The Pulse: Big trades spicing up NBA Draft week (2024)

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Good morning! I got mad about the video game.

Hoopla: Trades > drafts

The NBA Draft starts today. This whole section was supposed to be about that … until the Brooklyn Nets decided to intervene. Quickly:

The Netstraded guard Mikal Bridges across town to the Knicksfor a staggeringfourunprotected first-round picks, plus another protected first and other draft incentives. It is a massive price to pay for the 27-year-old, who has become one of the league’s most coveted assets but, as our Mike Vorkunovpointed out, has not made an All-Star team. Four firsts. Unreal. Brooklyn got Bojan Bogdanović in the deal, too.
And yet this should thrill Knicks fans anyway. Bridges joins former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo on one of the East’s best teams. This is win-now at its finest.
The Nets still might be the most interesting team here — along with the Rockets.In addition to the Bridges deal, Brooklyn sent four other first-round picks to Houston, which appears to be loading up after a 19-win improvement in year one under coach Ime Udoka.

Zach Harper has a good accounting of this complicated deal andgave everyone good grades, andeven hints at the Rockets’ possible targets: either Devin Booker (!) or Kevin Durant (!!). Oh, baby.

And yes, the draft begins tonight. Things to ponder:

We really don’t knowwhat the Hawks will do at No. 1, but we can guess the first pick might be French:The 7-foot Alexandre Sarr was the buzziest prospect, though he didn’t work out for Atlanta, and now it’s the 6-foot-8 Zaccharie Risacher, who only ranks No. 13 onJohn Hollinger’s board. This is a true scouts’ draft — the team that finds the best value from here should be given a Mensa grant. David Aldridge and Yahoo’s Krysten Peektried to convince us it’s not that bad of a class, though.
Yes, Bronny James should be drafted, but probably not tonight.The NBA shifted its draft to a two-day format, which means the second round — where James should go off the board — airs tomorrow night.John’s scouting reportisn’t too kind, but James does have some raw tools to work with and can be a good defender.

Keep tabs on our NBA Draft live blogfor coverage throughout the day, and downloadSam Vecenie’s full guidefor much more.

News to Know

England’s bad good day
Yesterday, England’s draw with Slovenia at Euros clinched Group C for Gareth Southgate’s side, which sounds downright lovely for the tournament favorite. The reality isfar from lovely: England has played three games in this tourney and has looked lethargic at best in all of them. Southgate is enemy No. 1 for his own fan base, and it turns outGroup C was historically awful. Then again, the English still haveone of the easiest routes to the Euros final.

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Pierce’s bankruptcy worries
Jocelyn Pierce, wife of Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month as Antonio is subject to more than $28 million in judgments. Documents obtained by The Athletic detail how Pierce’s investments in two auto dealerships have led to the current situation, in which the two lenders attempted to garnish Antonio’s wages with the Raiders. Read our full report here.

Schlossnagle leaves one day after rant
What a week it has been for now-former Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle, who coached the Aggies to an appearance in the Men’s College World Series finals over the weekend, only tofall short against Tennesseeon Monday. After the game, Schlossnaglewas angry at a reporterover a question about the coach possibly leaving for Texas. A day later,Schlossnagle is leaving for Texas, just as the Aggies’ archenemy arrives in the SEC. I’m sure everyone will move on from this rationally.

More news

TheMinnesota Lynxbeat theNew York Libertyfor the in-seasonWNBA Commissioner’s Cup, which was moved to Long Island —another example of the league shooting itself in the foot, says The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show.
TheNCAAremoved cannabinoids from the banned drug class for Division I athletes competing in championships and postseason football.
Boxing rules forcedOleksandr Usykto relinquish hisIBF heavyweight title, meaning the Ukrainian isno longer the undisputed heavyweight champ.
Pavel Datsyuk,Jeremy RoenickandShea Weberheadline this year’sHockey Hall of Fameclass.See the full list here.
A referee in Canada’s win over Peru atCopa Americayesterdayappeared to collapseon the field, where the heat index was over 100 degrees.

Lists? A supposed ranking of college football’s toughest stadiums

I want to be clear: I know I am falling for the bit. EA’s College Football 25 — the most hyped sports game in a decade — releases in less than a month, and revealing a made-up list is a simple, yet effective piece of engagement bait.

I am chomping on that bait. Here are the five toughest places to play, according to the video game, which will alter its visuals to make things harder for road teams in these stadiums:

Texas A&M
Alabama
LSU
Ohio State
Georgia

If you’ve read the Pulse for any amount of time, you know my qualm here. So let me divert to more objective voices fromour roundtable discussion yesterday, specifically on what isactuallythe toughest place to play:

Sam Khan Jr.:There’s no place quite like Tiger Stadium for an LSU home game. A Saturday night in Death Valley is as intimidating as it gets.
Chris Vannini:It’s gotta be LSU’s Tiger Stadium. Who else can claim an “Earthquake Game,” as LSU did in 1988 against Auburn?
Audrey Snyder:LSU. Saturday night in Death Valley — an event I’ve only ever experienced from afar but hope to one day see in person — always seems to cut through as one of the premier jaw-dropping atmospheres in the sport.

Deep breaths, Branch.I can attest that Kyle Field is big and loud, but as they point out inthe piece, the Aggies haven’t been stellar there in recent years (despite my Tigers losing a couple games in College Station, I admit). Bryant-Denny is intimidating because Alabama had the sport’s best coach and players for more than a decade, but I was personally more impressed with the in-stadium DJ than anything else.

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My non-LSU pick? Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, though I’ve never been. White-outs look incredible on TV, and there’s a reasonEA is using this clip to describe the difficulty of road games.

The game debuts in mid-July. I’ll let y’all know when I win in College Station.

Watch This Game

MLB: Yankees at Mets
7:10 p.m. ET on TBS
Game 2 of this fun series and the best game of tonight’s slate. Easy pick.

Copa America: Venezuela vs. Mexico
9 p.m. ET on FS1
In what could be the best soccer match of the day, we get the first look at both of these teams in this tournament. Book it.

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

We know all about Simone Biles. But who else is going to stand beside her on Team USA? Dana O’Neil examines that through the lens of the two women making those agonizing choices. Get some Olympic reading in today.

The NFL could lose billions in a lawsuit over “NFL Sunday Ticket.” Read our explainer here and we’ll have more to say on this as news comes in.

Is your NFL team overrated? Mike Jones has a list of both underrated and overrated teams. Feels like a lot of signs pointing to a down year in San Francisco.

Up next in our Missing Bats series: Zack Meisel tracked how the gospel of strikeouts spread through dugouts and coaching offices around the league. Such a fascinating arc.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on Kenny Atkinson’s hire by the Cavs.

Most-read on the website yesterday: Chris Johnston’s report on what he’s hearing about Oilers star Leon Draisaitl and the decision that could blow up the Stanley Cup runners-up.

(Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)

Chris Branch is a staff writer for The Athletic's daily newsletter. Before joining The Athletic, he covered the Phillies for The News-Journal and worked as a content strategist for various industries. He graduated from LSU, where he worked for The Daily Reveille. Follow Chris on Twitter @cbranch89