Jets' Newcomers Choose Numbers for 2026-27 Season
The Winnipeg Jets' newest offseason additions officially have their numbers.
The club revealed the jersey numbers for five new players this week, giving fans another glimpse of what the roster will look like heading into training camp. While not every newcomer is guaranteed to crack Winnipeg's opening-night lineup, each now has an official sweater number for the 2026-27 season.
Here's how the numbers shake out:
- Stuart Skinner — No. 74
- Mario Ferraro — No. 38
- Henry Thrun — No. 8
- Noah Gregor — No. 73
- Jack St. Ivany — No. 6
Of the group, Skinner and Ferraro are expected to have the biggest impact after joining Winnipeg as unrestricted free agents.
Skinner signed a two-year contract with the Jets after splitting last season between the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins. The 27-year-old has appeared in more than 200 NHL games and helped Edmonton reach the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back seasons.
His jersey choice also makes a little bit of Jets history. Skinner becomes the first player ever to wear No. 74 since the franchise relocated to Winnipeg in 2011, giving the veteran goaltender a number all his own.
Ferraro, meanwhile, will wear No. 38 after signing a three-year contract with Winnipeg. The left-shot defenceman arrives after spending the first seven seasons of his NHL career with the San Jose Sharks, where he appeared in 490 games.
The number was most recently worn by Logan Shaw and Paul Postma, making Ferraro the latest player to don No. 38 for the Jets.
The remaining newcomers each inherit numbers with their own Jets history attached.
Thrun selected No. 8, a sweater most recently worn by Saku Mäenalanen and Sami Niku. The number is perhaps best remembered from Jacob Trouba's seven seasons with the organization before his 2019 trade to the New York Rangers.
Gregor will wear No. 73, following Brandon Tanev, Parker Ford and Tyler Toffoli as recent Jets to sport the number, while St. Ivany takes over No. 6, most recently worn by Colin Miller after also being worn by Cameron Schilling and Alexander Burmistrov during the Jets 2.0 era.
Whether all five players suit up for Winnipeg this season remains to be seen. Skinner and Ferraro are expected to fill regular NHL roles, while Thrun, Gregor and St. Ivany will look to earn opportunities during training camp.
For now, though, Winnipeg's newest additions officially have names, numbers and a little piece of franchise history attached to each sweater.
Sabres Should Sign The Best NHL Free Agent Left
The Buffalo Sabres have had an eventful off-season, but they should not be done making moves yet. After losing Alex Tuch this summer, they should be looking to add another impactful winger to their roster to replace him.
One way that the Sabres could look to address this need is through the free agent market. When looking at the remaining unrestricted free agents (UFAs), Anthony Mantha stands out as a prime potential option for the Sabres to consider.
It is surprising that Mantha has still not been signed at this point in the off-season. The 31-year-old forward just had a strong 2025-26 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, setting new career highs with 33 goals, 31 assists, and 64 points in 81 games. With numbers like these, he could be a strong pickup for Buffalo's forward group if signed.
If the Sabres signed Mantha, he would have the potential to slot nicely in their top nine. Furthermore, he would be an obvious option for the Sabres' power play because of his offensive ability.
On a short-term deal, a player like Mantha could make a lot of sense for a Sabres club on the rise. It will be interesting to see if Buffalo makes a push for him this off-season because of it.
This Penguins Prospect Goalie Is Major Breakout Candidate
Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Sergei Murashov certainly demonstrated plenty of promise this past season. In 38 AHL appearances with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, he posted a 24-9-4 record, a .919 save percentage, a 2.20 goals-against average, and four shutouts.
Murashov also appeared in his first five career NHL games last season with Pittsburgh, where he recorded an .897 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average. He also recorded a 21-save shutout against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 16.
With this, Murashov has undoubtedly given fans plenty to be excited about when it comes to his future with the club. Now, he is heading into the 2026-27 season as one of their top breakout candidates to watch.
With Stuart Skinner leaving the Penguins and signing with the Winnipeg Jets, Pittsburgh now has an open goalie spot on their roster. With that, Murashov has a golden opportunity in front him to try and prove that he is ready to be a full-time NHL goalie.
When looking at how well Murashov has performed in the AHL, it is clear that he has plenty of potential. It will be interesting to see if he can take another big step in his development next season and become a key part of the Penguins' roster in the process.
Pierce Mbuyi turns heads at first development camp
One of the prospects that turned heads at the Penguins’ summer development camp for his standout play on the ice was 2026 third round pick Pierce Mbuyi. Mbuyi was all over the place creating offense at the 3v3 scrimmages, the perfect venue for a player with his creativity and skill to stand out. It was a great first impression from a player drafted 86th overall at the 2026 draft.
“Pierce is an underdog. He had 74 points this year, and we did a lot of work on him in the past couple of weeks. He’s dealt with some things in his lifetime that you don’t want people at that age to deal with. So, we see the look in his eyes, and we’ve got a lot of belief in the person.” —Wes Clark
Clark was referencing Mbuyi’s mother passing away from cancer in 2021.
“If I had a bad game I could just talk to her about the game . . . my mom would just let me tell her what I think. She didn’t know much about hockey, she just always wanted to help out and do her thing,” Mbuyi said. “Everything I do is for my mom. With everything I do, I try to make her proud.”
