The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are just over a month away, the the Olympic flame has begun its journey to the Opening Ceremonies.
And on Tuesday, the Olympic torch relay had a Formula 1 feel.
As the relay made its way through Monaco, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was one of the individuals tapped to carry the torch through the Principality. Other Monaco figures involved in the relay with Leclerc — who finally broke through with a victory in his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix — included Princess Charlene, Prince Albert II, and bobsledder Rudy Rinaldi.
Leclerc shared some footage of his time with the Olympic torch on social media:
While the Olympic flame will continue its journey to Paris, Leclerc will soon head to Barcelona for the F1 Spanish Grand Prix. The driver is hoping to be part of a big bounce-back for Ferrari, as both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. finished outside of the points the last time out, at the Canadian Grand Prix.
That result saw Red Bull pull 25 points further ahead of Ferrari in the F1 Constructors’ Championship. And with McLaren scoring 28 points — thanks to a P2 from Lando Norris and a P5 from Oscar Piastri — Ferrari absolutely needs a bounce-back performance in Barcelona.
Perhaps carrying the Olympic flame will provide Leclerc with some inspiration this weekend.
Florida and Kentucky are set to square off at the Men’s College World Series, in a do-or-die game for both teams.
Now they will have another night to think about what needs to be done.
With the threat of severe weather looming over Omaha — forecasters are calling for thunderstorms and heavy rain — Tuesday night’s elimination game between the two teams has been moved to Wednesday morning.
That sets up a baseball triple-header in Omaha Wednesday, and a double-header for the team that wins the rescheduled game between Kentucky and Florida. Wednesday’s new schedule for the Men’s College World Series is as follows, with all times Eastern:
Game 10 Kentucky vs. Florida | 11 a.m.
Game 11 Tennessee vs. the winner of North Carolina/Florida State | 3 p.m.
Game 12 between Texas A&M vs. the winner of Kentucky/Florida | 7 p.m.
Both Florida and Kentucky are 1-1 in Omaha. The Gators are coming off a 5-4 win over NC State that kept their season alive, while the Wildcats just dropped their first game in Omaha to Texas A&M, losing by a final score of 5-1.
The SEC rivals played one series this year in early May, and the Wildcats won two of those three games in Gainesville.
Through nine race weekends this Formula 1 season, the team at Visa Cash App RB F1 Team have placed themselves near the front of the midfield. VCARB currently sits sixth in the F1 Constructors’ Championship standings with 28 points, 21 points ahead of seventh-place Haas. As the grid heads to Barcelona, there are thoughts that VCARB could perhaps throw a scare into Aston Martin, and make a play for fifth in the standings by the time the season is over.
However, VCARB is certainly expecting a tough fight at the Spanish Grand Prix, thanks to the track in Barcelona. For years the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was used for pre-season testing, thanks to its long straights and mix of corners.
As such, many teams are bringing upgrades to the Spanish Grand Prix, which could make for a “competitive” weekend.
“Barcelona is always a track where everyone brings updates, so I think it’s going to be a really competitive weekend. Let’s see what everyone brings. I’m excited to drive it with the faster last sector that they changed for last year,” said Daniel Ricciardo in the team’s media preview. “I’m looking forward to getting back on that track. Normally, it’s quite familiar but we didn’t do any testing there this year, so should be fun.
“I’m looking forward to keeping this run going, trying to get some more Q3 appearances and points finishes. I’ve been waiting a while, but I like to think it’s the start of where my season continues to progress and show performances like I did in Montreal,” added Ricciardo. “Really looking forward to it and excited to get the European leg started!”
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
Yuki Tsunoda, who has scored 19 of VCARB’s points this season, is hoping to rebound after a disappointing Canadian Grand Prix. VCARB was in the running for a double-points finish, but a spin by Tsunoda in the late stages dropped him out of contention.
“Even though the race in Montreal didn’t go the way I wanted, and the weekend as a whole was a bit up and down, it was positive that we managed to turn things around from Free Practice to qualifying, from one extreme to another. It showed that, as a team, we know how to adapt, and we came back well to get to Q3 once again,” said Tsunoda. “This definitely gives me lots of confidence that we know how to turn things around and make them work!”
Tsunoda believes that getting a good feel for the team’s challenger early in the week will bre critical for success at the Spanish Grand Prix.
“Now it’s time for Barcelona, which is a tough test for the car, but so far this season the VCARB 01 seems to perform well at all tracks, so I have no concerns on the performance side. As for the track itself, Sector 1 and Sector 3 are different animals and you can’t really have a car that is well-balanced in both of them, so you need to compromise, but we are not worried about that,” described Tsunoda. “The key will be to get a good understanding of how our package is working at this track as soon as possible during Free Practice and then get the most out of it. It’s another track where overtaking is difficult so qualifying will again be very important.
“I seem to be performing quite well in quali in recent races, maybe it’s the way I build up to it over Free Practice and it’s also linked to controlling my emotions, managing myself better and doing it consistently,” continued Tsunoda. “That makes your driving and feedback better and gives me extra confidence, so I’m looking forward to it.”
As noted, many teams are bringing upgrades to Barcelona.
And VCARB is one of those teams.
“With regards to our approach to the race, recent results have been reasonable and we have been scoring points, began Jody Egginton, the team’s Technical Director. “However, the midfield battle is incredibly tight and we are under no illusion that we must deliver well-executed events to be towards the front of this group with a chance of scoring points. So, like for any other Grand Prix, there have been intensive preparations in the simulator and offline tools to prepare for this event.
“A significant amount of work was put in by Faenza and Bicester to prepare and deliver an aerodynamic update consisting of a floor, bodywork and rear wing for both cars, to provide a measurable performance benefit,” continued Egginton. “As a result of having this update, the Friday sessions will be especially busy, in order to gather and process as much data as possible and get ready for Saturday onwards.”
The PGA Tour is in Cromwell, Connecticut, for the eighth and final Signature Event of the season: the Travelers Championship.
TPC River Highlands, a Robert J. Moss and Maurice Kearney course, will play as host. This tournament will not feature a cut as 71 players battle for a piece of the $20 million purse.
Here is the one-stop information shop for the Travelers Championship.
