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It appears the Charlotte Hornets' mini "hot streak" has come to an end. The Bugs have dropped three straight and five of their past six.
Tonight, they'll head north and across the border to take on a Toronto Raptors team that has played respectable basketball since the turn of the calendar. This month, Toronto is 8-5 and have won two straight coming into tonight's contest.
Is there a chance Charlotte can snap their current skid on Friday night? Here's what our staff thinks.
Schuyler Callihan: Hornets 110, Raptors 105
The Raptors will be without RJ Barrett, Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, and Brandon Ingram and could be without Chris Boucher. That's a lot of talent sitting on the bench in street clothes. Even with LaMelo Ball out, I like the Hornets' chances to get the road win.
Zachary Roberts: Raptors 112, Hornets 106
Without LaMelo Ball, this becomes a little more lopsided of a match between two bad teams. Charlotte needs to string losses together at this point to improve their lottery chances, and they will probably have a tough time even with Brandon Ingram out.
Ian Black: Raptors 104, Hornets 97
Unfortunately for the Hornets, the offense is not good enough to break the Raptors' stellar defense, and the defense is not good enough to notably take advantage of the struggling Raptors offense. The gap between these teams is not enormous, but the matchup definitely favors the home team.
- MORE STORIES FROM HORNETS ON SI -
Latest NBA mock draft gives Hornets athletic shotmaker
The ESPN BPI gives no love to the Hornets versus the banged-up Raptors
Three Hornets who may be playing their final games with the squad
The Hornets look to get back on track versus Toronto
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Kings Predicted to Send Malik Monk to Lakers for $66 Million Duo in Offseason Trade
As the 2025-26 NBA season nears, one team that continues to be the subject of trade rumors is the Sacramento Kings. Of course, the Kings elected to keep their core of Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVien together this offseason despite many around the league expecting them to begin a rebuild. Sacramento also made some notable additions to their roster this summer as they selected Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud in the 2025 draft and added Dennis Schroder in free agency. While the Kings have upgraded their roster this offseason, some of their players continue to be in trade rumors, primarily for Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga who Sacramento is reportedly targeting. For the Kings, multiple players have come up in trad rumors this summer but none more than Malik Monk who is coming off the best season of his NBA career. Despite this, the Kings have elected to keep Monk thus far but that could change as they continue to look for ways to upgrade their roster even more this offseason to chase a playoff spot next season. Kings predicted to trade Malik Monk to Lakers With this in mind, SB Nations’ Jacob Rude recently released a mock trade that would send Malik Monk to the Los Angeles Lakers for two players. In the trade, the Kings would land Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber and a lottery protected 2031 first-round pick from the Lakers in return for Monk. This trade does not make a ton of sense for the Kings as they would swap one of the best scorers on their roster for two veterans who struggled last season and a lottery protected first-round pick. Both Vincent and Kleber would be solid additions to the Kings’ roster as they would fill two glaring holes in their rotation, but Sacramento would likely want more in return for Monk, especially with him coming off the best season of his career. Because of this, it is highly unlikely that the Kings would agree to this trade as they could possibly receive a larger return for their veteran guard from another team this offseason.
