GoneTrending

Just to recap: Donald Trump spent part of the last stretch before the November election he lost singing the praises of the forthcoming COVID-19 vaccines. Then he lost. Then the vaccines came out. Then he stopped talking about. Then a large chunk of his supporters didn’t get vaxxed. Now a lot of them are dying. And it’s caused some — but by no means all — major Republicans to belatedly beg people to get the thing that could save their lives.

One of them is Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s second — and second least-liked — press secretary. Over the weekend, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published a column from her, in which she finally implored people to get the life-saving measure her former boss has taken credit for, even if he stops short of saying they should definitely get it.

“Like many of you, I have had a lot of misinformation thrown at me by politicians and the media during the pandemic. And, like many of you, I spent a lot of time sorting through it all, trying to make the best decision I could for myself and my family,” she wrote. “Based on the advice of my doctor, I determined that the benefits of getting vaccinated outweighed any potential risks.”

Let’s ignore that a lot of that misinformation came from her former boss himself, who downplayed the severity of the pandemic, even after he knew how catastrophic it would be. Let’s even ignore one of the stranger aspects of her plea: that in her tweet directing vaccine skeptics to get vaccinated, she referred to it as the “Trump vaccine.”

Ordinarily this would be offensive. Trump has done almost nothing to steer his stubborn base to get dosed. When he has, he’s undercut that message, possibly out of fear of losing the support of people who would die if it meant owning the libs.

But a lot of people decided to take the high road: If giving it a bogus name it in no way deserves convinces people to not put their life unnecessarily at risk, call it whatever you want.

Some still laughed at Sanders, which one could say is deserved.

Others played dumb with the meaning of the term “Trump vaccine.”

And others broke down the logic of those who remain unconvinced that they need to get a perfectly safe vaccine to protect them from a perfectly un-safe disease.

So, yes, please get vaccinated, if you haven’t already. It’s not a plot against your freedom. It’s so you don’t die a preventable death.

A little over a year after the world received his posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, Pop Smoke’s team regrouped to unveil another one, entitled Faith. It arrived earlier this month, with 20 songs and appearances from Kanye West, Pusha T, Rick Ross, The-Dream, 42 Dugg, 21 Savage, Dua Lipa, and many more. A week and a half after its release, Faith just became the second No. 1 album for the late musician.

The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 for the chart dated July 31. Faith achieved this by selling 88,000 total album units, with 83,000 of that being streaming equivalent album units, thanks to over 113 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks. Pure albums sales contributed an additional 4,000 units to its first week numbers. Faith joins Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon as the No. 1 projects in Pop Smoke’s catalog, and it makes for his third album to enter the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

Faith debut atop the album charts comes days after a deluxe edition of the project was released. In total, four songs with guest appearances from G Herbo, OnPointLikeOP, Killa, Dread Woo, and Travi were added to the album.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

It was a good weekend for regular folks saying mean things to conservative figures. On Saturday, the internet blew up upon seeing video of a Montana man calling Tucker Carlson, to his face, “the worst human being known to mankind.” The gentleman in question went pretty light on him. He could have done what a Kentucky citizen did to Senator Rand Paul, and told him where to go, albeit not in those words.

As per HuffPost, the Republican lawmaker — and frequent Dr. Fauci punching bag, forever setting himself up to be schooled by someone who knows more about immunology than he does — held a virtual town meeting. But most people only saw one part: The part where he get cussed out.

The person doing the cussing was one Alexis Toon, who told HuffPost that “for some unknown reason” the people putting on the event called her to ask if she would participate. Despite being evidently not a fan of the son of libertarian superstar Ron Paul, who named him for Objectivist author Ayn Rand, she agreed. But she had more of a comment than a question, and her contribution to the event was a mere one sentence long.

“Hi, senator, I am a proud Kentucky citizen, and I just wanted to tell you to get f**ked,” Toon told the senator, who sat there awkwardly after hearing from one of his constituents.

The video was initially uploaded to TikTok, but it spread like wildfire when it migrated over to Twitter. It’s 25 seconds long, meaning you can play it ad infinitum. Maybe it will make you feel temporarily better that Paul is one of the leading Republicans when it comes to spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, which could save the lives of the many Trump supporters dominating new cases and related deaths these days.