Travelers Championship:
Where: TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut (Par-70, 6,852-yards)
When: Jun. 20-23rd
Purse: $20,000,000/$4,000,000 (First Place)
FedEx Cup Points: 700
Defending Champion: Keegan Bradley
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
How to Watch The Travelers Championship
Golf Channel and CBS will share the television coverage. Check out the full schedule below:
Thursday, June 20: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Friday, June 21: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Saturday, June 22: 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3:00-6 p.m. ET (CBS)
Sunday, June 23: 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3:00-6 p.m. ET (CBS)
How to Stream The Travelers Championship
ESPN+ will exclusively air early round and featured group coverage all four days of the Travelers Championship. 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 Travelers Championship Preview:
Coming off a dramatic U.S. Open week, the best of the PGA Tour is in Connecticut for the final Signature Event of the year.
Defending champion Keegan Bradley won his sixth PGA Tour event here in 2023. He also broke the tournament record by one stroke.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is coming off one of his weakest performances at Pinehurst No. 2, but he remains one of the many heavy hitters who headline this event.
Xander Schauffele is also in the field as the PGA Championship winner finished strong at Pinehurst.
Ludvig Åberg struggled at Pinehurst throughout the weekend, but this TPC River Highlands track fits his game well. Last year, he was one of four sponsor exemptions in the field, and now, heading into this event, the Swedish phenom is a PGA Tour winner.
He tied for 24th in 2023, going 67-65-65-70 through four days of play. Åberg’s game is in a good spot coming off the U.S. Open, so watch out for him to make moves this week.
Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, and many other top players will tee it up this week in New England as they all fight to take home that hefty $4 million first-place price.
This week will be interesting as most of the field is coming off a major championship. Will fatigue affect some of the biggest names in golf?
The Travelers Championship Round 1 Tee Times (ET):
(All go off the first tee)
8:05 a.m. — Chris Gotterup
8:15 a.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Jake Knapp
8:25 a.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Thomas Detry
8:35 a.m. — Taylor Pendrith, Victor Perez
8:45 a.m. — Davis Riley, Rickie Fowler
8:55 a.m. — Lee Hodges, Eric Cole
9:05 a.m. — Brian Harman, Tom Hoge
9:15 a.m. — Nick Taylor, Harris English
9:25 a.m. — Taylor Moore, Seamus Power
9:40 a.m. — Kurt Kitayama, Mackenzie Hughes
9:50 a.m. — Sahith Theegala, Sepp Sraka
10:00 a.m. — Jason Day, J.T. Poston
10:10 a.m. — Cameron Young, Patrick Rodgers
10:20 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley
10:30 a.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa
10:40 a.m. — Wyndham Clark, Jordan Spieth
10:50 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas
11:00 a.m. — Nick Dunlap, Adam Scott
11:15 a.m. — Will Zalatoris, Ben Griffin
11:25 a.m. — Austin Eckroat, Webb Simpson
11:35 a.m. — Peter Malnati, Christian Bezuidenhout
11:45 a.m. — Emiliano Grillo, Andrew Putnam
11:55 a.m. — Sam Burns, Byeong Hun An
12:05 p.m. — Si Woo Kim, Adam Svensson
12:15 p.m. — Matt Fitzpatrick, Adam Hadwin
12:25 p.m. — Tom Kim, Corey Conners
12:35 p.m. — Justin Rose, Adam Schenk
12:50 p.m. — Chris Kirk, Sungjae Im
1:00 p.m. — Russell Henley, Denny McCarthy
1:10 p.m. — Cam Davis, Brendon Todd
1:20 p.m. — Lucas glover, Tommy Fleetwood
1:30 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland
1:40 p.m. — Tony Finau, Patrick Cantlay
1:50 p.m. — Xander Schauffele, Matthieu Pavon
2:00 p.m. — Ludvig Åberg, Michael Thorbjornsen
2:10 p.m. — Billy Horschel, Stephan Jaeger
The Travelers Championship Round 2 Tee Times (ET):
(All go off the first tee)
8:05 a.m. — Will Zalatoris, Ben Griffin
8:15 a.m. — Austin Eckroat, Webb Simpson
8:25 a.m. — Peter Malnati, Christian Bezuidenhout
8:35 a.m. — Emiliano Grillo, Andrew Putnam
8:45 a.m. — Sam Burns, Byeong Hun An
8:55 a.m. — Si Woo Kim, Adam Svensson
9:05 a.m. — Matt Fitzpatrick, Adam Hadwin
9:15 a.m. — Tom Kim, Corey Conners
9:25 a.m. — Justin Rose, Adam Schenk
9:40 a.m. — Chris Kirk, Sungjae Im
9:50 a.m. — Russell Henley, Denny McCarthy
10:00 a.m. — Cam Davis, Brendon Todd
10:10 a.m. — Lucas glover, Tommy Fleetwood
10:20 a.m. — Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland
10:30 a.m. — Tony Finau, Patrick Cantlay
10:40 a.m. — Xander Schauffele, Matthieu Pavon
10:50 a.m. — Ludvig Åberg, Michael Thorbjornsen
11:00 a.m. — Billy Horschel, Stephan Jaeger
11:15 a.m. — Chris Gotterup
11:25 a.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Jake Knapp
11:35 a.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Thomas Detry
11:45 a.m. — Taylor Pendrith, Victor Perez
11:55 a.m. — Davis Riley, Rickie Fowler
12:05 p.m. — Lee Hodges, Eric Cole
12:15 p.m. — Brian Harman, Tom Hoge
12:25 p.m. — Nick Taylor, Harris English
12:35 p.m. — Taylor Moore, Seamus Power
12:45 p.m. — Kurt Kitayama, Mackenzie Hughes
12:55 p.m. — Sahith Theegala, Sepp Sraka
1:10 p.m. — Jason Day, J.T. Poston
1:20 p.m. — Cameron Young, Patrick Rodgers
1:30 p.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley
1:40 p.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa
1:50 p.m. — Wyndham Clark, Jordan Spieth
2:00 p.m. — Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas
2:10 p.m. — Nick Dunlap, Adam Scott
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
The West is a pecked-over, apron-strewn, parity-fest. The East has more superstar divas on first and second-round losers than it does 50-win teams. If 2023-24 turns indicative, it will be the Rest of the NBA vs. Boston for the next few years.
Not only did the 2023-24 Boston Celtics conclude a run for the ages — 80 victories in 101 tries, seven wins more than any other club, +11.4 regular season point differential, +8 postseason point differential — but it appears fit and settled to rule the NBA for as long as it takes Victor Wembanyama to find four palatable teammates to perform with.
