Previewing big USA men’s basketball, USWNT games; is a Brandon Aiyuk trade imminent?

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🏀⚽ Good morning to everyone, but especially to …

FANS OF TEAM USA MEN’S BASKETBALL AND THE USWNT

All you can ask for is a chance. And today, Team USA men’s basketball and the USWNT have great chances. However, there’s no more room for error. After dominating pool play, Team USA men’s basketball faces its first knockout-round test: Brazil. Jack Maloney has a preview of the quarterfinal matchup, and you may recognize one of the Brazilians’ best.

• Maloney: “Once upon a time, Bruno Caboclo was one of the most intriguing prospects in the world. The No. 20 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft to the Toronto Raptors, he was dubbed the ‘Brazilian Kevin Durant,’ … His NBA career never got off the ground, as he appeared in just 105 games with four different franchises between 2014 and 2021. … Caboclo can be inconsistent — he didn’t score in Brazil’s first group-stage game versus France — but the talent is there. Team USA will have to shut him down early because if he starts to feel it, he can be very difficult to stop.”

America has, of course, the actual Kevin Durant, and I don’t anticipate too much trouble. They won’t look ahead, hopefully, but I will: Brad Botkin has the USA’s biggest threats to gold.

Also in action today is the USWNT, which is into the semifinal against Germany. The USA won this matchup 4-1 in the group stage, but Sandra Herrera envisions a much closer contest today.

• Herrera: “It’s the sequel so the added high-stakes moment, and tired legs, might mean that this one stays too close for comfort. Two stellar goalkeepers going head-to-head will keep things narrow, but the U.S. attacking trio will have the confidence to pull it off again. Pick: USWNT 2, Germany 1“

Here’s our women’s soccer Olympic Power Rankings.

Here’s more from Paris:

• Live blog
• The United States has tied Japan for most gold medals with 21 thanks Caroline Marks (women’s surfing) and Valarie Allman (women’s discus throw). The U.S. also still leads the overall medal count by a ton. Here’s our tracker.
• How to watch
• Simone Biles (silver) and Jordan Chiles (bronze) earned medals on the floor exercise.
• Chase Budinger‘s Olympics are over, but he’s not ruling out a return.
• The Netherlands won men’s 3×3 basketball. Now, the BIG3 All-Stars want a shot. And there’s money on the line.

😁 Honorable mentions

• Could the Yankees‘ easy remaining schedule give them an advantage in the AL East race?
• Will Howard is separating himself in Ohio State‘s starting quarterback battle.
• I enjoyed Cody Benjamin’s 2024 NFL All-Offseason Additions Team.
• Geno Smith returned to practice.
• Freddie Freeman received a standing ovation in his return to the Dodgers.
• Harrison Butker agreed to a four-year, $25.6 million extension that makes him the NFL’s highest-paid kicker.
• Jesús Sánchez‘s 480-foot home run is the longest of the season.

🏈 And not such a good morning for …

THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

It has been three weeks since Brandon Aiyuk requested a trade amid contract extension talks gone stale. Back then, the 49ers had no intentions of acquiescing.

It seems as if that has changed — or is very, very close to it. According to reports, it is now more likely Aiyuk is traded than it is he’ll stay in San Francisco, and the Patriots and Browns are seen as the top suitors in trade talks. 

Aiyuk, 26, is a star. Not a star in the making. A star. He fully arrived last year with a 1,342-yard season that earned him second-team All-Pro honors, and any of the teams mentioned above (and any team, period) would be ecstatic to have him. He wins deep, intermediate and short. He goes over the middle fearlessly. His 3.1 yards per route run ranked third behind Tyreek Hill and Nico Collins. And he’s one of the game’s best blocking receivers, too, a huge boost for Christian McCaffrey and Co.

If there’s truly no course to reconciliation, the 49ers could get a solid return — Cody Benjamin proposed some potential packages in late July — but none of them would compare to what Aiyuk provides right here, right now as the 49ers hope to contend for a Super Bowl.

