LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 17: Meleek Thomas #15 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles the ball during the game against the Chicago Bulls on July 17, 2026 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by David Becker/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Cleveland Cavaliers traded out of the first round of this most recent draft, but still ended up with a player on the NBA Summer League First Team.
Cleveland’s second-round pick, Meleek Thomas, joined Cameron Boozer (Memphis Grizzlies), Brayden Burries (Milwaukee Bucks), Yaxel Lendeborg (Golden State Warriors) and Caleb Wilson (Chicago Bulls) on the NBA Summer League First Team. Thomas was the only player from that group who was selected outside of the lottery.
Thomas’s spot is well-deserved. He led Summer League in scoring with 27.3 points per game on an incredibly efficient .500/.438/1.000 shooting splits over four games. This included an impressive 35-point outing to defeat the Miami Heat on July 23.
Judging a rookie exclusively by how they perform in Summer League is foolish. The competition level and the role they will play in the NBA aren’t close to the same. Excelling in Las Vegas doesn’t necessarily mean they will do so in the league. At the same time, how poised Thomas was in this environment is encouraging.
Thomas showed that he has the skills to be an effective natural scorer. His fluidity, ability to create off the dribble, and lethal shot were on display in every game he played. Defenders weren’t able to stay in front of him. And when Thomas got to where he wanted on the court, he scored efficiently.
Thomas likely won’t be an on-ball scorer early in his NBA career, at least not if he’s sharing the floor with the likes of James Harden and Donovan Mitchell. Yet, the skills that made him such an elite scorer in Summer League (shooting, ability to attack closeouts, midrange shooting) can translate over to more off-ball roles, if he chooses to apply them in that way. We’ll get our first idea if they can during preseason.
It’s too early to declare that the Cavs got the steal of the draft. We’ll wait until after the season to see if a discussion like that is necessary. But as of now, the Cavs have to be happy with what they’ve seen from their most recent draft pick.
BOSTON, MA - MAY 28: Members of the grounds crew pull the tarp as rain falls during a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Miami Marlins on May 28, 2021 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Red Sox 14-game winning streak didn’t end tonight, but it was put on pause thanks to Mother Nature. Here’s the announcement of split double header tomorrow at 1:35pm and 7:10pm straight from the team:
The #RedSox-Orioles game scheduled for tonight, July 21, has been postponed due to significant rainfall and thunderstorms in the Fenway area expected to continue throughout the evening.
Tonight’s game has been rescheduled as the 1st game of a split doubleheader on July 22, at… pic.twitter.com/JJZ8ZJ15E9
With this arrangement, the Red Sox could tie and break their all-time franchise winning streak of 15 straight games in the same day. It may also once again alter their starting pitching plans as they could start Ranger Suarez and Jake Bennett in these two games, especially with an off day on Thursday meaning they wouldn’t need to start either of them on short rest the next time their slot in the rotation comes around.
Either way, tomorrow promises to be a very busy day at Fenway. Let’s hope it’s also a historical one!
Jul 20, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt (12) high fives second baseman Brice Turang (2) following the game against the New York Mets at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
The Milwaukee Brewers have surged not only to the top of the NL Central standings, but they now sit atop MLB’s standings with the best record in all of baseball. Their four game winning streak post-All Star Break has helped the surge and they will look to make it a five game streak tonight.
The Brewers did offer some injury updates ahead of tonight’s game. David Hamilton is starting a rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville and will play five innings tonight. Kyle Harrison has a 4-up live BP scheduled for Saturday and will start a rehab assignment on July 31st. DL Hall will move his rehab to Nashville and throw two innings tomorrow. Brandon Lockridge will also soon be on his way to join Triple-A and will travel there tomorrow to start his rehab assignment.
Joel Kuhnel is throwing his first bullpen session today. Sal Frelick, who had been placed on the IL with shoulder soreness underwent an arthrogram today to establish a diagnosis and a timeline to return to play.
For the game tonight, another starting pitcher will be facing his old team. This time it’s Brandon Sproat, who was acquired from the Mets in the Freddy Peralta trade over the offseason. Sproat has a 5.16 ERA on the year, which is right around where Peralta has been this season as well. His mound opponent tonight will be left-hander Zac Thornton, who is making just his fourth career start in the majors. Thornton has a 2.60 ERA.
Because it’s a left-hander, the Brewers are going to have some extra right-handed hitters in the lineup. Christian Yelich gets the night off, which allows William Contreras to slide into the DH spot, batting third. That means of course that Gary Sanchez is behind the plate tonight for Sproat. Jackson Chourio will lead off, followed by Brice Turang. Garrett Mitchell mans centerfield while Luis Lara is in right field, batting seventh. Cooper Pratt and Joey Ortiz hold down the left side of the infield and the bottom of the order.
