Romeo Lavia’s first competitive minutes since November could come today says exclusive
Romeo Lavia has had an injury nightmare this season, and through his whole time at Chelsea. But he’s close to a return to action.
Romeo Lavia’s three seasons at Chelsea so far have been a complete nightmare, lets’ face it. But the midfielder is closing in on his latest return to action.
An exclusive in the Evening Standard claims that he’s going to play tonight for the Chelsea Under-21 team against Leeds, getting some competitive action as he builds up his match fitness. He’s not played since the start of November.
They say that Lavia has been back in first team training for “ten days to two weeks,” so he’s ready to try a game. The match against Arsenal on March 1st is “earmarked” as the game he could make his first team return. We’ll see how he gets on later today.
Lavia still has a future as a first team squad option, if not a regular
Romeo Lavia sits on the turf after picking up an injury against Qarabag.
Let’s be honest – after three seasons of featuring rarely (if at all), none of us have much faith in Lavia ever getting back to the level of playing regularly enough to be a key squad member. But he’s still just 22, and stranger things have happened. If he could play regularly but with managed minutes, like Reece James and Wesley Fofana, that would still be useful.
And it’s too early to rule that out as a possibility. So let’s stay positive.
In other news…
Estevao has named his “hardest challenge” since arriving at Chelsea, and it might not be what you expect…
Landon Emenalo is a rising star in the academy, and we’re keen to see his first team debut – it should be coming up very soon.
Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips’ SPTC podcast here:
Adam Silver told GMs there will be anti-tanking rules for 2026-27 per ESPN
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told the league's 30 general managers in a meeting Thursday that the league plans to make rule changes to curb "tanking" -- the catch-all term for moves that prioritize draft positioning over winning -- ESPN's Shams Charania reported Thursday.
The Pacers were fined $100,000 last week for a violation of the Player Participation Policy in a move that Silver later said was meant to be a sign that the league would be cracking down on behavior it considered tanking. The Pacers -- who are 15-40 and enter Thursday's game against the Wizards in a virtual tie with Washington for last place in the Eastern Conference -- were fined for holding out All-Star forward Pascal Siakam and two other starters in their Feb. 3 home loss to the Utah Jazz. The Jazz were also fined $500,000 for holding out stars Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the fourth quarters of games that were in doubt.
Charania reported that at Thursday's meeting and a late January meeting of the NBA Competition Committee, several anti-tanking concepts were discussed. Among those concepts, Charania reported, were the following.
>> First round picks moved in trades would only be allowed to be "protected" in the top four or beyond pick No. 14.
>> The lottery odds could freeze at the trade deadline or some later date.
>> Teams could not be allowed to pick in the top four in consecutive years and/or consecutive bottom-three finishes.
>> Teams could not be allowed to pick in the top four the year after making the conference finals.
>> Lottery odds could be allocated on two-year records rather than one-year records.
>> The Lottery could be extended to include all play-in teams, including those who reach the best-of-seven playoffs.
>> All lottery teams could have flat lottery odds as opposed to giving better odds for the worst teams.
This year's draft would not be impacted, but several of those suggestions seem connected to the Pacers' situation. The Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024 and 2025 and reached the NBA Finals in 2025 for the first time in 25 years. However, All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the Finals and set the stage for an injury-ravaged season that put the Pacers near the bottom of the standings all season.
The Pacers made a trade just before the deadline that brought center Ivica Zubac in from the Clippers and sent Los Angeles two players and three draft picks. That includes a conditional pick for 2026. The Pacers get to keep the pick if is one of the top four or if it goes up to No. 10 or higher, and in that case the Clippers instead get the Pacers' 2031 first-round pick. However, the Clippers get the pick if it is in the 5-9 range.
That has increased the motivation for the Pacers to increase their draft lottery odds. The only moves that have stood out as ones that could be considered tanking have been the Pacers' decisions to rest Siakam and multiple other starters in four games before the All-Star break, all of which were in the second night of back-to-backs.
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: NBA tanking: Adam Silver told GMs 2026-27 will have anti-tanking rules
Grizzlies' Caldwell-Pope to miss rest of the season after undergoing finger surgery
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis Grizzlies guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his right pinky finger.
The Grizzlies had announced Wednesday that Caldwell-Pope would have surgery to address a misalignment of the finger. After Caldwell-Pope had the procedure Thursday, the Grizzlies announced he won't play again this season.
Grizzlies officials said Caldwell-Pope is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of the 2026-27 season.
The 33-year-old Caldwell-Pope averaged 8.4 points, 2.7 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 21.3 minutes in 51 games this season.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba