The Kings created a ‘Pick Your Own Scenario ‘ basketball story on Twitter

Game Mens Todd Bertuzzi Jersey The NBA offseason has given teams time to take a walk, smell the flowers, and get very creative. On Monday night the Kings used Twitter to tell as basketball story in a creative format, and it was wonderful.

The Pacers have stuck to a traditional style in their uniforms for quite some time now, so this change-up would be perfect. The black alternate is great and the Flo Jos should be a permanent staple in the Pacers rotation.

The home and away jerseys are similar to their current look, which is fine, but can we talk about the alternates? The Miami Floridians jerseys need to come back, and the Miami Vice-looking black alternate is beautiful.

These again come with only slight tweaks to the home and away jerseys, but what really stood out were the Pride-themed black alternate and, of course, that beautiful Shaq-and-Penny-era pinstripe.

The Rockets’ current uniforms are not worthy of James Harden and Chris Paul. Switch to these immediately, and a huge yes to that late ’90s era jam.

Game Mens Doug Gilmour Jersey You can check out the rest of the designs here on Brian’s Instagram page. Each set of jerseys has the perfect mix of modern design with a touch of nostalgia. All things that strike NBA fans at the core. Hopefully Nike has the same line of thinking for their new designs.

We drafted 2 NBA expansion teams and simulated a year in NBA 2K. And they … won?

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That’s the premise of a hypothetical we’ve been acting out this week. We’re pretending that the league adds expansion teams in Seattle and Virginia Beach — one being a new generation of the Sonics and the other a start-up.

Under this circumstance, we had experts on all 30 teams put together protection lists of eight players. Anyone not on those lists was exposed to the expansion draft and the two new franchises.
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But stats are not always tied to motivation, and a player can change his attitude, level of sacrifice, and effort in a season without greatly impacting his stats, while still probably increasing his chances of being attractive to more teams when he’s on the open market. That NEXT check may still tie into motivation, more than the current check ever seems to. I’m sure that characteristic is not unique to the NBA player. The study goes so far as to suggest that people who are motivated by the check tend to not only be the least happy, but the poorer performers over the long haul.

It makes those players that do find that motivation all the more special, as what is driving them is borne from themselves, instead. A glowing recent example of that motivated player is shooting guard Gary Harris of your Denver Nuggets. Harris has spent his first few offseasons improving his game and skillset in the moments that no one else is watching. When offered a break he went off and turned himself into something more by the time he returned. It’s always interesting to see which of the players spent their offseasons in ways that help them, whether improving their bodies or their play, somehow.

What say YOU, Nuggets Nation? Does money motivate you to try harder or do better? If not money, what drives you to be more? How do the Denver Nuggets motivate their guys, if the paycheck isn’t what’s doing the trick? Apparently you don’t always do as well when your mind’s on your money, and your money’s on your mind.

Deshaun Watson made a strong case for Texans’ starting job in debut

The Houston Texans lost their preseason opener to the Carolina Panthers, 27-17. It was an overall disappointing night for an offense that put up 410 net yards but found the end zone just twice. Yet despite the loss, the team must be happy with the performance of first-round rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson.

The mental gap between the two players may be wide, with Glennon’s four years as a pro giving him the edge, but from a talent standpoint, Trubisky has Glennon beat by a magnificent mile.

Head coach John Fox and general manager Ryan Pace may have a plan in place with how to bring along the rookie, but plans can change. It happens all the time in the NFL. The money Glennon received doesn’t guarantee him the starting gig, it only guaranteed that he’d have the first crack at winning it.

He’s had his chance, and he hasn’t distanced himself from Trubisky.

In Arizona, Glennon looked better than his horrific week one against Denver, but I hope you realize that a passer rating of 0.1 would have been an improvement over the goose egg he laid against the Broncos. Fox called Glennon’s night a “big improvement,” and he continued by saying, “We had a very limited look in Week 1. I thought the whole offense responded, including Mike.”

Stafford, recovering from an injury of his own, has no such restrictions. The 29-year-old put together one of the finest stretches of his NFL career and emerged as an MVP candidate before a Week 14 finger injury sapped him of his accuracy and sent the Lions into a tailspin. Detroit lost its final four games of the season, leaving 2017 as a mission to right that wrong.

If Stafford plays, it won’t be for long. Backups Jake Rudock and Brad Kaaya will likely take most of the snaps.

6 things you missed from Thursday night’s NFL preseason action

Elite Steve Mason Jersey Thursday featured a trio of preseason games as we get closer to the start of the NFL season. The Ravens and Dolphins played, with Jay Cutler making his Miami debut with a 3-of-6 performance for 24 yards.

The Bills and Eagles also faced off less than a week after being involved in a trade that sent Jordan Matthews to Buffalo. And the Monday Night Football game (on a Thursday, at that!) was between the Buccaneers and the Jaguars.

