Nets and Knicks kick off 2024 NBA Draft with massive, complicated Mikal Bridges trade nets,and,knicks,kick,off,nba,draft,with,massive,complicated,mikal,bridges,trade,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-trade-rumors,nba-draft,draftkings,dot-com-grid-coverage

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The Nets have regained control of their future heading into the 2024 NBA Draft by making two massive deals on the eve of the big day.

In the first, Brooklyn will send Mikal Bridges to reunite with his Villanova buddies across the city with the New York Knicks in exchange for FIVE first-round picks, a pick swap and a second-rounder, and in another, they will get their own 2026 first-rounder back from the Houston Rockets for a hefty price.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was all over the news:

Our own Anthony Puccio of Nets Daily noted that the Bridges trade is historic not just for the treasure trove Brooklyn got back, but as the first trade since the two franchises started sharing a city:

As Woj noted, the biggest takeaway from all these musical chairs is that Brooklyn has now retaken control of its future to a greater degree. With their 2026 pick back from the Rockets — it was originally sent out in their deal for James Harden, who has since (in)famously been traded two more times — the Nets can freely tank and not have to worry about sending a potentially valuable future pick to the Rockets.

For examples of the possible ramifications of this, one only needs to look at the draft tomorrow: Houston has the No. 3 pick in this draft because the Nets weren’t good enough around Bridges to avoid giving up lottery picks as part of the ongoing Harden deal fallout, so they sold one of the NBA’s most valuable role players for more picks while reclaiming their ability to get the benefits of being bad.

The price they paid to the Rockets for that right was steep — more complicated multi-team pick swaps, and a Suns first-rounder that could be gold if that team continues its expensive implosion, but ultimately likely… nets… out as a win for Brooklyn because it allowed them to get a haul for Bridges from the Knicks without having to worry they would just send a valuable pick to Houston as part of a lengthy rebuild.

For the Knicks, this a steep price that massively cuts into their war chest of assets, but it may be worth it to add Bridges to their core of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo as the final Villanova infinity stone. With Julius Randle’s contract still available to use in deals and OG Anunoby’s future increasingly uncertain — even with Woj noting New York still wants to keep him — it remains to be seen how strong this Knicks foundation can be.

Still, it’s hard not to imagine a devastatingly dangerous team if Bridges — a notorious NBA ironman — can hold up under Thibs’ infamous minutes loads after watching how well they did without that perfect type of 3-and-D wing in the 2024 NBA playoffs while dealing with so many injuries. This could be an NBA Finals team with a bit of luck and some more smart moves.

Or, as Posting and Toasting put it…

For Houston? It seems like the goal is still in flux, and as usual for the Rockets, perpetually chaotic: Trying to get Kevin Durant. Yes, seriously.

The ramifications of this huge, complex deal will surely continue to trickle out, but for now, beyond Brooklyn taking back control of its own destiny, only one thing is clear: If these are the fireworks teams are setting off on the eve of the draft, the next week of draft and free agency madness promises to be explosive.

This breaking news story may be updated as it continues to develop. Follow Nets Daily, The Dream Shake and Posting and Toasting for the latest on the Nets, Rockets and Knicks angles of all this, respectively.

Rockets’ wild trade with Nets is all about trying to get Kevin Durant or Devin Booker rockets,wild,trade,with,nets,is,all,about,trying,to,get,kevin,durant,or,devin,booker,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-trade-rumors,nba-draft,draftkings

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The Houston Rockets want Kevin Durant or Devin Booker. In an effort to get one of them, Houston made a fascinating trade with the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night to acquire future draft picks originally belonging to the Phoenix Suns. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke a convoluted trade that returns the Nets their own 2026 pick (originally sent to Houston in the James Harden trade) and extinguishes swap rights Houston had on Brooklyn’s 2025 pick in exchange for a package headlined by the Suns’ 2027 pick, which was originally acquired by the Nets in the Kevin Durant trade.

This trade comes on the heels of the Nets trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks in a package headlined by five first round draft picks. It’s all happening the night before the 2024 NBA Draft.

Does all of that make sense? Probably not. Here’s how Woj explained it:

Let’s do our best to sum this up:

Nets get: Brooklyn 2026 first round pick, extinguished swap rights on 2025 Brooklyn first round pick

Rockets get: 2027 Suns first round pick, 2025 Suns first round swap rights, 2029 first round pick from Dallas or Phoenix (more favorable), swap rights on 2029 first round pick with Dallas or Phoenix (less favorable)

The Nets’ motivation for doing this deal is obvious: Brooklyn is going all-in on rebuilding, and now has control of its own picks. The Nets are going to tank hard ahead of a loaded 2025 NBA Draft class, and then they’re going to tank again in 2026. Brooklyn is loaded with draft picks.