The Mets will continue to roll out their underperforming, high-priced lineup that includes Juan Soto, Bo Bichette, Francisco Lindor, Luis Robert, and Marcus Semien. Young rookies AJ Ewing and Carson Benge are mixed throughout New York’s lineup as well.
With a win tonight, the Brewers can secure a series victory over the Mets and keep the momentum rolling even further.
SIX RUNS DOESN’T WIN: The Cubs’ loss last night was just their second of the season in which they scored exactly six runs. They have won nine. In all games with at least six runs scored, they are 39-5. When they have allowed at least six runs, they are 8-21, including 0-4 when yielding eight, as they did last night. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
HOMERS WITHOUT WINNING: The Cubs lost despite hitting three home runs. They are 9-4 when they have hit at least three and 10-8 when they have allowed at least three. Last night’s loss was their first when they both hit and allowed at least three. They had won four previous such games. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
MILESTONE: The seventh run scored by the Tigers last night was the 100,000th surrendered by the Cubs in their 22,517 regular-season games since 1876. They became the second team to reach six digits in runs allowed. The Phillies are at 102,961, in 21,911 games since 1883. The Cubs have scored the most runs, 103,731. The Giants are second, with 101,570. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, PCA?: Pete Crow-Armstrong, last seven games: .077/.250/.115 (2-for-26) with 11 strikeouts (though also six walks).
David Peterson has made two starts with the Cubs in which he’s thrown at least five innings and allowed no more than two runs.
Oh, yes. There’s that other start he made where he got pounded for 10 runs in 3.2 innings, the worst start of his career.
I’ll just figure that was the aberration and Peterson can continue to put up good outings.
This is Peterson’s first-ever start against the Tigers, and only two current Tigers have ever seen him. Perhaps that will be to his advantage.
There was some controversy over Framber Valdez last year when it was said he intentionally threw at his catcher because he thought the catcher had crossed him up. That delayed his free agent signing a while but eventually he signed a multi-year deal with the Tigers.
The results have been “meh.”
He’s made 19 starts with a 4.10 ERA and his K rate is down from last year, as is his average fastball velocity. His last start against the Cubs was June 29, 2025 in Houston and he threw six shutout innings. Thus most current Cubs have not seen him much, a combined 4-for-32 with 12 strikeouts.
Please visit our SB Nation Tigers site Bless You Boys. If you do go there to interact with Tigers fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.
The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.
You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 14: Meleek Thomas #15 of the Cleveland Cavaliers poses for a portrait during the 2026 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot on July 14, 2026 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cavs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
The second-apron environment the NBA has operated in the last several years was designed to produce parity. Keeping contending cores together for multiple years is incredibly expensive and comes with numerous team-building downsides. The simplest way to combat this is by replenishing your rotation through the draft.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have taken swings over the last three years at finding players later in the first round or early in the second round that they could develop into rotation pieces.
Jaylon Tyson was selected in the second half of the first round in 2023. After not having a large role his rookie season, Tyson exploded onto the scene last year. He provided energy in the regular season for a team that desperately needed it with all of their injuries. This was coupled with a revamped three-point shot that allowed him to become a valuable offensive threat on and off the ball.
Last year, the Cavs took Tyrese Proctor in the second round and immediately signed him to a standard deal. While Proctor didn’t get much playing time his rookie season, the minutes he did get showed enough promise to make you believe he could be an impactful role player down the line.
Cleveland’s most recent selection, Meleek Thomas, showed tremendous promise during Summer League. He led all scorers in Las Vegas with 27.3 points per game. That, unsurprisingly, earned him a spot on the All-Summer League First Team.
All three of these selections have shown promise in different ways, but which one has the brightest future? Let us know what you think in the survey below, and tell us why in the comments.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JUNE 14: Geraldo Perdomo #2 of the Arizona Diamondbacks is congratulated by Pavin Smith #26, Gabriel Moreno #14 and Corbin Carroll #7 after scoring the game-winning run against the San Diego Padres during the ninth inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on June 14, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Padres 8-6. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Diamondbacks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
The first half for the D-backs was definitely a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. Focusing purely on the first of these, the positive side of performances came from players both expected and surprising. But who was the team’s MVP? That’s what this week’s poll is designed to determine. I’ll leave the exact definition of “MVP” entirely up to you to decide. Factors you may – or may not – decide to include in your assessment include things such as playing time, production, salary, intangible contributions and expectations. Here’s a quick run down of the five candidates…
Corbin Carroll
Despite a late slump at the plate. Carroll still finished the first half with the highest OPS of any Diamondback (min 50 plate-appearances). His 42 extra-base hits also led the team, and he was responsible for almost half of all Arizona’s triples before the break: Carroll = 10, everyone else combined = 11. He set the all-time franchise mark for three-baggers, passing Stephen Drew’s career total of 52, in almost eight hundred fewer PAs. Carroll started 93 games in the first half, most on the team.
