Channing Frye loves to troll his ex-teammates on Twitter, but this time when he did it, one of those former teammates had a perfect response to him.
Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. jokingly remarked on Friday that he wanted people to stop including him in hypothetical trades. That prompted a response from Frye — and an even better retort back from Nance.
It’s true: the Cavaliers acquired Nance and Jordan Clarkson in 2018 in exchange for Frye, Isaiah Thomas, and a first-round pick. In other words, Nance was a bit more valuable than broken shoelaces, at least in Cleveland’s eyes.
Frye and Nance were teammates during the 2018-19 season, and Frye clearly gets on well with those he played with. This is evidence of that.
Once regarded as one of the most exciting wide receivers in the NFL, Odell Beckham Jr. suddenly finds himself without much of a trade market.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, the Cleveland Browns are open to listening to offers for Beckham. However, the wide receiver is not expected to find much of a trade market. That’s partly due to the fact that Beckham is coming off a torn ACL, and salary cap constraints around the league are also going to be a factor. Beckham carries a cap hit of $15.75 million in 2021.
Beckham simply hasn’t delivered like the Browns hoped he would when they acquired him two years ago. He has never seemed to find a sturdy connection with quarterback Baker Mayfield, and has caught only seven touchdown passes since joining the Browns.
At the very least, there are players who still want to play with Beckham. Front offices seem less impressed these days.
The San Francisco 49ers are one of the wildcards in the quarterback market this offseason, and it sounds like they’re certainly open to upgrading.
According to Michael Lombardi of The Athletic, the 49ers have been “doing their due diligence” on any quarterback potentially available. He is skeptical, however, that the team is seriously interested in Carolina’s Teddy Bridgewater, despite reports to the contrary. Coach Kyle Shanahan is not said to be a fan, and Bridgewater does not fit his system well.
Lombardi does believe that the 49ers would have significant interest in Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, who is a more ideal fit for Shanahan’s scheme.
It’s clear that the 49ers are at least open to replacing Jimmy Garoppolo despite their public stance that they will keep him. That could be good news for one AFC team, but it doesn’t appear anything is close right now. The quarterback market is moving slowly, and lots of teams are essentially waiting for Deshaun Watson’s situation in Houston to be settled one way or the other.
The Houston Astros have landed the top remaining free agent in baseball as spring training gets underway.
As first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Astros have signed starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi to a two-year contract that also includes a player option for a third year. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman added that Odorizzi can earn over $30 million on the incentive-laden contract.
The Astros appear to have been pushed into the signing after young starter Framber Valdez, who had projected as a member of the team’s rotation, suffered a fractured left ring finger that could cost him a good portion of the 2021 season. The Astros also aren’t expecting much from Justin Verlander, who is still recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Odorizzi was an All-Star in 2019, when he went 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA for the Minnesota Twins. His 2020 was inconsistent and marred by multiple injuries, so the Astros are hoping the 30-year-old can rediscover his form in 2021.
At least one member of the Los Angeles Rams seems to firmly believe that the team’s acquisition of quarterback Matthew Stafford will prove worth it.
Rams defensive lineman Michael Brockers admitted to TMZ Sports that going from Jared Goff to Stafford represented a “level up” and puts the Rams firmly in contention for a Super Bowl.
“Is it a level up? In my heart, deeply, just understanding what [Stafford] brings, it’s a level up [over Goff],” Brockers told TMZ’s reporter.
It’s harsh on Goff, but it’s also hard to argue. While Goff was successful in spells with the Rams, Stafford has a long record of putting up big numbers and has led the Lions to three playoff appearances. He simply has more varied skills than Goff does.
Brockers’ comments are unlikely to make Goff feel any less confused about the end of his time with the Rams, though.
Photo: A Healthier Michigan/Flickr via cc-by-sa 2.0
The Liberty Flames will play in the Atlantic Sun tournament final on Sunday, but the game will have no bearing on the team’s NCAA Tournament hopes. That’s because they’re already in.
Though the Flames have yet to formally clinch the automatic bid as the Atlantic Sun tournament champion, they’ll be able to play the game knowing they’re going to be in the NCAA Tournament. That’s because their opponent in the final, North Alabama, is still in the process of transitioning to Division I athletics and is ineligible to participate in the Big Dance this season.
With North Alabama ineligible, even if they were to beat Liberty in the final, the Flames would claim the automatic bid by virtue of their regular season conference title. The school’s Twitter account made light of that odd situation after North Alabama’s win in the semifinals Friday night clinched Liberty’s spot.