What’s the Rockets’ motivation for doing this deal? They want Durant or Booker, according to Woj, and believe they can get Phoenix to bite by returning their own draft picks. The Suns are determined to keep Durant and Booker for now and try to win next season, according to Woj. The Rockets are betting they will move off that position eventually. Here are tweets from Woj:

The Rockets also hold the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Is Durant getting traded during the draft on Wednesday night? It seems like a distinct possibility.

This scans as an incredibly bold, borderline reckless trade by Houston. The swap rights for the Nets’ 2025 pick and unprotected ownership of their 2026 pick were incredibly valuable assets. Houston gave those up to fade the Suns. The Rockets are going to be aggressive in trying to trade for an established veteran talent — whether it’s Durant or Booker or someone else.

The NBA is on fire, and the Nets are at the center of it all. Brooklyn’s big swing for Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden blew up into an epic disaster, but the team recovered so well by dealing them all (and the returning assets like Bridges) for future draft picks. The Nets are flushed with draft capital in stronger classes the next few years.

Durant, by the way, turns 36 years old before next season. What a way to start the 24 hours before the draft.

Rocket Mortgage Classic: How to watch, preview, tee times rocket,mortgage,classic,how,to,watch,preview,tee,times,sbnation,com,golf,fantasy-football-draft-guide,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

Rocket Mortgage Classic How to watch preview tee times rocketmortgageclassichowtowatchpreviewteetimessbnationcomgolffantasy football draft guidegolf pga tourgolf news
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The PGA Tour is in Detroit, Michigan, for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where Rickie Fowler will attempt to defend his title. After an entertaining three-week stretch of golf, this tournament does not feature some top-ranked players, but it still employs a strong field of golfers looking to push their way up the FedEx Cup standings.

Detroit Golf Club, a Donald Ross design, is one of the flattest courses players face this season. It will likely be a birdie fest as scores tend to be low.

Nate Lashley won at 25-under in 2019 at the inaugural event. The last couple of years have seen similar results. Tony Finau won at 26-under in 2022, and Rickie Fowler ended his drought with a 24-under final score. Even the cut line is low, as players typically have to finish 36 holes at 5-under or lower to make the weekend. The last five cut lines of this tournament have been: 4-under, 3-under, 3-under, 5-under, and 5-under.

Get ready for a birdie barrage.

Here is the one-stop information shop for the Rocket Mortgage Classic

Rocket Mortgage Classic:

Where: Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, MI (Par-72, 7,370-yards)

When: Jun. 27-30th

Purse: $9,200,000 ($1,650,000 1st place)

FedEx Cup Points: 500

Defending Champion: Rickie Fowler

Photo by Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images

How to Watch The Rocket Mortgage Classic

Golf Channel and CBS Sports will share television coverage. Check out the full schedule below:

Thursday, June 27: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

Friday, June 28: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

Saturday, June 29: 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3:00-6 p.m. ET (CBS)

Sunday, June 30: 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3:00-6 p.m. ET (CBS)

How to Stream The Rocket Mortgage Classic

ESPN+ will exclusively air early round and featured group coverage all four days of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Peacock will have simulcasts of the Golf Channel’s broadcast.

Coverage on Peacock can be streamed here.

In addition, fans can tune into CBS Sports streaming service Paramount+ while CBS airs its third and final round broadcasts.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic Preview:

Defending champion Rickie Fowler ended his four-year-long drought last year when he defeated Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa in a playoff.

However, he recorded only one top-20 finish since that victory, which came at the Travelers Championship last week. He tied for 20th, which, considering he began the championship with a 6-under 64, proved to be a rather disappointing finish—much like how his entire 2024 season has gone.

Nevertheless, Fowler looks to become the first back-to-back winner in this tournament’s history.

Cameron Young, who shot a 59 at TPC River Highlands last week, is in the field. He finished second to Finau in 2022.

Michael Thorbjornsen, who made his professional debut last week at the Travelers, will play again this week in Detroit. The former Stanford Cardinal tied for 39th, which included a second-round 6-under 64.

The headliner of this event is Tom Kim, who fell to his best friend Scottie Scheffler in a one-hole playoff at the Travelers. This week will mark Kim’s ninth straight event on tour. He is someone to watch because his game is so sharp right now. His best finish at the Rocket Mortgage is a T-7 in 2022.

The sponsor exemption list is also impressive. Miles Russell will make his PGA Tour debut at 15-years-old. He won the Junior PGA Championship and Junior Players. Russell took the world by storm by making the cut earlier this year at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic.

Neal Shipley is also in the field, making his first non-major start. He finished as the low amateur at the Masters and the U.S. Open.

