GoneTrending

For the first time since the 2011-12 NBA season, the Portland Trail Blazers are going into the year without the services of Damian Lillard. We’ll make this quick as you know the story here, but Lillard is now a member of the Milwaukee Bucks on the heels of a tense offseason where he requested a trade to the Miami Heat.

Now, Portland has to prepare for life without arguably the greatest player in franchise history, which is a difficult spot for a lot of teams, because it requires a full-scale rebuild after years of going all-in on getting the best out of that specific player. But while the Blazers probably won’t win a ton of games — someone in the Western Conference has to have a bad record — there’s talent on this team and there’s plenty of draft capital that can help them as they put together their roster going forward. Even if a postseason berth of any kind this year is a bit optimistic, this year has the potential to be a fun one in the Pacific Northwest.

Biggest Question: How Does Scoot Henderson’s Rookie Year Go?

We’ll never know everything that went on this offseason, but one thing we do know is that Lillard wanted Portland to turn the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft into immediate help. The team decided to not do that, and instead used the pick on Scoot Henderson, the dynamic guard from the G League Ignite who has been pegged as a potential All-Star for years.

Putting major expectations on Henderson right away is not fair. He is, at the end of the day, a teenager who is about to make the jump to the most difficult professional basketball league in the world. But for everything that Portland got (and will continue to get) in the Lillard trade — whether that be the one that sent Lillard our or the subsequent ones involving players they acquired for him — the most important piece of the puzzle is his successor, who will now get the opportunity to spread his wings and fly from the jump.

There’s a solid core around Henderson, and those players should help take some of the pressure off of him as he finds his way in the league. That might take a while, because being a rookie point guard is just not easy. But between his natural ability and the way he’s wired, it makes sense to want to bet on Henderson in the long-term — remember, while the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft was never in doubt, there was a school of thought that Henderson would have gone first overall in plenty of prior Drafts, as he’s the sort of guard prospect worth building your team around. This year is a chance for him to lay down a floor, and even though there are going to be obvious growing pains, the flashes he’ll probably show are what the Blazers are banking on.

X-Factor: Shaedon Sharpe Taking Another Step

Sharpe’s unusual path to the NBA has been well-documented. There’s a chance he could have been in the conversation to go No. 1 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft if he played in college, but instead, he went through his only season at Kentucky without playing a single game. And while he was not perfect during his first year in the league by any stretch of the imagination, Sharpe’s flashes as a potential game-changing talent on the wing with rare athleticism were quite promising.

It’s worth noting that the Blazers’ priorities … we’ll say evolved as the year went on — they played 24 games after the All-Star break, won five of them, and Lillard was shut down for the final 10 games of the year. Sharpe’s play was a bright spot over this stretch, as he shouldered a bigger load down the stretch and responded well. Those final 10 games without Lillard were especially promising for Sharpe, as he played in nine of them and averaged 23.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 35.5 minutes a night while shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 36 percent from three.

He’s similar to Henderson in that the infrastructure around him is going to be important, because even though he has a year of NBA experience under his belt, the amount of responsibility that is going to be on his shoulders is increasing. The reps he gets this year are going to be gigantic for the long-term outlook of the Blazers. If he makes the most of them, Portland’s post-Lillard rebuild is going to look even more exciting.

In our efforts to find the best fall craft cocktails, we’ve dug deep into dens of iniquity and hallowed archives. Pumpkin spice flips, apple brandy sours, sips dark and spicy, and so many more cocktails that simply ooze fall vibes. But I think I’ve finally cracked the code and found the absolute quintessential October cocktail. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, being that I’ve been looking for these drinks down various historical rabbit holes, but this wondrous drink is called…

The Applejack Rabbit.

Have you heard of it before? Seen someone order it? Had a bartender regale you with its history? If not, allow me.

The Applejack Rabbit dates back to the dark days of Prohibition and highlights apple brandy (a recurring theme for me this fall). Moreover, it just plain slaps. It’s one of those cocktails that you take a sip of and your eyes widen for a moment and then widen again on the finish. Yes, it’s that good.

Intrigued? Let’s dive in and get shaking one up!