Mbuyi made himself into a pro prospect despite the immeasurable personal loss. He was drafted seventh overall in the OHL draft and has continued on his journey with the most recent step of being selected by an NHL team. After two successful seasons in the OHL, Mbuyi is off to State College in 2026-27 to continue the next step of his career in Pennsylvania.
“I was always just a hard worker. A grinder. When I dropped down to my age group I had a pretty good year, but it was my bantam year when I kind of took off and started scoring,” Mbuyi said. “I don’t know what happened. I got some hands overnight.”
“I was just really determined. For me it wasn’t even about the points, it was just about working my ass off and getting seen, you know? Make an impact,” Mbuyi said.
There were plenty of scouting eyes and models that liked Mbuyi higher than the 86th overall pick that he ended up being drafted at. Here’s a smattering of the input they found and shared about the player.
One reason Mbuyi stuck around until the third round was his size. At only 163 pounds, he’s got a long way to go physically to mold himself into a pro level player. His upside, as seen above, is evident. The reason the Penguins liked him was on display at prospects camp for the way he thinks the game and the skill he has to pull it off.
From Josh Yohe at The Athletic:
There is one other person that everyone I speak with in the organization is excited about. His name is Pierce Mbuyi.
The Penguins genuinely did not expect him to still be available in the third round. Though Mbuyi is undersized, the Penguins love his skill, hockey IQ and competitive spirit. They think they got a steal.
Time will tell, of course. But this is as excited as I’ve heard people about a third-round pick in a long time.
To that, some of us are old enough to remember 2019 third round pick Nathan Legare, who carried even more hype early after draft day, though we digress.
Pal Jesse Marshall did a wonderful deep dive into Mbuyi, complete with a 13-minute video package breaking down some highlights that make this a special prospect.
Mbuyi’s best asset and his calling card are his one-timers. As a rookie last season, he led the entire OHL in power-play goals, scoring 19 from his favorite spot on the ice: the half-wall. As an opponent, when you see Mbuyi sitting in that spot with his stick loaded up over his head, you had better close on him immediately. Mbuyi scored many brute-force goals this year and did a great job opening space for himself, stalking open ice, and finding the right space for his teammates to get him the puck. He generates great velocity and accuracy from that position.
This isn’t just standing around in the same spot with his stick loaded, waiting to strike. Mbuyi manipulates opponents with his decision making. Most of the time, he does this via deferential passing. Mbuyi will pick his spot, load his stick up, and get ready to rip his lethal one-timer. Upon receiving the puck, if Mbuyi doesn’t have a lane, he just makes a touch-pass. The touch-pass inherently forces the defenseman to re-position himself to account for the puck movement. As the defenseman re-positions himself, so does Mbuyi. He re-loads his stick in a slightly different spot than the one he was just in, and when his teammate passes back to him, he has more time and space than he had on the initial retrieval.
Much of Jesse’s scouting report about Mbuyi was on full display in Pittsburgh last week. He is a shifty skater, strong at controlling the puck and has a knack for scoring goals and setting them up, making things happen nearly every time he went out on the ice. A successful debut at his first pro development camp will make Mbuyi a player to monitor for how he develops moving into a new realm in the NCAA ranks.
Queensland 12-30 NSW: Blues win State of Origin 2026 in Game 3 – as it happened
New South Wales claim the Origin shield 2-1 after Nathan Cleary stars in commanding game-three victory over Queensland
Billy Slater matches with: “It’s been a great prep”.
Tactically: “Be confident and go and get your game… Chase your game, go and get it.”
Continue reading...MM 7.8: Maryland men’s basketball alum Julian Reese to play for Washington Wizards in 2026 NBA Summer League
Coming off an unexpected rise to prominence midway through the 2025-26 NBA season, Julian Reese begins his next chapter in professional basketball. The Maryland men’s basketball alum will return to the Washington Wizards for the 2026 NBA Summer League.
Reese came in on the backend of Washington’s season but quickly made an impact. He played in 13 games and started in 10 of them, averaging 11.8 points and 10.5 rebounds on 30.9 minutes per game. His size and paint presence were much needed for a faltering Wizards team with large portions of their frontcourt sidelined with injuries.
Despite averaging a double-double, Reese was only a part of a single victory in his 13-game stint. That win came in 133-110 fashion over the Golden State Warriors, where he scored 27 points and grabbed 17 boards.
But with those struggles comes an upside, as Reese will now have the chance to play on the same frontcourt as No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybansta and 10-time NBA All-Star Anthony Davis, among other talented pieces. But first, the former Terp will have to once again fight for a roster spot against some of the NBA’s most promising young talent.
In other news
Former Terp Anthony Cowan signed with Cedevita Olimpija in Slovenia.
Maryland men’s basketball’s Pharell Payne and Baba Oladotun were placed on JaBiiird’s All-Big Ten projections list.
Looking back at Kyle Dubas’ major trades since joining the Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is no stranger to making a trade. And as we enter the dog days of summer, with the NHL’s 2026 free agent frenzy having died down, Dubas likely remains open to strengthening his roster—in the short and long term—via trade.
While we wait to see if Dubas takes another home-run swing, let us reexamine the larger trades he’s made during his tenure and see how those transactions have shaped the franchise as of July 2026.
