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FedEx Cup Playoffs

Si Woo Kim and J.J. Spaun Lead at FedEx St Jude Championship

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MEMPHIS – Si Woo Kim and J.J. Spaun each shot eight-under (62s) in the opening round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, to lead the first leg of the 2022 FedExCup Playoffs. Si Woo Kim holed out for eagle on his final hole (No. 18) for career-low nine-hole score (28)

There are 15 other players within three strokes of the lead going into Friday’s second round at TPC Southwind. Another dozen players are four strokes off the lead. Even par (70) was good for only a T-77.

Rickie Fowler, the last man in at No. 125, shot a five-under (65) and is contention not only for a possible tournament win, but also to qualify for the Top 70 and advance to the BMW Championship next weekend in Delaware.

Rookie Sahith Theegala carded a bogey-free (63) in first FedExCup Playoffs appearance.

FedEx St. Jude Leaderboard | After 18 Holes

Si Woo Kim 62 (-8)

J.J. Spaun 62 (-8)

Sahith Theegala 63 (-7)

J.T. Poston 64 (-6)

Tony Finau 64 (-6)

K.H. Lee 64 (-6)

Sepp Straka 64 (-6)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

PGA Tour: FedEx St. Jude Preview

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FedEx Cup Playoffs Begin This Weekend in Memphis

MEMPHIS – The FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first event of the 2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs, will be held at TPC Southwind. The club as hosted PGA Tour events (FedEx St. Jude Classic), a World Golf Championship (WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational) and the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

At the conclusion of the three-week playoff, the 2022 FedEx Cup Champion will receive a bonus of $18 million.

World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler is making his third appearance in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, advancing to the Tour Championship in each of his first two seasons (No. 5 in 2019-20, No. 22 in 2020-21). Scheffler will make his fifth start at TPC Southwind, having played the FedEx St. Jude Classic twice on a sponsor exemption (MC/2014, T43/2018). Scheffler has won four times this season, including the Masters Tournament, and looks to become the second player to win the Masters and the FedEx Cup in the same season (Jordan Spieth, 2014-15). Scheffler received a $4 million bonus via the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 for holding the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the regular season and a $1 million bonus for winning the Aon Risk Reward Challenge. The bonuses do not count towards his official money total of $13,176,910 million, the largest in a single season earnings in Tour history.

Tony Finau has won each of his last two starts on the PGA TOUR and is also the defending champion this week, winning the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2021 at Liberty National Golf Club. Finau is one of three players this season to win in back-to-back starts, along with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. The last player to win in three consecutive starts on Tour was Dustin Johnson during the 2016-17 season (The Genesis Invitational, WGC-Mexico Championship, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play).

FedEx St. Jude Championship | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tenn.

YARDS/PAR: 7,243 yards/Par 70

ARCHITECT: Ron Pritchard

PRIZE Money – Purse: $15,000,000/$2,700,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Tony Finau

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour#FedExCup @FedExChamp

Cantlay Wins TOUR Championship

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ATLANTA – FedExCup leader Patrick Cantlay hit a five-foot, eleven inch putt on No. 16 to go two strokes ahead of Spain’s Jon Rahm, bogeyed No. 17 to make it interesting and then birdied his final hole with a six-inch tap-in to win the TOUR Championship and its $15 million first place prize for the FedEx Cup.

For the third season, the TOUR Championship was weighted by the FedExCup “starting strokes” system, with the format crowning a single champion. Patrick Cantlay, the player with the lowest score in relation to par combined with his FedExCup Starting Strokes edge of (-10), won the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup – wire-to-wire. Cantlay becomes the third player in FedExCup history to rank No. 1 in the FedExCup entering the TOUR Championship and go on to win. He also became the first player to win four or more times in a season since Justin Thomas in 2016-17.

Rahm carded his 15th Top-10 this season, the most by any player in a season since 2015-16 and Kevin Na played his final 57 holes without a bogey en route to best FedExCup finish of his career.

Joaquin Niemann (29th at (+4) played as a single in the final round, teed-off first and shot a 2-over (72) in 1 hour, 53 minutes.

