DeKALB — With the NBA Draft, NBA offseason trades, and an eventful week of football, there’s a lot to unpack over the last week. Here’s an update on last week in sports. 

NBA Draft

The NBA Draft took place Wednesday, and the University of Georgia’s guard Anthony Edwards was picked as the number one overall pick. He was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The second pick was center James Wiseman from the University of Memphis. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors. 

The Charlotte Hornets had the third pick and chose point guard LaMelo Ball from the Illawarra Hawks in the Australian NBL. 

The Chicago Bulls selected forward Patrick Williams from Florida State University with the fourth pick.

NBA Trades

On Monday, the Phoenix Suns traded with the Oklahoma City Thunder for star point guard Chris Paul and former NIU Huskie forward Abdel Nader. The Thunder received small forward Kelly Oubre, who they later dealt to the Warriors, point guard Ricky Rubio who they later dealt to the Timberwolves, guards Ty Jerome and Jalen Lecque and a 2022 first-round pick. 

On Tuesday, The New Orleans Pelicans sent guard Jrue Holiday to the Milwaukee Bucks for point guards Eric Bledsoe and George Hill, and three future first round picks and swaps.

On Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers moved off of power forward Al Horford, sending him to the Thunder along with a protected first round pick, the 34th pick that became point guard Theo Maledon and the rights to a Euro stash player for shooting guard Danny Green and small forward Terrance Ferguson.

NBA Free Agency

On Friday former Los Angeles Clippers center and 2019-20 Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. Former Lakers center Dwight Howard decided to leave the team for the second time in his career by joining the 76ers on a one-year deal. Forward Danilo Gallinari joins the Atlanta Hawks on a three-year deal.

On Saturday the Clippers got another center in former Toronto Raptor Serge Ibaka, joining the team on a two-year deal. Former all-star point guard Jeff Teague agreed to a one-year deal with the Celtics. Longtime Cleveland Cavalier center Tristan Thompson will also be joining Teague in Boston on a two-year deal. 

The Raptors re-signed guard Fred VanVleet of Rockford, Illinois, to a four-year, $85 million deal. It’s the largest contract signed by an undrafted player in NBA history.

Also on Saturday, the Bulls bring back small forward Denzel Valentine on a one-year deal. Former superstar small forward Carmelo Anthony agreed to remain with the Portland Trail Blazers on a one-year deal. Two-time NBA champion Rajon Rondo will leave the Lakers to join the Hawks on a two-year deal. The Charlotte Hornets signed small forward Gordon Hayward to a four-year deal.

Sunday former Grizzlies and Raptors center Marc Gasol decided to resume his NBA career. He’ll join the Lakers, the team that drafted him in 2007, on a two-year deal. He joins his brother, Pau Gasol who played there from 2008 through 2014, as the only brothers to play for the Lakers

NBA 

Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in his right leg during practice tuesday. He missed the previous season due to a torn ACL in his left knee suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals.

MAC

In the Mid-American Conference this week, the University at Buffalo demolished Bowling Green State University and Kent State University defeated the University of Akron. 

On Wednesday, Ball State University came back to defeat NIU, the University of Toledo defeated Eastern Michigan University, and Western Michigan University defeated Central Michigan University on a fake spike touchdown. 

The University of Buffalo, Kent State University and Western Michigan are still undefeated. The Huskies are still yet to get a win. 

NCAA

Ohio State University defeated the University of Indiana in a top-10 Big Ten conference showdown. Brigham Young University and Coastal Carolina University remained undefeated with wins this week.

The University of Cincinnati barely defeated the University of Central Florida to remain undefeated and the University of Northwestern defeated the University of Wisconsin to remain undefeated as well. The Wildcats are ranked 11th, which is their highest ranking in over 22 years. 

Saturday, the University of Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State University, the top-ranked University of Alabama got a blow out win over the University of Kentucky and Liberty University suffered their first loss of the season to North Carolina State University. 

Also, the University of Clemson had their game against Florida State University canceled to be made up at a later date. 

NFL

On Thursday Night Football, the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Arizona Cardinals. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson bested Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray’s 269 yards of passing offense.

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers remained undefeated with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tennessee Titans defeated the Baltimore Ravens in overtime, the Denver Broncos gave quarterback Tua Tagovailoa his first loss as a starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending knee injury. He suffered a torn ACL, MCL and other structural issues, according to ESPN.

On Sunday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Las Vegas Raiders on a touchdown by the Chiefs with 28 seconds left. That puts the Chiefs at 9-1 on the season. 

Upcoming MAC

This week in the MAC, the Huskies have to play an undefeated Western Michigan team 11 a.m. Saturday.

Also on Saturday, Kent State will play the Buffalo in a matchup of two undefeated MAC teams. 

Upcoming NCAA

This week in college football, Iowa State University will play the University of Texas in a top-25 matchup and Notre Dame University will play the University of North Carolina in a top-25 ACC conference matchup. Both of these games will be on Friday. 

The University of Auburn will play the top-ranked University of Alabama in the Iron Bowl on Saturday and the University of Oklahoma will play the University of West Virginia in a major Big 12 conference game. 

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving day, quarterback Desuan Watson and the Houston Texans will play the Detroit Lions led by quarterback Matthew Stafford to start the day.

The Washington Football Team will play the Dallas Cowboys and the Ravens will play the undefeated Steelers to finish Thanksgiving Day Football. 

College Basketball

The 2020-21 College Basketball season will begin on Wednesday with the 2020 2K Empire Classic between the University of Baylor and the Arizona State University. 

On Thursday, the sixth-ranked University of Kansas will play the number one0-ranked University of Gonzaga. 

The Huskies will play the University of Illinois–Chicago 6 p.m. Wednesday. The game will be at the NIU Convocation Center with no fans in attendance.