Quick Hits

• KG's number is going up. The Timberwolves will retire Kevin Garnett's No. 21 in February — a genuinely big deal, because the best player in franchise history had refused to take part in a jersey retirement for years. CBS Sports reports new ownership is what finally got it done.
• NFL preseason is underway and Aaron Rodgers is not enjoying it. Now Pittsburgh's quarterback, Rodgers called the exhibition games "not real football" ahead of a preseason opener against his old team, the Packers. Elsewhere, a Steelers rookie QB shined in Week 1 while the Titans' Cam Ward struggled, and the league suspended four players — Atlanta's James Pearce Jr. drew the longest ban at eight games.
• Dennis Schröder has been traded for the ninth time in his career (second-most in NBA history), this time from Cleveland to Charlotte — a deal CBS Sports frames as the Cavaliers possibly setting up a bigger move.
• Tough break for the Reds: Cincinnati ace Hunter Greene will miss all of 2027 after a second Tommy John elbow surgery. He made just five starts this season.
• The full 2026-27 NBA schedule is out, featuring what CBS calls a "weird" Opening Day and a James family reunion game, while Hall of Fame chatter swirls around newly retired Russell Westbrook.

Minnesota Teams

The KG news is the whole local slate today, and it's a good one: the greatest Timberwolves player ever will finally get the franchise's ultimate honor, with his No. 21 raised to the rafters in February. The backstory, per CBS Sports, is that Garnett refused to participate in a retirement ceremony for many years — a standoff that ended with new ownership in place. Once it's retired, no Wolves player will ever wear 21 again.

Otherwise, a quiet mid-August day in the feed for the Vikings, Twins, Wild, Lynx and Gophers — but the NFL preseason machine is rolling league-wide (more below).

NFL

Week 1 of the preseason — the practice games that don't count in the standings — is in the books. CBS Sports' winners-and-losers column flagged a Steelers rookie quarterback who shined, a rough outing for Titans QB Cam Ward, and a few wide receivers who turned heads.

Aaron Rodgers, meanwhile, made clear he'd rather not be out there at all, saying "it's not real football" and sounding less than thrilled about facing the Packers, his former team.

The league also handed down four suspensions before Friday's slate, with Falcons edge rusher James Pearce Jr. (the player whose job is chasing down quarterbacks) hit hardest at eight games. Injury watch: Cardinals rookie QB Carson Beck will sit out against the Raiders with a rib injury from the Hall of Fame Game, paving the way for Fernando Mendoza's debut.

From the betting desk: money is backing Joe Burrow for MVP in Cincinnati; CBS broke down a Giants turnaround built on coach John Harbaugh and QB Jaxson Dart — a "Patriots-type formula"; and one CBS expert tabbed a rumored Aaron Donald comeback as value in the Comeback Player of the Year market.

NBA

The Schröder deal: Cleveland sent the veteran guard to Charlotte in a swap involving Tre Mann. It's Schröder's ninth career trade — second-most in league history — and CBS's trade grades read it as the Cavaliers clearing room for something bigger.

The new schedule dropped, and not everyone's happy about it: CBS's winners-and-losers rundown cited a strange Opening Day and a James family reunion among the storylines ("not everyone is running happily to the calendar").

Hall of Fame chatter is also heating up. ESPN notes only one NBA player made this year's class and lists 11 stars waiting in the wings — including the recently retired Westbrook. CBS, meanwhile, ranked current players' cases: Joel Embiid and Draymond Green are "first-ballot locks" (in on the first try), LeBron and Steph are no-brainers, and Kyrie Irving may have