Tag: summer

5 NBA teams falling behind their rivals after not doing enough this summer nba,teams,falling,behind,their,rivals,after,not,doing,enough,this,summer,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-trade-rumors,nba-free-agency,draftkings

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The first big wave of player movement in the 2024 NBA offseason has come and gone, and a few things are starting to crystalize. The Oklahoma City Thunder look like the class of the West after adding Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso to last year’s No. 1 seed. The Boston Celtics remain a strong favorite in the East, but the New York Knicks with Mikal Bridges and Philadelphia 76ers with Paul George are ready to push them.

Some teams have set themselves up for improvement this offseason even if they aren’t at the top of the championship picture. The Dallas Mavericks did well to add more shooting and defense around Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and it will be fascinating to see how Klay Thompson performs away from the Bay. The Orlando Magic won’t sneak up on anyone this year, and have a chance to be an emerging Eastern Conference powerhouse.

Then there’s the teams who haven’t done enough. While there’s plenty of time left in the offseason to make moves, these six teams should be feeling the heat to do something or they are going to get left behind by their rivals.

Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets could have retained Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency if they wanted to. Instead, Denver was too afraid of looming penalties for entering the ‘second apron’ of the luxury tax, and decided it could replace the veteran two-guard’s production with younger players. Either that, or ownership just cheaped out.

This is the time that Denver should be going all-in around Nikola Jokic. The three-time MVP is in the prime of his career at 29 years old, yet the team around him continues to lose talent over nothing but money. The Nuggets lost Bruce Brown and Jeff Green last year after winning the 2023 championship, and now it’s lost an even bigger contributor in KCP. This decision puts a ton of pressure on Denver’s untested young bench — Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther — to perform at a high level immediately. The Nuggets’ depth was already an issue last year, and it’s an even more glaring need now.

The Nuggets will still be very good. They may even still win the title. But the team got significantly worse by losing Caldwell-Pope for no good reason. The young guys are going to have to take a major leap, or the Nuggets have failed Jokic this summer.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers were a pretty good team last year that only won one playoff game and never had a realistic chance of winning the Western Conference. It would seem to behoove a team like that to make some major moves in the offseason, especially when it has three first round picks to trade at its disposal. Instead, the Lakers have been content to draft Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, and do nothing else.

Knecht can help the Lakers next season as a rookie with his off-ball shooting, but that won’t be enough to make a major push up the standings. LA is betting on internal development of their young players, but if they make a real veteran addition, chances are they will be worse by proxy. LA got very good health out of LeBron James and Anthony Davis last season, and who knows if that will be the case this year. The West keeps improving, and the Lakers are doing nothing as LeBron James sets to enter his age-40 season.

The Lakers are preparing for life after James instead of going all-in while he’s still an elite player. LA doesn’t want to trade its future draft picks and take on penalties from entering the second-apron. The Lakers are kind of just chilling, and that shouldn’t be good enough when they employ the superstar with the longest prime in league history.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks were supposed to be a championship contender after acquiring Damian Lillard last season. Instead, the team looked underwhelming out of the gates, fired first-year head coach Adrian Griffin to replace him with Doc Rivers at midseason, and then saw Giannis Antetokounmpo suffer a season-ending injury just before the playoffs.

It feels like it’s now or never for the Lillard-Antetokounmpo pairing entering the 2024-25 season, but the Bucks have done absolutely nothing to improve the team this summer.

It’s true that the Bucks are capped out and light on future assets, but other teams have found a way to get creative in similar situations. Milwaukee’s big plan appears to be praying for good health from their four veteran stars. That doesn’t seem like a wise move when the 76ers and Knicks went all-out to add top-end talent, while the Celtics remain the class of the conference. If Milwaukee disappoints again this season, it’s only a matter of time before Antetokounmpo trade rumors pop up again.

Miami Heat

The Heat missed out on Damian Lillard last summer, and they never had a chance at Donovan Mitchell this summer before he re-signed with Cleveland. Miami is a franchise known for taking big swings, yet they’ve done a whole lot of nothing heading into the 2024-25 season.

Jimmy Butler is entering the final year of his contract without an extension in place. Bam Adebayo is locked up on a long-term deal, and there are some nice young pieces on the roster in Jaime Jaquez, Nikola Jovic, Kel’el Ware, and Tyler Herro. For now, the Heat feel like a team stuck in two-timelines: one not good enough to win with Butler as a centerpiece this season, yet without a foundational player if he leaves in the summer of 2025.

Miami would be wise to look at Butler trades and prioritize their future, but this organization typically doesn’t operate that way. Unless the Heat can find a way to make a move for an impact talent, it feels like they’re stuck at the bottom of the East playoff picture.

Los Angeles Clippers

This one is self-explanatory. The Clippers lost Paul George in free agency without getting assets back for him. LA responded by making some bargain signings in Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, Nic Batum, and Mo Bamba, but those guys aren’t going to make up the loss of an All-NBA caliber player like George.

