Latest news with #Wesley
NBC Sports
8 minutes ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Blake Wesley agrees to join Portland Trail Blazers on one-year contract
The Washington Wizards' motivation in waiving Marcus Smart and Blake Wesley is clear: They saved about $8.2 million with the moves. Smart quickly reached terms to join the Los Angeles Lakers once he cleared waivers. Now Wesley has found a home, joining a number of other talented young guards with the Portland Trail Blazers, a story broken by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. This will be a fully guaranteed one-year contract, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report confirms. Wesley is the former Notre Dame star who was drafted No. 25 overall in 2022 by the San Antonio Spurs, where things just never clicked as hoped. Wesley's minutes dropped each season with the Spurs, last year getting in 58 games at 11.8 minutes a night, averaging 3.7 points and two assists a game. Part of the challenge is the 6'5" guard shot 29.3% from beyond the arc last season (which is pretty much at his career average). For Portland fans looking for reasons to be optimistic, Wesley is just 22 years old, shot 35.9% from 3-point range for the Austin Spurs in the G League, and he's a solid to plus defender. Portland is largely set in their guard rotation with Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe (Damian Lillard is on the roster but will sit out this season recovering from his torn Achilles). Wesley is more of a deep bench guy, but he'll get his chance, and on a minimum contract, this is a low-risk roll of the dice by Portland. Wesley also makes 15 guaranteed contracts for the Trail Blazers, their roster is set.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
At 'Vampire Weekend,' 'Diaries' stars Wesley and Somerhalder reminisce and banter
BOSTON — Fandom for 'The Vampire Diaries' is alive and well. And, if anything this past weekend's 'Vampire Fan Weekend' proved July 19 and 20, it's bigger than ever. Despite the blood-sucking, nighttime soap opera being canceled eight years ago, fans packed into Westin Boston Seaport District Hotel to celebrate the defunct but never defanged series and its stars. Then again, with streaming and binging, a series about the trial and tribulations and romantic pitfalls of the good-looking undead never stay truly dead for too long. And, the reason why 'The Vampire Diaries' has risen from grave of rerun hell, is because of the star power of Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, who played the devilishly handsome bloodsucking brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, as the crowd of predominately young women — many of which weren't even preschoolers or out of rubber pants when the show debuted in 2009 on the CW — would attest. Brother act Wesley and Somerhalder were the main attraction of 'Vampire Fan Weekend' and the toothsome twosome didn't disappoint fans during their unabashed, free-wheeling, F-bomb-laced panels where nothing was sacred or off-limits. Sadly, the only minor disappointment at 'Vampire Fan Weekend' was no one took the opportunity to partake in some cosplay. I stand corrected, there were two fans dressed in Starfleet uniforms in honor of Wesley landing the role of a young James T. Kirk on 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.' Thankfully, an appreciative Wesely made myself and my brother not feel awkward being more appropriately suited up for a 'Star Trek' convention, with toy phaser and communicator in hand. In addition, Candice King, who plays Caroline Forbes on 'The Vampire Diaries,' and Matthew Davis, who plays history teacher and vampire hunter Alaric Saltzman on 'The Vampire Diaries,' turned out to be very popular drawers. While Nina Dobrev, who played vampiric love triangle interest Elena Gilbert and her doomed doppelganger Katherine Pierce, was not on the bill, the actress was there in spirit and conversation. During their batty, fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants panel, Wesley and Somerhalder, who also played Boone on 'Lost' prior to 'The Vampire Diaries' gig, cheekily joked about their relationship off the set. The truth of the matter is, the two men who played brothers act like brothers in real life, finishing sentences and slapping each other down with their self-lacerating wit. Behind the scenes When asked if they could have picked another series to do a 'crossover episode' with, Wesley immediately riffed 'A cross-dressing episode?' before saying, that he was surprised that the Salvatore brothers never joined forces (or were at odds) with Dean and Sam Winchester (aka Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki) from 'Supernatural,' which was also on the same network as 'The Vampire Diaries.' When the two men were on topic, they chatted about how the show taught them patience and Somerhalder had the biggest makeup bag. 