Every Achilles has its heels: Boston owns merely traditional medicine’s answers for Unicorn Legs, 38-year old Al Horford is irreplaceable, at some future date opposing centers and forwards may learn not to attempt dunks upon the 6’4 Derrick White. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum might turn on one another, some argument over selling shares of the publishing rights to their inspirational story of friendship, playmaking. Boston is otherwise set.
Who do we blame for putting the NBA in this mess? Sensible authors credit the executives, former C’s boss Danny Ainge and current C’s chief Brad Stevens. I’d rather yell at the teams who traded Boston all these great players.
Milwaukee, for one. Picked to upend the East, never threatened. Boston knew it had the Bucks licked by the time Terry Stotts stormed out of his brand-new office. Not because Milwaukee was a mess, but because Boston was finishing its second week of practice with former Buck Jrue Holiday, a walking championship ring, the ultimate five-tool mensch.
Did Milwaukee know Holiday would end up in Boston when it triggered the trade with the Trail Blazers for Damian Lillard? Did Milwaukee care, or were the Bucks too besotted with Lillard’s 32.2-point potential?
Can we punish Portland for lending the C’s their shine? If the Blazer rebuilding plans falter, in spite of earning Golden State’s 2024 lottery pick (and Boston’s unprotected first-rounder in 2029) in October’s Holiday exchange, will we scoff in the future at Portland’s lost opportunity to field Jrue until he’s through?
No, blame Brooklyn.
All the shenanigans which indirectly helped Boston build its Larry Bird-backed champs in the 1980s — swapping entire teams with the Buffalo Braves, drafting Bird while he still plays college basketball, lopsided deals with Detroit and Golden State, seriously, what are the Buffalo Braves — barely compare to what the Brooklyn Nets handed the Boston Celtics in 2013.
Boston won 41 games and exited after the first round in 2012-13. Brooklyn called Boston on draft night to say Hey, that rebuilding you didn’t want anything to do with? We’ll take over from here.
Danny Ainge steered an uncomfortable, seemingly inevitable slog toward oblivion into the C’s you sees today: Boston traded Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry for the first-round picks (from Brooklyn and Atlanta) which became Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Collin Sexton. And James Young.
The deal earned Boston a trade exception which it used to deal for the first-round pick it later packaged to acquire Isaiah Thomas. Thomas plus Sexton’s draft rights were dealt for Kyrie Irving.
Amongst the salary fodder gleaned from the Brooklyn deal was Keith Bogans’ ongoing contract, which Boston eventually dealt for Dwight Powell, an asset in the 2014 Rajon Rondo deal with Dallas. The $12.9 million trade exception earned from the Rondo transaction was dealt with Jeff Green to Memphis for the first-round pick which became Aaron Nesmith. Nesmith became Malcolm Brogdon, whose charms lured Portland into dealing Jrue Holiday to Boston.
Brooklyn did not flourish in the wake of its acquisitions. The ex-Celt Nets lost in the second round in 2014 and finished two games behind a 40-win Boston playoff team in 2015 before fading in the opening round to Atlanta, the Hawks thriving in 2014-15 despite the loss of James Young.
The 76ers own a percentage in our green future. Philly fans should be angry, the suits in the front office keep pulling crap like this:
Jaylen Brown, taken No. 3 overall in the 2016 draft by Boston (with Brooklyn’s pick) won Eastern finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP in 2024. Ben Simmons was Philly’s pick as the NBA’s top overall selection in 2016, the ostensible payoff after seasons of Processing, and hasn’t played important basketball in three years. Jaylen Brown won the 2024 Dunk Contest slamming with his off hand, we still don’t know if Ben Simmons uses the correct hand while shooting.
Brown made All-Rookie team as Boston cruised to the 2017 Eastern finals, while Simmons missed his entire rookie campaign with a broken foot, earning Philly the No. 3 pick in the 2017 draft. Boston owned the top pick, from Brooklyn, and Philly general manager Bryan Colangelo collared together a trade package for his division rival: Boston earns a future first-round pick and deals down to No. 3 to select Jayson Tatum. Newly slanted into the top selection, Philly selected Markelle Fultz, later dealt for Tyrese Maxey, who is not Jayson Tatum.
Boston used the pick Philly sent its way (2019’s No. 14 pick Romeo Langford) in the package for Derrick White.
That’s right, blame the Spurs.
Romeo Langford played two-and-a-half excruciating seasons in Boston. Langford lapped up 94 games of what-was-that-shot basketball before the Spurs took Romeo and Josh Richardson and a future first-rounder (from the Celtics, so, big whup) for Derrick White, who big whups opponents’ shots all over the place.
White blocked just as many shots with the Spurs, but whupping must be easier with bigs like Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis running astride Derrick. Back to blame.
In 2019 the Sixers signed Al Horford away from the Celtics, real underhanded stuff, tremendous work, the sort of thing to do (instead of trading lottery picks) to a divisional rival. Whether Al worked alongside Joel Embiid or backed him up, whatever, do what one can to hurt the Celtics.
Of course, the Celtics swept the Horford-stretched Sixers out of Al’s only postseason with Philadelphia. The 76ers lost nerve a month into the next season and dealt Horford and what will likely be Philly’s 2025 first-round pick to Oklahoma City for Danny Green.
Boston earned Horford back for the price of its own first-round pick in 2021 (Alperen Şengün), happily paid for the final $53.5 million on the back end of the deal Al signed with Philly, a tag which earned them the Bird rights to keep Horford through 2025 at under $10 million per season.
Horford could have been a Sixer the whole time, spelling Embiid, not being on the Celtics.
Also, why did Washington trade Kristaps Porziņģis to Boston as if Washington were the ones getting Marcus Smart or a first-round pick in the deal? The Wizards received neither, and let the Celtics tow their unicorn away. Boston ganked what turned into Golden State’s 2024 lottery pick out of that deal, used to sweeten the swap for Holiday.
Want to add more sugar? Blame the Lakers while they’re down and out in a Beverly Hills restaurant where they have an uncomfortably-large tab, lowballing another head coach candidate.
In the 2016 NBA draft the Lakers selected Brandon Ingram on the board with Jaylen Brown available, and in 2017 chose Lonzo Ball with Jayson Tatum in play. Each were understandable selections, each played the largest role in ensuring Anthony Davis’ move to El Lay, neither was any better than Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, a duo to rule the world with.