The Erik Karlsson trade: One more time…
The Erik Karlsson trade will be remembered by Penguins fans not only for what it brought to Pittsburgh, but also for what it allowed the Penguins to shed thanks to the ill-fated Ron Hextall regime.
In August 2023, two months after he was hired, Dubas would make the defining acquisition of his Penguins tenure (thus far) by trading for the reigning Norris Trophy winner, Erik Karlsson, in a massive three-team trade with the San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens.
Dubas swung for the fences by bringing in Karlsson, giving Sidney Crosby and company one last legitimate chance at trying to compete for a championship.
The Penguins acquired Erik Karlsson, forwards Rem Pitlick and Dillon Hamaliuk, plus the San Jose Sharks’ 2026 third-round draft pick. The Penguins just used that 2026 third-round pick (86th overall) to draft forward Pierce Mbuyi.
Pittsburgh also used the trade to unload Jeff Petry, Casey DeSmith, Jan Rutta and Mikael Granlund while San Jose retained $1.5 million annually on Karlsson’s contract. The Penguins had to part with a 2024 first round pick plus a 2025 second rounder to get it done.
Was the trade worth it?
For the most part, I say yes.
It allowed Pittsburgh to shed the contracts Hextall had handed out while giving the Penguins one of the NHL’s premier offensive defensemen. Around the league, there have been worse players than Karlsson traded for a lot more in recent days for only costing one first and one second round pick.
As a member of the black and gold, Karlsson has largely been as advertised. In 239 career games, the future Hockey Hall of Famer has notched 37 goals and 138 assists for 175 points. He was also one of the heroes of Pittsburgh’s playoff push last season.
The trade didn’t produce a Stanley Cup, and I think most can agree that the “championship window” is shut. Still, it also didn’t prevent Dubas from pivoting toward a younger roster once it became clear the Penguins weren’t true contenders any longer.
The Jake Guentzel trade: A new era begins
The Karlsson trade did not yield a Stanley Cup for the Penguins, and Dubas was now going to flex his muscles to begin what he was surely hired to do in the first place: prepare for life after Sidney Crosby.
It wasn’t all that popular at the time, but in March 2024, this current hybrid rebuild was kick-started when star winger Jake Guentzel was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes along with AHL defenseman Ty Smith in exchange for NHL forward Michael Bunting, three prospects (Vasiliy Ponomarev, Ville Koivunen, and Cruz Lucius), and two draft picks, which ultimately turned into promising defensive prospect Harrison Brunicke.
As for the three prospects received in the trade, this was more of a quantity-over-quality approach, as Dubas began to rebuild Pittsburgh’s thin prospect pool.
As of July 2026, Ponomarev is out of the NHL picture, currently in the middle of a three-year contract with Avangard Omsk of the KHL.
Lucius wrapped up the 2025-26 season with the Arizona State Sun Devils, playing in 36 games and registering an impressive 15 goals and 46 points. In April 2026, it was announced that Lucius would not sign a professional contract with the Penguins. He stands to become a free agent on Aug. 15, 2026.
During glimpses at the NHL level, Koivunen has looked like a fringe player with decent-to-impressive underlying statistics. He is rather dominant in the American Hockey League, however. Will he ever be able to put it all together to earn a permanent spot in an NHL lineup? The clock is ticking.
Brunicke, meanwhile, looks primed to earn an NHL roster spot, perhaps as soon as this season, after getting some more seasoning between the WHL and AHL.
This trade still feels somewhat incomplete, depending on what the future holds for Koivunen and Brunicke, with the 20-year-old blue liner indirectly becoming the crown jewel of the Guentzel trade.
The Marcus Pettersson trade: One last gift from Jim Rutherford
Defenseman Marcus Pettersson had become a dependable player on Pittsburgh’s back end, but with him eligible for an extension and Pittsburgh ultimately not clinching a playoff spot by the end of the 2024-25 season, he was shipped out west to the executive who originally brought him to Pittsburgh: Jim Rutherford and the Vancouver Canucks.
On Jan. 31, 2025, Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor were traded to the Canucks for forward Danton Heinen and defenseman Vincent Desharnais.
Pittsburgh also received forward prospect Melvin Fernstrom and a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, which Vancouver had acquired earlier in the day in the trade that sent forward J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers.
The first-round pick acquired from Vancouver eventually became two first-round selections after Dubas traded down with Philadelphia during the 2025 draft. Those choices wound up producing Bill Zonnon and Will Horcoff, significantly expanding Pittsburgh’s prospect pipeline.
Whether Zonnon or Horcoff become impactful NHL players remains to be seen, but the trade exemplified Dubas’ willingness to prioritize organizational depth—something he’s already developed a reputation for.
The Michael Bunting trade: Twins and 2C Tommy Novak
Michael Bunting, we hardly knew ye.
The Penguins traded Bunting and a 2026 fourth-round draft pick to the Nashville Predators on March 6, 2025, for forward Tommy Novak and veteran defenseman Luke Schenn.
Schenn, wanting to play for a playoff team, was then flipped two days later to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL draft (more on that below) and a fourth-round pick in the 2027 draft.
