Category: News

When Dejounte Murray made his first All-Star team in February, few expected that he would be one of the most prominent players in trade rumors heading into free agency, but after word broke a week ago that the Spurs were willing to listen to offers on their 25-year-old star guard, things have accelerated to a deal being done.

Murray is headed to Atlanta for a package focused on draft picks, with Danilo Gallinari (and his non-guaranteed salary) headed back to San Antonio to make the money work.

The Spurs had reportedly set a high mark for teams to hit if they were to move Murray, with the goal of getting a Jrue Holiday-like return of three or more first round picks and swaps as they get ready to settle into a rebuild — with Victor Wembanyama at the top of every tanking team’s wishlist next year. Ultimately, Atlanta gave them what they wanted, adding a draft swap to the initial offering of three firsts, and that was good enough to pry Murray away from the Spurs and land the Hawks the type of defensive guard they coveted to put alongside Trae Young. Adrian Wojnarowski provided the details on what picks are headed San Antonio’s way, as they get two Atlanta picks and a 2023 from Charlotte — leaving the Hawks with their own 2023 first to move if they so choose.

The Hornets pick is protected 1-16 next year and then lottery protected through 2025, but the 2025 and 2027 picks, as well as the swap in 2026, are all unprotected, which is likely what led to this deal getting done.

Murray and Young certainly seem to fit snugly given they can make up for each other’s weaknesses — Murray as the elite point of attack defender that can ease Young’s burden on that end, while Young is the type of shooter and scorer that Murray is not. By making this move, the Hawks make the major shakeup they wanted to after stalling out last season by running it back, and we’ll see what other moves they make, particularly regarding John Collins who has been made very available by Atlanta this offseason. For now, they’ve at least added a rising star who has consistently improved every season in the NBA, vaulting into All-Star status last year in the West.

The Spurs clearly felt now was the time to sell high on Murray, cashing in on the best season of his career to land some significant draft capital, without taking on any long-term money in return. It certainly seems as though San Antonio didn’t view Murray as a max player to build around for the long haul, and as such they moved him a year before he got set for a contract year, where pressure could’ve mounted to get anything from him and the return could’ve been lessened.

Patty Mills decided to try something new in his NBA career last season. The veteran point guard left the San Antonio Spurs, with whom he spent the last decade, and joined the Brooklyn Nets. In theory, he was the perfect reserve guard and steady hand who could keep things moving whenever James Harden or Kyrie Irving would need to head to the bench.

While the logic was good, Mills ended up having to shoulder a heavier load than anyone could have anticipated based off of Harden’s eventual trade to Philadelphia and the strange circumstances surrounding Irving’s entire season. Still, he was one of the most reliable members of Brooklyn’s roster, and after one year, the soon-to-be 33-year-old Aussie had to make a decision on his player option worth just over $6 million.

Mills decided, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post, to decline that option and enter free agency.

During his one season as a member of the Nets, Mills averaged 11.4 points per game while hitting 40 percent of his threes. He averaged a career-high 29 minutes per game while playing in more games (81) than any other member of the roster. Given the turmoil of the last season (and so far this offseason) it’s hard to fault Mills for exploring what other opportunities may be out there to join a different contender that could provide some more stability around him.

Bill Burr has a wide range of strong opinions. He thinks gun licenses should be as hard to get as pilot licenses. He thinks referees have ruined the NBA. He thinks COVID should be deadlier, if anything. The comic also doesn’t like present day McDonald’s. In his 2017 special Walk Your Way Out, he railed against the fast food joint for adding healthy(ish) food to their menus: “Dude, this is McDonald’s. This s*it is poison. Who the f*ck comes here to get in shape?”

He also doesn’t like that they started serving breakfast all day, which he feels is them kowtowing to some very questionable customer whims. In a memorable rant, Burr proposes what he’d do if he was running the fast food giant: He’d bring back Ronald McDonald, whose presence has been greatly decreased in the last couple decades, and he’d angrily tell people to get up early if they want breakfast.

Turns out some McDonald’s workers agreed with him.