The Celtics gave everyone a chance, left itself prone to accurate criticism through loss after postseason loss yet mostly kept course. Boston fell to the usual batch of rough injury and bad free agent luck, whiffed on some vets, blew some playoff games at home. Even this season’s “be careful, he’s always injured” trade risk — the regular season-saving Porziņģis — was injured for the important half the playoffs.
Credit the Celtics, a dominant turn in 2023-24 after a decade’s dismantling of the Big Three’s single championship.
But blame them for what comes next, the actualization of Daryl Morey’s threes-first philosophy, 29 other NBA teams showing up to 2024-25 ready to attempt 49 three-pointers per game.
This shouldn’t be the C’s legacy, this club is far too pleasant to watch. Eight or nine different NBA teams ensured as much.
Kelly Dwyer covers the NBA at The Second Arrangement and thinks the NBA should cap three-pointers at 33 attempts per team per game, Larry Bird’s number.
The teams wearing purple have been cooking this offseason when it comes to new colorways and helmets. First the Minnesota Vikings revealed their icy white jerseys, now the Baltimore Ravens unveiled a new alternate helmet they’ll wear with their purple jerseys, and they look AWESOME.
These helmets are super cool. I think the logo is actually pretty fun despite the ClipArt-ish look to it, but the true star of the show is the gold on the helmet mixed with the purple. Like, that’s unbelievably cool and it works so well together. The gold stripes going down the helmet help to highlight the gold face mask is super dope, and it ties in the gold on the numbers as well.
The Ravens haven’t unveiled when these helmets will be worn, but best believe that when they do wear them for the first time I’ll be there no matter what.
It’s going to be another trip around the sun before Kyrie Irving gets a chance at his second NBA championship, and he only has himself to blame. This was his opportunity, his moment to cement a legacy that exists outside of LeBron James. Now after a horrific NBA Finals series against the Celtics, it’s difficult to argue for much beyond Kyrie being in the “Hall of Very Good.”
There was only one game in these NBA Finals where Irving played like himself at all, and that was Game 4 — which the Celtics treated like a rest day so they could close out the series in Boston. In the games that mattered Irving was such a non-factor that he was rarely the 3rd, or even 4th best option on the Mavericks. His stats outside of that Game 4 speak for themselves.
31-of-81 from the field (.382), 7-of-23 from three (.304), 4.75 assists per game, 8 turnovers.
Even if we include back in Game 4, the only contest where he was even a shadow of himself, Irving still finished the 2024 NBA Finals by scoring 99 points on 99 field goal attempts. A mediocre performance for a middling point guard, let alone someone who is often hailed as one of the best players in the NBA.
To be fair, Irving’s talent speaks for itself. He’s one of the best iso scorers not just in the modern NBA, but that the game’s ever seen. Kyrie’s blend of jaw-dropping handles paired with an ability to score anywhere on the floor is the reason that night-in-night-out he could go off for 50 at any given moment if a team doesn’t have a way to stop him. The problem is that while Irving might be one of the best improvisational ball handlers in basketball, if he’s met with so much as a stiff breeze he’s rendered unable to adjust and change his game to compensate for how opponents try to stop him.
Entering the NBA Finals here was no doubt this was going to be a tough series for Dallas on paper. They didn’t match up great against the Celtics’ defensive-focused backcourt of Jrue Holliday and Derrick White, while simultaneously not having great options to handle Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown. Still, there was the ever-present hope that the Mavericks could actually do this, because we’d been conditioned to overlook the defensive deficiencies of Kyrie and Luka Doncic, instead focusing on their scoring prowess.
This season for the Mavericks was defined by Luka and Kyrie, and neither really rose to the occasion in the finals. There’s no question Doncic struggled at times against the Boston backcourt, but he wasn’t a liability on the court the same was Irving was.
Dallas is Irving’s fourth stop in his career, and the third where he was brought in as “the missing piece,” only to fall apart in the Finals. Only twice in his career has Irving managed to play with the same level of regular season success in the postseason, and both came with LeBron James in Cleveland when they won a ring in 2015-16, and returned to the finals in 2016-17.
It’s unclear what’s next for Kyrie Irving, because he remains one of the most mercurial players in the NBA. There is a path forward for Dallas, but it requires work. They have to find a reliable scoring option in the front court, and need to get tougher defensively — both of which are possible. However, these NBA Finals showed once more that a team can’t count on Irving to be the man to get them over the hump. There’s also a pattern of behavior here that when the work gets to be too much, Irving is just as likely to demand a trade than stick around for any retooling.
At this point that’s Kyrie Irving’s legacy: One of the best regular season players to ever step on the court.
One of the many signs that Formula 1 is experiencing something of a moment?
The sport is getting the true Hollywood treatment.
Brad Pitt is starring in an upcoming feature set in the F1 world, with the actor playing a veteran driver for APXGP, a fictional team on the grid. Starring alongside Pitt is Damson Idris, who plays Pitt’s rookie teammate at APXGP.
On Tuesday F1 and Apple Original Films announced that the movie, directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, will be released in theaters around the world, as well as in IMAX, next June. The film will be released internationally on June 25, 2025, and in North America on June 27, 2025.
The film will be distributed in theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures.
What makes this film unique is that it is being filmed in collaboration with F1, shot in real-time during races around the world and involving the entire F1 community. According to the press release announcing the release date, the film includes “ … all 10 teams, the drivers, the FIA and race promoters.”
For example, at last season’s British Grand Prix film crews — along with Pitt and Idris — were at Silverstone shooting scenes and even participating in events such as Drivers’ Meetings. Lewis Hamilton, an executive producer on the movie, addressed the filming process during the FIA Press Conference ahead of last year’s British Grand Prix.
“Yeah, I’ve been really incredibly grateful to [F1]. I don’t know if this would have been possible 10 plus years ago, when the old management was in place. They wouldn’t have perhaps seen this as an important step in terms of the sport’s growth. But we’ve already seen the great work and impact of the Netflix show and I think this will take it to new heights beyond that,” described Hamilton last year. “So yeah, I think there’s so many people around the world, as you’ve seen already, that are so excited about this sport, wanting to learn more. And the fact that we will have all the original characters that are actually on the grid, and then Brad, is pretty cool.
