Mets moving Frankie Montas to bullpen; Nolan McLean or Brandon Sproat could join rotation Saturday

The Mets are moving Frankie Montasto the bullpen, potentially paving the way for Nolan McLeanorBrandon Sproat to join the starting rotation on Saturday against the Mariners at Citi Field.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said McLean and Sproat are in the discussion to come up to pitch on Saturday, but a final decision has not been made regarding who will make that start against Seattle.

Mendoza noted that Paul Blackburn, who is in the midst of a rehab assignment, is not an option to pitch for New York that day.

Both McLean and Sproat have been excelling for Triple-A Syracuse.

McLean last pitched on Aug. 10, tossing 4.0 innings of one-run ball while allowing two hits, walking two, and striking out seven.

He has allowed more than two earned runs just once since May 15.

Split between Double-A Binghamton and Syracuse this season, McLean has a 2.77 ERA and 1.12 WHIP with 127 strikeouts in 113.2 innings.

Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean participates in the Spring Breakout game against the Washington Nationals at Clover Park. / Jim Rassol – Imagn Images

Sproat’s last start came on Aug. 7, when he allowed three tuns on three hits in 6.0 innings while striking out four. He had been on an absolute heater before that start, allowing a total of two earned runs over his last six starts — a span of 33.0 innings.

The right-hander got off to a rough start this season for Syracuse, but — as is noted above — has been dominant for over a month. Overall this year, Sproat has a 4.10 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with 86 strikeouts in 101.0 innings.

As far as Montas, he had struggled badly after making a strong season debut on June 24.

In eight appearances (seven starts), Montas had a 6.38 ERA (5.26 FIP) and 1.55 WHIP in 36.2 innings while allowing 11.0 hits per nine.

He was used behind an opener on Saturday against the Brewers in Milwaukee, but needed 72 pitches as he labored through three innings while allowing three runs (one earned).

Montas signed a two-year, $34 million deal this past offseason that contained a player opt-out after the season. Given his struggles and demotion to the bullpen, it feels all but certain that Montas will not opt out.

The Best Ways to Manage Your MacBook’s Battery Health

Battery life is one of the best parts of recent MacBooks. The M-series processors means you can potentially go a couple days without visiting a charger. I rarely even notice my laptop has a battery unless I’m traveling.

But that kind of battery life doesn’t last forever. Batteries degrade over time, and to a certain extent that’s inevitable. But there are things you can do to slow the decline.

According to Battery University, a website with all sorts of detailed articles on how batteries work, there are two main factors that diminish battery life over time: environmental conditions (mostly temperature) and cycles. “The worst situation is keeping a fully charged battery at elevated temperatures,” the site says.

The temperature thing is worth keeping your mind: It’s never a good idea to leave your laptop in a hot car, for example, particularly if your battery is fully charged. You should avoid using or storing the laptop in extreme temperatures.

But while it’s relatively easy to remember not to expose your laptop to extreme conditions, it can be hard to manage how charged the laptop is. The good news is that modern Macs are designed to do this automatically, and you can use third party software to take matters into your own hands if that configuration doesn’t work for you.

Optimized Battery Charging

MacBooks running macOS Big Sur (released in 2020) or later have a feature called Optimized Battery Charging, which is enabled by default. The idea is to allow your battery to fully charge only when you’re likely to unplug your laptop; otherwise, keep it around 80%. “Your Mac learns your charging routine and aims to ensure that your Mac is fully charged when unplugged,” according to Apple’s official documentation.

What this looks like is going to vary depending on your habits. I’ve personally noticed that if I plug my laptop in at my desk to work, it will hold off until the afternoon to fully charge it—that’s because I tend to leave my laptop plugged in during the workday. If you tend to charge your laptop overnight, your MacBook will charge to 80% for most the night but not charge fully until the time you tend to grab your laptop and leave for work.

You can force your MacBook to charge fully by clicking the battery icon in the menu bar then clicking Charge to Full Now. You can disable the feature in System Settings—in the sidebar click Battery then click the information symbol (an “i” with a circle around it) next to the Battery Health row. From here you can turn off Optimized Battery Charging.

