Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Yeah, never mind, fam. None of that shit happened — yet — except for Russell Westbrook going to the Los Angeles Lakers, which was by far the biggest trade of the evening.

It started before Kris Bryant was called up. Fuck, it probably started the day Anthony Rizzo signed his extension. This was the day the Cubs told everyone they dreaded, but secretly couldn’t wait for.

Hey, so, cool story. Remember that one time I wrote about how Max Scherzer was totally going to the San Diego Padres like five hours ago? Also, unrelated — have you ever seen “Elf” with Will Ferrell? Well, if you have (or if you haven’t, whatever), there’s a scene where Buddy the Elf, played by Ferrell, plans out the…Read more...

I don’t know about this one, chief.Read more...

The San Diego Padres are officially buyers.

Charles Barkley once said, “What do you call a power forward that only averages six rebounds per game?” Someone said, “what?” And the answer was, “A small forward.” That was funny as shit.

The New York Yankees were one of those bubble teams heading into Hot Stove season. They weren’t in the best position — barely above .500 in one of the toughest divisions in baseball — but had the tools, money, and prospects to grab players at the deadline and maybe make a late-season push for a Wild Card berth. It…Read more...

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned to Green Bay recently after a tumultuous offseason filled with uncertainty regarding the reigning MVP’s future with the Packers organization. In his first press conference since his return, Rodgers wasted no time tearing into the Packers’ front office stating that although…Read more...

An American gymnast has won the gold medal in the women’s individual all-around… again. For the last five years, since the 2016 Rio Games, it has been assumed that the gold medal would be returning to the United States, with Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time, expected to do the honors for the second…Read more...

People pay more attention to these rumors than the games, it seems. You believe that shit?

There are a couple hard and fast rules in wrestling:Read more...

Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young are Olympic gold medalists now. They should also be the catalysts for a permanent change in both WNBA and NBA basketball.Read more...

Hockey is shitty.Read more...

Admittedly, I’ve spent the week in a blind rage thanks to the trade deadline in MLB. And that’s due to my former baseball flame, the Cubs, making a spectacle of themselves. But I’ve written that article, and may have to write it again later today should this be the day the Cubs ship Kris Bryant off for the three kids…Read more...

Picture this:Read more...

Again, if you see a dude here that you label a shooting guard, then whatever. Think of this more as “Swingmen II.” If your favorite swingman wasn’t mentioned on either, then perhaps they’ll make the sleepers for Saturday, Saturday Sleepers, whatever the editors call ‘em. If he is a part of none of the above, then sign…Read more...

If you’re like most sports fans, the 2021 NBA Draft is probably the last thing on your mind right now.

There’s an old saying among NHL general managers that today’s free agent signing is tomorrow’s salary cap dump. Unfortunately, no general managers live by this saying, because there’s another old saying among NHL general managers: Today’s mistake is the next guy’s problem.

We should have enjoyed it more, if it is indeed over: the period of time where Manchester United couldn’t stop tripping over its own dick, burned through name managers simply because they had a name, bought mediocre players for astronomic prices simply to appear to be in action, and generally spun their wheels. All of…Read more...

The weirdest thing about the NBA draft is the longstanding practice that once draft day comes, there’s no more trading draft picks. It makes some sense within the framework of the league rules and salary cap, but every year, it results in weird situations where a player is drafted by a team that he’s never going to…Read more...

OK, look, Team USA wasn’t losing to Iran.

I told y’all this team was about that action.Read more...

As we said when this first broke, the task for the Dodgers is the simplest one. And it appears that they’re at least thinking about walking that road, as the team puts it into the water that they might just ditch Trevor Bauer at the first rest stop they can find before driving off.

You can’t really expect Mariners players to get it. Although the idea that GM Jerry Dipoto has to come down to the clubhouse to OK any decision he wants to make isn’t how things work in any company. The fans are probably in between, because they went into this season pretty much only looking forward to what they would…Read more...

The MLB trade deadline is this Friday, July 30 at 4 p.m. EST. Already we’ve seen big names like All-Stars Nelson Cruz and Adam Frazier get moved to contenders within the last week. There will certainly be several more moves before the deadline. Currently, there are 18 teams either in position to make the playoffs or…Read more...

Good news Texans fans! You may not have a strong defense, good head coach, tons of early draft capital, or a quarterback devoid of controversy, but what you do have is one of Aaron Rodgers’ favorite targets from his past and a team willing to do anything to keep Rodgers happy.Read more...

