What surprises does the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs have in store?

With six games over three days, some unexpected developments are bound to surface. Yet the slate appears somewhat lopsided on the whole, with four of the games producing consensus winners among USA TODAY Sports’ group of six prognosticators. But every year, the road to the Super Bowl almost unfailingly features a few unexpected turns, with one looking need no further than last year’s stunning turns from the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the opening round for evidence of how quickly assumptions about the field can be upended.

With that in mind, here are USA TODAY Sports’ bold predictions for this year’s wild-card round:

Justin Fields will produce his first touchdown since October

With the win-or-go-home stakes of the NFL playoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers can’t leave any stone unturned if they hope to spring the biggest upset of wild-card weekend and knock off the Baltimore Ravens. Sure, creativity has not been the calling card for Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. I mean, the toss-sweeps to Cordarrelle Patterson have not cut it. But Fields, who opened the season as the starter, will be the ideal change-up to Russell Wilson when it gets tight at the Big ATM.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Fields hasn’t played since the Week 15 loss at Philadelphia, when he suffered an abdominal injury. But he’s fully healthy now, which is why it was so puzzling that Mike Tomlin, via Smith, didn’t use the mobile option when back-to-back short-yardage plays backfired during last weekend’s loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. Wilson still needs to do the heavy lifting — especially if George Pickens can hang onto the ‘moonballs’ and other passes from the veteran quarterback. Yet Fields needs to hit the field, too, for special situations such as short-yardage or goal-line snaps. And shoot, maybe they can even surprise the Ravens a pass or two from Fields. He last saw the end zone, twice, on sparkling runs against the Raiders during his last start on Oct. 13 — a week after he passed for two touchdowns against the Cowboys. So, maybe it’s time.

Bottom line, they’ll need some creative thinking. And never mind the potential for a QB controversy. If Fields plays and it helps Pittsburgh get a victory, there’s always next week to fan the flames of a QB debate. Right now, though, it’s a matter of survival.

— Jarrett Bell

Jalen Hurts throws for 4 TDs in comeback from concussion

The last time the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback threw a pass was the first quarter of a Week 16 game against the Washington Commanders. Hurts has sat out the last 11 quarters with a concussion and returned to practice this week, and signs point to him returning under center against the Green Bay Packers. 

That four scores could come via Hurts’ arm with running back Saquon Barkley sharing the backfield seems illogical. Even in Hurts’ case, he had 18 passing touchdowns in 15 starts this season compared to 14 rushing TDs.  

Hurts didn’t pass for more than two touchdowns in any game this season, and he’s only thrown four touchdowns twice in his career. But the smart thing for the Eagles to do would be to limit the number of hits he takes, and that could result in “Tush Push” deployments. More goal line targets for A.J. Brown or a quick screen to DeVonta Smith might be the safer option, unless head coach Nick Sirianni wants to risk trotting Kenny Pickett (or Tanner McKee) out there should something happen to Hurts. 

Two of Hurts’ five interceptions in 2024 came in the season opener in Brazil against the Packers, and Green Bay safety Xavier McKinney will be ball-hawking. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore should come up with a plan that keeps the ball out of the middle of the field, which is how Hurts and the Eagles operate normally anyway. With no cornerback Jaire Alexander, Green Bay’s pass defense won’t be at full strength. Hurts, even if he has to shake off some rust in the beginning, could have a big day airing it out. 

— Chris Bumbaca

C.J. Stroud gets sacked eight times as Chargers edge rushers wreck game

The Texans’ Will Anderson Jr. (11 sacks) and Danielle Hunter (12) were the only pair of AFC teammates with at least 11 sacks. However, it won’t be Houston’s pass rushing duo with the big game on Saturday. Anderson and Hunter are going to have a difficult time trying to get around Chargers stout left tackle Rashawn Slater and standout rookie right tackle Joe Alt. It’ll be the Chargers pass rushers who wreck the AFC wild-card game. Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa will combine for five of Los Angeles’ eight sacks as the Chargers take advantage of a leaky Texans offensive line.

Texans QB C.J. Stroud was sacked an AFC-high 52 times during the regular season. The Texans don’t have great pass protection outside of left tackle Laremy Tunsil. The Texans’ poor offensive line will play a pivotal role in their home playoff loss.

— Tyler Dragon

Bucky Irving seizes rookie spotlight from Jayden Daniels

The NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award was seemingly sewn up long ago by Daniels, the Washington Commanders’ outstanding catalyst behind center. But for one night, Irving, the Tampa Buccaneers’ breakout ball carrier, might get his due in the national spotlight.