The panel where you can disable Optimized Battery Charging, if you'd like.

Credit: Justin Pot

For most users, though, I’d recommend leaving this on. It extends the life of your battery without really impacting your day-to-day usage.

If you want to control the timing

What if you like the basic idea of Optimized Charging but want to take more directly control? That’s where Battery Toolkit comes in. This is a free application that lets you set your own rules for how full the battery should charge. As we’ve covered before this application lets you customize exactly how charging works on your device.

The settings panel for Battery Toolkit

Credit: Justin Pot

With this application, you can choose a custom range for your battery, meaning it won’t start charging until the battery dips below a certain threshold and won’t charge above another. You can manually tell your Mac to fully charge using the application’s menu bar.

The basic idea is to let you manage your Mac’s charging manually, which is why I can really only recommend it for power users who specifically want to ensure they get every bit of life out of their battery. The downside is, if you want your MacBook to be fully charged, you’re going to have to remember ahead of time. In exchange, you’ll have a battery that potentially lives longer.

This Floating Outdoor Speaker Is 40% Off Right Now

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A waterproof speaker is a year-round essential — it’s perfect for hanging in the shower or floating in the bath as you listen to your favorite playlist, or setting up poolside in the summertime. The Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 is a good option, and it’s 40% off right now. According to price trackers, that’s cheaper than it was on Prime Day.

This speaker has an IP67 dust- and waterproof rating and a 131-foot Bluetooth range. The battery should last you around 14 hours on a single charge. Compared to the Wonderboom 3, it features USB-C charging and Podcast mode, which should make spoken audio easier to hear. Amazon reviewers praise its loudness and EQ features, which you can boost further by pairing two speakers for full two-channel stereo sound. 

While it doesn’t offer radical upgrades from its predecessor, if you’re in the market for a portable and durable speaker with room-filling sound, the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 is a strong value buy, especially at the current price.

20 of the Best Peacock Original TV Shows

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Peacock launched in mid-2020 largely on the promise of showing you reruns of The Office—but it also brought the power and checkbook of NBCUniversal to bear to create some solid original content (“creating” being, in some cases, a euphemism for “importing”).

Even though the library of Peacock Originals is still relatively small, it shows an impressive amount of diversity, not just in terms of style and genre, but in the people the stories are about, from an all-Muslim punk band to an Indigenous cultural center. Here are 20 of the best shows that are exclusive to Peacock.

The Day of the Jackal (2024  – , renewed for a second season)

Cinematic in scope, this new adaptation of the Frederick Forsyth novel is buoyed by rather brilliant casting: Eddie Redmayne plays the Jackal, a cold and steely international assassin pursued by MI6 operative Bianca Pullman—she’s played by Lashana Lynch, putting her experience as the new 007 in No Time to Die to good use. I’m not sure there’s anything here we haven’t seen in countless other spy thrillers (including, of course, the 1973 and 1997 film adaptations), but the performances and production values are top-notch, with each episode playing out like a tense mini-movie. You can stream The Day of the Jackal here.


Poker Face (2023 – , two seasons)

After co-creating and starring in one of Netflix’s best original series, Russian Doll, Natasha Lyonne pulls a similar trick over here on Peacock. Poker Face, with Lyonne as pretty much the only regular character, pays tribute to Columbo in its mystery-anthology format: one-time cocktail waitress Charlie Cale, on the run from a ruthless casino magnate, travels the backroads of North America and encountering murder pretty much everywhere she goes. Fortunately, Charlie has an uncanny ability to tell when people are lying, as well as a very handy penchant for finding under-the-table work. Like Columbo, the audience is given all the details of the murder up front, and so the mystery isn’t whodunnit so much is how is Charlie going to solve it? Knives Out’s Rain Johnson created the series, and directs a few episodes, and the show has a style and a sense of humor that are recognizable, and welcome. Lyonne’s self-effacing, no-bullshit persona is perfect here, and she’s well-matched with a top-tier array of guest stars. You can stream Poker Face here.


