On Monday, the Chicago Bulls held media day to open up their 2024-25 NBA season.
They have a very talented roster but have dealt with injuries over the previous two seasons.
Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine are the two notable players that have missed a lot of time.
Lonzo off-the-glass lob to LaVine pic.twitter.com/9MXGjjjJpi
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 7, 2021
Following media day, LaVine made a post to Instagram that had over 120,000 likes and 500 comments.
The first photo featured him next to Ball.
LaVine captioned his post: "Year 11. "
One person to leave a comment was Ball.
His comment had over 400 likes.
Ball wrote: ""
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For years, the Sacramento Kings have struggled due to a lack of size and athleticism, especially at the forward positions. But new GM Scott Perry has a goal to address that team need this offseason to help move Keegan Murray to a different spot in certain lineups. The Kings came into the offseason with two main goals: to add a lead point guard and to add length and athleticism. They brought in Dennis Schröder to solve their point guard needs, but haven't fully addressed the need to add wing depth. They drafted Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud, who both bring good size, but neither fits the 3/4 prototype of a 6-foot-8 to 6-foot-10 wing that could help Keegan Murray on the frontcourt. But it appears that the need is still on Scott Perry's mind, as he stated when he joined Sactown Sports 1140 on the Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross. "It's always on my radar to get better. That position, the four position, if a team has a good four-man, they're holding on to him," Perry stated. "In an ideal world, I'd like to be able to get Keegan more opportunities playing the small forward to allow us to play bigger as a team. " With the roster as currently constructed, the Kings' only backup power forward options are Dario Saric, who may be more of a center at this point in his career, and second-year big Isaac Jones. Doug McDermott could fill in, but he's a little undersized for the power forward spot and the Kings shouldn't go into the season relying on him for more than a shooting spark off the bench. It's also possible that Raynaud gets some time at the power forward spot, as he has the potential to be able to play next to Domantas Sabonis thanks to his outside shooting. But again, he's not the switchable wing that is so valuable in today's NBA. The Kings are still tied to restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga, with the two sides meeting for the first time in recent days, with the meeting going well between Perry and Kuminga. Bringing in the 22-year-old wing would certainly solve the problem that the Kings are facing and give them extra size on the wings. A duo of Kuminga and Murray would be the best forward duo the Kings have had in recent years, potentially passing Harrison Barnes and Murray. What will be interesting to see what happens if the Kings strike out on Kuminga and are unable to get a sign and trade done with the Warriors. Perry seems to be patient going into next season, taking his time to build the roster in a way that fits his long term vision. There are a few options out there, including Precious Achiuwa and Kai Jones, or they could look to bring Trey Lyles, who they can go over the cap to sign since they have his bird rights. For now, we appear to be stuck in a wait-and-see situation until the Kuminga deal is resolved, but it's at least good news that Perry still has the power forward spot on his mind as the offseason continues.
Top NHL analyst Stephan Roget of 'Canucks Army' believes the Canucks could definitely offer sheet Mason McTavish or Marco Rossi, but they likely won't. Offer sheets remain one of the less common NHL deals, so a midsummer offer sheet from the Vancouver Canucks would remain highly unlikely. The player must be a restricted free agent (RFA) to be offer-sheet eligible, and come mid-July, there are not many remaining who are. Two of them are strong possibilities for whom the Canucks would consider making an offer sheet: Anaheim Ducks' Mason McTavish and Minnesota Wild's Marco Rossi. And offer sheets are a two-part process. Your team has to first make an offer. And then there has to be acceptance of a player before his current team is in a position to counter. That is uncertainty enough. Any offer sheet from the Canucks would have to be at least $11.7 million per year The Canucks would only be able to give Mason McTavish or Marco Rossi at the absolute highest compensation level, above $11.7 million annually. That would cost four protected first-rounders across five drafts to the Canucks. While both Rossi and McTavish would certainly appreciate an offer of this nature, whether either is truly worth this kind of investment of this size, especially for Vancouver, a club not comfortably in a playoff position, is questionable. 'As it stands, the Canucks are still eligible to make offer sheets to McTavish and Rossi - but only certain offer sheets. 'Whether it's realistic to expect a mid-summer offer sheet from the Canucks, is no'. - Stephan Roget Bottom line: While theoretically, a Canucks summer offer sheet is conceivable, too high a price, in cap space and future equity, makes it extremely unlikely, per NHL analyst Stephan Roget of 'Canucks Army.'