The Browns’ second-round pick in this year’s draft, Kizer was praised for his raw skills coming out of Notre Dame, but had many wondering how long it would take him to adapt to the NFL level. Thursday’s performance is a good sign that he’s well on his way.

Neither team is expected to play its starters much, so the real intrigue will be seeing how a football game plays out in a soccer stadium. The home of MLS’ LA Galaxy, StubCub Center only fills 27,000, making it by far the smallest stadium in the country to host an NFL game. It’s only a temporary home until the Chargers’ new Inglewood stadium is complete, but it’ll certainly be an interesting game-day atmosphere in the meantime.
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As for the actual on-field product, the Chargers are coming off a snake-bitten 5-11 season and dealing with their usual plague of injuries. Rookie offensive lineman Forrest Lamp, a second round pick, is already done for the year with a torn ACL. First round receiver Mike Williams has a nagging back injury that could put his season in jeopardy as well. The good news is that Jason Verrett was activated from PUP, a crucial step as he works his way back from an ACL tear suffered last year.

Keenan Allen is also back after he tore his ACL (sensing a theme here?), though neither man will play much, if at all, in the preseason opener. Same goes for Philip Rivers, Melvin Gordon, and most of the veterans who will get cameos at best.

Both teams did what they wanted to do. There are no losers, here.

Rick Hahn, GM of the White Sox, went to sleep on Oct. 2, 2016, after the 162nd game of another disappointing season, presumably bleary eyed and with a whole a lot to think about. The White Sox had two of the best pitchers in the American League, and they still couldn’t win more games than they lost.

Hahn went to sleep on July 18, 2017 on a pile of prospects. If they complained about being uncomfortable, he told them he would get new prospects who didn’t complain. They stopped complaining.

Between those two dates, the White Sox had acquired the no. 1 prospects from the Red Sox, Nationals, and Cubs, all of whom had highly regarded systems. Of the top 10 White Sox prospects on MLB Pipeline’s, eight have them have joined the organization in the last nine months, seven of them by trade. Seven of them are in baseball’s top 70.

On Nov. 25, 2014, the Red Sox signed a 27-year-old third baseman to a five-year contract. That player was a career .294/.346/.465 hitter, which is a pretty big deal for someone who spent half of his time at AT&T Park. He was a (deserved!) Gold Glove finalist and a switch hitter, and his swing was absolutely built for Fenway Park, like few hitters before him.

Limited Mens Nicolas Meloche Jersey Pablo Sandoval ended up as one of the worst players in Red Sox history. If you use dollars-per-WAR, it’s not even close. Even Carl Crawford looks at the Pablo Sandoval deal and winces.
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Our job, then, is to reconstruct what went wrong. What lessons have we all learned from this deal, and how can teams like the Red Sox avoid these mistakes in the future?

A college league baseball team is holding a giveaway that fans will die for

In a summer full of bobbleheads, theme nights, and T-shirt giveaways, it’s always nice when a baseball team gets a little creative with their freebies and promotional nights. The latest creativity comes from a college league team based in Wisconsin, and they really went for it.

The Eau Claire Express, a member of the Northwoods summer league, did exactly that and ended up with a Preplanned Funeral Giveaway Night.

Now, sometimes giveaways are written into sponsorship plans and as such are mandatory sometime during the season. But it’s also up to the team to figure out the best type of giveaway from each specific company, and they really killed it with this one.

Authentic Mens Jerry Rice Jersey But even for teams who have already dealt players, one deal is usually not enough, and for buyers, they’re never just looking for one specific need as they prepare for a playoff push. Which brings us to this edition of rumors roundup, where pitchers are the name of the game.

The Tigers would be okay with moving Justin Verlander, and there are teams out there that want him, but that pesky contract keeps causing problems when it comes to processing an actual trade. When it comes to a pitcher being paid $28 million a year and might be on the verge of declining, this isn’t the most surprising concern for teams to have.
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Redskins schedule 2017: Washington drama will get its time in the spotlight

The Redskins’ annual twin dramas — their quarterbacks and their front office — will get all the national exposure they could want with their regular-season schedule in 2017. Kirk Cousins, Bruce Allen, Jay Gruden, whoever ends up replacing the exiled Scot McCloughan, are on primetime five times, early and late, and managed to land across the river from Times Square on New Year’s Eve to end the season.

“At the time, I was bound and determined to get the best kicker we possibly could. I thought Roberto had the chance to be a special kicker in the league for a long time.”

Instead, Aguayo struggled as a rookie, making 22 of 31 field goal attempts. His struggles looked even worse when compared to his All-American career at Florida State, where he made 69 of 78 career attempts.

Aguayo has since been claimed off waivers by the Bears. He will compete with the incumbent Connor Barth, who made 18 of 23 field goals in 2016.