Apparently, Patrick Mahomes’ ambitions include not only figuratively taking over Kansas City, but pulling out his wallet to literally make it a reality.

At the top, it should be stated that there were plenty of reasons for the U.S. Women’s National Team to never take their foot off the brakes this morning against Australia. Going balls-out wouldn’t have won them the group, with Sweden getting their gimme against New Zealand at the same time. No matter where the U.S.…Read more...

Disclaimer: If you don’t see a guy here that you think is a shooting guard, he might be a small forward. What’s the difference nowadays? Who knows? Do you know anyone that plays one of the two positions and not the other? In fantasy and in 2K, nearly every two can play the three, and vice versa, and that’s probably…Read more...

It’s safe to say at this point that the USA men’s basketball team has not lived up to its expectations. The team consists of some of the best players in the world, and yet, despite the abundance of talent, Team USA continues to fall short against lesser opponents. No matter what head coach Gregg Popovich says about “…Read more...

The flat salary cap continues to make things awfully weird in the NHL — weirder than we might have ever imagined.

The strength of Simone Biles should be celebrated.Read more...

While most of us were sleeping, the Team USA women’s basketball squad outlasted Nigeria, 81-72, in its Olympic opener last night. No, they didn’t blow out their opponents, as their male counterparts also failed to do in their 83-76 loss — but at least they freaking won.Read more...

Lydia Jacoby personified what makes the Olympic Games so special.Read more...

Hey did you want to hear a white man complaining about not having his own way anymore? Oh, really? Huh. Well here’s Mike Milbury anyway.

It’s been a bit since we’ve had some proper baseball beef. As any wrestling fan will tell you, the best storylines that pay off biggest are the ones that cover a long time, sometimes years. Clearly that’s the lesson that Javy Baez and Amir Garrett have learned. Last night’s chapter:

The greatest gymnast of all time, Simone Biles, pulled out of the team competition at the Tokyo Games according to officials.

ORLEANS, Mass. — The fever dreams of everyone at the offices of Major League Baseball who frets about the aging population of the fanbase look a lot like the scene found one night in early July in Orleans, Massachusetts, home of the Cape Cod League’s Orleans Firebirds.

Well, it looks like things are finally turning around in the Green Bay soap opera.Read more...

The fact that Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is allowed anywhere near a football field is despicable, yet here we are. Watson reported to the Texans facility yesterday for COVID testing in advance of training camp, while also reiterating his stance that he will not play for the team this year. The Texans…Read more...

While the lead story of the NHL’s weekend is — and should be — Montreal GM Marc Bergevin ignoring all decency, logic, and the player’s own wishes to draft alleged sex criminal Logan Mailloux, that doesn’t mean it was the only story. The NHL is in a strange place these days, with the salary cap staying flat for at…Read more...

I have a question.Read more...

You probably don’t know the name Vinko Bogataj, but if you’re a sports fan of a certain age, you’ve seen him in action more times than you can count.

There’s a lot of talk about how 3x3 basketball is different from regular basketball, and it absolutely is. It’s faster-paced, more physical, harder to play defense — lots of stuff. There’s also a funny sense that the best 5-on-5 basketball players in the world might have trouble at 3x3, and need an adjustment period…Read more...

Free agency, the part many of you care about most, begins the evening of August 2.

Amid all the chaos, and now finally fully rostered, does Team USA have enough to win the gold medal? The short answer is yes, but as we know regarding international play, chemistry is much more of a deciding factor than the talent of your roster alone.Read more...

The Olympics are always full of surprises, and right at the beginning of the Tokyo Games, there’s already a stunner: the first vaccine-shunning idiot to ruin things for a bunch of other people isn’t an American.Read more...

Aaron Rodgers has been making Packers’ fans sweat for months now, whether it be through expressing his displeasure with the organization while hosting Jeopardy or through his inaction during the most pivotal moments of this offseason. Rodgers has made cryptic comment after cryptic comment attempting to avoid any sort…Read more...

​​Had Logan Mailloux been picked in the second round of the NHL draft, as ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reported was likely to have happened, it still would have been gross. It just would have slipped into the second day of the draft, sparing hockey some embarrassment that even though the admitted sex offender asked that he…Read more...

The Yankees’ pursuit of Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, reported by ESPN’s Buster Olney, is apparently serious enough that Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, not the throw-it-against-the-wall-to-see-if-it-sticks type, speculated Friday about the implications that acquiring the All-Star would have on New York with regard to the…Read more...