Gabriel Moreno
What’s impressive about Moreno’s season is no just that he ranks close to the top of the club by both bWAR and fWAR. It’s that he is doing so, despite missing three weeks and sixteen games with a strained left oblique. He has been incandescent at the plate. Over the two months (and almost 200 PA) leading up to the All-Star break, Moreno had a slash of .341/.434/.479 for an OPS of .913. He also had more walks (27) than strikeouts (25) in that time. All that, plus managing the pitching staff and making ABS challenges too.
Geraldo Perdomo
Expecting Perdomo to live up to his MVP-caliber season of 2025, was probably optimistic. But after a slow start – through his first 20 games he was hitting below the Uecker Line, with an OPS in the five hundreds – Perdomo has got things back on track. His plate-discipline remains as stellar as ever, with his 59 walks leading the team, and compared to only 49 strikeouts. He continues to be well-rated by the defensive metrics: Fangraphs Def currently has Geraldo at +11.3, sixth-best in the majors.
Eduardo Rodriguez
Expectations for Rodriguez were low, despite his high salary. After all, in both 2024 and 2025, his ERA was above five. But this year has been a revelation. His 2.29 ERA for the first half was the lowest by a qualifying Arizona pitcher since 2009, when Dan Haren had a 2.01 ERA. That and Randy Johnson’s 1.80 in 2000 are the only better first halves in franchise history. It led to an unexpected, yet entirely merited, first appearance in the All-Star Game for Rodriguez, now in his eleventh season.
Paul Sewald
A closer is measured, above everything else, by his ability to close games. And there, Sewald had a first half which was basically unprecedented in team history. Over the 96 games up to the break, he had 22 saves and just one blown save. No other D-backs pitcher has had even fifteen saves through 96 games, without blowing multiple save opportunities. The last with 22 saves? That was Fernando Rodney in 2017 – and he had five blown saves. Regardless of struggles elsewhere, Sewald has got it done.
Poll below, feel free to explain your choice in the comments, or provide a write-in vote for a candidate not listed here!
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JULY 09: Kendry Rojas #60 of the Minnesota Twins pitches against the Cleveland Guardians on July 9, 2026 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
First Pitch: 5:40 PM CDT
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN, WCCO 830, The Wolf 102.9 FM, Audacy App, LosTwins.com
After getting back to .500 for the first time since April, the Twins dropped the last two games to the Cubs and now the first of a four game set against the Guardians. Abandon all hope etc etc. Today’s match is a battle of lefty starters Kendry Rojas and Parker Messick.
Messick features an excellent 4-seam fastball, a sinker he throws mainly against lefties, a changeup, curveball, cutter, and slider. That arsenal has carried him to an 8-5 record with a 2.73 ERA and 1.07 WHIP this season.
For Rojas, it will be his 3rd career start, as he’s mostly been used out of the bullpen. He has shown swing-and-miss stuff, but also a tendency to walk a lot of batters, as he’s struck out 22 and walked 16 in 19.1 IP.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 09: AJ Dybantsa #4 of the Washington Wizards brings the ball up the court against the Utah Jazz in the second half of a 2026 NBA Summer League game at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 09, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Wizards fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
In this week’s survey, grade how the Washington Wizards performed in NBA Summer League. We’ll share the results this weekend.
Bucks guard and 2026 Draft No. 10 overall pick Brayden Burries was named to the NBA’s Summer League First Team. Burries, who appeared in four Summer League games, averaged 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists on .500/.364/.667 shooting splits. He’s the first Bucks nominee to the Summer League First Team since Sandro Mamukelashvili, now a rotational big for the Lakers, in 2022.
Burries impressed throughout his time in Las Vegas. He looked like a bona fide future NBA star, getting to his spots effortlessly, converting an array of tough finishes around the rim, and creating for himself and for teammates. Burries has been the go-to three-level scorer his tape at Arizona suggested, and he also looked willing to do the dirty work: diving for loose balls and switching onto more physical defenders. He even scored a game-winner in the Bucks’ final Summer League game against Philadelphia, divebombing through a clustered defense and levitating in the air to finish at the rim.