Perhaps Superman Paul Skenes has found his kryptonite
Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes may continue to be one of the top contenders for the National League Cy Young Award, but there is one place where he has appeared mortal this season. On Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Brewers did to Skenes what they have done to plenty of MLB pitchers in 2025 ... put up big offensive numbers. For the second time this season, Skenes also pitched in Milwaukee on June 25, the Brewers forced him from the game after just 4.0 innings on Tuesday night, logging six hits and four runs during his time on the mound. Both of those performances came at Milwaukee's home stadium (American Family Field) and both are now Skenes' shortest outings of the season. While another NL Central team has put up more runs against Skenes this season (the St. Louis Cardinals nicked him for five runs in 6.0 innings on April 8), no other team has had the same kind of success over multiple starts by Skenes in 2025 as have the Brewers inside their home stadium. In all this season, Skenes has given up 10 hits and eight runs in 8.0 innings in Milwaukee. It was his third career outing on the road against the Brewers, with his lone 2024 start representing arguably the best outing of his rookie season. On July 11, 2024, Skenes struck out 11 and didn't allow a hit over 7.0 innings as the Pirates would eventually post a 1-0 victory. Tuesday's short outing was highlighted by a pair of Milwaukee home runs, including a leadoff solo shot by Sal Frelick that quickly set the tone for the Brewers. While Milwaukee's hit parade helped raise Skenes' ERA on the season to 2.13, it's hardly any reason for concern in a season where the 23-year-old right-hander is still a heavy favorite (-600) to win the NL Cy Young Award, per BetMGM. Skenes struggling in Milwaukee is likely more yet another stamp of approval on the Brewers' potential to be a threat once the postseason arrives. With an 18-4 record since the All-Star break entering Tuesday, Milwaukee has taken over the NL Central race from the Chicago Cubs. So what's the good news for Skenes? This is Pittsburgh's last trip to Milwaukee this season and the next-to-last series for the Pirates against the red-hot Brewers. Milwaukee will visit PNC Park for a three-game series on Sept. 5-7 and, if Skenes gets a chance for revenge against Milwaukee, there couldn't be a better place for him to take the mound. This season, in 11 starts covering 68.2 innings, Skenes has a 1.70 ERA in the Steel City.
Jordan Love's thumb surgery comes at inopportune time for Packers
The Green Bay Packers have a cause for concern with Jordan Love in the preseason. The quarterback suffered a thumb injury during the Packers' 30-10 loss to the New York Jets on Saturday. Love went 1-of-5 passing for seven yards and took a sack for -3 yards in the defeat. Both of his drives ended in punts. Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, Love is set to have surgery on his thumb after seeing how it held up at practice on Monday. General manager Brian Gutekunst believes Love will be ready for Week 1 against the Detroit Lions. "Gutekunst sounded adamant that Love will be ready for Week 1 against the Lions," Schneidman wrote. "Hit his left hand on a helmet on that half-scramble vs. Jets. Wanted to see how it felt at practice yesterday and decided to get it fixed to avoid future issues. Will be with team in Indianapolis. "Brian Gutekunst says Jordan Love is having a procedure done on his left thumb. It’s a 'ligament thing.' Hurt it in the preseason opener. Gutekunst hopes he returns to practice next week." The injury comes at an inopportune time for the Packers. Love and the majority of his receivers have not been in sync during training camp and in the preseason game. Like last season, Packers' receivers have dropped passes during practices and did so in the preseason opener against the Jets. Green Bay needs Love on the field, gaining chemistry with his pass-catching targets, including first-round pick Matthew Golden, before it plays the Lions.
Bears rumors: Is Ben Johnson protecting Caleb Williams from criticism?
The success of the Chicago Bears will be predicated on the success of Caleb Williams. Coach Ben Johnson strategically chose not to start Williams this past Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. Instead, the backup QBs took command as the Bears lost to the Dolphins 24-22. Afterward, questions arose about Johnson’s intentions with Williams. Those questions were raised by Colin Cowherd and Nick Wright on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Tuesday. “My take is everybody but Tom Brady played this weekend and Caleb Williams didn’t,” Cowherd said. “He’s not quite there. We’re asking him to do stuff under center, and it was strategic in not playing him. “ Wright chimed in with his analysis that Williams will come around by the holiday season. “Is this Ben Johnson protecting Caleb?” Wright asked. “Is this Ben Johnson protecting himself? I do think it will be a little rocky early as this transition takes place, but I think by Thanksgiving Colin, Caleb, I believe is going to look like the player you and I both believed he would be.” The Bears’ next preseason game will be against the Buffalo Bills this upcoming Sunday. The Bears need Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson to be on the same page From the time Johnson was hired as head coach, the focus was on Williams. After all, Williams is coming off a rookie season that was seen as vastly underperforming. During the offseason, Johnson has come to Williams’ defense many times. Most notably, during the hoopla surrounding Williams’ reluctance to go to Chicago, as alleged in Seth Wickersham’s upcoming book “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback”. As far as criticism goes, Johnson has levied his fair share at Williams and company. Recently, he blasted Williams and the offense for a sloppy practice during training camp. In the end, the Bears need their star quarterback and head coach to work in tandem. Everything filters through them.
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