This may feel like a cop-out because Minnesota had the No. 1 overall pick and used it to draft Anthony Edwards, the best prospect in the draft according to most big boards and mocks heading into Wednesday night.
But look closer at the business Timberwolves president Gersson Rosas conducted on a whole, and you’ll see why Minnesota had itself quite the night.
Not only did the Timberwolves manage to secure Edwards, they also swung a trade that saw Ricky Rubio return to the Twin Cities, as well as trades that allowed them to land Leandro Bolmaro at No. 23 and Jaden McDaniels at No. 28.
Minnesota has a long way to go to compete with the West’s powers, but it took a significant step forward Wednesday. Edwards looks to be a seamless fit as a scoring wing, Rubio’s return will bring the team some much-needed veteran leadership, and the two other draft picks, talent-wise, are among the best in the draft — even if they’ll require additional seasoning before making an impact in the NBA.
Though the Kings started off the night poorly (more on that in the losers section below), their evening still ended up being pretty damn good for one reason only: Tyrese Haliburton.
Sacramento had the 12th overall selection Wednesday and Haliburton, a player that was expected to be a lock for the top 10 coming into the draft, managed to fall all the way down to them, making for a no-brainer decision.
Haliburton is a six-foot-five guard from Iowa State who should form a three-headed guard monster with De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield. His versatility will make him useful in multiple lineups.
When you acquire top-10 talent picking out of the top 10, it’s an automatic win.
The move Dallas made with the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire Josh Richardson was a good piece of business.
Yes, the Mavericks gave up Seth Curry, an undeniably good shooter, but they needed more individual shot-creation to help complement Luka Doncic. Richardson can provide that.
He’s coming off a down year in Philadelphia, but that version of Richardson isn’t indicative of the player he truly is. During his breakout season with Miami in 2018-19, Richardson was an aggressive three-level scorer who could take over games at times.
Doncic is a brilliant player, but there will be times where the Mavericks need a bucket and they won’t be able to go to him for a myriad of reasons. Having Richardson as a Plan B is pretty good.
Nate Darling
For the first time since 2009, a Canadian was not selected in the NBA Draft, but that doesn’t mean Canada wasn’t represented on draft night.
The Bedford, N.S., native reportedly signed a two-way deal with the Charlotte Hornets as an undrafted free agent.
Darling played this past season at Delaware, averaging 21 points and shooting 39.9 per cent from three-point range.
The six-foot-five, 200-pound guard may not have been drafted, but he still gave the country some Canadian content on draft night.
So hats off goes to Darling on the beginning of his NBA journey.
Emotions
Obviously, because of COVID-19, the NBA was forced to do its draft virtually, taking away some of the pomp and circumstance of the green room and players heading up on stage to shake the commissioner’s hand.
What the virtual draft offered, however, might have been even better: real-time looks at players realizing their dreams, surrounded by family and friends.
Instead of polished, prepared answers, we got to see these kids truly take in the moment, with many of them breaking down in tears of absolute joy, a good reminder that these NBA draft prospects are human beings.
The Bucks lost draft night before it even began, when the bombshell report came out that the reported sign-and-trade they had arranged with the Kings for Bogdan Bogdanovic hadn’t actually been approved by Bogdanovic himself.
Milwaukee made a huge splash Monday evening with word that it had, essentially, sold its future for Jrue Holiday followed by this move to bring in Bogdanovic — all in an effort to accumulate more talent around two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and convince him to stay (or just bet the farm and try to win a title before he leaves in free agency).
Now it looks like this plan is in jeopardy because of the hiccup with Bogdanovic, which left the Bucks in a bad position.
Of course, seeing as free agency hasn’t officially opened yet, this might be a case of Milwaukee doing damage control and trying to avoid any sort of anti-tampering penalties the league may be looking to punish them with for executing a sign-and-trade before the moratorium. But even if that’s the case, this still robs them of their negotiating power with Bogdanovic, who could take advantage of this gaffe to force the Bucks to pay him more than they might have previously offered.
Hopefully this situation gets resolved with free agency opening Friday, but for now the Bucks have a big, fat egg on their foreheads.
Thompson, of course, missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL. To see him potentially miss more time would be a big blow for both the Warriors and the game itself.
No one ever wants to see a player miss time because of injury — especially stars like Thompson.
It’s still unclear how long he’ll be out for, but here’s hoping the best for him.
The rumour mill hasn’t been treating the Rockets kindly of late, with word that both Russell Westbrook and James Harden want out of Houston. The team’s lone move on draft night probably won’t help their cause much, either.
You may remember that heading into the draft Houston traded away Robert Covington for Trevor Ariza and a couple of first-round picks. Well, on Wednesday, the Rockets decided to move Ariza and one of those picks (No. 16 overall, which turned into Isaiah Stewart) to the Detroit Pistons in an effort to, essentially, create room to make use of the mid-level exception.
A puzzling move when you start thinking about the free agency market and if the Rockets would even find someone as good as Ariza using the mid-level exception, let alone Covington, whom they traded for Ariza in the first place.
Elton Brand
You have to wonder what Brand was thinking if he was watching Wednesday night. Daryl Morey, Brand’s replacement as 76ers general manager, is not even a full month into the job — but he’s almost completely undone everything the former boss did, accomplishing the brunt of his work on draft night.
First, before the draft, Morey managed to offload Al Horford’s albatross contract by attaching a couple of picks to it, while acquiring some needed shooting in Danny Green in the process. Then, during the draft, Morey swung the aforementioned deal with Dallas to get even more shooting by acquiring Curry, and then proceeded to add even more shooting by drafting Arkansas marksman Isaiah Joe in the second round.
The 76ers’ problems always came down to the fact their two best players — Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons — are best when operating inside, and they needed to find ways to space the floor better.
In the two years he was GM in Philadelphia, Brand never solved this problem. But Morey appears to be solving it in just a few weeks.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.
WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).
Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.
“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.
“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”
Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.
Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.
Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.
Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.
The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.
Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.
The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.
WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.
The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.
Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad
Forwards
Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);
Backs
Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