And even significant future value in terms of draft equity is no guarantee, either. Remember when the Titans traded A.J. Brown to the Eagles for a first-round pick in 2022? Since then, Brown has 194 catches, two second-team All-Pro selections, two Pro Bowls and another huge contract. The Titans’ pick from that deal, Treylon Burks, has 49 career catches and might be on the roster bubble already. It’s a massive risk to let elite, in-their-prime talent leave.

San Francisco averaged 7.1 yards per play with Aiyuk on the field last year, compared to 5.3 with him off it. That’s the difference between being the league’s best offense and being 13th. There’s no way to sugarcoat it: This would be a huge loss for one of the NFL’s best teams, one that can’t be replaced with other players, high draft picks or a combination of both.

😕 Not so honorable mentions

• That’s 21 straight losses for the White Sox, who are now tied the 1988 Orioles for the longest slide in AL history.
• NFL injury update time: Puka Nacua (knee) is week-to-week and Za’Darius Smith (knee contusion) was carted off.
• Daniel Jones got in on a Giants-Lions joint-practice scuffle.
• Jordan Addison was charged with two misdemeanors following his DUI arrest last month and could face a significant suspension.
• Jim Harbaugh continues to not apologize for Michigan‘s sign-stealing scheme.
• Reynoldo López (forearm inflammation) is on the IL.
• Gabriel Moreno (strained groin) left early.
• Innings limits loom for key pitchers on contending teams.
• Charles Jagusah (torn pec) is out for the year.

🏈 Georgia football atop preseason Coaches Poll; who’s overrated, underrated?

Nick Saban used to call it “rat poison” — all the outside praise that could cause his team to get complacent or think it’s earned anything before it actually has.

But from our perspective, rat poison is always tasty. And the coaches gave us plenty on Monday. The preseason Coaches Poll is out, and Georgia is on top of it for the second consecutive year. Kirby Smart, a former Saban disciple, certainly won’t let it get to the Bulldogs’ heads, but it does reflect a team with legitimate championship aspirations once again. Here’s the top five:

1. Georgia (46 first-place votes)
2. Ohio State (7)
3. Oregon
4. Texas (1) 
5. Alabama

The Big Ten and the SEC both have four teams in the top ten, but in his overrated and underrated reactions, Shehan Jeyarajah says the SEC should have had a fifth in there.

• Jeyarajah: “Underrated: No. 11 Missouri — The Tigers quietly blew through the SEC last season and finished with 11 wins and a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State, one of the biggest postseason wins in program history. Despite returning almost the entire core, headlined by superstar wide receiver Luther Burden III, Missouri was left outside of the top 10. … The schedule means that Mizzou has a fairly clean pathway to repeating as a 10-win team in the SEC. The Tigers have players that will contend for All-America status.”

Here’s the top 25.

🏈 What to expect from rookie quarterbacks

We’re just two days from the NFL preseason Week 1, and that means we’re two days away from our first glimpse of a first-round rookie quarterback in game action. Drake Maye will get plenty of action when the Patriots face the Panthers, and while he’s not the starter — Jacoby Brissett is — Maye’s preseason debut (and debut season) will be fascinating to watch.

Chris Trapasso wrote about what to expect from the rookie first-round quarterbacks expected to play this season, and for Maye, he says …

• Trapasso: “Maye is such a fascinating watch on film. He’ll have a magnificent throw through the tiniest window across and down the field on one play, then a rocket thrown directly to a linebacker clearly in front of his intended target. … New England will likely stick around early because of its defense. But when the offense can’t sustain scoring, it’d be sensible to give Maye an opportunity. And as long as we see flashes — and I expect them to occur — there should be plenty of excitement surrounding Maye entering his second professional season at the conclusion of his rookie year.”

📺 What we’re watching Tuesday

🏅 We’re watching the Olympics. Here’s how.
⚽ Women’s Soccer: Semifinal — USA vs. Germany, 12 p.m. on USA Network
🏀 Men’s Basketball: Quarterfinal — USA vs. Brazil, 3:30 p.m. on NBC
⚾ Phillies at Dodgers, 10:10 p.m. on MLB Network