William Vincent Afton June 26th 1944 - March 7th 1993 (48)
William Vincent "Billy" Afton was born on June 26th 1944 in Southampton, Great Britain. During birth, his father Charles Elias "Chuck" Afton (1910 - 1944) who was a WW2 soldier had already died during D-day on June 6th 1944 before William's birth. His mother, Cynthia Afton (Smith) (1920 - 1944) died during William's childbirth due to complications which left William as an born orphan. He was permanently adopted to his aunt Jane Smith (1921 - 1997) until someone else could take the care of the newborn boy. Eventually, William would be adopted to the hands of his grandparents living in the U. S.
Earlier in 1928, William's father "Chuck" aged 18 and was ready for military basic training and therefor left his family in Liverpool for Southampton in the UK. A year later in 1929, his parents (William's grandparents) suffered from the Great depression (1929 - 1933) which eventuelly led to them migrating to the US in goal to reach California for their fortune. Their son Chuck stayed in the military camp and would later settle in the area, found a wife and family. Thus the family was separated. Since Chuck's parents Vincent (1880 - 1962) and Sarah Afton (1878 - 1964) were old and poor they never reached California and settled in the town of Hurricane, Utah, US.
In 1933 after the depression, a bow hunter named Fred Bear (1902 - 1988) in Chicago, Illinois, US catched a bear who he named Fredbear the Bear (1933 - 1973).
From 1933 to 1935, Vincent and Sarah would eventuallt find jobs and build up their economy.
In 1935 bowhunter Fred Bear visited Hurricane and showed off his bear to the couple. Vincent always had a love of bears and now that he was wealthy he bought the bear. Instead of changing the bear's name, he added the surname Afton to the bear. Fredbear Afton the Bear entered and Vincent formed a singin' show for the bear the same year he bought it. He named the company FSS Entertainment were FSS stood for the attractions name, Fredbear's Singin' Show.
Back to 1944, on December 12th William finally reached his grandparents in the US. His grandpa Vincent was a former British corporal during the First World War, arms collector during the interwar period, telegrapher during the Second World War, but since the purchase of the bear had approached the entertainment company FSS Entertainment, which would then be his last job in life. William's grandma Sarah had a long series of simple jobs. Everything from model to waiter and fashion designer.
In 1945, William's first memory came when his grandparents took him to the singin' show's 10-year-anniversary were he could see the bear dance, sing and do tricks. This memory of the show would keep William determined to keep the entertainment alive and eventually try to recreate the show once Fredbear the Bear died. On that year, his grandpa Vincent retired as a telegrapher but kept the job as the owner and CEO of the Singin' show. The co-owner who was grandma Sarah had already retired in 1943 but just like Vincent kept the position of co-owner for the singin' show.
In 1949, William entered little school.
In 1953, William entered middle school.
In 1956, William entered high school.
In 1959, William entered college were he studied the work of Walt Disney. William's goal was to find a way to recreate the Singin' Show and the bear itself once it died. To be able to recreate the bear from mascotsuits he studied the mascot artwork of Walt Disney were he would later visit during class in 1961.

1. William and his collegeclass visits Disneyland to see the work of Walt Disney.

In 1962, William reached 18 and was thereby an adult. On July 2nd 1962 his grandpa Vincent dies at the age of 82. The new owner of the Singin' show passes to his wife who becomes the owner of the bussiness while William becomes co-owner with a little knowledge of driving the bussiness. William entered university to learn more about marketing and law to be able to thrive his grandpas bussiness in the future.
Since his grandpa stood hard on the family tradition on military stuff William entered military training in 1963.
On December 1st 1964, William's grandma Sarah dies at the age of 86 which makes William the Singin' Shows new owner. Since William was 6 months away from graduating from university he was already ready to take over the bussiness. Once his grandparents were dead, William sold the old house and moved to his first appartment. Thankfully, his military camp made it possible for William to support himself on food and money.
In 1965, after the Singin' show's 30th anniversary, William met his future girlfriend and wife Clara Selene Schmidt (1948 - 2035) on the newly opened local bar named JR's. The two started dating.
In early 1968, William was recruited to the Vietnam war and for the moment left his girlfriend for two years. Meanwhile in US, Clara who now was a professional dancer also became the temporarly owner of William's Singin' Show bussiness although William technically still was the owner.
In 1970, the US began to withdraw their troops from Vietnam and William eventually came home from Vietnam with high salary. During his return he was met with a warm hugg from his girlfriend were he with the help of his salary from war could afford a new house. At the same time he purposed to his girlfriend Clara and on July 19th 1970 the two married. Clara Schmidt became Clara Afton after the marriage. Between 1970 to 1973 William would try to build up his future bussiness of Fredbear's that would take over once Fredbeat the bear died.
In 1972, the Afton couple got a son named Michael Terrence Afton (1972 - 2023).
In 1973, Fredbear Afton the Bear went sick and passed away. William, overprepared for this event to happen, shut down the Singin' Show and formed the newly branded Fredbear's Entertainment (1973 - 1979) with the restaurant Fredbear's Family Diner as the main attraction consisting of Fredbear in a yellowbear mascotform aswell as a new yellowrabbit mascotsuit-character called Bonnie the Bunny. Although William's mascot-suits were rough his bussiness rose in popularity. William was the smartest and the first but obviously he wasn't the best and the most creative.
In 1974, his family would grow when his second son and middle child XXXX "Bite Victim", "Crying Child" Afton (1974 - 1983) was born.
In 1976, William and Clara got their last child. A daughter named Elizabeth Victoria Afton (1976 - 1987).

1. After the Diner's 5th anniversary, a rival restaurant was established with the same concept except that the mascotsuits was replaced with battery-controled animatronics. No human required. The company was called CPW Entertainment (1978 - 1979) were CPW standed for the company's restaurant "Chica's Party World". The company's onwer war Henry Emily (1946 - 2023) along with his wife and co-owner Emeilie Emily (1950 - 1980). This Henry was William's rival who had created this big and genius complex. William both adored his work as well as hated him at the same time.
   
2. William's Fredbear's eventually fell in bankruptcy and was bailed out by Henry's CPW Entertainment. With that humiliation the two rival franchises merged into one, becoming "FFD Entertainment" (1979 - 1983) were FFD standed for their main attraction and restaurant called Fredbear's Family Diner. This time Fredbear became their official headliner since he was the original mascot along with characters from the Party World as well. Since some of the characters were mediocre they faded away and William and Henry began planning on bringing newly fit characters for the franchise. First through their newly launched merchandise, they created Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Bunny and Foxy the Pirate Fox. A show consisting of the five characters was launched excluding William's golden version of Bonnie to get rid of some mixovers between the two bunnies. Since his new partner was a robot engineer William was speedrunning an engineering degree. The two invented a Springlock suit were the suit could both work as a Henry style robot and a William mascot costume. Since their Springlocks suits were limited they only consisted in William's characters Fredbear and the Golden Bunny who now got the new name Springbonnie to prevent mixups with the blue Bonnie version.
   

In 1980, Henry's daughter Charlotte "Charlie" Emily (1980 - 1983) is born. During her birth, Henry's wife Emilie dies in childbirth.

1. On March 3rd, 10 years after William launched Fredbear's Entertainment he and Henry formed a restaurant for the four new characters + Henry's Chica the Chicken. FFD's second restaurant Freddy Fazbear's Pizza (1983 - 1985) was launched.

The rest is Scott's history...

Before I start, let me remind you the question:
Hits are great, but so are RBIs! In 12.sql, write a SQL query to find the players among the 10 least expensive players per hit and among the 10 least expensive players per RBI in 2001.

• Your query should return a table with two columns, one for the players’ first names and one of their last names.
• You can calculate a player’s salary per RBI by dividing their 2001 salary by their number of RBIs in 2001.
• You may assume, for simplicity, that a player will only have one salary and one performance in 2001.
• Order your results by player ID, least to greatest (or alphabetically by last name, as both are the same in this case!).
• Keep in mind the lessons you’ve learned in 10.sqland 11.sql!

And, here is my code:

SELECT "first_name", "last_name" FROM "players" JOIN "performances" ON "performances"."player_id" = "players"."id" JOIN "salaries" ON "salaries"."player_id" = "players"."id" AND "salaries"."year" = "performances"."year" WHERE "performances"."year" = 2001 AND "players"."id" IN ( SELECT "player_id" FROM ( SELECT "performances"."player_id", "salaries"."salary" / "performances"."H" AS "cost per hit" FROM "performances" JOIN "salaries" ON "salaries"."player_id" = "performances"."player_id" AND "salaries"."year" = "performances"."year" WHERE "performances"."year" = 2001 ORDER BY "cost per hit" ASC LIMIT 10 ) INTERSECT SELECT "player_id" FROM ( SELECT "performances"."player_id", "salaries"."salary" / "performances"."RBI" AS "cost per rbi" FROM "performances" JOIN "salaries" ON "salaries"."player_id" = "performances"."player_id" AND "salaries"."year" = "performances"."year" WHERE "performances"."year" = 2001 ORDER BY "cost per rbi" ASC LIMIT 10 ) ) ORDER BY "players"."id"; 

But after I use check50, the response is:

Expected Output: Hunter, Torii Lo Duca, Paul Long, Terrence Doug, Mientkiewicz Albert, Pujols Aramis, Ramirez Actual Output: Hunter, Torii Lo Duca, Paul Long, Terrence Martinez, Pedro Doug, Mientkiewicz Albert, Pujols 

I think that check50 uses another database but that's not the problem. This is the second time I got this result. I have changed my code a few times, but I have never satisfied check50. Is check50 broken or have I done a mistake (again)?

Out of all the trades that he’s done since coming to Toronto, there’s only maybe 3 trades you can consider to be a “fleece” and even then it feels like those trades were done with win-win intentions in mind.
Here’s a list of notable trades he’s done as a Raptors executive.
July 10, 2013: Traded Andrea Bargnani to the New York Knicks for Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, Quentin Richardson, a 2014 2nd round draft pick (Xavier Thames was later selected), a 2016 1st round draft pick (Jakob Pöltl was later selected) and a 2017 2nd round draft pick (Jonah Bolden was later selected).
This is usually the trade that comes up when we talk about Masai fleecing another team, but it was essentially Bargnani for a bunch of dead salary as well as a FRP that was expected to be a late pick as the Knicks just came off of a 54 win season with Melo in his prime. In theory having a stretch 4 next to Tyson Chandler was a proven formula, and Bargs actually played well for a stretch prior to getting injured. I think he could’ve been a decent contributor if the Knicks continued their success from their prior year and Felton/JR didn’t fall off a cliff.
December 9, 2013: Traded Quincy Acy, Rudy Gay and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings for Chuck Hayes, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons and Greivis Vásquez.
Fair trade, don’t think anybody fleeced anybody here. If anything we gave up the better player, but it’s fine since Rudy didn’t really fit our team.
June 25, 2015: Traded Greivis Vásquez to the Milwaukee Bucks for Norman Powell and a 2017 1st round draft pick (OG Anunoby was later selected).
This is another trade that we usually refer to as a fleece, but only because we actually used those picks well. We could’ve easily drafted Harry Giles and Dakari Johnson with those picks and it wouldn’t ever have been considered a fleece. Vasquez was considered one of the better bench guards in the league when he was with us, nobody expected him to fall off so much after he got traded.
Traded Terrence Ross and a 2017 1st round draft pick (Anžejs Pasečņiks was later selected) to the Orlando Magic for Serge Ibaka. (2017 1st-Rd pick will be less favorable of TOR & LAC picks)
Not a fleece even though it worked out for us. Ross was a former lottery pick and we gave a FRP for Ibaka which is pretty fair value given his down year.
February 23, 2017: Traded Jared Sullinger, a 2017 2nd round draft pick (Alec Peters was later selected) and a 2018 2nd round draft pick (George King was later selected) to the Phoenix Suns for P.J. Tucker.
Basically salary + 2nds for half a season of PJ Tucker. Good trade but didn’t really work out for us either since PJ left in the off season.
July 13, 2017: Traded DeMarre Carroll, a 2018 1st round draft pick (Džanan Musa was later selected) and a 2018 2nd round draft pick (Rodions Kurucs was later selected) to the Brooklyn Nets for Justin Hamilton.
Had to give a FRP to get rid of a previous mistake in Carroll. The Nets got the better end of this trade IMO.
July 14, 2017: Traded Cory Joseph to the Indiana Pacers for Emir Preldžić.
Salary dump but I feel like we could’ve gotten some 2nds for Cojo atleast. Emir never played in the NBA.
February 8, 2018: Traded Bruno Caboclo to the Sacramento Kings for Malachi Richardson.
Fucking Malachi man, we gota stop signing Malachis to our team.
July 18, 2018: Traded DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Pöltl and a 2019 1st round draft pick (Keldon Johnson was later selected) to the San Antonio Spurs for Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and cash. (2019 1st-rd pick is top-20 protected.) $5MM
Absolute fleece considering the outcome, but it was well known that the Spurs wanted an established all star back in a trade instead of young talent. We just happened to have an all star in DeMar, and even then it took a lot of balls on our end given Kawhi openly said he wanted to be in LA. Had we not won the chip we would’ve gave up DemaJakob/FRP for a one year rental.
February 7, 2019: Traded C.J. Miles, Jonas Valančiūnas, Delon Wright and a 2024 2nd round draft pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for Marc Gasol.
Win-win trade. Grizzlies get a young big to restart their rebuild and we get a win now player in Gasol. JV gave them two decent years and netted them their current center in Adams who was pivotal in their recent success.
March 25, 2021: Traded Norman Powell to the Portland Trail Blazers for Rodney Hood and Gary Trent Jr.. Portland also received a trade exception
Win-win, Portland gets a win now player in Norm and we get a young replacement in Gary. Gary didn’t turn into the player we hoped and the Blazers ended up trading Norm for peanuts (which is their fault), but the idea behind the trade was a win win IMO.
August 6, 2021: Traded Kyle Lowry to the Miami Heat for Precious Achiuwa and Goran Dragic. Toronto also received a trade exception
Win win trade at the time, we send Kyle to where he wants to go and receive a young player in Precious. Unfortunate it didn’t work out.
February 10, 2022: Traded Goran Dragic and a 2022 1st round draft pick (Malaki Branham was later selected) to the San Antonio Spurs for Drew Eubanks, Thaddeus Young and a 2022 2nd round draft pick (Christian Koloko was later selected). Toronto also received a trade exception 2022 2nd-rd pick is DET own 2022 1st-rd pick is top-14 protected
Kind of a L for us, basically moving 10 spots down for Thad as well as getting rid of Dragic.
February 9, 2023: Traded Khem Birch, a 2023 2nd round draft pick (Sidy Cissoko was later selected), a 2024 1st round draft pick ( was later selected) and a 2025 2nd round draft pick ( was later selected) to the San Antonio Spurs for Jakob Poeltl. 2023 2nd-rd pick was TOR own conditional 2024 1st-rd pick is TOR own 2025 2nd-rd pick is TOR own
Hard to judge this trade yet. Could be a win win, could be a L but it was obviously done with win win intentions.
December 30, 2023: Traded Precious Achiuwa, OG Anunoby and Malachi Flynn to the New York Knicks for R.J. Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and a 2024 2nd round draft pick ( was later selected). Toronto also received a trade exception 2024 2nd-rd pick is DET own New York also received a trade exception
Win win trade so far.
So out of 15 trades only 3 are really considered a fleece, and that’s only because the Knicks unexpected imploded and we hit on the late picks from the Vasquez trade. Seems to me like Masai actually tries to make win win trades more often than not instead of one sided trades. Idk why people act like he’s trying to scam other teams every time.

