NBA 101

6 international NFL landing spots, ranked

Roger Goodell is hell-bent on making international expansion his NFL legacy. It’s a topic the commissioner has spoken about year, after year, after year — all the while more and more games are scheduled overseas. This past week Goodell was asked about the possibility of permanent international expansion, i.e. having a team permanently located outside the United States, and his response could not be clearer.

Speaking to German news outlet ntv, Goodell was blunt about having teams overseas.

“At some point, there will be NFL teams outside the USA,” Goodell said. “I have no doubt that this will happen one day.”

Goodell made a point of saying, “NFL teams outside the USA.” In his vision, this won’t be a reboot of NFL Europe, or a half-hearted attempt to launch the sport abroad, but rather throwing football in the deep end and going all-in with legitimate teams in the main competition. This raises myriad questions about international travel, scheduling feasibility, and competitive balance — which have long been the biggest sticking points about putting teams abroad. Well, that and assuming that people will care and come to games beyond once-a-year spectacles.

Let’s dive into which cities make the most sense for this expansion and rank every city that is even a remote possibility for a team to be located.

No. 1: Toronto — Canada

At the very top of the list is Canada, which has already been supporting a standalone American football league since 1958 in the CFL. The goal here wouldn’t be to supplant the CFL as a whole, but rather allow the Canadian league to be a feeder of sorts, and an incubator of talent.

Travel issues are functionally non-existent with Toronto. The tricky part is working out where they belong in the divisional picture. The natural solution is the AFC East, either adding to the division or supplanting the Miami Dolphins in the divisional shuffle. This would make a true Northeastern division, adding another brutal proximity rivalry to the slate with Toronto and Buffalo being a stone’s throw from each other.

No. 2: Mexico City — Mexico

If we look at a two-team solution (for now) then Mexico City fits the bill as the western team to add to the slate. The NFL has successfully run games in Mexico for a while now, and they have been received incredibly well. A natural fit here would be to put a Mexico City team in the NFC West, where a natural rivalry could build with the Los Angeles Rams.

How we fit together the division is tricky, but again, what makes Mexico City so appealing is the lack of travel complexity. Yes, there’s international immigration and customs, but we’re not looking at a trip that would be backbreaking for a team.

No. 3: London — England

Cue up your stale old Jaguars jokes. In all honesty, there is zero chance a team moves to London — but the city makes so much sense in terms of expansion. International games sell out so quickly, and there’s already some inbuilt infrastructure both at Wembley Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where a team could functionally just move in.

The big issue here is travel. It would be outright unfair to a London team and its opponents to have west coast travel as part of their regular-season routine, with 13+ hour travel required to get from California to London. Similarly we would need to balance any team traveling to London for games. Perhaps this can be ameliorated with long road trips and home stands, but there’s also angst about how you fit London into a division. The NFC East is storied and shouldn’t really be messed with, which makes this a fairly difficult prospect.

We have continued discussion on this topic in the NFL Feed:

No. 4: Munich — Germany

One of the things that the NFL did so intelligently was target Munich as its German base of operations, rather than Berlin. The city has a reputation for being even more sports-crazed as a city, and fans have loved the NFL games which have been played there.

Essentially the same issues as London exist, just turned up a few degrees. It’s difficult to justify the travel, and hard to see how they fit into divisions. If a European division was established then it feels like the best way, but what would be decades in the making.

No. 5: Rio de Janeiro — Brazil

The NFL has attempted to hold games in Brazil a few times now, and it’s a bit of a mess if we’re being entirely honest. There are socioeconomic issues inside the country which are deep seated, and the ever-present duality of the exceedingly wealthy and impoverished make it difficult to imagine how the NFL and teams could consistently guarantee the safety of players.

No. 6: Melbourne — Australia

Sure, the season is kicking off in Australia this year, but putting a team down there is so monumentally stupid it’s not really worth discussing. The big issue is that the travel is utterly impossible, and then there’s the climate. A team deep in the Southern Hemisphere would play the majority of the season in Summer. It would be such an irresponsible idea that even as much as Australia might love football, there’s just no scenario where it makes sense.

The New York Liberty have added a new player

The New York Liberty have signed Elizabeth Balogun to a developmental player contract, the team announced on Wednesday. Balogun, who formerly starred at Duke University, most recently played for the French LFB team.