“You can see it,” Bucks Summer League coach Patrick St. Andrews said about Burries, per HoopsRumors.com. “Two-way player. Obviously, the offense shot it really well, but the defense as well.
“And the cool part is he wants to get better. You can feel it. He’s asking, ‘I need more individual clips. I need more, especially on the defensive end.’ For a young guy to ask, that kind of stuff is impressive. Speaking up in the locker room, you can feel his maturity for his age, which is super impressive. And then obviously, you see the talent.”
After an impressive Summer League outing, Burries will attempt to insert himself into a guard rotation that will include Ryan Rollins, Tyler Herro, Kevin Porter Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, and more. Starts might be hard to come by, but Burries certainly has proved that he’s deserving of real, meaningful minutes on this rebuilding Bucks squad.
Does Burries’ play change your stance on Rollins’ place with the Buck? Cast your vote below:
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 19: Graham Ike #45 of the Golden State Warriors poses for a photo after winning the 2026 NBA Summer League Championship on July 19, 2026 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Candice Ward/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
For the second consecutive year, the Gonzaga Bulldogs didn’t put anybody in the NBA draft. For a program that put seven guys into the NBA across the 2021 through 2024 drafts, back-to-back shutouts is an anomaly. But the draft is only the front door.
Summer League is the NBA’s July proving ground: rookies, undrafted free agents, G League hopefuls, and fringe roster guys getting two weeks of live reps in front of all 30 front offices. It ran in two waves this year: tthe California Classic at Golden State’s Chase Center and Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center from July 3-6, then the main event in Las Vegas at UNLV the following week, where a Summer League champion was crowned on the 19th.
For an undrafted player, everything below the draft is a ladder. A standard contract is a real NBA roster spot. A two-way splits the season between the parent club and its G League affiliate, good for up to 50 NBA games. An Exhibit 10 is a training-camp flyer, a minimum-salary deal that can convert to a two-way or pay a bonus for affiliate time. And a Summer League invite is the bottom rung: a tryout, nothing promised. All five Zags landed somewhere on that ladder, and some made a very compelling case for why they shouldn’t have had to be there in the first place.
Graham Ike — Golden State Warriors
Graham went undrafted this year, but after a busy summer spent working out for about half the teams in the league, he ultimately signed an Exhibit 10 with the Golden State Warriors. Four weeks later he was a Summer League champion. Ike was Golden State’s most reliable big, starting all nine games across the California Classic and Vegas and averaging 9.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists while the Warriors ran the table to the Summer League title. The pre-draft book on him was that he was undersized and injury prone. Both of which are fair assessments for an organization potentially dumping millions into a player like Ike’s potential. He spent two weeks answering the only question that matters: can you help a team win? It was an emphatic “yes” from Graham. The Warriors went on to beat Memphis 94-90 in Sunday’s final, making Ike the second Gonzaga Summer League Champion and the first since Brandon Clarke walked away with the title (also with Memphis) in 2019.
His best night came a game earlier, in the semifinal against former teammate Anton Watson and the Lakers. Graham finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting in a 92-88 win. He didn’t need the offense in the final (six points, nine boards, three assists, and a block), because by then he’d shown exactly what he is: a screen-setting, glass-cleaning big who makes winning plays without needing to touch the ball every time down the floor (a helpful asset when Yaxel Lendeborg is your frontcourt counterpart) Midway through Vegas, Ike owned one of the best box plus/minus marks of any rookie in the field. The Exhibit 10 gives Golden State the option to convert him to a two-way before the season, and the frontcourt fit is obvious. Nothing’s official yet, but of the five Zags in the desert, Ike made the strongest case, and left with the only trophy.
A balanced @warriors attack to secure an NBA Summer League Championship game berth!
Warley’s problem at Summer League is the same one that got him passed over in June: his best work doesn’t show up in a box score. The Pacers brought him to Vegas on an invite, no contract attached, and used him as a combo forward at the three and the four, the connective, defense-first role he filled at Gonzaga. He appeared in two of Indiana’s four games, averaging about three points and three rebounds in roughly 15 minutes a night, and closed scoreless on 0-for-4 in the Pelicans game, Indiana’s Summer League finale.
None of that is the full measure of Warley, and everyone involved knows it. In his lone Gonzaga season he put up 7.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and a team-high 1.5 steals while shooting 56.6% from the field. He was the Gonzaga’s best perimeter defender and moonlighted as a small-ball five when the frontcourt got banged up. That’s a real NBA skill set; it just doesn’t pop in a July showcase built for scorers. This was a foot in the door with a well-run organization, not a launchpad for Warley, and the likeliest next stop for last year’s Swiss-army man is the G League.