An image taken by some random Twitterer finds a McDonald’s in an unidentified location had posted Burr’s rant at their drive-thru, sternly telling people to not order breakfast past 10:30am. Below is the full rant, transcribed from Walk Your Way Out, which he delivers as an angry Ronald McDonald, whom Burr simply calls “that clown”:

Look, if you can’t get your fat ass down here by 10:30 in the morning, you’re gettin’ a burger. Alright? The clown ain’t finished! I’m not making pancakes at 3:00 in the afternoon because you did blow all night with your friends and you’re just getting your s*it together. Make no mistake: this is a burger joint. It’s always been a burger joint. We did that breakfast thing as a favor. We were just trying to freak out IHoP. ‘Oh, we’re doin’ it, too! We’re doin’ it, too!’ Your own mother won’t make you pancakes at 3:00 in the afternoon. So get your fat ass or your drugged-up ass down here before 10:30. We decide, it’s our place, we tell you what the f*ck we’re making, all right?

That said, eggs for any time of day shouldn’t be a crime. Who doesn’t enjoy a nice shakshuka for dinner? Pancakes, however…

You can watch the clip from Burr’s special below. The rant begins around the 8:00 mark.

Donte DiVincenzo was always going to hit free agency this offseason. The catch: Thanks to a decision made by the Sacramento Kings to not extend him a qualifying offer, DiVincenzo will hit the free agent market without any restrictions and is free to sign with whatever team he so chooses.

The news of DiVincenzo not getting a qualifying offer from Sacramento and thereby becoming an unrestricted free agent comes via James Ham of ESPN 1320 in Sacramento.

DiVincenzo, the No. 17 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft out of Villanova, established himself in the league in the Milwaukee Bucks’ backcourt. He started every game in which he appeared during the team’s championship-winning 2020-21 campaign, but he suffered an ankle injury early on in their playoff campaign that kept him sidelined for much of their run to a title.

While he returned to the team last season, DiVincenzo was moved to Sacramento right before the trade deadline in a move that saw Serge Ibaka go to the Bucks. DiVincenzo appeared in 25 games in a Kings uniform with one of them coming as a start, and averaged 10.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.5 steals in 26.6 games for the team while connecting on just a hair under 37 percent of his attempts from three.

James Harden’s tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start, but the honeymoon period was fleeting and ultimately his first season in Philly ended in an all-too familiar disappointing second round exit — with Harden’s struggles at the center of the conversation this time around.

Entering this offseason, the Sixers were once again faced with questions about their ability to be real contenders with their team as currently constructed. After Harden failed to pick up his $47 million player option in time after he was traded to Philly, he had initially indicated he still planned on tacking that year on before the deadline this summer, but recently there’s been buzz that a longer term extension — at a lesser annual figure — was expected to get worked out between the Sixers and Harden.

As Wednesday’s 5 p.m. ET deadline arrived, a new deal was not in place just yet but Harden still declined to pick up his option, with rumblings that this was the plan to give Philadelphia added flexibility to sign free agents and then bring Harden back on a new deal.

This could be a way for the Sixers to add PJ Tucker on the reported 3-year, $30 million deal they want to offer without having to move Matisse Thybulle in a trade first, sliding Tucker into the full mid-level. The relationship between Harden and Daryl Morey goes a long way in this kind of situation, as it’s rare for a player and executive to have the level of trust in each other not to screw the other in a plan like this, but if they can pull it off, Harden’s willingness to take a little less money might be huge in the Sixers chances of making meaningful upgrades to the roster.

As for what that new deal looks like, Zach Lowe reports that if the Sixers use the full mid-level and the bi-annual exception ($4.5 million), they can start Harden’s new deal at $35-38 million.

While the Milwaukee Bucks’ core of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton isn’t going anywhere any time soon, the 2022 offseason has the potential to see some of their top role players seek greener pastures. Perhaps atop that list is Bobby Portis, who entered the summer with a decision to make on his contract’s player option worth about $4.6 million.

Ultimately, Portis declined his player option, which comes as little surprise as the Bucks can now sign him to a long-term contract worth just north of $10 million annually with early Bird rights.

Portis joined the Bucks as a free agent during the 2020 offseason and immediately turned into a fan favorite due to his hard-nosed style of play and penchant for hitting shots in big moments. While he largely came off the bench, the veteran frontcourt player who has affectionately been nicknamed the Mayor of Milwaukee played a major role in the Bucks’ run to a championship during the 2021 postseason, which included a 16-point performance in the team’s Game 6 win over the Phoenix Suns to secure a title.

Since joining the Bucks, Portis has averaged 13.1 points and 8.1 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game while connecting on 41.8 percent of his attempts from three. While he’s now technically an unrestricted free agent, Jake Fischer reported on Wednesday that the expectation is for Portis to stay with Milwaukee on a 4-year deal worth just over $40 million.

