Even before Jordan Addison was arrested in Los Angeles the other day for suspicion of driving under the influence, the Minnesota Vikings were thin at wide receiver. Now, it’s a decent bet the Vikings would love to find a way to bring hometown favorite Adam Thielen back from Carolina.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen (19) warms up before an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

It’s not impossible, but it would be difficult. That’s because Thielen’s current team, the Panthers, last year made quarterback Bryce Young from Alabama the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. Young, however, had a disappointing rookie season, and Carolina desperately needs him to improve. For that to happen, the Panthers need Thielen in a supporting role.

Thielen is in the second season of a $25 million, three-year contract, but only $5.5 million is guaranteed for 2024.

Thelen, who turns 34 next month, is still a worthy possession receiver but doesn’t possess the speed he once had. If the Vikings were able to get him back, it would be as a third receiver in the slot, because he no longer is fast enough to play outside.

— Addison’s arrest in Los Angeles was in a Rolls-Royce. Prices for a new Rolls-Royce generally start at about $350,000. A year ago, when Addison was cited in St. Paul for driving 140 mph in the middle of the night, it was in a Lamborghini Urus. Those autos generally price at about $240,000.

Addison, 22, the Vikings’ first-round pick in the 2023 draft, is in the second year of a guaranteed $13.7 million, four-year contract.

— It’s likely that Addison’s latest transgression will result in a three-game suspension without pay. That would cost him, based on the way his contract is structured, about $177,000, half the price of a Rolls-Royce.

Addison has proven unreliable, and it wouldn’t be surprising if this is his last season in Minnesota.

— The way it looks now, barring injuries, it’s a 7-10 record in 2024 for the Vikings, but with hope to improve in 2025.

All you need to know: At the most important position in football, the Green Bay Packers have a QB (Jordan Love) making $55 million a year. The Vikings have a QB (Sam Darnold) making $10 million.

— Christian Darrisaw’s guaranteed $67 million, four-year signing with the Vikings last week was unusual in that the team could have waited a year to make the deal, the way it waited before signing Justin Jefferson to a guaranteed $110 million, four-year contract last spring.

It’s clear, though, that Darrisaw, 25, compromised for less money and security. Darrisaw hasn’t gotten through a full season without missing some games due to injuries. The signing was a good deal for the left tackle and a good deal for the Vikings. The NFL’s salary cap continues to rapidly increase as the league’s revenue continues to explode.

— No doubt the coming season will be safety Harrison Smith’s last of 13 prolific seasons in Minnesota. There also is reason to believe this season will be the last for Thielen after 11 distinguished years.

— The San Francisco Giants’ trade with Seattle last week for pitcher Mike Baumann means Mahtomedi High School now has two graduates pitching for the same major league team. The other is Sean Hjelle.

— The Pohlad family that owns the Twins spared no expense in hosting a high-class private party for Joe Mauer, family and friends in Cooperstown, N.Y., the day before his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. At the party, the Twins included partial ex-Twins David Ortiz and Jim Thome in a Hall of Fame team picture even though the pair were inducted as Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians players, respectively.

— One crowd estimate at Mauer’s induction was that 40 percent of the 25,000 fans were there for Mauer, 35 percent for Todd Helton, 20 percent for Adrian Beltre and 5 percent for Jim Leyland.

Meanwhile, hotels in Utica, N.Y., a 45-minute drive from Cooperstown, already are booked a year out for the anticipated induction of former Mariner Ichiro Suzuki.

— Texas Christian-bound Sam Udovich, 17, of Cretin-Derham Hall shot 4-under-par 66 at notable Brook Hollow Country Club in Dallas, last week to become the third-youngest golfer to qualify for the US. Amateur tournament Aug. 12-18 at Hazeltine National. The youngest is 14-year-old Jaedoon Song from Los Angeles. The 5-foot-3 Song began private lessons at age 2½ .

— Among interesting sights on the practice putting green at the TPC in Blaine at the 3M Open was Kevin Dougherty putting with his cell phone balanced horizontally on the top of his head. If his head moves, the phone falls. “Usually, though, I can catch it,” he said.

— Chris Olean, the former Milwaukee Brewers minor league pitcher who last spring coached St. Thomas to the Summit League baseball championship, saw the Twins’ recent eighth-round draft pick, Jakob Hall, up close the past two seasons.

Hall is a right-handed pitcher for Oral Roberts. He’ll receive a bonus in the $200,000 range if he signs with the Twins, which is expected.

“He’s really good, more of a pitcher than velocity guy,” Olean said. “He locates three to four pitches really well. He got deep in games almost every time against us. If he picks up just a little bit of velocity, I can see him being useful in a professional organization. He definitely was one of the better guys we saw.”

