Latest news with #Lillard
UPI
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
Famous birthdays for June 1: Nikki Glaser, Willow Shields
Entertainment News // 5 hours ago Lillard: 'Chuck' is a beautiful articulation of the wonder of life NEW YORK, May 31 (UPI) -- "Five NIghts at Freddy's," "Scream" and "Scooby-Doo" icon Matthew Lillard says he has found a kindred spirit in "The Haunting of Hill House" creator Mike Flanagan.
UPI
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
Matthew Lillard: 'Chuck' is a beautiful articulation of the wonder of life
1 of 2 | Matthew Lillard can now be seen in Mike Flanagn's film "The Life of Chuck," which is based on a Stephen King novella. File Photo by Chris Chew/UPI | License Photo NEW YORK, May 31 (UPI) -- Five NIghts at Freddy's, Scream and Scooby-Doo icon Matthew Lillard says he has found a kindred spirit in The Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan. Lillard met Flanagan about two years ago through a mutual friend and his since gone on to co-star in the writer-director's celebrated movie, The Life of Chuck, as well as collaborate with him on a unique venture in which Flanagan penned, "Rare Fine & Limited," an exclusive novella, to pair with a high-end liquor from LIllard's horror-themed Find Familiar Spirits line of libations. The actor recently told UPI at New York Comic Con that he wasn't familiar with Flanagan's work before he went out to lunch with him and his friend. "We got along great, and at the end of it, he was like, 'We're going to work together some day,' and I was like, 'Cool,'" Lillard recalled. "I was dropping my middle child off at Carnegie-Mellon [University] and I get a phone call and he's like: 'Hey, I have this opportunity. It's very small, but a piece I'm passion about. it's not going to define our relationship. I do not expect you to take it,'" the actor said, referring to the role in Chuck. "And I was like, 'I'll take the shot. I'm in.'" He ended up binging Flanagan's work, which also includes The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher. "I fell in love with him and I fell in love with the way he works," Lillard said. "He's doing really cool things I want to be a part of." When he actually read the script for Chuck, Lillard was glad he didn't hesitate to say "yes." "I have a 5-minute piece. It's very small, but I found something in it that I fell in love with," Lillard said, noting he really believed in the movie and was happy it was a hit at last year's Toronto Film Festival. "I think the most profound thing for me -- other than sitting behind Stephen King and Mark Hamill [at the screening] -- was it is a three-act movie, going backwards and, in between the two acts, there's a 15-second run of black and, in a theater of 2,000 people, you can hear a pin drop and the standing ovation afterwards was one thing, which I sort of would expect, but the quiet, profound silence and the darkness was unforgettable." Despite its unique story-telling devices, the film -- in theaters Friday -- is a meditation on humanity, according to Lillard. "It's a little weird and awkward, outside the box. There's so much Doom's Day talk [in reality]," he said. "Here's this movie that is this beautiful articulation of the wonder of life." Because of his talent and sensibilities, Flanagan was a natural choice as a partner for Lillard's high-concept spirits company, which tells an ongoing story through 16 different product drops. "Each bottle has the next chapter of the story," Lillard added. "The whole thing is not what do we sell to a community, but what do we bring to the idea of literary horror, combined with a really delicious, hand-selected Sotol. It's a love language to horror films." Lillard said he and his partners asked Flanagan, who is sober, to be the first "voice of this brand," by writing a story that would be between 10,000 and 12,000 words. "He ended up writing just over 80,000 words," the actor added. Looking back on his career, Lillard said he is grateful that, for the past 30 years or so, he has been able to work consistently in projects he's proud of and that audiences of all ages let him know how much they enjoy. "People have always rooted for me," he said. "I feel like I've gotten a little bit of a comeback and it's really humbling and lovely to have that opportunity and I have been super-lucky," Lillard added. "I really thought I would end up doing Renaissance fairs for the rest of my life [when I was younger]. I really thought I would be the Green Knight at Medieval Times."