Thankfully, without further incident, we made it to the boxing gym/decoy in the desert that was built over the underground arena, where I got some shit from my car and spray painted a penis on the wall before we left. We drove a ways away from the MSMAT arena, hitting the interstate as the sun slowly came up, before we opted to stop at a Waffle House for breakfast/dinner.
“So, why did you guys come for me?” Angel asked, while we ate waffles and beer.
“Alright, we’ll explain everything,” Zak said. “A few months ago we discovered an organization called ‘The California Hounds’ operating at high capacity when they rose in power after K’lah Tegothlku’s fall. We did a few raids on them, fought, whatever, but as of now, we discovered they were implementing their own super-soldier program and were using the MSMAT to look for the perfect candidate. They own the Mixed Species Martial Arts Tournament, like a parent company would.”
“So…?” I pressed.
“I had no idea, but by coincidence, Rita and Artemis, who I knew from before, ended up working for the MSMAT. We set some stuff up, and I got a full list of fighters for the 2023 season, and guess how surprised I was when I saw that my own little brother was making his debut.”
“Yeah, I didn’t know he was your brother at first, he looked too small.” Rita shrugged.
“That set everything up perfectly, but that also brought a new variable into the whole thing.” Zak continued, as he explained the mega Deep-State syndicate operation to me in the Waffle House. “From what we heard from Rita when she first became an informant for us, the MSMAT does a full background check before they even bring you on the payroll. Good thing is, I faked my death a long time ago and had all public and even confidential records of my entire existence erased. So as far as the MSMAT’s PIs care, you just had a brother named Terrence Creed who died in a car crash on the interstate in 2017.”
“Yeah, I got fucking worried after your buddies explained what you’ve been doing for the past few years, and I thought you showing up would fuck everything up for me.” I said.
“Oh, they knew who I was the moment I walked in,” Zak laughed. “My ‘disguise’ worked well for a bit, but they eventually caught on. It’s not that big of a deal for them though, guys working in supernatural and paranormal enforcement organizations show up here all the time.”
“Yeah, I was surprised too.” Rita added. “It’s frowned upon by both sides, but sometimes the psychos that work for DOSACD or the Hunter, and even the military, come down here to watch monsters fight each other to the death. The MSMAT was always illegal as fuck, but they weren’t really doing anything too over-the-top to catch the attention of the Department Of Supernatural And Cryptozoological Defense, until… now.”
“Zak, is it? You still haven’t thoroughly explained why you guys pulled me out of that place.” Angel asked.
Zak shrugged. “We paid off a higher-up manager in the MSMAT fighting organization team through Rita,” Zak said. “That’s how we knew about their whole plan. They were looking for a reigning champion who would continuously and consistently win, an intelligent individual strong and resilient enough to rival DOSACDs strongest soldiers. They brought in some strong bastards, and after Angel kept walking through them, the MSMAT decided she would be the perfect candidate after she won this year’s tournament. They were probably going to bribe you, or somehow force you to go through their experimentation and biological enhancement, and go to work for them as an enforcer.”
“I wouldn’t work for them anyway,” Angel replied.
“Yeah, but we couldn’t take the risk and couldn’t pull you out of there without it turning into a whole war. If you went out on your own the minute you found out about it and didn’t want you, they’d have dozens of superhuman fighters and enforcers to keep you in. And the other fighters have no idea about MSMAT’s whole ‘project’, by the way.”
“Shit, so… where do we go from here?”
“Well we were thinking,” Zak said.
“This is the part where we leave,” Sighar groaned.
“You could come work for our partner organization, DOSACD. Their salaries for starting positions in the Special Division start at fifty million dollars a year.”
“Well, Zak… that’s going to be a no from me,” she said. “I already have enough money from the MSMAT that I don’t have to work for another year or two and spend it on whatever I want. I’m also not too keen on working for DOSACD, because they’re an overlording shadow government organization that probably sacrifices babies to keep the moon gods satisfied or something,”
“You’re also not wanted by DOSACD as far as we know,” Roger said. “If you were, this would be a very, very different conversation. You’re one of the strongest superhuman entities out there, and it looks like you don’t have a ton of dirt on your hands. Congratulations, Angel, but seriously, I became a multi-millionaire in like six months and all I had to do was hop through a few dimensions and shoot a couple skinwalkers. Are you still sure you don’t want to join in and get the money while you still can? This is like bitcoin, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“Still, no.” Angel chuckled and rolled her eyes.
“Fuck, really?” Roger groaned, pulling out a bible-thick stack of cash and handing it to Kyle. “I bet a hundred grand that if Zak failed, I could convince our karate demon to switch over.”
“You guys are fucking crazy,” I muttered.
“Well, this went to fucking shit.” Zak said, standing up and throwing the Waffle House maple syrup bottle and his flask at the wall as hard as he could in frustration. “Who wants to go drink their troubles away?”
​
***
​
“Alright, listen.” Aria said, while we drank shots at some random Asian karaoke babilliard hall in the outskirts of Houston. “I wasn’t going easy on you, you were good. I’m just saying, I wasn’t trying to take your head off because Zak told me about the whole thing before.”
“Sure, sure.” I scoffed. “Excuses.”
“I could take your head off, if I was REALLY trying.” Aria replied.
“Everyone could,” Sighar rolled her eyes. “If I used an ounce of my supernatural powers, you’d be dust.”
“But you wouldn’t really do that, would you?” I laughed. “Even if I’m permanently suspended from the MSMAT, at least I left without a single loss. It’s crazy how I fought monsters with no experience and won.”
“You know Zak would have gotten mad if we just killed you and ended the operation,” Sighar said. “I don’t really like associating with DOSACD-affiliated fucks, let alone working with them, but I’ll make it an exception for this time only. Also Giovanni says there are ‘no rules’, but the only unspoken rule is that we can’t use over-the-top supernatural powers like telekinesis. It just makes the fights boring as shit to watch and they make less money, it’s like when Dagistanis roll around on the ground hugging instead of a four-round kickboxing match.”
“Aw, is someone talking about how bad DOSACD is?” Lamia laughed, flicking Sighar in the forehead. “You’re just mad I get paid ten times as much as you just to kill other demons.”
“Hey, at least I’m not a race traitor.” Sighar shrugged.
We all laughed.
“Angel,” my brother said, slamming his seventeenth shot glass back on the table after a ten minute-drunken conversation with the DOSACD’s leader about how he failed to bring the underground martial arts superstar and purebred killer. “So… where are you going after this? Even if you aren’t going to work for DOSACD, there’s some people who want to speak with you, they’re important.”
“Don’t know, Zak.” Angel shrugged, walking out the door. “Maybe I’ll go on a cross-country road trip with a lonely mysterious driver and an overpowered brat. I’ll see you later, guys.”
“Wait, we still have to… she’s gone.” Zak groaned.
“Leave it, she’s probably stealing someone’s car and heading across the country to work for a cult as we speak.” I said. “So, was your ‘mission’ a success?”
“Half-successful,” Zak replied. “We stopped MSMAT’s candidate process for their little counter super-soldier arms race, but, what Smith really wanted was to get another heavy-hitter to add to his personal kill squad.”
“Who the hell is ‘Smith’?” I asked.
“You don’t want to know,” Zak laughed.
“Hey,” Sighar said, tapping my shoulder as she pointed to her Patek. “It’s time, we should go.”
“Well, time to get hungover,” I said, stretching as I stood up and kicked over the barstool I was sitting on. “Off to our next adventure, assholes.”
“Good riddance,” Zak sighed. “Since you’re a millionaire now, I don’t have to send your monthly survival checks?”
“You still do bro,” I replied. “I still need beer money.”
“See you soon,” Aria said.
“We’re totally fired, so maybe we can come to the MSMAT undercover next year, as spectators.” Rita suggested.
“Yeah, Giovanni will gut me if he even catches wind of me and my five million dollars, no thanks.” I chuckled. “See you later, guys.”
I walked out of the bar, into the parking lot surrounded by desert as the sky glowed an odd purple-pink, the lack of light pollution making the stars bright and nice. I finally felt the dulled, slowly rising pain all over my entire body from the incomprehensible fucking shitshow I endured the past few days. The lack of sleep, energy drinks, drugs, and generally being a crazy chest-beating knuckle-dragging bastard were finally catching up to me… I found myself looking at the shimmering desert as I passed out and fell to the ground.
​
***
​
I woke up to the sound of ‘Bound 2’ blaring on the radio, as I looked up and saw that it was still nighttime, the sky looked like someone had sprinkled Columbian nose sugar onto a black mural.
“Ah shit… did I pass out?”
I sat up, my head throbbing and my entire body aching as the pain meds I took from before slowly wore off, realizing I was lying down in the backseat of a red Porsche 911, with Sighar in the driver’s seat, talking nonsense my jumbled head couldn’t make out yet.
“What?” I said, rubbing my ears.
“I said, you’re awake?” Sighar said. “I just know you feel like shit right now.”
“Yeah, seriously…” I replied. “I need to sleep, for like, a week. Also, how am I even in your car? Did you just take me or what?”
“I thought you were coming with me anyway?” She shrugged. “You don’t want to go back to your little trailer park, right?”
“I don’t live in a fucking trailer park,” I groaned, opening the window to get some fresh air.
“You have five million to spend, Rocco.”
“Yeah, and I bet the entire supernatural gangbanger alliance of California is hunting me down right now.”
“Relax,” Sighar laughed, pulling a Uzi out of the glove box. “There’s no way they can get us out here. This is the real world, I’m not gonna pull punches.”
“So where are we going?” I asked.
“I’m not ready to go back to my house and just train with UFC fighters all day, let’s do something. Don’t know, we’re both young dumb millionaires with nothing good left in our heads. I heard Monaco’s good this time of year.”
“Then I guess we’re going to-”
I saw my phone (somehow it was still alive) light up, with an Unknown Caller ID showing up on the screen. I accepted it, as someone with a heavy, greasy Middle Eastern accent spoke in a distinctly pissed tone.
“Fuck, it’s my manager,” I mouthed to Sighar.
“Hey, Rocco, my friend…” Argoub spoke. “I just got off the phone with Giovanni, and turns out, you fought all your matches well, but he was very pissed at how you ended the contract…”
“If you rat me out, I swear-”
“Relax, Rocco. I just told him that I couldn’t reach you because you also bailed out on me. Since I lied to him, I also found out that you ‘stole’ your five-million dollar paycheck, which I assume you have in cash.”
I could practically hear him rubbing his hands.
“Yeah, I got paid after some things went sideways, the MSMAT was kind of…. shady.”
“It’s a multi-million dollar underground fighting tournament with monsters and shit, of course it’s shady. Now, you have millions of dollars now, but since I was the one who set you up with Giovanni and brought you into their tournament, I expect a cut. Five hundred thousand dollars.”
I glanced at Sighar, covered the phone, and burst out laughing.
“This old fucker’s gone mad.” I said, muting the phone for a second while he screamed nonsense from the other side.
“Listen, Rocco.” Sighar suggested, smirking. “We got our entire lives ahead of us. Well, I’ll outlive you drastically and live to see this world burn when the inevitable eldritch devourer of the universe arrives, but fuck it. Tell this dickhead to go fuck himself and let’s ride this one out.”
“Oh, Sighar.” I grinned, before unmuting the phone. “You just read my CTE-ridden mind. Listen, Argoub, you barely did shit, and I was the one fighting and getting my bones broken while you were snorting coke and getting your dick sucked in Tijuana or whatever, so…”
“ROCCO!!” I heard him screaming. “FUCK!! ROCCO, YOU ASSHOLE!! I sent you the fucking Cashapp, and if I don’t see half a million right fucking now I’ll-”
“Hey,” I chuckled, glancing at the overstuffed bag of cash and the literal demon beside me. “Go fuck yourself.”
I hung up and blocked his number, laughing as I high-fived Sighar, speeding up and driving off into the night.
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IS IT...?

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/news/terrence-howard-sues-hollywood-agency-over-racist-empire-salary/ar-AA1le1cb?ocid=AMZN
Extract:

Terrence Howard is suing Hollywood agency CAA for an alleged conflict of interest over his salary on the hit show Empire.
Howard filed a lawsuit at the Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday (8 December) alleging that his agents prioritized the interests of themselves and the show’s producers in their dealings with Fox.
........actor claims they induced him to accept a below-market salary during his six-season stint on the series.
“I trusted CAA to look after me, and they looked after themselves,” said Howard.
CAA has thus far declined to comment.
Howard’s lawyer James Bryant said that the issue stems from “packaging fees”, where agents are paid directly by a studio for successfully attaching actors or a director to a writer’s pitch.
“Over the last several years, agencies have become much more powerful and found a much more lucrative way of making money,” said Bryant. “It’s by being the packaging agent, where you represent actors, producers, production companies and your own financial interest. That’s where that fiduciary duty begins to break down. That’s why we’re here today.”

Howard 'was paid $325,000 per episode “at the height of what I was being paid” in the show’s sixth season, which aired in 2020.'
Whereas Kevin Spacey in "House of Cards was paid $500,000 per episode for his role in the Netflix political drama."

Lakers fan coming in peace! My uncle is a Clippers fan and it has been fun going back and forth the last 4 or so years debating which injury plagued duo is going to win this LA War of Attrition.
Anyway, we were discussing Harden the other day and I was saying that I can’t imagine a scenario where Philly doesn’t ask for Terrence Mann back along with the requisite veteran salary filler (some combo of Morris, Batum, RoCo). I think this situation is unique in that both the Clippers and Sixers are in “win now” mode and future assets like draft picks are less desirable compensation.
Clippers have been a deep team in the Kawhi-PG era which is mainly why the team hasn’t managed to drop below .500 but it sounds like any deal for Harden guts that depth and gives up a promising guard of the future.
Kudos to TLue for finding a way to unlock Russ, unlike some Lakers fans I’m happy to see Russ thrive in a situation that suits him, clearly the fit was bad with the Lakers, but I also think that Russ’ presence maybe stunting some of TMann’s growth? It looked like he was really ready to break out prior to the Russ signing.
Anyway just want some civil discussion since in my opinion, Harden may not be the best fit at this stage of his career where he’s actually a better 1 guard than 2, which would make him redundant with Russ….but hey before COVID, Houston seemed to have unlocked the Russ-Harden pairing so who knows, all I know is having Kawhi play the 4 at this stage in his career is a daunting prospect.

