The AP's Tim Reynolds wrote the contracts signed this offseason by Pistons G Reggie Jackson, Bucks F Khris Middleton and Raptors F DeMarre Carroll "would have been considered baffling" a few years ago, but "these days, they seem fair." While they are neither All-Stars nor household names, the three "received a combined" $210M in deals. Heat C Hassan Whiteside: "The numbers you hear out there, they seem crazy to think about" (AP, 7/18). In N.Y., Tim Bontemps wrote it is "clear it’s a boom time in the NBA," but last week "offered a jarring reminder of the potential for danger on the horizon, in the form of a work stoppage two years from now." There is "little doubt the league is quite happy with the economic trends." Bontemps: "Will that be enough to avoid a work stoppage? Jeopardizing the golden goose that is the NBA could be a very unwise decision" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/18).
DEFER-GATE? THE MMQB's Peter King writes if he were NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, he would announce that he is "deferring all punishment" of Patriots QB Tom Brady for Deflategate until the end of the '15 season "while the air pressure in footballs pre-game, at halftime and post-game is studied in 267 regular- and post-season games." Air pressure in footballs "has never been measured at halftime and post-game, and has never been recorded before, during and after games." King: "So, to see if the variance in pressure in the Patriots footballs from the AFC Championship Game was indeed unusual, let’s have a body of work to compare them to" (MMQB.SI.com, 7/20).
REBEL YELL: In Boston, Jacqueline Tempera reports fans at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for yesterday's Sprint Cup race "proudly displayed" Confederate flags despite officials' continued requests to keep them "away from NASCAR tracks." The track, "where two Sprint Cup series races are held annually, offered to exchange Confederate flags for an American flag or race flag of choice, free of charge." NHMS Communications Dir Kristen Lestock said that "no fans had taken advantage of the deal" as of yesterday afternoon (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/20).
