Thunder staying in OKC through 2050; Draymond Green ejected again

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This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.

🏀 Good morning to everyone but especially ...

THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

Thunder fans, your wonderful, promising and already-very-good team is here to stay. Literally. Oklahoma City will build a new, publicly owned arena that keeps the Thunder in town through at least 2050. The Thunder will reportedly be on the hook for just $50 million of the estimated $900 million arena.

The Thunder have the Oklahoma City citizens to thank. A vote to build the new arena passed with 71% in favor.
The team's current home, the Paycom Center, is reportedly badly in need of renovations, and with the lease up in 2026, this became a hot-button issue.
The Thunder, of course, only exist because Seattle couldn't come to an agreement to keep the SuperSonics. The franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2008.

Good for the Thunder, and good for Oklahoma City. This is a franchise that produced one of the league's most exciting, young trios in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden and, in turn, had one of the league's best atmospheres. Even though that core slowly crumbled and a long rebuild ensued, fans have been rewarded with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams -- all 25 or younger -- ushering in a new era. At 15-7, the Thunder have the second-best record in the Western Conference, and with an absurd amount of future draft capital, they stand to be one of the league's best for the foreseeable future.

👍 Honorable mentions

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen headline the Bulls' inaugural Ring of Honor class.
The Vikings are switching from Josh Dobbs to Nick Mullens at quarterback.
Colorado is creating a class based on Deion Sanders.
Tyler Van Dyke is headed to Wisconsin.

😖 And not such a good morning for ...

JUSTIN HERBERT AND THE LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

Justin Herbert's season is over, and so, too, is the Chargers' for all intents and purposes. The star quarterback hit IR after fracturing the index finger on his right (throwing) hand in the Chargers' eventual 24-7 loss to the Broncos on Sunday.

The Chargers are 5-8 -- 12th in the AFC playoff picture -- and Herbert's injury is the sour cherry on top of what's been an awful season. Easton Stick will take over at quarterback, but it's all a wash in the short term.

In the long term, this ends what can only be described as a frustrating and bitterly disappointing start to Herbert's promising career. The Chargers don't have a single postseason win with Herbert despite being in a very advantageous position: star quarterback on a cheap rookie deal. Instead, the defense has remained a mess, even under defensive-minded Brandon Staley for the last three years. Injuries and awful free agency moves that even caused GM Tom Telesco to apologize led to a massive wasted opportunity.

With Staley on the hottest of hot seats, Herbert about to become very expensive and the roster loaded with aging, expensive, injury-prone big names, the end of an era is nearing. The Chargers can't wait to put it behind them.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

Draymond Green got ejected after striking Jusuf Nurkic in the head.
This Nikola Jokic ejection was so bad even Bulls fans booed.
Kyrie Irving (foot) is in a walking boot and on crutches with no timeline for a return.
Mitchell Robinson (ankle) is out 8-10 weeks.
Could Georgia lose quarterback commit Dylan Raiola to Nebraska?
The Wizards and Capitals could be leaving Washington, D.C. for northern Virginia. This stinks for downtown D.C. and for a lot of fans.
What's wrong with the Eagles?
Endy Rodríguez (elbow) will miss all of next season.

⚾ Giants sign KBO star Jung Hoo Lee to six-year deal

By the end of last season, even the Giants' best player said the team needed "big changes." San Francisco hopes outfielder Jung Hoo Lee fits the bill as the team agreed to a six-year, $113 million deal with the 2022 Korean Baseball Organization MVP on Tuesday.

Lee, 25, is one of the greatest players in KBO history. Across seven seasons with the Kiwoom Heroes, he owns a .340/.407/.491 career slash line with 65 home runs, 69 stolen bases and more walks than strikeouts.
Lee never played in the minors, becoming the first player in league history to go straight to the KBO from high school.
Though he hit in the middle of the order with the Heroes, Lee projects as a lead-off hitter in MLB, R.J. Anderson notes.

While he's not Shohei Ohtani (this year) or Aaron Judge or Carlos Correa (last year) -- stars the Giants pursued heavily but never signed -- Lee ranked 15th on R.J.'s top 50 free agents, and the scouting report is a strong one.