This field may not feature any of the world’s Top 10 players, but it will be a fascinating week with plenty of talented players to watch.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic Round 1 Tee Times (ET):

*indicates starts on 10th tee
6:45 a.m. — Martin Laird, Lanto Griffin, Doug Ghim

6:45 a.m.* — Garrick Higgo, Kelly Kraft, Carl Yuan

6:56 a.m. — Aaron Baddeley, Sam Ryder, Max Greyserman

6:56 a.m.* — Tyler Duncan, Ryan Moore, Brandon Wu

7:07 a.m. — Matt NeSmith, Hayden Buckley, Kevin Yu

7:07 a.m.* — Nate Lashley, Kevin Tway, Jason Dufner

7:18 a.m. — Taylor Moore, Adam Svensson, Brandt Snedeker

7:18 a.m.* — Davis Riley, Peter Malnati, Brendon Todd

7:29 a.m. — Luke List, Chad Ramey, Adam Schenk

7:29 a.m.* — Nick Dunlap, Chris Kirk, Erik van Rooyen

7:40 a.m. — Brice Garnett, Vincent Norrman, Ryan Brehm

7:40 a.m.* — Robert MacIntyre, Tom Kim, Cameron Young

7:51 a.m. — Martin Trainer, Tim Wilkinson, Andrew Novak

7:51 a.m.* — Lee Hodges, Nick Hardy, K.H. Lee

8:02 a.m. — Beau Hossler, Josh Teater, Greyson Sigg

8:02 a.m.* — Joel Dahmen, Alex Noren, Aaron Rai

8:13 a.m. — Kevin Streelman, Bud Cauley, Scott Gutschewski

8:13 a.m.* — Chesson Hadley, Tyson Alexander, Sami Vallimaki

8:24 a.m. — Ben Kohles, Chandler Phillips, David Skinns

8:24 a.m.* — Davis Thompson, Callum Tarren, Ryo Hisatsune

8:35 a.m. — Alejandro Tosti, Patrick Fishburn, Jackson Koivun (a)

8:35 a.m.* — Jacob Bridgeman, Jorge Campillo, Danny Guise

8:46 a.m. — Chan Kim, Trace Crowe, Luke Clanton (a)

8:46 a.m.* — Nicholas Lindheim, Erik Barnes, Brandon Berry

8:57 a.m. — Ben Silberman, Wilson Furr, Ben James (a)

8:57 a.m.* — Ryan McCormick, Kevin Dougherty, Angelo Giantsopoulos

12:10 p.m. — Henrik Norlander, Justin Suh, Dylan Wu

12:10 p.m.* — Jhonattan Vegas, David Lipsky, Vince Whaley

12:21 p.m. — Jimmy Walker, Roger Sloan, Carson Young

12:21 p.m.* — C.T. Pan, Maverick McNealy, Joseph Bramlett

12:32 p.m. — Charley Hoffman, Ryan Fox, Harry Hall

12:32 p.m.* — Eric Cole, Zac Blair, Justin Lower

12:43 p.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee

12:43 p.m.* — Daniel Berger, Webb Simpson, Keith Mitchell

12:54 p.m. — Chris Gotterup, Taylor Pendrith, Jake Knapp

12:54 p.m.* — Matt Wallace, Chez Reavie, J.J. Spaun

1:05 p.m. — Rickie Fowler, Will Zalatoris, Cam Davis

1:05 p.m.* — Nico Echavarria, Francesco Molinari, Matt Kuchar

1:16 p.m. — Kevin Kisner, Cameron Champ, Gary Woodland

1:16 p.m.* — Camilo Villegas, Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson

1:27 p.m. — Patrick Rodgers, Mark Hubbard, Nicolai Højgaard

1:27 p.m.* — Wesley Bryan, Taylor Montgomery, Matti Schmid

1:38 p.m. — Troy Merritt, Patton Kizzire, Ben Griffin

1:38 p.m.* — Michael Kim, Robby Shelton, S.H. Kim

1:49 p.m. — Alex Smalley, Sam Stevens, Ben Taylor

1:49 p.m.* — Mac Meissner, Parker Coody, Willie Mack III

2:00 p.m. — Thorbjørn Olesen, Joe Highsmith, Tom Whitney

2:00 p.m.* — Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Michael Thorbjornsen, Neal Shipley

2:11 p.m. — Paul barjon, Hayden Springer, Blaine Hale Jr.

