Deshaun Watson’s awful interception on Browns’ first 2026 drive is a bad but predictable sign
Deshaun Watson won the Cleveland Browns’ starting QB job by default even after a terrible training camp filled with interceptions and a combative preseason press conference where he chastised the home fans for booing him. Expectations are extremely low for both Watson and the Browns entering the season, especially with a tough Week 1 matchup on the road against the rising Jacksonville Jaguars. Watson really needed a strong start to create some positive momentum, and big surprise, it didn’t happen.
On the Browns’ first offensive possession of the season, Watson threw an absolutely atrocious interception straight into the waiting arms of Jaguars defensive back Foyesade Oluokun. Some interceptions are excusable, but this one wasn’t. How did Watson not see Oluokun lurking to break up the route? A bad decision and a bad throw for Watson was not the way he wanted to begin the season.
— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) September 13, 2026
Watson’s interception came on the fifth play of the season for the Browns. I already feel bad for Cleveland fans if this is what they have to sit through all year. It’s never too early to start looking ahead to the 2027 NFL Draft, Browns fans.
It sure feels like Watson doesn’t even deserve to be in the league anymore. He definitely isn’t a starting caliber quarterback. It’s going to be a long season for the Browns.
BROOKLYN, NY – JUNE 29 : Fans outside Brooklyn Basketball Training Center during an introductory Press Conference for the 2026 Brooklyn Nets Draftees on June 29, 2026 in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by David L. Nemec/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Albert Ghim writes for No Ceilings, one of the more sophisticated NBA sites, and last week, he got a rare chance to check up on veteran players working out on the West Coast, particularly those charges of personal trainer Zach Gonzalez. Among those who he’s been focusing on in Gonzalez workouts and the runs at the NBPL’s new training facility in Playa Vista, an L.A. suburb. has been Egor Demin. To say Ghim is enthusiastic about the Nets second year guard would be an understatement. He just raves about him!
Ghim described how the 20-year-old has been working out in L.A.
“He is absolutely locked in, laser-focused, a man on a mission,” Ghim began. “He is so hard and ferocious on himself. I asked him what is your day-to-day look like right now. He’s working out with Zach in the morning, he playing the pro-runs at the new NBPA facility, getting in a lift. He’s doing extra workouts at night when possible.
“He’s going so hard. He is truly a man on a mission. This is a guy who knows where he needs to grow, spending a ton of time on his ball-handling, a ton of time on physicality, his jumpers, different types of jumpers — jumpers off movement, jumpers off the dribble. jumpers from the mid-range, from the outside, playing through physicality, embracing physicality. Initiating physicality is a big one to watch as well.
Ghim also spoke about how Demin has bulked up.
“For Brooklyn Nets fans who are watching this right now, I want you to know that Yegor’s body is absolutely destroyed. It is beaten. He is so hard on himself. He does not care if he’s hurt or if he’s slightly hurt or not feeling well, he is looking himself in that gym and to watch him work.”
“He said, ‘look we get it. We’re not idiots. We hear what people are saying on TV, saying we don’t want to win, we don’t care. We care,” Ghim quoted Demin.
Ghim also relayed what may have been the most interesting point of his 12 and a half minute commentary, how veterans are respecting Demin in the pro runs.
“Initially, early on, some of the veterans didn’t want him to play. They were like ‘he’s too young. we want to keep the younger guys off, keep it to veterans.‘ Then, he got in and he absolutely started torching guys. Guys like Norman Powell and Kyrie Irving have had a lot of praise for Egor. And in one of the games, he was playing with Norman Powell and he went off for like 30 plus and they won. And as he walked off the floor and they were all saying, ‘this kid is going to be an absolute problem’ and they are very, very impressed with him…
“He looks like a guy who absolutely wants to turn the narrative of the Brooklyn Nets. He’s already spent time in Texas with Julius Randle, working out with him, building that rapport, that relationship and he is a man on a mission that wants to bring Brooklyn back to winning basketball.” Ghim added. “He wants to be a leader. He wants to be a leader by example.
Finally, Ghim offered a little intel on the relationship between Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. who’s only a month younger than Demin.
“He’s telling me about Mikel and he’s saying, ‘Mikel is a freak.’ And the stuff Mikel cares about — his intel, his knowledge, his IQ of the game is extremely, extremely high. He feels like the fit between him and Mikel is going to be like a glove.
“It’s going to be a perfect pairing between the two and he’s talking about how Mikel has so much ability, on and off ball, which makes their pairing so interesting as Egor continues to grow as a ball-handler, as a creator himself. If I was a Brooklyn Nets fan, I’d be absolutely through the moon with the young core they’re building over there … Egor looks like a man on a mission and he’s coming for blood.”