Traitors (2023 – , renewed through season five)

The American take on a British series (based on a Dutch series), this wildly addictive reality show throws a bunch of celebrities together in a Scottish castle and marks a few of them as secret traitors, known only to the audience. The “faithful” players are tasked with finding the scoundrels before they walk off with an ever-growing communal prize pot. Cheering and jeering the contestants for their strategy and/or lack thereof is a lot of fun, and host Alan Cumming is a deliciously catty master of ceremonies with the best style on television. (Peacock offers the show in UK, Australia, and New Zealand flavors as well.) You can stream Traitors here.


The Best Man: The Final Chapters (2022)

Nearly 25 years after it began, and a decade after The Best Man Holiday, this miniseries reassembles most of the original cast in their middle age, and what a cast: Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Regina Hall, Terrence Howard, Nia Long, Harold Perrineau, and Melissa DeSousa are all back, even joined briefly by Monica Calhoun, who played Mia before her character’s untimely death. It’s a thrill to see these titans of the ’90s Black rom-com (not one of whom has aged a single freaking day) all together once more. After the first two episodes pick up threads leftover from the film series, the show dives into the daily lives and struggles of our old friends. You can stream The Best Man: The Final Chapters here.


Twisted Metal (2023 –, two seasons)

The most brutal show on the Peacock block stars Anthony Mackie as John Doe, and is based on the ‘90s era vehicular combat games that your parents probably hated (it’s a lot of wild, demolition-derby style action involving smashing and/or blowing up your opponents). The show does what it says on the tin, roviding plenty of frenetic car-on-car action (and car-on-semi, car-on-hearse, -ice cream truck, etc.). The show’s creators worked to build out its world over two seasons with mixed success, but season two seems to be an improvement, and Anthony Mackie is an effective anchor for the chaos; he’s joined by an impressive supporting cast that includes Stephanie Beatriz, Thomas Haden Church, and Neve Campbell. Cars go boom, mostly, and sometimes that’s exactly what you want—it’s the show for the 15-year-old gamer inside all of us. You can stream Twisted Metal here.


Apples Never Fall (2024)

Liane Moriarty’s novels have been adapted successfully in the past: HBO’s Big Little Lies draws from one of her books, as does Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers. This miniseries follows the Delaney family, whose four siblings are forced to confront their dark family history following the disappearance of their mother Joy (Annette Benning)—a disappearance in which their father, Stand (Sam Neill), is a person of interest. Alison Brie, Jake Lacy, and Georgie Flood also star. You can stream Apples Never Fall here.


We Are Lady Parts (2021 – , two seasons)

A comedy import from across the pond, Lady Parts stars Anjana Vasan as Amina, a nice Muslim girl whose only goals are to finish her schooling (she’s working on a microbiology Ph.D.), and to settle down with a husband. All of which comes into question when she meets Saira, Ayesha, Bisma, and Momtaz—the women who make up the title punk band. The show’s creator, Nida Manzoor, co-wrote the original songs in the show, and the result is, perhaps, the best original soundtrack a sitcom has ever had. More than that, the show is funny, buoyed by great performances from Vasan and the other leads. There’s also a natural tension that the show smartly dives into: the members of an all-female, all-Muslim punk band are naturally outsiders in almost every circumstance; even within the group, the women have very different goals in life—guitarist Amina is a shy nerd whose nerves lead her to vomit at the drop of a beat, and her new role in this band is a challenge to her own image of herself, as well as to societal and family expectations. There are currently two seasons streaming, with no word on whether or not we’ll see a third. You can stream We Are Lady Parts here.


Mrs. Davis (2023)

Just a science fiction action comedy about a nun married to literal Jesus on a quest to save the world from the title’s artificial intelligence by finding the Holy Grail alongside her ex-boyfriend. So, yeah, there’s a lot going on in Mrs. Davis—sometimes a little too much, if I’m being honest. But Betty Gilpin holds everything together as Sister Simone, playing it straight in an extremely over-the-top world. It’s refreshing to see a show that’s so unafraid to take big swings, and it works much more often than it should. Though it was cancelled after one season (join the club, Mrs. Davis), it ends reasonably well, and, like co-creator Damon Lindelof’s HBO series Watchmen, would probably be best served by remaining a one-and-done. You can stream Mrs. Davis here.