2:11 p.m.* — Pierceson Coody, Rico Hoey, Miles Russell (a)

2:22 p.m. — Harrison Endycott, Raul Pereda, Kyle Martin

2:22 p.m.* — Rafael Campos, Anders Albertson, Nick Bienz

The Rocket Mortgage Classic Round 2 Tee Times (ET):

*indicates starts on 10th tee
6:45 a.m. — Jhonattan Vegas, David Lipsky, Vince Whaley

6:45 a.m.* — Henrik Norlander, Justin Suh, Dylan Wu

6:56 a.m. — C.T. Pan, Maverick McNealy, Josephy Bramlett

6:56 a.m.* — Jimmy Walker, Roger Sloan, Carson Young

7:07 a.m. — Eric Cole, Zac Blair, Justin Lower

7:07 a.m.* — Charley Hoffman, Ryan Fox, Harry Hall

7:18 a.m. — Daniel Berger, Webb Simpson, Keith Mitchell

7:18 a.m.* — Akshay Bhatia, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee

7:29 a.m. — Matt Wallace, Chez Reavie, J.J. Spaun

7:29 a.m.* — Chris Gotterup, Taylor Pendrith, Jake Knapp

7:40 a.m. — Nico Echavarria, Francesco Molinari, Matt Kuchar

7:40 a.m.* — Rickie Fowler, Will Zalatoris, Cam Davis

7:51 a.m. — Camilo Villegas, Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson

7:51 a.m.* — Kevin Kisner, Cameron Champ, Gary Woodland

8:02 a.m. — Wesley Bryan, Taylor Montgomery, Matti Schmid

8:02 a.m.* — Patrick Rodgers, Mark Hubbard, Nicolai Højgaard

8:13 a.m. — Michael Kim, Robby Shelton, S.H. Kim

8:13 a.m. * — Troy Merritt, Patton Kizzire, Ben Griffin

8:24 a.m. — Mac Meissner, Parker Coody, Willie Mack III

8:24 a.m.* — Alex Smalley, Sam Stevens, Ben Taylor

8:35 a.m. — Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Michael Thorbjornsen, Neal Shipley

8:35 a.m.* — Thorbjørn Olesen, Joe Highsmith, Tom Whitney

8:46 a.m. — Pierceson Coody, Rico Hoey, Miles Russell (a)

8:46 a.m.* — Paul Barjon, Hayden Springer, Blaine Hale Jr.

8:57 a.m. — Rafael Campos, Anders Albertson, Nick Bienz

8:57 a.m.* — Harrison Endycott, Raul Pereda, Kyle Martin

12:10 p.m. — Garrick Higgo, Kelly Kraft, Carl Yuan

12:10 p.m.* — Martin Laird, Lanto Griffin, Doug Ghim

12:21 p.m. — Tyler Duncan, Ryan Moore, Brandon Wu

12:21 p.m.* — Aaron Baddeley, Sam Ryder, Max Greyserman

12:32 p.m. — Nate Lashley, Kevin Tway, Jason Dufner

12:32 p.m. * — Matt NeSmith, Hayden Buckley, Kevin Yu

12:43 p.m. — Davis Riley, Peter Malnati, Brendon Todd

12:43 p.m.* — Taylor Moore, Adam Svensson, Brandt Snedeker

12:54 p.m. — Nick Dunlap, Chris Kirk, Erik van Rooyen

12:54 p.m.* — Luke List, Chad Ramey, Adam Schenk

1:05 p.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Tom Kim, Cameron Young

1:05 p.m.* — Brice Garnett, Vincent Norrman, Ryan Brehm

1:16 p.m. — Lee Hodges, Nick Hardy, K.H. Lee

1:16 p.m.* — Martin Trainer, Tim Wilkinson, Andrew Novak

1:27 p.m. — Joel Dahmen, Alex Noren, Aaron Rai

1:27 p.m.* — Beau Hossler, Josh Teater, Greyson Sigg

1:38 p.m. — Chesson Hadley, Tyson Alexander, Sami Valimaki

1:38 p.m. * — Kevin Streelman, Bud Cauley, Scott Gutschewski

1:49 p.m. — Davis Thompson, Callum Tarren, Ryo Hisatsune

1:49 p.m.* — Ben Kohles, Chandler Phillips, David Skinns

2:00 p.m. — Jacob Bridgeman, Jorge Campillo, Danny Guise

2:00 p.m.* — Alejandro Tosti, Patrick Fishburn, Jackson Koivun (a)

2:11 p.m. — Nicholas Lindheim, Erik Barnes, Brandon Berry

2:11 p.m.* — Chan Kim, Trace Crow, Luke Clanton (a)

2:22 p.m. — Ryan McCormick, Kevin Dougherty, Angelo Giantsopoulos

2:22 p.m. — Ben Silverman, Wilson Furr, Ben James (a)

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

JJ Redick denies using racial slur as old and new allegations surface about Lakers coach jj,redick,denies,using,racial,slur,as,old,and,new,allegations,surface,about,lakers,coach,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,dot-com-grid-coverage

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A day after he was introduced as new Lakers head coach, representatives for JJ Redick issued a denial of allegations that he called a fellow Duke alum the N-word while in college.

