Month: June 2022

With the James Harden era another year removed, the Houston Rockets are in the business of accumulating young, high-upside players for the next great era in the franchise’s storied history. In the meantime, the Rockets have only 37 wins over the last two seasons, pivoting hard to the future both in the Harden deal and in subsequent moves. The 2021 draft was kind to Houston, particularly with the additions of Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, and the 2022 draft provided even more opportunities for the organization to add to its coffers.

Heading into the night with the No. 3 overall pick and another pick at No. 17, the Rockets had the chance to continue their roster transformation, pairing Green with another top-end talent at the center of the team’s rebuilding plan. Before the festivities even began, Houston added another first-round pick in a swap involving Christian Wood, as they continued to prioritize what they hope is a bright future.

Roster Needs: More defensive talent, a long-term creator at the point guard position, overall upside

Jabari Smith (No. 3 Overall), A-: This wasn’t the result most envisioned, but it’s an easy choice for Houston after the way the top two shook out. Smith should fit seamlessly alongside Jalen Green with the Rockets, as the 6’10 forward is one of the best shooters in the draft with great size. He also projects as a plus defender, and his ceiling is sky-high if Smith can continue to develop as a ball-handler and playmaker.

2022 Free Agents:
Dennis Schroder (UFA)
Bruno Fernando (RFA)
Anthony Lamb (RFA)
Trevelin Queen (RFA)

Roster:
John Wall
Eric Gordon
Jalen Green
David Nwaba
Alperen Sengun
Kevin Porter Jr
Usman Garuba
Josh Christopher
Garrison Mathews (non-guaranteed)
Kenyon Martin Jr (non-guaranteed)
Jae’Sean Tate (team option, non-guaranteed)
Daishen Nix
Boban Marjanovic
Trey Burke
Sterling Brown
Marquese Chriss
Jabari Smith

Perhaps more clearly than any franchise in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder are in the midst of an extended rebuild. To be fair to Sam Presti and company, the Thunder are just two seasons away from a Chris Paul-led playoff appearance, but Oklahoma City then boldly announced a full-scale teardown that resulted in the virtually unprecedented accrual of future-facing draft capital. On the floor, the results have been pretty ugly for the Thunder, with only 46 combined wins in the last two seasons.

After a disappointing lottery result in 2021 led to only one top-tier draft pick (Josh Giddey), the Thunder were a bit more fortunate this time around, landing in the top tier of the 2022 class. That gave Oklahoma City the opportunity to add to an already intriguing stockpile of intriguing young pieces, and, along with another lottery pick at No. 12, there was plenty of ammo for the Thunder to make some noise on Draft night.

Roster Needs: Top-tier talent, shooting, reliable play in the frontcourt

Chet Holmgren (No. 2 Overall), A: The Thunder take the best player available in my view, which is usually a good idea. Holmgren certainly has some risk with his well-documented frame concerns, but he is a preternatural defender with elite length and the rim protection ability. Holmgren also brings a varied, impressive skill set on the offensive end, and he brings substantial upside to the table for a Thunder team that is still looking to accumulate talent.

2022 Free Agents:
Melvin Frazier (RFA)

Roster:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Derrick Favors
Josh Giddey
Darius Bazley
JaMychal Green (player option)
Ty Jerome
Mike Muscala (team option)
Aleksej Pokusevski
Tre Mann
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Kenrich Williams (non-guaranteed)
Lu Dort (team option)
Isaiah Roby (team option, non-guaranteed)
Theo Maledon (non-guaranteed)
Vit Krejci (non-guaranteed)
Aaron Wiggins (non-guaranteed)
Chet Holmgren

The Orlando Magic finished with the second-worst record in the NBA during the 2021-22 season, posting an unsightly 22-60 overall record. The Magic were clearly in a rebuilding mode after selling veteran pieces during the 2020-21 campaign, however, and Orlando is 35-89 since the 2021 trade deadline passed. On the bright side for Orlando, the ping-pong balls bounced in their favor, with the Magic landing the No. 1 overall pick in late June.

