follows them, saying in essence that they must work twice as hard for half the respect, a sentiment that up-and-coming rapper Latto co-signed a few weeks later.

In a new interview for Nick Cannon’s show on LA’s Power 106, Doja Cat also fielded questions about why she believes women face these obstacles. “When you dress up like you are going on a night out in Miami… People will put you in a category and for them to be comfortable, they’ll make it seem like you are not very smart, you are just a girl who is just a rapper,” she said. “You don’t have a great sense of humor maybe, or you’re stuck up… like female rappers are vapid or less than smart, I feel that’s how they’re looked at.”

Incidentally, it seemed that the interview itself simply affirmed her outlook, as she later tweeted, “If you’re gonna interview musicians try to ask them about their music,” highlighting how Cannon’s line of questioning apparently ignored the fact she has a new album, Planet Her, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the singles “Kiss Me More” with SZA and “You Right” with The Weeknd, as well as a deluxe edition featuring Eve’s first rapping appearance since Missy Elliott’s 2017 “I’m Better” remix.

Watch Doja Cat’s interview with Nick Cannon above.

If you’ve ever wanted to take a quick jaunt out into space — or perhaps work at an Amazon warehouse in a galaxy far, far away — you’ll be pleased to know we’re inching closer and closer to those realities. On July 20, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and three crewmates are scheduled to test the Blue Origin’s New Shepard Spacecraft in a short ten-minute flight 62 miles above the Earth, with three of those minutes leaving passengers completely weightless as they take in views through the largest windows ever built on a spacecraft. This marks the first manned test for the spacecraft following 15 successful unpiloted test flights, as well as a giant leap for commercial space travel.

In addition to Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, aviator Wally Funk (who at age 82 will be the oldest person to fly in space), and an 18-year-old Dutch student named Oliver Daemen (the first paying passenger and youngest to launch into space) are joining the expedition. According to Bezos in a CBS interview with Gayle King, he and the team are prepared, excited, and, somehow, not even the slightest bit nervous.

“People keep asking if I’m nervous. I’m not really nervous. I’m excited. I’m curious. I want to know what we’re going to learn. We’ve been training. This vehicle is ready. This crew is ready. This team is amazing. We just feel really good about it.”

The New Shepard will be launching out of Blue Origin’s West Texas launch site at 9 AM EDT. Coverage begins at 8:53 AM EDT on local CBS television stations, though you can also watch the historic event on the station’s official live stream as well.

Don’t believe everything you read online. Except this. You can totally believe this, it’s fact-checked and everything.

Joe Biden said last week that Facebook is “killing people” with vaccine misinformation and lies, a statement he was later forced to walk back due to outrage from, well, Facebook executives. With media literacy seemingly at an all-time low and misinformation running across social media platforms unchecked, there are plenty of falsehoods your favorite NFL wide receiver or right-leaning uncle is seeing on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter these days.

Which is why it’s important to know that, well, some of it is just plain bullcrap. Including a recent rumor that Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik is refusing to get vaccinated. A post about Bialik, who earlier this year hosted Jeopardy!, refusing the jab cropped up on social media in recent days. An actress from one of the most popular sitcoms of the last decade refusing the vaccine would be big news to fans of CBS evening programming, but as USA Today reported on Monday that’s simply not true. She’s vaxxed up. Sorry, Uncle Bob.

As the report details, Bialik once admitted in a book that she hadn’t followed regular vaccination schedules for her children. That spiraled into her being labled ‘anti-vax’ over the years and she’s had to consistently clarify her support of vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine introduced last year.

The Facebook post from July 14 lists Bialik’s degree alongside the claim that she “refuses to vaccinate.” That isn’t true. In fact, Bialik and her sons have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Heather Besignano, a spokeswoman for Bialik, said in an email.

“I have never, not once, said that vaccines are not valuable, not useful or not necessary, because they are,” she said in the YouTube video.

Bialik clarified that while her two children did not follow a traditional vaccine schedule, they have been vaccinated.

“As of today, my children may not have had every one of the vaccinations that your children have had, but my children are vaccinated,” she said. “I repeat my children are vaccinated.”

That video, which you can watch below, was released in October and as of Monday had just over a half million views. Which pales in comparison to the viral misinformation that can easily find millions of eyeballs on Facebook and further cause vaccine skepticism and keep vulnerable populations at risk as the Delta variant of coronavirus ravages under-vaccinated population centers.

The lesson here is to take an extra second before you share absolute nonsense on social media, or at least ignore whatever dreck your uncle is digging up from the worst spaces online and sharing to all your friends and family thanks to an algorithm no one can comprehend but wields more power than you or anyone you know will ever have on the fate of humanity itself. Anyway, have a good one.