• These *Real* Strawberry Margarita Recipes Are Exactly What You Need This Weekend
• The Bourbon Smash Is Our Official Labor Day Weekend Cocktail — Here’s The Recipe
• Learn To Make These Essential Bourbon Cocktails For Bourbon Heritage Month
• The Five Cocktails That Everyone Should Be Able To Make At Home
• The Porn Star Martini Is Our Official Summer Cocktail — Here’s The Recipe

Applejack Rabbit

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. apple brandy
• 0.75 oz. fresh orange juice
• 0.75 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 0.5 oz. maple syrup
• Ice
• Lemon peel

Back in the day, Applejack and apple brandy were pretty much interchangeable terms, depending on whatever part of the country you were in. So don’t feel tied to buying and using something with “applejack” on the label. Always use the best spirits to make the best cocktails. In this case, you can’t go wrong with the highly awarded Starlight Distillery Bottled-in-Bond 11-Year-Old Apple Brandy from Indiana. It’s a great sipper on its own and it shines brightly in this cocktail, with a deep and fresh apple orchard vibe with a nice layer of wood spices that really pop.

As for the rest of the ingredients, you can get them anywhere. But make sure to get real-deal maple syrup. That component is crucial to giving a buttery depth to the finish of this drink.

What You’ll Need:

• Coupe, Nick and Nora, or cocktail glass (prechilled)
• Cocktail Shaker
• Cocktail strainer
• Hand juicer
• Paring knife
• Fine mesh strainer
• Jigger

Method:

• Add the apple brandy, orange juice, lemon juice, maple syrup, and a handful of ice to a cocktail shaker. Affix the lid and shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds (until the shaker is ice-cold to touch).
• Fetch the glass from the freezer and strain the cocktail into the glass. Express the lemon oils from the lemon peel over the cocktail, run the peel around the rim and stem, and then discard the peel. Serve.

Bottom Line:

This is light and citrusy on the front of the palate and then veers into a fresh and crisp apple bite that’s absolutely layered with fall spices. It’s almost airy but then goes deep on the finish toward a caramelized and buttery note that just works wonders with the spiced crisp apple vibe that came before it.

You immediately want to go back for another sip of this one. Then another. That finish just takes this cocktail to a whole new level and really draws out the entire experience. This is like a walk through an apple orchard on a crisp fall day followed up by freshly baked cinnamon rolls just kissed with orange oils and then brightened with lemon oils. It’s brilliant.

Master this easy shaker and you’ll cruise straight through October.

An institution in the world of sports is hanging up his skates. On Tuesday afternoon, ESPN announced that longtime hockey analyst Barry Melrose, who turned 67 earlier this year, would leave the network after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. One of his colleagues at the network, John Buccigross, posted the news to his Twitter account, along with a video that highlighted Melrose’s one-of-a-kind personality and his love for the sport.

After a professional career that spanned more than a decade and included NHL stints with the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Detroit Red Wings, Melrose moved into the coaching ranks, where he spent time with both the Los Angeles Kings and, for a brief spell in 2008, the Tampa Bay Lightning. During his first year at the helm of the Kings in 1992-93, Melrose helped the team make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, where Los Angeles would ultimately fall in five games to the Montreal Canadiens.

He’s perhaps most well-known for his tenure as an analyst with the Worldwide Leader in Sports. Melrose joined ESPN in 1996 and has been a mainstay in the network’s coverage of the sport for decades. The news of Melrose’s departure from the network comes on the day that the NHL will drop the puck on the 2023-24 regular season.

Earlier today (October 10), Christina Aguilera announced that she’s coming back to Las Vegas with a brand new residency. The show will be held at The Venetian’s Voltaire Belle De Nuit, and sooner than fans might have thought.

Aguilera’s residency will open on New Year’s Eve, with the first two dates being December 30 and 31. More dates are set to be announced later this week. For those looking to buy tickets to the opening dates, they will be available for purchase this Friday, October 13.

While not much information is known, Voltaire’s website states that there will also be VIP Packages for the shows. Right now, fans can sign up for the venue’s mailing list for an “exclusive first look” at future residency dates.

“I look forward to bringing Las Vegas a new show that fuses music, sophistication, and art in ways I have never performed before,” Aguilera shared about her new residency in a statement. “What I love about the intimacy at Voltaire at The Venetian Resort is how up-close-and-personal I can be with the audience… a truly modern twist on the performance experience.”

Tickets to Aguilera’s new residency will be sold through Ticketmaster. More information can be found on Voltaire’s official website here.

We’ve all been subjected to a Lifetime movie or two over the years. Maybe while staying home sick from high school, or hanging out with your grandma, or even in your own downtime when you wanted to subject yourself to some modern American horrors. And now the network has made it to a monumental 500 (!!!!) original Lifetime movies, so the next one is going to be an entire event.

Murdaugh Murders: The Movie is Lifetime’s take on the real-life story of Alex Murdaugh (played by Bill Pullman), who was found guilty in the double homicide of his wife and son in this twisty true crime case. Murdaugh recently faced a total of 102 grand jury criminal charges and is currently incarcerated for two consecutive life sentences.

