Eric Sykes Puns

Eric Sykes was a weapons expert in the British Army during and after WW1. He developed the Fairbairn Sykes knife.

Mark Sykes has forever shaped the world with his ever famous “Sykes-Picot” agreement.

Both are close in age and served in the British Military.

Were they related?

There have been rumors of a possible expansion, so let’s imagine it does happen, but the NBA decides to only add one new team to the league (sorry Vegas), bringing back the beloved Seattle Supersonics. The Sonics are back babbyyyyyyyy!

Now the Sonics need to build their team from ground up, starting with the expansion draft, and following it with signing players in the off-season.

Here are some simplified terms of the expansion draft:

1. All 30 NBA teams will have the right to protect 8 players on their roster. Anyone on the current roster is protectable, including restricted free agents. If a restricted free agent is left unprotected by his former team, he is available for selection by the Supersonics, who would then hold his Bird Rights for the up-coming off-season. Teams will typically have 4-7 players unprotected. Unrestricted free agents can neither be protected from nor selected in the expansion draft -- they are essentially ignored.
   Players who are likely to be left unprotected by their former teams include aging, overpaid veterans, unproven bench players, players who do not fit in financially with their team, or who disrupt team chemistry.
2. The Sonics may only select 1 player per team.
3. The Sonics must work within 2/3 of the normal rules of the NBA salary cap, so there will be salary-related restrictions which apply to the team's selections. The team’s salary cap for the 2022-2023 season will only be 2/3 of the league cap (112.414 million), meaning 74.93 million. The minimum team salary is also 2/3 of the leagues' minimum team salary (101.173 million), meaning 67.449 million.
   The expansion draft occurs after the conclusion of the 2022 NBA Finals, but prior to the 2022 NBA Draft. The Sonics do not participate in the lottery, but automatically get the 5th and the 35th pick of the draft.
4. There are no restrictions on player positions during the draft.
5. The Sonics must select at least 14 players.
6. Here is a list of the players that each NBA team are, in my opinion, likely to protect, and a list of those who may be left unprotected (not all players are listed, but most of them, and all that have any chance of being drafted by an expansion team):

Atlanta Hawks:

Protected:

1. Trae Young
2. John Collins
3. Clint Capela
4. Kevin Huerter
5. De’Andre Hunter
6. Onyeka Okongwu
7. Bogdan Bogdanovic
8. Cam Reddish

Unprotected (Salary this year, Years left on the contract)

1. Jalen Johnson (2.6 million, 3 years)

#Projected Starters Pacers
• PG - Keifer Sykes
• SG - Duane Washington Jr.
• SF - Justin Holiday
• PF - Domantas Sabonis
• C - Myles Turner

Jazz
• PG - Jared Butler
• SG - Trent Forrest
• SF - Elijah Hughes
• PF - Eric Paschall
• C - Hassan Whiteside

#Injuries

Pacers
• Chris Duarte - Questionable Available (Return to Play Conditioning)
• Jeremy Lamb - Questionable Available (Return to Play Conditioning)
• Malcolm Brogdon - Questionable OUT (Return to Play Conditioning)
• Isaiah Jackson - Out (Covid Protocols)
• Justin Anderson - Out (Covid Protocols)
• Goga Bitadze - Out (Covid Protocols)
• Torrey Craig- Out (Covid Protocols)
• T.J. McConnell - Out (Wrist Surgery Recovery)
• T.J. Warren – Out (Left Foot Stress Fracture)
• Caris LeVert - Out (Covid Protocols)

Jazz
• Royce O' Neale – Questionable (Right Patellar Tendonitis)
• Jordan Clarkson – Questionable (Lower Back Tightness)
• Rudy Gay – Questionable (Sore Right Heel)
• Joe Ingles – Out (Covid Protocols)
• Mike Conley – Out (Right Knee Injury Recovery)
• Bojan Bogdanovic – Out (Left Middle Finger Sprain)
• Rudy Gobert – Out (Covid Protocols)
• Donovan Mitchell – Out (Lower Back Strain)

Hey again /r/mls I'm back with part three of the state soccer teams. For those of you seeing this for the first time, I began a project last summer where in a made-up universe, each U.S. state (commonwealth for the people in KY, MA, PA, and VA) had their own state soccer team. I have done Part I revised a few weeks ago, and now I am on to part two!

To get read-up on everything, check out Part 1.

#Previous Threads Part 1 (AL-CA) | Part 2 (CO-GA) | Part 3 (HI-IA) | Part 4 (KS-MO)

#Hawai'i

• Home Stadium: Clarence T. C. Ching Stadium, Honolulu (Capacity: 15,000)
• Notable players: Bobby Wood, Antonee Robinson, Alfredo Morales and Dylan Teves
• Likely CONCACAF equivalent: Belize
• Rivals: Guam, American Samoa, California, and Washington state

##General Information TIME |MEDIA |LOCATION | BROADCAST| :------------|:------------------------------------|:-------------------|:-------------| 3:29 PM Eastern |Game Preview: NBA.com | Crypto.com Arena | US: | 2:29 PM Central |Game Matchup: NBA.com | Team Subreddits| Canadian: | 1:29 PM Mountain|Play By Play: NBA.com| /r/pacers | | 0:29 PM Pacific |Box Score: NBA.com | /r/laclippers | | Reddit Stream (You must click this link from the comment page.)