Novak has since become a top-nine fixture for the Penguins. Last season, he centered one of Pittsburgh’s more dynamic forward trios, using his playmaking to set up scoring threats Egor Chinakhov and Evgeni Malkin.
Novak, Malkin, and Chinakhov figure to build on that chemistry heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
Back to that Schenn-Winnipeg trade. That 2026 second-rounder would end up completing the twin set for the Penguins, as they drafted forward Markus Ruck with the 39th overall pick after drafting twin brother Liam with the 22nd overall pick some 12 hours prior.
Incomplete and/or inconclusive trades
I have lumped a few players into this section for different reasons, mainly due to incomplete or inconclusive trade grades since these players were recently acquired.
Robertson: Not that one — The Penguins acquired forward Nick Robertson, brother of Dallas Stars forward Jason, from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2028 fourth-round draft pick on July 1. The trade reunites Robertson with Dubas, who previously drafted him while in Toronto.
Robertson represents another familiar reclamation project for Dubas, who surely believes there is still untapped offensive upside.
Hendrix Lapierre: An interesting logjam — The Penguins acquired forward Hendrix Lapierre from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick. Shortly after the trade, Pittsburgh signed Lapierre to a two-year contract worth $1.3 million annually.
The acquisition also fits Dubas’ recent trend of targeting former first-round picks (see Chinakhov, Egor) whose development has stalled elsewhere.
He figures to fight for a spot among the other young forwards at Pittsburgh’s disposal for a bottom-six role.
Kaedan Korczak: One defenseman for another — The Penguins made an interesting move when they traded arguably their best left-handed defenseman last season, Parker Wotherspoon, to the Vegas Golden Knights for right-handed defenseman Kaedan Korczak. Pittsburgh will also retain half of Wotherspoon’s salary.
The left side of Pittsburgh’s defensive depth chart looks bare, while the right side figures to include Karlsson and Kris Letang at a minimum. Throw in Korczak, the budding Brunicke, and the recently signed Trevor van Riemsdyk, and you have another positional logjam.
It’s only July 8, so there is plenty of time for Dubas to sort out a proper roster before training camp.
David Gustafsson: Respectable AHL depth — The Penguins traded defenseman Jack St. Ivany to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for forward David Gustafsson. Gustafsson has spent his career as a tweener for the Jets and their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. He figures to earn the bulk of his playing time for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins following an impressive 2025-26 season for the Baby Penguins.
Rickard Rakell: Will he stay or will he go? — We end this long exercise by looking at top-line winger Rickard Rakell. His name has routinely come up in trade rumors over the last two seasons as Dubas has reshaped the Penguins in his vision, namely getting younger. At 33 years old and signed to a $5 million AAV through the 2027-28 season, Rakell remains one of the roster’s most valuable veterans, both on the ice and as a potential trade asset.
—
Looking back, Dubas’ philosophy has become clear. He has consistently prioritized flexibility, younger talent, and the maximization of asset value.
Some bets, like the Karlsson trade, were immediate swings at maintaining contention. Others, including the Guentzel and Pettersson deals, were investments for the future.
The verdict on many of those moves won’t be known for years. Yet, Dubas has fundamentally reshaped nearly every part of Pittsburgh’s roster in the three-plus years he’s been here, with no signs of slowing down as he works to build Pittsburgh into a perennial contender once again.
Guardians News: Chase DeLauter lives on base, rest of team takes night off
Another night when watching the Guardians was more of a chore than a pleasure. They still can’t score. They still can’t put the ball in play when a runner is on third base. They still employ Grant Fink.
A Hoskins home run was their only run; Chase DeLauter was their only baserunner (three times.)
JOEY CANTILLO DID NOTHING WRONG.
But it shows that he made a million pitches and gave up runs!? Yeah, because the defense behind him could not have been worse. This team just is not showing up and playing good baseball.
Around baseball
• Ryan O’Hearn went out and had himself a Lonnie Chisenhall Game last night
• Konnor Griffin is out 8-10 weeks
• Byron Buxton was also placed on the IL
• How easy was it to hit in New York last night? The Royals scored 16 times, the Mets scored 12, and
Early Bruins lineup projection: Where will Peterka, Borgen play?
Early Bruins lineup projection: Where will Peterka, Borgen play? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins have a better roster right now than they did last season. But whether it’s good enough to compete in a loaded Atlantic Division remains to be seen.
There are reasons to be optimistic, though.
The JJ Peterka addition — which cost the Bruins two first-round picks — provides much-needed speed and skill to the top-six forward group. James Hagens’ first full NHL season will be another fascinating storyline to watch. The No. 7 pick from the 2025 NHL Draft has top-six center potential.
Did the B’s overpay for Will Borgen? Probably, but the ex-New York Rangers defenseman is an upgrade over Andrew Peeke on the right side of the blue line.
And the Bruins still have one of the league’s best goalies in Jeremy Swayman.
How will the Bruins configure their lines and pairings on Opening Night in October? Let’s look at an early roster projection.
Forwards
The biggest offseason addition at forward was JJ Peterka — a speedy top-six wing who has scored 25-plus goals each of the last three seasons.
He should be able to hit the 30-goal mark for the first time if he plays alongside an elite playmaker in Pastrnak, who tallied a career-high 71 assists last season.