This makes Liberty the first team to clinch an automatic bid in the 2021 field. It also means flopping like this won’t be necessary this year to try to seize that auto bid.
Michael Jordan stepped away from basketball twice during his career before announcing returns. He ultimately retired in 2003 after his time with the Washington Wizards.
According to Antoine Walker, MJ actually delayed the press conference announcing his return to basketball in 2001 for a wild reason.
Walker joined Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden on CBS Sports’ “All Things Covered” for an episode published on Thursday. In the episode, Walker talked about a time he and MJ teamed up for a game of spades against two others.
Walker says that he and Jordan were down $900,000 at one point. He says they made back nearly all of the money during the gambling session, but they ended up losing six figures.
The crazy part about the story is Walker says the game lasted 36 hours and Jordan even sent out for $500,000 at one point. He says the game went so long that Jordan had to cancel the press conference announcing his return to the NBA.
“What made it even more interesting, it was the day he actually was supposed to make his announcement he was officially coming back. He canceled the press conference, everything. We played for 36 hours, man,” Walker recalled.
Jordan eventually announced his second return to the NBA on Sept. 25, 2001. He played two seasons for the Wizards before retiring for good.
As for Walker, stories about his gambling are all too common, which is how he ended up in such a tough spot later in life.
Aaron Rodgers has long been a huge fan of the popular quiz show “Jeopardy!” Now he will have a chance to host the show.
Rodgers is one of several celebrities who have been chosen to guest host “Jeopardy!” as they search for a replacement for longtime host Alex Trebek, who died in November.
Rodgers will host 10 episodes of the show, which will air over the span of two weeks beginning on April 5.
Episodes hosted by Ken Jennings and show producer Mike Richards have aired so far.
Katie Couric, Dr. Mehmet Oz, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, actress Mayim Bialik, “Today” host Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker are also set to be guest hosts for future shows.
Rodgers appeared on “Celebrity Jeopardy!” in 2015, winning the game and netting $50,000 for charity. He even compared meeting Trebek to meeting other iconic TV personalities from his youth, including Pat Summerall and John Madden.
Rodgers seems unlikely to get the permanent show hosting job because of a conflict with his NFL career, but we won’t count him out.
The Los Angeles Lakers could be getting their secret weapon back just in time for the stretch run of the season.
Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday that veteran big man JaVale McGee shares interest with the Lakers in a potential reunion. Woike notes however that McGee would have to be traded by the Cleveland Cavaliers to a third team and then bought out in order for him to return. The Lakers would otherwise be ineligible to re-acquire McGee after trading him to Cleveland in November.
McGee, 33, is a misfit on the sub-.500 Cavs, especially after they landed 22-year-old Jarrett Allen to soak up most of the minutes at center. The Lakers are hurting for size with Anthony Davis out and Marc Gasol, whom they traded McGee to create room for, visibly in decline. Journeyman Damian Jones started at center in the Lakers’ final game before the All-Star break.
The Lakers are also eyeing seven-footers elsewhere in the league. But McGee is already acquainted with the team’s style, having played the previous two seasons with them, including their NBA championship victory. He had also accepted and flourished in a limited role for the Lakers, making him an attractive option if he can make it through the procedural hoops first.
Photo: All-Pro Reels/Flickr via cc by-sa 2.0
Nick Madrigal has played just 29 games in Major League Baseball, but he’s already thinking of one of the game’s most revered milestones. His teammates are letting him hear it over that, too.
In January, Madrigal told Chuck Garfien on the White Sox Talk Podcast that he felt he could reach 3,000 hits in his career, adding that he felt “confident” it was a mark he could ultimately achieve.
“The 3,000 (hit) mark is not easy at all, there’s very few people that do it. But I feel like that’s very reachable,” Madrigal said, via Vinnie Duber of NBC Sports Chicago. “I know that’s throwing a big statement out there, but I believe in myself and I know what it takes to play this game and I feel confident I can do that.”
Madrigal’s bold goal got the attention of his teammates, who trolled him with special t-shirts on Friday that parodied the 2004 Bernie Mac sports film “Mr. 3,000.”
Madrigal seemed to have a sense of humor about it, as he also wore one of the shirts while taking batting practice.
If you’re going to say something publicly like that, you kind of have to own it. Expectations are high for the 24-year-old — he ranks as Baseball Prospectus’ No. 12 overall prospect this year — but it sounds like he has the highest expectations of all for himself. He’s only 2,965 hits away from the mark after collecting 35 hits in 2020.
The White Sox would probably rather be making jokes about this instead of the controversy behind their managerial hire.