[via USA Today]

For a long time, the idea of a Skate 4 was just a meme. It was something that everyone would blast into the comments section of any Instagram post or YouTube video that EA would make. However, while it was mainly a meme, there was still some truth behind all those comments. While we’re seeing a potential renaissance in arcade sports games, for a long time they were missing from the yearly release schedule. No Tony Hawk, no snowboarding games, and no Skate.

However, after a 10-year wait, EA announced in June 2020 that a new Skate game was entering development. The key phrase here is that it was entering development because the progress since that video has been unsurprisingly minimal. A studio named Full Circle formed to work on the game back in January and on Monday they had a small teaser to show fans to let us know that they’re still working on the game. They did tease that they have some gameplay, but they chose to not show that in the teaser video.

This is the very definition of a teaser trailer, because it teases the existence of something more but opts to not show it to us. The trailer even calls itself a tease in some kind of weird meta self-awareness. It also features a lot of fans of the game reacting to it and supposedly being extremely impressed by what they’re seeing. However, while we didn’t get to see anything, we were able to hear a few tidbits of what they should be working on and seeing some of the motion capture operation in progress.

Listening to what the fans are asking or responding to, we hear one mention they don’t want any particular skater to look the same as the other. So everyone will be happy to know that a character creator is likely on the way, and another one mentioned “spinning around a rail” which indicates the return of the park creation mode from the original Skate games. The final detail that we could hear was someone mentioning a “huge open-world” which could be fun. Having an entire world to explore and skate around in has always been a dream for skateboarding game fans, and just riding around to find spots in Skate 3 was one of the best parts of the game — people just want an even bigger world to explore.

Of course, this is just the teaser. We can speculate all we want, but until we get to see the actual gameplay ourselves the best we can do is guess.

After the cover art for her new album Solar Power became a meme, Lorde quickly followed up with a song of the ame name. It features Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo on backing vocals, and was apparently leaked early. Though that single — which accidentally referenced a classic rock hit — elicited mixed reviews from fans, excitement about her next chapter is still building.

Her intermitten updates to fans revealed the full album tracklist along with a release date of August 20, and interest certainly piqued in a song on the tracklist called “Stoned At The Nail Salon.” Well, inquiring minds won’t have to wait much longer to hear where she’s going with that one, as it’s now been confirmed as her second Solar Power single, and will be dropping this Wednesday, July 21. The New Zealand pop star confirmed the release via her website with another bright graphic.

Along with the release date Lorde confirmed a full-fledged tour for 2022, and even gave fans a taste of that with a live performance of “Solar Power” on a rooftop. Since the new single is such a left turn, having a second song for context will reveal a lot. Stay tuned for the next installment coming Wednesday. Oh, and how do Primal Scream, the band Lorde copied, feel about the “Solar Power” connect? Don’t worry, they’re flattered.

Devin Booker is having a sensational first postseason, as the sixth-year guard has helped lead the Suns to the NBA Finals, where they currently trail 3-2 to the Milwaukee Bucks. Their last two losses haven’t been for a lack of effort from Booker, who has scored 40 or more in back-to-back games, and will look to find the balance between him scoring and keeping his teammates a touch more involved in Game 6 in Milwaukee with the series on the line.

For some, this postseason has been their first extended look at Booker, who prior to this season didn’t see a lot of national TV action due to Phoenix being a bottom-dweller out West. Booker’s shotmaking abilities have been on full display this playoffs, particularly in the midrange and posting up other guards, where he has one of the best turnarounds in basketball today. It’s hard to watch Booker play and not see the impact of Kobe Bryant on him, a player Booker grew up loving and who became a mentor to Devin early in his time in the league.

Booker has spoken about his relationship with Bryant in the past, and the “Be Legendary” comment Kobe gave to Booker that he writes on his shoes before each game is a well-known story. However, that is as far as Booker wants the discussion of he and Kobe to go, as he pushed back on the Kobe comparisons on Monday when asked about them by Richard Jefferson on The Jump.

The Suns star makes clear that he has never been the one to start those comparisons and seems eager to put a stop to them, as he has such immense respect and love for Kobe that he doesn’t want there to be any confusion about him being “the next” Bryant. The influence of Bryant on Booker’s game is clear, but that’s just how the evolution of basketball works. Booker isn’t trying to be Kobe so much as he’s trying to be the best version of himself, and that involves taking influences from others (which sometimes come in the form of copying a move) and making that into his own.