The Lifetime effort should not be confused with Netflix’s Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal from earlier this year or HBO’s The Murdaugh Dynasty. There is clearly a lot to tell about this family.

The special premieres on Saturday, October 14th at 8 pm on Lifetime, and part two will then premiere on Sunday, October 15th. The special will head to streaming the next day in the Lifetime app, so you might need to reach out to your cool aunt now and ask for her password so you can catch up on some more Lifetime originals. All 500 of them.

Since pulling out of his guest-starring appearance on Lil Baby’s It’s Only Us Tour, “Where Does Spirits Go” musician The Kid Laroi has kept a mysteriously low profile. Last month, Laroi took to his official Instagram page to explain his hiatus while announcing his next full-length album, The First Time.

“I’m sorry I’ve been a bit silent. Been going through a lot recently. I’m good, but I’ve just needed space to focus on processing my feelings & work,” wrote the entertainer. Today (October 10), Laroi revealed his plans to go global on his next single off the forthcoming project. The track titled “Too Much” will feature guest verses from international music stars Jung Kook and Central Cee.

In a teaser clip uploaded to his official Instagram page. The video ends with the release date and time for each recording artist’s respective time zones. For Laroi, that’s Sydney, Australia. Central Cee is a proud London, England native. While BTS’ Jung Kook hails from Busan, South Korea.

“Too Much” is slated to hit streaming platforms on October 20. In addition to the song’s release, Laroi has unveiled that fans will have the opportunity to purchase physical CDs with alternating covers of the record as well as other clothing items. Find more information here. Fans of Laroi should expect his next album sometime next month.

It’s been five months since season five of All-American came to a close. In a normal year, we’d be close to enjoying the show’s sixth season, but things are a bit different now. All-American was renewed for season six at the top of 2023, but the new season will not be the jam-packed 20-episode package that we’ve come to expect from the series over the past few years. A shake-up at CW, where All-American episodes air, caused a reduction in season six episodes which took it from 20 episodes to just, but when will those new episodes come out?

When Does All-American Season 6 Come Out?

In a new update from The Hollywood Reporter, CW is eyeing April 2024 for the premiere of All-American season six. It comes after production for the new season was paused due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes which is also why CW pushed back the season premieres of All-American, as well as All-American: Homecoming, back to 2024. Now that the WGA strike is over, script work for both shows can resume.

The new season of All-American will reportedly premiere in April 2024 and run through the summer which follows a similar schedule that CW put into use after the pandemic delayed multiple shows on the network.

‘All American’ season 5 is now available to stream on Netflix.

The Washington Wizards have not won 50 games or more in an NBA season since 1979. That not-so-fun fact almost feels made-up, but it’s true. Beyond that, the Wizards have only one playoff appearance in the last five seasons, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2021 postseason, and Washington has not finished a season above the .500 mark since Marcin Gortat appeared in all 82 games for the 2017-18 squad. Needless to say, the operating mindset of “aim for the play-in” did not bear considerable fruit for the Wizards but, beginning with the 2023 offseason, everything appears to be different in the nation’s capital.

For one thing, the Wizards will likely enter the 2023-24 season with the NBA’s lowest projected win total, with oddsmakers generally placing Washington’s projection in the mid-20’s. That is a far cry from back-to-back 35-win performances in 2021-22 and 2022-23, but the dip in the forecast coincides with the Wizards (finally) acknowledging the landscape under new front office head Michael Winger. Rather than play for the middle, Washington blew things up this summer, sending Bradley Beal to Phoenix as the headliner of a group of moves designed to pivot the entire organization. The results may be ugly in 2023-24 specifically but, for the first time in a long time, Washington appears to have a coherent long-term plan.

Biggest Question: Who Are The Building Blocks Of The Next Great Wizards Team?

At first blush, Washington’s rotation could be quite respectable in 2023-24. The high-end talent isn’t really there for the Wizards, but Washington may field an entire 10-man group on opening night that is filled with real NBA rotation players. The issue is that most of them are probably best suited for reserve roles, with only Kyle Kuzma and maybe Jordan Poole bringing the pedigree associated with highly productive starters. Of course, Washington could also lean into the void during the season, playing young guys more and more in search of information and ping-pong balls, and there are many reasons why the Wizards are projected for the league’s lowest win total.

The big question stemming from that jumbled landscape is, essentially, who “the guys” are for Washington. Kuzma is the team’s best player, but the 28-year-old is likely miscast as one of the top two or three players on a real playoff team, and when he re-signed in Washington, it almost came with an immediate countdown to trade eligibility. Poole was essentially salary dumped by Golden State and, while he likely is better than he showed during a brutal 2022-23 season, the former Michigan guard may be ideally cast as a high-usage sixth man type on a good team, much as he was with the Warriors.