Pavel Zacha could center the Peterka-Pastrnak tandem, but Minten would be a good fit, too. The Bruins outscored opponents 22-7 during the 288 5-on-5 minutes that Minten and Pastrnak played together last season, per Natural Stat Trick. Minten scored a career-high 17 goals last year and could go up another level offensively next to Pastrnak.
Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt had remarkable chemistry last season, and along with Viktor Arvidsson, they formed one of the most productive lines in the league. Arvidsson is gone, but Morgan Geekie is pretty good in his own right. Geekie scored 33 goals in 2024-25 and then posted a career-high 39 goals last season. Critics constantly point at his high shooting percentage (22 percent last season), but we now have more than one season of him shooting above a 20 percent rate. He’s a legit goal scorer.
The third line is an interesting one. James Hagens is the team’s top prospect and immensely skilled offensively. Putting him next to a center in Elias Lindholm who understands the defensive aspects of the game and wins faceoffs consistently would help ease Hagens’ transition to the NHL. Marat Khustnutdinov has been a nice development win for the Bruins and his speed would be a nice fit next to Hagens.
The fourth line is pretty straightforward. Tanner Jeannot, Mark Kastelic and Sean Kuraly played well enough together last season.
But this is one area where a younger player such as Alex Steeves or Matt Poitras could enter the mix based on how well they perform in training camp and the preseason. It’s time for Poitras to prove he can be a consistent NHL player.
Defensemen
The Bruins have too many players for six spots. A trade or another kind of move needs to be made to clear this logjam.
Connor Clifton was signed to a two-year deal in free agency, and he should replace Andrew Peeke as the third-pairing defenseman on the right side.
The Bruins gave up a second- and third-round pick to acquire Will Borgen from the Rangers last week. He is more of a defensive defenseman and doesn’t solve the Bruins’ need for more scoring from the blue line. But he does bring a physical element to the ice and should kill penalties, too.
Jonathan Aspirot is not your typical first-pairing defenseman, but he did find success next to McAvoy last season. The B’s outscored opponents 28-22 during the 490 5-on-5 minutes Aspirot and McAvoy played together last season, and that was with this duo starting just 41 percent of its shifts in the offensive zone.
Mason Lohrei is entering the final season of his two-year bridge deal. He is a talented offensive player and a good skater, but is he trustworthy enough in the defensive zone? He shouldn’t lack motivation in a contract year.
Jordan Harris was brought back on a one-year, one-way deal. Similar to Lohrei, Harris was a healthy scratch for multiple games against the Sabres in the first round of the 2026 playoffs.
Goaltenders
Starter: Jeremy Swayman
Backup: Michael DiPietro
The most encouraging development for the Bruins last season was Jeremy Swayman returning to the elite form we saw from him in the 2024 playoffs and before. Swayman ranked No. 2 in goals saved above expected and wins above replacement for goalies in the regular season, which helped him become a Vezina Trophy finalist. He then played really well against the Sabres in the first round of the playoffs.
The departure of Joonas Korpisalo, who was traded to the Rangers last week, opens up the backup job, and Michael DiPietro is the clear favorite to win that role. DiPietro played fantastic for the AHL’s Providence Bruins last season. He led the league in wins (30), GAA (1.90) and save percentage (.930).
The Bruins do a better job than most, if not all teams when it comes to developing goalies. A Swayman-DiPietro tandem has the potential to be one of the NHL’s best next season.
NBA free agency winners and losers: Sixers cash in while Celtics pay price
Once again, it’s time to pass judgement prematurely. After all, I would have my basketball writer card revoked were I to not evaluate before the dust has fully settled: that’s why they pay me the modestly-sized bucks, I’m told. So, without further ado, the Winners and Losers of week one of 2026 NBA free agency.
The winners
Philadelphia 76ers It must feel strange for Sixers fans to be on the right side of one of these incredibly lopsided, head-scratching transactions. But here we are: Philadelphia may end up as the biggest winners of the week after somehow (!) landing 2026 MVP candidate, 2024 NBA finals MVP and bona fide second-team All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown in exchange for just two first-round picks, two second-rounders and Paul George – whose contract is widely regarded as one of the league’s worst. The 36-year-old, injury-prone former superstar is still owed roughly $110m over the next two seasons. At the time of writing, the Sixers remain in the LeBron James sweepstakes, but even if they strike out, they’re in terrific shape. A George-for-Brown swap gives them far more insurance against the inevitable Joel Embiid absences during the regular season, while adding a battle-tested champion to help shepherd Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe through the postseason and show them what it takes to reach the mountaintop. Additionally, after being unceremoniously dumped on a division rival for the basketball equivalent of a bag of chips, Brown will arrive about as motivated as possible heading into the 2026-27 campaign. Hats off to the Sixers’ brass for pulling off what looks like the biggest heist since Nico Harrison since Nico Harrison was employed.