Bel-Air (2022 – , renewed for a fourth and final season)

Though the first season had promise but earned mixed reviews, the Fresh Prince reboot really came into its own in its second and third seasons. It’s jarring for fans of the beloved original to tune in to find a straight drama with the same premise—one that often leans into heavy realism. Jabari Banks plays Will Smith, a 16-year-old from West Philadelphia who gets movin’ with his auntie and uncle in Bel-Air following a gun charge and a run-in with a local drug lord. Banks is charismatic and believable, bringing a ton of personality to a show that occasionally veers down dark alleys. You can stream Bel-Air here.


Based on a True Story (2023 – 2024)

We’re definitely in Only Murders in the Building territory here, with a true crime enthusiast and armchair detective starting a podcast based on a series of local killings. The twist here is that Ava Bartlett (Kaley Cuoco) and her husband, Nathan (Chris Messina) realize that they know the serial killer they’re investigating (Tom Bateman), and realize that they’re sitting on a goldmine. Instead of turning him in, they’ll make a podcast about him (don’t worry: they’re not really meant to be likable). The show takes a while (nearly too long) to finds its voice, but once it does, it’s becomes a solid satire of capitalism and fame culture, going to dark places in considering what our true-crime obsessions really say about us. You can stream Based on a True Story here.


One of Us is Lying (2021 – 2022, two seasons)

Another murder mystery series, this time based on a young adult novel from Karen M. McManus. Here it’s a group of five high schoolers who show up to detention, only to have one of them die of what at first appears to be an allergic reaction. One of the students, Simon, runs a blog that reveals everyone’s secrets, and when it starts to look like murder, there are an awful lot of suspects. The premise isn’t wildly original, but it’s a solid, effectively twisty-turny mystery series that dovetails surprisingly well into its second season. You can stream One of Us is Lying here.


The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2024)

Adapted from the Heather Morris novel, itself based on a true story, Tattooist follows Lali and Gita (Jonah Hauer-King and Anna Próchniak, with Harvey Keitel as an older Lali), who meet as prisoners during the Holocaust. Lali is given the task of tattooing numbers on the arms of prisoners, a job which grants him a small bit of privilege and room for his romance with Gita to develop, even amid the inhuman horrors surrounding them. You can stream The Tattooist of Auschwitz here.


The Lost Symbol (2021, one season)

By this point, we know what to expect with these Dan Brown adaptations: “Symbologist” Robert Langdon will put his hyper-specific skillset to use in uncovering a conspiracy the likes of which are rarely encountered by academics. And archaeologists don’t often come across lost arks and temples of doom, so this is a realm of disbelief that we’re perfectly content to suspend, especially following the Ron Howard/Tom Hanks movie series that began with The DaVinci Code. That team adapted three of the five books, but skipped this one for some reason, and so here we are: a new Robert Langdon, now played by Succession’s Ashley Zukerman, on the hunt for his kidnapped mentor as part of a mystery that’s tied up with the Freemasons. It’s talky, rather overly so, but works as a polished mystery that will absolutely appeal to fans of the films. You can stream The Lost Symbol here.


John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise (2021)

I was born in Chicago in the years just following the John Wayne Gacy murders, the facts of which weren’t kept from my extremely impressionable young ears. So, you know…not big into clowns, and I have a slightly fraught relationship with the true crime genre. There’s a bit more going on in director Rod Blackhurst’s true crime docuseries, though, than just wallowing in Gacy’s gruesome crimes. While the common (and not inaccurate) image of Gacy is as someone who ingratiated himself with victims by performing as a clown, there’s more to the story than that. His volunteer work, his role as the head of a contracting business, as well as involvement in local politics seemed to obscure his intentions, and kept both police and the media from digging as deeply as they should have into his criminal record. Almost as disturbing as the crimes themselves is the extent to which we can be taken in by someone who meets all our expectations of an upright citizen. You can stream Devil in Disguise here.