(Via HuffPost)

There were a lot of panels at this weekend’s virtual San Diego Comic-Con, but among the biggest was for the forthcoming Dexter limited series, which will bring back everyone’s favorite serial killer-killing serial killer (Michael C. Hall) for at least one more batch of episodes. Unlike some participating shows, there was no trailer, but there were two big reveals: a premiere date and the season’s killer du jour.

First off, the still-not-named Dexter return will start its 10-episode run on Nov. 7, on Showtime, its original home. It will also not simply pick things up where it left off, especially as where it left off is highly controversial, even among die-hards.

“It was important that this not be Dexter season 9,” said Clyde Phillips, the show’s showrunner from Season 1 through 4. “We wanted to acknowledge that nearly 10 years have passed and we pick up with Dexter being in another place far away from Miami.”

They also revealed the new cast members, including Alano Miller, Johnny Sequoyah, and David Magidof. There’s also Clancy Brown, the seasoned character actor — you know him from Highlander, The Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers, and last year’s Promising Young Woman. Brown will play this season’s main antagonist, joining such august company as John Lithgow, Christian Camargo, Edward James Olmos, Colin Hanks, Jonny Lee Miller, and more.

Earlier it was reported that Lithgow and Jennifer Carpenter were both returning in some fashion, though it’s unclear how, given that both they’re characters [spoiler].

You can watch the full Dexter panel below.

Welcome back to UPROXX’s Athlete Heat Index, where sports marketing executive and self-described “brand geek” Michael Ehrlich ranks athletes by the strength of their personal brands. The latest ranking is inspired by the Tokyo Olympics kicking off with competition
already under way and the Opening Ceremonies on Friday.

With more than 11,000 athletes taking part in the Games across 33 sports, we focused on individual sport athletes. So you won’t find big name team sport personal brands like Kevin Durant, Megan Rapinoe, Damian Lillard or Sue Bird on this lis, but instead the athletes who compete on their own and leverage the Olympics stage to drive their ongoing career and brand trajectory.

The Games are a unique platform because every four years (five in this case), athletes have a small window of opportunity to build their brand and tell their story. Traditionally, Olympic sports do not receive consistent mainstream media or fan attention in non-Games years therefore it’s imperative for these athletes to leverage the time leading up to, during and after the Games to connect deeper with fans and potential sponsors to set them up for consistent brand success in non-Olympic moments.

Here are few U.S. Olympic athletes with the strongest personal brands ahead of the Games:

HONORABLE MENTION

Sha’Carri Richardson, Track & Field

Unfortunately, Richardson is technically not an Olympian but there couldn’t be a list of top personal brands without mention of her incredible trajectory over the last few weeks. Despite not being allowed to compete in Tokyo, she is absolutely a case study how to authentically build a genuine brand, especially during challenging times.

Her story – dominance at the Olympics Trials, failed drug test and ultimate suspension from the Games – are all well documented, but it’s how the 21-year-old handled the rollercoaster of a Summer that distinguishes her personal brand. Fans and media fell in love with Richardson’s personality during her success at the Trials – her dominance on the track, her confidence in interviews, combined with a heartfelt family backstory resonated with so many people and made her an early favorite for the most popular U.S. Olympian.

However, when news broke of her failed drug test and suspension, she didn’t run and hide, instead taking it all in stride while remaining true to her authentic self, only further connecting with fans, media and even future brand partners. Richardson opened up to The Today Show about why she failed the test, providing context as to the personal challenges she’s been dealing with and reiterating the fact that although she runs faster than most, she is still human. This genuine narrative extended as celebrities, athletes, fans and her main sponsor Nike showed love and support via social media and a “Let Sha’Carri Run!” fan petition quickly garnered close to its goal of 600K signatures.

Although she was still barred from competing in Tokyo, Richardson continued to own her story as she made her first public appearance at The ESPYs, where host Anthony Mackie included support for her in his opening monologue. The continued momentum for her skyrocketed her notoriety, social media footprint and ultimate interest from future brand partners.

Her personal brand fully crossed over into pop culture when she starred in a surprise commercial from Beats by Dre that premiered during the deciding Game 6 of the NBA Finals and highlighted the “Live Your Truth” message that resonates so authentically with Richardson. The spot featured a new Kanye West song and announced his highly anticipated new album was launching two day later. Richardson being associated with one of the most polarizing personalities in West and connected to one of the strongest brands in Beats took her narrative to new heights.