I see a lot of fancasting for OPLA; and i get it. Have some of your favorite faces be some of your favorite characters is surely a happy thing. But let's not forget, even if OPLA is done by people with passion, needs to be profitable, and doable.
I think we all saw Randy Troy's videos about OPLA, specially for the casting, saying what does it means to casted on this project. For a lot of people, will be mortgaging ten or even fifteen years of their life to a project and be assured that they aren't going to give problems. Yeah, nice fancasting for Johnny Depp as Roger, very in the nose, but can we assure he will be willing to come back for the flashbacks, like the flashbacks with Garp during MArineford, or the flashback where he meets Rayleigh in the Sabaody Saga, arc where McKInley will need to come back because Arlong appears in a flashback, and who knows if Arlong comes back. For Bon Clay, someone will need to sign to be inte second season, maybe the fifth or fourth depending on where Impel Down comes, and habe clause that says that if Bon Clay reappears (aside from that cover) he will need to come back.
Just look at what happened to the actor playing Kang in the MCu, that because the things he've done may need a recasting.
I'm going to translate a thread of a Marvel fan in response to fancasting of the F4 reboot, so you have an idea of how casting is going to surely work.

1. Kevin Feige has just signed Jon Favreau to film Iron Man: a third-rate character (neither Fox nor Columbia/Sony wanted him). They decide to go for an actor who is in the doldrums and who has just come out of rehab. RDJ will be paid half a million, a bargain.

The film has a surprise cameo at the end: the $%& Sam Jackson. The one who had already been "fancasted" as Nick Fury in the Ultimate universe (a line conceived to "sell" Marvel characters to Hollywood). Jackson shot the cameo in an hour and a half. He charged between 100 and 200k. In return he signed an option for NINE films. Jackson was a star and had to be paid as such, one way or the other.
Come 2007 and The Incredible Hulk had to be made. After Ang Lee's and Eric Bana's delivery, Marvel once again uses cheap names at the time: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth... in general, they are either actors who at the time cost very little or their role is reduced to a cameo. It would be two years before, with Iron Man already a big hit, the next instalment of the MCU was launched. In 2008, the same year as the premiere of the first film, filming began on the second, which would be released two years later.
And the fights begin.
Terrence Howard, the original Rhodey, says that now that the thing is seen to give money, his contract has to be renegotiated. He deserves to be paid more, especially given the script and the importance of his character. His character mysteriously mutates and becomes Don Cheadle. Cheadle was no nobody at the time and he started out getting paid a million for IM2, mind you. So imagine what Howard was asking for. It might have been less, but he was fired preemptively, by the way.
And besides that, IM2 rescued a Mickey Rourke in low hours who also got paid cheaply and brought us Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. A role for a movie: the bad guy can be a star, because he's not going to repeat. IM2 was also Natasha Romanoff's debut in the UCM. Scarlett Johansson did have a much higher cache, and her performance would add $400k to her bank account/investment fund. For the next instalment she demanded a better wig.
The following year Thor and Cap arrived, and the chosen ones to play them were, once again, two unknowns (or almost). Hemsworth was paid 150k to play Loki, a pittance compared to what Portman and Hopkins got. Oh, and there was also a Tom Hiddleston... Evans had already been Johnny Storm with Fox (with mixed fortune at the box office) so he got a million for making us think he was a spoiled brat. And from there to the big time: Avengers. From the 140k it cost to produce the first Iron Man (which wasn't exactly small change) to 220k for this one. From Ramin Djawadi to an established director like Alan Silvestri. From surprising with semi-unknown characters to making them coincide on screen.
Did you notice something strange about the Hulk? EXACTLY! It wasn't Edward Norton! Let's see if you can guess what happened to him: he asked for more money. With the misfortune that his movie wasn't the smash hit that IM was. Enter Mark Ruffalo, 2-3 million here. Not bad. Ruffalo, on top of that, criticized the movie, the Marvel structure, wanted more creative control... In Hollywood that has a name: you're not a team player. And it usually means being politely shown the exit door.
From there, there's a limit to stinginess: actors who have seen their role consecrated with success have room to renegotiate salaries, everyone is more or less happy and everyone wins. That's why we're going to focus on the new additions. The system remains the same, with guest stars or cult actors for the big villain roles (Ben Kingsley! ROBERT REDFORD!) and "in-house" actors more or less taken care of and happy. But we have to add IPs, the mutis and the spider are still in other people's hands.
So one fine day in 2009 Kevin Feige decides "Let's make a movie with a talking raccoon and a tree that only says one sentence". Guardians of the Galaxy, or Marvel's biggest blunder up to that point, would be released in 2014. This film would break the trends a bit: Chris Pratt was paid about a million and a half for his role in the first installment. Remember that he came from a successful series like Parks & Recreation.
With Age of Ultron came (physically) Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen. Neither of them got paid millions, especially the second one. They are pocketing more per episode of the Wandavision series than they did for the film. The same goes for Anthony Mackie, who is getting paid more per episode of The Falcon and The Soldier... than he did for his appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
After the (less than expected) success of Ultron, another new and unknown IP for the general public arrives: Ant Man. Starring Michael Douglas, and a "basic" salary (I'd like that for myself...) for its main character: Paul Rudd will get a mere 300k. And in Civil War two things happen: the sadly ill-fated Chadwick Boseman debuts as Black Panther, earning a decent 700k. Tom Holland (basically best known for surviving Bayona's The Impossible) took 250k for his bit as Spidey.
The same year saw a small exception to this policy. Cumberbatch is an established star for Sherlock and they'll tell you he's everyone's only conceivable choice to play Stephen Strange. But in reality, Marvel was shuffling through options right up until the last minute. But because fandom agreed that it HAD to be him, Marvel had to give in and pay more than usual for his debut. Although it is not known exactly how much, it must have been close to 2 million.
With the stars consecrated by the affection of the public and their box office, which is what counts, the figure skyrockets. Chadwick Boseman was paid 1 million kilo for Black Panther... plus a percentage of the box office. The move worked out well for him.
The "mid-profile" actors in Avengers will end up getting between 3 and 7 million for the Infinity War + Endgame combo. Another success in the medium term. And the big stars... Well, we're getting lost here. It's estimated that, between box office percentages and direct salary, RDJ has pocketed TWO HUNDRED million for the two films. Holland got a million and a half for Homecoming, which is not bad at all, although of course RDJ got 10 for his 8 minutes on screen.
If the Black Widow movie had been released in, let's say, "normal" conditions, that is, in cinemas and not direct to Disney+, Scarlett Johansson could end up earning around 25 million. It would have been a bad deal, but in the end it wasn't, and Johansson sued Disney.
And back to Tom Hiddleston, who we had only mentioned: he will be another one who will pocket more per episode of his own series than what he charged for his debut: about 10k less than Hemsworth.
All this, chatis, to remind you that if Marvel intends to make the 4F (or the Mutis) a franchise to replace Avengers:
1) It has to hire YOUNG people who will last at least 10 good-looking years. Forget about people in their 40's. Early 30's tops.
2) It has to hire CHEAP people, to raise their salaries as success comes. No superstars: they'll be luxury supporting actors or bad ones. But the character that is going to last has to be played by a semi-recognised person.

So, in the end. Fine that you fancast, but could create impossible expectations. Like, everybody wanted a HUGE name for Rogers, because... HE'S THE ONE WHO STARTED ALL THIS, but now we have the confirmation that is Michael Dorman, a guy who to be sincere, hasn't the most impressive IMDb page, with all the respect, acting is hard. Same for Shanks, who is Peter Gadiot, which is known for Yellowjackets, a series i assure lots of us never ever heard off.
We most of all LOVE Iñaki, but can we ever say we knew him from anything before? His most recent movie starring him was "Ánimo Juventud", a very indie low budgetty mexican movie, that had its peak when after the casting of Iñakim, had its peak of popularity worldwide, and in México. Hech, even in the pirate (heh) website i used to watch the movie, the only comment was about how that movie had Luffy. Same for all the other Starhats, where the most populars are Mackenyu wich is an action star in Japan but surely not outside, and Emily Rudd wich was in a Netflix horror anthology. Jacob's most notable gig was a one off in Grey Anatomy, and Taz had little stints, so little that the movie Boiling Point with him had Taz for less than five minutes. But this i not a diss on the actors, just really shows how showbiz is and how the need for unknown is justified. I've read some nasty comments that Iñaky only did telenovelas, which is false, those were two police drama series; but come one, guy's only 19 and from Mexico, and in an extremely americancentric industry dominated by american TV; this was as best as it could be.
Also, let's adress the Kureha in the room. Yes, Jaimie Lee Cutis is extremely vocal to be Kureka because she knows she's an old lady (even thought the best cast ever would be spanish actress Mariví Bilbao, seasrch for her, but she's very occupied being dead). Could that mean that she's a lock on? Yes and no. She clearly wants, but salaries are a thing and after winning an Oscar, that might complicate something, because reducing cache really don't say very good things to agents and the TMZ (the zone, not the magazine).
So, yeah... Don't be dissapointed if some characters aren't done by any big names. Don't hold high hopes for Smoker, Whitebeard, Enel, Crocodile... I know it might be a bummer, but that's a reason why there are casting agents and experts: they find the people most suitable for a work from a pool of qualified people.

NBA free agency has basically come to a close, but the bartender yelled out "last call" for a few lingering singles. Here are five of the most notable of those names and some situations that may fit them.
PG Ayo Dosunmu, Chicago Bulls, RFA, 23 years old
why he's available
As a 6'4" combo guard, Ayo Dosunmu kinda-sorta looks the part of a third guard. Unfortunately, he's had a couple of factors working against him. For one, he may be blocked in that role by Coby White in Chicago -- as White has more upside as a scorer. Dosunmu also lacks a signature skill. He's decent across the board but not a standout in any one area, as illustrated by his mediocre "per 36" averages -- 11.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists. He also only shot 31.2% from three last year.
why he may help
It's hard to see Ayo Dosunmu taking a leap and becoming a reliable lead guard and field general, but it's possible that he could still improve and become that third guard / Sixth Man that some teams are looking to find. For Dosunmu, the key will be trying to improve his ability to attack and draw contact. That's how Sixth Man like Lou Williams made a living. Meanwhile, Dosunmu only averaged 1.4 FTA per 36 minutes last year. He may have the ability to improve that though -- he did average 5+ free throws his last year at Illinois (where he averaged 20+ PPG).
where he may fit
Given his status as a RFA, the most likely scenario would be Ayo Dosunmu returning to Chicago on a 1-year deal. Worst case, he can fill some minutes until second-year Dalen Terry looks ready for a larger role. If Dosunmu can wiggle away and look for a bigger role, Toronto seems to be the best bet. The Raptors have one of the most underwhelming PG depth charts in the league right now with Dennis Schroder and Malachi Flynn. They'll probably play through Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam, but they can still use some more decent guards as well.
SG Terrence Ross, Phoenix Suns, UFA, 32 years old
why he's available
Terrence Ross has always been known as (and paid as) a solid 3-and-D wing, even if he's been historically overrated for his actual skill in either area. Over the last few years, he's veered from mediocre to virtually unplayable, as the Phoenix Suns found out after adding him in midseason. He's a below average defender and he's not as good of a shooter as his reputation suggests; he only hit 34.7% from deep last year. Honestly, his chances of being in a rotation may be over.
why he may help
If there's anything that Terrence Ross can bring to the table -- it's his willingness to shoot threes. And that's no small thing. Some wings (like Tony Snell) are accurate but rarely fire away, which allows defenses to sag off them. Ross has no problem pulling the trigger -- and he has a quick release to boot. For his career, he's averaged 7.4 threes per 36. That facet alone gives him some value as a spacer.
where he may fit
The Suns didn't trust Ross in the playoffs, and most contenders would probably feel the same way. Still, there may be some teams that view him as a minutes filler. Among them, I'd consider a team like Charlotte. They may have a faint hope of making the playoffs, and Ross could soak up some minutes as a backup SG until their slew of young prospects (Nick Smith Jr., Amari Bailey, Bryce McGowens, James Bouknight) prove worthy of grabbing that mantle.
SF Kelly Oubre, Charlotte Hornets, UFA, 27 years old
why he's available
On the surface, it's amazing that Kelly Oubre can't find an NBA job after averaging 20.3 points per game last year. In fact, he's averaged over 15 PPG in each of the last four seasons, three of which came as a starter.
But if you dig deeper, it's more understandable why the league isn't buying it. Oubre is almost the definition of an "empty calorie scorer." It's not a coincidence that the Phoenix Suns suddenly broke out (in the bubble) after Oubre got hurt and left the starting lineup. It's not a coincidence that Oubre's career best season this year came for a Hornets team that went 27-55. He can score, sure, but he can't do it efficiently, as illustrated by his 31.9% from 3 and his 53.4% true shooting this year.
why he may help
Kelly Oubre isn't worth $15M a year, but at the very least, he's a live body. He's 6'7", 27 years old, experienced as a starter. He's not going to help you much -- but he can plug holes if need be. He'd be especially valuable for teams who struggle with injuries. If your star or sidekick goes down, Oubre can at least go in and average 15 PPG a game. That's more than most bench players can do if thrust into a prominent role.
where he may fit
As mentioned, Kelly Oubre's best value may be as a bootleg version of a star -- like the discount store brand that you'll have to settle for if your preferred product is all sold out. For example, let's say Michael Porter Jr. gets hurt in Denver, or Zach LaVine gets hurt in Chicago -- then maybe Oubre can come in and try to hold the fort for a while. In terms of current depth charts, his best bet for a meaningful role may be in Memphis. The Grizzlies are a little light at the traditional SF spot -- and have shooters like Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. around to buffer for Oubre's weakness there.
PF P.J. Washington, Charlotte Hornets, RFA, 24 years old
why he's available
Among all the players on our list, P.J. Washington is the one who looked poised for a major ($15-20M) contract this summer. He's only 24 (turning 25 soon) and he's been a productive starter. He averaged 17.3 points per 36 minutes this year and can help in a variety of facets and a variety of positions. He has the stretch ability to play PF and the length (7'2" wingspan) to play center if need be as well.
If you're critical of Washington, it's that he may be a "jack of all trades" but a master of none. He can space some, but he's not a great shooter (34.8% from deep this year). He's also a poor rebounder (5.4 rebounds per 36) for a big. His history of injury problems (primarily in college) also makes you hesitant about committing a long-term deal.
why he may help
P.J. Washington is a little overrated, but he's an OK starter. And being "OK" as a starter (or as a 25-30 minute player off the bench) still has a lot of value for NBA teams. In an ideal world, he'd squeeze between PF and C and help your depth at both spots; he should probably play 75% of the time at PF and 25% as a smallball big.
where he may fit
The Charlotte Hornets have the financial flexibility to bring P.J. Washington back -- and that will likely happen, even if it may be slightly crowded with the arrival of Brandon Miller and return of Miles Bridges. Still, Washington should work with the Hornets to explore all options and see if there's a potential sign-and-trade out there. For example, the Clippers could use Washington to be a younger version of Marcus Morris (who had a bad year). Perhaps Golden State or Miami think he could play alongside their own smallball bigs in Draymond Green and Bam Adebayo. In all these scenarios, the deal would mean sending back about $17.5M in salary along with a pick for Washington.
C Christian Wood, Dallas Mavericks, UFA, 28 years old
why he's available
Their playing styles are different, but the career path of Christian Wood reminds me a lot of Hassan Whiteside. Both players struggled to break into the NBA, but took advantage of their opportunity (statistically) and got paid well for it. However, the league quickly soured on both. Whiteside didn't even play last year, and Wood is still available this summer.
Both players grade well statistically whenever they do get playing time. Last season for Dallas, Wood averaged 23.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per 36 minutes. He's not only a scorer, but he's a shooter as well -- hitting 37.6% from deep last year.
The reason that Wood (and Whiteside) can't get much love from teams is the perception that they're selfish stat padders who are difficult to coach. It's hard to tell how true that is from our perspective since we're not in the locker rooms with them. At the very least, we know that Wood is a disengaged / poor defender, which is his primary weakness on the court. Even if he did try harder there, he doesn't have the strength to body up elite bigs.
why he may help
It's easy to see how Christian Wood can bolster a team's offense. Even in a "bad year" for Dallas, he averaged 16.6 points in 25.9 minutes off the bench. Still, it's hard to hang on the court when you're a bad defensive big, the same problem that caused former Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell to fall to the fringes of the NBA as well.
Where Wood has an advantage over Harrell is his shooting ability. That allows him to play as a scorer or as an off-ball spacer, making him easier to fit into lineups offensively. If Wood's going to bounce back, he may have to mimic the career of Bobby Portis, who was once seen as a poor defender and "problem child" too (after the Nikola Mirotic incident). Portis has shown his value for Milwaukee in a bench role, and Wood can theoretically do the same.
where he may fit
There's been some buzz about Christian Wood taking a "prove it" deal with the L.A. Lakers, and that does make sense on some level. Laker coach Darvin Ham came from Milwaukee (and saw Bobby Portis do well). The Lakers also have a stellar defender in Anthony Davis to take some of that pressure off Wood if you wanted to play them together. I could also see Wood getting a chance with other playoff teams like Miami or Philadelphia as they look for depth down low. Either way, it does feel like Wood's going to have to take a pay cut and be a good soldier before the league trusts him again. If not, he may be joining Hassan Whiteside in the Puerto Rican league soon.

