Opinion

It would appear WWE is flirting with the disaster of an idea that is ending the brand split. 

That split restricts Superstars to either Raw or SmackDown, helping each brand's weekly show feel distinct. 

Yet according to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), the brand split is "essentially done" in WWE. 

Which is a major shame. 

A split should allow major television time to be afforded to building stories and Superstars around secondary titles and the tag divisions. 

There hasn't even been much of a hint that the split will end. Yes, Roman Reigns holds both men's top titles and The Usos now have both tag tiles. But if this were the actual plan, why wasn't Reigns' match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania a unification match after the Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and everything else went toward building up to that point? 

Is Reigns the primary reason for a split? Can WWE not come up with a way to get one of the titles off him in a way that makes sense? Are business partners behind the scenes that don't get Reigns and Ronda Rousey on weekly programing throwing weight around?

Because fans have seen a non-split WWE plenty of times. Even if Reigns drops one of the titles, one instantly becomes a secondary title. The midcard titles get little time to shine. And Superstars who filled out television time on one of the brands during the split will likely mostly disappear while the top acts dominate both shows per week again. 

It's especially frustrating because, had WWE handled the split well from the jump, there would never need to be a single thought about ending it. 

WWE hasn't even tried to make the brand split feel meaningful in a way that would make sense. There's an entire pay-per-view—Survivor Series—built around the idea of brand loyalty. And yet, WWE is prone to throwing a draft just a few weeks before it, so there are Superstars who just hopped brands suddenly competing in this themed event preaching their loyalty to a brand they just joined. 

This is where WWE's inability to formulate long-term stories or consistency crushes it. A split, done well, could loop in major aspects of other sports. It'd be fun to see Reigns talking about how his contract with SmackDown is almost up and thinking about going over to Raw. Extension drama, tags, trades—it could be a blast. 

WWE could make both brands feel very different and even stage competitions between the two. More often than not, the out-of-ring details are more interesting than the actual wrestling itself, so why not stage contests between brands while looping in talk about ratings, social media numbers etc.?

Instead, WWE shrugs off any chance at that and then every once in a while throws out something nonsensical like the "wild card rule" where Superstars could hop between brands. 

It's easy to see where this goes from here based on past behaviors. WWE will deny the split is over, yet certain Superstars will move fluidly between brands on a weekly basis. There will eventually be a draft, watered down by stars jumping between shows anyway, and a brand loyalty event equally hosed down. 

One might argue the droves of roster cuts WWE made over the last year or two, plus injuries to guys like Big E and the Sasha Banks and Naomi walkout, have thinned the depth, perhaps requiring the end of a split. But that's a tough sell—WWE still has the most talented pro wrestling roster in history and has people wasting away in the midcard like Finn Balor. 

From this zoomed-out view, it's easy to see why WWE might think the split a failure—but it's equally easy to see where things went wrong and how much better they could be. Ending the split hasn't magically fixed everything in the past, and it most certainly won't this time. 

Pinned in the deep right corner with 2.2 seconds left on the shot clock, blanketed by Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and well beyond the point of exhaustion after 45 minutes of cardiovascular torture, Jimmy Butler had no business hitting the biggest shot of the 2022 NBA postseason.

Then again, Butler's epic performance in Miami's 111-103 win over the Boston Celtics on Friday was basically defiance incarnate. 

So of course he made it.

Butler, hobbled for much of the Eastern Conference Finals by a bad right knee, staved off elimination with 47 points in 46 maximum-intensity minutes. Simply keeping the Heat alive on the road would have been enough to earn Butler's game heroic status. But to do it against the league's best defense, on the heels of some of the most uncharacteristically poor postseason efforts of his career, well... "heroic" doesn't quite cover it.

Let's call it legendary.

Teammate Kyle Lowry, who shook off his own rough stretch of games to put up 18 points and 10 assists, had his own colorful characterization. Earmuffs for the kids.

