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Good morning! Be like Jakob Poeltl today.
Expansion
Portland? Nashville?
Baseball expansion is happening. Commissioner Rob Manfred wants it. Cities want teams. It should be a reality soon.
The Athletic’s baseball staff is doing some fascinating work this week, highlighting possible expansion locations:
- Portland: Plans are already underway for a 32,000-seat stadium, writes Stephen J. Nesbitt. The city is in, and so are investors.
- Nashville: Andy McCullough reports the foundation for an MLB team is already being built — and they already have a name picked out.
Las Vegas, Charlotte and others are leading candidates for new teams, too. Manfred has said he wants a resolution for the Athletics and Rays, both embroiled in nasty negotiations about a new stadium, before MLB officially expands to 32 teams. But it’s coming, and the A’s and/or Rays could be in a new city, too.
Stay tuned this week for more cities.
LeBron Tracker
Assessing the LeBron-scape
LeBron James will be basketball’s leading point scorer any day now. We’re going to keep track of his pace regularly in these digital pages, but make sure to bookmark our running tally on the site.
James, however, is on the precipice of multiple milestones this year:
- Points: 316 away from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time record. He’s projected to break the record Feb. 7.
- Steals: He’s ninth all-time with 2,170. He should pass Clyde Drexler and move up to No. 8 this year.
- Rebounds: No. 33, likely overtaking David Robinson tonight to claim No. 32.
- Assists: No. 6, but should pass (excuse the pun) Mark Jackson and Steve Nash this year to reach No. 4, right behind his pal Chris Paul. It’s realistic that James eventually passes current No. 2 Jason Kidd.
Let’s recap: More points than anyone, more steals than Drexler, more rebounds than Robinson and more assists than Nash. Plus however many future seasons. But if James retired tomorrow, he’d finish with the all-time best statistical career.
We can do Jordan vs. LeBron any time. Let’s save it for the offseason. Just appreciate what James is doing now.
Feedback Loop
Sorry, Tampa
In yesterday’s Pulse Poll, we had some stunning clarity to one aspect of Tom Brady’s future: You guys really don’t think he’s heading back to the Buccaneers. Vote breakdown:
- 51 percent of you think he’s heading to the FOX booth
- 46 percent think he’s playing somewhere else
- Just 3 percent believe he’s back with the Bucs
Vic Tafur has a great piece on why Las Vegas, a popular theoretical landing spot for Brady, actually doesn’t make much sense. We’re still waiting on any official word from Brady about his future.
Briefs
Titans hire new GM
Ran Carthon is the new general manager in Tennessee, sources confirmed The Athletic. Carthon, the former 49ers director of player personnel, inherits an odd situation in which his predecessor, Jon Robinson, was fired despite overseeing six straight winning seasons before this season’s slight stumble.
Michigan OC placed on leave
The program placed co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss on leave after university police began investigating alleged computer access crimes at Schembechler Hall, where the football offices are located, in December. Weiss joined the Wolverines staff in 2021 after 12 seasons with the Ravens.
Gronk was subpoenaed
Account holders in Voyager Digital, a cryptocurrency company currently in Chapter 11 proceedings, have sued Mavericks owner Mark Cuban for promoting the company. As part of the lawsuit, former tight end Rob Gronkowski — an official Voyager brand ambassador — was subpoenaed to testify, and could be added as a defendant in the suit. Gronkowski joins former teammate Tom Brady as Super Bowl champs turned crypto lawsuit targets.
Hi, My Name Is
Jakob Poeltl, key to everything
Did you know the NBA trade deadline is three weeks away? You can pretend you did. The frenzy is forthcoming, but the main character could be an underrated center.
Yesterday, Shams Charania published a sprawling notebook of things he’s hearing as the deadline nears, focusing on Spurs center Jakob Poeltl, the 27-year-old big man who could be the lead domino for trade talks around the league. The gist:
- Poeltl is best described as extremely effective. He’s a great rebounder, a great role on offense and an outstanding defender. He’s come into his own on some admittedly bad teams.
- Which brings us to the Poeltl predicament’s crux: The Spurs want to keep him long-term, per Shams, but the center is a free agent after this season and wants to play for a contender. The Spurs are … not in that position, and might not be able to afford the high price tag Poeltl will command on the open market. A trade is likely.
The Celtics are interested. So are the Raptors, who drafted Poeltl in 2016 before dealing him to San Antonio in the Kawhi Leonard trade. There will be other suitors, too.
Everything could flow from there. Shams’ full piece is worth reading, with intel on other trade pieces like Terry Rozier, Eric Gordon, Pascal Siakam and more. Strap in.
Pulse Picks
・Big upset last night: No. 13 Kansas State upended no. 2 Kansas in overtime.
・Derrick White is the best little shot blocker in the NBA, Jay King explains.
・David Ubben has a fantastic new feature, chronicling the backstory of how Deion Sanders landed at Colorado. Jeremy Bloom and grits are involved.
・Sabreena Merchant’s WNBA mock draft is here. Aliyah Boston is No. 1, but a clear no. 2 is emerging.
・Why can’t teams just hire Sean Payton? A handy explainer on his contractual rights.
・Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is staying in Detroit, a huge win for a surging franchise. Johnson received interest for head coaching jobs this offseason.
・Corey Pronman ranks his top 154 NHL prospects under 23. Always an illuminating read.
・John Hollinger predicts the Nuggets, Grizzlies or Pelicans will make the NBA Finals as Western Conference champions.
(Photo: Brad Penner / USA Today)
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