The Senators have lost Leevi Meriläinen to the Vancouver Canucks, who claimed the 24-year-old goaltender off waivers on Friday.
Meriläinen was in goal Wednesday night for Ottawa’s road split squad game against Toronto. The Senators sent an undermanned lineup into a matchup with a Maple Leafs team loaded with NHL regulars, and the result was a 6-1 loss.
Meriläinen stopped 21 shots before being replaced by Jackson Parsons after Toronto’s sixth goal early in the third period. The Senators were under siege for much of the night, and the scoreboard reflected the team’s play rather than Meriläinen’s performance.
That said, Wednesday’s game came after a difficult season for a goalie who had looked like a major part of Ottawa’s future a year and a half ago.
When injuries sidelined Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg during the 2024–25 season, Meriläinen gave the Senators far more than just emergency support. He went 8-3-1 in 12 appearances, with a 1.99 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and three shutouts. He even had a fourth shutout if you just count regulation play.
The Sens ended their seven-season playoff drought that spring, and it is hard to imagine the team getting there without the points Meriläinen helped secure while its veteran goalies were out.
He looked every bit like the goalie of the future.
But he couldn’t sustain that level last season. In 20 NHL appearances in 2025–26, Meriläinen went 8-10-1 with a 3.51 goals-against average and an .860 save percentage.
Eventually, the Sens signed free agent James Reimer, and when Linus Ullmark returned from his leave of absence, Meriläinen was sent to Belleville and didn't return.
There had been some discussion about the Senators opening the season with three goaltenders. Meriläinen signed a one-year, one-way contract worth $1.1 million this summer, but he was no longer exempt from waivers.
With Ullmark in place and newcomer Samuel Ersson making a strong first impression in the preseason opener against Montreal, the Senators chose to try to sneak Meriläinen through waivers so they could send him to Belleville to keep developing. They were probably hoping the 6-1 loss on Wednesday might scare everyone off.
Vancouver, desperate for help in goal, took the opportunity to claim him.
Thatcher Demko is still working his way back from hip surgery, while Kevin Lankinen and Nikita Tolopilo are the other goaltenders in the club’s projected lineup. Former Senator Chris Driedger is also at camp on a professional tryout after spending last season in the KHL.
The Canucks obviously feel like Meriläinen has a chance to help them at the NHL level. They would not be allowed to send him to their AHL team without putting him on waivers again.
In Ottawa, the claim changes the picture behind Ullmark and Ersson. Parsons and Kevin Reidler are promising options, but both have limited professional experience.
The Senators also brought Vadim Zherenko to camp on a tryout after four seasons with AHL Springfield. If Ottawa wants a more experienced goalie available for a call-up,
Zherenko could become an important option. First, though, the Senators would have to sign him to a contract.
Friday’s verdict against Manchester City will change everything we understood about their Premier League title triumphs
Welcome, then, to the age of asterisk. Whatever punishment Manchester City and their owners receive at the end of this process, the fact remains, everything is tainted now.
Overturn the tables, scatter the gold coins. Throw your medals in the bin. You cheated to win them. Whatever that thing was, it’s done. Stolen glory, stolen income, stolen joy. Every chant, every “we won the lot”, every awkward documentary scene about the deep, throbbing heart of this empire of love. It all looks odd, sinister, cold, sloppy, but also, and this is always the best response, utterly absurd.
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- With a drumroll ... it looks like Zach Dean and Dillon Dube have won out the battle for the two extra forward slots for the St. Louis Blues to begin the 2026-27 season.
The Blues cut four players early Friday morning, including forwards Otto Stenberg, Dylan Peterson and Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, along with defenseman Adam Jiricek, leaving five spots needing to be cut in total to get down to Monday's 23-man opening night roster.
The Blues will be putting goalie Georgii Romanov on waivers for the purpose of getting him to Springfield of the American Hockey League, and that left Oskar Sundqvist, Nathan Walker and Jack Finley, who were put on waivers on Friday, on the outside looking in. If any of the veterans are able to clear, they will join Steve Ott and the Thunderbirds in the AHL to begin the season.
"I wouldn't say certainly (that's the 23-man team that was on the ice Friday), but it's certainly been a good camp," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said prior to Friday afternoon's transactions. "We wanted it to be competitive, it's been competitive. There's a lot of young guys, the veterans have shown really well. We're excited about where our group's at."
Dean, who will play in all four games this preseason when the Blues end their exhibition schedule Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks, and Dube, signed to a one-year, one-way, $850,000 contract this summer, in the end won out the jobs as the 13th and 14th forwards when the Blues submit their 23-man roster by Monday's 4 p.m. (CT) deadline.