Celtics fans might spend the 48 hours ahead of Game 7 using more profanity than that, as Butler's night was eerily familiar.

When LeBron James racked up 45 points in a Game 6 road win over Boston 10 years ago, it was essentially a king-making performance. James and the Heat went on to win Game 7 in Miami and secure the first of two straight titles.

Boston's last championship team disbanded shortly after that.

That game stood out as one of the most significant in James' career and certainly one of the most pivotal in Heat franchise history. But the Celtics team whose heart James ripped out a decade ago was a faded version of past greatness, led by the sunsetting versions of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. James and the juggernaut Heat shouldn't have even been in a position to face elimination back then.

Butler and the battered Heat are squaring off against something different entirely. These Celtics were unquestionably the best team in the league for the final three months of the season, and they're far healthier than Miami. There's a reason Boston came into Friday's tilt as massive favorites. All signs pointed to the Celtics closing things out until Butler looked at the odds and laughed.

Turns out that's something he and the Heat do a lot.

Zooming out from the specific Heat-Celtics rivalry, what Butler accomplished is exceedingly rare. He didn't just raise the bar for elimination-avoiding performances in franchise history. He nearly set a new one for the NBA as a whole.

And again, the specific circumstances making Butler's night so improbable can't be ignored. He entered Game 6 having scored 27 points on 10-of-40 shooting in Miami's previous three games. His knee kept him out of the entire second half in Game 3, and he barely glanced at the basket during hobbled, passive outings in Games 4 and 5.

For the better part of a painful week, he looked nothing like himself. But the real Jimmy Butler emerged when Miami needed him, and it was so abrupt and unexpected that observers turned to wild speculation in a search for answers.

There might be a better explanation.

Perhaps Butler and the Heat feed on defiance itself. Maybe long odds sustain them. And maybe direct slights like, say, a potential Finals opponent predicting the Celtics would advance, had the effect of supercharging the Heat's natural inclination to lash out at doubt.

By that logic, the Celtics could take solace in the fact that Miami may well be favored to win Game 7 at home. Maybe the Heat are less dangerous when they're expected to succeed. That's a small, unlikely source of hope. But it's something.

Then again, it seems reasonable to doubt Butler can repeat a performance like the one he turned in Friday. That might be all he and the Heat need to channel their best, most resistant selves.

After the 13-point loss in Game 4 on Wednesday that shoved Miami to the brink of elimination, head coach Erik Spoelstra said: "If you want to break through and punch a ticket to the Finals, you're going to have to do some ridiculously tough stuff."

Butler didn't stop at "ridiculously tough" on Friday. What he did felt closer to impossible.

Dare you to doubt he can do it again.

Patrick Mahomes redefined how everyone looks at the quarterback position. His ability to make off-platform throws, create outside of structure and disassociate his body mechanics to complete improbable passes serve as the standard-bearer for what the NFL wants at the position, even if it's an impossible standard.

The scary part? The 2018 league MVP is still evolving, and a slightly different version of Mahomes should appear this fall. 

He must change, because his supporting cast dictates he do so. The 26-year-old needs to be a distributor as much as, or more than, serving as a playmaker. He'll be asked to serve as a point guard on grass. 

The four-time (and counting) Pro Bowl quarterback doesn't have the same luxury within the Chiefs scheme as he previously did. Tyreek Hill is no longer a member of the organization after it traded the standout target to the Miami Dolphins for first-, second- and fourth-round picks in the 2022 draft as well as fourth- and sixth-rounders next year. 

Hill's on-field presence is unlike any other player's. He defines "game-changing speed." Mahomes and Hill connected on a different level because they could bail each other out on a consistent basis. 

The designed play isn't working? Oh well, let's chuck it up to Hill and he'll outrace anyone to the ball. 

While that's oversimplification of how the connection worked, Mahomes now lacks the same safety net with this crop of wide receivers. 

