Clint Capela is coming off another productive year for the Atlanta Hawks.

He finished the season with averages of 11.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.5 blocks per contest while shooting 57.1% from the field in 73 games.

Over the previous two seasons, Capela has been mentioned in trade rumors.

Most recently, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst spoke about Capela on The Hoop Collective Podcast.

Windhorst: “They have Clint Capela, who has been very available. I’m not saying they’re going to trade Clint Capela for a star, but that’s a salary.”

Capela has been with the Hawks since the middle of the 2020 season.

Over 275 games with Atlanta, Capela has averages of 12.3 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.5 blocks per contest while shooting 60.6% from the field.

The Hawks also made the Eastern Conference finals during the 2021 season.

Capela was the 25th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and has also spent time with the Houston Rockets over his ten seasons in the league.

His career averages are 12.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.5 blocks per contest while shooting 62.1% from the field in 609 regular season games.

He has also appeared in 87 NBA playoff games (65 starts).

Via NBA History on January 20, 2021: “Clint Capela recorded 27 points, a career-high 26 rebounds and 5 blocks in tonight’s Hawks win.

The last 4 players do reach 25+ PTS, 25+ REB and 5+ BLK in a game: Shaquille O’Neal, Dikembe Mutombo, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon.”

Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies took a step forward in rehab. According to Braves beat writer for The Athletic David O’Brien, Albies will begin to get work in the field starting Tuesday. 

“Ozzie Albies will begin doing some fielding today,” https://x.com/DOBrienATL/status/1831065911413109127. “Hasn’t been cleared to take batting practice, but he’s been swinging [the] bat some in the cage. Sunday will be 6-week mark. He said still going on initial 6-8 week prognosis, but he’ll need a rehab assignment before return.”

It’s been almost six weeks since Albies suffered a left wrist fracture in an attempt to tag a runner trying to steal second base. Following X-rays, it was revealed he would miss around eight weeks. If he’s back around the eight-week mark, he would return with about two weeks left in the season. 

He still needs to go through a rehab assignment. If we’re basing it off Michael Harris’s stint, it’ll be about a week. Harris played a six-game series with the Stripers before returning to the Braves. However, that’s without any setbacks and that’s assuming he will start one in a week. Keep in mind that he’s not cleared to take batting practice yet. 

Even if it takes more than eight weeks, there’s no indication he won’t be ready for the postseason if the Braves can hang on. The postseason starts in just under 30 days. 

Before his injury, Albies was batting .258 with a .717 OPS with eight home runs and 47 RBIs in 90 games. He wasn’t quite at the level he was in 2023 when he made his fourth all-star team and received MVP votes, but when players had been following victim to the injury bug all season, they didn’t need to lose one of their mainstays too. 

They tried to plug in prospect Nacho Alvarez Jr. to fill in for Albies, but it didn’t work out. Fortunately for the Braves, Whit Merrifield was available to be signed and fill the role at a serviceable level. He has played 31 games at second base in Albies’s absence. 

The Atlanta Falcons will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in their Week 1 home opener this Sunday. After an eventful offseason of new big-name additions, the most critical individual to their team’s success will take the football field in a meaningful contest for the first time since October 29th of last year.

A season-ending Achilles injury ended Kirk Cousins’s season and his five-year tenure with the Minnesota Vikings. Now, the 36-year-old is at the helm of not only the Falcons offense but organization as well. 

As one of four team captains, Cousins’s expectations should be high yet tempered, because he has not seen ‘full speed’ NFL action in 11 months following a severe injury. In his debut, he will not have a straightforward ‘welcome back.’  Here are three reasonable expectations for Atlanta’s new star. 

Kirk Cousins may initially look ‘rusty’ against a defense looking to rebound after a disappointing 2023 season. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been known to field some of football’s best defenses. Last year, they had an underwhelming season as both a pass and rush defense. However, with defensive stars in Cameron Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Patrick Queen, and T.J. Watt, the Black and Gold’s defense is poised to leap back to top ten status as they were in years prior.

With Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin bringing back eight of 11 defensive starters from last season, the unit already has chemistry.

Contrarily, for Captain Kirk, it could take a few possessions for him to get into a rhythm on offense with his new teammates. Before his injury last season, the former Minnesota Viking was lethal when finding his ‘rhythm.’

However, putting the game out of reach may not take a lot once he gets going.

Expect Cousins to be aggressive against a relatively unproven cornerback group.

Without a doubt, Atlanta’s opposition possesses a better defense than offense. However the strength of that defense lies in the front seven. Of the five cornerbacks on their roster, only Donte Jackson has more than two years of NFL experience.

Standout receiving threats in Darnell Mooney, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, and his new quarterback will look to isolate Pittsburgh boundary corners. It remains to be seen who his security blanket will be, but his star-tight end seems to provide many options. 

Should the home team’s new signal caller be able to exploit this group early, it will put pressure on former head coach Arthur Smith and a Steelers offense that has lacked an identity since the Ben Roethlisberger days. 

Cousins’s stat line may not win fantasy matchups, but it should be efficient.

With running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier in the backfield, no one should expect the team to rely solely on his arm to win the game. While some quarterbacks will attempt 50-plus passes in certain games, that should not be the expectation in Cousins’s debut. Moreover, expect between 20 and 30 attempts, with him potentially throwing two touchdowns against a talented veteran defense.

Above all, the Falcons should see a glimpse of the best quarterback play since Matt Ryan’s days.