With offensive coordinator Liam Coen at the controls, the fourth-round pick out of Oregon has been one of the keys to turning around the league’s worst rushing attack in the previous two seasons into a top five ground game. In rushing for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie, Irving has joined Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb as just the third back in the last 10 years to average more than 4 yards after contact while logging at least 150 carries in a year, according to the 33rd Team.

That doesn’t bode well for a Washington defensive front that ranks 30th in rushing yards per game with 137.5. With at least 17 touches in six of his last seven games, expect Irving to again be a featured presence. The 5-10, 194-pounder’s penchant for forcing missed tackles could help Tampa Bay reel off some big gains and create more favorable looks for Baker Mayfield and the aerial attack – all while keeping Daniels off the field for long stretches.

— Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz

The Los Angeles Chargers appeared to get a big-time play courtesy of safety Derwin James in the second half of their wild card playoff game against the Houston Texans.

James was in coverage against Dalton Schultz when Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud tried to hit his tight end for a touchdown. The veteran defensive back stayed in front of Schultz and timed up his jump, grabbing the ball and pulling it to his chest as he came to the ground.

The play appeared to give the Chargers a crucial takeaway. They were trailing the Texans 10-6 at the time of James’ interception, so forcing a red-zone turnover would prevent Houston from extending its lead to two scores.

However, upon further review, Land Clark’s crew overturned the interception, ruling that James had failed to survive the ground while bringing the ball in.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

The call was correct, as James briefly lost control of the pass while trying to secure it. The ball hit the ground, rendering it an incomplete pass.

As such, the Texans retained the ball. However, they ended up well behind the sticks after Joe Mixon was whistled for a 15-yard personal foul penalty for hitting Chargers defensive back Deane Leonard while James was returning his interception.

That penalty backed up the Texans enough to prevent them from getting a touchdown. Houston instead settled for a Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal to extend its lead to 13-6.

But in the midst of their 66-63 win over the Gamecocks, Bruce Pearl and the second-ranked Tigers may have lost their star forward Johni Broome for an extended period of time.

Near the midway point of the second half, Broome appeared to have sustained a significant left ankle injury while attempting to go up for a layup. He had to be helped off the court by two members of Auburn’s training staff and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

Broome’s injury comes at an unfortunate time for Auburn, who is expected to top Tennessee for the top spot in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Sports Coaches Poll on Monday following the Volunteers loss on Tuesday to No. 8 Florida.

In 15 games this season, the 6-foot-10 forward has added his name to the list of early contenders for National Player of the Year, leading Auburn in points (18.7), rebounds (11.2), assists (3.4) and blocks (2.7) per game. His 11.2 rebounds and 18.7 rebounds per game rank first and second respectively in the SEC.

Auburn (15-1 overall, 3-0 in SEC) is scheduled to host No. 13 Mississippi State at Neville Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. ET.

Here’s the latest on Broome’s injury:

Johni Broome injury update

Broome appeared to have sustained an apparent left ankle injury at the 13:45 mark of the second half after rolling his left ankle while going for a rebound. As he was falling down to the ground, Broome was holding onto his left ankle.

Here’s another look at the play where it looked like Broome rolled his ankle while underneath the basket attempting to get a rebound:

As shown by Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman on X (formerly Twitter), Broome was seen favoring his right leg as he was helped off the court by members of Auburn’s training staff.

Broome did not return in Auburn’s 66-63 win over South Carolina, ending his day with six points on 3 of 11 shooting from the field, three rebounds and two blocks.

Bruce Pearl on Johni Broome injury

Pearl provided an update on Broome during his postgame news conference by saying that the 6-foot-10 forward has a sprained ankle and that he will undergo more tests once the Tigers return to campus.

‘Johni Broome has a sprained ankle,’ Pearl said. ‘We’ll go back to Auburn and get (an) MRI and X-Rays and see if there is anything more.

Johni Broome stats

Broome entered Saturday’s game at South Carolina ranked fifth in the country in rebounds per game at 11.2. He additionally ranks fifth in the conference in field goal shooting percentage at 56.2%.

Here’s full breakout at Broome’s stats this season at Auburn:

2024-25: 18.7 points per game, 11.2 rebounds per game, 2.7 blocks per game and 56.2% field goal shooting (29.3% from beyond the arc)

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

A’ja Wilson, the star of the Las Vegas Aces, had an impressive year last season, winning her third WNBA MVP award. As a new season approaches, a burning question is whether she can achieve an unprecedented fourth MVP win.