I am intrigued by two LA Clippers wing prospects who could potentially become above average starting NBA forwards, two whose profiles fit very well between Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid.
BJ Boston Jr. is 6'6.5 and a slender 190lbs, going into his third year after coming out of Kentucky they year after Tyrese Maxey. A highly touted high schooler whose game mimics Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, Boston made it from 2nd round GLeaguer to the NBA roster last year, after which he hit 41% of his 3PA.
At 6'8 250lbs, Kobe Brown, on the other hand, is their 1st round pick this year (#30), who could potentialllly be a successor to Tobias Harris. A rare college senior, Brown is already 23yo and perhaps ready to play immediately, after hitting an extraordinary 45% 3PA during his last year at Missouri. Not only was Brown 1st-team All-SEC, he was the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Here's why I'm particularly interested in Brown: The reason I believed so strongly in Tyrese Maxey and Paul Reed as draftees was because their stats against good competition in college was better than against bad competition. They rose to the occasion agasint the best teams, while other draftees (cough, Kira Lewis, Tyrell Terry) get gaudy numbers against scrubs, then wilt against AP Top25 teams.
Against AP Top 25 teams last year, Brown played 9 games with an outstanding shooting line of .554/.467/.809. 18.2ppg against the APTop25, after 14.5ppg against scrub teams. In practically all categories, he performed just as well if not better against the good versus the bad: 6.4rebs against good, 6.2 against bad; 2.7asts vs. good, 2.4 vs. bad: 1.8stls, 1.4stls.
I am not pushing for a James Harden trade to the Clippers, but I do want to know what they have to offer. Despite his shooting ability, I'm not that excited about Norman Powell, because of his big and lengthy contract and injury history. I'd much rather a package around Terrence Mann and prospects, because his modest 11m salary puts us in a much better position next summer. To me, Mann-Boston-Brown-LAC2028-LAC2030 would be like getting a starter at SF (Mann) and essentially 4 FRPs. And if even one of Boston or Brown proves to be an above average NBA starter, the Sixers would be in the driver's seat come 2024 with a strong young roster, draft picks and plenty of money to spend.
For 2023, the Sixers could continue to start PJ Tucker and then rely more on Danuel House, plus we would have a large trade exception. We also still have Furkan Korkmaz, who wanted a bigger role. If we're paying Kork more than what Jalen McDaniels got from the Raptors, then shouldn't he be playing?
Anyway, just some thoughts before Vegas Summer League action.

Note that the Raptors will not have access to the full MLE without making a trade that reduces their current salary:
Guards
Donte DiVincenzo - 39.7% from 3 in 22/23; career 36% from 3
Victor Oladipo - Player option, may decline but unlikely due to Miami's Finals run
Seth Curry - Career 43+% shooter from 3, 40%+ from 3 in 22/23
Gabe Vincent - Unlikely to sign MLE to come off the bench after starting for a Finals team
Shake Milton - Career 36.5% from 3, 37.8% in 22/23
Terrence Ross - Raptors Reunion™, can share conspiracy theories will fellow tin foil hat wearers Boucher & Precious, inconsistent shooter
Ty Jerome - Low volume scorer, 38.9% from 3 in 22/23; solid AST/TO for a SG
Trade Targets - Monte Morris, Nickeil Alexander-Walker (RFA), Delon Wright, Killian Hayes (solely as a reclamation project)
Forwards
Jalen McDaniels - Was mentioned earlier in the year as a trade target Raptors were interested in; UFA
Uh...that's it as far as MLE targets. The Raptors don't exactly need more forward depth and this class doesn't have many players otherwise altering said decision-making.
Trade Targets - Harrison Barnes? Like I said there's not a lot of great options but if nothing else he has playoff experience.
Center
No one - Since Naz Reid is officially re-signed. Just re-sign Jakob Poeltl.
...
Okay maybe Thomas Bryant? Low volume of 1.3 3s on 38.5% shooting over the past 3 seasons, poor defender for position but can shoot.
Just re-sign Poeltl.
Trade Targets - Uh...Christian Wood (more of a swingman, may be sign and trade, no idea what his next contract will be) I guess? - career 38% from 3, poor defender though notably better in 22/23 season than prior seasons.

Assuming there is no rebuild coming, the Bulls will likely run it back with either Zach, DeMar or both. In any case, the Bulls need affordable, reliable shooters. Preferably ones that can also contribute in another area like ballhandling, rim protection, or defense. Currently, the Bulls have 2-4 players who are better than average at catch and shoot 3 point shots (Zach, Coby, PWill, and Caruso). Vucevic is decent as a big man., but his shooting is not more efficient than a DeRozan isolation play. You can look at this more Here and Here.
If the Bulls return with mostly the same team, they will have very little money for free agency (probably around ~$5m) unless cuts are made. If Zach and/or DeMar are traded, they would likely have the ability to do a full MLE (~$12.2m) and maybe the BAE (~$4.4m). Vet minimum players are also likely necessary in each situation. I filtered players who have a PPP (points per possession) for spot up shooting higher or around DeRozan's 1.14 when he is in isolation (or at a similar level to Vucevic as a big man) and a high catch and shoot 3p%.
This is difficult because players who can shoot 3s are highly valued, even if they are terrible defenders or are valued very little by advanced stats. These are the players who would be a good value for this size of contract not just because of shooting. I am sure many of the players farther below will get this kind of contract too.
Free Agents
Full MLE (~$12.2m)

• Donte DiVincenzo: Although highly unlikely to take the MLE, he would be an incredible value for the Bulls. I really don't think he will be available for this, but Hollinger mentioned it was possible.
• Christian Wood: Great 3 point shooter and great in the pick and roll. He is a bad defender, but he would add size and can play minutes at both C and PF.

Partial MLE ($5m-10m)

• Jevon Carter: He shot very well (1.18 PPP, 43.9% 3p% on c&s) and played solid defense as a PG. He is simply 3&D at the position and would not be a good match if ballhandling required, but he will be a great value on the bench.
• Grant Williams: He shot 38.6% 3p% on c&s and plays generally solid defense, but he is a RFA.
• Keita Bates-Diop: He had a surprising season (1.14 PPP, 40.5% 3p% on c&s), but had much weaker previous seasons. It depends how confident you are in this year's numbers, but he is a solid defender regardless. If the Spurs don't bring him back, he could be worth the risk.
• Trey Lyles: He didn't have an amazing year shooting (1.07 PPP, 37.4% 3p% on c&s), but he had similar numbers to Vucevic and played solid defense as a big man. He is also a better pick and roll man than any of the Bulls' current players.
• Damion Lee: He had an amazing year as a shooter (1.18 PPP, 47% 3p% on c&s), but who knows if it will hold up. He is also okay as a defender. A contract in the low levels of this range ($5m) would be a good value.

BAE (~$3m-$4.5m)
Most of the players at this level and below are great shooters with horrible advanced stats suggesting they are a liability when they are on the floor doing something other than shooting. Most of them will be overpaid because of their shooting. They are a good value at this contract, but the Bulls may also need to overpay to bring them on.

• Yuta Watanabe: He had an incredible year shooting (1.23 PPP, 45.7% 3p% on c&s) and plays solid team defense with good size.
• Cory Joseph: He could be a good deal for the Bulls. He has two years straight of putting up great spot up shooting numbers (1.15 PPP, 41.4% 3p% on c&s). He can also do some of the ballhandling as a backup PG, although his defense isn't good.

Vet Minimums ($1.5m-$3m)

• Georges Niang: He is very good, reliable 3 point shooter (1.2 PPP, 41.2% 3p% on c&s) and has size, but he is bad at everything else. He is terrible at defense.
• Max Strus: He is also a very good, reliable 3 point shooter (1.18 PPP, 36.1% 3p% on c&s), but he is also not very good at anything else. He is bad at defense. I believe he is the most likely player to receive a very bad contract this offseason.
• Seth Curry: Similar to the above (1.14 PPP, 40.9%). He is also a terrible defender. However, he has some experience as a ballhandler.
• Terrence Ross: He is an average shooter but had a good season with catch and shoot 3s (1.14 PPP, 38.8%). As the price range suggests, he is not a good player.
• Reggie Jackson: Depending on what stats you like, he is either worth a minimum contract or not worth the contract... either way, he still shot 3s well (1.21 PPP, 37.6%).

Avoid

• Lonnie Walker IV: Although he shot well (1.13 PPP, 38.3%), the advanced stats suggest he should pay the teams to let him play, he was that bad. I didn't know that was possible.

Realistic Trade Targets
These are players who shot well on catch and shoot who aren't obvious stars the Bulls will likely be unable to get. Obviously, there are many other players the Bulls could try to get in trades. Some of these are overpaid but could be added as salary filler.
Teams with Speculated Trades with Bulls

• Nicolas Batum: Clippers, $11.7m. He is a good player to add to the Bulls with consistently good 3point shooting and defense despite his age.
• Robert Covington: Clippers, $11.7m. He played very little this season, and I'm not sure why. He was shooting well and playing decent defense. I assume he will be traded.
• Norman Powell: Clippers, $18m. He is overpaid and has 3 more years on his contract, but he is a very reliable 3 point shooter.
• Eric Gordon: Clippers, $20.9m. He had a pretty bad year, but he still shot 3 pointers very well. He also has a non-guaranteed contract, so he might be cut before he is traded away. He might be worth a small free agency contract.
• Quentin Grimes: Knicks, $2.4m. Any trade with the Knicks should require him. Quickley is also a very good shooter, especially if DeRozan is traded, but I doubt they will trade him.
• Gary Harris: Magic, $13m: The contract is a little overpriced, but he provides solid shooting.
• Davis Bertans: Mavericks, $17m. It's not a good contract, but he would add good reliable, good shooting at the very least.
• Spencer Dinwiddie: Nets, $20.4m. Besides his bad defense, he would be a good fit with the Bulls and is a very good value for his contract.
• Joe Harris: Nets, $19.9m. On the other hand, he is a terrible value. He is receiving a premium contract for reliable 3p shooting only.
• Anfernee Simons: Trailblazers, $24.1m. The piece included in most people's favorite trades. He is a really good, reliable shooter who would hopefully keep getting better.

Less Likely Trade Partners

• P.J. Tucker: 76ers, $11.5m. The only trade I saw discussed with the Bulls was LaVine for Maxey + others. I don't know why they would do that, but Tucker would be very nice to take as well.
• Alec Burks: Pistons, $10.5m. I also can't imagine the Bulls trading with the Pistons, but Alec Burks would be a nice fit with the Bulls.
• Doug McDermott: Spurs, $13.8m. We know him pretty well already. I don't know why the Bulls would enter a trade with the Spurs, but he is a great 3 point shooter.

Feel free to suggest any others for the list.

With streaming completely changing the landscape for film and TV, without a doubt there does need to be some negotiation to ensure talent is compensated fairly so I'm not suggesting terms don't need to be updated. I am completely on board with the Writers and creatives behind the camera being appropriately rewarded for their work. Where actors are concerned however, I am curious when we have instances like RDJ getting a base salary of $20M for one Avengers film, if actors are even facing the same issue as writers. And that was just the base salary since he received another $55M on top of that. All of this for one film.
Now to be clear, this doesn't apply to every actor but it's obvious that in Hollywood you either belong to a group of super wealthy actors or actors who have been in the business for decades and struggle to get roles. Which points more to a huge disparity between the acting salaries themselves, not so much that money isn't being paid. It's just concentrated around a specific group of "A-list" actors. Can we really say that a supposed difference in talent is the basis for that huge salary gap between one actor and another? The reason I specifically bring up RDJ is because I recall one actor leaving the MCU for that very reason, I believe it was Terrence Howard. When you consider how much RDJ was earning and what everyone else was, it became very clear that something was wrong.
I'm sure ppl will argue that the "A-list" actors performance is deserving of that much money but many actors will tell you that 80% of that performance is the script. I think TV is an exception because it does demand continuous booking and between projects you may not have much else going on but for a film where you may show up for a few days to shoot a few scenes, I'm skeptical. Hollywood has sold this idea of the movie star selling tickets and ppl have bought the lie because it doesn't matter how big a name the actor is, if the script isn't good then the movie isn't good. For all it's flaws, one of the things streaming as helped to highlight in recent years is some great and talented actors/actresses that you've never heard of.

1. The feud between "Sex and the City" costars Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker reached a fever pitch in 2018.
2. The "Fast and Furious" may be all about family, but the off-screen relationship between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel is less than brotherhood.
3. Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh's alleged beef on the set of "Don't Worry Darling" was all anyone could talk about in 2022.
4. Some believe that a falling out between "Will & Grace" stars Debra Messing and Megan Mullally was to blame for the rebooted sitcom ending after its 11th season.
5. Nina Dobrev shocked fans of "The Vampire Diaries" when she admitted she and costar Paul Wesley "despised each other" at the beginning of the show.
6. Three of the four stars of "Desperate Housewives" got along great — but they all reportedly couldn't stand Teri Hatcher.
7. "Gossip Girl" stars Leighton Meester and Blake Lively were no Serena and Blair in real life.
8. For years, Jennie Garth was rumored to have gotten Shannen Doherty fired from "Beverly Hills, 90210."
9. Shannen Doherty allegedly didn't get along with her "Charmed" costar Alyssa Milano either.
10. The set of "Charmed" seems like it was a bit of a powder keg — in 2020, Rose McGowan claimed that Alyssa Milano made the set "toxic AF" on Twitter.
11. Alex Pettyfer told the world that Channing Tatum wasn't too happy with him after a conflict during the filming of "Magic Mike."
12. Isaiah Washington was fired due to inflammatory remarks he made to on-screen best man Patrick Dempsey on the set of "Grey's Anatomy."
13. William Shatner is said to have feuded with basically everyone on the set of "Star Trek," but specifically with costar George Takei.
14. Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi reportedly couldn't even be on set together for the last three seasons of "The Good Wife."
15. Dominic Monaghan has been vocal about his disdain for "Lost" costar Matthew Fox.
16. Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle in "Iron Man 2" after salary disputes, which he blamed on Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr.
17. The dynamic between Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels was a lot more hate than love during "Star Wars."
18. Ariana Grande and Jennette McCurdy's friendship couldn't seem to handle the cancellation of their show "Sam & Cat."

Link to article

So, uhhh, I wrote this before Jerry Springer passed away yesterday…this is kinda awkward. I had to make some last-minute edits. Hopefully it’s not too noticeable.
Warning for some transphobia. I have blocked it out with a spoiler warning …
Who is was Jerry Springer?
Gerald Norman Springer aka “Jerry Springer” was an American talk show host. From 1991 to 2018, he hosted “Jerry Springer” a very famous and very controversial talk show. Basically, he would invite people to come on stage and talk about their issues…their very sensitive, very personal issues. This included confrontations between family members and loved ones. It would often lead to fights between guests. It was well known for being exploitative and demeaning, and today, it’s debated just how much of the fights were real, or if they were all choreographed After it was cancelled, he hosted the show “Judge Jerry” from 2019 to 2022.
Aside from that, he did a bunch of acting, producing, journalism, served in politics, etc, but none of that is really important for this writeup. It’s mainly focused on his talk show when he was at the height of his popularity back in the early 2000s and commanded the hearts and minds of millions of people.
Opera
So, what is Jerry Springer: The Opera about?
Usually, I would just link to the Wikipedia page, but the plot is so bat shit insane I am just going to paste it here:

Act I
Jerry Springer's frenzied audience greets Jerry as he arrives at his notorious TV talk show. His first guest, Dwight, is cheating on Peaches with Zandra. The three fight, and Jerry's security men break up the battle. Jerry is briefly admonished by his inner Valkyrie. Dwight is also cheating with a cross dresser named Tremont. After a commercial break, Jerry's second guest, Montel, tells his partner, Andrea, that he likes to dress as a baby and that he is cheating on her with Baby Jane, a woman who dresses as a little girl. Jerry's Warm-Up Man contributes to Andrea's humiliation and is fired. Jerry again wrestles with his inner Valkyrie. Jerry's final guests are Shawntel and her husband, Chucky. She wants to be a stripper and demonstrates a dance before her mother, Irene, arrives. Irene attacks Shawntel. Chucky pleads innocence, but Jerry's secret JerryCam camera footage shows that Chucky is a patron of strip clubs and a Ku Klux Klan member. The Klan comes up on stage, and the Warm Up Man gives Montel a gun. The Warm-Up Man jostles Montel, who accidentally shoots Jerry.
Act II
Jerry is found injured in a wheelchair, accompanied by his security man, Steve. The scene is Purgatory, a fog-enshrouded wilderness. Jerry meets ghostly versions of his talk show guests, who have all suffered unpleasant fates. Jerry tries to justify his actions to the ghosts. The Warm-Up Man arrives and is revealed to be Satan. Baby Jane asks Satan to spare Jerry's soul. Satan forces Jerry to return to Hell with him to do a special show.
Act III
Jerry arrives in Hell at a charred version of his Earthly TV studio. The audience is locked into cracks in its walls. Jerry reads cue cards produced by Baby Jane that introduce Satan, who is in charge of the proceedings. Satan seeks an apology for his expulsion from Heaven and wants to reunite Heaven and Hell. Jerry must faithfully read the cue cards, which introduce Jesus, the next guest, who resembles Montel. Jesus and Satan trade accusations. Adam and Eve are next; they are reminiscent of Chucky and Shawntel. They argue with Jesus, and Eve eventually attacks him. Mary, mother of Jesus, who resembles Irene, condemns Jesus. Everyone turns against Jerry, who hopes for a miracle.
God and the angels arrive and ask Jerry to come to Heaven and help God judge Humanity. He accepts the offer, but the angels and devils fight over Jerry; and the talk-show host finds himself suspended over a pit of flame. Jerry launches into a series of glib homilies asking for his life, but finally gives up and makes an honest statement that resounds with his audience. Devils, angels, and everyone sing a hymn of praise to life.
Back on solid ground, Baby Jane tells Jerry that he must go back to Earth. Jerry wakes up in his television studio, having been shot, his life ebbing away as he is cradled in Steve's arms. Jerry gives a final speech, and everyone is joined in sorrow.

Yes. He dies at the end. And I am posting this a day after he actually died. Life is…life is weird sometimes. Too weird for me.
Back to the writeup…
The musical had a lot of swear words. And a lot of early 2000s cringe. But it also had a lot of heart. And it has a very interesting history…
Early Years
In 2000, a British musician named Richard Thomas staged a show called “Tourette's Diva”. It’s about a mother and daughter singing about their dysfunctional relationship, exchanging foul obscenities and insults. It was shown at the Battersea Arts Centre (BAC). A place for artsy, experimental, theatre work. Not mainstream stuff.
Inspired by Tourette’s success, Thomas decided to write a show about Jerry Springer. It was the “obvious thing to do next” . In 2001, he held a series of workshops at the BAC for “How to write an Opera about Jerry Springer”. The flyer for the show read: "Have idea. Think it's a shit idea. Despair. Do it anyway.".
He bribed the audience with beer to help him write it:

Using Kombat's patented "beer for an idea" scheme, he bribed his audience for constructive feedback with a can of John Smith’s and punished them for stupid suggestions with a can of Asda bitter. Ah well, there's nothing quite like an inebriated focus group. And so the characters of Diaper Man, Duane, the Chick-with-a-Dick, and the Bitches Fighting were born: unusual subjects for an opera but perfect protagonists for a gloves-off (and sometimes clothes-off) TV confessional.

They helped him write the first act, but he struggled with finishing the rest. So, brought in Stewart Lee, a British comedian, as a co-writer to help him write the second act and sharpen the plot. At this point, both of them had very little money and Lee had been unemployed for a long time
The early years of the show were very experimental. It was constantly evolving. Lee and Thomas workshopped it 4 times. It was an earnest satire of a controversial American talk show. One thing was clear from the start: people loved it. Even back then, when it was still being worked on, every single showing sold out
Then, in February 2002, Jerry Springer’s production company found about the musical. They weren’t very happy about it In an effort to placate them, one of the show’s producers sent them a copy of the score. This made them even angrier.
Then, Jerry himself contacted Lee and Thomas. He wanted a meeting.

SL Well, it didn’t. It made it worse. They objected on the grounds of language and religious and sexual content, which is odd, given the programme. Then Jerry Springer wanted to meet us, we met him at the Dorchester, and before he came in, Rich said to me “Don’t tell him he dies at the end of the first act”. Then he came in and said, “I hear I die at the end of the first act.”
RT I said, “Jerry, you come out of the show really well, but you do come out of it dead.”

…

“We quite confidently told him that we didn’t think that there would be a problem because I think firstly it’s not really a parody of him and also I think he, even if he does find the opera slightly critical, would be flattered by inspiring all this beautiful music.” Source

He didn’t take further action. So, the duo continued working on the opera and finally premiered it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2002 with a full score.
Again, the opera sold out and it received mainly positive reviews from critics.
And of course, the man himself, Jerry Springer, finally saw it.
Afterwards, he said that he thought it was “Wonderful”…”Great”…and “many-layered”. He was also relaxed about the whole “died and went to hell” plot line: ‘Everyone is always telling me I am going to hell. Now I’ve seen it,’… ‘Not many people get to see their future,’.
During the performance, the audience actually noticed him and started chanting his name and cheering.
The opera was a great success. And it was noticed. Lee and Thomas received tons of offers to stage the show in London. In the end, they chose the National Theatre in London’s South Bank.
The venue was perfect for Jerry Springer: The Opera. It was well known for putting on a variety of performances and supporting new playwrights. It also had a new director, Nicholas Hytner, who loved the show. He said: “It’s exactly the kind of work the National should be doing – bold, scabrous, funny and beautiful,”.
At the time, Lee and Thomas gave an interview in which they discussed the musicals production and its reception. They noted that audiences in England loved it, but they were afraid that if the show ever premiered in America, it might offend people, specifically Christians, because of the “blasphemy” in the second half. So far, most of the Christians that had seen the show had enjoyed it:

There have been Christian commentators who seem to have enjoyed the fact that it’s pretty thorough in its theology. It all adds up. One of the complaints I had in Battersea was from a woman who does secular funerals for the National Secular Society, who was disappointed that we’d “fallen into the trap of using the Christian story, and wasn’t it time that was ignored?”

Ominous noises
The opera ran at the National for five months. It received favourable reviews and sold out. Again. It then transferred to the Cambridge Theatre in the West End, where it had a black-tie premier. Guess who turned up…Jerry Springer. Again. It was apparently his third time seeing the show. He must’ve really loved it.
Actually, the show was so beloved that it won a ton of awards during the 2004 awards season. At the Evening Standard Awards, it won best musical. It won the same award at the British Critics' Circle Theatre Awards. Then it swept the Olivier Awards (the British equivalent to the Tonys) where it won (Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Performance in a Supporting Role, and Best Sound Design)[https://playbill.com/article/jerry-springer-and-the-pillowman-win-top-honors-at-2004-olivier-awards-com-1180740].
A Broadway show was planned. Thomas was ecstatic about the shows success, while Lee was…more uneasy:

“If I had known it would run in the West End as an independent commercial venture I would not have got involved.”…” “I went into this project thinking it would be the usual two-month job and I don’t feel any more proud of it because it has become a West End success.”… “It is a great piece of theatre but a vast amount of work is produced in places like BAC for the specific community they serve and not with a view to providing a script that will give someone his next hit. It is wrong to justify the fringe as a support for the West End.”

It ran at the Cambridge theatre for a year and three months. Then it was scheduled to go on tour around the UK.
The show seemed unstoppable…and then, it tripped.
Television
In November 2004 the BBC bought the rights to air a televised version of the opera. Almost immediately, there were objections from tabloids. The Daily Mail claimed that the show had over 8,000 obscenities. The BBC pushed back, saying that the show would be aired, fully uncut, at 9pm (in the UK, there are strict rules about what can be shown on TV before 9 to “protect the children”), albeit with warnings.
Mediawatch, an infamous organisation that protested “harmful an offensive” media, sent a lengthy letter to the chairman of the BBC urging him not to air the show.
They were joined by other media groups, politicians, and even the English Church.
The Christians were the most upset.
They were probably offended by the portrayal of a nappy wearing Jesus who sings that he’s “a little bit gay” and gets in a swearing match with Satan. Or Adam and Eve as trailer trash. Or Mother Mary as having been “raped by god”. Take your pick.
Christians organised protests online. On January 7th, they marched on the BBC’s headquarters in London. Assembling outside, they held placards, chanted, and burned their TV licenses.
By January 9th, 50,000 people had complained to the BBC about the show. However, the BBC said they had been receiving emails from supporters as well. They weren’t deterred at all.
When the program finally aired on January 10th, there were still protestors outside the BBC offices. There were also protests in Cardiff, Birmingham, Belfast and Plymouth.
Stephen Green, the national director of Christian Voice, a fundamentalist Christian advocacy group said:

"I find it astonishing that Mark Thompson and David Soul [the show's star] claim they are Christians and they can see nothing wrong with Jerry Springer - The Opera.
"What kind of Christians are the sort of people who find mocking God and Jesus Christ acceptable?
"If this show portrayed Mohammed or Vishnu as homosexual, ridiculous and ineffectual, it would never have seen the light of day."

