👋 Good morning! Should I start looking up when Caitlin Clark’s contract is up? Her boyfriend’s father does coach at Penn.

Yes, Philadelphia will get a WNBA team in 2030. I knew when they brought out Media resident and Curb Your Enthusiasm all-timer Wanda Sykes for that strange Cherelle Parker/Brian Roberts/Josh Harris press conference back in January that they finally meant business about getting a WNBA team. Wanda seems happy about it, too.

Some of the details about the WNBA in Philly…

Lots of discussion about what the name will be. I remember the Staley-led Rage from back in the 90s, and I think we can do better than that. — Rich Hofmann

As always, you can reach me at [email protected]

A year ago today, there was a whole lotta excitement about the Sixers. Paul George let Daryl Morey, Elton Brand, Josh Harris, David Blitzer and Julius Erving into his house (but not before they all took their shoes off) and they gave him a whole bunch of money. A nice night for Paul George, all things considered.

365 days and 365 Paul George podcasts later, we are at a different place with the Sixers. There is much less excitement. Now, we have to settle for The Trendon Watford Emergency Pod. Oh well, at least his buddy Tyrese Maxey is happy.

This was a different type of offseason for the Sixers, who followed an Eagles-like path with decidedly UnEagles-like results. Last offseason was about playing offense, signing Paul George and Caleb Martin. This offseason is about playing defense, particularly when it came to two of their free agents…

Let’s put a pin on Grimes, who is the better and more important player. We received some clues about where he is headed, but we got even more clarity with the Yabu sitch.

The Sixers’ clear area of need heading into free agency, particularly after drafting another guard (VJ Edgecombe) at the top of the draft, is at the 4 (power forward). They have pretty much nothing there. George could have been the nominal 4 in switch-heavy lineups during his prime, but that was years ago. Kelly Oubre is best utilized as a 3, although I am lower on him than most of the fan base. Justin Edwards might be able to play the 4 at some point, but that is a lot to ask of a kid.

(Maybe Johni Broome can do it, but he did not shoot 3s well in college.)

Assuming the Sixers re-sign Grimes, they have four guards that are all young and good/promising. They have the three wings I just mentioned in the paragraph above. They have Joel Embiid, Adem Bona and (unfortunately) Andre Drummond at center. They need 4s. Enter Watford, who Kyle wrote about:

I always thought the 24-year-old Watford was an interesting player on talent-poor Brooklyn teams. Certainly pretty crafty with the ball in his hands. For the minimum (two years, $5.3 million), it is a fine signing. The 4 is still very much a weak spot for the Sixers, and Watford does not really address their areas of need (shooting, rebounding). But that is who they are rolling with for now.

We will see what happens with Yabu. There were tons of tweets that suggested he is likely gone, but let’s see that happen first.

As for Grimes, another move outside of Philly has limited his earning potential in a big way. In an important trade around the league, Brooklyn dealt Cam Johnson to Denver for Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick. The Nuggets go all-in, and the Nets get a valuable trade chip for when Nikola Jokic is riding his horses in Serbia. Seems like a logical deal both ways to me. But to do that, the Nets took on $17 million in extra salary for this season, vaporizing a bunch of their cap space.

Long story short, Brooklyn loomed as the one boogeyman in a free-agent environment where there is very little cap space league-wide. But instead of using it on free agents, the Nets are trading for bad contracts and forcing teams to attach draft capital. Sam Hinkie approves.

There was recently a report that Grimes is seeking $25 million per year. In related news, I would like $25 million per year from ALLCITY. Without any cap space around the NBA, the most that Grimes can get on the open market is the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14.1 million). That means only the Sixers can go above that number, and news flash to Grimes and his agent, they are not going too far above that number.

Certainly nowhere near $25 million, that is for sure. Let’s call it in, Quentin: Four years, $68 million.

Next year’s QBs: Football is pretty much a year-round sport now. Just yesterday, the Steelers and Dolphins swapped Jalen Ramsey for Minkah Fitzpatrick. That was weird. But for the Eagles, who have been a boring offseason team for all the right reasons, we are smack dab in the middle of the only quiet month on the calendar.

DeVonta Smith’s charity softball game? Good for him, I do not particularly care. A.J. Brown vacationing in Morocco? Good for him, I also do not particularly care. But like many of you, I can talk ball 24/7/365.

That is why we have Fran. And he gave his early, detailed evaluations on what is shaping up to be a LOADED quarterback draft class: Arch Manning, Doug Nussmeier’s son, LaNorris Sellers and Drew Allar (I dunno about that last one). The Eagles are set at the position, with the greatest 1-2 punch in the history of football in Jalen Hurts and The Tanimal. But it is still a great read nonetheless, as we are less than two months away from college football.

Free agent goalies: Bunch of retention deals yesterday — Marner to Vegas in a sign-and-trade, Florida retaining their whole team, Ivan Provorov getting way too much money — but NHL free agency kicks off today for the players who do hit the open market.

I do think that both the NHL and NBA would help their fans out a little bit by spacing out the offseason. In both sports, you go finals/draft/free agency in the blink of an eye.

Bill and Charlie gave us a bonus episode on the major area of need for the Flyers to target in free agency, goaltending. Some of the points they touched on…

Maybe the Flyers turn to Allen. Maybe they bring back former Flyer Alex Lyon, who has a .901 save percentage in his last two years in Detroit. That is exactly league average, which is a whole heck of a lot better than what the Orange and Black have done between the pipes. Sign me up for that.

Qualifying offers: Mmm, tenders. Anyway, the Flyers gave Cam York (their most important RFA) his qualifying offer. I am sure he is happy Torts is not the coach anymore. Expect them to re-sign York.

Phillies 4, San Diego 0: A well-played baseball game by the local nine.

There is nothing better right now than the back-to-back days that Ranger Suárez and Zack Wheeler pitch. Tyler did a great job breaking down Ranger’s artistry on yesterday’s Phillies pod, specifically how he mixes up his pitches to make hitters look silly.

Of course, Ranger accomplishes that while throwing 91 miles per hour… which might as well make him Jamie Moyer in the modern era. Zack Wheeler does the same thing, except with elite stuff. Wheeler went eight scoreless last night, and it felt like a ho-hum effort. The entire Delaware Valley needs to start cheering against Paul Skenes, because it would be a bummer if Wheeler does not have at least one Cy Young trophy in his basement for the rest of his life. Either that, or we can give Wheeler his rightful 2021 Cy Young that Corbin Burnes stole.

Announcer Analytics: It feels like the Phils always play well in front of John Kruk. When Kruk is sitting on his couch and watching the game, he unleashes tweet threads that go like this…

But when Kruk is in the booth, the boys are locked in. According to Phillies Tailgate, the Phils are 25-13 with Krukker on the call. Poor Ruben, he is basically the opposite.

Kruk remains elite. After this incredible swim move by Brandon Marsh, he said, “I did not know Michael Phelps had a beard down to his belly button.”

As much as I am frustrated with Max Kepler, I do feel bad that he’s been robbed of two three-run bombs already this season. First Michael Harris II a few weeks ago, and then this incredible play by Jackson Merrill last night.

Lots of stuff going on today. NBA and NHL free agency, plus another round of Phils-Padres. Check your local listings.

Your tentative Tuesday schedule at ​PHLY​:

Let's make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS