Jack Winter Articles - Page 79

LaVar Ball’s time in the spotlight has come to a close, but that didn’t stop FOX Sports’ Undisputed from bringing the father of Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball on Tuesday’s episode of the show. Discussing rumors that Kyrie Irving may consider signing with the Lakers this summer, Ball, who evidently has no inside knowledge of […]

The Los Angeles Lakers, it’s now more clear than ever, made bringing in Jason Kidd one of their highest priorities of the offseason. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Lakers coaxed Kidd into taking the team’s lead assistant job by making him the league’s highest-paid assistant coach. Jason Kidd’s contract with the Lakers […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder have already engaged in trade discussions with multiple teams on their first-round pick with the goal of reducing team salary, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Thunder have had multiple conversations with various teams about using their No. 21 pick in a trade to reduce team salary and relieve […]

Dewayne Dedmon may not be a foundational piece for the rebuilding Atlanta Hawks, but that doesn’t mean the team is prepared to move on from the veteran center. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Hawks have interest in bringing Dedmon back on an outsized one-year contract or a shorter, multi-year deal that would […]

Still just barely less than a month away from free agency, the market for D’Angelo Russell is already materializing. According to Shams Charania of the Athletic, the Brooklyn Nets guard is expected to garner interest from the Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Indiana Pacers, as well as his incumbent team, as a restricted […]

Many analysts believe Nick Bosa was the best prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft. Playing with star pass-rushers like DeForest Buckner and Dee Ford on the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive line, he should have ample opportunity to prove it as a rookie, too. ESPN projects Bosa to finish his debut campaign with 46 tackles, seven […]

By many metrics, Kevin Knox was the worst rotation player in the NBA last season. But the New York Knicks wing has time on his side to prove the analytics wrong, and he flashed just enough on both sides of the ball as a rookie to envision him as an extremely helpful piece going forward […]

Patrick Peterson made his first appearance at Arizona Cardinals offseason team activities on Monday. After practice, the eight-time Pro Bowler explained what it was like to be back on the field with his teammates after missing the first two weeks of OTAs. “It feels good to be back around my teammates, the supporting cast here […]

Jordan Howard caught 29 passes for 298 yards during his standout rookie season, when he established himself as one of the NFL’s premier young running backs. His production as both a runner and a pass-catcher decreased over the following two seasons, though, leading to his departure from the Chicago Bears in late March. The Philadelphia […]

Calais Campbell hasn’t given up on the prospect that Telvin Smith will end up taking the field in 2019 after all. Just over three weeks after the Jacksonville Jaguars’ star linebacker announced he was stepping away from football this season, Campbell told reporters on Monday that he continues hoping Smith will reconsider his stance. “I’m […]

The Dallas Cowboys accomplished their utmost offseason priority in early April, when star pass-rusher DeMarcus Lawrence signed a five-year, $105 million deal to remain with the team for the foreseeable future. Obviously, the Cowboys are expecting Lawrence to continue establishing himself as one of the most impactful defenders in the NFL. ESPN, though, in its […]

Change might finally be coming to preseason football. At Hall-of-Fame quarterback Jim Kelly’s 33rd annual golf tournament, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated his previous stance that it would be prudent for the league to reduce the preseason schedule from four games to two games. According to Josh Reed of WIVB, Goodell said on Monday that […]

The Golden State Warriors, to a man, have projected unwavering confidence after Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The two-time defending champions, apparently, believe there’s more room for them to improve than there is reason to worry about the specter of falling behind 0-2, without home-court advantage, as Kevin Durant’s status going forward remains up […]

Jarrett Culver certainly doesn’t lack for confidence. After his pre-draft workout with the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, the Texas Tech guard succinctly stated what the team that ultimately drafts him will be getting. “I’m a two-way player, an elite two-way player,” Culver said, per Lakers reporter Joey Ramirez. “I can score and I can […]

Continuity is key in every business, but especially professional sports. Just ask the New England Patriots, who experience one of the highest turnover rates among coaching staffs in football yet are consistently lauded for their strategic advantages on a weekly basis. New England routinely shuffles in anonymous receivers and defensive players every season, too, never […]

The Kansas City Chiefs knew they needed to change the culture defensively this offseason. Replacing longtime stalwarts with younger players who better fit the scheme ran by new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo wouldn’t be enough by itself. The Chiefs had to find another way to get rid of the bad taste in the entire franchise’s […]

The Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 despite a below-average performance from Kawhi Leonard. The most dominant individual force of the playoffs was more set-up man than primary scorer on Thursday night, and never got comfortable shooting from mid-range. It speaks volumes of Leonard’s ability that he proved so integral to […]

Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown has the option of accepting a $400,000 settlement from the city of Milwaukee after he filed a lawsuit stemming from an interaction with local police last year. Mark Thomsen, Brown’s attorney, learned on Friday through heresy that the city attorney had proposed a resolution that would pay Brown $400,000 to […]

It speaks volumes of Drake’s conduct from courtside at Game 1 of the NBA Finals that his attire hasn’t received even more attention. The music mogul showed up to Scotiabank Arena in a Dell Curry Toronto Raptors jersey, complete with authentic stitching. Needless to say, the message he was sending wasn’t very subtle. The trolling […]