What stood out for those two?
"I think their speed, their energy, their tenacity on pucks, coming up with pucks," Montgomery said. "That's been primarily (it). Those things, those attributes.
"They both are fast, they both are tenacious. I would say that Dean probably has more game-breaking speed and I would say that Dube has a little more savvy. He's really savvy out there. He always comes up with pucks, he's going to the right places."
Dean skated on the Blues' top line Thursday between Pavel Buchnevich and Connor McMichael in a 1-0 win over the Blackhawks on home ice and had a couple really high-end scoring chances and played another solid game.
"He played really well," Montgomery said. "He supported those guys really well. I thought that line was effective. Yeah, played well."
With Jiricek going to Springfield to likely play top-heavy minutes, that left Calle Rosen as the seventh defenseman, with the veteran winning out that battle in the end.
Tyler Tucker, who tweaked his right knee in practice this past Sunday and hasn't skated since, is all but likely to begin the season on injured-reserve but for how long, nobody knows.
"I don't want to talk too much because I would say that I think so, but there's a chance not," Montgomery said. "I'd just rather not say because I don't definitively know."
The 32-year-old Rosen, who scored the lone goal Thursday, provides the experience and insurance needed in an extra defenseman that Jiricek would not benefit from being here and not playing.
"He's a really good hockey player," Montgomery said of Rosen. "Smart, veteran, great feet. What a shot last night. Supports people really well."
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Ahead of the AHL pre-season opening on Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins made another small wave of roster cuts.
And there was one name on it that came as a bit of a surprise.
The Penguins announced that the re-assigned Liam and Markus Ruck to the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. They also re-assigned forwards Atley Calvert, Tanner Howe, Mikhail Ilyin, and Avery Hayes to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS), Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate.
In addition, goaltender Colin Delia was released from his paid tryout (PTO), and forward Oliver Okuliar - injured in practice on Sunday - was designated as injured non-roster and sent to WBS to continue his rehabilitation process.
The biggest surprise on the list was Hayes, who put together a strong training camp. He scored a next-effort goal against the Buffalo Sabres in the 4-1 pre-season opening win, and he had five goals in 14 games with the NHL club last season.
"He's a good young player. I think there are other guys that, right now, are ahead," head coach Dan Muse said. "Sometimes it is about what you've done, and sometimes, it's also that you've got to get it down to numbers and other guys that have played better or we feel like, right now, are going to be a better fit. Those are all part of the decisions."
The Penguins have assigned the following players to @WBSPenguins (AHL):
F Atley Calvert F Avery Hayes F Tanner Howe F Mikhail Ilyin
Forward Oliver Okuliar has been designated as injured non-roster and will continue his rehabilitation process in WBS.
The Penguins are down to their final pre-season game, which will take place in Buffalo on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET. There are still a group of prospects that remain with the NHL club and took the ice with the main squad for practice Friday, including forwards Bill Zonnon and Ville Koivunen as well as defenseman Harrison Brunicke and goaltender Sergei Murashov.
Of note, forwards Rutger McGroarty and Tristan Broz, defensemen Owen Pickering, Ryan Graves, Caleb Jones, Jake Livanavage, and Chase Pietila and goaltender Joel Blomqvist skated earlier in the day and remain on the training camp roster as of now.
The Buffalo Sabres encountering early-season injuries to projected top-four blueliners Olen Zellweger and Mattias Samuelsson has made GM Jarmo Kekalainen hit the open market for some veteran insurance, as the club signed defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to a one-year, $850,000 deal.
The 32-year-old spent last season as a teammate of new Sabres blueliner Louis Crevier with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he posted 12 points (0 goals, 12 assists) in 69 games. Grzelcyk was a 2012 draft pick of the Boston Bruins, and the Charlestown, MA native spent his first eight seasons with his hometown club. He has become a journeyman the last two seasons, signing a one-year deal with Pittsburgh in 2024 and posting a career-high 40 points (1 goal, 39 assists) in 82 games, before signing with the Hawks last season.
" I'm super excited to have (Matt) on the team. I've played against him many times, and I think he's an exceptional player. He's very smart. He can play in all situations. It's going to be fun to get to know him too. I heard a lot of great things about him." Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said after practice on Friday. "(The signing) just shows that we're here to win. We're not satisfied, so (management will) do everything they can, and we do everything we can, so I'm happy with the situation."
Where will Connor Hellebuyck end up?