The New York Liberty have signed Elizabeth Balogun to a developmental player contract, the team announced today.✍️

Welcome to NY, Elizabeth!🗽 pic.twitter.com/f3CjYrFKza

— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) August 19, 2026

Balogun is a 6’1 forward who can shoot and defend the perimeter — needs that have become particularly important in the wake of standout perimeter defender Leonie Fiebich missing the majority of the season. How much of an on-court opportunity she’ll get will remain to be seen, but at the very least, Balogun begins to address those needs.

Balogun has also been a standout for the Nigerian national team; in five games at the 2026 FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament, she averaged 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc.

In college, she averaged 9.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.1 blocks across 5 seasons — one playing for Georgia Tech (2018-2019), two for Louisville (2019-2021), and two for Duke (2021-2023).

Balogun spent training camp with the Toronto Tempo and appeared in two preseason games, tallying 6 points and 4 rebounds in the first and 12 points and a steal in the second.

The Liberty’s other developmental player is Anneli Maley, who signed with the team in May. Maley has appeared in 8 games this season for New York, averaging 0.8 points and 1.4 rebounds per night. The 28-year-old was recently named the MVP of the WNBL, Australia’s professional women’s basketball league.

The Liberty are 22-14 on the season, currently owners of the league’s 6th-best record.

The Phoenix Mercury just added a standout wing

It’s been an up-and-down couple of years for Maddy Westbeld, who began her WNBA career in the Chicago Sky’s rotation last year but has seen more limited opportunities this season as a developmental contract player.

Now, Westbeld has signed a rest-of-season contract with the Phoenix Mercury, meaning that a greater on-court role could be looming.

Welcome to Phoenix, Maddy! pic.twitter.com/hJx4D8cF8O

— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 18, 2026

Westbeld was drafted 16th overall by the Sky in 2025 and averaged 13.6 minutes per game in her rookie season in Chicago. She averaged 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc. But this year, Westbeld was waived and later signed to a developmental contract. After appearing in 26 games in her rookie season, she played just 3 games for the Sky in 2026.

Before her pro career, Westbeld was a standout at Notre Dame, having averaged 12.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals across five seasons, while shooting 34.9% from beyond the arc. The 6’3 forward was a three-time member of the All-ACC team.

Maddy Westbeld could see a more significant opportunity with the Phoenix Mercury

Now, Westbeld will see an increased opportunity playing on a rest-of-season contract with the Phoenix Mercury. The Mercury, who are 13-23, have had a difficult season on the heels of a finals appearance.

Phoenix traded Monique Akoa Makani and future draft compensation for Kelsey Plum ahead of the midseason trade deadline, but despite the upgrade at guard, they’re unlikely to make the playoffs. The Mercury are currently 7 games behind the Dallas Wings, who currently hold onto the 8th and final playoff spot.

As such, the rest of the season will likely center around player development — of which Westbeld could be a major part — and convincing Plum to re-sign with the team in free agency.

Dunc’d On: Buss Family’s Revenge; Clips Gonna Skate?

Kyle Tucker’s brutal season for Dodgers keeps getting more embarrassing

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker to the second-highest average annual salary in MLB history over the offseason with a four-year, $240 million deal. While $30 million of that is deferred, Tucker still got an enormous amount of money coming off an uneven season with the Chicago Cubs where he crushed it in the first half and totally fell apart in the second half.

At the time, the signing was the ultimate proof that there was no limit on the Dodgers’ spending as they went after a World Series three-peat. Fast forward to August, and the Tucker deal now looks like the one thing that might give the rest of baseball a chance against a potential LA dynasty moving forward.

Tucker has fallen way short of expectations this season, and he’s been especially dreadful as of late. He had another viral error on Monday night as Los Angeles walked all over the Colorado Rockies, and at this point even the home fans are booing him. Watch Tucker drop a routine fly ball against Colorado here:

I don’t even want to pile on at this point, but Kyle Tucker drops a routine flyball for a two-base error. pic.twitter.com/9L1WTNr0sx

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 18, 2026

This isn’t a big deal when the Dodgers are up 10-1 as they were in that game, but the margins will be tighter in the playoffs, and Tucker is quickly becoming a liability. Tucker is on a stretch of 0-for-23 at the plate, and just finished a homestand 0-for-19 at the dish. This is par for the course for his season: Tucker has been just awful at Dodger Stadium, with a 60 wRC+ at home compared to a 126 wRC+ on the road. No wonder the home fans are booing him.