Orlando is still in search of a franchise player, with this particular selection providing the team’s clearest path to such a piece. Outside of that pursuit, the Magic did have some encouraging moments during the 2021-22 campaign, especially through the lens of rookie forward Franz Wagner and a talented young big man Wendell Carter Jr. Orlando will need more from 2021 lottery pick Jalen Suggs moving forward, but the Magic project to receive more contributions from Jon Isaac and Markelle Fultz, and the team has the world at its fingertips.

Roster Needs: Star-level talent, floor spacing, wings

Paolo Banchero (No. 1 Overall), B: After the widespread expectation that the Magic would tab Jabari Smith Jr., Banchero is the guy, and Orlando secures a top-flight prospect. This is a draft with a consensus top three prospects, but Banchero is the most NBA-ready on the offensive end. He is a capable offensive hub at 6’10 with high-end passing vision, and murmurs about his defensive issues are likely overstated given his size and feel. He won’t necessarily help Orlando’s decade-long search for shooting, but Banchero could be the best player in the draft and this is a reasonable choice, even if not the top player on my board.

2022 Free Agents:
Gary Harris (UFA)
Mo Bamba (RFA)
Robin Lopez (UFA)
Bol Bol (RFA)
Admiral Schofield (RFA)
Ignas Brazdeikas (RFA)

Roster:
Jonathan Isaac
Markelle Fultz
Wendell Carter Jr.
Terrence Ross
Jalen Suggs
Franz Wagner
Cole Anthony
Chuma Okeke
RJ Hampton
Mo Wagner (non-guaranteed)
Devin Cannaday (non-guaranteed)
Paolo Banchero

Sometimes, life can unexpectedly snatch you away from safety and thrust you into imminent danger. Other times, life can just as quickly turn a dire circumstance into a heartwarming miracle.

Such was the case for a baby hawk who went from being dinner to being adopted by a family of bald eagles near the city of Nanaimo in British Columbia, Canada. The amazing moment was captured by a 24-hour livestream webcam run by GROWLS, a nonprofit organization that helps rescue and rehabilitate injured wildlife.

The video shows the seemingly doomed baby hawk being tossed into an eaglet’s nest. Pam McCartney, a GROWLS volunteer who had been watching the livestream at the time, braced herself.

“Usually when I watch, like, David Attenborough and his shows, I can close my eyes or fast forward or whatever, but this was live at the time, and I was just like, oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh,” she told CBC.

Much to her surprise, nature seemed to have something else in mind.

The baby hawk had inexplicably survived the eagle’s talons, which in itself was an extraordinary feat according to ornithologist and Professor Emeritus of Wildlife Biology at Montreal’s McGill University, David Bird, who shared the story on a segment of the radio show “As It Happens.” Yes, a guy who studies birds has the last name Bird. It’s too perfect.

In an even rarer phenomenon, the hawkling was spared by both the mother and baby eagle once they realized it was alive and moving around. McCartney shared that by that evening both chicks were being cared for. Her guess is that it might have something to do with the eagle family having recently lost one of the two eaglets.

“In my mind of growing up on Disney, I’m seeing this eaglet think like, ‘was this another little sibling?'” she told CBC.

As mind boggling as it is, this is not the first hawk adoption story to hit the area. In 2017, a young red-tailed hawk, nicknamed Spunky, made headlines after being raised by a pair of bald eagles.

Bird told CBC that, while Spunky did require support from an extended family of scientists (primarily because hawks and eagles feed on different prey), it was still ultimately a success. Spunky is “alive and well,’ which is a good omen for this new baby hawk.

So far, the birds are one big, happy family, McCartney reports, with plenty of “raptor kisses” for everyone.

Families really do come in many different shapes and sizes, all across the food chain.

As the NBA Draft loomed large on Thursday night, a team without a single pick dominated the conversation as the Brooklyn Nets impending implosion gained steam.

Hours before the draft, reports from both ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania indicated that both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were starting to consider their options for leaving Brooklyn, as the Nets continued to be unwilling to give Irving the long-term extension he was seeking. Around 7:45 p.m. ET, those rumblings about Irving’s discontent grew into a full fledged report from Charania that it wasn’t just an option for Irving, but now the “expectation” that he would begin seeking out a new team via trade, and will likely elect to opt into his player option in order to facilitate that.

