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Good morning! If you’re feeling under .500 this morning, there’s still hope.
While You Were Sleeping
The NFC South needs an intervention
Carolina beat Atlanta last night, 25-15, so here’s what the NFC South looks like heading into the weekend:
Barf. And if you’ve seen any of these teams play this year, you know none of these feel like breakout candidates. Tom Brady is Tom Brady, but the Bucs have been plain bad this year. The Falcons were never supposed to be this good, the Saints entered the season with Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton as QB options and the Panthers fired their coach in six games.
Lovely stuff. If trends hold, we are en route to just ours fourth sub-.500 division winner in NFL history, joining the 2020 Commanders, 2014 Panthers and 2010 Seahawks. The division winner will host a playoff game. Incredible.
The only good news for this bunch: They each get at least two more division games apiece this year. Joe Person notes the Panthers have found Christian McCaffrey’s replacement.
On the DL
NBA catch-up, Vol. 1
The NBA season is 10 games old and is already full of surprises. Are the Jazz this good? The Cavs? Is anyone still tanking for Victor Wembanyama?
The Athletic‘s Sam Amick caught up with NBA front-office executives who spilled the tea in exchange for anonymity on all these early trends. The full story has plenty of juicy tidbits, but I pulled a few just for us:
What are the Jazz doing? New Utah general manager Danny Ainge dismantled the Jazz core in what looked like a complete tank-and-rebuild op with Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson as the draft prizes at the end of the rainbow. But the Jazz are 10-3 and atop the Western Conference, which is fun.
So what will Danny do? The consensus says he’ll still be active at the trade deadline with valuable pieces like Mike Conley Jr., Lauri Markannen and Jordan Clarkson to continue building for the future. But he might not trade all of them as we once assumed. Intrigue!
People will still tank for Victor. A prospect like Wembanyama does not come around often, and no matter how encouraging the starts are for the Jazz, Spurs, Pistons, etc., every executive polled said the tanking will settle in. The teams are simply trying to beat the early tanking allegations. Be patient.
Watch out for the Lakers (and Pelicans?) at the trade deadline. Los Angeles is one of the worst teams in the league through 11 games and clearly needs to make a move, which is probably a Russell Westbrook trade. Just remember the Pelicans hold swap rights with the Lakers’ first-round pick in the upcoming draft via the Anthony Davis trade. Right now, that’s a top-five pick.
Read all the scoops here.
Briefs
Kershaw returns to the Dodgers
LA legend Clayton Kershaw is back on a one-year deal, a source said The Athletic, making 2023 the second straight year Kershaw will play on a one-year contract. Kershaw, 34, was fantastic in 2022, with a 2.28 ERA in 126 1/3 innings pitched.
LeBron says Kyrie should play
Lakers star LeBron James tweeted Thursday night that Nets guard Kyrie Irving should be allowed to play again after apologizing for promoting an antisemitic movie, although James maintained that what Irving posted “caused harm” to a lot of people. James and Irving were teammates in Cleveland from 2014 to 2017.
Padres, Suarez agreed to a five-year deal
Five years? For a reliever? It was worth it for San Diego to lock up Robert Suarez long-term, apparently, as the two sides agreed to a five-year, $46 million contract yesterday, a team source confirmed to The Athletic. Suarez was great for the NL runners up this past year, and with Josh Hader eligible for free agency next year, Suarez is your Padres closer for now.
The Good Bets
Let’s go, points
Another 2-2 week is fine by me, and I’m doing my best to resist taking LSU -3 at Arkansas tomorrow. Getting these picks off before I give in:
College
Georgia (-16.5) at Mississippi State
The Dawgs are rolling and Mike Leach — routinely befuddled by good defenses — stands in the way, looking into the train’s headlights and calling four verts for the sixth play in a row. No hangover for No. 1 Georgia after last week.
North Carolina and Wake Forest OVER 76.5
These are the games that make betting fun. These teams combined for 113 points last season and they stack up similarly this year. Rooting for points is great. Go points.
Read more: Best bets | Expert picks | Full projection model
NFL
Seahawks ML (+120) vs. Buccaneers
We’ve been on the Geno train for weeks now, and flying across the ocean doesn’t mean we gave up our seats. No one is saving the Bucs now.
Colts (+4.5) vs. Raiders
I just need to have a reason to invest in this game, which oozes disaster potential on both sides. Indy is running on pure “we have nothing to lose” fumes and the Raiders/Bad Vibe Kings are dealing with injury issues.
Read more: Best bets | Expert picks
Record last week: 2-2
Pulse record overall: 17-15
Pulse Picks
・As the Astros turn: General manager James Click is expected to meet with Houston owner Jim Crane to discuss a meager one-year offer today to return to the defending champions. Ken Rosenthal won’t be surprised if Click tells Crane to “stick his offer you-know-where.”
・Michael Shawn-Dugar has the incredible story of a German Seahawks fan’s terminal illness and the stuffed owl carrying on his memory.
・Jacob Toppin is blessed with physical gifts like his NBA brother, Obi. But has he matured into a star for Kentucky? Jury’s out.
・Kalyn Kahler details how an almost-too-cheery Mike McDaniel has impacted the Dolphins in his first year as head coach.
・You have to feel for Jason Verrett, who tore his Achilles tendon in practice Wednesday. The 31-year-old elite DB talent has played in just 40 career games due to multiple season-ending injuries.
・The Nets passed on Ime Udoka. That means he’s still the Celtics’ problem.
(Photo: Jim Dedmon/USA Today)
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