The Dodgers lost three of four at home to the Milwaukee Brewers, their biggest threat in the NL, before coming to Colorado. Tucker made a poor defensive play in the outfield during their Sunday loss, too. It sure seems like his struggles at the plate are starting to impact him in the field.

Kyle Tucker #Dodgers ©SportsNetLA pic.twitter.com/7MpgBgjHzf

— 【MLB速報】放送地区【大谷速報】 (@MLB_comment) August 16, 2026

It’s gotten so bad for Tucker that Dodgers color man Eric Karros has suggested sending him down to Arizona. Tucker was also booed at Wrigley Field in front of his former fanbase, and seemed to get pretty defensive about it. Tucker had a reasonable excuse for his second half struggles last year as he was recovering from a broken hand. This year, he’s just in a straight up slump at home.

He sure looks miserable during games right now.

(⑉･̆-･̆⑉)(৹˃ᗝ˂৹)

Kyle Tucker (๑•̀ㅁ•́)੭✧✧✧❤︎ pic.twitter.com/xlEiHNcmWz

— yu-1linda (@yu_1_linda99) August 18, 2026

It seems like both the pressure of the contract and the Dodgers’ World Series expectations are getting to Tucker in LA. He’s hitting just .189 with a .558 OPS in 234 plate appearances at Dodger Stadium this year. For whatever reason, he’s been much better on the road with an .822 OPS.

This year is going so poorly for Tucker that he’s even getting beamed in the head when opposing catchers are just trying to throw the ball back to the mound.

Oof …
Kyle Tucker was hit in the helmet while Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya was throwing the ball back to the pitcher. pic.twitter.com/HP2948H3Kp

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 5, 2026

Tucker’s base salary essentially jumps from $33 million to $87 million next year. The Dodgers signed him to provide some insurance against age-related declines from Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Instead, Freeman has been fantastic, while Tucker and Betts struggle. At least Betts provides some value in the field.

It’s hard to believe that Cubs MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong amassed more fWAR on Monday night alone than Tucker has all season. Any other team would be screwed when a free agent signing this pricey is struggling to such a historic degree. The Dodgers still have Shohei Ohtani and a talented pitching staff to fall back on, but anything less than a World Series will be considered a disappointment.

Tucker is struggling midway through August. The Dodgers better hope he breaks out of it soon with the playoffs around the corner.

Malik Dia, Pelicans Sign Two-Way Contract

Malik Dia and the New Orleans Pelicans have agreed to a Two-Way deal.

Dia averaged 10.0 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Pelicans during Summer League.

Dia went undrafted this year out of Ole Miss.

Report: NBA Finds No Evidence Steve Ballmer Funneled Money To Kawhi Leonard

The NBA has found no evidence that Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money through team sponsors to pay Kawhi Leonard as a means of circumventing the salary cap, according to three sources with knowledge of recent discussions between the league and the team that spoke with ESPN.

The NBA released the following statement in response to the ESPN article:

“ESPN’s article regarding the LA Clippers investigation – for which the NBA declined to cooperate – contains numerous and significant inaccuracies. The results in this matter will be made clear once the investigation is concluded,” wrote NBA spokesman Mike Bass.

The NBA is now examining whether the Clippers violated cap circumvention rules simply by introducing Leonard to team sponsors, according to two of the sources. Investigators are also considering whether the team failed to properly supervise its employees, though the specific rule potentially violated and possible penalties remain unclear.

The 11-month investigation, which began with Leonard’s endorsement deal with the now-defunct company Aspiration, has since expanded to include at least three additional companies with Clippers business ties. Sources said the league has presented no evidence that Ballmer personally directed money to Leonard through any of these arrangements.

Law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz presented initial investigative findings to the Clippers in late July. Since then, attorneys representing both sides, David N. Kelley for Ballmer and the Clippers and Rick Buchanan for the league, have engaged in negotiations described by one source as “spirited.”

The Clippers issued a statement defending the practice of connecting players with team partners.

“Making introductions between players and team partners is both an ordinary practice by NBA teams and a common request of players and representatives,” the team said, adding that it did not negotiate or dictate terms of Leonard’s endorsement agreements.

The probe traces back to a September 2025 report alleging Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration around the same time the company signed a $300 million partnership with the Clippers. Aspiration later signed a $28 million endorsement deal with Leonard in 2022, which an anonymous source described in the original report as a “no-show” arrangement designed to circumvent the cap.