'We were supposed to be on the set at 10 a.m.,' Wesley said of Somerhalder. 'He was there four a.m. doing his hair.' 'My make-up bag was bigger than Candice's (Candice King), or Nina's (Nina Dobrev), or Bonnie's (Bonnie Bennett)' Somerhalder boasted. 'At least, he admits it. It was like Anthony Hopkins in 'Silence of the Lambs,' nine face masks,' Wesley insisted. 'Dude it was like an ER surgery. Nine people. It's like what 's the (expletive) is going on here?' 'You learn a lot because unlike Paul I had a method,' Somerhalder snapped. 'What was your method?' Wesley countered. 'Moisturizing your face for nine hours?' Forced to examine their characters by a fan, the two actors said they saw striking similarities with their small screen counterparts.' 'These characters were resilient, like we are, fiercely loyal, love their family,' Somerhalder said. 'And (they commit) murder(s),' A question from closet shrink, who admitted that she works in HK, started Wesley and Somerhalder to allude to the infamous jumbotron scandal four days before at Gillete stadium. 'Don't go to any Coldplay concerts,' Wesley interjected, before Somerhalder took it to a another level, talking about a guy he saw online beaning his kid off the head with a baseball and the caption, 'I might not be the best dad in the world but I don't go to Coldplay concerts' Ouch. When asked if they were in horror movie who would sacrifice the other to survive, Wesley snapped, 'If we were on an island, I'd want to eat his (expletive), I wouldn't be hungry. I would just do it. Even if there were plenty of fruits and (expletive), I would just eat it.' When asked what has been your biggest lesson that has helped you stay focus and on track, Wesley chimed, 'Adderall, without missing a beat. When a fan asked which one of them should have ended up with Elena Gilbert — the brothers' shared love interest played by Nina Dobrev — Wesley and Somerhalder agreed that neither deserved her, because she was too good for either of them. 'We deserved each other," said Wesley. 'Crazy as craziness gets' Before the end of the afternoon, the two actors drove a stake into 'The Vampire Diaries' fans over the romantic notion of two brothers swooning over and competing for a teenager. 'These guys were 150-160-something years old dating a 17-year-old high school student who turned 18, thankfully, and you approved of it,' Somerhalder said. 'And then I killed her brother twice. Still approved of it. I just want you to know you are crazy as craziness gets.' When Somerhalder joked that he loved seeing Wesley's character get killed, Paul said he felt like he could have moved out of the way of the fireball from hell and also been able to save Matt Donavan and Elena at the same time from the sinking car. 'She was like, 'No save him.' Ok. I was a vampire. I had vampire powers. So I could have taken both of them,' Wesley said. 'The truth is I am so glad Stephan didn't end up with Elena. If he did, I would have to hear about it for the rest of my life.' And the TV brothers weren't too keen with the show's ending, they said. 'The brothers should have just died and let the town go back human. Let everyone go to back to being alive and happy,' Somerhalder said. 'And, by the way, this is all endorsed by you lunatics.' When the audience started lobbying for Somerhalder return to television, the actor snapped, 'I need a television show like I need an (expletive) on my elbow … You know messy that be? Every time you shake someone's hand (making a fluctuance sound). That would be horrible.' Antisocial media Before leaving, Wesley and Somerhalder got nostalgic for the simpler, carefree days before lashing out at social media. 'You can really go down a rabbit hole, people criticizing, being mean and all things being anonymous,' Wesley said. Wesley says he does two things about posts about him on social media — consciously, he doesn't look at it. And, for chances he does, he said doesn't give a '(expletive).' Somerhalder added when social media first came out in the forefront his initial thought was, 'If this catches fire, this is going to be hell.' 'It gives someone mean to say something anonymously that they would never say to your face,' Somerhalder said. 'They are now saying it online because they can do it without repercussions.' Somerhalder went as far to say teenagers were better off without social media. 'When we were in school, if you said something mean to someone, they would punch you in the face and then you knew it was cause and effect,' Somerhalder said. 'Oh, when I hurt someone with my words, they might either say your words back to me or they are wrack you in the jaw. Now, that went out the window.' 'In our case, we say something mean, we make up and make out,' Wesley added This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Wesley and Somerhalder hold court at 'Vampire Diaries' convention Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