It got so bad that the protests were even brought up in parliament and discussed by MPs.
By May 2005, the BBC had received over 60,000 complains about the show, while Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, had received 16,000 complaints. At the time, it was the most complained about show on British Television. This record wouldn’t be broken until the funeral of Prince Philllip in 2021.
However, it also set a more positive record. The program was watched by 2.4 million people. A then-record for a musical.
Christian Voice, incensed by the show’s success, doxxed several BBC executives, publishing their phone numbers and home addresses online.
Also, in February 2005, Lee and Thomas tried donating £3,000 of the shows proceeds to a cancer charity, Maggie. Christian Voice spammed the charity with protests, causing them to decline the donation.
This wasn’t even the beginning of the end of the damage that Christian Voice would do to the show.
A troublesome tour
The show was meant to go on tour in September 2005, but almost immediately, it ran into trouble.
In August, the Arts Council of England, refused to give the show financial support. They refuted claims that it was because of the protests, saying that:

"The suggestion that this decision has to do with pressure from the religious right is absolute nonsense. There is so much we do on a weekly basis that puts us in the firing line.
"There's barely a week that goes by that we do not receive a letter from one religious group or other. Our budget for touring funds is limited so we have to be very careful with how we spend it."
He added that the Arts Council had had a history of supporting the production - both the Battersea Arts Centre and National Theatre are funded by the organisation - and that the primary reason for refusing the application was its commercial success. "There is no questions about its quality. This is simply just an issue about whether a production of this nature, given its success so far, needs our subsidy," he said.

Even worse, Christian Voice sent letters of protest to theatres:

"We are at this moment preparing charges of the criminal offence of blasphemy for service upon those responsible for broadcasting the show on BBC2, and those responsible for staging it at the Cambridge Theatre. Should any regional theatre stage Jerry Springer the Opera this autumn, we shall be looking to prosecute them as well."

Here is the letter in full: One Two. This caused 30% of venues to pull out. But it didn’t stop the show. Mercifully, 21 theatres around the country stepped in and agreed to finance the tour by pooling their marketing costs. It came at a steep cost though, the shows creative team had to waive their royalties. Also, I can’t find a source for it, but around this time the Broadway version of the opera was cancelled.
The troubles weren’t over yet though. Not by a longshot.
Christian Voice decided to stage protests at theatres around the country. There were protests in Birmingham, York, Aberdeen, and Cardiff. In early 2006, the BNP (a far right organisation) decided to join them. Stephen Green wasn’t very amused by this, saying that BNP members were “not welcome” at the protests. Stewart Lee was sick and tired of everything. Protestors regularly sent him hate mail.
The protests also impacted his finances. By 2006, he was broke:

"If you have been on the verge of becoming a millionaire and that has not happened because of far-right pressure groups," he says at one point, sounding just like he does when he is getting into his stride on stage, "and your work has been banned and taken apart, and you've been threatened with prosecution, and the police have advised people involved with your production to go into hiding, and bed and breakfasts won't have the cast to stay because they're blasphemers, and you have to cross a BNP picket line to go to work in Plymouth, you do start to think, well, what can be worse that that?"

Here are two articles from 2006 if you want to read more about his troubles.
In 2007, Christian Voice finally fulfilled their legal threats. They didn’t sue the theatres. They tried to sue Mark Thompson, then director-general of the BBC and failed. Miserably. After their suit was dismissed several times, they appealed it all the way up the highest court in the UK, The House of Lords, who also rejected it.
Their court costs were so high that in 2008 they were facing bankruptcy. Stephen Green was ordered to pay £90,000. He tried to appeal to the BBC:

Green has said he will "certainly end up bankrupt" if forced to pay the money, and is now urging Thompson and Thoday, whose company Avalon produced the show, to waive their costs "in the interests of goodwill and justice".
He said: "Mark Thompson earns well over 20 times as much in a year as I am worth. He could pay his own costs out of his inflated salary, and the BBC certainly would never notice the odd £55,000 alongside the money they squander on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, I can’t find any record of the bankruptcy online. So, it seems the BBC caved and didn’t charge him.
In 2009, Christian Voice protested another production of the opera at St Andrews university in Scotland. They called the university a “cesspit” and demanded that the “sinners” repent. They were unsuccessful: the performance went ahead as planned.
Jerry Springer later expanded on his personal views of the opera. He had mixed feelings about it. In 2008, he said:

Well, I saw it. When it opened, they invited me to see it on the West End in London. I thought they did a really good job. I mean, I'd prefer it were about someone else. It was awkward for me to watch it. For one, it's about yourself, so there's no common experience. There's no one I can ask, "Gee, how did you feel?" I can't call Figaro or Carmen and say, "Hey, how did you feel about your opera?" It's just a very personal moment that I can't express to anybody. And then I felt a little bit awkward because, as I was watching it, everyone was looking at me to see what my reaction was. It was uncomfortable.

As for the Opera, from 2007-2011, it premiered in several other countries, but it didn’t get a Broadway premiere. There were two performances at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2008. Of course, there were protests. The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property picketed both shows, holding signs warning people of “blasphemy” in the theatre.
In 2018, the show finally received an off-Broadway premiere. Ten years too late. Jerry Springer’s cultural relevance had diminished greatly. Even so, the show was still popular enough to receive an extension, but no protests. Thanks for reading.
…
That was the original ending of the writeup. But I feel like I must address Springer’s death.
Yesterday, Lee and Thomas actually gave their thoughts on his passing and how it affected them:

Richard Thomas who co-wrote the award-winning Jerry Springer: The Opera with Stewart Lee, told the BBC's Colin Paterson he was "really shocked" to hear about the TV host's death.
"Jerry was great to us," he said. "We wrote a show about his show - and him. We didn't have the rights or anything, and he was totally supportive and kind."
"He made us change two lines," Thomas said, joking that he could not repeat what they were, but added: "They dealt with a subject in his past which he was right to bring up." He said Springer "loved the idea" for the show, adding he met him at Edinburgh Festival, where it was playing. When the audience spotted him, they all chanted: "Jer-ry, Jer-ry!" much like the audiences for his TV show.
"He just waved to everybody," Thomas said, adding that he had liked the TV show because it was "non-judgemental", along with the host's famous sign-off: "Take care of yourselves, and each other".

Here is the final scene from the Opera, where Jerry dies in front of his audience and guests as they sing him goodbye.
Rest in Peace, Jerry.

Disclaimer: NBA Cap rules are complicated and I'm not a CBA expert. This is my best effort to clear up some roster questions/concerns. It's long. Don't read it if you're not a nerd.
TL;DR:

• Lakers top 6 players are either under contract or with Bird Rights. (LBJ, AD, AR, D'lo, Vando, Rui)
• Dennis and TBJ are all but gone. Lakers are over the cap and those guys have outplayed min contracts.
• Being over the cap means D'lo, AR, Rui, Beasley and Bamba are nearly guaranteed to be back. They can't be replaced for their salaries/cap holds.
• Biggest needs are 2 legit backup C's, a rotation level PG/Combo guard, 3rd string PF if Wenyen is out and wing depth.

The long version:
There's a nightly influx of comments regarding who the Lakers should / shouldn't bring back next season (AR, Rui, TBJ, Dennis, Beasley etc) and they rarely, if ever, take the realities of the NBA Salary Cap into consideration.
This in an attempt to tackle what a likely outcome of the early off-season will look like with the cap in mind.

• Players under contract for 2023-2034: LBJ, AD, Beasley, Bamba, Vando, Max and now Shaq Harrison.
• RFAs / Bird Rights: D'lo, Rui, Austin. (Maybe Wenyen - I'm finding conflicting information)
• Unrestricted FAs: LWIV, Dennis, TBJ

GOOD NEWS: All 5 players in the current starting lineup + Rui as the 6th man with Beasley, Bamba and Max to round out the 8-9 man rotations all either under contract or with Bird Rights.
BACKCOURT BAD NEWS: Dennis and TBJ have outplayed their contracts and are almost certainly gone. They'll either catch a decent multiyear or a 1 year exception offer (non-tax or tax mid, trade exception, etc) somewhere.
Max and Beasley provide a solid floor for bench depth and can at least handle the scoring lost scoring load. Defense and shot creation will take a hit, but having D'lo and AR is a more promising start to the season than Russ and PatBev provided.
UFA backcourt depth isn't all that promising next season.

• Svi, Yuta Watanabe, Josh Okogie, LWIV, Will Barton and Justin Holiday are the only real options.

All of those are a step down from TBJ or Dennis. Targeting a combo guard or SF via the draft is probably the best use of that pick. Fortunately, the scouting department has been great at finding gems.
FRONT COURT WORSE NEWS: The front court depth is more concerning. Wenyen and Bamba provide regular season depth at PF and C. With LBJ and AD likely topping out at 60 games, more depth there is the primary need.
There's a decent crop of minimum contract level UFA centers hitting the market this off season:

• Cody Zeller, Dewayne Dedmon, Gorgui Dieng, Chimezie Metu, Taj Gibson, Robin Lopez, etc.

None of those guys are needle movers in terms of winning chips, but they're all capable and at least allow AD to take a night off without automatically losing the paint before tip.
UFA SF/PF options are as thin as the backcourt options:

• TJ Warren, JTA, Terrence Ross, Trey Lyles

Wing depth with size is going to be hard to find.
All in all 2023-2024 looks more promising than this season started with an incredibly easy path to running back the top 6 from this playoff run. Baring the front office signing 3-4 6'0" guards again, next season should be fun!

