Cuba celebrates the Fourth of July this Sunday, July 3rd. The annual fireworks display was over Cuba Lake with volunteers working in the center of the lake to launch the fireworks.
Source: http://www.oleantimesherald.com/news/photo-gallery-cuba-fireworks/article_355be07c-4198-11e6-8f03-8304d46bb259.html
Tyler Johnson, who was undrafted two years ago, is about to become a $50 million man.
A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Johnson has agreed to sign a $50 million, four-year offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets later this week.
The talks are ongoing and nothing is finalized, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract cannot be signed until Thursday. Once its signed, the Miami Heat - the team that Johnson has played with for the last two seasons - would have three days to match the terms, which would appear unlikely given the way the deal is currently structured.
Johnson would make about $6 million annually in the first two years of the deal, then average about $19 million in each of the final two years of the contract. He met with several teams in Chicago in the past few days before making his decision.
Yahoo Sports first reported the agreement.
The Heat agreed to terms on a four-year, $98 million contract with center Hassan Whiteside on Friday, and Whiteside quickly congratulated Johnson on the still-not-completed deal when word came Sunday of the agreement.
Whiteside wrote, man i going to miss you bro.
Johnson responded, crazy how the world works.
Johnson made an average of about $500,000 in each of his first two NBA seasons, yet in this never-before-seen era of a massive $94.1 million salary cap for this coming season - with more increases to come - he will soon become locked into life-changing money.
Johnson was undrafted out of Fresno State two years ago and has averaged 7.4 points in 68 games with the Heat over two seasons. Johnson shot 49 percent last season, up from 42 percent in his rookie year.
Copyright 2016 The Washington Times, LLC.
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Connecticuts 2016 Complete Fireworks Celebration
Now that the 4th of July holiday weekend is here, have you been wondering where you can see fireworks in Connecticut?
For that reason, Patch has brought you a complete guide of displays taking place across Connecticut Patch towns and beyond. We know you will travel for an extravagant display so we brought you a complete listing.The guide is organized by county and date. Click on the links in this guide for information on a specific display.
Enjoy and please stay safe! If weve missed any and youd like us to add it to our guide please send some information to brian.mccready@patch.com.
Fairfield CountyJuly 3
July 4
July 5
New Haven CountyJuly 3
July 4
July 5
July 8
July 9
Hartford CountyJuly 8
July 9
July 10
Tolland CountyJuly 6
Middlesex CountyJuly 30
New London CountyJuly 4
July 9
July 25
Photo by Epic Fireworks via Flickr Creative Commons. The Connecticut fireworks 2016 guide was created by the Connecticut Patch staff including: Tim Jensen, Vincent Salzo, Brian McCready, RJ Scofield, Al Branch, Chris Dehnel, Rich Scinto and Wendy Mitchell.
Source: http://patch.com/connecticut/bethel/ct-fireworks-2016-where-when-see-red-white-boom
NBA free agency is here, and there havealready been several moves in the first two days. With the cap rising, players are landing lucrative deals, especially compared to previous seasons. Many big names have already signed, although Kevin Durant has yet to make his decision.The rumor mill is buzzing with potentialcontracts, and we"re here to get you caught up on what"s happened thus far.Here are all the latest NBA rumorsand news you need to know.
If you"re looking for a full list of all the contract signings, scroll to the bottom of this post.
Pau Gasol About To Get PaidGasol is one of the more well-known free agents left and according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, he"s about to get a hefty contract.
The market for Pau Gasol appears to be around $18-22 million/year. Raptors, Bulls, Blazers, Wolves, Spurs among the teams in discussions with him, per sources. Not clear yet if he"ll wait until Durant decides.
If Gasol doesn"t wait until Durant decides, that could hurt the Spurs. San Antonio likely wouldn"t have enough cap space to add both Gasol and Durant. The Raptors were a bit of a late entry into the race. The Trail Blazers might have offered Gasol a two-year, $40 million deal.
Kings Out On Rondo?It seems the Kings won"t be brining back Rajon Rondo to be their point guard next season.
Collison is facing domestic violence charges, so the Kings need to get a quality backup in the event he winds up in jail or suspended by the NBA. It"s unclear who they are targeting. The three most likely landing spots before the draft seemed like the Knicks, Nets and Kings. But all three have landed a new point guard or moved on. Where Rondo plays next year is a major question mark and he might not be starting.
Nets Offer Tyler Johnson Offer SheetThe Brooklyn Nets have offered Heat guard Tyler Johnson a four-year, $50 million contract. The structure of the contract is a classic poison pill.
Johnson can sign that offer sheet as soon as July 7th. The Heat will then have three days to match. The structure of that deal will give the Heat pause, even though they"d said they plan to match.
Warriors Hire Mike BrownIt"s not a free agency move, but the Warriors have hired their replacement for Luke Walton. It"s Mike Brown, and more on his hiring can be found here.
Latest contract agreementsThough no deal can be officially signed until July 7th, several deals have already been agreed upon. Below, we have every deal signed so far, with the source linked as well.
Arron Afflalo - 2 years, $25 million with Kings (Source)Cole Aldrich - 3 years, $22 million with Timberwolves (Source)Ryan Anderson - 4 years, $80 million with Rockets (Source)Darrell Arthur - 3 years, $23 million with Nuggets (Source)D.J. Augustin - 4 years, $29 million withMagic(Source)Jerryd Bayless - 3 years, $27 million with 76ers (Source)Nicolas Batum - 5 years, $120 million withHornets(Source)Kent Bazemore - 4 years, $70 million with Hawks (Source)Bradley Beal - 5 years, $128 million with Wizards (Source)Bismack Biyombo - 4 years, $72 millionwith Magic (Source)Trevor Booker - 2 years, $18 million with Nets (Source)Jordan Clarkson - 4 years, $50 million withLakers(Source)Mike Conley - 5 years, $153 million with Grizzlies (Source)Matthew Dellavedova - 4 years, $38million with Bucks (Source) (Cavs can match, aren"t expected to)Luol Deng - 4 years, $72 million with Lakers (Source)DeMar DeRozan - 5 years, $139 million withRaptors(Source)Andre Drummond - 5 years, $130 million withPistons(Source)Jared Dudley - 3 years, $30 million with Suns (Source)James Ennis - 2 years, $6 million with Grizzlies (Source)Evan Fournier - 5 years, $85 million with Magic (Source)Jeff Green - 1 year, $15 million with Magic (Source)Eric Gordon - 4 years, $53 million with Rockets (Source)Justin Hamilton - 2 years, $6 million with Nets (Source)Solomon Hill - 4 years, $48 million with Pelicans (Source)Al Horford - 4 years, $113 million with Celtics (Source)Dwight Howard - 3 years, $70.5 million with Hawks (Source)Al Jefferson - 3 years, $30 million with Pacers (Source)Joe Johnson - 2 years, $22 million with Jazz (Source)Tyler Johnson - 4 years, $50 million with Nets (Source) (Heat can match, unclear if they will)Wesley Johnson - 3 years, $18 million with Clippers (Source)Courtney Lee - 4years, $50 million with Knicks (Source)Jon Leuer - 4 years, $42 million with Pistons (Source)Jeremy Lin - 3 years, $36 million with Nets (Source)Ian Mahinmi - 4 years, $64 million with Wizards (Source)E"Twaun Moore - 4 years, $34 million with Pelicans (Source)Timofey Mozgov - 4 years, $64 million withLakers(Source)Andrew Nicholson - 4 years, $26 million with Wizards (Source)Joakim Noah - 4 years, $72 million with Knicks (Source)Chandler Parsons - 4 years, $94million with Grizzlies (Source)Austin Rivers - 3 years, $35.7 million with Clippers (Source)Ish Smith - 3 years, $18 million withPistons(Source)Mizra Teletovic - 3 years, $30 million with Bucks (Source)Anthony Tolliver - 2 years, $16 million with Kings (Source)Evan Turner - 4 years, $70million with Trail Blazers (Source)Hassan Whiteside - 4 years, $98 million withHeat(Source)Marvin Williams - 4 years, $54.5 million with Hornets (Source)
Back to the NBA NewsfeedSource: http://www.chatsports.com/nba/a/nba-free-agency-day-3-rumors-pau-gasol-tyler-johnson-rajon-rondo-latest-signings-more-29829
ADDISON, TX All this weekend, fireworks shows are lighting up the night across North Texas for Independence Day. And while we all love the bombs bursting in air, we probably never think about what goes into these pyrotechnic extravaganzas.
NewsFix decided to go behind the scenes of Kaboom Town, a show so big USA Today ranked it in the top ten for the entire country, to give you a first-hand look at what goes into the show.
"It takes a lot of effort," said Chad Stanley, Operations Manager with Pyro Shows, the group that puts together the Kaboom Town show. Every fireworks show big or small across the U.S. has got a group of people that have spent countless hours out here in the sun, in the wind, just prepping and prepping for folks to come out and watch a 20-minute fireworks show and enjoy themselves with their families.
And the process is probably way more precise and high-tech than you would think!
We start with the music, we go in and lay down placeholders of where we want an effect to take place, said Stanley. Not necessarily a specific effect, we just want something there.
"And then we go back and put in actual effect and the computer actually knows how long it takes for that particular effect to function:How long it takes to ignite in the tube, lift all the way to apogee, and for the crowd to see the effect. And it back times that in the program and fires that all in sync with the music.
Wow! So yeah, theyre not just lighting fuses at random here! Now when you take in these patriotic explosions you can appreciate the NASA level planning and technology that all goes into giving you something to ooh and ahh at.
Source: http://cw33.com/2016/07/03/pyro-preview-newsfix-goes-behind-the-scenes-at-kaboom-town/
Apr 10, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat forward Luol Deng (9) reacts after drawing a foul during the first half against the Orlando Magic at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Going into this offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers had to make some moves in order to reach the salary cap floor. Because they have so many young players, overpaying for veterans was inevitable. According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, the Lakers have signed former Miami Heat forward Luol Deng to a four-year deal worth $72 million.
The move is a tad bit surprising since the Lakers drafted Brandon Ingram with the second overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft and they already have Julius Randle as well. Deng will be expected to rotate with Randle at the power forward position, spelling Ingram when necessary as well. He will bring a strong defensive presence to the Lakers, having averaged six rebounds per game last season for the Miami Heat.
During his career, he has averaged 6.2 rebounds per game, 1.0 blocks per game, 2.4 assists per game, and 15.5 points per game. His player efficiency rating (PER) suggests that he is at worst a league average player. The league average player has a PER of 15. Deng has matched that total in six of his last seven seasons, including a 15.0 PER last season. He has a career PER of 15.7.
Considering that the Lakers are all but required to overpay to get anyone decent, the Lakers did a fine job with Deng. He should serve as insurance for Randle and Ingram and both young players could learn a lot from someone like Deng.
For more NBA Free Agency coverage, check out our NBA hub page.
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNEa8zLfhVnxuYxHWyvYLhEfGgEfbQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=t8p5V6ieN4-H3AG4sLOQAQ&url=https://fansided.com/2016/07/02/nba-free-agency-lakers-sign-luol-deng/