Reps for Redick were responding to a tweet from author, speaker and self-described social impact pro Halleemah Nash that was sent Tuesday, in which Nash accused Redick of calling her the N-word when she was working with the Duke basketball team Redick played for in college:

Within a few hours, TMZ had gotten a denial of the story from Redick’s team:

We reached out to Redick’s camp for a response to the claim … and they completely shut it down.

“No, it never happened,” a spokesperson tells TMZ Sports.

The Lakers have not commented on the situation publicly as of publishing time.

However, while Redick’s reps denied Nash’s story, other disturbing moments from Redick’s past came to light in the wake of her social media post on Tuesday. They included 2014 allegations that Redick called an ex-girlfriend racial slurs in leaked emails related to an alleged abortion contract with the same woman; Redick denied the woman was ever pregnant in since-deleted tweets from 2013 calling the reports “outrageous, false and malicious.”

Additionally resurfacing on social media was an apology Redick issued in 2018 for appearing to accidentally use a racial slur in a Chinese New Year video from the NBA, as well as a bizarre story in which he claimed on his podcast to have potentially witnessed human trafficking before temporarily deleting his Twitter account.

We will update this story when and if more details/responses come to light.

Elly De La Cruz and Oneil Cruz are must-see TV elly,de,la,cruz,and,oneil,cruz,are,must,see,tv,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb,dot-com-grid-coverage

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If you’re surveying the baseball landscape for games to watch, I have a pretty good idea of how the process should go for tonight. If your favorite team is playing well, you’re probably going to watch them first. Other than that, if you’re going to pay attention to any baseball game that doesn’t involve your favorite team for the next couple of days then your eyes should be locked in for what’s going on in Cincinnati this week.

At first glance, a matchup between two 37-41 teams in what is collectively the most mediocre division in baseball doesn’t seem like much to write home about. It’s especially the case when you consider that the Cincinnati Reds have only been to the Postseason four times since 2010 and won a grand total of two games in those appearances while the Pittsburgh Pirates only made it three years in a row from 2013 through 2015 and also won a grand total of two playoff games during that span. There hasn’t been much of a reason to pay attention to these two clubs and they haven’t really given anybody a real reason to pay attention to them outside of the occasional insane-looking brawl.

That changes this week, as we’ve now got two very good reasons to tune in to this series: Elly De La Cruz and Oneil Cruz. One of my favorite things about baseball is that despite the everyday nature of the sport, there’s always a chance that if you tune in or go to the ballpark then you’re going to see something that you’ve never seen before. It’s true for any game, it’s especially true when any one of De La Cruz or Cruz is playing in the game and it only doubles when both of them are going to be sharing the same field for at least two-and-a-half hours for the next couple of nights.

While Elly’s exploits on the diamond have been widely documented right here on SB Nation, it’s somewhat understandable that Oneil Cruz’s action has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle when it comes to the Pirates. After all, Bryan Reynolds is still the face of the franchise over there, Andrew McCutchen has returned to wear the only uniform that he’s looked completely right in (outside of maybe these throwback Phillies uniforms) and Paul Skenes has exploded onto the MLB scene and has quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with on the mound. While this hasn’t translated to the Pirates winning ballgames on a regular basis, it’s not completely boring to keep up with the Pirates nowadays.

However, Oneil Cruz is absolutely worth paying attention to because his highlight reel consists of stuff that is scarcely believable at times. This is the guy who currently holds the record for the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast Era of MLB at 122.4 mph and used to hold the record for the hardest throw from an infielder during the Statcast Era with a 97.8 mph laser that he uncorked as a rookie back in 2022. His arm strength is in the 99th percentile. His bat speed is in the 100th percentile, which naturally means that his Average Exit Velocity is also comically high, his Barrel percentage is just as lofty and his Hard-Hit percentage is in the same neighborhood. While he’s not up there with the real burners in terms of foot speed, his 87th-percentile Sprint Speed seems to indicate that he still blaze across the basepaths if needed.

Cruz is still in the process of putting all of these facets together in order to become a truly great baseball player but his potential is right there for everybody to see. It’s very difficult to figure out who has a higher ceiling than than Cruz and it’s one of many reasons why he doesn’t just have Pirates fans excited about any progress that he can make. If Oneil Cruz can realize his full potential at some point, it’ll be essentially as if a fully maxed-out create-a-player from the video games has come to life.

Millions of baseball fans have always dreamed of somehow becoming a physical force of nature who could run like the wind, throw harder than some pitchers and hit dingers nearly 500 feet while basically leaving a mark on everything else he hits. The difference between aspirational video gamers and Oneil Cruz is that he has the real and tangible chance to actually become what was always figured to be a digital wild dream for most fans.

Speaking of players who have ceilings that are higher than the Empire State Building, that’s where Elly De La Cruz came in. While there’s debate as to whether or not Oneil Cruz is the top star for the Pittsburgh Pirates, there’s no debate when it comes to the situation in Cincinnati. Elly De La Cruz is the man around there — whether we’re talking name recognition, highlights or production, Elly has got it all in spades.

