Knicks closing in on adding Brendan O’Connor to top position on Mike Brown’s staff
The Knicks are closing in on a deal to add Clippers assistant Brendan O’Connor to a top position on Mike Brown’s staff, league sources tell SNY.
O’Connor, a longtime assistant coach, has a strong defensive acumen. He’s worked for the Clippers under both Ty Lue and Doc Rivers. He will be Brown’s top assistant on defense. The Knicks have been looking to add two coaches to Brown’s staff, and their next hire will presumably be Brown’s associate head coach.
Brown will keep some coaches from Tom Thibodeau’s staff, including Darren Erman, Mark Bryant, Maurice Cheeks, Rick Brunson and Jordan Brink.
New York has been denied permission to speak to several assistant coaches the club had interest in. The Knicks were in touch with Pablo Prigioni for a top assistant spot, but Prigioni decided to stay in Minnesota.
Sirius XM’s Frank Isola first reported that the Knicks and O’Connor were close to a deal. The New York Post first reported that O’Connor will be the top defensive assistant in New York.
Nicklaus-Jacklin Award returns for 2025 ahead of Ryder Cup at Bethpage
The Nicklaus-Jacklin Award has returned ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
There is no sporting event, no event in general, in the world like the Ryder Cup. It stands alone.
Part of the lore behind the Ryder Cup is the intensity of it all. The United States squares off against Europe in a battle that is bigger than any individual and that transcends golf in a lot of ways. Major Championships are all incredible, but like most things in golf they are individual accomplishments. The Ryder Cup is played for and ultimately won in the name of something bigger than any single person. It is about who you are and who you belong to.
The Ryder Cup carries a high level of intensity obviously, but it also carries a high level of prestige and honor. Many have come through and won it and done so with extreme dignity and grace. That is golf in its purest sense.
The Nicklaus-Jacklin Award presented by Aon is and was designed to honor these overall qualities. Ultimately it honors the player who best represents the spirit of the Ryder Cup and it is officially back for 2025 and for all of the glory that we will see at Bethpage Black.
Justin Rose received the award following the 2023 Ryder Cup where he and his fellow Europeans emerged victorious in Rome. His overall story was told in a documentary that can be seen below.
Obviously the 2025 winner of the Nicklaus-Jacklin Award will be chosen at the culmination of the Ryder Cup. It stands to reason that Justin Rose is rooting for another European to win it, but if Captain Keegan Bradley has anything to say about it then an American will take it home.
This year’s Ryder Cup has had a build up like no other and is surely going to deliver well over our expectations. It goes without saying that the Nicklaus-Jacklin Award will as well.
Jonathan Kuminga’s decision to continue to decline the Warriors’ offer is due in large part to Golden State’s insistence on having a team option for the second season and unwillingness to let him maintain the built-in no-trade clause, sources told ESPN.
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The Warriors’ offers to Kuminga have topped out at two years, $40 million, reports Marc Stein in his Substack. That is well short of the at least three years and closer to $30 million a season that Kuminga reportedly is seeking.
This has Kuminga and his representatives still looking for a sign-and-trade, and they spoke recently with the Kings’ front office, reports Anthony Slater of ESPN. Theoretically, Sacramento could offer a contract closer to Kuminga’s desired terms, along with a larger role in the offense. However, assembling a sign-and-trade deal with Golden State would be a challenge. At best. The Warriors want a first-round pick and a promising young player in any trade for Kuminga, plus they don’t want to take back any long-term bad contracts. It’s unlikely any team would give up a first-round pick for Kuminga at this point, at least one that wasn’t heavily protected. As for the young player, the Kings are not deep with those kinds of guys. Sacramento isn’t surrendering Keegan Murray, so that leaves players such as Devin Carter or just-drafted Nique Clifford, and the Kings aren’t eager to include them either.
This likely gets resolved closer to the start of training camp, with Kuminga accepting the very tradable two-year contract but at a slightly higher price point than has been offered (not wrapping up Kuminga has the Warriors in limbo, not having signed guys lined up already such as Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton, because they need to see where they are after the Kuminga signing).