Los Angeles Clippers Self-awareness is a virtue. The Clippers were going nowhere in a hurry, and as heartening as last season’s late push was, the Kawhi Leonard era had, by any reasonable measure, been an abject failure. The reckoning actually began before the offseason. At the trade deadline, the Clippers cut bait on James Harden, landing the much younger Darius Garland while adding draft capital. They also dealt longtime center Ivica Zubac for a package that ultimately yielded fifth overall pick Keaton Wagler. The housecleaning continued this summer when they sent Leonard back to his old home in Toronto, receiving a respectable haul of picks along with two intriguing younger pieces in Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick. They even poached three-point sniper Rui Hachimura from the neighboring rival Lakers. In all likelihood, the Clippers won’t be very good next season. But now, what was once an empty cupboard of future assets has been restocked, the foundations of a genuine rebuild are finally in place, and, a year after watching former Clipper-turned-trade-chip Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy, the franchise can at last start moving forward. That is, until tree-planting-gate is fully adjudicated.
LeBron James It is absolutely preposterous that the hottest commodity on the free-agent market is a man who turns 42 this December, whose beard now contains more grey than not. But that’s the reality LeBron James has created. As of this writing, he is still a man uncommitted, and once again the news cycle is being consumed by breathless speculation over his next move. For anyone else his age, merely making an NBA roster would be remarkable, never mind serving as a key contributor to a title contender. But James, one year removed from a sixth-place MVP finish and a few months off a first-round playoff series victory he all but willed into existence, has never been anyone else. His time with the LA Lakers had clearly run its course. In some ways, it probably would’ve been simpler if he’d declined on a more conventional timeline and quietly finished his career in Los Angeles a year or two ago, as so many expected. But James is quite simply still too good to retire. So, for what can only reasonably be the final time, he once again finds himself the belle of the free-agency ball.
The losers
Boston Celtics For every winner in a blockbuster trade, there’s an equally clear loser. This time, it might just be the Celtics, who left the basketball commentariat scratching their heads by shipping homegrown NBA finals MVP Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for a return that can only be described as underwhelming (see the Philadelphia 76ers above). It’s widely accepted that Paul George’s contract was so burdensome the Sixers would’ve had to attach draft compensation just to move it. Viewed through that lens, Boston essentially turned Jaylen Brown into one first-round pick, two second-rounders and a negative-value contract. Even worse, Boston are hardly in a rebuild: they were the No 2 seed last year, even with their franchise cornerstone Jayson Tatum on the mend from an achilles tendon rupture, and they’re only two years removed from a championship. Yes, the relationship with Brown appeared beyond repair after reports emerged that Boston (unsuccessfully) tried to package him for Giannis Antetokounmpo. But unless there’s another shoe still waiting to drop, the Celtics look markedly worse than they did a few months ago — and with precious little to show for it. Not great, Bob!
Detroit Pistons The Pistons had a truly remarkable turnaround last year, going from setting records for historical ineptitude just two seasons earlier to sitting pretty atop the Eastern Conference. The regular season was an unambiguous success. The playoffs, however, exposed a fundamental flaw in the roster: outside of MVP candidate Cade Cunningham, there simply wasn’t enough secondary playmaking. Not only has that glaring need gone unaddressed, you could argue the team has actually gotten worse. Tobias Harris, a key contributor to last year’s resurgence, set sail for the Western Conference champion Spurs. Isaiah Stewart, an important defensive piece and culture-setter, was shipped to Memphis. And there remains reported disharmony in negotiations with restricted free-agent All-Star center Jalen Duren, who, at the time of writing, has yet to agree to a new deal. They did sign John Collins as a would-be Harris replacement, but that’s hardly the sort of move that gets the blood pumping. Instead of building on a 60-win season, the Pistons look to be doing little more than maintaining the status quo ... or, even worse, taking a step backwards.
Los Angeles Lakers Let’s get the good out of the way: the Lakers landed their guy this summer, signing-and-trading with Utah for their longtime white whale (no pun intended), 24-year-old Rudy Gobert-esque defensive wunderkind Walker Kessler. The bad? Where to begin? Let’s start with the price. The Lakers surrendered two unprotected future first-round picks and two potentially valuable first-round swaps – assets that could become especially painful if they convey after Luka Dončić’s prime or, even worse, after his Lakers tenure. They then handed Kessler a four-year, $130m extension. That’s not an outrageous AAV for a potential franchise cornerstone, but it’s still a massive bet on a player who, for all his talent, remains relatively unproven. Even after emptying the cupboard for Kessler, the Lakers failed to dump any of their undesirable contracts, leaving themselves in a salary-cap crunch. Retaining Austin Reaves was ostensibly a success, but it required a four-year max worth $46m annually to keep him from testing the market. Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton are perfectly reasonable additions, but with the possible exception of Sexton, all were signed to long-term deals that feel a touch rich and don’t obviously project as long-term fits. For reasons known only to Rob Pelinka, every single one of those deals also includes a player option. Meanwhile, key contributors Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes and Marcus Smart all walked out the door, with Smart taking the team’s defensive identity and emotional heartbeat with him. Throw in the apparent divorce from LeBron James, and it’s difficult to see how a Lakers team squarely in Luka’s championship window hasn’t taken a significant step backward. And with the draft cupboard now almost completely bare, it’s even harder to see a path back.
Yankees news: Ben Rice and dad to participate in Home Run Derby
ESPN: The All-Star Game and Home Run Derby are upon us, and after finding out he’ll be making his first Midsummer Classic, Ben Rice also accepted an invite to participate in the derby. The 27-year-old enters play today with 25 dingers on the season and has continued raking after a breakout campaign last year. Rice announced that he’ll have his dad, Dan Rice—who threw for Brown University in the 1980s—be his pitcher for the derby.
The Rays’ Junior Caminero is the only other announced participant so far, but as outlined, there’s a good case for either to win even before knowing who else will be involved. The last Yankee to take home the trophy was captain Aaron Judge at Marlins Park during his memorable 2017 rookie campaign. (Remember when he broke physics and hit the roof? Good times.)
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: A franchise as storied as the Yankees is bound to have a lot of records, but sometimes they’re on the bad side of history. During this recent skid, things have looked pretty bleak for Aaron Boone’s squad, but all that came to a head on Tuesday. The Yankees matched Monday’s miserable 17-strikeout total on Tuesday to give them 34 over a two-game span, which beat their previous team record of 31 in two games. Congrats, team!
NBC Sports | George Bissell: If you’re looking for a glimmer of hope, or at least just fun, Max Fried looks ready to start working his way back to the rotation. On Saturday, Fried is scheduled to face hitters in another live batting practice session at Double-A Somerset. The bone bruise in his elbow has kept him out since mid-May, but if things progress well, he could be in line to return before the end of the month.
The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: While many fans are undoubtedly tired of Anthony Volpe’s lack of production and want to see José Caballero get more playing time at shortstop, it likely won’t result in much of a boost to the lineup. Though Caballero’s two home runs on Monday helped drive the team to a win they seemingly can’t buy these days, overall his numbers the past three or so weeks have been pedestrian and comparable to Volpe’s (indeed, he struck out four times in an 0-for-4 yesterday). Hey, at least he has a different face than Volpe though, right?
‘No one can take it from me’: the rugby league players with one England cap
England coach Brian McDermott has just one international cap – and so do a surprising number of brilliant players
Brian McDermott may have ended as many England careers as he has launched. The new head coach has picked a pool of 38 players who will train together in the buildup to the World Cup in October. He may have inadvertently handed a few players membership to an exclusive club. The surprising omission of Hull KR captain Elliot Minchella, the continued absence of quadruple-winning winger Tom Davies, along with the injured Wigan winger Liam Marshall and Catalans hooker Kruise Leeming suggests they will be joining the England one-cap club.
McDermott has picked 10 uncapped players, five of whom are middle forwards: Dean Hadley (Hull KR), Sam Walters (Wigan), Caleb Hamlin-Uele (Wakefield), Ben Talty (Brisbane Broncos) and Max King (Canterbury Bulldogs). All were chosen instead of Minchella and Owen Trout.
Continue reading...Wednesday Posted & Toasted Notes: Knifed burner, no more Looney Tunes, C’s No. 4
Today I feel a bit unwell, so here’s a brief dose of links and notes.
- You might have heard it already: Jalen Brunson underwent surgery to repair a tendon issue in his left hand/wrist. We even got a couple of contradictory reports on it. Summer days!
- Brunson scored 45 points in Game 5 to close out the Spurs and win the Knicks’ first championship in 53 years with a bad shooting-side wrist. Let that marinate for a minute.
- Knicks extraordinare Guerschon Yabusele is heading back to Europe, agreeing to one of the richest deals on the old continent to play for Panathinaikos in Greece, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
- Kevon Looney is off the Knicks’ board after agreeing to a one-year, $3.9 million deal with the Lakers.
- As part of a ginormous six-team trade, Washington is getting Khris Middleton and sending D’Angelo Russell to Memphis, the Mavericks are getting Marcus Sasser and Santi Aldama, the Bucks are landing Caris LeVert, and Detroit is getting John Collins, Taurean Prince and Gary Harris. Don’t trust me and check the details once again. Congratulations, Motown, you can now consider yourself a contender for the No. 7 seed in the East!
- The LeBron James waiting game continues. ESPN published yet another story and featured an executive saying LeBron could still influence the balance of power in the East.
- Donovan Mitchell, proud owner of the latest albatross deal to be signed in #thisleague, could have waited for a five-year, $353 million deal, but instead locked in long-term on the first day he was eligible. He would seemingly also approve of LBJ’s landing with the Cavs.
- There was also a funny Kenny Atkinson wrinkle in the LeBron chatter. One executive wondered how James would fit with Atkinson, who claimed during the conference finals that the Cavs had “analytically” won two of the first three games while trailing the Knicks 3-0. I still think about that quote sometimes. Mostly when I need to smile.
“LeBron can influence the balance of power in the conference,” the executive said. ‘He’s not a driver, not on a night-to-night basis. [But] having him around, he picks and chooses his spots. ‘I wonder how he would fit with Kenny Atkinson?‘ (The executive wasn’t the first to wonder how James would react to Atkinson, who bizarrely claimed, ‘Analytically, we’ve won two of the three [games]‘ as his Cavaliers trailed 3-0 to the Knicks.)”
- Miami has a jersey problem after landing Giannis Antetokounmpo, as the Greek decided it’d be cool to don No. 7 after the Heat started selling No. 34 jerseys.
- You know who did an interesting thing, to say the least, with his jersey number? You guessed it right.
You can follow Antonio on Twitter at @chapulana.
