Difficult day for the Jazz on the optics front: Here you have Darryn Peterson refusing to work out for the team with the No. 2 pick, one year after Ace Bailey did the same (when they had No. 5). Meanwhile, sources tell @TheAthletic that a player who does want to be there - big man Walker Kessler - is at odds with the front office over his lack of an extension offer last summer and the current handling of his restricted free agency. More to come…

Hopefully the next Blazers head coach is wildly successful. If that happens, it doesn’t mean the handling of the Tiago situation wasn’t a shitshow.

Tiago Splitter won 52 percent of his games as Blazers interim after being thrown into the job, literally, overnight. Pulled off three stunning must-win games to earn 7-seed. Had the respect of the locker room. Then got jerked around for months. It's a fumble.

Somebody take Mikal’s phone

Tough day for content!

BREAKING: The Chicago Bulls are finalizing the hire of Portland Trail Blazers interim Tiago Splitter as the franchise's new head coach, sources tell ESPN. Splitter succeeds Billy Donovan as the Bulls' coach after stepping into the head job and excelling in Portland last season.

Looking for buffet style catering for a wedding - anyone have any good recommendations or have had good luck with any themselves? Open to catering companies, food trucks, anything - just looking to do it buffet style. Let me know!

Young squad always has to take their lumps before they get one 🏆

Hat tip, Knicks. Hat tip.

Dylan Harper…man. It’s not even a, “he’s good for a rookie” he’s just freaking good.

Barely mentioned in the Sorsby discourse: Almost everything he did was illegal. -- Underage gambling -- Using other peoples' identities/accounts -- Sending money to friends out of state to place bets for him. The latter 2 could incriminate others as well. (Continued.)

“Oh Balogun is just playing for the U.S. because he couldn’t make the England squad”…Folks, that is the entire promise of our nation. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. And then we’ll beat your ass with them.

They certainly could for the immediate comp coming in the form of the 8th pick - and it’s a good draft, so there’s room for that for sure - but having the timeline of your own picks when you’re resetting has more tangible value (at least now) as teams start to navigate the new odds.

It’s something I’ve talked to a few front offices about. There’s varying opinions - some say that the potential for highest end pick value is reduced, while others believe with the new model, there’s a higher likelihood of having a higher value pick. I believe the math backs up the latter stronger, but there’s plenty of variance. It’s going to take a while of doing this just to see how wild it gets. I’d rather control my own picks though - being able to have some semblance of say in potential outcome is better than none, at least for me.

Every Scottish person in America needs to immediately try Chicken Fried Steak, and you’ll realise we and the Americans are kindred spirits

I’ve said it from the jump and I still very much believe it, the Blazers owning Milwaukee’s immediate draft future makes them the gatekeeper to Giannis deals. Miami’s offer is fine - it is not good. Miami fans, don’t start with me - I really don’t want to do this again 😂 - but it is not a hard offer to beat. Especially when you consider that Milwaukee very much wants their picks back, and whatever they get back in a Giannis deal is likely going to be redirected in part to Portland to receive said picks back. None of Herro, Ware, Jaime, Jovic or Jakucionis are players that Portland are looking at impact or positionally…soooo, you pivot to players that can be used to move around to get that capital back.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson: “I don’t really get into social media. I’ve probably been fired 212 times, and we’ve probably traded [De’Aaron] Fox 72 times. … People have their opinions. I don’t care. De’Aaron Fox will have the ball in his hands at the end of the game tomorrow.”

Police in Peru dressed up as World Cup mascots to arrest a "die-hard football fan" suspect 🚔 Being disguised as Maple the Moose and Clutch the Bald Eagle stopped suspicion building and enabled the capture of an alleged drug dealer, police say.