Sports
Will Minnesota Timberwolves Be Better Without Karl-Anthony Towns?
Most teams that come up three wins short of an NBA Finals appearance probably would try to run things back next year with the same roster.
Not the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Minnesota changed course this offseason, dealing franchise centerpiece Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and a first-round pick.
It’s a move that certainly won’t push the Timberwolves closer to a title in 2024-25, but should they go all the way within the next five to seven years, it’s one that Minnesota fans should forever be thankful for.
Towns is just about to start a four-year, $220 million extension, making him a risky, risky investment considering his injury history. The 28-year-old has played in more than 65 games just once in the past five seasons, most recently missing 20 games in 2023-24.
With Anthony Edwards set to make $245 million over the next five seasons and both Rudy Gobert and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid approaching player options for the 2025-26 campaign, the Timberwolves are going to be breaking the bank. Chances are, paying Towns just wasn’t going to be worth it.
So, what should Minnesota’s next plan of attack be? Making sure Randle is in and out of the North Star State as quickly as possible.
Randle could hit free agency as soon as 2025, and that would be the best-case scenario for the Timberwolves. For a team that clearly has its sights set on collecting some hardware within the next decade, Randle isn’t going to be the piece that guides Minnesota to the promised land.
When watching Randle, you often feel like a parent of the kid on an AAU team who is constantly open but never gets the ball because the coach’s son wants to huck up 32 shots. That kid hits only eight of those, of course, while yours eventually loses his love for the game and ends up pursuing a career in accounting.
Every kid’s dream, right?
In other words, Randle ruins a lot of perfectly good possessions due to his love for iso ball. So much so that it isn’t hard to visualize him getting the ball on the elbow, hitting his defender with a jab step or two and working his way to the baseline just to throw up a fadeaway that clangs off the side of the backboard.
Randle isn’t one to rise to the occasion, either, hitting only 34.4 percent of his shots from the field and 28.3 percent of his attempts from 3-point range in 15 career playoff games. All of those came with the Knicks, who had a 7-8 record in the postseason with Randle.
Fortunately for the Timberwolves, they also were able to snag DiVincenzo, who is coming off a career year in which he knocked down 40.1 percent of his 3-point attempts. Minnesota definitely should attempt to keep him in the fold long-term.
Typically, a blockbuster trade results in a winner and a loser. One team lands a big star, the other gets role players and draft compensation as it loads up for a rebuild.
No one really got the short end of the stick here, though. The Knicks are just in better position to win now, and they better within the next three years or so to be considered a success story, while the Timberwolves took one step back to hopefully take two steps forward in the near future.
This won’t be the banner year that Minnesota fans have been waiting for so patiently. Getting back to the Western Conference finals might even be out of the question, and watching Randle hoop probably won’t be easy to stomach most nights.
But the Timberwolves have set themselves up nicely for the future. As long as Randle isn’t in it.
Sports
Liquid, Shopify post wins to wrap LCS Summer Split Week 1
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Team Liquid and Shopify Rebellion got on the board with wins to conclude Week 1 of the League Championship Series Summer Split on Sunday.
Liquid swept Cloud9 2-0, and Shopify Rebellion did the same to Disguised. The regular season kicked off Saturday with victories by LYON and Sentinels.
The LCS Summer Split is an eight-team event that began Saturday and will run through the finals in October. The seven-week round-robin regular season — in which all teams play each other once in a best-of-three match — will set the field for the six-team playoffs.
The top two teams in the regular season will advance to the playoff semifinals, while the third- through sixth-place teams will advance to the quarters. The bottom two teams in the standings are eliminated.
The playoffs, which run Sept. 12 through Oct. 4, are best-of-five and double elimination. The top three teams will advance to the World Championships, played in New York, Los Angeles and Allen, Texas, from Oct. 15 through Nov. 14.
On Sunday, Liquid ran through Cloud9 in 38 minutes and 29 minutes on blue. Sean “Yeon” Sung averaged a kills-deaths-assists ratio of 6.5-0.5-6.5 across the two maps for Liquid.
Shopify turned back Disguised in 40 minutes and 29 minutes, also playing on blue. Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami of Australia averaged a 6.5-0.5-7.0 K-D-A to guide Shopify.
The LCS 2026 Summer Split continues Saturday with two matches:
–Cloud9 vs. Dignitas
–FlyQuest vs. Disguised
LCS 2026 Summer Split Standings
Place, Team (Match Record, Map Record)
T1. LYON (1-0, 2-0)
T1. Shopify Rebellion (1-0, 2-0)
T1. Team Liquid (1-0, 2-0)
4. Sentinels (1-0, 2-1)
5. Dignitas (0-1, 1-2)
T6. Cloud9 (0-1, 0-2)
T6. Disguised (0-1, 0-2)
T6. FlyQuest (0-1, 0-2)
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dominic Canzone, Mariners seek series split against Rangers
Jul 26, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Seattle Mariners designated hitter Dominic Canzone (8) singles against the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images Dominic Canzone was closer to assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes than just about anyone on the Seattle Mariners’ roster.