I wanted to go through all the teams and see what are the potential trade targets & FA signings and try to maybe find some players that aren't usually discussed.
So as a basis, from the Mavericks' side:
KEEPERS - Luka / $40,064,220 - Kyrie / $46,900,000 (assuming 5-year max) - Maxi / $11,000,000 - Javale / $5,734,280 - Josh / $4,765,339 - Powell / $3.000,000 (assuming he takes a min vet deal) - Hardy / $1,719,864 - AJ Lawson / two-way
We will very likely need to give Kyrie the max if we want to keep him happy here, I just can't imagine playing with fire after giving away what we did. Josh and Hardy are benefiting the roster in their own ways, so no sense trading them. Maxi, Javale and Powell are not great, but as 15-minute off-the-bench they can still give good value, they just need to be moved down the roster.
TRADE PIECES - Timmy / $17,897,728 + $16,193,183 - Bertans / $17,000,000 + $5,000,000 (easy requirements for non-guarantee clause) - Reggie / $10,489,600
Timmy is not a bad player, but his trade value finally got a bit higher due to his shooting & salary, so I think we have to trade him now. The biggest problem I have with him is his bad shot selection when he has the ball in his hands + bad finishing around the rim, which means he can't really operate in the second unit with/out Kyrie. Bertans is a good salary trade filler and his contract is not so horrible anymore. I would like to keep Reggie to come from the bench, but his expiring contract is worth at least one/two 2nd rounders or average players (for example, injured Ingles on expiring was traded for Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Juancho Hernangomez) - and we will need bodies to fill up the roster.
So basically, we need: - a defensive, rebounding, rolling BIG (shooting would be an upside) - a defensive tall wing (shooting can't be below average) - a strong forward who can get rebounds, cut and do a bit with the ball in his hands (shooting can't be way below average) - 5 additional roster fillers (trade throw-ins, exceptions & vet mins), so we can't afford any 2-for-1 player deals
And we can offer: - shooting in Timmy & Bertans - defense, shooting & expiring contract in Bullock - 2 frps (assuming we land the #10 pick and we trade it and/or move down in draft)
29. DETROIT PISTONS
They have a bunch of bigs, but none of them would fit what Dallas needs. Bagley would be funny for the memes, but I don't think the is the 2018 draft pairing that we would like. Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks (team option) don't fit their timeline, but at the same time they need some vet presence and stability, so they probably won't rush to move them and would demand too much for them.
Free agents - Diallo, Cory Joseph, Rodney McGruder. I don't hate Diallo and his defensive effort, but he can't shoot for shit, so not really a good fit.
28. SAN ANTONIO
I don't see any players that Dallas would want or need in a trade, however I do like Keita Bates-Diop who becomes an unrestricted FA (bird rights). 27 years / 6-8 / 229. Started 42 out of 67 games (22 min per game), shot well from the field, 9.7 points per game + 3.7 reb + 1.5 ass + 0.7 stl + 0.3 blocks. Nothing great, but a sturdy player with a good 3pt shot who can simply play good basketball and contribute with anyone on the field. Recap on Spurs subreddit. His last salary was $1,878,720.
27. HOUSTON
Nothing to see here, besides getting Silas back as an offensive assistant coach.
26. CHARLOTTE
Not sure Charlotte would give away any of the young bigs and Scary Terry doesn't fit our small team at all. PJ Washington is a RFA, so not sure why Charlotte would let him walk.
Free agents - while seeing DSJ back in a Mavs jersey would be cool, he would be just competing for minutes with Green & Hardy, so most sense for him would be to run another year with Charlotte and get his career back on track. I don't hate Oubre as a slightly more defensive replacement for Timmy, but he would need to come very cheap to play as a scorer off the bench.
25. PORTLAND
I would love Jerami Grant, but Portland is in a similar shit as we are, so they will be 100% resigning him and actually compete with us for similar players in the market.
24. ORLANDO
Can't really see any trades, they would benefit from some 3point shooting though and Mosley knows Hardaway, so maybe as the third team in a 3-way deal where they send a pick somewhere and get Timmy from Dallas.
23. WASHINGTON
They are in a way worse roster situation that we are and they need to bank hard in this year's draft for any hopes for a better future. I don't hate Kuz, but with Kyrie here it doesn't make sense anymore.
22. INDIANA
Obviously Myles Turner would be a wet dream for Dallas, but I don't think it's remotely possible. Indiana doesn't want more picks or young players, they want to compete and they have a lot of cap space to operate with so they will be looking to upgrade the roster, not tear it apart.
21. UTAH
We are late to the party, all the extra bodies were already traded away and they have a good core with Lauri, Kessler, Sexton and a bunch of picks. They can also throw more money to Clarkson if they want to be competitive next year and with Lauri's improvement, I don't really see why not.
20. OKC
This year they can still draft and continue with the same core + Chet, so they will be more of a candidate for trading young players / picks in the following years when they will have too many picks.
19. CHICAGO
If they break the big three it will most likely be DeRozan. Who we can't really pay or fit into our system.
Free agents - I would love Derrick Jones Jr. as an addition to the bench or even starting with some defensive matchups. 26 years / 6-5 / 210 / 7 inch wingspan, he hasn't really played a lot of minutes, but he has been hustling and providing effort on both ends. I am sure his 3pt% would go up in Luka offense and his PER36 is 12.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks, which is better than Doe Doe in all stats, especially shooting better from 2pt range where he is not afraid of the contact. Bulls reddit recap.
Drummond is an interesting big, he is still only 29, which shocks me every time I see it, but he can't be your first option. He is still a rebounding machine, but not much else in terms of defense or offense, so not really an option, unless you want to switch him with Javale.
18. TORONTO
After this disappointing season, they will 100% make some moves. Let's say they decide to sign Poeltl and Van Vleet, which puts them over 170 million in paycheck, so they need to offload around 30 million. So most likely they trade one of OG Anunoby / Gary Trent Jr and add Boucher +/ Young. These are all players that Dallas would need, but Toronto declined 3 picks from Memphis for OG, so we are not even close, there will be a lot of teams looking at these players. Maybe picking up Boucher from the 3rd team, but here comes the problem of Mavs throwing away all 2nd round picks which would come in handy grabbing up players like this from the market.
17. NEW ORLEANS
Another disappointing season, but they have the excuse of Zion not playing, so they probably just run it back with some small additions and see what happens next year. They could use some more shooting, but they are just below the cap, so can't see how our players would benefit them.
16. ATLANTA
Over the cap as it currently stands and they definitely need roster changes. I don't think they will trade Young, so the obvious candidates are Capela ($21,116,000) and Collins ($25,340,000). Capela is not really the modern center, but at 28 years / 12 points / 11 reb / 1.2 blocks he is probably the most realistic target for Mavs this year. He is plug&play with Luka, since he played the same style with Trae. And oddly enough, Atlanta really needs some 3pt shooting. Collins is not an ideal player since his shooting went sour (I wonder if he could operate his finger in the offseason, if that is the main reason), but Atlanta may just demand him in the package for Capela. And on top of everything, Atlanta would be a perfect candidate to move down just a bit in draft.
DAL -> ATL: Powell sign & trade, Bertans, Reggie, pick 10 ATL -> DAL: Capela, Collins, pick 15
Atlanta gets a cheaper replacement for Capela to come off the bench behind Okongwu and get a better draft pick for taking Bertans money. They could use Reggie for defense or move it to a contender for a pick if they want to upgrade the roster in a different way. Dallas fixes 4 & 5 position with one trade.
DAL->ATL: Timmy, pick 10 ATL->DAL: Capela, pick 15
If Atlanta manages to deal with Collins separately, Timmy and pick incentive might be enough to make the deal done. Timmy is on a better contract as Capela, but Atlanta knows that we desperately need a big.
15. MINNESOTA
Since next year is the last season of Ant rookie deal and KAT was injured most of the season, they will probably just run it back and improve on the margins and take the tough decisions after the end of next year. Naz Reid is a free agent and I'm not sure if they really need him, but we already have an older and more expensive Naz Reid at home. Someone will offer him a decent contract, so I don't think he can come cheap to our bench.
14. LAKERS
It's really hard to guess what the Lakers will do, they need to resign half of the roster (DLo, Reaves, Lonnie, Schroeder, Hachimura, Troy Brown), but they will surely chase some bigger names as well. They should be the primary target for DeRozan if Chicago trades him, so maybe Dallas can pick up some scraps along the way, maybe Hachimura could become available.
13. MIAMI
Another team that needs to shake the roster up. Their salaries are absurd for the product on the court, where the cheapest players were the most consistent. They have some of their picks available so they can be in the race for the best players available on the market or they could also be looking for a rebuild. I think they are a perfect match for Timmy, but we can probably only be the third team in a larger deal if Bam/ButleHerro/Lowry are moved this season. Butler would be awesome on Mavs, but unless he demands a specific trade, I'm not sure many contenders would be willing to pay the price that Heat would demand.
12. CLIPPERS
One of the most expensive rosters, but Ballmer probably doesn't care about paying a billion in luxury tax, as long as they are performing. They could move at least one of Covington / Batum / Marcus Morris, where I would personally love Batum on Mavs. I feel like Reggie would flourish in Clippers system (and return to the team that drafted him) where he doesn't have the offensive pressure, but not sure Clippers would do a straight swap and downgrade in size. Another instance where our unexisting 2nd round picks would help us get another wing. Plumlee as a free agent is an upgrade on Powell, but again, not the cheapest and not solving our starting spot.
11. GOLDEN STATE
Draymond is not as far fetched option as it seems at a first glance. I have a feeling that the Poole extension will push Draymond out, since they can't really keep paying this core ad infinitum, especially if there is a change in front office where a new GM would want to slowly start building a new story. And I have a feeling Draymond would want to play with Luka and Kyrie, another two high IQ players and take a leadership challenge in Mavs. How does it work? Draymond opts into his player option ($27,586,224) and demands a trade to Mavs.
DAL -> GSW: Bertans, Reggie, 2025 frp GSW -> DAL: Draymond
I have a feeling Bertans would actually work well in GSW's running system as a bomber from the bench and they can dump him after one year if not. Bullock would help them on defense or they can move him if the season is not going well. And the last remaining FRP should be enough to seal the deal for GSW. But again, this happens only if Draymond wants it to happen.
10. PHOENIX
Their starting unit is absurdly expensive, but too early to tell what will happen. If they win a championship, the owner might be willing to pay it anyways. If they lose early due to their lack of depth, anything is possible. I don't think Ayton-Kyrie ideas have any merit, at least not for another year. And Dallas doesn't really need CP3 if they go that route. They wont let go of Okogie, maybe Dallas can try to grab Torrey Craig if he demands too much money for the Suns.
9. BROOKLYN
I would love Cam Thomas / Mikal / Claxton, but frankly, this should be their core going forward. I don't believe they will go the draft-pick-rebuild direction based on their history, but rather stay put, be semi-competitive and try to go for the next available star. Someone like Siakam would instantly make this roster scary.
Free agents - not sure we want to go Seth Curry route again, but I have a feeling Watanabe would work well on our roster. He already played with Kyrie, he can drive way better than our shooters due to his length, and he can come cheap.
8. NEW YORK
Yeah we won't be seeing trades here for a long time and no real free agents. Move along.
7. KINGS
They have a nice "cheap" squad, so not many trade possibilities. I wouldn't mind Trey Lyles, but they have no reason not to pay & keep him.
6. MEMPHIS
Same, crazy cheap squad and assets to improve it. Must be nice to draft well.
5. CLEVELAND
Same, good contracts around Mitchell & Garland, so they can let LeVert go and seek replacement on the market. Pieces we would need are their core for the future.
4. DENVER
Depends on what happens in the playoffs, but they have most of the squad locked on contracts. Maybe they will want to go too cheap on Bruce Brown and we could offer more, but that sounds like a classic Mavs mistake, overpaying another guard, even though he is good on defense. I would rather have Hardy step in the 3rd ballhandler shoes.
3. 76ERS
They worked hard this offseason to fulfil this roster so unless they flame out instantly (which they shouldn't) I don't see why they would do any major changes. If Jalen McDaniels plays well, they will pay him (and if he doesn't, Dallas shouldn't pay him). Similar with Niang, if he is too expensive for them, he should be too expensive for Dallas.
2. CELTICS
They will surely make a deep run, and next year will be all about "what happens with Jaylen Brown extension" so I don't see them making any major roster moves before that decision takes place.
1. BUCKS
They have some players that could be interesting to Mavs: - Brook Lopez - they will probably keep him cos he is way more valuable to their system comparing to other teams. But giving him an increase in money means they will have to let go some other pieces. - Jae Crowder - I would love him on Mavs, but I'm not sure if how he feels about the organization. Also we might have to spend MLE on two players, not only one, to fulfill the roster. - Jingles - Not the youngest or fastest anymore, but on a vet min contract he could provide some needed experience in the locker room. - Goran - come on, give him a vet min finally to give Luka another friend back in the locker room - Grayson Allen - not the most charming person, but man would Dallas need a dawg like that on the floor
I apologize for all this nonsense and not getting the hopes any higher with some high-flying trade ideas, but honestly, if we just bring in new faces and some players that can simply play basketball, I would be more than thrilled.
So this is my offseason prediction:
DAL->ATL: Timmy, 2023 pick 10 ATL->DAL: Capela, 2023 pick 15
DAL -> GSW: Bertans, Reggie, 2025 frp GSW -> DAL: Draymond
Derrick Jones Jr. - offer 5,5 million MLE (half of full MLE) Keita Bates-Diop - offer 5,5 million MLE (half of full MLE) Yuta Watanabe - offer 4,5 million BI-ANNUAL EXCEPTION Powell - offer VET MIN Jingles - offer VET MIN Goran - offer VET MIN Terrence Ross - offer VET MIN
Draft a big or a wing at 15th spot: Rayan Rupert / Dereck Lively II / G.G. Jackson / Kyle Filipowski
So the roster would look like:
Luka - Kyrie - Hardy - Goran Josh - Watanabe -Derrick Jones Jr. - Jingles Draymond - Maxi - Keita Bates-Diop Capela - Powell - Javale - (draft pick big)
+ AJ Lawson and two more rough prospects on two-way contracts (there are 3 of them next year)
We could go super small, super big, rebound, roll and shoot. Say you don't like it.

This is my fourth year running the Alternative Awards, got great responses in 2020, 2021 & 2022 as well as a historical retrospective! Now presenting your candidates for the only awards that matter, the 2023 Alternative NBA Awards!
*For the awards with an asterisk, there were no stat-trackers that I found, so I had to scrape them myself. Here's the GitHub link for that (it's a mix of Python & R)!

The Real Sixth Man of the Year (presented by Brent Barry)*

(for players who are between sixth and ninth on their team in minutes played per game, must have played 50% of team's games and started less than 50% of games, credit to KokiriEmerald for the reasoning behind re-implementing the starting criteria)
By PPG:

1. Malcolm Brogdon (14.9)
2. Malik Monk (13.5)
3. Alec Burks (12.8)
4. Bruce Brown, Max Strus & Naz Reid (11.5)

By VORP:

1. Malcolm Brogdon (2.1)
2. Tyus Jones & Delon Wright (1.7)
3. Larry Nance Jr. (1.4)
4. Onyeka Okongwu & Brandon Clarke (1.3)

The Spark Plug Award (sponsored by Lt. Surge, presented by American Express CEO Stephen J Squeri)

Most charges drawn per 36 minutes (minimum 70% of games played), credit to morron88 for the idea to separate charges & loose balls

1. Kevin Love (0.962)
2. Isaiah Joe (0.509)
3. Patrick Beverley (0.423)
4. Jalen Brunson (0.411)
5. Davion Mitchell (0.378)

Shoutout to Jaylin Williams, who played in only 60% of games, but drew 1.69 charges per 36 minutes!

The Most Loose Balls Recovered Award (sponsored by Hungry Hungry Hippos, presented by Dennis Rodman & Nene’s doctor)

Per 36 minutes, minimum 70% of games played

1. T.J. McConnell (1.418)
2. Tari Eason (1.407)
3. Paul Reed (1.379)
4. Jordan Goodwin (1.145)
5. Jarred Vanderbilt (1.086)

The Plexiglass Award

most deflections per 36 minutes, minimum 70% of games played

1. Alex Caruso (5.217)
2. Matisse Thybulle (4.559)
3. Herbert Jones (4.09)
4. T.J. McConnell (3.953)
5. De'Anthony Melton (3.923)

The Wes Unseld Memorial Brick Wall Award

most points generated by screen assists per 36 minutes, minimum 70% of games played

1. Kevon Looney (14.28)
2. Domantas Sabonis (13.92)
3. Onyeka Okongwu (13.79)
4. Drew Eubanks (13.73)
5. Rudy Gobert (13.37)

Shoutout to Steven Adams, who played in only 51% of games, but generated 16.83 points by screen assists per 36 minutes!

The Deadshot Award (presented by Ray Allen & Reggie Miller)

best qualifying 3 point percentage (Basketball-Reference)

1. Luke Kennard (49.4%)
2. Al Horford (44.6%)
3. Damion Lee (44.5%)
4. Malcolm Brogdon (44.4%)
5. Tyrese Maxey (43.4%)

The Stormtrooper Award

worst qualifying 2 point percentage (Basketball-Reference)

1. Killian Hayes (42.9%)
2. Tim Hardaway Jr. (43.1%)
3. Luguentz Dort (44%)
4. Dillon Brooks (45.1%)
5. Fred VanVleet (45.5%)

The "If He Dies, He Dies" Award (presented by Tom Thibodeau, sponsored by Ivan Drago)

most minutes played per game (Basketball-Reference) (credit to FurryCrew for the idea)

1. Pascal Siakam & Kyrie Irving (37.4)
2. Jayson Tatum (36.9)
3. James Harden (36.8)
4. Fred VanVleet (36.7)

alternatively: most total minutes played (Basketball-Reference) (credit to FrankEMartindale for the idea)

1. Mikal Bridges (2963)
2. Anthony Edwards (2844)
3. Zach LaVine (2764)
4. Nikola Vucevic (2747)
5. Julius Randle (2734)

The Black Hole Award*

most FGAs per assist, minimum 50% of games played (credit to Moose4KU for the idea)

1. Chris Boucher (18.2)
2. Kelly Oubre Jr. (15.2)
3. Mark Williams (13.9)
4. Jaren Jackson Jr. (13.7)
5. Michael Porter Jr. (12.6)

The Hot Potato Award*

least FGAs per assist, minimum 50% of games played (credit to Moose4KU for the idea & ajayod for the name)

1. Ben Simmons (0.918)
2. Draymond Green (0.948)
3. Jordan McLaughlin (0.98)
4. Chris Paul (1.27)
5. Ish Smith (1.31)

The Most Expendable Player Award (sponsored by the National Basketball Referees Association)

highest personal fouls per 36 minutes, minimum 50% games played & 12 minutes/game (credit to PsychoM & BrightGreenLED for the idea)

1. Christian Koloko (5.75)
2. Isaiah Jackson (5.32)
3. Zeke Nnaji (5.19)
4. Dwight Powell (5.16)
5. Naz Reid (5.06)

The "Weakest Link" Award (sponsored by Jack Link's Beef Jerky, presented by the 2015 Atlanta Hawks Starting 5)*

best 5th starter by VORP (must have started 50% of a team's games) (credit to memeticengineering for the idea)

1. Tyrese Maxey (1.3)
2. Gary Trent Jr. (1.1)
3. Grayson Allen (1)
4. Herbert Jones & Jonas Valanciunas (0.8)

The No Fly Zone Award (presented by Dikembe Mutumbo)*

most blocked dunks as the blocking player

1. Brook Lopez (23)
2. Drew Eubanks (20)
3. Jaren Jackson Jr. & Myles Turner (17)
4. Walker Kessler (15)

The Rejected for Boarding Award (sponsored by United Airlines)*

most blocked dunks as the dunking player (credit to Legdrop_soup for the idea and asw7412 for the sponsor)

1. Aaron Gordon (13)
2. Ivica Zubac (11)
3. Tari Eason (10)
4. Jarrett Allen (9)
5. Joel Embiid, Kenyon Martin Jr, Kristaps Porzingis, Patrick Williams & Walker Kessler (8)

The No Time to Taunt Award (presented by Tim Duncan)*

highest percent of blocks that stayed inbounds & recovered by blocker's team, minimum 40 blocked shots (credit to gibberisle for the idea)

1. Mo Bamba (72.1%)
2. Jabari Smith Jr. (70.3%)
3. Draymond Green (70%)
4. Patrick Williams (68.6%)
5. Tari Eason (68.1%)