TOUR Championship Leaderboard:

Final-Round Leaderboard

1 Patrick Cantlay – (Started -10) – 67-66-67-69 (-11) – (-21)

2 Jon Rahm – (Started -6) – 65-65-68-68 (-14) – (-20)

3 Kevin Na – (Started -2) – 66-67-66-67 (-14) – (-16)

4 Justin Thomas – (Started -4) – 67-67-65-70 (-11) – (-15)

Final Leaderboard: (link)

“Patty Ice” Wins at the BMW

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OWINGS MILLS – Patrick Cantlay made a 17’6” putt for birdie on the sixth extra hole to defeat Bryson DeChambeau and win his fifth PGA Tour title. In doing so, Cantlay overtook the No. 1 spot in the FedExCup rankings. Cantlay became the first three-time winner of the 2020-21 season and first 54-hole leader/co-leader to convert for the win since Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship, a span of 15 events

DeChambeau moved from No. 8 to No. 3 in the FedExCup rankings with his eighth Top-10 finish of the season.

The BMW Championship marked the fourth consecutive week to feature a playoff and 14th of the season.

In his first FedExCup Playoffs start, Erik van Rooyen (5th) closed with a bogey-free 7-under 65 to earn a berth into the Tour Championship; played his final 69 holes without a bogey.

Notes:

• Sergio Garcia’s T-6 finish results in his first TOUR Championship start since 2017

• Players who moved into Top 30: Erik van Rooyen, Sergio Garcia

• Players who moved outside Top 30: Charley Hoffman, Max Homa

BMW Final Leaderboard:

Patrick Cantlay 66-63-66-66—261 (-27)*

Bryson DeChambeau 68-60-67-66—261 (-27)

Sungjae Im 67-65-66-67—265 (-23)

Rory McIlroy 64-70-65-67—266 (-22)

Erik van Rooyen 67-68-67-65—267 (-21)

*won with a birdie on the sixth hole of sudden death

DeChambeau and Cantlay Share Lead

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OWINGS MILLS – Tournament leaders Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay will play together in the final group in a final round for the second time in their careers. They previously played together in the final grouping in the final round of the 2018 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, which DeChambeau won; each has won the Memorial Tournament (Dechambeau in 2018, and Cantlay in 2019 and 2021)

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21-under par equals the second-lowest 54-hole score to par in a FedExCup Playoffs event.

After rounds of (64)-(66), World No. 1 and defending BMW champion Jon Rahm posts a 2-under 70 and sits five shots off the lead. The six-time PGA Tour winner has never successfully defended a tourney title.

Three of the four players who qualified for their first BMW Championship are inside the Top 12: Sam Burns (T-4), Erik van Rooyen (T-10), K.H. Lee (T-12); Other: Cam Davis (T-22)

• Current projections of player(s) to move into Top 30: Sergio Garcia

• Current projections of player(s) to move outside Top 30: Max Homa

Leaderboard After 54 Holes:

Bryson DeChambeau 68-60-67—195 (-21)

Patrick Cantlay 66-63-66—195 (-21)

Sungjae Im 67-65-66—198 (-18)

Rory McIlroy 64-70-65—199 (-17)

Abraham Ancer 66-67-66—199 (-17)

Sam Burns 64-70-65—199 (-17)

Sergio Garcia 65-67-67—199 (-17)

DeChambeau Cards a 60 to Lead BMW

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The BMW Championship/FedExCup Playoffs

OWINGS MILLS – Bryson DeChambeau missed a 6-foot, 3-inch birdie putt on the final hole and posted a career-low 12-under (60) for the round. Prior to missing the putt on No. 18, he was 13-for-13 inside 10 feet (including 3-for-3 from 4-8 feet) during the round.

Currently at (+11.135) when play was suspended, Patrick Cantlay would set the record for lowest Strokes Gained: Putting through the first two rounds of a PGA Tour event in the ShotLink era (2003-present)

Sergio Garcia, who entered the week No. 44 in the FedExCup, is bogey-free through two rounds for the third time in his Tour career.

Friday play was suspended due to a dangerous weather situation at 4:32pm (EDT) and resumed at 6:18pm (EDT) – (1 hour, 46 minutes). Play was suspended due to darkness at 7:40pm (EDT), with 15 players yet to complete their round.

The second round resumed at 8:30am (EDT) this morning.

The third round, consisting of threesomes off split tees, will tee-off from approximately 10:40am to 12:50pm (EDT) today.

 

Leaderboard:

Bryson DeChambeau 68-60—128 (-16)

Patrick Cantlay 66-63—129 (-15)

Jon Rahm 64- (-15 thru 15 holes)

Sungjae Im 67-65—132 (-12)

Sergio Garcia 65-67—132 (-12)

Rahm, McIlroy & Burns Lead at BMW

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OWINGS MILLS – World No. 1 and defending BMW Championship winner Jon Rahm holds a share of the 18-hole lead for the second consecutive week while 2012 BMW Championship winner Rory McIlroy tied his lowest score of the season with a (64) same as R-4/Waste Management Phoenix Open).