Ballmer has denied any wrongdoing and said he would pursue arbitration rather than accept a finding asserting intentional cap circumvention. The Clippers’ planned trade of Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, agreed to June 30, remains on hold as the Raptors weigh potential risk tied to the investigation’s outcome.

Adam Silver said in July he hopes to resolve the matter before the 2026-27 regular season begins, though the timeline remains uncertain if the case proceeds to arbitration.

NCAA Reacts: Who is going to win the ACC and Big 12?

This is shaping up to be an incredibly important season in both the Big 12 and the ACC. College football has become a conference arms race and despite nominally being Power Four conferences, they are most emphatically not among the Big Two conferences. Both leagues have done enough to not become the next Pac-12 so far, but it’s going to take more than cherrypicking schools from around the country to join in order to stay relevant.

While not a cure-all, one sure fire way to stay in the mix is by having a conference member win the national championship. And while both the Big 12 and the ACC have had teams in the mix, neither has brought home the trophy in a long time. It’s been eight years since Clemson last won a championship for the ACC. It’s been 21 years since a Big 12 team has won a championship, and 36 years since a team that’s still in the Big 12 was crowned champion. But this year both conferences have schools that can pull it off. The first step will likely be winning the conference title.

Who will win the ACC?

The ACC came remarkably close to winning a national championship last season, despite the conferences best efforts, with upstart Miami falling just short against powerhouse Indiana (that still feels so weird to put in print). Even with the conference bumbling through the ACC championship game, which resulted in Miami being the conference’s lone representative despite not participating in the title game, the ACC showed how strong it could be.

This season will at least start off feeling remarkably similar to last. Most of the hope for the ACC rests squarely on the backs of Miami. But the likes of Louisville, SMU, Clemson, Pitt, and Virginia have proven they can jump up and really make a run out of it.

Who will win the Big 12 championship?

The Big 12 finds itself in a slightly different position. Last season there was genuine interest in what was happening with the league. Two teams entered the conference title game last year with only one loss. For BYU, it’s lone loss came to its title game opponent Texas Tech. After Tech beat BYU again, there was legitimate consideration that the Red Raiders could win it all. But everything fell apart quickly in the first game of the CFP, when TTU lost to Oregon at home in blowout fashion. Then, to add insult to injury, Texas Tech became the NCAA punching bag in the Brendan Sorsby ordeal.

Texas Tech is again the favorite to win the Big 12, with BYU right behind. The rest of the league firmly remains in play in a conference that is well known for beating itself up with almost no concept of who is better than the rest in the middle of the pack.

Be on the lookout later this week for results to these surveys and the rest of the Reacts polls from this week.

Scottie Scheffler wins FedEx St. Jude Championship in dominating fashion

There have been fewer opportunities to really say it this season, but it is good to remember that right now professional golf is still Scottie Scheffler’s world. Everyone else is simply living in it.

The world number one suffocated the field at the FedEx St. Jude Championship as the FedEx Cup Playoffs began… so much so that Scottie almost doubled the second place score that Si Woo Kim posted.

Scottie finished at 17-under (Si Woo was 9-under to be clear) as he picked up his 21st career PGA Tour victory.

In the process of winning, Scottie did some things that only Scottie does:

• This was the first eight-stroke margin of victory (or larger) since… Scottie (2025 CJ CUP)
• He is now just the fifth player over the last 40 years to record multiple wins of such kind
• It is his fifth consecutive season with multiple PGA Tour wins
• He has made 17 cuts in 18 starts this season

Every now and then something happens with Scottie to where we drop our jaws and simply wonder. This is one of those times.

We will see what happens as the playoffs continue on.

Cavs Sent Hornets $4M Instead Of Draft Pick In Dennis Schroder Trade

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly sent the Charlotte Hornets $4 million in cash in the trade that swapped Dennis Schroder for Tre Mann. The Cavs sent the $4 million in place of sending the Hornets a draft pick.

In trade talks with other teams, Cleveland found that teams were requesting draft capital to take on Schroder’s contract. The veteran point guard is owed $14.8 million for this season and $15.5 million for 2027-28. The final season of Schroder’s deal is partially guaranteed for $4.35 million.

Cleveland has one tradeable future first-round pick, as they already owe their 2027 and 2029 firsts from previous deals. The Cavs 2033 first-round pick is also frozen and can’t be traded, due to Cleveland being over the second apron in the 2025-26 season. The Cavaliers own only two second-round picks: the Sacramento Kings second in 2032 and their own second in 2033.