While this surely won’t stop the Kobe comparisons on social media, it does make his stance clear on them and shows the reverence he has for the late Hall of Famer.

The SNL cast is most certainly in flux in the summer between seasons, with a number of notable members noncommittal about what their future holds in Studio 8H. While mainstays like Cecily Strong may still be on the fence about returning for Season 37, at least one castmember doesn’t sound like he’s going anywhere.

Kenan Thompson, currently the longest-tenured member of the sketch comedy show’s cast, has made it clear that while others on the show are weighing their future he knows where he wants to be. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Thompson didn’t hesitate in talking about his desire to make show history, which means he’ll be back when the show returns this fall.

“I keep saying I’m trying to get to 20 [seasons],” Thompson tells EW. “So if they don’t throw me out of there before, I’m trying to get to 20. And then, I don’t know if it makes sense for me to leave even after that point. As long as the show keeps going and they want me to be there and I don’t feel like I’m in the way of somebody else’s opportunity, should I just oblige? I don’t really know what to do at this point, as far as leaving is concerned. Like, why should I ever have to leave?”

There is something to be said about complacency and stagnation, but Thompson is consistently one of the sharpest, most polished castmembers on screen. His versatility is tough to match in the show’s history, and his understanding of his place in the show’s legacy seems pretty clear. More than that, he seems to get the reasons why he’d need to leave: taking up a spot someone else deserves more than he does, or if showrunner Lorne Michaels decides it’s time for him to get the boot.

Thompson’s career was essentially built around being good at something like Saturday Night Live, starting with his rise to fame on Nickelodeon’s All That. And while he’s done film and TV elsewhere, unlike other SNL stars he hasn’t felt the need to leave the show for greener pastures. It seems that for Thompson, SNL is the pasture he prefers at this point in his life and few people, including himself, are finding reasons for him to look elsewhere. So while others who took the stage for the show’s final cold open of Season 46 may not return for 47, Thompson will almost certainly be there.

[via EW]

For Ball And Country (Peacock documentary film) — The Tokyo Olympic games are upon us with the USA Basketball Men’s National Team staring down a fourth consecutive gold medal. Will they be able to achieve this goal, given everything that’s going down in the world right now? This documentary gets audiences in the mood by taking a look back at the program’s greatest teams, with a special eye on both the “Dream Team” and the “Redeem Team.” Expect some never-before-seen footage and a special trip behind the curtain of the team’s Las Vegas training camp.

Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes (HBO, 9:00pm) — Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow’s podcast undergoes this miniseries treatment here while expanding upon existing interviews with whistleblowers, private investigators, and more. The miniseries digs into the powers that be, beginning with the Harvey Weinstein case, for which Ronan’s groundbreaking New Yorker investigative report really got the #MeToo ball rolling.

The Beast Must Die: (AMC, 9:00pm) — Jared Harris and Cush Jumbo star in this revenge-thriller series (which originally aired on BritBox UK and achieved a viewing record) that has already been renewed for a second season. This week, Frances attempts to track down the man who killed her son, and she’s all about revenge.

All American (CW, 8:00pm) — Spencer’s life appears to be going well, but nothing is as it seems when he realizes Billy’s secret. Meanwhile, Jordan and Asher receive unexpected news, too.

The Republic Of Sarah (CW, 9:00pm) — This show follows the ending of tranquility of Greylock, N.H., after a stash of valuable coltan leads to new overlords, and a rebellious teacher (Sarah Cooper) steps in to halt the madness. Soon enough, there’s the prospect of Greylock becoming a sovereign nation. This week, Sarah realizes that a more representative government is preferable to her running the whole joint.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Dwayne Johnson, Joshua Jackson

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Shailene Woodley, Henry Winkler, Taky Hirano

In case you missed these weekend picks:

Schmigadoon!: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series) — If a musical comedy series starring Cecily Strong, Keegan-Michael Key, Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, and Jane Krakowski sounds a little bit too frenetic to you, consider this: Apple TV+ has been crushing the comedy game these days with the likes of Mythic Quest and Ted Lasso under its still-young belt. So, one can bet that if a series called Schmigadoon! can succeed, the show found the correct streaming home. The premise might sound a bit like a horror movie, but it’s intended to be (bizarrely) romantic with a bang-up cast that demands a streaming shot.

American Horror Stories: Season 1 (FX on Hulu series) — This spinoff of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s long-lived, anthology-based franchise will present a new iteration of horror. Viewers will receive a fresh set of terrors within every episode, after the flagship series already dove through an unsettling asylum, a freak shows, a haunted hotels, a coven, and the apocalypse. It’s not as scary as the real America, but close.