📈 WNBA Draft #s, WR Duo $, and Jontay Porter Banned

🏀 WNBA Draft Viewership Boost

The WNBA really takes advantage of the sports calendar here as fans can watch their favorite college players transition right to their professional teams a week or two after the NCAAW National Championship game. Presumably this year, yet another ‘Cause and Effect’ of Caitlin Clark. Clark became the first overall pick Monday night by the Indiana Fever after a record breaking and historic college career.

It makes sense that the viewership for the Draft sky rocketed after the ratings for the Elite 8, Final 4, and National Title Game also broke records with each game. Fans weren’t the only ones excited and tuning in…cameras caught Clark’s new teammates and current Indiana Fever players at the Draft jumping and cheering when she was selected, holding up her new jersey. The Caitlin Clark era in the WNBA has begun.

🏈 Top $ For Wide Receiver Duos

After Devonta Smith signed his big contract extension with the Philadelphia Eagles at the beginning of this week, it got me thinking about what Wide Receiver rooms in the NFL are on the hook for some major dough. Courtesy of Spotrac.com, I found and added together the average contract amount of the 2 receivers who have signed for the most money. 

• AJ Brown and Devonta Smith in Philly make sense being the highest paid duo as they have been major contributors to the Eagles success the past couple seasons. In 2023, the pair combined for 187 catches, 2,522 receiving yards, and 14 touchdowns - despite being in an offense that sputtered towards the back half of the season and into the playoffs. 

• Keenan Allen comes to Chicago in a trade from the LA Chargers where he had been his entire career, to team up with DJ Moore and provide veteran help and reliability to who is assumed to be their QB and 1st overall draft choice, Caleb Williams. The Bears have been a young, rebuilding team and have been able to put money and resources towards a WR room as they transition from Justin Fields (traded to Pittsburgh this offseason) to another first round QB on a rookie deal. 

• The Bucs retained one of their own in Mike Evans who was about to test the free agency market this past March until the Buccaneers locked him in to keep some consistency with Chris Godwin & QB Baker Mayfield. Evans should be talked about every season as one of the best WRs in the game and who is on track to be a Hall of Famer. Evans, a 5x pro bowler and SuperBowl champion, has never had a season where he has caught less than 67 balls, and has gone over 1000 yards receiving every single season of his career. 

• DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett have been running the Seahawks show together since 2019. Metcalf, cashing in on a big contract extension in July of 2022 (3 years, $72M), has been the game changer Seattle hoped he would be when they selected him with the last pick of the second round in 2019. Lockett on the other hand, has been the constant on the outside for Seattle since 2015. Both have transitioned well from when Russell Wilson was traded to Denver, to being Geno Smith’s primary targets. 

• What a season Amari Cooper was able to put together last year with the carousel of QBs the Browns trotted out there. They finally struck gold when they signed Joe Flacco after Deshaun Watson was sidelined for the year with injuries, and Flacco took them to the playoffs. Cooper played in 15 games totaling 1250 yards and 5 TDs. Add to that this year, first round pick of the Denver Broncos in 2020, Jerry Jeudy, who the Browns traded for this offseason. The Browns then rewarded Jeudy with a contract (3 years, $58M), with hopes of him living up to his first round potential. The two former receivers for the Crimson Tide look to be primary weapons for Kevin Stefanski. 

🏀 Setting the Precedent

Jontay Porter had the hammer brought down on him by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver yesterday. Toronto Raptors player, Jontay Porter, received a lifetime ban from the NBA after investigation revealed he was gambling on NBA games, giving sensitive info to bettors, and also limiting play for gambling purposes.

Porter joins two other players in sports history to receive lifetime bans due to gambling. Sports betting has become a major topic the last couple years as States have moved to legalize it and also teams and leagues have joined together for endorsements and sponsorship opportunities, encouraging it to fans. The NBA is setting the precedent here and making an example of Porter to discourage players from engaging in such behavior as it puts in jeopardy the integrity of the sport.

Commissioner Adam Silver: “"There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter's blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment.”