In today’s newsletter—a few Western Conference teams made under-the-radar moves that could have real impacts on next season, the NBA Twitter-sphere erupted after Wemby was placed atop MIP odds lists, and we go back to the last time Steph and Klay weren’t teammates. Buckle up!

Also: have the Sixers finally found the missing piece of The Process? Watch the latest video on The Check Up here:

Today’s Lineup

Around the NBA

Pelicans sign Javonte Green to one-year deal

After spending time with both Boston and Chicago, sixth-year forward Javonte Green is headed to New Orleans. Green, who played in over 100 games for the Bulls after being traded to Chicago from Boston in 2021, was a free agent for most of the 2023-24 season before the Bulls picked him back up in April. He averaged 12.2 points in the nine games he played for Chicago in 2024.

The one thing you can always count on Javonte Green bringing to the court is flat-out energy. Whether it’s hustling for a loose ball or driving down the court for a coast-to-coast scoop and slam, Woo is there to do the dirty work. Best of luck in NOLA, Javonte!

2025 Most Improved Player odds released, Wemby sparks debate at #1

Betting odds for the NBA’s 2024-25 Most Improved Player award were released on Wednesday, and there’s a name at number one that had people up in arms—above other traditional candidates like Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga was Victor Wembanyama leading the initial pack of MIP contenders.

On one hand, since many see Wemby as an All-Star lock and an All-NBA caliber player, having his stats jump up after a record-breaking rookie year is just the natural progression of one of the greatest prospects of all time and not really “improvement” in the spirit of MIP as an award. But on the other hand, if the man improves more than anyone else does, why not hand him the award? Let us know what you think:

Suns cut Nassir Little and EJ Liddell, preferring rookies Oso Ighodaro and Ryan Dunn

Shams reported on Wednesday that the Phoenix Suns had released forwards Nassir Little and EJ Liddell, opening a roster spot in doing so and providing the front office with some cap flexibility to make roster moves throughout the season. Little, who was owed about $22 million more on the contract he had originally signed with Portland, will have his salary stretched while Liddell will look for a new place to kickstart his NBA career after only playing eight games for the Pelicans in his rookie year before being traded to Atlanta and then Phoenix.

Shams’ report said that Phoenix’s front office views rookies Oso Ighodaro and Ryan Dunn as capable bench players for next year—with the Suns’ recent weakness being their depth, the FO will have to hope their young guns are up to the challenge.

Back to the Past

With Klay on the Mavericks and the Splash Brothers officially broken up, we got to thinking: what was the world like the last time Steph and Klay weren’t teammates?

You have to go back to 2010-11 (the year before the Warriors drafted the Game 6 Legend) to exist in an NBA world where Steph and Klay aren’t teammates. It was the second season in the league for Curry, who averaged 18.6 points per game next to Monta Ellis’ team-leading 24.1 PPG. Monta and Steph weren’t enough to lift Golden State into playoff contention, as the Warriors finished the season at 36-46.

In the NBA at-large, this was the year of Derrick Rose’s historic MVP campaign, as the 22-year-old Bulls point guard became the youngest MVP winner in NBA history. He led Chicago all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, but it was LeBron and the Heatles who beat them and had the absolute honor… of losing to Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks in the Finals.

And you wanna know what Klay was up to in 2010-11? He averaged 21.6 PPG on 44%/40%/84% splits as a junior at Washington State. The man has always been a bucket—just check out this highlight tape that dates back 13 years. 🤯

But what about outside of basketball? Topping the charts the week of June 18th, 2011 (the week before the 2011 NBA Draft that would see Klay and Steph become teammates) was Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” off of her album 21 that had been released earlier that year. Take a listen if you can’t remember the tune—it’s a good one.

And finally, the other sports! In the MLB’s last full season before Steph and Klay became teammates, the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers in the 2010 World Series with recent retiree Joey Votto winning NL MVP and the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton getting AL MVP. Earlier in 2011, the Packers had beaten the Steelers 31-25 in Super Bowl XLV after an MVP year from Tom Brady. And in hockey, after an MVP campaign by the Anaheim Ducks’ Corey Perry, the Boston Bruins clinched the 2011 Stanley Cup on June 15th, just a few short days before the Warriors would draft Klay and sports history would be changed forever…

Three in the Key

Signing Off

Thanks for sticking with us this week! We only have a few of these late summer weekends left, so make sure to value this time and spend some of it outdoors before the leaves start to change! Talk to you Monday. ✌️

-Austin Zeglis