“I’m pretty certain, I mean, our cameras are a lot better than what you’re seeing when you’re watching TV. I’ve seen all the footage of the camera positions. I’ve spent time with Joe, trying to make sure we’ve got the best camera positions and the frame rate is different, it’s going to look fast,” continued Hamilton. “I think it’s going to look faster than it does on TV. Because I think it’s something to do with the frame rate that we have to have. But Joe is an incredible director, and I think you’re going to see him really… You’ve already seen what he’s done with fighter jets, what is what he did with Maverick. So just think about what he’s done with that in terms of the dogfights you saw from those jets, which was pretty epic.
“And bringing that technology and that viewpoint into our world, I think it’s going to be amazing.”
And now we know when we can see this for ourselves.
On the surface, it was a seemingly mundane baseline out-of-bounds (BLOB) play at the four minute and ten second mark of the second quarter that the Dallas Mavericks were priming to run. But as is true of high-stakes NBA basketball, there are multiple layers hidden beneath the supposed simplicity of an NBA possession.
When you think of how the Boston Celtics defended the Mavs throughout the course of the 2024 NBA Finals, the aforementioned possession makes a ton of sense. Against the most prolific corner shooting team in the league during the NBA season, the Celtics held the Mavericks to a total of 22 corner-three attempts (non-garbage time) in five games — an average of 4.4 attempts per game, well below the Mavs’ regular-season average of 11.3. While “pushing the right buttons” would still be an apt way to describe the Celtics’ defense when it came to limiting a typically potent offense, “flipping the correct switches” would be more apropos — both in the figurative sense and in the literal manner through which the Celtics threw a ton of switching the Mavs’ way.
The maneuver of switching assignments around a screen can be deceivingly effortless to the casual eye. It may look easy, but there are multiple factors to consider: the timing of the switch, the compatibility of the defenders involved, the possibility of counters (e.g., slipping the screen to gain separation from the switch before it can be established), and several other underlying factors at play. Ball-screen possessions are the most common switchable actions, but the difficulty is exponentially increased when switching off the ball — particularly, in a situation such as a baseline out-of-bounds set.
So when the Celtics were faced with a “pick-the-picker” (also known as a “screen-the-screener”) action during the aforementioned BLOB situation, a seemingly distant connection was made between a discussion LeBron James and JJ Redick had in an episode of the Mind the Game Podcast.
Before we delve into that discussion — and to set the stage for the connection — here’s the play in question:
Defense is often a mental-checklist exercise, which is easy in theory but difficult to pull off while mired in the fast-paced nature of an NBA possession. The best defenses in the league are neither detail insufficient nor speed vulnerable — that is, they make sure to cross every “t” and dot every “i” without the need for slowing things down. Quite obviously, their opponents won’t accommodate them in the latter regard.
If the possession above was to be made into a checklist, it would look something like this:
Stay true to the principle of taking away the corners (Al Horford was able to stay home against Derrick Jones Jr. on the weak-side corner, while Jaylen Brown successfully kept tabs on Kyrie Irving on the strong-side corner).
Make sure that neither Irving nor Luka Dončić spends considerable time handling the live ball and finishing the possession.
In those two regards, it was an astounding success. The Mavs had no choice but to feed the ball to PJ Washington, who attempted to create his own scoring opportunity but shuffled his feet due to a timely rotation by Sam Houser.
When shining a magnifying glass on the possession to deduce why (and how) every item on the list was checked off, peep at both Brown and Jrue Holiday — and attempt to understand their maneuvers while a James proposal about defending “pick-the-picker” BLOBs to Redick is overlaid:
Who would’ve thought that simply switching the inbounder’s defender would throw a wrench into the Mavs’ BLOB? But that’s exactly what Holiday and Brown do; instead of chasing Irving toward the corner, Holiday switches off of him and switches onto Dončić, whose initial defender (Brown) drifts toward the corner to switch onto Irving. Holiday’s maneuver, therefore, is to plug a gap created by an attempt to plug another gap.
With both Dončić and Irving in no position to get the ball back to create something out of nothing, Washington is forced into a role he’s not comfortable playing, resulting in a bumbling attempt to score at the rim.
If such a phrase exists that can capture the essence of what the Celtics’ defense was all about in these Finals, it’s most probably this: “Take away their best offensive options and live with the outcome produced by everything else.” Their corner three philosophy was born out of this approach: no one was allowed a corner look, especially Dončić and Irving; everyone else was allowed above-the-break looks, save for Dončić and Irving.
PJ Washington, Derrick Jones Jr., Josh Green, and Maxi Kleber
First 3 rounds: • 63/148 (42.6%) on corner 3s (8.7 attempts per game) • 27/85 (31.8%) on ATB 3s (5.0 attempts per game)
Finals: • 1/6 (16.7%) on corner 3s (2 attempts per game) • 2/13 (15.4%) on ATB 3s (6.5… pic.twitter.com/3xptvXHWdN
Much has been praised — and maligned — about the Celtics’ mathematical approach to the game. People aren’t keen on understanding the apparent difficulty of applying numbers to a game that has treated such figures as a supplementary and secondary aspect. But it’s not as hard to understand as many people think: three is greater than two, which doesn’t require an engineering degree to absorb.
But that’s a concept that applies to only one side of the ball. While the Celtics have embraced the 3 > 2 philosophy by spreading the floor and fully embracing a 5-out offense, they’ve also applied its reverse on defense — that is, two is less than three. In that regard, their philosophy is also quite simple: make opponents take tough twos in lieu of attempting efficient threes.
Again, that is where their anti-corner philosophy comes in. But it also applies to the nature of the twos they’re willing to give up, and which ones they’re not allowing.
Peep at the commonality between these shot profiles from the Mavs, per Cleaning The Glass:
Game 1: 33% rim frequency (55th percentile), 38% mid-range frequency (79th percentile), 29% three-point frequency (10th percentile)
Game 2: 30% rim frequency (42nd percentile), 39% mid-range frequency (83rd percentile), 30% three-point frequency (14th percentile)
Game 3: 32% rim frequency (48th percentile), 40% mid-range frequency (86th percentile), 28% three-point frequency (9th percentile)
Game 4: 37% rim frequency (80th percentile), 31% mid-range frequency (43rd percentile), 32% three-point frequency (21st percentile)
Game 5: 30% rim frequency (38th percentile), 24% mid-range frequency (21st percentile), 45% three-point frequency (90th percentile)
On the aggregate, the Celtics were able to put a lid on the rim while also taking away the three-point line — while also funneling the Mavs’ shot attempts toward the mid-range area. The corner three vs. above-the-break three battle was also a subplot of this overarching theme, but another notable stat that captured the Celtics’ approach: the Mavs only had a total of six alley-oop attempts in five Finals games, an average of 1.2 attempts per game. That is a far cry from the three attempts per game they averaged in their 17 playoff games prior to the Finals.