Tyon Grant-Foster — San Antonio Spurs
Grant-Foster needed the NBA’s fitness-to-play panel to medically clear him before he could even sign, and once he did, he landed with the reigning Western Conference champions — where San Antonio’s depth left him boxed out. The Spurs ran four drafted rookies through Summer League — centers Jayden Quaintance (Kentucky) and Tarris Reed (UConn), guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Tennessee), and forward Maliq Brown (Duke). Tyon unfortunately spent both the California Classic and his time in Vegas behind them, earning spot minutes off the bench, nothing sustained.
Tyon Grant-Foster hits the fadeaway for his first points of the night, and Miles Barnstable hits the corner 3 for his first points of the night pic.twitter.com/cTgAu1wv18
He hit a fadeaway for a bucket against Golden State in the Classic and dropped in the occasional assist in Vegas, but never got a stretch long enough to build rhythm; one representative shift went 0-for-2 in five minutes. No stat line worth quoting, no roster claim staked. The Spurs didn’t hand him the runway, and there’s not much to read into an audition he barely got to take. Nothing’s signed yet. Most likely he lands in the G League with San Antonio’s Austin affiliate if the Spurs keep his rights, and at 26 with a shaky jumper, a standard or two-way deal is a long shot from here.
Ryan Nembhard: Dallas Mavericks → Atlanta Hawks
Nembhard was the one Zag in Vegas who didn’t need the audition. He arrived already made, a year removed from going undrafted and playing his way from a two-way onto a standard NBA contract midway through his rookie season, with Dallas picking up his team option for 2026-27. So Summer League was just a tune-up, and a brief one. He played two games, put up 8.0 points and 8.8 assists, then sat the Mavericks’ final three with an illness. Even in that brief window of floor time the passing was the story.
Everyone's talking about Lu Dort, but don't sleep on Ryan Nembhard.
The Hawks quietly added a promising young guard who averaged:
Then the offseason moved him anyway. On July 19, the same day the Vegas bracket wrapped, Dallas sent Nembhard to Atlanta in a three-team deal built around Lu Dort, with former No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher going back to the Mavericks and three second-round picks landing in Oklahoma City. A new Dallas front office and coaching staff simply had other plans. In Atlanta he reunites with former Zag Corey Kispert and fellow Canadians Dort and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and slots in as backcourt depth behind CJ McCollum and rookie Kingston Flemings (I want to say emphatically that I don’t believe there is a world in which Kingston Flemings is a better point guard than Ryan Nembhard). He walked into July with an NBA job and walked out of it with a different one.
Atlanta just had its best season in years: 46-36, sixth in the East and first in the Southeast Division, and they broke through to the playoffs outright after four straight years stuck in the Play-In tournament. Ending up on Atlanta’s roster is no longer the “shipped to Siberia” fate it once was and it’ll be thrilling to watch two former Zags share a floor once again.
Anton Watson: Los Angeles Lakers
Watson’s third Summer League showed why the dude still deserves to be employed by the NBA. He opened the California Classic by tipping in a buzzer-beater to steal a double-overtime win over Miami, part of a 12-point, 10-rebound night, then carried that into a strong Vegas run. The Lakers went undefeated in group play and grabbed the top overall seed, and Watson’s fingerprints were all over it. In the opener he drew 7-foot-3 lottery pick Aday Mara, gave up seven inches, and held him to two points on 0-of-3. It was pretty hilarious watching Anton absolutely body the reigning NCAA champion. Against Chicago he chipped in eight points on 3-of-5 with four assists and one turnover. The connective, switchable defense that defined his Gonzaga career translated cleanly.
The run ended cold. In the semifinal against Graham Ike and the eventual-champion Warriors, Watson went 1-of-9 for two points in a 92-88 loss, and Los Angeles ran out of offense. One bad shooting night doesn’t erase the two weeks, but it’s the kind of quiet close that can keep a dude in the G-League for longer than he’d like to be. As for what’s next, the Lakers still hold his G League rights and he’s ticketed to rejoin their newly rebranded Coachella Valley affiliate. A strong training camp could nudge him toward a two-way, but another year in the G League is the likeliest outcome.
Anton Watson tips in the miss to win it for the Lakers in sudden death OT 🔥
Five Zags, five different verdicts. Ike left the champion and the best bet for a real NBA deal. Watson did the quiet, useful things again and has a two-way within reach. Warley and Grant-Foster got the thinnest looks and are likely G League bound. Although none got drafted in June, the program still funnels pros into the league.
