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The Lakers are making history and Cooper Kupp’s trade market

Madoc Meredith October 23, 2024

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

While You Were Sleeping: The Lakers are making history… and could be good

It was a moment we expected but didn’t know for 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 NBA succeeded. It was a very cool moment, regardless of what you think of the younger James’ NBA credentials.

Even cooler was the Lakers’ performance in their 110-103 victory over the TimberwolvesLast season’s Western Conference finalist. The elder 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 maintain anything close to this form, the West could be even more competitive than we thought.

It continues:

Trades? The Rams are pushing back the NFL trade deadline

The NFL trade deadline will likely never generate as much buzz as its siblings in the NBA, MLB and NHL. But two weeks later, this year’s edition has a lot of potential. The pool of NFL contenders is large – as are the number of disappointing teams.

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

Sell the 2-4 Rams. At least it seems that way. The athlete reported that the team is alerting prospects to the possibility of acquiring star wide receiver Cooper Kupp, a clear sign of how LA feels about this season and beyond. See our full report here. I can imagine the Chiefs coming first. And maybe the Buccaneers too. More on that later.
The Panthers sellout. The team may be terrible, but there is plenty of tradeable 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 employees say they should buy And sell, but when should you give up this season? New York still has two games left before the deadline. Are you trading for even more offensive help? Dump wide receiver Mike Williams and see what happens? Or, if the team is 2-7 at this point, do you start a painful rebuild early? The pressure is great.

Read the full list here to see what your team should do. I wish you all the best for the upcoming transactions.

Interesting facts

Valenzuela died at the age of 63
Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela died yesterday at age 63, the team announced. The 1981 Cy Young winner became an icon in Los Angeles during his playing career, maintaining his status as the team’s Spanish broadcaster before recently stepping down for 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, up 115 percent from last season’s title win. Even more impressive was Sunday’s time slot, making it the largest WNBA audience ever to have an NFL contest on the air. This speaks for the growth of women’s football as a whole. More details here.

More news

Next: Fuel your flag

For the NBA teams that played last night, the future is largely in the now. By my count, 14 or 15 NBA teams have legitimate hopes of a solid playoff win, so half the league is either hoping for a surprise win or… tanking.

Two things you should know:

Refueling is no longer so attractive due to the NBA’s recent rule change reducing the worst teams’ lottery odds. It helped create more parity across the league. You can no longer just throw out an entire season and expect to finish in the top three.
And yet, the next draft class will still encourage refueling. It’s that good, led by Duke’s Cooper Flagg, who was named first-team All-America in the preseason before playing a minute of college basketball. Flagg is the most hyped college player since Zion Williamson. The rest of the incoming draft class is also deep.

Possible tank missions 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 watch some tank videos.

Watch and listen

📺 Football: Bayern Munich at FC Barcelona
3:00 p.m. ET on Paramount+
A mammoth Champions League match to start your viewing day, and that’s what it should be The toughest game for both in the league phase. Yummy.

📺 NBA: Suns at Clippers
10 p.m. ET on ESPN
With Kawhi Leonard out, the Clips suddenly find themselves in a dangerous limbo. The shiny new arena debuts tonight with little star power, save for 35-year-old James Harden, who is playing 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 up the No. 1 seed to Oklahoma City, which is currently the favorite to win the West. I love the atmosphere on opening day.

Get tickets for games like these Here.

🎧 Don’t miss it “The NBA Daily” This morning it’s that time again, basketball is in full swing. Your analysis of a wild opening night was great. Listen here.

Pulse picks

Describe Ashton Jeanty from Boise State Being “Cinderella in a Steel-Toed Boot” should be enough to make you want to read this story, but I would like to add that it is the best Jeanty profile you will ever read. Click.

Yes, Indiana has a better chance of making it Play out as Alabama. Austin Mock explained in our latest CFP Stock Watch.

I loved our series yesterday about how each individual World Series Team was built. Chad Jennings in detail How LA Win gold at every turnwhile the Yankees’ Ascension was long, hard and happy.

Be sure to read Jake Ciely’s Week 8 Fantasy football Recommendations for avoiding transfers before it’s too late.

How did Rangers winger Artemi Panarin Become a superstar at 32? Scouts canceled his shocking rise yesterday to Arthur Staple.

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

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

📫 Do you love the pulse? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.

(Top photo: Harry How / Getty Images)

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The Lakers are making history and Cooper Kupp’s trade market

While You Were Sleeping: The Lakers are making history… and could be good