The signing could have a two-fold meaning. Without adding Grzelcyk, the Sabres would likely have to open the season using two of Dennis Gilbert, Ryan Johnson, and Radim Mrtka for the start of the season, but Gilbert played sparingly for the Sabres two years ago and for Ottawa last season, while Mrtka, 19, may not be ready to play in the NHL.
“I think where we're at, we still like our defense, it's still next man up, but I'd rather have a young player step in and play big minutes in the Rochester role. Just better for hi m, than coming out and playing 8-10, minutes, or 10-12 minutes. So in the role we need them, Grzelcyk would be a good fit."
The other possible meaning is that the injuries to Zellweger and Samuelsson are more serious, something that Ruff indicated the opposite of on Friday. Zellweger is in the league’s concussion protocol, but the Sabres head coach believes that he could be ready by the start of the season next week. He also believes that Samuelsson could be back earlier than the week-to-week timeline would reflect.
Grzelcyk was not present at practice on Friday, but it is not impossible that the veteran will be in town by Saturday to participate in the club's morning skate before their preseason finale against Pittsburgh.
The Vancouver Canucks have added a goaltender to the organization. On Friday, Vancouver claimed 24-year-old Leevi Meriläinen off waivers from the Ottawa Senators. The Finnish goalie is listed at 6'3", 186 lbs and was drafted 71st overall in 2020.
Last season, Meriläinen split his time between the NHL and AHL. In 20 games with the Senators, he posted a 8-10-1 record with a goals against average of 3.51. As for his time with the Belleville Senators, he recorded an 8-8-2 record with a goals against average of 2.77.
Adding Meriläinen creates a logjam in the Canucks' crease. Vancouver already has Kevin Lankinen and Nikita Tolopilo locked up for the year, while Thatcher Demko is expected to return at some point this season. All four goaltenders require waivers.
In other waiver news, Matt Stienburg has cleared waivers and will be headed to the Abbotsford Canucks. The 25-year-old forward is expected to play a big role as part of Abbotsford's top six. In 71 career AHL games, Stienburg has scored eight goals and recorded 20 points.
Jan 13, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators goalie Leevi Merilainen (1) and Vancouver Canucks center Aatu Raty (54) follow the puck in the second period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images
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PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 7: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers, Joel Embiid #21 and Tyrese Maxey #0 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during the game on December 7, 2025 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
LeBron James will officially speak for the first time as a Sixer on Monday at media day. But on Friday, he sat down with Steve Nash for the season premiere of his Mind the Game podcast to discuss what caused him to sign with the Sixers this summer.
It would be an understatement to say that LeBron gushed about Tyrese Maxey. It’s clear that Maxey was influential in his decision to come to Philadelphia, no matter how much Maxey might try to downplay it.
“I just love everything about Tyrese Maxey, man,” LeBron said. “Every day, you get the same person. And that is very rare in sports and obviously super rare in life. And I’ve always talked about how great of a person that he is. Obviously, we know what he brings to the basketball court.
“When I became a free agent and we decided to let the Lakers know that I wouldn’t be returning, he was one of the first people that was on my line, calling me, ‘Yo, what we doing? What’s up, OG? What’s up, Old Head? Come on down here, we could use you down here.” And our relationship, a lot of times, I don’t answer the phone for a lot of phone calls. ‘Cause I don’t even want to be swayed in one way. I already know what you’re calling about. But he’s such a great person that I can’t not talk to him.”
However, Maxey wasn’t the only thing that lured him. LeBron also made it clear how much he respects Jaylen Brown.
“I love the way he approaches the game, too,” he said. “Both sides of the floor, what he brings to the game. His insight on the game. I’ve watched him. Kind of misunderstood. And that is absolutely OK. I think we are all individuals for a reason. Everyone’s always trying to put everybody in the same box. And I love what he stands for and what he brings to the table in that fashion.”
LeBron later added that he and Brown worked out “three or four times this offseason” and have “been in communication.” Since they and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are the only members of this year’s Sixers who have already won an NBA title, they appear to be taking it upon themselves to demonstrate what championship habits look like from day one.
“We’re two of the guys on the team that’s been through the foxhole and been through the wringer of what it takes from the moment we step on the court for training camp to the moment we raise that Larry O’Brien Trophy,” LeBron said. “We know what it takes. Just trying to make sure we’re on the same page and have everybody else on the same page.”
Joel Embiid, who teamed up with LeBron on Team USA in the 2024 Olympics—and was a main reason why they got past Nikola Jokić and Serbia in the semifinals—was also a major draw.