Ghim’s No Ceilings colleague, Corey Tulaba, added that there’s other aspects of what’s going on with Brooklyn that need to be understood like the addition of Julius Randle who, despite Michael Porter Jr.‘s jump last year, is something the Nets — and Demin — didn’t have last year: an established NBA star.
“This is an all-NBA player who can make an impact on winning and has done that at multiple stops,” Tulaba argued. “So now, you’ve got a chance to go other there not just with a bunch of guys who are maybe learning how to play together or guys who are playing for themselves. You’re going to play with veterans who know what to do. They’re really building something cool in Brooklyn and it feels organic.”
To that point, Ghim noted that Demin shouted out other members of the Flatbush5, specifically Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf moving forward.
The two writers agreed that there’s not much likelihood that things in Brooklyn will take a big leap this year but as Ghim concluded, continuity should be a big help as they move along their NBA careers.
“The team feels they are building out a team of guys that can do stuff,” he noted. “Bring different layers, different styles as a team and them being so young as they are and building together and them really believing in themselves and the group that they have, obviously it won’t be this year, but in the next couple of years this may be a real team to watch in the East.”
But, wait, there was more!!
David Thorpe of True Hoop this week did a list of Ten guys who might make a big difference and he raved about the possibility that the Nets eighth youngest player, barely 22-year-old Noah Clowney, could have a breakout season. (We’ve written about Clowney several times this summer, most recently in these pages just a week ago but Thorpe’s analysis is new.)
The take has one fun fact we were unaware of which we highlighted as well as a possibility we hadn’t thought much about. Thorpe starts off by noting that he thought Clowney may have made a mistake declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft where the Nets took him with the 21st pick, making him the fourth youngest player in the NBA. He was also their first return on the Kevin Durant trade with Phoenix. But as he also notes, that’s what over the dam:
I thought it odd that Clowney left a terrific program at Alabama, fresh off a Final Four appearance, after one season. He was probably too young to succeed in the NBA, and could have made a ton in NIL money!
So last season he entered this tier of players from whom I had no idea what to expect. And out of those players … he impressed me more than anyone when I got to see him play in games. Only three players 21 or younger averaged at least 12 points and took at least 3.4 or more free throws per game: Clowney, Cooper Flagg, and Stephon Castle And he did that in only 27 minutes per game.
He is not a good shooter. But at 33 percent from 3, where he’s been for his two seasons, he’s not bad and there’s every reason to think he is due for a big improvement. He has a lot of game cutting, driving, slashing, and drawing fouls off those attacks. If his shot improves, I doubt it’ll be too long before he gets a chance to start ahead of Julius Randle. His defense will have to keep improving, but to me Clowney has the look of a starting level power forward who might even play some small ball five.
For the record, Clowney averaged 12.3 points on 40/33/80 shooting to go along with 4.3 boards, 0.8 steals and 0.7 blocks. As every Nets fan knows, there have been games or series of games where he’s gotten us all excited, like the final week of the 2023-24 season when he had games of seven and four blocks and the 14 games last season where had four or more 3-pointers go in, including games of seven and six in a 10-day, five-game stretch.
He does that consistently and his restricted free agency will be interesting come July. The Nets can match any offer he might get (and there were rumblings last season that the San Antonio Spurs might have interest.) Still, it was good to see the Thorpe analysis. He did not include rookies or second year players, it should be noted.
That’s your weekly dose of optimism. Now you can read what Channing Frye has to say about the Nets being “straight garbage.” We won’t. We’ve been inundated with the negative. We trying for balance.
Hair style updates
Combing the Internet this week, we found video of both Mikel Brown Jr. and Grant Nelson in barber chairs. No, nothing escapes the ND Dragnet…
We found the first on HoopChina…
And the second onFargo, N.D. barber Landon Lopez’s Instagram account…
Grant Nelson returns home to North Dakota and his local barber asks where you been? https://t.co/6dX4zslWMu
You won’t see Pooch’s byline on ND for a while. He and his new wife, Gabrielle Galluzzi, are on a honeymoon in the Caribbean! Anthony and Gabrielle were married Saturday afternoon at St. Francis de Chantal R.C. Church in Wantagh, N.Y.
Nick Smith Jr. is nearing a deal with Spanish club Real Madrid. Smith played last season in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers. The 6-foot-2 guard had his free agent rights renounced as the Lakers made over a large portion of the roster this offseason.
Smith started his career with the Charlotte Hornets, after being a first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Smith was waived by Charlotte after two seasons. He originally started last season on a two-way deal with the Lakers before being promoted to a standard contract in mid-April.