And the drought should not last much longer. The 2026-27 roster is loaded with names already popping up on preseason draft watchlists, led by Arizona State transfer Massamba Diop, and followed closely by sophomore wing Davis Fogle. Isiah Harwell and Izan Almansa round out the group of hopefuls. After two straight quiet Junes for the Bulldogs, the draft drought will almost certainly be over by this time next year.
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: James Dolan and Jalen Brunson are seen at the New York Knicks championship ticker-tape parade and victory rally to celebrate winning the 2026 NBA Finals on June 18, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
2019 is a year which will live in infamy for New York Knicks fan. That spring, despite having slogged to the league’s worst record, the Knicks were forsaken by the basketball gods, who blessed New Orleans and Memphis with lottery leaps while dropping New York to third. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were long rumored to sign with them that summer. Instead of Zion, KD and Kyrie, the Knicks ended up with RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Marcus Morris. Yet the building blocks for a title were in place: RJ, JR and IQ (via the Morris trade) landed the Knicks the second and first runners-up for 2026 Finals MVP, i.e. OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns.
2019 was a memorable year for the NBA. LeBron James left Cleveland after four straight Finals to take his talents to south California. The Warriors reached their fifth consecutive Finals, the first and only other team to do so since the 1960s Celtics. Kawhi Leonard made an audaciously aspirational series-winning buzzer-beater that bounced on the rim for nearly as long as the investigation into his links with Aspiration, eventually leading Toronto over Golden State to win the title. Do you remember what happened in Game 3 of those Finals?
Mark Stevens shoved Kyle Lowry after the Raptor dove into the first row to save a ball from going out of bounds. Lowry said Stevens also told him “Go fuck yourself” multiple times. Stevens, a Warriors minority owner who estimated his net worth at $10.5 billion last year, was suspended for a year and fined $500,000.
In Game 1 of this year’s Finals, a fan ran onto the court in San Antonio to try and take a selfie with Victor Wembanyama, making it all the way to the Spurs star before being dragged off by security.
He actually got all the way to the Spur star before being dragged off by security. No one was hurt (though someone could have been). The fan showed neither malice nor aggression. The fan was suspended from attending an NBA game for the rest of his life. So was a second fan, one who never set foot on the court. Stevens, who laid hands on a player and cursed him out, was suspended a year and fined $500,000, equivalent to fining someone who makes $100,000 a year five dollars.
But even immunity isn’t enough for the gilded rage. Impunity or GTFO — and the calls aren’t even coming from inside the house. After the attempted Wemby selfie, Yahoo Sports broadcasters Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz called for blood. Below is the transcript from their episode; the original doesn’t offer quotation marks, so I’m not sure between Fenton and Fitz who said what:
“We need to be calling him a dumbass, and we need to stop supporting this behavior entirely. It took tragedy for us to have metal detectors. They didn’t even have metal detectors in, in airports pre-9/11. It’s gonna take one person running out onto the court that has a plastic shiv because he got it through the metal detectors because it’s plastic, that decides he wants to change the outcome of a series, and then we’re all gonna sit there and say, ‘How the hell did we let this happen?’ Why do we need to be reactive? Let’s be proactive. I don’t think that’s enough punishment. I want mandatory prison sentencing. Put him in a good old federal prison and let him explain what life is like for the next five years while he runs through federal prison for it. I don’t think there’s a punishment that can be big enough because it takes one moron that has nefarious things on his mind, that has lost his cool, that goes out onto the court and changes everybody’s life forever.”
If likening a fan trying to take a selfie with a star athlete to an act of premeditated violence that killed thousands of people feels like a stretch, that’s ‘cuz it is. Ye old slippery slope fallacy, gone but never forgotten. Yet if a broken clock is right every now and then, it follows to reason that sometimes taking the wrong turn down the wrong road really is all it takes to end in tragedy. But which way is right, and which is wrong?
Six weeks ago, the morning of the Knicks’ championship parade, James Dolan claimed the White House had already reached out to the NBA champs. “We just did receive an invitation from the White House,” he told WFAN, “which we accepted. We still have to figure out the details.”