“One of the most important, to be honest, is the big fella,” LeBron said. “He’s done everything in our league. The only thing he has not done is win a championship. I want to try to help him get that first one.
“He’s been the MVP of our league, has a gold medal, All-Stars, signature shoes, bunch of money, beautiful family, he has everything. He has the city on his back. He’s been the Process, 10 years, 12 years, however long he’s been there. But I think it’s time now that we dig even deeper into the process, and I hope that I can be that final little piece that can get him over the hump, and maybe just see it a little bit differently than he’s seen it in his career as far as the day-to-day process, the day-to-day what it takes to get there.”
LeBron also expressed his admiration for VJ Edgecombe, whom he called “a flat-out player.”
“The intel that I’ve got from everyone is that this kid is beyond his year,” he said. “They say he was actually one of the leaders of the team as a 20-year-old rookie. And not in a disrespectful manner, it’s not like he was speaking just to be speaking or thinking he’s better than this guy. No. They say he speaks with an intelligent, confidence, natural. Works extremely hard.”
While the Sixers might not have Simone Fontecchio, the prospect of their star-studded starting five was enough to convince LeBron to take a veteran-minimum contract in Philadelphia. When training camp officially kicks off Tuesday, it’ll be on him, Brown, KCP and head coach Nick Nurse to set the tone for what they hope to be a championship season.
When news broke this summer that Jalen Brunson had played through a wrist/tendon injury while leading the Knicks to their first title in 53 years, and that he was undergoing surgery to repair it, it was accompanied by a report that his recovery was expected to take only a couple of months. He would be ready to go by training camp.
"As you guys know, I had surgery this offseason," Brunson said. "Just want to tell you guys I am fully cleared."
That set off a loud round of cheers.
Brunson had an All-Star and All-NBA season averaging 26 points and 6.8 assists per game. He stepped that up during the Knicks playoff run, averaging 28.4 points per game on his way to being NBA Finals MVP. Brunson is the foundation this Knicks title team — and contender to repeat — is built upon.
Brunson also is hosting the season opener of Saturday Night Live this week (Sept. 26), with musical guest KATSEYE. You can watch the show on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT, plus "SNL" streams live on Peacock.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 11: Head Coach JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter in Game Four of the Second Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on May 11, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) | Getty Images
When the Los Angeles Lakers were presented the opportunity to acquire Luka Dončić — a perennial First Team All-NBA player entering his prime — 19 months ago for a staggeringly low cost, they had to seize the moment.
In doing so, though, they left themselves thin at center, with Anthony Davis as the focal point of the Dallas Mavericks’ return package, and provided Dončić a roster built in Davis and LeBron James’ image.
Last summer, they made a few notable moves by signing Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia to be rotation mainstays but the roster still felt in flux as the Lakers navigated old and new identities after such a dramatic trade. This summer, though, once James made clear he’d be heading elsewhere as a free agent, Los Angeles mashed the accelerator and sprinted into the Dončić Era. The Lakers added seven players via free agency and re-signed Austin Reaves to a four-year, $184 million deal.
Now, the Dončić-Reaves Era has unambiguously arrived and head coach JJ Redick believes this is the most cohesive roster-building he’s had since being hired two summers ago.
“I think we’ve always tried to give our players clearly defined roles. I think with this group, probably the first time in my three years here that I feel like the pieces actually fit together. So those roles probably get even more crystallized,” Redick told reporters Thursday. “I’ll give you the wing thing, like, there’s a very clear ask for you to be able to play. And if you don’t do those things, then you’re not gonna play. That’s just the reality. We’ve already had some of those conversations this week with our players.
“We have high, high confidence in these guys that they’re going to buy into that. So, it’s going to naturally create a lot of healthy competition. Everybody at some point, inevitably, will get a chance to impact our team and impact winning.”
The Lakers won plenty of games the past two seasons because Dončić, James and Reaves is a damn good trio and Redick has proven himself a pretty shrewd head coach thus far. But the roster certainly didn’t always mesh and there felt like plenty of stretches in which everyone was just trying to get on the same page while also attempting to win basketball games.
A bunch of new faces playing together will still require an assimilation period. If Redick’s assessment is correct, though, a sensible identity has been established and that should be an advantage moving forward over the past two seasons.
NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI - AUGUST 11: Cooper Flagg 1-of-1 Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card on display on August 11, 2026 at the Baseball Cards of Rhode Island, in North Kingstown, RI. RhodyBreakers, operating out of the Baseball Cards of Rhode Island shop, opened three hobby boxes of 2026 Topps Chrome Update Basketball cards for clients on a live stream on August 10, 2026 and pulled this card. (Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Imagine paying $515 to get in on some card pack breaks at a local sports card shop and having that investment return more than $8 million.
That’s how it happened for South Carolina machine shop owner Jason Williams, 50. He, like many sports fans and collectors, reportedly started participating in online live sales of unopened packs of cards, which were then broken open on the stream so that everyone watching could see what was pulled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, Williams ought to be glad he stuck with it, as his Cooper Flagg 1-of-1 Topps Chrome Update NBA Debut Patch Autograph card, sold at auction for just over $8,040,000. The auction closed early Friday morning. Williams was identified as the lucky SOB who pulled the card last month. The pull came on a live stream hosted by Rhody Breakers, a collecting streamer associated with Baseball Cards of Rhode Island, a local shop eight states away from Williams’ living room.
“They slid that card over and I just slid to the floor crying,” Williams told ESPN at the time. “… It took me about five seconds to realize what I was looking at on that screen.”
In the run-up to the auction, most of the speculation was that the card may fetch “over $1,000,000.” It’s hard to predict what the market will do in a one-of-one situation like this, but a similar Paul Skenes 1-of-1 rookie autograph patch card sold for just over $1.1 million in 2025.
BREAKING: The Cooper Flagg NBA Debut Patch autograph card has officially sold in our auction for $8,040,000.
This sets the record for the most expensive Cooper Flagg card of all time, surpassing the previous record of $366,000.
According to The Athletic, the sale of just over $8,040,000 makes this Flagg rookie card the fifth-most expensive trading card purchase of all time, topping a $7.25 million sale of the famed Honus Wagner 1909 Sweet Caporal T206 in 2022. That Wagner card has traditionally been viewed as the “Holy Grail” of card collecting through the years.
The 1-of-1 card features the NBA Debut patch Flagg wore during his first NBA game, along with the Mavericks star’s autograph. The rookie patch was removed from Flagg’s jersey following his Oct. 22, 2025 debut against the San Antonio Spurs and was later embedded into the Topps Chrome Update card.
Flagg scored just 10 points in that game before going on to win NBA Rookie of the Year over his college roommate and Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Knueppel. The Dylan Harper NBA Debut Patch rookie card sold for $2.88 million. Harper was selected by the Spurs second overall in 2025. Knueppel’s went for just over $2.3 million. Both were sold as part of the same Fanatics auction.
Flagg signed the card at FanaticsFest in July and joked in an interview with ESPN that he’s only be able to afford to buy the card after signing his second NBA contract.
At the time that interview segment aired, the highest bid for the autographed Flagg rookie card and patch was just over $3.2 million. That means the bidding ramped up by nearly $5 million in less than 24 hours at the end of the auction.
Flagg, 19, was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and earned 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 70 games for the Mavericks.
The Buffalo Sabres sent primarily a lineup of players bound for the American Hockey League in their preseason road contest against the Detroit Red Wings, but a pair of players that are expected to be part of the club’s opening night roster in less than a week, when the 2026-27 regular season opens in Columbus left the 3-2 overtime loss to the Wings early.
Trevor Kuntar scored in the first period, andJiri Kulichput Buffalo ahead early in the second, but left the game for what head coach Lindy Ruff said were “precautionary reasons”. On Friday, the 22-year-old forward did not take part in practice at Key Bank Center, and Ruff cast some doubt whether Kulich will play in the preseason finale against Pittsburgh.
"(He was held out), just really maintenance. (He) could have skated today, so we decided to keep him off again.” Ruff said. “In all likelihood, I would think he will skate tomorrow. Either he skates or plays, one of the two. I think probably just skate."
Ruff had indicated earlier in camp that the plan for Kulich, who missed most of last season with a blood clot issue, was going to play all four preseason games to get him back up to speed. The other concerning situation was goalie Alex Lyon leaving the game late in the first period with an apparent upper body injury.
The Sabres head coach said after the game that he was optimistic and that it was nothing serious, but the veteran netminder was also not on ice for practice. Ruff said he was being evaluated and that more information will be available on Saturday, before the club finishes out their preseason schedule in an afternoon matinee against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
At long last, Dallas Mavericks Media Day arrived on Friday, meaning that training camp will begin soon after, and the NBA preseason and regular season are officially right around the corner as well.