"A once-in-a-generation type of player has left the team, so somebody's got to step up and fill a role," Mecole Hardman said Tuesday, per ESPN's Adam Teicher. "... I just want to be better than I was last year, get better as an overall receiver, kind of establish my name a little bit more. Catching the ball, running routes, yards after catch, everything I'm trying to improve on."

Plenty of talented options reside in K.C. 

Hardman brings a certain element of speed, even if he's not nearly as dynamic as Hill. The organization signed JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Josh Gordon returns for another season. The Chiefs took Skyy Moore in the second round and then signed Justyn Ross as an undrafted free agent. 

Each brings a different skill set to the group.

Beyond Hardman, who was a 2019 second-round pick, Smith-Schuster is a 25-year-old target with a 1,400-yard campaign in his back pocket. The former Pittsburgh Steeler didn't play as well without Antonio Brown in the lineup, but he's a capable slot receiver.

Valdes-Scantling is a straight vertical threat who's posted an average of 17.5 yards per catch throughout his career. Gordon is one of the most naturally gifted wide receivers to ever enter the NFL ranks. When he's committed to the game and not suspended, he's a true X-receiver.

Moore is an intriguing rookie who can play multiple positions and creates after the catch. Ross, meanwhile, is another tall, lanky outside threat with first-round ability but went undrafted because of concerns over neck surgery. 

Of those mentioned, Ross may be getting the most hype coming out of organized team activities. 

Mahomes told reporters Thursday:

"Yeah, I mean, you still see the talent. I think that's the first thing. ... He snatches it—there's no drops or anything like that. Now it's about him learning the NFL offense. ... You've seen those flashes of how talented he can be. And then you've seen times where he's just barely off of what we wanted. And he learns from that, he doesn't make that same mistake.

"And so, the more and more reps that he gets, I can only imagine how good he's going to be because of the talent he possesses."

To be fair, OTAs are set up to let rookies shine as they get their feet under them, and not all veterans are present. Even so, Ross is a high-profile addition despite going undrafted because of his circumstances coming out of Clemson. The Chiefs should be excited about his potential even as an undrafted signee since his talent was never in question. 

None of the options may be as singularly talented as Hill, nor should they be expected to completely fill his shoes. The Chiefs and Mahomes have to adjust. In doing so, the quarterback must consistently distribute the ball to all of his targets instead of keying on specific options. 

Last season, Hill and tight end Travis Kelce combined for 293 targets. Kelce remains one of the league's best tight ends, and his standing within the offense shouldn't change. The utilization of those around him will. 

Beyond Hardman and Hill, no K.C. receiver received more than 60 targets. Byron Pringle signed a free-agent deal with the Chicago Bears this offseason. Demarcus Robinson left to join the Las Vegas Raiders.

The passing game falls on the quarterback to look at availability based on pre- and post-snap reads. Mahomes understands it's a group effort, with him leading the way. He told reporters Thursday:

"That's what you're going to see with this offense this year. It's going to be everybody. It's not all going to be one guy. Obviously [Travis Kelce] is still going to get a lot of completions, a lot of yards but the whole receiving room is going to have big days and that can be something we use to our advantage.

"It's a very deep receiving room. It's hard to tell which guys are going to make it because we've got so many good receivers. That's what you want. You want that competition. You want guys competing every single day to make the roster because they're going to help us in the end."

Mahomes' acknowledgement shows how the offense will become more role-based. As Hardman stated, Hill is a special talent. Multiple receivers will pick up the slack in different areas where the previous WR1 excelled. Mahomes knows this and expects it from specific receivers, starting with Hardman. The quarterback told reporters Tuesday:

"For me, it's for him to just continue to be himself. He doesn't have to be Tyreek Hill. He has to be Mecole Hardman, and I think Mecole Hardman can be a great player in this offense. ... He can keep getting better and better. Everybody puts out there he's got to replace Tyreek. I think he can be his own player, a Pro Bowler and a great player in this offense as well. I think just him continuing to evolve, play hard and practice hard, he'll have a great season this year."