The “Oops, I Dunked It Again” Award (sponsored by Britney Spears, presented by Gary Payton & Shawn Kemp)*

Most prolific alley-oop duo (credit to lactardenthusiast for the idea)

1. Clint Capela & Trae Young (91)
2. Onyeka Okongwu & Trae Young (35)
3. John Collins & Trae Young (33)
4. Dwight Powell & Luka Doncic (30)
5. Brandon Clarke & Ja Morant (25)

Topical: Kyle Anderson & Rudy Gobert are tied for 8th with 20 alley-oops completed (+ 1 punch)

The “He Trick Y’All, Running Around, Doing Nothing” Award (sponsored by Russell Westbrook, presented by Tony Snell)*

Lowest sum of per-36 percentile ranks in the following: charges, contested shots, deflections, defensive boxouts, defensive loose balls recovered (minimum 50% of games played)

Player	Charges Percentile	Contested 2-Pt Shot Percentile	Contested 3-Pt Shot Percentile	Deflections Percentile	Defensive Boxouts percentile	Defensive Loose Balls Recovered Percentile	Sum of Percentiles
Eric Gordon	17.25%	0.87%	0.87%	38.84%	6.67%	6.09%	70.58%
Collin Sexton	46.38%	19.13%	8.70%	18.84%	1.74%	4.35%	99.13%
Jalen Green	17.25%	6.67%	45.22%	12.46%	0.58%	24.35%	106.52%
Klay Thompson	17.25%	33.62%	8.41%	28.99%	5.80%	30.14%	124.20%
Malaki Branham	17.25%	21.74%	29.57%	9.28%	1.16%	52.75%	131.74%

a look at two other relevant players

Player	Charges Percentile	Contested 2-Pt Shot Percentile	Contested 3-Pt Shot Percentile	Deflections Percentile	Defensive Boxouts percentile	Defensive Loose Balls Recovered Percentile	Sum of Percentiles
Patrick Beverley	97.97%	20.29%	32.17%	75.07%	14.78%	40.29%	280.58%
Russell Westbrook	71.30%	18.26%	33.62%	64.35%	23.48%	70.14%	281.16%

The "Got that Dawg in Him" Award (presented by Air Bud)

Highest sum of per-36 percentile ranks in the following: charges, contested shots, deflections, defensive boxouts, defensive loose balls recovered (minimum 50% of games played) (credit to memeticengineering for the idea)

Player	Charges Percentile	Contested 2-Pt Shot Percentile	Contested 3-Pt Shot Percentile	Deflections Percentile	Defensive Boxouts percentile	Defensive Loose Balls Recovered Percentile	Sum of Percentiles
Paul Reed	50.43%	94.78%	87.83%	96.81%	89.86%	97.97%	517.68%
Thaddeus Young	94.20%	71.01%	81.74%	99.42%	68.12%	88.26%	502.75%
Alex Caruso	95.94%	58.26%	99.13%	99.71%	49.28%	93.77%	496.09%
Herbert Jones	96.52%	62.03%	90.43%	98.55%	55.65%	88.26%	491.45%
Andre Drummond	69.86%	84.64%	68.99%	91.59%	87.83%	87.25%	490.14%

The Bowling Ball Award (sponsored by Pete Weber, presented by Glen "Big Baby" Davis)*

most charges committed (credit to Kdog122025 for the idea)

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (23)
2. Kyle Kuzma (19)
3. Bennedict Mathurin (16)
4. Deni Avdija & Julius Randle (15)

"The Good Ol' Hockey Game, is the Best Game You Can Name" Award (presented by Dominik Hasek)*

most goaltends committed (credit to Kdog122025 for the idea)

1. Daniel Gafford & Nic Claxton (19)
2. Nick Richards (16)
3. Jalen Duren & Mark Williams (13)

"The Thing about Arsenal Is They Always Try to Walk It In" Award (presented by MLS Commissioner Don Garber)*

most kicked ball violations

1. Nikola Jokic (47)
2. Nic Claxton & Nikola Vucevic (19)
3. Jakob Poeltl (18)
4. Jaden McDaniels (16)

The "David vs Goliath" Award (presented by Dwyane Wade)*

most shots blocked as the blocker where the blockee is at least 5 inches taller

1. Fred VanVleet (28)
2. Patrick Beverley (23)
3. Kyrie Irving (21)
4. Chris Paul (18)
5. Donovan Mitchell & Kyle Lowry (16)

The Most 3-Pt Shooting Fouls Committed Award*

credit to watchingsongsDL, kingcobweb & An-Indian-In-The-NBA for the idea

1. Dillon Brooks (10)
2. De'Anthony Melton, Deni Avdija, Jalen McDaniels & Luguentz Dort (9)

The "Master Baiter" Award (sponsored by Bass Pro Shops & Kleenex)

most 3-point shooting fouls drawn (Source at PBPStats)

1. Stephen Curry (37)
2. James Harden (34)
3. Jayson Tatum (33)
4. Jordan Clarkson (31)
5. Damian Lillard (30)

The "This Game Has Always Been, And Will Always Be, About Buckets" Award*

highest points as percentage of counting stats (rebounds, assists, steals, blocks), minimum 70% of games played

player	Points Per Game	Rebounds Per Game	Assists Per Game	Steals Per Game	Blocks Per Game	Points as Percentage of Other Stats
Bojan Bogdanović	21.6	3.8	2.6	0.6	0.1	75.26%
Norman Powell	17	2.9	1.8	0.8	0.3	74.56%
Gary Trent Jr.	17.4	2.6	1.6	1.6	0.2	74.36%
Klay Thompson	21.9	4.1	2.4	0.7	0.4	74.24%
Tyrese Maxey	20.3	2.9	3.5	0.8	0.1	73.55%

The Empty Calorie Stats Award (sponsored by Pop-Tarts)*

highest percentile rank within position in usage, descending VORP, descending TS% (minimum 50% of games played) (credit to eewap for the idea)

player	True Shooting %	Usage %	VORP	TS Positional Percentile Rank	Usage Positional Percentile Rank	VORP Positional Percentile Rank	Sum of Positional Percentiles
Dillon Brooks	0.494	21.8	-1.1	100.00%	79.31%	98.28%	277.59%
Jeremy Sochan	0.509	19.8	-0.7	94.29%	75.71%	97.14%	267.14%
Simone Fontecchio	0.495	20.2	-0.6	98.28%	74.14%	89.66%	262.07%
RJ Barrett	0.531	26.2	-0.7	77.65%	84.71%	97.65%	260.00%
Jaden Ivey	0.528	25.4	-0.7	83.53%	77.65%	97.65%	258.82%

The "Can’t Win With These Cats" Award (sponsored by Scar from The Lion King, presented by Kevin Durant in a fake mustache)*

biggest difference in on/off splits in weighted average with and without best (minimum 50% of games played) (credit to eewap for the idea)

player	team	Net Plus Minus per 100 Poss	Team Avg NPM per 100 Poss With	Team Avg NPM per 100 Poss Without	NPM Difference
Nikola Jokić	DEN	22	4.41	1.89	2.52
Nic Claxton	BRK	9.1	-0.30	-2.09	1.79
Draymond Green	GSW	13.1	1.05	-0.58	1.63
Damian Lillard	POR	12.8	4.06	2.63	1.43
Josh Hart	POR	12.8	4.06	2.63	1.43
Jrue Holiday	MIL	12.8	3.45	2.02	1.42

The "Anchors Aweigh" Award (presented by Ron Burgundy)*

biggest difference in on/off splits in weighted average with and without worst (minimum 50% of games played and 10 minutes/game) (credit to eewap for the idea)

player	team	Net Plus Minus per 100 Poss	Team Avg NPM per 100 Poss With	Team Avg NPM per 100 Poss Without	NPM Difference
Jeff Green	DEN	-15.8	4.41	6.72	-2.31
Max Strus	MIA	-9.1	0.82	2.43	-1.61
Lonnie Walker IV	LAL	-10.7	0.89	2.34	-1.45
Reggie Bullock	DAL	-4.7	1.50	2.91	-1.42
Paolo Banchero	ORL	-4.4	0.64	1.82	-1.18

Wouldn't take too much stock in this tbh, Banchero was carrying the Number 1 scoring burden for the Magic as a rookie

The “Fine, I’ll Do It Myself” Award (sponsored by Thanos, presented by Allen Iverson)

Highest percentage of unassisted field goals as portion of total field goals, minimum 50% of games played

1. Luka Doncic (84.7%)
2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (79%)
3. Trae Young (78.7%)
4. Ja Morant & De'Aaron Fox (76.1%)

The “You Gotta Feed Me” Award (presented by Joey Chestnut & Marcin Gortat)

Highest percentage of assisted field goals as portion of total field goals, minimum 50% of games played

1. Duncan Robinson (97.7%)
2. Davis Bertans (97.1%)
3. Reggie Bullock (95.3%)
4. Joe Harris (94%)
5. Mike Muscala (93.9%)

The “FUCK OUTTA HERE, I GOT THAT SHIT” Award (presented by Carmelo Anthony)

Lowest contested rebound percentage, minimum 50% of games played

1. Tyus Jones (7.5%)
2. Seth Curry (8%)
3. Dennis Schroder (9.1%)
4. Cameron Payne (9.4%)
5. Austin Rivers (9.6%)

alternatively: restricting to players > 6 foot 6 inches in height

1. Joe Ingles (13.4%)
2. Terrence Ross (14%)
3. Amir Coffey (17%)
4. Bojan Bogdanovic (17.6%)
5. Jayson Tatum (18%)

The "Glass Cleaner" Award (presented by Dennis Rodman, sponsored by Windex)

Highest contested rebound percentage, minimum 50% of games played

1. Wenyen Gabriel (63.9%)
2. Mitchell Robinson (60.5%)
3. Luke Kornet (58.9%)
4. Romeo Langford (57.8%)
5. Isaiah Jackson (55.7%)

alternatively: restricting to players < 6 foot 7 inches in height

1. Romeo Langford (57.8%)
2. Derrick Jones Jr. (51%)
3. Josh Okogie (45.9%)
4. Kenrich Williams (42.5%)
5. Aaron Wiggins (39.9%)

The Stonks Award*

contract overperformance by fewest contract $ per 1 VORP, excluding rookie contracts & lower salary than CBA minimum (like 10-days, two-ways, hardship, etc) (credit to memeticengineering for the idea)

player	salary	vorp	VORP per $1M
Drew Eubanks	1836090	0.8	0.4357
Kenrich Williams	2000000	0.8	0.4000
Moritz Wagner	1878720	0.7	0.3726
Josh Okogie	1836090	0.6	0.3268
Domantas Sabonis	18500000	5.4	0.2919

alternatively, also excluding players making less than 5% of the salary cap:

player	salary	vorp	VORP per $1M	Salary as Percent of Salary Cap
Domantas Sabonis	18500000	5.4	0.2919	14.96%
Nikola Jokić	33047803	8.8	0.2663	26.73%
Kyle Anderson	8780488	2.2	0.2506	7.10%
Kevon Looney	8000000	2	0.2500	6.47%
Delon Wright	7804878	1.7	0.2178	6.31%

The Rotation Awards

(the awards I agonize over the most & still get wrong lmao)
I value depth over one solitary star (it’s a rotation after all). My attempt to make this more objective than past years:

• Get position estimates from Basketball-Reference
  • players with most minutes at PG & SG: guard
  • players with most minutes at SG & SF or SF & PF: wing
  • players with most minutes at PC & C: big
  • exceptions: all players greater than 7 foot are bigs and all players less than 6 foot are guards
• Filter out players with less than 12 MP/G
• Rank teams based on highest positional VORP without positional VORP leader

The Best Guard Rotation Award (sponsored by Buckingham Palace)

East

1. Wizards (Delon Wright, Bradley Beal, Monte Morris, Jordan Goodwin, Kendrick Nunn)
2. 76ers (James Harden, De’Anthony Melton, Tyrese Maxey)
3. Cavaliers (Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Ricky Rubio)
4. Boston (Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon, Marcus Smart, Payton Pritchard)
5. Knicks (Jalen Brunson, Immanuel Quickley, Derrick Rose)

West

1. Grizzlies (Ja Morant, Tyus Jones, Luke Kennard)
2. Mavericks (Luka Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyrie Irving, McKinley Wright IV, Frank Ntilikina)
3. Warriors (Steph Curry, Donte DiVincenzo, Ty Jerome, Jordan Poole, Gary Payton II)
4. Nuggets (Jamal Murray, Bruce Brown, Bones Hyland, Reggie Jackson)
5. Pelicans (CJ McCollum, Devonte’ Graham, Jose Alvarado, Dyson Daniels)

The Best Wing Rotation Award (co-sponsored by Lou Williams and Magic City)

East

1. Boston (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Grant Williams)
2. Bulls (Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Derrick Jones Jr, Ayo Dosunmu)
3. Raptors (Scottie Barnes, Chris Boucher, OG Anunoby, Thad Young, Juancho Hernangomez)
4. Cavaliers (Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade, Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens)
5. Pistons (Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Saddiq Bey, Hamidou Diallo, Kevin Knox, Eugene Omoruyi, Isaiah Livers, Rodney McGruder, Jared Rhoden)

West

1. Suns (Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Torrey Craig, Josh Okogie, Ish Wainright, Damion Lee, Terrence Ross, TJ Warren)
2. Clippers (Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Terance Mann, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris, Luke Kennard, Amir Coffey)
3. Kings (Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray, Malik Monk, Terence Davis, Kessler Edwards)
4. Pelicans (Trey Murphy III, Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones, Josh Richardson, Naji Marshall)
5. Timberwolves (Kyle Anderson, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Taurean Prince, Jaylen Nowell)

The Best Big Rotation Award (jointly sponsored by Tom Hanks, Cadbury and Sex and the City)

East

1. Bucks (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis)
2. Nets (Kevin Durant, Nic Claxton, Cam Johnson)
3. Knicks (Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jericho Sims, Obi Toppin)
4. Cavaliers (Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, Kevin Love)
5. Hawks (Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu, Jalen Johnson, John Collins)

West

1. Lakers (LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Thomas Bryant, Wenyen Gabriel)
2. Grizzlies (Jaren Jackson Jr, Brandon Clarke, Santi Aldama, Steven Adams, Xavier Tillman)
3. Jazz (Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, Kelly Olynyk, Damian Jones, Rudy Gay)
4. Pelicans (Zion Williamson, Larry Nance Jr, Jonas Valanciunas, Willy Hernangomez, Jaxson Hayes)
5. Timberwolves (Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid, Karl-Anthony Towns)

What are some other awards you'd like to see? Feel free to give me feedback on my choices, especially for the Rotation Awards contenders!