It was on the grandest stage, with the lights switched on at their brightest, that the Mavs hit the proverbial wall, courtesy of the Celtics walling off the rim and switching almost at will. If the Mavs wanted to score, they’d have to bleed for it — and no possession captures that situation with more accuracy than on a possession involving a Mavs staple half-court set.
We must once again look back to see what worked in the past:
In order to appreciate what the Celtics did to take away what victimized lesser teams:
Plenty of odes and tributes will be paid to the Celtics’ offense — how every member of their five-man lineup was every bit of a shot creator as a shot finisher, how it made defenses overexert and overstretch themselves to their utmost limits, and how it was the most efficient in NBA regular season history.
But more often than not, a top-10 defense is the deciding factor behind what constitutes a championship team. The Celtics — third in overall defensive rating during the regular season, first in half-court defensive rating — became the latest in a long line of elite championship defenses.
There was no “on” switch to be flipped, no gear to shift into. The switch was always there — in the form of, quite literally, switching their opponents into half-court oblivion.
The 2024 NBA Finals are over with the Boston Celtics emerging as champions. The league is now ready to turn the page to next season, starting with the 2024 NBA Draft. The first round of the draft is happening on Wednesday, June 26 on ESPN starting at 8 p.m. ET, and for the first time, the second round will happen the next day.
This has always been a tricky draft to project due to the lack of consensus at the top of the class. Information is slowly starting to trickle out about how teams are approaching this draft, and at this point a framework for team preferences is slowly starting unfold.
Last week, we dropped a mock draft based on what we would do with every pick. This week, we’re delving into the latest intel around the draft to project how the first round looks like it will actually play out. The Hawks hold the keys to the draft at No. 1, and their decision will set the rest of the picks into motion.
1. Atlanta Hawks – Donovan Clingan, C, UConn
No one knows what the Hawks are going to do with this pick mostly because there hasn’t been a consensus No. 1 player in this class at any point in the cycle. The fact that Atlanta was preparing to draft at No. 10 entering the lottery before jumping all the way up to No. 1 probably didn’t help matters. We know the Hawks have scouted French wing Zaccharie Risacher in person at a playoff game and brought him in for a workout. There are rumors the team is also considering trading down, perhaps to target UConn center Donovan Clingan. With Washington and Houston lurking as potential Clingan suitors slightly down the order, it’s starting to feel like Atlanta could just take the Huskies big man at No. 1.
The Hawks’ defense has always been bad since they drafted Trae Young. Last season, Atlanta finished No. 27 in defensive efficiency. Rim protection was a distinct weakness, with the Hawks finished No. 26 in blocks per game. Clingan is the draft’s best shot-blocker, and arguably its most impactful overall defender. An underrated factor in this pick is that Atlanta owes unprotected first round picks to the San Antonio Spurs in 2025 and 2027. Clingan feels more ready to contribute than someone like Sarr (who was my personal pick here last week), and that might make the difference for a team that doesn’t want to surrender a high pick next season.
Photo by COLIN MURTY/AFP via Getty Images
2. Washington Wizards – Alex Sarr, C/F, Perth Wildcats (France)
Sarr has only worked out for one team according to HoopsHype, and that’s the Washington Wizards. This feels like an obvious match if he’s still on the board at No. 2. Sarr has the best physical tools in the draft as an athletic 7’1 big man with a 7’4 wingspan who can run the floor, make plays above the rim on both ends, and has shown flashes of ball handling and shooting ability. The Wizards’ rebuild still feels like it’s in its infancy, and that means someone like Sarr — obviously talented but still years away from his potential ceiling — also fits the team’s big picture timeline.
3. Houston Rockets – Reed Sheppard, G, Kentucky
The only elite prospect Houston has brought in for a workout so far is Clingan. There have also been rumors that the Rockets are looking to trade this pick, maybe even seeing if they can get the Nets to bite on a Mikal Bridges deal. If Houston stays at No. 3, Sheppard makes a lot of sense as a long-term addition to the backcourt. Sheppard is tiny by today’s standards (6’3 with a proportional wingspan), but he’s an elite three-point shooter (52 percent from deep) and has razor sharp hands defensively that help him force turnovers. The Rockets have enough freak athletes to cover for Sheppard’s limitations, and he can help Houston’s existing young core by providing spacing and more transition opportunities via turnovers.
4. San Antonio Spurs – Zaccharie Risacher, F, JL Bourg (France)
Risacher has only worked out for the Hawks and Spurs, according to HoopsHype. This is starting to feel like his floor, and the Spurs would probably be elated to have him fall. Risacher is a good fit in San Antonio, and not just because he’s another young Frenchman to put around Victor Wembanyama. The 6’9 wing played a big role in the top French league as an 18-year-old, contributing shooting, on-ball defense, and transition playmaking. He hit more than 39 percent of his threes on the season, and had some of his best games deep in the playoffs. The Spurs can still fill their obvious need in the backcourt with their next pick at No. 8 overall.
5. Detroit Pistons – Matas Buzelis, F, G League Ignite
The Pistons are still fleshing out their new front office led by Trajan Langdon, and he has a ton of work to do coming off a 14-win season. He inherits a team built by former executive Troy Weaver that’s loaded with former lottery picks (Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, and Jalen Duren) who haven’t gelled into anything resembling a competitive NBA team yet. Buzelis is a nice on-paper fit in the existing young core, adding a raw but talented 6’10 forward who flashes perimeter skill and showed surprising toughness at the rim defensively. I continue to really like the fit for Rob Dillingham here, because the Pistons desperately need shooting and playmaking. Buzelis just feels more likely to go in the top-5, and this is a sensible enough fit.
6. Charlotte Hornets – Stephon Castle, G, UConn
One of the few rumors of this draft thus far is that Castle wants to play point guard in the NBA, and doesn’t want to work out for teams with star point guards already in place, according to ESPN. Castle hasn’t had any workouts yet according to the HoopsHype tracker, but insiders are saying he won’t slip past the Hornets at this pick. Castle might want to be a point guard, but he plays much more like a connective wing, and that makes him a good fit between LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller in Charlotte. Castle defends his ass off, fights for loose balls and rebounds, and has the strength to finish through contact at the rim. His jump shot is terrible at the moment, but his 75.5 percent mark from the free throw line could inspire some long-term hope in his shooting.