One key storyline for the Mavs this season is the return of Kyrie Irving, who missed the entire 2025-26 season with a torn ACL. During that missed season, Irving took on more of a player-coach role, and he spoke about that experience on Friday morning.
“It was quite interesting coming into practice and not being able to raise the level of the intensity or just the competitive drive [with my play]. I feel like whenever I walk into a gym, not only do I feel like I’m one of the best to be out there, but I also feel like I can raise the level of play and just bring out the best in people. If I’m playing with kids or if I’m playing with adults, it’s just a joy,” Irving said.
“Sometimes that could look like aggression or competitive drive. So the coaching came naturally to me this year or last year, just being able to be on the sidelines, coming to games a little bit later rather than coming to games four and a half hours or three and a half hours early. See it from different vantage points, get an appreciation for guys’ tangibles and their skill sets, and learn how to bring out the best in them.”
Last season was a tough one for both Irving individually and the Mavs as a whole. The team finished 26-56 and ended up in the NBA Draft Lottery (ultimately drafting national champion Michigan big man Morez Johnson Jr. with the No. 9 pick), and there wasn’t much Irving could do to help aside from keeping the guys focused on the long-term big picture going forward.
“Last year was tough. It was a tough season, just record-wise, just emotionally,” Irving said. “And I’m not just only going to speak for myself, but just walking around the building, you can tell we have a lot of winners here, and no one likes losing. … I think you want to see guys that are putting in their best work, and they’re putting their best foot forward in practice and in games. … That’s what I was here to do, just to reiterate the culture we’re building here, and also the trust that we have to have for one another.
“I think the biggest learning takeaway that I had, or the biggest learning lesson was, what does patience look like when you really want something? I really wanted to be on the court, but I still had to learn what patience felt like and giving my teammates grace.”
Although last season was a lost one as far as competing for a playoff spot goes, it was an effective year due to the development of 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, who ended up winning Rookie of the Year and is now looking to take a big leap into year two. Irving having to sit out last season helped him spend more time guiding Flagg through his first NBA season.
“We had a lot of young guys, including Cooper, that have a world of talent but need that guidance, need that leadership, and I feel like I tried to fill in that void as much as possible,” Irving said. “But now, as we sit here and we have our team set, we have our coaching staff set, really confident that we’re going to be able to do great things and looking forward to continuing to bring the best out of each other. So that player-coach role was fun. I enjoyed it, but I think I’m ready to go out there and kick some butt.”
On paper, Irving and Flagg appear to be a perfect on-court fit with each other, despite the 15-year age gap. We’ll get our first look at what that dynamic duo can do during the Mavs’ first preseason game against the Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena in Cotai, Macao on Oct. 9.
WILMINGTON, DE - OCTOBER 20: Tyrese Maxey #0 of the Philadelphia 76ers smiles during an open practice on October 20, 2024 at Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Delaware. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo byJesse D. Garrabranty/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Sixers’ Blue X White Scrimmage has become a fun annual tradition for fans.
While the intimacy of the Chase Fieldhouse in Delaware, the home of the G League affiliate Blue Coats, was a nice treat, the obvious demand with the new-look Sixers has forced the team to move the event to South Philly. This year’s scrimmage will take place at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Oct. 3.
Your first chance to see LeBron James and Jaylen Brown in Sixers uniforms will happen then, though player participation in the event is always an unknown until the day comes. Barring injuries, you’ll likely see all the players doing on-court work in some capacity, even if they don’t take part in the scrimmage itself.
Those looking to get tickets can do so this coming Monday, Sept. 28. If you’re a Society 76 Member, you can take part in a special presale at 1 p.m. The rest of the tickets will be released to the general public. They’ll cost $10 a ticket with 100% of that money being donated to the the Sixers Youth Foundation. (For what it’s worth, because the donation is required in order to receive admission to the event, no portion of this donation is tax deductible.) Parking will be complimentary.
Sixers media day will take place on Monday as well. Training camp, which will be held at the team’s practice facility in Camden this year, will begin the next day. The Sixers’ first preseason game will take place on Oct. 5 when they host the New York Knicks. They’ll open the regular season against the defending champs at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 20.
In 2024, a time that feels like a lifetime ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves were in Sacramento for Game 2 of the new season. With 3:29 left in the first quarter, Keegan Murray was subbed out for Trey Lyles, a player I mostly remembered from his one year in college with the Kentucky Wildcats. That was all the way back in 2014-15, or roughly six lifetimes ago.