NBA Board Of Governors Expected To Discuss Clippers, Domestic And International Expansion
The NBA’s Board of Governors are expected to meet this coming Monday and Tuesday. The group of 30 team owners have no shortage of important topics to discuss.
In the wake of the massive punishments levied against the LA Clippers for their role in cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard, many owners are likely to have questions. Many are still unclear as to who will be the team’s acting governor and who is running the front office, with Steve Ballmer and Lawrence Frank both suspended. There are also open-ended questions about what the league’s mandated monitoring policy with the Clippers will entail. And, finally, the previously agreed-to trade between LA and the Toronto Raptors remains uncompleted.
On the expansion front, there are expected to be two different sets of discussions. One involves whether or not to move forward with expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas on the domestic front.
Internationally, there are expected to be updates, and possible decisions, on moving forward with NBA Europe. There is also the question of if the NBA will work with the existing EuroLeague, or if NBA Europe will be a direct competitor to the competition.
NBA Offseason News/Rumors 2026: Devin Carter waived by Atlanta, may end up in Boston
In the slowest point of the offseason — at least until the NBA Board of Governors’ meeting next week — here is a quick weekend update on a few topics.
Derrick Jones Jr. not seeking trade
After the NBA brought the hammer down on the Clippers, fans across the league scurried to trade machines, thinking LA’s players would scramble to abandon a sinking ship. Nowhere is that truer than among the fans of that other franchise in Los Angeles, which did not land Jonathan Kuminga. Said fans are scrambling to come up with ways they think Rob Pelinka should upgrade their roster — often in ways not grounded in reality.
Enter Derrick Jones Jr. A solid veteran two-way forward, he could help 29 other teams around the league, so speculation started flying. One small problem: He hasn’t asked for a trade, nor is he expected to, notes plugged-in Clippers writer Tomer Azarly of Clutch Points.
To address a recent post I saw, Derrick Jones Jr. has not requested a trade from the Clippers, per source.
Both he and the team have a great relationship and the two sides are open to extension talks to keep the forward in Los Angeles.
As Azarly and others have noted recently, agents are constantly looking for ways to get their players paid more, or moved into a position where they get more playing time or a chance to chase a ring. It’s an agent’s job to think that way. However, it’s another couple of steps from there to a player pushing for a trade. Jones is in the final year of his contract at $10.5 million and could hit the free agent market next summer, but that always comes with risk. He could extend with the Clippers — clearly a team in a transition phase but a place Jones likes playing — on a tradable contract, then work with them when other teams come calling. Or, he could let the Clippers know he doesn’t intend to re-sign and that they should trade him at the deadline. Jones has options. A smart agent keeps all of those in play while working to get the client what he wants.
In this case, that does not mean a trade from the Clippers in the short term.
Hawks waive Devin Carter, Celtics interested
Back in June, Atlanta picked up a second-round pick from Sacramento for taking on Devin Carter’s $5.1 million salary. However, the Hawks have a roster crunch so they have officially waived Carter, who will become a free agent once he clears waivers.
Boston is interested in Carter, a point guard, reports NBA insider Jake Fischer. The Celtics have an open roster spot and the money to sign a player to a minimum contract (or slightly more), but Carter also has two-way eligibility, so Boston could be thinking about that if they want to keep that final roster spot open for flexibility.
Carter played two seasons in Sacramento, totaling 74 games, and last season averaged 8.9 points per game when he did get in, but he is not a floor-spacing guard and shot just 26.3% from beyond the arc. Would that be different in 3-happy Boston?
Worth nothing: Atlanta still has 16 players on guaranteed contracts and has to make one more move — a trade or waiving another player — before the start of the season.
Board of Governors meeting
Next Monday and Tuesday, the NBA owners convene in New York for a Board of Governors meeting, and this one should be interesting. On the docket:
• The Clippers findings and punishments. It’s unclear as of now who, if anyone, will represent the Clippers at this meeting. Also unknown is whether they plan to take this to court and fight the stiff punishments handed down by the league. One thing teams are asking about, according to Brian Windhorst at ESPN:
One topic rival front offices have discussed is the less-talked-about but draconian-sounding “compliance and monitoring program by the league office for a period of five years” penalty that was also leveled on the Clippers. The terms were nebulous, probably for a reason, and the devil will surely be in the details.
• Expansion. The NBA is in the process of vetting potential ownership groups for both Las Vegas and Seattle. What we know is there are more bidders for Vegas, the price tag is expected to be higher and it is expected to be approved first, with Seattle to follow. One interesting note about this from ESPN’s Windhorst:
Some teams have been projecting the per-team payout for expansion to be $500 million to $600 million, which would put the combined expansion fee at around $15 billion to $18 billion.