She will no doubt remain one of the most talked about athletes at the Games even without being in Tokyo and her next race in August should set viewership number records as she has plans for “putting on a show.” The stage is set for a major comeback on the track, but her personal brand is already in top shape for continued success as Richardson just scratches the surface of a long career.

BRONZE MEDAL

Christina Clemons, Track & Field

You might not know Clemons by name (yet), but you’ve probably seen photos of the U.S. hurdler who qualified for the Olympics while wearing mini Cool Ranch Doritos earrings. The organic placement – Clemons forgot to pack earrings for the Trials, so she grabbed a few pairs at a local store – and how she engaged with Doritos on social media, is a lesson for all public figures on how to create your own authentic brand partnership. She quickly jumped on a unique opportunity to engage with a brand and leverage the short window of momentum to capitalize.

After qualifying for the Olympics, Clemons took to Twitter to celebrate her achievement with a few photos showing off her excitement, unique earrings and asking fans to “blow Doritos mentions UP.” Of course, her earrings earned massive editorial and social conversation and the chip brand quickly responded, setting the stage for an authentic reactive partnership. A few days later, “Cool Ranch Clemons” received a personalized bag of Doritos featuring her face and a congratulatory message from the brand. The continued media coverage of Clemons all included mention of her earrings and the seeds were planted for a formal partnership with Doritos.

When asked about the social media groundswell with Doritos, Clemons told The Washington Post, “I didn’t expect it. I was just being, you know, I’m just being me.” This authenticity is what all brands look for so it was no surprise that Doritos quickly made things official with a formal partnership, a tongue in cheek press release they posted on Twitter and a gold pair of earrings they sent to Clemons to
commemorate the deal. Now as “Cool Ranch Clemons” heads to Tokyo with a new nickname and brand partnership, all eyes will be on her earrings to see what Doritos she’ll be wearing.

SILVER MEDAL

Allyson Felix, Track & Field

Entering her fifth Games and only one medal away from being the most decorated Olympian in women’s track and field history, Felix is the ultimate case study for sustaining success over time. Through the years, global competitions and ridiculous number of medals, Felix’s
personal brand has continued to evolve and her influence off the track will remain long after she hangs up her spikes.

It has been her personal challenges though – especially a frightening premature birth of her daughter that put them both in danger – that led to her greatest impact. Indeed, in typical Felix fashion and just 10 months after giving birth, she won her 12th and 13th gold medals at the World Championships eclipsing Usain Bolt’s previous record and making her the most decorated athlete in World Championship history. But it was her testimony before Congress about racial disparities in maternal care and providing women of color with more support during their pregnancies that set the stage for Felix’s greatest accomplishments.

Felix challenged her longtime sponsor Nike in a New York Times op-ed for not supporting pregnant athletes, ultimately leaving the brand to join women- focused Athleta as their first athlete partner and setting the pace for Simone Biles to do the same recently. Through Athleta, Felix has been able to continue to support working moms in new ways. Together, they created the Power of She Fund, which will help cover childcare costs for athlete moms. The first recipients who are competing at the Olympics will receive $10,000 each towards childcare.

Further innovating on the brand front and creating new opportunities for women, Felix founded her own footwear company Saysh, designing sneakers for and by women. Her Saysh One lifestyle shoe made an iconic appearance alongside Felix in a recent TIME Magazine cover story that tracked her career journey and lasting impact on society. Felix will likely make Olympic history in Tokyo, but her legacy extends well
beyond the track.

GOLD MEDAL

Simon Biles, Gymnastics

The GOAT of GOATS, Biles easily earns the Gold Medal for strongest personal brand ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and with her expected success in these Games, she will cement her legacy even further. She already has four gold medals to her name (in addition to 25 world
championship medals) and could take home five more in most likely her last Olympics. But at just 23-years-old, Biles has an even longer career ahead of her outside of Olympic competition.

Although the window for Olympics athletes to build and sustain their personal brands is limited, Biles extends her narrative better than anyone else. In the lead up to these Games – in conjunction with her U.S. Trials performances going viral as she made gravity-defying routines look easy – she graced covers from Health Magazine to Sports Illustrated to Wall Street Journal Magazine to Glamour while
giving fans an even closer look at her life through a Facebook Watch series, “Simone vs Herself.”

