The 2019 NBA Draft was all about surprises, but Duke’s Zion Williamson being selected #1 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans was not one of them. The Memphis Grizzlies took Ja Morant at #2 and the New York Knicks took another Blue Devil in RJ Barrett at #3.
Then, the fun really began. New Orleans continued its busy week (more on that in the next slide), trading their 4th pick to Atlanta for the 8th, 17th and 35th picks, while are also sending Solomon Hill, the 57th pick and a future second-round pick the Hawks.
Other trade highlights include the Boston Celtics, who traded the 20th overall pick to Philadelphia for the 24th and 33rd picks, before trading the 24th pick and Aron Bynes to Phoenix for the Bucks’ 2020 first-round pick (they got that one in the Eric Bledsoe trade in 2017). You get a trade! You get a trade! You get a trade! We love this game.
The Lake Show
The King, a.k.a. LeBron, got himself a prince of a player this week when the New Orleans Pelicans traded Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart, as well as three first-round picks, including the No. 4 overall pick in yesterday’s draft (the one they traded to the Hawks). The Lakers kept Kyle Kuzma. Ball, Ingram and Hart join Zion Williamson. This will be fun.
By trading the aforementioned fourth pick, the trade will go into effect on the first allowable day (July 6), leaving the Lakers with roughly $24 million in cap space.
Will James and Davis be enough to bring that purple and yellow glory back to La La Land? Let’s talk again in November.
USA! USA!
The U.S. women’s national team continues to dominate in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Our favorite soccer team won their second match against Chile before defeating Sweden 2-0 yesterday. Lindsay Horan scored in the first three minutes and Tobin Heath provided an insurance goal in the 50th minute.
Team USA is the winner of Group F and moves on to face Spain on Monday in the round of 16. Bring it on.
Let’s Jam
Who else loved Space Jam? (girl raising hand emoji) Well, lucky us, because we’re officially getting Space Jam 2. The movie will star LeBron James, obviously, as well as Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson, Chris Paul and Anthony Davis. It will also feature WNBA stars Diana Taurasi and the Ogwumike sisters, Nneka and Chiney.
Yeah, when we said girls run the world, we meant space too. Okay, Beyonce said it, but we 100% agree with her.
Hitless in Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Phillies are having hitting woes and no one is happy about it, especially after signing slugger Bryce Harper to a 13-year, $330 million contract this offseason. Harper is batting .243 with 10 homeruns and 29 RBIs this season.
The Phillies tried him at leadoff last night to try to heat things up, but he was 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. He had been 4-for-24 in his previous eight games, but the team is struggling as whole.
Since losing outfielder Andrew McCutchen for the season on June 4, the Phillies are last in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage (.154). Not ideal.
Philadelphia is 4.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Don’t stress Philly fans. It’s June. Trust the process (Oh, that’s the Sixers. Well, same city.).