Morning Briefing: Vlade Divac does his best Greta Garbo impersonation

Former Lakers center Vlade Divac, who is vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento Kings, held a conference call with the team’s executive board Monday and had one basic message: Butt out.

According to multiple reports, Divac has grown frustrated with members of the board leaking stories to the media about in-house issues or leaking stories about moves they would like to see Divac make.

In a tweet Monday night, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee mentioned Divac’s response when Anderson asked him about the call: “I just told them about my plan,” Divac said. Anderson asked him if the rumor that he told board members to stop meddling and leaking stories was true. “Yeah, that’s my plan,” Divac said.

Divac has not had much success with Sacramento and has been heavily criticized by fans for poor trades. He joined the Kings in March 2015 and they have not made the playoffs in that time. Of course, they haven’t made the playoffs since 2006, so you can’t put all of that on Divac. Besides, they are 23-21 this season and tied for ninth in the Western Conference (before Tuesday’s games).

But you can see the thinking. Who better to run a team that’s a consistent flop than a guy who was the biggest flopper in the league when he played?

Wentz is their man

The Philadelphia Eagles, knocked out of the playoffs last weekend, are going with Carson Wentz over Nick Foles as their quarterback next season.

“Yes, Carson Wentz is the quarterback going forward,” coach Doug Pederson said Tuesday. “And in Nick’s case, listen, we’d love to have everybody back throughout the roster, but as I’ve said many, many times, it’s not about one guy, it’s about the team, and we’re going to do what’s best for the team.”

Foles is the reigning Super Bowl MVP and led the Eagles to three straight wins to end the regular season when Wentz was hurt. He then led them to a playoff win on the road before losing at New Orleans.

So, you turn your back on the guy who led you to your first Super Bowl title last year and led you into the playoffs this year for a guy who is also good but seems to get hurt a lot? Risky move.

Odds on favorite

The odds for the 2019 Heisman Trophy race are out (courtesy of BetOnline.com), and Trevor Lawrence of Clemson is the favorite.

Trevor Lawrence, Clemson QB, 3-1

Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama QB, 4-1

Jalen Hurts, QB, 9-1

Travis Etienne, Clemson RB, 12-1

Justin Fields, Ohio State QB, 12-1

Jake Fromm, Georgia QB, 12-1

D’Andre Swift, Georgia RB, 12-1

Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin RB, 12-1

Ian Book, Notre Dame QB, 16-1

Sam Ehlinger, Texas QB, 16-1

Justin Herbert, Oregon QB, 16-1

And if you were wondering where Hurts, who is transferring from Alabama, will end up, here you go:

Maryland, 1-2

Miami, 4-1

TCU, 5-1

Auburn, 10-1

Houston, 10-1

And finally

Remember former major league player Melvin Upton Jr.? Yeah, neither do I. But he announced Tuesday that he intended to make a comeback in 2019, and he wants to be known as B.J. Upton again.

Upton went by the name B.J. during his most successful seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays from 2004 to 2012. He switched to Melvin when he was with the Atlanta Braves in 2014, at which point he became a horrible player. He hasn’t played in the majors since 2016.

Here’s guessing most teams will have an even newer nickname for Upton when they find out he’s available: “Not interested, Upton.”