Lyles was part of the Fab Freshmen team, featuring longtime Wolf nemesis Devin Booker and former (and current, let’s be honest) Wolf beloved Karl-Anthony Towns. Those Wildcats would go on a historic 38-0 run before falling to none other than – checks notes – Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker in the 2015 Final Four.
Upon first seeing Lyles enter this Wolves-Kings game, I did a bit of a double-take, because, and here’s the confession…
I had completely forgotten that he was still in the league.
Not to defend my very wrong thought as reasonable, but Lyles is exactly the type of player to go unnoticed and eventually be forgotten. A player who already has a decent amount of miles on him, now somewhere in the middle of the pecking order on a middling team and one of the least nationally recognized franchises?
That sounds like a recipe for obscurity. Almost like a ghost, but not the scary kind that causes one to let out a shriek. Instead, just an “Oh, huh. It’s that guy,” followed by the I-guess shoulder shrug.
A ghost would be insulted by such a response, and honestly, so should Lyles.
The thing is, I actually really like the idea of Lyles. Specifically, on this Wolves team.
Based on what Will Griffith of The King’s Herald had to say in a fun Q&A with our very own Leo Sun, Kings fans not only liked the idea of Lyles. They straight up liked him, for real. By all accounts, he’s a pretty cool dude.
Griffith: In the Mike Brown years, the Kings would hand out a Defensive Player of the Game chain and crown, and the whole team would take a picture, and Trey, no matter where he was in the picture, flashed fours on his hands. It took all of like 3 games into the gimmick where the entire team was hitting this pose, holding four fingers out on each hand, and despite a lot of bad times in the seasons that followed, he was well regarded enough that players still held up fours out of love for him. On the off chance that the Wolves suddenly have a gimmick like that, or start popping locker room pictures after the game, Trey will throw up those fours, and you will ask yourself, what the hell does that even mean?
It means “4 Life”. It was just a thing he started in high school and has kept it going ever since.
It would seem that Lyles is a likable enough person and capable enough player, or at least a player with certain capabilities – he can shoot the three well enough and drive the ball well enough and rebound well enough. I loath to turn this into a positive affirmation piece all of a sudden, but I don’t care; Trey Lyles is clearly enough!
Whilst on the Kings, his own teammates liked him, and the fanbase seemed to have nothing outright bad to say about his game, though you would be hard-pressed to find any superlative-adorned comments on his list of competencies (but there is a list).
So, if you’re not a Kings fan, it wouldn’t have been egregious to be like me and think twice about Lyles’ existence in the league, but he did exist. He was very much an NBA player. A professionally employable, consistently fine, effectively visible NBA player.
Last year, however, Lyles shed the last remaining threads of his visibility cloak. He was no longer in the NBA. He didn’t retire. He wasn’t exiled. Adam Silver didn’t disappear him. Instead, Lyles made a voluntary decision to leave. He also left the country entirely, marking his foray into La Villa y Corte. Madrid, Spain.
Was he looking for a clean slate? A fresh start? To watch the running of the bulls in Pamplona? To become the bull himself and stampede back to the NBA with horns painted in blood spelling out “SEE ME NOW”? Metaphorically speaking, it’s possible.
Expedition “Bring Back Swagger”
Playing for Real Madrid, one of the most prominent teams in European history, Lyles came on strong right away and never really let up. He was able to leverage his 6’9” and 234-pound frame, slow-cooking on post-ups, using his lower body to seal away smaller players, and utilizing his 7’2” wingspan to steal boards and flourish above the rim. All that combined with what he was predominantly known for: a steady hand from deep.
The EuroLeague final four championship game was Lyles’ curtain call, where he came out like a bat out of hell, punishing the Olympiacos defense for 21 first-half points. Though he would slow down considerably in the second half and Madrid would bow out in defeat, Lyles’ 24-point, eight-rebound performance was a nice capper to a year that reminded everyone what he’s capable of.
By season’s end, Lyles would average 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in just over 21 minutes of play, while shooting a staggering 45.9% on threes. It would appear Lyles had gotten his swagger back.
It remains to be seen how much of that swagger found in Europe carries over to the NBA and actually manages to manifest results. The EuroLeague and NBA are not the same league, and it would be fanciful to expect a one-to-one translation in performance.
In Madrid, only 40% of Lyles’ shot attempts were from three. Compare that to his previous two seasons in the NBA that saw his shot distribution largely favor shots from deep – 66% of his diet, to be exact.
Here, the role is going to be different, the spacing different, the competition different, and with that perhaps a little less comfort and a slight slippage of swagger. It’s an adverse league, the NBA, and to survive it and truly succeed, it pays to either be blind to its punches or just straight-up frothing mad.