In his BMW Championship debut, Sam Burns posted a (64) for the fourth time in his last eight rounds on the PGA Tour.

The top 30 players in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the BMW Championship will advance to the season-ending Tour Championship

• Current projections of players to move into Top 30: Sergio Garcia, Keegan Bradley

• Current projections of players to move outside Top 30: Charley Hoffman, Max Homa

The Top 70 PGA Tour pros in the current FedExCup standings are eligible for the BMW Championship.; After this weekend, the Top 30 will advance to the TOUR Championship, where the FedExCup Champion will be crowned.

Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland is the ninth different venue to host the BMW Championship since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007.

Be sure to see: PGA Tour Brunch

Leaderboard After 18 Holes

Jon Rahm 64 (-8)

Rory McIlroy 64 (-8)

Sam Burns 64 (-8)

Sergio Garcia 65 (-7)

PGA Tour Rolls Into BMW Championship

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Preview – The BMW Championship

COURSE: Caves Valley Golf Club – (Owings Mills, MD)

ARCHITECT: Tom Fazio

YARDS/PAR: 7,542 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $9,500,000/$1,710,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Jon Rahm (2020)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points / Winner: 2,000

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @BMWChamps

OFFICIAL SITE: (BMW Championship)

TV COVERAGE: Thursday, August 26 and Friday, August 27: Coverage from 3:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel.

On Saturday, August 28, Round 3 coverage 12:00pm Noon to 3:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. NBC Sports takes over from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT). On Sunday, August 29: Golf Channel opens final round coverage 12:00pm to 2:00pm (EDT) and NBC wraps it up from 2:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING: Streaming coverage on Thursday and Friday, from 10:00am to 7:00pm (EDT) on PGA Tour Live. Twitter coverage from 10:00am-11:45am (EDT) on Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday and Sunday, PGA Tour Live will stream 8:00am to 6:00pm (EDT). Twitter will stream 8:00am-9:15am (EDT) on Saturday and Sunday.

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage of the The BMW Championship with Thursday and Friday broadcasts from 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT). Weekend coverage on Sirius XM Radio begins at 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) or conclusion on Sunday. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92)

How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)

The BMW Championship/FedExCup Playoffs

OWINGS MILLS – The Top 70 PGA Tour pros in the current FedExCup standings are eligible for the BMW Championship, and after this weekend, the Top 30 will advance to the TOUR Championship, where the FedExCup Champion will be crowned. Since the points structure changed in 2009, an average of 2.83 players per year enter the BMW Championship outside the Top 30 and go on to qualify for the TOUR Championship, including two in 2020 (Joaquin Niemann, Mackenzie Hughes).

With his win at THE NORTHERN TRUST, Tony Finau moved to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings for the first time in his PGA Tour career. Since the points structure changed prior to the 2009 season, two players occupying the No. 1 position in the standings entering the BMW Championship have gone on to win the FedExCup: Henrik Stenson (2014) and Dustin Johnson (2020).

Jon Rahm will attempt to defend his 2020 BMW Championship title at a new venue, just outside Baltimore, Maryland instead of its usual Chicago destination. Rahm enters the week at No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 2 in the FedExCup standings. Rahm defeated Dustin Johnson in a playoff in 2020 to win the BMW Championship and finished third at last week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST after holding at least a share of the lead through 18, 36 and 54 holes.

Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland is the ninth different venue to host the BMW Championship since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007.

The Basics:

With the limited field of 70, Tournament Tee Times begin a bit later than usual, starting Thursday at 9:40am and going to 2:05pm (EDT).

Weather: Morning thunderstorms are on the radar with a 40% chance of rain throughout the day. Temps 81-degrees+ with humidity 73% and winds at 6 mph. (link)

PGA Tour: Finau Takes Northern Trust

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JERSEY CITY – The first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs concluded Monday after a day-long delay due to tropical storm Henri drenching the New York-New Jersey region and dumping some six-plus inches of rain on Liberty National.

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The NORTHERN TRUST became the third consecutive tournament – and third straight week on the PGA Tour schedule – with a playoff, marking the first time with three straight playoffs since 2019 The RSM Classic, 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions, 2020 Sony Open in Hawaii. Overall, it was the 13th playoff of the PGA Tour season.

Tony Finau defeated Cameron Smith in the playoff, earning his second PGA Tour title in his 143rd start since his first victory on Tour back at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. In the 142 starts between victories, Finau recorded eight runner-up finishes and 39 top-10s. With the 2,000 FedEx Cup points for winning the NORTHERN TRUST, Finau moves to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings for the first time in his career.