Wilson is a two-time WNBA champion and a key player in the U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team’s gold win at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She concluded the 2024 season with a career-best average of 26.9 points and 11.9 assists for the Aces.

Wilson’s success is not limited to the court. She recently signed a six-year contract extension with Nike, one of the most lucrative shoe deals for a women’s basketball player.

Here are the MVP odds for the 2025 season:

When does the 2025 WNBA season start?

The 2025 WNBA regular season begins on May 16, 2025.

2025 WNBA MVP favorite by odds

Odds from BetMGM as of Jan. 11.

Player: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces. Odds: +185
Player: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever. Odds: +250
Player: Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty. Odds: +600
Player: Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx. Odds: +650
Player: Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty. Odds: +1900
Player: Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun. Odds: +3000
Player: Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces. Odds: +5000
Player: Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings. Odds: +5000
Player: Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream. Odds: +5000
Player: Kahleah Copper, Phoenix Mercury. Odds: +6000
Player: Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury. Odds: +6000
Player: Angel Reese, Chicago Sky. Odds: +8000
Player: Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm. Odds: +8000
Player: Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces. Odds: +10000
Player: Nneka Ogwumike, Seattle Storm. Odds: +10000

Texas was just one yard from tying the Cotton Bowl but a failed sweep and subsequent sack and fumble clinched the game for Ohio State.
What happened on Texas’ failed toss sweep? Steve Sarkisian points to blocking, while Ohio State player says film study prepared Buckeyes for that play.
Big plays swing College Football Playoff semifinal in Ohio State’s favor

ARLINGTON, Texas – Steve Sarkisian got cute, but it sure didn’t look pretty.

Sarkisian earns acclaim for being one of the nation’s premier play callers, but he fell into a familiar coaching trap Friday of trying to show just how very smart he is with a play sheet in his hands.

Only, Ohio State’s defense made Sarkisian look foolish at the close of the Buckeyes’ 28-14 victory in the Cotton Bowl.

The scene: First-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Texas trailed by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. The Longhorns needed to move three feet to tie this College Football Playoff semifinal.

First down: Texas audibles into a Power-I formation, but Ohio State stuffs a run up the middle.

No harm. Three more tries for three feet.

Second down: Sarkisian goes way too deep into his bag. He calls a toss sweep off left tackle out of the shotgun formation. The Buckeyes had it defended, dead to rights. Safety Caleb Downs shot into the backfield untouched and nearly ended the play then and there.

Texas ball carrier Quintrevion Wisner escaped Downs, but he made no headway toward the end zone, as his run pushed further to the sideline. Safety Lathan Ransom pinballed off Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. Ransom wrapped up Wisner 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

That’s how you go from first-and-1 to third-and-8.

Two plays later, Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer ended Texas’ comeback hopes with a strip-sack of Quinn Ewers. Sawyer scooped up the fumble and lugged his prize 83 yards into the end zone.

“Just a miraculous play,” linebacker Cody Simon said of Sawyer’s strip-sack and score. “That moment is going to live in history forever.”

Absolutely, it will, but Texas got off into the weeds two plays previously, when Ransom’s tackle for loss put the Longhorns behind the 8-ball.

Steve Sarkisian defends play call that sent Texas in reverse

Sarkisian stood by his toss sweep play call.

“That’s one of those plays if you block it all right, you get in the end zone,” Sarkisian said. “We didn’t.”

Sarkisian didn’t fool Ohio State, either.

To hear Downs tell it, the Buckeyes were ready for that toss sweep.    

“You could see it on film,” Downs said. “They like that play when big moments come up.”

No sooner had Ewers received the snap than Downs made a beeline for Wisner. Downs pushed Wisner off course before Ransom cleaned up the tackle.

“They’ve done that throughout the year – crack tosses to the boundary,” Downs said. “I’m just happy that, when I missed the tackle, Lathan made it.”

Ransom’s reflexes weren’t quite as quick as Downs’ right after the snap, but he wasn’t far behind his teammate. Ransom didn’t let Banks, Texas’ hulking tackle whom NFL scouts like, slow him up for long.

“No one really loafs into big plays,’ Simon said. ‘He pulled his trigger and made a huge play.’

What went wrong on that second-down run, from Wisner’s perspective?

“I’m not even sure,” the Texas running back said.

Not his fault. He never had a chance.