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Analyst advises Milwaukee Bucks to take on one of NBA's worst contracts to please Giannis Antetokounmpo
Two years ago, the Milwaukee Bucks traded for Damian Lillard, hoping the All-NBA talent could help Giannis Antetokounmpo win another NBA championship. Needless to say, the superstar duo hasn't worked out as everyone in Wisconsin hoped. The Bucks have been bounced from the first round of the NBA Playoffs in back-to-back years, and that's come after hiring an all-time great in Doc Rivers. Unfortunately, the immediate future looks even more bleak after Lillard ruptured his Achilles tendon and is likely looking at missing the majority, if not all, of next year. Advertisement Thus, if the Bucks plan on taking another trip to the NBA Finals, they may have to make some sizable roster changes. Ideally, they won't be trading Antetokounmpo, since he's the face of the franchise and the team's leading ticket and jersey seller. However, trying to trade Lillard may not be off the table, but would any team be desperate enough to trade for a player who won't be able to help compete next season? Perhaps the Phoenix Suns would. The Suns are also in no-man's land. Though, unlike the Bucks, they couldn't even reach the postseason with last year's superteam which is likely to lead to significant roster shakeup. If there's one player they'd love to get rid of, it's Bradley Beal, who's not only signed to a supermax contract, he has a full no-trade clause, which makes him hard to move. Though, Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes believes the Bucks may actually bite on taking on the remainder of Beal's $251 million contract, which runs through the 2025-26 season, but also has a $57 million player option for 2027. 'The idea here is simple, but it hinges on Giannis Antetokounmpo staying in Milwaukee. Lillard's ruptured Achilles means he's not going to help next season. Beal, despite enduring slippage in Phoenix, is going to be the more valuable contributor in 2025-26 by default. If he likes the idea of settling in as the clear No. 2 option to a superstar instead of trying to find his way as a No. 3 in Phoenix, he could waive his no-trade clause and allow a deal to proceed. Phoenix is taking on dead money for next year while banking on Lillard returning to form (and outproducing Beal) in 2026-27 and beyond. It's not a ridiculous bet. Even a diminished Lillard would fill Phoenix's need for a true point guard better than Beal ever did.' Bleacher Report on Bucks trading for Bradley Beal Advertisement While Beal has taken some knocks since going to Phoenix, he's still a remarkable scorer who averages 21.5 points per game in his career. Plus, he could be rejuvenated by the opportunity of getting to join a contender and one of the NBA's best players in Antetokounmpo. Related: Former top-five draft pick eyes comeback and is drawing interest from multiple NBA teams
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Damian Lillard salary exception, re-signing two bigs and building depth: Bucks mailbag
One month has passed since the Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs by the Indiana Pacers, who look poised to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. While Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks have been one of the league's most popular topics of late, nothing has changed about their situation. Advertisement The Bucks are waiting for the 2024-25 season to end so that the offseason moves can begin in earnest. While waiting for that moment, we asked our readers to submit questions about Milwaukee's offseason for senior NBA writer Eric Nehm to answer. This is the first installment of that mailbag, which we will continue to work through over the next few weeks. Note: Questions have been lightly edited for clarity. What is the cap exception if Damian Lillard is out for the entire year? And based on that exception amount, who are free agents they could sign? — Brad G. I addressed this in my offseason overview a few weeks ago (and in response to Marques Johnson on his podcast), but I get it often enough and see Bucks fans discussing it enough that I wanted to address this at the start of this mailbag. The exception referenced here is the disabled player exception, which is in line with the non-taxpayer midlevel exception of $14.1 million. However, barring something unforeseen and terrible, it will not be something the Bucks can use on Lillard next season. To be granted a disabled player exception, a team needs to apply for the exception with the league, and then an NBA-designated physician (or a Fitness-to-Play panel) would need to determine that the player in question is 'substantially more likely than not' to be unable to play through the following June 15. On May 2, the team announced that Lillard underwent successful surgery to repair his torn left Achilles tendon. Even on an incredibly conservative timeline of 13 months, Lillard would be expected to return to play before the June 15, 2026 deadline. Hey, Eric, the 'gap year' idea seems more like a 'gap years' pitch to free up most salaries heading into Giannis's player option year, so do you mind sharing more details on what you had in mind? Is it as simple as: We want to build a two-year roster that can make the playoffs, get that notorious 'bite of the apple' and enter a full salary cap reset heading into the 2027-28 year? Or, what did you have in mind? — Jason V. As I laid out in the gap year story, I think the most important thing for the Bucks to accomplish next season is giving young(ish) players the opportunity to develop and grow into real contributors with plenty of minutes and game reps. Turning players such as Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., AJ Green and Ryan Rollins (or other free agents in that same age range of 23-28) into real contributors creates a core that can either serve as the role players needed to contend moving forward or useful pieces for a trade next offseason (the summer of 2026). Advertisement If the Bucks can successfully build that core next season, they have the pieces in place to be a much better and more complete team when Lillard returns to action. That return could happen at the end of next season or maybe it takes until the start of the 2026-27 season for Lillard to look like himself. Building out the depth of the roster and then adding a superstar talent on top with Lillard would be the simplest path, but not the only gap year path. Lillard has a player option worth more than $58.4 million for the 2026-27 season. If he accepts that option and Kyle Kuzma is still on the roster ($20.4 million contract), the Bucks would have nearly $80 million of contracts with which to go out to make a trade. If the Bucks do not touch any of their first-round picks over the next year, general manager Jon Horst would have the ability to move three first-round picks next offseason: a 2026 first-round pick that is tied up in a swap with the New Orleans Pelicans, the team's 2031 first-round pick and its 2033 first-round pick. It would require Horst to leverage a few more years of the team's future, but that collection of picks and players on expiring contracts could allow Horst to put together trade packages for the type of talent that could pair with Antetokounmpo to put the Bucks into contention. I think that path would allow the Bucks to get back into the title conversation quicker. I will always be skeptical of any plan that requires opening up salary-cap space and asking big-time free agents to sign to play in Milwaukee. Getting to play with Antetokounmpo is a great opportunity, but Milwaukee is still a smaller, cold-weather Midwestern city and creating actual cap space to sign players is always easier said than done. So I think trading for top-end talent is the more logical path to ensuring just a single gap year. If Brook Lopez isn't re-signed and Bobby Portis opts out, will that free up more cap space or will we still somehow be limited by the CBA? — Arthur H. What is Brook's value in free agency, and is a return for him more likely than a free-agent signing? — Wfthiel What is a realistic plan for center next year? If they get Brook back on a cheaper contract, will they start him regularly and leave it at that, or look toward young/Giannis as the primary center? — Cory R. I'll start with Arthur's question because I think that sets the scene best. With four players — Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Kuzma and Tyler Smith — already on guaranteed contracts for next season, the Bucks will have used up roughly 86 percent of the projected salary cap of $154.6 million. Add in Pat Connaughton's player option for $9.4 million, which seems like a no-brainer for Connaughton to accept, and the Bucks would be roughly $12.6 million under the salary cap. Advertisement So, realistically, there won't be a way to create cap space to sign an outside free agent, but there would still be avenues for the Bucks to sign both Portis and Lopez or use cap exceptions to sign a new group of centers. Because Lopez and Portis have been with the Bucks for at least three seasons, Milwaukee has full Bird rights on both players, which means it can sign them to contracts that exceed the salary cap. So, even if Portis decides to opt out of the last year of his contract, the Bucks still will be in a position to bring both back, but they will have to decide if they want to be a luxury tax team or stay below the luxury tax line of $187.9 million. That is where things will get interesting for the Bucks with Portis and Lopez. If the Bucks want to bring back Portis and Lopez while remaining under the luxury tax line, it may be difficult. Hypothetically, if they would bring their roster to 14 players by splitting the nontaxpayer midlevel exception on Trent Jr. and Porter Jr., signing Rollins and Jericho Sims to minimum contracts, guaranteeing the contracts of Green and Andre Jackson Jr., and signing the No. 47 pick to a minimum, they'd have roughly $21 million to split between the contracts of Portis and Lopez. The Bucks would be allowed to pass the luxury tax line, but using an exception would hard cap them at the first apron (roughly $195.9 million). (Disclaimer: Different cap mechanics or signing players for cheaper contracts than suggested above would allow the Bucks to create more space. This was just an exercise to show how much space the team might have available to sign both players if they want to stay below the luxury tax line.) Also, while I don't see Lopez commanding the same market he did two offseasons ago when the Bucks brought him back on a two-year, $48 million contract, it is incredible how rare his skill set remains throughout the NBA. Last season, Lopez averaged 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game while knocking down 37.3 percent from 3 in 80 games for the Bucks. The 37-year-old big man was one of six players to record at least 82 blocks and 82 3s in the 2024-25 season. Even if you change the filters to per-game averages to account for injuries, Lopez was one of only 17 players leaguewide to average at least one 3 and one blocked shot per game last season. There are simply not many players who can both knock down 3s and block shots, so there will be teams that are interested in adding Lopez to their roster. Also, as I'll note most summers, an underrated part of the value for a team re-signing its free agents is maintaining salary slots larger than minimum contracts on their cap sheet. If the Bucks attempt to turn over their roster during next offseason to get back into more serious contention, they will need contracts to include in trades. By signing both Portis and Lopez to contracts, the Bucks would not only keep two talented players, but they would also have contracts that they may be able to use in future trades. Advertisement As far as playing Antetokounmpo at center, per Cory's suggestion, the easiest place to start is Antetokounmpo's thoughts on playing center. During