World No. 1 Jon Rahm, who held at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds, played the final four holes in 2-over and finishes solo-third.

Keith Mitchell birdied each of the final three holes to move into the Top 70 in the FedExCup standings and he qualified for this week’s BMW Championship.

Six players moving into the Top 70 in the FedExCup standings and qualifying for the BMW Championship were: Alex Noren (T-4), Erik van Rooyen (7th), Tom Hoge (T-4), Harold Varner III (T-11), Mitchell (T-8), and Harry Higgs(T-16).

The six players moving out of the Top 70 were: Matthew Wolff, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Laird, Troy Merritt, and J.T. Poston who all MTC.

Final Leaderboard from THE NORTHERN TRUST:

Tony Finau 67-64-68-65—264 (-20)*

Cameron Smith 69-68-60-67—264 (-20)

Jon Rahm 63-67-67-69—266 (-18)

Alex Noren 69-64-70-66—269 (-15)

Tom Hoge 69-64-67-69—269 (-15)

Justin Thomas 63-69-67-70—269 (-15)

* defeated Cameron Smith with a par-4 on the first playoff hole (No. 18)

Full Leaderboard (link)

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – August 15

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While We’re Young (Ideas)

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs start next weekend at The Northern Trust at Liberty National in New Jersey. The 2021 playoff will be the first since 2009 without popular golfer Rickie Fowler. Fowler missed the cut at the Wyndham Championship – as he shot (71-72) – and failed to qualify for postseason for the first time in his 12-year PGA Tour career. … Fowler endeared himself to the Boston faithful when he bought a dozen bottles of “Dom” after his 2015 Deutsche Bank Championship. We later thanked and then advised him, “We’d be happy with a case of Sam Summer, and you could’ve saved yourself $2,500.”

The FedEx Cup Playoffs are only three rounds:

  1. August 19-22: Northern Trust (New Jersey)
  2. August 26-29: BMW Championship (Maryland)
  3. Sept. 2-5: Tour Championship (Georgia)

After a brief break from the Tour, the United States and Team Europe will play for The Ryder Cup from September 21-26 at Whistling Straits at Kohler, Wisconsin. That’s only 35 days away. Kohler is a 9-iron from Sheboygan and an hour drive north of Milwaukee.

JUSTIN ROSE RECEIVES PAYNE STEWART AWARD: In recognition of his character, sportsmanship and commitment to charitable giving, Justin Rosewas named the 2021 recipient of the PGA Tour’s Payne Stewart Awardpresented by Southern Company. Rose will be honored on Tuesday, August 31, at the Payne Stewart Award Ceremony in conjunction with the TOUR Championship. The ceremony will be televised live on Golf Channel as part of a “Golf Central” special from 7-8 p.m. EDT at the Southern Exchange in downtown Atlanta. … The Payne Stewart Award is presented annually by the Tour to a professional golfer who best exemplifies Stewart’s steadfast values of character, charity and sportsmanship. Stewart, an 11-time winner on the PGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Fame member, died tragically 22 years ago during the week of the TOUR Championship in 1999. … On October 25, 1999, NTSB investigations found that Stewart’s private plane lost pressurization and back-up oxygen on a flight from Orlando to Dallas. The Learjet 35 eventually crashed near Aberdeen, South Dakota after military jets followed and attempted to examine the aircraft. The captain, first officer and four passengers (including Stewart) passed away.

“FORE” MORE YEARS (of eligibility): ESPN is reporting that former NBA Sixth Man of the Year (2013) JR Smith enrolled at North Carolina A&T and intends to join the historically Black university’s men’s golf team if he gets clearance from the NCAA. … North Carolina A&T athletics spokesman Brian Holloway told ESPN that Smith is officially enrolled in the school and has petitioned the NCAA to be eligible to play. Smith’s clock to compete as a collegiate athlete has not yet started because he went to the NBA after high school. Athletes, in most cases, get five years to complete four years of eligibility. … Smith played 16 NBA seasons since getting drafted by New Orleans out of St. Benedict’s Prep (NJ) in 2004. In a journeyman style, he made stops with Denver, New York and Cleveland but won an NBA title with the Lakers and LeBron James in the NBA Bubble of 2020, the Cavaliers and LeBron James in 2016 and was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2013 with the Knicks.