Head coach Andy Reid agreed. 

"Mecole has the speed like a Tyreek had. Different player but like what Tyreek had," Reid stated. "He gives you a nice skill set there with the speed and quickness and ability to run when the ball is in his hands. He's a very aggressive runner when the ball is in his hands. You find ways to do that in a variety of different ways."

Different skill sets are important. If Mahomes is the point guard, the wide receivers form the rest of his basketball team. They each need to do something unique to bring value, much like a power forward is different than a shooting guard. 

If Hardman brings speed, Valdes-Scantling serves as an outside vertical threat and Smith-Schuster works primarily from the slot, then this year's 54th draft pick, Moore, is the player Mahomes wants to get the ball into his hands early and let him work. 

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said May 16, per Teicher:

"Skyy is unique. He is smaller, but he plays big. He has longer arms. He was a running back that transitioned to wideout. It was funny watching his tape because it seemed like we were watching forever before we saw him drop a pass.

"We have guys like MVS [Marquez Valdes‐Scantling] that has some size and speed, Mecole [Hardman] has speed, JuJu [Smith‐Schuster] is big. So I feel like we have a good combination and now we just wanted to add the best player, regardless of size or height, just guys that we feel are going to come in and be able to contribute right away. Certainly, Skyy is one of those guys."

Few talents supersede scheme. The maximization of a player's skill set ultimately determines whether an individual is successful. The Chiefs are fortunate to have one of football's all-time great play-designers as their head coach and a quarterback behind center capable of making any throw from any angle. 

In the end, the responsibility falls on Mahomes. He must enter this season with a changed mentality, because his ability to place the football in the right spot at the right time will determine how successful the Chiefs offense will be with its shifting group of wide receivers. A more efficient operator instead of a highlight-reel-maker—though those moments will surely come—is necessary for Kansas City to remain counted among the league's offensive elite. 

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @brentsobleski.

Just two weeks ago, with his Edmonton Oilers facing elimination against a lower-seeded and perceived inferior Los Angeles Kings team, stories about Connor McDavid debated exactly how long he'd put up with chronic playoff disappointment in the league's northernmost outpost.

Blow it up. Move him out. Let the league's best player perform on a worthwhile stage.

Funny how quickly a narrative can change.

Fast-forward 14 days, and after dispatching the Calgary Flames in five games—capping off the series with an overtime winner—No. 97 is reveling in a final four spotlight.

Finally.

Long the star of the internet's most clicked-upon highlights—and collector of enough summertime hardware to stock a scrap yard—McDavid is finally within hailing distance of a Stanley Cup.

And if his first 12 games this postseason are prelude, we'll see his legend continue to grow in the coming weeks and further justify the lofty comparisons he's drawn since his days as a prospect.

McDavid was a few months past his ninth birthday the last time the Oilers reached this stage of the postseason, got plucked first overall at the NHL draft nine years later and helped the Oilers get to a second-round date with Anaheim in 2017 that started with a pair of road wins but eventually ended in a seventh-game disappointment.

He signed an eight-year, $100 million extension that summer, and optimism was high that the team would grow around its precocious star the way the Wayne Gretzky-led teams had in the early 1980s.

Even Edmonton Journal columnist Terry Jones was all-in on the positive vibe.

"It's a good thing the Ducks won this one," he wrote on May 10, 2017, "because chances are it's going to be a while before teams are going to be beating the Edmonton Oilers in a playoff series.

"Orange Crush Era is just beginning."

Or, well…not so much.

Though he and running mate Leon Draisaitl have combined for five scoring titles, three MVPs and four Ted Lindsay Awards, the team has been more pedestrian than prolific when it comes to challenging the four banners Gretzky and Mark Messier hung before their partnership ended in 1988.

