Wowsers.
You go to bed, and then boom, another NBA all-star is dealt for another NBA all-star and the pieces of the two best team in the Eastern Conference are moving back and forth like backgammon.
Here's the deal:
Cleveland sent Kyrie Irving to Boston for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn's unprotected 2018 first-round pick.
It assuredly is a blockbuster that has angles and nuances that make it easy to believe that each team can call it a wildly successful move.
For Boston, let's explore. The Celtics are better today than they were when the season ended last year. Irving is a better ball-handler and defender and shooter than Thomas. (Yes, Kyrie is an average defender at best, but Thomas was the worst statistical defender in the league last year.) Now add Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward to Irving and the rest of a talented and young core. Tatum is young with great potential; Hayward was a prize free agent signing and now Irving, who has two years plus a player's option on his current deal gives the Celtics a legit, perimeter-oriented big three. (Add in Al Horford as a stretch 5, with Marcus Smart and last year's first-rounder Jaylen Brown and Marcus Morris, and Boston is better and more athletic than the team that won an Eastern Conference-best 53 games last year)
Plus, Boston had zero chance to extend Thomas beyond this year. Thomas averaged more than 28 points per game last year, a number that calls for a max deal, but a 5-foot-9 shooting guard who can't guard anyone this side of the Signal Mountain Church League will have a hard time being a max guy on a contender.
As for the draft pick, well, the Celtics have had a load of lottery picks without having to tank like the 76ers. (Thanks Brooklyn.) Sending the Nets' pick to Cleveland could be sending the Cavs the No. 1 overall pick in next year's draft. That could be a Marvin Bagley or a Michael Porter, two guys that people project as power forwards with ball skills and range. Those guys are quite valuable. But as we saw with the 76ers, too many lottery picks without making playoff runs feels like gerbils on that metal wheel. Same thing over and over again and eventually someone loses a foot. Plus, the Celtics still have the Lakers first-rounder if it falls between 2-5, so there's that.
For Cleveland, let's explore.
The Cavs simply had to deal Kyrie before training camp amid all the stories and whispers and demands of the last few months. It was not going to work anymore, unless the Cavs were going to try to deal LeBron, who would assuredly have left when his contract expires at the end of this upcoming season.
Now LeBron may still leave, but as the Celtics were getting better by improving at point guard and addition by subtraction by making room for Brown and Tatum to get on the floor, the Cavs are better because Thomas can score in comparable volumes to Irving, Crowder gives Cleveland a size defender with 3-point ability and plus-plus toughness. Now add in the Nets' pick, which could be a true franchise star, and the Cavs did the following things in one trade:
1) They dealt a guy who demanded out;
2) They made their team better;
3) Parts 1 and 2 assuredly have to please James, who now may have to look at the open cap room the Cavs will have, the No. 1 pick, Crowder and Love and wonder if he can get his pals to Cleveland as easy as trying to get the reunion in NYC or L.A.;
4) They added a potential No. 1 overall pick, so even if James is out, they are rebuilding around no worse than a lofty lottery pick.
The Cavs are better suited to win it all this year and if the worst happens and James leaves, they are better suited for the future.
The Celtics are better suited to compete with Cleveland this year, and with a great young nucleus, are in the direction to be the team to beat moving forward in the East. (And if Tatum develops as expected, this is a bunch that matches up well with the Warriors moving forward, too.)
Butch Jones directs the game. The annual Spring Orange and White Football game was held at Neyland Stadium on April 22, 2017.SEC items of interest
Let's cover this in four downs. Deal? Deal.
First down: The AP poll was released this week, and while the divide between 1 and 12 in the country - the places of the top two ranked SEC schools, Alabama and Auburn, and we'll let you guess which was ranked where - it seems more than ever that the growing narrative is that the SEC is Alabama and everyone else. Last year it sure felt that way. This year has a similar start and perception. We'll ask this, if you had to bet on Alabama or the rest of the SEC to win in Atlanta come December, who are you taking? Exactly.
Second down: We discussed this on Press Row on Tuesday, but it's worth noting here. Man, it's a sad day for this profession when some dude named Mike Wise, who works under the ESPN umbrella, makes up quotes - hot-button and potentially racially-charged quotes, mind you - on Twitter, posts them, and when the backlash hits claims he was being sarcastic. How he was not fired is anyone's guess. Here's more on the story and the Tweets. Here's ESPN's rather hollow response. And, in the big picture realm here, the next time any one writes anything that is even perceived as negative against Saban - and as great as he is, his mistakes should be noted as much as his successes - the Alabama fan base has this entire episode in their pocket. This is how the backbone and fiber of "Fake News" allegations get formed. Thanks a lot Mike Wise. Jack Wagon.