As I alluded to in the aforementioned links to other articles about Elly De La Cruz, the guy just appears to be a sentient highlight reel. You want tape-measure home runs? He’s got em. You want Web Gems that would’ve made him a staple on Baseball Tonight? He’s got those, too. You want to see him tear up the basepaths? He’s got you on that as well. You want to see him do it all in the process of terrorizing the Dodgers? It’s funny you should ask because there’s video evidence of that as well.

What makes it so gratifying to watch Elly De La Cruz do the things that he does on a nightly basis is that it was plainly obvious from the moment that he showed up in Major League Baseball that he was capable of becoming this type of player. However, just like Oneil Cruz right now, it was also evident that he still needed to put it all together. After all, you can do plenty of amazing things on the field but it won’t particularly matter all that much if you’re hitting .235/.300/.410 with a .305 wOBA and only 89 wRC+, which is what he finished with in 2023 after playing 98 games. Heading into action on June 25, De La Cruz is now hitting .249/.342/.464 with a .352 wOBA and a wRC+ of 123. It’s clicking for him even when he’s not doing anything spectacular and his team leading fWAR of 3.3 is also proof that he hasn’t sacrificed any other portion of his game in order to improve in another facet.

He’s still stealing bases at an absurd clip — he’s already surpassed his stolen base total of 35 last season, he’s currently sitting on 37 stolen bags and the sky is the limit when it comes to how high that number can get. His defense has also improved as he’s no longer simply leaning on his prodigious arm strength. He’s currently in 95th percentile of fielders with an OAA of 6. He’s steadily turning into a complete baseball player, which should be exciting for both Reds fans when it comes to potentially turning the ship around in Cincinnati and it’s also exciting for us neutral fans since that just means he’s capable of doing something truly absurd no matter if he’s hitting, fielding or running the bases. Stuff that was figured to be impossible in the past is just part of another day at the ballpark for Elly De La Cruz.

Elly De La Cruz and Oneil Cruz may not be miracle workers who can drag their respective teams to the promised land but they’re both doing more than their fair share of the work in making their respective teams fun to watch. While Oneil Cruz is still in the process of showing quick glimpses of his potential, we’re starting to see Elly De La Cruz fully blossom into a real-deal superstar in baseball. Both of them will be on the same field this week when the Pirates and Reds face off with each other in Cincinnati. While these two teams may not command your attention, these two players certainly should.

Olympics: LPGA stars Charley Hull, Georgia Hall offer fun Paris preview olympics,lpga,stars,charley,hull,georgia,hall,offer,fun,paris,preview,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news

Olympics LPGA stars Charley Hull Georgia Hall offer fun Paris
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Charley Hull and Georgia Hall are best friends who grew up playing golf together and are both LPGA veterans.

This week, they paired up for the LPGA Dow Championship, a multi-format stroke-play team event at Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan.

In rounds one and three, the ladies will play foursomes or alternate shot. For the second and final rounds, it will be four-ball or best ball—much like the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA Tour.

They have known each other since they were 11 years old, and they are celebrating 17 years of friendship. Hull calls Hall ‘George,’ while the former AIG Women’s Open champion calls her best friend ‘Charles.’

“We live three minutes away from each other now, and there’s not a day that goes by we don’t speak,” Hall said.

The duo will also represent Team Great Britain in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Becoming an Olympian is a big deal and even more special for this duo because they get to do it together.

“Just spending time with George because we love playing golf together,” Hull said. “That week is going to be a bit of a busy week, but it’s just nice to share it with your best friend, especially in a moment like that.”

Even though they will have plenty of Olympic duties, the pair has made plans to go shopping and enjoy the experience. Hall has never been to the city of love, while Hull has only visited Paris once.

“You get to share the experience with me the first time,” Hull said, smiling. “But honestly, I actually really want to go to Paris one day.”

“Yeah, let’s go shopping,” Hall said.

Shopping at the Olympics? Neither athlete is a huge sports fan, but they each have a separate event they want to watch. Hull wants to watch boxing, while Hall wants to check out gymnastics.

The best part was the compromise between the two so they could spend as much time together as possible.

“You’ll go to gymnastics, and I’ll go to boxing, and we’ll have to go to each other’s one,” Hull said.

This week, their team name is the Rose and Thorn because a good friend, Ryan Evans, gave it to them. They also have a walk-up song, “Best Friend,” by rapper Saweetie.

“Georgia goes to him, ‘Describe me and Charley,’ and Ryan goes, ‘Georgia, you’re like the lovely English rose, and Charley, you’re like the thorn.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, thanks, Ryan,’” Hull explained.