Kuzma and Poole will almost assuredly sit atop the team’s pecking order when it comes to scoring and usage, but this is also an information gathering season. What is former lottery pick Johnny Davis? What about former first-round pick Corey Kispert, who has shown himself capable of a rotation role but may be looking for more? How ’bout Daniel Gafford, who has plenty of highlights and flashes at the center spot? Finally, there should be quite a bit of attention paid to Bilal Coulibaly. For a lot of teams, the 19-year-old probably wouldn’t be ready for a rotation role, but Coulibaly was the No. 7 pick for a rebuilding team and, even if he is clearly a long-term play, Washington will want to see him on the court at some point soon. In the end, it’s all about identification and evaluation because, with all due respect to a bunch of really respectable veterans in Delon Wright, Tyus Jones, Taj Gibson, Mike Muscala, and Landry Shamet, this season isn’t really about them for Washington.

X-Factor: Deni Avdija

Deni Avdija fits snugly alongside Davis, Kispert, and others with regard to Washington’s biggest question, but he gets his own section for a few reasons. For one, Avdija is extension-eligible before his fourth season, and the former No. 9 pick remains something of an enigma. The pitch on Avdija as a draft prospect centered on his abilities as a versatile connecting forward that every team seeks and, in some ways, he has shown signs of being that. On the other hand, Avdija can be a tough fit on offense, shooting 31 percent (on few attempts) from three-point range in his career and settling into a very low-usage role.

On defense, the 6’9 forward is an effective cog, but he isn’t dominant. He also overlaps a bit with Kuzma positionally, and the two don’t make the greatest tandem at the forward spots given some overlapping limitations. It would be fair to project Avdija as a long-time NBA player, and he has proven to be a rotation-caliber entity through three seasons, but Washington was undoubtedly looking for more from a top-10 pick. While it is too early to close the book entirely on Davis from the 2022 Draft, that pick isn’t looking fantastic and, as noted above, Kispert is probably bound for a life as a pure role player. Washington’s Draft history is checkered at best but, independent of that, it could be a revealing year for Avdija and how the franchise views his long-term future.

As Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom gets ready to arrive in theaters later this year and bring to an end the tumultuous DC Extended Universe (or SnyderVerse if you nasty), a new report on the apparently very troubled production has once again resurfaced rumors that Jason Momoa will leave the aquatic superhero behind to play a new character in James Gunn’s new DC Universe.

According to Variety, Momoa taking on the role of the DC Comics anti-hero Lobo is reportedly close to becoming a reality and may happen sooner than expected:

In fact, none of the stars cast by Zack Snyder for 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and 2017’s “Justice League” — including Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller and Momoa — will reprise their roles in the new DC universe in character. Momoa may return, just not as Aquaman. Sources say the actor has engaged in talks to play Lobo, either in the 2025 reboot “Superman: Legacy,” written and directed by Gunn, or in a standalone film.

Momoa jumping ship to Lobo was first hinted at back in December 2022 as Gunn took over the reins of DC Studios and made it clear that he was working towards a clean slate for the comic book universe. When asked about the big changes a month later, Momoa gave a cleverly-worded answer that both supported the upcoming Aquaman sequel and teased a potential new role down the road.

“I’ll always be Aquaman. Ain’t anyone coming in there and taking s*it,” Momoa said via Variety. “There might be some other characters, too. I can play other things, too. I can be funny and savage and charming.”

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom swims into theaters on December 20.

(Via Variety)

It’s been a few weeks since Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas formally announced their divorce on social media, sparking a media battle between the two. While Turner had stayed relatively quiet about their separation, she did file for custody over their two children, as she wanted to reportedly take them back to England with her.

Now, a new court filing appears that Turner and Jonas have reached an agreement to mediate her lawsuit. According to Billboard, lawyers for both parties “believe that an amicable resolution on all issues between them is forthcoming.”

Turner originally filed a lawsuit in Manhattan, claiming that Jonas was withholding the children’s passports. It also cited international treaties on child abduction, per the publication.

“The Father’s retention of the children in the United States from England is therefore wrongful under the Hague Convention because the Father has retained the children from their habitual residence of England,” it read.

As the two were negotiating in New York, Turner has been seemingly staying at Taylor Swift’s house. The two have been close following Jonas’ divorce filing, attending dinners together, posing for photos with friends, and more. Turner’s two daughters have been there, too, being spotted on several occasions.