Third down: We are less than two weeks from the kickoff of the SEC season. It's 10 days for more of the league; it's 12 days for Tennessee, which plays Georgia Tech on Labor Day. Unless it is announced between the time we sent this to the web team and 10 a.m., there has not been a formal announcement about who the Vols' QB1 will be. And, hold on to your horses, because we are about to give Coach Butch Jones some props, that's exactly how UT should be handling this. They've got a very good idea on who the guy is. They have to. They've watched, studies and analyzed all the angles. They have a very good idea who it will be. The rest of us? Not so much. And considering that a) each brings a different skill set, without naming one means Georgia Tech must prepare for a runner and a thrower, and b) if you name one guy super early, especially if it's the freshman Jarrett Guarantano rather than junior Quinten Dormady, you increase the transfer potential, and UT needs both those cats.
Fourth down: Speaking of Tennessee, here's how we'd rank the top opening games in terms of importance to each program. Alabama-FSU is No. 1 because it really is a feather-in-the-cap game in terms of national championship positioning and posturing. That said, the divide is not as big as you would think for the players, coaches and fans of SEC programs. Texas A&M-UCLA is huge for all the Aggies - especially head coach Kevin Sumlin - in a tenuous spot in terms of the future. A loss - and considering it's a true road game against a QB many expect to be a high first-round pick - could put Sumlin in a Les Miles-type-of-spot in which he may be gone before Columbus Day. Next, we'll go Tennessee-Georgia Tech. This game will be close to a pick 'em if we had to guess, and for a Tennessee team that is wondering about the immediate transition in a lot of spots (QB and beyond) and a fan base still trying to convince itself that Butch is the dude, a season-opening loss would mean a ton of angst. Finally, while there are several SEC schools playing teams they should beat - Vandy at MTSU, Auburn vs. always-tough Georgia Southern, Ole Miss vs. South Alabama, Georgia vs. a feisty App State, Kentucky at Southern Miss - and any upset on that list would be painful in a lot of directions, the fourth game in terms of scale and import in this view is LSU vs. BYU in Houston. This is Ed Orgeron's first game as THE guy. Forget the interim stuff. This is Coach O's team now, and you only get one chance to make a first impression.
FILE - In this April 9, 2017, file photo, mixed martial arts fighter Jon Jones watches a bout at UFC 210 in Buffalo, N.Y. Light heavyweight champion Jones has been notified of another potential violation of the UFC's anti-doping policy. The UFC announced the potential violation Tuesday night, Aug. 22, for Jones, widely considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes, File) MMA drug testing
Jon Jones is one of the most famous MMA names of all time. (Side question: There are a lot of you who know more about the MMA than we do. But a Rushmore of MMA fighters in terms of universal appeal would be, Jones, Slice, Rousey and McGregor, no? Thoughts.)
Anyhoo, Jones, who even UFC founder Dana White says is the best to ever do this sport, failed another drug test this week. It's his second failed test - this one for a banned steroid - and the Jones camp contends they have no idea how this happened.
(Side question, part II: When a famous athlete fails a PED test isn't play one in the playbook to play dumb and say, "We're shocked. How'd this happen?" For Pete's sake, people, Jones' body is your business. If you are a race car driver, you know what's going into the car, right? If you are running a horse in the Derby, you are aware what Secretariat is eating, right? Trainer A: "Well, we know he's the Derby favorite, so we're shocked that horse steroid got in there. He must have eaten a tainted apple. We're are looking into this." PUH-lease.)
So, in a combat sport, having an even preparation table makes sense. To a point. In the macro sense, should MMA even drug test for anything? Want to take steroids? Go right ahead.
Want to smoke a joint to ease the jobsite pain that is part of the daily existence of MMA participants? Here, borrow my lighter. And please hold the "Well, it's a bad example" and the "Well, you know the damage steroids or other drugs can have."
Dear Lord, do you really think a steroid like Turinabol and the accompanying back acne and ball shrinkage is more of a concern for a guy who is about to get in the ring and could die before he clocks out?
Are we not to a place that MMA fighters should be allowed to take any and everything this side of walking into the ring with heroin needles actually in their eye balls? Yes, state laws rule and heroin as far as we know is still probably illegal in all 50 of these U.S. states. (Some of you guys are lawyers; double check that for us, will you?)
But PEDs and pain medication? For MMA fighters?