Hall acknowledged it was stark, but she quickly made her best friend feel better about it.

“There’s lots of thorns around the rose, so you protect me, don’t you,” Hall said.

“Yeah, I protect her,” Hull responded with a saucy grin.

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

This week in Michigan, they will tap into their connection to find success.

“I know when Charley is upset before she does, and she’s the same with me,” Hall said. “We know each other well, and I think that’s so important. This type of event, we go out there and have fun.”

“100 percent,” Hull chimed in. “George knows me better than I know myself.”

These two are among the 60 women who will compete in the Paris Olympics at Le Golf National, the 2018 Ryder Cup venue.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

LIV Golf’s Lee Westwood making U.S. Senior Open debut, wants war to end liv,golf,s,lee,westwood,making,u,s,senior,open,debut,wants,war,to,end,sbnation,com,golf,golf-champions-tour,golf-news,liv-golf

LIV Golfs Lee Westwood making US Senior Open debut wants
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Englishman Lee Westwood is fed up with the current schism surrounding professional golf, as the PGA Tour tries to strike a deal with LIV Golf’s beneficiary, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Westwood wants the best players to play side-by-side in every tournament, not just in the majors.

“No matter what the level of golf is, I think if the best players at every level don’t come together and play, there’s only one loser, and that’s the fans watching,” Westwood said Tuesday ahead of his U.S. Senior Open debut.

“We need to somehow figure a way to get the best players playing against each other more often.”

One consequence of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf divide is that the four majors have become even more prominent. Unlike regular tour events, LIV Golf players can tee it up at The Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and The Open Championship. That means fans get to see the top players compete side-by-side only four times per year.

LIV has also seen success in recent majors, as four of the last eight major champions currently play on the Saudi-backed circuit. Look no further than Bryson DeChambeau, who won the most recent major at Pinehurst No. 2.

“When you look at the U.S. Open two weeks ago or the Masters or the PGA Championship, people are happy to see Bryson [DeChambeau] or Cam [Smith] or Jon Rahm coming and playing in those big events,” Westwood said.

Lee Westwood at LIV Golf Nashville.
Photo by Bryan Lynn/Getty Images

“It’s basically getting all the best players together in one tournament to compete against each other, and that’s what you want at the highest level. You want all the best players there.”

This week’s Senior U.S. Open features two LIV Golf players: Richard Bland, who won last month’s Senior PGA Championship, and Westwood.

Westwood earned a place in this week’s U.S. Senior Open because he has played on a recent Ryder Cup team. He represented Team Europe at Whistling Straits in 2021, earning a single point. The Americans trounced the Europeans that year, 19-to-9.

Less than one year later, Westwood joined LIV Golf, where he has not had much success. Yet, Westwood will tee it up with plenty of confidence at Newport Country Club this week, thanks to his recent performance at LIV Golf Nashville, where he tied for third—the best result of his LIV Golf career.

“I started to swing well, and my whole game was coming together when I played at LIV Houston three weeks ago. Then I went home and did a little bit of work on it. I probably haven’t been working as hard on my game as I would have liked to, but I put in a bit more work in the week off,” Westwood explained.

“Putted well last week. I sharpened my short game up because I’ve been playing more, and my game is in a really good place. Played well on the final day, which was good. I haven’t been finishing tournaments off, so having fun for the last four holes, and finishing that tournament off strongly has given me a lot of confidence going into this week.”

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Ernie Els likens U.S. Senior Open to Royal Troon; ready for links ernie,els,likens,u,s,senior,open,to,royal,troon,ready,for,links,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-champions-tour,golf-news

Ernie Els likens US Senior Open to Royal Troon ready
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Ernie Els has won the U.S. Open twice and a pair of Claret Jugs, so this week’s U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club should suit his game nicely.

Els compared Newport to Royal Troon, the site of this year’s Open Championship, as Newport, like Troon, sits right on the coast, meaning the elements have a great impact on the course. The wind will gust off the Atlantic, creating havoc at times. But that will also require players to keep the ball low and run it into the greens, much like what golf fans see in Scotland every summer for The Open.

“The way you’re going to have to play the course is very much links style, and the course is designed that way,” Els assessed on Tuesday.

“It’s a golf course where you can play the ball on the ground, unlike last year and normal U.S. Opens, where we play the ball in the air. It’s going to be a different taste this week. The wind is going to play a huge factor. Greens are very up, and there’s a lot of slope on them. So that wind, when it comes, it’s going to be difficult around the greens.

“There’s a bit of room for us off the tee, which is nice. As somebody that’s played in the wind, somebody that’s used to British Open type of golf, you’re going to have to hit those little 4-iron shots that will run 20, 30, 40 yards. Those who are comfortable playing in the wind will probably do well this week.”