From a marketing perspective, she’s been the focus of NBC’s Olympic coverage promotions that lean heavy into her GOAT label and has stared in commercials for such brand partners as Visa, Oreo and Uber Eats. Her recent move from Nike to female-focused Gap sportswear brand Athleta earned massive coverage and conversation, joining Allyson Felix in a “Power of She” marketing campaign highlighting the brand’s message of female empowerment and success through unity.

But it’s her bubbly personality and extreme confidence – in a petite 4’8 frame – that resonates most with fans and brands around the world. Tom Brady or Michael Jordan might be known as GOATs in their respective sports, but neither has ever worn a literal goat logo on their uniform like Biles. During the U.S. Trials – while landing moves never done by women before and inventing her own signature routine – Biles debuted a leotard featuring a bedazzled goat plus matching post-performance goat slides, to “hit back at the haters” who doubted her continued greatness. The confidence and fun but more than anything the accuracy of this GOAT title, truly separates Biles from the pack.

In the days leading up to the Games, Twitter launched a new GOAT emoji – wearing a red leotard with a gold medal around its neck – specifically for #Simone and #SimoneBiles. She’s the first Olympian to receive this social media execution and the first woman, following Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes earlier this year.

In a recent Morning Consult study, Biles jumped 95 spots from 2020 to be among America’s top five most popular sports figures in 2021 – trailing only Brady, Jordan and LeBron James. It’s no surprise that in another Morning Consult poll, the most popular Olympic sport for U.S. fans ahead of the Games is gymnastics. Not only is she building a historic personal brand, but she is literally carrying her sport to new heights and will cement her legacy as the GOAT of GOATS not just in these Olympics but moving forward in her future endeavors. Biles transcends
her sport and the Games overall, continuing to etch her name in the history books as one of the strongest personal brands of all-time.

Young Thug last released a solo album back in 2019. So Much Fun, the rapper’s debut album, became his most successful project, selling over 100,000 album units in the first week. At the time of its release, it seemed like he’d be back soon. He even said its follow-up would arrive a mere two months later. That never happened. But two years later, it seems like it may belatedly arrive.

During his performance at Miami’s Rolling Loud festival on Saturday, Young Thug an update on the long-awaited album. “Yo so listen,” Thug said onstage. “I’m about to put this album out, right? It’s called Punk. If I can perform something off of the album say hell yeah!” After taking in loud cheers from the crowd, the rapper went right into the new song, which he said is titled “Tik Tok.”

During a 2019 profile with Fader, during which Punk was first announced, Thug shared details about it. “It’s most definitely touching music,” he said. “It’s music that the world is going to embrace. […] [Punk] means brave, not self-centered, conscious. Very, very neglected, very misunderstood. Very patient, very authentic.” He also described the album as “real rap,” saying, “[Real rap is] letting people in, letting people know what you go through. Let them know that you the same. […] I just want to open up, Let people know that I’m not just a rapper, I’m a human being.”
Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Nearly two years after sharing her last solo single, Camila Cabello returned with “Don’t Go Yet,” which will hopefully bring her fans closer to the arrival of her third album. Less than a day after releasing the song, she stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for her debut performance of the track, and while it went well, it didn’t go without controversy.

Shortly after the performance, Cabello received a lot of attention after many on social media accused her backup dancer of wearing blackface. As a result, she took to Twitter to address the accusations and clear things up.

“Hey! so this dude was just supposed to be a white man with a terrible spray tan,” in a note she posted on Twitter. “We purposefully tried to pull together a multicultural group of performers, the expectation was not that everyone in the performance needed to be Latin. There are white people, African American people, Latin people, etc. and so the point wasn’t to try to make everyone look Latin either. There are a lot of people in the performance who are not.” She concluded, “The point was to try to make each person look like an over-the-top 80’s character just like in the video, including a white dude with a terrible orange spray tan.”

You can watch her performance.

Ever since semi-rebooting in 2005, Doctor Who has resisted one TV trend: telling one story over an entire season. (Or over an entire series.) Instead, it’s stuck close to the long-running franchise’s original idea: telling individual stories, often over a number of episodes. That changes with the revival’s 13th season, which debuted its first trailer over the weekend at San Diego Comic-Con.