After huge Sunday night commitment, Texas rises to No. 4 in team recruiting rankings
The Texas Longhorns had a great weekend. Not only did former Longhorn Scottie Scheffler win the British Open, but UT got a massive five-star commitment. Derrek Cooper, the No. 2 running back in the 2026 class, committed to Texas on Sunday evening. The pledge has skyrocketed the Horns up the recruiting rankings to No. 4 overall. Cooper is now the fourth highest ranked commitment in Texas's 2026 class, behind quarterback Dia Bell, linebacker Tyler Atkinson, and EDGE Richard Wesley. Things looked kind of dark for Texas recruiting in early July. The high-profile commitment of five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo to Texas Tech stung. The Horns lost nine recruiting battles in a row after Wesley committed in late June. But things turned around 10 days ago with the commitment of four-star CB Samari Matthews. Texas beat out South Carolina, Miami and Florida State. Four days later, Atkinson committed to UT over Georgia, Clemson, and Oregon. A day later, Steve Sarkisian was able to flip five-star Georgia commit James Johnson. The flurry of commitments has lifted Texas to No. 6 in the team recruiting rankings. Cooper has given the overall class another boost to No. 4. UT also has the second most five-star commits of anyone in the nation. Sark has pledges from the No. 1 QB, No. 1 linebacker, No. 1 defensive lineman, No. 2 running back and No. 3 edge rusher. Any worries over the quality of this recruiting class has been put to rest. Many of the Texas 2026 class have also had a great summer. Bell, Arch Manning's probable heir apparent, was named the MVP of the exclusive Elite 11 QB event. His performance immediately was reflected in the rankings, as he was boosted to the No. 1 QB recruit in the country. Wesley was dominant at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge. The Longhorns had the No. 1 recruiting class in 2025. And while Sark and the recruiting team at Texas isn't done yet, the past 10 days have set UT on the path to another top five class and it may end up win another recruiting title before the cycle is done. Follow us on X/Twitter at @LonghornsWire.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Roma await Flamengo's response for Wesley
Gian Piero Gasperini has identified Wesley as Roma's top right-back target. Discussions between Flamengo and the Giallorossi have been ongoing for several weeks now, and negotiations are now entering a crucial phase. As reported by the club has recently presented the Brazilians with an offer closer to their demands. The proposed price is €25 million, and in the next few hours, the Rio de Janeiro club will have to decide whether to accept or request a further offer. The 2003-born player is pushing for a move to Italy, and all parties involved are working to finalize the agreement.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Vampire Diaries star Paul Wesley engaged to German model Natalie Kuckenburg after Italy trip
Paul Wesley, widely recognized for his role as Stefan Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries, is engaged to model Natalie Kuckenburg. The news was shared subtly via Instagram, reflecting the couple's low-key approach to their relationship. Kuckenburg revealed the engagement with a minimalistic black-and-white photo showing her engagement ring. The caption simply read, 'Yes. Always and forever.' Though understated, the announcement quickly garnered attention from fans online. According to reports, the couple got engaged during a romantic getaway to Italy. Their travels included scenic destinations such as Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast. Wesley also posted vacation snapshots with captions like 'a beautiful time,' while Kuckenburg echoed the sentiment with 'The best time!!' The 41-year-old actor and his 25-year-old fiancée have reportedly been dating since late 2022. Their relationship first drew public attention after they were spotted dining together in Italy. Over time, fans picked up on subtle social media clues — shared locations, coordinated posts, and eventually, shared appearances on each other's feeds. Despite their public profiles, the couple has maintained a quiet and personal dynamic. Earlier this year, Wesley finalized his divorce from Ines de Ramon. While no official wedding plans have been revealed, those familiar with the couple's style don't expect a lavish ceremony. Their engagement, like their relationship, has been marked by intentionality and privacy. The announcement marks a new chapter in Wesley's personal life. As fans celebrate the news, many admire the couple's understated approach to love — free of media spectacle, yet full of genuine connection.