The two spent hours working on making Canzone more than just a platoon player.
So Canzone took it pretty hard when Magallanes was fired Thursday, the fall guy for the Mariners’ anemic offense.
Canzone responded by hitting his team-leading 16th home run, a three-run shot in the seventh inning, and added an RBI double in the ninth as the visiting Mariners rallied for a 6-4 victory against the Texas Rangers on Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
The four-game series between the top two teams in the American League West concludes Monday afternoon.
“Offense can be contagious, and that’s the hope, that this sparks a fire,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
The reigning division champion Mariners snapped a four-game skid and moved past the Houston Astros into second place in the division, 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Rangers.
Canzone’s homer gave the Mariners the lead and Randy Arozarena went deep on the next pitch, both off Rangers reliever Cole Winn.
“I just left a pitch over the middle and (Canzone) took advantage of it. Same thing with Randy,” said Winn, who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous seven appearances. “There’s really nothing to that aside from making bad pitches and them capitalizing.”
The Mariners, who rely on the long ball more than just about any other team in baseball, had gone deep just 28 times in their previous 34 games.
“It was obviously a big moment,” Canzone said. “It was nice to just get the team in front and get a win.
“Especially coming from behind and struggling a little bit offensively, obviously, this is a step in the right direction. We need to come out tomorrow and do the exact same thing.”
The Rangers won the first two games of the series 5-4 and 7-1.
They took a 3-1 lead into the seventh Saturday.
“I think the bullpen, we have different guys in different lanes that have done really good, and we’ve had some hiccups along the way that have cost us just like everybody else,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “Today the home run cost us.”
Monday’s series finale is set to feature a pair of right-handers in Seattle’s George Kirby (8-8, 3.57 ERA) and Texas’ Kumar Rocker (3-8, 4.13).
Kirby pitched six innings last Monday in an 8-0 victory against visiting Cincinnati, giving up three hits and striking out six. Kirby is 9-1 with a 1.33 ERA in 12 career starts against the Rangers. He suffered the lone loss by a 3-2 margin April 7 in Arlington despite pitching eight strong innings. He rebounded to beat them 7-3 on April 18 in Seattle.
Rocker beat the visiting Chicago White Sox 10-0 on Tuesday with six innings of one-hit ball. He’s 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in four career starts against Seattle.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lions starting S Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph to start camp on PUP list
Sep 28, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph (31) holds his knee after an injury during the first half against the Cleveland Browns at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images The Detroit Lions will be without starting safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph when training camp begins, as they were placed on the physically unable to perform list on Sunday.
The Lions also placed veteran tight end Tyler Conklin — signed as a free agent in March — on the PUP list with an injury.
Branch, 24, sustained a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 14 last season. Joseph, 25, dealt with a knee injury last season that limited him to six games.
Players can be placed on the active/PUP list only before the start of training camp. The Lions begin camp on Wednesday.
Players on the active/PUP list count against the 90-man roster limit and can attend team meetings and use team facilities in the preseason. They can be removed from the list at any time during camp and begin practicing immediately. Otherwise, while on the list, they cannot participate in any part of practice.
A player on the reserve/PUP list doesn’t count against the active roster but must sit out at least the first four games.
A Pro Bowl selection in 2024, Branch played in 12 games (all starts) last season, making 75 tackles, 2.5 sacks, five tackles for loss and nine passes defensed.
For his career, Branch has 258 tackles, 4.5 sacks, seven interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), 20 tackles for loss and 38 passes defensed in 43 regular-season games (37 starts) since 2023.
Detroit selected Branch in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Alabama.
A first-team All-Pro in 2024 when he led the league with nine interceptions, Joseph played in just six games (all starts) last season. He had 18 tackles, three interceptions and four passes defensed.
Joseph has played in 55 regular-season games (52 starts) and has 265 tackles, 20 interceptions (one returned for a TD) and 35 passes defensed.
Detroit selected Joseph in the third round of the 2022 draft out of Illinois.
Conklin, who turns 31 on Thursday, had seven receptions on 10 targets for 101 yards in 13 games (five starts) last season for the Los Angeles Chargers.
He has 270 career receptions for 2,645 yards and 11 touchdowns in 127 games (69 starts) for the Minnesota Vikings (2018-21), New York Jets (2022-24) and Chargers.
Minnesota drafted Conklin in the fifth round in 2018 out of Central Michigan.
–Field Level Media
Liquid, Shopify post wins to wrap LCS Summer Split Week 1
Dominic Canzone, Mariners seek series split against Rangers