Ernie Els plays his tee shot on the 13th hole during a practice round ahead of the 2024 U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club.
Photo by Kathryn Riley/USGA

Of the five senior majors, the only one Els has not recorded a top-10 finish in is the U.S. Senior Open. Yet, he has posted top 20 finishes in the last three iterations, with his best finish being a T-12 at SentryWorld Golf Course in Wisconsin last year.

He has not yet triumphed in a senior major but has come close. Earlier this year, Els tied for third at the Regions Tradition. The South African then finished six strokes back of Richard Bland at the Senior PGA Championship, tying for sixth.

But he has picked up a pair of victories on the PGA Tour Champions since then, winning the Principal Charity Classic and the American Family Insurance Championship in back-to-back weeks in early June.

“I’ve been playing decent golf. Just started driving the golf ball better, so giving myself more opportunity out of the short grass to attack some of the flags,” Els said of his recent stretch.

“I made some good putts in the wins, and even when I didn’t win, I’ve been putting quite steadily. Just things are a little bit more in shape. My overall game is in better shape.”

Considering his game is rounding into form at the right time and that Els loves the layout of this course, do not be surprised if ‘The Big Easy’ prevails for his first senior major title at Newport Country Club this week.

At the very least, he should contend as long as he can control his golf ball in the wind. But he has proven to have done so before, so there’s no reason to believe he will not again this week.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Jason Kelce making a young fan’s life with a selfie is the most wholesome ‘Eras Tour’ content jason,kelce,making,a,young,fan,s,life,with,a,selfie,is,the,most,wholesome,eras,tour,content,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl

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Travis Kelce joining Taylor Swift on stage during her run of London shows for The Eras Tour made for an incredible NFL-related moment this week.

But it is not the only NFL-related moment the London portion of The Eras Tour has provided.

Joining Travis in London for these run of shows is his brother Jason, and Jason’s partner Kylie. The recently-retired NFL center has been spotted showing off his own armful of friendship bracelets, and waving to fans while walking back to their spot for the show while holding some … we’ll go with refreshments.

But this moment making the rounds on social media Tuesday certainly tops those. Watch as Jason comes across a young fan wearing one of the center’s throwback Philadelphia Eagles’ jerseys. Jason introduces himself to the young fan, leaving them bewildered and almost overwhelmed:

The young fan is left speechless as Jason surprises him.

Shortly thereafter, the photographs made it to social media as well:

The perfect NFL-related content to get us through to training camp.

Odell Beckham Jr. is exactly what Tua Tagovailoa needed for Dolphins’ offense odell,beckham,jr,is,exactly,what,tua,tagovailoa,needed,for,dolphins,offense,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,dot-com-grid-coverage

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Now in the twilight of his career, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. joins the Miami Dolphins, a franchise desperate to win their first playoff game since 2000. Is Beckham the missing piece for Miami’s offense? Probably not, but he can still be very good for them.

Beckham is no longer an offense’s North Star, one to shoulder the load of an offense. He hasn’t been for some time now. That’s not to say he won’t help a Dolphins offense brimming with talent, that finished second in the NFL in points in 2023. His skillset fits their high-flying attack, and he proved last season with the Baltimore Ravens he can contribute.

The ability to create separation is still Beckham’s hallmark. His agility remains a staple of his game, complementing his route running. He brings dynamic cuts in his breaks that still shake defenders and find him in the open field. His one-step slant continues to gash cornerbacks and the speed to take it the distance.

Beckham finished 2023 with 35 receptions for 565 yards and three touchdowns. He also drew repeated defensive pass interference flags due to outmaneuvering defensive backs, forcing them to clutch his jersey and impede him with the ball in the air. He remains an artisan in route-running.

Beckham won’t be the figurehead of the Dolphins’ offense. That goes to wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who is shattering defenses in ways no other can. But as a complementary piece beside Hill and Jaylen Waddle, he’ll bust single-coverage cornerbacks.

In space or in the red zone, Beckham’s lethal in single coverage. Against the Seahawks in November, Beckham carved up Tariq Woolen with ease and gifted Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley an easy floater to the back corner.

Defenses will struggle to contain the trio of Hill, Waddle and Beckham. And that’s not including tight end Durham Smythe, or the Dolphins’ one-two punch running back tandem Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane.

And, as always, Beckham brings pizazz. He brings arguably the widest catch radius in the NFL. He brings highlights and wizardry.

Beckham has playmaking left in the tank. His “drop off” — if you want to call it that — still has him as a viable receiving threat. In an offense where Beckham is given easier matchups due to the outstanding playmakers surrounding him, there’s a high likelihood he’ll flourish.

The third receiver for Miami last season was Braxton Berrios, who went for 27 receptions, 238 yards, and a single touchdown. It’s not hard to imagine OBJ eclipsing those numbers in 2024, even with Berrios still on Miami’s roster in 2024.