• NBA Europe. This is the one owners appear to care more about than domestic expansion, and the league is still on track to open NBA Europe in October of 2027. That said, there are still a lot of questions that remain.
Those start with a potential partnership with EuroLeague, the current peak of European basketball. EuroLeague team owners are meeting in Italy on Oct. 5, and there will be more clarity about that partnership (or lack thereof) after that, Windhorst notes.
The league will have 12 permanent members and another four teams that will play their way in. Exactly what that will look like and who the permanent members may be will come into focus in the coming weeks.
NBA Franchise Net Revenue Lag Behind Soaring Valuations
League and ownership sources do not expect the recent surge in NBA franchise valuations to slow down anytime soon, suggesting the wave of team sales and ownership changes could continue at a similar pace going forward. The Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers have each been sold since the start of 2025.
“In any business where valuations rise at that level, there will be people who are attracted to the price and return,” said one ownership source.
Sources described a challenging financial reality facing many franchise owners despite soaring valuations. One ownership source in a smaller market characterized the disconnect between a team’s valuation on paper and its actual profitability.
“The problem with owning a team is you have something that’s worth an [expletive], and you don’t understand why it is, and it makes you little to no money all the time,” said one source. “And you’ve got to spend money, because if you don’t spend, the fans won’t come.”
The Lakers highlight the complicated math involved in team ownership. One source told The Ringer that the Lakers’ recent $12.5 billion valuation amounts to a price roughly 125 times the team’s approximate $100 million in annual profit, a return of less than 1 percent.
“You could put it in treasury bills and make 5 percent,” the source said.
While not referenced by The Ringer, sports owners significantly benefit from writing off the contracts of players as depreciating assets.
Profit margins are considerably tighter in smaller NBA markets, according to ownership sources. Under the league’s collective bargaining agreement, 51 percent of all basketball-related income is allocated to players. In some markets, sources said, the dollar amount spent on player salaries to meet that threshold actually exceeds 51 percent of the team’s total revenue.
Mark Cuban, who sold his controlling stake in the Dallas Mavericks in 2023 at a $3.5 billion valuation, said the day-to-day experience of NBA ownership has shifted dramatically as valuations have climbed.
“Running a team is a completely different beast now,” said Cuban. “Like I told Adam when I sold, the board of governors meetings went from being all about basketball and me bitching about the officiating to everything being about team valuations. It’s just different than it was. When I came in, it was like: All I care about is winning.”
Hollinger & Dunca: New Takes on the Clips; Amen Extension; Mailbag Part 1
John and Nate react to the league’s penalties against the Clippers a week on. What are some of the underdiscussed aspects of this saga? And where do the Clips go from here as an organization?
We also break down the Bennedict Mathurin move for New Orleans, and then assess Amen Thompson’s 5-year, $208 million extension in Houston.
Then, mailbag questions on Utah’s future after the Walker Kessler trade, whether the league is now devaluing small guards too much, and if OKC can keep their core together after this year.
Sabalenka vs. Rybakina preview and prediction for US Open women’s final 2026
The 2026 US Open women’s draw saw a 100% chalk semifinals, with the top four seeds meeting like clockwork in the semifinals. And like even more clockwork, Elena Rybankina and Aryna Sabalenka, the second and first seeds of the tournament, will meet in the final on Saturday night. We have so much clockwork.
To describe this match as simply as possible would be to point out that an apple is indeed a fruit. Sabalenka and Rybankina are the top two players in women’s tennis, the two best things going on the WTA tour and a high-stakes face-off between them is a fitting end to each of their seasons. Much as I would have loved an all-American final, this is objectively the highest-quality match.
Rybakina has, by virtue of the WTA’s point calculation system, already locked up the world number one ranking even if she loses the final which is … kinda lame if you ask me (I feel like if you’re number one coming into a tournament and then win that tournament you shouldn’t lose rank?). A true all-the-marbles throw-down with both the US Open trophy and the number one ranking on the line would be awesome, but we can deal. It is Rybakina’s first time being ranked number one, a deserved accomplishment given her relentless top-level form since 2019. Sabalenka will surely be a bit sour to lose the ranking she has defended for most of the last three years, but a fifth Grand Slam should pretty dry those tears.
If nothing else, I’m just thrilled we’re getting this matchup in a winner-take-all situation. Their last four meetings, all on hardcourt, were split 2-2, with Rybakina winning in the WTA Tour Finals and the Australian Open while Sabalenka beat her at Indian Wells and Miami. Both women bring something special to the battle, with Rybakina’s pace-setting serve and Sabalenka’s thumping ground strokes. It really is the highest possible level of the sport on its biggest possible stage.
Rybakina will be at a slight disadvantage given she will be playing three matches in four days to Sabalenka’s three in five days, but the difference should be marginal. It is persistently maddening to me that two of the four women’s semifinalists do not get a day off between the quarters and semifinals for no other reason than the US Open’s refusal to take a true day off between later rounds. I understand it keeps everyone’s attention, but no one should have to play a back-to-back at the end of a two-week tournament. The men’s bracket, meanwhile, has no back-to-backs.
But that should not distract from the sterling quality of the tennis about to be played on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Rybakina has really found her winning formula lately by bringing 70+ percent first serve win rate with a bucket-load of aces. Both she and Sabalenka are actually middling return players, but are perhaps the two best servers on tour (along with Linda Noskova). What both really do well, though, is consistently limit break opportunities for their opponents, tying for a tour-low 2.3 points against per service game.
Sabalenka still profiles as the more complete threat, and has won over 80 percent of matches this year — generally the number that signifies “being the best” from “trying to be the best.” However, and this may be a touch unscientific, it just feels like Rybakina’s year. She has played extraordinary tennis against extremely tough opposition, and I’ve been so impressed by her approach, mindset and laser focus. Sabalenka may have won their last four sets, but I’m just feeling a Rybakina victory in lieu of evidence beyond narcissistically thinking I know what winning tennis looks like. Rybakina is, plain and simply, playing championship tennis right now.
Lakers make two hires to front office, including assistant GM
(Mario Tama / Getty Images)
With ownership of the team still in limbo, the Lakers announced two front office additions Friday, hiring former Miami Heat executive Eric Amsler as assistant general manager, player personnel, while bolstering their sports performance staff with Keith D’Amelio as director of integrated performance systems.
Boosting the team’s behind-the-scenes infrastructure was one of Mark Walter’s major initiatives when the Dodgers’ owner bought the Lakers in 2025. After the season, Lakers president and general manager Rob Pelinka said Walter and the ownership group were working to create two assistant GM positions and upgrade treatment, physical therapy and sports science facilities to mirror the success of the Dodgers.
But the status of such investments came into question when Walter unexpectedly sold his majority stake in the Lakers to Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner last month. The transaction that valued the Lakers at a record $12.5 billion still needs to be approved by the NBA board of governors, which next meets Sept. 14-15, according to ESPN, but approval for the Lakers ownership change will likely not be on the docket.
“Continuing to invest in and strengthen our basketball operations group is a top priority as we build for the long-term success of our team and players,” Pelinka said in a statement. “Eric and Keith bring a wealth of experience that will add valuable expertise across our organization.”
Amsler spent the previous 22 seasons with the Heat, most recently serving as vice president of player personnel and the general manager of G League affiliate Sioux Falls Skyforce. He oversaw the Heat’s scouting department and evaluation of draft, professional and G League prospects.
Amsler joins former New Orleans Pelicans executive Rohan Ramadas as assistant general managers hired this offseason. While Ramadas, who joined the team in May, will be involved in managing the salary cap, analytics and data for the Lakers, Amsler’s responsibilities will mirror the scouting and player development responsibilities he held in Miami.
D’Amelio most recently served as chief innovation officer for the New York Liberty, where he worked across basketball operations, health and performance, analytics and applied sciences. His previous NBA experience includes stints with the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics. He also worked with Stanford men’s basketball and Nike.
Five-Star Recruit NaVorro Bowman Jr. Commits To UConn
NaVorro Bowman Jr. became the highest-rated recruit in the 2027 class to commit to a school Thursday, choosing UConn. Bowman is the son of former San Francisco 49ers four-time All-Pro linebacker NaVorro Bowman.
Bowman Jr., ranked 11th in the 2027 class in the 247Sports Composite, is the only five-star recruit to commit so far this cycle. The transfer portal has contributed to fewer high school commitments occurring in the fall compared to past cycles, while the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility model, which allows athletes five seasons of competition, means few current roster players will exhaust their eligibility after the 2026-27 season.
At UConn, for example, only guard Isaiah Shaw is currently projected to run out of eligibility, though the Huskies could see early departures to the NBA Draft, most notably projected lottery pick Braylon Mullins.
Bowman, a 6-foot-3 combo guard, averaged 20.5 points and 3.6 assists this summer on the Nike EYBL circuit. He becomes UConn’s first commitment in the 2027 class and the fifth five-star recruit signed by coach Dan Hurley.
