This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.
💰 Good morning to all but especially to …
SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER
It’s safe to say it’s a good time to be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Tuesday, just over a week after winning the NBA championship, he signed a four-year, $285 million super max extension with the Thunder. The deal begins in the 2027-28 season.
- It’s the richest contract in NBA history in terms of average annual value ($71.25M) and the third-largest in terms of total value, only behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
- Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, led the league in points per game (32.7) en route to winning MVP and backed that up with a magnificent playoff run that concluded in him winning Finals MVP, too.
- He joined Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players in NBA history to complete that “Triple Crown” of sorts in a single season.
😁 Honorable mentions
🎾 And not such a good morning for …
Getty Images
TOP SEEDS AT WIMBLEDON
Tennis can be a fickle sport, and several top seeds at Wimbledon found that out the hard way in the first round.
- No. 2 seed Coco Gauff, fresh off a French Open title, lost to Dayana Yastremska, 7-6, 6-1. Gauff had nine double faults, including a crucial one in the first-set tiebreaker, and committed 29 unforced errors overall. She still has not advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon. Gauff admitted to being “mentally overwhelmed” by the quick turnaround from the French after the loss.
- The No. 3 seeds on both the men’s and women’s sides fell. Alexander Zverev lost to Arthur Rinderknech, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, in a match that started Monday night and finished Tuesday morning due to curfew. Jessica Pegula lost to world No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto, 6-2, 6-3.
- Other top-10 seeds falling were Lorenzo Musetti (men’s No. 7 seed) and Zheng Qinwen (women’s No. 5 seed).
We’re keeping up with all of the results and the draw right here.
😦 Not so honorable mentions
🏀 Bucks sign Myles Turner, release Damian Lillard: Winners, losers, Lillard landing spots
Getty Images
The wacky world of NBA free agency continued Tuesday with a pair of stunners from a team everyone has their eyes on: The Bucks signed Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million deal and waived Damian Lillard in one fell swoop.
- Lillard, 34, tore his Achilles in the first round against, coincidentally, the Pacers, Turner’s former team. Lillard is expected to miss most if not all of the 2025-26 season.
- Milwaukee is using its stretch provision on Lillard, who had two years and nearly $113 million left on his contract. Now, Milwaukee owes him about $22.6 in each of the next five seasons (through 2029-30).
- Turner, who has a player option for the fourth year of this deal, was No. 1 on Brad Botkin’s top 50 free agents. The 29-year-old center spent a decade in Indiana and has averaged 16.8 points per game over the past three seasons.
- Turner’s 156 3-pointers over that span are second among all centers, behind only Naz Reid and one spot ahead of Brook Lopez, who just left Milwaukee for the Clippers.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo the subject of all sorts of trade rumors, the Bucks’ short-term prospects got a boost, Sam Quinn explains in his winners and losers.
- Quinn: “The Pacers loved having a shooting, rim-protecting big man, but the Bucks absolutely need one. … They found one of the very few big men in all of basketball who plausibly fits next to their best player. That best player reportedly had an active hand in recruiting Turner, which should put an end to the rumors suggesting he might force a trade at least for the time being. … On Monday, the 2025-26 Bucks looked dead in the water. Today, they have a shred of hope.”
Of course, the Bucks’ long-term future is a loser given they’re now financially tied to a player not on the team. And even in the short term, given the roster’s shortcomings, Turner might not do enough to make the moves worth it. I don’t feel great about the strategy, to be honest.
But really, there’s no bigger winner than Lillard, who never wanted to go to Milwaukee in the first place. The Bucks never reached the heights it envisioned pairing Antetokounmpo with a second superstar, either. Sam has five potential Lillard landing spots, but really, the world is his oyster, Brad writes.
- Botkin: “We could do this all day, because while a fifty-million-dollar Dame is a hard puzzle piece to fit, Lillard on a vet-minimum salary, or anything close to it, might be the greatest talent-to-value ratio in NBA history. There isn’t a single team that wouldn’t want him at that kind of value. It’s entirely up to him.”
Finally, Lillard’s wasn’t the only torn Achilles tendon that came into play in these decisions. Tyrese Haliburton‘s injury led to the Pacers being scared of paying the luxury tax in 2025-26 (which Haliburton will miss) and in turn not extending a big enough offer to Turner, Jasmyn Wimbish writes.
It’s yet another example of the fragility of the NBA. Ten days ago, the Pacers were a game away from being NBA champions. Today, they’ve lost a beloved franchise bedrock who wanted to stay.
Remember, we’re still keeping track of every move right here.
🏀 Caitlin Clark-less Fever win Commissioner’s Cup championship
Imagn Images
With Caitlin Clark, the Fever have shown the offensive firepower to beat anyone. Without her, they just proved they have the defense that can help them lift trophies. Indiana won the Commissioner’s Cup championship with their superstar guard sidelined with a groin strain, beating the Lynx, 74-59.
- Indiana got six double-digit scorers, led by Natasha Howard‘s 16 points. She also had 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
- Howard’s biggest contribution, though, might have been the outstanding defensive work she provided against Napheesa Collier, who managed just 12 points on 6-for-18 shooting and had five turnovers.
- Aari McDonald, signed multiple times this season amid Clark’s injury woes, had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and Sophie Cunningham had 13 points off the bench.
This wasn’t just any team Indiana shut down, either. This was the Lynx — owners of the league’s best offense and the No. 1 spot in Jack Maloney’s WNBA Power Rankings — held to season lows in points and field goal percentage (34.9%) and held without a single point over the final 8:13 of the first half.
Jack dove into the film to break down how Indiana ratcheted up its defense to secure its first in-season tournament title.
📺 What we’re watching Wednesday
⚾ Cardinals at Pirates, 12:35 p.m. on MLB Network
⚾ Padres at Phillies, 1:05 p.m. on MLB Network
⚽ USMNT vs. Guatemala, 7 p.m. on FS1
⚽ USWNT vs. Canada, 7:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV
⚾ Yankees at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m. on Prime Video
⚾ Guardians at Cubs, 8 p.m. on ESPN
⚾ White Sox at Dodgers, 10:10 p.m. on MLB Network