The Blazers have been connected to several players at this point in the pre-draft process: Clingan (who they might have to trade up for), Tennessee wing Dalton Knecht, and French forward Tijane Salaun, all of whom have officially had workouts with the team. Cody Williams has also reportedly had a less publicized meeting in Portland, and would seem to fit well as a long-term piece on the wing around Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson. The real question is how much pressure Portland’s front office is under to try to inch this thing closer to competitiveness. The Blazers still feel far away from making a real push in the West, and Williams is far away from hitting his potential ceiling as an NBA player. This pick makes sense unless someone powerful in the organization is starting to lose patience.
8. San Antonio Spurs – Nikola Topic, G, Red Stars (Serbia)
The Spurs need to fill their hole at point guard somehow this summer, whether they’re trying to trade for a veteran like Darius Garland or nabbing a playmaker in this draft. Topic likely would have been gone by this point in the draft had he not torn his ACL in May. While the length of Topic’s recovery remains a point of speculation, he makes sense for San Antonio even if he has to miss his whole rookie year. Topic is a super fast lead guard who thrives getting downhill and finishing with craft below the rim. Isaiah Collier and Rob Dillingham would also make sense here. The reality is that San Antonio — with Victor Wembanyama in tow — feels like by far the best landing spot for any young guard prospect.
9. Memphis Grizzlies – Ron Holland, F, G League Ignite
The Grizzlies struck gold in the draft last year by taking a former highly-touted recruit who slipped in the draft after struggling in his pre-draft season. If it worked with GG Jackson, it can work with Ron Holland too. Holland had a brutal year shooting the ball for a G League Ignite team that was so bad they shut down the program. Still, his defensive motor, transition scoring, and wicked athleticism will quickly remind you why he was once considered the front-runner to go No. 1 overall in this class. The Grizzlies reportedly want to contend in the West this season and Holland is a little too young and too raw to do that, but with Ja Morant only turning 25 years this summer, Memphis still has a wide window. Holland could fit their long-term vision well as a player who embodies the franchise’s old grit-n-grind spirit.
10. Utah Jazz – Tidjane Salaun, F, Cholet (France)
Salaun has been the most active lottery prospect in team workouts thus far, already spending time with the Pistons at No. 5, the Blazers at No. 7, the Spurs at No. 8, the Jazz at this pick, and the Thunder at No. 12. Utah doesn’t seem like they’re in any rush to be competitive, and likely has its eye on Cooper Flagg at the top of the 2025 draft. Salaun is a good long-term prospect for his size, motor, and shooting potential at forward, and his development fits the timeline of the organization.
11. Chicago Bulls – Devin Carter, G, Providence
The Bulls are reportedly eying trading up in this draft, but parting with future draft capitol to do it would be a huge mistake. Chicago is in a great spot at No. 11 to just take the best player who falls, and Carter, Rob Dillingham, and Isaiah Collier could each fit that description in this mock. Carter was the first lottery prospect to work out for the Bulls, and there has been speculation that they gave him a promise. Carter would be a good long-term replacement for Alex Caruso as a tenacious on-ball defender who made real strides as a shooter and driver last season as a junior at Providence. Carter and the Bulls have been connected so often in the pre-draft process that this feels like the safest player to peg here.
12. Oklahoma City Thunder – Rob Dillingham, G, Kentucky
Dillingham should go much higher than this based on talent, but it’s understandable that teams would be weary of a guard this small, this weak, and this bad defensively. The Thunder are smart enough to spot a great value when they see one. Dillingham might be the best ball handler in the class, and he has a case as the best shooter available, too. He’s deadly at ripping deep shots whether he’s on or off the ball, and his passing vision is underrated, too. OKC has so much length and defense already in place that it can accommodate a small guard bursting with offensive talent like Dillingham.
This feels like the low-end for Knecht’s range in the draft, with the Blazers lurking as his floor with the next pick. Knecht fits Sacramento’s existing style well: he’s a high-volume, highly-accurate three-point shooter for a team that finished No. 3 in three-point rate last season. Sacramento could probably use a little more size at this pick, but Knecht feels like a plug-and-play option for a team that wants to stay competitive in the West.
14. Portland Blazers – Tristan da Silva, F, Colordo
A four-year player at Colorado, da Silva is a tall shooter who lacks premium athletic ability. Portland is the only team he’s worked out for at this point, according to HoopsHype, and it’s easy to see his potential value there as a floor spacer for Scoot Henderson and Co. Indiana center Kel’el Ware and Miami forward Kyshawn George feel like other options here.
Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
15. Miami Heat – Isaiah Collier, G, USC
Collier was supposed to compete for the No. 1 pick entering this cycle before an up-and-down year filled with losing for USC. Collier has only worked out for the Heat, according to HoopsHype, and Miami should jump at the chance to take a player with the potential to be a long-term offensive engine if everything goes right. Collier is a fast and strong lead guard who can bully his way into the paint and has impressive passing vision. He needs to work on his jumper, but the Heat do player development better than anyone.
16. Philadelphia 76ers – Bub Carrington, G, Pitt
Carrington has reportedly been earning some lottery buzz lately — he worked out for the Kings at No. 13 — and has the mix of size and shooting teams look for in a guard. At 6’5 with a 6’8 wingspan, Carrington is at his best shooting pull-up jumpers off the dribble from deep and from mid-range. Philly feels likely to shop this pick in a trade for a win-now veteran, but this is starting to feel like Carrington’s range regardless of who’s choosing here.
17. Los Angeles Lakers – Tyler Smith, F, G League Ignite
Smith has been extremely active on the team workout scene over the last month, stopping by the Heat, Lakers, Pelicans, Knicks, Thunder, Trail Blazers, Raptors, and Wizards. In a weaker draft, his combination of size (6’9 barefoot) and shooting feels like a worthy bet. Even as he readies to turn 40 years old this season, surrounding LeBron James with shooters is always a good move. Smith was one of the few G League Ignite players who wasn’t a disappointment this season, and he has a pathway to NBA success if he can improve his defensive awareness.
18. Orlando Magic – Jared McCain, G, Duke
The Magic typically prefer players with long wingspans, and McCain does not fit that mold after measuring at 6’2 barefoot with a 6’3.5 wingspan at the combine. Still, McCain feels like exactly what this team needs as a sharpshooter in the backcourt who can space the floor for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. McCain isn’t a natural on-ball creator, but his jump shot would really help out Orlando’s offense.