Opting in is the only way Irving can get to either of the Los Angeles teams, as both will be hard-capped and cannot do a sign-and-trade — but could extend Irving in six months should they acquire him after opting in. Irving also has a number of other contenders on his wishlist, per Woj, but it remains to be seen which teams would be interested enough in Kyrie and all the baggage that comes with him to pursue him in a trade. In any case, it appears there is real smoke towards the Nets losing all of there stars without ever seeing through a full season with everyone, a rather stunning fall after barely any rise at all for the team that was supposed to be the next superteam in the NBA.

It appears that Lil Tjay is not doing as well as many thought he would be doing following emergency surgery for gunshot wounds he suffered on Wednesday morning. It was reported that around midnight Wednesday, Tjay and two friends, Jeffrey Valdez and Antoine Boyd, were at a Chiptole in Edgewater, New Jersey when Mohamed Konate, 27, attempted to commit an armed robbery against the trio. The incident resulted in Tjay being shot multiple times and requiring the aforementioned surgery. Initial reports said that the rapper was in stable condition and recovering, but a recent update from TMZ says that he has remained unconscious since the procedure.

TMZ reports that the rapper reportedly moved his leg yesterday, but has yet to have any other significant movement since the surgery. Tjay will undergo a CT scan with further updates set to arrive once that is conducted and results arrive. There is no word on whether Tjay had a setback in his recovery or if the initial update about his post-surgery status was incorrect.

Less than a day after the shooting, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey released a statement confirming that Konate had been arrested for the shooting. According to XXL, he was charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder, three counts of first-degree armed robbery, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, second-degree certain persons not to possess a firearm, and fourth-degree aggravated assault.

Additionally, both Valdez and Boyd were charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon.

The golf world is currently in turmoil over the departure of a number of top stars to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour, with the PGA scrambling to find money to combat the giant purses and guaranteed signing bonuses for its best players. The entire saga has been exhausting for golf fans and luckily Thursday’s first round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut provided a moment of unadulterated joy for fans to ignore the concerns about the future of the sport for awhile.

During the opening round, a group on the 16th green suddenly stopped play and stared off into the distance, as something was causing a commotion. When the camera finally panned over to what it was, we were treated to a rogue, unmanned golf cart flying down a hill, past a lackluster effort from a volunteer, and directly into the lake where it sunk to the bottom.

It’s hard to express how much joy this video has brought me and I hope you watch it again and again as well. Knowing the lake is there, when they cut to the wild golf cart we know that’s where it’s headed but it still is quite the journey to end up in its watery grave. How it got on the loose we may never know, but my favorite part is this guy trying in vain to figure out how he can stop it, only to realize there’s no slowing it down and dodging it as it dives into the lake.

RIP to that golf cart and someone has some explaining to do about how that thing got cooking down the hill with no one in it.

Edi Patterson has proven her comedic genius as Judy Gemstone on The Righteous Gemstones, HBO’s megachurch mockery. She’s the rare type of performer who can say the filthiest, most bizarre things with a straight face, all without losing sight of the character underneath. After all, the show can’t work on gags alone. It’s a tall order, but during her recent interview with Vanity Fair, Patterson offered three comments that might be keys to figuring out Judy’s magic. It’s all about the “but.”

“She’s delusional about other things, but her stuff with church—performing and being front and center at church? She knows she can do it,” Patterson said, after describing Judy as an everywoman who, just like us, has something to prove. As for the family, she said, “With all of them, you see they’re just doing their best. Maybe they come from some very messed up ideas of what doing your best means, but they truly are doing their best.”

Finally, in capturing the essence of the show itself, Patterson said, “It’s a dark show. It’s a genuinely funny show. It’s an edgy show, but it’s not a mean show.”

These are all statements of delightful contradictions and nuance. Be dark, but don’t be mean. Be delusional, but find your center. Be messed up, but try your best.

The rest of the interview is a fantastic look into Patterson’s method (as well as heaps of praise for her co-stars, Adam DeVine and Danny McBride).