On Monday, Variety published an interview with Jalen Brunson. In it, Brunson says, “[Visiting the White House is] something that we actually haven’t discussed as a team. And so obviously people are making assumptions and saying everything, but together we haven’t discussed it yet, and so we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Whenever I write something that ties the Knicks in any way to the larger world, some readers thank me. Some are repulsed, even insulting. Sometimes I get death threats. Lotta “I read about sports to read about sports and only sports. Keep your commie nose outta my sports, missy” from dudes kicking back with their “non-woke” beer and getting half a chub-on from the national anthem, military members furling flags and weapons of mass destruction flying overhead. Wanna talk sports instead? Okay. Let’s.
Do you love Jose Alvarado?
Rhetorical question. Who doesn’t? The grand thefting; the clutch 3s; a level of shithousery that’d fit right in with Argentina’s men’s World Cup squad. It’s why we kept seeing features like this throughout the postseason and after. Hometown kid comes home, makes good, makes history. Not everybody *is* a Knick from day one. Anthony Mason was. Josh Hart. Ditto Alvarado.
Riddle me this, sports fans: whaddya think woulda happened during Games 3 and 4 of the Finals — or any Knicks playoff game at MSG — if someone in the crowd heckled Alvarado by yelling that, as a Puerto Rican, he descends from a people who comprise “a floating pile of garbage”? What if it happened within earshot of Dolan? Care to guess?
No need! Because Dolan has been clear about what kind of behavior results in ejection from the World’s Most Boastful Arena. Back in that magical 2019 season, a fan at a game against Sacramento yelled to Dolan that he should sell the team. No profanity. No ad hominem attack on millions of people. He didn’t call Dolan a floating pile of garbage. Just offered his opinion on a matter of business. Serious people do it all the time.
The emperor — resplendent in layers of security personnel — asked if the fan really thought so, and if he wished to be able to keep coming to MSG. The fan said he’d merely shared an opinion, to which Dolan answered, “No, it’s no an opinion. And you know what, enjoy watching them on TV.” Dolan had the fan detained by security, questioned by police, then kicked out of the arena and banned for life.
I lied before. When I said my question was rhetorical. It wasn’t. It’s very much along the lines of the Mark Stevens/Spurs fan juxtaposition.
Alvarado doesn’t “deserve” to be respected because he can help Dolan’s team win a title. He deserves respect as a human being. Just like every Puerto Rican who can’t dribble deserved better than what we got during the Republican National Convention. Better than the Black and Brown children Elon Musk has killed. Better than what our Haitian and Somali brothers and sisters endure, our non-binary loves and whoever else the Fourth Reich hates.
But in a world where to be heard requires one to be seen, even Alvarado isn’t visible enough to make waves. But there are a few players who do. Including the captain of the melting pot’s favorite basketball team.
What happens if Brunson and the Knicks decide they don’t want to be “honored” by a racist rapist? I imagine if they ask agents and financial reps and other wealthy people, they’ll be advised to go, or at least advised against not going. Is that “political”? Some people can’t read that the president hates Black and Brown people and rapes children and women without melting down in a molten puddle of weird fury. Boil away, babes.
Some readers think I write about the Knick owner too much. Confession: there are a list of names of Knick-adjacent characters I wish I didn’t have to type as often as I do here at P&T. One is “Carmelo”; to this day, nearly a decade since he last played here, it still prompts as much passion — and division — as it did then. “Arron Afflalo” is another; I’m a good speller, but my Achilles heel is with words with double-consonants. And I cringe every time I write “Enes Freedom.” Believe it or not, there is not and never has been a day I woke up and wished I got to write about Dolan.
But reality matters to me. More than the Knicks, if you can believe it. So it matters to me when a public figure has the clout and the opportunity to tell a billionaire, “No.” Our politicians won’t. Take it where you can get it, I say.
As high as Dolan may feel he’s riding after the Knicks finally won it all, he’ll still never approach the popularity Brunson has earned. Dolan’s not as popular as Mayor Mamdani. He never will be. I don’t know how much that matters to someone with enough money to literally build an alternate, insular reality that only contains the people and things you think matter. I don’t think Dolan leaves work at the end of the day and wishes more people who are poorer and less powerful than him liked him more. It’s not about him wanting love. It’s about him wanting more power, more authority. And someone needs to stand up and tell him and his ilk, “This isn’t yours.”
This story caught my attention because of the fascinating conflict it potentially could lead to. Dolan, we know, is used to playing with his toys when and where and how he likes, especially showing them off to the Rapist-In-Chief. He doesn’t care what Adam Silver says. Or Mamdani. Or anybody. When is the last time you can remember anyone Knick-related defying the owner in any kind of public way? About anything? And coming out on top?
And yet . . . what if Brunson doesn’t wanna go to the White House? What if half the team doesn’t? How might the owner react if his employees take advantage of the moment and their momentum and just say “no”? A word he and his pals Trump and Harvey Weinstein and Derrick Rose (yes, him too) claim not to understand?