The South Park producers have been busy churning out a massive amount of content from your favorite fictional Colorado suburb. Not only have they been releasing various COVD specials, but they also have over a dozen (really) upcoming specials slated to come out this year alone. Is there such thing as too much South Park?

The trailer for South Park The Streaming Wars Part 2 dropped today, featuring a horrifying version of Stan’s father who has now evolved into “Full Karen Mode” which consists of asking for the manager at a water park and threatening to TikTok inside of a supermarket. The internet is a scary place. The movie is a follow-up to Streaming Wars Part One which debuted on June 1st.

According to the official synopsis, a drought has brought the town of South Park to the brink of disaster. What will happen next?! Will these kids ever go off to college?!

South Park’s specials Post Covid and Post Covid: Covid Returns aired last year, tackling the future of the COVID pandemic in the fictional land of South Park. The series has been on air since 1997 and just wrapped up its 25th season earlier this year with virtually no end in sight, as the creators have mapped out a series of 14 movies in the coming year.

South Park The Streaming Wars Part 2 drops on July 13th on Paramount Plus. Check out the trailer above.

One of my favorite questions to ask friends is: what movies have you walked out of? For me, it’s only been two films, Baby’s Day Out and Miracle on 34th Street, both of which came out in 1994 when I was a bored seven-year-old with no attention span, apparently.

I haven’t left the theater early for any movie as an adult, but god knows I’ve been tempted. I’m pretty sure I was on my phone for most of Transformers: The Last Knight. (Don’t worry, it was an empty theater, which, in retrospect, should have been clue number one that it was going to be a stinker.) Stephen King also didn’t enjoy a Transformers movie-going experience, but he made the smart call and walked out.

In response to crime novelist Linwood Barclay tweeting that “Jurassic World Dominion has the distinction of being the first movie I’ve walked out on in years,” King replied, “I have walked out of only one movie as an adult: TRANSFORMERS. Would like to know what other movies people have walked out on.”

Inquiring minds had to know: did he mean the animated Transformers movie or Michael Bay’s Transformers? “Michael Bay. The first one,” the horror maestro replied.

Wow. Someone hates the Strokes.

If Bay was on Twitter, there is a 95 percent chance he would respond to King with something like, “I walked out of Maximum Overdrive, more like Maximum Crappy Movie,” followed by six explosion emojis. Instead, he’s busy making Ambulance 2 (hopefully).

James Bond did not have time to die, but you’ll have to have time to wait for the next James Bond movie. A Daniel Craig-less James Bond is not returning to a movie theater near you anytime soon.

Deadline reports that James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli (which might be an even better name than James Bond) says the next film in the historic franchise is “at least two years” away. She also confirmed that there are absolutely no actors in the running for the role as the next series of films will be a “reinvention” of Bond following the Craig Era, which was itself a very dark and very serious reinvention of Bond.

“Nobody’s in the running,” Broccoli told Deadline. “We’re working out where to go with him, we’re talking that through. There isn’t a script and we can’t come up with one until we decide how we’re going to approach the next film because, really, it’s a reinvention of Bond. We’re reinventing who he is and that takes time. I’d say that filming is at least two years away.”

While we wait and see if Idris Elba will ever be James Bond, I might as well contemplate and insert my top five Bond films into the blog because being mad at me about my personal taste is a great use of your time. Here are my top five Bond films, ranked in no particular order with the exception of Skyfall, which is the best for its cinematography from Roger Deakins and chaotic good performance from Javier Bardem: Skyfall, Casino Royale, Goldeneye, No Time To Die, Tomorrow Never Dies. You might say I have a recency bias, and that would be true, although you should know that I feel this very deeply in my heart.

One can argue that the best genre of offseason basketball videos is the one that involves professional basketball players hanging out with children and reminding them that they are nowhere near as good as they are. A recent example came when Boban Marjanovic went to a camp and kindly invited kids to try and score on him, only to send their sh*t to another county because he is very tall.

Are you ready for a new one? Well, my assumption is you are because you clicked on this post, but, whatever: Here is a video of Zion Williamson, a physical marvel by basically any way you cut it, going to a gym and challenging a bunch of kids to play 1-on-1 against him. The children try to play some level of defense against the New Orleans Pelicans star, but instead, they learn the hard way that Zion is better at basketball than they are.

The cool thing with this video — namely that second clip — is that Zion is probably going at, like, 1.5 percent of his max effort. This is way more than most athletes do in these videos, because they tend to kinda just stand there and wait for something to happen before humbling some kids. But not Zion, and for that reason, this is a good video.