The Clippers still have Kawhi Leonard and James Harden on the roster, but that isn’t a reliable duo at this point in their careers. The scary thing for LA is it doesn’t control its own first round pick until 2030. Right now, this looks like a low-end Western Conference playoff team at best with the arrow pointing downhill and very few assets to course correct.

Phoenix Suns

At least the Phoenix Suns didn’t cheap out. Despite a massive luxury tax bill looming, the Suns re-signed Royce O’Neale to a $44 million contract. Phoenix also added Mason Plumlee to bolster its front court depth. We’ll applaud those moves on the margins, but it isn’t enough to really make a difference for a team that just got swept out of the first round of the playoffs.

Phoenix was supposed to be competing for championships when it acquired Kevin Durant. The all-in move for Bradley Beal last summer has backfired, and now Phoenix has an enormous payroll, three ill-fitting stars, and zero tradable future draft picks until 2031.

If the Suns don’t look great to start the season, it’s probably only a matter of time before they need to start thinking about trading Kevin Durant. At that point, Devin Booker’s future would become a major point of speculation, too. The Suns don’t have many moves left to make, and their team still isn’t good enough.

Live NBA free agent signings 2024 for every deal and trade this summer live,nba,free,agent,signings,for,every,deal,and,trade,this,summer,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-free-agency,draftkings

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The Boston Celtics are NBA champions, the 2024 draft class has come and gone, and now it’s time for the free agent frenzy. The league has already seen some wild trades in the early days of the 2024 offseason, and it’s only going to get more chaotic when NBA free agency opens on Sunday, June 30 at 6 p.m. ET.

While signings can’t be officially announced until July 6, teams are allowed negotiate with free agents at the start of the moratorium. While this isn’t the strongest free agency class, it feels like there are enough desperate teams right now to facilitate some big moves.

Paul George feels like the biggest star who could change teams. That scenario received a boost on Saturday afternoon when George opted out of his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, per Adrian Wojnarowski. George is expected to test the open market, and per Wojnarowski will meet with “cap space teams plus the Clippers” starting on Sunday evening. The Philadelphia 76ers are rumored to make a strong push for George in the open market, and plenty of other teams will be interested.

Isaiah Hartenstein is another major name to watch in free agency. The 26-year-old center is coming off a breakout season with the New York Knicks where he provided elite interior defense, efficient scoring, and a pinch of playmaking. The Knicks would love to retain him, but their payroll is getting high after extending OG Anunoby on a $212 million deal and swinging a trade for Mikal Bridges. Hartenstein could have a wide market, with the Oklahoma City Thunder frequently mentioned as a potential suitor.

There are several future Hall of Fame inductees near the twilight of their careers who are also unrestricted free agents. DeMar DeRozan, who turns 35 years old next month, could leave the Chicago Bulls after three fantastic seasons with the franchise. James Harden is also up for a new deal with the Los Angeles Clippers or anyone else just ahead of his 35th birthday. Klay Thompson is expected to leave the Golden State Warriors for the first time in his career at 34 years old.

Other names to monitor in free agency include Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tobias Harris, Jonas Valanciunas, Buddy Hield, Kelly Oubre, Tyus Jones, and Isaiah Joe.

We’re keeping track of every free agent signing and trade in 2024 NBA free agency here.

Day 1 NBA free agent agreements

  • Pat Williams agrees to a five-year, $90 million deal to return to the Bulls, per Shams Charania
  • Obi Toppin intends to sign a four-year, $60 million deal to stay with the Indiana Pacers, per Adrian Wojnarowski
  • Alex Len intends to sign a one-year, $3.3 million deal to return to the Sacramento Kings, per Shams
  • Chris Paul waived by Golden State Warriors, per Chris Haynes and Woj
  • James Harden will sign two-year, $70 million deal to stay with Clippers, per Shams
  • Max Christie will sign four-year, $32 million deal to stay with Lakers, per Woj
  • Luke Kornet will re-sign with the Boston Celtics on a one-year deal, per Woj
  • Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors working on a sign-and-trade, per Shams
  • F/C Kevin Love is finalizing a two-year, $8 million-plus deal to return to the Miami Heat, per Shams

Early 2024 NBA free agency moves

2024 Summer Olympics: Team USA track and field qualifiers, explained summer,olympics,team,usa,track,and,field,qualifiers,explained,sbnation,com,front-page,olympics,summer-olympics,olympic-track-and-field,draftkings,dot-com-grid-coverage

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The United States track and field team is often described as the world’s toughest to make, and for good reason. No country has amassed more Olympic track and field medals (827), and the US outpaces the next six countries on the all-time list combined (819).

There are so many talented athletes, but only a select few are allowed to compete at major global championships. For the fifth consecutive time, Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon will host the unforgiving USA Olympic Track and Field Trials. Let’s take a closer look at the qualification and selection process for Paris 2024.

How many athletes can qualify in each discipline?

A maximum of only three athletes are allowed per country. Unlike the World Athletics Championships, which offers “wild card” berths to incumbent world champions (creating a fourth slot for countries), there are no byes into the Olympics.