The Seattle Storm are looking to make things right after Tuesday’s 87-63 blowout loss to Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings. They get a chance to do so on Thursday when they return to action against the Chicago Sky in a road game at Wintrust Arena. The Storm got a big boost ahead of the Sky matchup, which comes in the form of seven-time All-Star Skylar Diggins returning to action after a one-game absence. After registering the first triple-double in WNBA All-Star Game history on Saturday, Diggins was unable to suit up against Dallas on Tuesday due to personal reasons. The 5-foot-9 guard was not listed on Seattle’s injury report for the Sky game, though, which means that Diggins should be back in the starting lineup come Thursday. This is a crucial development for the Storm, who will be looking to improve on their 14-10 record. In 23 games played this season, Diggins has produced averages of 17.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.5 triples per game. Chicago Sky List Angel Reese as Questionable to Play Against the Seattle Storm While the Storm got some good news ahead of Thursday’s clash, the same cannot be said for the Sky. This is after two-time All-Star forward Angel Reese was added to the injury report with a back problem. The silver lining is that Reese, who missed Chicago’s last game before the All-Star break with a leg injury, is listed as questionable to play, which means that there’s still a chance that she’s able to suit up against Seattle. Reese looked fine on Tuesday as Chicago suffered a 91-68 blowout loss to the Minnesota Lynx, posting an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double. It is unclear exactly when Reese sustained the injury, but it has now placed her status against Seattle in jeopardy. It is worth noting that Michaela Onyenwere (knee) and Ariel Atkins (leg) have also been ruled out for the Storm game, as they continue to recover from respective injuries. This only means that Chicago will be significantly shorthanded on Thursday, especially if Reese also ends up sitting out.
The Washington Commanders already have a handful of players impressing at training camp before the pads come on and one of them can fix a major hole on the team. Commanders HC Dan Quinn was asked about a certain rookie on Friday and he had high praise for a late round gem. He spoke on what impressed him the most already and how he can standout even more in the next phase of training camp. Late round rookies like Jacory Croskey-Merritt usually take some time to see the field, but the opportunities are there for him and his traits set him apart. Making an early impression to Dan Quinn Training camp is vital for rookies to learn the new systems on offense and become acclimated with the pace of the NFL. Croskey-Merritt hasn't wasted any time with the coaching staff on showing what he brings to the table. The traits he showed on tape in college are translating to the field for the Commanders already. "It's the violence of the cuts," Quinn told the media. "You know that he can get his shoulders square and get downhill fast." Quinn also credited running back coach Anthony Lynn on how he's going to "absolutely get them right" in the running back room. The Commanders need fresh legs in the backfield after the running game fell on QB Jayden Daniels' shoulders in the second half of the season and Croskey-Merritt is like a Mustang with four fresh tires. He's got a unique blend of power and elusiveness that makes tacklers miss in the open field and more importantly shows the vision to make the right reads and cuts. That's what Quinn looks for in practice right now, making the right reads on a play. "Running backs are sometimes the hardest," Quinn mentioned. "But what you can evaluate is the explosion on the cut, the assignment, was the read correct?" The next steps at practice for Croskey-Merritt You can tell what traits a running back has in the early practices, but you start to see a clearer picture when the pads come on and things get more physical. "It's a hard one to evaluate in non pads," Quinn added. "Because you don't know if the person makes the tackle, did he break the tackle?" Quinn can't wait to see the offensive line and the running backs get the pads on and really tell where Croskey-Merritt gets tackled and what tackles he can fight through. If Croskey-Merritt can ramp up his progression in training camp and impress in the joint practices against the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens, he can quickly rise up the depth chart. The preseason is right around the corner as well and real live action has the biggest impact on your stock.