But the idea of Lyles on the Wolves remains an exciting thought, and one worth exercising. He is the perfect tweener archetype for this team. With the downhill proclivities of both Ayo and TJ, and Beringer poised to mostly occupy space down low, Lyles has a real opportunity to provide second unit lineups with inverted potency. He’s not going to backfill the Naz Reid-shaped hole – and, to be fair, no one can – but with his particular skill sets and this team’s dearth of power forwards, there is an opening for a player of his kind to thrive. It’s up to him, though, to seize the moment.
A reason for optimism, and a reason for grace
Every team is a puzzle where certain ancillary pieces might not fit, while others do so perfectly. It can take years, several even, for those connections to click, but when they do, it can define careers.
Journeymen are finally able to make their names known. Think Shane Battier and Mike Miller, whose sharp-shooting prowess helped the Miami Heat win back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. Or Boris Diaw, Danny Green, and Patty Mills, vital pieces of the “Beautiful Game” San Antonio Spurs and their unconscious 2014 title run. There’s Shaun Livingston on the Golden State Warriors dynasty. Or most recently, Jordan Clarkson and Landry Shamet on last season’s NBA champion New York Knicks.
Not all roles are created equal, but if you can complement your team and help contribute to winning possessions, games, and beyond, then you’ve exceeded your expected value and proven that you are more than enough in this league.
When you consider the 450 active players, with 100 or so more waiting in the wings, from a relative small number of bonafide star players to the many key rotation pieces to the more populous distribution of playable and passable bodies whose job for a majority of the season is just to keep the bench warm, it is clear that every team is in fact greater than the sum of its parts. And to be a part of that sum is a privilege.
To be a part of something special is an honor.
Lyles once again finds himself somewhere in the middle of that large, expansive sea of NBA contracts, and because of that, I guarantee he isn’t the only player that people forget about from time to time. And hey, no matter how his career rounds out, at least he can say he made it longer than Frank “the Tank” Kaminsky.
Time will tell whether Lyles can play his part well enough to be remembered outside of the Wolves fandom. Maybe he becomes a de facto glue guy. Or he has to settle as an emergency fill-in, to find contentment in being the new team sage, a steady voice if not a steady hand, riding the pine like the owl in the tree. Sometimes, that alone is enough.
Truth is, if an organization wants you here and your teammates are happy that you are, then in a way you’ve made it. And so Lyles isn’t alone. Everyone in this league is necessary. If you’re here, clearly you’re doing something right.
On July 11, 2026, Lyles signed a one-year deal with the Wolves. I don’t know if he’s in Minneapolis at the time of this writing – that’s not important. For a while he was somewhere else, and now he’s here. To be here is to be present is to have value is to be enough. Only time will tell if he can be anything more than that, but for now, it’s good to have him here.
Although the Los Angeles Lakers signed a slew of wings this summer — Quentin Grimes, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle — to pair with incumbents such as Jake LaRavia and Jarred Vanderbilt, it doesn’t feel like most of the minutes are spoken for yet. There should be an opportunity for plenty of candidates to stake their claim and bolster Los Angeles’ rotation.
Among those hoping to do so is second-year forward Adou Thiero. Selected 36th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, Thiero played sparingly as a rookie, logging just 183 minutes across the regular season and playoffs. He did, however, flash imposing athleticism and dominant interior scoring during his South Bay Lakers stint.
In seven regular season G League games, he averaged 15.4 points on 74.6 percent true shooting (62 percent on 2-pointers). In three Tip-Off Tournament games, he averaged 15.0 points on 73.7 percent true shooting (66.7 percent on 2-pointers).
Thiero hardly played in year one partly due to separate knee injuries. Swelling in his left knee caused him to miss all of preseason and the first 13 games of the regular season while a sprained MCL in his right knee sidelined him for six weeks from late December to mid-February. But Thiero is healthy now and head coach JJ Redick said this prolonged stretch of availability this summer has done wonders.
“Adou has had an unbelievable last two months of development,” Redick told reporters Thursday. “It’s the first stretch he’s had since we’ve drafted him where he’s had uninterrupted time in the gym and his body’s been in great shape and he’s just gotten better.”
Much of the Lakers’ projected rotation isn’t particularly athletic, so if Thiero can break through, he’d provide a welcomed, novel dynamic with his speed, strength and above-the-rim finishing.
We’ll have a better idea of just how much his healthy summer might pay off when the Lakers begin their preseason slate Oct. 5 against the Sacramento Kings.
