👋 Good morning! Times are a bit tense in Dallas right now. Some scary news-that-ended-up-not-really-being-news came out of Cowboys camp last night during dinner time about Tyler Guyton, the Cowboys still haven’t signed Micah Parsons, the Rangers are trying to make a push for the playoffs, and Luka Doncic is trying to trade extra weight for muscle. That means it’s peak Debate Season. Just be careful out there and remember that internet points are even less valuable than the ones on Whose Line Is It Anyway? — Bobby Karalla

Take a deep breath, Cowboys fans. Tyler Guyton didn’t tear his ACL, contradictory to rumors spread last night by bluechecks on the bird. Still, the expectation is that he’ll miss between 4-6 weeks, which puts his availability for opening night against the Eagles in question. It’s more than a tough blow for Guyton, who by all accounts on the ground was having a great camp. It does beat the alternative, though.

The Cowboys are collecting too many bruises so far in camp for my liking, though. Guyton joins offensive lineman Rob Jones on the injured list, and Brevyn Spann-Ford just got hurt the other day as well.

Meanwhile, rookie Shavon Revel Jr. is still slowly working his way up to speed. Veteran Trevon Diggs is, too, amid his contract drama. Micah Parsons is healthy, but he’s been a DNP - Negotiating (Kinda) With Jerry Jones so far.

Fortunately for Diggs and the Cowboys, though, he told our Clarence Hill that he hopes to be back on the field in September. That would provide a huge boost to the Cowboys defense. Dallas has a good, if not elite, pass rush and a decent secondary even without Diggs. The rush defense could be an issue again this season, but what you can’t have is two leaky faucets. The sooner Diggs (and Revel) can get on the field the better.

The Cowboys still haven’t presented a firm timeline for Diggs’ return yet, and it’s unclear if he’ll be off the Physically Unable to Perform list before Week 1. That’s his goal, of course, and I’m sure Dallas feels the same way, too, although it does feel like it’s personal between the two parties. If Diggs remains on the PUP list after camp, he’ll be required to miss the first four games of the season (i.e. all of September). That’s clearly not in his plans, and hopefully he’s right.

Why do we still talk about Luka? Well, aside from the obvious, there are some very good reasons. For starters, the Mavs and Lakers both play in the West. LA won both games against Dallas last season after the trade, including one right at the end of the regular season during which Luka dropped 45 points without hardly breaking a sweat.

The Lakers are one of few teams ahead of the Mavs in the standings that didn’t get much better (if at all) this offseason, making them a prime target to drop a bit in the table. Their loss could be the Mavs’ gain, in other words. But that becomes a much tougher feat if Luka Doncic really does turn into a destroyer of worlds, fueled by anger, embarrassment, and all the other things we heard about in Gladiator. He will have his vengeance, in this life or the next.

I understand the Luka fatigue on the one hand. Mavs fans are ready to move on. But on the other hand, Dallas is going to play the Lakers four times a season until the league expands to 32 teams. We’re probably going to see them play on opening night, Christmas Day, during rivals week, etc. until Luka finds a new team or retires. Doncic isn’t going anywhere, our daily show isn’t going anywhere, and the Western Conference isn’t going anywhere. The olive branch I’ll offer is this: We do a daily show on YouTube, so if you see Luka in the thumbnail or “Lakers” in the headline, just come back and see us tomorrow. Unfortunately skipping the games won’t be that easy, but we’ll be here for you anytime.

Sam Nestler scared me a little bit yesterday when he wrote about Jason Robertson and Thomas Harley’s pending contract negotiations. Both guys could become free agents VERY soon, and both players are deserving of more money. But can the Stars afford them?

Arike Ogunbowale dished out a career-high 14 assists last night, and she and Paige Bueckers both scored 20 points as the Wings beat the defending champ New York Liberty 92-82. Check out what both players had to say after the win!

Basketball is the best.

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Bobby Karalla
DLLS Sports Head of Content​
[email protected]