It’s a pretty typical trailer. We see Jodie Whittaker, the 13th incarnation of the good Doctor, getting into some typical Doctor Who misadventures, with typically excitable aplomb. We also see newbie Jacob Anderson, best known as Grey Worm on Games of Thrones, crossing over into another English-heavy institution. John Bishop, meanwhile, will play the new companion, replacing Tosin Cole (who played Ryan) and Bradley Walsh (who played Graham O’Brien).

During the SDCC panel, the team discussed why they moved into a single storyline structure. It wasn’t to be like every other show; it was because of the pandemic.

“Before we started making it, there were times when we thought we were going to be unable to do the show under Covid conditions this year… there were two ways you could go,” said executive producer Chris Chibnall. “You could go ‘let’s do lots of tiny little episodes in one room, with no monsters,’ or we could throw down the gauntlet and do the biggest story we’ve ever done. We’re going to go to all kinds of different places, we’re going to have all kinds of characters and monsters, and it’s all going to be part of a bigger whole. It’s definitely the most ambitious thing we’ve done since we’ve been on the series.”

Doctor Who does not yet have a season premiere date, but it will bow later this year.

The NBA Draft is less than a week away and shortly after the next crop of NBA players learn where they’ll be starting their careers, free agency will arrive as teams jockey for position to make a leap next season.

Every team has different needs and financial situations coming into the offseason, and as such free agency rankings from a wide view does little to provide insight into the players who will headline each team’s wishlist. Here, we’re going to try and take a more narrow view for each team, taking into account their roster needs, franchise situation (contender, hopeful contender, rebuild, etc.), and the money they have to offer to pick out the free agent we think will be atop their free agent board when August arrives.

To start, we’ll look at the West, going from worst to first based on last year’s standings to pick out a free agent for each team who is not one of their own.

Houston Rockets: Lauri Markkanen (RFA, Bulls)

Things are rather bleak in Houston at the moment, and one would expect them to be looking to move veterans like Eric Gordon and D.J. Augustin in trades to open up more opportunity for young players. They also don’t have much cap space, so they can’t go after any of the top free agents, but maybe they take a flier on someone like Bulls RFA Lauri Markkanen, who Chicago seems unlikely to want to match much on. The Rockets are a team that could offer Markannen a mid-level type deal and that might be the best he can find on the market this summer. There aren’t a ton of great options for Houston, who are in the unfortunate situation of being a bad team without cap space to even try to overpay for young guys in hopes they blossom, but Markkanen is theoretically a fit next to Christian Wood and could be happy just to be in a new place.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Talen Horton-Tucker (RFA, Lakers)

The Thunder are going to have lots of money they need to spend and don’t really have any specific need beyond playing for upside. This isn’t a free agent class that has a lot of players that fit the bill here, and they aren’t going to be a preferred destination for anyone, so we land with Talen Horton-Tucker, who if nothing else fits OKC’s timeframe better than any free agent on the market at just 20 years old. The Thunder could put up the type of contract for THT that would make the Lakers balk at matching, and can offer him a much more significant role in a place where, while he won’t be competing for anything close to a title, would also come without the stress of needing to develop while contributing to a top contender.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Otto Porter Jr. (UFA, Magic)

I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea what Otto Porter Jr.’s market is going to be, as he has barely played recently (42 games in two seasons). As such, it’s possible that he could be available for a bargain and is the type of upside player on the wing that the Timberwolves could use, and with Minnesota not having anything but the mid-level to offer, that’s maybe the best they can hope for. If Porter can stay healthy and regain the form he showed after being dealt to Chicago in 2018, this is a home run for the Timberwolves to add more wing depth and versatility as someone who can play some four. If it’s on a short-term deal, it mitigates the risk and Minnesota is in a position where it might be worth taking a swing.

New Orleans Pelicans: Devonte’ Graham (RFA, Hornets)

With the likelihood that they’re just going to let their own RFAs (Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart) walk, New Orleans’ focus this summer is on upgrading their point guard position. There’s been reported interest from the Pelicans in Kyle Lowry, but as great a fit as that would be for New Orleans, it’s just hard for me to see Lowry being seriously interested in the Pelicans given the other possible options. Graham, however, fits their timeline a little better and still would provide the upgrade in terms of offensive playmaking, creation, and shooting that they want to find. Whether their $16 million in space is enough to get Graham out of Charlotte remains to be seen, but I think that would be a terrific landing spot for Graham and a good, more realistic outcome for the Pelicans to upgrade their backcourt.

