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The Miami Heat entered this offseason without much ability to make a splash in free agency like they did a year ago in a sign-and-trade for Kyle Lowry, as their main avenues towards improving the roster would come via trade.

That meant the impetus was on bringing back as much of their rotation as possible from a team that came up one game shy of another trip to the NBA Finals. After seeing one key member walk in PJ Tucker, Miami was able to lock down their backup center for two more years, bringing veteran Dewayne Dedmon back shortly after free agency opened, as first reported by Shams Charania.

A career journeyman big, Dedmon carved out a role off the Heat’s bench last year, appearing in 67 games with 15 starts. Dedmon averaged 6.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per game while shooting 56.6 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from three. His combination of rim protection and shooting ability makes him a very useful reserve big, capable of spot starting when Bam Adebayo is out. Miami clearly valued what he brought to the team, locking him down quickly before turning their attention elsewhere in both free agency and the potential trade market, as they were a top rumored destination for Kevin Durant.

The Minnesota Timberwolves took a substantial step forward in 2021-22, zooming to a 46-win season and threatening to knock off the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2022 NBA postseason. With Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns under contract, the future is very bright for Minnesota and, on the first evening of free agency, the Wolves reportedly added a veteran piece that should help to raise the team’s defensive profile. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports the Wolves have agreed on a two-year, $18 million deal with 28-year-old forward Kyle Anderson.

Anderson averaged 7.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game for Memphis last season, posting 44.6 percent shooting from the floor and 33.0 percent from three-point distance. While he took a step back from the perimeter after shooting 36.0 percent from three-point range in the previous season, Anderson is an intelligent and versatile offensive player who is above-average on the defensive end.

The Wolves will use most of the mid-level exception in order to secure a commitment from Anderson, and he should bring two-way ability at either forward spot. Anderson’s modest salary, at least by rotation player standards, could also be useful in future trade discussions for a Wolves team with multiple players in the $8 million to $16 million range, and Anderson was also one of the better remaining free agents after the first wave of high-profile names.

Singer/rapper Samuel T. Herring (aka Hemlock Ernst) of the Baltimore synth band Future Islands will make his acting debut alongside LaKeith Stanfield in an adaptation of Victor LaValle’s The Changeling. This isn’t the George C. Scott horror film or the Angelina Jolie Oscar-bait movie or any of a dozen other stories with the same name. LaValle’s 2017 horror fantasy novel was immediately earmarked for adaptation after winning the Locus Award and tying for a World Fantasy Award (with Fonda Lee’s Jade City, which is also heading for adaptation).

The story focuses on Apollo (Stanfield’s character), a rare book dealer enchanted by his first child who must deal with his wife’s unspeakable act of violence following what appears to be post-partum depression. Herring is set to play William Wheeler, a man who befriends Apollo along the way.

The Annapurna-produced Apple TV+ series is being adapted by Kelly Marcel (Venom, Saving Mr. Banks), who will also act as showrunner. American Horror Story‘s Adina Porter has also joined the cast as Apollo’s mother, and Clark Backo will play Apollo’s wife Emmy. The series should land some time in 2022, but there’s still plenty of time to grab a copy of the book to prepare.

(via Deadline)

The Raptors moved a first round pick and Goran Dragic at the deadline last year to San Antonio to bring Thaddeus Young to Toronto, and with Young as an unrestricted free agent this summer, it became clear quickly that retaining his services was a top priority for the Raptors.

Not long after free agency opened, word broke from Chris Haynes that Young was returning to Toronto on a two-year, $16 million deal that gives them yet another versatile defender in the frontcourt and capable shooter.

Young averaged 6.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists on 51.8/35.4/46.9 shooting splits with the Spurs and Raptors last season and is almost the prototype of the type of player the Raptors have fallen in love with as an organization. He is a switchable defender, capable of defending multiple spots, and while not a tremendous shooter (with some particularly odd struggles at the free throw line), he’s able to spot up in corners and a good passer and mover off the ball. Young brings some veteran savvy to the Raptors, who hope a full offseason in Toronto will further ingrain Young into their system and allow him to find the form that made him such a spectacular player in Chicago a couple years ago.

Towards the end of 2019, Mandy Moore announced that she would hit the road for her first tour in over a decade. The string of performances would follow the release of her sixth album Silver Landings, which arrived in 2020 as her first project since 2009. Unfortunately, thanks to the COVID pandemic, Moore was forced to cancel that 2020 tour. Fast-forward to this year, and Moore is just a little over a month removed from dropping her seventh album In Real Life. Just like Silver Landings, that project was set to be followed by a North American tour, and while it got underway earlier this month, Moore was once again forced to cancel a collection of dates.

Moore announced that the rest of her 2022 tour dates, which is 14 dates in total, were canceled and it’s for a good reason. She recently announced that she is expecting her second son with Dawes lead vocalist Taylor Goldsmith, and it’s this pregnancy that’s made it very difficult to continue touring, as she explained in a new statement. “Friends, It is with a heavy heart and much consideration that I have to let you all know that I am cancelling my remaining show dates in 2022,” she wrote on Instagram. “It has been an honor and an absolute dream to return to the stage again this past month, performing for all of you.”

She continued, “When we booked these shows, I wasn’t pregnant and although I truly thought I could power through, the way we are traveling (long hours on the bus and not getting proper rest) has caught up, taken its toll, and made it feel too challenging to proceed. I know that I have to put my family and my health (and the health of my baby) first and the best place for me to be right now is at home.”

Moore ended her message by thanking fans for their support and noted that “all tickets will be refunded at place of purchase.”

You can read Moore’s full message about the tour cancellation above.