Rutherford Falls (2020 – 2022, two seasons)

Writer and producer Sierra Teller Ornelas joins Ed Helms and Michael Schur (The Office) for a warm and delightful sitcom with an unexpected premise: Helms plays Nathan Rutherford, a descendent of the guy whose statue has a prominent spot in town. His best friend is Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding), who runs the local cultural center for the (fictional) Minishonka tribe. The two are on completely different sides of the big issues that arise when the mayor wants to take down the old statue (mostly because it’s in a bad spot and cars keep running into it), but work to maintain their friendship anyway. It’s a big-hearted show that isn’t afraid to get into complicated conversations, buoyed by the record number of Indigenous writers on staff, as well as Ornelas herself: In addition to her writing credits for shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superstore, she’s a sixth-generation Diné weaver, and that perspective is a huge part of the show’s success. You can stream Rutherford Falls here.


Saved by the Bell (2020 – 2021, two seasons)

Look. You probably already have a sense if this is for your or not. Surprisingly, though, Saved by the Bell has is more successful than some of the other recent reboots of YA-skewing, family friendly sitcoms from back in the day (RIP Punky Brewster). Rather than bring back the old cast and coasting on nostalgia, the reboot introduces an entirely new generation of teens and lets them have their own lives and adventures, with humor that’s a bit smarter and more self-aware than the original show managed. Of course, plenty of the old gang (meaning: almost everyone) show up here and there, so you Gen-Xers and elder Millennials won’t be totally left wanting. The show’s post-second-season cancellation was a disappointment. You can stream Saved by the Bell here.


Dr. Death (2021, miniseries)

The docudrama, based on a true crime podcast which was, in turn, an investigation into the story of the real-life Dr. Christopher Duntsch, is at least as terrifying as the story of John Wayne Gacy in Peacock’s documentary on that serial killer. Duntsch, played here by Joshua Jackson, was a wildly overconfident but dangerously incompetent surgeon who maimed or killed the overwhelming majority of his patients in incidents that, according to investigators, were entirely avoidable. The series dramatizes the events that lead up to the revocation of his medical license, long after alarms had been raised about his record, as well as heavy substance abuse. The well-acted show asks exactly the right questions: Why was he able to get away with it for so long, and how did so many people and employers fall for his carefully crafted facade in the face of his horrific track record? You can stream Dr. Death here.


The Capture (2019 – , two seasons)

There are several imports on this list; Peacock is just too new to have a large stable of homegrown shows, but they’ve managed a handful of impressive acquisitions. In this British series, a young, ambitious detective with the London police department is tasked with the investigation of a soldier who’d only recently been exonerated for a war crime, but who seems to have turned around and assaulted and then kidnapped his lawyer (well, OK, his barrister). There’s plenty of police procedural drama and international intrigue, but the show has a slightly different target: it’s looking at the dangers of our reliance on CCTV surveillance, and on the dangers of a widespread assumption that cameras don’t lie. London is one of the most heavily surveilled cities in the world, so there’s a particularly British point of view here, but the issues will be recognizable to anyone who’s spent time in any major city. No word yet on a potential third season. You can stream The Capture here.


Killing It (2022 – , two seasons)

With this show about a wide array of grifters and con artists and a cash-strapped bank security guard who hopes to change his fortunes by killing snakes, Peacock has produced one of the sweetest, most surprisingly humane shows in a TV landscape full of much darker stories. At the outset, Craig Foster (Craig Robinson) loses his job after his brother robs the bank that Craig works for. If you’re in need of cash in the state of Florida, what else are you gonna do but hunt pythons? Craig, with no experience whatsoever, teams up with an Uber-driver friend (Claudia O’Doherty) to cash in on a state-sponsored contest. The show approaches even its sleaziest characters with empathy, and while it’s not the funniest comedy on streaming, it’s smartly written and bound to squeeze your heart like a python. You can stream Killing It here.


Those About to Die (2024)

Roland Emmerich is one of the primary names behind this short-lived series, which gives you a sense of the vibe: It’s big, loud, frequently obvious—but also an awful lot of fun. It plays as a soap opera set during the opening days of the Roman Colosseum under Emperor Vespasian (Anthony Hopkins). While the emperor’s sons struggle for dominance, the proprietor of Rome’s largest betting tavern, Tenax (Iwan Rheon) forms an unlikely alliance with Cala (Sara Martins), a black Numidian. She came to Rome in pursuit of her children, taken into slavery by Roman soldiers, and there’s nothing she won’t do to secure their safety. You can stream Those About to Die here.

