Atlanta, GA
Atlanta and Washington give the Southeast Division a 1-2 punch at the top of the NBA draft
The Southeast Division controlled the top two selections in the NBA draft, with Atlanta and Washington picking 1-2.
Those were rare spots for those two franchises.
The Hawks won the lottery after having only a 3% chance of landing the top pick. They had picked No. 1 only one other time, in 1975.
Washington had the top pick in 2001 (Kwame Brown) and 2010 (John Wall), but those were the only times in the past half-century the team had selected in the top two.
Elsewhere in the division, the Orlando Magic were also in an unusual spot after making the playoffs this past season. They picked Colorado forward Tristan da Silva at No. 18 — their lowest first-round pick since 2012.
The Hawks and Wizards may have been in close proximity in the draft, but on the court the teams are in very different positions entering this offseason. The Hawks were in the play-in round last season, with Trae Young and Dejounte Murray averaging over 20 points a game. Now they add French teen Zaccharie Risacher to the mix.
The Wizards, meanwhile, lost a franchise-record 67 games, and expectations figure to be low again even after taking French 7-footer Alex Sarr one spot after Risacher.
Atlanta Hawks
Needs: Defensive help at every level.
Who they drafted: Risacher at No. 1.
NBA comparision: Risacher said he and Golden State shooting guard Klay Thompson have “the same game.” Risacher then quickly added Thompson has the advantage of being a veteran while he must improve. Risacher is quick and athletic at 6-foot-9, 215 pounds and should provide both scoring and defensive skills on the wing.
Charlotte Hornets
Needs: The Hornets had plenty of issues across the board last season, none bigger than their defense. Charlotte finished second-to-last in the league in defensive rating. The Hornets also need to add more 3-point shooting and rebounding.
Who they drafted: Forward Tidjane Salaun of France at No. 6.
NBA comparison: Salaun has plenty of length and intensity and reminds some of a more athletic version of Otto Porter Jr. or Jonas Jerebko. The big question will be how he develops as a shooter. Just 18, he played very well at the Basketball Without Borders camp and was named MVP of the 2023 Trophy of the Future tournament, averaging 17.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. The Hornets passed on UConn center Donovan Clingan to take the 6-9 Salaun.
Miami Heat
Needs: Size
Who they drafted: Indiana center Kel’el Ware at No. 15.
NBA comparision: He might be considered a Myles Turner type, a 7-footer with serious offensive skills, a knack for rim protection and outstanding in the pick-and-roll. Ware also will immediately benefit from playing alongside Heat captain Bam Adebayo, who could get more minutes at power forward if Ware can take center minutes.
Orlando Magic
Needs: Perimeter shooting. The Magic were last in the NBA in 3-point field goals and 24th in 3-point percentage.
Who they drafted: Da Silva at No. 18.
NBA comparison: Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris because of his size, all-around game and maturity.
Washington Wizards
Needs: Washington is only a year into its rebuild, so the Wizards didn’t necessarily have to be picky about fit — but it happened that some of the top players available also had good size, which the team can use after dealing Kristaps Porzingis and Daniel Gafford in the fairly recent past.
Who they drafted: Sarr with the No. 2 pick, Pittsburgh guard Bub Carrington at No. 14 and 6-8 Kyshawn George of Miami at No. 24.
NBA comparison for Sarr: He says he admires Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo, although his defensive impact may make him more comparable to Jaren Jackson Jr. initially.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Atlanta, GA
Decatur Square businesses thrive during 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup and WatchFest: “…beyond our wildest imagination”
With all the soccer fans visiting metro Atlanta, local businesses are reaping the benefits.
In Decatur, shops and restaurants on the Decatur Square are seeing a surge in foot traffic during the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup and Decatur WatchFest.
Lee Fewell, manager and bartender at The Brick Store Pub on the square, said the excitement has been nonstop. “It’s been really crazy,” Fewell said. “We have our outback garden area just completely filled up. We added some TVs, and it’s just been full capacity at any given moment.”
While Wednesday night was relatively slower than recent days, Fewell noted that business is usually quieter during the summer. This year, however, the restaurant saw its biggest day ever when the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team played its first match in the tournament.
“It’s been 29 years this month since this place opened, but usually, it is definitely not like this,” Fewell said. “This is, I think, beyond our wildest imagination.”
Across the square, Siam Thai Restaurant is also enjoying record-breaking business. “We sold out of beer,” said Narit Narajit-McCrary, who works at the restaurant. “I had to go to the supermarket to restock for Monday.”
Narajit-McCrary said the World Cup boost has far exceeded expectations: “During the summer, normally it’s very slow for business, but this summer has been very good for us.”
Atlanta, GA
FBI orders field offices to send analysts to Atlanta for 2020 election investigation, sources say
The FBI is ramping up its investigation into the 2020 election results in Fulton County, Georgia, by ordering field offices across the country to send investigative analysts to Atlanta to help evaluate thousands of records, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
According to a memo sent to all field offices and reviewed by CBS News, the Directorate of Intelligence requested “surge support” to Atlanta to assist in what it called FBI Director Kash Patel’s “priority” investigation. The memo did not explicitly discuss the nature of the investigation, but multiple sources confirmed to CBS News the subject of the memo is the 2020 election probe in Fulton County.
The memo calls on every FBI field office to assign analysts, seeking to reach a total of 260 analysts. Large field offices are being asked to contribute eight analysts each, while small and medium offices must dedicate between three and five analysts. They are being asked to review 708 records each, and complete the work by July 17, the memo shows.
These “tactical intel” staffers typically provide help with day-to-day casework, such as running license plates, doing open-source checks on subjects of investigations, phone analysis, preparing subpoenas and reviewing subpoena returns.
The surge of personnel was first reported by MS Now.
President Trump has repeatedly alleged without providing evidence that officials in heavily Democratic Fulton County manipulated ballot counts in 2020 and that large numbers of votes in the state were cast by deceased Georgians, nonresidents or other ineligible participants.
After Mr. Trump lost Georgia by 11,799 votes, he frequently claimed the election had been “rigged.” But Joe Biden’s win in Georgia was confirmed in both a machine recount and an audit that involved hand recounts by every county in the state.
Earlier this year, the FBI executed a search warrant in Fulton County where it seized “all physical ballots” from 2020, as well as tapes from vote-tabulating machines, ballot images and voter rolls. Home to Atlanta, Fulton County was crucial to Biden’s narrow 2020 win in the state.
The case was referred to the FBI by Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who previously fought to help overturn the results of the 2020 election and now works for the Justice Department, where he is assigned in Miami to help investigate the so-called “grand conspiracy” into whether Obama and Biden-era officials conspired to keep President Trump out of office.
A judge in May denied a request by Fulton County to return the ballots that were seized.
The FBI declined to comment.
I think it’s time to chat again about Eric Hartman. The Braves’ now top prospect completed a 20 HR, 30 SB season on July 1st, through 71 games of his season. He was also ranked the 25th prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America and it’s getting easier every day to see him in the top 10 by the offseason. This is simply a hugely valuable prospect coming from a 20th round pick just two years ago and the back end of the organizational top 30 as recently as March. While he’s only at high-A (probably not for long) and still has work to do on his game, he has rapidly become a potential superstar on the position-player side for an organization that desperately needed talent on that hitting side and has got it this year from not only Hartman.
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