Comedian and host of FBoy Island Nikki Glaser finally has an HBO standup special. Nikki Glaser: Good Clean Filth features the unsettling revelation that she’ll be moving away from jokes about her vagina. Is this a retirement announcement?

Fortunately not. She’ll be making jokes about her asshole instead. Or in addition to.

The comedy special was shot last year at Denver’s Paramount Theater and, according to the press release, showcases Glaser’s “brutally-honest yet conversational style.”

“Whether she’s dishing about sex, outlining the do’s and dont’s of dating (and how to trick someone into marriage), or oversharing about her (not-so-private) parts, Glaser delivers an hour of unapologetic and no-holds-barred comedy… not for mere shock value, but to be open about topics often considered ‘taboo.’ Her ability to joke about her most humiliating moments as a woman in the modern world is not just for the laughs, she’s also adamant about being the empowering voice for women that she yearned for as a confused adolescent.”

Glazer’s done multiple stand-up specials in the past, perhaps most notably her 2019 Netflix comedy special, Bangin. Directed by Linda Mendoza — who also did Wanda Sykes: Not Normal, Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah, and a slew of TV shows like The Good Place — the special premieres July 16th.

It’s not a stretch to say that Kevin Knox has had a rough go of things so far in his NBA career. After going to the New York Knicks with the ninth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Knox has seen his role on his various teams get smaller and smaller over each of his four years in the Association. This season, Knox got moved to the Atlanta Hawks in the deal that sent Cam Reddish to New York, and while there, the former Kentucky standout saw less playing time than ever before.

All of this is to say that Knox could use a fresh start on a team that will give him a chance to grow, and apparently, the Detroit Pistons believe that they are the right place for him. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Knox is the latest former lottery pick to head to Detroit and will get a 2-year deal worth $6 million to play alongside Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and co.

Knox struggled to get on the floor and produce as a member of the Knicks and the Hawks. The former lottery pick scored 3.1 points in 7.4 minutes per game across his time with both teams, shooting 36.5 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from three.

Gary Harris was once a starting guard on the Nuggets team that went to the Western Conference Finals, but was sent to Orlando the next year at the deadline in the Aaron Gordon trade.

Harris has battled injuries since, but entered free agency as a sleeper target in the eyes of many for teams needing two-way guard help this summer. However, as the first hour of free agency went by and cap space started drying up, Harris had not apparently drawn considerable interest from other teams. Ultimately, Harris reached an agreement to return to Orlando on a two-year deal worth $26 million that will allow the Magic to keep a helpful veteran on the roster amid their rebuild, while Harris continues to re-establish his value as a quality guard in the league.

Harris averaged 11.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game on 43.4/38.4/87.4 shooting splits with the Magic last season, and with Markelle Fultz coming back and Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony on the roster, it remains to be seen exactly what role Harris will have in Orlando. Still, he’s a steady hand and quality defender, something the young Magic can use, and at $13 million annually, his contract is very easy to move should a team elsewhere be in need of guard help and looking for a midseason acquisition.

The Brooklyn Nets and Kevin Durant are headed towards a breakup. Prior to teams and players being able to agree to contract extensions on Thursday afternoon, news came out that Durant went to the Nets front office and requested a trade, bringing an end to his three-year stint with the franchise.

There are a whole lot of questions that can be asked right now, but at the top of the list is how things could have gone so wrong for a team that looked like a championship contender. According to Nick Friedell of ESPN, the fingers are being pointed at Kyrie Irving among those in the know in Brooklyn.

“Almost all of it,” Friedell said when asked how much blame is being placed on Irving. “Malika, they know that if Kyrie had gotten that vaccination, their season would look incredibly different. First and foremost, James Harden would still be here, that team would have done much better in the regular season, would have had a higher playoff seed. Of course, they had injuries, but if Kyrie is on the floor full time, it’s not a distraction. And I cannot tell you, after all the years I’ve been doing this, how miserable that team was at the end of that season, top-to-bottom in the organization.

They’re not blaming Kyrie for every single thing, but they know not only the vaccination shot, but all the ways that he said … all the things that he did in press conferences, and people are looking around in the organization, shaking their head, and he’s talking about, ‘I wanna be on top with Joe Tsai and Sean Marks and Kevin,’ and they’re going, ‘Huh? What is that guy talking about?’” Friedell continued.

Friedell went on to mention that another team he covered this season, the Golden State Warriors, featured a similar player having COVID vaccine hesitancy in a city with a mandate, as Andrew Wiggins did not want to get vaccinated but eventually relented and, as Friedell says, “that brought the Warriors closer than they have been in years.”

“As they look back, I think everybody in that organization knows that everything that happened today falls right at the feet of Kyrie Irving,” Friedell said.

Irving was slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer but decided to pick up his player option for the 2022-23 season. While he said that he would play for the team this upcoming season, reporting since Durant’s trade request indicates that may no longer be the case.

The Denver Nuggets weren’t expected to be big players in free agency, as their main focus this offseason was locking up Nikola Jokic on a supermax extension, getting Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. back on the court, and upgrading their roster via trades, which they felt they did by sending Monte Morris and Will Barton to Washington for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith.

Still, there was the issue of finding a backup center for Jokic, which has been something of a rotating cast of characters in recent years. Last year it was DeMarcus Cousins who finished the year in that role for Denver, but it appears the Nuggets will move on from Boogie for another aging veteran big man. Per Shams Charania, the Nuggets have agreed to a one-year minimum deal with DeAndre Jordan to take over that backup center position.

Jordan averaged 4.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game on 64.3 percent shooting (55 percent from the line) in 48 games with the Lakers and Sixers last season, and has not been particularly effective in recent years.

Denver will hope that changes with them, but given how Jordan has bounced around in recent years, it’s not a guarantee that the Nuggets will finish the season with Jordan backing up Jokic.