Bullpen joining in on the fun for red-hot Phillies

Bullpen joining in on the fun for red-hot Phillies originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CINCINNATI — With proven bats littered throughout the lineup and a starting pitching staff that has been among the best in baseball, it’s a real good sign that the Phillies’ bullpen has been more than pulling its weight lately.

It has heavily contributed to a run that has seen the Phillies win five of their last six series and seven of their last eight games heading into Tuesday’s contest with the Cincinnati Reds.

After the Phillies got three scoreless innings from the bullpen in Monday’s 4-1 win over the Reds, the relievers have allowed just one earned run in the past 23 2/3 innings for a 0.38 ERA.

No question the addition of closer Jhoan Duran has been a boost to a group that has had its struggles this year, but that alone can’t be the reason for the good showings of late.

Jordan Romano’s difficulties this year have been numerous, as he’ll be the first to tell you, but he’s gone eight of his last nine outings without giving up a run or a hit. He picked up the win Monday with a perfect seventh inning.

“During the course of the year, every facet of the team goes through ebbs and flows,” Romano said. “I think we’re just kind of flowing right now, everyone is doing their job. Duran has been a huge addition, having that guy in the ninth to lock it down and then everybody just kind of trickles from there, has been a huge help. Everyone just kind of going well right now.”

So well that the team has upped its lead over the Mets to six games and is still looking to get some pitching reinforcements with Jose Alvarado expected to join the bullpen next week after serving his 80-game suspension and starter Aaron Nola perhaps also being back as soon as next week.

“I see a lot of good arms and a lot of guys that don’t have any fear to go in there,” David Robertson, who joined the team on Sunday and made his debut Monday, said. “I’ve only been here two days and so far I feel like I’ve walked in here with open arms and these guys are doing their thing. I’m just so happy to join them and be a part of this ‘pen.”

It’s a good group to be a part of right now.

“I think we’re still getting the good pitching and with the Duran and Robertson additions now we’ve got a lot of length, options in the bullpen,” Rob Thomson said. “We’re getting some timely hitting right now and everybody is contributing. A good little run here.”

Health updates

After throwing on flat surface for a bit Tuesday, hours before the game, Zack Wheeler wandered to the side of the field by himself, in front of the Phillies’ dugout, and worked on his windup. He didn’t throw the ball as it appeared he was more looking at his footwork leading up to going into the windup.

Wheeler has been dealing with shoulder soreness for the past few weeks and his start on Sunday in Texas saw a dip in his velocity on all his pitches. After the game, in which Wheeler went five innings and threw 83 pitches, both he and Thomson said all was good, that there was nothing major to worry about.

Monday, Thomson said Wheeler felt great and is on schedule for his next start, which is scheduled for Friday in Washington. He reiterated that on Tuesday, saying that Wheeler will throw a bullpen Wednesday, then be good to go.

Nola was scheduled to start Tuesday for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and if all goes well he may be back to Philadelphia very shortly.

“We’re still talking about that one,” Thomson said. “We’re going to wait until he gets through this, talk to him tomorrow, see where he’s at, see where Ranger (Suarez) is at after tonight’s game.”

Thomson said Nola’s limit was 85 pitches.

The reference to Suarez could be a hint that, if Nola is good enough to come up to the big club, Thomson is leaning toward using a six-man rotation at points down the stretch. Suarez has had a dip in velocity his past few outings. Over his last five starts, he’s allowed 18 earned runs in 30 innings (5.40 ERA).

Friday is decision day for the Phillies and third baseman Alec Bohm. Thomson said Bohm will flip-flop between third and designated hitter in Lehigh Valley this week before a decision is made with him.

Fulton to return to Timberwolves for pre-season

CJ Fulton featured for the Minnesota Timberwolves during their NBA Summer League win over Phoenix Suns in July [Getty Images]

CJ Fulton will return to the United States in September to link up with NBA side the Minnesota Timberwolves for their pre-season.

The former Belfast Star player featured for the Timberwolves in the NBA Summer League, where he played four minutes in their 89-85 win against the Phoenix Suns last month.