As for Licht, he said he has no hard feelings against Aguayo — but said he simply wasn’t doing enough to warrant a roster spot.

“Roberto is a great kid, but the magnitude of that position, and the pressure on a 21-year-old — his performance is affecting the lives of men who have families to support,” Licht said. “That got tough.”

While it is a manageable schedule for the Giants, they’re probably looking at a 9-7 season with the Eagles improved and the Cowboys in position to again win the NFC East.

Irving would reunite with Dion Waiters, and would make this an odd twist considering LeBron’s past. This is also the only team off Irving’s list, as it currently stands, where he’s immediately the best player.
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Panthers leaning on old mindset to return to prominence

It didn’t take Carolina safety Mike Pops Adams long to hear the phrase used to describe the way his new franchise conducts its business.
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Just coming in, I’m learning a new system, a new defense and the Panther Way, the 14-year NFL veteran said Friday before a training camp practice. That’s what they keep saying the Panther Way.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes went deep for a 41-yard completion on his first NFL preseason snap, but it was called back on a holding penalty. Fear not, the Texas Tech product had plenty of time left to showcase his remarkable skill set in his pro debut. He ended up completing 7 of 9 passes for 49 yards and a touchdown.

Not to be outdone by Mahomes, San Francisco’s C.J. Beathard connected on a 46-yard touchdown pass to undrafted free agent Kendrick Bourne, then followed it up by finding Bourne for the game-tying two-point conversion. The Iowa product later added a go-ahead TD pass to Tyler McCloskey.

T.J. Watt got everyone’s attention in his preseason debut, making a pair of sacks in quick succession as the Steelers handled the Giants.
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Before Harvey-Clemons was injured in 2016, he had become one of the best safeties in college football. Now the one-time five-star recruit who became a seventh-round draft pick must make the best of his current opportunity.

The biggest thing is that the NFL is the great equalizer, Olivadotti said. It will humble you if you get too high, and if you get too low, it will spit you out. There’s really no time to think about where you went and what happened.

That camaraderie is evidently a byproduct of their manager’s passion.

Red Sox — Boston was desperate for a third baseman, and they helped their cause by acquiring All-Star Eduardo Nunez. Nunez has already helped the team with a two-home run game. He may have been the piece this team was missing.

The Red Sox also added reliever Addison Reed from the Mets. Reed will be the team’s setup man in front of Craig Kimbrel, and he could be an important piece during the postseason. Boston didn’t make huge splashes this summer, but they made a couple of important moves.

Allen is the primary go-to guy in the ninth, but Miller ended up closing out the 2016 ALCS against the Blue Jays because of lefty-righty matchups. He has two saves this season.
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The flexibility of Allen and Shaw is just as important as mine, Miller said. It took as much sacrifice and effort, if not more. It just shows the team goal is to win games.

Marlon Humphrey Womens Jersey Francona said he enjoys the atmosphere of Cleveland compared to Boston because of the limited distractions and the club’s tremendous focus on baseball itself.

Overall, Cleveland (57-48) has won seven of its past 10 games, accumulating a plus-34 run differential over that span. Even though Francona wouldn’t define his unit as a World Series contender, his roster boasts enough talent to be there for the second straight year.

It’d be a treat to get to share that moment (a World Series title) with him, Miller said. But he’s won some (World Series titles with the Red Sox in 2004 and 2007); it’s not like he needs anything to finish off his resume.

Hansel Robles made the Mets lose in the worst way possible

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There are a lot of ways to lose a baseball game, and the Mets found possibly the worst route to take on the road to defeat.
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They were looking fine headed into the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied 4-4. Hansel Robles returned to the mound after entering the game in the bottom of the eighth. He got off to a bad start in the ninth by hitting Jonathan Lucroy with a pitch.

Smith has a great chance to be a John Olerud-type first baseman. He plays fantastic defense with a surprising amount of quickness for a first baseman, and he is as pure of a hitter as the Mets have in their system right now. He may be an even better pure hitter than Michael Conforto.

The only true knock on Smith is that he doesn’t have a ton of power. His numbers at Triple-A are misleading. He is hitting .330 with 16 home runs, but Las Vegas and the Pacific Coast League are notorious hitters havens. That being said, his average is not unexpected. He’s just not seen as someone who will hit 30 home runs every year.

Bottom line: The Mets have a future solid-to-above average first baseman on their hands and his debut is just around the corner.

Analysis: The Orioles, who held on to rumored trade target Zach Britton, wound up adding a piece to their roster.

Baltimore adds the 27-year-old Beckham, who was the first overall pick in the 2008 draft. He has played all four infield positions in his career, but he became the Rays’ everyday shortstop this season when Matt Duffy was unable to return from heel surgery. Beckham was batting .259/.314/.407 with 12 home runs in 345 plate appearances through July 30.