Sacramento Kings: Montrezl Harrell (Player Option, Lakers)

The real answer here is “keep Richaun Holmes,” but the Kings may not be able to do that, as they only have his early Bird rights, which means they can only offer him a deal in the $11-12 million a year range. That might not top what Holmes gets on the open market, particularly in a year that is very light on starting-caliber big men. Should Holmes walk, all the Kings really have at their disposal is the mid-level (just above $9 million), which isn’t a lot, but they can offer a significant role. That might be enough to persuade someone like Montrezl Harrell, who has clearly been frustrated by his role on the Lakers on the same deal, to opt out and try, once again, to build a more robust free agent market for himself on a team where he’d have ample opportunity to play a more leading role.

San Antonio Spurs: John Collins (RFA, Hawks)

The Spurs’ interest in Collins isn’t a secret and they are one of the few teams that has the type of money to possibly pry Collins away from Atlanta. The Spurs can offer Collins his max and that might be enough to make the Hawks walk away from the table. San Antonio has a terrific young backcourt, but is staring at a significant hole at the power forward position. Collins would fit that need snugly, as well as their timeline which is to continue competing for playoff spots now, but keeping an eye on the future to really build into being a contender again.

Golden State Warriors: Nic Batum (UFA, Clippers)

The Warriors will look to do most of their damage this offseason via trades, with plenty of draft capital to move around to try and upgrade their roster around Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and a returning Klay Thompson. Whatever they do on the trade market, they still will need shooting and more quality veteran help, and with just the taxpayer mid-level ($5.9 million) at their disposal, I’m not sure they can do much better than Batum. He and Green could make for an awesome small-ball defensive pair, with plenty of savvy and strength, and where Green is a creator offensively, Batum was a lights-out shooter for the Clippers, something desperately needed in the Bay. L.A. will also try to bring Batum back at the same price, but with Kawhi out after ACL surgery, it’s possible Batum sees Golden State as the preferred option for next season.

Memphis Grizzlies: Tim Hardaway Jr. (UFA, Mavericks)

The Grizzlies are a fascinating team because they already have depth and are already good, but they certainly have needs in terms of boosting their ceiling. The good news is they’ll have money to do that with, as they’ll be in the $22 million range in cap space. The biggest need for the Grizzlies is scoring, as Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks are often asked to do everything in the creation space for Memphis and that’s a tall order for two guys to make it happen night in and night out. The Mavs have plenty of incentive to try and keep Hardaway, but the Grizzlies can make a handsome offer to him and he would be a snug fit in terms of providing some secondary creation as well as being another quality spot-up shooter.

Portland Trail Blazers: PJ Tucker (UFA, Bucks)

The Bucks will have their hands full trying to retain everyone from this past year, and the Blazers could try to pry Tucker away with a significant chunk of the mid-level that might be more than Milwaukee might be willing to offer. Portland’s biggest moves this summer are going to have to come via trade, but with re-signing Norman Powell as their focus in terms of their own free agents, adding another versatile wing/frontcourt defender would be a welcome sight for Damian Lillard. Defense has to be Portland’s focus this offseason, and with a free agency class that doesn’t have a ton of great options for a team like the Blazers, Tucker might be their most attainable target to fill that need.

Dallas Mavericks: Mike Conley (UFA, Jazz)

Utah has a lot of money allocated to next year’s team without re-signing Conley, and if a team like the Mavs were to come at him with a robust offer, it might be more than the Jazz would be willing to pay him to run things back. From Dallas’ perspective, Conley is an ideal point guard to pair alongside Luka Doncic, someone who has recent experience balancing creative duties with a young star in Donovan Mitchell, and his three-point shooting provides additional spacing next to Doncic. Dallas also has frontcourt needs to address as well, but there’s no doubt that they could use a steady hand and another creator next to Doncic, and if Conley is willing to look beyond Utah, there are few places that are a better fit for him than the Mavs.