The appearance made him the third Irish-born player to take to the court at the highest level in the United States after Pat Burke and Susan Moran and, after impressing in Las Vegas, he has been invited back to train with the squad.

Fulton has not signed a deal with the NBA franchise, but will now get the opportunity to prepare for the season with the franchise’s full roster, including All Star Anthony Edwards.

The back-to-back Western Conference finalists are scheduled to play six exhibition games, including hosting Guangzhou Loong Lions of China, before their regular-season opener against the Denver Nuggets on 27 October.

Fulton initially caught the attention of the Timberwolves with his displays in the college game where he represented Lafayette and the Charleston Cougars, averaging 7.8 points and 6.5 assists per game for the latter during his senior year.

The 22-year-old missed out on selection in the NBA draft in June but can still realise his dream of appearing in the league.

Although the G-League – the NBA’s team-affiliated development league – or a professional career in Europe remain options for the former St Malachy’s College pupil, securing a place on an NBA roster is still the primary goal.

Wyc Grousbeck reportedly will not stay on as Celtics governor after sale of team is finalized

When the then-record $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics to Bay Area tech investor Bill Chisholm was announced, part of the deal was that current team governor Wyc Grousbeck would stay in that role until 2028.

Nope. Grousbeck will step aside and Chisholm will take over as the team’s governor when the sale is completed soon, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.

This isn’t a shock, and it echoes what happened with Mark Cuban’s sale of the majority of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and her family. Cuban thought and announced that he was going to stay on and oversee basketball operations, but that turned out not to be the case (the Luka Doncic trade would never have happened on his watch).

With Jayson Tatum out for most, if not all, of next season, Chisholm’s Celtics have been aggressive in reducing their payroll and associated luxury tax, trading away Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, among others. All their moves have knocked the Celtics’ tax bill down by about $300 million for next season, although the team still has the fifth highest payroll in the league and remains $12 million into the luxury tax (don’t be shocked if Boston makes another move or two in an effort to get below that number and reset the repeater tax). All that cost-cutting is going to hit the Celtics on the court, where they still have an impressive top of the roster led by Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, but things get thin pretty quickly with this group.

Choosing to make this a gap year and reduce an enormous tax bill is defensible, even smart, in a season where the Celtics are not expected to compete for a title due to Tatum’s injury. The real test of Chisholm as an owner comes in a year: What is he willing to spend to rebuild a contending roster? With Tatum and Brown at the top, as well as others such as White, the Celtics have the foundation of a team that could hang banner No. 19, but will the new ownership spend what it takes to fill out the roster with quality and win?

Bradley Beal on joining Clippers: ‘I need a ring. I need one bad.’

Bradley Beal had options after he agreed to a buyout with Phoenix that allowed the Suns to waive-and-stretch the remaining money on his contract — Beal was a free agent. Teams from across the league were calling.

Beal chose the Los Angeles Clippers. Why? To win a ring, he told Tamar Sher of KMOV 4 when Beal was back in his hometown of St. Louis.

“I feel like I’ve got a new life of rejuvenation for sure, a new hunger.”

Beal is stepping into a key role with the Clippers, the one Norman Powell played at a near All-Star level for the team last season: Sharpshooter to space the floor, being a secondary shot creator on the wing next to James Harden, and running the second unit. Beal has come to a team that should win a lot of games: The Clippers were a 50-win team last season and should be improved after adding solid veteran depth around Harden and Kawhi Leonard, such as Brook Lopez as a backup center and John Collins at the four.

But are they contenders? Can Harden be trusted in the playoffs? Will Leonard be healthy?

The other challenge for coach Tyronn Lue will be balancing a deep roster, but one that has some one-way players. For example, do the Clippers start Beal next to Harden for the offense, or start Kris Dunn for the defense? Is Collins the starting four, or does he come off the bench and Derrick Jones Jr. starts because of his superior defense? Lue tried not to play Dunn and Jones Jr. together last season because it ruined the team’s floor spacing. Lue has to find that balance again.

Beal has joined a team where he feels comfortable, is going to have a big role, and is going to do a lot of winning in the regular season. However, he may not need to formalize his ring size just yet.