We are asking these guys and gals to be gladiators, and not gladiators in the ways coaches use that term in locker rooms about competing and being tough. We're asking them to be real-life gladiators and are rewarding them - sometimes quite handsomely - so we can watch people bleed and hurt and walk toward the edge of the cliff that is life and death.
We're really worried people with that type of job description are taking a sexual-performance pill - what Jones claimed he took when he failed the first drug test - or smoking a post-fight joint? (Side question, part III: If a dude is willing to admit on a national scale that he took the little blue pill, shouldn't the public giggling be enough, all things considered? That's enough of a punishment, right?)
Thoughts?
This and that
- This is an awful look, but ESPN has switched announcer Robert Lee from announcing the Virginia football opener. Yes, as reported first by Clay Travis on Outkick the Coverage here, the world-wide leader preemptively switched a 20-something Asian because his name is the same as the Civil War general. Wow. Just wow. (Wonder if Bob (aka Robert) Ley is worried about future assignments. Also, this explains why Jack Arute was never given any handball assignments, too.) The network has said that it was a discussion between executives, Lee and his producer and the decision was mutual. Regardless of who was in the room making it, the decisions was a very poor one. Seriously, the only thing worse, in truth, than the overreaction of faux outrage and the interweb morality mob is any type of proactive efforts to avoid triggering that faux outrage and being so fearful of the interweb morality mob that it leads you to awful and gutless and embarrassing decisions like this one.
- As many of you have noted, some website called herosports.com has ranked the best college football in each state over the last five seasons using a mathematical calculation. Under that math, UTC is the best team in Tennessee - as many of you are taking great joy in pointing out - and Valdosta State is the best program in Georgia. So there's that.
- Aaron Judge did not strike out on Tuesday. This is news. Judge had whiffed in 37 consecutive games before that. And to make sure of it, Yankees manager Joe Girardi pulled Judge in his final at-bat after the Yankees slugger had singled and walked three times in his first four trips. (Girardi denied it had anything to do with it, but truth be told, as the Yankees head to September leading the wild-card race, here's betting Judge and most of the locker room were tired of hearing about the K-streak. In that light, that's good managing, Joe.)
- Braves played. Braves won, topping Seattle 4-0. Two quick takeaways: One, it's a ton of fun to watch Freddie Freeman hit. Dude has an approach and never gives up at-bats. Two, strong outing for Lucas Sims (six innings, three hits, two walks, no runs, 95 pitches) who is one of the young starting pitchers the team is looking to sooner rather than later.
- Dodgers played. Dodgers won, beating Pittsburgh 8-5. A few quick, eye-popping stats: Dodgers are now 89-35 overall and 38-21 (there are only three teams - Boston, Houston, Washington - in baseball which are better than 17 games over .500 this season overall); the bullpen, which has been aces, pitched seven innings of scoreless baseball Tuesday as the Dodgers rallied from an early hole; the Dodgers' magic number is 17 (yes, there's more than week left in August; the next lowest magic number is 26 for Houston and Washington); with the win, the Dodgers are assured of not losing this four-game series with the Pirates, meaning the last series the Dodgers lost was in early June and they have not lost consecutive games since July 20-21; the Dodgers have the best record in August at 16, and had the best record in baseball in June and July, too; and finally and most amazingly, the Dodgers have done all that and have set the MLB record for most uses of the DL
- Albert Pujols now has 610 career homers, passing Sammy Sosa for most ever by a foreign-born player. SAL-loot.
Today's question
We'll go a little one-word Wednesday.
The team that got the best end of the Irving-Thomas deal was _______________.
The second-best team in the SEC is ____________.
MMA drug tests are ____________.
ESPN moving Robert Lee from a game in Charlottesville is ______________.
As for today in history, well, let's take a look.
Kobe Bryant is 39 today. River Phoenix would have been 47 today. That dude was aces in "Stand By Me" for what it's worth. Scott Caan us 41 today. Gene Kelly would have been 105.
Keith Moon would have been 71. Rick Springfield - of Jessie's Girl fame is 68, and turning 86 is I Dream of Jeannie star Barbara Eden. Shelley Long is 68, too, and you have to believe there is not a day that goes by and she does not regret leaving Cheers, right?
On this day in 2005, Hurricane Katrina started to form over the Bahamas. Hard to believe that was 12 years ago, right?
In 2010, Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren divorced on this day.
On this day in 1305, William Wallace was executed. "Freedom."
We'll go there.
Rushmore of best performances by an actor in a biographical film, and yes, this is a loaded, Loaded, LOADED category, but Mel Gibson as William Wallace really deserves a spot.