19. Toronto Raptors – Zach Edey, C, Purdue
Edey has made the rounds in the pre-draft process, working out for the Lakers, Heat, Bucks, Pelicans, Raptors, Blazers, and Jazz. Toronto makes sense as a landing spot for the 7’4 giant, and not just because he’s Canadian. Edey offers a sliver of upside other players in this range don’t due to his unparalleled size and production at the college level. He’s incredibly skilled as an interior scorer and offensive rebounder, and it’s undeniably impressive that he often played all 40 minutes for the Purdue at nearly 300 pounds. He’s a worthwhile flier in this range for a team that needs a long-term ceiling raiser.
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
20. Cleveland Cavaliers – Kel’el Ware, C, Indiana
Cleveland has so much up in the air entering the offseason. Will Donovan Mitchell sign a long-term extension? Will Darius Garland be shopped if that happens? Will the trade rumors that have floated around Jarrett Allen in recent years come to fruition? Ware makes sense as the best player available if the Cavs do decide to swap out Allen for a wing. He has similar athletic tools to Allen, but has the potential to be a real floor spacer with his jump shot. This would be an extremely skilled young front court if Cleveland can keep Ware’s motor up.
21. New Orleans Pelicans – Jaylon Tyson, G, Cal
Tyson has been everywhere in the pre-draft process with reported workouts in Cleveland, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, and Toronto. At 6’5.5 barefoot with a 6’8 wingspan, Tyson offers advanced ball handling and footwork, a solid shooting stroke, and some passing flashes. He can fit into almost any team context as a wing who can provide off-ball scoring and some secondary creation.
22. Phoenix Suns – Yves Missi, C, Baylor
There’s been a lot of buzz for Tyler Kolek in this spot, but if a talent like Missi falls, the Suns should feel comfortable taking a swing. Phoenix could really use some rim protection and athleticism in the front court, and Missi has that in spades. He may not fit Kevin Durant’s win-now timeline, but Missi has great long-term tools as an above-the-rim play finisher and shot blocker.
23. Milwaukee Bucks – Kyshawn George, F, Miami
George measured at 6’7 barefoot with a 6’10.5 wingspan, and made 40.8 percent of his threes as a freshman for Miami. He moves well enough to have some defensive potential, and he knows who he is as a player: 68.4 percent of George’s field goal attempts were from three-point range. Milwaukee would probably prefer a more “NBA ready” player, but this feels like the right range for George and a decent landing spot.
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
24. New York Knicks – Kyle Filipowski, C, Duke
Filipowski is probably too talented to fall this far in the draft, but it would be a boon for the Knicks if it happened. While the Duke sophomore is relatively slow and gravity-bound, he’s one of the most skilled bigs in this class. Filipowski could replicate a lot of Isaiah Hartenstein’s playmaking, and he has more shooting potential. There are some defensive concerns with Filipowski, but he can be a weapon offensively if he shoots it.
25. New York Knicks – Ja’Kobe Walter, G, Baylor
Walter was getting lottery hype for most of the year, but it’s easy to see a scenario where he starts to fall on draft day. He’s a wing in the ‘three-and-D’ mold, but both his shot and his defense were inconsistent as a freshman at Baylor. If he slips this far, he’d be a great value as an off-ball floor spacer for the Knicks.
26. Washington Wizards – Johnny Furphy, F, Kansas
Furphy makes sense for a Washington team trying to develop young players next season without any real pressure to win. A 6’8 freshman wing from Kansas (via Australia), Furphy scored efficiently (61 percent true shooting) and shot the ball well from three (35.3 percent) even if his shot dipped a bit late in the season.
Scheierman’s range appears to start in the late first round after he worked out for the Wolves, Jazz, and Celtics, all teams picking between 27-30. The Wolves don’t really have a designated shooter off the bench, and the Creighton super senior makes sense in that role. He hit 39 percent of his threes for his college career, and showed he could get them up with volume last season by attempting 8.3 triples per game. He’s not the longest or strongest wing, but he’s just tall enough (6’6.25 barefoot) to have a chance to stick.
It would make sense if the Nuggets shopped this pick for a win-now veteran, but we can’t have Dadiet falling much farther. The French wing measured at 6’7.5 without shoes with a 6’9 wingspan, and showed solid athletic traits, a high motor, and decent three-point touch while playing for Ulm in the German league. He’s very young, but he feels like one of the best upside fliers in the draft once we get to the 20s.
29. Utah Jazz – Ryan Dunn, F, Virginia
Dunn is a defensive monster as a rangey forward with elite athleticism who can defend out on the perimeter or provide secondary rim protection. The issue is that he can’t just can’t shoot at all right now — he went 7-of-35 from three as a sophomore at Virginia. Dunn has worked out for Utah and makes sense as a long-term development bet if they can fix his jump shot.
30. Boston Celtics – DaRon Holmes II, C/F, Dayton
Holmes has reportedly shut down his pre-draft workouts amid rumors that he’s received a promise somewhere in the first round. If he slips this far, it would be highway robbery for the Celtics. The junior big man was one of the best players in college basketball for Dayton this past season, combining improved shooting and playmaking ability with the athletic big man skills he’s always showcased. Holmes may be a tad undersized as a center, but his perimeter offensive development gives him a chance to play next to other bigs down the road.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25495750/2127910711.jpg "NBA mock draft 2024: Updated projection with latest rumors after NBA Finals nba,mock,draft,updated,projection,with,latest,rumors,after,nba,finals,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-draft,nba-mock-draft,draftkings")
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25495749/1911087608.jpg "NBA mock draft 2024: Updated projection with latest rumors after NBA Finals nba,mock,draft,updated,projection,with,latest,rumors,after,nba,finals,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-draft,nba-mock-draft,draftkings")
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25495754/2087713400.jpg "NBA mock draft 2024: Updated projection with latest rumors after NBA Finals nba,mock,draft,updated,projection,with,latest,rumors,after,nba,finals,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-draft,nba-mock-draft,draftkings")
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25495755/2128478207.jpg "NBA mock draft 2024: Updated projection with latest rumors after NBA Finals nba,mock,draft,updated,projection,with,latest,rumors,after,nba,finals,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-draft,nba-mock-draft,draftkings")