The challenge is that Steve Kerr will have to highlight Kuminga and give him a real chance — and stick with him through some mistakes. That’s challenging on a roster with Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler as primary ball handlers and the guys who should have the ball in their hands. Plus, Kuminga is really best at the four, but that is Draymond Green’s slot, and Kerr can’t play Kuminga (30.5% from 3 last season) and Green (32.5%) together because of the lack of shooting.
Kuminga and the Warriors may be a marriage of convenience to start the season, but it may be the only option for the two sides that makes any sense.
3 WNBA teams that could get shaken up if they miss the playoffs
Photo by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
Every team wants to make the WNBA playoffs, but the implications for these teams are little more serious.
Winning is what it’s all about, and to win, you need to make the WNBA playoffs. And with further league expansion on the horizon and a potential CBA dispute on the line, everything feels higher stakes this season.
Bearing that in mind, let’s take a close look at three teams that could face serious consequences if they fall short of making the postseason.
Las Vegas Aces
After winning back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023, the Las Vegas Aces were favorites to win three in a row in 2024. A combination of fatigue and increased competition from other teams saw the Aces eliminated in the semifinals last season, but things did not seem too bad. Going into the 2025 season, the Aces were still projected to be a top team, a lock for the playoffs, and in contention to win their third title in four seasons. Yet, nothing has gone to plan for Vegas so far this year.
They are lingering at the bottom of the playoff race, struggling to maintain an even record and battling for every win they do get. 3x MVP A’ja Wilson is playing phenomenally, of course, but their other offensive options can’t get into scoring rhythm, and their defense lacks effort most nights.
Their off year isn’t just an off year, though. Due to trades already made, Las Vegas does not own its first-round draft picks for 2026 or 2027. So, if they fail to make the playoffs, they will not even be rewarded with a lottery pick in 2026. If they end up blowing up their team and still not doing well next season, they wouldn’t have their pick the following year, either. Safe to say this scenario was not expected, and could lead to more seismic changes than previously expected in the desert.
Chicago Sky
Chicago has been in a rough patch after winning their championship in 2021. It seemed like things were heading back in the right direction after they drafted both Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese in 2024, and many thought they were on the path to a full rebuild. They were awarded the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft this year and then… traded it away to Washington. In return, they got Ariel Atkins, a great player, yet the move was not the type of win-now push a “rebuilding” team would usually make. It burned a little more when that No. 3 pick turned into Sonia Citron, who has played so well for the Mystics that she took a trip to the All-Star Game as a Rookie.
The Sky have not been stacking wins this season either. At the time of the trade for Atkins, Sky front office members were confident in this team’s ability to be in the playoffs. A few weeks into the season, Courtney Vandersloot tore her ACL, and they now sit in the lottery. Yet, they don’t even own their first-round pick for next season, either. That was traded away to Minnesota, meaning that the Sky look like they are headed for the lottery this season, but will not even have the chance to decide if they want to keep or trade the pick.
Indiana Fever
The Indiana Fever’s situation isn’t dire in the sense that the future of their team depends on them making the playoffs. Yet, it would be a little disappointing to have them miss the playoffs entirely, given how much they have rebuilt in the past few years. Yet, as Caitlin Clark continues to be out indefinitely with her third injury in the regular season alone, the hopes for the Fever’s success this season are not as solid as they once were.
Clark is a player who thrives in high-pressure games, and her runs in the NCAA March Madness tournaments are such a huge part of her history. Seeing her make a deep playoff run is inevitable, and it’s going to be fun. Sure, there will be disappointment if it doesn’t happen this season, but the hope surely is that she can heal up in time AND her Fever team can stay afloat while she is out to stay in a playoff position. While the repercussions of the Fever missing the playoffs would be more emotional than transactional (like the Aces and Sky), it’s still worth noting that it would qualify as a sad ending to an initially promising season.
As July leads into August, it’s go time for all three of these teams as we head into the final third of the 2025 regular season.
The Toronto Raptors have waived center Colin Castleton. In 26 games (four starts) with Memphis, Philadelphia and Toronto last season, Castleton averaged 4.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 16.6 minutes.
Castleton signed consecutive 10-day contracts with the Raptors in March before signing a standard NBA contract Apr. 13, the final day of the regular season.
