While the NBA is in favor of federal regulations for sports betting, the league doesn’t unequivocally support the bill introduced last week in Congress, which is considered to have both positives and negatives, per David Purdum of ESPN.
The Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act, also known as the “SAFE Bet Act,” would prohibit sportsbook advertising from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm (and during live sports broadcasts) and would ban in-game betting. The proposal to eliminate live wagering is one aspect of the bill likely to be opposed by the NBA and other sports leagues, given the increasing popularity of that form of betting, notes Purdum.
A league source tells Purdum that the NBA is keeping an eye on the legislation and views it as a “starting point to a very lengthy process.”
Here are more odds and ends from around the
- In a pair of articles for Bleacher Report, Eric Pincus finds one word to describe each team’s offseason (including “inactive” for the Lakers, “attrition” for the Nuggets, and “limbo” for the Timberwolves) and outlines a hypothetical three-team trade that he believes could work for the Magic, Pacers, and Nets. Pincus’ proposed three-team deal sends Dorian Finney-Smith and Isaiah Jackson to Orlando, Wendell Carter to Indiana, and Jarace Walker and Caleb Houstan to Brooklyn.
- It was a relatively drama-free NBA offseason, according to Zach Kram of The Ringer, who observes that most of the biggest trades, including ones involving Mikal Bridges and Dejounte Murray, were agreed to in June and nearly all of the biggest free agent decisions (such as Paul George‘s and Klay Thompson‘s) were made within the first 24 hours of free agency opening. Last offseason, by comparison, trade candidates like Damian Lillard and James Harden remained on the market all summer.
- Knicks forward Julius Randle (shoulder), Bulls guard Zach LaVine (foot), Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (knee), and Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (ankle) are a few of the key players returning from injuries who will be worth monitoring this fall to see if they’re back to 100%, according to ESPN’s Chris Herring, Jamal Collier, and Ohm Youngmisuk, who also single out several more returning players to watch.
USA basketball in Olympics was worthy.
Greatest players in the game. All yielding to Steph …..
That was F Awesome …….
Knicks back to relevance. Is good news for me. Especially going into yr5 of Thibs Culture. As a legit contender. Knicks are still a relatively new team. OG is still new here. Bridges is just coming in. Randle and Mitch are coming back this yr. The steady force is Brunson. The PG ……..
Bridges is going to be a good story this yr.
I don’t see Ball coming back from this. Bulls first chance they get. Can move players and just go for full rebuild thru draft. This yrs draft is loaded. A top 10 pick is a future starter. Tank tank tank ….
Geez, what is this trade? Nets make out like bandits. Pacers are throwing good money after bad, but that’s because by giving TJ that contract they’ve already given up on keeping Turner.
Yup, tank, tank, tank… 1/3 of games in East will be “garbage” because of it. It’s unprecedented.
Oddsmakers, by laying +100000 odds on a team, say these 5 teams in East will tank: Bulls, Wizards, Charlotte, Nets, and Detroit. (That’s 5 out of 15.) Call it a “race to the bottom”.
If so, top teams in East will win an unprecedented number of games. The “dis-parity” between top and bottom the greatest ever.
Fans get more