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The Lakers are making history, plus the Cooper Kupp trade market

Vaseline October 23, 2024

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Good morning! Be a Cinderella today, just with different shoes.

While you slept: The Lakers are making history… and could be good

It was a moment we expected but weren’t sure would happen last night: LeBron James and Bronny James played together in a regular-season game, becoming the first father-son duo to do so in the history of the N.B.A. It was a really cool moment, no matter how you feel about the younger James’ NBA credentials.

Even cooler was the Lakers’ performance in a 110-103 win over the TimberwolvesWestern Conference finalists last season. The eldest James was great; Anthony Davis was better, with 36 points and 16 rebounds. Davis looked like an MVP. (Bronny played three minutes and grabbed a rebound.) If they can keep anything close to this form, the West might be even more competitive than we thought.

To proceed:

Transactions? The Rams are pulling off an upset at the NFL trade deadline

The NFL trade deadline will likely never be as busy as its siblings in the NBA, MLB and NHL. But two weeks later, this year’s edition has a lot of potential. The NFL candidate pool is deep, and so is the stable of disappointing teams.

Buyers and sellers abound. Yesterday, our NFL staff made recommendations for all 32 teams, but there are two possibilities I want to discuss – and first, yesterday’s related breaking news:

The 2-4 Rams are sold. Or so it seems. The Athletics reported that the team is reaching out to contenders about the possibility of acquiring star wide receiver Cooper Kupp, a huge sign of what LA is thinking about this season and beyond. View our full report here. I imagine the Chiefs are first in line. And maybe the Buccaneers too. More about that later.
The Panthers’ fire sale. The team may be terrible, but there is plenty of marketable talent on the roster. Miles Sanders, Diontae Johnson, Adam Thielen, Jadeveon Clowney, Jaycee Horn and Xavier Woods could all be assigned to better teams. Imagine leaving a 1-6 team and entering the Super Bowl race.
The Jets. Our staff says they have to buy And sell, but when should you give up this season? New York has two more games between now and the deadline. Are you trading for more offensive help? Ditch wide receiver Mike Williams and see what happens? Or, if the team is 2-7 at the time, do you start a painful rebuild early? There is a lot of pressure.

Read the full list here to see what your team needs to do. I wish you the best of luck with the coming transactions.

News to know

Valenzuela died at the age of 63
Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela died yesterday at the age of 63, the team announced. The 1981 Cy Young winner became an icon in Los Angeles during his playing career, continuing his status as the team’s Spanish broadcaster before recently stepping down due to health reasons. Read his obituary here.

Game 5 sets a record
The deciding game of the WNBA Finals drew 2.15 million viewers, according to ESPN, making it the highest-rated WNBA Finals game in 25 years, a 115 percent increase over last season’s title final. Even more impressive was Sunday’s slot, which made it the largest WNBA crowd ever to see NFL competition on the air. This just speaks to the growth of the entire women’s game. More details here.

More news

Next: Fuel up your Flagg

For the NBA teams that played last night, the future is very much now. By my count, 14 or 15 NBA teams have legitimate hopes for a deep playoff run, leaving half the league hoping for a surprise run or… tanking.

Two things to know:

Refueling is no longer so attractive due to the NBA’s recent rule change, which reduces the lottery odds of the worst teams. It helped create more equality across the entire competition. You can no longer just throw away an entire season and expect to get a top-three pick.
And yet, the next concept lesson will still encourage refueling. That’s how good it is, led by Duke’s Cooper Flagg, who was named a preseason first-team All-America before playing a minute of college hoops. Flagg is the most hyped college player since Zion Williamson. The rest of the future draft class is also deep.

Possible tank operations this season: Detroit, Washington, Charlotte, Brooklyn and maybe even Chicago and Utah. Something to keep an eye on.

Duke opens its season on Sunday against Arizona State. Get ready to check out some tank tape.

Watch and listen

📺 Football: Bayern Munich at FC Barcelona
3pm ET on Paramount+
A huge Champions League match to start your viewing day, and it should be the toughest match for both in the competition phase. Delicious.

📺 NBA: Sunbathing at Clippers
10pm ET on ESPN
With Kawhi Leonard out, the Clips suddenly find themselves in a dangerous situation. The sparkling new arena debuts tonight with little star power beyond 35-year-old James Harden suiting up for the home team. And, as Zach Harper noted in yesterday’s Bounce, if the Clippers somehow win the lottery this year — a real possibility — they would have to give the No. 1 pick to Oklahoma City, currently a favorite to win the West win. I love the atmosphere on opening day.

Buy tickets for these types of games here.

🎧 Don’t miss it “The NBA Newspaper” again this morning, with basketball in full swing. Their analysis of a wild opening night was great. Listen here.

Pulse choices

Descriptive Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty because a “Cinderella in a steel toe boot” should be enough to make you want to read this story, but let me add that this is the best Jeanty profile you will read. Click.

Yes, Indiana has a better chance of getting the Play-off than Alabama. Austin Mock explained why our latest CFP Stock Watch.

I loved our series yesterday on how each World series team has been built up. Chad Jennings detailed How LA hit gold on every turnwhile the Yankees’ climb was long, hard and happy.

Make sure you read Jake Ciely’s Week 8 fantasy football remote wiring recommendations before it’s too late.

How has Rangers winger Artemi Panarin Want to become a superstar at 32? Scouts have broken down his shocking rise yesterday to Arthur Staple.

Most clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our first annual NHL front office rankings.

Most read on the website yesterday: The Latest NFL Power Rankingswhere we don’t know what to do with the Packers.

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(Top photo: Harry How/Getty Images)

first Drop

first Drop

The Lakers are making history, plus the Cooper Kupp trade market

While you slept: The Lakers are making history… and could be good