Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The Spurs upset OKC in Game 7 behind Wemby and Julian Champagnie to set up a Finals matchup with the Knicks. The A.J. Brown trade to New England could land this week, and the Vikings hired Nolan Teasley as GM after his remarkable rise from marketing
Your go-to source for daily sports updates! Tune in every day for quick, punchy rundowns on the latest in sports. From game highlights to breaking news, we've got you covered in just a few minutes. Perfect for the fan on the go!
Welcome to The Sports Hangover Daily, I'm Michael Benatar. Today on the show: Wemby and the Spurs just won Game seven on the road in OKC, the A.J. Brown trade could land this week, a Vikings GM hire with one of the best backstories in the league, and the Stanley Cup Final is set. Let's get into it.
Alright, I know I usually lead NFL here, but the Spurs just won Game seven in Oklahoma City. I gotta give this its moment because it was genuinely impressive. San Antonio one eleven, Thunder one oh three. On the road. Against the defending champs. With Jalen Williams out, sure, but nobody was picking the Spurs to close this series in OKC. Wemby finished with twenty-two points and took home Western Conference Finals MVP. Stephon Castle had sixteen, De'Aaron Fox added fifteen. But the guy who changed the game was Julian Champagnie. He scored twenty points — eighteen of them from beyond the arc. Six threes. Every time OKC made a run, Champagnie just buried another one. There was a massive play in the fourth where Luke Kornet blocked Isaiah Hartenstein at the rim on a fast break that would've cut it to four. That was the dagger sequence. SGA had thirty-five and nine assists, but it wasn't enough without Jalen Williams. The Thunder's depth just couldn't match San Antonio's balance. So now it's Spurs and Knicks in the NBA Finals. Game one is Wednesday night in San Antonio. Wemby versus the Garden. That series is going to be a problem for New York's interior defense.
Alright, NFL — there's a LOT going on in the offseason right now. The biggest story that could break this week — A.J. Brown to New England. Albert Breer went on NBC Sports Boston and said the framework is in place for a trade to happen early this week. The holdup has been the June first date. Philly doesn't want to eat the dead cap hit from a pre-June first deal. So Monday is the magic number. The sticking point is still compensation. Eagles want a first-round pick in twenty twenty-seven. Patriots don't want to give up a first. Josina Anderson reported the two sides have been going back and forth over the total package. My bet — they split the difference. It's probably a second-rounder and change. Philly doesn't have leverage here. Everyone knows Brown isn't coming back. Drake Maye needs a number one weapon. This deal gets done by Wednesday.
The Minnesota Vikings made a really cool hire yesterday. Nolan Teasley is the new general manager. He spent thirteen years with the Seahawks, worked his way up from intern to assistant GM. Here's why this one matters. Teasley worked in marketing for six years after graduating from Central Washington. Then in twenty thirteen, he wrote letters to all thirty-two NFL teams asking for a shot in football. Seattle gave him an interview and hired him as a scouting intern. Now he's running the Vikings. That's a legit story. The Seahawks get two third-round compensatory picks for losing him, which tells you how highly the league values the guy.
Josh Jacobs update — the Packers are in wait-and-see mode after Jacobs was arrested Tuesday on multiple domestic violence charges including strangulation and suffocation. He was released from custody Wednesday because the DA wasn't ready to make a formal charging decision. League sources say Green Bay isn't making any roster moves yet, but they'll act quickly if Jacobs' status changes. This situation is serious and it's far from over.
Patrick Mahomes was out at OTAs doing drills as he rehabs that torn ACL. Brett Veach said in early May that Mahomes is way ahead of schedule. Good news there. Less good news — Rashee Rice is missing OTAs and minicamp because he's spending thirty days in jail for a parole violation. He also reportedly had cleanup surgery on his right knee. Kansas City's receiver room just can't stay healthy or out of trouble.
One more NFL note — Nick Bosa told reporters at OTAs he's pretty far along in his ACL recovery and expects to be ready for a full seventeen-game season. When asked about his brother Joey potentially joining him in San Francisco, Nick laughed and said Joey's working on his golf game right now. So don't hold your breath on that reunion.
Over in hockey, the Stanley Cup Final is officially set. Carolina versus Vegas. The Hurricanes destroyed Montreal six to one in Game five to take that series four games to one. Carolina's postseason record is twelve and one. Frederik Andersen has a one point four one goals-against average and a point nine three one save percentage with three shutouts. That's absurd. Vegas swept the Presidents' Trophy-winning Avalanche. Mitch Marner leads all playoff scorers with twenty-one points in sixteen games. Game one is Tuesday night in Carolina.
Here's the Hangover Take. Nolan Teasley is going to be the best GM hire of this cycle, and nobody's paying attention because it wasn't a splashy name. This is a guy who spent six years in marketing, wrote cold letters to every team in the league, got hired as an intern, and ground his way to assistant GM in Seattle — an organization that consistently finds late-round talent and builds rosters without top-five picks. That's exactly what Minnesota needs right now. The Vikings have talent. They have Justin Jefferson. They have a young core. What they need is someone who knows how to build around existing pieces without overpaying in free agency or reaching in the draft. That's the Seattle model. Teasley lived it for thirteen years. Everyone's gonna sleep on this hire because he doesn't have a podcast or a famous last name. I'm telling you right now — give him two drafts and the Vikings are the most complete roster in the NFC North.
That's your hangover. Go hydrate. I'll see you tomorrow.