“If you give us an inch, we’ll defend it,” Simon said. “That was the epitome of that right there.”

Big plays give Ohio State the edge on Texas in Cotton Bowl

Texas never led this game, but it battled against an opponent that’s emerged throughout the playoff as the front-runner to win the national championship. Midway through the fourth quarter, the score stood knotted at 14.

“They made their plays when it counted most,” Texas linebacker David Gbenda said.

Such as quarterback Will Howard’s 18-yard run on a fourth-down play to set up the Buckeyes’ go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.

Or, TreVeyon Henderson’s 75-yard touchdown on a screen pass.

Texas had tied the score at 7 before kicking a touchback with 29 seconds left before halftime. Ohio State could go into the locker room tied, but why not try something safe and see what happened?

Any football novice knows to expect a screen in that situation. Sure enough, Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly dialed one up.

And, sure enough, Texas fell for it.

Ohio State’s two offensive tackles stayed home to block, while the Buckeyes’ three interior linemen leaked forward to block for the screen. Four Texas defenders rushed toward Howard while the screen slowly developed. At the final moment, Howard flipped a completion to Henderson. The Buckeyes had Texas walled off.

Henderson found the seam and, boom, he was gone. Gone for a score, untouched.

“He’s one of the fastest people I’ve ever seen,” Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka said of Henderson.

Texas’ defense looked creaky on that screen pass, before its blocking became “leaky,” as Sarkisian put it, on that second-down toss sweep one yard from the end zone, two quarters later.

But, why call a high-risk run to the boundary on second down?

Earlier in the game, Sarkisian effectively dialed up a quarterback run for backup quarterback Arch Manning to move the chains on fourth down during a drive that ended in a touchdown. Reinserting Manning might have worked near the goal line. Or, another run or two inside the tackles might have done the trick.

We’ll never know. We do know the Buckeyes weren’t the slightest bit duped by a toss sweep that probably seemed clever to Sarkisian when he called it, but looked awfully silly and sloppy in action.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Quinn Ewers was drifting left, looking toward the goal line, his eyes locked on Texas’ last chance. There was no time to peek back at which defensive monster was bearing down on him from the blind side, but he already knew it was Jack Sawyer.

Of course it was. 

For four months in the fall of 2021, they had been roommates at Ohio State. They had been close. And now here they were, physically closer than ever but emotionally separated by jerseys and traumas and the chance for redemption that only one of them would be able to cash in. 

This breathtaking College Football Playoff had placed these two teams, and these two players, in a moment that only sports can create. Even among friends, there can only be one winner. 

It was one play within a 60-minute game within a month of postseason football within a 16-game season within years of colliding narratives about coaching decisions and reputations and what it means to be burdened by a specific kind of failure. 

And it was everything. 

This time, it was Sawyer ripping the ball away, rumbling 83 yards down the sideline, an Ohio kid clinching the Buckeyes’ spot in the national championship game when they were left for dead in December. 

“We heard a lot of things,” Sawyer said. “We kept swinging.” 

And this time, it was Ewers on his stomach, a Texas kid watching helplessly as a national semifinal slipped away from the Longhorns for a second straight year. 

This time, it was Ohio State 28, Texas 14. 

“It sucks,” Ewers said. “He’s a great player, great individual, great person. So, you know, it sucks.”

They did not award a national championship here on Friday night, even though it kind of seemed like it. That will happen on Jan. 20 in Atlanta, when the Buckeyes face Notre Dame in another matchup of mega-brands and storylines deserving of its own due.

But now, in this sport, there are no coronations. Every step toward a championship feels like an epic, and every failure a cataclysm. 

Ohio State could not have won this game and cannot win a national title without unloading an unimaginable amount of emotional baggage. And Texas could not have lost it without wounds getting picked at until they bled. 

A year ago, Ewers had a ball in the air that would have sent the Longhorns to the national championship game. It was never caught, and everyone in the program vowed to come back and make it right. 

And here, in this very same building, Ohio State had to suffer the indignity of losing a meaningless Cotton Bowl to Missouri while Michigan — the program that had lodged itself in the Buckeyes’ collective heads — went on to win the title a handful of days later. 

“No great accomplishments are ever achieved without going through adversity,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “That’s just the truth. And we’ve gone through our share of adversity, and that’s life.”

You can thumb your nose if you want at the notion of adversity for a football coach who makes $10 million a year and a roster of elite athletes collectively making $20 million playing a game that many of them will go on to make their careers. 