STAY IN THE PRESENT: The list of Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement presenters was released this week and it always provides a little insight into how the new Hall of Famer made it to the corridors of immortality in Springfield, Massachusetts. A quick look at this year’s presenters shows that Rick Welts, an inductee in 2018, will have a busy night as he’s been asked to present both Val Ackerman (former NBA attorney, the WNBA’s first President and current Big East Conference Commissioner) and also NBA All-Time great and perhaps the Greatest NBA Player of All-Time in Bill Russell. Russell was inducted as a player in 1975 and this year will be enshrined as a head coach. Welts was a ballboy for the Sonics and met Russell at an early age.

Here’s the full list of inductees and presenters for the September 10-11th Induction ceremony to be held at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut with the formalities in Springfield.

  • Val Ackerman, presented by Russ Granik (’13), Rick Welts (’18)
  • Rick Adelman, presented by Vlade Divac (’19), Jack Sikma (’19)
  • Chris Bosh, presented by Ray Allen (’18), Pat Riley (’08)
  • Bob Dandridge, presented by Oscar Robertson (’80)
  • Cotton Fitzsimmons, presented by Charles Barkley (’06), Jerry Colangelo (’04), Phil Knight (’12)
  • Howard Garfinkel, presented by John Calipari (’15), Grant Hill (’18), Bobby Hurley (’10)
  • Yolanda Griffith, presented by Van Chancellor (’07)
  • Lauren Jackson, presented by Sheryl Swoopes (’16)
  • Clarence Jenkins, presented by Wayne Embry (’99)
  • Toni Kukoc, presented by Michael Jordan (’09), Jerry Reinsdorf (’16)
  • Pearl Moore, presented by Sylvia Hatchell (’13)
  • Paul Pierce, presented by Kevin Garnett (’20)
  • Bill Russell, presented by Charles Barkley (’06), Julius Erving (’93), Spencer Haywood (’15), Alonzo Mourning (’14), Bill Walton (’93), Rick Welts (’18)
  • Ben Wallace, presented by Larry Brown (’02)
  • Chris Webber, presented by Isiah Thomas (’00)
  • Jay Wright, presented by Charles Barkley (’06), Bill Cunningham (’86), Herb Magee (’11), George Raveling (’15)

BOSTON MARATHON: Instead of training in the dead of winter and in freezing cold conditions, the Boston marathoners are running up Heartbreak Hill in Newton in 90-degree heat as they prepare for the October 11th race day. Yes, instead of running on Patriots’ Day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, they’ll be running on Indigenous Peoples’ Day (formerly Columbus Day) which is celebrated on the second Monday of October. In 56 days, 9,215 runners will truck out to Hopkinton, Mass to begin the race. … The 2022 Boston Marathon is scheduled for April 18, 2022, to be staged on the traditional Patriots’ Day in the Commonwealth.

A WHOLE NEW MEANING TO SALE: The return of starting pitcher and staff ace Chris Sale means the world to the Boston Red Sox. His 5.0 innings of six-hit, two earned run pitching earned a “W” on Saturday, anchoring Boston’s 16-2 thrashing of the hapless Baltimore Orioles. Sale struck out eight batters walked none but let up two homers in his first big league outing in 732 days, dating back to 2019. His recovery from surgery seems complete. … That should be enough for the fans of the Red Sox, but what about the people who bought their furniture at Jordan’s during the “No Hitter” promotion? … Remember? If the Red Sox “no hit” an opponent from now through October 3, all the furniture purchased would be free of cost. Certainly, the return of Chris Sale changed the odds for the furniture buyers of New England.

HURT LOCKERS: Unfortunately, the 2021 MLB season will also be remembered for the rash of injuries to Tier 1 star players such as Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna, Jr. (ACL), the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts (hip) or New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom (among many others). … If you remember, the NFL suffered a string of injuries to star-level talent last season with NY Giants’ RB Saquon Barkley, Charlotte’s RB Christian McCaffrey, Dallas’ QB Dak Prescott, SF 49ers’ defensive-end Nick Bosa, among many others.

CELTICS RE-LOADED: In the early part of the off-season, the Boston Celtics, under former head coach and new head of basketball ops Brad Stevens, by-passed any serious endeavors in free agency, unloaded oft-injured guard Kemba Walker and re-acquired C/PF Al Horford to solidify the rotation. … This week, Stevens worked around the edges and obtained some depth at the guard position with Dennis Schroder (1-year at $5.9m), while adding much-needed rebounding with the acquisition of C Enes Kanter, a member of the 2019-20 Celtics and signed rookie forward Sam Hauser to a two-way contract.

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