The Dallas Mavericks entered the 2026 NBA Draft with the #9 pick, the #30 pick and a fair amount of trade rumors swirling around them. After selecting Morez Johnson, Jr. at #9, things went dreadfully quiet on the trade front. As subsequent picks were made and the minutes ticked by, it seemed apparent that Dallas would be making a selection at #30 instead of packaging that pick with a veteran in an effort to move up the draft board. Any hope at picking up a young guard to help in the rebuild looked bleak.
Dallas, TX
AT&T Stadium and Dallas will host 9 2026 FIFA World Cup matches, including a semifinal
ARLINGTON, Texas – AT&T Stadium and Dallas has been selected to host nine matches in the 2026 World Cup, FIFA announced Sunday. That includes a semifinal match and five group stage matches.
Those group stage games will be on June 14, June 17, June 22, June 25, and June 27.
Then it will host Round of 32 matches on June 30 and July 3, followed by a Round of 16 game on July 6, and then a semifinal on July 14.
The nine matches hosted at AT&T Stadium will be the most of any venue for the 2026 World Cup.
AT&T Stadium’s natural grass field will have to be raised to expand the width and comply with the tournament’s measurements.
Back in June 2022, North Texas was chosen as one of 11 U.S. cities that will host World Cup matches, but the Dallas World Cup Bid Committee continued work to make sure high profile games would be played here in the DFW Metroplex. That included hosting FIFA’s top World Cup executives for a tour of AT&T Stadium.
MORE: FIFA World Cup Coverage
AT&T Stadium in Arlington will host matches, while Toyota Stadium in Frisco, the Cotton Bowl, Fair Park, and Globe Life Field can be used for training areas.
For the second time, Dallas and North Texas will be a host city for the FIFA World Cup. The last time Dallas hosted a World Cup match was a quarterfinal match in 1994 at the Cotton Bowl.
Dallas is also bidding for the International Broadcast Center at Fair Park, something Dallas had in 1994, as well as the central referee location and the operating base for FIFA.
The Dallas Sports Commission previously projected at least a $400 million revenue impact to the region by being a World Cup host city, but that number is expected to increase with nine games being played here.
The main thing people brought up on social media when AT&T Stadium was previously rumored to be hosting an important match was a lack of public transportation.
While DART and TRE trains don’t go to AT&T Stadium, officials said they plan to bus people to and from the stadium.
“We will look to do something very similar to what we did for the Final Four and college football playoff,” Monica Paul, who is executive director for the Dallas Sports Commission, told FOX 4 back when North Texas was announced as a host city in 2022. “And we actually started testing it out during WrestleMania.”
The 2026 tournament will be the biggest ever World Cup, expanded to 48 teams with 104 matches, and 11 U.S., three Mexican, and two Canadian cities will host games.
The other cities that will host games are Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Guadalajara, Mexico; Kansas City, Atlanta, Houston, Monterrey, Mexico City, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, New York, New Jersey.
With the #30 pick, Dallas selected Koa Peat, Adam Silver said goodnight and that was that. Except it wasn’t. As the first round of the Draft was concluding, rumors started buzzing that the Mavericks were in fact making a move. Details are still being confirmed, but as it stands, Dallas will be trading the #30 pick Koa Peat and two future second-round draft picks to the New York Knicks in exchange for Sergio DeLarrea’s services. The exact second-rounders were still being determined late Tuesday night.
Here are the details we have at this time:
Los Angeles Lakers Received: 24th Overall Pick (Cameron Carr, Baylor)
Dallas Mavericks Received: 25th Overall (Sergio de Larrea, Spain)
Phoenix Suns Received: 30th Overall (Koa Peat, Arizona)
New York Knicks Received: Cash (Lakers), two second-round picks (Mavericks), and three more second-round picks (Suns)
DeLarrea was on the radar of a number of Mavs Moneyball staffers, perhaps none more than Tyler Edsel who wrote an excellent crash course on him and what he can bring to the Mavs. To be clear, it is unlikely he is going to have a massive day-one impact on the team, but the Mavericks really needed to do something to acquire more young talent that fit a position of need. While he may not be as flashy a name as Brayden Burries (whom the Mavs skipped over in favor of Morez) or Labaron Philon, Jr. (who somewhat surprisingly slipped to #22), Dallas really needed to do bolster the guard position and they came through.
If DeLarrea’s shooting transfers to the NBA level, it would be a big boon for a team that struggled from downtown much of last season. While not an immediate impact player, Dallas did well to move up a bit in a low-cost move that keeps all of their other assets intact for what will surely be a summer of retooling via trades and free agency.
Stay tuned for updates, as it is unclear which second-round picks the Mavericks will let go of in this deal.
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What Drake London’s new deal could mean for George Pickens
Falcons WR Drake London is now the NFL’s third-highest paid wide receiver in AAV, signing a four-year, $141 million extension with $100 million guaranteed and $35.26 million per year.
London, who is 25, is the same age as Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens, and both are heading into their fifth seasons in the NFL. Pickens too was seeking a long-term contract, but the Cowboys told him and his representation that would not happen this offseason, and he instead signed his $27.3 million franchise tag that keep shim under contract for the 2026 season.
Pickens’ one-year deal on the tag makes him the 17th highest-paid wide receiver in the league in AAV. Should Pickens go out and post a year similar to his 2025 campaign where he had more than 1,400 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, a deal similar to London’s may be in the ballpark of what Pickens could seek. For reference, CeeDee Lamb is the league’s fifth-highest paid WR at $34 million annually. If Pickens surpasses him and is closer to London’s $35 million per year mark, he and Lamb would become the highest-paid WR duo in NFL history, surpassing the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who currently combine for $69 million per year. – Tommy Yarrish
The Texas Department of Public Safety, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Garland Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abby Policastro and Marissa Aulbaugh prosecuted the case.
“This verdict should send a clear message to drug dealers that we will dismantle any effort to peddle deadly fentanyl in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “I want to thank our law enforcement partners for their dedicated collaboration in taking thousands of fentanyl pills off the streets of Dallas.”
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