Dolan has all of the (hard) power in this equation. But Brunson is literally closer to god-like status than any New Yorker since Derek Jeter. He has the power to defy Dolan. The Knick players have that power. Will they exercise it? Do they want to? Athletes are among the few people in position to publicly do so without being punished.
Or does the world move on, as always, and sometime this summer I’m hate-watching Hart and KAT laughing alongside the man who kills children in other lands, kidnaps those who live here and condemns all children to the worser world he’s created? I know what I think and I know what I hope. If Brunson and the Knicks refuse to co-sign Dolan’s latest forgery, I will love the New York Knicks 100 times more than after Game 5 in San Antonio.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 16: Cameron Carr #43 of the Los Angeles Lakers dunks against Jaylin Sellers #2 of the Chicago Bulls in the second half of the 2026 NBA Summer League game at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 16, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Louis Grasse/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s not always common for a Summer League team to be exciting. The Lakers have had some of the most exciting sides that have ever traveled to Las Vegas in early July, but they’ve also had some absolute clunkers.
Almost universally, though, fans found this Lakers team a pleasure to watch. After a dud of a debut in the California Classic, the Lakers won five straight games, including the first four in the Las Vegas Summer League.
They were the only team to go 4-0 in the regular season portion of Summer League and featured several standout players. Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero were impressive as the two draft picks on the roster. Chris Mañon proved why he was a two-way player and Arthur Kaluma played his way into a two-way deal after a huge 34-point showing.
Realistically, any of them could be picked for Summer League honors and it’d be a worthy inclusion. The NBA, though, took a different approach to recognizing one of the best teams this summer by….
All four of the aforementioned players averaged double figures, led by Kaluma’s 18.6 points per game, in Vegas. Kaluma also shot 60.9% from the field and 50% from range as well. If anything, his debate should have been between whether he was First Team or Second Team, not if he should be on a team at all.
This is a clear lack of respect for the Lakers and it will not stand. You may respond with the obvious question of “Who cares about the All-Summer League teams?” or “Can you even name who made the team any other year?” and I’d respond to all of those fair points by telling you it’s about the principle!
There’s no doubt this snub will loom large over the rest of the summer for the Lakers and motivate them heading into next season.
There have been three players over the years that have worn the number 72 for the San Jose Sharks, but it's safe to say that the most impactful player to wear the number for the team in teal was William Eklund.
Eklund, the Sharks' seventh overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut during the 2021-22 season when he appeared in nine games. During his first full season in North America in the 2022-23 campaign, Eklund established himself as a standout prospect at the American Hockey League level and scored a pair of goals during his limited opportunities at the NHL level.
During the 2023-24 season, Eklund got his first chance to play a full season in the NHL. In 80 games, he scored 16 goals and 45 points. Oddly though, Eklund became relied on as a veteran during his second and third seasons in the league. Due to the Sharks' youth and lack of long-tenured players, Eklund was one of the voices often heard after a difficult loss or tough moment simply because he had slightly more experience.
That added pressure never slowed Eklund down though, as his production rose in his second season, scoring 17 goals and 58 points in 77 games. Then, in the 2025-26 season, he had a very similar rate of offensive production, recording 15 goals and 53 points in 78 appearances.
Had this countdown been written two months ago, it would've had very different context for the former fan favorite as it would end here. Instead, Eklund was at the center of an offseason trade that saw him and a couple of prospects head to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for the ninth overall selection in the 2026 NHL Draft, which became Keaton Verhoeff.
Now, reunited with his countryman Fabian Zetterlund, Eklund will call a new city home for the first time in his NHL career.
With it being a day ending in Y, the Mets have made another roster move. The team has called up right-handed pitcher Daniel Duarte from Triple-A Syracuse and optioned fellow right-handed pitcher Xzavion Curry to Syracuse. Both pitchers have been part of the team’s roster churn at the fringe of its major league bullpen this year.
Duarte has thrown five innings for the Mets at the major league level, and he has a 0.00 ERA and a 2.50 FIP in that extraordinarily small sample. He’ll presumably get sent back to Syracuse before long, and in 30.1 innings at that level this year, he has a 4.75 ERA and a 4.96 FIP.
As for Curry, he’s thrown six innings over the course of four appearances for the Mets, and he has a 3.00 ERA and a 4.94 FIP. He’s thrown 49.1 innings for Syracuse this year, working almost exclusively as a starter, and he has a 4.74 ERA and a 5.67 FIP there.