A day after Mike D’Antoni’s days with the Houston Rockets appeared numbered, owner Tilman Fertitta insisted there’s still a chance the veteran coach signs a contract extension with his team during the offseason. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported on Thursday that D’Antoni had abruptly ended negotiations on a contract extension with the Rockets. Later, D’Antoni […]

A majority of league followers knew the Toronto Raptors made the right decision by trading for Kawhi Leonard last summer. But some analysts, fans, and others alike believed Masai Ujiri erred by trading franchise favorite DeMar DeRozan and promising big man Jakob Poeltl for an injured, disgruntled superstar and the fading Danny Green. Obviously, it’s […]

Stephen Curry has much more important things to be concerned with than his incredible free-throw shooting during the postseason. The Golden State Warriors, after all, trail the Toronto Raptors 0-1 in the NBA Finals, with another game to come at Scotiabank Arena before the championship series shifts to Oakland – and Kevin Durant’s status remains […]

The basketball world turned on LeBron James nine years ago when he spurned his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers in free agency to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat. The beloved phenom clearly on his way to becoming one of the greatest players of all time suddenly became the league’s preeminent […]

Former New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett implored Tom Brady to kneel during the national anthem before games, saying “the conversation in the NFL would change” if the six-time Super Bowl champion showed solidarity with playing peers who protest the country’s systemic racial injustice before games. Bennett made the remarks during a recent appearance […]

Nick Foles’ wife, Tori, is the person who decided the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback should return to his new team so soon after she suffered a miscarriage.  At practice on Friday, Foles explained that is was Tori who first suggested it was time for him to continue offseason training with his teammates. “If my wife needed […]

Gerald McCoy might already know where he’ll continue his playing career. The rest of us, though, won’t find out until next week. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the veteran defensive tackle will “take the weekend” to decide whether to sign with the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, or Carolina Panthers. With his visit to the […]

Ndamukong Suh, despite his exceedingly rare physical tools and years of solid production along the defensive line, is probably best known to football fans as one of the league’s dirtiest players. Not that he’s letting it bother him, though. During his introductory press conference with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday, the veteran defensive tackle […]

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Chad Kelly will be suspended without pay for the first two games of the 2019 season, the NFL announced on Friday. The suspension stems from his October arrest for first-degree trespassing. Kelly was signed by the Colts on May 20th after participating in the team’s rookie mini-camp on a try-out basis. He’ll […]

The New York Jets might finally be on the verge of establishing stability in the front office. According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, Philadelphia Eagles executive Joe Douglas is the “favorite” to become New York’s next general manager, and is poised to assume the role following a successful interview assuming he […]

The NFL Draft took place just more than a month ago. Offseason team activities have barely been under way for two weeks. Training camp won’t start for another nine weeks, and the regular season is a full three months away. Takk McKinley, though, has apparently already had enough of his media commitments. After practice on […]

A “down” year for Aaron Rodgers would be a career-best campaign for the vast majority of NFL quarterbacks. That’s why coming into 2019, there’s immense optimism the Green Bay Packers superstar will quickly re-establish himself as perhaps the league’s most valuable player after he labored through injuries to himself and his teammates amid coaching turmoil […]

Derrius Guice was poised for stardom as a rookie before suffering a season-ending knee injury during the preseason. Almost a full year later, fully recovered from a torn ACL, the Washington Redskins expect the talented running back to pick up right where he left off last August – and they aren’t the only ones, either. […]

So much for the bright lights of the NBA Finals proving too much for the Toronto Raptors. Playing in their first championship series in franchise history, the Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors 118-109 on Thursday night, putting the defending champions in their first ever 1-0 hole with the Larry O’Brien Trophy on the line. […]

For four straight seasons, the Golden State Warriors met the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. The cast of characters around LeBron James shifted to varying degrees from season to season based on injuries, free agency, and trades, but the Cavaliers nevertheless maintained their same overall sense of identity, especially on offense. Facing the Toronto […]

Drake wasn’t exactly more subdued during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Despite chatting with commissioner Adam Silver and others from the league office about his inappropriate conduct during the Eastern Conference Finals, the music mogul and Toronto Raptors super fan certainly made his presence felt on Thursday night. He went chest to chest with […]

Pascal Siakam was the best player on the floor in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Playing with Kawhi Leonard and against Steph Curry, not to mention the likes Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, the third-year forward outplayed them all while leading the Toronto Raptors to a 118-109 victory over the […]

S0 much for Drake’s chat with Adam Silver and the league office leading to a more subdued demeanor during the NBA Finals. As the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors were walking off the floor after Game 1 at Scotiabank Arena, the music mogul exchanged words with Draymond Green, calling the Warriors star “trash” when […]

The league office warned Drake about his antics after the Eastern Conference Finals, in hopes of assuring the music mogul would better blend into the Scotiabank Arena crowd during the NBA Finals. Midway through Game 1, however, Drake suddenly found himself nearly chest to chest with Stephen Curry at a timeout, even going so far […]

The Toronto Raptors honored several franchise legends during halftime of Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Among those waving to adoring fans from half court of Scotiabank Arena were Isiah Thomas, Dell Curry, Tracy McGary, Chris Bosh, and Damon Stoudamire. Toronto just brought out Chris Bosh, Charles Oakley, Tracy McGrady […]