Anderson: "Lee fractured his ankle in July, ending his season and hindering his ability to further audition for MLB scouts. He's regarded as a plus runner and defender, and he's demonstrated appreciable bat-to-ball skills. Lee had a 91% contact rate this season, including a 97% contact rate against fastballs, according to data obtained by CBS Sports. He's not a big-time slugger (23 of his 65 career home runs came in 2022), and that puts the onus on him making a full recovery so that he can contribute in the field and on the basepaths."

The spacious Oracle Park seems like a perfect fit for Lee to hit the ball everywhere and run wild. The Giants sure hope so.

🏈 49ers stay atop NFL Power Rankings, but the new No. 2 is ...

It's hard to believe, but 25 days from now, the NFL regular season will be over. It goes by faster and faster every year, it seems. And with four weeks left, we still have plenty of questions -- at the top of the league and especially in the middle of the league. There are 13 teams within a game of .500. For reference, there were just seven through Week 14 last week.

This week, 25 of the 32 teams moved in Pete Prisco's Power Rankings. That includes every team from No. 11 to No. 23. At the very top, the 49ers have seemingly locked down the No. 1 spot. There's a new No. 2, though, and I feel they could lock that spot down, too.

Prisco: "The Cowboys beat up the Eagles, 33-13, on Sunday night in a game that saw them finally defeat a team with a winning record, proving many of the skeptics wrong and putting a lot of fan fears to rest. ... Early this season, the offense indeed looked disjointed. But then things changed. Dak Prescott got into a zone as the line got healthy and receiver CeeDee Lamb emerged as a true star outside. The Cowboys are flying high as an offense right now. It all seems to be clicking."

Here's the top five:

49ers (previous: 1)
Cowboys (3)
Ravens (5)
Eagles (2)
Dolphins (4)

In the topsy-turvy NFL where it's best to expect the unexpected, perhaps no one has surprised as much as Joe Flacco. Out of the league for nearly an entire year, Flacco has surged to the starting job for the 8-5 Browns, who jumped a league-best nine spots from 17th to eighth in Pete's rankings.

In his "One thing we learned about each NFL team," Jeff Kerr notes Flacco has turned the offense around.

⚽ UEFA Champions League: Man U out; PSG looks to advance

For the first time in nearly two decades, Manchester United is out of European competition before Christmas. The Red Devils fell, 1-0, to Bayern Munich, not only ending their UEFA Champions League stay in the group stage but also eliminating them from a Europa League berth. James Benge says perhaps it's for the best, because they need a reset.

Benge: "United's is a squad that needs ripping down past the foundations. All bar one of the backline and midfield that started are 27 or over. This club has seen enough of most of them to know that they are not going to make up the core of a title-winning side. A clear eyed assessment by the incoming owners will point to hundreds of millions wasted on veterans who so many could see were not the missing piece of a champion."

Here were all of Tuesday's results and takeaways, with Napoli and Copenhagen securing their spot in the round of 16. More headlines ...

USMNT members Malik Tillman and Ricardo Pepi combined on a goal for PSV.
Despite imperfections, Real Madrid finished the group stage perfect.

Two more round of 16 berths are on the line today, and PSG hopes to grab one in arguably its biggest group stage game ever, writes Jonathan Johnson. Here are today's matches:

RB Leipzig vs. Young Boys, 12:45 p.m.
Crvena zvezda vs. Manchester City, 12:45 p.m. (preview)
Antwerp vs. Barcelona, 3 p.m. (preview)
Porto vs. Shakhtar Donetsk, 3 p.m.
Celtic vs. Feyenoord, 3 p.m.
Borussia Dortmund vs. PSG, 3 p.m. (preview)
Atletico Madrid vs. Lazio, 3 p.m.
Newcastle United vs. AC Milan, 3 p.m. (preview)

Here are our experts' picks.

📺 What we're watching Wednesday

⚽ UEFA Champions League, on Paramount+, CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network
🏒 Bruins at Devils, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Lakers at Spurs, 8 p.m. on NBA TV
🏒 Sabres at Avalanche, 10 p.m. on TNT