World and Olympic champions and prohibitive gold medal favorites are not spared if they have an off-day at the worst possible time. In 2021, 800-meter world champion Donavan Brazier finished last in the USA finals and did not make the trip to Tokyo. Women’s 100 meters hurdles star Keni Harrison, widely expected to win the 2016 Rio Olympic trials, only finished sixth and missed the team. Two weeks later, she would set a new world record, but it was a mere consolation.

This is also as good a time as any to remind casual track followers that for sprints (100-400 meters), it only takes one false start for a runner to be disqualified from the race.

How many qualifying rounds are there?

All sprint and middle distance (800-1,500 meters) races have three rounds of qualification (Round 1, semifinals, final), whereas long distance (3,000-10,000 meters and race walks) have either two rounds or a direct final.

Olympic qualifying rounds by discipline

Round 1, Semifinals, Final Round 1, Final Final Only
Round 1, Semifinals, Final Round 1, Final Final Only
100 meters* 3,000 meters steeplechase 10,000 meters
100 meter hurdles (women)* 5,000 meters 20 km race walk
110 meter hurdles (men)* 50 km race walk
200 meters
400 meters
400 meter hurdles
800 meters
1,500 meters

* – Semifinals and final are contested on the same day.

All field events have one qualifying round and a final, the decathlon and heptathlon don’t have qualifying rounds, and marathon runners already had separate qualifiers in February.

Is it possible to still finish in the top-3 and not qualify?

Yes. This is where it gets a little complicated for a small percentage of American athletes. Similar to swimming, there are minimum times (or distances for field athletes) that must be met within an Olympic qualifying window. The window for athletes competing in any individual event (except the 10,000 meters, marathon, and race walks) is July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

For example, the women’s 5,000 meters Olympic standard is 14:52.00. NCAA champion Parker Valby narrowly missed the standard by 0.2 seconds at this month’s NCAA Outdoor Championships. Not only must Valby finish in the top-3 at trials, she also must run at least 14:52.00 to guarantee her spot on the team. And unlike regular track meets, championship competitions do not have pacemakers and wave-light technology to help guide runners to a specific time.

Without the qualifying standard, the last-ditch effort is placing high enough in the World Athletics rankings system, which is too complicated to explain even in an explainer post. The final rankings list will be published on July 7.

Here’s the simplified way to clinch a Team USA Olympic berth:

AND

  • Have the Olympic qualifying standard

OR

  • Achieve a high enough world rankings placement

This will most likely only affect competitors in disciplines where the Americans have traditionally weaker depth, such as the long-distance races and a handful of field events. Otherwise this won’t be a storyline for, say, any of the sprints.

What happens if someone finishes in a qualifying position but isn’t selected for the Olympics?

The next highest-placed athlete goes in their place, provided they also have the qualifying standard or a high enough world ranking.

When Sha’Carri Richardson was controversially suspended following a positive marijuana test ahead of the 2020 Olympics, fourth-placed Jenna Prandini replaced her. In the women’s high jump, neither Inika McPherson nor Nicole Green achieved the qualifying standard and didn’t have a high enough world ranking. They were replaced by fourth-placed Rachel McCoy and Tynita Butts-Townsend, who had the requisite ranking despite not making the final.

The 2016 men’s 20 km race walk team, however, sent no entrants to Rio after none of the top three finishers met the standard or ranking.

How do the relay teams qualify?

New to the Olympics is the use of the World Athletics Relays as a qualifying competition for major championships. At this year’s championship in The Bahamas, the American men’s and women’s 4×100 and 4×400 teams all qualified, as did the mixed (two men, two women) 4×400 meters squad. A total of 14 countries in each discipline needed to finish in the top-2 in either the qualifying heats or the repechage rounds to qualify for Paris.

How are the relay participants decided?

Per USA Track and Field guidelines, three of the five competitors for each relay team must be athletes who are entered in their corresponding individual event (e.g. Noah Lyles is entered in the individual 100 meters and therefore will be part of the 4×100 relay team). One reserve/alternate athlete can also be named. The other two selections are made at the discretion of the USATF committee, which includes “medical or exceptional circumstances” for a waiver request to be granted.

This is why it’s common (at least for Team USA) to have relay runners who did not compete in the individual event. Athing Mu, who won the 800 meters in Tokyo, joined the women’s 4x400m relay team and picked up another gold.

It’s worth keeping an eye on the relay selection pool this year for the men’s 4×400 meters, as there’s a possibility that Noah Lyles could be picked despite not being entered in the 400 at Olympic trials and scarcely running the 400 throughout his career. His indoor relay inclusion was already meant with some divided opinion.

Team USA trials run from Friday, June 21 through Sunday, June 30 on NBC, USA, and Peacock. The track and field portion of the Olympics commences on August 1 and ends on August 11.

Charles Leclerc joins Olympic torch relay ahead of Paris Summer Games charles,leclerc,joins,olympic,torch,relay,ahead,of,paris,summer,games,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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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.