In fact, before the current run, the Oilers won far more games in those 2016-17 playoffs (7) than they had in two appearances since (1) while never coming close to a second-round berth.

And if you think that didn't concern the NHL's powers that be, think again.

Though he's hardly the league's only marquee player, it was certainly a disappointment to see its most productive athlete annually relegated to irrelevance during championship season.

Imagine Michael Jordan in Sacramento. Or Patrick Mahomes in Jacksonville.

Doesn't move the needle much, does it?

But now, thanks certainly to a sturdier supporting cast than he'd had in past years—including free-agent pickups Evander Kane and Zach Hyman, among others—McDavid can draw mainstream attention to the exploits he'd largely been performing in the shadows.

Here's a tip: The kid's pretty good.

He produced a preposterous 105 points in 56 games in 2020-21—a per-game average (1.875) bested by exactly six players in 50 years—before leveling up to a career-high 123 while playing all but two of 82 games this season. And believe it or not, it's been even better since crunch time began.

His 26 points in 12 games are at least 10 more than anyone not sharing his locker room this spring and compute to 2.17 per game, which is fifth-highest in history for players with double-digit games in a single playoff run. The only players to post higher marks are Mario Lemieux and Gretzky.

It's the stuff of legendary comparisons.

And the more eye-popping his feats, the more valid those comparisons become.

At 6'1", 193 pounds, McDavid is a smidge taller and heavier than Gretzky in his prime, and he's added a physicality to his game—though clearly a few notches below enforcer—that No. 99 never had.

He's also a three-time winner of the Fastest Skater competition during All-Star Weekend festivities, which wasn't around during Gretzky's best years but wasn't his greatest strength anyway compared to a uniquely spectacular instinct that allowed him to see plays develop and get to the right spots.

The game has changed to the point where there's no real shot McDavid approaches his predecessor's statistics—in fact, Gretzky's 92 goals and 215 points in separate seasons still seem otherworldly about 40 years later—but it's reasonable to suggest no player in the NHL (and maybe pro sports as a whole) has created a bigger chasm between he and his peer group over the last two seasons.

Despite differences in their skills, styles and eras, the gap between the two superstars and everyone else on the ice with them mandates their names in the same sentences with increasing regularity. McDavid has a long way to go before his accolades and team success approach Gretzky's, but his remarkable play in the first two rounds suggests the gap won't stay so wide much longer.

Sit back and enjoy the show, hockey fans.

It's one of those you'll brag to your grandkids about.

Father Time comes for everyone, including the once-dominant Julio Jones.

The wide receiver is available on the free-agent market following an underwhelming, injury-riddled 2021 season. After building a Hall of Fame-worthy resume, Jones is a potential flier for the right team—one that has an elite quarterback and a need at receiver.

While Aaron Rodgers is away from voluntary OTAs, the Green Bay Packers quarterback should flex his recruiting muscles and reach out to Jones months after the team traded two-time All-Pro wideout Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Jones won't completely replace what Adams brought. However, with Rodgers still able to play at an MVP level, the fading star receiver can produce one more highlight season in the twilight of his career.

If Rodgers does play matchmaker, he might not be the only one in town advocating for Jones. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport told the Pat McAfee Show on May 10 the Packers might be interested in a veteran wide receiver, particularly Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr. or Jones: 

Since then, the New Orleans Saints signed Landry. Beckham will probably start the 2022 season on the physically unable to perform list or on injured reserve while he recovers from a torn ACL (suffered in February) for the second time in two years.

Though Jones has missed seven games in each of the last two seasons, he's avoided significant long-term injuries that would require an extensive rehab process.

If the Packers want a veteran wide receiver who can contribute right away, Jones seems like the obvious choice from Rapoport's shortlist of potential candidates.

Furthermore, defensive backs have to account for him over the top. Despite a down year with the Tennessee Titans, he had some vintage moments before a nagging hamstring injury hindered him.

In Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks, Jones looked like the prime Atlanta Falcons version of himself when he hauled in a 51-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Tannehill: 

Jones finished that game with six receptions for 128 yards. Even though that outing went down as a flash-in-pan performance, he still averaged 14 yards per reception for the campaign, which tied for 26th among all pass-catchers. As the second fiddle to wideout A.J. Brown, Jones also had a solid outing against the Cincinnati Bengals in a divisional playoff matchup, converting seven targets into six receptions for 62 yards.

Imagine what Jones can do while healthy and with a significant upgrade at quarterback. 

During the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Tannehill reached his career peak under former Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. After a mediocre six-year run with the Miami Dolphins, he took over for Marcus Mariota and won 2019 Comeback Player of the Year and then threw for a career-high 33 touchdowns in the following campaign.

In 2021, Smith moved on to become the head coach of the Falcons, who coincidentally traded Jones to the Titans in the same offseason, and Tannehill's passing production took a nosedive.

Sure, Jones has experienced issues with durability, mostly because of hamstring injuries over the past two years, but he played in a run-dominant offense that led the league in rush attempts and featured a quarterback who lost his mojo in 2021.

In Green Bay, Jones would play with a four-time MVP who just won the honor in back-to-back seasons. This offseason, the Packers made Rodgers the highest-paid player in NFL history, which means they still trust him to sling the ball downfield, but the signal-caller may not have much faith in his group of receivers.

Green Bay selected three wideouts in the 2022 draft: Christian Watson (second round), Romeo Doubs (fourth round) and Samori Toure (seventh round). As unknown commodities, they'll have to earn Rodgers' trust, and the quarterback has delayed that process with his early absence from the offseason program. 

Randall Cobb has played with Rodgers for nine seasons, but he's primarily a slot receiver on a sharp decline. On top of that, the 31-year-old doesn't stretch the field vertically, averaging 12.1 yards per catch for his career.

Second-year wide receiver Amari Rodgers must continue to work on his rapport with Rodgers as the probable replacement for Cobb in the slot. He caught four passes for 45 yards last season.

Allen Lazard could take a significant step in his fifth year, though that's not a guarantee for a player who's made gradual strides with career highs of 40 catches, 513 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

Sammy Watkins could reel in passes downfield, as he's averaging 14.5 yards per career reception, but he's had some inefficiencies in his game, logging catch rates below 58 percent in five out of eight seasons. And like Jones, the 28-year-old has battled injuries that sapped his productivity, missing 10 contests over the past two terms. 

If Watkins continues to miss stretches, Jones can provide the explosive plays on the perimeter. As the two wideouts age, the Packers may need to roster both to ensure a big-play receiver suits up to keep defenses honest with a home run threat on the boundary. In that aspect, Green Bay will miss wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling (17.5 yards per reception for his career), who signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

On a modest, incentive-laden deal, Jones could become another cog in a solid wide receiver committee that compensates for the loss of Adams. If he stays healthy, he can cash in on some performance bonuses, but if his body continues to wear down, the Packers would just be on the hook for the base value of his contract.

At this point in Jones' career, he should expect that type of contract structure. Still, he'll likely play in meaningful games through January with the Packers, who have won the NFC North each of the last three seasons.

In the big picture, an agreement between Green Bay and Jones works out for everyone. The Packers would make a low-risk, high-reward acquisition in a former star who may have something left and at worst provides depth. As for Jones, he would play with the best quarterback he's teamed with in his lengthy career. No disrespect to Matt Ryan, but Rodgers has a far better resume and hasn't shown signs of slowing down.

Assuming Rapoport is correct that Jones won't command an eight-figure salary, the Packers' $17 million in cap space is more than enough to take a flier on a receiver who was among the league's top five just a few years ago.

Cap-space estimates are provided by Over the Cap.

Maurice Moton covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @MoeMoton.