Bluebird Banter 2026 MLB Draft Preview Part 1
The 2026 MLB draft kicks off this Saturday, at 1:00pm ET. Because of MLB’s ironclad commitment to preventing this from becoming an event, it will occur while several teams are playing actual MLB games, although the Jays specifically will be in San Diego and don’t go until 8:40pm.
The first 10 picks, which will inexplicably take 90 minutes, will air on NBC and Peacock. After that, it’ll stream on MLB.com, MLB TV and MLB+, and for those who have cable MLB network will carry picks 11-40. Because why would your own network cover the whole first day of your sport’s draft?
Day one includes the first four rounds, while day 2 on Sunday will cover rounds 5-20. That’s an upgrade over last season, as the event isn’t unnecessarily split into three days. Day 2 will also stream on MLB.com and the apps.
The Blue Jays will have a fairly quiet day one. Their first pick, which would normally be 29th overall as the World Series losers, will be bumped back 10 spots to #39 because they tried to hard to win spent over the second luxury tax threshold last season.
They also forfeited their second round pick for signing Dylan Cease after he turned down the Padres’ Qualifying offer. He’s been more than worth it, posting what’s shaping up to be arguably his best statistical season and making a strong case to be in the Cy Young mix, but given the state of the rest of the team they’ll miss the opportunity to strengthen the farm.
After #39, they’ll pick again at #103 at the back of the third round and #131 in the fourth. On day two, they’ll select #164 in the fifth round, and 29th in each round thereafter.
Their bonus pool of $5,543,100 is the second smallest ahead of only the Dodgers, who both pick after them and took two Qualifying Offer penalties in addition to the luxury tax knock back. Nearly half that money, $2.57 million, is attached to the #39 pick. As a reminder of the rules, teams pay a 50% surcharge for exceeding their bonus pool by up to 5%. About 20 teams, including the Jays, always use that 5% overage. But by crossing 5%, the penalty jumps to a 75% surcharge and the loss of a future first round pick. Nobody has ever paid that penalty, and the Jays won’t start now, so 105% of the pool less a dollar ($5,820,254) is functionally a hard cap.* That pool has to cover all of their picks in the first 10 rounds, plus any bonus amounts in rounds 11-20 larger than $150,000. If a player in the top 10 rounds fails to sign, the team forfeits the entire bonus amount associated with that pick, which can wreak havoc with plans if they’d expected to move money around between picks. For that reason, expect that teams almost always have had tentative contact with players taken in the first few rounds and know what it’ll take to land them.
*Teams can also give prospects a $2,500 roster bonus that doesn’t count against the pool. That allows the Jays to move $22,500 around, but doesn’t materially change the situation.
Strategically, their lack of resources puts them in a bit of a bind. Normally, teams have three general draft strategies available. First, they can offer an over slot bonus in the first or second round, picking up a single prospect they love at the cost of having to find some bargains later. The Jays did that in 2020 for Austin Martin and in 2022 for Brandon Barriera, but I don’t think it’s likely here for a couple of reasons. First, Austin Martin and Brandon Barriera, and the guys behind them didn’t exactly rescue those strategies. Second, because in those years they had a lot of draft capital (the 5th selection in 2020 and three second round picks in 2022), so even with a deficit to make up they could land multiple significant prospects. That’s very different from 2026.
Second, teams can play it roughly straight, giving them the “expected” amount of money to work with later on. The Trey Yesavage, Gunnar Hoglund and Alek Manoah picks in 2024, 2021 and 2019 fit that mold for Toronto, with pretty good success.
Third, they can cut a deal for a player willing to sign for less than the slot bonus at their pick to move some money down the draft, maybe getting multiple solid prospects instead of one top guy. Jojo Parker and Arjun Nimmala represent moderately under slot deals in recent years. The Jays won’t have a specific player in mind at #103 or 131 if they go that route, just the expectation that someone exciting will be around when they next pick that they can use money on. They might also wait and take a shot after the 10th round on a top tier high schooler who slides because a high bonus demand or a strong commitment to go to college make them too risky to take with a slotted pick. That was the play last year, trimming money through most of the top 10 to give $1.7 million to Blaine Bullard in the 12th round.
My sense is that the Jays are opportunistic, rather than having a clearly discernible philosophy. They were tied pretty heavily to Jojo Parker last year at #8, but Yesavage, Arjun Nimmala in 2023, Barriera, Hoglund, and Martin were all somewhat out of the blue. Those six guys represent all four major demographics in the draft (two college pitchers, a college hitter, a high school arm and a pair of high school bats), and signed at different prices relative to the slot where they were chosen. They also have totally different profiles, from a command artist in Hoglund to Yesavage’s nasty stuff and from ultra-polished hit tool over everything Martin to tool shed with swing and miss concerns Nimmala. The only common thread is that if you had been watching public scouting draft boards in the weeks before each of those drafts you’d have expected them to go sooner than they ultimately did.
That seems likely to continue in 2026. They’ll let who’s on the board at #39 dictate the shape of the remainder of the draft, probably with a preference to cut some money but a willingness to go to or above slot for the right player.
Speaking of players, this is normally where I’d take a second post to profile a half dozen likely options. That’s an exercise in futility when the first pick is outside the first round, though. Instead, tomorrow I’ll take a look at each of the four demographics and a handful of names I think might be out there for their first pick.