But this is what they do. This is the world in which they live. And it can be cruel. It can hurt, especially when the narrative that they have failed feeds on itself year after year after year. 

“Football is not meant to be easy,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “It’s a tough sport. It’s physically grueling. It’s mentally grueling. But I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.”

Sarkisian, too, knows what it’s like to be the avatar of a football-mad state’s expectations and the subject of its ire. Or, at least, he will now. 

Three plays before the collision between Sawyer and Ewers, Texas had the ball in first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. The clock had just ticked under four minutes to play. Ohio State had taken a 21-14 lead moments earlier, but Texas was on the doorstep, ready to surely tie the game. The Buckeyes’ defense looked gassed.

“We talked before the game about, how do you leave a legacy?” Day said, but it wasn’t only Ohio State’s legacy on the line. At that very moment, it felt like any outcome was possible. 

On first down, Texas couldn’t stuff the ball into the end zone by running inside. Ohio State had brought in its biggest defensive personnel, daring the Longhorns to take the ball to the perimeter.

Then Sarkisian, who had called a near-perfect second half to get Texas in position to win, made the most consequential play-call of the entire college football season. 

“We didn’t get much movement at all, and we had a plan to try to get the ball on the edge,” Sarkisian said. “I can’t quite tell where it got leaky, but you know, it’s one of those plays that if you block it right, you get in the end zone. And we didn’t.”

Not even close. Texas’ pitch to running back Quintrevion Wisner didn’t just go nowhere — it went seven yards backward. In the blink of an eye, Texas had gone from a few feet away from tying the game to a desperate situation with only two plays to score. Time was running out, nearing the two-minute mark. This was all the Longhorns really had left. 

And then Sawyer straight-up took it from them. Disaster. 

That is the burden Texas and Sarkisian will carry the next time they arrive at this stage. And it’s the burden that Ohio State has never been closer to shedding forever. 

“What means the most to me is that we’re going to compete for a national championship now, which is something I’ve always dreamed of bringing back to Columbus since I was a kid throwing the football in the backyard with my dad and an Ohio State jersey on,” Sawyer said. “And I was fortunate to make a big-time play like a lot of guys did all night long.”

Now all that’s left is one more game to wash away the stench of disappointment they’ve had to live in after four straight season-defining losses to Michigan. Sixty more minutes to never have to hear that Day is overmatched and intimidated by the chair he sits in, even if it was never really true. Just 10 more days to hear about what hasn’t been done and celebrate what they did.

But they have to win. There’s no other option. 

“We’ve got to finish this thing, and they know it,” Day said. 

It’s better that it happened the way it did Friday night. In its first two playoff games, Ohio State cruised to wins over Tennessee and No. 1 seed Oregon, looking like an unstoppable juggernaut on its way to a coronation. 

But that’s not reality in a sport of tiny margins at the highest level. In the end, it’s the tension — and performing with the excruciating pressure of the stakes hanging over your head — that ultimately validates you as much as the trophy itself. 

“It’s really a one-and-done mentality. It’s adopting what the basketball guys have (in the NCAA tournament),” Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said. “You made the tournament, now survive and advance. And that’s our mindset. We knew (after the Michigan loss) that everything was ahead of us.” 

What’s truly on the horizon, though, is always vague. When the teams are this good and there’s so much on the line, the moment doesn’t present itself until you can literally feel it breathing down your neck. 

“I thought I was going to be able to get the ball off,” Ewers said. “Obviously, you know, it’s not like I tried to give him the game.”

Instead, Sawyer took it: To the end zone, to Atlanta for one more game and maybe to history. 

For some teams who want to contend for an NBA championship, the status quo won’t work.

The question teams are facing: Is the right deal out there that satisfies the need to improve without giving up too much in return and retain financial flexibility?

It’s a delicate balance in today’s NBA, and the league’s new collective bargaining agreement and salary cap rules have more restrictions on the type of deals teams can make. It’s a new world of roster construction.

“As one GM told me after the Dorian Finney-Smith trade to the (Los Angeles) Lakers, expect more singles and doubles, less triples and home runs when it comes to transactions,” ESPN NBA front-office insider Bobby Marks said in a recent roundtable discussion.

Still, players are available.

Let’s look at 10 players who could be moved before the Feb. 6 trade deadline:

(Stats through games of Jan. 9)

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler

The Heat-Butler saga could extend beyond the trade deadline. The Heat don’t have to trade him. They suspended Butler seven games for conduct detrimental to the team and acknowledged that Butler asked for a trade. Butler, 35, seeks one last significant contract.