the last five seasons, every time he has been asked to play center for a long time, he has described how much greater the physical toll ends up being when asked to take on the responsibility of defending and boxing out centers. Antetokounmpo is a consummate pro, so he will always do what is asked of him, but he has also made it clear he finds playing center far more taxing. His final evolution as a player may require a position change, but I don't think we've reached that point yet. If the Bucks are going to ask him to take on an even larger offensive responsibility next season, the last thing they need to do is make his defensive work more difficult as well. If the NBA has shifted from the 'three stars to win' model to the 'depth is king' model, how do the Bucks adapt and compete with two $50 million-plus players on the roster? — Mike M. A colleague at another Milwaukee outlet recently wrote that, given the parity in the league now, the Bucks may not be that far from returning to title contention. I thought it was an interesting idea, but I'm wondering what you think of it. — Jeffrey M. Commissioner Adam Silver has made greater parity one of his goals, and it appears as though the league is trending in that direction. No matter who comes out on top among the remaining conference finalists, the league will crown its seventh different champion in the last seven seasons. Homecourt advantage has started to matter less than it did previously and there have been plenty of recent examples of deep runs from teams closer to the middle of the pack than the top of the conference. That setting does make me believe that we are looking at a different version of the NBA. Three-star teams are getting more difficult to build and manage and some analysts have started to call this the 'weak-link era' because there is some belief that it is now more important for teams to make sure they don't have the weakest link on the floor more than having the best player on the floor. While I think having top-end talent will always matter, I think there may be some credence to that idea as coaches have become skilled at picking on their opponent's weakest player on each end of the floor. Ultimately, though, while I think that means the Bucks are closer to getting themselves back into title contention, they still have a lot of work to do with respect to Mike's question. If they are going to compete for championships again with Antetokounmpo, they need to build depth, which is why a gap year could end up being important. No one can deny that Antetokounmpo was the best player on the floor in the first-round series against the Pacers, but there were large stretches of that series where the Pacers might have had the five next-best players on the floor. The Bucks need to get to a place where that is no longer the case in the playoffs. Even if the Bucks can't boast the best roster in the Eastern Conference next season — and they certainly can't with $54 million tied up in Lillard recovering on the sideline — getting reps and building the confidence of the players further down the roster could give the Bucks a far more versatile group when Lillard returns, and they can start thinking about contending again. (Photo of Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
Epoch Times
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Epoch Times
Giannis's New York Interest Comes With the Knicks at a High Point
Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to be the biggest star in the nation's biggest city, and it couldn't come at a better time for the New York Knicks. His New York interest New York secured a spot in the conference finals on May 16 with a If Antetokounmpo left Milwaukee for Gotham, that would make the Knicks all the more formidable in the East next season—regardless of whether this year's run results in a title or not. The Knicks face the Indiana Pacers in the East finals, which tip off on Wednesday, and the winner will get either the Minnesota Timberwolves or Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. An NBA champion Milwaukee's winning percentage has dipped along the way, too, with this season's .585 mark the team's lowest since 2018. The Bucks also failed to win the Central Division for the first time since that same year. Related Stories 4/28/2025 3/6/2025 In addition, the Bucks haven't been stable on the coaching front with a third coach in three seasons. Doc Rivers, the current Bucks head coach, has led a team to the finals only twice in 26 years of coaching. 'I love Doc,' Antetokounmpo 'I think he's a great human being. Great dude, knows how to uplift your spirit, knows always the right thing to say at the right moment. ... I remember when I was a kid, watching him on TV. 'I love him, not only as a coach, as a person, I think he's a great person. ... I love working with him.' Rivers took over in the middle of the 2023-2024 season after the Bucks fired Adrian Griffin. Fellow former Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer endured Antetokounmpo made it clear during the season-ending press conference that the team's veterans need to step up. He did his part in the playoffs with Milwaukee also took a hit with a season-ending injury to star guard Damian Lillard during the playoffs. Lillard averaged The duo of Antetokounmpo and Lillard hasn't produced the desired results in Milwaukee since a 2023 trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. Milwaukee hasn't won 50 games in a regular season, and has won just three playoff games since the addition. Antetokounmpo could have numerous suitors that are title contenders if the Bucks are willing to trade. Besides the Knicks, Antetokounmpo could land with the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, or Brooklyn Nets. All of those teams made the playoffs except for the Spurs and Nets. The Spurs have a young elite player in Victor Wembanyama, and the Nets have built a contending roster rapidly in the past. The Bucks are meeting with Antetokounmpo next week