— That was Bethel grad Jeff Nelson, 59, a 26-year major league umpire and crew chief who worked four World Series, working last Wednesday’s Twins-Philadelphia Phillies game as an major league umpire observer. He’ll also work St. Paul Saints games, and a seminar for prospective umpires Aug. 24 at CHS Field.

— Former DeLaSalle-Gopher-Buckeye Jamison Battle the other day signed a free agent contract with Toronto, then averaged 7.4 points in 14 minutes and five games for the Raptors in the Las Vegas summer league.

— Ex-Gopher Cam Christie, 18, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard, averaged 11.4 points and shot 40.5 percent from three-point range for the Los Angeles Clippers’ summer league team in Las Vegas.  Both Christie and brother Max, 21, of the Los Angeles Lakers will wear jersey No. 12 this season.

— In two games for the Timberwolves’ summer team, former Gopher-Iowa State guard Gabe Kalscheur averaged five points.

— Tyus Jones, the former Apple Valley guard, remains an unsigned free agent with the Washington Wizards, and rumors are the Clippers are interested.

Jones, 28, who played four seasons with the Timberwolves, has made $59.5 million during his nine seasons in the NBA. His next deal could have him approaching nearly $90 million in career earnings.

— North Oaks native Frankie Capin, via the Korn Ferry Tour, is on his way to earning PGA Tour full privileges for next season. Among perks for earning a PGA Tour playing card, by way of their Tour’s policy board, is a guarantee of $500,000 for player expenses, provided the player plays in a minimum 15 events, plus $5,000 for a missed cut to assist with travel and caddies expenses.

— Luke Clanton, who was runner-up amateur to Neal Shipley in the Masters in April and would have won $804,000 in two PGA Tour events had he relinquished his amateur status and turned pro, is still scheduled to return to Florida State as a junior this fall.

Hazeltine National the other day received a call that Clanton, 20, has submitted paperwork to play at the U.S. Amateur at the Chaska course. Should Clanton actually return to Florida State, he would be expected to receive a colossal name, image and likeness (NIL) deal.

Clanton missed the cut in the 3M Open.

— Superb play-by-play voice Mike Grimm returns to Gophers football broadcasts with Darrell Thompson this season, then with Al Nolan for Gophers basketball on KFAN-AM.

— Greg Gagne honored his father, late wrestling icon Verne, and his family in a moving acceptance speech last week at his induction into the Tragos/Thesz National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa. Gagne joins his wrestling partner, Jim Brunzell of the High-Flyers, who was inducted in 2013.

— Condolences to the family of Harvey Davis, the extremely popular Johnson High School hockey assistant during the Governors’ 1960s glory days. Harvey died last week at age 91.

Don’t print that

— It’s interesting that an arbitration hearing to determine Timberwolves-Lynx ownership is being dragged out. It could mean an attempt to work out a deal between Glen Taylor and minority investors Alex Rodriguez, Mark Lore and Michael Bloomberg is underway.

For both sides to avoid arbitration could mean that either Taylor, who agreed to sell for $1.5 billion three years ago, would buy out the trio to go away by giving them more than they originally invested. Or Rodriguez-Lore-Bloomberg would have to pay Taylor more than they initially agreed for him to go away.

— Three years ago, the Timberwolves-Lynx price tag was $1.5 billion. Now, NBA champion Boston could fetch $5 billion in its upcoming sale.

— It still looks like a redshirt year for Vikings rookie QB J.J. McCarthy. Ideally for the Vikings, Sam Darnold will play well enough so McCarthy, 21, watches for the entire season. Minimally, barring injuries, Darnold should start at least the first half of the season, with Nick Mullens the backup.

— Don’t think the Miami Marlins wouldn’t give up starter Max Meyer, 25, the former Gophers star from Woodbury, for Twins minor league outfielder star Walker Jenkins, 19, as part of a multi-player deal. Meyer, back in the majors from Triple A Jacksonville, was to start Saturday against the Brewers in Milwaukee.

It’ll be surprising if the Twins don’t include at least one of outfielders Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach or Max Kepler in a deal for a starter before Tuesday’s trade deadline.

— At least by Twins standards, people who know say the team suddenly is tight on cash. The Twins rank No. 23 in attendance, averaging 23,303 per Target Field game. Last year, the Twins averaged 24,372, 19th in baseball.

— Pssst: Local hockey icon Natalie Darwitz, dismissed in June as general manager of Professional Women’s Hockey League Minnesota after winning the league’s inaugural championship, is a prime candidate to become the WCHA’s women’s commissioner.

— The Twins are 4-20 against current playoff-bound teams.

— Sean Foley has been golf swing coach for PGA Tour winners Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, Danny Willett, Lee Westwood, Hunter Mahon and Cameron Champ, among others. He’s in his 19th year coaching PGA Tour players.

The past week, he was at the TPC working with Erik van Rooyen, the former Gopher from South Africa, at the 3M Open in Blaine.

The golf swing, as any player knows, can be fascinating, and for Foley, technical.

Asked by the Pioneer Press this week for advice for an amateur trying to break 90, Foley was quick to contradict a popular tenet.

“Golf is a game that’s played with the hands and arms,” he said “So much instruction is about the body, and that’s just not the case. You’re holding onto the club with your hands, right?”

He smiled.

“And it doesn’t weigh much,” he said.

Then Foley got technical. He nodded toward the practice range where many of the world’s best golfers were effortlessly launching shots high into the distance.

There’s a simple secret there, Foley said. But you might have to be a math major to understand.

“If you look out here at the average Tour player, the right wrist is in 51 degrees of extension at the top of the backswing and the right arm is straighter, like you’re throwing a football,” he said.

OK.

“Basically, the two main differences between the amateur and the pro is the pros average an angle of around 51 degrees with the wrist, and the right elbow is bent less than 90 degrees. Now, amateurs on average are between 10 and 30 degrees. Flexion and extension.

“And that’s after 20 years of biomechanics.”

Whew.

— The TPC ranks No. 32 among courses that host PGA Tour tournaments, per Golf Digest. No. 1 is Augusta National, home of the Masters.

— The Gophers are the 69th-best college football team in the nation, per cbssports.com rankings. Minnesota’s season-opening opponent, North Carolina, is No. 35.

— The Gophers are the 70th-ranked men’s basketball team in the nation, per insidethehall.com.

— The Chicago Cubs are working on a new contract for Simley grad Michael Busch, 26, who is making $741,500 this season while hitting .265 with 12 home runs He becomes salary arbitration eligible next year.

— Ex-Twins starter Luis Gil of the New York Yankees is among favorites for American League rookie of the year.

— After an all-star season last year, Yennier Cano, 30, who the Twins traded to Baltimore in the Jorge Lopez deal two years ago, is 4-2 with three saves and a 2.72 earned-run average in 46 games. To get Cano, the Twins also gave up Cade Povich, 24, recently promoted to the Orioles. He’s 1-4 with a 6.27 ERA after seven starts. Lopez, 31, was recently released by the New York Mets.

— Mikko Koivu, 41, the only Wild player to have his jersey (No. 9) retired, has moved from Eden Prairie back to homeland Finland.

— Wisconsin athletics director Chris McIntosh has surpassed Gophers A.D. Mark Coyle with his contract extension last week worth $1.45 million a year. Coyle’s deal is $1.4 million a year.

— The 3M Open, in its sixth year, has two years remaining on its contract to play at the TPC in Blaine, and extension negotiations are underway.

— St. Thomas Academy plays noted rival Cretin-Derham Hall in football at 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Vikings’ TCO Stadium.

Overheard

— Former Gophers golfer Erik van Rooyen, 34, in his fifth year on the PGA Tour, asked if it’s a grind: “Everybody thinks it’s a grind. But anything in life, it’s going to be a grind if you want to be the best and succeed. I love what I do, I love the traveling, the fact that I get to play golf for a living. It’s ridiculous, right?

Minnesota Timberwolves co-owner Glen Taylor answers questions during a news conference to introduce Tim Connelly the team’s new President of Basketball Operations at The Courts at Mayo Clinic Square in downtown Minneapolis on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Natalie Darwitz speaks to the media at the U.S. Hockey Hall Of Fame Induction on Dec. 12, 2018, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
Erik van Rooyen of South Africa reacts on the 16th green during the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal at Diamante on November 04, 2023 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Mexico. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

 

The United States still certainly touts the largest depth of talent in men’s basketball in the world, exemplified by the country’s roster filled with one elite NBA player after another.

But one question for Team USA does remain: Who’s the best player?

The near-consensus-best four players in the world — Nikola Jokic, who will lead Serbia against the U.S. on Sunday to open Olympic group play, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — are all internationals.

NBA player rankings would suggest the top American is Jayson Tatum, who just led a supremely talented Celtics roster to a title, or 2022-23 NBA MVP Joel Embiid.

“Best American player” is a title that has been up for grabs since LeBron James seemingly aged out of the role, though in pre-Olympic games, James sure still looks to be the player most leaned upon when the going gets tough.

Steph Curry and Kevin Durant are also getting up there in age, but on any given night they are more than capable of being the best player on the court.

Perhaps it is Tatum, Embiid or even a guy like Anthony Davis.

Timberwolves fans would like to argue that it is Anthony Edwards. And, frankly, Edwards does have a growing case. He’s one of the most stunning athletes in basketball, and his scoring and general Basketball IQ are indeed growing each year. Defensively, he makes some jaw-dropping plays while defending the ball handler. And Edwards, who certainly possesses the charisma and confidence to be the face of American basketball, doesn’t turn 23 years old until next week.

Still, the Wolves guard likely hasn’t yet claimed that role. His awareness and decision-making haven’t yet ascended to that level, though he does appear to be on his way.

And if there’s a big shot to be taken at some point during the Paris Games, Edwards will not shy away from taking it. But there shouldn’t be a rush to make him “the guy.” Not on this team, and especially not on this roster.

Edwards made headlines during Team USA training camp earlier this month in Las Vegas when he told reporters — perhaps tongue-in-cheek — that he’s “the No. 1 option” on this stacked team.

“They’ve got to fit in around me,” he said. “That’s how I feel.”

Edwards always speaks with a comical level of bravado, so parsing through comments to find his true feelings can be a bit of a chore. In general, he has the utmost respect for the game’s greats. Durant has always been the basketball icon whom Edwards most admires.

That doesn’t mean he’ll defer in key moments. And that’s what the public loves about Edwards.

But would it be the worst thing if he did make an effort to fit around other great players? He’ll never be asked to in Minnesota. That’s not his role, nor will it ever be.

But Team USA marks a rare opportunity for Edwards to adapt to the talent around him. Everyone on the roster can play 1 on 1 basketball. And, in their exhibition games, many of them did just that. It’s why the team’s offense has been such an eyesore ahead of the Olympics and many of the results have been far closer than the talent discrepancy suggests they should be.

While it’s cool for local fans to watch their favorite player “take charge” and lead the team in scoring, what would be more impressive in these Olympics is if Edwards is able to diagnose the other things Team USA needs to be successful and takes it upon himself to bring those assets to the table.

Maybe that’s screening, cutting or providing proper spacing as an off-ball shooter. Defensively, it could simply be putting his all into taking on his individual defensive assignment, both from an on-ball and team defense perspective.

That’s not to say Edwards couldn’t still deliver a highlight-reel slam that circulated social media, but mixed into his game clips could also be simple things like keeping the ball moving around the horn with no holding, and identifying and denying a backdoor cut.

Learning and executing those intricacies of the game would only help Edwards develop as an all-around player capable of carrying the Timberwolves to an NBA championship next season or beyond. Winning plays come in all different forms.

While everyone wants their favorite player to look and play like LeBron James, it never hurts to add some Jrue Holiday to your game.

The latter, by the way, not only played a large role in the U.S. winning gold in Tokyo, but also just hoisted his second Larry O’Brien trophy last month.

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Regan Smith’s fondest memories of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 did not take place in the pool but, rather, the dorms.

She reveled in playing games such as Jenga and Cards Against Humanity with other swimmers around her age while listening to music, far away from the competition.

Big meets never really excited the Lakeville native. Quite the opposite, actually. After she burst onto the scene via world-record-setting swims at the 2018 World Championships as a 17-year-old, the stardom and expectations that followed left Smith wading in anxiety and nervousness ahead of her biggest events.

“I lost my love for the sport for a long time,” she said. “I didn’t enjoy competing, and I was just going through the motions, because I don’t think I was competing and performing to the best of my ability.”

Fast forward three years, and Smith walked into Lucas Oil Stadium, a football stadium packed with 20,000 fans in attendance to watch the U.S. Swimming Trials last month. It was the most-attended swim meet in history.

Such a stage would have, justifiably, frightened Smith in her not-too-distant past. But, this time, she played the role of a gladiator who was legitimately exhilarated by the size of her arena.

“It was pretty cool,” Smith said. “And that was the first meet that I was genuinely amped up about, instead of scared of.”

And the desired results followed. Smith qualified for the Olympics in all three of her events — the 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke and 100 backstroke, setting a new world record in the latter. She enters the Paris Olympics this week back on top of the swimming world, and no longer afraid of the massive spotlight that comes with it.

Part of her resurgence in performance is a product of her uniting with noted coach Bob Bowman. His straightforward workout routine resonated with Smith, who has always savored the structure and routine of the practice pool.

But Smith noted that she’s still the same swimmer, physically, as the teenager who took the world by storm six years ago. But that girl was relatively naive to pressure and expectations. Smith is now a professional who is all too aware of what’s going on around her.

It’s why she credits her current form to “a lot of mental work.”

One of the definitions of “perform,” per Oxford Languages, is to “present to an audience” as a form of entertainment. That’s a concept Emily Klueh, U.S. Swimmer’s manager of psychological services, conveys to Smith in their sessions.

“Something she always says to me is, ‘Give the crowd a show. Give the people a show. This is about entertainment,’ ” Smith said.

So when the 22-year-old gets nervous, which is still a very natural occurrence, she simplifies the task in front of her using that lens.

“OK, all I’m trying to do is entertain the people who are watching this swim meet,” Smith said. “It doesn’t have to be any deeper than that. It should be fun. The people just want to be entertained and excited and have a good time, so how can I do that for them?”

Swim as fast as you can, and have fun doing so.

For the longest time, Smith was always a swimmer who enjoyed practices more than meets. She never had any issue showing up to the pool and hammering out a grueling workout plan. That was preferred over testing herself against the best.

Her new mentality has shifted that mindset.

“So honestly I’d say, as of now, I do enjoy meets a lot more than practice,” Smith said. “And I think I’m proud of that. Because I used to enjoy practice more, just because there was no pressure. But it’s important to be able to withstand pressure and still perform well.”

Smith said being a part of Bowman’s training group has helped her embrace competing and the urge to perform to the best of her ability. When a challenge presents itself, she now aims to rise to it, rather than backing down.

“You know like, ‘Fight or flight?’” I think I used to flight in situations,” Smith said. “And now I think I’m more of a fighter, so I think that’s been the biggest change as I’ve gotten older.”

Not only does Smith not back down from a fight, she savors the battle.

She walked away from Tokyo with a silver medal and two bronzes, an Olympic haul by anyone’s standards. Obviously now Smith, a gold-medal favorite, seeks to stand on top of the podium. But her goals entering Paris aren’t centered on those types of results.

“Ultimately, it’s not completely in my control, if you know what I mean. I want to execute every race to the best of my ability and really do a good job with my preparation and my race plan — pre-race, post-race, during the race and everything in between,” she said. “I think if I do a really good job with sleep, recovery, warmups, cool down, race execution and everything in between there, as well, I think that will constitute a successful meet for me, because I think that’s what’s going to create the best results.

“Because, ultimately, I could have the race of my life and still walk away with the silver medal or a bronze medal. If that happens to me, I don’t want to walk away feeling incredibly disappointed, because more likely than not, I’ll still have had a performance that I should be incredibly proud of. I want to have my results based on things that are completely in my control.”

One of those things is her mindset. And Smith knows this. She wants her favorite memories from this Olympics to have taken place in the pool.

“Because I know that when I’m done swimming, I’m going to miss these days. These are going to be the glory days of my life, so I don’t want to wish them away and be really nervous for them. I want to embrace the experience and really enjoy it,” Smith said. “The Olympics — and opportunities to compete in the Olympics — are so few and far between, so I want to approach it the same way and think like, ‘What an incredible opportunity this is.’

“I truly want to soak it in instead of feeling anxious and nervous and wanting to wish the experience away. I know it sounds cliche, and I feel like everyone says, ‘Oh, I just want to enjoy it.’ But I truly do, because I feel like that’s where the best results are produced — when you’re actually enjoying the environment that you’re in, you’re really embracing competition and you’re embracing your nerves and the pressures that come with it. Because I think it can be really fun if you frame it in the right way, like, ‘Wow, what an incredible opportunity I have in front of me’ instead of thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a very daunting thing I have to do.’ So hopefully that’s how I’ll feel. I feel that way now, for sure.”

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While most Minnesotans were still asleep on Saturday morning, former Gophers diver Sarah Bacon was busy helping Team USA win its first medal of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

She teamed up with diving partner Kassidy Cook to take the silver medal in the 3-meter synchronized springboard competition. They finished with 314.64 points, trailing Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen of China, who finished with 337.68 points to take home the gold medal.

This milestone moment has been a long time coming for Bacon.

After winning five NCAA titles with the Gophers, Bacon failed to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She moved to Texas with her boyfriend in the immediate aftermath and thought about retiring from the sport for good. Eventually, Bacon got the itch to chase her dream once again, returning to Minnesota to train with Cook under the watchful eye of Gophers diving coach Wenbo Chen.

This isn’t the end for Bacon at the Olympics. She will compete in the 3-meter individual springboard on August 7 at 8 a.m. CT.

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