Los Angeles Clippers: Jeff Green (UFA, Nets)

Look, the Clippers focus in free agency is figuring out how to keep as much of the 2020-21 squad on board, not adding players from other teams. Kawhi is the biggest piece of that, but Nic Batum and Reggie Jackson were huge for them on minimum deals and will require much more next year. The good news is they have Early Bird rights on Jackson, meaning they can bring him back for just north of $10 million, and given his post-playoffs presser, that seems like a fair bet. Batum, on the other hand, will have plenty of suitors at the same number they can offer at the tax-payer MLE and possibly above. If he walks, frontcourt help will be among the top priorities for the Clippers and they could do worse than adding Green, who would provide similar versatility although not the three-point shooting punch. Brooklyn probably can’t offer him much more than the minimum and if the Clippers were to bring their tax MLE to the table, they might draw him to L.A.

Denver Nuggets: Bobby Portis (Player Option, Bucks)

The Nuggets have a few really interesting decisions to make with their own free agents, and that’s going to determine where they look to spend with their mid-level. I feel it’s more likely they bring Will Barton back and try to work out a deal for Austin Rivers to return, shifting the focus to the frontcourt help. While Paul Millsap has been terrific for them over his tenure in Denver, they might look to splurge the full mid-level to pry Bobby Portis out of Milwaukee to see if he can bring the same magic with him to Denver. They could use that kind of energy in the frontcourt and scoring punch off the bench in the moments Jokic is on the bench.

Phoenix Suns: Nerlens Noel (UFA, Knicks)

Dario Saric was great as a small-ball five for Phoenix, but he’ll be out most of next season (if not all of it) after suffering his ACL injury. Bringing Chris Paul back is the first point of order for James Jones and the Suns, but after that attention has to shift to finding a capable backup for Deandre Ayton. Of the center options on the market, I’m not sure they can do a whole lot better than Noel, who would bring their bench unit some much-needed rim protection, even if you sacrifice some offense to have that defensive presence. Phoenix could be in on the Nic Batum sweepstakes as well, but I just can’t help but think that Noel would fit snugly into what Monty Williams wants for the identity of this team on the defensive end of the floor.

Utah Jazz: Torrey Craig (UFA, Phoenix)

Everything about this offseason in Utah hinges on whether they’re able to bring back Mike Conley or not, but the need, for now, is having another defender on the wing. If they re-sign Conley, it’s going to be very much an “add on the periphery” summer for the Jazz and Craig might be their best bet in terms of bang for their buck. A throwaway in the PJ Tucker trade, Craig ended up in Phoenix where he played an important role for the Suns as a bench defender (and solid three-point shooter), much as he did in Denver prior to falling out of the rotation. Utah could use that type of presence to mix into their wing/power forward rotation, and with potentially not a lot to spend, he would be a quality addition that wouldn’t run their tax bill too much higher.

The Los Angeles Lakers need to fill a lot of roster spots while not having a lot of money to do so this offseason, which makes their upcoming offseason incredibly interesting. The biggest free agent decision for the Lakers will be Dennis Schröder, as the point guard is set to be one of the top free agent guards on the market after turning down a 4-year, $84 million extension during the season.

Schröder is looking for a nine-figure payday, and whether the Lakers want to pay him that much, they may not have much of a choice if the market dictates that he’s worth that. Given their financial situation, L.A. has no way to replace Schröder without finding a sign-and-trade deal involving him — and that gets very difficult to do when it’s swapping a point guard for a point guard — or making a different trade. The problem is, they don’t have any players that are particularly enticing to other teams in a trade.

On Sunday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski offered a rather hilarious anecdote on the Woj & Lowe special about the Lakers’ desperation this offseason to make moves, saying “almost every team I’ve talked to in the league has been offered Kuz and KCP” in some form. It creates a very funny visual of Rob Pelinka just cold calling every GM from Atlanta to Washington and seeing what Kuzma or KCP could get them, and then asking what both together could get them, only to find out the answer is generally “not a lot.”

Woj seemed to think the Lakers would have to bite the bullet and just sign Schröder, hoping the market for the German guard doesn’t form in the way Schröder thinks it will to keep the cost down at least a bit. Still, over the next week-plus, you can seemingly expect the Lakers to be trying anything they can to make roster upgrades, but when push comes to shove, they might just have to run it back and try to make additions on the margins.

As for what the best possible outcome might be for a Kuz-KCP trade is, Shams Charania reported Buddy Hield has been involved in talks between the Lakers and Kings, which would certainly upgrade the Lakers’ shooting and give them a legitimate perimeter scorer, while the Kings move off some long-term salary. It remains to be seen if the Kings would bite on the Lakers offer, but it’s maybe the splashiest addition L.A. could hope for.