∎Contract situation: Butler is under contract through 2025-26 at $52.4 million but has a player option giving him the ability to become a free agent after this season.

New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram

When addressing Ingram’s contract at the start of the season, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said the team faces “economic realities.” The Pelicans may not be in position to re-sign him in free agency, so a trade is a possibility.

∎Contract situation: Ingram is in the final season of a five-year, $158.2 million deal that pays him $36 million in 2024-25.

Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma

The Wizards signed Kuzma with the idea that they could trade him at the appropriate time, and it’s a team friendly deal with an annual salary that decreases. He can’t become a free agent until the summer of 2027.

∎Contract situation: Kuzma is in the second season of a four-year, $90 million contract.

Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine

Teams in need of a scoring guard are focused on LaVine, who averages 23.3 points and is shooting career-best percentages from the field (51.2%) and in 3-pointers (44.4%).

∎Contract situation: LaVine is in the third season of a five-year, $215.1 million contract but has a player option following the 2025-26 season, allowing him to become a free agent in the summer of 2026.

Washington Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas

This was a savvy offseason signing by the Wizards. They got a veteran big man who can help younger players, they paid him and if the right situation presents itself, they can trade him. The Wizards are looking for draft picks.

∎Contract situation: Valanciunas received a three-year, $30.2 million contract in July in a sign-and-trade with New Orleans. He is a free agent in the summer of 2027.

Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic

Vucevic is still producing and doing it efficiently: 20.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game while shooting career-highs from the field (55.3%) and on 3-pointers (42.4%).

∎Contract situation: Vucevic is in the second season of a three-year, $60 million contract. He is a free agent after the 2025-26 season.

New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson

Trade the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft? The player who averages 24.6 points and shoots 58.8% from the field for his career? Injuries have limited Williamson to just two full seasons. He missed an entire season (2021-22) and has played just seven games this season. A fresh start for team and player isn’t irrational.

∎Contract situation: Williamson is in the second season of a five-year, $197.2 million extension and is under contract through 2027-28. However, the contract is not fully guaranteed based on games played and weight.

Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox

With frustration compounding in Sacramento, Fox may not be with the Kings for much longer. Whether he switches teams at the trade deadline or after the season, we will see. But there’s a market for a player who does what Fox does: 26.7 points, 6.2 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 48.6% from the field.

∎Contract situation: Fox is in the fourth season of a five-year, $163 million contract and will be a free agent after the 2025-26 season.

Brooklyn Nets forward Cameron Johnson

Johnson is having a breakout season with career highs in points (19.5 per game), field goal percentage (.496) and free throw percentage (.895) and a strong 3-point percentage (.436). The Nets remain in the market for first-round picks in return, and Johnson’s contract has value.

∎Contract situation: Johnson is in the second season of a four-year, $94.5 million contract, and he hits free agency in the summer of 2027.

Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga

If the Warriors make a trade deadline deal, Kuminga likely will be part of a package exiting Golden State. He’s a player teams want. Late last month, he had back-to-back 34-point games and he’s just 22 years old.

∎Contract situation: Kuminga is in the final season of his four-year, $24.8 million rookie contract and is a restricted free agent after this season.

Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt

Lindsey Vonn finished in sixth place Saturday in her first World Cup downhill race since 2019 as she continues her return to racing at age 40.

Vonn, skiing on a familiar mountain in St. Anton, Austria, finished 58 hundredths of a second behind Federica Brignone of Italy. Vonn accomplished the feat despite starting 32nd, a disadvantage because course conditions worsen as the competition continues.

‘It was fun,’ Vonn said. ‘I love being back in the start and I know this hill really well so I knew the challenges that would come today and was ready to execute.’

She led a contingent of three American women to place in the top 15, joining Lauren Macuga (ninth) and Breezy Johnson (11th).

Vonn won the gold medal in the downhill at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, and 43 of her 82 World Cup wins came in the discipline. Her most recent win was in March 2019.

She underwent partial knee-replacement surgery on her left knee in April, with titanium pieces inserted. Saturday’s race was the second of her comeback; she finished 14th in the super-G on Dec. 21.

Vonn will race in the super-G in St. Anton on Sunday, then move on to Cortina in Italy next weekend.

She has stated her goal is to compete in the Milan Cortina Games in 2026, which would be her fifth Olympics. She has three Olympic medals in all.