(via Vanity Fair)

Back in the quaint old days, the biggest question about the MCU‘s timeline was why Captain Marvel didn’t help during the Battle of New York. The answer given in Endgame is that there were a lot of other worlds that needed her attention that didn’t have mighty heroes. Either that or movies are made in a certain order regardless of what time period those movies take place in. Logistics! They’re a bummer when trying to make heads or tails of the internal logic for a 20+ movie mega-franchise.

And things just got more complicated.

Disney+ now has Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness available to stream, and they’ve launched it within a chronological timeline of MCU order. That’s right. You can do that foolish marathon from Captain America: The First Avenger to Ms. Marvel without having to bring your sleeping bag to the totally clean floors of your local cineplex.

The little hiccup is that Multiverse of Madness lands smack dab between Eternals and Hawkeye, meaning Doctor Strange would have been available to lend a helping, swirling hand to Wanda during her WandaVision crisis and would have been aware of some tectonic shifts in earth history during Eternals. Of course, the bigger question about missing characters in the MCU involves another WandaVision mainstay not popping into Multiverse of Madness. There are spoilers in that link, so be careful.

Maybe a future movie will drop a line that makes sense of the absence. Or not! Maybe Doctor Strange just isn’t all that helpful. Or maybe it’s okay to love these movies without worrying too much about the timey wimey stuff. With so many characters, there will inevitably be some questions about why someone was AWOL when bad things were going down.

(via Marvel.com)

A shocking report released last month by Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe found that over the past nine years there has been a 53% rise in contamination of the most hazardous pesticides in European fresh fruits.

The analysis of more than 97,000 fruit samples found that nearly one-half of all blackberries and one-third of apples had toxic pesticide residue. These pesticides have been linked to serious illnesses such as birth defects, cancer and heart disease.

At the same time, Reuters reports that intensive “farming, forestry and urbanisation are fuelling the degradation of natural habitats” adding that most of Europe’s protected “species have a negative conservation status.”

In an effort to dramatically reduce the volume of pesticides in the bloc’s food supply and rehabilitate its natural habitat, the European Commission has proposed dramatic new environmental targets. The first would reduce the use of chemical pesticides across the EU 50% by 2030. Pesticides would also be banned for use in public parks and protected areas.

u201cAccording to new research by our partners at PAN Europe, the contamination of fruits and vegetables produced in the European Union by the most toxic pesticides has substantially increased over the past decade. https://t.co/y6SIIkdQ7Yu201d

— PAN North America (@PAN North America)
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The second would require EU countries to restore 20% of the bloc’s land to nature by 2030 and all degraded land by 2050.

In addition, the proposal would restore 15,500 miles of rivers and redirect them to their natural courses. It would also work to increase farmland bird populations.

“The aim is to cover at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 with nature restoration measures, and eventually extend these to all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050,” the commission said, according to The Washington Post.

Frans Timmermans, the commission’s first vice president, will help the EU recover its natural habitat at a time when the planet is threatened by climate change.

“When we restore nature, we allow it to continue providing clean air, water, and food, and we enable it to shield us from the worst of the climate crisis,” Timmermans said according to The Washington Post. “Reducing pesticide use likewise helps nature recover, and protects the humans who work with these chemicals.”

The new proposal would be wonderful for the planet but the fast transition to pesticide alternatives would be a challenge to EU farmers. So the proposal allows farmers to use EU funds to cover the new costs for the first five years.

The proposal will have to be approved by EU member countries and lawmakers to take effect. Some are skeptical of making such drastic changes at a time when the bloc’s food supply has been compromised by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, the European Commission believes if there isn’t a switch to new farming techniques, the effect on the bloc could be disastrous as well.

“If we lose soil fertility, if soil erosion and degradation continue, that is going to be a major impact on our agricultural output,” the European Commission’s Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius told Reuters.

The European Commission’s proposal is a dramatic plan that could fundamentally change the face of Europe by reversing decades of damage caused by farming and urban sprawl. At a time when Europe is being challenged by war and the effects of climate change, returning the land to nature has never seemed like a better idea.